PARKER

I've been trying to study for an hour, but Dakota, Connor, and Brooks landed not too long ago, and it's hard to focus knowing she could show up any minute.

As much as I enjoyed going home, my mom only wanted to talk about Dakota which made me miss her so much more, being that we've basically been attached at the hip since the day we met. I've also been itching to see Brooks after what happened with his family. He's my brother, and he's the last person on this Earth who deserves to be treated like that.

Eventually, I give up on doing work and throw my laptop to the foot of the bed, deciding to take a nap instead. It doesn't last long, though, because soon after I drift off, a gorgeous girl is climbing onto my bed and into my arms.

I open my eyes to see her honey brown ones burning down into mine, a smile splitting her cheeks. "Hey, baby." She leans down, kissing me deeply.

Flipping us over, I waste no time heating things up, having missed this over the past week. I reluctantly pull away for a quick moment to speak, "I missed you so fucking much."

"I missed you so much more," she pulls my head back down to hers, needing me just as much as I do her.

Our tongues collide as our hands roam each other's bodies freely, pulling at and gripping anything we can. The movements cause blood to start rushing towards my cock, so I slow things down, not wanting to start anything when the guys could easily come in any second.

Her hands travel up my back to my hair, fingers running through the short strands as she pulls her mouth away from mine.

"So much better," she softly giggles, eyes flickering between mine and the top of my head.

"I'm glad we can be on good terms again," my words come out sarcastic.

Climbing off of her, I head towards my closet, wanting to grab something before I forget. "My mom made you a present."

The dark blue comforter rustles under her as she sits up abruptly, looking slightly panicked. "Is it a good present or a bad present?"

My brows furrow, "what do you mean?"

"Like," she pauses, moving forward until she's sitting at the edge, legs crossed. "Is it something good, or is it an 'I don't like you, stay away from my son' present?"

I can't help but laugh as I walk towards her, bag dangling from my fingers. "Kota, my mom loved you, why would it be anything like that?"

She toys with the pocket of my hoodie, "we both know you'd tell me that even if she despised me."

"That's true," I admit, dropping the bag into her lap. "Open the bag and then tell me if she actually likes you or not."

I'm eager to see her reaction to what's inside after watching my mom sit on our couch all week making it. The moment I was alone with her last week, my mom immediately started talking about how she wanted to make 'my Dakota' a jersey to match hers, along with a few other goodies.

Something tells me she likes my girl just fine.

Dakota slowly takes the tissue-wrapped jersey out first, and a quiet gasp escapes her lips when she realizes what she's holding.

"She bedazzled a jersey for me?" Her wide eyes meet mine, looking for confirmation.

I bite my lip, trying not to laugh as I nod, gesturing to the bag. "There's also socks and cookie cutters of Connor, Brooks, and I's numbers."

When I told my mom about her famous chocolate chip cookies, she was out the door to the baking store before I even finished the story. My dad just shook his head, saying how excited she was that I had finally opened up to a relationship.

Dakota drops the jersey and launches herself into my arms, wrapping her legs around my torso as she buries her head into my neck. "You weren't lying," she mumbles into my skin.

"I told you, she loves you," my hand creeps under her crewneck, caressing the soft skin on her back.

That word feels weird falling from my mouth, a word I've been thinking about a lot since my game last week. I fully intended to sleep in my own bed that night, but just talking about the girl in my arms made me crave her presence.

It was like I needed to see her, hear her voice, feel her body on mine.

Pulling her torso back slightly, I bring up the topic that's been eating away at me since our call early last week. "You had an interview," is all that comes out.

She tenses slightly, "I did."

"Have you heard anything since?"

"No, but even if I did I haven't decided where I want to end up yet." She looks at the wall behind me, biting the inside of her cheek, a dead giveaway that she's not giving me the full truth.

"You haven't?" I push, desperate to know which part she's lying about.

Her hands come to rest on my jaw, eyes sincere as they move back to me. "Location doesn't mean much to me, I have other priorities that I'd like to put first."

I swallow harshly as her words sink in, unable to make out whether she's talking about our relationship, or her and Connor's. I've heard him talk about how she's going to follow him to whatever city he ends up playing for.

As much as I want to tell her to follow me instead, she needs to make the decision that benefits her, not me.

"You'll make the right decision," I reassure her, kissing her as I set her back on her feet. "Come on, I want to see Brooks before we lock ourselves up for the rest of the night."

She sticks to my side, both of us holding the other closely as we head downstairs.

~

Keeping Dakota to myself yesterday was a mistake because Ellie claimed tonight as a 'girl's night' afterward.

The guys and I are headed to a hockey party the night before we play some of my old teammates, which is the only reason I'm coming with them. Normally, Connor and Brooks will go to these on their own and I'll hang back with Dakota at the house, taking advantage of their absence.

I would've pushed harder for her to come tonight if these guys were close friends, but they're far from it. The only reason I hung around them before was out of obligation, the old teammates I was actually friends with retired when the program shut down, not looking to go pro.

Honestly, part of me is glad she won't be around them.

Pulling up to the house, I can't stop myself from sending her one more text, a weird feeling coming over me.

we should be watching Infinity War rn

That's right, I'm forcing my girl to watch every Marvel movie.

we can always watch it tomorrow

have fun tonight, try not to think of me too much ;)

impossible

The house must be a solid eighty degrees, smoke filling my senses the second we step foot inside.

"Fuck, man," Brooks groans. "I haven't been to a party this intense since sophomore year."

As we walk to the living room, random guys slap our shoulders in greeting, girls try to cling to our arms, and I 'respectfully' push them away.

Meaning I shoot them a glare and shake them off.

"Caddy!" A group of guys cheer, approaching us.

Fuck. Here we go.

I quickly shoot Brooks and Connor a look of warning before my head swivels to the three boys pushing through the thick crowd, approaching us.

Plastering an excited smile on my face, I stretch a hand out to them. "What's up, guys?"

"He lives!" Stephen exclaims, clearly already very drunk, hugging me close.

Caleb and Michael hug me after, and I greet them briefly before introducing them to the boys beside me.

"This is Connor and Brooks," I motion to them, "our captain and goalie."

"You know, we haven't heard a single word from this guy since he left last summer," Caleb tells them.

My hand moves to the back of my neck, scratching and pulling at the hair tucked under my backward ballcap. I still talk to a couple of my old teammates, just not these ones. While the program was great, I never felt like I fit in with the team. They wanted to let loose every night, but I was solely focused on the game.

Connor senses my discomfort and speaks up, "that's on me. I wanted to make sure my new assistant captain was fully with our team, not gathering intel for his old friends."

I quickly nod at him, a silent thank you.

Stephen drapes an arm over my shoulders, pulling me close and speaking loudly. "Nobody's holding it against you, man, but the least you can do is tell me which girls here will be the best lay."

My entire body tenses, eyeing my new teammates as my old ones nod in agreement.

"You're out of luck with him, Parker's had his eye on one girl since he got here, and she's at home," Brooks tells them. "Con and I may be able to give you some names, though."

Michael turns to me again, disbelief written all over his face, "there's no way you haven't been getting your dick wet, Caddy. The longest you went without a bunny in your bed was like a week."

"Really?" Connor speaks up, eyes flickering between me and Michael.

"Oh yeah," Caleb decides to fuck me over too. "This guy had the most game out of everyone on the team, girls were constantly throwing themselves at him, and he was always waiting to catch them with open arms."

"That was a while ago, things change." My words are directed toward the three guys next to me, but my eyes remain locked with Connor's. "I'm gonna go get a drink."

Lightly shrugging Stephen's arm off of my shoulders, my strides are long as I weave between the mass of the people and make my way towards the kitchen. I grab two beers from the cooler on the ground, popping them both open as I lean against the far wall, able to see whoever enters and exits the kitchen, flipping my hat around so nobody can see my eyes.

My last hookup was with a random girl I met at a party, one week before I left Wisconsin, and I honestly had no intention of finding anyone else when I arrived in Michigan. It's my last season before I get called up, and I wasn't going to waste time with random girls when I could be working on myself and my career instead.

Then I met Dakota.

I knew from the moment I met her that she couldn't be a hookup, she meant too much to Brooks and Connor. When she told me about Lincoln, I knew that I didn't even want to do anything physical before I took her out, needing her to understand my true intentions before things went further.

Obviously, I never told Connor about any of this, knowing he probably would have never trusted me around her the way he has from the beginning. I want to be the one to tell Dakota everything, but he's her best friend, so he'll probably get to her before I get the chance.

My phone burns a hole in my pocket, begging me to text her first, but I'd rather talk to her in person, and Ellie will actually kill me if I ruin girl's night.

As I'm finishing my second bottle, a body presses itself against my side, long nails dragging against my bicep. I shift uncomfortably, seeing a random blonde chick in the corner of my eye.

"Can I grab you a drink?" She leans up, whispering in my ear.

I shake my arm, trying to loosen her hold. "No thanks, I have a girlfriend," my words are stern but calm.

The girl only pushes her body into mine harder, "I don't see her."

"I'm not fucking interested in cheating on my girl, find someone else." I don't even try to be nice, plucking her hands off of my body before walking away.

My body collides with Connors as I exit the kitchen, and he relaxes as if he'd been looking for me. "Hey, Brooks and I are already ready to leave, this place is basically a giant hotbox, and we haven't had a random test yet, so odds are it'll be soon."

I agree, following him out into the cold and into our uber. I don't need to accidentally complicate my relationship and get kicked off of the team in the same week.

Nobody talks on the ride back, but Connor follows me to my room when we get home.

He sighs, looking at me briefly before eyeing the posters on my wall. "Listen, man. I trust you, but Dakota is my best friend, and basically my sister, so I have to ask."

"Go ahead," I urge him, glad he's coming to me first.

"Are you all in with her, or do you miss having hookups? Because I'm not letting her get hurt like that again." He looks exhausted, and it's obvious the earlier conversation has been eating at him as well.

"Connor," my voice is deathly serious. "I haven't hooked up with a single person since I moved in, and it's the last thing I want to do. Kota is the only girl I'm focused on, and that's not going to change."

He lets out a breath, finally looking me in the eyes. "Every time your name was brought up in conversation last week, her whole demeanor lit up, she thinks so highly of you. I don't think her knowing about your past would change any of that, but I do think she needs to know."

"I'll tell her," I don't hesitate, the words coming straight out. "Tomorrow, though, I'm not messing with girl's night."

"Ellie would slash your tires," he laughs, walking forward and patting me on the shoulder.

"Thank's for letting me be the one to tell her."

"She may be my best friend, but she's your girlfriend. It's not my job to meddle," he smiles softly, walking out of my room.

Tomorrow, it is.