Chapter 1
There are three rules for living with six professional hockey players.
Don't walk into the bathroom without knocking.
Don't touch anything in the fridge unless your name is written on it.
And under absolutely no circumstances let the captain find the list you made ranking which of his teammates you'd fuck.
Unfortunately, Russell Hale is standing in my bedroom holding it.
^Four days earlier^
The Uber pulled away before I even got my second suitcase upright.
"Thanks for the help," I muttered, dragging it out of the road before another car could flatten both me and everything I owned.
I stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up at the house my brother had sent me to.
Jamie's place hadn't exactly been my first choice. The flat I was supposed to move into had fallen through three days before my six week design contract started, taking my deposit and most of my patience with it.
Hotels were stupidly expensive, and Jamie had a spare room. So, here I was.
There were three floors, huge windows, two expensive cars parked outside and enough space to house a small cult. Apparently getting punched into walls for a living paid well.
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket.
Jamie: Door code is 1189. Just come in.
I gripped both suitcase handles and started pulling them up the steps. One wheel caught immediately.
"Come on, are you fucking serious?"
Another pull sent the suitcase flying forward and straight into my shin. I bit down on a scream and bent over, rubbing the spot through my jeans.
Maybe homelessness wouldn't have been that bad.
I could get a nice cardboard box. Find a bridge with decent lighting and really make it home.
Instead, I was about to spend six weeks living with my brother and five professional hockey players.
I straightened, pushed my hair out of my face and punched 1189 into the keypad.
Six weeks, I could survive anything for six weeks.
The door clicked open and something crashed inside.
"YOU FUCKING CHEAT!"
I slowly closed my eyes.
Great.
I pushed the door open with my shoulder and dragged both suitcases inside.
"Jamie?"
Nobody answered.
Another crash came from somewhere ahead, followed by laughter so loud I actually stopped walking.
"Tell me you didn't break that."
"It was already broken."
"You literally just threw it at the wall."
I followed the voices into a massive living room and immediately understood why Jamie never invited Mum there.
There were men everywhere.
One was lying across the sofa with his socked feet on another guy's lap. A dark haired guy was crouched beside the coffee table picking up pieces of what used to be a mug, while someone in the kitchen drank milk directly from the carton.
I tightened my fingers around my suitcase, maybe the bridge still had vacancies.
The guy on the sofa noticed me first. His eyes travelled over me before he slowly lowered his phone, a grin pulling at his mouth, "please tell me you're the reason Jamie threatened to break our dicks this morning."
I stared at him, blinking in surprise.
From somewhere behind the kitchen island, Jamie groaned, "Paddy, for fuck's sake."
"Darcy," my brother turned to me, "you made it."
"Unfortunately."
He laughed and pulled me into a hug. I pressed my face into his shoulder for a second before stepping back.
"Why does it smell like something died in here?"
"That'll be Kieran's cooking."
"Fuck off," someone shouted from the kitchen.
Jamie grabbed one of my suitcases. "Darcy, that's Paddy."
Sofa guy grinned.
"Favourite already."
"Debatable."
Jamie pointed toward the man collecting broken ceramic, "Micah."
Micah lifted two fingers. "Hey."
"And the idiot drinking from the carton is Kieran."
Kieran lowered the carton and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes moved over me before a stupid grin spread across his face, "Geez, Jamie. You left out the part where your sister was hot."
Jamie went completely still beside me.
Paddy was still laughing when the front door opened.
“Someone help me before Jamie actually kills me,” Kieran said, backing farther into the kitchen.
“I’m considering letting him,” Micah muttered.
I smiled and reached for my suitcase, but Jamie suddenly looked past me. “Finally. Where the hell have you been?”
I turned.
The man by the door had one hand wrapped around the strap of a large black hockey bag. He pulled an earbud from his ear and kicked the door shut behind him, but the second he looked up, he stopped.
And Jesus. I had just walked into a house full of professional athletes, so the bar was already annoyingly high, but this was getting ridiculous.
He was tall, even compared to the others, with broad shoulders filling out a plain black T shirt and dark hair pushed messily away from his forehead.
His nose had clearly been broken before, there was a small scar cutting through one eyebrow, and somehow both only made his face better.
I didn't realise how hard I was staring until his eyes landed directly on me.
I waited for him to look away but he didn’t.
I glanced down at myself, checking my top before looking back at him with furrowed eyebrows, “what?”
Jamie seemed completely oblivious. He walked over and took the bag from him. “Darcy, Russell. Russell, my sister.”
“I gathered,” Russell said.
His voice was calm, but he was still looking at me.
I shifted my weight. “Hi.”
Nothing, okay. Weird.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked at Jamie. “Is he buffering?”
Paddy snorted behind me.
Russell finally blinked, then rubbed a hand over his jaw, “you don’t remember me.”
My smile dropped.
I looked at him properly this time. Nothing.
“Should I?”
His jaw tightened, he stared at me before reaching over and taking his bag back from Jamie. “Apparently not.”
Russell looked down at me, then over my shoulder at Jamie. He stepped around me.
I turned, staring after him. “Well, he’s delightful.”
“That’s our captain,” Paddy said, raising his drink.
Russell lifted one finger without turning around.
Paddy grinned. “See? Delightful.”
Jamie checked his phone and cursed under his breath. “Shit, I need to go.”
He grabbed his keys from the counter, then pointed around the room. “Darcy’s here for six weeks. Nobody makes her uncomfortable and nobody drags her into your bullshit.”
“I’m literally standing here,” I said, folding my arms.
Jamie ignored me and looked at Russell.
“You’re captain. Keep these idiots away from my sister.”
Russell slowly turned and his eyes found mine again.
“You trust me with her?”
Jamie laughed, “more than any of these fuckers.”
Russell held my gaze for another second before looking back at him, a small scoff escaping his lips.
“You're trusting the wrong man.”