“Sure. Also, I was thinking, if listening helps, you could try audiobooks.”
“Maybe, but then I’d miss out on Heath reading to me.” He winks at Heath and then whistles to get Charli’s attention. “I’m out. See you tomorrow.”
The man has a point. My body still tingles from Heath’s voice reading such beautiful words.
Rhett went to his room earlier, so it’s just me and Heath as I shoulder my backpack. “He’s right — you have a really nice voice.”
One side of his mouth pulls up into a boyish smile. “Thanks. I have no idea what I was reading.”
“I won’t tell Maverick.”
“Do you have to run off or do you want to stay and hang out?”
“I can stay for a bit.”
“Yeah?” He smiles wider like he’d been expecting me to say no, then takes my backpack off my shoulder and carries it to his room.
He puts my bag on the floor and then clears the clothes and books off his bed so we can sit. There’s a box addressed to him at the end, still unopened. “What’s that?”
“Oh, uh, my brother and his fiancée send me these care packages every month.” He looks a little uncomfortable to admit it.
“My mom did that for Adam his first semester.” Now that I think of it, she hasn’t sent me one yet, although she has been distracted with all the fabulous trips they’ve been taking. The last time I talked to her, she and my dad had just returned from one trip and she was already planning another with her girlfriends. “Every month?”
“Yeah, pretty much without fail.”
“What’s inside?”
“Random shit, different every month.” He pulls at the tape and dives in, looking more excited than he’d seemed a few seconds ago.
“Gift card.” He sets it on the bed. “Granola bars, gum. Nathan must have put this one together.”
“You guys are pretty close then?” I ask as I watch him pull out more stuff (all food-related, shocker) and lay it on the bed.
“Yeah, we’re cool, but it makes me crazy how he’s always trying to take care of me like I’m still a kid.”
“I get that. Man, do I get that, but this is really nice.” I motion to the gifts laid out on the bed.
“But I don’t need him to send me stuff. I could buy all this on my own. Our dad passed when I was in middle school, so I think he feels like he needs to step into those shoes and make sure I’m okay.”
“Or maybe he just wants to show you he cares with stuff he thinks you might need or want.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He laughs lightly and picks up a Ziploc bag filled with quarters. “What do you suppose he was trying to say with this?”
“I have no idea.” I take the bag. It’s heavy and must have at least ten dollars’ worth of quarters in it. “Enjoy the vending machines?”
14
Heath
A knock at the door breaks my concentration and I rub the back of my neck as I call, “Come in.”
Adam steps into my room with a beer in each hand. He holds one out to me. “You know there’s a party out there, yeah?”
I accept the drink and set it on the desk. “I’m just finishing up work.”
He takes a seat on my bed. “You’re still working for that sports website?”
“I am. Jon in Texas wants to know how many hours a day he needs to practice in order to make his high school team.”
Adam pauses with the beer up to his lips. “Depends on how bad he is.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna need a more polite way to say that.”
He considers for a moment. “Tell him to focus on quality sessions, practicing until he masters small skills instead of focusing on time. Quality over quantity.”
“Not bad.”
“I won’t even charge you for using it.” He stands. “Hurry up, someone needs to beat Rauthruss at Halo and you’re the only one that can. It’s a matter of life or death, man. His ego is going to make his head explode.”
I pop the top of the beer and take a long drink before answering Jon. Nathan got me a job working for Reeves Sports, an instructional sports website owned by pro-golfer Lincoln Reeves, the summer before I started college. Linc has become a good buddy, so even though things aren’t so destitute anymore that I need to have a job, it’s nice to have extra cash. And the job itself is fun. I answer questions from hockey players all over the world looking to up their game.
The party is loud, and Maverick is louder when I finally close my laptop and head out to the living room. I grab another beer and make a lap to see who came. It’s mostly the usual suspects, the team, their girlfriends, puck bunnies, but the sight of Ginny on the deck playing flip cup makes me smile.
It’s her turn, and she chugs her beer and then sets her cup on the edge of the table, flipping it over on the rim her first try. She squeals and the next person goes.
I step up behind her. “What happened to the girl who didn’t like beer?”
“I guess she’s getting used to it.”
“I guess you are.” Her hair is braided in pigtails and I tug one end.
“Excuse me.” Dakota pokes her head between us. “I need my girl here for the next game. She’s our secret weapon.”
Ginny smiles as Dakota pulls her back toward the table.
“See you later, Genevieve.”
I head inside where Rauthruss is still dominating anyone who dares to take him on. He’s got a puck bunny on either side, but I swear the guy doesn’t even realize it. Or if he does, he’s really good at acting disinterested.
Jordan groans as he takes his turn losing. “I give up.”
I hold out my hand for the controller. “Don’t take it so hard. Any kid with a name like Rhett Roger Rauthruss would be good at video games.”
Rauthruss grunts a laugh. “He’s not wrong. Kids are assholes. At least until I got big enough they were scared to mock me.”
“That’s awful,” Jordan says. “Why would your parents name you that?”
Rauthruss stares blankly at him and doesn’t answer.
“Move over, freshman, let me show you how it’s done.”
An hour or two must pass while I refuse to give up my seat, waving off anyone else who wants a turn. “This is personal,” I tell them. “From one weird kid to another.”
The girl sitting next to me drapes her hand on my thigh. I have no idea how long she’s been there or how long she’s been touching me. I guess now I understand why Rauthruss was oblivious to the two hanging next to him earlier.
“You were a nerd?” she asks. “I don’t believe it.”
“Not a nerd just weird.” She looks at me unbelievingly, so I add, “Dead dad, non-functioning mom.”
The words have barely left my mouth before I regret them. I don’t talk about my family shit ever, but drunk Heath is a very sharing Heath. I don’t usually drink so much, but I ran out of beer several games ago and instead of getting up to get another, I switched to sharing gulps of the Mad Dog bottle Maverick is passing around.
I glance around and notice the party is starting to die down. Inside it’s me, Mav, Rauthruss, and the girls between us. Voices still carry from the deck outside.
“I’m gonna get some air.” Standing, I’m much more aware of how drunk I am. My legs feel a little too light and kind of wobbly.
The group outside is almost as small as the one inside. Adam and the girl he’s been seeing, Taryn, a few guys from the team, plus Reagan, Dakota, and Ginny.
Adam spots me first and his loud laughter barks into the night. “Gumby legs is back! Heath’s druuuunk.”
I lean against the railing beside Ginny. Her sweet smile hits me in the gut.
“Hi, Genevieve.”
“Hi, Heath,” she says, still smiling at me. “You look happy.”
“I feel pretty happy.”
“We should play sardines tonight,” Dakota says. “Is Maverick still inside?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“You guys in?” She looks around to everyone.
/>
“What’s sardines?” Taryn asks.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Adam says, arms wrapped around Taryn’s waist, but his gaze is on Ginny.
“It’s kind of like hide and seek,” Dakota answers Taryn.
Ginny looks uncomfortable under her brother’s scrutiny, but her words are enthusiastic. “Yeah, let’s do it!”
The walk to campus in the dark with the fresh air sobers me up a little. Ginny’s still smiling like something’s funny as I walk beside her.
“What?”
“You’re lifting your knees so high. It’s adorable.”
“You’re adorable,” I fire back.
She giggles, links her arm through mine, and leans in. Her boob presses into my forearm and all I can think about is reaching over and squeezing it like a stress ball. I completely understand that this is not acceptable behavior for friends—drunk or not, so I don’t, but I think about it anyway.
At the edge of campus, Adam turns so he’s walking backward. “Ginny, you good?”
“I’m fine.” Her tone is playfully annoyed. “Seriously, Adam.”
He waits a beat as if he expects her to change her mind. When she doesn’t, he nods and says, “All right. We split into pairs. One couple hides and the rest of us try to find you. When you find them, you have to hide with them. The tighter the space, the better. No going inside buildings, no going on roofs.” He looks at Maverick, who busts out laughing.
“Took you guys fucking forever to find us.”
“So, wait,” Taryn speaks up. “We’re hiding on campus in the middle of the night? Campus is huge.”
“There are some boundaries. You’re with me. I’ll show you.” He winks and then looks to Ginny and me. “Heath, stay with Ginny. You can show her the boundaries.”
“I’ll be your guard, guardian, I mean guide, I think.”
She smirks.
Adam points to Mav and Dakota. “It’s your turn to hide and you get to make up a rule.”
“We got this,” Dakota says beside him. “Tonight’s rule is that one partner has to carry the other by piggyback.”
Everyone laughs.
Adam holds up his phone. “Five minutes and go.”
While Dakota and Mav head off to hide, I lead Ginny over to the bottom of the economics building stairs and sit.
“You guys play this often, I take it?” she asks as she takes a seat next to me.
“It’s fun. You’ll see.”
“I’m not really a fan of games where you have to hide in small, dark spaces.”
It’s then I notice she’s staring down at her fingers and rubbing her thumb along the inside of the palm on her opposite hand.
I slide my hand in between hers and link our fingers. Shit, of course. Adam’s words make sense now. “Do you want to go back? We can tell them we’re going to go make out instead.”
“Like they’d believe that.” She huffs. “No, it’ll be fine. Just don’t leave me.”
“I won’t.”
She pulls her hands away and glides them up and down her thighs. I don’t really want to stop touching her, so I reach up and touch the end of her braid, rubbing the blonde ends between my fingers. “Adorable.”
“You’re a flirty drunk.”
“I’m an honest drunk. Too honest. Don’t ask me anything embarrassing.”
“How’d you get so drunk?”
“Alcohol.”
She giggles and then falls quiet. All around us, our friends are chatting and laughing, but we’re in our own little bubble, which is nice. A Genevieve and Heath bubble that I kind of dig.
“Hmmm. What kind of dirt can I get on you while you’re drunk?” She narrows her gaze and smirks. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Pink.” I get the reaction I hoped for and then chuckle. “Kidding, it’s green. What’s yours?”
“Mine actually is pink, but not pink pink. Like a really dark pink. Cerise.”
“That’s cute.”
“What is?”
“That you think I know what color cerise is.”
She reaches over, catching me by surprise, and runs a thumb along my chin. “Did you get this scar from hockey?”
She’s barely touching me, but I like it, so I lean in a bit and tilt my chin up so she can see it better. “No, I had a confrontation with a coffee table. It won.”
Her hand falls away. “Ouch.”
“Time,” Adam calls, breaking the moment. He holds up his phone. “One-hour time limit.”
“One hour?” Ginny squeaks.
“We’re really good hiders,” Rauthruss says before Reagan climbs on his back and he jogs off. Dude is super competitive.
Ginny and I move at a much slower pace. I manage to get her on my back, the feel of her pressing up against me is way too nice, but my legs aren’t cooperating.
“Maybe I should carry you?”
“I got this,” I say but then stumble a few feet.
“Which way, ya think?” she asks when we get to the first turning point.
Everyone else is going right, so I head left.
“I heard you got a job.” I slow my pace. I’m not all that interested in searching for Maverick and Dakota, or generally being around anyone, but Ginny.
She smells like gummy bears which makes me think about kissing her again.
“I did. Dakota hooked me up with it actually. I start next week. I’ll be leading tours of the Hall of Fame and athletic facilities, even doing recruitment tours once I get the hang of it.”
“That’s cool. I still remember mine.”
“You do?” I pause when we come to another spot where we need to decide which way to go. “You decide.”
She waves to the left, which really doesn’t go anywhere and we’re real close to being out of the borders of the game, but I keep that to myself. “Yeah, I had this guy named Clint. Wasn’t nearly as cute as you.”
Her light laughter tickles my ear. “You’re incorrigible.”
I’ll be honest that I’m not really looking for Mav. I just want to keep talking, so I’m especially surprised when Ginny yells, “There they are!”
Dakota and Maverick are crouched down inside a fancy looking rectangular water fountain that’s currently empty. It’s a good spot and I don’t see them myself until we’re basically on top of them.
“How did you find us?” Dakota asks. “This spot is amazing. I’ve been waiting for weeks to use it.”
“Maverick’s shoes were reflecting in the light.” Ginny points to his shoes.
Dakota throws her hands up.
Reluctantly, I set Ginny down.
“Now what?” Ginny asks, dropping off my back.
“We get in and wait for the others.”
I hop down, not so gracefully, and then help Ginny down beside me. It’s dark but not total blackout due to the lights around campus.
The space is really only big enough for us to sit side by side, but the more we spread out, the easier we are to see. Dakota and Maverick are sitting facing one another legs stretched out in front of them. I sit and pull Ginny down in front of me so her back is at my chest.
Maverick passes me the half-empty bottle of Mad Dog. Do I need another drink? Definitely not. However, we might be here for a while.
After taking a small drink, I tap Ginny on the shoulder with the bottle. Her fingers brush mine. They’re cold and seem to tremble as she twists the cap off.
I wait until she passes it to Dakota before pulling her against me.
“Are you okay?” I whisper. Somehow the end of her braid gets stuck in my mouth in the process.
“Did you just eat my hair?” She runs her hand along her braid and flips it, so it lands in front of her.
“Unintentionally.”
“Shh. I think I can hear someone coming,” Dakota whispers.
Since I can’t soothe her with words, I take her in a vise grip snug against me. Her shoulders are rigid, and I feel her take in a deep breath.
I hum the first song that comes to mind, ‘Fantasy’, and after a few minutes, she melts into me. She turns her head, so her lips are close to mine. “Thank you.”
I’m frozen, staring at her mouth. The cupid’s bow, the fullness of her bottom lip, how soft it feels under the trace of my thumb. I don’t know when I touched it, but I keep doing it. Her eyes fall to my mouth and her tongue darts out, the warm tip wetting my thumb.
I lean in but hesitate to see how she reacts first. She nods her head a fraction, almost as if she’s giving me permission to kiss her.
Adam’s voice calls out, breaking the moment as the other four find us. “Twenty-five minutes. Mav, dude, your shoes are shining like a flashlight at anyone that walks by.”
“Ow! Ow!” Mav yells and shields himself as Dakota pelts him and says, “Worst partner ever.”
15
Ginny
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” I turn a circle. Flat screens cover every inch of the walls, floor to ceiling, all the way around.
Dakota grins and taps on the tablet in her hands. “Wait for it. It gets way cooler.”
We stand in the middle of the room. It’s cozy, not really meant for more than a few people comfortably. The recessed lighting above us dims and the screens all come alive at once.
Hype music pumps into the room and images and videos of the Valley U hockey team play like a highlight reel. My heart races as if I were sitting front row in a playoff game. My brother is shown a lot, which makes sense because he’s been a big contributor to the team since his freshman year.
Sometimes the clips are of the players in action and sometimes it’s media type posed images. One of the latter of Heath fills the screens. His face, jumbo-sized, stares back at me and my stomach does a somersault. He’s so damn hot.
It goes on and on, a good five minutes of film, but when it ends, I want to watch it all over again.
“Awesome, right?” Dakota asks as the screens go black and the overhead lighting returns.
“This is just for recruits?”
“Hockey, specifically. Each team has their own recruitment video and there’s a generic one too that combines pieces from all the videos. We do tours for the community, local schools, and alumni too.” She shows me the tablet where I can select and play the videos and then how to get in and out of the room because it’s a very fancy coded system that seals you in and won’t open while the video is playing.
Secret Puck (Campus Nights Book 1) Page 9