Page 24 of Sweet Temptation
"What's for breakfast, Damon?" Sam slides his fingers together. Damon grins and makes his way to the kitchen as he begins to prepare omelettes.
I watch him closely before tilting my head. "You cook?"
He cocks a brow at me. "Surprised?" he asks as he chops up green peppers.
"Yes, actually." I laugh slightly before finding a seat beside Sam and finishing my muffin. He continues preparing five omelettes as we all talk amongst ourselves.
"Breakfast is served," he announces as he places two plates in front of Sam and me. My mouth waters as I stare at the delicious food.
"Damon knows how to make a good morning before practice." Ace's voice pipes up as he walks downstairs, rubbing a towel over his dark hair. I smile and shove a forkful into my mouth, chewing with satisfaction.
These four hockey players eat like kings because Damon can actually make a decent meal. Finishing what's on my plate, I get to my feet, bringing the empty plate to the sink. "Fucking fantastic," Damien mutters through mouthfuls as he takes my place on the stool. Pouring a glass of orange juice, I finish it quickly before I look around the room.
"Hurry up, we have to go," Ace replies, putting his empty plate in the sink.
"Aye, aye, captain," Sam replies, following Ace's lead. Damien shoves the last forkful into his mouth before getting to his feet and bringing his dish to the sink as well. I make my way to the door and slide my boots on, quickly zipping them up as I slide my jacket on.
I look up as all four boys follow me out the door to Ace's Type R. My eyes widen. "We're taking this?"
Damon grins at me as he slides into the back with me, followed by Sam. "Let's get a move on, Damien!" Ace barks as he slides into the driver's seat and starts up the car. Damien runs from the house, sliding into the passenger seat just as we pull out of the driveway.
As we drive to campus, I can only imagine the questions Bailey's gonna throw at me about last night. Shaking my head, I lean my head against the window, slightly annoyed. When the car comes to a stop, I practically leap out, grabbing my books and heading in the direction of the school. "Have a fun practice," I call over my shoulder.
Once I enter the coffeehouse, I order something while I wait for my two friends to show. I already know I'm going to be attacked with questions about last night. Not a single doubt about it, every girl on campus would love to roll around in bed with Damon. The jealousy I feel when I think about Damon fucking someone else eats at me, but I ignore it. I told him we could only be friends, and I'm sticking to that—even if, in reality, I don't want that.
It's not that I don't want him; it's because I don't know how to open my heart. I haven't ever opened my heart, especially not after high school and everything I went through with what happened to me at Mike's party.
I just don't want to open my heart up and find out I should have kept it locked. I want to pursue something with Damon, but I just can't.
I can't give him my heart. I won't.
THIRTEEN
Just friends? I can't ponder that thought as I watch Hanna's sexy ass run toward the Coffee Hut. My mind is in a whirl as me and the boys make our way toward the arena. "She said just friends," I blurt out.
A sea of laughter bubbles from Sam's throat as he cackles, tripping over his own feet. "You're never just friends with a girl who looks like that."
I glare at him, then sling my school bag over my shoulder as we crunch over the soft fallen snow of November. Damien joins in on the laughter, and the two assholes continue their cackling as we enter the locker rooms. I should be glad she doesn't want anything else. In order to be in a relationship, you have to be honest.
Telling her about the mafia world is the last thing I want to do. It's one of the most important secrets I have to keep, and she can never know about it.
Ace walks in stride with me, shaking his head at our two teammates. Chatter fills the locker room as we get geared up for morning practice. "I banged this smoking hot sophomore at Carly's party this weekend. Blonde hair, nice ass… and don't get me started on her rack." Alex smirks as he ties up his skates.
Sam chuckles as he tapes up his socks. "Aren't you dating the coach's daughter? Bailey Sanchez?" Nathan asks, combing a hand through his thick brown hair.
Alex puts a finger to his lips with a soft laugh. That gets my attention, but before I can move, Ace is on his feet, tackling Alex to the floor.
"Captain!" Nathan yells over the grunts and curses from the two brawling hockey players. Nobody moves when Coach Sanchez slams the locker room door open and glares daggers at Alex and Ace.
"Get the fuck on your feet, ladies, and hit the ice!" he barks at the two players. Throwing my helmet on, I follow Sam and Nathan onto the ice, only the sound of Coach's scream ripples behind us. Once my feet hit the ice, I feel a whole new air hit my face. Being on the ice always calms my nerves, no matter what is on my mind.
Well, that, and putting a gun to someone's head.
"I want lines! All of you now! I want to see some hard line skating!" Coach yells from the bench as the rest of our team steps on the ice.
"Good going, Deems. Now we're skating our asses off because you're a fuckup," Chance Hilert barks at our captain as he follows Coach's instructions.
Eying Ace, I follow behind Chance and skate my legs off. For the first fifteen minutes, all you hear are whistles. "Harder, ladies!" Skate. It changes into shooting drills, but the same constant hassle from Coach. Whistle. Skate. Whistle. "Pick up the pace!" he yells. Skate. By the time the clock strikes eight-twenty, we're all crawling our asses off the ice toward the locker rooms.