Page 23 of Breaking the Ice

“Hi!” Hadley infuses the greeting with so much warmth, it’s like she opened the oven door directly into Isabella’s face. “You must be Isabella. Coach’s daughter, right? Come in!”

Pretty sure Isabella doesn’t know how to handle this level of enthusiasm. Few people do. Her eyes widen, and she stiffens.

“Um.”

I hurry to intervene. “This is Hadley. Her boyfriend Jonas plays hockey and shares my apartment.”

“Oh.” Isabella’s shoulders relax a bit. “Nice to meet you.”

“And my brother played, too, don’t forget.” She pokes me in the arm.

“As if I could ever.” I rub my bicep. “That’ll leave a bruise. Be nice to me.”

“As if. You’re fine.” She rolls her eyes.

“Hadley, stop terrorizing Evan,” Jonas calls from the kitchen, laughter in his voice, and she stalks away.

I rock on the balls of my feet. “Thanks for being willing to come here.”

Isabella glances around our living room. “It’s nice.”

It is, but the furniture situation is lacking. Caleb, our third roommate, managed to get us a TV and stand for it, but we still don’t have a couch. Hunter took it when he moved out in the spring and we’ve been too busy—okay, too lazy—to replace it. So, we still have a line-up of camp chairs.

Isabella doesn’t bat an eye at it, though. “Where would be the best place to study?”

Jonas and Hadley bypass the camp chairs and settle into a blanket pile on the floor with a charcuterie board—totally Hadley’s doing—and a bowl of popcorn.

“Is it going to be a problem if we watch the finale of Love Island?” Hadley asks. I don’t understand their fascination with the trashiest show on the planet, but who am I to judge? It makes them happy. They can watch whatever they want.

I turn to Isabella. “Do you mind if we work in my room?”

Her throat bobs in a swallow, and there’s a flash of anxiety in her eyes, but she says, “That’s fine.”

I lead her down the small hallway. The apartments in Hockey Hall, as it’s known, are perfect—four bedrooms, each with an en suite bathroom. We share a communal living room and kitchen. And it’s across the street from the hockey arena, so all the players live here.

I’m aware that I’m pretty spoiled because I’ve never had to share a room in college. Never had to growing up, either, because my sister and I each had our own. My parents’ house is so big, we could have each had two rooms. But it works out really well when I want to bring a girl home. Or study, I guess, although this might be the first time I’ve used the space that way.

Isabella glances around my bedroom, taking in my rumpled orange bedspread, cluttered dresser, and milk crate full of PS5 games. The flat screen in the corner is perfectly positioned so that I can play from my king-sized bed.

Yeah, extra-long twins were what came standard in the room. But I upgraded. Why not?

“Um, do you have a desk?” Isabella asks, her words rising in a squeak.

“Oh, I guess not.” I never thought about it. Walking over, I pat my bed and wink. “There’s plenty of room here.”

“Evan.” Her voice is flat. “Let’s be clear. I will not now or ever be sleeping with you in that bed.”

“Hey! I didn’t mean anything like that.” I put my hand on my chest, mock offended.

“You were being suggestive, and we both know it.” She glares, crossing her arms over her chest and drawing my attention to that part of her body. Nope. Coach’s daughter, I remind myself. “If you’re not ready to study, then I’m leaving.”

“No, no, I’ll be good, I promise.” I hold up my hands in surrender. Get it together, Evan. “Don’t leave. I need your help.”

“Don’t forget it.” Settling herself on the edge of the mattress, she tucks her legs under her. I’m a hockey player, and I’ve taken a lot of kinesiology classes—I understand flexibility and how the human body can move like that. But somehow, when girls do it, it seems impossibly hot. I force myself to keep my tongue in my mouth.

Studying. History. Cold showers.

“Okay.” In an opposite approach, I flop across the whole bed and sprawl against the pillows. “I pretty much bombed my US History test the other day, thanks to my night in the ER. So can we go over that material?”