Page 1 of Hockey 101

1

NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS AFTER 2:00 AM

BANG. BANG.

Andy, help. Open up.

I’m jolted out of a deep sleep.

Whoozit? Between my dry mouth and semi-conscious state, I can hardly get the words out. Still half-asleep, I throw off my cozy duvet and totter towards the door.

Dude, open up, the voice outside pleads. It’s a male voice, but not one I recognize. Also, dude?

As I unlock my dorm room door on autopilot, my half-awake brain is screaming bad idea. But I’m in the middle of a crowded campus, so I can scream if necessary.

No sooner have I cracked the door open than a large guy pushes his way inside. I step back and blink…then blink again.

Is he naked?

Thank fuck, he mutters. He turns and shuts the door like he’s being pursued by zombies, then sighs in relief.

Now I have a perfect view of his ass, which is most definitely naked, as well as huge. Not huge in a horrible way, like a vast plumber’s crack appearing from under a sink, but rounded and muscular, with those dents on the side of each cheek that signify serious workouts. The mystery man turns to face me, and my gaze falls to a pair of shoes he’s holding in front of his package. That’s unfortunate, but they are quite large shoes.

My eyes travel up from the shoes to sharply defined abs, a sculpted chest, broad shoulders, and then…his face. Wow. He’s gorgeous. Hazel eyes with dark lashes, a square jaw, perfect skin. Even his light brown hair fans out in perfect waves around his face, despite having fled zombies or whatever.

A wave of heat flushes over my body and I swallow. That’s when it hits me. Of course—this is all a dream. And a spicy one at that.

My fantasy man frowns and whispers, It’s not a dream.

Geez, did I say that out loud? Or can he read my mind? And if that’s true, why aren’t we in bed already?

Shhh. Keep your voice down, he cautions. Sorry for barging in like this, but I’m in trouble.

You lost all your clothes in a horrible accident? I’m willing to play along, since this isn’t reality anyway.

Ha ha, he replies. No, I was in the middle of— He scrunches his face up. Well, you know. With someone down the hall. And then her boyfriend calls to say he’s on his way up. So, I had to leave in a rush. Since he was coming from the other end of the hall, I went this way and ended up here.

I feel so chosen. I’m distracted by being at eye level with that broad, muscular chest, with a tiny red maple leaf tattoo. Apparently my fantasy man is Canadian. That makes perfect sense—his nipples are exactly the colour of maple syrup. But we’re talking too much for a fantasy, so perhaps I can speed things up by leaning in to find out if those nipples taste like syrup too.

But before my tongue can taste anything, he explains, Well, you are the RA, right? At the initiation seminar, they said that the resident assistants are the people to see if we run into problems in the dorms.

Poof. My fantasy bursts like a soap bubble. This is not a sex dream, it’s my reality. I am the mother hen for a floor of freshmen here in the Humphrey Hall dorm. It’s a co-ed building, with girls and guys alike—guys like Big Ass Boy here. The fact that he’s the embodiment of my ideal man is only an unfortunate coincidence.

Now the sounds of an argument can be heard from the hallway.

I groan, then swirl my hair into a messy bun and pull my robe on over my pajamas. I don’t know why I’m helping you. You’re not even one of my residents. Who were you sleeping with anyway?

He pushes his hand through his layered hair and shakes his head. Uh, I’m not great with names. Tessa? Gina? She’s blonde.

Amazing. This guy is becoming less attractive every minute.

Well, that certainly narrows it down. I pocket my phone and put on my glasses. Okay, Big Ass Boy, sit tight and I’ll let you know when you can leave.

I edge around him and ease myself out the door. At the other end of the hallway, Jenny (not even close, buddy) is arguing with her angry boyfriend. They’re doing that thing where one person is hiss-whispering and the other—usually drunk—person is obnoxiously loud.

Where the fuck is he? her swaying boyfriend demands.

You’re wasted, Toby. There isn’t anyone else here. Shut up or you’ll wake up everyone, she hisses.

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