The Boy Who Checked Me First

Chapter 4: Ice Bath Rules

The second practice ended, I couldn't breathe.

Not in a cute, "oh he took my breath away" way. In a real, my ribs are grinding every time I inhale way.

I stayed on the ice after Coach blew the whistle, pretending to work on my stick handling so no one would see me holding my side. The team filed off, loud, sweaty, shoving each other.

A shadow fell over my puck.

"Don't," Cole said.

I didn't look up. "Don't what?"

"Don't do that thing where you pretend you're fine. You checked Eriksson and then you haven't taken a deep breath since."

He was right behind me. I could feel him, even in all his gear.

"I'm fine, Captain. Really. Just winded."

"You're lying. Again. You're really bad at it, Chen."

He reached down, and before I could stop him, he took my stick right out of my hands.

"Hey!"

"Trainer. Now."

"Cole -"

"That wasn't a request, roommate. You go on your own or I carry you. And I will. In front of everyone."

He would. He absolutely would, and he wouldn't care how it looked.

I glared at him, but I skated off the ice. My legs were shaking. Not from the workout. From pain.

The trainer's room was freezing and smelled like menthol and rubber. Maria Alvarez, our head trainer, was taping Park's ankle when we came in. She took one look at me and pointed to the table.

"Chen. You look pale. Sit."

"I'm okay, it's just -"

"She took a hard check yesterday," Cole said from the doorway, arms crossed, still in his base layer. He hadn't even taken his skates off. "Left ribs. Big bruise. Didn't tell anyone."

Snitch. Hot, grumpy, protective snitch.

Maria pulled the curtain. "Shirt up, Chen. Let me see."

I hesitated. Cole turned around instantly to face the wall, giving me privacy. That small thing - that he turned without being asked - made my throat tight.

I lifted my base layer.

Maria inhaled. "Jesus. Aria."

The bruise was worse in the bright lights. It had spread overnight, angry purple and black, from under my sports bra down to my hip bone. The center was almost black.

"How long ago?"

"Yesterday. At practice," I whispered.

"Did you hit your head? Lose consciousness?"

"No."

She pressed gently around the edges. I hissed and grabbed the edge of the table.

"Okay, okay. I don't think it's broken, but I can't rule out a hairline fracture or cartilage damage without imaging. You need an X-ray. Today."

My blood ran cold. X-ray.

"Aria?" Maria frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I... can't. Not today."

Cole turned back around.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean I can't," I said, staring at my hands. My voice got small. "My insurance... it lapsed last month. My dad... he was paying it when I was on the women's team, but when I switched to men's, he said if I want to play with boys and get hurt like a boy, I can pay like one. So I'm in between plans. And the campus clinic charges like four hundred dollars for an X-ray and I have like sixty dollars until my work-study check comes and -"

I stopped. Because I was rambling and my eyes were burning and I was NOT going to cry in front of Cole Maddox.

The room went quiet.

Maria softened. "Oh, honey. We have forms -"

"I'll pay."

Cole's voice cut in. Flat. Final.

We both looked at him.

He already had his phone out. "How much? I'll call the clinic. They can bill me."

"Cole, no," I said instantly. "Absolutely not. I'm not taking your money. I don't even like you."

"You don't have to like me to let me pay for your X-ray that I caused," he said, looking right at me. "Let me fix what I broke."

The word broke hung in the air.

"It's not broken," I said.

"We don't know that," Maria said.

For a second I wanted to say no on principle. I had spent my whole life not taking anything from anyone, especially not from guys who thought girls needed saving.

But then I breathed and pain shot through me and I thought about missing practice tomorrow because I was too proud.

"Fine," I whispered. "But it's a loan. I'll pay you back. Every dollar."

He just nodded, already dialing. "Yeah, hi, this is Cole Maddox, Whitmore Athletics. I need an urgent X-ray for a player... No, billing to me... Yeah, put it under my student account."

He paid for it like it was a coffee. Four hundred and twenty dollars. Just like that.

The campus clinic was two buildings over. He walked me there, carrying my bag and his, not touching me but close enough that if I swayed, he could catch me.

The tech was fast. "Deep breath, hold it - okay, breathe."

The image came up. Even I could see my ribs were intact. Just a really, really angry bruise and inflammation.

"Bad contusion," the doctor said. "No fracture. You're lucky. No hockey for three days, ice, ibuprofen, no more hits to that side."

"No hockey for three days?" I sat up too fast. "I can't. Coach will -"

"Two days," Cole negotiated for me. "She'll sit contact drills for two days, do non-contact and video. Doctor's note."

The doctor looked between us and smiled a little. "Boyfriend?"

"No!" we both said at the same time.

"Roommate," I said.

"Captain," he said.

"Right. Well, Captain Roommate, make sure she ices."

Back at the trainer's room, Maria was waiting with two towels and a frown at the big steel tubs.

"Good news, kids. Bad news. Good news, not broken. Bad news, both tubs are supposed to be filled. Cold tub is working. Hot tub is broken. And you both need ice."

Cole frowned. "Both?"

"You took twelve hits in that last drill, Maddox. Your shoulder is swelling. You need ten minutes cold too."

She looked at us. "One tub. Two of you. You have two options - you go one at a time and are late for class, or you share and get it over with. Your call."

The tub was big. Built for football players. But not big enough for this.

"I'll go after," I said fast.

"Class in twenty," Cole said, checking his watch. "We don't have time. We share."

Maria grabbed her clipboard. "Shorts and sports bras only. No excuses. T-shirts get waterlogged and hide hypothermia. Ten minutes. I will be right outside. If either of you passes out, screams, or does anything stupid, I will pull you out and you will both do extra conditioning. Got it?"

She left, pulling the curtain but not all the way.

Cole stared at the tub full of ice water.

I stared at the floor.

"Okay, rules," I said, trying to sound normal while my heart was trying to escape my chest. "We face opposite sides. No looking. No talking about... anything. We just sit and freeze and hate each other quietly."

"Deal," he said, his voice a little hoarse.

He turned around to give me privacy. I quickly stripped down to my practice shorts and sports bra. My bruise looked even more horrible now. I climbed in, gasping so loud I almost screamed.

IT WAS SO COLD.

"Oh my god! Oh my god it's cold!"

"It's supposed to be cold, Chen!"

He turned, and - credit to him - his eyes went straight to my face, not down. He was in just black athletic shorts, no shirt. Which was... a lot. Shoulders, chest, that tattoo, all the muscle from years of hockey.

He got in opposite me. The water sloshed. Our knees bumped under the ice.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Don't be sorry, just freeze."

We sat there, opposite sides of the tub, knees touching, both shivering violently, ice cubes floating between us.

After thirty seconds, my teeth started chattering.

"You okay?" he asked.

"M-my teeth are t-telling a s-story in M-Morse c-code," I said.

He huffed a laugh, and then reached - hesitated - then reached and brushed an ice cube off my shoulder where it was stuck.

His fingers were freezing but his touch was gentle.

"The bruise," he said quietly, looking at it now that we were this close. "It's my fault."

"It's not. It's hockey."

"I hit you from behind. That's dirty. I teach my rookies never to do that."

He looked genuinely guilty. This big, grumpy captain who acts like he doesn't care.

"You were trying to scare me off," I said, my voice shaking from cold.

"Did it work?"

"No."

"Good," he said.

We sat there, shivering, looking at each other over the ice. His hair was wet and dripping. My braid was coming undone. My lips must have been blue.

"You're still shivering worse than me," he said.

"I'm smaller. Less body fat to be an asshole with."

He laughed again, and then, without asking, he reached under the water and found my foot - my freezing foot - and pressed it between his two feet to warm it up.

It was such a small, weirdly intimate thing. My foot between his.

"Cole..."

"Shut up and let me warm you up, Chen. You're going to get frostbite and then I'll have to carry you everywhere and I don't want to."

But he didn't let go.

The curtain ripped open.

"Oh my GOD -"

It was Park and Eriksson, coming in for tape. They stopped dead.

There we were. Captain Cole Maddox and new girl Aria Chen, sharing an ice bath, knees touching, his feet holding mine, both in barely any clothes.

Park slowly pulled out his phone.

"No - Park, don't you -" Cole lunged, water splashing everywhere.

Click.

The flash went off.