Breakaway (Pro-U #1) Page 6

  He would make my life hell. I'm the guy. Right?

  "Okay. Fuck. I get it. Jeez." William jerked away from Jayce and stormed off in front of us mumbling about us being pricks or something of that nature.

  "Why is that guy on the team again?" Jayce let out a sharp sigh and nodded toward the rink. "Let's go. Coach will have our balls if we're late too."

  "He's a great player, but still such an immature kid." I rolled my shoulders before lifting my hands toward the sky. I wanted to turn around and see Aubrey one more time, but Jayce would know what I was up to. No chance explaining that one.

  "Hey!" Layla walked up and joined us, staying on my right where Jayce was on my left.

  "Hey, Layla. What's up?" I glanced down at her, admiring how naturally pretty she was.

  "We were thinking that maybe one of the money-making events for the car wash could be a strip tease dance by you guys." She gave us a funny look.

  Jayce responded for us. "Not only no, but hell no. We're not getting naked in public. Coach would hear about it, and we would probably go to jail."

  "Not naked. Jeez. Aubrey's in charge. She wouldn't allow that anyway." Layla worked to get something out of her backpack as we stopped in front of the rink. "You would wear these."

  She dangled a pair of light blue and silver Speedos in front of our faces as she grinned like a villain might.

  "I won't fit in this." I grabbed them and held them up in front of Jayce's face. "You might, but I'm a man and you're still a boy."

  "Give me that." He grabbed it from me as Layla and I laughed. "I'm not wearing this. None of us are."

  "We're pretty sure we can raise a thousand dollars or more by simply putting that event on the flyers for the car wash."

  She barely got her sentence out before Jayce nodded. "Yep. Put us down for it. Coach is always saying we need to get out of our comfort zones more anyway. This would be a good exercise for the guys. Lucas?"

  "I'll shake my ass for a thousand dollars. Just make sure you have security available. I'd hate to have to beat off a hundred women." I laughed and headed for the door, leaving the two lovebirds to figure out the details. They might both deny that something existed between the two of them, but the rest of us could tell just by being around them for more than ten minutes. Too bad they were clueless.

  I walked into the chilly air around the rink and stopped to breathe in deeply. The day had gone much better than I'd expected, and the pressure to be anyone but me almost seemed muted for the time being.

  "Hey son. How's it going? You wanna give the guys a pep talk about the upcoming game? It's going to be a make 'em or break 'em situation. I know you know that, but let’s make sure everyone else knows it as well." Coach patted the side of my upper arm before turning and walking back to his office. The dark circles under his eyes told me something wasn't right.

  "Hey. What's up Coach? You okay?" I followed him into his office and closed the door behind me. "You look like shit."

  He laughed and dropped down into his large leather chair. "Yeah, I'm all right. I had a long talk with my staff this morning, and we're just trying to figure out what to do about a few issues that keep cropping up. Seems like any time you have large personalities to wrangle, you also get the rest of the shit that goes with it."

  "Such as?" I pressed my hands to the back of the chair in front of his desk and leaned forward.

  "Drugs, women, rape, liquor, allegations of theft. You name it, and it seems like I'm always dealing with something." He shrugged. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just coach the hockey team and leave the athletic director position to someone else. It seemed like nothing but a headache.

  "Not with the hockey guys, I hope." Concern raced down the center of my chest. I was supposed to be in charge of the Friars, and any bullshit they pulled first came to me as a means of dealing with what we could as a team first.

  "Not yet, but I'm sure it's coming soon." He reached out and moved a few papers around on his desk. "One of our best baseball players just popped positive for steroids, so he's off the team, and, of course, McMillian wants me to give up Jayce fully to him. I'm not doing that. I can't."

  "Jayce needs to make that decision himself." I stood and pressed my hands to my hips. "We aren't file cabinets that you guys can just shuffle the fuck around when you want to. You need to talk with him and see what he wants to do. It's his opportunity to choose."

  "No. It's really not, Lucas. Because of the scholarship money the school puts into you guys, and the grant funds we use for the athletics program, it's my department’s choice as to what opportunities you guys get and those that you don't." He shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. "It's the way things are done. Do me a favor though."

  "Yeah, sure." I deflated, thanks to the shitiness of the conversation. I hated the fact that most days of the week I was a puppet dancing at the end of my parents’ wishes and desires, but to hear that Jayce was headed there soon thanks to the bullshit rules of the University made my stomach hurt.

  "Talk to Moore and see what he loves about each program. Find out what he wants without directly asking him and report back to me. I know you guys are close. I'll see what I can do." He gave me a tight smile and nodded toward the door. "Now, get out there and pull together that team of misfits to make sure we win another title. You're tied with both your brother and your father at this point. Let's tip the odds in your favor?"

  I glanced up to the wall behind him to see my last name splashed on too many trophies. He had no idea that I harbored extreme resentment toward both of them in different ways.

  "Of course, Coach. We got this." I turned on my heel and walked down the long hall toward the locker room. The sound of laughter and roughing each other up reached me before I opened the door. I could almost remember being carefree like that when I was younger.

  Almost.

  Chapter 11

  Two Days Later

  Aubrey

  "I can't do this again." Sara, one of the girls on the dance team, mumbled behind me as we lined up for another round of pirouette piquée. "My toes are going to break."

  I turned and glanced down at her shoes. "When is the last time you replaced your pointe shoes? They almost look too small."

  "I wasn't talking to you." Her voice was filled with disgust.

  I glanced up, not quite sure what I'd done to offend her. It had been a few months since I'd tried to have a conversation with anyone in the room. They all seemed to run in the same crowd of elitist assholes on campus, and I wasn't welcomed in, which was fine. I had the hockey team and a few close friends. I didn't need them.

  "Yeah. Turn around and go back to daydreaming about the next cock you're going to choke on. Disgusting." Megan, a blond senior behind Sara gave me a scathing look.

  "Excuse me?" I stepped out of line and turned to face her. "What did you just say?"

  "Nothing. Get in line before you call attention to yourself," Sara grumbled under her breath as she visibly paled.

  "She does that well." Megan gave me a knowing smiled that left my fist clenched and eyes narrowed.

  "You don't know a fucking thing about me. How dare you-"

  "You're the head Ice Queen." Megan leaned up and showed the full row of her white pearly teeth in a shit-eating grin. "You've been seen with Lucas White a few too many times, and we all know that he doesn't date. We've tried. With that being the case-"

  "Ladies?" McCraven's voice was shrill, but I was far too lost to the anger building up inside of me.

  "So you think that I'm sleeping with Lucas just because some of the other Ice Queens put out so easily?" I moved up to stand right in front of her.

  She took a step back as her eyes widened and her back hit the bar behind us. "I'm just stating the obvious. It's not like he would be seen with a cow like you for another reason."

  That was it. I slapped her hard as tears blurred my vision.

  "You don't know shit, you stuck up priss."

  She screamed and knelt to t
he ground, overdoing it like they always did.

  "Aubrey. To my office. Now." McCraven walked by as the rest of the classroom turned to watch us.

  I followed the stiff-necked professor without saying a word. Tears ran a track down my cheeks, and some part of me wanted her to kick me off the squad, to toss me out of the program. I would have to face my mother's disapproval, but she would eventually get over it. It was headed my way in one form or the other no matter what.

  "Sit." McCraven closed the door behind me and walked to her side of the desk, leaning over and pinning me with a hard stare.

  I should have been nervous or sick with concern, but I wasn't. I was raging pissed and ready to walk back into the studio and punch the blond princess with far too much personality in the face.

  "Look at me. Right at me. I want you to hear this loud and clear." She leaned over farther, and some part of me started to wilt. I was out. Without a doubt.

  "You are by far the best dancer I have on this team. Everyone knows that, including Megan Smith. She and every other girl in that room are looking for a way to emotionally tear you down because there is nothing they can take from you where your talent is concerned. You feel the emotion of the music, and where I don't agree with the dance forms you enjoy most, I know that passion." She stood up and pressed her fingers to her chest. "I feel it myself every time I walk onto the wooden floor. It's home to me. It's home to you. Don't you dare ruin what you have by letting those catty bitches make you feel anything less than great. You are a great dancer. Don't forget it. No matter what they say. No matter what I ask of you. Now... clear up your tears and get back in there. We have a performance coming up, and you're going to win us the competition. I believe that. You should too."

  I sat in stunned silence as she squeezed my shoulder and walked out of her office, leaving me there panting softly.

  Warmth flooded my soul, coating the anger and breaking me down faster than the lies I'd heard only moments before did. I needed to hear that she approved of me, as much as I hated that I needed it, I did. My mother never would, and no one else in my life understood my passion for dance, but McCraven did. She would push me until I broke, but only so that I could become stronger and better in the process.

  "Shit." I stood and wiped at my tears before reaching for a Kleenex. I could do anything I put my mind to, including breaking down Lucas White enough to see the real side of him. "First things first."

  I walked out of the office and took my spot quietly in line as if nothing had happened.

  "Vicious bitch," Sara muttered from behind me.

  Turning my face to the side, I smiled. "Don't forget it either."

  *

  "Hey." Lucas was waiting for me just outside of the dance building after class, which was odd and yet exciting.

  "Hi." I glanced around and smiled at Megan and Sara as they turned to look at us. I moved closer to him and brushed my hand down his cheek. "Those bitches called me a whore today because of our lovely reputations as Ice Queens. They said a guy like you would never really be intere-"

  I didn't get another word out as he pulled me in tightly and leaned down, pressing his lips to mine.

  The world faded into nothingness, and though I only meant to make it look like he and I were more than friends with benefits, the emotion behind the kiss was enough to leave me awake all night, analyzing it.

  He cupped the side of my face and tilted his head a little as his tongue brushed across my lips.

  I groaned and ran my free hand around his side, memorizing the delicious tightness of his flexed back.

  I started to move back, but he tightened his grip on the back of my head and pressed his tongue deep into my mouth.

  A moan pulled from the deepest parts of me as I opened up and lifted onto my aching toes to take more of him in. The dark flavor of root beer and cinnamon rushed over my tongue as he lapped slowly at the inside of my mouth. My mind exploded at the possibilities of him taking full advantage of me and working that thick warm tongue over every hidden part of me.

  He pulled back with glassy eyes and took a sharp breath. "Fuck. Forgive me. I just wanted to help."

  "Nope. You helped." I repositioned my backpack as one of my pointe shoes fell from it. We both went down for it and bumped heads - hard.

  I fell back on my butt, laughing as he reached for me.

  "Damn, Aubrey. I didn't mean for the kiss to knock you off your feet." He gripped my hands and pulled me up, tugging me a little too hard.

  I reached up and pressed my hands to his chest as I looked up at him with sincerity. "Thank you. Really. It was a shitty day."

  "I'm glad I could help." He touched the side of my face again as his eyes moved back down to my lips. "Let me take you to the game with me."

  "On your bike? Hell no." I moved back and took the shoe from him before turning to see half the girls from my dance company staring with open mouths. I couldn't help but taunt them. "I'm an Ice Queen, remember?"

  "She's my Ice Queen." Lucas moved in behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist before bending over and kissing the side of my neck as if we were far more than lovers.

  Chills raced down my spine, and my pulse started to race to the point of almost feeling dizzy. The hard press of his erection against the curve of my rear drove a spike of lust to settle between my thighs.

  I gave them a cheeky grin and pulled from him. "If you have another helmet, you can drive me over to my dorm so I can change. I'll walk to the game later. You guys have to be there far too early."

  "All right. Come on, Ballerina." He offered me his hand.

  I slapped it like I would Jayce's and walked toward the bike. "The show’s over, and I'm officially turned on, so come on and stop teasing me."

  "Who said anything about teasing?" He smirked and walked to the bike, but paused beside it. "You look good in that pink thing. What's it called? A dance bathing suit?"

  I laughed. "No. It's called a leotard, and stop being good to me. I'm emotionally beat today. I don't need anything else."

  He got on the bike and offered his hand. "Got it. No more being nice."

  "Really?" I got on the bike and put on my helmet before wrapping my arms around his thick waist. I wanted to reach down and cup his package so damn bad, but it was just residual lust from him playing the part of the sexy boyfriend to fend off my naysayers. He didn't have feelings for me. He was Lucas White. He didn't have feelings for anyone.

  "Really. Now, hush your pretty ass up and hold on tight."

  We both laughed as he pulled the bike out into the main lanes through the school. Somehow it felt like the ride would do me far more harm than it would good. I needed someone like him in my life. Too bad he was a closed book - not just to me, but to everyone around him.

  Chapter 12

  Lucas

  I stopped the bike in front of her dorm and helped her off before pulling off my helmet. "You sure you don't want me to wait for you to change?"

  "No. Go ahead. Besides, I don't want to ruin your tough bad-boy appeal by making it look like you have a friend in the world." She gave me a cheeky grin and waved before turning and walking to her dorm.

  The tight stretch of her leotard across the sexy swell of her ass left my heart racing. I couldn't remember wanting to hear another woman besides Aubrey cry out my name. I wasn't going to survive much longer without breaking the rules I held so tightly and at least testing the waters with her. Love was out, but lust... we both could use some lust in our lives.

  "She's not that kind of girl. Get out of your head. Idiot." I pulled my helmet back on and drove toward the rink as the kiss replayed in my mind over and over. I was rock hard by the time I parked the bike and walked into the locker room. Thank God for my large duffel bag that I had pressed to the front of my joggers. Otherwise I'd be hearing about my condition for the rest of the evening, if not for the rest of the season.

  "You're late." Jayce popped me in the chest as I walked to my locker and dropped my shit.


  "Yeah. I had a short detour." I tugged my shirt off and worked to hide myself as best I could, which wasn't at all my style. I had to hope everyone was nervous enough not to notice anything but the internal bantering that was racing through all of our heads no doubt.

  "All right. Gather up you punks." Coach got up on a bench and glanced around the room as we turned to face him. "White, get your ugly ass up here."

  "Yes, Sir, Coach." I stepped up and the bench wobbled a little, almost throwing coach off balance. The guys laughed as he and I smiled at one another. "You're getting fat, old man."

  "You too." He turned back to the guys and tapped his clipboard as he rattled off our starting positions. "And, of course, Lucas, you're our forward for this one."

  "All right, keep your head in the game and don't think for one minute that these bastards haven't studied the films of our games." I turned and let my eyes move across my teammates’ faces. Each of them had a story to tell, but much like me, they were just struggling with expectations and women troubles. "This is our moment. If you're a senior, raise your hand. We win for you tonight."

  Several of the guys raised their hands, and I locked eyes with each of them, knowing that our last home game was going to mean something - win or lose.

  "Let's take these Boston College bitches out in high style tonight. We're not just winning. We're staining the ice with their loss. Got it?" I lifted my hand as the guys went nuts. Boston was our top rival, and would be the most difficult game we played all year, and yet the most rewarding.

  I hopped down and let my eyes move across the group, looking for William and not finding him. My plan had been to give Will a bit of my own playing time for the evening just to get them acclimated to how Boston played dirty. They would need to understand the depths to which this opponent would go so when we faced them in the Frozen Four again, we would be stronger - better.