Damaged player a college.., p.1
Damaged Player: A College Hockey Romance (Westfall U Series), page 1
PRAISE FOR R.C. STEPHENS
“Loved this book! This was my introduction into RC Stephens and it did not disappoint.”- Goodreads Reviewer on Heartless Player
“Sweet slow burn with likable characters.”- Goodreads Reviewer on Ruthless Player
“5 RUTHLESS PLAYER STARS!! Holland and Cole will take you on a ride through their stories. This one had all the feels and kept me flipping pages all the way through. I can't wait to read more words from this author.”- Goodreads Reviewer on Ruthless Player
“Book three in the series and this callous hockey player is going to steal your heart!”- Goodreads Reviewer on Callous Player
“The chemistry was hot and had those moments I look for, the secret looks and touches the waiting for them to give in. The Westfall U series and the charcters is fast becoming one of my favourite hockey series.”- Hopelessly Addicted to Books on Callous Player
DAMAGED PLAYER
R.C. STEPHENS
Copyright © 2022 by R.C. Stephens. (Irene Cohen)
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design: Okay Creations
Editor: Barren Acres Editing
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
Prologue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by R.C. Stephens
PROLOGUE
Cait
“Hi, Cait,” Darren says as he meets me at the front door of the arena. “I appreciate you coming out this way.” Darren Stanfeld is the new coach for the Westfall U Dragons hockey team this year. He also happens to be dating one of my best friends.
“No worries,” I respond. “It sounded kind of important.”
“Blossom mentioned you’re working with the tutoring department. How do you feel about working with athletes?” he asks.
“Um. . .I haven’t really thought about it,” I reply honestly. More like I’ve fantasized. “I guess it doesn’t matter who I tutor.”
“Good, I was hoping you’d say that because one of my guys recently broke his arm, and he’s going to need quite a bit of help,” Darren explains.
I swallow hard, trying to play it cool in front of Darren, but my insides are seriously shaking. I don’t think I can tutor a hot hockey player because, for some reason, all the guys on the team here are droolworthy and I will seriously blush through the entire session. Besides, the only player on the Dragons I know of who was recently injured is Evan Hayworth, and I have the biggest crush on him. Tutoring him would be a majorly bad idea. I’d probably be a blubbering mess the entire time.
“What kind of help?” I ask, trying to keep my tone even.
“Typing assignments mostly, but he also struggles academically, even before the injury. We had a couple tutors working with him, but it didn’t work out,” Darren says, and he scratches the back of his neck and looks down at the floor. I don’t know why, but it feels like there is more to this story than he is letting on.
“Why didn’t it work out? I should understand what wasn’t working so I can try a different method,” I reply, biting my lip. What am I doing? My schedule is already so full, but this is an opportunity for me to spend time with my crush.
“Uh. . .well. . . he kind of had sexual relations with his last two tutors. The department has allocated funds for the players to get tutored because they are required to keep a certain GPA to keep their spot on the team. You would need to sign a contract in order to tutor one of my guys, and it would stipulate you can’t sleep with them.” Darren winces. “The last two tutors lost their jobs.”
“No worries there. I’m practically the Virgin Mary,” I joke, but then I realize what I’ve said and want to crawl into a hole in the ground. Darren is dating my best friend, Blossom, but they are both more than a decade older than me. The reason Blossom and I are so close is because her sister, Rebel, is married to my brother, Wolfe.
Darren’s brows raise and he remains quiet.
I wasn’t always this socially awkward. In high school I was a popular cheerleader. My boyfriend, Jack, was popular too. Then the accident happened. I lost part of my leg and was confined to a wheelchair for some time because of a back injury. Jack dumped me by saying he didn’t sign up to be with someone disabled. Problem is, I gave him my virginity only weeks before, so the breakup left me feeling hollow and broken.
“Okay then,” Darren bites his lip. “The player’s name is Evan Hayworth.”
Of course it is.
“The injury has been a hard pill for him to swallow. He was supposed to be drafting this year, but now with the injury. . . it’s a setback, to say the least. I need him to keep his grades up. The cast comes off in six weeks and he has rehab ahead of him. What do you think?” Darren asks, tucking his hands into the pockets of his chinos. He rocks back on his heels.
“As long as he doesn’t need more than two sessions a week, I can fit him in,” I assure him. I don’t know what I am doing because I have the hots for Evan. Seeing him gets my blood pumping and makes me remember I’m still alive. That I can still feel desire after everything I’ve been through. Problem is, Evan doesn’t see me in that way. He’s friends with my brother, Wolfe, and basically our whole friend group. Darren doesn’t need to worry about Evan and I hooking up because a player like Hayworth would never see me in a desirable way.
“Great. I’ll ask admin to send over the paperwork, and it would be great if you guys could get started right away. I’ll send Evan your number.”
“Sure. Thanks for thinking of me,” I say to Darren.
“Of course. Glad it’s going to work out,” he replies.
I shouldn’t feel giddy about tutoring Evan because this isn’t going anywhere, but I can’t help it. The smile spreading my cheeks is a first in a hell of a long time. I figure if this news has boosted my mood this much then it must be a good thing. I leave the arena and head over to Mackee Hall for classes. I pass Evan as I’m heading to my lecture and the awkward part of me wants to stop him and say, “Yay, I’m your new tutor,” but I know that would be weird. I should just wait for Darren to give him my info. I wish Evan would have looked up and acknowledged me as I passed him. We have friends in common. We may not have directly hung out, it was more by association, but it stings that he doesn’t see me. I’m a ghost to Evan Hayworth. I don’t know if tutoring him will change things between us, but I’m guessing I just signed myself up for more rejection.
ONE
One Week Later
Cait
For our first tutoring session, I’m meeting Evan in the library. He wanted to meet at the student center, but I told him it would be too loud to work. When I arrive on the second floor of the library close to the escalators, I see Evan sitting at a coffee table with comfy chairs. He has AirPods in his ears and he’s holding his phone up to his face watching something.
I walk up to him, but he’s so engrossed in whatever he is watching he doesn’t detect my arrival. Instead, I watch him with his floppy brown hair that falls just above his chocolate brown eyes. He begins to laugh at whatever he’s watching on the screen, and I take in his perfect lips and sharp-cut jawline. He’s gorgeous with a capital G. I don’t know what it is about him that sucks me under, but I can’t help the buzz in my body, even now, just from being near him.
After ogling him for a minute too long, I wave in his face. His gaze cuts from his phone to me and his brows raise as he puts his phone down and stands.
“Cait,” he says, his lips curling in a sexy smile.
“Hi, Evan,” I greet in return, feeling stiff while trying my best not to blush.
I’ve hung out with the team plenty of times when I’ve been around Blossom, Paris, and Poppy, who all dated players from the Dragons team and are now in the NHL, but this is different. We are alone. He and I are the center of attention. Every other time I’ve seen Evan, I’ve always kind of melted into the background.
<
My cheeks flush because of the knowledge that the coaches had a hard time because he kept bedding his previous tutors. I wish he would take me to bed. I blink, trying to erase the thought from my mind. That was very unprofessional of me. I mean, Evan does have muscles that go on for days. Right now he’s wearing snug jeans that show off his strong legs and a sweater that fits him like a glove, showcasing perfectly muscular shoulders, but it doesn’t matter. I signed a contract and I’m a professional, but a girl can dream.
“No worries. I understand you’re a history major. I’m a science major but I’m kind of a history buff too,” I mutter, feeling nervous. My friends are all girls and consist of my roommates, Olivia and Luna, and some other girls from my floor. They all hang out with guys, but I don’t go out with them when they do. I’m strictly a girls’ night kind of girl. Or at least that’s what I’ve become since the accident. My ex Jack’s words always ring in my mind. He didn’t sign up for a girl who is missing a part of herself and can’t walk straight. Those weren’t his words exactly but it’s what he meant.
“You’re one of those people who’s good at everything,” he laughs. “Wolfe is the same. Lucky bastard,” he says, referring to my brother. Evan and Wolfe never played for the Dragons at the same time, but my brother’s best friend, Cole Davis, played with Evan for a year.
“I definitely wouldn’t say that,” I say, digging my teeth into my lower lip. “We should get started. We have an hour for each session. Coach mentioned we should look at your schedule and decide what needs to be done first so you don’t fall behind.”
Evan’s lips pinch. “I’ve already fallen behind.”
“No worries. We’ll catch you up. It’s better if we move to one of the worktables so we can set the laptop up and sit side by side.”
Evan agrees and we find a table off to the side. He sets up his laptop with one working hand and arm, but it takes him a little longer. While he is logging into his computer, I take a seat beside him feeling giddy. He smells like a perfect mix of sandalwood and ocean breeze. It’s been so long since I’ve really been around any guys. The other students I tutor are all girls.
Evan takes a seat, and we look through his schedule. He’s a senior, so all his classes have a heavy load of papers to write. We start with a philosophy paper. He pushes his laptop toward me and then he waits.
“Have you done the research?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
“Okay, so we should find some journal articles. You can read those for next time and then we can work on the outline,” I say.
“You mean you want me to do the research?” he asks with his brows pinched.
“Isn’t that how one usually begins a research paper?” I ask in reply.
Evan shrugs. “Wouldn’t know. My tutors have been writing my papers since freshman year.”
“Seriously?” I ask flabbergasted.
“It’s just how it’s always been,” he explains. “All the chicks at this school want a piece of me. Some to move up the social hierarchy, some just heard I have a big. . .”
His brown eyes turn round, and I shift in my seat.
“Anyhow. Doesn’t matter. I get it. Coach found a girl I won’t take to bed. Now I gotta do the work. Problem is, I don’t know how.”
A part of me wants to crawl out of my own skin because I don’t know if I should be insulted by Evan’s comment about never bedding me. I don’t think he meant to be offensive either. Maybe he sees me as his friend’s little sister and that’s why he won’t take me to bed, or maybe it’s because I’m so not his type. Either way, it stings.
“I can teach you. It’s a good skill to know,” I say, which draws a blank expression from Evan. “What if hockey doesn’t work out?”
He shrugs. “Then I become a sports broadcaster or a coach.”
“I guess you have your life figured out then,” I reply dryly.
“Not exactly. This injury has set me back. I’m worried about how my arm will heal and if I can still draft.”
“That must be hard. I remember when Wolfe broke his leg senior year. It was tough and he had to go through rehab, but he came back stronger than ever and drafted,” I say, hoping to lift his spirits. There must be more to Evan than just being a hot jock.
“Thanks, Cait. I remember seeing the tape when Wolfe played Havenshire and Berlin cut him down. It was brutal. His comeback was sick. I’m going to have to do a lot of PT to get my arm working again,” he says.
“But isn’t victory so much sweeter after working hard?” I ask.
Evan gives me a thoughtful look and his lips curve up. “It is. Thanks, Cait.”
“No worries. Now let’s teach you how to really write an essay. You shouldn’t have to worry about having sex to bring your GPA up,” I say. There I go, being awkward again.
Evan grins. “You’re funny.”
“I wasn’t meaning to be. I just think you should depend on yourself. Haven’t you worked hard in hockey?”
“I have.” He nods. “I’ve worked damn hard. You have a point though.”
“Let’s review the first step, finding journal articles on your topic,” I suggest as I type on the laptop.
“Let’s do this,” Evan says, as he moves in closer, and my heart picks up pace.
Since the accident my self-esteem has been shattered. I didn’t even know if I wanted to go to university but with the help of my therapist and my brother, I decided I needed to do this for me.
Problem is, it hasn’t turned out the way I hoped. I have my brother’s crew, who are more like family, and I have Olivia and Luna. This past summer I went to the Cape with them and some other girls from our dormitory floor. It was a big step for me. I’m still not completely steady on my prosthesis, and I like to have it covered as much as I can. With the summer heat in Cape Cod, it was kind of difficult to wear long pants to the beach. I ended up spending more of the time at my uncle Roy’s bed and breakfast than I did with my friends. The one day I did go to the beach with them, I put on my bikini and a pair of cutoff jean shorts. It was the first time my prosthesis wasn’t covered in front of my friends. Olivia and Luna were awesome and supportive. I told them about the accident, and I’ve walked around our dorm room barefoot but with long pants, always. I never spoke about it with the other girls, even though they must have assumed something because I limp when I walk. The staring was expected. I’m different but when we just sat out tanning in the sun, I had covered my legs with a towel when a bunch of guys stopped by to talk to us. One of them was interested in me and he was so hot. I missed that kind of attention but when he saw my leg, he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I didn’t confess the full truth to Blossom about my trip, and she is my best friend.
I get to work, showing Evan the sites for finding proper journals for his research paper. Knowing he’s slept with that many girls to get by is kind of a turnoff, but the guy is handsome as hell. I think of my brother before he met Rebel. Wolfe may have always been a good student, but he got around until he met the right girl. Being with Rebel changed him for the better, and damn, I wouldn’t mind being the girl to tame the infamous Evan Hayworth. If only he saw me as something more than his tutor.
TWO
Noah
Living in the hockey house on a new campus is the last thing I wanted. I miss my boys back in Minnesota, but Coach felt it was best for me to get to know the members of my new team faster. Living off campus wouldn’t close the divide of me being the new player and the first-line center on the team.
