Page 10 of Puck Right Off

“Alex, I’m not interested in Jordyn.”

“Yeah, right.” He raises a brow. “Lemme see your phone.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“With my life, yes. My phone, no.”

Alex chuckles before he lunges. I’m caught off guard, my mind still reeling from his words, and before I know it, he’s pinned me down and has my cell phone. Twisting my handbehind my back, the screen is pressed against my thumb before he releases me and steps back.

“Ahh… lookie here.” He holds up my phone, and my search history is displayed on the screen before he moves away. “Jordyn Reese. Pretty name.”

I jump to my feet. “Gimme my fucking phone back.”

Alex darts away, his movements quick and fine-tuned since he’s a goalie. “You stalked her Instagram and TikTok.” His laughter fills the weight room, and I’m glad as hell no one else is here but us.

I chase after him, jumping over a weight bench. “Give me my goddamn phone back.”

“Nope. This is a goldmine.” His reactions are nimble and quick, like the contestants on “American Ninja Warrior.” He dodges my attempts to grab my phone again, his eyes lifting to mine. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll give it back.”

“Fine.” I gauge the distance from me to him. “I checked out her social media before she moved in. It makes sense. She’s living?—”

“Uh-huh.” He strolls over and hands me my phone. “You like her. Just admit it.”

I refuse. “Josh said she’s a nerd. I wanted to see if she looked like one.” My defense is weak, and I know it. The gleam in Alex’s blue eyes as he cocks his head, his brow raising, has me bracing for his next question.

“You bought something for her, didn’t you? A welcome home gift.”

“They aren’t welcome home gifts. She just moved?—”

“They? You bought her multiple things?”

I blow out a frustrated sigh, my fingers curling so hard around my phone I’m surprised that it doesn’t shatter. “Her bedroom was used for storage. After I cleaned it up, it looked barren and cold. Josh told me she’d been down on her luck, so I figured I’d dosomething nice.”

The urge to punch Alex grows stronger as his smirk widens. He crosses his arms over his chest, leveling me with a look. “What did you buy her?”

I swallow hard, knowing how bad this is gonna look. “Not much.” Good. My voice doesn’t waver, and my tone is neutral. “New curtains and a comforter set for the bed?—”

“You bought her a new bed. There wasn’t one in that room, Tristan.”

I ignore him. “A desk and chair.”

“Holy shit. You bought her more furniture?”

I should punch this motherfucker square in the balls. “So what? It made the room nicer. She’s going to be living with two rowdy hockey players?—”

“Rowdy? Are you gonna move Bryce, Landin, and me in and throw you and Josh out? Cause the two of you are far from rowdy.”

“No, asshole.” I blow out a long breath.Why do I tell this fucker anything?“A book nerd probably thinks we’re rowdy.”

“She didn’t look like a nerd on social media. Course, you know that since you were stalking her on it. Besides, nerds can have a wild side. Remember the professor that Bryce fucked last semester. She was a freak.” His eyes light up, and an evil smile curls his lips. “Maybe Jordyn is?—”

“Don’t finish that fucking sentence, or I’ll knock your teeth down your throat.”

“Man, you’re swearing and making a lot of threats. More than you have in the past six months. She really got under your skin.”

“She didn’t get under anything. I?—”

---