My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 39

Nina

I didn’t want to admit that it broke my heart to tell Enzo we couldn’t be together, but it was the right thing to do. We would be toxic together, and besides -- there was just too much drama surrounding the pseudo-relationship we already had for a real relationship to be able to blossom.

Admittedly, I didn’t know if I even wanted to go on this date with James after everything. Was it even a date, or were we just two friends meeting up to study? Either way, I didn’t know if it was a good idea, especially so soon after I told Enzo that we could only be friends.

I told Jessica everything, however, and she convinced me to go.

“Aw, come on, Nina!” Jessica said when I told her about James and Enzo. “Are you really gonna let a guy who you hooked up with once stop you from going on a date with a really sweet guy who clearly likes you?”

I wanted to explain that it wasn’t just a hookup, that Enzo had saved my life multiple times now and that he possibly even thought I was his mate, but I didn’t. Jessica would think I had gone totally bonkers.

Lori chimed in then with a smile on her usually-stoic face. “James sounds like your type, anyway,” she said. “Plus, you know how bad of an idea it is to get involved with hockey guys. And you know what they say…”

“The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else,” Jessica said with a grin and placed her hands on her hips.

Lori rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t what I was gonna say, but I guess that works, too,” she grumbled, returning to her book.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright,” I said, throwing my hands up in surrender. “I’ll meet up with him. But I’m not having sex with him or anything like that. We’re just studying.”

Despite the fact that I told myself James and I would just be casually studying, I still got a little dressed up the next day. I put on a flowy dress with a turtleneck layered underneath, along with a pair of thigh high socks and ankle boots. Aside from a bit of mascara, I didn’t put on any other makeup or do my hair in any way that was out of the ordinary; I didn’t want to seem too dressed up.

After class that morning, I headed to the quad, where I was supposed to meet up with James. He was sitting at the fountain and reading a book, wearing his usual sweater vest and button-down ensemble, when I approached.

“Hey,” I said as I walked up to him. He looked up and shut his book with a smile and stood.

“Hey,” he replied, briefly glancing at my outfit -- I could tell that he was trying not to be obvious, but I knew he checked me out and it made me blush a bit. “You look nice.”

I blushed even harder and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Thanks,” I said sheepishly. “Ready for studying at the coffee shop?”

As James and I walked to the bus stop, I felt eyes on the back of my head and glanced over my shoulder.

Was that Enzo I saw storming away?

…

We made it to the coffee shop and sat down at a window table with our drinks, where we set up our laptops and notebooks to get some studying done.

Over time, as we got more comfortable, we started chatting while studying. James was incredibly smart and wound up helping me a lot with my research, but we also got to know each other a bit better.