Page 47 of Ice Bet

He'd be put back in his place within the blink of an eye by Savannah’s father because Michael was at the top of the food chain in our small town. If Coach wanted to keep his job, he’d keep his mouth shut.

“I’m sorry,” I said, backing farther out of the office. “If I knew how bad it was, I would have said something. I…I thought she had it under control. She told me she was fine.”

I left school early that day, and things were never the same when I came back the following week. And technically, I was still paying the price of dating the mayor’s daughter, because if I hadn’t, I never would have been blamed for ruining her life; I never would have shown up at Bexley U, and I never would have met Riley. Now, my future was being fucked with again by another protective father.

Life was funny that way.

“Bro, focus.” A hockey puck slapped against my practice jersey, and I slid around on the ice and glared at Theo.

“You’re one to talk!” I shouted. I was frustrated because he was right. I wasn’t focused.

Every time I left my apartment, I glanced across the hall. The prying need to knock on the door to see Riley was becoming a nuisance. It wasn’t because I wanted to spend time with her or provoke her until she got those red cheeks and turned her pretty lips into a scowl, but more because I felt the need to rectify my own shit by helping her with hers.

It was a toxic thought process.

I knew that I couldn’t erase the past and change things that were set in stone.

But there was a jaded part of me that wanted to swoop in and get closer to Riley to protect her or, at the very least, get her back on the ice.

Theo swept up the puck he flung at me. “I’m not unfocused. Did you see the stats of the last game?”

Ford skated over to Theo and me and popped his head in between us. “You’re only unfocused when a certain roommate of yours is around.”

Theo scoffed in the midst of skating away, flinging up ice in his wake. Ford laughed before we raced toward the glass and headed into the locker room to change. He sneakily looked over his shoulder after he whipped off his mask and leaned into my personal space.

“You’re too close,” I said, pulling away. “What do you want?”

“Did you and Riley hook up?”

The door almost hit me in the face as we piled through.

“Am I still alive?”What a stupid question.

Ford shrugged before pulling off his practice jersey. He scanned the chaos of the locker room before landing on Sully. He turned away at the last second and whispered under his breath. “I saw her leave your room last weekend. I was asleep on the couch. Well, I was until your little yelling match.”

“You heard?” I asked.

I pulled on my gray BU long-sleeve shirt and twisted my hat around so it was facing backward. Truthfully, I just needed something to do with my hands because there was a nervous pit in my stomach at the thought of anyone thinking I had hooked up with Riley.

“Yeah, and then it was…”—his voice dropped even lower—“quiet after.”

I rolled my eyes before shoving my shit into my bag. “It’s not like that. Nothing happened.”

“You sure about that? I wouldn’t blame you if it did.”

“I wouldn’t cross that line.” Because it would cost me everything.

Sully rushed past us and slipped out of the locker room like he was on a mission. After Riley told me about what had happened to her in high school, I was even more irate about the bet. I was glad she knew about it, and I kind of wanted her to put them in their place too.

“Ford,” I said, flexing my fist.

His breath hit the side of my face. “Still right beside you, dude.”

“If he touches her, you’re gonna have to make sure I don’t kill him.”

Ford smirked. “But it would be so much fun to bury the body.”

I shot him a glare and sighed. The only time Ford was serious was on the ice. Otherwise, the guy was all jokes and stupid grins. We walked out of the locker room together, leaving the rest of the team inside as they talked about tomorrow’s night game. They were all about to head to The Bex to catch dinner before hitting the hay. Theo was long gone, and I knew it was because he wanted to get back to Claire.

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