My adrenaline is sky high right now. I've showered and changed back into my game day dress suit that Coach requires us to wear, even for preseason games.

We just kicked Michigan's asses and I feel like I'm on cloud nine. I scored two goals and had an assist. Coop was a beast tonight blocking every shot they took at him.

Momma is waiting with Al and Ruby. Peyton was coming with some of her other friends so I'll just catch up with her at the house. I'm just happy that Al came. Everyone played great but I was on fire.

There's no way she didn't have fun tonight. The energy in the crowd was electric. I could feel it pulsing through my veins every second on the ice tonight.

When I spot Al, my smile grows when I see how she's decked out in maroon and gold. She's chatting with Ruby and my mom. It does some strange thing to my stomach causing it to flip flop.

Alondra sees me and her smile is...radiant. Absolutely radiant. Then she's darting towards me. I brace myself for impact as she practically throws herself into my arms. "Jack, you were fucking amazing out there!" She says excitedly and I hug her tightly.

"Thanks for coming," I say, trying to hide the emotion in my voice. I know what it meant for her to come tonight, but she came anyway.

"I knew you were good, but holy shit." I set Al down and then I'm being hugged by Momma.

"Oh baby, you played so well." She says and I close my eyes, leaning into her embrace entirely. She smells like home. I saw her earlier but just the fact she got to see me play tonight is incredible.

At this point I'm feeling so many emotions coming off the game that I get choked up. "I love you." I say, and Momma squeezes tighter, if even possible.

"I'm so proud of you."

I finally pull away after feeling a clap on my shoulder and it's just Dylan. "Share the love bro," He teases and Momma smiles up at him.

"Oh Dylan, don't worry. You played great as well." She says, hugging him next.

Ruby gives me a brief hug and I wrap my arm over Al's shoulder. "So you had fun?" I ask, lowering my voice for only her to hear.

She sighs, clearly not very happy to be admitting it. I can't help but grin when Alondra reluctantly tells me that she had a good time. I knew she would, it was just a matter of getting her here.

"Drinks at Twin City?" Connor, one of the seniors asks me, coming up behind us.

I shake my head shortly, "Sorry, not this time. I'm going to take my momma out for dinner."

"What about you Dyl?" He asks and Dylan grins.

"What did Coop say he's doing?"

Connor scoffs, "Coming of course, Ruby, you in?"

Momma looks at me, "Jack, go out with your friends. It's getting late anyways and I should go back to the hotel."

"Absolutely not, I want to celebrate with you."

"We see him all the time, you'd be taking him off our hands," Ruby says encouragingly.

I smile gratefully at her and then I notice that Momma's talking to Al. "-coming too right?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose. He's been so excited that you're coming. I don't want to take any time away from you." Al says, chuckling nervously.

Dylan and Ruby walk off towards his car with Connor. I squeeze Al's shoulder gently, "You should come. It's not imposing at all if I want you there."

"If you're sure." She says hesitantly. She looks around carefully, probably trying to see if her dad has spotted her. I pull my arm away because the last thing I need is Coach up my ass for having my arm over his daughter's shoulders. Separate church and state. Hockey is church and Al is my state. Kinda confusing, but it makes sense to me.

"Of course sweetie." Momma says answering for me, smiling warmly at Alondra.

Thirty minutes later, we're sitting in a booth at a local diner I know Momma likes. I ran back to the house quick to change out of my game day suit. Al is still wearing the Minnesota beanie on her head and her heavy sweater. I glance over at her from where she sits next to me, "You cold still?"

Her cheeks flush, "I'm always cold. You should know this by now."

"I should," I agree, chuckling softly. "Tonight doesn't count for any of the games that you have to come to."

"I didn't think it did," She says, cupping her hot chocolate. Her hands are always as cold as ice. Maybe the warmth of the cup will warm them up. Al smiles and turns to my mom who is sitting across from us on the other side of the booth. "Did he tell you how he cheated at rock paper scissors."

Momma's lips quirk upwards in amusement and she raises an eyebrow at me. "How do you even cheat at that?"

"I'm friends with her roommate, Pritchett. She happened to tell me that when Al can't agree on something she picks rock paper scissors to decide, but always ends up picking rock. It's not my fault she picked rock," I explain and she laughs gently, shaking her head at us.

"Oh that is good," Momma muses. "Just don't play cards with him. He's got sticky fingers."

I smile at her because I happen to think it was pretty genius. I've told her stories about Al, but that was one I left out because of what my end of the bargain had been. I've also failed to tell her how big of an asshole I think I am because of how fucking often I'm readjusting my dick in my pants to hide the fact that I'm wildly attracted to her.

Again, she deserves better than me and my lack of real relationships.

Fuck, she really deserves better than me.

Especially after everything with Grady. If only she knew how much self restraint it was taking me to keep from going and beating the living shit out of him. I'm hot headed. Most hockey players are.

But what he did to her is inexcusable. She was vulnerable because of everything with Coach. He knew that and took advantage of her, manipulating Alondra.

And to see what she is like now? Scared to let anyone see she's skating again. Having to look over her shoulder to even just go around campus. Al says she's not afraid, but the reaction she had to him showing up to her dorm told me more than her words did. She doesn't want to be afraid, but she is.

I want to protect her. She's my friend and I care about her so much.

It's been a long time since I've connected to someone like I do with Alondra. She's so easy to be around. It doesn't make sense.

I drape my arm over the back of the booth as Alondra chats easily with Momma. It makes me happy to see them together.

*********

We just dropped my mom off at the hotel she's staying at this weekend. Al's sitting in the front seat of Coop's car that I've borrowed again about to fall asleep. "Hey darling?" She hums a quick response and I smile over at her. "Thanks for coming tonight. Momma's been really excited to meet you."

"Aw Jackie, it's sweet that you talk about me."

Spit it out. C'mon man. This is pathetic.

"I'm really glad you came tonight Al. I hope you had fun."

What the fuck am I doing? I was fucking ecstatic when I saw her in the seats tonight.

She opens her eyes and smiles lazily back at me. "I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant. But I did have a lot of fun. Everyone was right, your mom is pretty great."

I tap my fingers against the steering wheel. This red light is taking forever.

"Momma's pretty great."

"You look just like her."

And I do. Thankfully. "I know. I'd rather look like her though." A pause. I feel restless. I bet everyone is still at Twin City. I could drop Al off since I'm pretty sure she'll be asleep before I even get to the dorms. "Back to your place?" I ask, just to make sure.

"Can we go back to yours?" She mumbles and I'm a little surprised.

"You sure?"

She nods and I take a turn to head back to the townhouse in the other direction. The radio station I have playing is low in the background. It's cold enough outside that I'm surprised it isn't snowing. It's a little early for that though.

Al is asleep by the time I'm parking in front of the house and I nudge her to wake her up. "Let me sleep," She moans and I chuckle softly.

"You can sleep, you just have to get inside first."

She unbuckles slowly and climbs out of the car, "Are you sure you're cool with me crashing here?" Alondra asks, blinking slowly at me and I wrap my arm around her back to help steady Al.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Why would I care now?"

"I dunno. I'm so tired." She says, leaning into me.

"I know."

"How are you not like crawling on the floor? You played a whole ass game Jack. I was only watching."

I unlock the front door so she can step through in front of me. "I am tired, but I'm still wired. I usually go out after games to work off the rest of my energy. I wouldn't trade having my momma here for that though."

Al trips walking into the house and I grin as I bend down to lift her up over my shoulder. She yelps in surprise. "What the hell are you doing!"

"Well I wouldn't want you to face plant because you can't keep your eyes open long enough to get to the bed, darling." She snorts and I kick the door shut behind me.

"I wasn't going to face plant. You barely even gave me a chance to walk upstairs. And now I'm hanging upside down!"

"Blah blah blah, all I hear is complaining when you should be thanking me for carrying your ass up the stairs." I reply sarcastically.

There's a sharp pinch on my ass and I just about drop her so she can really face plant. "Hey!"

"Hey!" She mocks and I walk into my bedroom and drop her on the bed. Al's hat is practically covering her eyes and she grins at me. "You're the one who threw me over your shoulder. I was eye level with your butt and you were being a jerk so how could I not pinch you?"

I shake my head at her, "What the hell am I supposed to do with you?"

Alondra lays back in the bed, curling up onto some of my pillows. "Well for starters you should let me go back to sleep."

"Pretty sure that's my bed."

She hugs the pillow, "Nope. Not anymore." This girl is something else. Al's eyes fall shut and I turn away because my adrenaline is coursing through me and going straight to my other head. In my defense, a hot girl on my bed is a little confusing to him.

I grab a t-shirt to replace the sweater I'd put on for dinner. "You know you have to come to all my games now right? Not to blow my own horn or anything, but I played pretty fucking great tonight. Coincidentally, you were there which makes you my good luck charm."

Her quiet laughter is the only response I get. I'll take what I can get though. Maybe I could even get Al a jersey for the next one. I shut the light off and plug my phone into the charger. It's only after I'm laying down next to her that she speaks again.

"Hockey players and their superstitions. What'd my dad say about how you played?"

Telling Alondra that he said he was proud of me tonight would only hurt her. Beating Michigan in preseason says a lot about how we'll hopefully play this season. "Coach said to keep doing whatever I'm doing that caused me to play like that. I'm more interested to hear what you have to say about how I played tonight. You gave Coop an analysis at Twin City. What did you notice about me?" I'm positive the conversation change doesn't slip past her, but Al doesn't call me out on it.

"You're fast. Fuck, you're fast out there. Stop letting me win when we race on the ice."

"Where's the fun in that if I catch you in seconds?" Her turns are much sharper than mine but the smile on Alondra's face is contagious. My favorite part of skating with her is our races because right before I catch her, she slows down every time anticipating it.

"Just keep doing whatever you're doing. My dad's right about that. The team looks good. You look good."

I can feel the smile on my face at her words. I know I shouldn't because this isn't what Al and I are, but I can't resist pulling her against my chest. I've never craved physical touch from someone like I do from Al.

She rests her head on my shoulder and I breathe in the now familiar scent of strawberries. I press a short kiss to the side of her head and she lets out a soft puff of air, but doesn't say anything. I'm tempted to ask what she'd rate it, but Alondra's exhausted.

All I can hear in my head is Dylan warning me to be careful.

I'm in so much fucking trouble.