Rooming with My Ex, The Hot Hockey Captain

Sienna’s POV The eviction notice was still folded in my back pocket when my phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it because unknown numbers usually meant bill collectors, and I’d had enough of those this month to last a lifetime. But something made me pick up, maybe the same stupid hope that had gotten me into this mess in the first place. “Is this Sienna Reyes, speaking?” a man’s voice asked formally but more carefully. “My name is Arthur Cole. I’m calling regarding your godfather, Daniel Whitfield.” My chest tightened. I hadn’t heard that name in years. Not since the funeral I couldn’t afford to fly out for. “He passed six weeks ago,” the man continued. “I’m his estate attorney. There’s a property in his will with your name on it.” I sat down hard on the edge of my mattress, the one with a broken spring that jabbed my hip every night, “a property?” “A cond, Near Blackwood University campus. Fully paid off,he left it to you specifically.” For a second I couldn’t breathe. I thought about the diner uniform hanging on my door, still smelling like fryer grease. I thought about the three months of rent I owed my landlord and the boxes I hadn’t bothered unpacking because deep down I knew I’d be moving again soon anyway. “Are you sure it’s me? There’s no mistake?” “No mistake, Miss Reyes. He left exact instructions, You'll need to come sign the paperwork this week.” I hung up and just sat there, staring at the water stain on my ceiling that looked disgusting. Six months ago my life had a plan. Full scholarship to State, a boyfriend I thought I’d marry, a future that felt solid under my feet. Then Marcus cheated on me with my roommate, the scholarship board found a clerical error that wasn’t even my fault and pulled my funding anyway, and I dropped out because I couldn’t afford the difference, All in the same ugly month. Now I had one dead godfather and one condo that felt like the first good thing to happen to me in half a year. I should have known better than to trust good things. ********** The building was nicer than anywhere I’d ever lived. Glass doors, a doorman who actually smiled, an elevator that didn’t smell like cigarettes, I stood in the lobby clutching the folder of paperwork like it might disappear if I loosened my grip. “Unit 14B,” the doorman said, handing me a spare key, “Nice place. You’ll like the view.” I thanked him and rode up alone, watching the numbers climb, my heart climbing right along with them. This was it, a fresh start with a place that was actually mine. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, and for one full breath, it was perfect. Floor to ceiling windows, a kitchen bigger than my old apartment’s entire footprint with Sunlight everywhere. Then I heard the shower running down the hall. “I froze, Someone was here.” My first thought was that I had the wrong unit, that the doorman had made a mistake. My second thought, the one that made my stomach drop, was that maybe my godfather hadn’t lived alone. The bathroom door opened before I could decide whether to run or hide. And there he was, Just a towel slung low around his hips, water still dripping down a chest that looked carved out of something expensive, dark hair pushed back off his forehead, looking like a demigod. Cole Ashford. I hadn’t seen him in four years, not since the night he stood in my driveway and told me long distance wasn’t worth the trouble, that he needed to focus on hockey and I was a distraction he couldn’t afford anymore. Not since he walked away without looking back while I stood there in the rain like an i***t, waiting for him to change his mind. He hadn’t changed, If anything, he looked worse for my heart. Taller and maybe Harder. The kind of handsome that used to make my whole body forget how to function. His eyes landed on me and went wide with something like shock, before that familiar wall slammed down behind them. “Sienna?” he said, like he couldn’t quite believe it. “What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” “Your apartment?” My voice came out thinner than I wanted. “This is my apartment. My godfather left it to me.” Something shifted across his face, fast and gone before I could read it properly. “Daniel Whitfield was your godfather?” The way he said it made my skin prickle. “Yes, How do you know his name?” Cole ran a hand through his wet hair, and for the first time since I’d known him, he looked genuinely rattled. “Because he was my legal guardian,” he said. “This is my place, Sienna. Has been for three years.” I stared at him, waiting for the punchline, waiting for this to be some kind of sick joke but It didn’t come. “That’s not possible,” I whispered. “The lawyer said the deed was in my name.” “It is,” Cole said slowly, like the truth was only just landing on him too. “Both our names, actually, I just checked my mail an hour ago.” My stomach turned to ice, because if that was true, it meant the first guy who had shattered my heart into pieces I still hadn’t finished picking up was about to become my roommate.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​