Chapter 34: Tournament — Part I


    I watched Nina walk away with a frown on my face.


    Just a couple of days ago, it seemed like everything was going to be fine. She seemed to really want


    me at the party, and we even started to have sex — but I’ve hardly been able to get her to talk to me for


    more than thirty seconds since then.


    A few moments after Nina walked away, I saw Luke trailing behind her from a distance. He saw me


    sitting on my motorcycle and came over.


    “What’s going on with her?” I asked, nodding my head toward Nina as she disappeared down the


    street.


    Luke shrugged. “I dunno. She met up with someone at the coffee shop just now .


    “Who was it?” I asked.


    Luke shrugged again. “I didn’t get a good look since she made me wait across the street, but when she


    told me she was meeting someone she did refer to them as ‘he’. Said she met him on the inte.”


    I felt a pang in my chest as I realized what Luke was saying.


    Was Nina going on dates with guys she met on a dating app? She had seemed flushed and nervous


    when I ran into her in the quad yesterday — had she just been on a date? Even though we weren’t


    technically together, it still hurt me immensely to think about her being with someone else.


    Maybe it was revenge for kissing Lisa, in which case I would have to talk to her tonight and set things


    straight. I wasn’t going to go around any longer and let Nina think that I would ever choose Lisa over


    her. Eventually I’d have to finally put my foot down with Lisa as well, because she also seemed to be


    under the impression that we were going to get back together after I saved her.


    But first, I would put on my best show at the hockey game to show Nina that I was superior to whatever


    strange men she was meeting on the inte. After the game, she would be mine.


    Later that night, as I was getting ready with the team in the locker room, I was hyping myself up


    internally to y harder than ever. Nina was here on shift with Tiffany in case there were any injuries,


    so I knew she’d be watching closely from the sidelines.


    While I got ready, Justin walked behind me and caught my gaze in the mirror. I narrowed my eyes at


    him and turned arround.


    “Staying out of trouble?” I asked.


    He nodded, avoiding my eyes.


    “Good,” I said, pping him hard on the shoulder. “Keep it that way.”


    I turned to walk away, but Justin called after me.


    “I know you fucked her on Saturday night.”


    I slowly turned back around to face him, feeling Fio start to growl inside of me. I quieted Fio, calming


    myself at the same time, before I answered Justin.


    “And what of it?” I asked. “You guys aren’t together.”


    Justin looked more hurt than angry. “I know we’re not together anymore,” he said, “but it’s still pretty


    fucked up that you fucked herst night.”


    I walked toward Justin, my fists curled up at my sides. “You should’ve thought about that before you


    threw away a really amazing girl,” I growled, ring at him. The rest of the team had grown quiet by


    now and were standing nearby, watching. “She deserves better than you.”


    Someone on the team cleared their throat abruptly to get my attention. I turned around to face whoever


    it was; it was Matt, and he was cringing and pointing subtly at the locker room door.


    Nina was standing in the doorway holding a clipboard.


    Had she heard everything?


    “Um,” she said sheepishly, looking at the floor and pushing her sses up on her nose, “I just wanted


    to check in to make sure that no one needs anything before the game.”


    The rest of the team shook their heads like a flock of stupid sheep, and before I had a chance to ask


    her to talk in private, she slipped back out of the locker room.


    I turned back toward Justin. His eyes were red, but he didn’t say anything else or instigate a fight.


    “Alright,” I said, addressing the whole team now as I heard the announcer start talking in the arena.


    “Let’s y like hell tonight.”


    Despite my argument with Justin in the locker room, we did all y like hell. Throughout the entire


    game, only two things were on my mind: the puck and Nina. I kept her in my peripherals at all times as


    I gave my all. That night, I skated faster and harder than I ever had in my entire hockey career. I even


    took some of Fio’s strength to perform some difficult tricks, which caused the crowd to erupt in cheers.


    I didn’t care about the crowd, though. Every time I aplished a great feat during the game, my eyes


    only went to Nina. I just wished I could read the expression on her face, because I couldn’t tell whether


    she was amazed, afraid, or angry. Never in my life had I seen someone with such an impressive poker


    face.


    The game was an easy win with all of my extra effort. The other team skated off of the rink in shame


    while my team pumped their fists at the crowd and the cheerleaders went wild. I started to skate toward


    Nina, but as soon as I stepped off the rink, Lisa came barreling toward me and threw her arms around


    my neck, jumping up and wrapping her legs around me like a parasite.


    “Babe! You yed so well!” she yelled, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. I could tell that


    there was a tone to it that intended to hurt Nina.


    Before I was able to pry Lisa off of me, I saw Nina dip into the crowd as people started to filter out. I


    had to go after her.


    “Get the fuck off of me, Lisa!” 1 shouted, yanking her off and putting her on the ground. “We’re not


    together. Stop calling me babe, and stop clinging to me like a monkey.”


    Lisa’s face turned red and tears welled up in her eyes. With a hmph, she stormed off to go be with the


    other cheerleaders, who took her in like a sad orphan and red at me while theyforted her, but I


    only cared about finding Nina.


    I scanned the crowd, thankful for my height as I quickly spotted Nina’s ck braids bobbing away, and


    went after her.


    “Nina!” I called, but she didn’t hear me over the crowd. “Nina! Wait!”


    She didn’t turn around. In fact, it seemed that she was headed toward someone entirely different


    altogether.


    Standing near the doorway was a tall,nky guy in a sweater vest. He had a leather satchel on his


    shoulder and was smiling at Nina, who walked right up to him. I stopped in my tracks and watched as


    he said something to her, gesturing out the door with his thumb, then the worst scenario I could have


    imagined happened…


    She left with him.


    I felt a mixture of rage and heartbreak wash over me. Was this the guy she was seeing? Were they


    going somewhere to be alone together?


    At that moment, my team rushed up to me and jumped on me, excited from ourndslide victory while


    Nina and that guy disappeared before I could run to her.


    I couldn’t bear to see Nina with anyone else. I had to win her back, but how?


    Just then, as I caught a glimpse of Lisa ring at me from the sidelines, I had an idea that could test


    Nina’s affection for me.


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    I could make her jealous by pretending to get with other girls.


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