Chapter 3 DATE ME

TAYLOR'S POINT OF VIEW

I wanted to rush home, to cry and never show up here, but something pulled me to the arena instead. Everyone stared at me every time I attempted to take a seat next to them.

“Sorry, seats taken.” One girl smiled and placed her bag on it the moment my eyes landed on the seat. “Maybe you should try Bangbros.” The guy next to her chuckled.

With gritted teeth and a burning desire to punch Rowan again, I took the only available seat….the one next to the trash bins, where I could get hit with a puck if a player got too rough.

Their murmurs didn’t stop until our team, Black-ridge Bears, walked onto the ice.

“Bears bears bears!” Everyone except me chanted, and the crowd sang Rowan’s praises as they clapped for him. I wanted to hurl.

He’s ruined my life, spat on months of my hard work, and labeled me a whore in less than an hour; a term he knew I fought hard to escape.

Everyone already thought and believed I got my high grades and the spot as head cheerleader because I fucked my way up for it.

If they didn’t slut shame me, they fat-shamed me….I have known. All my friends were Rowan’s; he introduced me to them.

I never should have taken days of insults and snide remarks over my background. I thought Hailey was different. She was Rowan’s childhood friend, and the very person who brought us together. I believed she actually liked me and wanted to be friends.

But she….

I wiped the lone tear that escaped my eyelids immediately it dropped. My gaze landed on Rowan’s; his smug smile remained on his lips as he watched me.

“Whore.” He mouths, then blows a kiss at me. I looked away before he could, my knees burned with the urge to take off from there, but before I could, the other half of the vast arena came alive with cheers.

“Frostwood frost wood! Wolves!” They howled like actual wolves as the opposing team walked onto the ice. My mouth dropped the second I saw the lineup.

They didn’t look human. While the Blackridge bears were made of guys with lean muscle, these were perfectly built like proper athletes.

Their gear hung perfectly on their form as they slid onto the ice. My gaze stops on one person: their captain.

Hunter D’laurentis.

The air feels charged the moment he stops in front of Rowan, their eyes meeting through their headgear. I could feel the tension soak into my pores, as does everyone else, because the arena grows silent.

That’s when it strikes me.

This is that Hunter guy! While Rowan and I dated, he never let my ears off that name and his hatred for him each time they had to practice. I had no idea why, but I know one thing;

The only person Rowan thinks about other than himself is Hunter.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Hunter as he moved. He looked like he was one with the ice as he guided the puck easily, swooshing and sliding between players.

However, before he could make the shot, Rowan hijacked him and managed to both steal the puck and shoot before Hunter could manage to stop him.

“Bears bears bears!” Our side of the school roared while the team cheered on. I leaned forward, my eyes wide with attention as the same thing happened over and over again.

Hunter charged at Rowan, his hockey stick ready to steal the puck, but before he could, someone from his team collided with him, blindsiding his vision until finally, he stumbled and fell to the floor.

He crashed hard. And Rowan is able to make the final shot that steals the win for our school.

“Time!”

The referee tells the end of the game, and the cheerleaders rush to perform their routine, a routine I painstakingly came up with and taught all of them on my own.

I watched Haley dance as she had always been there, like I wasn’t the one who did all this…..I set this thing up; I made sure we were taken seriously and not termed an unserious bunch of girls dancing around.

Me!

Now she takes credit?

The black ridge team soaks in the praise while Frostwood wolves head off the ice without a second look. That’s when my mind begins to work like a well-oiled machine.

My eyes lingered on him, Hunter, as he stared into the crowd, and then at Rowan before heading with the rest of his team.

Rowan wants to play dirty? Fine…..I can fucking play.

After waiting for fifteen minutes to pass, and making sure no one watched me, I ran after them. My legs burned as I took off into a sprint, my eyes reaching into the night as I raced for the parking lot.

The bus with their school logo just pulled out of the parking lot when I arrived.

“Shit!” I hissed as I watched the bus speed further away. They’re gone….

Disappointment swelled in my heart as I kicked invisible rocks. Just when I turned around, I noticed something else.

A black Audi in the distant horizon, far away from the other cars, and one guy who leaned against it…..

Hunter.

I ran over to him, my lungs burning with the lack of air as I moved untill I stopped in front of him.

He doesn’t spare me a glance; maybe because he looks like he’s deep in his mind at the moment.

His shoulders appeared tense and tight, as if the defeat did something raw inside him. Still in full, besides the skating shoes, he was just about to step into his car when I called out.

“Hunter.” His already tense shoulders grew even harder when he turned. He stared down at me, eyes dim with something hard.

“I don’t do drugs.” My eyebrows shot up at that.

“What….I don’t sell them.” He turns to stare at me again, then looks down at my clothes. I’m putting on a pair of sweat pants and a simple top….what about that makes me…

You know what, I need to stay on topic.

Before I could say anything else, he tilts his head to the side, eyes shining with what looked like recognition, before he speaks;

“You’re that girl from that video…”

“Great; you’ve seen it too.” I wanted to bury myself in shame. I thought it was contained, but apparently, Rowan wasn’t done humiliating me.

“I don’t think anyone on campus has seen it.” He shrugs his shoulders, but he doesn’t look disgusted or angry. “Great stuff though…..I would ask that you lay off showing me Rowan’s ass.”

“I didn’t film the video. Rowan did, without my consent.”

“Ah, trouble in paradise?”

“No! I….look, tonight’s vane could have gone way differently than it turned out.” That's when his shoulders finally tense again.

He turned fully to stare at me, his hand buried in his pockets, as he leaned against his car.

“What do you mean?”

“You think it’s a coincidence all your moves and that of your team were suddenly intercepted by Rowan’s….almost like he knew them before you made it?”

He doesn’t say a word; he simply stares with those dark eyes.

“I used to date that bastard, and I can tell you, Rowan ever practiced for a game. Nor did his team.

You want to know how he knows all your moves? Why does your team always lose, and will lose the entire season up to the championship if this goes on?

Speak to the water boy in your team, and your coach….

You’ll realize why a player as skilled as you keeps losing.”

“And what’s in it for you?” He says after a beat of silence.

“Rowan stole everything from me. He’s managed to name me the one thing he knew I hate.

A whore.

And he took my best friend, too.

I want revenge. I can give you every detail and information about every game before it starts.

It’ll give you an upper hand he has dealt you for months now.”

“And I have to do what in return?”

“Date me.”