The conversation shifts away from me when Nate asks Dylan about a class they’re in together, before hockey eventually takes over.
I call it a night after a while, and Dylan follows suit, his footsteps loud behind as we make our way up the stairs. I’m about to open my door at the end of the hall when he clears his throat, catching my attention.
“Do you think having Alondra as your tutor is actually going to help?”
I’m surprised by how serious he looks, since Dylan is usually the first one to make light of a situation, but I can’t blame him for being worried about this.
“I don’t think it’ll hurt.”
Dylan still appears skeptical, and I don’t know how to fix it. “Just be careful, Jack.”
I feign confidence, grinning at him so he can’t see the turmoil in my head. “When am I not?”
Unfortunately, we both know the answer:never.
Being the first one on the ice in the morning is my favorite part of the day. I’m extra early to morning skate today, and I could hear Dylan snoring through his door when I walked by his room half an hour ago.
I slept like shit last night, but if I went back to sleep after waking up, I’d be dead on my feet for the rest of the day. The rink’s always been the one place where I can clear my head, and if it was an option to never leave the ice, I wouldn’t. It’s my safe place and always has been.
All the other shit fades into background noise the second my skates hit the smooth surface, reflecting the overhead lights like glass. After a few laps, the only thing I’m aware of is the slicing sounds of the sharp blades as I pick up speed.
There’s something intoxicating about hockey for me—once I started, I never wanted to do anything else.
I lose myself in the mindlessness of my warm up routine before retrieving my stick and bucket of pucks from where I left them on our bench, setting up near the goal to work on my wristand snap shots. With our season kicking off next week, I need to be at my best, proving that the team and Coach B did the right thing by putting their faith in me as team captain.
Losing in the Frozen Four last year was devastating, but I’m proud of the work everyone put in during the offseason. We’re down a couple of great players this season, but I’m just glad Coop hasn’t signed his entry-level contract with the Washington Eagles yet. With him protecting the net, we should be set for a repeat season, only this time, a different outcome. Everyone wants to win this year.
Our schedule is intense, balancing classes, team study halls, practices, weights, and anything else Coach decides we need to do, but everyone is throwing themselves headfirst into it.
None more than me.
Despite what my roommates suspect, pursuing Alondra as anything more than a friend is a distraction I don’t need or want. If I can convince her to give me a chance, I do want to be her friend. Al doesn’t put up with my shit, and I like how she doesn’t beat around the bush, getting straight to the point.
If only I could figure out how to ignore my attraction to her, but maybe this is why I don’t have girls in my life who are just friends. Maybe I’m the problem.
I just need to get Alondra out of my head because nothing can ever happen between us. She’s made it crystal clear she isn’t interested, regardless of her physical reactions around me. Hell, maybe I’m imagining half of it to justify my thoughts.
Besides, even if she weren’t Ellie’s roommate or Coach B’s daughter, Al seems like the kind of girl who needs a relationship, not a hookup without strings attached. Unfortunately, the only thing I can promise is a fun time. It’s hard to consider anything more when you don’t believe in love.
I won’t make promises I can’t keep because I’ve had too many of the ones made to me broken, each lie smashingthe pieces of my heart I imagine were supposed to belong to someone else, until became impossible to put them back together.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts, taking my frustration out on the puck and sending it flying into the back corner of the net.
Again.
And again.
And again.
CHAPTER 6
Alondra
I’m notsure it’s physically possible for me to walk any slower, but I can’t stall forever. The neon glowing sign of Twin City is up ahead, sealing my fate for the evening.
Macy wouldn’t take no for an answer after I tried to get out of going out tonight, especially after she said we were going to Twin City and her loser boyfriend would be joining us.
I changed into a pair of jeans, but I refused to take off my fuzzy sweater, picking comfort and warmth over the skimpy top Macy wanted me to wear.
