I wake up to the beautiful smell of bacon and protein shakes. Quite literally.

I hadn't realized I wasn't in my bed until I looked around the room and saw that I was in a guy's bedroom. I remember Matthew and I studied for so long that I was too tired to drive home, so I stayed the night. I can't help but remember what had happened between Leo and I. How he had taken me by the waist and looked at me as if I was his next meal. I'm glad he stopped whatever was going on because I'm afraid if he didn't, I don't know what could've happened. Matthew is a great guy, but I don't know if I feel the spark yet.

My thoughts disappear as the door to the bedroom slowly opens. I sit up in the bed with my bottom half still covered. Matthew appears in the doorway and I see a smile etch on his face when he sees me.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," He says with a light smile, "Your friend dropped these clothes off for you to wear at practice," He walks over with the clothes in his hands as I go to stand up. Once he's in front of me I see his gaze slowly drag down to my legs, reminding him and even myself that I'm in just a T-shirt and underwear. I smirk at his actions and I snap my fingers. His eyes jerk back up to meet mine. He gives me a guilty smile as he puts the clothes in my hands. I thank him and he walks out, muttering words under his breath.

Judging by the clothes that were brought, I can guess Bri dropped them off. A pair of dark camo lulu lemon leggings and a very fitting navy blue sweater. I send a quick text to Bri, thanking her for dropping by. She replies No problem Ari! When you get home, be ready to spill the deets to me and Hailee!! ;) I reply with a thumbs up. Just as I go to put my phone down, it starts ringing. The name at the top reads Mamma. A smile takes over my face as I slide the answer button and hold up my phone.

"Ciao ragazza mia! Come stai?" She says into the phone (Hello my girl! How are you?). My mom is Italian, so around the house, I grew up learning and speaking it.

"Ciao mamma! Sono buono! Sto per andare all'allenamento di hockey," I reply. She lets out a hm?. I explain to her how my professor assigned clubs or sports for us to write about for the semester. We talk for a few more minutes until my phone beeps. I look down and see a text from Leo (Hello mom! I'm great! I'm about to go to hockey practice).

: get your ass down here bambi. we're leaving in 20 minutes. your keys are on the table.

I scoff at the tone of the message. I say goodbye to my mom as I shut my phone off and lay Matthew's T-shirt on his bed. I make my way downstairs with last night's clothes in my hand. I walk into the kitchen, slightly stunned to see 3 freakishly tall boys all in the kitchen. They all turn to me, shooting my smiles. I don't recognize one boy. He and Leo are about the same height, but he has a tighter-looking waist and longer legs.

"I'm Brett," I look up to see the unfamiliar face standing in front of me, his hand held out, "I don't believe we've met before."

"We didn't. I'm Aria," I say, taking his hand in mine for a firm shake. A toothy grin appears on his face as he keeps his hand in mine longer than necessary. He glances behind him and I follow his line of vision to see Leo gripping onto a glass of water quite hard and his jaw is clenched as he glares at Brett. Leo's gaze moves onto me and his eyes soften a bit but not for long as he lets out a fake smile. Weird.

Brett lets go of my hand and the boys go up to get changed. Once they finish, they get into a car and I get into mine as we make our way to the arena.

Once we all arrive, the boys make their way to the locker room, and I prepare my camera. I could only stay for about an hour since I have an early morning class at 8. The class happens to be my photojournalism class, so at least I'll have some time to edit the pictures I take today. 10 Minutes later, players start making their way on the ice and skating a few laps, warming their bodies up. Leo and Mattew are two of the first guys out, giving me the opportunity to snap a few shots of them together. Once practice starts, Coach makes his way on the ice and huddles the boys together to go over what they'll be doing. I take a few solo pictures of the boys and a few group pictures.

Time seems to be going by fast because the clock reads 7:15. I have 15 minutes until I need to leave. I've realized the more I pay attention to hockey, the easier it is to understand. It's not that bad, it's actually quite interesting. By the time it turns 7:30, I wave at Coach goodbye, and a few of the players yell their goodbyes. A smile is formed on my face as I walk out of the ice rink. I grab my phone out of my side pocket at the sound of it ringing. I answer it and hold it up to my ear.

"Hey Josh, what's up?"

"Good morning Ari, how was practice?" he asks.

"Good, it was really fun to learn about. I'm about to drive back to campus for my class," I tell him.

"That's good. I was wondering if you wanted to go to a party tonight at the football house. One of my buddies invited me," I contemplate my decision. I've never been to a party before, never had a drink before, "It's completely okay if not, we can chill at your dorm and watch a movie instead," He suggests.

"Uhm, sure. Yeah, we can go. Can Bri and Hailee come?" I need Bri and Hailee for support. They've gone to a few parties this year, so having them with me is the safest option. Well, safe when Hailee's not drunk. She's a VERY emotional drunk. One time, she came home and ranted about how bad she feels when she steps on grass because she could be killing a ton of ants. Yeah, not her brightest moment.

"Yeah yeah, I'll pick you girls up at 9, have a good day gorgeous," He says as he hangs up the phone. I'm about to go to my first party. Oh my god. I open my car door and start driving back toward campus with only two things on my mind.

~

a little shorter chapter (i honestly don't know if it's shorter). hope you enjoyed :)