Page 78 of Don't Let Me Fall (Don't Let Me 1)

Not drunk.

Noted.

My attention shifts from Shorty to Graves’ cup and back again. “Sorry to hear you’re not doing so great, Shorty.”

“Yeah, me too.” He steps a little closer and chugs a few sips of whiskey from his cup, wiping his mouth with his hand. “Not sure if you know this since we didn’t really get to talk at SeaBird or at practice the other day, but Mia and I go way back.”

“She mentioned it.”

“Did she also mention she promised I’d be the only guy for her?”

“Girls promise a lot of things, Shorty.” I tilt my head up and meet his gaze, refusing to eat up this bullshit intimidation tactic.

“You two serious?” he demands.

“I’m hanging out with her tonight,” I lie. Although, it’s sort of the truth. Ash, Mia, and Kate are having a girls’ night, and since I plan on crashing it, we’ll all be together.

“You’d be smart to move on,” he warns, crowding me against the table.

“I know you’re used to getting what you want on the ice, Shorty.”

“And off the ice,” Graves clarifies, crossing his meaty arms as he closes in on me a little more. The guy’s built like a tank. But he’s slow. Slower than me, anyway. I grab a bottle of beer from the table. Something solid. Something heavy. And shift it from one hand to the other while acting like I have all the time in the world.

“I know professional teams are scouting you,” I continue, ignoring Graves completely while keeping him in my periphery in case he decides to do something stupid. “I know you think you can push people around because you’re big and scary. But Mia’s allowed to do whatever the hell Mia wants to do.”

“And if she doesn’t know any better?” Shorty challenges.

I shrug one shoulder. “She learns from her mistakes. Take you, for example. She learned she wants nothing to do with you.” His hands clench into fists, daring me to continue. “She also learned how bad it would look if the golden boy who’s being recruited by the NHL had some less than savory skeletons in his closet. Such as stalking. Or a restraining order. Or hell, maybe even an image or two of a bruised, innocent girl who can’t be more than a third of his size. What do you think?”

If looks could kill, I’d be curled up on the floor as Shorty towers over me, his nostrils flaring and his face red with anger. “She’ll be sick of your pussy ass within a month. And when she comes crawling back to me, I’m gonna love fucking the memory of you right out of her mind.”

Well aware I’m playing with fire, I pat his shoulder like I would a dog who brought me the ball during fetch. “And if that day comes, and she comes back to you on her terms, have at it. But only if Mia decides she wants you. We clear?”

He scoffs but nods. “Sure thing, Colt. Have fun on your date.”

I smirk up at him. “Don’t worry. I will.”

34

ASHLYN

“You really think he’s going to come?” Mia asks, her feet propped on the coffee table as she flips through Netflix.

“No idea,” I answer.

We haven’t talked since our little tutoring session slash hookup. No texts. No Snapchat. Nothing.

I think he’s trying to give me space since I said I want no strings attached, but there’s a little voice inside my head arguing a different story. Telling me he’s gotten what he wanted. Telling me he doesn’t need to see me again now that he knows what it’s like to be with me.

I shake my head and tell the voice to shut up.

“I still can’t believe you guys got it on in the kitchen,” Kate adds beside her.

I cover my face and fold in half on the couch, resting my head on my knees. “I know!”

“Like seriously,” Mia adds. “You couldn’t have made it to the bedroom or something so I didn’t have to think about you two going at it on the same table where I eat my Lucky Charms?”

“Technically, we didn’t do it on the table,” I point out when a knock on the door interrupts me.

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