Page 69 of Crazy Pucking Love
So maybe I was being slightly judgmental and jumping to conclusions, but how could I possibly compete?
No wonder he doesn’t want to be in a committed relationship. Who would when he has access to all that?
I didn’t want to be that insecure girl, but it was hard when I knew that Dane wasn’t mine.
That he might never be.
Hudson came back from wherever he’d gone, and I fought the urge to pry him for information, which would definitely make me look desperate.
Whitney kissed his cheek and grinned at him. “Uh-oh,” he said. “I know that look. You want to dance, too, don’t you?”
They took off, and Vanessa glanced around. “Should we mingle? Or are you going to go say hi to Dane—I can keep myself entertained if you want to feel out the situation.”
“You’re not going to say hi to Ryder?”
“Nah. He can come to me if he wants to.”
I eyed the circle of mostly female people around them and resolve replaced the mix of jealousy and hurt. Okay maybe not replaced, but it at least lessened it. I wasn’t going to go stand in line to talk to Dane. I’d made enough of an effort this week and I wasn’t going to play this stupid game anymore. If he wanted to talk to me, he could make some effort.
Vanessa jerked her chin toward the corner. “There’s a beer pong game going on over there, and a couple of the guys keep glancing our way. You wanna jump in? Make some friends?”
“Hell yeah.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Dane
I’d already shifted several times to keep Misty at a distance, but she just kept coming back for more. After all the times I’d blown her off, I thought she’d give it up. Judging by how determined she was, I was going to have to be blunt, to the point of being mean. The only reason I’d stuck around so long was because Ox had asked me to be his wingman and help him talk to Lindsay Rivera.
Honestly, I didn’t know why he asked me—she wasn’t fond of hockey players in general, and since I was Hudson’s roommate when they’d attempted…a sort of half-relationship I guess you could call it, I swore she hated me extra.
Ox told me to just add to the conversation or make jokes or something, but with Misty interrupting every few seconds, all I was doing was getting frustrated with the entire situation. Add tonight’s loss and the fact that I felt off and annoyed in general lately, and I was over it.
Megan was nowhere in sight anymore, and I wondered if she’d already left. Not talking to her besides the few minutes before or after class had been harder than I ever imagined, and with each passing day, it made me grouchier and grouchier. The selfish part of me was about to say screw trying to keep this balancing act going between friends with benefits and getting too serious.
After all, she said we could keep it light. And we were friends, too. Lately it just felt like I was punishing myself for nothing.
When I turned back, Ryder was scowling at me. “You fail as a wingman.”
“Bro, I told you it wouldn’t work. She went from our biggest fan to girl most likely to try to off the entire team.”
“Hey, Dane.” Misty ran her finger down my chest. “Wanna get out of here?” She moved her lips to my ear. “We never finished what we started a few weeks ago.”
I shrugged her off. “Misty, look, I’m seeing someone. Remember, you met her in the library? So we’re never going to finish what we started.”
She pushed her lips out into a pout—more manipulation than sorrow.
I walked away, not wanting to play games. Excited shouts and cheers caught my attention, and I headed over to where a large group of people were gathered around a Ping-Pong table.
Megan stood across from Daniel, our teammate who belonged to the frat, and from how few cups he had left, she was kicking his ass.
All the guys in the room seemed to be her fanboys, too, giving her appreciative looks that made me want to tell them to back the hell off.
Daniel drank the last cup and then pushed away. “That’s it. I concede.”
“Who’s got next game?” I asked, and one of the guys told me to go ahead.
I sat across from Megan and her features hardened—I’d been hoping for more of a happy-to-see-me expression, but I suppose I deserved that after ducking her so much this week. Especially since she’d been pissed at me last time I’d tried and failed the whole sucky putting-distance-between-us thing.
