Page 2 of Rules of the Game

I stared at Lucas, hoping he’d come with me. We’d just decided to be friends, but the fluttering stopped in my stomach when he looked to my brother, who motioned for him to follow.

“I’m Marcus. Want to play hockey with us?”

Lucas had already looked away from me. “I don’t know how.”

“We’ll show you,” Jax piped in.

Lucas shrugged and gave me a soft smile. “We’ll play later.”

I sniffed as I rode home. I’d already lost my first friend.

ONE

PIPER

1 YEAR AGO

Summer before college

“I’ll have a Coors Light,and she’ll have a pinot noir,” Jayden told the waiter.

I thanked the man, giving him a small smile before he turned to get our drinks. I’d been dating Jayden for the past month, and I’d been entirely too excited when he invited me to the notoriously hard-to-get-into restaurant. Nero’s walls were adorned with murals of the Italian countryside, and the aroma of garlic filled the air.

Jayden leaned forward on the table toward me. “I missed you these last few days.”

A warm tingle rolled down my spine. I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about him, but it felt damn good to be wanted.I bit my bottom lip, feeling warmth grow across my cheeks.

He’d had to leave for a work event the day after we slept together, but he’d called me every day since. Now he looked at me with hooded eyes, and my mouth went dry.

“Here you go, miss.” The waiter set my glass down in front of me, saving me from having to respond.

“Thank you.” I gave the server a small smile, and I resisted grabbing the glass and taking a deep sip as Jayden ordered for us. He ordered me an Alfredo, and I reached into my bag to grab a Lactaid, just in case.

As soon as the waiter left, Jayden leaned in close and glided his fingers up my wrist before entangling our fingers. “So, beautiful, you coming over tonight?”

I pulled my hand back, nearly knocking over my glass, and pasted on an awkward smile while steadying it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It had been fine the last time, but there was something off I couldn’t figure out. His gaze lingered on my mouth, and I swallowed hard, feeling compelled to answer. “Yeah, of course.”

“You look pretty, flushed like that.” He ran his tongue along his top teeth and smirked at me.

I felt my cheeks grow hotter, and my memories drifted toward the last time I saw him—

“Jayden! What are you doing here?”

I looked up from my bread plate as a stunning brunette approached our table, her clear green eyes glaring down at me. They looked like they were meant to be together, with her white eyelet dress and simple shoes perfectly matching his popped-collared shirt.

Jayden’s gaze darted quickly to mine, then back to her, and a red flush climbed up his neck. A sinking feeling landed hard in my stomach when she rested her arm over his shoulder and stroked painted red nails through his sandy-blond hair.

“I thought you weren’t getting back until Sunday?” she hissed at him.

Panic contorted his handsome features as a cool chill spread across my body, out through my heart, down my arms, and to my very fingertips. I clutched tighter to my glass of wine. This was a mistake, right? It had to be. Jayden was my…well, maybe we weren’t ready for labels, but this certainly hadn’t been casual.

I mean, we’d had sex last week.

Okay, sort of sex. He definitely got off. I was nervous and all up in my head and distracted and—shit, his pretty girlfriend was looking right at me as if I had all the answers.

Sorry, girl. I’m just as lost as you.

I glanced across the booth at Jayden, curious to see what he’d say. Seeing the guilty look on his face, my devastation turned quickly to anger, which morphed lightning fast into disappointment. And just like that, I was detached. Ice queen. As he went to open his stupid mouth, I realized I didn’t give a damn about anything he was about to say. This was over, whatever this was. Now I just wanted a way out.

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