Page 2 of Ice Bet

The faint sound of a horn caught all of our attention, and it wasn’t long before I recognized the melody of “WeWillRockYou,”which was the traditional warm-up song the hockey team skated to before each game.

“And that’s our cue.” Berkley winked in my direction before skillfully hopping down the stairs.

Aasher stayed kneeled on the ground below me as he started stacking up my fallen books like some type of gentleman. I popped my hip out and crossed my arms, unwilling to trust him. We shared a tense silence that didn’t lessen, even after he stacked my books on top of one another and walked away.

“Wait.” I stepped forward just as quickly as the word flew from my mouth.

Aasher stopped at the top of the steps and peeked over his shoulder. The hood of his BU hoodie pulled back just a little as his messy brown hair fell over his forehead slightly. “Yeah?”

“Why don’t you look surprised to see me?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

All I got in response was one long blink.

My heart thumped violently. “You knew I was moving in across the hall from you guys, didn’t you?”

The air in the hallway stiffened. A breathy laugh fell from my mouth before I bit down on my tongue with hot cheeks. I turned my back to him like it was a punishment, but Aasher’s smooth, arrogant voice broke through the punitive measure. “I had no idea you were moving across the hall.”

“And there goes my respect for you,” I said.

I already had a vengeance for hockey players. Aasher just sealed his own deal in making it permanent.

“Excuse me?”

We turned at the same time, facing each other despite sharing the same scowl.

I shrugged. “I don’t like guys who lie.”

The furrowing along his forehead didn’t last long. He regrouped quickly. “Do you even like guys in general?” Aasher erased the rest of the space between us with the same confident stride thateveryhockey player had. He bent down beside my stiff legs and grabbed the last book that had fallen from my pile. When he rose to his full six-foot height, I held my breath. “Here you go,Duster.”

I opened my mouth to insult him back, but surprise killed the words on the tip of my tongue when he pushed the book into my chest.

I recovered after a few seconds and scoffed before answering his irritating question. “What kind of question is that? And why does it matter to you?”

Aasher gripped me by the wrist and squeezed it tightly while clamping it over the paperback he had pressed against my chest. He stepped away, leaving me breathless.

“I was hoping you’d say no.” His back was to me, but I still heard him.

“Why?”

“Because your dad forbids any of his players to touch you, and that’s tempting to the majority of them.”

“I do like guys,” I said. “Just not hockey players.”

2

RILEY

The driveto Bexley U’s rink takes no more than five minutes. That was part of the reason why I loved the proximity of my apartment so much, but now that I knew I was living across the hall from my father’s boisterous hockey players—who willabsolutelyrun to my dad and tell him my every move—I wasn’t so fond of the idea of my new living arrangements.

My dad had already asked me to find afemaleroommate, and I say that lightly because it was more of a demand, but now I was going to be a hop, skip, and a jump away from his players?Unbelievable.

I slammed my door and stomped along the pavement, ignoring all the parked cars. Practice was about to start, so I knew my time was limited. I gripped my phone tightly. My mother’s texts sat unread as I pushed it into my back pocket. I refused to open them and feel guilty, because that was exactly how I’d feel after reading them. I knew my parents loved me, and I also knew how lucky I was to have such caring parents, but it was a major slap to myalreadybrittle self-respect. The little trust I had repaired with my parents was nonexistent again, and that was almost as disappointing as my entire future slipping through my fingers the moment I slipped on the ice last year.

I whizzed past the empty ice rink—unsuccessfully, I might add—and ignored the pang of regret burrowing in my bones. My confidence was unbreakable until I reached the locker room where I knew what lay behind the door. My hackles rose with my hand on the knob, but I hid from the distant memory.

Ignore the looks and get to the point.

Pushing on the door, it was clear that it was before practice and not after. The team was rowdy, loud, and annoying. The majority of them did a double take and smirked, like I was their reward for after practice.

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