Tom felt like he had been run over by a truck the next morning. He glanced over at his phone in order to check the time. Seven fifty-two in the morning?

Fuck me.

His head pounded. His first reaction was to grab a drink—this with little alcohol, just enough to soothe his pounding head—but he decided against it. Instead, he forced himself to sit up. He was hit with a sudden dizzy spell, and he didn't bother to stop the pained groan that forced its way out of his lips.

"Fuck," he said.

Tom stood and padded to the shower. The hotel they stayed in was quaint, nice. It was a mom-and-pop hotel rather than a big chain, but it seemed just as busy as a Hilton or a Marriott. He turned on the water and stepped in. The shock of the cold did little for his migraine, but at least it helped wake him up. He still could not believe what had happened last night. God, he could be such an idiot.

The truth of the matter was, Tom hadn't actually called Michael. He would rather deal with Rory and her uptight point of view on life than dealing with that look on his brother's face, the one that seemed to say, Of course you would lose your shit because some girl waved her tits in your face. Why am I not surprised? See, it's poor decisions like these ones that tell me you still need me. You are incapable of being on your own.

Tom clenched his teeth together and scrubbed his body with the unscented bath soap harder. He didn't need his brother. Although, maybe the voice was right. Maybe, in a strange way, he made stupid decisions because he knew he had Michael, always watching his back.

He furrowed his brow at the thought. Preposterous. He didn't need Michael.

Yes, you do. Do you think any team is going to want you if you don't have your brother?

Tom bristled at the thought and turned off the water. This wasn't the motivational speech he thought he would be having with himself.

He pulled on a tracksuit and headed down for breakfast. The last thing Tom wanted was anything to upset his stomach. Throughout his time of drinking—dating way back to senior year in high school—he had never once thrown up, and he didn't intend to start now.

He grabbed the second keycard the hotel issued him—since the first one was in his wallet and was lost—and headed out of the room. Once he had some coffee inside of him, he could start figuring out how to go about canceling his cards.

"Morning!" a peppy voice said.

Tom blinked. Who the fuck could be so peppy at eight thirty in the morning. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." He didn't want to be rude, but he also didn't want to engage in conversation.

Tom walked around, looking for a table he could sit at before the waitress could bring him some coffee. Unfortunately for him, despite the sizable dining room, not one table was free. He sucked in a groan. A familiar shade of blonde was sitting with her back turned to him, reading something.

His stomach jumped. He wasn't quite sure why he was so excited to see Aurora, especially after what happened late last night—technically, early this morning—but at least sitting with her meant he got to sit. He headed over and plopped in the chair in front of her without asking or waiting for permission.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Aurora murmured without even looking up from her book.

Tom glanced at the cover. It was pink and had a shirtless man on the cover. He scoffed and turned his head, looking for the waitress who had his coffee. His head was still pulsing like the bass of an EDM song and dealing with Aurora while feeling this way wasn't exactly how he wanted to start his day.

"Morning skate," Tom replied.

"Ah." She slid a bookmark into the book and closed it before placing it into her oversized purse. "I'm surprised you're actually attending. After last night—"

"I just need to cancel my cards," Tom said. He was already regretting sitting down and talking to her. This was not what he had in mind at all.

"Already taken care of." She took a long sip of her own coffee.

"Really?" He raised his brows, which was not the best thing to do, considering it only aggravated his headache further.

"Of course." She finally locked eyes with him. "Just because I don't technically work for you doesn't mean I'm going to let some bitch take advantage of you. Although…" She pressed her lips together. "It's really hard to help you when you constantly act like a dumbass."

"Excuse me?" He grew tired of waiting for his coffee and reached across the table to grab hers.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Didn't your mom ever tell you to share?"

"My mom left when I was a year old," Aurora said, reaching across the table for her cup. "My father told me to kick anyone's ass who touched something that was mine."

"I should have known that," Tom said before taking a long sip of coffee and handing it back to her. "About your mom, I mean."

Aurora shrugged. "It's not something I share," she said.

"I'm going to grab food before I head to the skate," he said, standing up. He saw more and more people trickle in and not enough trickle out. The last thing he needed was to get to the ice rink hungry. "Want anything?"

"Just get me stuff you won't eat," she said.

He gave her a grin. "One empty plate," he said.

Aurora rolled her eyes and Tom couldn't help but smile at the sight. He knew he was being a dick, but he couldn't help it. He liked being a dick to Aurora. There was just something about her reactions that caused him to be more amused about it all than he probably should be.

He left to fill up his plate, and when he returned, saw that she was still eating hers. He pounded his down in less than ten minutes. There was a comfortable silence between them as they ate. He didn't feel pressure to talk to her the way he did when he ate with his brother. Michael was silent and Tom never knew why. So Tom would start talking about anything in order to be able to talk to his brother. Things Michael definitely didn't care about.

At least with Aurora, he knew she was silent because she was eating. If there was something she needed to say, he had no doubt she would say it.

"So," Tom said when he finished. He leaned back in his chair to give his stomach some digesting time, but glanced back over at the food and tried to figure out if he should grab a couple more things. He was about to head on the ice and didn't want to work out on a full stomach, but at the same time, he wanted the carbs so it would give him a boost of energy during the workout. "Has Michael said anything about what he thinks so far?"

Aurora paused and glanced up at Tom. She finished what she was eating and placed her hands on her lap. "He hasn't talked to you directly yet?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"You know how he can be," Tom said. "He likes to play things close to the chest. I get it. I just wasn't sure if he had said anything to you about it, is all."

Aurora shook her head. "To be honest, I haven't really spoken to him since getting here," Aurora said. "Besides sending him reminders about everything he has scheduled, of course. And he responds, but only in his usual Michael way."

"The one letter K?" Tom asked.

Aurora nodded. "Exactly," she said before taking a big bite of her eggs with cheddar on top.

Tom sighed. He took a drink of his coffee and then decided he wanted orange juice. When a waitress passed their table to pick up his empty plate, he asked for one. She promised to come back soon.

"See?" Aurora asked, lowering her voice to a whisper. "That waitress. She's way cuter than the one from before. Why not ask for this one's number?"

"I've learned my lesson with California waitresses," Tom said.

"Bull," Aurora replied. "It's because this one isn't flirting with you and you might actually have to—"

"Here's your orange juice, sir," the waitress in question said, coming back with a glass. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"No, thank you." Tom smiled his patented charm smile. The waitress smiled politely back, nodded her head once, and went to go assist other guests.

"I knew it," Aurora said, looking down at her food rather than at him. "What do you have against her? Is she too difficult because she's not falling at your feet? Are her boobs too hidden by the ugly polo she's forced to wear? Does she not have enough makeup on her face for you?"

Tom started chuckling and took a bite of his waffle. "Why is this such a big deal to you, Rory?" he asked. "It almost sounds as though you're taking this personally."

"I'm not taking it personally." Aurora drank the rest of her orange juice and stood up. "Come on. You need to get to morning skate and a hangover for an excuse is not enough to get Cherney to pardon you from being late."

Tom was one of the last skaters to hit the ice. Michael had shown up much earlier for some reason. He said he wanted to take his time adjusting to a new facility and allowing himself to look around without feeling rushed. Regardless, Tom thought it was strange, only because Michael hadn't asked Tom if Tom had wanted to come with. They were supposed to be looking at teams together and it felt strange that Michael wouldn't include his brother in something like exploring the Ice Palace.

Although, maybe Michael had invited Tom along but Tom didn't know because he didn't have his phone.

Michael hadn't said one way or the other and the last thing Tom wanted to do was confess his phone had been stolen, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he focused on getting himself ready, on having a good skate with the guys, and on making better choices.

The minute his skates hit the smooth ice, everything fell aside. It felt like walking on clouds. He was in love. If this didn't convince Michael that this place should be their new home, he didn't know what would.

After a couple of laps around the ice, Cherney blew his whistle and waved the skaters over. Tom didn't hesitate to hustle over and come to a halt when he reached his coach.

"Just because it's summer doesn't mean you're getting off early, assholes," Cherney said. "Line up."

Tom grinned.

Oh, yes. He could definitely get used to this.