Trapped Between Two Rival Hockey Kings

Rachel’s POV Rachel pushed the blanket off her hot body, because there was no chance of falling asleep now. She lay on her back, pillow pressed over her face, but it didn’t help her at all. She could still hear them, because the wall between her room and Brian’s was thin. Too thin. The sounds coming from the room next door had been keeping her awake for the past hour. The bed kept hitting the wall over and over, and it was making it impossible for her to sleep. Brian suddenly let out a loud curse, and from hearing them so many times, she knew that meant the c****x was nearing. A moment later, Sasha’s scream confirmed it. Was it wrong that she had memorised the stages of c****x coming from the room next door? And was it wrong that hearing those sounds made by her loved up pair of roommates made her feel so angry? Rachel sighed loudly. She had classes at eight in the morning, then work at ten. Her feet already hurt just thinking about it. And now this. She sat up and threw the pillow aside, as she angrily climbed out of her bed and left the room. She crossed the small apartment in her socks, until she got to Brian’s room and knocked hard on his door. “Keep it down. I have class in the morning and a shift after that.” Silence. The room finally went quiet, almost as if they were trying to keep the noise down, but Rachel knew they weren’t. This wasn’t the first time, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. She stood there for a second, before she turned, went back to her room, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and finally closed her eyes. She was almost asleep when she heard her door open. Rachel turned over expecting to see Brian coming to apologize as usual, but instead, Sasha was standing in the doorway, wearing one of Brian’s shirts and looking completely unbothered. She had long hair in a messy bun and an easy smile, the kind that made Rachel feel small for no reason she could explain. “You’re grumpy tonight,” Sasha said. “Get out of my room.” Sasha didn’t move. She leaned against the door frame instead, tilting her head. “You know, for a roommate, you’re not very friendly.” “I said get out.” Rachel repeated. “Relax.” Sasha smiled slowly. “I’m just saying. Maybe if you weren’t so uptight, Brian would actually notice you.” Rachel felt her face go hot. “He does notice me,” she said, and hated how it sounded the moment it came out. Sasha’s smile got wider. “Sure.” She looked around the room. The textbooks on the desk. The planner pinned to the wall. The two work badges hanging by the door. “Must be nice. Living here rent-free while the rest of us pay our own way.” “I pay my own way,” Rachel said, sitting up. “Get. Out.” “Okay, okay.” Sasha raised both hands but she was still smiling. “I’m going.” She turned and walked out, pulling the door halfway shut behind her. From the hallway, Rachel heard Brian’s voice; Low and quiet, but she couldn’t make out the words. She waited for him to say something. To knock. To at least call her name through the door. He didn’t. Rachel lay back down and stared at the ceiling again. She listened to the silence and tried to make herself feel nothing. It didn’t work. It was no longer news that Brian was the campus playboy. It was to be expected, especially since he was on the hockey team and every girl’s wet dream. Rachel had had a secret crush on him for years, and she have watched him go through girl after girl, so this was no different. Sasha was no different. She had told herself over and over again. But she didn’t quite believe it. Brian had been there the night she got the call about her parent’s accident. She had been fifteen, sitting in the school library, and her aunt’s number had come up on her phone. She remembered how the librarian had looked at her afterward. She remembered the floor feeling strange under her feet, like it might not hold her. And she remembered Brian sitting down next to her in the hallway outside her parent’s hospital room and not saying a single word. Just sitting there. For two hours. He had been her anchor. That was the only word for it. Even after the funeral. After the house was sold. After her aunt moved away. Brian had been the constant thing. The person she could call at midnight without explaining herself. The person who saved her the last piece of whatever he was eating. The person who showed up. So when she got a full scholarship to study physiotherapy at Greenfield university; her dream school, she had turned it down and followed him to Northridge university instead. Because she could not stand the thought of him being three states away. She had never told him that was the reason, that she had been secretly in love with him since forever. Pathetic, Rachel thought. She was completely pathetic. She finally fell asleep sometime after midnight. Brian was already up when she got to the kitchen the next morning. He was in a grey Northridge university hockey t-shirt and sweats, pouring coffee, and he looked annoyingly handsome and well-rested. “Hey,” he said. “You want some?” “No. I’m running late.” Rachel grabbed her coat off the hook by the door. Then she stopped. Brian was leaning against the counter with both hands wrapped around his mug, and he had that look on his face. The one he got when he was about to ask her something. “What?” she said. Brian cleared his throat. “My mom wants to do dinner this weekend.” He said, then paused. “With Sasha.” Rachel’s hand tightened on the door hook. “She called last night,” he continued. “I told her I’d ask you if you wanted to come. You know… Familiar face and all that.” She turned around slowly and walked over to the kitchen counter. “Your mom wants to meet Sasha.” “Yeah.” Rachel looked at him. He was watching her, but his gaze was careful in that way that meant he wasn’t sure how she was going to take it. In all the years she had known Brian Carter, his mother had met only one girl he was close to. That was Rachel. And that had only happened because his mom had shown up unannounced and Rachel had been sitting on the couch eating cereal at the time. Brian never took his girlfriends home, but apparently, this one was different. He was bringing Sasha home to see his mother. She cleared her throat. “I can’t,” Rachel said. “I’ll be busy.” “On a Saturday?” “I picked up an extra shift.” Brian gave her a look. “Rachel.” “I said I’ll be busy, Brian.” He was quiet for a second. She could see him deciding whether to push it. He set his mug down, and for a moment she thought he was going to say something real. Something that would c***k the whole careful thing she had built between them. But he didn’t. He just nodded. “Okay,” he said. “If you change your mind.” He picked up his gym bag and left. Rachel stood in the kitchen alone. The coffee was still hot on the counter. She didn’t pour any. She just stood there until she heard the front door click shut. Then she pulled out her phone and opened her bank app. She had been checking the balance for three weeks now. Watching it, saving carefully, picking up every extra shift she could get. Her scholarship covered tuition. Her two jobs covered food and her half of the utilities. She had made sure to spend less. The amount was small. But it was there. It was enough. Rachel’s chest felt tight and loose at the same time, the way it did when she made a decision she knew she wasn’t going to take back. She closed the app and sighed. Rachel was leaving tonight.