This is an intense High school romance where Photography student, Charlotte Ken thought her internship with the Michigan Bisons ice hockey team would be all about capturing the game, and from the sidelines, cheering her twin brother who is on the team. What she didn't anticipate was the team's charismatic captain, William Malvin, a rumored NHL first draft pick and a true game-changer. With his dazzling smile, sparkling green eyes, and magnetic personality, William transforms Charlotte's internship into a life-altering experience filled with love, friendship and surprises. Charlotte and William didn't set out to find love on the ice, but sometimes love has its own way of melting the Ice.
Chapter 1 1.
Every move we make to get to our seats is followed through by an elbow jab, a stray arm flung at our faces or a string of angry grunts and shoves.
The cherry on top of the rather aggressive cake is the sounds of disapproval coming from my best friend, Eleane, as she struggles to sit down in her plastic seat.
After a few more seconds of shuffling, groaning and muffled curses, she finally exhales in defeat and stops squirming like a fish out of water.
I look from the annoyed ginger to my other best friend, the contrast of Eleane's total discomfort and Ella's serene familiarity almost making me burst out laughing.
Eleane truly is our adorable little hockey virgin.
Ella, however, has spent an insane amount of time squished into our university's ice rink- watching and cheering as her boyfriend gets checked into the boards time and time again.
I guess I could say the same for me, but instead of boyfriend, I watch as my twin brother gets wrecked.
That's definitely more entertaining.
The next few minutes are filled with Ella and I just staring at our grumpy friend- waiting patiently for her to start the whines. That is until she finally does the predictable and opens her mouth to start complaining.
"Can someone please tell me why the hell we're here?" Eleane starts off, rubbing at her nose and pulling down her beanie in frustration.
Ella and I look from each other, to the ice, and then back to our child-like friend.
Ella releases a breathy chuckle, an indication that she'll take this one. "Well, personally, I'm here because my boyfriend is about to skate out of that tunnel right over there." She points over to the tunnel where players from the opposing side are making their way onto the ice.
Eleane pouts in defeat as Ella continues, "Charlotte is here because her brother just so happens to wear a Bisons' jersey that reads 'Ken'."
Ah yes, my moral obligation to cheer on, support and laugh at my idiot brother- on behalf of our Dad- is why one of these seats is always accompanied by my ass.
The sour look on the ginger's face makes me chip in, "And you, our dear friend, are here because you're incapable of being left alone in the apartment for more than twenty minutes..."
Ella laughs at my comment, mostly because it's one hundred percent true.
Eleane, bless her heart, cannot be left alone for any long period of time.
This is for two main reasons: 1) she's like a naughty child, she will find anything and everything to mess with and possibly break, 2) the last time both Ella and I were out for the day, she managed to nearly burn down our entire building, severely piss off our next door neighbor Mrs Anna and somehow get chocolate syrup all over the ceiling in both the bathroom and kitchen.
Don't ask me how- it's still a mystery.
"I hope you choke." Our toddler huffs out, flipping us both off and turning her attention to the screen displaying each players stats.
I hadn't actually looked at the big screen yet, which is out of character for my desperate-to-checkout-hot-hockey-players self.
As I sweep my eyes across the rink, lingering on the opposing sides section, I finally get my chance to ogle at the screen.
I had just missed the other teams' stats- not too disappointing considering it doesn't make much of a difference to me- so I get comfortable, all snuggled up in between Eleane and Ella, and wait for our beloved team to appear.
Up first is Leo Giveson, our infamous goalie and typical party boy. The crowd erupts in cheers as he skates onto the ice all padded and kitted up.
To an outsider, you'd probably assume Leo is some brain-dead asshole who thinks they're God's gift to earth (and women). Thankfully, I know Leo on a somewhat real level and he's a sweetheart. A real weirdo, but he's a goalie- they're always a little... off?
Up next are the defence players. A few sophomores and one freshman skate on and head to the bench before our starters make an appearance.
Really, if we're being completely honest with ourselves, these two starting defencemen are the only reason Ella and I spend so much time in this freezing as fuck arena.
Jack is up first, his stats getting displayed as he glides onto the ice.
Ella screams widely for her boyfriend, jumping up and down- clapping and whooping as he takes his place on the blue line.
Ah, young love.
Ella's final cheer goes a tad overboard, however, as she flings her arms out and knocks me roughly into Eleane's side. We both chorus an 'Owww' as she calms herself down and shoots us an apologetic smile.
"Jesus, remind me to never get on Ella's bad side. That woman packs a mean punch." Eleane whispers jokingly to me, rubbing at her side where I had been launched.
Next up on the screen is Henry, number 86- the exact same number etched on the back of the jersey I'm sporting.
I clap a little louder than usual for my twin, a proud smile taking over my features as he manages to make his way to the blue line without eating shit.
Is it bad I kinda wish that he had slipped up?
Only a little slip! Just a big enough mess for me to take a picture, send it to our family group chat and to make a meme out of...
That's just what sisters do!
As if he sensed my slightly evil thoughts, Henry looks towards the stands, his eyes sweeping over the mass of people until he finds us- then, as our eyes lock, he pokes his tongue out at me and flashes me his non-gloved middle finger.
Before I have chance to retaliate, the crowd goes wild again and he diverts his attention to the tunnel, where more of his teammates are spilling out.
It's offence now- the first player to skate out being Holden Yen, left winger. For a junior, Yen's already managed to collect quite a fan base- maybe it's his rugged good looks or it could be purely skill, i'm not too sure but- it's very clear to me that he's going to make an incredible senior starter. In my opinion, Yen's holds definite captain potential.
I wouldn't be be shocked if he got passed the torch after the current captain makes it to the majors.
"Awe, he's a cutie." Eleane comments, her hand over her heart as Yen skates to the blue line.
Ella giggles at her, clearly knowing something that our hockey virgin of a friend doesn't.
"Yen? He may look adorable, but that kid is a fighter. He's constantly getting put in the penalty box for causing trouble on the ice. Plus- he'll charm the panties right off ya."
Both of those things were true. Yen Chan likes to get himself in trouble. I'm not too sure why, maybe that's just his role, or maybe he enjoys shoving massive hockey players into the boards.
I know I like watching two grown men fight over a puck- it's half the fun of the game!
And as far as the 'charming your panties off' thing goes...I mean, I've never gone there but, friends of mine have been romanced by the flirty junior on a few occasions. I hear he lives up to his reputation...
Next up on the big screen is our celebrated captain.
William Malvin- number 27. Center forward, and 6 foot 4 inches of pure muscle. A known heart-throb and rumored NHL first pick draft. I say rumored loosely, every man and their dog knows that William is heading to the big leagues after this year. The only question is: which team?
The crowd gets even louder for our captain; and he, of course, soaks up all the attention with a bright smile as he glides skillfully to the starting line.
I had met most of the guys on the team, and considering Henry lived with them, I knew some of the seniors pretty damn well.
All except William.
I think we've spoken all but two sentences to each other in the past three years of Henry living in the same house as him.
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