Damien is used to getting whatever and whoever he wants—it’s all part of being one of the hottest ice hockey players in history. He’s not used to feeling shy or embarrassed, but that’s exactly how he feels every time he tries to talk to Chloe, the girl at his local coffee shop. Can this hotshot show her how he truly feels? And more importantly, will she even be interested?
Age Rating: 18+
Melting Ice by Lily Rose Stories is now available to read on the Galatea app! Read the first two chapters below, or download Galatea for the full experience.
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1
Damien is used to getting whatever and whoever he wants—it’s all part of being one of the hottest ice hockey players in history. He’s not used to feeling shy or embarrassed, but that’s exactly how he feels every time he tries to talk to Chloe, the girl at his local coffee shop. Can this hotshot show her how he truly feels? And more importantly, will she even be interested?
Age Rating: 18+
Original Author: Lily Rose Stories
It’s a typical Friday night, and I am stuck working. It’s the only job that can work around my schedule as I am currently studying law at a university. It’s quiet as always with everyone out at the pub or a party.
At twenty-one, part of me wishes I acted my age instead of being sensible and actually having a job. My thoughts turn to “The Guy”. I am wondering if he will make an appearance tonight? He was fast becoming one of my favorite things about my shifts at The Steamy Mug.
He was polite, ordered the same coffee every night, and gave me a panty-dropping smile. The catch is he is completely out of my league.
Never standing a chance with a man like him, and the fact I became a bumbling idiot when he was near, didn’t help me in any way.
I smile at my best friend Lily.
I love working my shifts with her but my boss cuts that short and one of us can finish early as we are practically dead now. We both look at each other and chant.
“1,2,3, rock, paper, scissors.” I look down to find Lily went for scissors and I went for paper. I tilt my head.
“Best out of three?”
Lily laughs at me, undoing her work apron.
“No way. I have a hot date tonight that I need to get ready for.”
I scoff at her. “Some friend you are!”
“Aww don’t be a sore loser, I won fair and square.” Lily hands me her apron with a cheeky grin. “Night Chloe, I will see you later.”
I wave her off. “Fine, see you at home.”
We both room together at the dorm. I have known her since we were five. We are inseparable. When it came to college, we both got into the same one.
As luck would have it, they also gave us the same dorm room. It’s been fun living together. Lily is wild and outgoing compared to me. I’m quiet and reserved. I hate going to clubs.
So awkward I don’t fit in, but she’s my person, she always has my back and I would do anything for her even though we are opposites.
I’m cleaning the tables when I hear the doorbell chime. I don’t even look up to see.
“I will be with you in a minute to take your order.” And that’s when I hear his voice.
“That’s fine, no hurry I’m pretty sure you know my order by now.”
My cheeks heat. I know that voice, it’s just me and him, my boss is in the office and I don’t have Lily as my buffer. My heart is beating a mile a minute. I give myself a pep talk.
He is just another customer, calm down. You got this.
I make my way over to the counter and start making his coffee.
“It’s really quiet in here tonight.”
I give him a curt nod. “Yeah.”
“Have you worked here long?” he asks.
I clear my throat, refusing to look at him. “Two years.”
“Ok, so what else do you do?” he asks.
I finally look up and bite my lip. “I study law. Here’s your coffee, will that be all?”
I watch as he looks over at me.
“Yeah, Chloe.”
“That will be three dollars please.”
As he hands me the money, his fingers graze over mine. I swear fireworks just exploded everywhere. Then it hits me that he knows my name?
“Here is your change.” I snatch it away before he can take it from me.
“How do you know my name?” I ask.
He gives me his usual panty-dropping smile and it’s dimples galore. “It’s right there on your apron.”
I feel like a total idiot. Please, can the ground just open and swallow me up?
“Well, thank you for the coffee Chloe, see you again.” He is out the door before I can even get a word out.
The door closes before I whisper, “yeah see you again.”
***
A few days have passed between classes and my up-and-coming winter exams. I have been pretty much living in the library. Looking at my watch…shit, I’m going to be late for my shift.
Arriving at the cafe, I put my apron on and get to work as I look up at the clock. Only a few hours have passed and again it’s another quiet night and the boss lets one of us off early.
I swear Lily is in my head. I lost to another round of rock, paper, scissors.
I’m reading my book on tort laws when I feel someone’s eyes on me. I look up and find these deep brown eyes staring at me.
My cheeks are burning up. How did I miss the doorbell? I’m just standing there like an idiot. He is still just watching me.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to stare, you were so engrossed with your reading I didn’t want to interrupt,” he politely explains.
I close the book and smile. “Just the usual?”
“Yeah, sorry, that would be great.” He smiles.
I make his coffee when I hear him say something. “Actually, can I have it to sit in?”
I make the coffee and go to hand him his mug. “That will be three dollars please.”
He hands me the cash and smiles at me. “I haven’t seen you for a few days.”
Has he been looking for me? No that can’t be right, he just needs his coffee and he probably lives close by.
“Yeah, I had a few days off to focus on my studies.”
I watch as he simply gives me a nod, and it’s quiet for a minute and then I finally hear, “the coffee wasn’t as good, there is something about you making it.”
“Bet you say that to all the girls?”
Hold up, am I flirting with him?
I watch as his cheeks flush. “That really sounded like a chat-up line, sorry I’m sure your boyfriend won’t appreciate that.”
I don’t know where this newfound confidence has come from. “He won’t mind at all.”
He looks at me, and his shoulders slump a little. What the hell is going on? Does he like me? I quickly finish. “He doesn’t exist.”
He looks up at me and smiles. “You nearly had me there! Well, I’m Damien.” He puts his hand out and for some reason, I put my hand out, excited for the connection.
Before I knew it, we had been chatting for hours, about books, movies, my studies, even our families. A few red flags went up. There were a few of my questions he skirted around the answers.
I may have been crushing on him for ages but he has the personality to match and red flags be damned. With it being quiet, I sat with him for a while the conversation just flowed and it was just nice.
If it was a date, they would define it as a great one. I didn’t realise the time when I looked at my watch. I didn’t want the night to end, but I had to close the cafe.
“I really should close up now. Thank you for keeping me company. I know it was probably not how you planned your night to go?”
He smiles at me. “I actually didn’t have any plans, but it was a pleasant way to spend my night,” he says.
***
I have had my eye on her for months. Don’t judge me, I'm not being creepy but she is sweet, innocent, and a far cry from the usual girls that grab my attention. I don’t have the best reputation but you can’t blame me if they are going to throw themselves at me. Who am I to reject them?
I can tell by the way she looks at me, acts around me, she has no clue who I am. Fast getting fed up with the same scene and girls. When I saw Chloe, I wanted to get to know her better.
I had an enjoyable night with her. I wanted to ask her out, but someone like Chloe needs to be approached with caution.
When she escorts me to the door so she can lock up, I ask for her phone. At first she looks at me like I have no idea what I’m doing, but she hands me her phone anyway. And there it is again.
I felt it every time she handed me my change. It’s like electricity running through my body.
Typing in my number, I send a message so I have her number. I think if I asked her she wouldn’t give me it. I look up and find Chloe smiling at me.
“Well, night Damien, thank you for keeping me company.”
“The pleasure was all mine.”
We stand by the door, and I watch as Chloe gets her keys out of her apron. My body goes on autopilot as I place a finger under her chin.
I think about going in for a kiss and I am only inches from her when I chicken shit out and peck her on the cheek, let her go and I walk off. I can’t help but smile as I hear her lock the door.
Unable to help myself, I look back and give her a wave. As I walk back to my car, I take out my phone, deciding to seize the moment before I lose my balls.
I start my car and make the drive home. When I finally hear my phone beep, I look down and see her name and for some fucked up reason my tummy does flips. What if she rejects me?
I have never been rejected before, but when I finally open the message I let out a sigh.
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2
I woke up after having the most amazing night. All my dreams were of the girl who has truly captured my attention. I am rudely taken from my daydream when my phone vibrates.
I pick it up to see missed calls, voicemails, and texts. What the hell have I missed? I scroll the texts from my agent.
What the hell, what girl? What proposal? What the fuck did I miss? I look up Gossip Lips and there it is top of the page: me kissing a girl.
It takes me a few minutes to work out when this was taken in my sleepy state. I have been out with the boys but I haven’t had a girl in ages and I certainly haven’t been photographed with one.
The puck girls always made sure the media knew where we were to make sure they got pictures taken with the players.
Then I look closer at the picture. It’s from last night…I wasn’t even kissing Chloe!
I read the article.
GOSSIP LIPS
DAMIEN GREY PLAYS LAW AND ORDER
Rumours have it that Damien Grey has been playing tonsil hockey with Law student Chloe Summers for quite some time.
The 21-year-old student who was placed up for adoption at birth and raised in foster care up until she turned 18 has well and truly landed on her feet, bagging Mr. Grey who is set to sign one of history’s largest endorsement deals later this week.
A source says that Mr. Grey has even planned to propose to the student, giving up his womanising ways.
“Holy shit, they make her sound like a poor girl who is nailing me for my money! What source? This is complete bullshit.”
I hear banging at my door. I walk over and look in the peephole, it’s my agent Clive, and he looks pissed.
“Good morning, Clive, and what can I do for you this morning?”
Clive storms past me. “What the fuck are you playing at and of all the weeks, I’m your agent you are supposed to tell me these things beforehand so I can sway the story to our benefit or sweep them under the carpet. This is a mess. Who is the girl and where have you been hiding her?”
I rub my hand through my hair. “It’s not what it looks like they made the story up. We didn’t even kiss well on the lips. I kissed her good night on the cheek. Chloe works in the coffee shop I frequent.”
Clive paces back and forth. “So she’s a nobody and we can just tell them that and explain to them it’s a mistake. Try to get a retraction.”
I can feel my anger levels rise. “Wow, hold on, she’s somebody ok she’s a girl I was hoping to get to know. She had no clue who I was. And this story is bullshit. Not to be a dick, but I pay you to sort this shit out. I expect it to be handled quickly.”
Clive stops abruptly, glaring at me. “You like this girl? How do you know she didn’t know who you were, how can you be so sure! Strangely, you get photographed with this girl the same week you are going to sign this endorsement deal!”
I fist my hands into balls, trying to compose myself. I don’t like what he is implying.
“Say nothing else, Clive. I have been going to this coffee shop for months. She barely looked at me and last night was the first night I spoke properly to her. So watch what you’re saying.
“She’s a nice girl and we need to get a handle on this quickly. I need the article removed, and the media told the truth. Hopefully, Chloe doesn’t need to know anything about the article.”
Clive glares at me. “I think it’s safe to say the ship sailed about 30 minutes ago. You would have known that if you picked up your fucking phone. The story has been picked up by multiple outlets now, it’s no longer only on Gossip Lips.”
“What do we do?” I sigh.
I watch as Clive is busy with his phone until he finally looks up at me.
“We lie low and hopefully in a few days or two one of your teammates does something stupid to take the heat off you! I can try to put out a statement but it’s out there already and people are going to have made up their own minds about you and the girl.”
The way he talks about Chloe gets my back up and I get defensive. “Her name is Chloe, for fuck’s sake, doesn’t matter about me. I’m used to the gossip but I need to make sure they don’t go after her for a non-story and report lies.”
I can’t believe this is happening if Chloe finds out what they are saying about her. I have already lost my chance.
I didn’t tell her who I was and now this article implies the worst of not me but her, what nice girl wants this bullshit.
“I need to go see Chloe,” I say.
“The hell you do. You need to stay away from her. The media will be all over this for the next few days if there is nothing between you two. My advice as your agent is distancing yourself from the story, Damien.”
I pace, and then I lose my temper. “Fuck…just get the statement out, the sooner this blows over the better.”
Clive walks over to me and slaps my back. “I mean it, Damien, no contact!”
I am about to argue, but he stops me. “Tell you what, I will go see this Chloe girl and tell her what is going to happen and how we will handle this. There is no need to add fuel to the fire.”
Feeling a little relieved, I simply nod my head, going along with Clive’s plan.
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