Page 82 of Crazy Pucking Love
Jeff was leaned against the wall, his skin drained of color, an about-to-hurl look on his face.
“I’m going to go,” I said.
“You look like you could use a beer. Or maybe even something stronger.”
I’d be lying if I said the idea of drinking until I was numb didn’t appeal to me. But I knew it wasn’t the answer. What I needed was Megan, but she was in another state, too far away, and suddenly my life spiraled away from me.
Ox placed a beer in my hands, and I tipped it back, downing it in a few long swigs.
“Just one game,” he said, taking the empty cup from me. Then he indicated the other side of the table with a subtle tilt of his head, and I noticed Lindsay standing there at the end, her posture on the extremely hesitant side. “But be on your best behavior. We’ve got reporters watching.”
I tried to hide my shock that Ryder actually talked Lindsay into even watching a game—she didn’t usually come to the Quad or associate with hockey players anymore. Of course the instant she saw me, her gaze turned icy cold. But when Ryder shot her a smile, she actually thawed the tiniest bit. I’d say one thing for the guy, he was definitely persistent.
Ryder placed a refilled cup in front of me and gave me a look that reminded me about how I owed him.
“One game,” I said.
Famous last words, right?
Chapter Forty-Three
Megan
I wandered downstairs and noticed Lyla alone on the couch. “Where’s Beckett?”
“He went to grab dinner—hope Chinese is okay with you.”
“That’s fine.” I sat on the other end of the couch and fiddled with the ends of my ponytail. For the last hour I sat in my room, debating texting Dane, telling myself there was a good explanation for his past behavior. Even convincing myself that Beckett had stretched the truth. “Lyla, I need to know…” A pickle of apprehension crawled across my skin. “Did that bet thing really happen?”
Lyla’s face dropped and my lungs stopped taking in oxygen. “I…I really don’t want to get in the middle of this,” she said. “I did with Whitney, and I made more of a mess than anything.”
“You mean you got in the middle of it once you found out about the bet?”
“Before, actually.”
A wave of nausea rolled through my gut.
Lyla pressed her lips into a tight line. “I’m not going to lie, I saw red when I heard about it. I wanted to find both Hudson and Dane and kick their asses on Whitney’s behalf. If I thought I could, I probably would’ve.”
“What happened?” I needed to put all these variables together and balance the equation so I could solve it. To put this new information with the guy I knew and figure out what it meant for us.
Lyla sighed and switched her crossed legs, and I noticed the imprint her boot had left on her skin. I focused on it, worried about the truth while desperately needing to hear it. “Last semester, Whitney ended up posing as a sports writer so she could do a story on the preferential treatment of athletes. I told her if she wanted the guys to take her seriously, she needed to insist they treat her like a professional, no letting flirty comments slide.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“Hudson hit on her, of course, and she shut him down hard. And he was in a bad place—Whit and I didn’t know it at the time, but it plays into the story. See, Dane knew he needed a distraction, and so he and Hudson made a bet about sleeping with Whitney.”
My stomach bottomed out. “They were both trying to sleep with her?”
Lyla shook her head. “No, no. It wasn’t quite that scandalous. Dane bet Hudson that he couldn’t. That made him pursue her a little harder than he might’ve otherwise, but along the way—before they even slept together—he fell in love with her. Of course truth has a way of coming out, and Whitney found out and thought it had all been a lie, and she was justifiably crushed.”
I could imagine, since I felt crushed just thinking about Dane being involved. “How did she get over it?”
“Like Beck said, it involved Hudson begging forgiveness—which he did after a big romantic gesture—and she’d already fallen in love with him, which made it easier for her to look past his imperfections and put her faith in love and in him. He and Dane have both apologized and admitted it was stupid, but I’m sure you can see why your brother might not want you to get involved with a guy who makes bets about sleeping with girls.”
As much as I hated it, Icouldsee it. “You don’t think…” My throat tightened and I couldn’t force out the words.
“That he made a bet about sleeping with you?” Lyla shook her head and grabbed my hand. “No. I don’t think he’d do that again. I can tell by the way he looks at you that he cares about you—when he told Beck that he did, I heard the sincerity in his voice, too.”
