Gametime: A Moo U Hockey Romance by Jami Davenport (classic novels to read .txt) 📕

voice so his admirers wouldn’t hear. He probably could’ve shouted as they were too busy giggling and chattering.

I shrugged and took another bite of the burger.

Patrick narrowed his eyes and studied me. “What’ve you been doing after practice every day? You haven’t joined us at the Biscuit.”

“I have stuff to do. I’m not your shadow, you know. I have my own stuff going on.” My words were harsher than I meant, and Patrick reared back as if I’d slapped him.

“Shit,” he said, shaking his head. “What’s stuck up your ass, bro?”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m just…going through some things.”

His eyes clouded over briefly. “I’m here, you know. I’m always here.”

“I know.” Way to make me feel like shit, bro. I’d shut him out, and he knew it.

“Okay, well— Hey, there’s Naomi.” Patrick waved at her as she stepped into line at a serving station. She smiled and waved back. I looked away, irritated at him and irritated at myself for being irritated. How’s that for skewed logic?

I felt Patrick’s gaze on me. “I wonder why I never noticed her before. She’s hot.”

“You were too busy working your way through all the blondes on campus.” I hunkered down over my fries and stuffed several in my mouth so I wouldn’t say something stupid I wouldn’t be able to take back.

“Variety is the spice of life, and now she’s blonde.” Patrick angled his head toward mine. “You don’t have a problem with me asking her out, do you? I know you’ve had a thing for her over the past couple years, but you’ve never asked her out.”

“No problem. Go for it.”

“You sure?” Patrick narrowed his gaze, and I looked down, afraid the miserable truth would be reflected in my eyes. I was crazier about her than I’d ever been, but I didn’t like being jacked around, either, by a woman who couldn’t figure out which guy she wanted.

“Positive.”

“Hey, Naomi, have a seat.” Patrick was all smiles as Naomi sat down across from us, which drew jealous stares from the gaggle.

“Hi, Patrick. Hi, Pax.”

I mumbled a hello and didn’t look up. If she and my brother were undressing each other with their eyes, I didn’t want to witness it.

I bolted my food down and stood abruptly. “I’ve got a study group I’m late for. Catch you guys later.”

Before either of them responded, I was out of there. I chanced a look over my shoulder as I dropped off my tray. Naomi stared thoughtfully at me while Patrick stared at her. He was moving in, and she’d finally get the guy she really wanted. And that guy wasn’t me. She wouldn’t need a surrogate anymore. She’d have the real thing.

Think positive, I warned myself.

Naomi and I’d had our fun. No blame on either side. I had to concentrate on other priorities in my life, such as graduating college and going pro or not. Of all the things holding me back, leaving Patrick behind was one of them. And perhaps leaving Naomi behind was another, even if I chose not to admit the truth.

I didn’t have a study group, so I wandered to the hockey house. The guys were watching a game, which happened to be Seattle versus Vegas. My team versus my brother’s team. Someday we might be on that ice playing against each other instead of with each other. The sheer weight of that thought caused my shoulders to droop even lower.

“Hey, Pax, have a seat,” Lex called to me. I dropped down onto the couch and propped my feet onto the scarred coffee table currently littered with textbooks, popcorn, and empty beer bottles.

“Where’s Kaitlyn?”

“Girls’ night out.”

I wondered why Naomi wasn’t with her but didn’t ask. None of my business.

I nodded to Jonah and Tate, lounging in the two beat-up recliners.

“Beer?” Josh asked as he stood in front of the refrigerator.

“Yeah.” A beer flew toward me, and I managed to snag it before it crashed against the opposite wall. I twisted off the top and took a swig.

The door opened ten minutes later, and Patrick and Naomi entered. I’d half expected them to go back to our apartment and have loud, obnoxious sex the rest of the night. My mood lightened considerably seeing them here instead.

“Can you two scoot over?” Naomi pointed to the space between Lex and me. Lex moved over, and Naomi squeezed between us. I shifted my ass to make more room, but even so, her thighs pressed against mine, reminding me of our night together. Then again, anything reminded me of our night together.

“Patrick, get me a beer,” she ordered. Much to my surprise, Patrick obeyed. This was getting weirder.

My brother came back with three beers and sat in the chair across from us. He kept two for himself and gave her one, then turned his attention to the game on TV. “Hey, that’s our two teams, bro,” he said, stating the obvious.

“Duh.” I rolled my eyes, and he threw a fistful of popcorn at me. Normally, a move like that would start a food fight, but I wasn’t in the mood. I brushed the kernels off my shirt.

“You missed one.” Naomi leaned over so close to me the intoxicating scent of her filled my nostrils. She plucked a kernel from its resting place at the collar of my shirt. Her fingers brushed my neck, and I breathed in sharply. She leaned back and smiled—a smile full of false innocence. I knew what lay beyond that smile. The girl was anything but innocent. She was wicked in the best possible way, and she’d been my drug.

No more. Armed with some of Coach’s techniques, I wasn’t falling for it. I deserved better than my brother’s leftovers. When the time came, that special person would find her way to me. If I believed it, my subconscious would do its damnedest to make my beliefs come true. Coach Garf and his book said so.

I looked at my phone, pretending to see something what wasn’t there. “Oh, crap. I have a project meeting tonight.