SWNOVELS The Faceoff: Chapter 5
After Hayden and his hockey friends interrupted our open skate, I haven’t seen him since. That was over a week ago. I’ve more so been avoiding any chance of running into him. Anytime I am at the rink, I make sure I am out of there before the hockey team shows up for practice. Either that or I hide out in the locker room until I know they’re all already on the ice.
It’s pathetic—I know. But that’s the position Hayden has put me in. It sounds simple to say that I could just easily ignore him if I were to run into him again, but that’s not the case. There’s something about him that entices me and he knows how to get a reaction out of me.
Plus, that guy is goddamn relentless. He wouldn’t let me get away without getting a word in, even if I wanted to.
Winter is waiting for me in her car at the end of the day. We usually carpool to campus on the two days our class times match up and when we have practice. That’s one of the added benefits of living with my best friend. She’s an easygoing housemate and she prefers to drive.
“You want to go do something tonight?” she asks as I toss my bag into the back seat and pull my seat belt across my chest. “We could go get dinner and drinks or something?”
I weigh my options between her plans and the ones I already had floating around in my head. Go get dinner with her or sit at home and watch TV with a carton of ice cream.
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me. It is Friday, after all, and thankfully we don’t have to be up for anything in the morning.”
“You know, as soon as competitions start again, our weekends are going to be full,” she reminds me as she pulls her car out of the parking lot and onto the street. “We might as well enjoy our free time while we can.”
I glance over at her, offering her a smile. “Hey, at least it keeps us out of trouble, right?”
Winter snorts, rolling her eyes at me. “I happen to like a little bit of trouble every now and then.” She pauses for a moment, raising an eyebrow at me. “And apparently, you do too.”
“Nope, we’re not talking about him,” I interject, cutting her off before she can take the conversation any further. Winter has already tried to get all of the juicy details from our one-night stand. I told her the bare minimum, but enough that I thought it would keep her satisfied. I must have been wrong.
“Oh, come on, Eden.” She sighs, pulling the car into the parking lot of our apartment building. “No one said you have to marry the guy. If you had fun with him that night, there’s no harm in doing it again.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I kind of can’t stand the guy… and he plays hockey, which is even more of a turn-off.”
Winter parks the car and kills the engine before looking at me skeptically. “Right. God forbid that you get involved with someone who plays,” she pauses, and gasps, “hockey.”
Grabbing my bag from the back seat, I climb out of the car and slam the door shut before my eyes slice to hers. “This is Hayden King we’re talking about. I know you’ve heard the rumors about him. Seriously, he’s a player and a pig.”
“Whatever you say,” Winter throws her hands up in defeat as we walk into the building and to the door of our apartment. “All I’m saying is, this is our last year here. Enjoy it. And stop making enemies with everyone you dislike.”
“Yes, Mom,” I roll my eyes, pushing past her as she opens the door. “I’ll be in my room, so let me know when you’re ready to go.”
Winter mumbles something under her breath, but I don’t quite hear her as I walk down the hallway and into my bedroom. This is where the two of us differ. Winter is a people pleaser; she makes friends with everyone. I’m the opposite. I don’t need to be friends with everyone that I meet. And if I make some enemies along the way, so be it.
It’s not my fault Hayden ended up being one of those people.
After our little disagreement earlier, we both went to our separate rooms and when it was time to leave, it was as if it never happened. That’s one of the things I like about our friendship. We can disagree and have our little arguments, but there’s nothing that can come between Winter and me. She’s more like a sister than anything, and that’s just part of what comes with living with her.
All of the restaurants already had their tables full and we were both too hungry to get on any type of a wait list. So, instead, we ended up at one of the sports bars, which wasn’t my idea. It was Winter’s, but I decided to go along with it anyway.
They didn’t have any open tables, so we ended up having to sit at the bar. I would have rather had a table, but I think Winter’s main goal is to get drunk while we’re here, so this works too. She’s smart enough to know that she needs to put some food in her stomach, though, before she starts pounding drinks.
“What’s up, girl?” I ask her as she drains more than half of her margarita in one sip. Winter likes to drink, but only at this rate when she’s really stressed out about something.
Winter looks over at me, tucking her long black hair behind her ears as her hazel eyes find mine. An exasperated sigh slips from her lips as her shoulders sag slightly. “My parents are coming to visit next weekend and I’m really not looking forward to seeing them.”
“Why not?” I’ve met her parents before and they’ve always seemed to be nice. Winter never spoke of anything bad happening between them, so I’m a little confused about why she suddenly doesn’t want to see them.
“They’re planning on getting a divorce and I’m pretty sure they’re only coming to see me to tell me about it.” She pauses for a moment, shrugging in an attempt to seem indifferent as she takes another sip of her drink. “I’m honestly not that bothered by it. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m worried about my little sister. She’s only a junior in high school, and now everything’s going to change for her.”
“Are they bringing Mia along with them?”
Mia has come to visit us a few times, but their parents were always weird about her staying for too long. They know we live in a college town, but it’s not like we have ever tried to expose Mia to that side of the college life. Even though she had been persistent about it each time she was here.
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know if she knows or not, so I don’t want to say anything to her about it until they decide to drop the bomb on us.”
“I’m sorry, Winter,” I tell her with nothing but sympathy. I don’t know how she feels going through this and I can’t even imagine. My parents are still happily married and I don’t know what I would do if they decided to split up, even though I’m grown up and out of the house now.
“It’s fine,” she mutters, waving her hand dismissively before she drains the rest of her drink. “Let’s just get drunk and forget about all of our troubles?”
A smile spreads across my face and I nod as I wave the bartender over. “Two more margaritas, please. And keep them coming.”
The bartender nods, chuckling as he walks over to make our drinks. Winter falls silent for a moment, but as soon as our drinks are back in front of us, she perks up. Grabbing the glasses, we hold them together.
“To a night of forgetting!” Winter exclaims as we tap the rims together and both take a sip. It isn’t long after that when she is complaining about how we should have done it with shots instead.
Shaking my head at her, I sip my margarita at a slower pace, but it isn’t long before we’re ordering another round and are well on our way to being drunk. We did agree that it was the night to forget all of our troubles, so what the hell? I’ll drink until my memory is completely fuzzy.
Winter falls into an easy conversation with some guy sitting next to her. My eyes scan the room as I fall into the silence around me, even though the bar is pretty loud by this hour. I watch as everyone converses and laughs with the people they’re with. And for the first time in a long time, I feel alone in a room full of people.
Lifting my glass to my lips, I take another sip of my margarita before setting it back down. The scent of cologne drifts into my nose and I close my eyes, inhaling deeply as it takes me back in time. His breath is warm against my ear, his chest just barely brushing against my back.
“What are you doing here, pretty girl?”