Face Offs & Cheap Shots (CU Hockey 2)

“What the hell is this?”

He winks. “I’m doing the vamp a favor. No one likes a sloppy hookup, Topher.”

And that sets off the teasing again. Beck kicks back in his seat and watches it unfold, making it clear this is for leaving him high and dry.

I clench my jaw like I normally do when he starts his shit, but this time a smile slips out.

And I’m not sure who’s taken over my body, but when Beck reaches his legs across and presses his foot against mine, the teasing becomes easy to drown out.

Fuck you, I mouth.

The asshole blows me a kiss.

14

Beck

Will this night ever end?

I wonder if I can leave my credit card details at the bar so the guys can keep drinking while I slip away and drag Jacobs with me.

Just as I’m contemplating enduring the hour-long lecture from my father for racking up a giant bill that he pays for, a group of girls enter the bar.

Six of us. Four of them.

Perfect numbers by my count.

“Dibs,” I call and make my way out of the booth.

I feel Jacobs’s gaze on me the whole way across the room where the girls sit at an empty booth.

One of them scoffs. “Not even two minutes here.”

She’s a pretty brunette with bright green eyes, but she does nothing for me tonight.

I put on my most charming smile. “Hi, ladies. So, listen. See those guys over there?” I point my thumb behind me. “Any of you willing to take pity on my single friends? I desperately want to go home, and they won’t let me.”

The blonde one leans back to look around me. “You guys are the Colchester hockey team.”

“We sure are.”

“We’re doing a summer program at University of Vermont.”

I try not to screw up my face. First because UVM is our enemy, and secondly, that sounds kind of … underage-y. “Aww, any one of you could live out your own star-crossed lovers fantasy. One from CU, one from UVM. Cute, no?”

“Ooh, the scowly one is cute. Who’s that?” the second blonde says.

I look over and smile because that one’s coming home with me. “Taken. Sorry. It’s the other four. What’ll you have to drink? My treat.”

They each want a cocktail. Of course.

I go to the bar and order for them and then head back to our table. “Get this … they’re interested in you four. Sorry, Jacobs. They think you’re butt ugly.”

Surprise fills his eyes before he covers a smile. “Sure they do.”

“They must have horrible taste because they’re interested in this lot.” I wave my hand around the table. “They’re waiting for you guys to go over there.”

I’ve never seen four hockey players move faster which is saying a lot.

I grin at Jacobs. “Now, we’re free to leave.”

He stands. “See how resourceful you can be when you need to?”

We leave while the others are distracted, but I make sure to send all of them a text to check the girls’ IDs before taking any of them home. There’s my civic duty done for the night. Although, they’re in a bar, so they probably have fake IDs. Or maybe they really are UVM students.

It’s a fine line between playing wingman and getting my friends arrested it seems.

The walk back to the dorms is too far, and my dick complains.

“Are we there yet?” Oh wait, nope. That’s me complaining.

“You sound eager,” Jacobs says.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about last night.” I step in line with him, our shoulders bumping. “Haven’t been reliving it over and over and over again, making practice painfully uncomfortable because your cup basically has the same effect as a cock cage.”

He eyes me. “How do you know what a cock cage feels like?”

“I’m fully kinky. BDSM. Whips, chains … ball gags.”

He eyes me skeptically.

“Okay, fine, I watch a lot of porn, okay?”

“More believable. Though the image of you with a ball gag in your mouth so you can’t talk is really appealing. Like … it might actually be the hottest thing my mind has ever conjured.”

I can’t deny that appeals to me too, but I’m a little too vulnerable admitting that to Jacobs of all people. “There are other ways to shut me up.”

Jacobs averts his gaze. “Walk faster.”

I snort.

Our steps increase, and because we’re us, it doesn’t take long to get competitive about it. We try to nudge each other out of the way. He pushes me behind him. I grab his arm and pull him back.

When we hit the steps of the dorm and push open the door, we’re laughing and not paying attention to our surroundings.

A figure steps out in front of us.

We jump apart, but it’s only one of the camp kids.

“Why are you out of bed?” I bark.

He flicks his gaze between us. “I thought you two hated each other.”