Offside: Rules of the Game Book 1

The air was bitterly cold, making my breath come out in little white puffs as I weaved through the quad on the way to the library. After the most dramatic hockey game of my life, attending classes like normal the following day was almost a relief.

My mind was spinning, and I was still struggling to process last night’s events. Had I really meant so little to Luke? Then again, he’d done lots of things when we were still together that were also disrespectful. Things that had been normalized at the time. Strange how one can be in the thick of such a plight and not see it for what it is.

And what about Derek’s relationship with the team after his fallout with Luke? It sounded like he wasn’t the only one sick of Luke’s shit, though. Paul was still in his corner, but not many others. Luke was captain in name only at this point.

Halfway to the library, I ducked into the student commons to use the bathroom. When I pushed open the door, my stomach twisted and I froze.

Sophie was standing at the sink, sobbing. Like, someone-died ugly-crying. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, but she was still bawling, so fixing her makeup was an exercise in futility.

After the two coffees I’d had earlier, my bladder was on the verge of exploding. But seeing Sophie was awkward enough. But crying? What should I do? Continue my mission? Find another bathroom? If she noticed me, though, turning around and leaving would look weird.

“Um, are you okay?” I asked, tentatively walking closer.

There was relationship overlap between the two of us with Luke, if not flat-out cheating. And Sophie was likely a knowing accomplice. But breaking up with Luke was the best thing that ever happened to me, and that made it hard to muster up anger right now. Plus, she looked so…sad. The dated pinkish-brown tile backdrop and dim fluorescent lighting made the whole scene extra tragic.

Sophie startled, turning to face me. “Bailey?” She placed a hand on her chest and heaved a sigh. “Oh my gosh, you scared me.”

A tear trickled down her cheek, taking her mascara with it and leaving a gray trail in its wake. Her long blond hair was perfectly curled, and her trendy outfit perfectly assembled, but her once impeccably applied makeup was now a perfect wreck.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you—are you all right?”

A jagged sob slipped out before she pulled her shoulders back and cleared her throat. “You don’t have to be nice to me. I know you hate me. And you should.” She turned and dabbed at her eyes in the mirror again, working to clean up her running mascara.

“Luke’s the one I hate. But at least we both dodged that bullet, right?” I said, trying to lighten the mood. I cringed a second later, though. She was probably crying about their breakup.

“Not both of us.” She let out a shaky laugh that echoed through the empty bathroom. “I’m pregnant.”

Oh my god.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” Sophie said. “I literally just found out. I bought a test, and I took it in here because I was sure it would be negative. And then I found out I was pregnant in a goddamn public bathroom at school.” Her voice climbed, and she clutched the edge of the sink, bursting into tears again.

A long, heavy pause followed. I hovered near her awkwardly, scrabbling for words that would soothe her. I’m sure Luke will support you wasn’t it—that was a given. Luke only cared about himself and his career.

“It’ll be okay,” I said. “It’s just a big shock right now.”

“Luke already told me he wants me to get an abortion.” Sophie raked a hand through her hair frantically. “And that was just when I told him I was late. He’s going to freak out.”

What an asshole. That was low even for Luke.

I shifted my weight, adjusting the strap of my book bag on my shoulder. Between my laptop and my textbooks, it was starting to dig in something fierce. “That isn’t his choice to make. It’s your body.”

“He made it pretty clear where he stands. What am I supposed to do, handle it all it on my own?”

“He’d have to pay child support,” I pointed out. And if he made the NHL, he’d have more than enough to do that comfortably. “Don’t let him strong-arm you into making a decision you don’t want.”

“I don’t want to have to fight about it.”

I didn’t blame her. Luke was a miserable person to fight with; he went for the jugular every time.

“That’s what lawyers are for, though.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Sophie blew her nose loudly, sounding more like an elephant than a tiny college girl. She glanced back up at me. “I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me. I don’t deserve it.”

It was Luke’s bullshit she didn’t deserve. But now she was stuck with him, and I felt extra sorry for her because of that.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” she added.

“I won’t,” I said. “Why don’t you call one of your friends? Don’t worry about Luke for now. Talk to someone you can trust.”

She sniffled. “Thanks, Bailey. I’m really sorry about the way things happened.”

“It worked out for the best. I hope it does for you too.” I pulled the door open and stepped into the hall. It wasn’t until I was outside that I realized I hadn’t used the bathroom, but going back inside was not an option.

CHASE

Suspension sucked.

And the game against AWU tonight marked the first of three games I had to watch from the bench.

It was torture.

No matter what Coach Miller tried, the team couldn’t get their shit together. In the end, we lost five-two. Maybe I wouldn’t have made a difference, but not knowing was beyond frustrating.

It was freezing outside, so after the game, I ducked out of the locker room and went over to the entrance. I hit the remote start on my truck keys, watching through the window. In the far corner of the parking lot, the lights turned on as the engine roared to life.

Turning, I threaded my way back through the crowd to find Dallas, Shiv, and Ty. Normally, Bailey would have been here too, but she’d been busy preparing for her internship interview, and I wasn’t allowed on the ice, so the timing wasn’t the worst.

In the distance, Dallas and Ty stood with a few guys from the team. I was about ten feet away from the group when Kristen appeared from out of nowhere.

Jesus.

She was in heavy makeup and a short black skirt, her long brown hair curled. More appropriate for a club than the rink, and more than likely intended for me. Was she ever going to take the hint?

My usually spot-on crazy radar had been defective when I met her, and about a year ago, I’d picked a sociopath for a fuck buddy. Somehow, I had missed all the red flags. Should have stuck to my one and done policy until Bailey.

“Hey.” She placed a hand on my forearm. I yanked my arm away and took a step back, glancing over to see if anyone was watching. Fortunately, they were all huddled around Dallas, listening to him recount his breakaway goal. It was about the only good thing that had happened tonight.

“You’ve got to stop this shit, Kristen. Penner will be out any minute. And you know I have a girlfriend.”

Even if I didn’t, there was no chance I’d go there again. Kristen had burned that bridge to a crisp. Doused it in kerosene and lit the match herself.

Kristen shrugged, stroking her dark hair. “That never stopped you when you were with me.”

Like comparing apples and pucks, Kristen.

“You were never my girlfriend.” I took another step back, keeping my voice low.

“We could still share…like we did with Nikki at your party.”

“It’s not like that with Bailey.” I lowered my voice. “Plus, that night doesn’t exactly bring back fond memories.”

She smirked. “Come on, Chase. It was hot.”

I balled my hands into fists, my blood pressure rising. “You didn’t even fucking ask me.”

Because she knew I’d say no if she did. I was dumb, but not dumb enough to leave behind evidence, especially with a random hookup.

“Whatever.” Her dark red lips folded into a pouty frown. “Nikki was cool with it.”

This conversation struck me as off. Why was she bringing this up now? And then it clicked.

Holy fuck.

Did Kristen plan that?

More importantly, did she delete the video?

My heart rate skyrocketed. Suddenly, my lungs couldn’t take in oxygen fast enough.

I took Kristen by the elbow and pulled her farther away from the group, ducking my head to catch her gaze. “You did erase that, right?”

Kristen batted her long, dark eyelashes at me. “You saw me delete it.”

I thought I did, but I was tanked. I couldn’t see straight, let alone verify whether she had deleted a file in her phone correctly.

“You sure you didn’t text it to someone first?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Email yourself a copy?”

“I’m sure. Since when are you so uptight?”

“Since the start of the school year when Coach gave me the gears about pictures he’d heard rumors about. Said they were taken at my end-of-school party last spring. Kind of fucking fits, don’t you think?”

Kristen waved me off with her pointy red fingernails. “He said pictures, not a video. He was probably trying to scare you.”

In hindsight, his lecture was too specific to be a scare tactic. I’d written it off as a rumor and forgotten about it. Ignorance was bliss. It hadn’t come back to haunt me—yet. But the way Kristen was acting now sent a wave unease rolling through me. I might have a serious problem.

Not to mention that when Coach brought that up, I barely knew Bailey. It didn’t faze me because, at that point, I didn’t give a shit about, well, anything. Now, though, this was a catastrophic problem.

This was a wrecking ball about to demolish my life—a life that looked nothing like it did last spring. I had so much more to lose now than I did back then.

If I could go back to last April and punch myself in the face, I would.

“Then why are there rumors about a sex tape flying around both schools?”

“Why are you so paranoid?” She scoffed. “That could be anyone.”

Could be, but all signs pointed to me, her, and Nikki.

“None of us need that shit getting out. Ever think about how that might look on your med school applications?” I raised my eyebrows. “Or about how Nikki’s boyfriend might react?”

I hadn’t known Nikki was dating one of the guys from the Bulldogs at the time. Didn’t need that, among other things, coming back around on me. Plus, Nikki went to Callingwood, so the odds of this getting back to Bailey were that much higher.

“Relax.” Kristen glanced down, adjusting her cleavage. “There’s nothing to get out.”

“There better not be.”

She gave me a bored look. “You wanna frisk me, officer?”

Like this was some kind of game? I’d never been so mad at a chick.

“That doesn’t prove dick. It could be in the fucking cloud somewhere.”

“It’s not.” Kristen rolled her eyes. “Calm down. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

I stole a glance at my friends again, but they were laughing about something Ty said. Penner was nowhere to be found, either, which, in this case, was a good thing.

“How can I know that for sure?” I stepped closer, pinning her with a searing glare. She stared back at me, dark blue eyes wide in feigned innocence. I didn’t buy it.

“Guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

Right. Trusting her was what got me into this mess in the first place. Then she’d pulled out a phone and recorded without my permission.

I shook my head, my teeth set on edge. “You’d better be telling the truth.”

“If you’re so worried,” Kristen said, “maybe you should be nicer to me.”

“Don’t threaten me.”

Spinning on my heel, I stormed over to my friends. I was so fucked. If this got out, it would be like throwing napalm on my life. No contract, no girlfriend, nothing.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Shiv turned to face me with a frown. Her hands were pulled into the sleeves of her oversized white Falcons hoodie.

Fear and anger mingled, turning into rocket fuel via chemical reaction. The arena lobby was frigid, as always, but I was literally sweating where I stood.

“Everything okay?” She looked up, blue-green eyes studying me.

“Yep. Just fine,” I gritted out. The rage was impossible to hide.

Her voice turned hushed. “Are you sure?”

“Kristen wasn’t taking no for an answer, that’s all.” I tugged at my tie. Its hold on me felt like a noose.

Shiv huffed a sigh of disgust. “Ah. She’s a persistent one.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll tell the guys she’s not allowed to come by our house. This has gotten way out of hand.”

Though I risked poking the bear if I did that. Did Kristen really have a copy? If so, I didn’t want to piss her off. I needed to get a hold of it somehow and destroy it.

“Fine by me.” She nodded. “Never liked her. Do you want to come with us to O’Connor’s for a drink?”

Not a chance. My head was spinning too much to make small talk. Would Bailey dump my ass if this got out? Who’d want to date a guy who had a sex tape circulating everywhere? Especially one like that. A threesome while I was getting high? Good look, Carter.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll take it easy tonight.”

“Okay.” Her brow furrowed and she lingered, still studying my face with concern. “Let me know if you need anything, all right?”

Like a time machine?

“I will. Thanks, Shiv.”