Scoring Off The Ice (Ice Kings #2) - Stacey Lynn Page 0,81

at the waists making them more crop tops.

There are leather gloves on hands and red leather jackets, a la Michael Jackson, acid wash jeans. The best part is from the wedding parties that are dressed in elegant gowns to the ripped jeans and blue eyeshadow, everyone is out to have fun, so the vibe is perfect.

I’m halfway through my Long Island, sweat gathering at the back of my neck when I tell Pippa and Maggie, I need to take a quick break. My thighs might not be able to take any more if I don’t rest so I scoot my way back through toward the bar where it’s a bit quieter and I can wait for another drink when someone steps in front of me, hand on my shoulder.

I immediately jolt back, shaking it off, until I recognize him.

“Paisley. I thought that was you.”

Jason Taylor. The sight of him alone has me panicking, and I quickly scan the area around. No way. There’s no way Mikah broke it off with me and then came out with his teammates.

“Paisley?” he asks, and his head falls, tilted to one side. “You okay? Sawyer said you and Mikah were going to meet us out later, but no one’s heard from him.”

My chin wobbles. Oh God. What is going on?

“I wouldn’t know,” I say, fighting through the pain. Darn it. For one blessed hour, I was faking doing so well. But now there’s a tremor threatening to erupt starting in my gut. “He ended things with me.”

“What? You’re shitting me.”

I wrap my lips around my straw and take a huge sip. Screw it. I toss the straw to the floor and drain the rest of my drink. Sorry environment. I’ll recycle more tomorrow. “Not shitting you and no offense, but I’m here with friends.”

I go to move around him, but he steps in my path. “Are you okay?”

“No, Jason.” I laugh. The Long Island has made me a lunatic. “I am not okay. And worse, Mikah isn’t and totally shut me out. I thought… I thought…” Oh God. He’s turning blurry. Which means I’m crying. In a freaking bar.

Sign me up for freshman-sloppy-drunk girl.

I slam my eyes closed. Maybe he’ll vanish. Maybe my alcohol brain has made him appear and when I open my eyes, he’ll be gone.

Instead, a freakishly large hand wraps around my biceps and he tugs me through the throng of people to the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“To the team. Where it’s quiet.”

“No.” I try to shove my heels to the floor, but it’s useless. Jason’s way bigger than Mikah and probably stronger. Plus, the floor is slippery from spilled drinks. “I don’t want to see them.”

“Well they’re going to want to hear this. Sawyer talked to Mikah right after practice, said he’d talk to you about meeting us and headed out.”

My heart shouldn’t flutter he said that. But it does.

Then I remember the slammed door in my face and the distance he put between us before that. The tortured way he looked at me.

I give up the fight. If I manage to pull free of Jason, I’ll probably end up with my ass on the floor, soaked with beer and whatever else. So I stay quiet until we’re up the stairs, in the VIP area where it’s quieter and I let him drag me to near the back where it’s even quieter and several faces I recognize all look at me with surprise.

“Paisley!” Katie cries and jumps from her seat. “You made it! We were wondering where you two have been.”

If someone could rip into my chest and pull out my heart, I’m not sure it could hurt worse.

“Mikah broke up with her,” Jason says, dropping the bomb. And God... it sounds so much worse hearing it than saying it. “Jude. Newman. Let’s go.”

“What?” I spin, wobble on my legs a bit. I blame the dancing. It’s probably fifty-fifty that and the drinks.

Maybe seventy-thirty drinks to dancing. My head is swimming a bit and I barely register the other guys moving.

“What? No. No, no, no.” I reach for Jason, but he’s already talking to Sawyer. Next to him is Tessa, who looks as pale-faced as I feel. “You can’t.”

Oh my God. He’ll think I called his friends. Cried my eyes out to Katie or something. How humiliating.

“Jude,” I say, because he’s closest. “Please don’t. It’s a breakup. I’ll be fine.”

Jude glances at Katie before meeting my gaze. “He cares about you. Talks about you all the time. He likes you.