Page 43 of Face Me Off

But on the way to the café, I made the mistake of scrolling through the campus’ version of social media and stumbled upon a viral post: Blake Morton is no longer single. Holy shit, I did not see that coming, fake or not.

Instead of confessing, I geared our conversation toward Blake and her becoming official. I made our short visit about her instead of me, but I don’t understand why she insists on helping him. Amanda has always gone out of her way to help someone in need. It’s just who she is and one reason why I love her. But Blake Morton is rich, arrogant, and one hell of a hockey player. He’ll land on top. He always does.

“Was it as bad as it seems?” Ryan asks, referring to the puck bunnies’ comments toward Amanda.

“Worse.” My gaze meets his. “The things they said…”The things they implied.My hands clench around my backpack straps. I can’t bring myself to repeat them. “Thanks for showing up when you did.”

“Of course.” Silence stretches between us. It’s just the two of us since the campus’ hottest new couple just left.

The hockey groupies still sit there stunned, sipping their damn lattes as if they hadn’t been the ones to speak those vile words.

My fists clench tighter. Amanda didn’t deserve to be treated like that. She did nothing wrong. Thank God Ryan responded to my text and showed up with Blake when they did.

“I’m surprised you didn’t say something to them.”

“Trust me, I wanted to. Amanda begged me not to.”

He nods. “I can see that.”

One of the girls glances at Ryan and me. Or mainly Ryan. She eyes him up and down with appreciation. Her expression quickly turns sour as she takes in me beside him.

My blood boils.

How dare they think they have a claim to the entire roster. How dare they think they’re better. And to boldly embarrass another person as they did to Amanda? Ugh. There’s no way I’m letting these girls off so quickly.

My jaw tightens as I step to the mean girl’s table.

“You can say whatever the hell you want about me, but if I ever hear you talk about my friend that way ever again, I’ll?—”

“What are you going to do?” This comes from Juliette, the leader of the pack. She’s been fixated on Blake for years. Thank God he had enough brains to stay away.

“Buy a fucking clue. Blake doesn’t want you, and he never will.” Spittle flies from my mouth, my teeth bared. I’m a sight, I’m sure, but right now, all I care about is Amanda.

“Maddy, come on. Let’s go.” Ryan grabs my upper arm but doesn’t pull.

I hear his words, but I can only see Amanda’s crushed face. The way she caved into herself from each slice of the cutting words.

I step into Juliette’s face. “Leave Amanda alone, or else I’ll Taekwondo your ass. I’ve been itching to use my skills.”

“Okay.” Ryan tugs my arm and leads me away.

Juliette’s eyes widen, but I’m not done. “Try me! I’m a black belt,” I yell as he drags me out the door.

“Easy, Tiger.” He lets go of me once we’re outside.

I stand there practically shaking, breaths short and fast, heart racing. I need something to calm me down.

“You’re a black belt?” Surprise laces his tone, and I lose it. Like hard cackling, tears streaming down my face, belly laughing. He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I can’t stop. The absurdity of it all. The puck bunnies, Amanda and Blake, my failed confession. Everything is too much, and I can’t keep it in.

“No. Not even close.” I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “My defense instructor told me if I ever got attacked, my best bet was to carry mace and hit the emergency button on the phone.”

Ryan’s eyes grow large. “Seriously? That won’t do.”

“Relax. I can defend myself but won’t earn any colored belts soon.”

“You could’ve fooled Juliette.” His face morphs into a grin.

“Did you see the look on her face? God, that was priceless.”

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