The Deal (Off Campus #1)(4)

  

Kendall sits up and narrows her eyes. "It's a yes or no question, Garrett. Did. You. Miss. Me."

My gaze darts to the window. Yup, I'm on the second floor and actually  contemplating jumping out the frickin' window. That's how badly I want  to avoid this convo.

But my silence speaks volumes, and suddenly Kendall flies off the bed,  her blond hair whipping in all directions as she scrambles for her  clothes. "Oh my God. You are such an ass! You don't care about me at  all, do you, Garrett?"

I get up and make a beeline for my discarded jeans. "I do care about you," I protest. "But … "

She angrily shoves her panties on. "But what?"

"But I thought we were clear about what this was. I don't want anything  serious." I shoot her a pointed look. "I told you that from the start."

Her expression softens as she bites her lip. "I know, but … I just thought … "

I know exactly what she thought-that I'd fall madly in love with her,  and our casual hookup would transform into the fucking Notebook.

Honestly, I don't know why I bother laying down ground rules anymore. In  my experience, no woman enters into a fling believing it's going to  stay a fling. She might say otherwise, maybe even convince herself she's  cool with a no-strings sex-fest, but deep down, she hopes and prays  it'll lead to something deeper.

And then I, the villain in her personal rom-com, swoops in and bursts  that bubble of hope, despite the fact that I never lied about my  intentions or misled her, not even for a second.

"Hockey is my entire life," I say gruffly. "I practice six days a week,  play twenty games a year-more if we make it to the post-season. I don't  have time for a girlfriend, Kendall. And you deserve a helluva lot more  than I can give you."

Unhappiness clouds her eyes. "I don't want a casual fling anymore. I want to be your girlfriend."

Another why almost flies out of my mouth, but I bite my tongue. If she'd  shown any interest in me outside the carnal sense, I might believe her,  but the fact that she hasn't makes me wonder if the only reason she  wants a relationship with me is because I'm some kind of status symbol  to her.

I swallow my frustration and offer another awkward apology. "I'm sorry. But that's where I'm at right now."

As I zip up my jeans, she refocuses her attention on getting her clothes  on. Though clothes is a bit of a stretch-all she's sporting is lingerie  and a trench coat. Which explains why Logan and Tucker were grinning  like idiots when I got home. Because when a girl shows up at your door  in a trench coat, you know damn well there's not much else underneath  it.

"I can't see you anymore," she finally says, her gaze finding mine. "If we keep doing … this … I'll only get more attached."

I can't argue with that, so I don't. "We had fun, though, right?"

After a beat, she smiles. "Yeah, we had fun."

She bridges the distance between us and leans up on her tiptoes to kiss  me. I kiss her back, but not with the same degree of passion as before. I  keep it light. Polite. The fling has run its course, and I'm not about  to lead her on again.

"With that said … " Her eyes twinkle mischievously. "Let me know if you change your mind about the girlfriend thing."

"You'll be the first person I call," I promise.

"Good."

She smacks a kiss on my cheek and walks out the door, leaving me to  marvel over how easy that went. I'd been steeling myself for a fight,  but aside from that initial burst of anger, Kendall had accepted the  situation like a pro.

If only all women were as agreeable as her.

Yup, totally a jab at Hannah there.

Sex always stirs up my appetite, so I head downstairs in search of  nourishment, and I'm happy to find there's still leftover rice and fried  chicken courtesy of Tuck, who is our resident chef because the rest of  us can't boil water without burning it. Tuck, on the other hand, grew up  in Texas with a single mom who taught him to cook when he was still in  diapers.

I settle at the eat-in counter, shoving a piece of chicken in my mouth  just as Logan strolls in wearing nothing but plaid boxers.

He raises a brow when he spots me. "Hey. I didn't think I'd see you again tonight. Figured you'd be VBF."

"VBF?" I ask between mouthfuls. Logan likes to make up acronyms in the  hopes that we'll start to use them as slang, but half the time I have no  idea what he's babbling about.

He grins. "Very busy fucking."





  

I roll my eyes and eat a forkful of wild rice.

"Seriously, Blondie's gone already?"

"Yup." I chew before continuing. "She knows the score." The score being, no girlfriends and definitely no sleepovers.

Logan rests his forearms on the counter, his blue eyes gleaming as he  changes the subject. "I can't fucking wait for the St. Anthony's game  this weekend. Did you hear? Braxton's suspension is over."

That gets my attention. "No shit. He's playing on Saturday?"

"Sure is." Logan's expression turns downright gleeful. "I'm gonna enjoy smashing that asshole's face into the boards."

Greg Braxton is St. Anthony's star left wing and a complete piece of  shit human being. The guy's got a sadistic streak that he's not afraid  to unleash on the ice, and when our teams faced off in the pre-season,  he sent one of our sophomore D-men to the emergency room with a broken  arm. Hence his three game suspension, though if it were up to me, the  psycho would've been slapped with a lifetime ban from college hockey.

"You need to throw down, I'll be right there with you," I promise.

"I'm holding you to that. Oh, and next week we've got Eastwood heading our way."

I really should pay more attention to our schedule. Eastwood College is  number two in our conference (second to us, of course) and our matchups  are always nail-biters.

And shit, it suddenly dawns on me that if I don't ace the Ethics redo, I won't be on the ice for the Eastwood game.

"Fuck," I mumble.

Logan swipes a piece of chicken off my plate and pops it in his mouth. "What?"

I haven't told my teammates about my grade situation yet because I'd  been hoping my midterm grade wouldn't hurt me too bad, but now it looks  like fessing up is unavoidable.

So with a sigh, I tell Logan about my F in Ethics and what it could mean for the team.

"Drop the course," he says instantly.

"Can't. I missed the deadline."

"Crap."

"Yup."

We exchange a glum look, and then Logan flops down on the stool beside  mine and rakes a hand through his hair. "Then you gotta shape up, man.  Study your balls off and ace this motherfucker. We need you, G."

"I know." I grip my fork in frustration, then put it down, my appetite  vanishing. This is my first year as captain, which is a major honor  considering I'm only a junior. I'm supposed to follow in my  predecessor's footsteps and lead my team to another national  championship, but how the hell can I do that if I'm not on the ice with  them?

"I've got a tutor lined up," I assure my teammate. "She's a frickin' genius."

"Good. Pay her whatever she wants. I'll chip in if you want."

I can't help but grin. "Wow. You're offering to part with all your sweet, sweet cash? You must really want me to play."

"Damn straight. It's all about the dream, man. You and me in Bruins jerseys, remember?"

I have to admit, it's a damn nice dream. It's what Logan and I have been  talking about since we were assigned as roommates in freshman year.  There's no doubt in my mind that I'll go pro after I graduate. No doubt  about Logan getting drafted, either. The guy's faster than lightning and  a goddamn beast on the ice.

"Get that fucking grade up, G," he orders. "Otherwise I'll kick your ass."

"Coach will kick it harder." I muster up a smile. "Don't worry, I'm on it."

"Good." Logan steals another piece of chicken before wandering out of the kitchen.

I scarf down the rest of my food, then head back upstairs to find my  phone. It's time to ramp up the pressure on Hannah-not-with-an-M.





3

Hannah


"I REALLY THINK you should sing that last note in E major," Cass  insists. He's like a broken record, throwing out the same unreasonable  suggestion each time we finish running through our duet.

Now, I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in using fists to solve your  problems, I think organized fighting is barbaric, and the idea of war  makes me queasy.

Yet I'm thisclose to punching Cassidy Donovan in the face.

"The key is too low for me." My tone is firm, but it's impossible to hide my annoyance.

Cass runs a frustrated hand through his wavy dark hair and turns to Mary  Jane, who's fidgeting awkwardly on the piano bench. "You know I'm  right, MJ," he pleads at her. "It'll pack more of a punch if Hannah and I  end in the same key instead of doing the harmony."





  

"No, it'll have a bigger impact if we do the harmony," I argue.

I'm ready to rip my own hair out. I know exactly what Cass is up to. He  wants to end the song on his note. He's been pulling shit like this ever  since we decided to team up for the winter performance, doing  everything he can to single out his own voice while shoving me into the  background.