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

I worked hard this morning. My muscles feel shredded, which is exactly the way they should be after an intense lifting session. I managed to channel some of my frustration into the workout, and I grunted and yelled my way through the heaviest lifting I’ve ever done.

Coach would be proud—maybe. It’s hard to tell sometimes. Compliments are rare and usually grunted at you, but he’s loyal to a fault and I’m pretty sure, when none of us are around, he won’t shut up about how awesome we are. And that’s why we give him our all.

Rubbing a towel over my head, I saunter out of the weight room, ready to shower up and get on with my day. But my step falters when I spot a short brunette loitering near the rink with a take-out coffee cup in each hand.

With a little snicker, I shoulder the glass door open and walk into the crisp air of the hockey rink.

“Hey, Shorty.” I grab her attention. “How’d you get in here?”

She walks around the rink to meet me, and I watch her face the whole time, trying to figure out what the hell she’s doing here.

“Mr. Zamboni let me in.”

“Did he now?”

She stops in front of me with an impish grin. “I can be persuasive when I need to be.”

“Right.” I drag my eyes down her body. She’s changed clothes, and it’s hard not to notice the way those jeans hug her little legs and that shirt tucks in at her waist, the V-neck accentuating her boobs. She really is petite, but I like her small curves on display this way.

Clearing her throat, she shoves a coffee cup at me.

I wrap my fingers around it. “What’s this?”

“A thank you… for helping me out last night.”

“Wow, how bad is this hurting you right now?”

“A lot.” Her emphatic expression makes me laugh as I sniff the brew. Damn, that smells perfect.

“I don’t know how you like your coffee, so you’re having it the way I like mine. I always go for café au lait in the mornings because, you know, I’m classy that way.”

With another laugh, I raise my cup and say, “Well, bonjour to you,” before taking a sip. “Oh yeah, that’s good.”

“Excellent.” She smiles, and I notice for the first time that her eyes are more of a gray-blue. It’s hard not to stare at them.

Until she clears her throat and looks away from me.

“So, you went home, then?”

She snickers and shakes her head, muttering, “Home,” before looking back at me with a sigh. “Yeah, Captain Hero. I went back to the Sig Be house and set things right with El Presidente.”

“Ooooo, you pissed off the president?” I grin. “Nice.”

Her nose wrinkles. “I think I pissed off everybody last night. Including you.”

“I wasn’t mad.” I shake my head. “I was worried. I didn’t want anything bad happening to you.”

Her eyebrows pucker with confusion. I mirror her expression and state the obvious.

“I wouldn’t want anything bad happening to any girl on campus. Walking around at night like that is just dumb. I wish it wasn’t. I wish you could, but you have to face reality. What you did was kind of insane.”

She works her jaw to the side, then shrugs. “Anger makes me stupid.”

I laugh again. I don’t know what it is about this chick. She’s funny. It’s not like she’s trying to be, she just is.

But my smile gets cut in half when the door swings open and Asher walks in.

He eyes Shorty with suspicion before coming to stand beside me. Crossing his arms, he shows off his ripped biceps as he smirks down at her. “Where’s my coffee?”

She raises her eyebrows at him, then puts on a sticky sweet smile. “Probably at Java Jean’s waiting for you to walk your ass down there and buy one of your own.”

A startled laugh punches out of him. “Sassy mouth. I like it.” He tips his head at me. “Why’d you buy him one, then?”

“None of your business.”

I snicker at her standard answer. It doesn’t rile me so much when it’s shot at Asher.

He narrows his eyes at her, and she points behind him.

“Disappear, tall person.”

Asher shares a surprised look with me, like he can’t quite believe this chick. I get it. We’re used to girls stumbling over themselves to get our attention. We’re used to shameless flirting. The girls who aren’t interested seem to avoid us altogether, but most are keen, and most are of the eyelash-batting variety.

But not Shorty.

And damn if I don’t think it’s cool.

She’s still giving Asher this pointed look, and all he can do is snicker, shake his head, and walk away.

“Stay put,” I tell her. “I’m gonna shower up, then walk you to class…or wherever it is you’re going next.”

She rolls her eyes. “I just popped in to give you a thank-you coffee. I’m not waiting for you to shower up. I can look after myself. I don’t need some bodyguard walking me to class.”

“Sure.” My lips fight a grin as I make a point of checking her out. “What are you? Five-nothing?”

Her lips part with an insulted scowl. “I am five-three… and a half, so just… you know!”

“Wow.” I raise my eyebrows. “What a comeback. You’re right, anger does make you stupid.”

She gasps, her eyes flashing. “Give me that coffee back.”

I hold it away from her, laughing some more as she makes a lunge for the cup. She grunts and tries again, jumping on me to reach the coffee and basically crawling up me like I’m the tree and she’s the monkey. I cinch her around the waist, and the second her breath hits my cheek, we both go still.

I turn and am caught by those gray-blue eyes, held still by the way they study mine. Her breathing grows a little punchy, and natural instinct is making me want to lean forward and kiss those pink lips.

But I’m on Day fucking One of No Come. I’m on the morning of it, and if I kiss her now, it’s just gonna make me ache in all the wrong places. I can already feel myself growing hard. Her little body nestled against mine, her boobs squished against my chest.

And now I’m getting even harder.

I lower her to the ground, and she swallows, taking a step back. “Seriously, I don’t need you to walk me to… class…” Her voice trails off with a sigh as she obviously thinks of something. Squeezing her eyes shut, her face bunches and she quickly blurts, “But that would be really nice of you.”

Wow. She actually agreed.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise, and she huffs. “Well, hurry up. It’s freezing in here, and I don’t want to be late.”

I would offer to let her sit outside the locker room and wait for me, but I don’t want Coach showing up and yelling at her.

She’ll be less noticeable if she waits on the bleachers, so I direct her to a seat and tell her I’ll be fast.

“Just stay, okay?”

She rolls her eyes again, plunking down with a little eye bulge before wrapping her hands around her coffee cup.

“Good girl.” I wink at her, and she shoots me a very raw, dry glare.

It’s hard not to laugh as I run off to the locker room.

She really is one entertaining chick.

One you should probably stay the hell away from.

Letting out a sigh, I down the last of the coffee before throwing the cup out and stripping off my gym gear.

So I wanted to kiss her for a second. Big deal. I can control this thing.

Once I walk her to class this morning, the chances of seeing her again are probably slim to none. I won’t ask for her number or anything. I’ll just deliver her to whichever building her first class is in and then be on my way.

Not a big deal at all.