Cross Check

He has been her brother’s best friend for six years.

He is about to be the worst kept secret of her life.

Maeve Sullivan came to Ashford in November with a transfer file, a no-contact arrangement, and a plan to be no one for one semester. Jake Donnelly, captain of the Ashford Wolves, projected first-round NHL pick, and her brother’s roommate since freshman year, has, by every measurable surface, other plans.

What starts in a kitchen at one in the morning with a plate of toast cut into triangles becomes the season that will cost both of them everything they had decided they were going to be.

And the thing about a secret in a house with four hockey players and one yellow lamp is that secrets, eventually, are seen.

He sees her. He’s been seeing her since November.

She just hasn’t found out yet.