Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 84114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Now it’s not my penis zeroing out my chances.
It’s literally every other part of me.
“You can stop staring at me now,” Foster says.
I start because he hasn’t so much as glanced my way. “Are you a mind reader?”
“Intuitive.” His gaze flicks to me and away again. “Hockey star, remember?”
“I’ve yet to see the evidence of that.”
He lets out a noise of complete disbelief and starts to walk backward. I try my hardest to keep a straight face even if I am lowkey impressed at his coordination. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were smack talking me.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you know better.”
“Hmm …” Foster tilts his head back as he studies me. “I’m watching you, Zach Sawyer. I don’t think you’re as innocent as you claim.”
“I have never once claimed that title.”
Foster’s laugh is completely uninhibited as he turns back around. “Maybe not verbally.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I tug at the bottom of my T-shirt, which is only marginally better than the one I had on earlier. “What exactly is this thing you’re dragging me to?”
“A mixer.”
“I’ve never been to one.”
“E-ever?” He peeks over at me again, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to look at me for too long. I definitely make him uncomfortable, though I’m struggling to understand why. It’s Foster’s discomfort, paired with the timing, that makes me certain Seth orchestrated tonight. “Try to have fun. Get out of your head for a little bit and get to know people.”
I don’t point out that, in general, I don’t want to get to know people. I want to know about them. From a distance. “Okay, let’s start with you. What are those deep dark secrets you were going to fill me in on?”
“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”
“A tidbit like that is going to pique my curiosity.”
“Sorry to say, that might have been a ploy to get you to come with me. I don’t have secrets, I’m an open book.”
I frown. “Everyone has secrets.”
“Oh really?” He darts another quick look in my direction. “What would it cost me for one of yours?”
For him to use against me later? He has to be kidding. “They’re not for sale.”
“Well, damn, now I’m really curious. You can’t go around saying things like that without following through.”
“You confuse me.”
Foster looks at me properly this time. “Okay, random subject change. Are you going to follow through on that?”
“A lot of people slot into stereotypes. Not wholly, because of the human factor, but they have attributes designed around where they fit in and there are certain things that inarguably do not coexist. You’re the hockey captain, and you’re bisexual.”
He stiffens beside me. “Your point?”
“It’s interesting. I can’t stop wondering if your teammates’ knowledge of your sexuality is largely theoretical, so therefore they’re able to ignore it.”
“Are you asking if they’ve seen me hook up with guys?”
“I … I suppose I am.”
“Yeah, they have. I don’t hide it.”
I blink at Foster, trying to wrap my head around it. While I’ve never really had opinions of him, positive or negative—outside of a heavy dose of lust—a trickle of respect starts to awaken. Not many people could exist in an environment that prizes sleeping around with women, and still be true to who they are. “Yet your team still looks to you for leadership.”
“Who I fuck has nothing to do with my skills on the ice.”
“Conceptually, I know that. However same-sex attraction is usually seen as a weakness.”
Foster shakes his head. “Things are changing. People aren’t as closed-minded as they used to be.”
Is he kidding? People are exactly as closed-minded as they used to be. “That definitely hasn’t been my experience,” I say softly.
He stops walking, so I pause also. In the moonlight, I can’t make out the color of his eyes but it’s impossible not to notice his intense stare. “Have people been saying shit to you?”
Something about his strained voice makes me smile. “Thankfully, people here seem content to ignore me. Except for one annoying hockey player. For whatever reason, he seems determined to be nice to me.”
“It’s a total mystery.” His gaze rakes over my face. “Come on. Tonight is going to be good for you.”
Resigned, I turn to keep walking when I feel something that almost makes me stumble.
Foster’s hand presses lightly against my lower back. Every nerve in my body zeroes in on his hand. It hovers there, one second, then two. He increases the pressure to get me walking.
Then it’s gone.
The warmth his touch sets off in my chest settles until I replay the memory again and again. My skin is buzzing.
A smile slips onto my face that I can’t remove.
I’m well aware that getting all starry-eyed over Foster is ridiculous at best, but my body’s natural reactions to him are overriding my common sense, and I can’t seem to make it stop.