Page 42 of Facing the Line

“Okay so.” I swallow and sip my Coke. “I have to take summer classes, and I need a place to live.”

I’ve already called my mom and worked out all the other details. But my dorm closes for the summer. My best bet is to find a place to sublet for a few months, and Hunter knows more people than me. He can ask around and help me out.

“Summer classes? That sucks.”

I shrug. “It’s not that bad. Now I have an excuse to not go home to Boston at all. But do you know anyone who needs a roommate this summer? I tried to get a place myself in Riverbend, but nothing is left this late in the year.”

His eyes light up. “I have the perfect solution!” He turns to yell down the hallway. “Evan, Jonas, get out here!”

My stomach drops at Jonas’s name, and all the hair on my arms stands up. He and Evan saunter into the living room, eyebrows raised. My mouth goes dry.

“What’s up, dude?” Evan asks.

Hunter throws his arms around both of them in a smug brother sandwich. “Meet your new summer roommates.”

Chapter

Nineteen

HADLEY

Hadley: OMG I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to end up as your roommate and then I couldn’t explain to Hunter why it would be a bad idea…

Jonas: It’s no problem, nothing to be sorry about. It’s not a bad idea. We’re friends. And now roomies ;)

“Good morning, roomie.”

I spin away from the coffee maker at the sound of Jonas’s voice behind me. Wearing only a pair of glasses and low-slung athletic shorts, his chest is bare, and my brain short-circuits. It’s those glasses again. Is he going to wear them every morning? The mix of smart and sexy makes my mouth go dry, and my hand wobbles as I grab the coffee carafe.

My brother plays hockey. My mom has been married to multiple hockey players. I’ve dated athletes before. Logically speaking, it makes sense Jonas’s body looks like it’s been sculpted out of marble by Michelangelo.

But the rational part of my brain that knows this is superseded by my hormones. I can’t deal with the reality of a shirtless Jonas standing in the kitchen with me. Am I drooling? His pecs are smooth and defined, with a scattering of freckles I want to trace like constellations. He has more than a six-pack—are there eight abdominal muscles visible? And those cuts in at his hips that point down, down, down. I flush, my cheeks on fire. Swallowing, I try to remember how words work.

He points behind me. “Hey, do you need help with that?”

His voice is still gravely with sleep. God, the sound of it conjures pillow talk and what it would be like to wake up spooned next to him.

“Hmm?” is all I manage, blinking away that vision.

A smile spreads across his face, slow like honey, and my belly twists. “You’re not much of a morning person, huh? Well, that’s okay. We’ll get you some coffee.”

Brushing past me, he reaches for the appliance on the counter next to me. My reflexes are off, and I don’t get out of the way fast enough. I’m hit with his scent—something piney and clean.

We’re standing too close, I’m being awkward, but I can’t force myself to move. I like the proximity too much.

“There.” Opening the cupboard above me, he grabs two mugs, and I’m treated to the view of his biceps flexing right in front of my face.

I might pass out.

How am I going to survive this summer? What was I thinking, saying yes to this crazy arrangement?

Well, I remember what I was thinking. I couldn’t say no to Hunter, couldn’t explain why his housing solution has one tiny little flaw. He texted my mom about it before I could say no. The rent is covered, and they both agree it’s perfect.

The apartment is in the process of changing hands. Cooper and Jasmine are headed to Denver together. He’s going to play for the Avalanche organization, and she chose a grad school out there. Caleb has moved into his room, and he keeps to himself. Evan is still around here somewhere, but his schedule is pretty random. A guy on the team named Levi is taking Hunter’s spot in the fall, but it’s available for me until then.

He and Natalie moved to Chicago over the weekend. Despite his broken foot and his lack of ice time this season, the Blackhawks took a chance and signed him. He’s healing well and his scans look good, and he’s always been one hell of a player. He’s starting with their minor league team, the Wolves, this fall. He convinced Natalie to find an accounting job in the area and get an apartment with him. I’m thrilled for them both, but it’s weird to be here without him. Without that buffer.

When he suggested I take his room for the summer, I couldn’t tell him I made out with one of his roommates and liked it entirely too much. That I’ve been fighting feelings for Jonas all year. We’re friends, but sometimes I have trouble remembering, and attraction to him hits me like a bus.

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