Chapter 1
Freshman Year
It’s eight a.m., I’m naked, and I’ve officially accepted that nothing good ever comes after a post-practice shower.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, kicking dirt from under my toes…and immediately brushing my thigh against Erik’s.
Great.Perfect start to the day.
At least the Covey U campus is practically deserted at this time on a Saturday. Saves me from the embarrassment of everyone seeing me waltz around the place buck naked.
Well, not completely.
They let us take one item from our hockey bags before dragging every freshman out here.
Erik and I had the sense to grab gloves.
Alex didn’t. He grabbed tape, and what he did with it is something none of us will ever be ableto unsee.
“It’s freezing out here,” Erik groans, elbowing me in the side. “Like, shrinkage level ten.”
“Is that your excuse?” I murmur, my gaze flicking to his glove for a split second. “The cold?”
He snaps his head toward me, his green eyes narrowing to slits, then he angles the glove ever so slightly, checking himself.
I roll my eyes.
Two weeks.
We've been teammates and roommates for two weeks, and I've already seen every inch of Erik Steele many times. Not on purpose. Definitely not by choice. In fact, I live in constant fear of turning a corner and running straight into the left winger himself—fully nude and way too proud of whatever girl he convinced to sleep with him the night before.
“My glove is XXL, I’ll have you know.”
I lift a brow. “XXL, sure. Junior league, though.”
His nostrils flare. His jaw tightens, and a low, annoyed growl rumbles from the back of his throat, followed by a string of mumbled threats. There's something about breaking my stick in half and jamming it so far up my ass that they’d need a full-body X-ray to locate it, but I ignore him.
The guy is all bark and no bite.
“When are they going to get this over with?” Alex asks from the other side, hopping in place. “Every time I move, the tape yanks out another pube.”
I cringe, but Erik doesn't miss a beat. “That's why you've gotta wax, bro. If you want to attract the bees, you've gotta make some honey.”
“That makes no sense,” I say.
Before Erik can respond, Dash Bridges and Cade Bright, our sophomore leaders, walk past and check our names off their list, making sure we’re all here for this stupid hockey tradition.
The Legendary Covey Crushers Freshman Fun Run.
My dad warned me this was coming. He said his alma mater, Rome U, didn't have these stupid traditions, but I chose Covey U anyway.
Still, even standing here with my balls shrinking in the cold, I know I made the right decision.
Covey U is mine. Not his.
“You know,” Erik announces, completely unprompted, “everyone who’s seen my dick says I’m above average.”
Alex scoffs and shakes his head as I slowly turn to Erik. “Oh, are we still on your dick size?”
