Page 4 of Against The Boards

He nodded. “A bit soon, eh?”

We shared a concerned look.

Tristan’s roommate Noah had been in love with their next-door neighbor for a while. She broke his heart when she broke up with him a couple of months ago. They seemed better now, but I was protective of Noah. He was like a second brother to me, and I didn’t want to see him hurt again. Noah was way too nice, and I was afraid people took advantage of his kindness.

“Wait, so you don’t have an open room I could use?”

Tristan abruptly cut the engine and got out of the car.

I followed him towards the elevator. “Well?”

“I have a new roommate,” he said. His grim expression told me I wouldn’t like whatever bomb he was about to drop on me.

“Tristan, who moved into Noah’s room?” I asked.

“Benny.”

“Benny?”

“Yes, Benny.”

“Like…Michael Bennett?” I asked and prayed to the hockey gods he meant literally anyone else.

Please tell me he had another friend who went by the name Benny. Please, anyone else but the six-foot-four left-winger who took one look at me and asked me if my tits were fake. There was no way in hell I was living with Benny while I searched for a place. Even if he was nice to look at with his impeccably groomed beard that looked amazing against his brown skin.

Please hockey gods, be on my side this time!

“Do you know another Benny?” Tristan asked and gave me the signature Desjardins grin.

“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!”

My twin laughed the whole elevator ride up to his floor. I didn’t understand why he thought this was so goddamn funny. This was my worst nightmare.

Chapter Two

BENNY

Noah screwed the last leg of the bed together, and we hefted my memory foam mattress on top of the frame. Thank the hockey gods most of my teammates were like me — over six feet tall and strong. I could have put this together myself, but Noah was good with his hands and too nice to say no when you asked him for help.

Noah wiped his hands on his jeans. “That should do it, eh?”

I nodded and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Moving freaking sucked. “Thanks. I would have asked T for help, but he ran out of here in a huff a few minutes ago.”

At twenty-five, I shouldn’t have been happy about having a roommate. But when my long-term girlfriend and I broke up, I needed a place to stay, and TJ had come in clutch. His old roommate, Noah, had moved in with his girlfriend, so TJ offered me his vacant room. After our season ended without a playoff run a couple of weeks ago, I high-tailed it back to Boston to visit my abuelos, but I came back today to move my stuff in. Mostly because my ex wanted me to get my stuff out of her house.

“Um…” Noah trailed off.

I raised an eyebrow at the pained look on his face. He rubbed the back of his neck. I spent a lot of time with the guy; I knew that was one of his nervous ticks. You don’t spend a lot of time on someone’s wing without learning a lot about them.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” he asked and cringed.

“Know what?”

Noah didn’t have time to explain what I didn’t know because I heard the front door of the condo open and TJ’s hyena laughter. Then I heard a familiar feminine voice with him, and I froze.

No. For the love of God, no.