“Yes. Grad student, that is.” He had his hands in his pocket and watched as I put the lid on and slid the coffee to him on the counter. “Thank you.”
“Of course. This is my job.” I winked. “That’ll be three bucks.”
He handed me a credit card, and I swiped it, going through the motions and catching his gaze three more times. Oh yeah, this guy was into me, but I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. “Here you go.”
“So, Ryann, are you a student here too?”
“Yup.” I popped the ‘p’ and frowned when someone else came up to the counter. The handsome man took a step back and held my gaze for a second before he shrugged. The woman ordered five drinks for her study group and left a decent tip, which was nice, but seeing the guy still waiting there made my stomach flutter just a bit.
It wasn’t anything like earning a smile from Jonah, but it was still there. The fact I intrigued him was good for my ego. “Finish your coffee already?”
“No, actually. I forgot about it as I waited for an opportunity to talk to you again.”
“Great line.” I nodded and smiled at him. “Almost worth giving you my number.”
“Oh, what would do it then?”
“Your name.”
“Zach George.”
“Two first names? That’s unfortunate.”
He grinned and moved closer. “So, Ryann, can I have your number? I’ve seen you here a few times, and you have the best smile.”
“Okay, that was a much better line. Yes, you can.” I wrote it on a business card and passed it to him. “Nice to meet you, Zach George.”
His dimpled grin was the perfect distraction, and I didn’t think of Jonah the entire time. This was good. Better than good.
I helped three more customers before Hannah strolled in looking flushed and upset. “Han, I can stay if you want me to.”
“No, no, I should be here. My ex wants to introduce his new girlfriend to Preston, and the divorce papers aren’t even done yet. It makes me so angry I could just… just…punch his stupid face!”
My heart broke, and I frowned. “I’ll punch him. You can’t do anything where the court can get involved. Text me a location and I’ll do it.”
She snort-laughed like I wanted her to before groaning. “The worst part of it is that he’ll be in my life forever. I won’t keep Preston from his father, but there isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll always have to talk to him or share things with him no matter what. Maybe when Preston is older, but then if he gets married or has kids....”
“Sure, but it’ll get easier. I’m sorry, Hannah.” I meant it too and waited to see what she needed. She got an apron on and shooed me with a flick of her wrist. “You sure you want me to go?” I asked.
“Yes. I’d rather you be here on days I have P so I can enjoy time with him.”
I nodded and eyed her another second. One reason I admired her so much was that she threw herself into her job and took pride in making a profit. She never let her personal life affect her customer service skills, and even now, a minute after she had frustration written on her face, she smiled with a customer like she was having a great day.
Knowing she trusted me warmed my chest. Like, maybe we were friends. I swept the main area to help her and then clocked out, grabbing my phone and headphones to make the short walk back home.
My pace quickened as I hustled back to the house, and nerves took over. Michael wanted to ensure the stairs were okay, but I knew it was more to check out the living situation. Maybe this was a good thing—having my brother at the place where I almost kissed Jonah was the dose of reality I needed. I refused to hurt my brother, and kissing Jonah in secret would do just that.
Content with my new resolve, I climbed the stairs and unlocked the door. The familiar scent of lemon cleaner hit me, and I smiled at the trio of guys staring at me. “Honey, I’m home!”
No one smiled except Patrick. He liked it a lot.
“Okay, it was a joke. God, what did I walk in on? Were you comparing stats or something?”
“I thought it was funny, Ry.”
“Thanks, Patrick. You’re my favorite twin.” I winked at him and set my keys on the side table.
“Why are you so late?” Michael asked, getting up and coming to me for a hug. We always hugged. I hated other people touching me, but it was our routine.
“Hannah was running late because of her ex.” I set my apron on a hook and tossed the rest of my stuff into my room. “Did my lovely roommate give you all a tour, or did you sit here in silence?”
Michael laughed. “No tour.”
“Okay then.” I kicked my bedroom door open and walked in. “Pretty simple. Two bedrooms. We each get our own bathroom, which is nice.”
Not just Michael, but the twins also followed us into my room and took up way too much space. They were large men and had no qualms about looking at my one picture on the wall of our family and checking out the view of the window. “You can almost see the quad from here,” Paxton said.
“Yeah, it’s a great location,” I said to Paxton. He frowned as he stared at my lack of decorations before knocking on the wall I shared with Jonah. “What are you doing?”
“You share a bedroom wall?” he asked, making my brother tense and Patrick grin.
“Yeah, but it’s not like either one of us makes a lot of noise.” I huffed and tried to remember they cared about me. They weren’t all here to annoy me. I would never forget how the twins came to the house and helped us after the accident his sophomore year. Some things made you friends, others made you family, and how they helped us with the funeral made them the latter.
“Hmm,” Paxton said, frowning in the direction of J.D.’s room. “What if he’s hooking up?”
“What if I am?” I fired back, and he held up his hands, giving my brother a sheepish look.
My brother made a bleg sound. “Gross, stop it. I don’t wanna hear about it.”
“Then tell your teammate to not be an idiot. We have a list of rules about hook-ups, if that makes you feel better.”
“Jesus, you have a list of rules?” he laughed and walked out into the living room to stare at J.D. The twins followed, and it gave me joy to realize they wouldn’t come back here after this. Michael would see it was fine and safe and be done with it.
“Where are these rules?”
J.D. got up from the couch, all tense and quiet, and kept his face neutral as he padded to the kitchen and held up the sheet of paper I wrote on ten days ago. Ten days. That’s how long I’ve lasted without kissing him. Wow.
My brother read them out loud, and a huge smile broke out across his face. “Okay, this shit is hilarious. The urge to punch J.D. has lessened. This kinda works.”
“What kinda works?” I asked, hands on my hips and my battle stance ready to argue if he said something annoying.
“You two rooming together.” He opened the fridge and got a bottle of water. “Not gonna lie, I was worried I’d find something I didn’t like.”
Shit. My throat got tight, and I swallowed. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, chemistry or something. You both look annoyed with the other. Makes me feel better. Not that it matters. Pretty sure it’s sacrilege to mess around with your sibling’s teammate.” He didn’t glare at J.D. at all. He smirked, and Patrick said something under his breath I didn’t catch. I shifted my weight on my feet.
I sighed and caught Jonah’s stare for a second. He looked pissed, and I forced myself to focus on my brother. “Stop making it weird. Jonah and I are friends. We get along.”
“Jonah?” He raised his brows so high they disappeared into his hairline. “Did you call him Jonah?”
“I heard her say it. Full name,” Patrick said, raising his voice and being real dramatic about it.
“Jonah, that’s interesting,” Paxton added.
“I’m not a hockey bro, so yeah, I’m going to use his real name,” I fired back, already regretting inviting my brother over.
“Wednesdays are for reading and catching up on classwork. Let’s leave Jonah alone so he can study.”
My brother narrowed his eyes at me then Jonah before he let out a long breath. “Shit, we’re being tools.”
“Pretty much.” I put my hands on my hips and glared at all three of them. “You leaving now?”
My brother winced and squeezed the back of his neck for a second. “Okay, so you guys get along and this helps you from the dorm nonsense? It’s weird, you know? My baby sister living with some teammate.”
“Not some random guy,” I said, raising my voice. “Your teammate and a guy I trust. Now, you either relax and chill with me or get out. Same for you two.” I pointed at the twins and waited. A part of me wanted them to leave so I could check in with Jonah and see how he was handling this. He hadn’t said a damn word, and I could almost feel the tension radiating off him. But hanging out with these three also made me laugh a lot.
My brother got his phone from his pocket and wiggled it in the air. “Want to help me make some TikTok videos? My fans need constant updates.”
“You’re such an idiot,” I said, laughing when he did a weird dance move by kicking his leg. “But obviously. Much rather do that than read.”
“You have a quiz tomorrow,” Jonah said, interrupting us and causing my brother and the twins to eye him. “You asked me to remind you, even if you tried to convince me you were prepared.”
“I did not,” I said, hating the truth to his words. He narrowed his gaze. “Fine, I did, but I really am ready.”
“You’re lying.” He shook his head as he lowered himself onto his chair. He always sat there when he studied or did work. Never the couch. His routine was rigid and unflappable down to the final detail. With one more long look, he jutted his chin to the chair opposite him. “Ryann, study.”
“Damn it,” Michael stretched and let out a long yawn. “He’s right. It’s late, and you got here an hour after we were supposed to hang. You should review or get ready for school. I can see you anytime.”
“What about your TikTok career?”
“My dream will be delayed, yet again.” He snorted and nodded to Jonah. “Thanks for looking out for my sister. Appreciate it, man.”
He nodded, his eyes serious and intense and avoiding me entirely.
I gave a half-hug to both twins, then Michael, but before heading out, he whispered to me at the door. “Befriend him, okay? He seems so goddamn uptight.”
“We are friends,” I said, irritated at what he was insinuating. “Why don’t you try harder to get to know your teammates?”
He flinched, but it was too quick. He masked his face and ran his hand over his jaw. “You like him.”
My face burned red, but his insinuation wasn’t meant that way. “Yes, I do. He’s a good guy, and with the shit he’s been through…he needs his team.”
“What happened?”
“Not my business to tell you.” I nudged him toward the top step. “Go on. We’ll hang out this weekend.”
“Stay out of trouble.”
“Never.”
He snorted before jogging down the stairs to meet up with the other two, and I went back inside to a now silent Jonah. His nose practically touched the book, and it took thirty long seconds of staring at him before he glanced up at me.
“I’m sorry if you’re angry with me, but you made me promise last night to remind you.”
“I’m not upset,” I said, the weird pang in my chest catching me off guard. His beautiful brown eyes were framed with long lashes, and they were so expressive right now—open and kind—and it startled me. “You seem in an okay mood.”
“Seeing you and your brother like that was refreshing. It makes me happy you two are close.”
That made me smile. “How was it before I got back?”
“Awkward.” Jonah gave me a half-smile and tapped his pen on the table. “We talked about the coach, the team, and the new guys. The twins asked me about my routine, and I talked about them getting drafted. It was…fine until we ran out of the hockey stuff.”
“Did you tell him about your dad?”
“No. Did you?” he fired back, the warmth in his eyes disappearing.
“Of course not. That’s between us.” The urge to squeeze his hand hit me again. “I won’t tell him a single thing you don’t want me to.”
He nodded and let out a long breath. “Please. This isn’t something I’d like shared.”
“I understand.”
He relaxed just as my phone went off, and my stomach flipped seeing the message.
Hey, it’s the handsome psychopath with two names.
Dammit. He was funny.
I grinned and bit my lip as I texted back.
Which one? I met three different people with that description today.
“What has you smiling like that?” Jonah asked, his face warm and his lips curving up a bit on the sides.
“Oh, this guy.” I put my phone face down and ignored the guilt forming in my gut. Jonah and I were friends and nothing more. I should talk about this guy to make sure we both knew where we were at. It would be healthy. “He asked for my number today at work, and he sent me something that made me laugh.”
“Hmm,” Jonah said, his lips flattening but that was the only indication he heard me. “You like him?”
“Unsure.” I took a hesitant breath. “Is this weird?”
“No.” He looked at his textbook instead of me, and his shoulders seemed to go rigid. “If we live together for the year, it would be absurd to think you wouldn’t date.”
“Or you,” I said back, making sure this was a two-way street.
“Doubtful. I don’t date. Ever.” He still didn’t look at me and highlighted some text before writing it down on a notecard.
“Do you sleep around then?” I asked, damn well knowing this was getting into dangerous territory, fast.
“The few times I did that, I hated myself.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
He looked up at me again, and I could almost feel how tense he was. His jaw tightened, and his lips parted as he tilted his head to the side just a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve done a few hook-ups after a party, and I felt worse. I like to see someone for a while rather than a one-night stand. Not knocking it by any means, just not for me.” I shrugged and didn’t feel the pull to respond to Zach at all, not while Jonah gave me all his attention. “Why did you hate yourself?”
“Felt gross, too dangerous. They were unnecessary distractions.” He wet his bottom lip and cleared his throat. “Well, you better text him back.”
“Right.” Disappointment weighed me down, which was stupid because Michael was just here. We couldn’t flirt or fool around. With a resigned sigh, I texted Zach a few times until he asked me about grabbing dinner that weekend.
I said yes. Jonah and I would not happen, and while I didn’t want to lead Zach on, I could do one date before coming to a decision. Knowing it was happening Friday night made everything more serious, more concrete.
It also guaranteed I wouldn’t do anything with my roommate.
12
Jonah
She went on a date.
She wore a skin-tight black tank-top and jeans and went to meet some guy at a restaurant, smelling like a floral arrangement and making the place seem too quiet in her absence. There was no pop music coming from her room or little bouts of her laughter at whatever YouTube video she was watching.
When did this happen? When did I start noticing everything about her?
I needed to not think about the fact she was gone for two hours already. What could they be doing at dinner for two whole hours? My stomach clenched with annoyance imagining her kissing this dude, even though I had no right.
No damn right.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself and turned on the TV to watch football. It wasn’t even in my top three favorite sports, but it was on. I tried paying attention as best I could, but my stomach wouldn’t
settle down. Did this schmuck know how thoughtful she was? Ry had made me breakfast two more times over the past week and sat and ate with me as we talked about our day.
I hadn’t done that with anyone…ever.
Two hours and thirty minutes.
Something broke inside my brain as I stared mindlessly at the TV and tried not to think about her. This was exactly why I couldn’t do anything about my attraction to her. All this wasted time could’ve gone toward watching old games, working out, or heading to the rink and skating. Seconds away from being furious with myself, I froze when uneven footsteps came up the stairs.
Without thinking, I turned off the TV and hid in my room with the door closed. She couldn’t think I was out there waiting for her. Because that’s exactly what I was doing. Waiting.
Her keys jingled as she unlocked the door and entered. Did she walk like she was happy? Was that a thing?
She set her keys on the hook, and her movement seemed to stop in front of my room for two seconds. My heart lodged in my throat. Jesus. I pulled the ends of my hair and felt a wave of disgust go through me. Her brother was a senior on the team. One with pull and the ability to ruin everything for me. I was juvenile and pathetic, acting like this because of lust.
That’s all this was though. Lust.
A small cough carried through the door, and my heart froze. Was that… a cry? What the hell? I yanked open the door and found Ryann, her face twisted in pain as she sat on the couch. Her foot was pulled onto her lap, and she gripped it with a red face.
“Hey, what happened?” I asked.
“I think I twisted my ankle or something on the walk back. It’s throbbing.” She bit her lip and closed her eyes tight, groaning when she squeezed it. “Stupid shoes.”
I glanced at the black shoes she wore. They were way too tall. “You should’ve taken them off.”
“And be the girl walking back alone with shoes in my hand? No thank you.” Her blue eyes finally met mine, and when she sucked in a breath at my bare chest, pleasure rolled through me. But her comment bothered me, and as I walked into the kitchen to grab some athletic tape I stored under the sink, I figured out why.
Holdout: A Moo U Hockey Romance Page 11