Hockey With Benefits(18)

“Who cares? He always dominates.”

Someone else said, “He’s getting in their heads. Setting them up for later total annihilation.”

Gavin laughed. “You all are idiots. You even know Cruz? He’s not that type of guy. He’s chill, so he’s being chill, and when they’re all trying to get hyped up for the game, he’s interfering with that intensity.”

“Soooo, what I just said.”

“He’s not doing it intentionally. Just him being him.”

A girl added, “I heard he’s super intense. This is all a facade or something.”

A bunch of guys broke out laughing.

I could hear Gavin rolling his eyes. “Girl, why you in here?”

“Dude!” One guy broke into harsh laughter, coughing at the same time.

There were other murmurs, a couple girls, but one shoved through the last guys in the doorway and went past me, hurrying upstairs. I was guessing she was the one who made that comment.

From another girl, “You’re such a dick sometimes, Gavin.”

“What?” He was laughing. “Did I say something?”

A second girl came through, and I pointed upstairs. “That way.”

She was angry, but clipped out, “Thanks,” before she went upstairs too.

There was a second room that ran the length of the main room. Alpha Mu used it as a weight room and at the end a Skee-Ball was set up with an arcade basketball game next to it. It attached to that main room at the end, so I went that route, coming to the doorway and getting a scope of the room before actually stepping into it. The game would start soon, the ice was emptying. There was a large U-shaped couch, which was full of people. Mostly guys. A few girls. There were other guys lounging on beanbags in front of the couch.

A bar was set up in the back where I was standing. Some of the guys saw me, lifted a hand in greeting.

“Hey.”

“Daniels!” Miles and Gavin both heard me, looking back from the couch.

Gavin threw his arms in the air, like the guys at the front. “What are you doing back there? Get over here, woman!”

Miles was standing up. He waved me over. “Here. You can sit where I was.”

I frowned, going around the couch and sitting in his spot. “Are you sure? Where are you–”

I stopped asking because he took a seat in front of me on the floor, and he moved back, leaning against my legs. He rested one arm over my knee, sipping his drink, but as he did that, he put a little space between me and Gavin. He glanced back, gauging my response. I gave him a little grin in thanks.

He grinned back, hiding it as he took another sip.

Gavin was frowning at him, then poked my arm. “Where’d you disappear to last night?”

“I went to my room. Why?”

He was scanning my face and I waited for him to tell me that he came up, knocking on the door, but he didn’t. He shrugged, ducking his head. “No reason. I was just checking on you.”

“I was okay.”

Miles had stilled, overhearing our conversation.

I elbowed Gavin and indicated the screen. “Didn’t know you and Cruz were so tight.”

He harrumphed. “What? It’s Cruz. He’s partied here. He’s a good guy.”

“Everyone, shut up!” One of the guys stood up, yelling. “Game’s starting!”

The guys were back and skating up for the face-off. After that, it was on.





It was during the second and third period when I headed back upstairs for a refill. I was hoping the same bartender was in the kitchen still, but as soon as I got to the top of the stairs, a different guy saw me. “Daniels, you got two chicks at the door saying they know you.”

I veered that way instead. The door duty guys were still there.

One saw me coming, the walkie in his hand. He waved at me. “They won’t say if they’re in your class or not, so I’m hoping you can vouch for them?”

I looked at them, not recognizing them. “Who are you?”

The two guys threw their hands in the air again.

“Come on! Seriously?”

I heard the other on the walkie. “We might have a problem here.”

One of the girls leaned toward me. “Our friend said we were invited via you. She’s in your abnormal psych class.”

I was about to wave them in when the walkie guy stepped up behind me, touched my shoulder with the walkie, and gestured inside. “One sec,” I said to the girls, following him, and once there, they closed the door.

A cry of protest came from the other side. The other guy was speaking over them, but he was sounding stressed.

“You guys now have standards about who comes in?”

His mouth went flat. “If you vouch for them, you gotta stay with them.”

“That’s okay.”

“The whole time.”

That was different.

He read my face, and his eyebrows went up. “Exactly. We got in trouble last semester. A girl got too drunk, and she woke up at her place, no memory of how she got there. She freaked, told her RA, and since she only remembers being at our place, you know the drill.”

“Not good.”

“Exactly.” He was giving me a look like he and I were on the same wavelength. “My advice? If you know them and want to be responsible for them, have at it. We’ll wave them in, but if you don’t want to play babysitter, let me know. We’ve been sending people packing all night.”