Frozen Heat

1. Jade

Trauma.It was weirdly fascinating that one event could change a person so wholly that who they used to be seemed like a complete stranger. Understandably, someone would want to shove that event so far down that it sometimes just seemed like a bad dream.

When I was in high school, I met someone who seemed so perfect and charming. I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world to have met him while I was still young. Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake, and I spent what should have been the most enjoyable years of my life getting the jerk put in jail. Once that was handled, my parents—my mother and stepfather—decided physical distance was also needed, so they sold their house and we disappeared overnight. Luckily, my stepbrother was older than me and already away at college, so we moved closer to him in Chicago and never looked back.

Noah and I were never exactly close. Our parents married when we were both in high school, meaning we already had our own friends and lives, so we only spent time together when they forced us to. He went to college about a year after they married, but his dad and my mom dragged me to a few of his hockey games, and it wasn’t long before I started going of my own free will. It was compelling to see him on the ice—the emotionless mask, sheer power, and talent of his plays. He was a completely different person. I was used to the smiling, cocky college guy, not a well-oiled emotionless machine. When I started attending the same college as him, we saw each other more often, but not in any real meaningful capacity.

First-year students weren’t required to live in the dorms, and thankfully, there were a lot of student housing options. But since my roommate had the attention span of a cocker spaniel, she managed to set our house on fire, causing it to flood when the sprinkler system kicked in, right before the second semester started, meaning there were no vacancies. I had no choice but to call my parents to bail me out. As I dialed their number, I prayed they had an idea that didn”t include coming back home.

”Oh no, Doodle-Bug,” my mother crooned over the phone after I’d told them the news. I rolled my eyes and scrunched my nose. I hated that fucking nickname, especially since I wasn”t a child anymore. ”Let me talk it over with your father, and I will call you back and let you know if I have any ideas for your situation.”

Long past trying to correct her about the fact that Pierce wasn’t my father, I thanked her. My mom refused to tell me who my real dad was, and her less-than-stellar life choices brought a couple of men into my life who wanted to play daddy, but Pierce had stuck around the longest so far. Just because they got married and were still together didn”t make him my father, but my mother was adamant about referring to him that way. After we hung up, I dropped my phone on the table I was sitting at in the student union building. Sighing, I texted my friend Cora back.

Jade

My mom is gonna talk to my stepdad. I don”t have high hopes.

Cora

If I didn”t have the roommate from hell, I would tell you to stay here.

Jade

Thanks, girl. I totally get it. Hey, at least you can be thankful she doesn”t set shit on fire.

Cora

If I thought I”d get away with it, I might resort to such drastic measures.

I laughed out loud and let her know not to get pyro happy and that I”d give her news when I had it, cutting our conversation short. Cora was one of the first friends I made when we moved to Chicago, since we bonded over our similar backstories. Her parents sucked, and she had an ex that fucked her up. I was so grateful we ended up at the same college.

Picking up the scone I had ordered from the coffee shop, I took a bite and sipped my coffee. I looked at another ad for a room to rent in an already full house, and I scoffed at some of the requirements. Because of my past, I didn”t trust easily. The person I was today had come a long way from who I had been when I was sixteen, but I didn”t want to live somewhere where I knew no one. That was just asking for awful shit to happen.

Jumping because my phone started vibrating and ringing in my hand, I shook my head at myself. I saw my mom”s number on the screen, and I slid the answer button before bringing it to my ear.

”Hey, Mom.”

”Oh, Jade. We have come up with a solution to your minor problem. Your brother has room for you to stay with him until they repair your house, or we find a better option.”

”Noah?” I asked, honestly surprised he had agreed to this so readily.

”Yes, that’s what I just said. Oliver, who you already know, and some other hockey player, lives there too, so you should be perfectly comfortable since they aren’t all strangers.”

She was right. Since Oliver was Noah”s best friend, he”d been around at home when Noah was. I had also seen him since I had started here. The other player I wasn”t sure about, but two out of three wasn”t bad. We talked a little more about logistics before she spouted off his address, even though I already knew where he lived. She also promised to send me some money later for necessities and a new laptop, since it was a casualty of the fire/flood.

Not long after our call, I found myself standing on Noah”s front porch, waiting for someone to answer the door. As it pulled open, Oliver met me with a smile.

”Jade, how”s it hanging?”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. ”Oh, it”s another day in paradise, Oliver. Ya know.”

He stepped aside so I could come in. He draped his arm around my shoulder.

”Jade, Jade. I told you, you can call me Oli.” He spoke as he led me to the kitchen.

Noah and some other guy turned to look at me as we walked in.

I had known Noah since I was fourteen years old, but I never got to know him. He was already seventeen by that time, so while I was still awkward and growing into my body, he was working on perfecting his. I took a moment to really look at him, cataloging his features. He had black wavy hair and blue-green eyes. Broad shoulders, defined chest, chiseled abs—all toned and fit for hockey—and his tall stature made him look lethal. He and his roommates played for the team here: the Lake Michigan Wolves.

Noah eyed the bag in my hand and the backpack on my shoulder. ”That”s all you brought?”

”That”s all I have. Everything else was singed or waterlogged.” I sneered. I swore, once my house was repaired, I planned on requesting a new roommate.

I was introduced to Callum, their other roommate. He barely said more than, “Hey,”to me as he walked out of the room to answer his phone pinging with messages.

Noah shook his head and sighed. ”I”ll show you where my room is. You”re gonna have to bunk with me until Cal moves out, which should be in a few weeks.” We walked as he explained Callum was moving in with his girlfriend.

I tried to keep my face neutral as I followed him. I was positive he hadn”t mentioned that to my mom or his dad because they wouldn”t have gone for it. Despite not being related, our parents still behaved as if we were genuine siblings. They called us brother and sister, leaving the step part out. It made them feel better to feel like a happy, cohesive family. The reality was that my mom had an extensive romantic past and Noah”s mom was sick for an extended time before passing away when he was twelve, leaving his dad a grieving widower.

Noah”s room was on the first floor in the back corner of the house, so it was away from the main living areas and kitchen. He opened the door and stepped aside for me to walk in. His room was tidy, just as I remembered it being back at our parents” home. This made me happy that he was neat because it complemented me. I had a habit of leaving my clothes on the floor during the day, but I picked them up before bed. I knew I”d have to get that under control because he had been anal about it back in the day.

”So, is there anywhere I can put my stuff, or should I just wait until this Cal guy moves? And where am I sleeping?” I asked him, feeling a little unsure about this course of action.

”I cleaned out two drawers for you and made some closet space. The sleeping thing: you can sleep in the bed with me. It”s a king. Or take the couch if you want, I guess.” He shrugged.

I mentally reminded myself the only other option was going home and commuting every day, and I didn”t want to go back there. I nodded. ”I”ll just unpack quickly.”

He moved as though he was going to leave the room, but I grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“Thanks, Noah. I know it can’t be fun having your younger stepsister hanging around, so thanks for being cool with me staying here for a bit,” I said, trying to smile. Regardless of how many times I had been around him, he always had an energy about him that made me feel intimidated.

He shrugged, slipping from my grip. “It’s no big deal, sis,” he teased, then left the room.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, shaking my head. Then, after picking up my bags, I deposited them on the bed. I began the quick process of unpacking. I got all my clothes in the dresser drawers. Grabbing my toiletries bag, I stepped into the en suite bathroom, thankful I didn’t have to share with all the guys. I put my stuff away in the drawers or on the shower shelf. Since it didn’t take very long, I was at a loss for what to do. I took my phone out of my pocket and saw a text from my mom confirming she had sent the money to my bank account, as promised.

Before I could do much more, Noah stepped back into the room.

“Since we’re sharing a room, I think there should be a no-sex-in-the-house rule. I’ll absolutely bill your mom for my therapy if I see you being railed by some guy.”

“So, are you and I the only ones who can’t have sex in the house?” It kind of offended me. Not that I planned on having sex anytime soon, but that it was being regulated by my stepbrother kind of pissed me off.

“Yeah, they all have their own rooms. I can’t exactly ban them from having sex with people. They try to be discreet anyway, so it should be fine.” He shrugged.

“Okay, but that’s still hardly fair,” I complained.

“Hate to tell you, but the world doesn’t give a shit about fairness. Can’t handle going without sex that long?” he teased.

“I don’t know. Can you? Out of the two of us, who is the ho?” I teased him right back.

He gave me a sardonic smile and shook his head. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

He left the room, and I made a face at the closed door. I walked out to the living room, finding all my new roommates and two other guys I had met earlier this year congregating there. Noah was frowning, watching me silently.

“You should smile more, Noah. Frowning will give you premature wrinkles.”

I turned around and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. After finding nothing appetizing in the fridge or freezer, I decided a shopping trip was in order. I could get clothes, groceries, and art supplies. Plus, I could buy my new laptop since my old one got destroyed. I needed one for my sports blog for the school website, classes, and notes since taking them by hand was out of the question. I went to Noah”s room, pulled my long, wavy, rainbow-streaked hair into a messy ponytail, and secured it with a tie. Then I grabbed my keys and headed back to the front room.

”I”m going to the store to get food and some essentials,” I announced as I walked through the living room to the front door.

”Hold on,” Noah said, getting up from the couch. He walked over to the table by the front door and grabbed something before turning around and holding a key out. “We might be gone when you get back, or in case I forget to give it to you later.”

I took the key from him, muttering, “Thanks,” as I attached it to my keychain. I wasn’t used to this calm and, for lack of a better word, nice Noah. The little I knew of him, he wasn’t like this. Maybe college and hockey calmed him down. Seeing he had nothing else to say, I slid past him and out the front door.

When I returned home from going to the store, I headed into the kitchen to drop off my groceries, then took the rest of my bags into Noah”s room to go through later. I thought I was home alone, but I could hear moving around upstairs. Oliver”s and Callum’s rooms were upstairs. Only Noah had a room down here.

So far, Oliver was cool. He always had been friendly and funny. I didn”t know how to get a read on the way Noah was acting. I sensed I wouldn”t have many interactions with Callum because when we met, we hardly spoke, and he was preoccupied with his girlfriend. All in all, I really hoped my stay here wasn’t too long. The guys were being nice now, but we were only on day one. My past experience taught me things changed, sometimes suddenly.

After unpacking all the items out of my bags and putting everything away, I was happy I had more wardrobe staples. Taking the laptop I just bought out of its case, I plugged it in to charge while I took a shower. Then I changed into my pajamas and turned on the computer to set it up. After spending way too much time on Windows and all the other programs that had to update, I got to where I could start setting it up how I preferred. Since it was already ten by then, I had the choice to either go to bed or go find out what was going on in the house. I could hear voices and noise coming from the living room. I threw on a hoodie because I wasn’t wearing a bra underneath my sleepshirt, and I didn’t need to show my stepbrother and his teammates my nipples.

I heard Oli’s voice before anyone else’s once I stepped into the living room. Four pairs of eyes swung to me. The two guys that came over earlier were still with them, making me feel self-conscious. There was an awkward beat of silence before Oli took pity on me and broke the tension.

“Jade, sup, girl?” he asked, leaning back in his seat, the picture of nonchalance.

“I’d normally say ‘same shit, different day,’ but this is far from my normal day,” I joked, deflecting the weirdness.

I sat in the chair closest to me. Noah looked at me with his eyebrows raised, winked, and then went back to the conversation he was having when I walked in. The others took his cue and went back to what they were doing. Oliver looked over at me and waggled his eyebrows. I giggled, fucking giggled. Jesus, kill me now. Luckily, he didn”t call me out on it and his grin fell easily on his face.

“Are you excited about classes tomorrow?”

I nodded and returned his smile. “Yeah. This semester I have some really cool art electives, and I got approved to post my sports blog coverage on the school website.”

“Yeah? You enjoy sports?” the guy with sandy-blond hair asked. He was huge, and I thought he was the goalie for the team, meaning he was Finn.

I pulled my knees up to my chest to get more comfortable. “It wasn”t a conscious decision, but then I went to a lot of games last semester with my friends, and I enjoyed it.” I shrugged.

“Oh? Did you go to any of our games?” the slender guy with curly brown hair sitting next to Noah asked. I thought it was Ryder, the team”s right defense player.

Though my previous meetings with Finn and Ryder had been brief, I knew who all the players on the team were by now after seeing so many games, and anytime I was around Noah, but putting faces to some names helped.

“Yeah, of course. Gotta support Noah and his teammates,” I said simply, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Noah chuckled and shook his head. “Never took you to be a puck bunny, sis.” He grinned, showing me he was teasing and not being mean or derisive.

Noah was a conundrum; this was the side of him I was used to seeing. The cocky, popular kid who was so fucking talented in hockey, and he knew it. But there was also the unfeeling machine he was on the ice, and the calm, nice guy he was earlier. It was good to know he wasn’t as emotionless as I used to think so long ago.

I tutted and tilted my head at him, looking him dead in the eye. “Of course I am, Noah. I’m sure you don’t notice it because you’re a guy, but hockey players are hot.” I smiled and winked at him, too. The room was stunned into silence, and I made a show of stretching and yawning, then rose from the chair. “Damn, look at the time. I really need to get to bed. Sleep well, boys.” I made a fake salute gesture and turned away, walking back to Noah”s room, smiling all the way.