Page 9 of Pucking High School

“Ah, tough break.”

“Not as tough as the break on Henry’s nose.”

Cade squeezed my shoulder and grinned. “Look at you trying to be funny. Honestly, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you’ve got to laugh at the situations you end up in.”

Chapter 3

2 Weeks Later

“Why are we here again?” I asked Cade, still making my way into the party even though I didn’t want to be there.

“Because even though it’s only been two weeks since I’ve seen you, it feels like years. A lot has happened and we need to celebrate.”

“Uh, Cade. Did you forget that I saw you every day at the gym?”

“Exactly,” he said as though he’d just caught me out. “The gym. Every single day. That’s all you did with your forced time off. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were some super lifelike robot that was made just to foil anyone’s plans of scoring a goal.”

“Okay.”

He shook my shoulders, laughing. “I really thought the suspension would loosen you up, but it looks like I’m going to have to do that myself.”

“We don’t have time to loosen up, C. We have the draft in two weeks.”

“And what are a couple of gym sessions going to do now because the teams aren’t going to take into account how well you foam rolled your thighs in the last couple of weeks. On that point, Do you ever wonder if rolling your muscles that much might make you more prone to injury?”

“How the hell did you pass biology class?”

He pushed his tongue out, licking his lips. “I think we all know how I passed.” He wriggled his eyebrows. No words. I had no words for my best friend because yeah, he had a thing for dangerous situations, and faculty members, apparently.

“Why did you bring me here?” I changed the subject because frankly, I didn’t want to hear about him getting a blow job from our teacher. There were just certain things in our friendship that I didn’t need to know. Besides, I was more suspicious about his intentions tonight because there was always a reason with Cade. He didn’t do anything without an ulterior motive, and he certainly didn’t drag me to parties unless he had a good reason for it.

Cade grinned. “Mandy asked me to come.”

Mandy? Mandy? I tried to think about all the girls from our class, but I couldn’t remember a single Mandy. However, that could just be down to me. It wasn’t like I paid much attention to girls at school. There was only one that would get my attention.

“I’m surprised you’re chasing her. I didn’t think you wanted to be tied down with a girlfriend since we’re leaving in a few weeks.”

He shrugged. “I’m not planning on getting a girlfriend. It’s just a little fun before we go. Something I think you’d benefit from. You might be surprised at how much you like it.”

“I’m good thanks.”

Cade narrowed his eyes and pointed at me. “You know. I think that’s why you’re a good goaltender.” I responded with a glare, so he continued and pointed at my arms. “Because you’re all pent up and angry. The only release you get is at the gym, and I don’t think that’s nearly enough for a testosterone-fueled athlete like you. But then again, sexless and angry seemed to work wonders for your save record this year. Leading the state. That’s impressive.” He chuckled when I didn’t say anything. “Not to mention the way you messed up Henry’s nose. That was insane. The guys haven’t stopped talking about it. Have you seen it?”

I groaned, rolling my eyes as we walked into the house because I was frustrated that breaking a teammates nose would be my final legacy at the school. Before that, I was just the quiet goaltender that kept himself to himself. Now people saw me as something different. Something a little more unhinged. The music was blaring, and just as we got to the front door, something caught my eye. Well, more likesomeone.

“Is that Madison?” I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Madison was standing in the middle of the room dancing and waving at every guy that walked by. Tiff was next to her, watching Madison closely. I blew out breath, trying not to look like I was about to lose my shit, but I was almost certain it would happen if the guy currently talking to Madison didn’t walk away. Was he the only person in the school that hadn’t heard about Henry’s nose?

“Ah, yeah. She’s here again.” Cade sighed, shaking his head in annoyance.

“Again?” That was strange. I rarely saw Madison at parties. She’d gone to one or two before, but none with this manyseniors, and none where she was dressed like that. She had a tight, purple skirt on and a white cropped shirt, showing off her toned, tanned stomach.

“Yeah. In the last two weeks, my sister has decided to change things up and prove to the world that Henry’s an asshole.”

“How’s she doing that?”

“You’re looking at it.” He held his hand up toward his sister and dropped it.