Right Kind of Mistake
COPYRIGHT© 2015 by Rebecca Thomas
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, or events is entirely coincidental.
The publisher and author acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks and locations mentioned in this book. Trademarks and locations are not sponsored or endorsed by trademark owners.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Leap Books, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by Ashley Poston
Interior Layout by NovelNinjutsu.com
Publishing History
First Leap Edition 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61603-052-0
Published in the United States of America
Leap Books, LLC
P.O. Box 63
Otego, NY
13825
www.leapbks.net
leapbksshine.net
I never believed Tyler would fuck a puck, but I think being called up by the Boston Bruins farm team went to his head. You know, a puck being a girl who was passed around from player to player. Shortly after The Episode, as I liked to call it, he left Alaska for Providence, Rhode Island with barely so much as a goodbye.
Good riddance.
I knew better than to date a hockey player. By most accounts they were arrogant and full of themselves. I knew this, because both my brothers fit the description perfectly, but I dated Tyler anyway, so I guess I’d gotten what I deserved.
The girls insisted we all go to The Purple Loon, and while I didn’t kick and scream, I did resist as much as I could before I finally caved. They proclaimed a new me would emerge tonight. I had my doubts, but they said I wasn’t allowed to entrench myself in sadness anymore. They were right of course.
Regardless of my friends’ forced penance to get me out and socializing again, secretly, I hoped a new and improved me would rise. Maya bought me these ridiculous high-heeled shoes and said if I tapped them together three times, my wishes would come true. Maybe ruby red slippers would do the trick. I was pretty much up for anything.
Elle put so much black eye-liner and shadow on me, I barely recognized myself. This wasn’t my style either, but who cared? Tonight, I determined, I’d step outside my comfort box and look for a new adventure.
The bar smelled ripe with beer, sawdust, and perspiration. Overhead oak beams made the room feel like a fancy barn. I always wished they’d add paint to the walls and give the place more color. The lenses from which I’d always looked at the world were different now. I still compared other men to Tyler – that was probably normal – but now I studied them with renewed interest. I could do this. I was twenty-one and single. Time to party.
A couple beers and a shot later, I was having a fantastic time. I danced with anyone who was available and moved my body till sweat trickled down my spine. I was sitting with a construction worker guy when Cam and two of his friends entered the front doors of The Loon.
His gaze locked with mine.
What his eyes said, I couldn’t be sure. Sympathy maybe?
He could go to hell. I didn’t want his pity.
Tyler and Cam had been randomly assigned as roommates their freshman year and they’d stuck together ever since. Both on scholarship to play hockey for Alaska State and both being in the minority as American citizens on a team filled with Canadians, they’d had a lot in common right from the start.
My encounters with Cam had always been brief. He was too broody, too calculating, too intense. Something was always going on behind his dark gaze and I could never figure it out. I tried a few times, but ultimately he just unsettled me, so I’d steered clear of him.
Seeing him across the bar now, I knew that unsettling feeling was still alive and well.
Cam moved through the crowd of people with the confidence of a hockey player taking the puck down the ice. I admired his self-assurance around people and yet when I spoke to him, his penetrating gaze gave me an off-centered feeling, like I wasn’t in balance with the universe. I had thought about trying to get to know him better, because, well, he was a friend of Tyler’s, but now it didn’t matter because hockey players were off limits for me.
I grew up in Minnesota with hockey-playing brothers, so I knew the game as well as anyone. But now Cam and all Tyler’s teammates only reminded me of what I needed to stay away from. While I didn’t want to dismiss all collegiate athletes from my dating radar, I would stay away from the hockey team. They all knew Tyler, they all knew me. I was done with them.
I sipped my beer and watched Cam get waylaid by members of the community. They shook hands. A man with crooked teeth wearing an Alaska State baseball cap was probably congratulating Cam on the team’s recent win against the University of Minnesota.
Cam was always polite, but I could never shake the feeling that he wanted to tell me something – that he was holding something back. The longest conversation we’d ever had was at a party when Tyler left his phone at the dorms. He asked Cam for another teammate’s phone number to program into my phone in case we needed a designated driver. And Cam had insisted I add his name to my contacts as well. I never understood why, but I also never got myself to delete his number, either.
My buzz had worn off and the sweat beneath my tank top cooled. Time to find another dance partner and keep myself busy, but before I made a move off my stool, Cam appeared at my side. “How’s it going?”
His body was crowded too close to mine. I glanced over his shoulder looking for other members of the team, hoping he’d get the hint to back up. His woodsy scent and warmth surrounded me and I suddenly couldn’t get enough air. Then I remembered that he’d asked me a question. I refused to let his inappropriate nearness fluster me. My senses were on high alert and my breathing was shallow. I’d apparently had too much to drink; that was the only reason I felt out of sorts. “Never better,” I replied flippantly.
We both stared at each other a minute before we both spoke at the same time.
An empty silence filled the air between us before I said, “Go ahead.”
“How are you?” he asked. He emphasized each word as though he really did want to know how I was. Maybe he wasn’t just making small talk. His serious gaze gave me the once-over and the intense scrutiny made me want to hide. He stood so close, I could feel the heat emanating from his body and I had the urge to fan myself and back away. But no, I wasn’t going to do that. Tonight was about stepping away from the old me. I was dressed as a new me; I could act like a new me too. But seriously, the guy needed to understand boundaries. He stood inches away from me and instead of running away, like I wanted to, a small voice inside my head urged me to lean against him.
Reaching for a lifeline, I picked up my beer instead and gave a mini-salute in the air with the bottle before taking a long pull. I contemplated how best to answer his question. I’d done such a great job of avoiding most members of the team on campus. I knew this moment was coming, but I hadn’t rehearsed it with the girls. “How do you expect me to be? I’m doing just fine.”
I wasn’t going to run like a scared rabbit. Cam’s quiet presence had always unnerved me, but now Tyler wasn’t here to hide behind. If Cam was going to invade my personal space, with his virile scent and penetrating gaze, why not embrace it and give some of it back? I set down the beer bottle and flung my arm around Cam’s shoulder. Besides, he needed to believe I was having the time of my
life. Not fragile, or in need of anyone’s pity. Since I was still sitting on the bar stool and Cam was standing, we were about the same height. “In fact, I’m better than fine. I’m having a great time.”
He continued to stare at me as if he was trying to decide whether to believe me or not. His light brown eyes held my attention amid the noise and bar patrons passing back and forth behind him. I kept my arm on his shoulder, hoping he’d back away. All the hockey players were cut, but Cam had some serious muscle under his down jacket.
I wanted to pull my arm away from the heat of him. He was like a fire that would most certainly burn me. I’d hoped that my boldness would make him put some space between us, but instead, he wrapped his arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze. He leaned in closer and brushed his lips ever so lightly against my ear. “I’m glad.”
My face flushed hot. I swallowed hard. I leaned back to see his face. So much for letting him be the one to back away.
He kept giving me this unreadable look and I couldn’t hold his gaze any longer. It almost looked like sympathy, but I couldn’t be sure. “Don’t feel sorry for me, okay?”
“I don’t.” He fixed his amber eyes on me and despite everything, I believed him.
“Good. Just so that’s clear.” I reached my free hand over for another gulp of my beer, hoping my hand wouldn’t shake. “No pity party going on here. I’m a big girl.”
“Good, because Tyler was –”
“Stop.” I set down my beer and placed my hand over his mouth – his very warm, very sexy mouth. The mouth that had just whispered against the outer shell of my ear only seconds ago. It was like my body wasn’t attached to my brain, and decided to act all on its own. I’d reached out and actually touched a guy who sent warning bells ricocheting around in my otherwise good sense. “The name Tyler is no longer in my vocabulary.” I snatched my hand away and said, “Tyler who?”
“Okay, but I just wanted to –” He stopped talking.
Apparently my death-ray stare worked. Over his shoulder I could see his teammates looking, no doubt talking about us. “Your friends are waiting for you.”
Cam’s fingers flexed into a fist, then flattened against the bar’s smooth surface. Maybe we’d used up our quota of small talk. At least I didn’t feel completely intimidated by him anymore. Nice to see a chink in the stoic armor of star defenseman Cam Erickson. I supposed I should put him out of his misery and offer up something inconsequential, like the weather or something about his last game, but his indecisiveness was interesting to see. He was never indecisive on the ice. He held the blue line for his team, no matter the circumstances. I wondered what was going on in that head of his. I would be completely stupid if I didn’t notice the way he had looked at me sometimes. It was never anything he said, just his steely gaze making me want to move closer to him, tell him my deepest darkest secrets, and at the same time run for my life. “Is there anything else?”
For now I was sticking with option two: run for my life. The guy made me too nervous, too self-conscious, too aware. I couldn’t even look into his eyes without my stomach tumbling over several times.
“Can I buy you another beer?” Cam asked quietly.
“Thanks, but no,” I replied. The bartender washed the bar in front of me. The timing was too perfect. “Can I get another beer?”
“Sure thing,” bartender guy said.
“You just said you didn’t want another beer.” Cam remained in my personal space and I wanted him gone.
“I said no to you buying me another beer.”
“What? My money’s no good.” He stood up straighter, clearly offended by the fact that I didn’t want anything to do with him or his money.
“I’m sure your money’s just fine. But I’m on a mission to steer clear of hockey players.”
His intense gaze narrowed. “Is that so?”
“I’m staying away from you and all your kind.” I know I sounded crazy, but I didn’t care. I’d run out of options to get the guy away from me. I should have just let him buy me the beer, but I was tired of running scared. I wanted to be a better, bolder version of myself.
Now that it was January and school was back in session, I’d made some New Year’s resolutions. Number one: never date another hockey player, ever. Number two: live it up a little, maybe have a hook-up or two. Clearly, being the loyal, true blue, devoted girlfriend had gotten me nothing but heartache. Maybe I needed to be a little wild, a little crazy, a little outrageous. Do something that wasn’t always the right thing to do. I was sick of doing the right thing. Number three: stay the hell away from hockey players. Oh, did I say number three already?
Elle took that moment to slide up on my other side. She had a sunny surfer girl look to her that pegged her as non-Alaskan, but she fit in anyway, by sheer force, if nothing else. Propping her elbows on the bar, she said, “Cam. What’s up?”
“Not much.” Cam nodded in her direction and only I noticed how the two words were laced with annoyance.
The bartender took my empty bottle and set the fresh one down. I reached for my handbag looped on the back of my chair. But before I had it unzipped, Cam had placed a twenty on the bar.
“I said I don’t want you buying my beer.”
“It’s okay. I got it.” He nodded to the bartender and he took the twenty. Something caveman-y passed between them, a bodily stance I wasn’t privy to.
“Apparently you don’t listen very well.” Now I was getting pissed off.
Elle pressed her chest into the bar and leaned over my shoulder. “Good thing your asshole of a friend isn’t here or I’d have a few choice words for him.”
“I’m sure you would.” Cam’s gaze flicked from Elle’s to mine. “I was just going to ask Haylie to dance.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Elle said, “do we dance with hockey players, Haylie?”
“No we don’t, especially ones with poor listening skills.” The heat of Cam’s body was suddenly so distracting. I needed my distance from him. Pronto.
“You heard her, Cam,” Elle said with her classic smartass tone. “We started off the year with a new set of resolutions, you know.”
I grinned despite myself. A couple people looked at her sideways, then went back to their conversations and drinks. I’d had one too many, but Elle was most definitely over her personal limit.
“So I’ve heard,” Cam practically grunted.
“I promised another guy after I was done with my beer,” I told Cam. Which was an absolute lie, but I needed to think, and he stood so close to me, he clouded my “no hockey player” judgement I’d established for myself. “Maybe later. Besides, your friends look like they miss you.”
Cam gave a sideways glance over his shoulder. “Later?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. I’d tell him anything he wanted to hear, to get him away from me so I could breathe. But his eyes pinned me with that look, a look that said I’d better not be lying. Now I had a small inkling of what his opponents on the ice must feel: I felt like his prey.
I turned to Elle in hopes she’d save me. “We’ll be here. Right, Elle? Or were we leaving?”
“We’ve got no plans to leave anytime soon, so yeah, she’ll dance with you later.” She winked at Cam. “I’ll make sure she does.”
The traitor. I was going to kill her in a slow and painful way.
Cam gave Elle a nod before he weaved his way through the tables to join his buddies. It may as well have been a secret handshake. After he was out of hearing distance, I said, “What did you do that for?”
“Do what?” Elle chugged on her beer, purposefully ignoring me.
“Tell Cam I’d dance with him later. And did you wink at him? Seriously? I was trying to let him down easy by saying maybe later, then you just tell him I’ll dance with him.”
“That guy has had his eye on you since freshman year, you can’t deny him one little dance.”
“Oh, yes I can. Watch me.” Elle only confirmed what I’d suspected. Cam was interested in me.
I wasn’t an idiot. But I wasn’t interested in him. No way. No how. Well, maybe a little, but I never allowed myself to look because I’d had a boyfriend.
“I thought we all decided you were going to get out and experiment. You know, maybe even get laid, move on, all that. Remember?” She had a counselor-sounding tone, like those radio talk show hosts that were completely annoying.
“Of course I remember, but I’m not moving on with more members of the hockey team. I’m not a puck.” I ground my nails into my hands and refused to turn around. I wanted to see what Cam was doing. Or rather, my body wanted to see him. My brain could care less.
“Of course you aren’t, but think about it. What better way to get back at Tyler, than by sleeping with one of his friends?” Now she sounded like a demented counselor.
But even though the music pounded loudly around us, to me everything stood still. “You’re joking.”
“No. Actually I’m not.” Elle took a long pull of her drink.
“How could you even suggest that?” I took her lead and drank more of my beer. Apparently, I could use alcohol to dull the idea of what she suggested. But my body lurched to life, as if water had been thrown on it after being in a desert for weeks.
“Don’t be such a prude, Haylie. A little revenge sex never hurt anyone.”
“Revenge sex? Is that what it’s called?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, would you stop already. If you tell me you never thought of it yourself, I will not believe you. If you sleep with Cam or anyone else on the team, Tyler will get wind of it. Even though he’s gone to whatever-the-hell team it is, he will find out. And you know, there is something sweet about revenge.” She narrowed her eyes and stared past the bartender, seemingly in her own world.
“I need another drink.” Yeah, like alcohol made me think more clearly.
“Bartender,” Elle called out. “Would you get my friend here another beer, please?”
Elle did know me too well and I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of it myself. But thoughts of the team in general were one thing, Cam was another. I’d love nothing more than to hurt Tyler the way he had hurt me, but could I really do it? Could I purposefully and strategically sleep with one of his teammates with the only motive being to get back at Tyler?
Right Kind of Mistake Page 1
