Page 65 of Shutout
“Thank you for looking out for me,” I mumble against his chest.
“Always.” If anything, he holds me tighter.
We stay like that, just listening to the leaves dance in the wind, wrapped in a cocoon of each other’s heat, feeling each other’s heartbeat. I was embarrassed before, but now I’m thankful that the scare brought us this moment.
And it’s only a moment, because it ends too soon when another voice rings beside us.
“What do we have here?”
I stiffen. Unfortunately, that makes Brooke pull away fast.
My ex stands a few paces away, still on the pedestrian path that curves around Thundercloud’s building. He’s smirking, arms folded like he has permission to show his face in front of me.
“Are you two together now?” he asks, looking at Brooke and I. “I mean, I always knew there was something weird going on between you. You only started paying attention to me when he disappeared from your life, you know?”
I suck in air. That’s not a truth I wanted revealed,ever.
Through gritted teeth, Brooke mutters, “Get lost before I rearrange your face, you little shit.”
Trent puts an offended hand on his chest. “Aren’t you a student athlete? You’ll lose your scholarship if you act violently.”
“Wanna test thatif?” Brooke cracks his knuckles.
“Whatever, good riddance.” Trent makes a sardonic expression. “Just remember, Liv. Rebounds don’t work. I’m on my third already, so I speak from experience.”
I know he’s saying all this to see if it affects me. Yet I couldn’t care less about how many people he dates or sleeps with.
What I can’t let him know is that the thought of Brooke being a rebound is disconcerting. Or rather, that trying something more with him and having it fail is a possibility… That’s what freaks me out about Trench Coat’s implications.
I take a step forward. And another. I raise my hand sharply and my ex flinches. Now that I know his body remembers, I give him a feral grin. “Go beforeIpunch you. Again.”
“Again?” Brooke asks behind me, amusement in his voice.
Trent spits on the ground—a habit I always hated—and he turns away. “Oh, and I hope you liked the package,” I say to his retreating back. It makes him accelerate the pace.
Brooke’s eyes gleam when I face him again. “What package?”
“I may have returned a defaced hoodie to him via post.”
His grin stretches so wide, I know he’s forgotten the bad feelings lingering from the earlier incident. “That’s my girl.”
If only.
I clear my throat. “Can we go back to the cafe and you won’t behave like a Neanderthal anymore?”
Brooke sticks out his hand. When I do nothing but stare at it, he opens and closes his fingers around air. Slowly, I slide myhand to his and he tugs it into the pocket of his hoodie. With a bright voice, he says, “Nope. I’m never going to stop being a caveman about you.”
I have to keep my head down on the way back so he doesn’t see how hard I’m grinning.
CHAPTER 23
BROOKLYN
Thank goodness I have an uncanny talent for switching my brain off when I’m not playing hockey. Otherwise, I’d go full caveman in front of the entire classroom.
The thing is, Olivia looks steaming freaking hot today. She’s in a white, long-sleeved blouse that doesn’t even have a big cleavage and isn’t particularly clingy, and the world’s most boring, wide-legged black trousers. But the whole thing emphasizes her unreal hourglass shape, and more than one guy is noticing. I know exactly what the asshole in the front row is thinking by the areas where his eyes seem to focus.
Somehow, I manage to parrot my lines convincingly enough. “Espero comenzar mi carrera en la NHL dentro de dos años,” I say, forcing my eyes to stay on one of our group partners.
