My Hockey Alpha

Nina

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of a pounding in my head from all of the alcohol, but more importantly, I woke to the sound of birds singing outside and the feeling of thick, warm arms wrapped around me. A smile spread across my lips as I rolled over and nuzzled into the muscular chest that lay beside me. I laid there for a while, listening to the sound of Enzo’s steady breathing as the memories of what happened the night before slowly flooded back into my mind.

The memories were still hazy from the alcohol, but I remembered dancing at the bar with Enzo. I remembered him kissing me as we danced, and then I remembered the feeling of his hand in mine as we snuck out of the bar together and walked back to my dorm. He tried to say goodnight to me at the door, but I pulled him inside and brought him up to my room, where we fell into a night of passion together for the first real time since the night that we first met and hooked up — only now, after all of the tension and the conflict, it felt even better to be with him.

Just then, Enzo shifted next to me and opened his eyes. I smiled up at him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Good morning,” I said softly.

He stared at me for a moment, seemingly processing the events of the previous night just as I did, but his reaction was much different from mine.

He suddenly removed his arms from around me and abruptly got up out of the bed.

I sat up, my eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

for his pants and then pulled them

thought that he was willing to make that

thought you were okay with it,” I said, my eyes frantically searching his

As he stared down at me, there was a look of pain in his brown eyes that traveled far deeper than the surface. “That’s why it was such a mistake. By sleeping with you, I’m only putting

enjoy one night together?

went silent. I felt as though my entire world came crashing down on me at that moment, and I didn’t even care

feeling her presence; I know she’ll emerge soon. I can feel

say something, anything, but he didn’t say a word for

tense silence, Enzo lifted his gaze from the ground to look at me. “I made a deal with my father,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I promised I would go through with the arranged marriage and that I wouldn’t get involved with you,

start to come, but

you tell me?” I

head. “I care about you more than anything, Nina,” he said. “I do want to be with you. But… This person he wants me to marry is extremely powerful and important, and I don’t have a choice. If I say no, and if I try to be with you, not only would I

the one who fell silent. Of course he was right. Being together would only put our loved ones, and ourselves, at risk. But, at the same time,