by Jacob Chance
My phone alarm buzzes beside my head on the mattress and I groan. Still dark outside, it’s the ass fucking crack of dawn. Getting up from this warm bed is the last thing I want to do.
“Fuck,” Jeremy mumbles from his bed across the room. He’s no happier about the early hour than I am.
I force myself to sit up so I can’t fall back asleep. Oversleeping on the first day of camp would be a great way to piss the coaches off. I don’t need to paint a target on my back, especially when it’s imperative to make a good impression.
The tile floor is cold against the soles of my bare feet as I stand. “I’m gonna shower. I’ll get you up when I’m back,” I call out.
“Thanks, man.” Jeremy buries his head under a pillow and immediately lets out a soft snore.
Grabbing my towel and bottle of shower gel, I slip them under my arm and don’t bother putting on a shirt. I shove my feet into my slides and step outside my room. The lights in the hallway are bright, too bright for this early, and it’s a bit painful. Squinting my eyes to slits, I head toward the bathroom.
Rounding the corner, I slam into someone. My hands reach out to steady the other person and I come into contact with damp skin. My unfocused vision snaps into sudden clarity when I notice the bare female arms I’m now clutching in my grasp. The white towel-wrapped form lets out a small squeak and my eyes jump to her face. It’s Piper, and with her eyes popped wide open she looks as surprised as I feel.
“I’m sorry, Piper.” I give her arms a gentle squeeze. “I was half asleep.” Was being the operative word. With her naked under that towel and smelling like coconut, I’m wide awake now. In fact, I’m trying to keep a certain part of my anatomy from making this extremely awkward. Down boy.
Her gaze lowers, taking in my lack of clothing before quickly leaping back up. Her cheeks suffuse with a pink flush as she avoids my gaze. Her embarrassment is so unexpected and adorable. Pressing my teeth into my bottom lip, I restrain my eager chuckle before it can slip free. She’s acting like she’s never been this close to a guy before. Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that I’m only wearing a pair of boxer briefs.
Releasing my hold, I take a step backward. “Are you sure you’re okay? I didn’t hurt you?”
Clutching a bag in her hand, she shakes her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m just as much to blame as you.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll make sure I can see straight before I leave my room,” I say.
“I didn’t think anyone else would be up this early,” she tells me.
“Me either. Guess I’m not the only one raring to go.”
She smiles. “I’ve been counting down the days. I can’t wait to step on that ice.”
“Well, I’m gonna shower before I have to deal with a line of other dudes trying to.”
Her eyes dart around the hallway for a moment like she forgot where she is. “See you.” She scurries around the corner like she can’t get away fast enough while I stand there wearing a stupid grin on my face. This definitely wasn’t the way I imagined my day starting. But I’m not complaining about having a beautiful, wet, almost naked girl in my grasp first thing in the morning.
After breakfast we head to the rink where the coaches instruct us to get our skates on and meet them on the ice. We scramble to get ready and be out there as soon as possible. The waiting coaches split us into two competing teams. First, they start by having us race against each other, weaving in and out of cones and balancing on one leg, skating forward and backward.
Jeremy and I end up on the same team and we both crush at this exercise. Our team wins, but we don’t get anything for it besides bragging rights. And even that doesn’t happen because we’re rushed into one drill after another until my quads feel like they’re going to burst into flames.
Two hours later, when they tell us we’re done, I’m soaked with so much sweat, I’m not sure why I bothered to take a shower this morning. And we didn’t even have to pad up for practice. When we get to full gear practices I might drown in my own perspiration.
Inside the locker room, I drop onto the bench, my helmet slamming down beside me. Leaning forward with a groan, I unlace my skates.
Jeremy falls onto the wooden seat next to me. “Jesus. That was brutal.”
I grunt my agreement. Grabbing my bottle of water from my bag, I guzzle down the entire thing and wish I had more. The coaches told us we have an hour off to get some food in us and then we have to hit the gym.
Stripping off my sweats and sweatshirt, I dry my hair with a towel and brush it back from my face. I slip on a clean t-shirt and shorts and stuff my tired feet into my sneakers. As ball breaking as this morning has been, there’s nowhere I’d rather be. I live for the self-satisfied feeling of tired muscles that signifies I’ve given my all.
“It’s not even ten o’clock and I’m already wiped out,” Jeremy complains, getting changed.
Nodding slowly, I grin. “I know. Isn’t it great?”
Chapter Three
Piper
Our morning began with a two-mile run followed by an hour spent in the weight room. If there’s one thing I’m good at besides hockey, it’s running. Living in a city, I grew up walking everywhere, and that naturally evolved into running when it was a longer distance I needed to travel.
As a teenager, it became my chance for some freedom. With my mother’s strangling grip choking the life out of me, running became my go-to excuse. How was my mom going to refuse to let me go for a run? Even she couldn’t say no when her kid wanted to exercise.
I was one of the few who found the run to be easy, and the hour spent on weights was pretty standard for me.
“I need some food if I’m going to have any energy left for our ice time,” Rachel says.
“Let’s go refuel and relax. We’ve got an hour to kill.”
“I’d rather nap,” Rachel groans as we walk to the cafeteria.
“No way. Napping would make you feel ten times worse. Keeping those muscles limber is a better idea.”
“Then I need a massage,” Rachel replies.
“Maybe you should ask Jeremy for one,” I tease.
“Huh?” She pretends she doesn’t understand.
“Spare me the act. I can tell you like him.”
“Oh God. I hope he doesn’t know. I’ll die if he does,” she exaggerates.
“Why? What would happen if he knew?” I ask.
“He doesn’t think of me as more than a friend. We kept in touch all year and he’s never acted like he was interested.”
“Maybe he’s also pretending?” I offer.
“Nope, but I wish that were true. I’d be embarrassed if he knew I’m crushing on him.”
“You might want to control your drooling around him then,” I joke.
She jabs her elbow into my arm. “I don’t drool over anyone.” Opening the cafeteria door, she ushers me in.
My gaze immediately lands on Donovan seated at a table with Jeremy. I can only see his back, but I already recognize the wide, straight lines of his muscular shoulders. I did get an up-close and personal and shirtless view of them earlier. Like Rachel, I don’t drool over guys, but if I was going to, his shoulders are certainly worthy of losing my saliva over. Oh, gross. Now I’m just being ridiculous.
I grab a banana, a protein bar, and a bottle of water. Rachel grabs an egg sandwich. My stomach hurts looking at her choice. I don’t know how she’s going to digest all that before we have to be on the ice. But I’m not about to piss off my new friend by mentioning that.
We walk over to the guys and drop onto vacant chairs.
“How’s it going?” Donovan asks and then looks at me.
“Uh, so far, so good.” I focus on peeling the banana.
“Don’t listen to Piper. It’s sucking,” Rachel states, and I laugh.
“I can sympathize,” Jeremy says. He flicks his thumb toward Donovan. “This dude is like a machine. He eats up whatever the coaches dish out.”
“Yep, that sounds like Pi
per. Two miles of running and an hour in the weight room and she barely broke a sweat,” Rachel tells them. Donovan’s appraising gaze lingers on me like he can’t believe it’s true.
“Does that surprise you?” I ask the question before I can help myself.
His full lips hook into a crooked smile. “I bet there are a lot of things about you that might surprise me.” I bite off a chunk of my banana and shrug, avoiding answering. Donovan’s smile widens, like my lack of reply was me throwing down a deliberate challenge. Great. Now he’ll think I’m interested in him. And I’m not. I just didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.
I mean, I can’t deny he’s unquestionably attractive, but I don’t have time for boys in my life. I’m too busy trying to keep my GPA up and earn a hockey scholarship. It’s the only way I’ll be able to attend college. My mom’s in no position to pay for my schooling. The meager salary I earn at my part-time job doesn’t add up to much, no matter that every cent goes into my savings account.
“How’s your morning been?” Rachel asks Jeremy.
“We had two hours at the rink doing drills. It was torture,” he says.
“What’s next for you guys?” I toss the question out for either guy to answer.
“We have to be at the gym in thirty minutes,” Donovan answers.
Jeremy groans dramatically. “I don’t think I’ll survive the workout.”
Donovan turns to him. “Suck it up. I’m sure you’ll survive.”
“Fuck you. I’m half dead from the drills we did. The gym will finish me off, for sure,” Jeremy insists.
“I guess it was nice knowing you,” I interject, and Donovan cracks up. An unexpected sense of pride pings about my chest like a pinball. I didn’t expect to make him laugh.
Rachel’s phone chimes with an alert. “Ooh, Jeremy texted me.” Her face lights up with excitement.
Yeah, she thinks of him as a friend. Sure.
“Jeremy wants to know if we want to meet them in the rec room to watch a movie.”
“Who’s them?” I ask, hoping “them” means that a certain attractive male who’s caught my attention will be there.
“I’m assuming he means Donovan,” Rachel informs me.
“What movie?” I ask. I don’t really care what they pick, but I don’t want to appear too eager.
Rachel types out a reply. Her phone pings almost immediately. “Game Night.”
“I love that movie. My mom and I watched it together.”
Rachel’s head raises from her phone. “Are you guys close?”
“I guess we are. I’ve never known my father, so it’s just been the two of us. She annoys me ninety percent of the time by being overprotective, but I know she loves me.”
“That’s nice.”
I nod. “Yeah.” I could have it much worse. My mom works hard to support us. I may not have everything my friends do, but I have enough.
Rachel rises and rifles through her bag, pulling out some money. “We should get going. There are soda and snack machines if you want something.”
“I think I’ll be okay without.” I think about the twenty dollars I have with me. If I spend some already, I might not have enough to last me the remainder of the week.
The rec room is on the bottom floor of the building. When we arrive, I’m surprised by how many people are there. The large space is split in half with one side devoted to classic games like foosball and air hockey and the other has a large television and a sectional. The game side is heavily occupied, while we find Donovan and Jeremy all alone, kicked back on the furniture as if they’re in their own homes.
Jeremy pats the cushion next to him. “Rachel, get your ass over here.”
“Hold your horses. I’m getting a drink.” She walks to the other side of the room.
“I’ll take a soda,” Jeremy calls out.
“I think you mean, please get me a soda, Rachel,” she corrects.
“What you said.” Jeremy’s lips split into a wide smile and I know she’s not going to refuse him anything he wants.
Feeling nervous, I stand there shifting my weight from one foot to another like a fish out of water. My eyes take in the open space next to Donovan. Should I sit down? Or should I follow Rachel? No. That would be weird, wouldn’t it?
“Piper, can you come help me, please?” Rachel asks, saving me from my pathetic indecisiveness. I hurry over to her. She hands over four cans of soda and then moves over to the machine with all the chips, purchasing four bags. We walk back to the guys and I feel more comfortable with her by my side.
“Snacks are on me,” she says, handing over a soda and a bag of chips to everyone, myself included.
“Thank you, Rachel. This is so sweet of you,” I say, and the guys follow suit. She takes a seat next to Jeremy, leaving me no choice but to sit between her and Donovan. As I settle on the couch, I feel his stare on my cheek and I do my best to ignore it. But it’s difficult because he’s the most attractive guy I’ve ever seen.
With the bag of chips in my lap and my hands clutching the unopened can of soda between my legs, I sit stiffly. My shoulders are steadily climbing toward my ears in small increments and I can’t seem to stop them.
“Wanna swap?” Donovan asks.
It takes me a few seconds to realize he’s speaking to me. “Huh?” I don’t know what he’s talking about.
He holds out his bag of pretzels. “Wanna swap?” He nods toward my bag. “I like chips better.”
“Oh, sure.” I hand him the bag of chips. “You can have them both.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to steal your snack.” He smiles, and my stomach has the same lurching sensation I used to get in elementary school from the see-saw.
“I’m positive. I grabbed an apple at dinner. If I need a snack, I’ll eat that later.”
“Can I have your soda too?” he asks.
“Don’t be greedy,” I tease, surprising myself.
He shrugs his muscular shoulders. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.”
Jeremy starts Game Night and we fall silent. Hyper aware of every move Donovan makes next to me, I can’t concentrate fully on the movie. My mind wanders back to this morning. I’m barraged with images of him in his tight boxer briefs. I can vividly picture every inch of him from his slide-covered feet to his sleep-tousled hair. He made more than an impression. I’m pretty sure the image of his mostly naked body is tattooed on my brain.
I find myself reflexively laughing at the funny parts of the movie and, sadly, I’m always a beat too slow. I hope no one is noticing and my lack of attention isn’t obvious.
Maybe I should close my eyes and pretend I’m asleep. Then I could think about Donovan without anyone else being aware of my straying thoughts.
Leaning my head into the pillowy back of the couch, I close my eyes and replay the boxer brief scene from this morning in slow motion. The muscles rippling under his skin are enough to make me squirm in my seat, but I remind myself that I’m feigning sleep. My gaze pans down his torso and I’m about to take in the noticeable bulge between his muscular thighs when the real-life Donovan grabs my hand. I jump and gasp with a combination of surprise and horror.
Could he tell what I was thinking about?
Was I making a weird face or drooling from lust?
Donovan chuckles beside me and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, but I didn’t think you’d want to sleep through the movie.” He doesn’t let go of my hand. Has he forgotten he’s holding on to it? My heart beats wildly from his simple touch.
“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I guess today wore me out more than I realized.” Shit. The lie slips from my tongue so easily, but what else can I do? I certainly can’t admit I was fantasizing about him.
He nods. “Yeah, I’m pretty beat myself.”
“I think I’m going to head back to my room and get some sleep,” I say.
“I’ll walk you back.” He rises and, with our hands still connected, tugs me to m
y feet.
Jeremy pauses the movie. “Where are you guys going?”
Donovan releases my hand. I’m disappointed and relieved at the same time. “I’m going to walk Piper back to her room and then head to ours.”
“Dude. What’s up with you?” Jeremy seems annoyed at Donovan’s early departure.
“Today kicked my ass and I want to be ready for tomorrow,” he explains, while Jeremy looks skeptical. But what other reason could he have for wanting to go to sleep?
“Night, Piper,” Rachel says.
“Night.” I give a quick wave before I walk toward the door. Hopefully Donovan is following, but if not, I’m perfectly capable of returning to my room alone.
“Piper, wait up,” he calls out as he steps into the hallway. My feet halt and I look over my shoulder as he approaches. “Why’d you take off?”
I shrug. “I didn’t see any point in dragging out the conversation.”
“I told you I’d escort you back to your room and I’m a man of my word.” He grins, his dimple winking at me. Catching hold of my hand once more, his pace is leisurely as he walks next to me. My heart scuttles behind my rib cage. What have I done to win this stunning guy's attention?
If I thought the elevator was claustrophobic when I was alone, it’s doubly so now, but the sight of our side-by-side reflections in the shiny steel doors distracts me. I look so small compared to him and at five feet nine inches, I’m above average in height. Although I’m lean, I’m well muscled and strong. Standing next to his broad-shouldered frame, I feel unusually tiny, and it makes for a nice change.
The doors part and he continues to hold my hand all the way to my room where he finally releases me. Digging my key from my pocket, I unlock the door. His hand lands on the knob before mine and he pushes the door open.
