Page 5 of Ice Bet

“No, you won’t. And you’ll probably use my cologne now too, hoping that the scent makes its way across the hall and sways Riley off her feet and into your arms.”

“Will you two fucking stop?” I snapped. “No one is touching Riley.” I didn’t plan to sound so gruff, but the longer I listened to everyone lusting over Riley, whether they were kidding or not, the more irritated I became. Probably becauseIwas the one who was supposed to keep them in check.

“Why?” Berkley loved pressing everyone’s buttons, including mine. “Do you want her for yourself?”

As if on fucking cue, Graham Sullivan slithered out from behind the second row of lockers with his arrogance intact and the ability to piss me off in full effect. Sully was a transfer, but I knew him well before he relocated to Bexley U and found a spot on the team. He was my own personal antagonist.A foe. I have considered him an enemy on more than one occasion, and he thought the same of me.

We had always been neck and neck. Every accredited sports news outlet had compared us at one point over the years, and I was certain there was a meme floating around the internet about us.

Rosewood University was my first choice.

Bexley U was my second.

It was no surprise that it was the same for Sully.

His ego exploded when the scouts chose him over me. I was the first to admit that the reason they didn’t choose me was because of the shitstorm I’d found myself in my senior year of high school, but Sully believed otherwise. The chip on his shoulder formed shortly after Bexley U started to climb to the top, and he was still stuck at Rosewood, thinking he was the better player.

But now, here he was, attending Bexley U, where we both had to shelve our hidden rival.

“I’d like to know the same. You got your eye on the coach’s daughter, Aash?”

I instantly zeroed in on Sully’s cheeky smirk as he pulled his shirt over his head and began getting dressed for practice.Fucker.I couldn’t help but swell in victory when I noticed that my stomach was more defined than his. I wanted to puff my chest out like a twelve-year-old boy for winning anab competitionthat he was unaware of. My competitiveness ramped up near him. It was simply out of my control.

Theo’s sigh hit the back of my neck on his way over to Sully. He grabbed on to his bicep. I waited eagerly for Sully to recoil at his touch, but to my surprise, he didn’t even blink. Theo’s voice carried throughout the locker room and caught the ear of every player who was still in the vicinity. “Don’t fuck around, Sully. This year is about the Frozen Four, and eventhinkingabout Riley is going to be a distraction.” Theo swung his firm stare around the locker room. “Get her out of your heads and focus on the game.” He let go of Sully and started to walk past our silent teammates. “I can assure all of you that Coach didn’t say those things to bait you. He meant what he said. Riley is off-limits. Don’t fuck up our chances at being the best or ruin your futures over your need to be defiant.”

Silence ensued when Theo disappeared out of the locker room, and the majority of us followed him out onto the ice. Our pucks had a little more fire to them, and Sully was a little more antagonizing than usual when we were pinned against one another for a practice scrimmage. The puck sliced past my head, clipping my padded shoulder. It took everything in me to keep my stick hovering over the ice instead of thrusting it outward to cross-check him.

“Were you going to take a bite out of that biscuit, Aash?”

I hated when he shortened my name. We were not on a nickname basis with one another.

“Jealous of my hat-trick,Sul?”

Theo skated in between us, and his disapproving frown did nothing to sway me from continuing my banter with Sully. It was rare when we shared words, but considering the fact that we had been enemies for years up until now, I think we both deserved a little leeway.

Coach blew his whistle, signaling that practice was over. I glanced at him, wondering if he was going to give me shit for my spar with Sully, and that was when I saw Riley quickly climbing the stands. I was already annoyed with her for reasons she was unaware of, but distracting her father so I could talk shit back to Sully wasn’t one of them.Thank you, Riley Lennon.

Once back in the locker room, I began stripping out of my practice gear. Theo was the first to leave, and I wasn’t really sure why, because he had been avoiding his dorm room since finding out that his new roommate was a chick, but I was glad he’d dipped out quickly. If he had stuck around, then he’d hear the team talking about Riley again and likely pop a blood vessel.

“Sounds like some of you are trying to score with Riley. Who will be the first to make her fall?” Ford was joking. I knew him well enough to know he didn’t take many things seriously, but I also knew the mind of a twenty-something-year-old college guy because, well, I was one, and the wheels were fucking spinning in my teammates’ heads.

“Maybeyou?” Ford wiggled his eyebrows in my direction, and I laughed him off.

Sully peeked around the edge of the lockers and waited for my answer. I ignored him and answered truthfully. “Nope. Uptight and cold aren’t my type, even without the thought of Coach coming at me with a shotgun.”Or worse, a quick call to my future NHL team, sending me packing.

I’d already been disappointed once when it came to my future—ironically, over a girl. I wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

“I can loosen her up,” Nate said, pulling off his skates.

“Doubtful,” someone quipped.

“Watch me.”

I denied myself the energy to engage in their fruitless arguing. They were all likely to go home and ponder Coach’s threat along with the look of disapproval on their captain’s face and snuggle up with a puck bunny instead.

Riley Lennon was too much work, and our effort went onto the ice. There was no room for anything else.

Ford began heading toward the door with all his gear. “She’s been surrounded by hockey players all her life. Let’s face it, fellas. We just don’t do it for her. Why do you think we call her duster? That girl never plays the game. The few times I’ve seen her around, she sticks her nose in the air and ignores every single guy who approaches her.”

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