"What were you doing out that early?" he asked.

Lexa explained about her forecasting shift.

"Meteorology, that's cool."

"Most people think it's geeky." Including Jason. "What's your major?"

"Architectural engineering."

"Wow. I thought-"

"Jocks aren't smart?"

"No." She rushed to assure him. "I thought you'd be doing something sports related."

"Odds of me being drafted in the NHL are slim."

"But you score a hat trick every game, and last year, you had the best record in the league."

He raised his eyebrows. "Hockey fan?"

"Sort of."

Aiden waited.

Lexa felt self-conscience, but she couldn't let him think she'd lost her mind. "My ex-boyfriend is a big fan. He dragged me to all the home games the last three years, but I haven't gone this semester. Besides," she added to avoid sounding pathetic, "it's impossible to score tickets this season, and I don't want to be one of those fair weather fans."

He laughed at the weather pun, but paused as if surprised by his own response. "If you've sat through those three horrible seasons, then you're not at all like those filling the stands now."

A smile tugged. "It was painful to watch."

"It was painful to play."

"The new coach made a big difference."

Aiden sobered. "Yeah, Coach Hakim . . . who'd of thought a guy from Indonesia would know so much about hockey."

Lexa detected bitterness in his voice.

"If I sent you a ticket to tomorrow night's game, would you come?" Aiden asked.

"Of course, but-"

Ben arrived with two security guards in tow. "Can you please tell these goons that I'm allowed in here? I'm practically next of kin!"

Lexa grinned at Ben's disheveled appearance-mussed brown hair in need of a cut, flannel shirt untucked and two days of stubble. They'd been best friends since freshman physics. He was the first person she'd called when Lauren had died. "It's okay. He's my ride home."

He sputtered, but couldn't complain since the guards left. "What happened? Your text-" Ben noticed Aiden standing on the other side of her bed.

The two men sized each other like warriors preparing to battle. Stocky but not fat, Ben was shorter than Aiden, who was all lean muscles.

Lexa introduced them. "Aiden, this is my friend, Ben Bernstein. Ben, this is Aiden Deller." She explained Aiden's rescue.

"What were you doing out that early?" Ben asked him.

"Running."

"At four thirty a.m.?"

"Ben," Lexa admonished.

"I better go. Coach has a fit if we're late for practice," Aiden said. "Where should I send the ticket? Or should I send you two?" He glanced at Ben.

"One's fine. Ben hates hockey. I'm in 233 Runkle Hall."

Ben huffed. "I thought you hated hockey. too."

Lexa wished Ben would shut up. "You're thinking of horror movies."

"Uh-uh." Ben looked unconvinced.

Aiden said good-bye. Lexa felt suddenly fragile as if he had taken a part of her with him. Silly nonsense. She touched the bandages. What would have happened if Aiden hadn't shown up? Would the dog have killed her? At least she wasn't disappointed about surviving.

Ben kept her company until the doctor discharged her. With instructions and prescriptions in hand, she followed Ben to his Ford Ranger pick-up.

He slid behind the wheel and started the engine. "You shouldn't be alone. You can stay at my apartment tonight."

"And listen to the he-man women haters club while I try to get comfortable on your cushionless couch? Thanks, but no thanks."

"Hey, you're member, too, and haven't missed a meeting at the G-man." He pulled into traffic.

"I'm not passing up free beer and hot wings."

He gasped. "I should have suspected. You swore off dating women too easily."

Lexa laughed, but stopped as pain ringed her neck.

Ben glanced over. "Wow. That's the first time you've laughed in . . . months."

"Don't start."

"Fine. Humor me and stay tonight. You can have my bed."

"Bubbles is going home, and I have the room to myself."

"Are you sure it's not because you're hoping Mr. Knight-in-Shining-Armor delivers that ticket himself?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Just don't go all Florence Nightingale over him."

"You have that backwards. I'm the patient."

"You know what I mean."

"No, Ben, I don't know."

"He probably has a dozen girls drooling over him. I don't want you becoming Depressed Girl again."

"You're worse than my mother. It's just a ticket to a hockey game."

Yet the next day, a thrill of excitement rolled through her when she found an envelope under her door. Inside was one ticket to the game.

Lexa gawked at the packed stands. The Ice Pavilion's bleachers stretched along one side of the rink. It appeared as if every seat was filled.

She glanced at her ticket. Section C. Row 5. Just as she suspected, the seat was one of the best in the pavilion. Dead center and high enough to see over the Plexiglas.

Sitting next to a beautiful blonde, Lexa scanned the small roped-off area. Many of the seats remained unoccupied, but a few pretty girls and two older couples sat around her. Ah, the girlfriend and parent section.

The blonde gave her the once over. Lexa tucked a hair behind her ear, feeling inadequate in her navy turtleneck and jeans. Wearing Ugg boots, a pink Eddie Bauer sweater, and a sorority pin, the blonde was probably the homecoming queen.

"Who are you here for?" the blonde asked.

"Aiden Deller."

The blonde's thin eyebrows rose slightly. "That's surprising."

"Why?" Lexa demanded.

"Oh, no offense. He just never invites anyone. Even his parents stopped coming."

"Really?"

She gestured to the empty seats. "Most don't. Ever since the guys have been winning, they've ignored everyone. Hockey is all they care about."

Lexa watched the team warm up. A dead serious expression covered all their faces as they passed the puck with precise motions. She had heard the rumors, and the nickname, but to see them in action sent a chill along her spine. Aiden matched the other's mechanical movements, but when they circled to return to the bench, he met her gaze and winked.

Feeling a little better, Lexa asked the blonde who she was rooting for.

"Ryan Collins, but not for long."

"Why?"

"He's lost interest in life. Ryan's turned as cold as the ice he skates on. If you're smart, don't get involved with Aiden."

"Oh. No, I'm not . . . He just . . . " The game started, saving her.

With the blonde's comments fresh in her mind, Lexa paid attention to the Ice Men. Since she had seen them last, they had improved in every way-skating, passing, working as a team. Yet when they scored a goal, they didn't celebrate. No one raised a stick or smiled or slapped each other despite the crowd's roar.

Deep in the third period, Aiden scored his hat trick. He pumped a fist and smiled at Lexa.

The blonde leaned close to her ear. "Maybe you should stick around. Aiden's showing signs of life."

The buzzer signaled another win for the team. Spectators filed out as the players lined up to slap hands. Lexa debated. Should she go?

As the teams broke apart and headed off ice, Aiden caught her eye. He put his hand up in a stopping motion and pointed down as if he wanted her to wait for him. She nodded. He gave her a thumbs up.

A strange tingling on her skin caused her to look across the ice. Coach Hakim stared at her. His hard expression unreadable, but she sensed trouble in his gaze. She shivered, and pulled her jacket closer. When she risked another peek, the coach had disappeared.

The stands were almost empty when a familiar voice called her name. Jason and the girlfriend stood a few rows down from her. They held hands. How cute. She braced for the dagger of pain, but felt nothing.

"I thought you didn't like hockey," Jason said.

She shrugged. "It grew on me."

"Sure it did." His sarcastic tone suggested otherwise. "Don't you think this is a little pathetic?" He smirked.

"What is?"

"Coming here so you'd run into me, hoping I'd see you and regret dumping you."

The girlfriend giggled.

When they'd been dating, they'd always done what he wanted, and never did anything she enjoyed. She studied Jason and wondered how she could have fallen in love with him.

"Get over yourself, Jason. I didn't come here for you," she said.

"Yeah? Then why did you come?"

"Because I invited her," Aiden said. He held a hockey stick, and his hair was still wet from a shower.

Jason gaped and stammered.

"Ready to go?" Aiden asked her, holding out his free hand.

"Yep. I'm so done." Without hesitating, she took his hand. They left the rink as if they were a couple. From the moment she touched him, she felt as if they'd been a couple for years. That kind of thinking would only lead her in one direction, back into the valley of pain where she's been wallowing since May.

When they reach the parking lot in front of the pavilion, Aiden let go. "Sorry about that, but when I heard that son-of-a-bitch gloating . . . It was either that or I was going to punch him."

"And ruin another shirt for me? I couldn't handle the guilt."

Aiden laughed. He stopped next to a black Honda Accord and unlocked the trunk. Tossing the hockey stick in, he closed it. "I'm starving. Do you want to go get something to eat?"

Her heart danced in her chest, but she replied with-she hoped-a casual tone. "Sure."

"Great. Hop in." He opened the door for her.

So polite. She slid into the passenger seat.