Collide: A Hockey Romance

I DON’T HAVE regrets. Never have, never will. I decided early on that life is too short to let it pass you by. I won’t be eighty and unfulfilled, wondering what could have been. That’s a miserable life to live.

“You’re going to regret this.”

I move around Kian to snatch my keys off the kitchen counter. “Thanks for your concern, but I won’t.”

The house is empty because the guys are volunteering. I already had a dozen extracurriculars, so Kilner let me bail. Kian, on the other hand, has to take the team’s laundry to the utility center. He’s on duty to pick it up in an hour, so I was stuck with his squealing when he found out who I was going out with tonight. The location is undisclosed because he has too much interest in my personal life.

“That wingman title won’t bring you comfort when she’s leaving with another dude,” he calls.

He doesn’t know anything about my relationship with Summer. It isn’t like that with us. She’s focused on her application, and I’m focused on hockey. Balance hasn’t been my strong suit lately, so even harboring any thoughts about her would throw me off. Ergo, we’re completely platonic.

Ignoring his comments, I head to my car and queue up the playlist I made for her. I sent it to her earlier, but I don’t know what she thinks of it yet because I only got a thumbs-up in response.

Iona House is a short drive on clear roads, so I get there earlier than expected. When I text Summer, she tells me to wait in my truck.

That isn’t happening, so I park and head to the entrance. But the view in front of me draws me to a halt.

“You’re wearing that?” I choke out when I see her.

Summer runs a hand over the material of her top as she approaches me. “What’s wrong with it?”

I clear my throat. “Nothing.”

Everything.

The neckline of the red top plunges between her breasts and reveals her cleavage, long legs like stilts on those heels and her pants hug her hips like I wished I was. My dick stiffens in my jeans, alarmingly quickly. Only this girl could give me a hard-on in the middle of a fucking sidewalk.

I have to swallow before I can speak again. “You look beautiful, Summer.”

The compliment melts the crease between her brows and she gives me the smallest smile I’ve ever seen before walking past me to hop into my truck, once again not taking my help to get in. Though I have no qualms about it since I get to watch her perfect ass wiggle into my truck. Inside, she zips her jacket, and I hold back from exhaling a breath of relief.

Get a grip, man.

This is the worst moment to be feeling any type of way. Kian’s words float back to me, and I can’t help but think that he’s right. If I didn’t regret it then, I regret it now. Big time.

Summer is a smoke show, and going out with her only to watch her leave with another guy might be the dumbest fucking thing I’ve done all year. And that’s saying something.

When we arrive at Myth, the converted warehouse bar, we skip the line. I’ve been here with the guys too many times to have to wait anymore. It also helped that the owners are hockey fans.

“One margarita, and a Sprite,” I say to the bartender. While she fills the order, Summer shoots me a look. “What?”

“Only a Sprite?”

“I’m driving us home.”

Most college students drink a beer to start the night and end up driving home a few hours later. It technically punches below the legal limit, but I’d never take the chance. Especially if I’m responsible for another person. Too much can go wrong in a split second. I’m well aware of that.

“So how do you have all that fun you were talking about?”

Keen eyes find mine, and I like that she’s excited. “I usually have a few girls around me for that.”

“Sorry, am I cock blocking you?” she asks, tilting her head.

Soft tendrils frame her face, and I can’t help but notice how pretty she looks. She would look even prettier on her knees, looking up at me with those pink lips in a perfect O.

Jesus, I need a cold shower.

“Tonight’s about you. I’ll be your wingman and if that works out, I can find myself a lucky lady,” I say just as our drinks arrive, and I slide hers over.

“You make it sound like an afterthought. It can’t be that easy for you.”

“It can’t?” I look over her shoulder to nod at a group of girls watching me since we walked in.

Summer peers at them, then at me in disbelief. “They see that you’re with me. What if we were– you know – together?”

“You haven’t done anything for them to believe that.” I really want her to do something to make them believe that.

“Well, good, because it’s the truth.” She stirs her drink. “I don’t need you as my wingman. You can go over there to entertain your girls.”

My brows shoot up. “You don’t want my help?”

“I don’t need it.”

Confidence exudes from every inch of her, and it isn’t displaced. I’m not sure if she noticed the number of heads that turned when we entered.

“This feels like a good time for a bet. You think you can get any guy to leave with you?”

She smiles, all perfect glossy lips and white teeth. “Easily.”

“There’s that cocky girl I know.”

She scoffs. “There’s nothing cocky about it. It’s a fact.”

“Right, of course,” I tease.

“You don’t believe me?”

I take a long drink of my Sprite, enjoying how she watches me with hot determination. “It’s not about believing you. I just think you might be rustier than you think.”

Suddenly she stands, eyes narrowed when she comes almost eye level while I’m seated. “It’s hot in here, isn’t it?”

Summer removes her jacket in what feels like slow motion, my throat grows thick with each sliver of skin she exposes. She pulls it off, and I barely keep my jaw from hitting the floor when I see her outfit up close and under the bar lights. The red top makes her skin glow, and the thin fabric looks like it would be easy to tear off. Her tits are smashed together perfectly, and the skin at her waist beckons for me to touch it.

“Will you hold this for me, Aiden?”

Her smooth voice rolls a shiver down my spine. Hearing my name on her lips has never sounded better. My head feels empty, and I think the Sprite might be spiked. My mouth runs, dry and I get a little dizzy when I hold her jacket and watch her slide her hair around her neck, the intoxicating scent especially strong tonight. The action exposes even more skin, and my jeans tighten. The smell of peaches surrounds me.

It’s going to be a long fucking night.

Summer stands between my parted legs, bringing a hand to my bicep then sliding it up to my shoulder. I watch the movement in a trance, swallowing the thick ball in my throat. What the fuck is happening?

“You look hot,” she purrs.

I pretend the strangled noise that leaves my throat isn’t mine, but she smiles that sweet Summer smile that tells me she heard it. Her expression is all teasing and flirty, making the synapses in my brain fire at random. The only time we’ve been this close was in the locker room shower, and I could barely handle that. But nothing has felt better than having her close enough that if I leaned forward, my lips would capture her perfect ones.

“What?” I squeak. As if it’s the first day of seventh grade, and my balls haven’t dropped yet. I clear my throat and try again. “What?”

“I said you look hot.” I’m still barely registering her words when her hand strokes my ear. I hold in the shiver that racks through my body. “You’re sweating,” she says.

Oh. Oh. That kind of hot.

Maybe it’s because she’s closer to me than she’s ever been and I might combust like a fucking teenager. I feel tongue-tied like she’s somehow paralyzed every muscle in my mouth, stopping me from forming any coherent sentence.

I clear my throat to regain some motor function. “It’s hot in here, like you said.”

“Right.” She smiles, still stroking my ear until my eyes are tempted to flutter shut. She’s found a particularly sensitive erogenous zone, and I’d be content with my life if she did this forever. When she moves closer, I go rigid. Summer’s tits are so close to my face, I feel starved to have my mouth on her sweet skin, but then she shifts towards my ear and whispers, “You wanna get out of here?”

My heart stops beating in my chest. My eyes widen when her brown ones meet mine again. Her face looks so fucking pure I have to use every ounce of self-control to not carry her into a storage closet and fuck that look off her face.

When I go to pull out my wallet so I can carry her over my damn shoulder, she pulls away and sits back on her stool with an apathetic exhale. “Well, what do you think?”

Her nonchalance is a pure contrast to how electric she was a second ago. “About what?”

“Am I still rusty?”

Rusty?

“That’s how I’d get any guy in here.” She stirs her drink.

My heart slows when I realize she showed me exactly what I had asked. She was proving she’s not cocky, she’s fucking confident.

“So, which one?” she says flippantly. “Which guy do you want me to talk to?”

None.

No guy, ever. Jealousy rears its ugly head and hits me like a fucking truck. Her confidence radiates off her in waves. Fuck. I feel like pure shit that she doesn’t even look half affected by our proximity while I’m still reeling.

I eye the bar, recognizing some frat guys and UHart students. “None,” I say roughly, my annoyance seeping through my tone.

She looks confused. “Scared I’ll win?”

Yes. “It’s getting late. You have class tomorrow.”

His forehead creases. “You’re the one that’s been saying I can’t have fun, yet you’re reminding me about class? Which isn’t until after our meeting with Dr. Toor, by the way.”

I knew that, but I needed an excuse to get out of here. She was right. It is getting hot. Hot enough that my clothes feel uncomfortable and I’d much rather be out of them. Preferably with her under me.

“Why are you acting so strange?”

Maybe because I’m so hard I don’t know how I’ll stand? “I’m just giving you an out in case you want to leave.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I’m fine.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and scopes the far corner. “That guy’s cute.”

My eyes meet Kayce Howard, the point guard for the basketball team playing pool. Our teams don’t get along, and it isn’t for lack of trying. They’re a bunch of reckless idiots, and they’ve roped my players into their disruptive behavior too many times.

When he stands to his full height Summer gawks. “And…tall.”

“I thought you don’t like athletes.” I sound bitter, but I don’t bother playing it off.

“I don’t like hockey players. What does he play?”

I glare. “Basketball.”

“Perfect.” She takes her jacket from my lap and slips it on. I keep my hands to my side to prevent myself from reaching out and sitting her ass down on my lap. Suddenly, I want everyone in this bar to know she came with me.

Just before she stands, she licks the salted rim of her glass and downs the liquid. Watching her saunter over to the pool table is like having a hot spear shoved into my chest. Her ass is distracting, so distracting that I barely notice the girl who comes up and takes the seat Summer just occupied.

“You play for Dalton, right? I’m Bethany.”

I nod, though my head swivels between this girl and the one who gets Kayce’s attention instantly. The slow smirk that blooms on his face tells me she has him exactly how she had me.

“I go to Yale,” she says.

I bring my attention back to her. “You’re a little far from home, aren’t you?”

Bethany shrugs. “The guys here are better.”

When she smiles, I finally notice that she’s damn pretty. Her blonde hair falls in waves around her face. Her blue eyes are so bright and innocent I almost don’t see the low-cut top that gives me a full view of her cleavage. “Are they?”

Staying in the moment is hard when there’s a girl on the other side of this bar laughing with the douchebag of the century.

“I’m looking at one right now.” She takes my hand and runs a finger over my palm. “These calluses would feel so good—”

I stand when Kayce’s hand reaches to twirl a strand of Summer’s hair. “I’ll be right back.”

Bethany holds onto my hand. “You’re leaving me at the bar?”

I pry away her fingers. “Just need to check on my friend. Give me a minute.” The friend who is currently taking off her jacket. Half of the basketball team is watching her like she’s putting on a fucking show, and I bite down so hard I feel the tension in my head.

Summer’s giggle hits me as Kayce lowers his head to whisper in her ear. Without much forethought, I walk right up to them and pull her away.

She stumbles, startled by my sudden appearance. “What are you doing?”

“It’s time to go.”

Confusion riddles her features when she yanks her arm from my grasp. “You can leave. I’ll get another ride home.”

“Hell no, you don’t know any of these guys. You’re coming with me.”

“She knows me. I could give her a ride,” offers Kayce.

“Stay out of it.”

Summer looks at me in shock and drags me away from the pool table. “Dude. You’re being the worst wingman right now.”

I’m so irritated I can’t respond. Everything is fucked. She smells so good, her skin is glowing, and those eyes. Don’t get me started on her eyes that have their own gravitational pull.

“Look, you don’t have to stick by me. That pretty girl over there looks like she really wants to see what’s under all this.” She gestures to my body. “And I want to see what’s under all that.” She points her thumb in Kayce’s direction.

He’s already talking to someone else and somehow that annoys me too. Why would another girl interest him when Summer is right here? It’s like being given the sun and deciding a light bulb will do.

“You don’t know that guy. Trust me, he’s not the one you want to hookup with.”

“I do trust you, that’s why I’m here. He checks all the boxes. He even offered to teach me how to play pool.”

I snort. I’m pretty sure every guy in this bar would volunteer for a view of that ass bent over the pool table.

The soft look in her eyes dampens my irritation. “You really want to stay?” I ask.

Say no. Say no. Say no.

“Yes,” she says before she touches my shoulder. “But you should, too.”

“You’re seriously going to hookup with him?” My voice sounds fragile, almost insecure.

She laughs. “Do you even know me? I was kidding. I told you I have to like a guy before we hookup.”

“And how long does it take for you to like someone?”

She thinks for a minute. “How long have I known you?”

“Two months,” I say.

“There’s your answer,” she says and walks back to Kayce.

I’m left blinking in her absence, unsure of what to make of that. Summer has never said she likes me.

This is uncharted territory.