Taming the Obnoxious Hockey Captain

Chapter 7: Hailey

"Girl you're crazier I thought!" Tommy squeals for the nth time today. He's my best friend plus hiding something from him is pretty much the same as a fish driving a submarine: It's impossible.

"It's not that big a deal. This is a transaction between two mature individuals for mutual benefits."

"Call it whatever you want byatch but no one's gonna buy that. Don't you know who you're talking about here? The Ezra Donatello. Son to legendary defenseman Elijah f*ck*ng Yvonne. Nice try babe. You're not fooling me."

"I'm serious—gah! You know what? Forget it. I'm going to class." A sly grin pops up on Tommy's face. "Or you're going to hook-up with Ezra?"

I move closer to him, faking a hug, before biting down on his shoulder hard.

"Isn't there a 'f*ck buddy' waiting for you?" I gesture toward some random guy who has been staring at us for a while now.

He grinned so widely, his pearly white thirty-two flash in my face "Oh you mean Williams? He's my new boy toy. Dude's been all over me lately."

I blinked sarcastically. "Yeah no kidding." I turn him around and start pushing his back. "Now go hang out with him and leave me alone."

Tommy turns around swiftly before I can kick his *ss. He starts talking in that quick way he always does when trying to make a point. "Oh no darling. Your business is in every possible way my business so don't even think about excluding me from it."

"I'm gonna kick your *ss. One."

"Aren't you just lovely. My little girl is finally becoming a woman."

That's it.

"Two, three, four, five!" I raise my leg to kick him but he's already sprinting across the quad.

Good riddance!

Fake dating Ezra Donatello isn't gonna be easy especially since he has that ' I don't do girlfriends' sh*t going on but I have no choice. He's the only dummy ready to lose five thousand dollars per semester just so he can play some stick game on ice.

Then again, with that amount of money on the line, I'd be agitated too.

Maybe I've been too hard on the guy.

I walk down the flowery pathway of the garden that divided the faculty of science and the garden where the Art department were seated on the grass. I try so hard not to spare a glance at Elias because if I do, there's no telling how long I'll stare at him.

And that'd be weird.

So I shove my head into my chest and hurry down before it gets too obvious.

I'm already halfway through when a loud honk blares in front of me, making me lose balance and crash into someone.

Ezra pushes the car door open then walks slowly to where I'm standing trying to mask my confusion.

All eyes are on us... especially Elias'.

When Ezra comes closer enough, I grab his arm and am about to say something but he beats me to it.

"Your little crush is finally noticing. Could've gone with a more sexier outfit but oh well. We can work on that later."

I look around me. People staring at me isn't something I'm alien to. Not when it's for the right reason that is. This situation is all wrong.

"Is this how you plan on making him notice—"

"We're standing too long, granny. Just take my hand and let me lead you to the car princess style."

"What the —"

"Hurry."

Ezra straightens himself with a smug, confident pose. He takes my hand in his then starts walking toward the huge black Hyundai parked directly beside the tree Elias is resting his back on.

Our eyes meet as I walk by and I swear my heart stutters. He's. Just. So. Good. Looking.

His grey eyes lock in on mine, glinting with that fierce artsy vibe I'm obsessed with whenever I watch his painting tutorials on YouTube like a freak.

Yeah. I'm that obsessed with him.

"Eyes on me sweetie. You can't be dating me and still be eye-f*ck*ng another guy."

Ezra has a point on that so I tear my eyes away from Elias and glance repeatedly at Ezra. We got to his car after walking for what seemed like forever.

Then, Ezra being the douchebag he always is, opens the door to the other side of the car then leans in and places a quick peck on my cheek.

I almost scowled at him but he just knew that too! "Look at me like you want me to f*ck you. Not like you want my head on a chopping board."

I slip into the car. "Believe me, I will give anything to see that."

"Alright Herodias."

He slams the door gently before walking over to the driver's side. Once he's inside, everyone erupts in murmurs. Their phones are all out, taking pictures of us through the glasses.

"Couldn't you have at least tinted your glasses dude?"

Ezra ignores my question instead he leans in, fastening the seatbelt around my waist. The murmurs only grew louder after that, the cameras flashing wildly.

"We need people to see us, granny. How can they when we're trapped in a tinted car?"

I hate that he's right. My phone buzzes in my pocket. A yelp escapes me when he snatches the phone from my hand.

"Hey!"

To my amazement, he turns the camera toward his face, pulls me into his arm, and takes a picture.

“What are you doing now?”

“There,” he says. A few clicks later and he's handing the phone back to me with a wink.

“Feel free to use that as your profile pic on the Easyton app, wallpaper, even as your contact pic. Oh wait. You don't have any friends. Nevertheless, now that you're my girlfriend, you'll get messaged by a ton of total strangers so make sure you save every one."

"Gee. Anything else great master of flirting?" I ask, intentionally making my tone sarcastic.

"Oh yeah. Expect to see me at all your lectures. It's to inform people that I’ll be driving you home now. That way if you show up with me, everyone will know we're in a serious relationship.”

He heaves out an exasperated breath.

“Now, can I please take you home without you scowling the whole way?"

I sigh.

It won’t kill me to spend five to ten minutes in a car with the guy. Besides, he gets the silent treatment if he annoys me too much by talking.

Everything will be fine.