“And you started cutting?”
She nods, working her lip. Swallowing hard, she looks up at me. “He was so mean, Jace. I mean, like over and above mean. Even after we broke up, he still contacted me just to be hateful.”
“What a fucktard.”
She nods. “I loved him, but then I wonder if I was obsessed because I wanted to be loved so damn bad.”
I nod. “Maybe.”
“Yeah,” she says, looking absently at my chest. “It sucks. He really did a number on me.”
Her eyes are full of pure agony, and it kills me to see. Cupping her face, I run my thumb along her jawbone. “I’m sorry. If I ever see him again, I’ll kick his ass.”
Her lips curve as she shakes her head. “You won’t. He stopped playing.”
“Why?” I ask, my heart in my throat. I hate what I’m assuming, but it’s just so easy to. Her dad has the power to ruin careers, and if Caleb broke Avery’s heart, any father would do just that. Even douchebag fathers.
“I’m not sure. I never got the full story because Matty and he stopped being friends.”
“Really?” My heart is thudding in my throat. “Why?”
“No clue. Laurence told me once they got into a fistfight about something—not me, believe me. I asked since I hoped my brother would fight for my honor, but he hadn’t. It was about something else. No one knows why, but Caleb disappeared after that.”
“Wow,” I say, finding my voice. “So your dad didn’t ruin his career?” She shoots me a look of annoyance, and I shrug, a forgiving smile on my lips. “Come on, Avery. Dude was good, and for him to just quit… That’s odd, you know?”
“No, I do know. But no, the way I hear it is he quit himself. Stories fly all over the Princeton Hockey Club, and from what I heard, he wasn’t getting the position he wanted. Matty and Laurence were getting everything, so he quit. He was crazy stuck-up and entitled, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don’t know, but last I heard, he’s touring Africa.”
“Africa? Over hockey? That’s blasphemy,” I add with a grin, and she smiles as she shrugs.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I try not to think about him much. Everything about him is a bad memory.”
I nod slowly as she laces our fingers together. “How old were you?”
“Fifteen, almost sixteen.”
“Wow, so it had to suck.”
“Yeah, it blew badly. I didn’t think I would recover.” Her statement sounds loaded and I want to ask more, but she shrugs, looking up at me. “But I did. It’s a struggle, and sometimes I get overwhelmed, but I’m trying to do what makes me happy.”
“That’s all I want,” I say, kissing the back of her hand.
Smiling shyly at me, she says, “I
t’s ’cause of you, Jace.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’m happy because of you.”
Bringing her flat against my chest, I kiss her nose. “Same here, baby.”
Pressing my lips to hers, I close my eyes as our lips dance together in perfect unison. This girl and kissing are my two favorite things lately. As her hands thread through my hair, I hold her face, my body going taut and my cock coming to life. I roll on top of her, and she grins as I press myself into her hot center. Kissing down her throat, I go to her chest, but then she taps me.
“Markus isn’t here, is he?” she whispers, her eyes wide, and I shake my head.
“Nope.”
“Oh, didn’t he go out with Mekena last night?”