Page 73 of Daring the Hockey Player
And I hate myself for thinking abouthimright now when this perfectly nice guy is trying to vie for my attention or at least keep me company until he meets someone else more charming.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Atlas asks, and before I can tell him I don't really care that much, he leans in. "He's one of my teammates, Reid."
The name doesn't ring a bell, and I haven't been to any of our school's hockey games, so I can't say that I recognize him, either. "Oh," I say, as if that's supposed to mean something because it doesn't.
"Reid Clayton." He stares at me and realizes I'm clueless as to who he's yammering on about. "The star of the hockey team—oh, never mind, not a hockey fan?" he guesses.
"I've been to a couple of Ice Dragons games." I leave off the part where I'm rooming with Jasper Greyson, one of the NHL players.
"Wait, you’re an Ice Dragons fan?" He looks slightly displeased by the news. "You wore my brother's jersey to one of his games. I thought you were an Island Bruisers fan."
My stomach tumbles, and I can't help but take a small step backward, like he's invaded my space and my privacy. I bump into the wall behind me. I'm sure that Atlas hasn't been stalking me. We're in class together, and he probably just recognized me at a game, but his comment is still off-putting.
"His games? Your brother is—" I can't even remember whose jersey I bought the first or the second time, and both were burned in the apartment fire. That's one loss that I don't really care much about.
"Knox Storm," Atlas says with a grin and leans closer, putting his arm around me. "I could give you a private tour of the ice arena, take you out on the rink, and we could—"
"If that's supposed to be a pickup line, you are so far from the goal." I shrug him off and head for the door.
"Seriously?" he shouts at me over the music pumping, chasing after me. He grabs my shoulder, spinning me around to face him.
"Listen, I'm sure you're a nice guy, but I'm not interested." I don't want to be here. I'm sure there are plenty of other girls who fall for his ridiculous lines and his good looks, but that's not me.
"Everyone is interested. There's not a soul in this school who wouldn't beg for a chance with me. Come on,Ice Queen."
"Ice Queen?" My mouth drops as I stare at him, shocked. "You don't know anything about me." I shouldn't have come, and worse, I'm going to have to face Atlas in statistics class on Monday. At least I have the weekend to try to forget this conversation and night ever happened.
I hurry outside, my legs freezing in the short black miniskirt, and it's a decent walk to the subway. I ring Jasper, wanting to talk to someone in the darkness while I'm heading for the subway station to go home.
"What's up? Hold on a sec," Jasper answers, and there's noise in the background. After a second, it's quiet, like he went outside or took the call in another room. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," I say with a heavy sigh. "I just, I'm kind of far from the subway, and I wanted someone to talk to until I get to the station. Is that okay?"
"Are you alone?"
I laugh and sniffle from the cold. My heart hurts a little, too, but I'm not crying, at least not outwardly. "Yeah, that's why I called. Is it okay? Are you busy?"
"Where are you? I'll come to get you," Jasper says. "Are you on campus?"
"I'm just walking back from a party. It's fine. By the time you get here, I'll be at the platform."
"How long a walk is it?" Jasper asks.
"Half an hour if I wore boots that fit and a skirt that isn't quite so short." I have to take smaller steps, and while I'm gripping the phone with one hand, I'm also trying to keep my skirt from flying up and revealing what's underneath. Note, it's my black lace panties. In hindsight, I should have opted for something less sexy.
He clears his throat. "Send me your location."
I glance at my phone and stop walking long enough to give him my whereabouts. "Tracking me now, are you?" I joke, trying to make light of the situation. Slowly, I'm walking, my feet tingling from the cold, my legs numb.
"I'm picking you up."
"Jasper, that isn't necessary."
"Stay on the phone with me until you see the Porsche." There's noise in the background once again, and the phone is muffled as Jasper says something to someone, I presume his brother.
"You have your brother's car?" I ask.
"Borrowing it," he says, and the silence follows him as I assume he's heading out of whatever building he's in. Bar. Club. His brother's house, which is unlikely since I could be home by the time he'd pick me up. Well, it would be close. "Just keep talking to me," Jasper says.
