Chapter 1 The Humiliation

• Smell of cheap beer and stale ice filled the party house.
• I pulled my big grey sweater tighter around me. My heart was pounding hard against my ribs. I did not belong at a noisy hockey party. I spent my Friday nights in the quiet library with my books, not under loud red lights with heavy bass shaking the floor.
• But tonight was supposed to be different.
• I reached into my jacket pocket, my fingers touching a small piece of paper. For two long years, I had sat three rows behind Liam in biology class. I watched his nice smile and listened to him laugh with his friends. Yesterday, he had finally looked at me and said, "Are you coming to the party tonight, Evelyn? I'll look for you."
• That single sentence had filled my heart with hope.
• I took a deep breath, stepped past a couple kissing against the wall, and walked down the hallway toward the back room. The door was slightly open. Loud male laughter came from inside.
• "I am telling you, she actually wrote it down in ink!"
• I stopped.
• That was Liam's voice.
• I peeked through the gap in the door. Liam was standing near the pool table with a plastic cup in one hand and a blue piece of paper in the other. Three of his teammates stood around him, smiling like mean dogs.
• "Read the last line again, Liam!" one of them shouted, shoving his shoulder.
• Liam cleared his throat, making his voice sound fake and high.
• "'I know you only see me as the girl who gives you class notes, Liam, but every time you smile at me, my heart beats so fast.'"
• He laughed and threw my paper onto the green table.
• "Can you believe this? She did all my work for six months because she thought she had a chance. She is okay, but she wears big ugly sweaters and doesn't even come to our games. I need a cool girl who looks good, not a quiet study nerd."
• The room burst into loud, cruel laughter.
• All the air left my lungs.
• My face felt hot and red. The paper on the pool table was my letter—the one I had spent hours writing, the one I had put in his locker before practice.
• He had not invited me because he liked me.
• He had invited me so his friends could laugh at my private words.
• A wave of shame hit my chest. Hot tears filled my eyes. I backed away from the door quickly, wanting to run away and hide in the dark forever.
• "Watch it."
• A voice came from behind me.
• I bumped hard into a solid chest.
• The impact knocked the breath out of me. I stumbled backward, almost falling, but strong fingers grabbed my arm and pulled me upright before my knees hit the floor.
• "Do you always walk backward in crowded halls, shorty?"
• The voice was low, smooth, and confident.
• I looked up through my tears.
• Standing over me was Nathan.
• He was huge, broad-shouldered, and very tall. He wore a dark shirt that showed his strong arms. His jaw was sharp, and his dark eyes were cold as he watched a single tear fall down my cheek.
• Nathan was the team captain. He was the best player on the ice, the guy who got into fights and never smiled at anyone.
• He looked down at me, then glanced past my head toward the open door where Liam was still laughing.
• Nathan looked back at my red face and shaking lips.
• He did not ask if I was okay.
• He did not give me a fake look of pity.
• Instead, Nathan raised his big hand and gently wiped the tear from my cheek with his thumb.
• "He sits on the bench, sweetheart," Nathan said, his voice flat and sharp. "And you are crying over a guy who can't even play well."
• "It is... none of your business," I choked out.
• I pulled my arm away and turned to run toward the front door.
• Nathan did not chase me.
• But as I ran into the cold night air, I could still feel his dark eyes watching my back.