Page 15 of The Puck Chase

“Why, everyone except him?” I can’t help but ask in confusion.

I mean, there was an altercation between Nova and Josh the other day in the locker room, after Nova got into a fight with a player from the opposing team for calling Maddie a slut. Of course, this sent her brother through the roof, but his anger was towards our own teammate, but that’s nothing new. They are always at each other’s throats thanks to their past, but since they play on the same team, they try to play nice, most of the time anyway. And yeah, Alexander and I aren’t exactly friends with him, given our relationship to Nova, but we’ve all been to plenty of parties at each other’s house before, I don’t know why this one would be any different.

Alexander shrugs. “Because Nova hates him, and it’s his birthday. Plus, you invited his sister, and I don’t think he needs to see half the team drooling over how hot she is.” His explanation is simple enough, and I want to accept it, not push it, but I can’t stop where my mind is going.

The question swirls around in my brain on repeat, until I force it out as casually as I can manage. “What about Forbes?” I ask, hating the way his name sounds coming from my lips, but I hate even more that I want to know the answer more than anything.

“What about him?” Alexander replies, taking another sip of his tea.

“Did you invite him?” I snap far too quickly, and my friend looks at me with assessing eyes, before he nods again.

“Yes, I invited him. I know he’s a grumpy wanker, but I thought, maybe if he came he could get laid, and it might cheer the prick up,” he explains, and having no rebuttal for that, or the images his words just conjured, I just take a drink of my own tea and let Alexander push on with his agenda.

I’m pretty sure he goes over the rest of the guest list, decorations, food and music, but I barely hear a word he says. No, the only thing on my mind is that Daemon Forbes is coming to my house this weekend, and if there is one place he won’t be able to avoid me, it’s here.

Game fucking on.

Staring at the intricate skull design that now covers most of my face and neck, I barely even recognize myself. I tell myself that’s why it’s okay to go, that the design will allow me to blend in with the crowd and not be noticed. Tonight is Halloween, and it’s also my captain, Nova Darkmore’s, birthday party. A party that not only am I invited to, but I am willingly attending without the force of my best friend. After getting into yet another fight with each other, it’s no surprise that Josh wasn’t invited too, but I know he doesn’t care. I also know that his little sister will be in attendance, a fact he doesn’t seem to be aware of, yet I have acquired the knowledge of it anyway. That’s why I’m going, because I need to look out for Madeline Peters where Josh can’t, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

The skull design, which I hand painted on my face, is as far as my effort goes when it comes to wearing a costume, pairing it only with black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. I’m also wearing my usual silver pendant, and when I slide on a few silver rings, I am finally ready to go.

From the sounds that have been coming from the house across the street for the last hour, the party is already in full swing, but given I hate both parties and people, arriving early was not in the cards for me. No, my plan is to slip in while the party is in full swing, and hopefully go unnoticed. A plan that sounds perfectly reasonable as I make my way downstairs in my own house, finding it dark and silent.

I’m not sure where Josh is, but I know Levi and Landon must already be at the party, so when I leave the house, I lock the door behind me, and move my focus to the house across the street. It’s dark, but I can see flashing lights through the windows, along with a horde of costume-clad people scattered across the lawn and front porch.

I walk quickly across the road, slipping into the small crowd and moving toward the door with my head down, and when I push through the front door, I am assaulted by smoke. What the fuck? Did they rent a fucking fog machine? Shaking my head at the ridiculous notion, I scan the room, finding it heaving with people. Scanning the rest of the house, I spot Madeline instantly, lingering around the kitchen island with her best friend, Hallie, whose name I know because of Josh. They are both chatting with some of my teammates, but my interest is piqued when I watch my captain lean down and whisper something in Madeline’s ear.

What the hell is going on there?

Whatever he says has Madeline blushing, before she turns and says something that has him smirking in response. I watch them closely until she pulls away, and as she leaves, someone else takes her place at his side.Archer fucking Gray. He slidesinto the spot next to his best friend, both of them watching as Madeline escapes to the living room to dance, but my focus remains on them. Archer leans in and says something that has Nova nodding in agreement, his eyes still on my best friend’s sister, before Archer adds something else that has Nova finally looking his way.

I move closer, trying to hear whatever they are saying, but the music is too loud. And when Nova slips away to follow Madeline, I keep my focus on Gray, as I reach for a bottle of whiskey on the counter. His stare flicks around the kitchen, landing first on Alexander, before he moves toward him, grabbing two bottles of liquor and thrusting them at our teammate. Whatever he says to him has Reign smirking and nodding, before he slips away without another word.

Next is our teammate Jake, who is standing in the corner of the kitchen talking with his long-term girlfriend. Archer leans in and speaks with both of them, and the two of them happily nod in agreement, before once again disappearing from the kitchen. I want to follow them, to see where they are going, to know what he said to them, but for some reason I can’t tear my eyes away from him. Which is how I know the moment he spots me. He gestures for Hallie’s attention, forcing her to move around the island so she can hear whatever he has to say, but now his stormy, blue eyes are fixed on mine. Even as he leans down to whisper in her ear, he holds my stare, and when she looks towards the direction Madeline and Nova disappeared to, she nods, before exiting.

There are still plenty of our teammates lingering around, but the second Hallie moves away, he is storming toward me, and cornering me against the door before I can stop him

“Finally remember I exist?” he drawls, the alcohol on his breath potent as it fans against my face, and I have to clench my fists before I respond.

“Trust me, Gray, I never fucking forget,” I snap back, unable to ignore yet another one of his taunts, despite my promise to myself to stay away from him.

For weeks now, I have been looking the other way any time he has been in my vicinity, and no matter what he said or did to try and get my attention, I have ignored him at every turn. A fact only made more awkward with that I’ve become accustomed to speaking with his little sister about our art almost daily. Everything was working out, and despite his best efforts, it was getting easier to ignore him, so why the fuck am I here?

“Could have fooled me,” he scoffs, taking a sip of his drink, as his eyes dance around my face taking in my costume efforts. “Come on, a few of us are going to play some games in the basement, unless you’re too scared to join,” he taunts, nodding in the direction that the others just left, and I wish I wasn’t intrigued.

I wish I could follow what I have been doing for the last few weeks, and just ignore him and act like he doesn’t exist, but instead I find myself replying, “Lead the way, asshole.”

Archer smirks, one I’ve seen a thousand times since I first met him, and they are always brought on by him fucking taunting me. Of course he doesn’t move at my request, just holds out his arm and gestures for me to go first. Rolling my eyes, I push past him and head in the direction of the basement, ignoring his proximity to my back as I walk.

The house is the same layout as mine, so it’s not hard to find the basement, and when I push inside and head down the stairs, I’m not surprised to find the others already waiting. The deep bass of the music fills the air from the party above us, and I let my eyes flick around the room, taking in the differing decor in comparison to my own house. It’s a large open space with a bathroom in the corner, but instead of having a pool table and some chairs like we do, they have gone for more practicalfurniture. There are two sofas and two armchairs, with a small, sleek coffee table nestled neatly between them, which is where everyone is currently situated.

Alexander, Jake, and his girlfriend take up one sofa, and Hallie is sitting across from them on the other. That leaves a space beside her, or the two chairs, and I barely even think about it before rushing to claim one of the chairs, and when I meet Archer’s stare, his grin only widens. Forcing my eyes away from him, I note that Hallie looks about as calm as I feel about being here, and that Jake and his girlfriend are talking amongst themselves, but it’s Alexander that snags my attention.

Sitting on the end of the sofa closest to me, he has a joint hanging out of his mouth, one in his hand half-made, and another two on the table already rolled. Now weed doesn’t bother me, it never has. No, it’s the little white powder, laying in a small pile next to the joints on the table, along with some pills, that bothers me. They remind me of the darkness that once claimed me, the weakness I once showed, and I feel my throat getting dry at the sight of them.

My hands flex to reach out and cut myself a line, and I have to inhale a deep breath through my nose, and take a sip of my whiskey to calm my now racing heart. Unable to resist, I reach out and snag one of the joints from the table to fill the aching need now building inside of me, and Reign smirks, as he offers me a light which I gratefully accept. Weed always used to calm me down when I was too high, and right now, I fucking need a boatload of it.

Archer is still watching me closely, as he chooses a spot on the sofa beside Hallie, throwing his arm around her shoulder, and it has me pausing with the joint against my lips, as I find myself looking at the two of them in a new light. Are they a thing? Have I somehow missed this? My stare flicks across the two of them, and an unfamiliar feeling churns in the bottomof my gut, but before I can place it, I hear more footsteps descending the stairs.

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