The Boy Who Checked Me First

Chapter 5: The Photo Goes Viral

I didn't know the photo existed until my work-study shift at the library.

I was shelving books in the sports history aisle - which is deeply ironic when you're trying to hide from an entire men's hockey team - when my phone started buzzing nonstop.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

My group chat with the women's club team:

LENA: ARIA?????

LENA: IS THIS YOU???

MIA: OH MY GOD GIRL YOU DIDN'T

Then a number I didn't recognize:

Unknown: You're welcome, Ice Queen. Check @WhitmoreGossip

My stomach dropped.

I opened i********: with my cold, ice-bath-wrinkled fingers.

@WhitmoreGossip. 43.2k followers. The page that posts who got caught hooking up in the library, who got drunk at SigEp, whose dad donated a building.

Latest post, posted 18 minutes ago. 4,271 likes already.

It was us.

The photo was blurry because Park took it fast while running, but it was unmistakably us. Me in the steel ice tub, in my black sports bra and shorts, hair stuck to my neck, knees pulled up. And Cole opposite me, shirtless, water dripping off his shoulders, his hands - you could see it clearly - his feet holding my foot under the ice.

The caption:

BREAKING: Captain and the Puck Princess heating up? 🏒🔥

Looks like our favorite grumpy captain Cole Maddox #77 finally found a way to warm up after practice. Spotted sharing an ICE BATH with new roomie and history-making rookie Aria Chen #10. Roommates to... more? Sources say they moved in together 24hrs ago and are ALREADY sharing baths. That was fast, Cap. 😏

#WhitmoreHockey #PuckBunnyNoMore #RoommatesWithBenefits

Roommates with benefits.

I felt all the blood leave my face.

The comments were worse.

whitmorepuckbunny69: I KNEW IT she only made the team cause she's banging the captain

wolverinesfan: no way he would touch a try-hard like that

sarah.j_: she literally lives in his apartment now??? of course she does lol

maddoxisdaddy: CAPTAIN DOWN BAD

hockeymom: This is inappropriate, coach should bench them both

Over 300 comments. And climbing.

"Aria?"

I jumped. The librarian, Mrs. Keene, was staring at me over her glasses. "You okay, dear? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm - I have to go. I'm sorry."

I left my cart of books and ran. Not to the apartment. I couldn't go back to the apartment. I ran to the empty women's locker room that was still half-flooded and locked myself in a shower stall and just sat on the tile, in my jeans and hoodie, holding my phone as it kept buzzing.

This was exactly what I didn't want. Exactly what my dad warned me about. "You go on that men's team, Aria, you'll be a distraction, you'll be gossip, not a player."

And Cole - God, Cole was going to kill Park. And then kill me for being in the photo.

My phone rang. Cole.

I didn't answer.

It rang again. Cole.

Then a text.

COLE: Where are you? Don't read the comments.

COLE: Maria told me Park posted it. I am going to end him.

COLE: Aria. Answer.

COLE: Library girl said you left your shift. Where are you?

I turned my phone off.

Ten minutes later, the locker room door banged open.

"Chen? Aria? Are you in here?"

His voice echoed. He was out of breath. Like he ran.

"Go away," I called from my stall.

His footsteps came closer. "I'm not going away. Open the door."

"No."

"Aria."

"No, Cole. Go away. You've done enough warming of my feet for one day, thanks."

Silence. Then he slid down and sat outside my shower stall, his back against the door. I could see his sneakers under the gap.

"I didn't know he took it," he said quietly. "I swear. I would have smashed his phone."

"It's not your fault. It's - it's what everyone thinks anyway. That I only got here because... you know."

"Because you're banging the captain?"

"Don't say it like that!"

"How should I say it? It's what they wrote."

He sounded angry, but not at me. At them.

"Listen," he said, leaning his head back against the door. I could see the top of his head. His hair was still damp from the ice bath. "Freshman year, someone took a photo of me passed out on the SigEp lawn after my first college party. No shirt, face paint. It got 10k likes. They called me 'Mascot Maddox' for a whole month. I wanted to transfer."

I didn't know that. Captain Perfect had embarrassing photos too.

"What did you do?" I asked through the door.

"I owned it. I wore face paint to the next game. Scored a hat trick. They stopped laughing."

He turned around. Now he was facing the stall door, his forehead almost touching it. If I opened it, we'd be inches apart.

"They want a story, Chen. Puck princess seduces captain to make team. It's easy. It's lazy. You know what's not easy? Going out there tomorrow and showing them you belong on that ice bath AND on that ice."

I wiped my eyes. "I have a bruise the size of Texas on my ribs and now the whole school thinks I'm sleeping with you to stay on the team. My dad just texted me 'CALL ME NOW' in all caps. So my day is going really great."

"He texted you?"

"He follows the gossip page. Of course he follows the gossip page."

Cole was quiet for a second. Then he stood up.

"Open the door, Chen."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your captain and your roommate and right now you're sitting on a flooded shower floor and you have practice video review in twenty minutes and I'm not leaving you here."

I opened the door.

He was standing there in fresh clothes - Whitmore Hockey hoodie, sweatpants, his captain hat backward. He looked down at me, sitting on the gross tile in my library clothes, mascara probably everywhere.

He didn't say anything. He just held out his hand.

I took it. His hand was warm and big and it swallowed mine. He pulled me up in one easy motion. Too easy. I stumbled, my ribs twinged, and I landed right against his chest.

For two seconds we just stood there. Me breathing against his hoodie. Him frozen, one hand on my elbow, the other hovering over my back like he wanted to hug me but didn't know how.

"You smell like books," he whispered.

"You smell like ice," I whispered back.

And then we both laughed, because it was so stupid and so awkward and because we were both still half-frozen from that tub.

He let go first. Stepped back.

"Come on. Video review. And after, we deal with Park. Together."

Video review was hell.

Coach Jensen had the lights off, projector on, and twenty-three guys in chairs. I was the only girl. The only one in the front row because I was late.

On screen: our power play. On my phone in my pocket: the photo, now at 11k likes.

Coach didn't mention the photo for the first forty minutes. He just coached. Then he turned the lights on.

"Maddox. Chen. Stay. Everyone else, out. Park, you stay too."

The team filed out, whispering, looking back at us. Park looked like he wanted to melt into his chair.

Jensen waited until the door closed. Then he pulled up the i********: photo on the projector. Huge. My sports bra, Cole's tattoo, our knees touching.

The room went dead silent.

"Anyone want to explain to me," Jensen said calmly, which was scarier than yelling, "why my captain and my newest player are trending on a gossip page half-naked in my trainer's ice bath?"

"It was not half-naked, sir," Cole said instantly. "We were in athletic wear. Regulation. Maria told us to share the tub because the hot tub is broken and we both needed ice. It was medical."

"Medical," Jensen repeated, looking at the photo where Cole's feet were holding mine. "That looks very medical, Maddox. Very clinical."

Park raised a trembling hand. "Coach, I - I took it as a joke, I didn't think -"

"You didn't think. That's the problem, Park. You took a photo of two teammates without consent in a medical setting and posted it to a public forum. That's a violation of athletic code 4B. You're benched for Saturday's scrimmage and you're writing an apology to both of them. And you're off social media for a month. I will be checking."

Park went pale. "Yes, sir."

Jensen turned to us. "As for you two. I don't care if you're dating. I don't care if you're roommates. I don't care if you're enemies. I care that my team looks professional. Saturday we have press. Local news is coming because of you, Chen. History-making girl. They will ask about this photo. You will have an answer that makes us look good. Understood?"

"Yes, Coach," we said together.

"And Maddox - if that bruise on Chen's side gets worse because you two are playing grab-ass in ice baths instead of rehabbing, I will personally end you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Get out. And Chen - ice again tonight. Alone this time."

We walked out. Park was waiting in the hall.

"Guys, I'm so sorry -" he started.

Cole stepped in front of me. "You ever take a photo of her again without asking, I'll make sure you never start a game again. We clear?"

Park nodded fast and ran.

I looked up at Cole. His jaw was tight. He was doing that protective captain thing again and trying to hide it.

"You didn't have to do that," I said.

"Yeah, I did," he said. "You're my roommate. My problem, remember?"

He started walking toward the exit. Then stopped.

"Oh, and Chen? For the press on Saturday, we need to decide. Are we going with 'just teammates' or 'just roommates'?"

The way he said 'just roommates' made it sound like a question.

My phone buzzed. A new post from @WhitmoreGossip.

Same photo, but zoomed in on his hand holding my foot.

Caption: UPDATE: Heated foot holding in the ice bath? These two aren't even trying to hide it. 👀

12k likes now.

I looked at Cole. He was looking at his phone too, his expression unreadable.

"Just teammates is going to be really hard to sell now, Captain," I said.

He shoved his phone in his pocket, grabbed my hockey bag with one hand like it weighed nothing, and said,

"Then we don't sell it. We let them watch."