Chapter 1

The rhythmic drumming of rain against the window of the athlete’s dorm was the only thing moving in the room. Jax was a horizontal monument to lethargy, draped across his unmade bed with a gray hoodie pulled over his eyes. On the ice, he was a blur of violence and precision, a winger who could turn a game on its head in seconds. Off the ice, he lived by a philosophy of minimum effort.

At the foot of the bed, Mika was leaning against Jax’s shins, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. Every few seconds, Mika would shift, his muscular frame bumping against Jax’s legs with a casual, practiced familiarity. Across the room, perched on a stiff wooden chair that looked painful to sit in, Leo was surrounded by open textbooks and highliners. The air smelled of the rain outside, Leo’s expensive, sharp cologne, and the lingering scent of Mika’s fabric softener.

"Jax, if you don’t look at this syllabus, I’m going to fail you myself just to save the department the trouble," Leo muttered, though there was no real bite in his voice. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his eyes flickering toward the bed.

"Too much work," Jax grumbled from under the hood. "Moving is a high-energy activity. I’m on power-saver mode."

Mika chuckled, reaching back to pat Jax’s knee. "He’s been like this since practice ended on Friday. I had to practically carry him to the shower."

Leo sighed, closing his book with a definitive thud. He stood up and walked over to the bed, looking down at the heap of hockey players. "You’re a player, Jax. You’re supposed to be out there breaking hearts or something. Isn’t that the brand? Instead, you’re just… a rug."

Jax finally pushed the hoodie back. His dark hair was a mess, and his eyes were heavy with a sleepy, predatory kind of heat. He reached out, his large hand wrapping around Leo’s wrist with surprising speed, pulling the smaller man toward the edge of the mattress.

"The 'player' thing is exhausting," Jax said, his voice dropping into a low, honeyed register. "Too much talking. Too much pretending I care about people I don't. Why would I go out there when the only two people I actually want to be around are right here?"

The room went still. Leo froze, his heart hammering against his ribs where Jax had pulled him close. Mika stopped scrolling, his gaze drifting up to meet Jax’s. The teasing atmosphere evaporated, replaced by a thick, sweet tension that had been simmering between the three of them since mid-season.

"You're lazy, Jax," Leo whispered, though he didn't pull his wrist away. "But you aren't stupid. You know you can't just keep us both in this limbo."

"Who says it's limbo?" Mika asked softly, moving up the bed to sit beside Jax’s hip. He looked at Leo, then at Jax, his expression open and vulnerable. "I thought we were just waiting for someone to say it out loud."

Jax tugged on Leo again, and this time, Leo gave in, sinking onto the soft duvet. Jax navigated them into a clumsy, tangled heap, his long limbs acting like anchors. He tucked his head into the crook of Leo’s neck while his other arm draped over Mika’s waist.

"I don't want to choose," Jax murmured, his eyes closing again as he settled into the warmth of them. "I want the guy who makes me smart and the guy who makes me happy. And I'm too lazy to fight the fact that you two clearly like each other just as much as you like me."

Leo felt the tension leak out of his shoulders. He looked over Jax’s messy head at Mika, who reached out and took Leo’s free hand. The rainy afternoon suddenly felt less like a wasted day and more like a beginning. There was no need for grand gestures or complex explanations to the rest of the world yet.

"Fine," Leo breathed, leaning his head back against the pillow. "But you’re still doing that history paper tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Jax agreed, already drifting off into a contented, happy haze. "Today, we just stay right here."

Mika pulled the discarded hoodie over all three of them like a makeshift blanket. The three of them drifted into a quiet, effortless rhythm, the heavy silence of the room filled only by the sound of the rain and the steady, synchronized beating of three hearts finally finding their place.