Page 84 of Rookie Season
NOAH
The morningafter we return from our Canada trip, I’m exhausted. But my alarm zings to life and I reluctantly roll away from Ally and out of bed. We have early practice today, despite the last few days of the team being on the road, and as much as I want to stay curled around Ally, I also still want to prove myself as an asset to the Lions. I’ve learned that Ally doesn’t have to be a distraction. She can be an incredible addition to my life, an encourager and champion of my goals, just like I am for her…but not if I stay in this bed and skip practice.
Not to mention Coach Anderson would have my ass, and Coach Slater would make me skate a hundred laps.
Ally stretches beneath the covers just like Harry does. She blinks sleepily up at me. “You have practice?”
I nod, grabbing my phone off the nightstand and slipping on my slides.
“I’ll make us some protein shakes,” she says with a yawn, rolling out of bed.
I chuckle at the sight of her blonde hair that’s a mess oftangles around her face. She spins in a circle, looking for something.
“I can’t find a hair tie.” Her gaze drops to my wrist where her purple hair tie still rests, and she arches an eyebrow.
“Nope. This one’s mine.”
Ally smirks, opening a drawer on her vanity and grabbing a scrunchie out of it. She quickly brushes the knots out, then pulls her hair back in a messy bun before she walks over and hugs me around the waist.
I kiss the top of her head. “Good morning,” I say.
She hums, and the happy sound makes my heartbeat quicken. My stomach growls, and she pats my abs. “Let’s get you some food.”
I pull away reluctantly and open her bedroom door, both of us shuffling through the doorway, smiling at each other. We round the corner together and come face to face with Penn and Fisher, who are sitting at the island eating breakfast. They have a clear view of my bedroom door from where they sit, and it’s obvious I came from Ally’s room, and so did she.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she’s wearing one of my hoodies.
“Well, well, well,” says Penn with a barely contained grin.
Fisher shoves a piece of toast into his mouth and dusts his hands off. “Interesting,” he says around his bite of food.
I glance at Ally to find her pretty face turning beet red.
“Protein shakes?” I remind her to give her something to focus on besides the two nosey goofballs we live with.
She nods and scurries into the kitchen to prepare the shakes.
I shoot the guys a look that saysdon’t make a big deal out ofthis.Their response is widening their eyes and nudging each other with their elbows. Because of course they’re going to make the biggest deal possible of it.
Ten minutes later, I’m sliding into the backseat of Fisher’s G Wagon, wishing I would’ve just driven myself to practice this morning as the guys both turn around to look at me.
I immediately place my headphones over my ears and take a sip of my shake.
“Oh, come on!” Penn says, throwing his hands up. “We need details.”
“Juicy details,” Fisher adds.
I turn the volume up on my music and turn to look out the window. I’m working on opening up, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Once we’re at the iceplex and skating onto the ice, I’m without my armor—aka, my headphones—and my roommates won’t leave me alone. To make matters worse for me, the coaches have us on the same team for practice today.
We’re practicing our power kill—which is when we’re wasting away the other team’s power play—and I move my body in front of Sandine, who’s on the opposing team. Someone shoots the puck to him, but I snag it with my stick before he can, whipping it to the offensive end. He groans and skates after it, and soon Penn and Fisher are on either side of me, all three of us crouched into a defensive position as Sandine and Carver come back with the puck.
“You can’t avoid us forever,” Fisher says.
“Yeah, Downsby. This is the second time now I’ve seen you come out of her room.” Penn levels me with a speculative glance.
Fisher’s brows fly up. “Damn, didn’t realize this little crush of yours had escalated into multiple bedroom dates.”
