Chapter 7
Liam
Message failed to send.
"Shit," I muttered under my breath, aggressively tapping the red exclamation mark on my screen. I hit retry.
Message failed to send.
I shoved my hair back with both hands, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had tried calling the unknown number five times. It rang once and went straight to a dead tone. I had texted them, demanding to know who they were, what they wanted, and how much money it would take to delete the video.
Nothing.
The video was still sitting in my inbox, a ticking atomic bomb. Every time I looked at it, my stomach dropped. Five seconds of me and Ava against the leather booth of that bar, completely lost in each other. It was clear. It was passionate. It was damning.
"Hey... we need to get ready for the orientation mixer."
Chase's voice broke through my panic.
I jumped, nearly dropping my phone onto the floor. I quickly locked the screen, shoving it face-down onto my desk.
Chase was sprawled out on the bed across from mine in our shared bedroom in the upperclassmen athlete apartments, completely relaxed. He was scrolling through his phone with one hand while using the other to stuff a cold slice of leftover pepperoni pizza into his mouth. He looked completely at peace, the exact opposite of how he would look if he knew his best friend had defiled his little sister.
"I'm honestly not in the mood to go," I said, my voice tight as I leaned against the desk, trying to appear casual.
"What? Come on," Chase scoffed, tossing the pizza crust back into the cardboard box. "We have to go. It's tradition for the Grizzlies to show up and pump some life into the freshmen. Coach expects us to represent, and the guys are already pre-gaming."
"We have a massive practice tomorrow, Chase. The season is starting. We don't need the distraction."
"It's an hour, Cap. Relax." Chase laughed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Then, his expression softened, a protective glint entering his eyes. "Plus... I need to keep an eye on my sister. I want to make sure Ava is settling in okay."
My eyes lit up at the mention of Ava.
But a split-second later, a cold dread rushed through my veins.
Someone had a video that could ruin Ava's life, destroy my captaincy, and end my friendship with Chase forever. If this blackmailer was going to leak it, they would do it when the stakes were highest. And a crowded orientation mixer packed with Pembroke Grizzlies, freshmen, and campus gossips was the ultimate staging ground.
I needed to find Ava. I needed to tell her about the video before she walked into an absolute ambush.
"Alright," I said, grabbing my Grizzlies varsity jacket off the back of my chair and throwing it on. "Let's go."
The noise of the quad hit us before we even cleared the trees.
The orientation mixer was a sea of fairy lights, red plastic cups, and bass so heavy I could feel it vibrating in my sneakers. The moment the Grizzlies walked onto the lawn, a loud cheer erupted from the crowd. We were campus royalty, and the freshmen knew it.
"The boys have arrived!" Miller yelled, raising a cup to the sky.
Immediately, a group of girls in Pembroke sweaters drifted our way. Normally, this was the part of the night where I would flash a smile, do the polite captain thing, and enjoy the attention. But tonight, my chest felt like it was being squeezed by a vise.
I ignored the hands reaching out to pat my shoulder and scanned the crowd, my gaze cutting through the flashing lights.
Where is she?
"Give your speech, Cap," Chase said, nudging my shoulder with his elbow. He had a massive grin on his face, totally hyped up on the energy of the crowd. "Come on. The people want their leader."
He was right. It was a Grizzlies tradition. Every year at the orientation mixer, the captain climbed up and delivered the speech that set the tone for the entire semester, getting everyone pumped for the school year and ready to pack the student section for hockey season.
But as I looked out at the sea of eager, laughing faces, all I could think about was the video sitting in my pocket. The blackmailer could be standing right here in this crowd, watching me.
"Go on, Liam! Get up there!" another teammate yelled, shoving a freshly poured, brimming red cup of beer into my hand.
I swallowed hard. I needed to play the part. If I looked panicked, Chase would notice. If I acted weird, the rumors would start before the season even began.
I stepped up onto the nearest wooden picnic table.
The crowd went wild. Girls practically pushed their way to the front, phones tilted upward, ready to record. I felt a dozen pairs of eyes on my legs, my face, my jacket. I ignored them all, doing one last sweep of the back of the lawn, desperate for a flash of dark curls.
Nothing.
I took a deep breath, letting the familiar, arrogant captain persona wash over me like armor. I raised my cup, and the crowd fell into an expectant, hushed silence.
"Alright, listen up, Pembroke!" I called out, my voice carrying easily over the muted bass of the speakers. "I know some of you are terrified right now. You're looking at your syllabus, you're looking at the massive campus, and you're wondering how you're going to survive the next four years."
A few nervous chuckles rippled through the freshmen.
"But let me tell you a secret," I said with a smirk, leaning down slightly. "Survival is boring. We don't just survive at Pembroke. We dominate. You've got the best academics, the best parties, and most importantly..." I paused, raising my cup higher. "You've got the number-one-ranked hockey team in the division."
The lawn absolutely erupted. My teammates started barking like wild dogs, banging their cups against the tables.
"We're bringing home the championship trophy this year," I promised, the roar of the crowd fueling the fire in my chest. "But we can't do it without you loud-mouthed, red-cup-carrying beautiful people packing the stands. So, to the freshmen—welcome to the best years of your life. To the Grizzlies—let's go get our ring!"
I threw my head back.
With the crowd screaming my name, I tilted the red cup and chugged the entire beer in one massive, continuous go. The golden liquid disappeared in seconds. When I slammed the empty cup down onto the table, the cheer that went up was deafening. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, offering a cocky, breathless wink to a group of screaming girls in the front row.
They lost their minds.
I jumped down from the table, landing lightly on my feet as Chase clapped me hard on the back. "Brilliant as always, man! You've got them eating out of your hand."
"Yeah," I breathed, my heart hammering. The adrenaline from the speech was fading fast, leaving behind the cold reality of my nightmare. "Thanks."
I turned my head to look toward the entrance path of the quad, my eyes narrowing as two figures walked out of the shadows of the freshman dorms.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was Ava. She looked breathtaking, wearing a dark top that made her collarbones stand out in the moonlight.
But she wasn't alone. Walking right beside her, with her arm comfortably looped through Ava's, was a tall blonde wearing a dark blue athletic hoodie.
A hoodie with the number 27 on the back.
My ex-girlfriend, Sarah.
My blood turned to pure ice. They were walking straight toward us, talking like they were old friends. And right behind them, scanning the crowd with a possessive, searching look on his face, was a guy I recognized instantly from Ava's high school photos.
Brad.
Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.
