Page 26

Luca

“I tem number thirteen, Cash Hanbury,” the dean announces with a proud smile.

I see my teammate walking forward onto the stage, and as expected, the girls in the audience go crazy.

Catcalls and a resounding round of applause almost cover the dean’s voice despite the fact that he has a microphone.

I can barely contain a chuckle at the sight of how Cash rubs the back of his neck, obviously embarrassed by the rowdiness of the audience.

“Cash is a junior, member of Gamma Delta Tau since his freshman year, and starting goaltender of our Division One hockey team. He was born and bred in Star Cove, and he’s here at Star Cove College on a hockey scholarship. The lucky lady with the highest bid on Cash will be taken on a date down to the pier to enjoy all the amenities our town can offer to tourists and locals alike. Bids start at two hundred and fifty dollars.”

I’m not surprised in the slightest when one of the girls immediately raises her hockey stick shaped paddle with her bidding number and yells, “Two fifty!”

What part of silent auction doesn’t she get? I bet my trust fund that she’s a Zeta.

Tonight’s auction is open to any students and doesn’t see just the hockey team being auctioned for a date, but also the football team and the swim team too. There are also a few of the guys from the collegiate skydiving team.

Star Cove is an Ivy League school, and the level of Fortune 500 heirs, celebrity nepo babies, and students that come from old money rival schools like Yale and Harvard, so the dean’s idea of getting some of the funds for the new athletic center by doing an auction for the student population isn’t as dumb as it could look.

Opulence surrounds us even tonight, as most of the outfits on the women in the room have five figure price tags.

Of course the hottest and rowdiest in the audience are the girls in Zeta Theta Beta.

They get extremely territorial when it comes to the hockey team. The official excuse is that most of us are also members of Gamma DeltaTau, their affiliate fraternity, and I’ll be surprised if they let anyone else win one single bid on one of us.

I’m okay going out with a Zeta, since they are mostly hot and I’m new here. I transferred from Yale. The Connecticut winters were too depressing after growing up in Italy for most of my life.

I wanted to come back to my native US for college, since playing hockey in Italy isn’t really a thing.

Hockey is a recent love for me. I picked it up in my senior year of high school when I was an exchange student in Seattle. I took to it like a duck to water, and I never looked back. Since the first time I played on a rink, I’ve been eating, sleeping, and breathing hockey with the occasional hookup to take the edge off.

Joining the Star Cove Knights was easy. The coaching team jumped at the opportunity to recruit me when they heard I was unhappy in New Haven.

Gamma Delta Tau was a given since I was a member of the Yale chapter and a legacy.

“Three hundred!” another girl yells.

I let out that chuckle when the bidding heats up and the girls become more and more vicious. So much for them being “sisters.”

My attention is attracted by the only girl who doesn’t look interested in joining the bidding war.

I don’t know her that well, but everyone on campus knows who she is because she’s the president of Zeta Theta Beta.

Bay Woods is sitting smack in the middle of the front row, with her paddle on her lap and a serene expression on her pretty face.

I noticed her immediately because she’s smoking hot, but she’s taken. She’s dating a brother and teammate, so she’s totally off-limits.

Our eyes meet, and I smile when her lips curl up as I’m caught staring.

That’s when she suddenly lifts her paddle. “Three grand.”

Huh. Weird.

What’s Topher going to say, seeing his girlfriend bid on another guy? He’s standing right next to me, and Bay has already secured a date with him for the minimum bid. Obviously no one on campus, and especially in the Zeta house, would dare bid on a date with the president’s boyfriend.

Another girl bids an extra five hundred, and that’s when Bay shoots her “sister” a death glare.

“Five grand.”

The dean taps the gavel to award her a date with Cash after offering the audience the opportunity to beat Bay’s bid.

Two more of my teammates and brothers are “bought” by two more Zetas.

I can’t take my eyes off Bay, who remains calm in her seat until it’s time for Blaze, our enforcer, to step forward.

“Item number sixteen, Blaze Dunn, junior from the great state of Michigan. Fierce on the ice, Blaze is the life of the party when he takes off his skates. Master of ceremonies of his fraternity, our player number forty-two enjoys the outdoors and walks on the beach…”

I almost snort at the description of Blaze’s hobbies. The guy is a jokester, and I’m sure he gave the dean’s office those lame hobbies ironically. Aside from a good fight on the ice, I know for a fact that he enjoys pussy. We have that in common, and I respect a guy who gets around as much as I do.

My attention is again on the audience when history repeats itself and the same bidding war that happened with Cash transpires in the auditorium.

What is Bay Woods playing at? She bids another five grand on a date with Blaze.

I look at Topher, and he shakes his head with a soft chuckle.

Well fuck, if the guy isn’t jealous from seeing his girlfriend bid on his teammates and brothers, then who am I to judge?

My attention is back on the auction when the dean calls my name. “Item number seventeen. Our hockey team left winger Luca Leighton-Rossi. Luca is a transfer from Yale, where he won the national championship last year. Aside from his love of hockey and parties with his Gamma brothers, he’s a film and astronomy double major. The bids start at two hundred and fifty dollars for the privilege to go on a date with Luca to the upcoming Movies Under the Stars festival organized by the Star Cove Country Club. Do we have a bid for two-fifty?”

Don’t get me wrong, I totally expected a bidding war. I just started here at Star Cove in the summer, coming to the preseason training camp, and what can I say?

The ladies both on and off campus love me. I’m not trying to be a douche, I just believe in honesty.

What I didn’t expect was a repeat of the situation with Cash and Blaze.

Bay Woods wins a date with me for another five grand, and when I look at Topher, he chuckles as if we were on this stage to do stand-up comedy.

I look at Blaze and Cash, and they look as confused as I feel.

Bay gets up and throws a satisfied smile in the direction of the stage before walking out of the auditorium on her sky-high heels.

The auction isn’t even over, and I know without a doubt that my two teammates and brothers must be having my same thought right now.