RINKSIDE

“Do you really think this is okay, Luke?” I ask my best friend as he brings in the last of my belongings through the front door, kicking it shut behind us.

He rolls his eyes and gives me a look. “Of course it’s alright. You’re like family and you need a place to crash for the year.”

I offer a half-hearted smile, but my attention is drawn to the staircase as Luke’s older brother stomps down with an angry scowl aimed directly at me. He wasn’t thrilled when we told him about this arrangement earlier this week.

But honestly, he hasn’t been too fond of my presence at all.

According to him, girls make everything worse.

“Come on, Dahlia, I’ll show you to your room,” Luke calls out as he walks past his scowling brother on the stairs, ignoring the intense glare thrown his way.

I follow him, making sure not to meet Mason’s intimidating stare. When Luke first offered me a room in their huge house, I tried to decline, but he insisted. They’ve been sharing this place since sophomore year, and one of the guys graduated last year, freeing up a spare bedroom upstairs.

“Don’t leave any of your stuff lying around,” Mason grumbles as he looks back at us from the foyer. “And keep your shit out of my bathroom.”

“Stop being a jerk, man,” Luke confronts his brother, and they have their usual stare down, the tension between them thick. If they start swinging fists, there will be bloodshed, and I’ll be the one patching up Luke’s busted lip like I always do.

“It’s no problem,” I quickly interject, meeting Mason’s intense gaze with a gulp. He makes me nervous beyond belief. “I’ll try my best to stay out of your way.”

Mason rolls his eyes and walks into the kitchen, visibly annoyed. Luke mutters something under his breath as he continues up the stairs. I follow behind, hoping that my presence won’t put any further strain on their relationship, but I’m sure it will.

As we reach the end of the hallway, Luke opens a door to reveal another set of steps leading to another doorway. “This is the best room in the house,” he says, looking back at me. “It has its own bathroom, which is why Mason told you to keep your things out of his—” he gestures across the hall, “—which is there.”

I glance over my shoulder to see an open door, revealing a small bathroom with white tiled walls and a turquoise tub with a shower curtain featuring the school’s hockey logo—a black and white wolf.

As I walk down the hall, another door swings open and loud voices flood into the hallway. My eyes snap up to see two guys walking out, followed by a group of others sitting around a TV watching a hockey game. When they notice me, their expressions change from joy to surprise.

“Is this the new girl moving in?” The guy on the right asks, his dark eyes scanning my body with a hint of lust in his smirk. “I’m Adam,” he introduces himself.

“I’m Dahlia,” I reply curtly.

“One rule, fuckers—all of you keep your damn hands off of Dahlia,” Luke interrupts, his gaze hardened as he stares down the guys.

Adam raises his hands defensively and chuckles. “Don’t worry, bro, I’m taken.”

“Ha!” his buddy jeers beside him with a loud laugh. “By who? The flavor of the week?” His friend snorts, causing them all to snicker.

They march past us, disregarding my disapproving head shake. Fantastic. I’m trapped in a house full of horny college guys. What the hell was I thinking?

I trail behind Luke and enter my room, astonished by its size. And there it is, on the far wall—a door leading to my very own personal bathroom. Thank goodness for that, because sharing one with a bunch of hockey players would have been a nightmare.

I scan the room, noting the queen-sized bed with no blankets or sheets. The dresser has enough space for my belongings and the closet is roomy. It may be bare now, but I can make this place feel like home soon enough.

“I’m just at the bottom of the stairs, D. The first door on your right is where you can find me if you ever need anything,” Luke adds.

I turn around to see him tossing my luggage onto the unmade bed before facing me again. “Do you think it’s not safe for me here?”

He laughs nervously and stands up straighter. “You’ll be fine; most of these guys are good people. I’d just keep an eye on Adam and Mason if I were you.”

My interest peaks at the mention of his brother, so I ask, “Why Mason?” It’s unusual for him to be seen with a girl, so I never would have guessed he was a player, but then again, I hardly know anything about him. He keeps his distance from me, and I have no idea why. We hit it off when we first met, but now he acts like we’re enemies.

He casually takes the box from my arms and places it on the empty dresser. “He’s just full of himself, that’s all.” I don’t want you falling for his charms and getting your heart broken when he doesn’t feel the same way,” he says with a shrug.

I let out a nervous laugh. “Luke, I’ve known you and your brother for four years now. I’m pretty sure I’m not even on Mason’s radar.” And it’s true. Aside from hating me, Mason Hayes is also the Captain of the hockey team; fitting since he plays center both in hockey and in life.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt by him, alright? You mean a lot to me.” The way he says it makes my heart beat faster. It’s no secret that I had a crush on Luke our freshman year, but when I tried to kiss him, he turned me down with some speech about wanting to preserve our friendship. It was a major blow to my ego and I haven’t tried dating anyone since.

“Why don’t you finish unpacking later? I ordered pizza for everyone. We can all hang out and I’ll go over some ground rules.” He chuckles before making his exit.

I trail behind him, taking note of the lock on the door. This small security measure brings me some comfort, knowing I can secure my room at night. I didn’t think much of it until Luke mentioned it, but now I can’t help but wonder if I’ll constantly be looking over my shoulder while living here.

On Monday morning, someone in the housing office will hear an earful from me. My application somehow went missing and all the dorms are now occupied. Which is just my luck.

As I reach the bottom of the stairs and turn towards the living room, my steps slow to a halt. My chest constricts and my breaths become rapid as I see Mason sitting on the couch, his chiseled jawline illuminated by the gentle afternoon sunlight filtering through the window.

His icy-blue eyes, piercing and intense, seem to hold secrets he’ll never share with anyone. A shadow of stubble brushes his jaw, adding to his effortlessly rugged handsomeness. His dark baseball cap perches low on his head, framing his tousled dark hair, which peeks out just enough to hint at its natural unruliness.

My eyes move over him, noticing the way his grey sweatshirt hugs his biceps. Everything about him, from the curve of his confident smirk to the relaxed sprawl of his lean frame, screams the kind of charm that makes girls look twice—and then regret it when they realize how untouchable he truly is.

When I don’t move immediately, he lowers his arm and sits up. “Did no one ever teach you it’s impolite to stare?”

I blink multiple times, shaking my head. “Y-yeah, sorry about that.”

He rolls his eyes and gets up, walking around the edge of the couch before heading for the kitchen. “Been here for five minutes and I’m already regretting this,” he mutters under his breath, but I hear it loud and clear.

“Hey, this wasn’t my first choice either, asshole,” I state bluntly, getting his attention.

He stops in his tracks, turning in the doorway to look at me with a surprised expression on his handsome face. “Asshole?” he questions, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry,” I say quickly, tucking my thin brown hair behind my ear. “I didn’t mean—”

“No, no, it’s fine. You think I’m an asshole, and I think you’re a cockroach. We’re finding common ground already,” he chuckles, nodding his head toward the kitchen. “Smells like the pizza has arrived.”

After he disappears into the kitchen, the swinging door sways shut behind him. I take a few seconds to calm my nerves and breathe deeply. I’ll ignore his cockroach kick for now, but I’ll address it later. When I enter the kitchen, I’m surprised to find half of the hockey team wrestling over open pizza boxes on the table. A loud whistle blasts through the room, making everyone groan and cover their ears. Then all eyes turn toward Luke, who nods in my direction.

“This is Dahlia Grant. If you mess with her, you mess with me. Understood?” All the boys seem to understand what he means, nodding in agreement before turning back to the pizzas.

“Ladies first,” Mason scolds as he hits Adam upside the head.

The guys grumble and grunt as they reluctantly move out of my way. I hesitantly approach the table, noticing there are no plates in sight. But Luke comes to my rescue with a paper plate and some napkins.

I grab a couple slices of “garbage” pizza and step aside, watching in amazement as the guys fight over what’s left. They literally punch and shove each other for pizza—it’s insane!

As I leave the kitchen, I wander through the main living area while taking bites of my pizza. The house is a stunning three-story historical beauty from the turn of the century, with its original woodwork and gorgeous stained-glass windows still intact. Despite being over 100 years old and housing a group of college boys for the past 3 years, the landlord has managed to maintain it fairly well, so I can’t really complain about its condition.

I finish exploring the main level before I sprint up the stairs and peer into each bedroom that’s open. I can’t help but want to get a glimpse of my future roommates—can you blame me?

But then I come upon a closed door, my heart pounding as I reach out to grab the handle. My hand shakes as I twist it, only to find it locked.

“What the hell are you doing?” A deep voice booms from behind me.

I jump, letting out a terrified yelp as I drop my slice of pizza onto the wood floor. Mason charges toward me, his broad shoulders looming over me as his chest puffs up in anger.

“I-I’m sorry. I was just—” I stammer, but he cuts me off with an intimidating glare.

With a fierce growl, he backs me up against the wall and shakes his head. “I’ll say it once more: stay the hell out of my way.”

I release a nervous giggle, my eyes quickly scanning his intense expression. “Maybe we could come up with a schedule to avoid running into each other?”

His jaw tightens as he glares at me for what feels like an eternity before his lips curve into a playful smirk. “She’s funny…”

I gulp, shrugging my shoulders casually. “Well, I’m no Amy Schumer but I can hold my own.”

He chuckles and steps away from me, creating more space between us like he always does. In doing so, he bumps into the railing behind him and jumps in surprise.

The guy is nervous as hell, but why?

He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, and I can’t help but stare at the veins popping out on his muscular forearms. “I don’t think schedules are necessary, but that’s my room. Stay the fuck out of it.”

With a slow nod, I bend down to pick up my fallen slice of pizza and its scattered toppings from the ground, only to stand up and find that Mason has disappeared. I look around confused, wondering if he’d even been there at all.