Chapter One
SOPHIE
Gliding across the ice, my heart pounds in my ears as I approach the goal. Two seconds left, I take my shot, and the blare of the buzzer rings in my ears as the puck hits the back of the net. My teammates rush together in celebration of our close-call victory, but I’m already skating off the ice, ripping my helmet off as I approach Abbie, who is waiting for me outside the rink.
“Girl, that is some serious helmet hair.” Abbie’s freckled nose wrinkles at me as I run past her, her shoulder-length brown hair swaying as I shove my helmet into her arms. Without slowing down, I turn slightly, giving her a good view of my middle finger. She laughs and follows me as I rush to the locker room that’s situated between the two ice rinks of the rec center.
It’s just my luck that mine and Carter’s championship games would be scheduled at almost the same time. I guess this is what I get for continuing to want to play on the all-female team at our town’s rec center instead of the high school team. I’ll only catch the last 10 minutes of the game if I’m lucky. I pull my skates and pads off, throwing on my shoes from my locker. I turn just in time to see Abbie hoist my bag on top of my locker, ready for me to grab later.
I’m lucky to have a friend like her, someone who does whatever it takes to help me not tragically miss the most important game of my boyfriend's life, even if that means managing my heavy-ass duffel bag.
Ripping the hair tie out of my ponytail, I quickly run my fingers through my auburn hair, braiding it back.
Luckily, the locker rooms are right in the middle of the two ice rinks, so all we have to do is go through the door on the opposite side of the locker room to get to Carter’s game.
The sound of the loud crowd greets me as I push the doors open, Abbie and I making our way to the front of the stands. I quickly scan the ice, trying to find Carter. Our schools’ team, the Wolverines, are playing their long-standing rivals, the Sharks. The game is in a time-out, and I spot Carter in the huddle by the number on his jersey - 10, which gives me time to find our seats without missing any gameplay. The scoreboard shows a tie, 3-3, with five minutes left in the game.
Gwen said she would save us seats, so I focus on finding the head of wild blonde curls that act as a beacon. A couple of juniors on the JV hockey team wave to me as we move along the aisle, and I absentmindedly wave back, looking for Gwen. Her mane sticks out in the crowd, and we make a beeline towards her and the two empty spots she was saving for us.
“Gwen!” Despite the chatter of the crowd, she hears me, and her gaze flies to us as we sidle past some sophomores to get to her. “You’re a lifesaver, Gwen. Thanks for the seats.”
Spotting Carter’s parents a couple of rows up, I wave at them. Mrs. Williams smiles warmly while Mr. Williams is so focused on the game, he doesn’t even notice me.
As we settle, Gwen smiles widely at us, but a scowl quickly crosses her adorable face as she looks at something behind me, making her look like an angry kitten. Pulling me close, she attempts to shout-whisper into my ear, “Careful of those bitches,” as her hazel eyes dart towards the sophomores further down the bench. “I heard them talking about how sexy Carter is and how they could ‘fulfill his needs’ better than you can.”
A laugh bursts out of me, causing Gwen to furrow her brows and Abbie to roll her eyes. This isn’t the first time some lower classmen have made ridiculous comments about my boyfriend, and it certainly won’t be the last.
“Thanks for looking out for me, Gwennie.” I press a quick kiss to her cheek. “But, Carter’s been mine for the last three years,” I make my voice loud enough for the sophomores next to us to hear. “It’ll take more than some second rank skanks to drag him away from me.”
Their sounds of indignation are like music to my ears and both Abbie and Gwen giggle as the aforementioned skanks scoot further down the bench from us, crossing their arms in anger.
Good. They should know that Carter wouldn’t give them the time of day.
In Ivy Glen, a small town where ice hockey reigns supreme, Carter is the town's golden boy. It’s only natural that everyone else wants a piece of him, no matter how many times he’s made it abundantly clear that I’m the only girl for him.
Popular, charismatic, and gorgeous, he’s friends with everyone. Even, unfortunately, girls who think they can swipe him out from under me. My heart warms at the fact that I know he only has eyes for me.
We’ve been inseparable since first grade. He claims he fell in love with the moment he saw me. But every time I bring up that it took him until the end of our freshman year of highschool to ask me out, he says that his “immature boy brain” didn’t realize his feelings until then.
In my opinion, when we both started playing ice hockey in middle school at the Ivy Glen Rec Center, it bridged the gap that had been caused by emerging hormones and awkward phases. Allowing us to grow closer when other boys and girls would have grown apart.
The sound of a whistle blowing as the referee calls the end of the timeout has me snapping my attention back to the ice, waiting with bated breath as I see Carter getting ready to hop back into the rink. The assistant coach, who also happens to be my brother, Tom, must have spotted me because he claps him on the shoulder and says something close to his ear. Carter’s gaze immediately finds me, his black hair peeking out from under his helmet, and an unrestrained grin breaks out on his face when he sees me, and mouths, “You win?”
Biting my lip, I nod my head once, and he winks at me before launching himself into the rink, causing my stomach to flip. Turning his attention to the game, he lines up for the face-off.
The Wolverines get possession of the puck and everyone’s moving towards the goal. He glides along the ice like a fucking predator, beautiful and deadly. What does it say about me that my thighs clench together when he checks the other team's defenseman into the boards?
The whistle blows again, causing the surrounding crowd to groan in frustration. The ref is calling offsides, and at the faceoff, the other team gets possession of the puck.
Two minutes left. Shit.
The Shark’s left winger has the puck and is gunning it for our net. A Wolverines defenseman rushes him, forcing the winger to pass the puck to their center forward. The crowd explodes as Carter swoops in, intercepting the pass.
We’re all on our feet screaming as Carter rushes for the goal.
One minute.
Crying out with the rest of the crowd as Carter weaves in and out of the other team's players, sending the puck to one of his teammates, Jake. An almost imperceptible nod passes between the two of them as Carter skates to the right side of the goal while Jake approaches the goal from the left with the puck.
Jake fakes the shot, causing the goalie to shuffle, but instead, passes it to Carter. Before the goalie can correct his mistake, Carter takes his shot, and the puck hits the back of the net.
The buzzer beeps just as the scoreboard changes, leaving the score, 4-3, Ivy Glen Wolverines winning the championship. The cheers are almost deafening, but it’s nothing compared to the way my heart pounds in my ears at the sight of Carter ripping his helmet off, his black hair flopping into his piercing blue eyes as his teammates rush the ice, crowding him and lifting their hockey sticks in celebration.
His eyes light up, laughing at his team's antics before Carter’s gaze finds mine, and the weight of his stare has me licking my lips. His eyes dart down to my mouth, and fire pools low in my belly.
Fuck it. Tonight’s the night.
I had planned on waiting to lose my virginity until after graduation. There was this idea in my head that I would somehow be more responsible if I waited until I was out of highschool, but this can’t wait any longer. Tonight, I’ll make Carter mine in every conceivable way.
Carter keeps my gaze as he shoves his way through his teammates, skating off the ice to the player bench area. They bristle at being pushed away at first, but get huge grins when they see that he’s looking at me. Standing, I rush down the aisle towards the rink. We meet in the middle, him exiting the players' bench area and staring at me like he wants to devour me. I throw my arms around his neck as he captures my lips in a searing kiss. Whistles and whooping break out behind us as his arms snakes around my back, his tongue finding its way into my mouth. He’s lifting me with one arm as he kisses me, and I don’t care that we have an audience. A little moan escapes me as he crushes me to his chest.
I’d let him take me right here and now if it weren’t for the crowd. A throat clearing behind him has us breaking apart, breathing heavily, and I sheepishly meet the eyes of my brother, who is standing in the box with half the team. If it wasn’t for the fact we both inherited Mom’s auburn hair, no one would ever know we were siblings. While the color might be the same, his hair is short and curly, while mine is long and wavy. To top it off, Tom got Mom’s blue eyes, while I got Dad’s honey brown. Everyone says that besides the eye color, I look just like Mom did when she was my age.
“Putting on a show?” He raises his eyebrow at me, but I don’t miss the way the corner of his mouth tilts up. Even though Tom is the assistant coach, he was Carter’s friend first.
“Fuck off, Tom.” Carter winks at him before separating from me, leaving me to try to uselessly smooth out my Ivy Glen Thorns burgundy jersey.
Tom only rolls his eyes. “Big man now, huh?”
Carter laughs, playfully pushing him in the shoulder. They’ve been buddies since Carter made the hockey team freshman year, when Tom was a senior.
“Meet you after we get cleaned up?” I ask, and Carter nods.
“See you soon, Angel.” My stomach flips in anticipation. Angel. The nickname he came up with after he saw me for the first time. We were in first grade. Mom always made a big deal about looking nice for the first day of school, so she sent me in a white dress, which was ruined by the end of the day. Carter, however, claims that when he saw me that day, he was convinced that I was an angel sent down to help him on his first day. Somehow, I didn’t look nervous at all, while he wanted to go home until the moment he saw me.
Making my way back to Abbie and Gwen, they give me knowing looks as I approach. Now that the players have left the ice, most of the crowd is dispersing, leaving us in our aisle by ourselves.
“Shit, Soph, that was hot.” Gwen practically swoons.
“Does this mean that you’re finally ready to forget that whole ‘waiting until graduation’ bullshit? You looked about ready to get naked right then and there.” Abbie elbows me.
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Yeah. I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t even know why I came up with that rule to begin with.”
The girls insist on accompanying me back to the locker room, all in the name of making sure I’m “ready.”
As we walk, Abbie and Gwen are caught up in conversation when an unfamiliar voice captures my attention.
“... Carter Williams. Really promising.” There’s a man walking ahead of us, clad in a suit and talking on the phone. He’s got a leather briefcase slung over his shoulder, and a quick peek shows me the insignia for Notre Dame on the front.
Is that…a scout?
I try to focus on his conversation without looking like I’m eavesdropping, which I totally am. “Kid’s got some serious talent. With the right coaching, he’ll be unstoppable.” A pause has my heart racing in my ears. “Yeah, I’ll be reaching out to confirm.” With that, the man hangs up and leaves the rec center.
Carter has scouts from Notre Dame looking at him? That's…huge. Amazing. We’ve applied to a few different colleges together, but we never talked about Notre Dame. I’ve gotten the majority of my admissions results back, but haven’t opened them because we wanted to find out together, but weirdly enough, he hasn’t gotten back any admissions letters.
He’s convinced it's because even though his grades are good, he’s not a straight-A student. But, as I told him, no news is good news. I’ll have to tell him what I overheard later. He’ll be stoked.
I had been so focused on what the scout had said, I didn't even realize we'd made it back to the locker room until Abbie starts waving in my face, “Hello! Earth to Soph! We have to make sure you’re presentable!”
Before I know it, I’m in the shower washing my hair while Abbie and Gwen start throwing advice my way.
“If you’re sucking his dick, hollow out your cheeks!” Abbie shouts over the spray of water.
“How the fuck do you know I haven’t sucked his dick already?” I shoot back, scrubbing my scalp.
“Because every time you go further than kissing, you call me with a damned play-by-play.”
Fair point.
“Like remember that one time you jerked him off through his sweatpants and you asked me if it was normal if —”
“Okay, okay! I get it!” I shout over her, and Gwen laughs in the background.
“Make sure he at least goes down on you before you actually fuck.” Gwen shouts, and I’m glad that the rest of my team showered and dressed while I was catching the rest of Carter's game. “It’ll burn if you’re not wet enough.”
“Got it.” Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I rinse my body and shut off the water before wrapping a towel around myself. Despite my attitude, I’m thankful to have Gwen and Abbie here to give me some pointers.
My plan is simple. Mom and Dad are out of town on a long-planned anniversary trip, and I have the house all to myself. They don’t get back until tomorrow night, so after the party we’re about to go to, I’ll bring him back to my place and we can fuck our brains out until it’s second nature and I don’t need any tips from Abby or Gwen anymore.
Dressing quickly in a tank top, my favorite off the shoulder sweater, and some jeans, I’m perfectly outfitted for an April night in Massachusetts. I unwrap one of the blow dryers that the rec center provides and get to work on my hair while Abbie does my makeup. I usually stick to just some mascara and lip gloss, but Abbie has a magic touch, and whatever she does with my eyeshadow makes my honey-brown eyes pop.
We’re out in record time, and I come face to face with Carter the moment I step out of the locker room. He’s talking with Jake, the teammate who helped him with that game-winning play. Jake’s brown hair is still wet from the shower, and he runs a hand through it, pushing it back. “Hey Soph!” He greets me warmly.
“We’ll meet you outside,” Gwen says knowingly, waggling her eyebrows at me. They both greet Carter as they walk past, and he murmurs his greetings, but his eyes stay on me. Jake follows the girls out, leaving Carter and me alone. He’s as yummy as ever in faded jeans, and a gray t-shirt that’s tight enough to show off the muscles that he’s spent the last four years honing into perfection.
Biting my lip as he pulls me to him, one of his hands grabs my ass as I lift myself on my toes to kiss him again. Pulling back, his darkened eyes meet mine as a heaviness charges the air. I’m sure he can sense that there’s something different about me tonight.
Wordlessly, he throws his arm around my shoulder as we head out to the parking lot.
We approach Jake, Tom, Abby, and Gwen, who have taken up residence outside of Carter’s Mustang.
“What do we say? Burgers at Sal’s and then off to the lake for the celebration?” Gwen looks around to everyone, seeking nods of confirmation.
“I can’t believe we have two game-winning shot takers in our midst tonight.” Abbie grins at me.
A squeal of surprise leaves me as Carter whisks me into the air. “What? You won the game?”
Laughing, I grasp his shoulders, “I told you I did, you caveman! Put me down!”
He holds me to his chest as he looks into my eyes. “You never told me you won the whole-ass game!” He gently lowers me back to the ground, releasing me. “You’re amazing, Soph.” My chest tightens at the awe in his voice.
Tom’s voice calls across the lot, “You made a game-winning shot?” His eyes shine with affection as he reaches me, sweeping me into a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Sophie!”
“Thanks Tom.” I hug him back, wishing Mom and Dad could have been here before I break away, taking a step back. “Are you coming out for celebrations?”
“Both teams I was rooting for today won their championships,” He grins at me and grasps Carter and Jake by the shoulders, “I wouldn’t miss it.”
With that, everyone disperses to their cars and I slide into the passenger seat of Carter’s Mustang, the supple leather smooth to touch.
My heart races as his hand covers mine, and if I had any doubts about having sex tonight, they would have all disappeared at the gentleness of his touch. He’s been ready for a while, but has never been pushy. He’s the only one for me, and tonight, I’ll show him.