First Night

WE MET under a multitude of improbabilities. For starters,

I almost didn't go to the party that night. Earlier in the week, I'd been in a car accident. It was my brother's fault. He'd veered off the road, trying to avoid hitting a deer. He was successful but killed two coyotes that were left wedged between the front bumper and an oak tree.

Needless to say, Mr. PETA was a mess. He broke his left arm. I got a couple of stitches on my jaw. Our mother acted like the world was coming to an end. Local newspapers and magazines plastered my face across their front pages: Fairview Hockey Star in Car Accident. It was all very dramatic.

Two days later, I was back on the ice, scoring the goal that pushed us into the semifinals. Usually, it was something I would want to celebrate, but I was dealing with a killer headache and had to be up early to help my brother move his shit to his girlfriend's place.

Besides, I'd already done this celebration twice. This year would mark the third in a row if we could pull it off. I didn't see why we wouldn't, as long as I was starting. I wasn't being cocky. The Fairview Hockey Team was trash before I decided to come here four years ago. Once I signed, I'd gotten a few other players to sign, and we dominated. I'd been an underdog my whole life before I started playing hockey. I also had a chip on my shoulder the size of Alaska.

These days, it was more like Georgia since I finally got my deserved recognition. I was revered as one of the best players in the country; I already had a lucrative contract presented to me by a professional team last year to prove it.

My friends thought I was crazy to pass it up. My advisor harped on it for months before he let it go.

I had a plan. I'd finish my four years here, sign as a free agent with my dream team, and get even more money and opportunities.

It wasn't just the money for me, but it would help. I wouldn't have to rely on my deadbeat father anymore. To be fair, my father wasn't a deadbeat by anyone else's standards. No, Henry Duke, heir to Duke Tech Enterprises a now billion-dollar company that provided the government and elites with information and security was a golden boy.

I'd received a full-ride on a hockey scholarship, but Liam would have relied on grants and loans had it not been for Henry Duke paying his tuition in full.

As well as his company did, it was the least he could do. As far as I was concerned, the only thing Henry and I shared was blood and a last name — and the latter was only until I got around to changing mine.

To me, Henry Duke might as well be a nobody.

With as little as I saw of him, I was sure the feeling was mutual.

I let out a breath as I walked through the house.

I'd gotten here thirty minutes ago and had yet to make it out back.

Every time I turned, someone new wanted to speak to me. It was like this all the time. I'd always received this kind of attention and loved it for the most part.

Lately, not as much, and definitely not tonight. My plan for tonight was to stay home. Friday was my laundry and homework night unless we had a game. Everyone knew I wouldn't be at any party on Friday nights. I made an exception tonight since it was Aaron's birthday, and his girlfriend was throwing him a party.

I finished talking to the last person I would greet inside, grabbed a beer by the door, and headed outside. I said I'd be here. I didn't say I'd mingle.

I twisted the cap off and started drinking my beer as I reached Nash and Drew. They were helping some of the sorority girls doing keg stands; from the looks of it, their help would be rewarded.

"Are you here to help us out?"

A blonde walked up to me, pushing her tits against my arm. I knew this one but couldn't remember her name. I sucked with names. Faces I could remember. Names, not so much.

"Nah, it looks like Nash and Drew have it under control."

I lifted my beer and walked away. Get to the wall. Get to the wall. Get to the wall. Even with the drunken crowd, I kept my eyes on my destination: the white wall I'd claimed as mine the first time I attended a party here.

It was the closest thing to a sanctuary for me, away from the crowd not so far that I couldn't enjoy the party, not so close that they'd rope me into one of their games.

I cringed at the reminder of the last time I'd participated in one. I was almost to the wall when I noticed a girl leaning against it.

That wasn't new. Sometimes, they waited for me there. It was like a contest to see who spoke to me first and who I took home at the end of the night.

It wasn't hyperbole. Fairview lived and breathed hockey and had been on a ten-year losing streak before I got here and turned it around. So, everyone wanted a piece of me, especially the women.

This one stood out from the others. She was dressed wrong for this party, with a baggy top that almost reached her knees and black Chucks.

It was the look on her face that stood out, though the clouded look in her eyes, void of emotion, as she watched everyone enjoy themselves.

Could she be a new pledge? That was impossible since the semester was almost ending, but she had to be new.

She had the kind of understated beauty that was unforgettable caramel complexion, perfect features, and legs too sculpted for her not to have played a sport. Her dark brown hair hung down to her waist, and her lips were full and currently pursed, which was the only indication that she was paying attention to the party goers.

I hadn't even realized I'd stopped in my tracks to stare until someone bumped into me and snapped me out of it.

"Oh shit. I'm so sorry."

Someone giggled and squeezed my arm, gasping when she saw who I was.

"Oh. Maybe I'm not so sorry."

I didn't even bother looking at her as I yanked my arm away. Even if I'd wanted to, my eyes wouldn't wander away from baggy clothes girl. Why? I had no idea. I closed the distance between this outsider and me. She didn't acknowledge my arrival, but I knew she noticed my presence from the way she tensed. I took a step and blocked her view of the party.

She finally looked up, and up, and up, until she reached my eyes, and all I could think was holy. They were brown. I'd seen countless brown eyes in my life, but hers felt different in a way I couldn't quite describe. They seemed to hold a vortex, a black hole that threatened to hook and drown you. Her snappy voice pulled me out of the momentary spell she'd cast on me.

"What are you doing?"

"You're in my territory."

"Your territory." She frowned.

"Are you pledging this sorority or something?"

She knew damn well it was an all-female sorority, and even though her response was funny, I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of laughing. She continued to study me, her eyes wandering over each of my facial features.

I wondered if she'd lie and say she didn't know who I was.

That was how some girls liked to play it, coy and shy and "Oh my God, no way you're an athlete," as if my body wasn't a dead giveaway.

I had to admit, from the way she looked at me, this one was either a great actress or genuinely didn't know who I was.

"This wall is my territory," I repeated.

"You own this wall?"

Her lips moved like she was trying not to laugh.

"Okay, John Smith."

"Who is John Smith?"

"A terrible person, but I was referring to the Disney version. From Pocahontas."

She scrutinized me so intensely that I had to fight the urge to wipe my face just in case.

"You know, the settler." Not what I was expecting.

"Yeah, I don't think I ever saw that movie, and no, I don't own the wall, but this is where the team usually stands."

"What team?" She gave me a full once-over.

"The Blaze,"

I said, even though I wasn't convinced that this wasn't just a ploy to get my interest.

"Oh. I've been here a while, and no one else has stood here."

She leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and turned her face away from me. If that wasn't a dismissal, I didn't know what was.

I couldn't believe the nerve of this girl—ignoring me and acting like I was nobody. I leaned against the wall, leaving space between us, and wondered what had captured her attention.

The girls doing the keg stands?

The ones running around in the sprinklers someone had turned on?

People were already in various stages of undress.

Two girls were making out with Nash simultaneously, which was hot and entertaining. Maybe they had her attention. I continued scanning the lawn.

There was so much going on tonight. My eyes caught the woman who had bumped into me earlier, and she gave me the look. I looked away quickly, hoping she didn't walk over.

Most of the time, only the women I looked at long enough walked over. It was how I sealed the deal. Or, rather, how they did, since I wasn't always a sure bet. For the time being, I wasn't interested in anyone coming over here.

I didn't even want the one next to me here, but at least she was quiet.

Silence was what I wanted tonight. Better silence than small talk, which was why I couldn't understand why I was the first one to break it.

There was a first time for everything, I guess.

"Are you new?" I asked.

"No."

"Really? And you don't know me?"

I realized it made me sound like a douchebag, but my face was plastered everywhere.

"I guess you look a little familiar." She side-eyed me.

"Are you going to tell me you do porn?"

"What?"

Laughter rumbled in my chest and left my mouth before I could stop it.

"Do you watch a lot of porn?"

"Can't say that I do, but it's a thing. If someone says you look familiar, you're supposed to say you're in porn films. It's stupid, but the world is full of idiots, so…"

She shrugged. She didn't seem impressed by me at all, and I had to admit, it felt strange.

Maybe that was part of why I was still standing here beside this girl with the face of a goddess and the personality of Wednesday Addams. Was she one of those people who wanted to be chased? If so, good luck. Chasing after someone was a foreign concept to me — one that took up more time and energy than I was willing to give.

I studied her again. She watched the party with such disinterest that I wondered why she was there.

"You're unimpressed."

Her eyes snapped to mine.

"By you?"

"By everything."

She seemed to consider that for a moment, a little wrinkle forming at the center of her face.

"I'm not unimpressed. I'm just bored."

"What are you bored of?"

"Everything." She huffed and then let out a tired, unmasked laugh.

"I can get you in if you'd like."

I gave her my charming, panty-dropping smile. She stared at me for a moment.

"No, thanks." No, thanks.

I brought the beer bottle to my lips to hide my amusement and gulped to avoid laughing. I'd lost count of the number of women who'd thrown themselves at me from the moment I walked in the door.