Ellie rolls her eyes and pushes my hand away. “Just leave Al alone, okay? She doesn’t like hockey players, which makes her the perfect roommate after Willow.”
“And I thought it was just me she didn’t like,” I say, moving back toward my computer sitting on the counter.
“Well, it sounds like it might also be you she doesn’t like,” Ellie says, laughing as she follows behind. My head is alreadyspinning at the thought of trying to focus on finding my sources for this paper, especially now that I know Alondra is just down the hall with that damn fuzzy blanket of hers.
CHAPTER 3
Alondra
The last placeI expected to feel a spark of color in my world of gray was with Jack Schultz, of all people, but I especially didn’t think I’d find him standing in my apartment holding my blanket.
My head was throbbing, but the second I stepped in front of him to get my blanket, I couldn’t focus on anything else but the stupid, intoxicating smell of cinnamon from him. Instead of taking a nap, I ended up tossing and turning the entire time until I was certain he was gone.
I felt awful when Ellie wouldn’t stop apologizing for letting him come over because it’s her apartment, too. I was in rare form, jarred from the meeting with my father and running into Jack in his office. Usually I can be more civil thanStay or go, I don’t have it in me to care.
Since then, I’ve spent the last few days trying to grapple with the fact that Jack from the bar is the same guy as Jack Schultz, the future of professional hockey. A lot of things are making more sense about our class together, but I feel like an idiot for not piecing it together Friday night.
I should have known who Jack was before he came up to Macy and me at the bar.
I’ve kept up with the Wilder Wolves hockey team for longer than I care to admit, and I’m embarrassed to say how many of the players’ stats I know off the top of my head. I am my father’s daughter after all, but at the same time, I pay more attention to the stats and not the pictures of the players, which, unfortunately, led to my downfall in not recognizing Jack.
Nothing he wore or said gave any indication that he was one of my dad’s players, let alone his prized player.
I’ve never forgotten how excited Dad was after coming home from his trip to Texas where he signed Jack. He raved about the center, already predicting him as a first-round pick in the draft, and he wasn’t wrong. Dad’s not big on compliments, but the way he talked about Jack’s skating and puck handling ability made me sick with envy.
I know for a fact if my dad finds out how I actually met Jack, I’d be the one in trouble for distracting him, not the other way around. It’s better for everyone involved if he thinks Jack only knows me because he thinks I’m his tutor.
A quick glance around the auditorium tells me that Jack isn’t here yet, or, if he is, I can’t see him. I slide into my usual seat next to my friend Keri in one of the upper rows.
“Hey,” I greet, and her short hair swishes as she snaps to look at me from her phone.
“You will never believe what my roommate did . . .” Keri trails off, her dark eyes widening as she looks behind me.
“What did Taylor do?” I ask, waiting for her to continue, but whatever is behind me has captured her full attention. “What are you looking . . . at?” I falter at the sight of Jack in the seat next to me, his full lips curled into a knowing smile, his dimple peeking at me as he bumps my leg with his backpack.
Oh, kill me now, please.
“Hey, Alondra. Funny seeing you here,” he muses as he reclines in the seat, making himself comfortable.
I clamp my jaw shut, and turn away, putting my back to him as Keri watches the interaction with blatant curiosity.
“Um, why is Jack Schultz sitting next to you?”
“Because he doesn’t know what to do with himself when women don’t fall at his feet.” So much for being civil with him. Oops.
“You know I can hear you, right?”
Jack changing seats in the class is a big deal—whether he meant it to be or not—and I can feel the weight of everyone’s stares in our direction. This is attention I don’t want.
“Go away, Jack. Your groupies miss you, and we can continue not knowing the other exists,” I say, leaving Keri’s question unanswered.
“I need to talk to you, and if you’re going to continue being a ghost, then we’ll just have to talk now.”
“How can I be a ghost if you know where I live?” I ask, turning around to face him. He doesn’t look like he has a care in the world right now, and while it might have been attractive at the bar, right now, it only frustrates me. All Jack is showing me right now is he’s used to the world revolving around him, and he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.
I see someone pointing at us out of the corner of my eye, and I wish the professor would start class already.
“I was trying to respect your space, but I’ve been looking for you everywhere else trying to track you down so we can talk,” he says, his blue eyes staring intently at me.
