I waited a second before looking at her again.
She smiled, and her teeth came down on her bottom lip as she scrunched her nose in the cutest damn smile. “I was pretty sure, but it’s good to get it out in the open.”
“Are you into me?”
“I was the one who bit your lip, so if it wasn’t clear, yes.”
I sucked in a breath. “We can’t do this.”
She blinked. “I know. It’s too big of a risk.”
“I can’t… do this to my teammate.”
“I can’t do this to Michaelagain.” She chewed her lip, and her shoulders slumped.
“What do you mean again?”
She blew out a long breath and stared at something over my left shoulder instead of my face. “I fooled around with one of his teammates in high school, but apparently it was all a ploy to mess with Michael’s head. I didn’t know that, obviously. I got played, and Michael got benched. It was the biggest fight we ever got in and that was when we still had parents. Now? I can’t imagine fighting with him.”
“Huh,” I said, relaxing into my chair. While the thought of her hooking up with someone wasn’t pleasant, the fact she had something important to lose as well settled me. It wasn’t only my bullshit that prevented us from falling into lust. “You have a lot at risk too.”
“Yes. Because I canneverlose my brother. It’s just us.”
I ignored the slight pang in my chest and blamed it on the shit with my mom. “So, we stay friends who get ice cream when one of us is having a meltdown.”
“Yes.” She smiled, a full grin that showcased her small gap and lit up her eyes. “And friends who mightaccidentallycheck each other out but don’t act on it.”
“Deal. Shake on it.”
She snorted as I held out my hand. She took it, her small palm pressing against mine, and I squeezed.
“Deal,” she said, winking before leaning back into her chair. “Okay, so tell me about what you’re working on to prepare for the season. I’ll be at every game, so I might as well get in on your plan.”
My heart grew in size again, but I swallowed down the emotion and started blabbing about everything I had been doing. She listened like she cared.
Maybe this roommate thing wasn’t such a terrible idea after all.
11
Ryann
Hannah was running late, which was fine, but Michael and the twins planned to stop by the place twenty minutes ago, and I wasn’t there. I chewed on my hangnail, hating how nervous I was for Jonah. They were his teammates, and they’d respect his place, his privacy. I was sure of that.
But still. He was nervous to go to a party and so determined to not mess up the chemistry of the team that he had to be sweating bullets. We never exchanged numbers, so it wasn’t like I could text him to see if he was okay.
I let Michael know I’d be late, and his ‘LOL still going over’ response wasn’t reassuring.
My brother joked all the time unless they were on the ice, but I couldn’t picture him making Jonah laugh. Maybe a slight curve of his mouth, but that was it.
Wait—why was I thinking about Jonah’s smile? I shook my head as an attractive man approached the counter. It was my third shift at the café, and I already loved the smells, the customers, and the hours. My feet hurt from standing for six hours straight, but I needed the job and the independence.
“Hi! What can I get you?”
“Hey,” the guy said, grinning and showcasing a bunch of beautiful white teeth. He was classically handsome and held himself with an air of confidence. “Could I have a black coffee?”
“Hot or cold?”
“Hot. I promise I’m not a psychopath.” He narrowed his eyes at me and moved his gaze from my face to my nametag. “Ryann. Interesting name for a woman.”
