Page 1

noah

“Top me off, King.”

I bite down on my red solo cup, holding it between my teeth and unscrew the bottle of Grey Goose.

“Enjoy yourselves, boys.” I smile, filling up the cups of two of our defensemen with a solid three-finger pour. “Come Monday, it’s all work—no more play.”

“We’re winning it all this year!” Their shouts ring out behind me as I squeeze my way out of the kitchen.

A round of flip-cup takes up most of the dining room, body shots are being slurped up on the pool table, and a Delta Gamma dry-humps one of my teammate’s legs like a bichon frise.

I make uncomfortable eye contact with Gabe, lift my drink to him, and continue shuffling my way through the sea of bodies.

“There he is.” Maverick lifts both arms in the air, one hand holding a neon pink pong ball, the other holding the empty plastic cup he just downed the contents of. “Come on, Kingy boy, show everyone here why you play hockey and not basketball. ”

Maverick Hall is the only guy on our team who could make me look small. He stands at six-foot-four, bleach blond buzz cut, shiny blue eyes, and he’s grinning ear to fucking ear.

Asshole.

I snatch the ball from his fingers. Without even looking across the table, and in one smooth motion, I flick it from behind my back. The uproar of cheers behind me let me know I sunk it, but I don’t take my eyes off my best friend.

“Lucky shot.” He smirks, lifting his hand to show off the other ball that he had tucked away in his large palm.

With his eyes on me, he flicks it effortlessly off the wall behind him.

The neon pink ball bounces off the wall and soars across the table.

It circles the blue cup once, twice, and then finally falls in.

I give him a high-five, and before I can stop it, he pulls me under his arm.

“Speaking of lucky ,” he says, pointing across the living room.

I scan the bodies but stop when I spot a leggy blonde in a tight skirt stalking through the crowd with eyes on me.

“Ahh, piss.” I take a full gulp of my drink.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t that Miss. Put it in My Ass?” He’s referring to the one and only night she and I hooked up in my room and she screamed like a fucking banshee, ensuring everyone in the house, and probably all of Linden Creek, heard her.

“Jesus.” I drag a rough palm down my face, looking anywhere but in her direction. “She’s also a stalker.”

“What?!” He can’t control his burst of laughter.

“She texted me almost every day, and when I finally stopped responding, she just showed up at the house. Silas and I were out floating on the lake, having some beers, and she showed up in nothing but her bikini bottoms.”

“Sounds like a good time.” He smiles at me. “Hazel!”

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” I finish my drink and shove the empty cup at him, crushing it against his chest. “Have fun with her.” I smile and drop the back of my fist to his crotch.

Maverick folds over cupping his bruised balls.

I sneak past him into the room that was marketed as an oversized office.

We have transformed it into our designated DJ room.

Nine times out of ten, some music major who thinks he’s going to be a world-traveling DJ offers to play for us.

Tonight the booth might be empty, but the room most certainly is not.

We have a strict ‘no parties at the house during the season’ rule, with the exception of the weekend back from winter break, and once more at the end of February for Silas’s birthday.

I don’t know if it’s because of the time away, or because of how I’ve been throwing drinks back tonight, but all too quickly, I hit my noise limit.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, close my eyes, and take a breath.

“Hey, Noah.” I don’t recognize the sensual voice and when I open my eyes, I don’t recognize the girl extending a shot glass to me either.

“Hey…” I trail off, pretending to search for her name knowing that it’s pointless.

“Charlie.” If she’s offended, she doesn’t show it.

I take the shot from her and although I shouldn’t, I throw it back anyway. “Thanks for the drink, Charlie.”

“We could maybe get another.” I’m not usually one to turn down a drink—or a good time—but I feel nothing as her finger begins to trail down my chest.

“Maybe later. I’ve got to…” What? Study? Find my friend? No excuses sounds believable. I’m not up for whatever she’s suggesting, and I just don’t care. I need some fresh air. “Take a shit.”

Her hand pulls back like my chest sparked a flame, and yeah, okay, maybe that was a little gross, but it was also effective. I force a tight-lipped smile, shrug, and drop my glass on the nearest table .

I take the steps up to my room two at a time and a welcome silence greets me as I drop my head back on the closed door.

The cool air whips through the cracked sliding door.

I lucked out winning the primary bedroom in a game of air hockey last year.

While everyone else wanted this room because it’s the only one with an en suite, I wanted it for the access to the covered balcony.

I bypass the green LCU hoodie draped over my desk chair, open the slider, and I’m immediately hit with the freezing winter air.

Sometimes fresh air is good for thinking, and other times, the bite is cold enough to completely halt every thought.

I brace my forearms against the wooden balcony railing.

It’s too dark to see anyone but soft voices trail up from the yard below.

During the summer months, our house is the place to be.

I guess any month of the year people want to be here, considering it’s filled with three of Linden Creek’s top hockey players, but especially during the summer because we throw non-stop lake parties.

Now, we’re in the dead of winter and the lake is completely frozen over. I don’t mind, I almost prefer it.

I squint just enough to make out two figures sneaking off beyond the dock into the tree-lined parameter, likely being careful to avoid the spotlight that the moon is providing where the dock meets the lake.

The wood squeaks beneath me as I move towards the steps to see if I can get a better look, but it’s pointless. It’s too dark and they’re too far.

A creak sounds behind me and I spin around—too quickly for the amount of alcohol I consumed in such a short period. “What the hell?”

“Didn’t mean to startle you.” A soft voice echoes from the dark corner. “Go back to being a peeping Tom, I won’t judge.”

What?

“I wasn’t—” I scramble to my door, reach an arm inside and flick the switch for the single dim light outside. A girl I’ve never met sits on one of the two lawn chairs, her knees wrapped under her sweatshirt and the hood up over her head. “What are you doing out here?”

“You go first,” she challenges, as if she isn’t an intruder out on my balcony. But even though I can only see her deep coffee brown eyes and her little button nose, she’s gorgeous, so I’ll bite.

“I’m hiding.”

“From a girl?” Her tone is teasing and I debate if I want to answer that one. I can’t stop the corners of my mouth from lifting though, so I drop my head, attempting to hide that too. “Aren’t you supposed to be some big, tough, hockey player?”

Good. She knows who I am.

“Only when I’m on the ice.” I lift my arms to the sides and make a show of looking down at my jeans.

“Hmmm, looks like I’m just Noah now.” Her lips form a slightly turned-down smile.

When she doesn’t say anything, I continue.

“Your turn.” I slide my hands into my pockets, nodding to her. “What are you doing out here?”

“Hiding.”

“From a girl?” I mock and that gets a small huff of laughter out of her.

“ For a girl,” she corrects me.

Now I’m confused. She drops her head back on the chair, letting out a soft groan, and I move to sit on the empty chair beside her. “So you came to a party to?—”

“Against my will!” she interjects.

“You know you aren’t bound by any laws to stay, right?” The second the words leave my mouth I regret it because she’s cute as hell and I don’t want to put the idea of her leaving in her head.

She pulls her hood back from her head and I catch the slight flicker of an eye roll. “My roommate is inside, and she somehow found a cute guy to talk to.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Hardly.” She scoffs and seems genuinely offended. “No, contrary to what all you hockey players have made up in your minds, not everyone wants to date you.”

“Sure, some just want to fuck us.” I smile sweetly.

“Gag.”

My head falls forward and I laugh at both her bored delivery and her bluntness. “Okay, so if you aren’t jealous, then why are you out here?”

“If I were inside, she would see how annoyed I am to be here and would want to go home. She’s a hopeless romantic but she’s in a situation-ship with a major loser, and her flirting or even talking to someone who isn’t him is a win.

So I came outside, and it was either sit down there next to that couple who are staying warm by rubbing their bodies together, or take my chances up the creepy stairs. ”

“How brave of you.”

She twists her lips, biting the insides of her cheeks, trying to hide her smile from me again.

“Yeah, well.” She shudders against a slight gust of wind and raises a single eyebrow at me. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to crash my party.”

“Ironic, considering you’re on my private balcony, at my party, that’s being thrown in my house, for my team.”

“And now I’ll be on my way.” She points both of her thumbs over her shoulder, unwrapping herself from her sweatshirt and now I see why she was bundled up. She plants her feet on the deck and her bare legs break out in goosebumps in the cold. “Good luck hiding.”

She stands, giving me what feels like a pacifying pat on the shoulder, and heads toward the sliding door.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, and I stare at the empty lawn chair for a second too long.

“Wait,” I call out, swinging my legs over the chair. In two large strides, I’m able to catch her elbow before she can fully open the door. “You never told me your name.”

Her eyes sweep over my body with a playful smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth. The quiet milliseconds tick by before she lifts a defiant chin at me. “Don’t worry. You won’t be needing it.”

She taps her hand against my chest and I reach up to catch it under mine, making her freeze where she stands. I study her face and for a brief moment, she looks as caught off guard as I feel.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s the first person who doesn’t want to give me the time of day, or maybe it’s her sharp tongue and her pretty brown eyes— okay, it’s probably all the above, but I don’t want her to leave.

I open my mouth, ready to ask her to stay, only to be interrupted by the door flying open from the inside.

“Finally, I’ve been looking—” Hazel’s words cut off and her smile twists from somewhat sweet to utter disgust when she notices the girl standing beside me.

I look at the girl to my left—whose name I still don’t know—and her eyes gleam with mischief and entertainment. Before I can explain, or at least try and talk myself out of whatever this is, No Name takes the hand that’s not caught between mine and wraps it around my bicep.

An erratic heartbeat later, she pops up on her toes and presses a feather-light kiss on my cheek. Despite the cool night air, her lips are soft and warm against my skin, and my mouth parts in surprise for a second time.

“Be quick babe, I’m going to stop at the bathroom before we leave.” She smiles at Hazel as she slinks past her into my room, giving me an exaggerated wink over her shoulder before she disappears beyond my door.

What the hell was that?

“Who the hell was that?” Hazel echoes my thoughts.

“I wish I knew.”