10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Hayden

Leander’s butler drops me off, informing me he will be picking me up after classes as per my boyfriend’s instructions. I snort, but manage to mask it with a fake cough, then jog over to the sports hall before I say something or react in a way that might clue him in to the fakeness of my and Leander’s dating arrangement.

The sexy vamp told me that Montgomery is close with his aunt, so it’s important that we make the old man believe we are really together and not just fucking like rabbits during mating season. If I’m being honest, I don’t think it will be hard. I enjoy Leander’s company and not just because of his amazing dick. He’s interesting. Mysterious. I’d love to know more about him and his kind.

“Oooh, someone got laid last night,” Nick says on the other side of the video call the moment he picks up.

I pause with my compression shorts pulled halfway up my legs. “How can you tell?”

He tilts his head back and laughs, and I hear someone in the background scream his name in annoyance. “Shit, sorry. Gimme a sec. I swear this house is paper thin.” Ten seconds and a bit of rustling while I attach the jock and toss on my jersey, and Nick’s grinning blond mug is back in the center of my screen. “Right, so what were we talking about before my aunt decided to make a pterodactyl impression?”

I huff air out through my nose, tsk -ing at him. “Was asking why you thought I had sex last night.”

He claps his hands. “Ah, yeah, right. Well, for one, you didn’t call, so clearly you found somewhere to stay. A hookup makes sense. Two, you aren’t making that snarling pug face you were channeling all of yesterday after Coach benched you.” He taps the side of his neck. “And you have a hickey.”

I rub the general area he’s pointing to, and glance at the small mirror attached to my locker door. Oh shit, he’s right. My dick gives an approving twitch. Leander really left one.

Nick gasps. “Oh my god, you look so happy about it!”

I shift my attention back to my friend, who’s grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at me. “It was…” I bite on my lip, trembling as a dulled wave of pleasure slithers up my body. “It was amazing sex. The dude is a god in bed.”

Squinting, Nick gives me a hard and suspicious look. “And who exactly is ‘the dude’?”

I roll my eyes, both at him and myself for breaking my own rule. But in my defense, dire circumstances call for desperate measures. “Ok, so, you know how I got booted from my place? I came to the library and…” Oh right, I can’t tell Nick that vampires exist. Bummer. “So I went there and ran into Professor Adetu. We got talking and then I somehow ended up in his bed? Oh, and he agreed to let me stay with him until I find a place, so we also get to fuck for a while.”

Nick gapes at me, his jaw hanging. “Why?”

I finish doing my socks and grab the phone from where I’d propped it on the holder attached to my locker. “Hm?”

“Why would he let you stay with him?”

Fuck. What a great question. I hadn’t thought about an excuse that doesn’t involve ‘I found out that vampires are real and we are pretending to be dating so his aunt doesn’t force him into an arranged marriage’.

“He felt bad?”

My friend shoots me a scowling look that tells me he knows I’m full of shit. “Uh-huh.”

Shouts from the rink reach my ears. I need to get out there and start warming up or Coach will have my head. “Listen, I need to go. Practice is about to start. We’ll talk when you are back.” I pause with my finger hovering over the end call button. “When are you back?”

“Three or four days. Coach said I could have the week, but there’s no way I’ll last that long with so many clowns around me.”

As if on cue, an angry female voice screeches Nick’s name again, banging on glass following right after. I wince.

“Your fam is crazy. Good luck. Miss you already.” I smack my lips while Nick gives me the finger, hanging up just as Park walks past me.

The urge to pummel his annoyingly handsome face rises in me, but I force it down. I don’t need to cause myself more trouble than I’m already dealing with. Especially if I want a shot at the charity match. Coach was very clear about it.

“You still on the team, Johnson? Bet Coach only let you stay because you are poor and he pities you.”

Normal Hayden would’ve thrown caution to the wind and punched the asshole right here and now. But I don’t do that. I just glare at him silently and think about Leander’s gorgeous face, those lips opening and closing as he orders me to behave. To keep my shit together. To let this slide so I don’t ruin my chances further by starting another fight.

Something warm and fluttery sparks to life in my chest. How did he know about my hockey stuff? I didn’t tell him, I’m sure of it. I should’ve probably asked, but for some reason I was very embarrassed when he said it. In a giddy way, in a happy way. It was strange, I didn’t know what to do with it or whether it was appropriate and so I just ignored it and got on with my shower.

I guess that like me, Leander is probably interested in knowing more about me. It’s so we can make this fake dating thing believable. Yes, that’s gotta be it. He probably used some vampire trick and looked into me already.

As he fails to get a response from me, Park moves on, storming out of the changing rooms into the rink. I shut my locker, put my helmet on and do the same. With Nick gone for a few days, Charlie is subbing in. He’s good, but he’s not my best friend and it shows.

Ultimately, Park and I make up for it, winning the practice game just barely. Despite his asshole character, Anthony Park is a good player. He’s great at reading the game, at knowing when to be where. He glides across the ice with as much ease as I do, his narrower frame possessing an elegance that I make up for in bulk.

“Good game, Park,” I toss when we gather around Coach, aiming my megawatt smile at my teammate’s scowling face.

Coach meets my gaze, the sternness in his features loosening. He gives me the barest of nods, clearly happy with my very mature and non-confrontational behavior today. Great, I just need to keep this up for a few more months, no matter how much I’m dying to smack Park for talking shit to me the entire game. God help me.

Behave, Hayden. And you will get a reward.

Delight tickles my nerve endings as Leander’s voice speaks in my head. Getting to play hockey is my reward. The chance to get scouted is my reward. It’s not worth tossing those things away just so I can put a spoiled rich brat in his place.

Correct. Don’t risk your future for something like that.

I focus on those words as we do another period since we have some extra time before we have to disperse to our respective lectures. With no Nick around, I kill the time between classes observing the other students as I nurse an ice latte on the grass under one of the ancient trees on campus. At first, I’m not interested in anyone in particular, but then I spot Park and his goons sitting at the café’s wooden tables.

As usual, they are loud and energetic, though his friends seem to be doing most of the talking and cheering and aping while Park stares at something with his chin propped in his palm. Curious, I follow the general direction of his broody gaze… and meet curious green eyes that shake me to my very core.

I choke on my drink as the devil twink vampire gives me a flirty wink. It brings flashbacks of last night and the way he cornered me and was about to eat me alive if Leander hadn’t stepped in. I’m all for being eaten, don’t get me wrong, but in the good way that involves a tongue in my ass. And preferably by Leander. I inhale sharply, my hole clenching. Fuck, I bet it would feel so good to get rimmed by him. Or to do it to him. I’m positive he’d taste fucking amazing.

Thomas, the scary vampire, is no longer staring my way when I shift my attention back to him. Thank god. His eyes are glowing a bit and a sliver of a sultry smile is curving his sculpted lips. His expression reminds me of a kid that’s just found a new toy he’s not allowed to have.

I decide that can’t be a good thing. He’s too much. But he’s also not my problem, since, clearly, I’m no longer all that interesting to him. He’s now zeroed in on… Park’s table, observing it like a hawk stalking its prey.

Huh? Is the devil vamp into beefcakes? Or… I bite on my bottom lip, pushing down a snort. Don’t tell me it’s Park. Holy shit. That would be hilarious and a total nightmare for the rich boy.

Mood improved as I entertain such scenarios, I get on with my day. Montgomery picks me up, but to my utter disappointment, I don’t get to see Leander that night.

Or the next. Or the one after. Or the one after that…

He’s gone on some business trip it turns out, without bothering to even tell me he won’t be around.