Chapter Twenty-Six

T he house party is in full swing when the guys, Peyton, and I walk in. Music is blaring so loud I can't hear myself think, and there are so many people that we have to walk sideways to make our way through the house, despite the fact that people are spilling into the yard.

"Do you want a drink?" Clay leans down and asks.

I lean up until my lips brush his ear. "Maybe some water."

He nods, telling me he heard me as we make our way to the kitchen. Beckett gets Peyton a cup of beer as the rest of us grab water.

Brett points to the backdoor, and we all head outside so we can hear each other. In the backyard, they have a beer pong table set up along with some other games and a fire going.

"What do you guys want to do?" Brett asks.

"Fire," I tell them.

"Who wants to be my beer pong partner?" Peyton asks.

"Let's go kick some ass," Beckett tells her.

"Come on." Clay places his hand on my lower back and starts to usher me to the fire. He pauses when he sees Brett isn't following. "Are you coming?"

Brett doesn't take his eyes off who he's looking at when he responds. "Nah, you guys go ahead. I'll meet up with you later."

I follow his line of sight and see Emery standing around, talking to a group of people. Clay gently pushes me forward, and we make our way to the fire. He sits in the only open lawn chair and pulls me down into his lap.

"I can sit on the ground."

Clay scoffs. "I don't think so."

"I'm too heavy to sit on you for longer than a few minutes," I tell him while looking at the fire.

"Look at me." Clay waits until I look at him to continue. "If I ever hear you talk badly about yourself like that again, I'll sic my mother on you."

"Your mother?" I ask with laughter in my voice.

Clay shrugs. "I mean, I could tell you I think you're perfect the way you are until I'm blue in the face, but that doesn't mean you'll listen to me. My mom, though?" He shakes his head. "She's got the whole don't talk badly about yourself speech down pat because of Cora. She fucking hates it when someone talks shit about themselves."

"Your mom's the best."

"She really is." He smiles. "Now tell me, how was your day?"

"Can't complain. How are you feeling after the game? You took some hard hits," I ask, my fingers finding his stomach.

Clay pulls me into his chest so I'm resting against him. "I'm good. Promise."

He tilts his head down and kisses me. When he goes to pull away, my fingers move to the back of his neck, holding him in place. The party fades into the background, and I lose track of time as I sit in his lap and we make out.

I love the way his tongue duels with mine and the way he groans when I drag my teeth against his bottom lip.

"You keep it up and we will have to get out of here," he rasps as he pushes his hips against my ass.

I hum. "You say that as if you think I wouldn't want to."

He drags his teeth against my bottom lip, making me whimper. "Do you want to get out of here and go back to my place?"

"Yes, please."

I pull away from his chest and stand. When Clay stands, he adjusts himself, making me giggle. He pulls me into his arms and buries his face in my neck.

"You think it's funny that you make me harder than a rock?"

"Funny? Never, but I do think it's a good thing. Otherwise, this whole relationship would be awkward."

Before he can respond someone cuts him off.

"For fuck's sake, Grace, did you forget you're in public?"

I sigh when I hear Kellan's voice and turn my head toward him as Clay tenses.

"What do you want, Kellan?"

He folds his arms and sways in his spot, letting me know he's had too much to drink tonight.

"What, I can't talk to my best friend anymore?"

"Sure you can, as long as you're not being a dick," I quip.

Kellan scoffs and looks over at Clay. "I thought I told you to stay away from her."

"I don't take orders from you, Kellan, and I can do what I want," Clay tells him.

"She's mine," Kellan grits out.

Clay takes a deep breath to respond, but I cut him off. "I'm right here, and again, I'll remind you that I don't belong to you. You need to knock this off."

"My girlfriend has made herself clear time and time again. Get it through your head, man," Clay says.

"You're dating him?" Kellan asks as he points at Clay.

"I am, and I don't care what you think, so you can keep your opinion to yourself."

"This is bullshit." He scoffs.

"Kellan, I really don't want to do this anymore." I sigh, exhaustion hitting me all of a sudden.

His jaw clenches as he looks over my shoulder before turning back to me. "You never talk to me anymore."

"Because every time I see you, we end up fighting."

"Well, if you just listened."

I hold up my hand and cut him off. "No, this isn't on me. The only one to blame is you. Now go home and go to bed. You're drunk."

"Grace…"

I shake my head. "No, I'm done. I'm going home with Clay. I hope the next time we talk, you have a better attitude." I look over at Clay. "Come on, let's go home."

Kellan says my name again, but Clay and I don't stop walking.

Clay squeezes my hand. "Are you okay?"

"Not really, but I will be."

Clay drops my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders. He pulls me into his side and drops a kiss on the top of my head.

He murmurs against my hair. "I got you."

I wrap my arms around his waist. "I know you do."

With a tray full of food, I make my way to the table the guys are sitting at.

"I hate eating here," I tell the guys as I sit down.

"What's wrong with the dining hall?" Brett asks as he takes a bite of food.

"The food is fine. I just hate how anytime I eat here, I feel like people are staring at us."

The guys look around and see that I'm right. People are looking our way.

"Fuck me. You just had to point that out, didn't you?" Beckett mumbles.

"I told you. I usually don't care, but when I'm eating, it's weird as hell," I tell them as I take a bite of food.

"It makes sense, though. Especially since we're winning right now," Brett says.

"Oh, the price we pay for being the hotshots on campus," Beckett muses.

"Hi."

We turn and see a girl standing next to the table, wringing her hands together.

"Hey, pretty girl, can we help you?" Beckett asks as he leans back in his chair.

She bites her lip and bats her eyes when she turns to look at me. "You're Clayton James, right? Captain of the hockey team."

"Yes…" I drawl.

She tries to widen her eyes as she smiles, but her false lashes are so heavy she can't. "I thought so. My name is Brittney, and like, I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime."

I look over at the guys and see that they are trying to hold back their laughter.

Sighing, I realize they aren't going to be any help, and I look back at her. "That's sweet of you to ask, Brittney, but I'm not interested. I'm in a very committed relationship."

She pouts. "Are you sure? She would never have to know."

"I'm positive."

She turns back to the guys. "You two play hockey too, right? Would either of you like to go out with me?"

Brett smiles wickedly. "We're all going to pass, sweetheart. Puck bunnies really aren't our thing."

I almost snort at that. Brett loves him a puck bunny, but this one has gotten on his nerves. He is loyal to a fault, and this girl trying to get with me even after I told her I was taken rubbed him the wrong way.

"Are you sure? I do this thing with my tongue."

"We're good," we tell her in unison.

"Your loss." She flips her hair over her shoulder and walks away.

"What the fuck was that?" I ask the guys, wide-eyed.

Sure, I've had women come up and hit on me because of my place on the team, but never like that.

"I don't know. That was weird, even for me," Beckett says, shaking his head.

"That, my boys, was a woman who thought she could trick us into sleeping with her with the hopes of getting pregnant so she could get that money from us when we go pro," Brett tells us.

"Fuck that." I push my food away.

"Speaking of Grace, how are things going with her?" Beckett asks.

"Yeah, are you treating our favorite girl all right?" Brett teases.

"We're good."

Beckett raises a brow. "Just good. I don't know about you, Brett, but that doesn't fill me with much confidence."

"Maybe he's the one who needs to learn a tongue trick," Brett quips.

I roll my eyes at their antics. "You two are ridiculous."

"You've known this. Now spit it out," Beckett tells me.

"Honestly, we're great. Being with her is as easy as breathing. The only problem is Kellan."

Brett nods. "I saw him approach you guys the other night. What did he want?"

"He just wanted to give us his opinion on us being together." I clench my jaw. "Grace put him in his place."

Beckett shakes his head. "Kid has been knocked in the head too many times. It's obvious that you two are supposed to be together."

Brett tosses his napkin on his tray. "I mean, I can't blame the guy. I can't imagine losing someone as awesome as Grace, but does he really think that he's going to win her back by throwing a fit?"

Beckett levels him with a look. "You're talking about the guy who thinks he deserves to be captain as a freshman."

"Oh, to be young and delusional," Brett muses.

"So, what's the plan?" Beckett asks me.

I frown. "What plan?"

"You know, the one that will make him wake up and realize that she's yours now," Beckett says before taking a drink.

I shake my head. "The plan is no plan. I'm going to keep my head down and ignore him unless it's something team-related or we're on the ice. He's Grace's friend, and so I'm leaving it up to her to handle. Even if I hate it."

They both shake their heads.

"You're a better guy than me," Brett tells me.

"Speaking of you, how was your conversation with Emery?"

Brett looks over my shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I chuckle. "Grace and I watched you walk over to her and start talking. From where I was sitting, it didn't look like she hates you as much as she used to. What changed?"

Brett's jaw clenches. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," I poke.

He tips his chin toward Beckett. "What about you?"

Beckett places his hand on his chest. "What about me?"

"I saw you getting awfully friendly with Peyton. How do you think Grace would feel about that?" Brett asks.

Beckett shrugs. "I like Peyton, and we have fun together. That's it."

My eyebrows raise. "That's it?"

He nods. "Yeah, she's a cool girl, and I like spending time with her, but neither of us are looking for a relationship right now. So we agreed to just have fun together."

Brett groans. "How in the hell did this happen?"

Beckett and I look at each other before looking back at Brett.

"I'm going to need you to explain," I tell him.

"How the hell did we turn into guys who talk about relationships and shit? We used to talk about the girl we hooked up with the night before or who we wanted to hook up with," he tells us.

I point at him. "That was you and only you. I never did that."

"You know what we need?"

Beckett smirks. "I'm afraid to ask, but I'll bite. What do we need, Brett?"

Brett nods. "A guys' night. No girls allowed. Just us and a couple of pizzas and video games."

"A guys' night?" I ask.

"Yeah, I would have recommended us going out, but we all know that wouldn't have happened." Brett nods. "So what do you guys think?"

"Fuck it. Count me in," Beckett tells us.

I nod. "Sure, count me in."