2

CHASE’S POV

THE BREAK-UP

You know what the absolute worst thing that can happen after winning the biggest game of the season is? Watching your teammate get dumped. Well... technically, watching him get dumped while he's on one knee with a ring in his hand. To be fair, I warned Roman. Several times if I might add. I told him proposing tonight was a terrible idea. Apparently, that made me the asshole.

See, Roman and his girlfriend have been together since high school. Six years to be exact. Everyone on campus treats them like they're some kind of relationship goal, the couple destined to get married the second graduation rolls around. So after we clinched the championship tonight, the idiot decided it would be the perfect ending to an already perfect day.

Win the game, celebrate with the team, pop the question then ride off into the sunset. Simple. Except life isn't a Disney movie.

"What?" Roman stammers, his face draining of color. He's still kneeling on the floor, one hand trembling around the open Tiffany ring box. "But..."

The diamond sparkles almost mockingly under the pub lights. It probably costs more than what an average office worker would earn in a day. Not that Roman would notice. Being the only son of one of the country's biggest luxury watch manufacturers comes with certain advantages. The guy could've bought five engagement rings without making a dent in his bank account. Hell, all he had to do was dip into one month's allowance and it barely scratched his account.

"I said..." his girlfriend repeats slowly, crossing her arms over her chest, " I think we should break up."

"I... don't understand."

Poor bastard.

I take a slow sip of my beer, leaning lazily against the wall as the train wreck unfolds exactly the way I predicted.

"What'd I miss?" Josh appears beside me, fixing the collar of his shirt like he didn't just spend the last twenty minutes making out with Claire in his Jeep. They always break-up, get bored, mess around, get back together and then have another messy break-up. So fucking romantic, right?

Yeah. Real subtle, Romeo.

Claire walks past us toward the dance floor, pretending she doesn't know him.

Cute.

"Roman just got dumped," I say.

Josh nearly spits out his drink, "No way."

"Afraid so."

Roman's girlfriend lets out a shaky breath.

"You don't understand?" she echoes, almost laughing. "We were good, Roman. We were great. Before hockey became your entire personality."

Ouch.

"You used to make time for me. Now everything is hockey. Practice. Training. Film sessions. Away games. Team dinners." She shakes her head, disappointment etched across her face. "It’s like somewhere along the way, I stopped being your girlfriend."

Roman opens his mouth, but she isn't finished.

"I became an accessory. You only remember I exist when everyone else is watching."

Double ouch.

"So yes..." she says quietly, tears glistening in her eyes despite the firmness in her voice. "...we should break up."

Without another word, she turns and walks away, disappearing through the crowd. Roman stays frozen exactly where he is. He is still kneeling, ring in hand while staring after the woman who just shattered six years of his life.

Well, tomorrow's campus gossip practically writes itself. I can almost picture it.

Ashford University's star defenseman gets dumped during his public proposal after winning the championship.

Students are going to feast on that story. Believe me, anything hockey and the school gossip page goes wild.

"Damn," Josh mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's brutal."

"No kidding." He finishes his drink before looking around the club. "Anyway, have you seen my sister? I should probably wish her happy birthday before she decides to disown me."

I jerk my chin toward one of the booths across the room.

"She's over there."

Josh follows my gaze. And I’m about to return my attention to the spectacle that is Roman, when something about Ava’s gaze makes me stare longer than I should. Something feels...off. Ava sits perfectly still, staring into the colourful liquid swirling around her glass but she is not drinking it. Instead, she is just looking at it. Her two friends are laughing their asses off on the dance floor, completely oblivious. The third, I texted on his phone. A brightly decorated birthday cake sits untouched in the center of the table.

Beside her, golden-boy Rodney has an arm draped casually around her shoulders while chatting with someone from the team, looking completely unaware that his girlfriend hasn't smiled once in the last several minutes. Maybe it's none of my business.

Actually, it definitely isn't.

Ava and I spend ninety percent of our interactions trying to verbally murder each other. She's stubborn. I'm worse. She thinks I'm an arrogant jackass. I think she's a pain in my ass. You’ve gotta agree it's a beautiful arrangement.

Still, something about the way she's sitting there doesn't feel right. Two years she's been dating Rodney and I still don't like the guy. Sure, he's one hell of a goalie. I'll give him that. But something about him has always rubbed me the wrong way.

Before I can dwell on it any longer, Ava suddenly reaches for the half-empty bottle of whiskey sitting in the middle of the table. She twists off the cap and takes a long swig straight from it. Everyone at the table freezes, including me. And that is for a good reason.

Because Ava hates whiskey.

You know how I know? Freshman year, someone dared her to take three shots during a dorm party. She spent the rest of the night hugging a toilet and swore with very dramatic hand gestures and a splitting hangover, might I add, that she'd rather drink gasoline than any alcohol ever again.

She managed to keep that promise for…What? A month? Maybe two. Before I spotted her at a party. But the whiskey part? Yeah, she always kept that promise. Which means whatever is going through her head right now has to be bad enough to make her forget how much she despises the stuff.

And for the first time all night, I stop paying attention to Roman and his very drama-filled break-up. Because every instinct I have is suddenly focused on the birthday girl across the room.

What happened Ava?