to be waiting a long time.
“Grant! There you are.”
I step back as Foster’s friend from class joins us, knocking their shoulders together.
“Dude, what are you doing here?” Foster asks, and with both of them standing over me, it occurs to me how impressively tall Foster is.
“Ah … Coach wanted me to let you know you’re running drills at practice tomorrow.”
“Why the hell did I need a head’s up for that?”
“Don’t ask me how his mind works.” His friend won’t look him in the eye. It seems off.
I tilt my head. “Couldn’t that be conveyed in a text?” I regret speaking the second the words leave my mouth because I’m suddenly the subject of both of their attention.
His friend’s face lights up. “It’s the TA. You—”
“Jacobs.” Foster shoots him a look before tugging his friend away. “Be back in a second, Zach.”
They leave, and it’s a relief to not feel like I’m surrounded by a wall of muscle. I watch as they talk quietly a few feet away, and it doesn’t surprise me that Foster’s friend is as good looking as he is. With how close they seem to be, maybe he’s Foster’s type?
I’m reminded of the casual touching and easy banter they share during class, and it sets off that foreign sick feeling I experienced earlier. Emotions are transient. It’s nothing more than a temporary slip in control. Control I will regain. I remind myself for the millionth time this week that my body is reacting to the alpha in Foster and nothing more. And yet … I look at his friend. He’s very clearly on the same level as Foster when it comes to respectability within the school, and he’s large and attractive, but the dose of chemistry is absent.
And that’s enough of that.
Only, now I’m not thinking about them, I’m overly focused on the fact Foster left me here. Alone. Somewhere I don’t even want to be.
I wonder if anyone will notice if I slip away.
Ray’s eyes meet mine from across the room.
I’ll have to make my escape when she’s not looking.
9
Foster
We’ve barely reached outside, the early fall air turning cool already and sending a shiver through me, when Jacobs rounds on me. “Are you on a date right now?”
“It’s not a date. For the millionth time, he’s—”
“Your brother’s best friend. Uh-huh. Sure. You had your arm around him.”
I gasp. “Scandalous. Wait, how long were you in there—”
“I thought you were trying to fuck the guy, not”—Jacobs waves his hand in the direction of the building—“whatever that was in there.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “It’s not like that.”
It’s not.
Not. At. All.
Jacobs looks like he doesn’t believe me.
“Okay, so what if it is? I mean, it isn’t, but what if it was? Why are you acting like a jealous boyfriend? Do I need to remind you you’re straight? Straight, straight, straight, as you put it when I came out to you. You know, in case I ever in my wildest dreams thought of you that way.”
Jacobs’s jaw sets like he’s gritting his teeth. “I’m not acting like … that. I’m acting like a concerned teammate. What happened to no relationships, no distractions? Are we making it to the Frozen Four this year or not?”
“No distractions,” I agree. “Zach isn’t a distraction.”
“Isn’t he?”
“Nope. He’s a friend. Last I checked, we were allowed to have those. I brought him here so he could make other friends.”
Jacobs’s focus moves behind me.
“I didn’t even want to come.”
I flinch at Zach’s voice and then glare at Jacobs. “Thanks for the heads up,” I mutter and turn to Zach.
“I’m going home.” Zach charges past me.
Shit.
It’s not like I said anything that was untrue, but I know the way it sounded coming out of my mouth. Like I only brought him so he wouldn’t be my responsibility anymore.
I catch up to him. “Zach …”
“I’m perfectly capable of getting home on my own. I’m not some helpless—”
“I know. I want to walk you home.”
He stops in his tracks. “Why?”
“Because I was the one who dragged you out. It’s the polite thing to do.”
“I didn’t think hockey players knew the meaning of that word.”
I bark out a laugh. “Because we’re so dumb? I like snarky Zach.”
He takes off again. “I wasn’t being snarky. I meant because you’re anything but polite on the ice.”
“Mmhmm, sure. Definitely wasn’t a dig at a hockey player’s intellect.”
His lips twitch. “Maybe a little.”
I grin.
When we reach his dorm, he goes to walk up the stairs to his building, but I pull on his