Chapter 3

Riley, age 15

My stomach blazed with anxiousness when I picked him out in the crowd, surrounded by Saint and Pirate students alike. Reign Thorn. The guy who used to be my best friend, the same one who still holds a piece of my heart in his hands. I left it with him long ago and I don't even think he knows it. By now, I know that he blames me for his knee injury and for the past few years we've been trading barbs on and off the ice. When Reign left Crimson Bay Public to attend All Saints Academy, the divide between us grew even further. I stopped trying as hard to fix our friendship when I couldn't see him every day. It felt weird. I felt empty like a piece of my soul was missing. I missed him. I missed playing hockey with Reign, goofing off on the ice, and the dumb jokes he would tell but that always made me laugh.

Looking at him now, he doesn't look like that young kid anymore. We're heading into our sophomore year of high school, and time over summer has aged Reign. He isn't lanky anymore. He's tall, broad, and starting to fill out. He's always been a cute kid but now he's handsome, older, and makes my stomach swoop with butterflies. I think I've changed too, grown up, and I want him to notice. I want to have his attention and hopefully we can find a way to bury the past. I'm giving it one last chance to try and win my best friend back. I'm tired of being mean. I don't want to continue hurting each other with words or barbs.

I've known Reign since we were six. I know his personality, the things that make him tick. I know that Reign is a daredevil and he does not back out of any challenge. Which is exactly what I plan to present him with tonight.

As if sensing my thoughts are on him, his baby blue eyes flick up and instantly he spots me. For a few seconds I have his whole attention. The smile falls off his lips and he runs his eyes over me from head to toe. Despite my best efforts I can feel a blush working its way over my cheeks. I'm well aware that my body has made some changes in the past year of high school. Almost overnight I grew boobs, after spending countless nights wondering if I fell on them on the ice one too many times and stunted their growth. I don't think that's actually a thing, but a few of the girls on my team worry about it.

With my best girlfriend, Emma, at my side, I manage to approach Reign. The people around us give me a wide berth, and a few of them snicker. I make myself stay put, pride pushing my back to straighten. I need to try. I need to give it one last shot, so my heart will know whether or not we let him go or keep hoping.

"Hey Reign," I start and force my gaze to meet his.

Reign's eyes instantly cool and he leans back. "You should know better than to cross over into enemy territory, Conrad." His brow lifts lazily, like he's bored and everything around him is a waste of time.

My lips tip up in a smirk and his demeanor quickly changes. "This side of the party just seems so interesting." I lift my shoulders and glance around at his friends. They're all good-looking guys, some of them I used to play hockey with and they've grown up.

"What do you want?" His voice drops and fills with a coolness of the enemy he calls himself.

I count in my head and keep my body relaxed despite how being in his presence makes my blood sing in my veins. "I'm just here to offer a challenge."

The minute I utter the words his dark brow rises and his eyes darken with interest. I knew this invitation would speak to his competitive nature. When we were kids, he never turned down a dare and was always pushing past the limits our coaches set for him on the ice. Reign is a true athlete in performance, persona, and personality.

"What type of challenge?" He gets to his feet slowly, and more attention turns to us. Reign moves around the space until we're standing toe-to-toe and I have to look up at him now. God, he's grown even taller. He has to be at least six feet tall by now. Our days of playing eye level are over. His lips quirk up and I can read the expression in his eyes, he knows I'm looking him over.

"Mr. Roaker is waiting until late tonight to finish up the colors on the new slab of ice." I hold out my hand and produce the ring of keys I managed to swipe out of the little utility shed he keeps locked. Reign looks intrigued and impressed for a few seconds before he realizes what I'm saying. "If you manage to get inside before me, the design can be ASA colors. But if I get in before you, you'll be skating on Crimson Bay colors for the next few years."

Reign's tongue swipes his bottom lip and his eyes gleam. He reaches for the key, but I snatch it away, and out of his reach. "Oh no. It has to be completed without the key. You'll have to get creative, Saint."

"Pretty big talk for a booty-chaser. I wasn't aware that Public was now offering classes on heisting keys," he retorts.

My shoulders roll back a little from the jab. "It's a—"

"I want to up the stakes," he declares, taking me by surprise.

My eyebrows rise. "To what?"

"If I win, you have to complete an extra favor. And if you win…"

"If I win, you have to give me five minutes," I instantly add. All I need is a few minutes.

Reign frowns. "Five minutes for what?"

"Five minutes of your time to listen to me. For once to just hear me out." I hate that my voice sounds so pleading. If Reign knew how desperate I really was about all of this there is no way he'd go through with it. I stole a freaking key from school property. I was beyond caring.

His stare penetrates my soul as if he knows what I'm after already. But he nods his head anyways. A devilish grin on the mask he wears now firmly in place. "Deal, Conrad." He quickly takes the key from my hand and I watch as he turns and chucks it deep into the woods behind him. Game on.

Reign's two closest friends join us as lookouts and instantly Emma and our other really good friend, Sam, decide they need to be with us as well to help make sure the boys don't cheat. I personally think it's better this way to have witnesses on who wins anyways.

We all take off to the town's new sheet of ice. The building replaced the old arena where we all grew up playing hockey. It isn't much for space, just one rink and a tiny concession stand. It will mean something though to the kids who are coming up in youth hockey. This building will help shape their lives and their talents, which is why I'm determined the three lines in the middle hold the colors of Crimson Bay Public.

My drive to win is rivaled to Reign's even though our approach is different. Even without the key, I was determined to get in. I had the perfect plan. I was able to hoist myself up to the lower ridge and work on the window. With some effort, I knew I could pry it open with patience. I was not expecting the rock that went sailing through the glass.

"Are you insane?" I glance up at him, and he dangles over the edge, having come up from the fire escape and was swinging a rope down. Reign laughs and he kicks in the rest of the window. Instantly the sound of the alarms goes off. I had not expected that.

I manage to wiggle myself inside the building first. Reign quickly follows and we both are darting toward the paint off to the side. My eyes widen. "There's no red."

"My father paid for half of the new expansion. He only planned for it to be the colors of All Saints." Reign's eyes turn dark and devilish. "You should do your research better next time, Conrad, before you try to con me into something that could get us both in trouble. Although that tends to be your MO, isn't it? Look weak and pathetic to get what you want and who cares about anyone else."

His words slice open old wounds. Tears instantly prick the backs of my eyes. I shake my head, wanting to deny what he said, and while choking on the guilt I feel for him being hurt. I never meant for it to happen. If I could just explain, I truly think we could move past it.

"Reign—"

He scoffs and grabs a bucket of paint, running toward the middle of the arena. Black is painted on two lines and he quickly splashes gold down the middle before dropping everything where it's at.

"Move!" he shouts, breaking me out of the trance I'm in. I lost the challenge. "Cops are coming!" He hisses a warning and this time my feet listen. I follow him out of the building and we dash into the woods where our friends are waiting. That was close. Adrenaline pumps in my veins and my heart races in my chest.

Everyone is smiling from almost being caught. Not many exciting things happen around here, but this was something else.

The next day I am standing on the top of Bayside Hill. A crowd of onlookers surround the area. It is time to pay up. I initiated a challenge and lost. Thanks to Reign's terms, I was told to meet here. Stupidly, I had gotten my hopes up, thinking maybe he would just listen to me or we could talk. Not so much.

I stand with my arms crossed over my chest, waiting to see what he planned for me. I'm not a sore loser, and I always pay up. Reign's car finally pulls to the top and he gets out. A girl I don't recognize gets out as well and goes to stand with some of the All Saints girls who are watching. My heart squeezes painfully, but I choose to ignore it.

"What's the payment?" I ask him as he draws near. Reign has been vague in the details and the anticipation is getting to me.

"Loser has to run down the hill." He smirks. I breathe out, feeling somewhat relieved. It isn't a super steep hill, just long.

"Easy enough," I grit out.

"Without a top on, Con-man," he adds, loudly enough for everyone to hear, and the whole crowd cheers.

My cheeks sting red, the blush rushing all the way down to my toes. I think I hate him right now. It's one thing for it to be just between us but the hill is packed with people. People who weren't even at the party last night. I had been waiting all day to hear what he had planned and now my heart is plummeting to my stomach.

"How about a favor?"

His brow perks up. "Favor?"

"Hear me out and I'll lose the pants too."

Reign's jaw clenches so tight that his dimple pops out in his cheek. His eyes move around the crowd, and for a second, I think he looks nervous. But that wouldn't make sense.

"Say it."

"I never got to say I'm sorry that you got hurt in the game, Reign. I didn't mean for it to happen. And I miss my best friend." I let the words escape me, finally getting them off my chest. It feels good to say everything, letting him know how much him missing from my life is affecting me. I'm not ready to explain why I was lost in the play or about my dad though, and I hold that tidbit with me. When I'm finally brave enough to look up at him again, I shrink back into myself. Reign's face has morphed into darkness. He looks mean, ruthless.

"It took me a long time to understand how you work, Con-man. And when I did, I realized we were never friends. You were just the poor kid on the team who was leeching off of everyone else and their talent. You saw an opening and you took it. I'll never forgive you for what you did. My leg could have been destroyed. You're lucky I could still play and that I healed perfectly or else I would be making your life even more of a living hell than it already is."

My breath gets caught in my throat. Pain pierces my chest and I feel my heart shattering into pieces. Losing the challenge yesterday wasn't bad, I could take it. Losing Reign is something I'm not sure I'll ever recover from. Anger twists with sadness inside me.

"Strip," he commands and steps back into the crowd with his friends. "Unless you're too scared."

Somehow, I keep my head raised. Somehow, I manage to shrug off my t-shirt and shorts until I'm standing in only my bra and underwear. I can't even bring myself to care. My insides feel cold, empty, completely void of any spark of life. I won't back down though. I won't be weak around Reign or his friends. With my head held high, I race down the hill, feeling every slosh of dewy grass and dirt as it flies up around my calves. Tears run down my cheeks and I blame it on the wind as it whips by. I tune out the hooting and hollering, the jeers and laughing. It really is over this time. Reign is no longer my best friend. He's my worst enemy. And it's time I let him go.