Page 1 of Best Things in Life

Chapter 1

NATE

I look past Bigs to the girl standing next to him.

Did I say girl? I meant she-devil.

“Nate, how was your summer?” he says. “Great to see you back, man.” Bigs, aka Alan Bigsby, my friend and teammate at SPU, gives me a bro hug, but I’m too distracted to respond.

The musty air in the Big Man on Campus house stills and presses in as the three of us stand in the front hall. I’m trying to pretend I’m not looking at a metaphorical ghost from a romance past.

“This is my new girl, Sarina Torini.” Bigs pulls her in to his side and her eyes flash, chin lifting in defiance as she stares me down. My gut clenches.

“She says you knew each other a while back. You remember her?” Bigs looks from Sarina to me, broad smile announcing he’s on top of the world, expecting an innocent answer.

“Sadly, I do remember Sarina,” I admit, keeping my voice neutral in spite of my words. His smile stumbles but refuses to fall. But there’s no way to hide this truth, so I go on. “But not because I haven’t spent a lot of whiskey and two-fisted nights trying to forget her.”

No way to sugarcoat it. The stab of pain to my gut is sorrow for both of us.

Sparks fly from Sarina’s dangerous brown eyes as I stare back at her. I could still drown in those eyes after all this time. She takes in a quick breath then recovers, and I can feel the frost forming on my dick. Fuck.

Bigs stutters, “So—I—did you two date or something?” He looks between us again, squinting this time, looking for an explanation, but I figure it’s up to Sarina to fill Bigs in on our history, something she probably should have already done.

Maybe she’s put me so far out of her mind she’s forgotten we dated—a small word for such a big affair. We were hot, seething, passionate lovers who couldn’t keep our hands off each other, who knew every crevice, every hot spot and—

“Nate and I dated in high school for a while,” she says. I’m surprised a cold vapor cloud hasn’t formed around her mouth. Her eyes could be made of marble as she stares back at me looking like she wishes she were Medusa and could turn me to stone.

She’s all distance and disdain until I smirk and the flash of anger sparks. Fuck. If there’s a flash of anger, then passion isn’t far behind. Is it possible she still has feelings for me? In spite of her new guy, Alan Bigsby? Not to mention his big bucks and fancy car… Hell, in spite of the fact that I ditched her three years ago when I left and never looked back? As far as I know she hates me, but I need to find out for sure, to rock her a little and see what she spills.

“We were together, Bigs,” I say, because she brings out the bastard in me. She compresses her normally lush lips. Then I turn to him. “But don’t let that stop you from dating her now.” His face heats up to steaming red and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this worked up, not even in last season’s Frozen Four playoff overtime when he should have been. We fucking lost the game.

“To be clear, Nate,” he clears his throat, his voice low and stern like we’re in a boardroom. “Whatever you had is in the past, right? And it has to stay there.”

“Wouldn’t dream of being anything but respectful, Bigs.” I try not to hate him, to let the enormous mound of irrational jealousy overrule my reason. This is Bigs. He’s my friend. My teammate.

Sarina’s nostrils flare like she’s a fire-breathing dragon getting ready to take aim.

“Same old rough-around-the edges Nate I used to know and hate,” Sarina says, letting go of her cool and shooting sparks from her eyes and flames from her mouth. I almost lean forward, almost reach a hand out to touch her, the memory of her skin, her scent, her every goddamn fucking cell taunting me and pulling me under. Fuck no.

“Same old,” I say. Glancing at Bigsby’s glare, I move past them, drumming my feet up the stairs until I land at the top and find my heart slamming so hard I need to take a few breaths.

Randy Bane’s in the hallway and looks me over.

“What’s with you?” he asks. “You having a stroke?”

“No. Probably more like a heart attack.” He laughs. And then he frowns because I’m still drawing ragged breaths like I just climbed to the top of Mt. Everest.

“Shit, man—what the hell’s got you so shook up?” He lowers his voice. “Someone die?” He follows me into my room and closes the door behind us as I pace around the space littered with books, clothes, hockey tape, a couple of wide goalie sticks, and food. Boxes of cookies of all kinds.

“No deaths. Not unless you count the last pieces of a dream I didn’t know I’d been hanging onto.” Because I’m deep down shaken by how much I want her to still care. And I’ve just fucking admitted this to Bane, of all people. “Fuck.” With my best friend Trey gone and living his dream, my choices are Bane or—

The door bangs open and Dooley walks into the room without knocking like he’s trying out for a guest spot on Seinfeld.

“Did you see Bigsby’s new girlfriend? Talk about ooh-la-la. I had no idea he had it in him. She’s a sensation and a half.” His signature Cheshire cat grin in place, I’m torn between flipping him off and calling him out on his lack of hot-girl expertise because he’s strictly into hot guys. I go with the finger. He laughs.

“Then you have seen her.”

“Wait—is that what this is all about? Bigsby’s new girl?” Bane says, quicker than I remember him ever being. Maybe he’s gained some brain cells from all the not-drinking he’s been doing.