Page 58 of Cole

Lily: Dickstruck isn’t a real illness. Be there in 10, and I want to hear allllll the details.

Ugh. I tossed my phone down on the bed. I’d had to go straight to my evening class when Arianna had dropped me off, and now, when I’d only just gotten to my dorm, it was time to go out again.

I needed time to process last night and today. The whole thing. It was too big to get my head around. Ari hadn’t given me much of a lecture on the way home in the car, surprisingly. I’d thought she’d be full of caution about hooking up with a guy like Cole, considering what she had to know about his line of work.

However, she hadn’t said much of anything about it, except to make sure I was on birth control.

I stared at the ceiling, my hands brushing down my body. I hadn’t showered. I still smelled like him. The thought made me squirm. Oh god. This was bad. I was developing the most insane crush of my life. What about the story?

With a groan, I rolled over and pressed my face into the pillow to muffle my scream.

A knock at the door sent me sitting up in a panic.

She was here already? I scrambled out of bed and went looking for a Hellions shirt to wear.

The HHU rink shone in the darkness. Hundreds were streaming into their seats as I followed Lily to her reserved section. Right behind the player’s bench was for the fiancées and girlfriends. You might think it would be crazy for any college hockey players to already be planning their weddings, but it wasn’t for the star players of the Hellions team. They really were that obsessed with their ladies.

Lily and I sat down next to our friend Selena. She turned to look at me, and did a double take.

“What the hell happened to you, Lancaster? Long night?”

“She stayed over at Cole’s,” Lily immediately leaned past me to tell Selena.

Selena’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t! Oh my god. You need to tell us everything. That man is… I’ve heard he’s like the white whale of Hade Harbor. No one bags him.”

“I didn’t bag him. I mean, I stayed over, that’s true, but it’s not like…” I trailed off. What was I going to say? Cole’s words about hiding what had happened between us came back to me. How easily he accepted that hooking up with him might damage a good girl’s reputation. It made my chest feel tight.

“We had sex,” I blurted, suddenly changing course.

Eve, who was sitting on the other side of Selena, whipped her head around at my statement. “What are we talking about?

“Cole Bailey,” Winter announced calmly. How she’d heard everything from farther along the bench, I had no idea.

“No way. What was it like? Tell us everything,” Eve said quickly.

My cheeks were hot as hell, and I had to resemble a tomato at this point. It fell quiet, and I looked around the assembled girls. My best friends. All were staring at me with rapt attention.

“It’s not a big deal. I mean, I’ve hooked up with guys before. I don’t remember you being so interested then.”

“Like it’s the same! This is Cole Bailey. The Cole Bailey. He’s a local legend,” Selena pointed out.

“I kind of thought you guys would be warning me away,” I admitted.

“A dangerous man, but a good one,” Winter said quietly. “Asher has worked at The Clutch for ages, and he thinks highly of him. We both do.”

“Yeah, Arianna trusts him, so that is all the vouching for I need,” Lily said.

Yeah, that was true. The man I’d spent nearly a day with didn’t resemble the man I’d thought I was hunting down for a story.

“Oh my god, he’s here,” Eve whispered suddenly. All four of my friends’ heads whipped around. “Arianna brought him.”

“What?” I panicked. I couldn’t imagine seeing him already after last night and today.

“Why’s he here?”

“It’s a big game. He probably wants to see Marcus play,” Selena shot out. “Act natural. You’re sitting so upright you look like you just got struck by lightning.”

I slouched a little. “How’s that?”