Page 18 of The Fake Date Agreement

He keeps walking. “Don’t know her.”

“I haven’t even told you her name,” I say.

“Whatever.”

Caleb grips him by the front of his shirt and lifts, sticking his nose in his face. “Her name is Tobie. Tobie Myers. She’s about five-foot-four, curvy, curly brown hair, hazel eyes, and wearing a blue dress. Probably carrying black sandals. She might have a concussion. Have. You. Seen. Her?”

The guy shakes his head, stutters out a ‘no,’ and the second Caleb releases him, he bolts to the building, fumbling with his keycard to open the door. He slams the door shut, peering through the glass as if to make sure we don’t follow.

“We hitting Montgomery now?” Caleb turns around, finds Javier and me staring at him, and stalks past us, muttering, “Stop looking at me like that. He was fobbing us off.”

“Like a hockey Terminator Jekyll and Hyde,” I whisper loudly.

“I heard that. Let’s go.” Caleb leads the way to Montgomery Hall, one of the older gray stone buildings on the edge of campus.

I grip Javier’s arm, slowing him down before he can catch up to Caleb. “I think he likes her.”

Caleb’s back stiffens slightly as he stalks ahead. “I don’t like her.”

“He did seem to be taking his sweet time with his hands in her hair,” Javier says, eyeing Caleb with interest. “I’ve seen him check for concussions, and I never saw him run his fingers through anyone’s hair like that before.”

“Because none of you guyshavehair.”

The last time Caleb showed an interest in a woman was the beginning of our junior year before the weight of responsibility of team captain took over his life.

Javier will hook up with a girl to blow off steam. I occasionally do to have fun. It’s never a girl I’ve seen hangingaround the arena in case she wants me more forwhatI am thanwhoI am. And I always make it clear beforehand that I’m not looking for anything serious.

Caleb likes to take the weight of everything on his shoulders, because of his parents’ divorce when he was twelve. His dad stayed in Canada, and he saw it as his responsibility to look out for his mom and little brother since he was the oldest. Because of that overdeveloped sense of responsibility, if we lose the championship, he will never let anyone convince him it wasn’t his fault.

He should be back at the arena, needing to be pried from the building by the security at midnight, who likely regard the task as an unpaid part of their job with how frequently he’s been living on the ice.

Yet here we are, at… I glance at my watch… ten fifteen, and he’s marching ahead, choking out people who get in the way of his mission.

And he has made it his mission to track down Tobie Myers.

A smile stretches across my face. “She’s pretty. It’s okay to like her, you know? Liking a girl doesn’t mean you’re betraying hockey. You know that, right?”

Caleb doesn’t respond.

We spend fifteen minutes hanging around outside Montgomery Hall, waiting for someone to enter or leave so we can ask them about Tobie. When no one does, and more lights in the building flick off as students head to bed, Javier suggests we leave it until tomorrow.

She had a shitty night, and I can’t see her wanting to stay up late.

We walk back across campus to our dorm, and before we head up to our different floors, Caleb turns to face me. “I have a meeting with Coach in the morning. You and Jay can try again in the morning. Text me.”

He takes a few steps and stops, but he doesn’t turn around. “And remind her to get her head checked out,” he says, walking away before Javier or I can respond.

“Interesting,” I mutter.

“I heard that,” he yells back.

Laughing, I slap Javier on the shoulder. “Come to my room. We have things to discuss.”

Chapter 6

Tobie

Loud banging yanksme from sleep.

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