Chapter Four: The Line We Shouldn’t Cross

I spent most of the night telling myself I wasn't thinking about Roman Hayes.

I was lying.

My laptop had been open for nearly an hour, the same paragraph staring back at me from the screen, I had only written three sentences for my article and deleted two of them.

My mind kept replaying the conversation from yesterday. "You don't seem scared of me."

I still didn't know why that sentence bothered me so much. Or was he right? I wasn't scared of him.

Roman was Ethan's rival for goodness sake, the last person I should be seen with.

My phone buzzed, I picked it up and looked at the notification at my screen. It was Maya. 

"Guurll.... you alive?"

This girl always knows how to make me smile. I opened her text and replied ASAP.  

"Unfortunately."

Her reply came almost immediately. "Thinking about hockey boy?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Go to sleep."

"That's a yes."

I tossed my phone onto the bed and leaned back in my chair. “This is ridiculous,” I muttered to myself.

It was... Yess Isla. It's utterly ridiculous. You barely know him. I tried to tell myself.

I forced myself to look at my laptop again, the words blurred together.

I gave up.

* * * * * *

The next afternoon, I arrived at the arena with a coffee in one hand and my notebook in the other.

Practice had already started.

The familiar sound of skates cutting across the ice filled the rink, mixed with Coach Carter's shouting and the occasional smack of a hockey stick against the boards.

I found a seat near the rink and opened my notebook. Today, I was going to focus. No distractions, no Roman.

I lasted about twenty minutes.

“Bennett.”

I looked up. Roman was standing in front of me, still wearing his helmet.

I stared at him. “What?”

“You're pretending you don't see me.”

“I was working.” I said, trying to keep my straight girl face. 

“Sure.”

I looked back at my notebook. “Go practice.”

He leaned against the boards. “Maybe I wanted to see you.”

My pen stopped moving, i slowly looked up. Gawwd!!! He was giving me that annoying yet addictive smile again.

“You're annoying.” I smiled back.

Roman's expression softened for a second, he looked at me differently whenever I laughed. I wasn't sure how to describe it but it wasn't the teasing look he usually gave me.

I quickly looked down. “You're distracting me.”

His eyebrows lifted. “I'm distracting you?”

“Yes.” I gave him a look.

He laughed. “Relax, I like it when you're distracted by me."

My pen froze, I looked up at him. Roman didn't look embarrassed, he just stood there, watching me.

My heart gave an embarrassing little jump. “You shouldn't say things like that.”

“Why?” he frowned.

“You know why.”

“I don't.” he moved an inch close to me. 

“You're Ethan's enemy.”

His smile faded slightly. “I know.”

“And I'm his sister.”

“I know that too.” 

“So you should probably stop.”

He was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. “Probably.”

The way he said it made it obvious he had no intention of doing that.

Someone shouted his name from the ice. Roman looked over his shoulder. “I have to go.”

“Good.”

He smiled. “But don't leave.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“I want to talk to you after practice.”

“About what?”

“You'll find out.”

Before I could answer, he pushed away from the boards and skated back onto the ice.

I watched him for a second, then I forced myself to look at my notebook. I tried to write, I really did but all I could think about was what he wanted to talk to me about.

* * * * * *

Practice ended almost an hour later. Most of the players disappeared into the locker room, laughing and shoving each other as they went.

I packed my things slowly.

Roman still hadn't come out or maybe he'd forgotten. Part of me was sort of relieved, another part of me was disappointed and I hated that I felt that way. 

I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed toward the exit.

“Isla.”

I stopped and turned around. 

Roman was standing at the end of the hallway, his hair still damp from his shower. He had changed into a gray hoodie and black sweatpants.

“You waited,” he said.

“I was finishing my assignment.” I lied. 

“Still counts.”

I rolled my eyes. “What did you want to talk about?”

He walked toward me. For once, there was no teasing smile on his face. “I wanted to apologize.”

I frowned. “For what?”

“For earlier.”

“You didn't do anything.” 

“I was being a jerk, I shouldn't have said that stuff.”

I knew what he meant, the compliments, the flirting, the way he'd been deliberately getting under my skin.

“It's fine.” I walked closer to him. 

“No, it isn't.” He stopped a few feet away. “I know Ethan hates me and I also know why."

That caught my attention, I studied his face. “Then why does he hate you?”

Roman looked away. “That's something you should ask him.”

“I have.”

“And?” he focused his gaze at me. 

“He won't tell me anything.

“Then there's probably a reason.”

I sighed. “You two make everything so complicated.”

Roman looked back at me. “It's not as simple as you think.”

“What happened?”

His jaw tightened. “Not tonight Isla.”

That alone made me overthink about the grudge my brother and Rowan were having. What really went wrong?