Page 8

After classes, I sat at the dinette in my apartment, my laptop open to the ASU housing message boards. There had to be someone out there unhappy with their current living situation. I scanned message after message, but they were looking for someone to move in.

The door swung open and Tony strolled in. “Oh good. You’re home.”

I glanced at the mess in the kitchen. It had only gotten worse and now we hardly had any clean dishes or glasses on top of the pots and pans. “Yeah, hey, we need to talk.” I straightened and rubbed my palms on my thighs. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be difficult.

Sliding his backpack off his arm, he fell into the chair opposite me. “Look, I’ll clean up the kitchen after I study. I have a paper coming?—”

“I’m going to move out. A friend from high school is here, and he has a room for me.” With a deep inhale, I said, “I’m on the message boards now. I figured I could find someone to take over my lease.”

He sneered. “Don’t bother looking. I have someone already.” He stood. “A friend of mine wants out of his parents’ house.” He shrugged. “He’s not in college, but he’s got a decent job.” Clenching his jaw, he said, “He’s not a fucking neat freak like you.”

“Me?” I dropped my mouth open. I was a neat freak for asking to clean up his fucking dishes and not stealing my shit? “Yeah, whatever.”

“Let me know what day you can move, and I’ll tell my friend.” Bending over, he picked up his backpack and strode toward his bedroom. “I’ll be in my room getting my paper done.”

I twisted in the chair to watch him go. How fast could I pack my things and move? By Sunday maybe? I couldn’t move on game day. “I’ll know by tonight.”

“Good.” He slammed his door shut behind him.

Under my breath, I muttered, “What a fucker.” I wound my gaze to my laptop screen. Holy fuck, problem solved. My heart lifted. Now I just needed to tolerate JJ and Myles being together.

Later that evening, I’d texted Myles and driven to the address he’d given me. I was looking forward to the home cooked meal his buddy Ace was cooking. I hadn’t yet told him about the deal with Tony. It needed to be face-to-face.

After parking my Tacoma truck in front of the house, I looked over the bungalow in white bricks with a red-tiled roof. There was a large tree in the front yard, and landscaping rocks underneath. Good, no grass to deal with. This place would be my home if everything went well.

Exiting with my backpack, I walked up the walkway. As I lifted my hand to knock, the door swung open.

“Hey, Cooper, come on in.” Myles beamed at me. His ASU athletic gear showed off his thick arm muscles and mouthwatering thighs.

Fuck, the guy had some legs. My stomach flip-flopped and my balls tingled. “Hey, Myles. You look good, man.” I winced as I patted his shoulder, and I stepped inside his place. Was commenting on his appearance necessary?

A large man stood behind a kitchen island with a slow cooker in front of him. He had a head of messy brown waves, dark eyes, and some serious stubble on his jaw. But a good-looking guy over all. “Hi.”

“Ace, meet Cooper.” Myles grabbed my elbow and led me toward the kitchen.

“Ah, you’re the awesome goalie ASU had who won the championship.” Holy fuck, I’d forgotten I was meeting an NHL player tonight. I’d been too upset about Tony.

Myles rolled his eyes. “Way to suck up to him.”

With a warm grin, Ace lumbered to me and held out his hand. “You can suck up any time. It’s nice to meet you, Cooper.” He shook my hand.

A slender man dressed in nicer board shorts and a fitted t-shirt strolled to us. “Hello, Cooper. I’ve heard great things about you.” He stretched his hand to me. “I’m Zoma and I’m Ace’s boyfriend.”

“Oh, nice to meet you.” I gave his hand a quick shake .

“I hope you like pot roast with veggies and potatoes.” Ace strode into the kitchen and opened the lid on the slow cooker.

“Oh, do I. I’m from the Midwest. I was raised on that shit.” I followed Myles to the kitchen island and peeked inside the cooker. The scent of braised beef floated over my nose. “Smells great.” I scanned the kitchen and main room. Everything was in its place. These guys weren’t slobs. Fuck yeah.

“Let me take your backpack. We’re ready to eat.” Myles slid my pack off my shoulder and rested it on the tile floor by a well-used green sectional.

Where would I put my now-stained couch when I moved in? “Hey, Myles, we need to talk.” Might as well get it over with. I glanced at Ace, plating food with Zoma. He’d said they were cool with this.

“Yeah?” As he faced me, he stepped closer.

His body heat shivered over my skin, and I swallowed. How would I cope with his constant presence? Fuck it, I had to move out of my place. “Tony’s got a buddy who wants to move in and take my place. So, if you guys are good with it, I’d like to take your extra room.”

Ace and Zoma brought the food to the table and set it down.

With a wide smile, Zoma said, “That’s great news. Any friend of Myles is a friend of ours.” Zoma gave Myles a knowing look.

“As long as you clean up after yourself…” Ace smirked at me.

“That won’t be a problem.” I glanced at the kitchen, already tidied. “In fact, I’ll clean up our dishes after we eat.” It was the least I could do.

“That’s great, but you know I was joking, right?” With a soft snort, Ace patted my arm. “Myles mentioned the current roommate situation.” He pulled a chair from the table’s head. “Let’s eat.”

I sank in between Myles and Ace while Zoma sat across from me. As I looked over the mound of sliced beef swimming in juice, I said, “That might be the biggest pot roast I’ve ever seen.” My stomach grumbled. Damn, I was hungry.

“We shop at Costco. Turns out hockey players eat a lot.” Ace scooped a few slices of beef onto his plate. “Go ahead, serve yourself.” He handed me the serving fork.

I plated my food, adding cooked carrots and potatoes to it. “So, where you from, Ace?” The guy sounded a little cowboyish when he spoke.

“Montana. My family has a ranch up there.” He cut into his meat. “Zoma here is from Colorado.”

“My family is full of creative types.” He threw a grin at Ace. “Ace’s ranch is so nice, and his family is very welcoming.” He held Ace’s hand, resting next to his plate, for a moment. “Tell us more about you, Cooper? How did you get into football?”

With a smirk, I said, “Well, my dad was a linebacker for the Bears.” I glanced at Myles, shoveling food into his mouth. He’d heard this all before. “Now he teaches high school football.”

“Oh, so football runs in the family. I guess it’s like a lot of the guys in hockey.” Ace ate a carrot.

I poked Myles in the arm. “Isn’t your brother playing hockey?” I stuffed some beef into my mouth, and it practically melted. “Damn, fantastic, Ace.”

“Thank you. It’s a ranch recipe, actually, that my mom makes.” Ace gave me a quick smile and dug into his food.

Myles sipped from a bottle of Gatorade. “Yeah, Ethan’s doing really well. Better than me, I think.” He tossed a glance at Ace.

Pointing his fork at Myles, Ace said, “Don’t sell yourself short, Myles. Your little brother has had the advantage of you helping him out.”

Myles shrugged. “Yeah, guess so.” His shoulders slumped.

Something was going on there. Maybe I’d find out after I moved in. We’d have more chances to talk. After eating some potatoes, I said, “So if it’s okay, I could probably move in on Sunday.”

Myles lifted his head, his eyes wide. “That soon? ”

“Uh, is it not okay?” I glanced at each of them. Maybe I should wait another week?

“No, it’s great, Cooper.” Ace furrowed his brows at Myles. “Right, Myles?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Sorry, I didn’t realize you could pull it off that quickly. Sunday works out since we don’t have practice or games.” Myles studied me. “Do you need help? How much stuff do you have?”

“I only have my clothes, some kitchen stuff, a bedroom set, and a couch.” With a fucking stain on it.

Heat crept through my chest. “The rest of the stuff belongs to my roommate.” Wait, how shitty were my pots and pans at this point?

Probably ruined. “I might leave my kitchen shit there if you’re well stocked here. ”

Myles twisted in his chair to toward the main room. “We could probably fit the couch at the end of the sectional over there. We can always use more seating.”

“Especially when all the guys are here for game night.” Ace smirked. “Have you ever played NHL?”

“Uh, no.” I drank my Gatorade. I’d probably get to know a lot about hockey living here.

“Good, then you can be the goalie.” Ace snickered.

“Ace. You behave.” Laughing through a scoff, Zoma slapped his arm.

As I arched a brow, I snapped my gaze between them. There must be an inside joke here.

“Ace hates being the goalie. He likes to score, and he never gets to do that in real life.” Myles rolled his eyes.

“Oh.” With a nod, I chuckled. I liked these guys. This was going to be great.

After cleaning the dishes with Myles, we sat on the sectional with our laptops open, reading the project we had to work on. Ace and Zoma left to watch some queer band play at a casino with a funny name, Not Me or something. “So, first I think we need to pick a product.”

Myles leaned in toward me, his gaze scanning across my laptop screen. “How about a hockey stick?”

The flowered scent of his shampoo wafted over me, his blond hair so close I could push my face in it. What would kissing him be like? Fucking JJ knew.

“Did you hear me?” He lifted his face, and his big brown eyes focused on me.

“Uh, what? Hockey stick?” With a crazed pattering in my heart, I swallowed hard. He was so fucking close. I had to think of something fast. “How about a football with real pigskin?”

He tutted, his brows lowering. “Pigskin? Is that a real thing?”

“No, but they used to use a pig bladder inside the ball at one point. I think.” I scratched my head. Where the hell had I heard that?

“Gross, eh.” Myles giggled. “I think that’d be a hard sell. Hockey sticks are easy. Every player has their favorite brand and type. It’s very personal.”