Page 24 of The Love Penalty

Shit!

Swiveling my body away from him, I focus on Caroline’s conversation with Casey. They’re talking about the dog and someone at Hockey House called Baxter. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t picture the guy’s face.

“I’m telling you, babe. We could lose the dog to this guy.”

Caroline snorts. “Baxter’s adorable, and he’s not going to steal our dog. I’m grateful for his help. If he wasn’t with Fezz tonight, we’d have to be. It’s like having a built-in babysitter. It’s awesome.”

“True,” Casey concedes. “I just don’t want the little guy bonding with Bax when he should be bonding with us.”

“He’ll bond with us.” Caroline slides her arm around his shoulders, planting a kiss on his cheek. “It’s your bedroom he sleeps in, and you’re the one who got the nose licks this morning.”

Casey grins, kissing his girl while I try to wrap my head around the fact that Nolan U’s man-slut, Casey Pierce, is worried about his puppy bonding with someone else in the house. Caroline has seriously changed his life big-time. The guy was allergic to being attached to anything, and now he’s got himself a permanent girl and a fur baby.

All because of a failed condom.

It’s weird how one small thing can have such a massive impact on your life.

The remnants of my smile start to fade, and then my lips fully flatline when a tall blonde with straight white teeth approaches our table.

“Hi.” He smiles at me like I’m the only woman in this place.

I tense, knowing exactly what that look means. He wants a dance or my number or name or?—

“Nope.” I shake my head.

He gives me an odd frown before trying again. “I was just wondering if you wanted to?—”

“Nope.”

“I—”

“No. Move along.” I point behind him and wiggle my fingers. “Move along.”

The moron takes a good thirty seconds to figure out what the hell I’m saying, like rejecting him is the most bizarre thing in the world. He’s obviously not used to getting shot down.

Eventually, his smooth smile turns into a scowl, and he mutters something insulting under his breath as he stalks away from the table.

I straighten my spine, desperate to shake off the encounter. Desperate to hide how disgusting I feel right now.

Mikayla cracks up laughing, which kinda helps, and then goes in for a high five. “Nicely done, Ice Queen!”

I give her a droll look but can’t leave her hanging. Our hands slap together while Casey hisses. “You didn’t even give the guy a chance to finish his sentence.”

“Because she already knew what he was going to ask,” Caroline argues.

“And the fact that he got all shitty after he finally got the message proves that he was looking for a quick hookup and nothing more.” Mikayla gives me an impressed grin. “You read him well, lady. Good job.”

I don’t how to respond to that, so I just give her a weak smile. I can sense Asher’s gaze on me and can tell the other two guys—Riley and something starting with a C—are not impressed by my rude rejection.

Maybe they’ve been treated like that by girls before and it hurts them more than they’re willing to let on.

Shit.

I never would have been so rude to someone before, but?—

“I should go,” I murmur, reaching for my bag. “I’ve got to study and?—”

“No!” Caroline grabs my wrist. “You studied all weekend. Lani, come on. You deserve a break. Stay here and have fun with us.”