Page 3 of Ice Bet

I gave away nothing. My chin was sturdy, and my mouth tugged my lips into a scowl. The thoughts in my head were unsafe, because if you were a six-foot tall guy covered in hockey pads and attempted to flirt, I was going to plow right through you—or try to, at least.

“Hey,Duster.” I glared across the locker room and caught the eye of Berkley, who was shirtless and clearly proud of his toned stomach.

“Eyes elsewhere,” someone barked from the back.

My cheeks flamed.

I didn’t need a rescuer.

Theo Brooks, the team captain, and his right-hand man, who just so happened to be my new neighbor, Aasher, were standing side by side like a pair of broody bodyguards. Aasher’s brow raised in my direction.Is he challenging me?

I quickly realized that it was my defense mechanisms coming to play, because Aasher’s eyes squinted before he flicked his chin to his coach’s office.Oh, right.My teeth clenched, and my stomps were the only sound throughout the entire locker room.

Control of the situation was slowly slipping from my fingers, which did nothing but irritate me. It was intimidating to walk into a locker room full of arrogant jocks, and the more I stood there, the more flustered I became.Ugh.

I used a little more force than I meant to when I pushed on my father’s office door. He flew up from his squeaky chair at the sound of it hitting the wall. Once he saw it was me, his expression changed from angry to concerned.

I counted the worry lines on his forehead. “Riley? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

Not even a breath left my mouth before the question raced past my lips. “You wanted me to move into that apartment because your players are living across the hall from me, didn’t you?” My hands went to my waist, slipping underneath my sweater. I pinched the bare skin above the waist of my jeans to stay present. “Did you ask them to babysit me too?” I lowered my voice and peeked up at my father as he came around and leaned against the edge of his desk. “Do you understand how humiliating that is? Did you tell them the whole reason I’m here at Bexley U?”Kill me now.

“Of course not, Ry.” My dad’s tone softened. I glanced at the dry-erase board behind his desk to hide from the remorse. I was furious. Embarrassed, even. But itwasmy fault in the end. “I agreed to that apartment because it’s close to campus, in a safe neighborhood, and—”

I dropped my purse on the chair in front of his desk. “And because your players live across the hall.”Don’t lie to me.

The little wrinkles around my father’s eyes hinted at the truth, and I wanted to act like a spoiled child and stomp my way out of his office while shooting every hockey player the middle finger on my way out, but I remained calm.

“Dad.” I tried to move toward him, but my feet were heavy bricks, keeping me in my spot. “I really need you to trust me. I’ll never get back on the ice if you don’t give me space.”To breathewas the last part of that sentence, but I left that out. It was the truth, though. My parents’ breath had permanently coated my neck since leaving Rosewood.

A throat cleared behind me, and I jumped. The blood drained from my face, and I was mistaken to think I was bitten by a vampire. It wasn’t Edward Cullen. Instead, it was Aasher Matthews, standing there with his hand enveloping the doorknob. He briefly caught my eye and raced his gaze down my body before pulling the door closed.

Great, they’re already starting to get all up in my business.

A frustrated breath slowly floated from my mouth as I tried fighting my way back to the girl who was just mere points away from winning the World Figure Skating Championship before everything fell apart.Including me. I was confident and level-headed, and I surely didn’t let a little misstep in my day ruin the entire twenty-four hours. Just like I wasn’t going to allow a few brawny hockey players to ruin my newfound freedom after having my every move watched for an entire year.

I stared at my father from across his office and smoothed my voice. “It’s uncalled for. I don’t need a babysitter.”Especially not his crew of pompous jocks.“You’re going to have to trust me eventually.”

My father, one of the stoniest college hockey coaches in the United States, took off his steely mask when his eyes glazed over. His fists went to his lap, and the sternness in his voice that his hockey players were used to was replaced with something that ate away at my conscience. “Idotrust you. I just don’t trust anyone else.” He chuckled, which was his own attempt at hiding emotions. I wouldn’t call him out, nor would I poke the bear and point out how he didn’t dismiss my accusation of his hockey players acting like my babysitters. “I just want you to get back to the girl who was on fire instead of the girl who hides from the fire.”Meaning, he wants me back on the ice.

I tried joking to lighten the mood. “Fire and ice don’t mix, Dad.”

His lips tugged into a smile. I dropped my hands from my hips and headed for the door. I glanced over my shoulder and pushed my hair away so I could meet his gaze. “I don’t want your meaty hockey players watching my every move, so I suggest you take that thought right out of their heads.”

He threw his hands up and skirted around to the other side of his desk. “They won’t be bothering you. Trust me.” He didn’t look me in the eye when he said it. “But if you happen to need anything, they’re across the hall.”

My scoff threatened to fill his office, but I kept it in. I refused to look at any of histrustinghockey players as I left the locker room because, to be honest, I didn’t trust a single one of them.

3

AASHER

Riley Lennon wasn’tmy type, but she seemed to be everyone else’s. The moment Coach's daughter walked out of his office and swung her hourglass hips through the locker room with her dainty chin held high, was the exact moment a spell of lustful silence fell over my teammates. It was witchcraft. Their longing gazes followed every one of her feisty steps, and their shared curiosity morphed to desire within seconds.

I’d admit, my eyes clung to her too, but I wasn’t under Riley’s little spell. I wasn’t as tempted as these other fools. It wasn’t because she wasn't attractive. If anything, she was more desirable than most of the girls that attended Bexley U, and that was simply because she didn’t fall over her own feet to get our attention. She wasn’t blown away by our masculinity and ability to conquer the ice. In fact, her loathing for us was more obvious than the boners most of my teammates were currently sporting.

When I’d walked over and closed Coach’s office door—because apparently eavesdropping was a form of foreplay for the team—Riley looked even angrier than before. Her creamy cheeks blasted with heat, and her glare was laser-like. I only heard snippets of her conversation, though. Something about how degrading it was to have the hockey players watching her every move.I agreed, but nonetheless…

Coach shot through his door a second after Riley disappeared, leaving a bad taste in my mouth. My teammates' heads were on a swivel as they pulled their attention from the lingering essence of Riley and clicked back into reality. Their gazes dropped, and they engaged in meaningless conversations, as if Coach Lennon didn’t realize that each of them just played out several different scenarios of fucking his daughter all over this very locker room.

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