Page 16 of The Puck Chase

Madeline Peters appears, my captain close on her heels, as her eyes scan all of us in surprise, but my focus is on Nova, who has his front plastered to her back, possessively guiding her to the empty chair. He forces her to take a seat, before propping himself on the arm, and offering a slight nod to Archer, yet still his focus remains on me.

I shift uncomfortably beneath his attention, and like a hawk circling the skies he watches me, that damn insufferable smirk still in place, and fuck do I want to wipe it off. Heat engulfs my body as I realize I want a lot of things when it comes to him, but I shut it down quickly and take another sip of my drink.

“So what are we playing?” Madeline asks nervously, breaking the silence that she no doubt felt compelled to fill. Ever the polite, poised, and polished politician’s child, just like her brother.

Only at the sound of her voice does Archer finally break his stare away from me, to share a look with Nova, before he proudly announces, “The game is truth or dare.”

I almost roll my eyes, I should have guessed it would be something like this, and as the game commences, it’s a mixture of juvenile dares, and embarrassing truths, as Jake, his girlfriend, Hallie, Alexander, and Archer all take a turn, before Archer finally focuses on his best friend.

“Truth or dare, Birthday Boy?” he asks Nova with a smirk, and our captain flicks his stare down to Madeline, before he responds, “Dare, of course.”

Archer looks like the cat who got the cream, as his friend takes the bait and Alexander practically leaps towards him so they can conspire together. I relight the joint in my hand and inhale deeply, watching as Hallie’s eyes widen at whatever my teammates are coming up with, and with Archer’s stare onceagain back on me, I spot the moment he comes up with something.

Alexander chuckles as he pulls away, nodding excitedly, as Archer winks at me before turning to Nova and beaming, “I dare you to take a drink from baby Peters’ body.”

My gaze snaps to Madeline, whose blush is instant as her eyes flare in surprise at the request, and I ready myself to jump to her defense, but then I note she doesn’t actually look worried. In fact, if I had to pick an emotion she was feeling, I would land on intrigued, or hell, even horny, and when I look up to my captain, I see the same emotions reflected in his eyes. He looks a little more pissed off if I am being honest, and it makes me wonder if this is all more than a game to him, ifsheis more than a game to him.

We all watch in unison as he leans forward and grabs a bottle of liquor from the table, along with a straw, and the temperature skyrockets as he silently commands her to lean back in the chair. They share a whisper, but my focus is on the juncture of her throat, the slender lines of her neck that shift as she parts her lips and opens her mouth wide. Then Nova spills whiskey onto her waiting tongue, commanding her not to swallow, and I find myself looking back over to Archer.

Of course the insufferable prick is already staring at me, the only person here not watching the show he just requested, yet I’m sure the heat in his eyes mirrors my own. Does he like to watch like I do? Is that why he did this? Because if that’s the case, why is he looking at me and not them?

The display they are putting on is erotic, and doused in sexual tension, yet Archer and I remain locked on one another instead, and when I raise my drink back up for another sip, he follows my every move. My heart thunders in my chest, as I lick the traces of liquid from my lips, and his eyes track my tongue. My fingers flex around the bottle in my hand, and just as I amabout to ask what the fuck he is staring at, Madeline jumps to her feet and the spell between us is broken.

I focus back on her and Nova, spying her heated cheeks and heaving chest, and as she darts for the exit, I know from the look on Nova’s face that he won’t let her go. If Josh gets wind of this, there are going to be murders, yet as Nova captures her and drags her towards the bathroom in the corner, she looks to be just as enthralled with him, as he is with her. Yep, this is definitely more than a game for them, and I stare at the now closed bathroom door in wonder.

“Well I guess they decided to play something else,” Archer cuts in with a laugh, and when I hear a distinctive moan from the other side of the door, I’m sure he’s right. “Well, truth or dare, Forbes?” he adds, and my gaze snaps back to him.

A game, that’s what it always is with him. A game of cat and mouse, where he thinks he is the predator and I am his prey, but clearly even after years of playing on the same team, he knows fucking nothing about me. I’m no one’s prey, not anymore, and it’s time he fucking realized it.

“Truth,” I reply instantly, and if I’m not mistaken, his eyes widen in excitement, which means whatever he is about to ask, he has already thought about.

He makes a show of acting like he is thinking of course, before he finally asks, “Have you ever tasted another guy’s cum?”

The question makes Alexander choke on his drink slightly, and Jake and his girlfriend laugh with a shake of their heads, at how ridiculous their friend is, but my gaze remains on Archer. Hallie is also staring at him, her gaze flicking between the two of us, as a smile tugs on the corner of my mouth.

Taking one last slow drag of my joint before I stub it out, I ensure my voice is loud and clear, as I reply, “A few times actually, though some tastes better than others.” My response has his own smile dropping slightly, and even though I feel like Ijust won something, the dimming of his excited stare makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason.

More moans and groans float through the door, mixing with the bass of the music, as Archer replies, “A few times, huh, must have been quite memorable then, do you remember who tastes better?” There is a bitter edge to his tone now, that has me smirking internally, the high from our banter enough for me to forget about my earlier yearning.

“Some of them were memorable, and some of them I have forgotten completely,” I lie boldly with a shrug, and the fire returns to his eyes instantly, as a rattling sound pours out from the bathroom, and I crack my neck to try and remain focused on him, and not what’s going on less than ten feet away from us.

“Damn, Forbes, I knew you were a freak, but I didn’t know you were freaky like that,” Alexander chuckles, sipping his drink, and I finally break his friend’s stare to look his way.

A freak. So many times that word has been tossed in my direction to describe me, and every time it’s like a whip against my skin, leaving scars that nobody will ever see, but I feel them all the same. I’m sure he means it as a joke, like all the others who claimed before him, but jokes are only funny if everyone laughs, and right now, I’m not fucking laughing.

“Not all of us have such vanilla tastes, Reign,” I drawl, the alcohol and weed making me more vocal than usual, and his stare hardens a little.

“Foursomes are vanilla to you?” he asks with half a smile, but I can tell I am getting under his skin.

Nova and Maddie continue to fuck each other, and the door that separates us does nothing to hide their need for one another. However they are fucking in there, it sounds good, better than good, and I bet it looks it too. It certainly sounds it, and I should know, I have watched plenty of people fucking overthe years, including this fucking jacked-up goalie before me, and his performance wouldn’t even make the top ten.

“The one I saw you having certainly was,” I clap back, before forcing my stare to my drink, effectively dismissing him, but of course he isn’t done.

“Then maybe you should look closer next time and you might pick up some tips,” he spits, his accent getting thicker thanks to his anger and intoxication, and in my peripheral I can see Archer ready to step in, but I won’t allow it.

“I’m getting better tips off our captain right now through a locked door than anything someone like you could ever teach me,” I scoff in disgust at just the thought, and he slams his drink onto the table, crushing some of the pills.

“Someone like me?” he asks in outrage, and I ready myself for the fight that is pouring out of him. Maybe that’s what I need right now, a pound of flesh like Nova, but in a completely different sense.

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