Page 16 of Chase
A sorority girl breaks away from A and approaches us. She’s got a golden plastic bottle of some cheap tequila and slightly tips it forward, offering a shot. I hold out my empty cup andshe pours some in. I don’t care if it tastes like lighter fluid, what matters is how fast it’ll get to my fucked up head.
I wince after swallowing a mouthful of the liquid garbage and I grab Jake’s beer to chase it down. Sorority girl beams up at me and wraps her tan hand around my bicep. I instantly tense and she must think I’m flexing for her when I’m really trying to shake off her neon fingers from my body. I don’t like her touching me one fucking bit. She stands up on her tiptoes and leans toward my ear,
“You look stressed, I can make it all go away if you want.” Her big brown eyes are full of dirty promises. I have zero desire to find out what any of them are. I take a step away and her arm falls away before she can cling tighter to me. I shake my head so she gets the message that I’m not interested. She’s pretty, but not Sloane pretty.No one’s as pretty as Sloane.
She pouts and I shrug my shoulders, pointing to Monroe who will most likely take her up on whatever she’s offering. She smiles and presses the bottle into my chest before turning her slim body towards him. She looks back at me and says while looking me up and down, “Your loss, hockey player, I could’ve rocked your world.”Unlikely, sweetheart.
I’ve had my fair share of hookups since landing here, and jersey chasers like tequila girl don’t hold a damn candle to Sloane Higgins.No one ever does or ever will.She’s right about one thing though, I am losing. Every damn day I feel like I lose a little more of myself.
I try to push those thoughts out of my head while unscrewing the plastic cap on my newly acquired tequila and take a swig. This shit is disgusting but I have zero fucks to give.I’m getting fucked up tonight.I turn to grab another beer when I hear her name.
“Have you g-g-guys seen S-S-Sloane? She’s not answering her p-p-phone and I thought she’d b-b-be here already,” I hearmy sister ask Drew. She sounds nervous but I’m proud of her for being here. It’s a big fucking deal for her. They do some secret handshake thing and she smiles. He’s always had a sweet spot for her and they’ve become good friends. She deserves good people in her corner.
She looks around the room for Sloane while leaning into Max. He’s right behind and rubs his hands up and down her arms trying to soothe her nerves. My best friend has her back no matter what. Whether it’s supporting her while she makes social strides or taking her hands in his while she deep breaths to get through a tough moment. He’s there. He gets to have it all; hockey, his girl, all of it. I get nothing.I deserve nothing.
“Haven’t seen her, She was getting Davis settled in earlier, but I haven’t seen them since,” Drew explains. I knew her twin brother was starting up at Havenwood this semester. She had mentioned that he was walking onto the football team as the new quarterback. At least she’s hanging out with him and not some asshole.
The thought of her with some dickhead has me taking another swig from my tequila bottle, as I swallow down the shitty thoughts swirling in my head. I don’t get to have it all like Max does. I don’t get the girl and if I keep playing like shit, who knows how much longer I’ll have hockey.
“She’s not here yet,” I mumble over the foam of a freshly poured beer that was handed to me. Drew doesn’t say anything, it’s like he’s waiting for me to explain myself. I roll my eyes, “I already checked…plus I would have heard her,” I add before I can stop myself.Fucking tequila.
“You always have your eyes on her,” Max says and takes a sip from his beer. It’s an accurate observation and innocent comment but it rubs me the wrong way leaving me feeling irritated and defensive.
“What’s that mean, man? Something you want to say?” I bite back.Does he know I watch her? That I follow her around like a lost fucking dog?
“Calm yourself, I wasn’t saying anything that isn’t true. It’s not like you’ve been fucking subtle about it. You literally just said you’d hear her if she was here,” he says, shaking his head and taking another sip.
Fuck. He’s not wrong and I was about to rip his head off. Over what? Him stating the obvious? I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for my anger to calm the fuck down. I need to get my shit together.
“You’re right, sorry man, I’ve been off lately.” I’ve been ready to lash out and feel like any patience I have, is running really fucking thin.
“I don’t know who’s worse, you or Hunt, but you both have had shitty attitudes lately and I’m getting sick of it,” he grits out and I can see his own irritation increase the longer he stares at me. “As for Red, you have a sixth sense for her, that’s all I meant but you’re so damn sensitive, I can’t say anything to you without you looking for a fight,” he says and shakes his head again.
“Let him be, babe, he’s okay.” My sister’s voice snaps us out of our bickering and Max instantly diffuses when she hugs him.
“I don’t want to fight with you, we cool?” I ask him and hold out my hand. I really don’t want any beef with him.
“Yeah, man, we’re cool. You’re not yourself and you won’t talk to any of us about it. I’m ready when you are, brother. We all are.” My eyebrows hit my hairline, his words surprising me. I didn’t think any of them noticed to be honest. “And newsflash, asshole, drinking that whole bottle isn’t gonna help you.” I frown at him.
“What’s up man, you never drink that shit,” Drew points to the tequila bottle. He’s been watching Max and I with hawkeyes while we exchanged words. It wouldn’t go beyond that, I’m pissed at myself, not him.
“A few beers is one thing, but a whole bottle of that crap is going to have you playing even worse tomorrow than you did today,” Max adds.
“I just feel like it tonight,” I take a large gulp of my drink and stick the tequila bottle in my armpit to free up my hand. I’m done with this conversation. If I want to drink, I’ll fucking drink. I’m twenty-one years old and in college at a damn party. A party that I didn’t even want to be at and now that I’m here they have a problem with me trying to relax. Max is the one who handed me a beer before we even got here.Assholes.
I take my phone out and check socials. Sloane usually posts to her story and I want to see if she has anything new posted. I need to see her gorgeous face since these dickheads are annoying the shit out of me.Damn, there’s nothing.
“And tomorrow? You gonna be able to stand up on your skates?” Jake asks and I glare at him. I hear what he’s not saying, that I’m the reason we even are having practice tomorrow.
I take another shot of tequila just to piss him off. That shot burns more than the four others and I nearly choke on it as it slides down my throat. He just crosses his arms and shakes his head when I fucking cough my head off.
It’s no secret that Jake’s being groomed to be our team captain next year, but until then, he doesn’t get to give me more shit than everyone else. Today sucked but every player, no matter the sport, has shit days, why are they ganging up on me right now? It was practice, not the goddamn Final Four championship game.
“You know what, I don’t need to take any of your shit,” I say and hold their stares. Fuck this. I didn’t want to leave my room tonight. I only came because my sister asked me to, and eventhough she’s still a little nervous, she has Max, and Drew and Sloane will be here soon enough. She doesn’t need me.
I turn around to leave when I run right into a brick wall of muscle. A big ass someone who's got his back to me.
“What the fuck? Watch where the hell you're going,” I spit out as he turns around. I’m aware that it was my fuck up, but I’m now five shots in, buzzed and pissed at my boys.And I didn’t get to see her.
