“So, we have our first addendum. Nice.” I got up and snatched a pen from my bag, moving toward the fridge and making an addition to theNO GUESTSrule. “Except Preston.” I wasn’t sure what his change of heart meant but seeing this brief soft side to him was nice. I wanted to ask a million questions but thought better of it. I’d only make him more closed off, and I liked having a brief window into who Jonah was.
“Was it necessary to write it out?” he asked.
“Yes. These rules are important for us to get along for the semester.”
“So, no more thirty day trial?” he asked, his voice ringing with a hint of annoyance. “Did you talk to your brother, Ryann?”
I sucked my lip into my mouth and shrugged, ignoring the small ball of dread growing in my gut. Michael would not be pleased. Not after what happened in high school or the teammate who got too flirty with me last year. I plastered on a fake smile. “I haven’t talked to him yet. I needed to secure a job first.” I snuck a glance at him, and his face paled, making his hard features even angrier. “I’ll do it soon. I promise.”
“Please.” He swallowed hard. “He talked to me at the gym today, and I couldn’t focus. I was so worried he knew.”
“What is your concern there, actually? That he won’t pass you the puck or he’ll start a mutiny against you?” I asked, ignoring my own warning bells. My brother wouldn’t let anything happen on the ice, but he could in the locker room, after the final period ended. My mind flashed to my dumb decision in high school, but I shook it away. Things were different now—so different—and we both had grown up since we lost our parents.
“Team chemistry is essential,” Jonah said, makingessentiallast eighteen syllables, like I’d never heard the word before. His tensed shoulders caused me to feel even worse.
“Again, Iunderstand, but my brother wouldn’t let us living together get in the way of his game.” I chewed my lip, not quite sure if I was telling the truth. I didn’t want to make him more upset, but I had to figure out shit with Michael first. He couldnothear it from Jonah.
“It doesn’t matter how well he can compartmentalize. I can’t risk him changing the dynamic,” he said, a slight color to his cheeks warning me. Jonah was as serious as a heart attack. Instead of backing off, I desperately wanted to know how he got this way. A dark past? A secret? Heartbreak? What made him likethis?
“Tell me why.”
He tilted his head to the side, running his hand over his wicked jawline, and something dark and sad swirled in his eyes. “Why what?”
“Why are you sogrumpy? Why are you so insistent my brother will be furious enough to change whether he passes you the puck? What are you so afraid of happening?”
Jonah’s grip on the table tightened to the point his knuckles were white, and his quick intake of breath seemed to steal the air out of my lungs.
Shit.
I went too far. Instead of focusing on my own guilt and worry, I pushed him.
I knew I had the second the words left my mouth and the air changed. I couldn’t get an apology out quick enough.
He stood, pushing the chair back with a loud noise, grabbed his schoolwork, and spoke in a calm, deep, and controlled voice. “You have twenty-eight days to find a new place.”
That was all he said before going into his room and shutting the door.
I sighed, leaned back in the chair, and rubbed my forehead. “Why did I do that?” I asked myself, annoyed at my roommate and the entire situation. If he meant what he said about having four weeks left… I groaned and stared at his door. It hadn’t been long, but this place felt more like a home than the dorms ever did, and it was close to the coffee shop and library.
I didn’t want to leave, even if the place came with a grumpy hockey player.
I’d have to show him I could be a good roommate. I could be clean and avoid him and... tell my brother. That was all.
No big deal.
Not.
4
Jonah
Morning weights.
Classes.
Lunch.
Classes.
