Page 66 of Pucking Bad Boys

“What the fuck is that?” Macklin whispers in my ear.

I take a second to answer his question. His warm breath fans over my ear, his lips so close that I can almost feel them on me. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Tucker is next.

“Group B hasEmmer. Group C hasMoretum.”

Once every group has received their topic, Professor Cantucci dismisses the class.

“Holy shit,” Tucker says, coming back to get his stuff. “Tests make me hungry. Who wants to come and eat something together?”

Macklin

“I’d love to.” Is Gen’s response to Tucker’s invitation. “But I’m on a diet, so I can only eat salad.”

I bite my tongue. Gen is tall and thin. Not rail thin like Professor Cantucci, but she’s definitely on the brink of being underweight for her height. We’ve discussed her obsession with dieting many times when I expressed concern over her not consuming enough calories. She’s a dancer, and she spends a lot of energy during her dance classes, so she needs to fuel her body properly.

Of course, my involvement wasn’t received as a sign that I cared. She insisted she needed to lose weight no matter what I or her parents said.

“Sure.” Tucker’s sheepish expression tells me that the invitation wasn’t meant for Gen, but my teammate is too nice to let her know that.

“I could eat.” Colsen says. “Exams always make me hungry.”

Becks reaches us in that moment.

“What about you, Beavis?” Tucker slaps my brother on the back.

He ignores his nickname, but I know he hates it. “Yeah, count me in. If group A is all there, we could start discussing how to proceed with our project.” His eyes are fixed on Talia when he says that.

I bet he’s been looking at her the entire time. I noticed him staring when we arrived holding hands. Just like I thought, he’s jealous.

Talia is gorgeous, so the fact that he noticed her is no surprise. But you know what? In love, like in hockey, if you snooze, you lose. If he wanted Talia, he should have taken his shot straight away. I guess we’ll find out if Becks really wants her for her or if he just wants her because she’s mine.

And if I can help it, if I can make Talia want me more than she wants him, I don’t plan on our relationship status ever changing. We might be fake dating right now, but the way I feel about Talia is as real as it gets.

“Sorry, man.” I pull Talia to my side, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. “But I was planning on taking Talia out to lunch, just the two of us. You know how it is with our crazy schedule. I have to make every spare minute count to spend quality time with my girl.”

That goes down as well as a hockey stick to the teeth. Becks’s jaw ticks. But it’s Gen the one who makes a bitter comment.

“Isn’t that nice? You never gave a shit about quality time when you were dating me.”

I have no problem calling my ex out on her bullshit. It took me a second to understand that my romantic feelings for her were long gone way before I learned that she’d been unfaithful the whole time we were together. “Talia is just as busy as I am between classes, the Zetas, and her job. But even if that weren’t the case, she doesn’t whine about my busy schedule. She’s shown nothing but support so far.”

“Whatever.” Gen flicks her hair as she walks out of the classroom. “Hockey is boring as fuck. Wait until the novelty wears off, and she’ll complain just as much as I did.”

Chapter 20

X’s And O’s

TALIA

Macklin opens the door to his car and helps me inside it.

I look around us while he runs around the hood to get into the driver’s seat. It doesn’t look like there’s anyone watching.

Right before turning on the engine, Macklin takes my hand and brings my knuckles to his lips. His blue eyes are bright right now, the blue prevailing over the stormy gray.

There’s a beat of silence as Macklin drives away from the Human Studies building, and I use that time to try to calm my erratic heartbeat. The contact of his lips caused a warm sensation to spread all over my skin.