Chapter 2
TWO
ALEX
Life as one of Heston University’s most talked about hockey players has its perks.
I accepted Coach Lombard’s personal recruitment invitation to play on his ice because he saw something in me that other top schools overlooked and it’s the best decision I ever made.
I saw Heston as the path that will get me where I want to be—playing in the NHL.
Since claiming the national title at Frozen Four last spring, my life has been great.
I won’t deny that I enjoy the fringe benefits.
Everyone wants to say they know me, to befriend me, to climb in my bed.
The icing on the cake is that my reputation and winning stats lay the groundwork for me, so it’s go time as soon as I see the girls that shoot me sultry gazes and inviting smiles.
I’m here to work hard, but I know when to let loose and enjoy myself. It’s all about work-life balance. I would have liked to enjoy myself with the cute blonde heading my way giving me the look on my way to practice.
The interest evaporated the second I overheard Mike and his teammates harassing a girl.
Through the small gap in their circle, I spotted Lainey Boucher bundled in her signature chunky knit sweater, eyes flashing behind her thick-framed glasses, and her mouth set in a trembling line I immediately despised.
No fucking way. The full body response iced me over from the inside out within seconds. No one else stepped in to stop them. No one was paying attention. Between one hard drum of my heart and the next, I pushed through the group to get to her with only one thought in mind: I’ll protect her.
There’s no chance I could’ve kept walking and ignored the situation.
Somehow I manage to keep my tone easygoing while my veins burn hot until Mike leaves believing she’s mine.
Once he’s gone, Lainey sags into my side with a sigh. The same protective urge I felt when I overheard those guys bothering her flares in my chest.
I didn’t think before acting on instinct. Pretending to be her boyfriend wasn’t the plan, it just came out naturally as the only way I could help my best friend’s twin sister.
She only relaxes for a moment before she pulls away, putting a few careful paces between us. “Thank you, I guess. You didn’t have to do that.”
When she walks off, I follow. “Where are you going?” I don’t get a response other than a jerky shrug. My brows pull together. “Class?”
Lainey won’t look at me. I think she’s pretending I don’t exist or something. Maybe trying to ignore what went down. She’s doing a shit job of it, almost peeking at me, then tearing her attention away and occupying herself with anything else. I cut off a rumble in my chest and step into her path.
“Do those guys give you trouble a lot?” The question comes out gruff. Something about catching her surrounded by Mike and his friends rankles me fiercely. “Tell me and I’ll put an end to it.”
Her shoulders tense, a flush creeping up her neck. She purses her lips and shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
It doesn’t—? My hands flex.
Working my jaw, my gaze sweeps over her while she toys with the cuffs of the sweater she’s swimming in.
She’s on the taller side with long legs, coming up to my chin, though she tends to bundle herself in these big sweaters.
She’s the perfect height for me to dip my head and kiss the top of her head.
That’s not something I’ve done before, yet I picture doing it to her.
Admittedly, I didn’t notice her much since I first met Theo. She keeps to herself. My head’s always been full of hockey and not much else.
But I noticed her today when she needed someone. I’m seeing her now, worrying her heart-shaped lips with her teeth. I wrap a hand around the strap of my gear bag to keep a tight leash on the urge to stop her and swipe my thumb over her lip to soothe it.
Now that I’m aware of her, I can’t make myself walk away. Not without knowing she’s got someone watching out for her.
Despite my life revolving around hockey and every one of my goals focused on making it to the NHL, some part of me won’t be satisfied unless it’s me protecting her.
“Yes it does.” At my insistent tone, she peers up at me with big brown eyes. “Tell me if they’re bothering you. If anyone does. Okay?”
She blinks in disbelief, blurting out a rushed answer when I step into her, ready to press until she agrees. “Um, yeah. Okay.”
I exhale with a nod. “Good.”
Studying me as if I’m some wild beast that could turn on her at any moment, she edges back slowly. “I’m just gonna go now.” I follow her again. After a moment, she gives me a wary sidelong glance. “Don’t you have practice? You’ll be late.”
“Yeah. I’ll get there after I walk you where you’re going.”
“Your coaches won’t like that.” She lowers her voice to impersonate someone that sounds suspiciously like her brother. “Hockey is about attitude. A team works when everyone shows up and respects the game.”
A chuckle slips out of me, fogging the air in front of me with my breath. “Is that supposed to be Theo? That was good.”
“The game doesn’t have emotions, so I think it’s pointless to respect it,” she says frostily.
“It’s ridiculous. There are far more worthwhile, respectable endeavors in life than speeding around ice with knife boots, chasing around a hunk of rubber, slamming into people, and going insane when the rubber makes it in the net as if it’s the greatest achievement ever. ”
“Not a fan of hockey?” At her dour glance, I find the corners of my mouth curling up. She’s cute when she’s not hiding herself, even as she hates on the game I’ve loved since I was a kid, the one I want to make my professional career. “Noted.”
Despite being friends with her brother, I don’t know her well. She’s intriguing.
Quiet falls between us as we walk around campus. Several people wave when they spot me and I shoot them easy smiles. The more people that notice us, the more she ducks her head over the stack of books and flyers in her arms.
“You don’t have to walk with me,” she says.
“Here.” I stop her by a bulletin board and tear down some of the colorful print outs with expired dates from before winter break. “You need to put those up, right? This is a good spot.”
Lainey’s eyes bounce between her flyers and the space I made for her advertisement.
She seems to psych herself up, scanning the area and scrutinizing the flyer before inching toward the bulletin board.
I incline my head in encouragement when she glances over her shoulder and tucks her hair behind her ear.
“It’s fine. Everyone puts stuff up here.
Job offers. Study groups. Events. Look, a Netflix and chill club is looking for members.
Well, I hope it’s more about binge watching than chill-chilling, right?
” I wrinkle my brows in thought, reaching for her books.
“Let me hold these for you so you don’t have to balance them. ”
She slides her lips together, then the nervous tension bleeds away, stealing my breath with it when it’s replaced by determination. Picking a spot not quite front and center, she freezes.
“I didn’t bring anything to hang them with,” she admits softly, deflating.
I don’t like the way it kills off the steady build of conviction. Snagging one of the abandoned push pins, I offer it to her.
“Use this.”
She stares at it for a beat before carefully taking it. Her fingers are colder than mine. The quick brush stirs warmth in my chest as I watch her light up with her returning determination. She holds her flyer in place on the board and I skim what it says.
“What’s this dance for?”
“Charity. All the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Derby Bookshop.” A sigh leaves her.
“I have a lot to do. It was all my idea to organize this. I don’t want to see it close its doors in favor of a chain store.
I thought the students could help give back to the local community.
It’s a store that’s been there forever.”
Stepping back, she admires the flyer, lit up over completing a task so simple that I wouldn’t have thought twice about doing. That weird thought about kissing the top of her head is back.
“That’s cool. I can take some of those with me to hang up, if you want. We can cover more ground between the two of us.”
“Thank you. For your help, er—” She squints at me, visibly stumped. “You’re nice, I suppose.”
“You suppose,” I echo with a smirk. “I’ll be your flyer hanging wingman anytime you need me, sweetheart.”
It rolls off my tongue easily.
One thing that gives me an edge when I’m on the ice is my tenacity. Once I put my mind to something, I’m all in.
The instinct to act as her stand-in boyfriend to get those guys to leave her alone rises once more, a plan forming in my head as quickly as I select play strategies to dominate with my team for the W.
I will protect Lainey Boucher from creeps and anyone else who dares to try anything with her by posing as her boyfriend. No one will go after her if they believe she’s dating me.
“The team’s parties usually start around nine after the game,” I say. “I’ll get your ticket for you after practice so you can come to watch it, then I’ll give you a ride from the arena after I’m done in the locker room. It’ll help our cover story if we show up together.”
“What?” She whirls on me, the flare of confidence fading again. “What are you talking about? Why would I do that? I don’t go to hockey games.”
“Not even to support Theo?” I lift a brow. “He’s your brother.”
“And? My Dad supports him plenty. He goes to his games.” Her jaw works. “And my mom.”