Page 46 of The Puck Secret

“We should get to class too,” Alexander adds, looking between his two teammates and purposely avoiding my gaze.

Hallie thankfully takes pity on me and ends the conversation with all three of them. “Okay, see you later,” she drags out, leading me away like a damn toddler, until we are far enough away from them that they can no longer hear us. “I’m gonna need you to tell me everything! What the hell happened?” she demands, and when we round the corner and come to a stop, I feel like I can finally breathe again.

My eyes meet hers, and she is looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. What the hell happened? Her question runs through my mind along with a million of my own until all I can respond is, “Honestly, Hals, I have no idea.”

All three of us watch both girls leave until there is a silent tension brewing between all of us. Alexander and I are still working through some issues from that night, all of which I am man enough to admit were my fault, but that doesn’t mean I am going to apologize. The fucker has had his dick in my girl’s mouth, as far as I’m concerned he needed that black eye, I don’t care how fucking hot it was. Archer of course is oblivious to any of it. Pretty much the whole team knows I roughed Reign up a little, but none of them know why.

Which brings me to the girl at the root of it all.

Madeline fucking Peters.

My teammate's sister, the Mayor’s daughter, the girl I grew to despise, now the bane of my very fucking existence. It used to be that the only thing I would think of is hockey: watching it, playing it, obsessing over it, but now there is her. Taking up space in my mind, and worse, in my heart, and instead of falling at my feet like every other fucking girl I throw my attention at, she acts like all she wants to do is escape it. I know she wants me as much as I want her, but it’s like she is constantly pulling away from me, and until now I have been blind to the reason why.

“What do either of you know about Bradley Thorne?” I ask, turning my focus back to the guys, and I see Archer frown. He is probably wondering why I am asking about one of the football jocks, but I need to know more about him. For complete non-murder related reasons.

“His dad is some rich, business tycoon, big on the football scene, never misses a game, and donates big to the Dean,” Alexander cuts in, and it’s the first time he has truly looked me in the eye since the night in the basement. “Brad is a QB for the team, a solid player, but a total daddy’s boy. He’s set to take over the business one day after a mildly successful football career, and getting someone to pump out a few heirs for him.” He recites the words like he has heard them multiple times, and I have no idea where.

Archer and I both stare at him in confusion, until Arch curses, “How the fuck do you know all that, Reign? Is this some British MI5 bullshit?” he jokes, always trying to find a way to bring up Reign’s heritage on his mom’s side.

Reign rolls his eyes but shrugs, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as he flicks his stare between the two of us. “Daddy Thorne’s second wife is really chatty when satisfied.”

My mouth drops open, but again Archer beats me to it. “You dirty little motherfucker!” He jumps on him, pulling him into a headlock and rubbing his knuckles across his scalp. “You better stay the fuck away from my mom,” he adds, laughing at this new found information.

“I mean, it’s not technically his mom,” I cut in, trying and failing to help Reign out. He said second wife, and I know Alexander has a dog of a reputation, but I’m guessing Mr Thorne’s second wife is more arm candy than anything else, but Archer is quick to look my way.

“Don’t make me bring Diana into this, Nova, you know how much I love me some Mrs Darkmore,” he teases with a wink, and I have to refrain from punching the fucker. Ever since he met her, he has always joked about finding her hot, and I’ve had to stop myself from taking it out on his face.

“Don’t fucking talk about my mom, you prick!” I say in warning. “And it’s Miss not Mrs,” I add, words spitted through my teeth as I try to remain calm.

“Not in my dreams it isn’t,” he replies, wagging his eyebrows at me. “Oh yes, Archer, that’s it, right there, baby, you sure know how to use that hockey stick,” he moans, while mimicking fucking someone. “Fuck yeah, Mrs Darkmore, squeeze my stick nice and tight,” he adds with a groan.

I move on instinct, ready to lay him right here, best friend status be damned, but Reign stops me with a hand to the chest, cutting a scathing look at my best friend. “There is something seriously fucking wrong with you, Gray.”

Archer just smiles even wider. “Then maybe Mrs Darkmore can punish me for being bad,” he adds with a wink, licking his lips suggestively as he stares at me.Motherfucker.

“Oh bloody hell,” Alexander curses beneath his breath. “It’s your funeral,” he adds with a shrug, releasing his hold on me.

I take a step forward immediately, flinging my arm out to grab him, but he just laughs, dancing away from me into a run, and bouncing towards class. “Remind me how the fuck he became my best friend again,” I grumble to Reign, both of us watching Archer run away like a toddler on a mission, and Reign laughs.

“From what I remember, I don’t think he gave you much of a choice, pretty sure it was love at first sight,” Reign recalls, remembering how Archer glued himself to our sides during our first week on the team. “Not that I can blame him,” he adds jokingly, flexing out his arms.

“Yeah, right,” I roll my eyes. “He’s a needy little prick, and you’re a big-headed prick, how the fuck did I end up with both of you,” I muse out loud, moving to walk the way Archer escaped.

“By just being a prick?” Reign says with a smile, falling in step beside me. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think baby Peters has anything with Bradley Thorne, not that I’ve heard anyway,” he adds in a more serious tone, and when I look at him, I can see he is treading warily as he speaks.

“Baby Peters, really?” I ask, cocking my brow at him. “You’ve had your dick in her mouth and you’re still gonna call her baby Peters?” He almost chokes on his breath at my statement, but when he sees that I am smirking, he relaxes a little.

“Yeah, well, your fist in my face was enough to erase that memory.” He flexes out his jaw as if remembering that night. Not that I believe him, I think even on my deathbed I will remember that night.

If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not really sure why I hit him, the game was my idea after all. I’m the one who made the dare, I’m the one who pushed them both to the edge, and I’m the one who loved every second of it. I guess I just didn’t realize how deep beneath my skin the Mayor’s daughter had dug herself. Madeline Peters has a hold on me like no one ever has. Everyone looks at her and sees what she wants them to see, the Mayor’s daughter, the perfect sister, the pristine student. They see her as good, honest, pliable, unattainable. Yet when I look at her now, I see the most fascinating thing in the world. She is strong, fierce, and of course completely and utterly fuckable, but it’s more than that. She is the fire to my ice, and where I used to avoid the flames, now all I want to do is burn.

I move my focus back to Reign and I can see the regret in his eyes, the mark he thinks he placed on his friendship, and how much he means it when he says it’s erased from his memory. “Good to know,” I finally respond, mostly because I can’t think of anything else to say to make it better.

Reign clearly takes that as an opening, because he opens his mouth and starts again. “Listen, Nova, if I would have known…”

“It’s fine, Reign.” My hand flies up and cuts him off. “I didn’t fucking know until it was too late, so I don’t expect you to, and besides it was hot as fuck,” I shrug, acting like I am not torn up inside between jealousy and the memory of how erotic it was to force her mouth onto him.

“Yeah it was,” he laughs, bumping my shoulder with his as we arrive at the building for our next class. “So, we’re good?”

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