Page 80 of Play Maker

“I’m not a cheap date,” he quipped.

I swatted his ass in retaliation and took off running down the rest of the stairs.

CHAPTER 25

AXEL

“Is this your first time here?”

Someone was talking to me. I think?

I was busy watching Jace as he bent over the pool table, setting up the break shot. The sight of his sexy ass in those worn jeans was painfully distracting, so distracting that I didn’t even notice the guy talking to me. Shit.

“You’re Axel, right? Axel Lund. You play for the Cougars.”

At the sound of my name, I turned around to find a tall, lanky guy with big green eyes, dark hair, and a shy smile greeting me. He looked familiar but I didn’t know where from. One of my classes, maybe? He was leaning against the wall, a bottle of Dr. Pepper in hand, surveying the room.

Free Ball—yep, that was the name of the pool hall—was packed. With twelve tables on the first floor, and video arcade games on the second, the place was crawling with students and locals alike. There wasn’t much nightlife in a small town like Sutton so I could see why a venue like this was popular. I hadn’t explored the town much since I arrived, preferring to keep myself to myself. Growing up in a college town where everybody knew your business didn’t exactly endear me to this one. Not atfirst. But, like the cockiest forward on my hockey team, Vermont was growing on me.

“That’s right, and yeah, first time here,” I replied. “Have we met before?”

“Not formally. I’m Archie Dunn,” he offered his free hand. “I’m friends with Jackson. We row crew together.”

“I thought you looked familiar,” I said as we shook hands. “Were you in the crowd last night?”

He nodded and raised his bottle. “Hell of a game. You did Sutton proud.”

“Thanks. It was a tough one. I used to play for Langston.”

“Ouch. Well, you did good. Better than that. Your assist in that last period was phenomenal,” Archie commented and glanced at Jace. “So, you’re here with Jace.”

“Yeah, we needed a break between hockey games,” I explained, hoping like hell I didn’t start blushing. “You know him?”

“Oh yeah,” Archie replied, his face turning bright red.

Wait, was this one of Jace’s hookups? My blood pressure went from normal to dangerously high in the blink of an eye.

“I mean, I’m friends with Hailey and Tyson,” Archie added quickly. “They know him better than I do.”

Hailey certainly did. And Tyson? Fuck me. It was another reminder that Jace could have, and did have, anyone he wanted. What was he doing here with me?

“Awesome,” I bit out, not knowing what else to say but forcing my mouth to move. “Are you here alone?”

“My friends are upstairs in the game room. I came down to use the bathroom and grabbed another drink.”

“You want to play with us?” I asked, trying to break the awkward tension.

“Thanks, I’d love to,” Archie grinned and placed his drink aside.

I turned back to the table only to find Jace giving me the side- eye.

“What?” I mouthed.

He shook his head but stood up and offered his hand to Archie.

“Hey, Dunn, how are you?” Jace asked with a tense smile.

“I’m great. Finally got to meet Axel.” Archie smiled at me. “Jackson’s talked about your game, but watching you play on Friday was something else.”

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