Page 12 of Crazy Pucking Love
“She does.” Whitney pulled on her coat. “Now, let’s go.”
“She hasn’t seen Hudson in a while,” Lyla said, and Beckett nodded, as if he completely understood.
Within a few minutes we were in the Land Rover, and about ten minutes after that, we pulled up to a townhouse apartment complex. Whitney bolted the second the vehicle stopped, and I followed after her—at a much slower pace—as Beckett and Lyla lagged behind, kissing and cuddling.
Even though I didn’t know Vanessa very well—and I still wasn’t sure where she was at on the Team Megan scale—I sort of wished she were here, because from the looks of things, I was going to feel like the third wheel a lot tonight.
Several guys turned as Whitney opened the door, and the jacked, tattooed guy in the middle shot her a big smile, leading me to believe he was the boyfriend. She took a few running steps and leaped into his arms. They kissed, apparently not caring who saw, and I knew I should look away, but I also thoughtthat.That’swhat I want.
Dane’s image popped into my head again, and while I didn’t know if he and I would have that, I definitely wanted to find out if we could get there. I pulled out my phone, just in case I missed hearing it ring, then scolded myself.
Hopefully this party would distract me from thinking about how many hours he’d had my number without calling. It probably wouldn’t hurt to see what kind of other guys were out there in the Boston College sea, either, and if they hit any of my requirements.
Not that Beckett would let me date any of his teammates—I’d be shocked if he hadn’t already warned them to stay away from me, which made me wonder why he’d invited me to come along to a hockey party in the first place.
Probably so he can point at me and announce, “this girl right here. She’s off-limits.”
I turned when I heard Beck and Lyla come in behind me.
“Kowalski, hey!” Beck said, nodding at someone over my shoulder.
I recognized the name from the few games I’d caught last year—back when I had to beg and fight and basically bargain away all my fun activities to get Aunt Tessa to let me go. I spun around, wanting to get a better look at one of the best wingers I’d ever seen.
Then my heart stopped, because I’d already met Kowalski without knowing it. His first name was Dane, and he was staring at me with a dropped-jaw expression that made it clear he’d expected to see me tonight about as much as I’d expected to see him.
Chapter Six
Dane
Don’t check her out, don’t check her out, don’t check her out…
“Dane,” Megan said. “Hey.”
Well, there goes our cover.Her wince made it clear she’d realized it, too.
Beck’s face quickly transformed to a distrustful scowl. “How do you two know each other?”
Megan fiddled with her necklace. It had big pink and yellow flowers and a butterfly that practically pointed at the cleavage I was doing my damnedest to not look at. “We don’t. Not really. He…helped me find a building on campus when I was lost.”
“Must’ve been really helpful if you exchanged names,” Beck ground out between clenched teeth.
Megan rolled her eyes, turning so she faced him more than me. “I like to properly thank people who help me. Remember the fuss I made about you bringing my boots. I’msucha nice person.”
It was a decent attempt at distracting her brother, but he was still glaring daggers at me, proof that my worry the other night—also known as the reason I hadn’t called Megan despite scrolling to her name in my contacts more times than I cared to admit—was valid.
Since we’d still ended up here, I wished I’d called. At least then I could’ve had one more fun conversation with her before knowing that I definitely had to cut it off for good.
My hand drifted up to rub my neck, but I realized that gesture was all but admitting guilt, so I crossed my arms instead—that’d also keep me from reaching out and squeezing her shoulder or hand like I wanted to. “Glad I could help…” I let my mouth drop open as I tapped my lip. I felt awful acting like I didn’t remember her name, but I thought it might be the only thing that’d redeem me, and since she’d lied about how we met, I hoped she’d realize I was only trying to back up her story.
“Megan.”
“Right.” I pointed a thumb over my shoulder toward the kitchen area. “I’ve got to go see if I need to grab more ice or cups. But I’ll catch you guys later.” There. Nice and vague. No sounding like I was hoping to catch Megan alone at some point.
Seriously, if Beck wanted to keep the guys on the team from checking out his sister, why’d he bring her? Any red-blooded male with eyes was going to have a hard time keeping himself from lusting after her. In a sea of a lot of the same type of girls, her bright pink pants, that funky jewelry, and the strawberry-blond waves I knew from experience were as soft as they looked, Megan definitely stood out.
Misty, a girl I’d been trying my best to avoid since one drunken kiss at the Quad—also known as when I’d implemented the drinking less goal—walked into the kitchen as I was getting water from the fridge.
“Hey, Kowalski.”
