My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 8

Nina

I walked back to the party, trying to ignore the strange interactions I had just had with Enzo and Lisa. Jessica was dancing with the group, while Lori was still sitting on the steps of one of the cabins and smoking. I didn’t feel like dancing right now, so I went to sit with Lori.

Lori handed me her joint without a word when I sat down. I didn’t smoke very often, but I just wanted to relax right now, so I took it gratefully and took a couple of puffs.

“I saw you talking to Enzo and Lisa,” Lori said, taking the joint back from me and flicking a bit of ash on the ground. “Everything okay?”

I shrugged and pulled my knees up to my chest.

“I just… made some mistakes.”

Lori chuckled and took a deep drag of her joint. “Yeah,” she said, “getting involved with hockey guys is usually a bad idea.”

By Monday morning, I felt a lot better about the situation. I woke up early to get ready for class and put on a long-sleeved henley and black skinny jeans. By the time I got ready and had my breakfast, it was time to go.

Jessica normally came to class with me, but she wasn’t waking up on time so I left without her. I felt a bit bad about it, but I wanted to start this week off on a high note and didn’t want to be late along with her. I knew she’d understand.

I walked out of the dormitories and started to cross the quad toward the shuttle stop; today, I usually took the shuttle to the medical campus for my classes, which I didn’t mind. I couldn’t afford a car, and besides, sitting on the bus gave me time to read or just people watch.

“Nina! Nina, wait!” a familiar voice called out.

Justin.

I sped up, just wanting to ignore him and move on with my day. But he caught up and grabbed my arm.

“Nina, can we talk?” he said breathlessly. I pulled my arm away and shook my head, continuing toward the shuttle stop, but he jogged to keep up with me.

“Please, Nina,” he said.

I stopped in my tracks and whirled around to glare at him. “What the fuck do you want?” I growled.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Justin pleaded. “I know I fucked up.”

“Oh, you don’t say?” I replied, raising my voice. “You literally fucked a cheerleader in my bed. On my birthday, no less!”

By this point, students were noticing our argument and started to gather nearby, whispering to one another.

Justin hung his head and stared at his feet. “Look, I know I was extremely shitty. I only went after Lisa because all of my teammates are dating popular cheerleaders and models. I got peer pressured into getting with her, but now I know that I made a mistake. Please… Will you forgive me?”

I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest. “How desperate do you think I am?” I said. “You ruined my birthday and you broke my trust. I’ll never forgive you.”

Justin looked speechless. I could tell that he wasn’t expecting me to be so confident in my response. If anything, I felt even more confident now that I had spoken my mind, and with that I turned on my heel to head toward the shuttle stop once more while Justin hung his head and walked away.

I didn’t get far before my plans to make it to class without any more drama were ruined again as a motorcycle pulled up in front of me.

The rider, who was wearing a black leather jacket, took off his helmet.

It was Enzo.

Was my life a movie? What on earth was happening and why couldn’t I just get to class in peace?

When Enzo removed his helmet, all of the girls in the general vicinity began to gather and swoon… but Enzo only had eyes for me.