by Daphne Slade
The Devil You Know
A Devington Devils Romance
Daphne Slade
Copyright © 2021 by Daphne Slade
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
DESCIRPTION
About the Author
Also by Daphne Slade
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue…
Grace
Noah
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About the Author
DESCIRPTION
An enemies to lovers college hockey romance
Noah Donahue
He’s the starting center for the Devington University Devils hockey team.
He’s also the center of the universe for almost every female student here.
I’d be happy if our orbits never intersected.
Unfortunately, he’s the best friend of my boyfriend.
The boyfriend who decided we needed to “take a break” this past summer before senior year.
But one thing I do have in common with Noah is that I play to win, and I’m not giving up just like that.
When Noah is the one to suggest a fake relationship to remind my ex what he’s missing, I’m game.
I have no idea what Noah’s aims are, but if it means returning to the status quo I once knew, I’ll do what I have to.
But you know what they say about making a deal with the devil…
Now, it’s not my soul I’m worried about losing, it’s everything I thought I ever wanted.
This is a New Adult College Romance in the Devington Devils Hockey Romance series. Although each is a stand alone, they should be read in order for the best reading experience
Warning: Due to adult situations and language 18+ only.
About the Author
Daphne Slade lives in Brooklyn, New York and writes fun, sexy stories about cocky, witty, smart-mouth dudes and the women they (eventually) love.
Loves: tulip season in New York, the High Line, fall weather, dollhouses, binge watching Bob’s Burgers, NY Times crossword puzzles, rose lattes, international travel, really big dogs, thunderstorms, all wine.
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Also by Daphne Slade
THE DEVINGTON DEVILS SERIES
The Devil You Know
Chapter One
Grace
I’m blindfolded and bound to the bed, which means my other senses are on high alert. My ears perk up when I hear the door to the bedroom open.
“Oh, thank god you’re here!” I cry out, breathing a legitimate sigh of relief. I’ve been here for almost an hour now. “Burglars broke in and left me handcuffed and practically naked.”
There’s a long pause before I hear a response, and it’s certainly not the one I expected.
“Hmm, odd that they left the Bose sound system behind, which I know for a fact cost over eighteen hundred dollars.”
My breath catches and my body goes tense. “Who the hell—Noah, is that you?”
“Very much at your service.” I can hear the sordidly amused suggestion coloring his voice. I don’t even want to think about what his eyes are doing.
Oh no. No, no, no!
Of all the people in the world, Noah Donahue is the last guy I’d want to find me like this.
He’s the close friend of my boyfriend, Matt, both of them teammates on the Devils hockey team here at Devington University in upstate New York. The two of them have been friends since high school, much to my everlasting irritation.
I’ve never been a fan of Noah beyond the fact that his number one vice seems to be of the female persuasion. It’s no surprise that he hasn’t had a relationship longer than a week in the three years we’ve been here. He may catch the eye of every fawning little thing in a skirt on campus, but his good looks have done nothing for me.
Then again, I have very good reason to be biased against him considering what he did freshman year.
I knew I should have waited to make sure it was actually Matt who entered the apartment before I lowered my blindfold and secured the handcuffs to the headboard.
Now, I’m stuck.
Dammit!
“Where is Matt?” I demand. Not that I should have to. This is, after all, Matt’s apartment.
“Yeah, about that, it appears you’re stuck with me as the knight in shining armor. Matt is otherwise indisposed.”
I feel my outrage come to a boil. This stupid pink bra and panty number I bought is supposed to be for Matt’s eyes only; the same goes for me surprising him blindfolded and handcuffed to his bed. We’ve never played like this before, so I thought it would be just the thing to welcome him back for senior year with a bang. He didn’t ask for my copy of the key to his apartment before we left, which I took as a good sign.
Frankly, it’s ridiculous that it’s come to this after only three years together. I was perfectly fine with where we were, more importantly, where we were headed. Then it all came crashing down at the end of our junior year.
Matt’s the one who said we were growing stagnant and too comfortable with one another.
Matt’s the one who suggested we take a break to “make sure this is what we really want” this past summer.
Matt’s the one I’m trying to win over with this whole thing.
I’ll show him who’s “stagnant” and “too comfortable.”
At least that was the plan.
“Lucky for you he needed me to get his wallet for him. Who knows how long you’d be here playing the damsel in distress?”
“My hero,” I retort with as much venom as I can muster, mostly to hide my humiliation and indignation that it’s Noah out of all the Devington Devils who decided to show up. The fact that he has the nerve to sit there and make fun of me—as he’s done in ways far crueler than this in the past—is just a tribute to how despicable he is. “So are you going to stand there and ogle me all night or are you going to help un-cuff me?”
“Is that any way to greet y
our Prince Charming?” he asks in a mockingly hurt voice. “I’m beginning to think the fairy tales had it right when they made sure Snow White and Sleeping Beauty weren’t able to speak.”
“That tells me everything I need to know about your sex life.”
He chuckles, which infuriates me even more. “Trust me, the women I oh so heroically rescue from the dire fate of celibacy are anything but silent.”
“Spare me the details of your—wait, are you going to help me or not?”
“Only if you say please—make that a pretty please.” I swear I can practically sense him holding back a laugh at my expense.
“And just what do you think Matt would say if he found out about this?” Hopefully, that will light a fire under him.
“Considering he’s the one who sent me here in the first place, I think he’d say, ‘you’re welcome, Noah?’”
I kick my legs and twist my body in frustration, at least until I notice how little this bra has in the way of “support” and how little this scrap of underwear has in the way of “coverage.” My breasts aren’t huge, but certainly enough to fill a B-cup. Other than my legs, my butt is probably my best feature, though I’d die before I’d admit it, or let Noah see this much of it.
Consider me officially dead.
Noah finally erupts into laughter. “Methinks, the lady doth protest too much, and methinks I certainly have no problem with it.”
“Dammit, Noah!”
“Okay, okay,” he mutters through the laughter. “Tell me where the key is.”
“On the dresser next to the window.”
While I listen to him walk that way, I subtly wriggle my body to try and shift the lace that should be covering my breasts and provide at least some privacy in my nether regions. I have a feeling I’m just making it worse.
“Got it—oops!”
“Oops?” My heart skips a beat.
“I think it fell behind the dresser and into the air vent.”
“Noah, I swear to god, if you don’t—!”
“I kid, I kid,” he says through another round of laughter.
I’m going to kill him.
When I feel his weight on the bed next to me, my body goes stiff again. I instinctively suck my lips in the way I always do when I’m self-conscious. And no one brings that out more than the guy currently leaning into me. Especially when it comes to this thing completely overtaking the lower half of my face.
My mouth is what one would call ‘generous’ if they were being nice. Think Julia Roberts or Anne Hathaway, then multiply it by about ten. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I’ve had plenty of years, including all the childhood teasing, to develop a robust complex about it. To me, my mouth is the equivalent of the clown-faced entrance to a funhouse, mouth open wide enough to accommodate any shape and size. Because my mouth is just that large, showing off my teeth (which I also suspect are larger than average) right up to the gums when I smile. The comparisons to a horse I suffered as a girl are unfortunately more than apt.
Noah leans in further, so close, his chest brushes against my nose. At this range, I can smell him. It’s a nice scent. I would have figured him as more of an Axe body spray type, but this is a surprisingly clean and earthy scent, like a rain shower in the forest. I like it. Maybe when I’m done being irate with him, I’ll ask him what it is. It might make a nice Christmas present for Matt.
Noah shifts, his knee right next to my head, as he leans in closer to fit the key into the lock.
“Ouch!” I protest as my hair gets caught under it.
“My apologies, Rapunzel.” I hear soft laughter as he readjusts his knee to release my hair. “So our princess isn’t into hair-pulling. Duly noted.”
Now, I want to do more than kill him.
“There you are, your royal highness,” he says right after I hear the click of the cuffs releasing.
I wait for his weight to lift off the bed before I make a move.
“Thank you,” I grit out, trying to sound as polite as possible, despite the rollercoaster of emotions taking a nice little turn through my head.
I can’t really fault Noah for this situation.
Speaking of which…
“What exactly is Matt ‘indisposed’ with?” I ask as I drag the blindfold away from my face and off my head.
I swallow hard when I see Noah standing only a few feet away, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he grins down at me. It makes his biceps and muscles in his shoulders flex in a way that I’m sure isn’t by accident.
That thick, black hair of his boyishly brushes against a set of dark brows set in sharp contrast to those distracting eyes. I’ve always wondered how such a perfect asshole could be blessed with eyes that are so angelically blue. That mouth is what ruins any celestial illusions, the lips almost obscenely lush, and usually twisted in a devilish smirk. Especially when he’s looking at me.
Why does the guy I hate more than anyone on campus have to look so damn…Noah-esque? Everything from his face to his body to his hair, even the tip of his nose is just so perfect. It’s no wonder he never wants for company of the female persuasion.
They can have him.
I quickly grab the cover from Matt’s bed to wrap it around me in some semblance of decency. My clothes are on the chair behind Noah but hell if I’m going to get dressed while he’s still here.
“Hockey practice was over at five. Where has he been all night?”
“With some of the rest of the team at a bar. Might as well get in as much as we can before Coach sets hard and fast rules about that sort of thing once the semester starts.”
“So why are you here instead of him?”
Instead of answering, Noah tilts his head to consider me. Half his mouth hitches into a sympathetic smile. “I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting you.”
“Do you really need to ask?”
“I think if he knew what awaited him, he’d regret sending me to get the wallet he forgot instead of coming himself.”
“Why couldn’t he come?”
“He was…waiting for some of that beer to evaporate from his system.”
“He’s that drunk?” I’ve seen Matt drunk before, but not in public. All of us have, of course, skirted the letter of the law from time to time before senior year, but that’s always been at a party, or in the privacy of someone’s apartment, or up at the lake house of his teammate Evan Huntington.
“He’ll be fine.” There’s a small, cynical twist to his lips that tells me it’s not quite that simple.
“Is he okay?” I ask with sudden concern. “Does he need a ride home? I’m happy to get my car and—”
“A few guys on the team are there to babysit him. He has plenty of rides home if he needs it. Don’t worry.”
“Of course I’m worried. I’m his…girlfriend.”
Sort of.
Technically, Matt and I are still on break. Hence this unfortunate incident, which was supposed to put an end to that nonsense. It doesn’t mean I don’t still care about him as any girlfriend would.
“You are too good to be true, Grace,” Noah says, smiling and shaking his head in wonder.
I can tell he’s teasing me as usual.
“So, have you gotten what you came for?” I hint.
“And then some,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.
My lips tighten with displeasure.
“Well, then…” I hint even more insistently.
“Ah, I’ll take that as my cue to leave.” He makes a dramatic bow, which has me rolling my eyes.
When he rises, a sudden horrid thought occurs to me. “You won’t tell Matt about this, will you?”
He tilts his head and that mouth of his curls in a way I don’t particularly like. “Hmmm…now that sounds like the perfect leverage for a barter. Perhaps a bit of tit for tat?”
I clutch the bedspread tighter around me. “I hope you aren’t suggesting what I think you are.”
The way he barks out a laugh has me offended for s
ome unfathomable reason.
“That, my dear damsel in distress, is far more trouble than I need in my life.”
Again, I find myself offended, much to my annoyance.
“Well, then what do you want?” I demand, sitting up straighter and give him a hard stare just in case he changes his mind and starts getting sordid ideas.
“I’ll let you know.”
Before I can even ask what the hell that means, he spins around and leaves the bedroom.
I stare at the empty doorway in his absence with my mouth hanging open.
Tonight was supposed to be all for Matt, the one I fully expected to marry one day.
Instead, I ended up with the guy I despise more than anyone.
This couldn’t have gone more wrong if I wanted it to.
Chapter Two
Noah
Matt and I both live in a block of apartment buildings labeled Hockey Row, since most of the players live in one of the units.
The bar is far enough away on the other side of campus that I think about driving my car there, being that I don’t plan on drinking that much. It’s a black, vintage ’67 Mustang my dad and I spent years restoring together back in Milwaukee. I decide to leave it here and walk back to the bar to give myself a chance to cool off.
