Chapter 9
“Mathis, get your ass out here,” Reece bellowed from the hallway.
I jerked all the way awake and instinctively checked for Henry in the dark room. She was asleep on a pile of clean clothes next to my closet, so I flopped back onto the mattress. My body ached from conditioning earlier, but I hadn’t meant to fall asleep.
Avery was supposed to text me when she was free tonight for our first tutoring session, and I’d passed out with my phone in my hand.
I hadn’t intended to trade sexual favors for tutoring, but I couldn’t say I was sad about the deal. Terrified? Yes. Coach would de-ball me if he found out, especially after he’d asked me to befriend his poor, prickly daughter, but the fear of losing my chance to play hockey professionally was considerably worse.
Meaningless sex had never really appealed to me, though I’d done my fair share of experimenting when I’d gotten into TU. The puck bunnies here were aggressive and bendy. I still preferred making a connection with the women I fucked, and I didn’t usually partake during the season. Too much going on with practice and classes and chasing Reece’s conquests out of the living room.
Avery may think she wanted no strings attached orgasms, but she’d offered the deal to me, not Reece. Somewhere deep down, she wanted a connection too. I’d never risk my future on a one-night stand—Avery was different. I’d been attracted to her from the beginning, but for every tidbit of information she gave me about herself, I wanted twenty more. The last few days we’d fallen into the habit of texting each other at the oddest times. She had a razor-sharp sense of humor, and I was developing a disturbing habit of grinning like an idiot every time my phone buzzed.
Even if I never saw her naked, I wanted to keep her.
Reece pounded on my door. “I’m coming in there. Cover your junk if you give a shit.”
I was still dressed from my shower after gym time this morning, but my sweats didn’t hide the perpetual chub I sported thanks to Avery crossing my mind every ten seconds. Reece would have to deal. He threw the door open as I propped myself up and glared at him.
“Shh. Henry’s sleeping. What do you want?”
Reece sent an apologetic glance at the quietly snoring duck and lowered his voice. “Come out tonight. We’re going to Johnny’s to mess with Eva’s football crew.”
“I can’t. Avery’s coming over.”
He reared back. “You’re seriously doing the tutoring thing? After last time, I thought you’d change your major before you’d try tackling a lit class again. Unless she’s coming over for another reason…”
I should have anticipated Reece jumping directly to sex even though I’d explained multiple times Avery was only helping me. He knew how messed up I’d gotten trying to keep up in that class the second time with my busy hockey schedule. The first time had been my freshman year when I’d still thought I’d be fine handling classes on my own.
The memory of my arrogance was enough to haul me out of bed. “She’s coming over because I’ll probably fail the class without her. If you want me skating next to you in the fall, I need to not fuck this up.”
He chuckled. “Definitely don’t get your dick involved then.”
Too late.
I shuffled past him to the bathroom in the hallway intending to wash my face. “You remember Coach’s threat, right? No one should be getting their dicks involved.”
Reece followed me, and when I glanced back, he raised a brow. “I was there when she walked through the weight room during conditioning today. I guarantee every player in there was dreaming of getting their dicks involved.”
I’d nearly dropped a weight on my foot when I saw her saunter through the double doors in tight jeans and a cropped sweater. All around me movement had stilled until Coach glared at the room. He hadn’t said anything, but word had gotten around about Coach’s hot daughter thanks to Reece. Probably not the message Coach had wanted him to spread.
She’d spoken quietly to him, then turned and left without acknowledging any of the guys staring at her. Not even me. After she’d left, Coach had told us in no uncertain terms she wasn’t to be fucked with. Sellers had whistled and shaken his head in disappointment, which earned us all an extra twenty minutes.
If I passed out while trying to read tonight, I blamed Sellers.
Reece cocked his head. “You think Coach’s daughter is the puck bunny type or the kind who avoids hockey at all costs?”
I finished washing my face and yanked the faucet harder than necessary to turn off the water. He wasn’t asking for himself—if he’d been interested, he would have made a move this afternoon—but I had to fight the urge to bang my chest and stake a claim. Instead, I brushed past him, burying the urge deep enough even Reece couldn’t find it.
“Why are you asking me?”
He gave me a pointed look as if it were obvious. “You’re the good guy, Cole. You make friends with everyone. It’s only a matter of time before she’s your new bestie. Find out for me, okay?”
Absolutely fucking not. No good could come from Reece wondering about Avery’s type. “Not happening. I’m not contributing to your delinquency.”
He pouted. “Since when? I thought I was your favorite roommate.”
“Since now.” I snatched up my phone, relieved to see a text from Avery saying she’d be at my house in an hour. Followed by a text reminding me to be wearing pants when she arrived.
A smile flitted across my face, and I grunted out a quick laugh. Reece gasped from the doorway where he’d stopped.
“No wonder you’re cranky. Did she turn you down or is your inner boy scout losing his shit at wanting someone he can’t have?”
I scowled at him. “Not everything is about sex.”
Reece chortled. “Oh, but this is. Does Coach know?” He shook his head. “No, of course not. He has no idea you’re panting after his baby girl.”
Henry popped her head up at the nickname we all used for her, then tucked it back down when no food materialized. I flipped on the overhead light and started cleaning the usual mess in my room, working around her improvised nest.
“I’m not panting after her.”
Reece propped his shoulder against my doorframe. “So you don’t want to fuck her?”
I groaned and threw my hands up. “Yes. Okay? I want to fuck her. But I’m not going to. I’m going to spend a couple of hours fighting with the damn English lit book while she probably laughs at me, then I’m going to walk her to her car. No fucking.” Not tonight anyway, I silently added.
He didn’t need to know about the second half of our agreement, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know he was right. Reece had a habit of acting first and thinking later—a skill which helped him tremendously on the ice when instincts were the fastest way to a goal—but his track record with women spoke for itself.
His expression softened. “Do you want me to stay? I can be your buffer.”
The offer shouldn’t have surprised me. Reece was confident and brash, but he always put his friends first. If he stayed, he’d flirt mercilessly with Avery, who’d probably rebuff him and spend the evening sharpening her claws on his face. He’d do it with a smile—probably with genuine enjoyment.
I’d hate every second. I wanted Avery to myself, even if she was only going to torture me with boundaries neither of us wanted. “No, go enjoy your party. I can handle my own urges.”
Reece laughed. “You could always wait and start the tutoring once you know her better. She’s probably keeping a horrible secret that’ll fix your boner right up.”
If only he knew. “We have four assignments to read over the semester, I can’t afford to wait.”
He clapped my shoulder. “You know I’d help, but I barely passed my English classes. I’d probably make things worse.”
I knew, and I appreciated his willingness to step up despite his hatred of studying. “Thanks, Reece. You can be my favorite roommate again, other than Henry, naturally.”
“Don’t get all emotional on me,” he warned. “I don’t have time to change my shirt if you start crying.”
I flipped him off, and he bounded down the stairs, laughing. One day, he’d meet someone who’d make him stop in his tracks, but until then, he’d work his way through the female population of TU. I didn’t judge him for his habits—Reece was Reece, unapologetically—but I wasn’t built the same way.
Or at least, I hadn’t been until Avery had offered her deal. Was it really the same thing? Reece never went back for seconds, and I wasn’t interested in one-night stands. I had high hopes the deal with Avery would include many, many nights. The friends with benefits situation hadn’t appealed to me before, but I had to admit I’d never been this motivated to do well in one of my classes.
I spent the next hour tidying the house. Gavin paid for a service to come clean regularly now that Eva wasn’t doing it anymore, but the mess built up. Since I had no intention of keeping my hands to myself, I didn’t want to give Avery a reason to change her mind and ask to meet at the library, or worse, Coach’s house. They lived surprisingly close, right next to Market Coffee as I’d thought, and Avery refused to talk about why she’d suddenly moved in with him.
From the little bit I’d gleaned through her messages and her volatile reaction the night we’d made our agreement, she didn’t have a great relationship with her dad. I wasn’t too excited by the idea of invading Coach’s space, but I’d be there if Avery preferred not to deal with the aftermath of four hockey slobs.
Turned out, she’d take the hockey slobs over spending time at home. I wanted to know why. Hell, I wanted to know everything, but I’d start with the obvious. What had happened at her previous college to send her here?
Henry hopped down the stairs right as a knock sounded at the front door as if she’d known we were about to have company. I hadn’t seen Mase since conditioning, but his absence was nothing new. If he had his way, he’d sleep all day and play games all night. We were pretty sure he was a vampire in a former life.
I wiped my hands on my sweats, suddenly nervous, as I opened the door to my first tutoring session in years. Avery wore the same thing as earlier, jeans and a cropped sweater, but she’d pulled her dark hair back into a loose braid. Her lips quirked in an amused twist, and I had to fight the urge to lean in for a taste.
The temptation hit me so strongly I reached up to grip the doorframe above my head to keep from finishing what I’d started in the shadowy parking lot. Her eyes darkened to jade and slid to my biceps as I tightened my grip. I ordered myself to move, let her inside, stop being weird, but I didn’t trust my reactions.
There were numerous reasons I shouldn’t kiss her on my doorstep. She’d come over to help me study, I might scare her off, consent was a thing. All good and valuable excuses. But it was the twitch of the curtain across the street that finally helped me cool the heat between us—this time, we’d definitely have an audience.