Dare You to Catfish the Hockey Player (Rock Valley High 6)

Fury danced in Michael’s eyes. He crossed his arms and glared at me. I was pretty sure he hadn’t expected me to take the bait. Beside him, Gabriel’s disapproving frown grew deeper. He mirrored his brother’s position, his muscular arms flexed over his chest. It would’ve killed me to admit it aloud, but it was an intimidating sight. Two of the school’s best hockey players staring me down, as if they wanted to crush me to dust. I swallowed down my nerves, desperate not to let them know they’d gotten to me.

“See you later, boys.” I pushed between them with a careless wave of my hand. “Make sure to take your Midol before you get all emotional. Wouldn’t want you bursting into tears on us.”

It wasn’t until I got to the parking lot was I able to breathe normally again. I leaned against my old Chevy Cavalier while my heart raced. That had been intense. I had not been prepared for how much courage it would take to stand up to the Corrigan brothers once and for all.

My phone buzzed in my pocket with a message. With a shaky hand, I took it out and looked at the screen. My online friend, Battlescar13, had contacted me. It was one of over a dozen unanswered messages he’d sent me since last weekend.

Battlescar13: Dude — they chose Battlegrounds for the next tourney!

I closed my eyes to block out his words. A week ago, I would’ve been excited to see that message. Battlescar13 had been one of my only gaming friends these past few months. But for all he knew, I was the boy I claimed to be on my profile. Not the sixteen-year-old girl wishing that she didn’t have to hide behind a fake profile picture to be taken seriously. He’d never understand.

Especially since Battlescar13 was none other than Gabriel Corrigan’s online alter-ego.

I’d been chatting with the enemy for months and didn’t know it until a week ago.

Slipping the phone back into my pocket, I thought about that poster in my back pocket. It was hard to feel bad about losing my mind a few minutes ago when this was all I’d ever dreamed about. Never mind the cash prize, this was a chance to prove that I belonged in the gaming world. And all the girls who came after me. How could I turn down a dare like that?

Jutting out my chin, I summoned all the courage I had and made up my mind on the spot. I was going to enter this year’s gamer tournament. And I was going to win. No one—not even Michael or Gabriel Corrigan—was going to stop me.

That was a promise.

Chapter Two

“Why is he looking at you like that?”

I turned toward my best friend, Charlotte, and sighed hopelessly. She stared across our classroom and I had a feeling who held her attention. Anatomy class was nearly over and I could still feel him breathing down my neck. One of the Corrigan brothers. They hadn’t forgotten about me since my dramatic exit at the club yesterday.

Sure enough, I looked over to see Michael watching me with a predatory smirk on his face and whispering something to Gabriel sitting next to him. It wasn’t hard to know it was about me. I could only imagine the nasty things spilling out of his lips. Gabriel didn’t laugh at his brother’s whispered remarks. He didn’t even smirk. He just lazily turned his brunette head in my direction and our gazes collided.

Frustration and nerves tumbled inside my abdomen, but I refused to blink first. I’d read once on how to display dominance with a bear in the wild. Stare it down. Make yourself look bigger. I wondered if it worked with the Corrigan brothers. It certainly couldn’t hurt to try. I maintained my eye contact. With a slight pursing of his lips, Gabriel finally tore his eyes away and stared hard at the front of the classroom.

Victory!

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I whispered coolly to Charlotte, opening my textbook on the double wide desk I shared with her. Our teacher, Mr. Hart, was still lecturing on about the skeletal structure in the back of the classroom as slides showed up on the smart board at the front. “Michael just thinks he can intimidate me. I told him I was going to trounce him in this year’s annual gamer tournament at the club.”

Charlotte’s eyes grew wide and her freckles seemed to pop on her cheeks. She leaned forward, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. She and Lexi Black were my best friends. Before my older sister, Trina, had practically forced them on me, I was kind of a loner. Things had changed this year—for the better. I supposed I had my sis to thank for that.

“No way!” She grasped the sleeve of my black tee. “You’re doing it? I thought you never entered those things.”

“I don’t.” I shot her a nervous smile. “But Michael got under my skin. You should’ve heard him talking at the club yesterday.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine. When I started riding barrels, he was pretty obnoxious about it. My boyfriend set him straight, though.”

I grinned at the dreamy expression on her face. Hunter, Charlotte’s best friend turned boyfriend, was pretty protective of her. Not a lot of guys could go toe-to-toe with the Corrigan brothers. Yet, somehow, he’d made Michael lay off.

“Well, I don’t have a boyfriend to set him straight,” I said dryly. Charlotte’s eye lit up with excitement and I scrambled to cut her off before she came up with any bad ideas. “No, Char, that doesn’t mean I want one. It just means I’m going to have to do it myself.”

She slouched a little, disappointment washing over her face. It was kind of funny the lengths at which my friends went to try and set me up. As if they thought because they were in happy relationships, I needed one, too. But I’d always been something of a loner.

Plus, guys just weren’t interested in a girl who dressed in gamer tees and didn’t own a mascara wand. That was just the way it was, and I wasn’t interested in changing for them. This was the way I was. Take it or leave it.

“When’s the competition start?” she asked in a defeated tone.

“Next week.” Nerves danced along the lining of my stomach. It was hard to tell if it was dread or excitement. “There are three rounds total. The final round is the Saturday before Christmas.”

She sat up straight in her chair, her eyes widening. “That’s perfect! That’s the day of the Winter Ball. You can dominate the competition, then go to the dance with us. We’ll celebrate all night long.”

I made a face. The last thing I wanted to think about right now was the Winter Ball. Fluffy dresses and fancy makeup? Neither of those things fell in my comfort zones. There were far more important things to focus on.