Page 84 of College Hockey Bully

Heaven knows I don’t fucking need this. “Look, I’m taking you home. Tomorrow, we press the reset button. Tonight is a shit-show—”

“No. I’m coming home with you. Don’t you dare—”

A sudden shrilling bursts through the speakers and I almost sag with relief from seeing Cameron’s name on the screen. Perfect timing. I press the button to answer the call.

Then immediately wish I hadn’t.

“It’s her, Aiden,” Cameron greets me urgently. “Scarlett made that call.”

“What call?” I ask, confused. It can’t be the one I’m thinking of.

“The night we got caught, it was Scarlett who called security. My IT friend sent the footage. Not only was there no one else in the vicinity for at least half an hour, we saw her get on the phone right after you ran past her.”

“That can’t be true,” I mutter in disbelief.

“I’m going to send that part of the footage,” Cameron replies. “Listen, man. I’m sorry. I know you were into her and everything—”

Casey gasps. I sigh.

“—but I told you to take things slow. I hope you took my advice.”

“Cam, I gotta go. Casey’s here with me.”

A pause, then he blurts, “What are you doing withher?”

Jesus. I think I’m going to buy him a filter for his birthday. Without replying, I end the call. Casey’s eyes are throwing daggers at me. “Who the fuck is Scarlett?”

“No one that concerns you,” I reply, taking the right turn that leads me to her neighborhood.

“What are you doing? I said I’m not going home. Is this why you want to get rid of me? You’re going to be with her, aren’t you?”

“Casey, I don’t need this right now.” My entire body has gone numb. My mind is trying to find an explanation behind what Cameron found, because there’s no way Scarlett betrayed me.

No fucking way—

My body hurls to the right as Casey suddenly grabs the steering wheel, pulling it toward her. “Are you fucking crazy?” I thunder, easing her off, my foot sinking down on the brakes.Lucky for us, there’s no one coming behind us on the quiet neighborhood street.

“You’re not going to dump me like some trash then go off to some bitch. I won’t have it,” she pants, definitely looking crazy in the moment. “I’m done letting you punish me for something I did years ago.”

“I’m not trying to punish you, Casey. Not everything is about you. I’m taking you home, then I’m going to handle an issue that could ruin my life.”

God, I hope it’s not what it looks like.

To my surprise, she drops back in the seat with a deep sigh. “Okay, fine, but when you’re done with that issue, you’re making it up to me.”

I grunt in response while steering the car back onto the road. I don’t want to think about anything but confronting Scarlett. She has some explaining to do.

Casey plants a kiss on my cheek right before opening her front door. “I hope it works out for you,” she says, her soft smile taking me back to when things weren’t so complicated, when her emotions didn’t change at the drop of a hat. I give her arm a squeeze before heading back to my car.

Now, the hard part.

With one swipe of my thumb, I open the chat with Cameron and within seconds, confirm that what my best friend said was true. This is Scarlett, clear as day, cell phone pressed to her ear, her body turned in the direction where the guys were doing damage. She can’t talk her way out of this, but I’m quite interested in making her try.

It’s almost ten, which means Scarlett should be home. Then again, she could be anywhere. It’s obvious I don’t knowher as much as I’d thought. Making a call to report some wrongdoing, that’s one thing. Lying about it, playing the victim when we pranked her, that’s diabolical. It resurrects my suspicion that she’s working for someone. Working to crush me.

But, who?

My cell phone rings, and I ignore Mom’s call, keeping my eyes on the road. There’s no doubt she’s going to be thrilled when she finds this out. The ringing stops, then the system announces a text message from her. I approve for it to be read. So long as I don’t talk to her.

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