The Boy Who Checked Me First

Chapter 6: Press Day - Fake Dating for the Cameras

Press Day at Whitmore is supposed to be boring.

You put on your clean jersey, you sit in front of a backdrop with the Wolverines logo, local news asks you "How's the team looking this year?" and you say "Great, we're working hard, one game at a time." Done.

Press Day when there's a viral photo of you and your captain sharing an ice bath is not boring. It's a circus.

At 7 a.m., the athletic building lobby was already full. Not just the campus paper. Actual Boston local news. Two cameras, lights, a woman in a blazer holding a microphone that said BOSTON SPORTS NOW.

Coach Jensen saw them and his eye twitched.

"Alright, listen up," he hissed, pulling me and Cole into his office before anyone could start. He closed the door. On his desk was a printout of the @WhitmoreGossip post. Now at 19.4k likes.

"They're not here for hockey. They're here for this. So we are going to give them a better story. The story is: Teammates. Professional. Hard-working. No drama."

"Yes, sir," I said.

"Yes, sir," Cole said.

Jensen looked between us. "So when they ask if you're dating, you say no. Clearly. When they ask about living together, you say it's temporary university housing due to a flood. When they ask about the ice bath photo, you say it was medical rehab and Park has been disciplined. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. And Chen -" He looked at me, softer. "They're going to ask you about being the first girl. They will try to make you say the boys are mean to you. Don't give them that headline. You say you're part of the team. You say Maddox has been a great captain and roommate. Even if he's been an ass."

Cole choked on air. "Coach -"

"Am I wrong?" Jensen raised an eyebrow.

Cole didn't answer. He just looked at the floor.

"Out. Jerseys on. And someone get Park to carry water. He doesn't get to sit."

In the locker room hallway, Cole grabbed my elbow gently - his new thing, apparently, grabbing my elbow like I might float away.

"You okay?" he asked low.

I was wearing my full game jersey for the first time. Number 10, CHEN on the back. It was slightly too big. I had tied my hair up. My bruise was hidden. But my hands were shaking.

"I'm terrified," I admitted. "I've never been on TV before. What if I say something stupid?"

"You won't."

"What if they ask about the photo and I blush?"

"You will blush," he said matter-of-factly. "You blush when you lie."

"I do not!"

"You do. Your ears turn red. Like right now."

I slapped his arm. He caught my hand, held it for half a second, then let go like he remembered we were in a hallway with 20 people.

"Hey," he said, quieter. "Stick to the script. Just teammates. Just roommates. We can do that."

Just teammates. Just roommates. Why did that suddenly sound disappointing?

The press conference started. The whole team sat in a row of folding chairs in front of the backdrop. I was on the end, next to Cole because "captain and rookie" looked good for cameras.

The Boston Sports lady smiled with very white teeth.

"We're here with the Whitmore Wolverines men's D1 team, and a very historic first - Aria Chen, the first woman to make the roster in 50 years! Aria, how does it feel?"

I leaned into the mic. My voice shook.

"It feels... it feels amazing. It's an honor. The team has been really welcoming."

Liar. Your ears are red.

Cole nudged my foot under the table.

The reporter turned to him. "Captain Maddox, what's it like having a female player - and roommate, we hear - on your team?"

A ripple of laughs from the other reporters.

Cole smiled. His media smile. Perfect, practiced.

"Aria earned her spot. She was top three in every conditioning drill at tryouts. She checked Eriksson into the boards yesterday -" Eriksson yelled "HEY!" from the back row "- and she made him like it. As for roommate situation, it's temporary due to the flood in the women's dorm. University housing assigned it. We have house rules. Very strict house rules."

"House rules?" the reporter perked up. "Like what?"

I jumped in before he could say "No girls after 10 p.m." and ruin us.

"Like no loud music after 9 p.m. because we have 5 a.m. practice, and clean your dishes, and don't touch each other's hockey sticks," I said.

"So domestic," the reporter said, delighted. She looked at our body language - we were sitting close, our knees almost touching because the chairs were small. "And what about this photo that's been circulating?"

She held up her phone. The ice bath photo.

My stomach dropped to the floor.

Coach Jensen in the back went rigid.

Cole didn't even flinch. He leaned forward, took the mic.

"That photo was taken without our consent in the trainer's medical room," he said, calm, captain voice on full blast. "Aria had a bad contusion from practice. I had a shoulder strain. We both needed ice. Our cold tub is broken - facilities is fixing it - so Maria, our trainer, had us share the working tub. For ten minutes. In full athletic wear. Park, who took it, has been benched for violating team code. That's it. That's the story."

Professional. Clean. Boring. Perfect.

The reporter frowned, like she wanted more drama.

"So you're saying there's nothing romantic going on? Even though you live together?"

"No," Cole said at the same time I said "No!"

Too fast. Too loud.

Everyone laughed. Even Coach.

The reporter smiled. "You both answered very quickly."

Cole looked at me. I looked at him. Grey eyes, tired, a little amused, a little annoyed.

And in that second, I had an idea. A terrible, stupid, Dreame-heroine idea.

If we say "no, we're just friends," they won't believe us anyway. They'll keep hunting for a secret. They'll keep writing #RoommatesWithBenefits.

But if we give them a story we control...

I reached under the table and grabbed Cole's hand.

He froze. His eyes went wide.

I laced my fingers through his. His hand was warm, calloused, huge around mine.

"Actually," I said into the mic, my ears on fire, "we're... we're figuring it out. Living together is... new. And intense. And we didn't expect..."

I looked at Cole. Please play along. Please.

Understanding dawned in his eyes. Then something else. Something mischievous.

He squeezed my hand back. Hard.

"What my roommate is trying to say," he said, looking at me, not the cameras, "is that we have a lot of house rules, but we're... working on rewriting a few of them."

Silence. Then camera shutters went crazy. Clickclickclickclick.

WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?

Eriksson in the back row actually fell off his chair.

Coach Jensen put his face in his hands.

The reporter was practically vibrating. "So you ARE dating? Captain and rookie?"

"No -" I started.

"Yes," Cole said, still looking at me. "I mean, we're trying. Quietly. We were trying to keep it professional for the team. But since Park already posted our ice bath..."

He shrugged, smiled that devastating captain smile at the cameras.

"We're roommates. Teammates. And... yeah. We're dating. Is that okay, Chen?"

He asked me. In front of everyone. Holding my hand. Fake dating, but his thumb was rubbing little circles on my knuckle and my whole body forgot how to breathe.

I should say no. I should say this is fake. This is for press.

Instead I heard myself say, breathless, "Is that your way of asking me out, Captain? On live TV?"

"Is it working?"

The room exploded. The team yelled. The reporters yelled. Coach yelled something that sounded like "JESUS CHRIST, MADDOX."

Cole stood up, pulled me up with him - hand still holding mine - and said to the cameras, "One more house rule, guys. No gossip pages in the locker room. Come to us directly. We have a very open relationship."

He winked.

I wanted to die. I wanted to kiss him. Both at the same time.

Jensen dragged us back into his office as soon as the cameras turned off. He slammed the door so hard the Wolverines flag fell off.

"Fake dating? FAKE DATING? That was your solution?"

"It was her idea!" Cole pointed at me.

"It was a JOINT idea!" I pointed back.

Jensen stared at us, at our still-intertwined hands. We dropped them fast.

"You two are going to be the death of me," he muttered. "Fine. You want to fake date? You fake date. You go to team dinners together. You sit together on the bus. You make it believable for the press so they leave us alone. But - and hear me clearly - if this fake dating affects your real playing, I will bench you both and move Chen into the janitor's closet. Understood?"

"Understood," we said.

"And Maddox - if you break her heart for real, even fake-real, I will end your NHL career before it starts."

"Yes, sir."

Out in the hall, the team was waiting. They formed a circle around us.

Park held out his phone. "Dude... you guys have 30k likes already. The comments are insane. #CaptainAndPuckPrincess is trending at Whitmore."

Eriksson clapped Cole on the back. "Captain, you sly dog. Ice bath to boyfriend in 24 hours. That's a record even for you."

"We're not - it's not -" I tried.

Cole put his arm around my shoulders. Heavy, warm, possessive. For the cameras that were still there. For the team.

"My girlfriend is shy," he announced. "Give her space. She has a bruise and I carried her skates this morning."

"You WHAT?" Eriksson screamed.

I looked up at Cole. He looked down at me. Grey eyes, close, that little smirk.

He leaned down, his mouth right next to my ear, so only I could hear over the chaos.

"House Rule Number 9, Chen," he whispered. "If we're fake dating, you have to let me drive you to class. My truck. 5 minutes. Don't be late, girlfriend."

He let go and walked away, leaving me standing there, jersey too big, cheeks on fire, while the entire men's D1 hockey team stared at me like I was the most interesting thing they'd ever seen.

My phone buzzed.

Dad: We need to talk. Now.

And @WhitmoreGossip posted again:

CONFIRMED: Captain Maddox just announced Aria Chen is his GIRLFRIEND at press day. From ice bath to official in 24hrs. We love a fast break. 🏒❤️ #CaptainAndPuckPrincess

21k likes in 5 minutes.