Page 26 of The Friend Zone

After all Talia is Tucker’s sister and I’m under no illusion that the way my relationship crashed and burned at the end of last spring was the talk of the entire campus.

That’s why I came back for my senior year determined to stay away from hockey players.

My sudden, uncomfortable squirm doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Bay? Are you ok?” Ryker’s unnerving blue eyes are fixed on me in a way that makes me feel suddenly exposed.

My first instinct is to tell him that I’m fine, but I’m tired of putting on a brave face. The last few months have been exhausting and I don’t know how long I can take it anymore.

“No, I’m not ok.” I lower my eyes, staring at the table as if it was a one of a kind masterpiece. “I came back to Star Cove with a goal in mind. I was going to concentrate on school and on my business. No dating, no boys at all. Especially no hockey players. I should have stuck to my resolution, instead I got involved with Jagger and I got hurt again. They say the definition of insanityis to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, expecting a different outcome. And here I am. As if getting disrespected by Topher and Jagger wasn’t enough, I just did it again. Out with another hockey player. And I just warned Talia off hockey players. I’m such a hypocrite.”

The way Ryker’s hand clenches and unclenches on the table makes me look at his face again.

I have the feeling he wants to take my hand but he’s unsure if I want to be touched. I don’t know how I feel right now. What does it say about me that I really want to feel his big, warm, slightly rough hand against mine? It is insane when I just realized that I keep repeating the same mistakes.

Ryker moves his hand away, playing with the edges of the menu open in front of him. “I know exactly what you mean.” He finally says.

I tilt my head, curious about the storm that’s brewing in his eyes as he agrees with me.

“I came to Star Cove with the same goal.” He offers.

The tension at our table could be cut with the proverbial knife, but I can’t resist uttering the question on the tip of my tongue. “Really? You wanted to stay away from hockey players too?”

My dorky sense of humor has the effect to lighten the mood, if only for a second.

“Yeah, that would be hard since I’m a hockey player myself.” Ryker chuckles, but the hilarity in his tone is short lived. “I meant dating. I came to Star Cove to concentrate on getting my degree and honing my skills on the ice for one last season before I step on NHL ice next year. No girls, no frat parties, no distractions.”

I look at him under a new light. “Aren’t you a Gamma Delta Tau member?”

“I let my membership go inactive,” Ryker explains. “Coach expects me to show some team spirit and since pretty much the entire team is Gammas, I have to show my face at parties and I’ve been at the house for team meetings. But I’m not interested in the whole Greek lifestyle anymore.”

My curiosity is definitely peaked. “I sense a story there?”

Ryker sighs, his expression troubled as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. “You don’t know why I transferred here from South Carolina for my senior year?” he asks.

“No. There was some speculation about it when it was announced last year, but then I left for the summer and all I’ve heard is that you and your coach didn’t get along.”

“You could fucking say that,” Ryker snorts. “I guess Coach Harrison kept his word that he would be discreet about it. My former coach in Hemlock hates me.”

Ryker tells me how he’s been accused of having a sexual relationship with his previous coach’s daughter. “The crazy thing is that Alexis and I were just friends. She was actually sleeping with my roommate. My biggest mistake was to be there for her as a friend when they broke up. Alexis used me to make her ex jealous and told everyone we were hooking up. I’ve never even kissed her. I didn’t like her that way.”

I feel bad for Ryker.

Gossip is a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Some vicious blog posts almost cost Lakyn her relationship with her guys last spring. “So people judged you even though you were just a good friend to her?”

He sighs. “Yeah. Everyone decided it must be true, since I was known for hooking up pretty regularly. My old coach didn’t even want to hear my side of the story. He made my life hell. When he didn’t bench me for no reason, he blamed me for every little mistake the team made on the ice.”

That makes a lot of sense. “I understand why you wanted to leave. Is that why you didn’t even come to play in the Frozen Four finals last year?”

The muscle in Ryker’s jaw jumps. “Why should I?” he snorts. “None of my teammates supported me. They were too scared of what Coach could have done to them for siding with me. Coach Harrison offered me a way out of that shit show and not playing against my future team was the least I could do.”

It’s my turn to snort. “Don’t be too modest, Ryker. We would have won anyway, even with you on the ice.”

His cocky smile, the one that has been making me furious since the moment Ryker and I first met, makes an appearance. “Yeah, tell yourself that. We both know the final might have had a very different outcome if I had played. But whatever. I’m a Cove Knight now, so it doesn’t matter.”

There’s a beat of silence, as we let our situation sink in.

I lift my gaze to meet his and I get trapped in that ice blue gaze of his, lost in the storm that’s brewing in there. It goes against all logic and yet, I know how he feels. For some strange twist of fate, Ryker and I understand each other. Then there’s that powerful, heady attraction that makes the air between us crackle with electricity. It’s been this way since the second we met and began antagonizing each other.

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