At least the roommate situation worked out.
I’ve heard enough first-year horror stories to know that’s not guaranteed but, lucky for me, Katie and Willow are already halfway to becoming my favorite people.
Willow is the reason I haven’t completely lost my mind from not playing hockey. She’s obsessed with skating - figureskating, mostly - and now that winter is creeping in we’ve started sneaking out to the lake just beyond campus in the evenings. The ice is just thick enough for us to be out there gliding under the stars like idiots.
Usually, we end those nights frozen and laughing, stumbling back to the dorm with numb fingers and aching legs.
That’s when Katie comes in.
Katie doesn’t skate. She loves old movies and warm blankets and has somehow taken it upon herself to keep us alive through the winter with endless mugs of hot chocolate.
I push open the dorm door and stomp snow off my boots in the hallway.
Right on cue, the smell of chocolate hits me.
Perfect.
When I step into the room, Katie is exactly where I expect her to be - cross-legged on the couch with a black-and-white film flickering on her laptop, a steaming mug sitting on the coffee table beside her.
“I have immaculate timing as always,” she says without looking up.
I pour myself a hot chocolate from the pan she’s been keeping warm and sink into the chair opposite her, letting the warmth seep into my hands.
Willow isn’t back yet - probably still at the gym - but the room feels comfortably quiet anyway.
I take a sip of the hot chocolate and enjoy the warmth.
For the first time since the final buzzer tonight, my brain finally starts to slow down.
And honestly?
College is going better than I expected.
Good roommates. Classes I’m passing. And in a few weeks,something even better.
My brother is coming to visit. Markus Shaw.
Blackwood’s former golden boy.
Five years ago, he was the player everyone came to watch - the one Dad built half the team around, the one who made the Giants look unstoppable.
Now he’s playing professional hockey and somehow getting more famous by the month.
Legendary might not even be an exaggeration anymore.
I stare down into my mug and smile a little to myself.
My big brother is coming to visit, and somehow that still makes me feel twelve years old again.
ZANE
I’m grabbing my water bottle, ready to leave when Beckett’s voice cuts through the silence.
“Party is at Thompson’s tonight. My buddy’s renting off campus. Said the whole place is ours.”
A few guys glance up. A few groan.
Beckett doesn’t notice. Or doesn’t care.
