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The irony wasn’t lost on me that after my first class on ethics in journalism had mentioned reporters reporting on people they knew being unethical and unbiased. Although it wasn’t illegal to do so. And for Harper Lin, the editor-in-chief of the Caldwell Chronicle to suddenly bump into me after the class.

“Can I have a word?” she asked.

“Sure. Everything ok?” I asked as she walked me to a small window with a bench beneath it. We both sat and she looked at me, intensely, trying to hold eye contact which was almost immediately uncomfortable for me.

“There’s a reason Sophia’s wants were dismissed,” she said. “She wanted to report on the Orcas, but since the Coach for the team wanted you, we obliged. Now, you’re the story for them, all over the message boards with their captain, Liam Hotchkiss.”

“Oh. Well, it’s not serious.” It wasn’t anything at all, but I wasn’t going to blow that for us all now. “Although, I believe I’m able to report on their games and the team without making it about me.”

Harper hummed, her tongue pressed against the back of her front teeth. “You’ll have to talk about it,” she said. “The first issue of the semester will need to address those social media posts, because people want to know.”

“Can’t it be part of the news section?” I asked. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for the sports section. It’s more like gossip.”

She looked at me, almost confused I’d made a good point.

“I don’t want to get involved with something that isn’t about the team and how they’re preparing for the season,” I told her. “I think that’s most important. But if people want to gossip, they absolutely can, just make sure it’s in a different section of the paper.”

“Well, what I was going to say is, you could include a section within the allocated space for the Orcas and include words from the captain about the situation,” she said. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, I think keeping it away from the sports section is probably the right response.”

I didn’t know if it was, I was flying high on the confidence talking about the Orcas and Luke gave me, plus, it was almost like they’d backed me into a corner and maybe they were about to give my assignment to Sophia. I couldn’t have that.

Harper left me, sitting on the bench, thinking about why I hadn’t seen Sophia at the birthday party yesterday. I wasn’t sure I hadn’t seen her, but I assumed she would’ve sought me out and tried prodding me with her devil’s fork that she always kept on her. I assumed, at least.

Checking my phone, there was a text from Luke on there, telling me the team were in training. Most training sessions were closed to keep the team on track, and I didn’t want to be a distraction, but I also had nothing else to do this afternoon.

It took me twenty minutes to walk across campus with my heavy bag of books. And another great debate happened, the one about bicycles or no bicycles. And by the time I’d debated both sides, I was at the player entrance into the rink, which was open for players and staff only.

Usually, I’d have debated with a knot in my stomach but I was the team reporter, it was like having an all-access pass.

The head coach, Mike caught me almost immediately. “I wanted to speak to you,” he said.

“Me?” My voice meek in the hallway.

“Yes,” he said, smiling. “Don’t worry, just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

I walked closer. “I’m fine. I’m still a bit on edge from everything, but yeah, I’m good.”

“Good,” he said. “I didn’t want Luke strongarming you into whatever plan he’d cooked up.”

It seemed like everyone knew this was fake, or assumed it was fake, and they were right, this was a fake relationship. I wondered if he’d done it before. “He’s really sweet,” I said.

“He is, the boy know how to get what he wants, which is why I wanted to make sure you were ok,” he said. “I don’t want that horde of women who usually hold their signs up at the games to get to you.”

Flashes of memories came to me of those women he was talking about. Their signs with ‘Go Lucky’ or ‘Marry Me, Lucky’ in block letters were usually pressed to the glass, and sometimes with a breast or two before they were warned back into their seats. I smiled at those memories. “I think I’ll be able to dodge them if they do come for me,” I said.

“Well, the defense coach is out there if you’d like some dodging tips,” he said.

“I came to make some notes. I’m not going to tell on your strategy, but I want to report on how they do pre-season. I want to get people excited for their games despite what people think of Luke right now.”

Coach nodded. “Then let’s go and see just what the team think of him. There’s a lot you can learn about players with how they train.”

Their training session was chaos, the rink sectioned into halves with a smaller section for the goaltenders. Each set shouting at each other. My shoulder would’ve hugged my ears if they could from the noise alone. They were all dressed in comfortable sweats with colorful scrimmage vests on with their numbers. It was always fun to see them not in their full athletic gear, but my eyes were strictly on Luke, and the way he moved. I was transfixed.

“What type of training is this for?” I asked.

“Puck handling,” he said. “It’s important they can get control of it. And it’s one of the pieces of data I use to help put together the starting team for events.”

Luke skated by so fast, it looked like compressed air pushed his sweatpants against his thighs and revealed a rather impressive bulge. I shied my face away but my eye were shocked and tried to catch another glimpse of it. It was naughty behavior, perverted to be looking at his bulge in the gray sweatpants, but how could I look away when it had made itself known?

“Did he tell you about the other day when we were on the ice and I fell?” I asked. Thinking back on it, the moment had been cute, and could’ve helped solidify the fact we were in some sort of relationship.

“I saw,” he said. “There’s cameras all over this place. I’m still a little wary of his intention with you.”

“You care a lot about the team.”

“I’ve got to. And you kind of remind me of my son,” he said. “Although he’s all the way in Arizona on another team, apparently, he didn’t want to come here. He’s quiet, he’s a little on the sensitive side, and he has a lucky teddy that he takes everywhere.”

How did he know I had Bloo in my bag? Lucky guess, I suppose. “It’s a good luck charm,” I half-lied to him.

“Yeah, well, I’ve always been a big believer in making your own luck, and Luke is that luck on this team,” he said. “I’m glad the issue was resolved with him, but I really meant it, don’t let him play you. I know how these guys can be.”

One of the coaches blew a whistle, signaling a break. Someone from the side was already handing out sports drinks to the players.

Luke came right over to us. His face all blotchy and red from physical exertion. He stopped himself with a show of force, cutting the ice up into a powder, nearly spraying us over the barrier. “Hey Coach, hey Wren,” he said. “How long have you been watching?”

“Five minutes,” Coach said. “I’m just making sure you’re keeping the players in check. Remember, lead by example, Lucky. Especially the freshmen. Make sure they’re included.” He gestured with a nod to the two players seeming to straggle behind the rest of the group getting drinks.

“Will do, Coach,” he said. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be here,” I said as Luke vanished off in a dash on the ice. “I’m just gonna be a distraction at this point.”

Coach patted me on the back. “Normally, I’d agree, but these kids need to see him interact with you,” he said. “I’m not sure how they’ve taken the situation, but as long as the two of you are actually together, it’s a good thing.”

Watching the players out there, I wondered if there were others who were gay, or questioning their sexualities. I had my guess based on the fanfiction I’d written, but that was between me and my computer, nobody was ever getting their hands on that. Ever. “It’s still new,” I said. “I’m only nineteen, and he’s going to graduate next year, so I wouldn’t be sad if it didn’t last.”

Coach scoffed. “Damn. Don’t let anyone hear you say that. If anyone hears you think the two of you could break up, they’ll think they can steal him. I’m just hoping it stops people asking for his number.”

I’d really underestimated how desired Luke was, he was hot, talented, and he kept his relationships quiet—or what I now knew as he’d never been in a relationship, and he was also a virgin. Two pieces of information that didn’t seem to coincide with just how hot he was. Maybe he didn’t know his own attractiveness, but the way he showed off on the ice said otherwise. He absolutely knew what he was doing, like a male bird in the wild, putting on a show to attract potential mates. That was exactly who Luke was, and my god, I was sucked right in.

“I’m going to keep to myself if anyone asks,” I mumbled. “It could all end before it even begins.” I continued to stare at Luke as he engaged with his teammates. I loved watching teams as giant friendship groups, I didn’t want to think anyone of them had it in for Luke.

“And I can trust you not to be a distraction,” Coach said. “We’ve got a good team on our hands.”

I didn’t know if he had to worry about me, but they would be the ones as the distractions and not me. “I’m just looking forward to the first game of the season.” I was also looking forward to picking my fantasy league draft as well, but it was all too much for my brain to organize. And when that happened, I was ready to shut down for a little while. That meant I’d need to take an extended vacation into my little space and since school started back, I hadn’t been given much chance to really settle in there.

Luke came over to the barrier again, everyone was watching him.

“Can I have a kiss?” he asked.

If I thought long and hard about it, I could still taste his tongue from last night. I knew he was putting on a show right now, and I didn’t want to disappoint them all. I leaned in, my head over the barrier to touch his cold nose against mine. His lips were still so warm, I’d closed my eyes and was ready to pop a leg like some dame in an old movie.

“I believe you,” Coach said with a chuckle. “You don’t have to put on a show.”

Luke rubbed his nose against mine as he stared into my eyes. “I do need to put on a show,” he whispered. “I have to lead by example, Coach, and they all need to know that I play offense in my romantic life as well.”

Now my knees were really buckling under his words. I was glad I was clinging to the barrier, otherwise I would’ve swooned and fallen to a heap where Luke could once more show off his strong and powerful physique by carrying me into the seats and bringing me back to life with another kiss, or just a splash of water.

“You’re all red,” he whispered.

“It’s hot in here,” I said in a gasp, fanning a hand at my face.

“Hardly,” Coach chuckled. “Come on, I told you not to be a distraction.” He cleared his throat. “Ok, Orcas! I wanna see teams. I wanna see a friendly game, and remember, no body checking, no fighting, and if I see any of it, it won’t just be the penalty box. It’ll be an ice bath. That’s right. I’m bringing that back.”

I looked around, the terror on their face across the rink, even on Luke’s. I knew what an ice bath was, but I was sure I didn’t know what their interpretation of an ice bath was, clearly.

Once Luke skated off, Coach continued to laugh.

“What’s so scary about an ice bath?” I asked, knowing full well I would never do one. “I thought sports people did them all the time.”

“Yeah, some of them do, but nobody wants to do them,” he said. “Especially after being on the ice. And they’ll usually get a bucket of ice poured over their head as well.”

“Wow.” I shivered thinking about it. “That’s definitely an incentive.”

“Although it’s under the watch of the physio and the rest of the support team because it’s considered a treatment,” he said. “I remember the last time I had to do a cold plunge, I thought my outie would turn into an innie.” He snort-laughed at his joke.

I got the joke, but I didn’t want to picture him undressed where I could see his outie in any shape or form. I forced a laugh along with him, it was all I could do as I stared at the Orcas be divided into two teams on the ice.