Charity (Black Mountain Academy) - Rochelle Paige Page 0,6

excellent point.” Munching on my cookie, I grinned and shrugged.

Dropping an extra cookie on my plate, she wagged her finger at me. “Your senior year is the perfect time to take risks. Talking to a boy you like is a great place to start.”

She was probably right, but I couldn’t imagine a situation where I’d stick my neck out like that. Especially not with the rest of the students at Black Mountain Academy looking on.

2

Corby

“Are you looking forward to your first day at BMA?” William asked, striding into the dining room dressed in one of the three-piece suits he wore practically around-the-clock. It wasn’t even seven in the morning, but he was ready to head to his office. Not that I was surprised since the guy tended to spend twelve-plus hours there on weekdays, and somehow still had work to do on the weekends. After living with him and his wife for the past two months, I still wasn’t sure if he spent so much time away from his home because making millions of dollars required that or if he just wanted a break from the aging supermodel who tried to cling to him like a barnacle. Or maybe some of those hours in the office were a cover for the mistress I suspected he kept on the side. I had a feeling Eleanor was holding on tight because she feared her time as Mrs. Whitney was coming to an end.

“Nah, but I’m not dreading it, so I’m calling this morning a win.” Starting my senior year at a new school—let alone a fancy private academy full of kids who had nothing in common with me—would have been a fuck of a lot more intimidating if I hadn’t gotten to know the guys on the team already. The Cougars had a club team that played over the summer until regular season practices picked up a few weeks ago, and William had signed me up for it the day after I’d moved to Black Mountain. The hockey world around here was pretty small, so I’d played against—and even on the same team in a few cases—pretty much all of my new teammates at some point over the years. I wouldn’t say I was close friends with any of them yet, but at least they hadn’t been dicks. Hazing the new kid was pretty standard in hockey locker rooms, but they didn't try to pull anything with me.

Their welcome probably had to do with the fact that Coach Clark was thrilled to have me on the team. He was a former pro player, and the guys knew he brought a fuck of a lot more than his excellent coaching skills to the table. Playing for the Cougars meant getting looked at by a lot of scouts because of his connections, which was one of the reasons I’d jumped at the chance to move in with the Whitneys. If this season was as good as my last, I had a decent chance at getting drafted before I started college. If I could make it another four years without any serious injuries, this foster placement could be the key to my chance to play professional hockey. I was willing to put up with just about anything for that opportunity—not that being waited on hand and foot in a mansion was a fucking hardship.

William sat down on the chair at the head of the table. “Coach Clark tells me that you're playing even better than last year.”

“Yeah, it's amazing what a difference top-of-the-line equipment can make.” I shoveled another bite of my omelet into my mouth, thinking that the organic, well-balanced diet I’ve been eating lately must have helped too. I was in better shape than I’d ever been in my life. My wrist and slap shots had definitely benefited from the ten pounds of muscle I’d packed on.

“I wouldn’t know,” he chuckled. “In my day, we had wooden sticks. None of that fancy composite stuff you boys use today.”

I’d played my fair share of games with a cheap wooden stick, too. Once I’d outgrown my teammates a couple of years ago, none of them could give me their old ones anymore. When Coach Clark had gotten a look at my equipment the first time I showed up for club team practice, he’d shoved a new stick at me and growled something about needing to replace everything. The next morning when I was getting ready to head to the rink, I found a new bag