SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

CHAPTER 3

/MAVERICK/

My jaw still ached from how hard I’d been clenching my teeth since yesterday afternoon. I threw my hockey stick into my locker and slammed the metal door shut, the sound echoing through the varsity changing room.

"Whoa, easy there, Captain," Miller said, ducking as he walked past me with a roll of grip tape. "The ice didn't do anything to you."

"That's clearly not my problem here," I muttered, ripping off my sweaty jersey and tossing it into the laundry bin.

I was still furious. No, scratch that—I was humiliated. I had spent twenty-three years on this earth being the guy everyone wanted to please. Coaches, scouts, girls, guys—it didn't matter. I smiled, and doors opened. But yesterday, that little statistics nerd had looked at me like I was a piece of garbage stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He'd asked me if I was stupid and those words kept playing on a loop in my head, making my blood boil all over again.

He had threatened my career. He held my entire future in his hands, and he knew it. I couldn't just let him lord that over me for the next two weeks. I needed some kinda leverage, something to throw him off his game and put me back in control.

I looked around the locker room. The freshmen were busy packing up, and the rest of the guys were joking around by the showers. Then I spotted Jared sitting on the bench near the door, untying his skates. Jared was a junior defenseman, but more importantly, he was a business major.

I grabbed a clean gray hoodie, shoved my arms through it, and walked over to his section of the locker room. I dropped down onto the wooden bench next to him, leaning back casually.

"Hey, Jared," I said, keeping my voice low.

Jared looked up, looking a little surprised. "Hey, Mave. What’s up? Great skate today."

"Thanks man," I nodded, brushing it off. "Hey, let me ask you something. You’re in the economics department, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you know a guy named Nathan Tanner? He's supposed to be our senior. He’s the top student or whatever."

Jared’s face immediately lit up with recognition. "Oh, yeah. Everyone in the department knows Nathan. The guy is a literal robot, he gets perfect scores on everything and sits in the front row of every lecture. Why do you ask? Are you guys hanging out?"

"Not hanging out," I grunted, rolling my shoulders. "Coach got him to tutor me for Advanced Stats so I don't get benched for the winter finals. The guy is a complete psycho. He nearly bit my head off because I was twenty minutes late."

Jared let out a low laugh, shaking his head as he pulled off his hockey socks. "Yeah, that sounds like him. Nathan totally uptight and he doesn't really talk to anyone unless it's about schoolwork or his internships."

"Seriously?" I leaned in a little closer, lowering my voice even more. "There’s got to be something on him. He can't be that perfect. Does he party? Got a girlfriend? Any drama?"

Jared paused, looking at me thoughtfully. He reached for his sneakers, shoving his feet inside before answering. "Nah, nothing like that. Like I said, he keeps to himself. No girlfriend. Honestly, I don't think he's ever even been seen with a girl."

Jared leaned in a bit, a smirk playing on his lips. "But, if you’re looking for dirt, there was this lowkey rumor going around the department group chat last semester."

My ears practically perked up. "What rumor?"

"Some sophomore claimed he was gay or something because he hasn't ever been seen with a girl," Jared whispered, glancing around the locker room to make sure no one else was listening. "That's probably a rumor out of spite, since Nathan doesn't hang around guys either. He's the definition of antisocial.”

I sat there, staring at the floor tiles, my brain spinning at a hundred miles an hour. He's into guys? Honestly, I'd want to believe it but he didn't quite look the part.

"You think it's true?" I asked, keeping my face completely expressionless.

Jared shrugged, grabbing his gym bag. "Who knows? With a guy that tightly wound, it’s hard to tell what he does when he’s not studying. Anyway, good luck with him, Mave. You’re gonna need it." He slapped my shoulder and walked out of the locker room.

I stayed on the bench for a long time, a slow smirk spreading across my face.

If Nathan was straight, my usual charm wouldn't do anything but annoy him more. But if he was a closeted gay guy? That changed everything. I was confident in my ability to swoon over anyone and this shouldn't be different.

This wasn't a matter of me being straight, I just needed to get my revenge. Just imagine making him fall for me, then he realizes that I never once swung that way? That would be an absolute masterpiece. I'd never played a boy before but it shouldn't be that different from playing girls.

This was exactly how it was supposed to be, with me being in control and not the other way round.

“Now, I'm getting extremely curious to know the truth.”

Just then, a message popped into my phone. “Speak of the devil.”