Chapter 1
1
Josie
I’m sick. Today’s the first day I felt well enough to shower. It’s the first day I haven’t felt like death warmed over. Well, frozen over as it’s late January, it snowed all day, and this house is freezing all the time. That’s the price of living with three other people who seem to have some sort of constantly on, internal heat generators.
In the two years I’ve lived in this house with my best friend, her brother, and his best friend, I’ve been cold. Even in summer. My best friend, Laura, is always hot, in both a figurative and literal sense. She is my opposite. Tall and thin no matter how much she eats. Her long black hair is always shiny and straight. Her hazel eyes never have bags under them.
I’m not tall and have a love-hate relationship with my treadmill. My hair is a wavy dark blonde that never stays contained in a pony tail while I’m logging miles on a treadmill after the chips I couldn’t resist. Or the pretzels. Or the popcorn. Salty snacks are my true loves.
My other roommates, Laura’s twin Lucas and his best friend Parker, are hot all the time too, figuratively and literally. Although the thought of kissing either of them is repulsive. I’ve known them since Laura and I became insta-BFFs in 3rd grade. They are like brothers to me. Protective, messy, often annoying big brothers with bottomless pits for stomachs.
Lucas and Parker are here at Desert University on baseball scholarships. The guys live and breathe baseball. I don’t mind. I love baseball but not as much as I love hockey. It’s probably not because of those hot hockey players.
It absolutely is .
Laura chose DU too. There was no question I would join them. Thankfully, I got a scholastic scholarship that covers my tuition. I also work full time from home for a credit union conglomerate answering customer service calls. I started working for them in high school when my parents told me I was old enough to get a job and promptly stopped paying for my food.
This semester, all my classes are virtual. It’s been a blessing while I’ve been sick. It was the only way I was able to squeeze in finishing my degree after my manager changed my hours to day shift. Even with the heavily discounted rent I insisted on paying Laura’s dad, I need the full time work to save for grad school so I won’t drown in student loan debt later.
Unlike me, Laura and Lucas come from a wealthy family. Their dad purchased this house when we started at DU. While DU doesn’t have the major I wanted, I couldn’t disappoint Laura by going to a different school than her. Plus, she is really happy here, so I’m happy here too.
She’s the bestest friend, even if I’m sometimes envious of her family’s financial status and her dad’s devotion to his twins. My parents were never around, deciding to spend more time partying away the little money they had instead of being anything close to decent parents. I have an older brother my parents gave up for adoption as a baby, but I’ve never met him.
Laura is at work. Lucas and Parker are probably at a Kappa something Zappa party. We try to watch hockey together when it doesn’t interfere with the guys’ baseball schedule since Lucas and Parker are also fans. Tonight’s game night was canceled because I’ve been sick. The boys cannot get sick during baseball season since it’s probably their final year. They enter the draft this summer.
I lost my voice a couple days ago, so I can’t work. Thankfully, I’ve banked plenty of sick time and the house is all mine tonight. My favorite hockey team is about to play and their teal hoodie I’m wearing clashes perfectly with my favorite pink leggings. No one’s going to see me tonight anyway as I stretch out my tired body on the living room couch. My night plans are watching hockey with a bucket of popcorn. A perfect Monday night.
Losing my voice means yelling at the refs for not calling that trip is impossible. It’s middle of the first period when the front door bangs open. The popcorn nearly falls off my lap. Disaster averted by my surprisingly quick reflexes after spending days in bed.
Laura’s giggles echo through the hallway. Only, as she turns the corner from the foyer into the living room, I see she’s not alone. Holy cheeseballs . Walking behind her is a tall, muscular guy with dark brown hair and an adorable dimpled smile he directs my way. Tall guys with dimples. I’d fan myself if I wasn’t so cold.
“Holy shit! You’re out of bed. Have you decided to finally rejoin society?” Laura laughs. I give her a thumbs up and a half smile.
“Oh right. Still no voice huh?” Laura states dryly. She narrows her eyes at me. Crap. Did she expect to be alone when she brought her new flavor-of-the-week home? Laura goes through guys like I go through lip balm. They’re never my type. This one looks like he could be my type if he’s also intelligent and likes hockey. Tall with dimples be damned if they are ignorant.
The hot guy clears his throat.
“Sorry Sam. This is my roommate Josie. Josie, this is Sam.” He holds out his hand as if he wants me to shake it. “She’s been sick. You might not want to get too close.” I roll my eyes at her.
“Hey. Nice to meet you.” Sam waves awkwardly since his hand was still outstretched. It’s adorable. Wait, he’s now staring at my chest. I look up at Laura, then back at Sam. He’s still starting at my chest. It’s bordering on creep now. Dimples cannot make up for prolonged boob-staring.
I wave back at him, my hand purposely in front of my chest. That seems to knock him out of his boob-trance. I glare at him, which I hope conveys he needs to keep his eyes up higher. But for all I know, I may have come across as a bitch. Dammit I miss my voice.
“You have laryngitis?” Sam asks, and I nod. He smiles again. Hello Mr. Dimples. He’s looking at my eyes now. Good boy. Those hazel eyes boring into mine send butterflies whipping through my stomach. A few moments of uncomfortable silence between us lingers before I return my eyes to the TV. Laura huffs.
“Well, I’m going to go wash the stink of work off and be right back.” She winks at Sam and heads down the hallway. Sam glances at the TV then plops down on the couch right next to me instead of all the other seating options in the room. My body heats at his closeness. I grip the collar of my hoodie and fan myself. Am I running a fever now?
He is even better up close. His earthy masculine smell is intoxicating. I want to lick him. He’s so pretty. Wait, I can smell again. I try my voice. Nothing. Crap.
Also. Lick him? No. My roommate brought this guy home. Hardly appropriate for me to lick him. Or, do anything with him. No matter how much my entire body is blazing with him this close to me. I must be in some kind of fever-trance if I want to lick someone. Or have someone lick me. Yes, I want him to lick me. Over and over. Why can’t I stop focusing on licking?
“You a fan? Or is that a boyfriend’s?” Sam points to my hoodie.
It dawns on me he may not have been staring at my boobs but at the logo on my hoodie. It’s the logo of the Ice Cats, or Cats for short. They aren’t the local professional team. Hockey isn’t even a sport most people around here follow. I have yet to meet another Cats fan since I’ve been at DU. I shrug my shoulders since I can’t otherwise answer his questions and return to watching the game.
“Oh sweet. Only missed part of the first period.” Is he a hockey fan, or just being friendly? He better not be trying to flirt with me. Laura would be pissed. I never know when guys are flirting with me. I wish he was flirting with me but can’t go with there. Laura got to him first. If he’s interested in her, I’m definitely not his type.
“Is Janky back in goal or is he still injured?”
Okay. Only a fan would call our star goalie, Jankovich Taylor, Janky. Poor kid. Parents gave him a last name for a first name while having a first name for a last name. There’s a joke in there somewhere.
Again, I can’t answer his question, so I raise my eyebrow at him and give him a look I hope says I have no voice, remember and not are you an idiot?
“Right. No voice.” Bingo. Give the guy a prize. Maybe he isn’t one of the dumb ones. Laura does have a knack for picking the dullest crayon in the cookie jar. Sam exhales slowly.
“How about I just ask yes or no questions, and you give me a thumbs up for yes or thumbs down for no?” I give him a thumbs up and smile. Problem-solver. My kind of man. Only, not my kind of man. He’s Laura’s. I could never do that to her.
He grins back. Damn, it’s a good grin. A sexy grin. Made with lips I want to touch mine. I close my eyes. Laura’s. DO NOT TOUCH. Or kiss. Crapola, stop thinking about kissing him. Think of anything else, Josie.
Do not think about his hands. His large hands resting on his thighs. His large thighs that are near his… nope. Not going there either. Fuckwatts. Did Laura turn on the furnace finally? My cheeks are burning.
“You an Ice Cats fan?” Thumbs up.
“So, do you, uh, have a boyfriend?” Odd question, but I give him a thumbs down. The edges of his lips tilt up like he’s trying to suppress a grin. Why do I find that adorable? Nope. Off. Limits.
“So no boyfriend. Good to know. Mind if I watch the game with you?” My brain is screaming abort, abort , but my lady bits are singing hallelujah. Why are my nipples getting hard when it’s hot in this house now?
What is going on with my brain?
Sam looks at me expectantly and tilts his head. Shit. He asked me a question. I got distracted think of other things, hard man things. I give him a thumbs up.
“Is that a thumbs up you do mind or a thumbs up you don’t mind?” I shrug my shoulders. The Cats draw a tripping penalty. I throw my hands up and silently yell at the TV.
“What the fuck? He took a dive. That’s not tripping.” Sam growls at the screen. Damn, that’s sexy. He took the words right out of my mouth. And now I’m thinking about his mouth and the things it could do with it. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I get my brain out of the gutter?
Laura is my sister. My ride-or-die for life. If she’s interested in this guy, it means he’s so far off limits he might as well be in outer space. Even if he is gorgeous, a Cats fan, and smells like warmth and comfort. That I can actually smell. There is no way I could betray Laura.
It’s probably a moot point anyway. The kind of guys Laura attracts are never attracted to me. He’s probably being sociable since he’s stuck with the roommate while his hook-up takes a shower.