Chapter 45: : Chapter 45

After we ate, Tasmin rejoined us and pulled me outside.

“What?” I laughed as she brought out a gift-wrapped piece of clothing. It was big and bulky, and wrapped in brown tissue paper, a light pink ribbon tied around it. “What is this?”

“Something I special ordered for here because I couldn’t get it to arrive earlier than today. I fully planned to squirrel it away until the day you and Cruz finally went official, and I’m so giddy that it finally happened.”

“What’s going on?” That was Zeke, joining our circle. He had a large plastic mug, and a full beer can open inside it. A bunch of guys I didn’t know joined him, so I was guessing they were some of his fraternity brothers. The rest of the circle were my roommates.

I ignored him, unwrapping the gift, and when the tissue paper fell away, I was speechless. A full old school hockey sweater with Cruz’s number and in Grant West’s colors. Purple and white. 71.

My mouth was on the floor.

“Look at the back.” Tasmin was gushing.

I turned it, shock spreading through me, and I saw the words embroidered in big and purple lettering was his last name, his number, two small hockey sticks crossing over each other, and beneath in smaller print was, “Property of Girlfriend.”

A choked sound came out of me.

I’d never… I covered my mouth with my hand.

This was a serious gift. She put thought and money into this, and planning, and now hearing she was going to hold onto it until we were official… “I can’t believe this,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

She–no one had any idea, but with my mom, how she was, I wasn’t celebrated. Gifts were not something that happened in my life.

“Thank you so much, Taz.” She had no idea how much this meant to me.

But maybe she did because she was blinking back tears. “I just–with your mom and what you’ve been through–” Her cheeks were pinking. “I wanted you to know that I appreciate our friendship and yeah. You’re stuck with me.”

If I were a guy, I would’ve been on the floor in pain from the karmic kick in the balls. I shook my head, still whispering because I couldn’t get anything else out right now, “I’m so sorry for being such a bitch. I–I don’t deserve this jersey. I don’t deserve–”

“Oh, my gawd, shut up.” She hurled herself at me, hugging me tight. She whispered for just me to hear, “I’m happy you let Cruz in, and I’m happy you’re starting to let me in. Just know that people do care, and they don’t judge, and we’re here for you, and you’re wrong. You do deserve kindness.”

She was wrong. I didn’t. I really didn’t, but I hugged her so long.

We were in the aisle. The Cain students were in the section next to us. Zeke was smack dab front and center, and he enjoyed plastering himself against the plexiglass every time Cruz skated by, which was a lot. I’d gotten more than my normal amount of attention as we walked in, but this time it was mostly from girls. I’m sure some came from the jersey, but I was also sure some came from the blog article. I had no idea how popular that blogger was at our university.

Watching Cruz play was always fun. He scored right away, which set the rhythm for the rest of the game. Atwater scored the second goal. There were a lot of missed shots and back and forth in the second period, but the third is when Cruz got another goal, and he made an opening for Labrowski to sink in for their fourth.

Cain never got on the scoreboard, but judging by how loud Zeke was cheering for Cruz, I didn’t think they expected to win this game.

That night, I checked into a local hotel with Skylar and Zoe. The guys were in the next room.

Taz and Race were staying at her brother’s, and while they invited us to go there since they were having a small party, I elected to stay close to the hotel. It was the same one the hockey team was using, and since it was Friday night, they were given time off with a strict curfew.

Skylar was in the bathroom. Zoe was in the other room, and I was suddenly hit with nerves. Like this was the first time seeing my boyfriend. Like I was sixteen, going on my first date.

My phone buzzed again, and I tensed but it wasn’t .

I sighed, right as there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, Cruz was on the other side, and his eyes went big, upon seeing me, or maybe seeing the jersey. Until he noticed my expression. “What’s wrong?” He moved in, shutting the door behind him, but before I answered, he pulled me into his arms and gave me a tight hug. I was fast melting. He’d just showered, and his eyes had that fun and mischievous spark, which combined with his little knowing look because he knew what I wanted to do.

He still held me against him, his hand moving to my ass. He murmured against my neck, “I like your sweater. Looks hot on you.”

I moaned, pressing back against him, right as the bathroom door opened behind me.

“Oh, God. Oh–sorry!” Skylar came out.

Cruz cursed, but reacted in an instant, pulling me out into the hallway. I got a glimpse of a white towel before he was saying through the cracked door, “Take your time. Sorry about that.”

Skylar was laughing from inside, and I heard another click and then Zoe’s voice before Cruz pulled the door shut behind us. He moved down the hall, leaning against the wall. He spread his legs and pulled me to stand between them. His hands went back to my hips, playing with the bottom of my jersey. “You had this made?”

The nerves came back. I gave him a rueful grin. “No. Tasmin gave it to me as a gift. Surprised me with it when we got here.”

“You serious?” His hands went to the front of my hips, and he lifted me back just a little so he could see the front better. “That’s good material too. This is amazing.” He turned me around and whistled under his breath when he read the back. He tugged on the bottom of it. “I like this, . You’re sleeping in this tomorrow night. No. Sleep in it tonight, and tomorrow so it smells more like you.”

My phone buzzed again, and feeling it, he took it out of my hands, flipping around to see the screen. He snorted, handing it back. “That Allen guy. He’s an odd friend of yours, huh?”

“You saw his sweatshirt?”

“Everyone saw his sweatshirt. He was on the news. I got so many clips sent to me already. Fucking hilarious, though. He’s a friend?”

I nodded, somewhat distracted as I read his most recent text.

I showed Cruz the text.

He leaned back, his hands returning to my hips, and he shrugged. “He doesn’t have to know.”

“You don’t know Zeke.” And as if on command, my phone began ringing. I declined his first call, and knew I had ten seconds before he’d be calling again. My voice message was a click, that was it. I didn’t have a message for people to wait through. “He is like a starving dog after a bone. He knows something is up and he won’t leave it until he knows. He’ll either get our version or he’ll go to Gavin and get his. Then he’ll come back and badger me until he finds out the truth.”

And again, on cue, my phone lit up.

Cruz took it, answering it. “She can’t talk about what’s happening with Miller. It involves his entire frat and some other shit. I’m included in it.” A pause. “Hi, Zeke. Yes. This is Cruz.” Another pause, longer. “Listen, stay out of this. I mean it. This can get serious–” He frowned, moving to stare at me as he listened to whatever Zeke was saying. “I can’t say anything, and do not badger Mara about this.

me on this.” He was listening again before rolling his eyes upwards. “Then think of it as she’s in the middle between me and one of Miller’s fraternity brothers.” He nodded, quiet again. “Exactly. Okay. It’s nice to hear you’re hashtag teamcruz on this one.” His top lip twitched, curving up. “I’ll tell her. Yeah, yeah. No. The team does our own meals and things until after the game. Then we’re set free tomorrow.”

He ended the call and handed the phone back over. “Your friend made sure to tell you that if push comes to shove, he’s got your back, my back, and anyone else who stands with us. And he said to remind you that it’s not just him, but the entire Cain crew. He said you’d know what that meant, something about a crew from back home.”

I slid the phone into my pocket and moved so I was the one leaning against the wall. “In the neighboring town, they had a ‘crew’ system. That’s all he means. Taz’s twin and his friends.”

“Well, he sounded serious when he said it.”

His eyes grew dark, serious, and he stood in front of me, almost over me. He leaned one hand against the wall beside me, rested his other on the other side of my head. Then, leaning in, he paused right before me and murmured, “You look delicious as hell wearing that jersey.”

I smiled, reaching up for him and cupped the side of his face. “Shut up, and kiss me, Styles.”

He did just that.

Two hours later, we were in my room, on my bed. The roommates had headed out, and Cruz was spending too much time on a certain part of my boob. I lifted my head to look, then moved his head off me. “Hey! What are you doing? A hickey?”

He peeled over, laughing. “Took you long enough to notice.”

I sighed, inspecting it more. We had sex in the shower, ordered food, and after we ate, we’d been lounging on the bed and messing around. A hockey game was on the television, but Cruz was paying more attention to me and I’d been enjoying the touches, caresses, and kisses. Now I was seeing that he was trying to put a hickey on my breast that looked the size of Texas.

“Seriously?”

He rose back up, kneeling over me, and touched my forehead, pushing me down. “It’s like my signature. Let me finish.” He bent back down, but I put a finger to his forehead and lifted his head up. “Your signature?” I narrowed my eyes. “How many other girls have you done this to?”

He shrugged, biting back a grin. “A few, but none since you.”

Well, that felt nice to hear. When he started ‘working’ again, I let him. I was kinda savoring the attention. And when I looked again, he’d somehow turned it into a lopsided crown. It was Texas, but with little points at the top.

I loved it.

He gave me a grin, his eyes soft, and smoothed his hand down to my hip. “You like?”

I hated to say it, but nodded.

His grin widened. “Score.”

His phone began buzzing after that, and he groaned after checking the screen. His forehead went to my stomach. His hands were on my hips. “I have to go.”

I raked a hand through his hair. “Stay.”

His hands tightened on my hips, and he said against my tummy, “I can’t. Curfew.” He lifted his head, the struggle evident in his eyes. He was gazing at my mouth. “Fuck. I’d like to stay. When do your roommates come back?”

“They’re partying.”

“Where?”

I shrugged. “Other hotel rooms? I’m sure there’s a ton on campus, or they could’ve gone to a bar too.”

“And you stayed with me?” His eyes sparked, mischievous.

My eyes narrowed again, but I knew they looked soft cause that’s how I was feeling. All warm, and soft, and happy. Another day and that feeling might’ve sent me running. Not this day. “Like I’m going to turn down a night of messing around with my boyfriend.”

“That’s right. Your boyfriend.” He rose back up, his knees settling on either side of my legs, and he stared down at me. His gaze was going dark, serious. Lust-filled. He glanced at his phone. “You think your roommates will be gone for the next twenty minutes?”

I was already reaching for his neck as I murmured, “Only twenty?”

His mouth met mine. “Make that thirty. I’m going to take good care of my girl.”

His girl. My boyfriend. That had my pulse soaring.

It was later, after I was in bed, and after Cruz left, that I remembered.

I forgot to mention the blog article.

And I forgot to look earlier, but heaved a sigh of relief. There were no new texts from an unknown number. I checked my calls.