The Forbidden Freshman: A College Sports Romance (Nolan U Hockey Book 1)

I throw on some boxers and chase after Mikayla, my feet stumbling on the stairs as I try to grab her. She’s too fucking fast, and I can’t even nip the edge of my shirt as she flies into the living area where all the guys are sitting and standing around the kitchen counter.

Casey’s nursing a coffee, looking a little blurry-eyed while Liam sits there in a sweaty T-shirt. He must have just gotten home from his morning run. Asher’s standing there spinning a basketball on his finger, which he quickly catches when Mikayla marches toward him.

She’s not wearing a thing under my T-shirt. Holy shit. Can they see her nipples through the cotton? She better not raise her arms. My shirt’s pretty long on her, but it’s not touching her knees, which means it’s too fucking short when she’s panty-less.

I jerk to a stop behind her, grabbing the edges of the T-shirt and making sure it stays in place. I’m tempted to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back upstairs, no doubt kicking and screaming, but that will probably expose her very fine ass to these guys and⁠—

Shit. She’s right. I can’t tell her she doesn’t own my junk and then act like I own every inch of her body.

“Asher, we need to talk about this bet.” She crosses her arms, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that she’s being studied by three big hockey players… and what the fuck are Riley and Connor doing here? Those guys have dorm rooms. Do they ever use them?

They jump off the couch and wander over, eyeing up Mikayla with surprise before breaking into broad grins.

Great. Now five big guys are gawking at her.

“Did she stay the night?” Riley asks with a look so gleeful I want to punch him. “Does this mean⁠—”

“It sure does.” Asher nods, then turns back to Mikayla with a smirk. “Sorry, sweetheart, but your boy broke the rules, and we shook on terms. He can’t go backing out now.”

“I don’t give a shit what terms you agreed upon. I’m not letting him walk around campus naked.”

“You should be grateful it’s a Saturday. There’ll be minimal foot traffic. Well played, man.” Asher holds out his fist, and I glare at his knuckles until he lowers his arm with a short laugh.

Casey snorts and shakes his head. I can’t see what Mikayla’s face is doing, but whatever look she throws at Casey shuts him up quick. Liam hides a grin behind his water bottle while Asher continues to stand there looking smug.

“Rules are rules, babe.” He shrugs. “Things were set in motion before you even came along, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Thank you, by the way.” He winks at her, and I growl like a bear.

Asher laughs at me, and I’m about to grab Mikayla’s arm and drag her back upstairs when she goes and makes my stomach drop.

“What if we set up a new bet?”

Panic sizzles through me. What bet? What’s she going to agree to?

I move into her line of sight, tempted to cover her mouth with my hand before she says something stupid and ends up losing to Asher. Shit, the guy’s relentless.

“Intriguing.” He smirks, his eyebrows wiggling. “What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know…” She shrugs and waves her hand at him. “I’ll play some one-on-one ball with you. If I win, Ethan’s out of this stupid bet and the slate is clean.”

Asher chuckles, resting the basketball against his hip and leaning forward. “And if I win?”

She swallows and looks around. “I’ll, uh…” Her eyes light on the kitchen and she winces. “I’ll play Cinderella for a month.”

“Cinderella?” Asher frowns.

“You know, do dishes, mow lawns, wash cars and shit.”

“What? No.” I shake my head, gaping at the large pile of dishes scattered over the counter.

So, we’re not the cleanest.

“And our laundry,” Asher adds.

“Oooo. I like the sound of that,” Casey murmurs into his coffee mug.

“Fuck off, you guys,” I bark at them. “She’s not doing that!”

“Deal.” She speaks over me, sticking out her hand for Asher to shake.

“You don’t have to do this.” I try to intercept, but I’m too late.

Mikayla ducks around me, shaking Asher’s hand before glancing up at me with a worried smile. “It’ll be fine.”

“Heads up.” Asher shoots the basketball at her, and she only just gets her hands up in time, fumbling the thing before gripping it to her stomach.

“Shit,” I mumble under my breath. “Don’t do this, Mick. He’s going to demolish you on the court.”

“Too late, she already shook.”

I ignore Asher’s taunting and throw her a desperate frown, scrambling for a way out of this. “I’ll just follow through on my bet. You don’t need to do this for me.”

“You’re not walking around campus naked,” she snaps, hugging the ball like a teddy bear. “Look, I played a little basketball in high school.” She darts her eyes to Asher, who’s shooting her a gleeful grin. “It’ll be okay.”

She doesn’t believe that.

Shit! What have I gotten her into?

Following her out to the entrance, I hover over her while she pulls fresh clothes out of her bag, and then I carry it up to my room. We quickly get dressed, Mikayla donning a pair of ass-hugging shorts that make my mouth water. They’re gym shorts, but holy shit, that body of hers is tight. If I wasn’t so distracted by her impending loss, I’d be tempted to take her all over again. But I don’t make a move or say a word as she throws on a tank top and ties up her hair.

“Seriously, Mick, you don’t have to⁠—”

“Would you stop saying that?” she cuts me off with a sharp frown. “I’m the one who made you break the rules. The least I can do is get you out of it.”

“You didn’t make me break anything. I chose to be with you because I wanted to. We needed last night.”

She throws me a grateful smile, her eyes glimmering with enough emotion to blow me right off my feet.

“I’ll help you with everything—dishes, lawns, cleaning, laundry.” I guess it’s another way of telling her I love her. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

“Thanks,” she murmurs, patting my stomach as she walks past me before plucking the ball off the floor and heading back downstairs.

The guys are all waiting for us. Even Baxter’s hauled his ass out of bed for this one. I throw a concerned frown at Liam, but he doesn’t seem too worried by all of this, trailing out the door after Mikayla and Asher.

Fuck. This is gonna be a train wreck, and then my poor girl is gonna be a freaking housemaid for the next four weeks.

Shit, shit, shit!

I miserably walk to the basketball court, trying to figure a way out of this, but I’m pretty sure my lil’ mouse won’t let me do it. I kind of love that she’s fighting for me. I just wish the feeling wasn’t being overshadowed by the guilt lashing me.

I’ll help her. I won’t make her do any of the chores on her own.

The thought gives me some comfort, and I lean against the fence of the outdoor court, cringing as Mikayla dribbles the ball, then shoots a weak pass to Asher.

He’s fucking crowing over this whole thing.

“Ouch,” Liam hisses. “This is gonna be tough to watch.”

A growl reverberates in my throat. Casey elbows me with a laugh. “Gotta love this girl. She’s awesome, man.” He shakes his head, then grins at me. “Congrats, by the way. I know you broke the rules, but I’m glad you got her. It’s obvious how much she means to you.”

I nod, flicking him a closed-mouth smile before glancing at the court where this game of one-on-one is just beginning. Asher towers over Mikayla, easily stealing the ball on her first attempt at a basket.

Liam hisses again while I cross my arms and watch in agony.

Asher quickly makes eleven points with one slam dunk, three lay-ups, and an annoying three-pointer that makes us all cringe. It’s the first to twenty-one, and I’ve got a feeling we won’t be out here long, until…

I shoot up straight, blinking in surprise when Mikayla does a quick spin, dribbling the ball around Asher and darting to the right. She jumps and scores a sweet three-pointer.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Casey laughs, clapping his hands and whooping. “Go, lil’ mouse! Go!”

Asher shakes his head, still smirking at Mikayla’s piece of luck, until she does it again. This time on his left, her quick feet dancing away from him as she dribbles the ball like a pro and does another three-pointer. The net swishes, and Asher gathers the ball with this confused look on his face.

“What is happening right now?” He shoots us a frown, then looks back at my girl.

Mikayla swipes the back of her hand over her forehead. “We’re playing ball, dickhead.”

She fires the ball at him so fast and hard he catches it with a soft “Oof.”

And the biggest smile spreads across my face.

“I played a little basketball in high school.”

A little basketball, my ass. She was probably one of the top players in her school.

Damn, I love this woman.

Asher dribbles the ball somewhat cautiously as he eyes up Mikayla. The cocky edge has dropped from his expression, and he’s concentrating hard, studying his opponent like this game means everything.

She wiggles her eyebrows at him. He frowns, trying to get around her with a quick shuffle, but she pounces forward, easily stealing the ball and dribbling it to the basket for a perfectly timed bank shot.

“Holy shit, are you hustling me, lil’ mouse? Is that what this is?”

“What do you think?” She walks over with a cocky grin, and I swear I love her so much in this moment my heart hurts.

Asher’s eyebrows dip into a sharp frown, and he slaps her butt as she walks past.

“Hey!” I give him a warning roar, jumping away from the fence, but Mikayla brushes it off with a laugh while Casey holds me back.

“Don’t worry, baby.” She dribbles the ball, grinning over her shoulder at me. “Watch me make Asher cry.”

My friend growls, lunging for the ball, but she spins away, making quick work of scoring another three-pointer.

The score is now tied at eleven, but it doesn’t stay that way for long.

Mikayla is relentless and makes quick work of running Asher ragged. He manages a couple of lay-ups, but she demolishes him on three-pointers. The second the ball swishes through the net to make the score twenty-three to eighteen, we all start jumping in victory.

Casey springs onto Liam’s back like we’ve just scored a winning goal in hockey. Riley and Connor are both cheering while Mikayla gathers the ball and skips past Asher with a girly grin.

“Here you go.” She hands the basketball over, batting her eyelashes at him.

He glares at her, muttering, “Well played,” but as she skips over to me, I see his lips twitching. There’s a glow of admiration in his eyes, and I can’t believe she’s mine.

I catch her in my arms the second she’s within reach, loving the way her legs tuck around my waist. I hold her securely with one arm while cradling the back of her neck with my hand.

“I fucking love you.”

She laughs. “I fucking love you too.”

Pulling her down to my mouth, I show her with a searing kiss that owns us both. Her tongue swipes against mine, her legs tightening around me as she clings to my shoulders and deepens the kiss.

I moan against her mouth, already calculating how fast I can run from the court to my bedroom, when a loud screech from the fence pulls us apart.

“Mikayla Evelyn Hyde, you stop that right now!”

Mick rips her mouth away from mine with a gasp, her entire body tensing as she gazes over my shoulder. I turn with her still in my arms and spot an immaculately dressed woman clipping her way onto the court.

“Oh shit,” Mick whispers under her breath.

“Who is that?”

“My mother.” Mikayla wriggles out of my arms. I set her down but keep a protective hand on the back of her neck until she murmurs, “Wait here, okay?”

She moves away from me, and I’m about to ignore her request. The woman storming toward us right now looks mega pissed.

But then my lil’ mouse turns and fires a pleading look at me. “Please. Just… stay here. All of you.” Her eyes brush over my friends, and we nod, respecting her need for privacy.

Against the instincts firing through me, I watch her run toward what feels like obvious danger and hold my ground. But I’m not taking my eyes off her for one second.