Page 2 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER ONE

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Elyna, my best friend Luc’s sister, FaceTime’s me. I immediately answer the call because she is rarely in touch. She moved to Montreal a few years back since it was easier to get work there than in Val-Du-Lys, the small town where we grew up.

“This is a nice surprise,” I say answering the call.

“I thought I would check in. I tried calling my brother, but I think it’s easier getting a hold of the President.” She rolls her eyes.

I laugh. Luc has a busy schedule between the hockey team, school, and girls.

“You know how Luc is. He’s a busy guy,” I defend.

Elyna rocks her baby boy while muttering sweet nothings to him, as I talk about my junior year of college coming to an end and how I can’t believe I don’t know where the last three years went.

Elyna is a bit of a mother figure to me and Luc.

I say a bit because Elyna has a knack of finding trouble.

She fell apart after their mom died. Luc went into protective mode, even though he was the younger one, and Elyna acted out and that theme just carried through the years.

I get a notification on my Instagram account. I set it up that way when something gets posted about my boyfriend, West Knight, since he is a famous hockey player.

“One second, Elyna, something got posted about West,” I explain.

“You’re still with that hunky hockey player?” she asks.

“I am,” I confirm.

“Funny, I always thought the only hockey player you’d end up with is my brother,” she teases. She isn’t the only one in our small town to make a comment like that.

“You know it isn’t like that between Luc and me.

” That’s how I answer. It’s my go-to answer because it’s not like I don’t have feelings for Luc.

It’s not that I’m not attracted to him. He checks off all my boxes.

It’s that Luc friend zoned me from the moment I became aware of the opposite sex, and he’s made sure we keep those boundaries in check because our friendship means everything to him.

It’s important to me too. That’s why I dated West, because I knew waiting for my best friend to wake up and smell the coffee beans was never going to happen.

I met West and we hit it off, and here we are a couple years later, still dating.

“I’ve heard that before, but I figured at some point in the last three years you two would’ve figured yourselves out there at college, away from the prying eyes of everyone in Val-Du-Lys.” She chuckles. Our town is small, and gossip runs just as fast as some of the rivers that run through it.

My breath hitches when I come across a post of West photographed with a young gorgeous woman who is clearly a model.

“Oh no,” I blurt.

“What’s wrong? Did that famous hockey player cheat on you? Because Luc will kick his ass,” she rants. I love her. I do. But right now, I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me.

“Elyna, I need to go.”

“Damn, Izzy, I’m sorry. I just need you to relay a message to Luc. I’m leaving Montreal and heading back home,” she says.

“Why? What happened?” I feel bad for getting absorbed in my own problems when she is a single mom to a six-month-old baby.

“Lost my job. Can’t afford my apartment,” she replies.

“Riley hasn’t come around in months and even when he was, he didn’t contribute financially to Braden’s care,” she says of the man who knocked her up.

Elyna is seven years older than Luc and me.

Riley Jansen, her son’s father, grew up on the other side of Val-Du-Lys.

They were in the same graduating class. He was bad news back then too.

“I’m sorry. Are you going to live with your dad?”

“I don’t have any other choice. He seems to be okay, but we haven’t been in touch too much over the years.

You know my dad; he isn’t very interested in Luc and me.

” Charles Chabot, Luc’s dad, is a functioning alcoholic.

Luc didn’t like to talk about his homelife, but I never got a good vibe from that man.

“I’ll give Luc the message, but you should reach out to Phoenix, I know he was looking for waitresses at the Maple Valley Microbrewery, since it’s a busy time of year,” I suggest. Phoenix is my eldest brother.

He and Elyna are the same age and went to high school together, but they never seemed to get along the way Luc and I did.

“Thanks, maybe I will,” she says, but it doesn’t sound like she is too excited about it. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I don’t have much choice.” Her response is dry and tired.

“Okay, take care of you and if you need something, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

“We’ll be in touch soon.”

“Take care. I’ll tell Phoenix to expect a call from you.”

“Thanks,” she says. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

I quickly refocus on Instagram. I’m at a loss for words as I check other sites for information on West Knight.

It appears he is stirring rumors after being seen leaving a club with some famous supermodel.

My stomach dips in a bad way. This isn’t the first time in our relationship the media has delivered false information about West. He’s an NHL star, playing for the New York Scavengers.

Luc always warned me about dating a professional hockey player, but I didn’t listen.

I told him not every hockey player was a manwhore like him.

Now I’m thinking I was very wrong. Too many outlets are reporting on this new budding relationship.

He is touching her intimately in several pictures. How am I just getting wind of this now?

Me: Did you see the news?

I send the text to Luc, wondering what he is making of all this. It must be true, which means that dickhead West didn’t even have the decency to break up with me first.

How could West do this to me? It’s humiliating.

We spoke about our relationship so many times.

We agreed that if either of us didn’t want to be committed anymore, we would inform the other and end things.

I didn’t get to see West often, but we had mapped out our future together.

A future I imagined down to the last detail, with a nice house and a white picket fence.

West was going to retire by age thirty and we would have our own nice little family.

I’m scrolling through article after article, which displays the same picture of him kissing the model. She is everything I’m not. Tall, blond, skinny as a stick. The blood turns hot in my veins. That asshole. Hot tears sting my eyes.

I’m sitting on my couch crying, for what must be an hour, when my phone pings with a message.

Luc: Are you okay?

My best friend finally returns my text. Luc and I grew up together.

We came to Riverside U together, but he’s a hockey player with a busy athletic schedule and a side hustle of girls fawning over him.

I’m a quiet psych major, who mostly does her homework and keeps a low profile.

We couldn’t be more different, but we grew up as neighbors.

We were there for each other through dark times.

Though we don’t see each other often, we have the kind of friendship that lasts through time, even if we both don’t make the effort we should on our friendship.

Me: Not really.

Luc: Where are you? I’m coming to you.

Gah. This is embarrassing. He’s going to tell me how he warned me against dating a guy like West.

Me: Home. You don’t need to come. I’ll be fine. It’s just the cheating that stings, and the fact West said he loved me and wanted to start a family with me after I graduated.

I was na?ve to think a handsome man like West would set aside his wild ways to be with a simple, small-town girl like me.

I head to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. My head is spinning. Was West going to call me and tell me it’s over? Was he just going to act like I never existed and move on without informing me? Or was he banking on the media sending the message?

I make myself a cup of chamomile tea and take a seat at my kitchen table. Since I am a glutton for punishment, I continue to scroll through his Instagram page.

What were you thinking, Izzy? A feeling deep down in my belly tells me exactly what I was thinking.

West was safe. He promised me the family I always wanted.

But did I love him? There was no fire between us.

I assumed that burning need for someone isn’t something that existed in real life.

That kind of passion only happened in books.

There’s a knock on my front door. I shout to my roommates that I’ll get it. I head to the door, knowing I look like crap with my hair in a messy bun on my head and my eyes rimmed red.

I open the door to Luc; his hair has the I just had really good sex look . Although in Luc’s case maybe he did just have good sex. His gray eyes are filled with so much emotion that it hits me in the center of my chest like a freight truck.

“Mon coeur.” His voice is deep and filled with pain.

He calls me by the nickname he uses for me when it’s just the two of us.

It means my heart . He takes a step into the house and wraps his strong arms around me.

I fold into him like a safe blanket. Luc is six foot four to my five foot six but he feels like home, in his arms I feel protected.

“Please don’t say I told you so,” I beg as tears cloud my vision.

“I won’t, but I want to fucking kill him,” he growls.

That makes me laugh through my tears. I pull away from him and swipe at them. He kicks off his slides. “You smell good. Did you just shower?”

“Yeah, I just came from the hockey house. That place is getting to be too much. All my friends are in love or at least on the way to it,” he complains.

“Now I’m starting to understand your aversion to love,” I reply and Luc winces.

“Don’t become a pessimist, you’re too sweet.”

I smile at him. “Come in. I just made some tea.”

“I don’t drink tea,” he says as if I didn’t know.

“I can make you instant coffee, if you like,” I offer.

“Okay, but only if you have creamer.”