**CHAPTER NINETEEN.**
Drake had a stoic expression on his face as he looked at me, while Topper looked like a deer caught in a headlight. He looked between me and Drake before scratching his head.
“So?” I pressed on. “I know the both of you slept together, so don't even try to deny that. Topper, aren't you dating Brianna? Y'know, I assumed she's your fated pair.”
A sigh fell off Topper's lips as he pushed back his hair. “Drake and I aren't dating…” he trailed off while I studied Drake expression, it was as stoic as ever. I knew a demon like him shouldn't be capable of showing emotions. “I love Brianna. She's the only one I'm dating, but Drake helps me with my rut and…he's the only one capable of enduring my *animalistic* ways during sex. Look, Eline, I can't tell you much, but please don't let anyone know about this.”
“Does Draken know?” I asked. I still found it weird to know that someone like Drake was willing to help Topper with his rut.
“He doesn't need to know,” Drake replied almost immediately as he stood up, buttoning up his shirt. “By the way, who's Raphael Huffman?”
I decided to forget about everything I'd come to learn about Topper and Drake. After all, it was none of my business. My only worry was Brianna who was caught up in-between them, not like I was close to her either. “He's a student of Cortland University. The hockey team captain.”
“And he's threatening to sleep with you?”
I nodded. “Doesn't seem to be joking either.”
“Human or a shifter?”
“Shifter. Werewolf,” I replied.
Drake nodded and picked up his trousers on the floor. He proceeded to wear it while I looked away. “He seems interesting. I'd love to see him myself.”
With those words, I heard his footsteps retract. I looked and watched him leave the apartment. He didn't even bid his goodbye to Topper, and it let me know the relationship between them was simply sexual.
“Look, Eline,” Topper's voice drew back my attention. “What you saw here should stay between the three of us. I don't want anything that would jeopardize my relationship with Brianna.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before sleeping with Drake,” I replied, feeling disappointed at him.
Topper stood up and headed to the bar at the sharp left corner of the living room. He poured himself a drink and sat on the table opposite where I was seated. He took a swig and dropped the cup on the table with a thud. “Drake has been helping me with my rut even before I met Brianna, Eline. And like I said, Brianna can't handle my rut. Drake's the only one. Please, why can't you understand?”
“It's none of my business anyway,” I said.
“You won't be telling anyone?”
“I don't gossip.”
“I can trust you then?”
“I wouldn't even trust myself. So about Raphael,” I replied, changing the subject.
Topper nodded, a gesture showing he was following, as he crossed his arms over his chest. I explained everything that had happened between Raphael and me at the café, including how he had called me Draken's whore after threatening to sleep with me. While I spoke, Topper just listened, humming occasionally.
“...and he left with his minions. That's literally everything that happened,” I said as I finished talking.
“Be rest assured, Eline,” Topper finally said in response. “I'll take care of this. Just call or text me if he ever confronts you again, and I'll come running.”
“About that,” I said as I took out my phone and tried calling him, but as expected, it didn’t go through. “Your number isn’t going through for some reason.”
He nodded and ran his hand through his neck. “Oh, yea. My phone fell down a drain, so I had to get a new one. I'll give you the number now.”
Just like he promised, he gave me his new phone number and I headed back to my dorm room. When I got back Karina was waiting for me, seated on her bed.
“I thought you'd be back sooner,” she remarked as I dropped my bag.
“I had some studying to do at the library,” I lied, feeling a pang of guilt.
“Is that so?”
I nodded, attempting to maintain composure under her scrutinizing gaze. “Where else would I be, if not at school?”
Karina leveled a suspicious look at me, her raised eyebrow fueling my anxiety. “Are you sure you're telling me the truth, Eline?”
I hesitated, my nerves fraying. “Of course, why wouldn't I?” I fibbed, my hand reflexively reaching to massage my neck.
“Nothing,” she shook her head. “I just hope you're being honest with me, because if there's also anything you'd love to know about me I'd tell you.”
“I would never lie to you,” That was a lie— one I couldn't help but tell.
The days leading up to the hockey game were a blur of classes and hanging out with Karina and the girls. We went on a spree of shopping for new outfits and cheerleading accessories, eagerly anticipating the upcoming game. Yet, amidst the flurry of activity, I found solace in the absence of any further encounters with Raphael, a reprieve I attributed to Topper's intervention.
However, even as I tried denying it, I also couldn't help but think of Draken's wellbeing. At some point, I was even tempted to ask Topper about him.
On the morning of the hockey match, Saturday morning, Karina was quick to wake me up. We cleaned our dorm and it was not quite long until Yuri and Tennessee arrived. We all prepared for the game together, and Yuri's boyfriend, Dylan, drove us to the arena in our school.
The campus was crowded; I had never seen such a crowd before, and I could tell the game was going to be hyped as I stepped out of the car with Karina trailing behind me. I held a pompom in my hand, adjusting my skirt that had ridden up my thighs when I suddenly felt a hand hit me on the butt from behind.
I glared at Karina as she laughed.
“What?” She asked, looking like she hadn't just hit me. “Stop trying to drag your skirt down. I mean, it's fine to show some skin, and your panties aren’t showing. Look at what the other girls are wearing—you fit right in.”
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes at her as we began to walk into the ice hockey arena.
True to Karina words, the girls around were mostly dressed scantily and it wasn't even summer yet. Even Yuri and the girls wore shorts, but while I chose to wear a normal varsity shirt, Karina and Tennessee wore crop tops. On the other hand, Yuri wore Dylan's varsity football jacket with a tube underneath it.
As I continued my walk, I couldn't help but think that I would be seeing Draken at the game after he'd been MIA, and for some unknown reasons it made me feel kind of *happy.*