Page 15 of The Love Dare
Her roommate finally comes out of her trance long enough to bat her eyelashes. “Hi.”
Winnie rolls her eyes and glances back at Tyler, who shakes his head with a rueful twist of his lips. He, she can’t help but notice, hasn’t even looked at the other girls. He stares at her from the doorway, hovering within the frame with his hands in his pockets as if a little unsure. The room seems to shrink around him, maybe because he looms so large in her mind or maybe because he’s a six-foot-three hockey player made entirely of muscle. Either way, she feels as though she can’t breathe as he finally crosses the threshold and steps closer.
“This wasn’t my idea,” he mutters.
Winnie laughs. “Trust me, I know. This has Alex written all over it.”
“He’s worried about you.”
“I moved in like four hours ago. What could’ve possibly gone wrong already?” The edge of his lip quirks into that almost-grin she knows so well. She crosses her arms, as if to hide the way her heart pinches. “Did he tell you about my rules?”
“Yeah.” He drops his gaze to the floor and a wave of golden hair falls over his forehead. A swallow ripples through the muscles along his cut jaw. He glances back up, staring at her from beneath hooded brows, those blue eyes too powerful from so close a distance. “You afraid to associate with us, Win?”
“Not you,” she murmurs with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know. It’s stupid. I guess I just wanted to see who I could be outside of Alex’s little sister for once. I wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet, you know?” She looks back to where Alex is still flirting with her roommate and her friend. “But that ship has definitely sailed.”
“Hey.” He touches her forearm with the back of his pointer finger, just a graze really. It barely even counts. Yet her whole body lights up like a firework, nerves sizzling up her arm and exploding across her chest. “Looks like you’re on your own two feet from where I’m standing.”
She lets out a puff of air that hardly passes as a laugh while she fails to control her racing pulse. “I heard you took a puck to the head in practice yesterday. Might want to get that looked at.”
His half-smile stretches a bit wider. Before Tyler can respond, Alex remembers he has a sibling.
“Hey, Win. Mom said she brought cookies? Where—” He starts rifling through her papers and moving things around on her desk. She shoos him away.
“Stop. STOP! They’re right here.” She pulls a carton from the windowsill. “Just take it. And get out of here.”
He rips open the container and stuffs one in his mouth. Cheeks full, he says, “We’re having a party at the house tonight. You gotta come. I need to introduce you to the guys and make sure they all know you’re off limits.”
She snorts. “I am not planning to date any of your teammates.”
“Still, you gotta come.”
“I just want to hang out with the rest of my dorm tonight.”
“Great! I’ll invite everyone. Girls, you want to come to the hockey house tonight?”
Her roommate immediately jumps in with a, “Sure!”
Winnie groans. Alex is an unstoppable force when he wants something. She knows it’s coming from a good place. He wants everyone to know who she is. He wants them to play nice. He wants to protect her. But, god, he’s annoying sometimes.
“Alex.”
He ignores her and asks Maisie for her number so he can text her the address.
“Alex!”
He absently waves his hand.
“Maybe Iwillhook up with one of your teammates tonight,” she mutters under her breath.
“No,” Alex immediately says, making it clear he’s been paying attention, but it’s the burning awareness of another set of eyes landing on her that makes a blush warm her cheeks. “Take that back.”
“Take what back?” she says innocently.
“Fine. Fine,” he says and looks at Tyler. “We’re leaving.”
“Wait,” Tyler interjects with more force than usual.
Alex eyes him strangely. “What?”
