THE HOCKEY PLAYBOOK

"Are you fucking kidding me." Hori said, squeezing her face like I just said something offensive. "You really don't expect me to be a good fit with Chad...CHAD HENDERSON...Oh c'mon connie."

"Well...I mean, he's hot though." I smirked playfully in an attempt to convince her since she was a crazy fan of hot guys but then Chad had a track record and apparently she was seriously keeping it.

"He corrects every single lecturer that walks up the podium. I mean-"

"He's never wrong though." I lolled my eyes to the side, convinced I had just made a solid point, a slight smile tugging at my lips.

"That's not the point." She turned in her seat to face me properly, which usually meant that she was about to get serious with the conversation. "He's a nerd. A full, committed, walking Wikipedia article nerd. It's just not possible."

"You don't even know him like that." I continued stubbornly. "You've only spoken to him, what?

Like twice."

"Exactly. Twice was enough." She picked up her highlighter, clicked it open and clicked it shut without even using it. "Why are you so obsessed with this?"

"I'm not obsessed, I just think-"

"You're obsessed."

"There's a first time for everything," I said, and she laughed sarcastically, dropping her head into her hand like I'd physically exhausted her.

The hall was just the way it usually was everyday before lecture. It was loud, with conversations layered over each other in a way that you could hear the noise and loud whispers without hearing any actual words.

I noticed the sound of chairs scraping, someone's phone going off twice in a row then a group of boys that filled up the back seats laughing about something on a screen.

"Hori-"

The professor walked in.

The hall went quiet gradually, the sound of people adjusting, suddenly remembering where they were, phones disappearing, the laughter from the back row dropping, everything happening within just three seconds.

Adler stood at the front of the hall staring at us for a moment without actually saying anything.

He shook his head, his face contracting into a frown-the specific look of disappointment I had become used to seeing since I joined this class.

"Last semester," he said, setting his folder down without opening it, "some of you turned in work that I can only describe as a sincere and very baffling commitment to missing the point." His voice was calm, despite the heat that was coming up from him at the moment.

"I have been teaching for nineteen years." He paused, his gaze settling on each and every single column one after the other. "And I have never, ever, in nineteen years, read an essay that managed to use eight hundred words to say absolutely nothing until November."

He paused again, his fist clenched and his face screaming anger even more. "You know who you are."

Hori leaned toward me. "He's been like this since November" she whispered.

"I know right," I murmured back. "It's sincerely unsettling."

Adler looked up, his gaze meeting ours. We straightened up immediately and he continued.

"Before we begin." He glanced down at his folder and finally opened it. "We have a transfer student joining the mix today." He looked toward the door, a smile crossing his face for the first time since he walked in. "Mr. Maddox. Come in."

The door opened and my jaw dropped. I must say, I was genuinely swept off my feet.

He was tall, that was the first thing I noticed before anything else, before the broad shoulders and the athletic build. And his face was-

Dark eyes, chiseled set of jaws, the complete and total absence of any expression that suggested that he was happy to be here.

He stood at the front of the hall and looked straight down without looking at anything in particular.

"Kyrian Maddox," Adler said, still maintaining his warm smile. "He'll be joining you guys as of today. Find a seat, Mr. Maddox."

He walked up to where I was and took a seat next to me.

I felt Hori look over from my left but I did not look back at her since I already knew what her face would look like-she'd probably be wearing the biggest grin ever.

"Miss Reid." Adler called out, his gaze shifting to me. "Given your apparent talent for the social workings of this campus, I'll leave it to you to help Mr. Maddox find his footing."

"Of course," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips.

"Perhaps you'll even find him a match." Adler said, somehow amused, which was actually a rare thing from him.

Everyone in the hall burst out laughing. "Maybe I'll find one for you too, Professor." I shot at him playfully.

The hall erupted louder and Adler pointed at me with his pen-a small smile tugging at his lips-and turned to the board.

I turned to Kyrian.

"Hey." I said, keeping it light and easy with a conversational tone. "I'm Connie Reid. In case the introduction wasn't clear."

He kept staring at the board without paying even the slightest attention to me.

I waited a while before speaking again.

"If you need someone to walk you around after class, I can-"

He turned, shot me a disgusted look that communicated everything I needed to know.

"Leave me the fuck alone," he said and turned back to the board.

My eyes went wide with shock as I silently prayed that no one heard or even saw that.

"Miss Connie Reid, please report to the boardroom."

The speaker crackled then went quiet.

I looked at the ceiling, then at the side of Kyrian Maddox's face, which had not moved.

Lucky guy.

I picked up my bag and left.

I had the whole walk to the boardroom to think about why my brain had registered his face the way it did at first. On second thought, he wasn't the slightest bit attractive, he was an ass, yeah that's what he was, a fucking ass.

He'd told me to leave him alone, I was going to leave him alone. I was going to leave him so alone he'd forget I existed, which given that he'd barely acknowledged I existed to begin with, shouldn't be difficult.

I smoothed my jacket, knocked on the door twice then went in.

Dean Harlow sat at the head of the table with two other people flanking him on each side.

"Miss Reid." Harlow gestured at the chair across from him, a smile tugging at his lips. "Sit, we won't keep you long."

I sat down and smiled back even though I didn't exactly feel like smiling at the moment.

"We'll get right to it," Harlow said, and in my mental note of things I had learnt about adults, those statements mean they simply and indeed wouldn't get right to it.

Just like I thought, there were several minutes of warm-up first-my academic standing, my campus presence and what seemed like thirty minutes had already passed.

"We've been hearing things," the woman to Harlow's left said. Dr. Prentiss, I noted mentally, thanks to the huge metal plaque with her name inscripted on it sitting on her desk. "About a particular skill set of yours."

I knew what she was talking about, as a matter of fact, every living, breathing organism on this campus knew."The matchmaking," I said, my gaze focused on the huge plaque on the desk.

"Yes, that," she confirmed, looking pleased that I didn't feign ignorance. "Six students, three couples. All of them are still together at the close of semester.

"Remarkable," Harlow completed.

"I was going to say impressive," Prentiss said, chuckling.

"Same thing," Harlow said, and looked back at me. "You have a gift for reading people, Miss Reid. Connecting them. We've been paying attention."

"I appreciate that," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Genuinely."

"We'd like to make use of it."

There it was. I kept my face still without any expression at all. I wondered why they had called me in but I wouldn't have guessed it was for this.

Harlow leaned forward slightly. "Crestfield is entering a period of heightened media visibility this semester. Hockey season, primarily.

There are students whose public perception will affect the university's reputation directly." He paused for a moment, letting all he had said settle. "One student in particular."

My stomach made a loud grumble sound, but thankfully no one heard it or at least I hoped they didn't.

"We need someone to manage the social side of things, someone who understands people and can build a genuine connection." He folded his hands. "You'd be compensated, of course and the university would consider it a significant-"

"Which student," I interrupted, my gaze focused on him.

He exchanged a quick glance with Prentiss then shifted his gaze back to me.

"We need you to match someone with Kyrian Maddox."

That's-"

"Remarkable," Harlow completed.

"I was going to say impressive," Prentiss said, chuckling.

"Same thing," Harlow said, and looked back at me. "You have a gift for reading people, Miss Reid. Connecting them. We've been paying attention."

"I appreciate that," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Genuinely."

"We'd like to make use of it."

There it was. I kept my face still without any expression at all. I wondered why they had called me in but I wouldn't have guessed it was for this.

Harlow leaned forward slightly. "Crestfield is entering a period of heightened media visibility this semester. Hockey season, primarily.

There are students whose public perception will affect the university's reputation directly." He paused for a moment, letting all he had said settle. "One student in particular."

My stomach made a loud grumble sound, but thankfully no one heard it or at least I hoped they didn't.

"We need someone to manage the social side of things, someone who understands people and can build a genuine connection." He folded his hands. "You'd be compensated, of course and the university would consider it a significant-"

"Which student," I interrupted, my gaze focused on him.

He exchanged a quick glance with Prentiss then shifted his gaze back to me.

"We need you to match someone with Kyrian Maddox."

"No fucking way."

"Yeah, that's what I thought when they told me too." I dropped onto my bed face first, my body stretching off the pent up exhaustion in it.

Hori was standing in the middle of the room, one sock half off her foot. She'd stopped attempting to remove it the moment I started talking.

"Since when did the school start giving a shit about things like that?" Hori asked, her eyebrows raising even though she knew there was no way I could possibly have an answer to that.

"One of the reasons I turned them down." I said, my face still flat on the bed, muffling my voice in some way. "And besides, the dude's an ass, he legit told me to fuck off in class today."

Hori's mouth flew wide open and I could have sworn that I saw a mocking smile cross her face for a second. "Are you being serious? You mean the hot transfer kid told you to fuck off."

She burst out laughing, unable to hold it back in anymore. Her gaze caught my still body after a while and she stopped.

"Well, he isn't all that." She continued, trying to reduce the impact of the damage she had already done.

"Besides, something is off about the whole thing. Transfer students don't just show up mid year with the board already managing their image, Connie."

"I know." I sat up, my gaze focused on her. "and that's why I never want to have anything to do with him."

She yanked off the socks from her foot and reached into her bag, pulling out her laptop.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my gaze following her as she got on her bed and opened up the laptop.

"Looking him up." She responded immediately, her gaze focused on the laptop.

"Hori-"

"Kyrian what again?" She stopped typing and met my gaze.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Maddox."

"Maddox." She typed it fast, murmuring the syllables until she was done. "Kyrian Maddox-"

I lay back and looked at the ceiling, my hands supporting my head as I waited patiently for what seemed like ten minutes.

"This is pointless-"

I sat up. Hori's eyes were wide as she stared at the screen like she had just seen a ghost.

I waited a while for her to say something but she didn't.

"Hori."

She turned the laptop around slowly, her gaze shifting to my face.

HOCKEY PROSPECT KYRIAN MADDOX SUED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT-SCANDAL RAISES QUESTION ABOUT HIS FUTURE IN HOCKEY.

My heart dropped. I knew the bastard was cancerous, but this...this is way worse.

Former girlfriend of Crestfield-bound prospect Kyrian Maddox came forward with allegations of sexual assault last spring. Maddox was held briefly before charges were dropped following contradicting testimonies. The case has since been closed but questions remain about-

I stopped reading, my fingers were pressing into my palm and my heart was beating so fast I thought it was about to force its way out.

Assault.

I wasn't past it, I never was, I had only been lying to myself.

"Hey." Hori's voice pulled me out of my spiral. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I answered, blinking my way back to the present. "Can you just-get me some water. Please."

I could feel her gaze on my skin. I kept my eyes on a fixed point on the wall and kept my body completely still and after a moment I heard her set the laptop down and get up.

I breathed in and out slowly

It's not the same thing, I told myself. It's not about you.

I pressed my nails harder into my palm, my feet tapping the ground in irregular rhythms.

Hori came back and pressed the cup into my hand, her eyes scanning me for a moment.

"What was-" she started.

A knock at the door stopped her and both our gaze shifted to the door.

I put the cup down, stood up, crossed the room and opened it without even caring to ask who was at the door.

Dean Harlow stood in the corridor, still putting on the same clothes he had on in the afternoon.

"Miss Reid. Sorry to disturb your evening." He glanced past me, into the room. "There's someone in the boardroom asking for you."

Who could it be? I thought to myself, but of course there's only one way to find out.

The corridor felt longer than it had this afternoon or maybe I was just walking slower. I really couldn't tell.

The boardroom door was slightly open when I got there and I could see light coming through the gap.

I pushed it open and the room felt extremely large with just two people in it.

He turned the moment I walked in, he was wearing a black suit, with an height that made him look like Bruce Wayne and Harvey Specter at the same fucking time.

"Miss Reid." He extended a hand, his eyes scanning my face. "Director Callum Vress. Sit down, please."

I sat down and he remained standing for a moment, then took the chair across from me and set his hands flat on the table like he was about to drop a bomb.

"I'm going to be direct with you," he said, his face effortlessly neutral and hard to read.

"I'm the executive director of a new production launching here at Crestfield this semester. A show called Playbook." He spoke slowly, like he had all the time in the world.

"Twenty four students, four shared houses. Each of you will be ranked based on audience engagement." He paused again for the umpteenth time since he started speaking. "We want you in it."

I stared at him patiently, waiting for him to finish speaking before I politely turned him down.

"Not as a matchmaker," he continued. "As a participant, paired with Kyrian Maddox in a relationship the cameras follow across the semester."

My heart stopped for a moment and then I almost laughed, because the audacity of this man was very impressive.

I'd said no three hours ago to something smaller, in this same room, and someone had gone away and fetched this man and his television show bullshit like that was going to change anything.

"Director Vress," I said, very calmly, a small smile tugging at my lips. "I was in this room earlier today and turned down something considerably less than what you're asking for." I reached for my bag. "So I think you already know my answer."

"Miss Connie-"

"I'm sorry, I really am, thank you for your time-" I stood, pushed the chair back, turned toward the door-

And then I heard it.

My body stopped before my brain could even catch up. Every single thing in me went completely still and I stood there with my back to the room and the sound coming from behind me and I knew.

Before I turned around, before I saw anything. I already knew exactly what was playing because I'd spent two years trying to forget about it and I'd never quite managed.

I turned around slowly and the screen on the wall was on.

The girl on it was me, moaning loudly as that bastard slammed his cock inside me. The same bastard that leaked the video to my high school and the hockey community at large.

That was two years ago in a different city and a completely different life that I had packed up and moved away from and now, I was looking at it on a screen in a boardroom.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I was just standing there with my hands trembling at my sides and Vress watching me watch the tape.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking, no matter what I tried. I pressed them flat against my thighs and gripped the fabric of my jeans.

He clicked the remote and the screen went dark.

The room was completely silent.

Vress looked at me, his hands settling back on the table.

"I think you'd want to reconsider."

I stared at the contract document that Vress slid across the table, my eyes still wide from the shock and my palms still trembling slightly.

I sat down back, and looked up at his emotionless face. "If I sign this." My voice came out less shaky than I was at the moment. "You delete the footage, you wipe it off completely without any backup copy."

He looked at me, a smirk crossing his face which made it obvious that he found what I said quite endearing.

"A dog owner always needs a leash," he said pleasantly, a smile tugging boldly at his lips. "Otherwise the dog runs wild."

He leaned forward, his gaze fixing on me. "I'm the one holding yours now, Miss Reid. You're not really in a position to be making deals."

Heat flooded my veins, bursts of red flooding through my sight. I wanted to grab him, slam his face into the desk or something but instead I looked back down at the paper.

Just sign it, sign it and get this shit over with.

My hand was shaking when I reached for the pen. I pressed it into the paper harder than necessary so the signature wouldn't come out wobbly.

I signed, put the pen down and stood up immediately.

I didn't spare him another glance, I looked at the door and walked steadily toward it, telling myself that everything is going to be fine.

"Miss Reid." He called out. I paused, my gaze still focused on the door I was about to walk out of to escape the bastard.

"There are some things," Vress said, his voice calm and infuriatingly levelled "that you just can't run away from."

I stood there for one second, I knew what he was talking about. The fucking bastard.

"Tsk."

I scoffed and walked out.

The corridor was empty. I used the wall as support as I walked as I really couldn't trust my shaky legs at the moment. I paused for a moment, took a deep breath and turned the corner.

A door opened from a room I'd never noticed before, without a name plate and Kyrian Maddox walked out of it.

We nearly collided. He stopped and I stopped too. We were close enough that I had to actually look up at him and he looked down at me too with that same unreadable expression from this morning, like he'd never seen anything less interesting in his life.

Of course, I thought. Of course it's you. Of course.

"Tsk."

I stepped around him and kept walking.

The rest of the walk back was kind of a blur, I remember the stairway light flickering. I remember my jaw aching so bad just because I forgot that I'd been clenching it the whole way.

A leash.

Who the fuck actually says that?

I shoved my door open with so much force that it would have broken it if it was wooden.

Hori looked up from her bed, laptop open with a snack in hand.

"Hey, what happ-"

I walked past her, dropped my face first onto my bed, and didn't move.

She didn't push it, and that was the thing I loved most about Hori. She was always very good at reading moods.

She went quiet and I lay there with my face in my pillow and my jaw still aching and the image of that screen still flashing right behind my eyes.

I am going to have to share a house with Kyrian Maddox.

I pressed my face further into the pillow.

I didn't sleep well. Hell, I didn't even sleep at all, actually. I just lay there in the dark thinking in circles until exhaustion won and pulled me under, and then in what seemed like two seconds later, my phone was ringing.

I grabbed it without opening my eyes, the exhaustion still wrapping around me.

"Hello."

"You've got to be shitting me."

Hori. I cracked one eye open. The room was bright, it was morning already.

"What," I said, my voice sounding as hoarse as it could possibly get.

"You're paired with Kyrian Maddox for some...

Playbook show." She paused like she was checking something. "What the hell is even a Playbook show."

I sat up, my two eyes flinging wide open. "How did you find out about that?"

"Connie, it's on the announcement board in the main hall." She paused again. "It's not just me, half the school has probably seen it by now."

I stared at the wall, my brain still trying to catch up.

"I'll call you back," I said, and hung up.

I sat there for a moment, tapping my feet in an attempt to force myself awake.

My phone buzzed. It was a notification from the school official website that had been useless for a while now, until now apparently.

I picked up my phone, my expression neutral as I stared at the notification. I wasn't really surprised anymore.

PLAYBOOK-CRESTFIELD'S NEWEST REALITY DATING EXPERIENCE. FULL CAST AND ROOM ALLOCATIONS NOW LIVE.

COUNTDOWN: 14 DAYS TO D‐DAY

CLICK TO VIEW.

I clicked on it and the page loaded immediately, displaying the show's logo, the banner and little profile pictures of the cast members arranged in a grid. I scrolled past all of it to the room allocations because that was the part that actually mattered the most.

Room 2-Connie Reid.

I scanned through for my other roommates, trying to guess who-among the girls I saw on the profile picture page-it would be.

Room 2-Kyrian Maddox.

My stomach dropped as I read it again to confirm if I read it wrong the first time.

I didn't. I scanned through the other rooms and noticed the same pattern, a boy and a girl, the rooms were mixed.

I sat completely still for a moment with my phone in my hand and the realization that I was going to be sleeping in the same room as a guy with a sexual assault record.

Two weeks passed in a blur and finally- not like I was anticipating it or anything, If anything I dread that shit-it was move in day

I packed a small bag, basically just the essentials, just what I needed. I was not going to be one of those people who showed up to a reality show with four suitcases and a ring light.

I located the building easily enough, since it had a huge banner with THE PLAYBOOK SHOW boldly written on it like it would have been hard to find if the fonts were any smaller.

The number of people present were considerably less than the people expected which meant that I was part of the early comers.

I located my room number and knocked to confirm if kyrian was inside..

There was no response, so I pushed it open.

The room was empty, no bags, no evidence that anyone else had been here, just a clean, quiet room with two beds on opposite sides and a single window.

I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I'd been holding

He wasn't here yet. Good, that meant I had time to settle in and demarcate my side of the room.

The bathroom.

I dropped my bag on the bed closest to the window-obviously non-negotiable, the window bed was always mine-and crossed the room.

The bathroom was the most important part of any new apartment. My mum always said that you could tell everything you needed to know about a space from its bathroom.

I grabbed the handle and flung the door open.

My eyes widened as I stared at Kyrian Maddox half naked, hair damp, water still on his body, his butt hanging out facing me.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."