Not So Broken (West Coast College Book 3)

Chapter 1

Cameron

An ear piercing whistle blows from across the rink, and collective groans float around me.

Blood pounds in my ears as I skate around, waiting for instructions from either Coach Miller or Noah.

Noah, our captain, gives me a sharp look that tells me not to do anything stupid that will upset Coach anymore than he is and for once, I listen 'cuz I don't want to go home late tonight.

This happens on a daily basis now. Coach Miller is getting even more nit-picky with each practice, finding the most little slip ups and hounding us, especially with the championship game coming up in April.

I slap my stick on the ice a few times, tuning out Coach's barking and glancing towards the opposite end of the rink where Ava and Brayden are standing, huddled in a circle with their coach, who's name I learnt was Tatum.

Even though they don't compete under the school's name, they gave Ava and Brayden-who happens to be Tyler's boyfriend-full permission to train at our arena since it's one of the only regulated rinks in the area.

That also means that four days a week, our training overlaps by an hour.

And it's fucking torture. I've only seen her a couple of times outside the rink so when I do see her, all I want to do is skate over and talk to her.

Like right now.

She's currently wearing tight black leggings with an even tighter pink compression shirt, white leg warmers covering her skates.

I smile. She's always wearing pink.

Ava nods at her coach and skates away with pure determination and grit written on her face as she gets into her starting pose and starts floating across the ice with Brayden.

Another sharp whistle blows from behind me. "Wyatt!" Coach yells. "Puck drop!"

I blink, slowly drawing my attention away from Ava and back to my own practice.

I skate over to the defensive zone where Noah's already waiting for me, stick held tightly across his chest, his knees bent, ready.

He smirks at me through his cage. I stick my tongue out at him. "Suck my dick, Carter."

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" Noah hums, his smirk growing.

I scoff because the answer is extremely obvious. "Duh. Who wouldn't want to suck my dick?"

Coach drops the puck between us and I lunge at it with my stick.

Stick. Such a funny word.

I chase the puck when Noah sends it flying behind me to Rhys and I cackle when I shove him into the boards, snatching the puck away from him and using all my weight to slapshot the puck at Mike.

It pings off the crossbar and Coach blows the whistle. Again.

We all lineup. Again. Such a fucking common theme with us.

Rider takes the puck and sends it flying between my skates-something I hope Coach didn't see-and determination fires through me as I go soaring after it, not caring that Wesley is hot on my heels.

My legs are burning but there's no point in giving up now, especially when I'm so close to reaching that stupid fucking disc of rubber that continues to buzz across the ice as if it knows it's being chased.

I finally catch up to it, a smirk growing on my face-

My skates slip out from underneath me when I crash into something-or someone-my head hitting the ice first with a thud.

My ear starts vibrating as my helmet scratches the ice underneath me, immediately causing a headache I know will be a bitch to get rid of later.

It takes me a moment to realize that someone's crumbled on top of me, curling around me when we hit the boards. Hard.

My left side hits first, rattling a groan out of me when I sprawl across the ice on my back. Black dots suddenly dance around my vision, cursing when I try to sit up and my head feels like a thousand pounds.

"Shit." Someone says, skates scratching the ice frantically behind us.

Noah and Tyler are standing there suddenly, both looking like they're trying to hold a laugh in, along with Brayden who crouches down beside me and helps Ava off me, a weak groan coming from her as she stands on wobbly skates.

She blinks down at me, rubbing behind her left ear gently. We stay silent for a moment before I jump up.

I clear my throat, fiddling with my gloved hands in front of me. "Um-are you alright?"

Ava just raises an eyebrow at me, fighting a laugh as she tilts her head backwards and Brayden just nods, skating off to Tatum.

I shift on my feet. "I should have paid more attention-"

"Cam, I need you take off your helmet, man." Ava interrupts, talking a smidge too loudly. "I have no fucking clue what your saying."

Oh.

I glare at Noah and Tyler when they snicker and they straighten, clearing their throats. I rip my gloves off and throw them at the two of them, gingerly lifting my helmet off, praying no one can see how red my neck is.

Ava motions with her hands for me to continue. "I was just saying I should have paid more attention to where I was going."

She watches my lips move and I fight the urge to turn my head away from her stare. Ava just snorts, shaking her head at the ground.

Brayden skates back to her side, handing her something before she slips them in her ears, flinching before she adjusts them.

I kick myself for not realizing she didn't have her hearing aids, especially when I'm so used to seeing her wear them.

She sighs, understanding written on her face. "It's okay, Cameron. And I'm sorry if I elbowed your dick." She winces, talking more softly than she did before.

I smile. "'S okay. But if I would have known you were so interested in my junk, you could have just asked. Neither of us would have any obligations. Still don't."

Her face screws up, lips twisting. "Oh, gross. You and your junk can stay as far away from me as possible, please."

I pout, my hand flying to my chest. "You wound me."

Ava rolls her eyes, her shyness back suddenly as she dips her head, not meeting my gaze. "Well, I'll see you Tuesday right?"

I blink, my smile turning into a frown. "What's Tuesday?"

Her eyebrows fly up, eyes rounding. Her head snaps to Brayden when he calls her name. "Did they seriously not tell you?"

"Tell me what?" I'm so fucking confused. I wrack through my brain on things that might be on Tuesday. We don't have training that day so maybe Noah or Rhys invited us over?

Ava laughs, biting her pink lip. She waves at me as she skates backwards, her ponytail swaying behind her as she does. "I'll see you Tuesday, Cameron."

What the fuck is on Tuesday?