Hockey Hookup: One Night with My Brother's Best Friend

Ava

​My phone was vibrating so hard it was practically dancing across the nightstand.

​I groaned, blinking against a headache that felt like a tiny construction crew was drilling into my skull. I reached out, grabbed the phone, and squinted at the glowing screen.

​43 missed calls.

​Thirty-two from Brad. Eleven from my older brother, Chase.

​Oh, sweet mother of God.

​My eyes snapped wide open. This wasn't my bedroom. The ceiling was too high, the sheets were a dark slate gray instead of my usual soft pink, and the air smelled faintly of expensive cologne.

​I froze, the memories of last night crashing into my brain like a freight train. The fight with Brad. The absolute rage that had consumed me. The college party I had snuck into. And then... the guy with the ocean-blue eyes and the smirk that made my clothes feel too tight.

​ I lifted the heavy duvet and peeked underneath....I was completely naked. Naked!!

​ I lost my virginity last night.... To a stranger.

​ Panic, sharp and icy pierced through my hangover. I saved myself for years, thinking I would marry Brad, and I just threw it away because of one stupid argument?

​"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I whispered, scrambling out of bed. My legs were a little shaky, but my internal alarm bells were screaming. I spotted my clothes scattered across the floor, grabbed my underwear, jeans, and my jacket, and pulled them on in a record-breaking ten seconds.

​I grabbed my keys, slipped my boots into my hands so I wouldn't make a sound, and began to tiptoe toward the door. I just needed to get to my car. If I got to my car, last night never happened. It was a glitch in the matrix. A temporary lapse in sanity.

​I reached for the doorknob, my fingers just millimeters away from freedom...

​"Never would I have guessed that you were a hit-and-run kinda girl."

​A deep, gravelly masculine voice vibrated through the quiet room. It was raspy from sleep, dripping with a lazy, amused arrogance that made my blood boil.

​I shut my eyes tight, absolutely refusing to turn around. My shoulders squared. I had just made the biggest mistake of my entire life, and I wasn't about to let Mr. Gorgeous voice mock me for it.

​"Are you going to say anything? Or at least look at me?" he asked, and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

​My jaw clenched. The panic melted into pure, defensive fury. I whirled around, clutching my jacket to my chest like a shield, and glared at him.

​He was propped up on one elbow, the sheets dipping dangerously low around his hips, revealing an absurd amount of toned, hard muscle. His messy dark hair was sticking up in every direction, and he looked entirely too comfortable.

​"You stole my virginity!" I burst out, my voice cracking with a mix of rage and embarrassment.

​His eyebrows shot up, genuine surprise flashing across his handsome face. "Whoa, wait-"

​"This was a huge mistake!" I yelled, refusing to let him speak. "And I hope to never, ever see you ever again!"

​Before he could even untangle himself from the sheets, I slammed my boots onto my feet, yanked the door open, and stormed out. I didn't care that I was basically running down the hallway of a random hotel. I didn't care if I looked insane.

​I bolted down to the parking lot, my heart hammering against my ribs. Thank god my fuzzy memories were correct...I had driven myself here. I unlocked my sedan, threw myself into the driver's seat, slammed the door shut, and just-

​"SCREAMED!"

​I gripped the steering wheel, letting out a frustrated, horrified wail. What the hell did I do? I had sex with a random stranger. Sex!

​"Okay, breathe," I gasped, catching my reflection in the rearview mirror. My cheeks were bright pink, my hair was a bird's nest, and my lips were slightly swollen. "Breathe. You're going to college today. You're moving into your dorm. You're going to fix things with Brad. And that guy? He's a ghost. He doesn't exist."

​With that lie firmly planted in my head, I turned the key in the ignition.

​Four hours later, I was on campus, desperately trying to play the part of the perfect, put-together freshman. The afternoon sun was bright, the quad was packed with students carrying boxes, and the air was buzzing with orientation energy.

​Chase, my overprotective senior brother, was walking beside me, effortlessly carrying two of my heaviest storage bins.

​"I'm telling you, Ava, college is different," Chase was saying, giving me his classic big-brother lecture. "You gotta keep your head on a swivel. Don't worry about Brad being at his own campus, you've got me here to watch your back."

​"I can watch my own back, Chase," I mumbled, offering a weak smile. I was still exhausted, and my conscience was eating me alive. Every time my phone buzzed with a text from Brad saying 'I'm sorry about our fight, text me when you get to campus,' a fresh wave of guilt washed over me.

​"Hey, I know you can. But you're my little sister. It's my job," Chase laughed, nudging my shoulder with his elbow.

​Suddenly, a loud voice echoed across the crowded lawn behind us.

​"Yo, Chase!"

​ I didn't know why, but the voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

​Chase stopped in his tracks, a massive grin breaking out across his face. "Oh, perfect! Hold up, Ava, there's someone you need to meet."

​I turned around slowly, my eyes scanning the crowd.

​Walking toward us was a tall, athletic guy wearing a varsity hockey jacket. He was laughing, tossing a football from hand to hand, his broad shoulders cutting through the crowd like a ship through water.

​The football stopped in his hands. His eyes locked onto Chase. And then, his gaze shifted slightly to the left.

​Directly onto me.

​The smile froze on his face. Those familiar, striking ocean-blue eyes widened in absolute shock.

​It was him. The hotel room. The slate gray sheets. The guy I had screamed at just four hours ago.

​"Liam, man!" Chase cheered, stepping forward to give his friend a bro-hug. "Ava, this is my best friend and roommate, Liam Carter. Liam, this is my little sister."

​Liam slowly broke the hug, his eyes never leaving mine. A slow, dangerous, incredibly wicked grin began to spread across his lips.

​"Nice to finally meet you, Ava," he murmured, his voice sending a violent shiver right down my spine. "Your brother talks about you all the time."

​Liam

​I pride myself on having good peripheral vision. On the ice, I can spot a defenseman creeping up from my blind spot before he even makes a move.

​But on the campus quad, standing under the bright September sun next to my best friend, I was completely blindsided.

​"Ava, this is my best friend and roommate, Liam Carter," Chase said, clapping a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Liam, this is my little sister."

​My heart did a violent, erratic thud against my ribs.

​The girl standing in front of me was wearing a modest pastel cardigan, her hair swept up in a neat claw clip, looking every bit the innocent, sweet freshman Chase had spent the last three years bragging about.

​But I knew better.

​I knew that under that cardigan, her skin was unbelievably soft. I knew that when she lost her temper, her big brown eyes turned into literal fire. And I definitely knew she wasn't as quiet as Chase claimed, considering the last time I had seen her, she was screaming "You stole my virginity!" at the top of her lungs before slamming my hotel door so hard the frame rattled.

​Chase's little sister. I was dead. I was a dead man.

​"Nice to finally meet you, Ava," I murmured, forcing my lips into a slow, wicked grin just to mask the absolute panic clawing at my throat. "Your brother talks about you all the time."

​Ava turned a shade of crimson that rivaled a fire engine. Her jaw clenched so tight I thought her teeth might crack, but she held my gaze, her eyes promising murder.

​"Nice to meet you, Liam," she said, her voice dripping with enough fake sweetness to cause cavities.

​"Alright, let's get these boxes up to her dorm," Chase said, completely oblivious to the silent nuclear war happening right in front of him. "Liam, grab that blue tote, will ya?"

​"Actually," Ava intervened quickly, her voice sharp. "Chase, can you go ahead? I... I think I dropped my student ID near the parking lot. I need to go look for it."

​"Want me to come with?" Chase asked.

​"No!" she snapped, a bit too fast. She cleared her throat, softening her tone. "No, it's fine. Take the boxes up. I'll find it."

​"I'll go with her," I volunteered smoothly, tossing the football I was holding to Chase. "I need to grab my sunglasses from my truck anyway. Keep me from having to carry that heavy-ass tote up three flights of stairs."

​Chase laughed, catching the ball. "Lazy bastard. Fine. See you guys up there. Room 314, Ava!"

​The second Chase turned his back and walked into the dorm building, the fake smile dropped from Ava's face. She whirled around and began marching toward the edge of the quad, near the secluded brick pathway by the athletic fields.

​I followed her, my eyes tracking the angry sway of her hips. Fierce. That was the only word for her.

​As soon as we were behind the cover of the heavy oak trees, away from the bustling crowd of students, she spun around. She marched right up to me, poking a rigid finger directly into my chest.

​"Are you insane?!" she hissed, her voice a lethal whisper. "What are you doing here?!"

​I caught her wrist, stopping her from bruising my sternum. Her skin was warm, and the second my fingers wrapped around her pulse point, a memory of last night...of her gasping "don't stop" into the crook of my neck flashed behind my eyes. My throat went dry.

​"What am I doing here?" I repeated, leaning down slightly so I was in her space, letting her feel the full weight of my height. "I live here, Red. I'm a senior. The real question is, why didn't you mention that your brother is the guy I share a kitchen with?"

​Ava pulled her wrist out of my grip, her cheeks flushing beautifully. "I didn't know! I didn't even know your name until five minutes ago! You were just... a guy at a party!"

​"A guy at a party," I echoed, stepping closer, deliberately testing her boundaries. The spicy scent of her perfume was messing with my head. "Is that all I was? Because if I recall correctly, you weren't calling me 'just a guy' at three in the morning."

​"Shut up!" She slapped a hand over my mouth, her eyes darting around the empty path in pure panic.

​My chest rumbled with a laugh against her palm. I didn't move. I just looked down at her, taking in the fierce, defiant glare she was giving me. She was terrified of getting caught, but she wasn't backing down from me. I liked it. I liked it way too much.

​She dropped her hand, wiping it on her jeans as if trying to erase the feeling of my lips. "Listen to me, Liam. Nothing happened last night. Do you understand me? It was a mistake. I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend I love."

​A sharp, unpleasant pang hit my stomach at the word boyfriend. "Right. The guy you were screaming about on the phone before you jumped into my bed."

​"I did not jump into your bed, you lured me!"

​"You literally asked me if the sheets were as soft as they looked, Ava."

​"That was the alcohol talking!" she fired back, crossing her arms over her chest, stepping so close our clothes practically brushed. "Look, Chase cannot find out. If he finds out, he will kill you, and then he will lock me in a tower. We bury this. We don't know each other. We never speak. Got it?"

​ I looked at her...like actually looked at her. Her lower lip was trembling just a fraction, despite the fierce posture. She was drowning in guilt, and as much as I wanted to tease her, I wasn't a monster. And she was right about Chase. If he found out I had touched his little sister, our friendship was over, and the team chemistry would implode before the first puck even dropped.

​"Fine," I said, my voice dropping its playful edge, becoming dead serious. "We bury it. I don't know you, you don't know me. We're strangers."

​Ava let out a long, shuddering breath, her shoulders sagging in relief. "Thank you."

​"But let's get one thing straight, Red," I added, stepping into her personal space one last time, my eyes dropping to her lips before snapping back to her eyes. "I didn't steal anything from you last night. You gave it to me. And don't call it a mistake just because you're scared of how good it felt."

​Ava's breath hitched, her eyes widening as the heat between us flared up like a struck match. For a second, neither of us moved. The tension was thick enough to choke on.

​Then, she blinked, broke the spell, and took a step back.

​"I'm going to find my brother," she whispered, her voice a little breathless.

​She turned and walked away, her head held high, leaving me standing alone under the trees, my hands shoved deep into my pockets to keep from reaching out to pull her back.

​Strangers, I reminded myself. You're just roommates with her brother.

​I swore under my breath, looking up at the sky. It was going to be a very, very long season.

​Ava

​Don't call it a mistake just because you're scared of how good it felt.

​Liam's words played on a loop in my head, loud and mocking, as I practically sprinted up the concrete stairs of the freshman dorm. My heart was hammering against my ribs, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the cardio.

​My skin felt hyper-sensitive, still buzzing from the sheer heat of him standing so close to me under those oak trees. I could still smell his cologne. I could still feel the phantom grip of his fingers wrapped around my wrist, anchoring me to him.

​I didn't steal anything from you last night. You gave it to me.

​God, the worst part was that he was right. I had given it to him.

​As I reached the third-floor landing, out of breath and sweating, my mind betrayed me, flashing a vivid, blinding memory of last night across my brain.

​I hadn't just been drunk; I had been so reckless, fueled by the explosive fight with Brad. When Liam had pulled me into that hotel room, I hadn't fought him.

I remembered the heavy, delicious weight of his body pressing me down into those slate-gray sheets. I remembered the rough texture of his large hands sliding up my thighs, making me shiver before he pinned my wrists above my head.

He had looked down at me with those burning ocean-blue eyes, asking me twice if I was sure. And when I had nodded, desperate to feel something other than anger, he had ruined me for anyone else. He'd been so fierce, yet so incredibly careful with me, whispering dirty, sweet praises into my ear until I was completely breathless, begging for more.

​I gasped out loud, my knees going weak right there in the hallway. I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat, blinking rapidly to clear the vision.

​Stop it, Ava. Stop. I was a good girl. I was Brad's girlfriend. I didn't have breathless, spicy flashbacks about college boys.

​"Hey! Over here!"

​Chase's voice shattered my spiraling thoughts. He was standing outside Room 314, waving a roll of packing tape.

​I plastered on a fake smile, ignoring the way my cheeks burned with guilt, and hurried over. For the next two hours, Chase was an absolute lifesaver. He unboxed my heavy bedding, hung up my fairy lights, and even helped me organize my color-coded binders on the small wooden desk. The distraction was exactly what I needed.

​"And... that's the last of it," Chase announced, tossing an empty cardboard box onto the pile in the corner. He wiped his brow and smiled down at me. "Not bad, little sis. Looks cozy."

​"Thank you so much, Chase. Seriously," I said, giving him a tight, genuine hug. "I don't know how I would have carried all this up by myself."

​"Anytime. Just promise me you'll actually go to the orientation mixer tonight and make some friends. Don't just sit in here FaceTime-ing Brad all night." He gave my shoulder a playful nudge. "I gotta head to practice. The coach is already breathing down our necks. You going to be okay here?"

​"Perfectly fine," I promised, practically pushing him toward the door. "Go. Don't be late."

​"Alright, alright. Text me if you need anything. I'm just a ten-minute walk away." With a final wave, he closed the door behind him.

​The second the latch clicked, a wave of profound relief washed over me. I was finally alone. The other bed in the room was completely bare, whoever my roommate was, they hadn't arrived yet, which was a total blessing. I needed time to process, to scrub Liam Carter out of my system, and to figure out how to look at myself in the mirror again.

​I kicked off my boots and collapsed backward onto my newly made bed. The mattress was standard, stiff dorm-quality, but right now, it felt like a cloud. I closed my eyes, letting out a long, shuddering breath. I was safe. The secret was buried. Liam agreed to keep his distance. I could do this.

​Knock. Knock. Knock.

​I groaned into my pillow. Chase probably forgot his car keys.

​"Coming!" I called out, pushing myself up from the bed. I padded over to the door in my socks, unlocking it and swinging it open with a tight smile. "What did you forget this time, Cha-"

​The word died in my throat.

​The smile slid off my face, my stomach dropping through the floorboards.

​Standing in the doorway, holding a giant bouquet of my favorite pink carnations and wearing a soft crewneck sweater, was Brad.

​His perfect, familiar smile faded slightly when he saw my expression. "Surprise! Happy first day of college, babe. Are you... going to invite me in?"