7. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Stepping out of the shower after a workout in my home gym, I see my phone flashing with a new text message. Picking it up, I see that during my shower I missed over thirty messages in the Friends With Some Benefits chat I have with Levi, JJ, Stevi, Donno, Packer, Toby, and Chase. They’re almost as bad as seventy-year-old women living in a retirement village; once they start gabbing it never stops.
Making my way from my ensuite to sit on the corner of my bed, I start scanning through the group chat. I see it’s JJ that started the entire onslaught of text messages that’s still going on.
He wants us to go out to The Ranch tonight for line dancing night. What the hell? Must be Ellie or Lacey dragging him out. Those two have him wrapped around their little fingers. And yes, there it is:
JJ:
The girls thought it would be fun to go line dancing, I’ve been here 6 years and have never been, so I thought I’d accompany them.
Laughing, I towel my hair, grab some boxers, and make my way to the kitchen to make a protein shake, and to feed Hagrid. Getting to the kitchen, I see she’s already sitting on the counter by her food bowl, giving me her famous you’re-late-again look.
“You’re just like Sadie, ‘Grid. Such an attitude for ten pounds of black fur.” Blinking her one eye at me, she paws her bowl telling me to hurry up. “Seriously, girl? You should be nicer, not many people rescue black cats, and even fewer people feed them on the counter so they can watch the birds as they enjoy three, overpriced, fresh meals a day,” I say scratching her behind the ears before opening the fridge to grab her lunch.
Once she’s happily munching away at her food, I grab my favorite shaker cup, a light green cup with a hot pink lid, complete with a hockey player on one side and a horse on the other; Sadie had it made for my birthday last year. I throw some protein powder in it, along with some chocolate milk, feeling too lazy to make an actual smoothie.
Once I’m done and my cup is rinsed and drying in the sink, I grab Hagrid and bring her to the couch where she lays on my legs begging for attention as if she doesn’t get enough on a regular basis. Shaking my head at myself as I indulge my cat, my phone starts ringing. Grabbing it, I see it’s Stevi calling.
“Hey, man, what’s up?” I ask, as I answer the phone.
“Not much, Kitty—I saw you agreed to go line dancing tonight, want . . .”
Before he can finish I roll my eyes and say, “That nickname is never gonna get old is it?”
“Hey, you’re the one who got a cat,” he says, laughing. “If you didn’t want to be called Kitty you should have adopted a dog.”
“A cat is easier since I’m gone a lot. Anyways, jackass, why did you call? I doubt it was to gab like a retired grandma.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist my sweet Kitty. Anyway, line dancing?”
“Yeah, I saw the girls roped JJ into taking them out. Why?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to carpool? Since we have the rink tomorrow morning, I can’t see myself drinking much.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” I answer, thinking he’s right. Some of us guys go to the rink every Friday morning during the off-season to scrimmage and to work on certain skills, so nobody is going to be drinking much tonight.
“Perfect, I’ll pick you up around nine.”
“See you then,” I say, hanging up.
A few hours later, after a nap and more Big Bang Theory episodes than I’d care to admit to, I’m walking into what can only be described as a cowboy’s wet dream. The place is packed with women dressed in cowboy boots and short shorts.
Looking around, I notice a bar takes up the entire back wall, with bar tables lining the perimeter of a large dancefloor, where a few dozen people are line dancing to a Brooks and Dunn song.
“Over there,” Stevi says from beside me, pointing to the left of the dance floor where JJ and Levi are waving at us. Weaving our way through the crowd, we get to their table where they already have a couple empty pitchers and two full ones waiting.
“I see the fun has already started,” Stevi says, nodding at the empty pitchers.
“The girls said they needed liquid courage before attempting to learn how to line dance,” JJ says, shaking his head while looking over to the dance floor.
“Where is your better half?” I ask.
“Somewhere on the dance floor with Lacey and Hannah,” he answers.
“So we finally get to meet your new roommate?” I ask, looking at Levi.
“Yes—and again, she’s off limits,” he says, giving me and Stevi a look.
“Why, are you keeping her for yourself?” Stevi asks with a laugh.
“No, she’s a second sister to me. She’s just been through a lot lately and doesn’t need any love-em-and-leave types like you two bugging her.”
“Hey, the ladies love a little love-em-and-leave-em action,” Stevi says with a mischievous glint in his eye.
I hear them continue to bicker while I look around trying to spot Lacey, Ellie, and the mysterious Hannah. She must be something for Levi to be so uptight about her. His sister is a doctor who works in some of the poorest, most remote, dangerous parts of the world. She’s worked in some pretty sketchy areas, and he’s never been so worked up about her well-being like he is about Hannah’s. Maybe he does have a little thing for her and just doesn’t want to admit it.
After a few minutes of scanning the room, the song changes to “Cadillac Ranch” by the Nitty Gritty Band—a classic. I finally spot Ellie’s red hair by the far-right corner by the bar, almost directly in front of us. Beside her I see Lacey attempting to clumsily follow the moves; shaking my head, I smile at their attempt at line dancing.
Bringing my clear cup up for a drink of beer, I pause halfway as I spot the girl on Ellie’s other side. I can’t get a good look at her face—the dance makes them turn away from me. All I have is the sight of long blond curls hanging down her back, almost all the way down to her ass. It looks so soft, my hand twitches with a desire to run my fingers through it.
Run my fingers through her hair? Since when do you think about running your fingers through a girl’s hair? I take a long gulp of beer trying to shake those thoughts right out of my head.
Keeping my eyes in the general direction of the blonde, I get small glimpses of her as people dance and move around her, yet I never get a good look of her face.
Finally, they move to face us, and the blonde throws her head back laughing as Lacey gets mixed up in her steps as they’re changing directions. Once I see her face, I’m struck. Even though she’s all the way across the crowded bar, it’s like I can see all her features in focus and the rest fades around her.
“Fuck,” I whisper. “Fading around her,” I mumble with a shake of my head. Clearly, I’ve been watching too many movies with Sadie.
She’s stunning. Like drop-dead-gorgeous stunning. Even from far away, I can tell she’s a natural blonde, with a wide, easy smile. I can’t tell what color her eyes are. What I can say is I want her eyes on me, and me alone. A wave of possessiveness rolls through me, yet I don’t even know who she is.
Looking away, I take a long pull of my beer hoping it will distract me. No such luck. My gaze easily makes its way back to her once the song ends, and I see her make her way to the bar flanked by Lacey and Ellie. So that must be Hannah , I think to myself. Of course, she would be Hannah. Levi is gonna have my ass when I ask her out.
“Looks like the girls are getting lit tonight,” I hear Stevi say beside me. As JJ and Levi turn to see where Stevi is pointing at the bar.
Laughing, JJ answers, “Drunk Ellie is fun Ellie. It’s Lacey I’m worried about. The girl cannot hold her liquor,” he says with a smile as he watches her and the two others take a shot of tequila.
“Just like her big brother,” I interject.
“It was one time. One time. Am I ever going to hear the end of that?” JJ answers, with an eye roll. At last year's cabin get together, the usually straight-laced, never-over-doing-it captain of ours finally let loose. You name it, the guy did it. He streaked. He skinny-dipped. Took way too many shots. Even found a funnel somewhere and made everyone take a turn. To say he was not feeling well the next morning would be an understatement. I swear he puked for the following three days.
“Never,” Levi says matter-of-factly, looking him dead in the eye as he takes a drink of beer.
“Okay there, Kitty,” JJ answers back with a smirk looking at me.
“And that right there is why you will never hear the end of it,” I answer right back.
“Oooo Kitty has claws tonight,” Stevie sings, clearly already feeling the beers he’s been downing since we’ve arrived. So much for taking it easy tonight.
Before anyone can retort, the girls slide up to our tables. Jesus Christ, she’s even more gorgeous up close. Her blonde hair frames the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Too stunned to say anything, I just stand there and take her in. Letting my eyes slowly trail down her body, I catch on that full bottom lip of hers, then the soft dip of her cleavage, finally landing on her mile long legs that would look great wrapped around me.
Say something you idiot. Since when does a pretty girl leave you speechless? You’ve seen plenty of pretty girls . She’s looking at me, she definitely thinks I’m a creep. Why can’t I say anything?
Dumbfounded as to why this girl has me speechless, I just keep stealing glances at her. She’s so short; even from a few feet away I can tell the top of her head would barely hit the middle of my chest. Her chest on the other hand looks like a perfect handful. Looking away so nobody catches my gaze lingering on her, I refill my drink.
“Ian!” I hear Levi’s voice tearing me away from my thoughts. “This is Hannah, my new roommate I’ve been telling you about,” he says, gesturing to the gorgeous blonde.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” she answers in a quiet voice
“Nice to meet you too,” I reply, extending my hand to shake hers. The minute her hand touches mine it’s like everything is right in the world. Like a weight I didn’t know I had has been lifted off of me. Clearly, I’m not the only one affected, because when I look away from our hands, I see a soft blush covering her cheeks.
Before I can say anything, Lacey grabs her other arm and pulls her back towards the dance floor. As she pulls her away, I hear her say, “See, I told you. Ian is another sex on skates. . .” but the crowd swallows them before I can hear what Hannah responds.
I spend the entire night watching Hannah. I know, total creep, right? Not going to lie, I kind of feel like one. But I can’t keep my eyes away from her. From the way her hair shimmers when she throws her head back laughing, or the red of her cheeks as she follows along to new dance moves. She looks like she’s having the time of her life, so carefree, unlike how Levi has been describing her.
After a few minutes, or what could be hours of watching her, I catch a glimpse of her, Ellie, and Lacey as they make their way to the bar. I smile to myself as I see them taking another shot, knowing JJ is going to have fun wrangling Lacey and Ellie tonight. Serves him right for calling me Kitty. After a second shot, I see Lacey head to what I presume is the bathroom, as JJ grabs Ellie and leads her to a dark corner of the bar. Taking the last sip of my beer, I sneak away from Levi and Stevi who are in what looks to me to be an intense conversation and make my way to the bar, to where Hannah is standing alone.
“What can I get for you?” I ask as I slide in next to her, making her jump a little.
“Oh my gosh, you scared me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” I say, liking the slight blush on her cheeks and wondering what I’d have to do to get it to darken and spread down to the valley of her breasts.
“It’s all good, I didn’t spill a drink, so no harm, no foul,” she says with a small smile.
“What are you drinking?” I ask her, pointing to her almost empty glass.
“Mojitos.” Flagging the bartender down, I order her another mojito and a pint of their house IPA for myself.
“Thanks, you didn’t have to,” she says, taking a sip of the fresh drink placed in front of her.
“Pretty girls shouldn’t have empty drinks,” I comment, before I can stop myself.
“Well, that’s a line if I’ve ever heard one,” she says laughing.
“Definitely not my best work, but it did make you laugh,” I point out, even though I can feel the back of my neck heat up.
Before she can say anything, Lacey comes back and orders two more shots of tequila, pretending I’m not standing there. Before I can make myself known again, Lacey pulls Hannah back onto the dance floor as Shania Twain starts blaring through the speakers.
Leaning back against the bar, I watch them try to keep up with everyone else. It seems to be getting harder instead of easier, telling me they’re starting to feel those tequila shots more than they think. As I keep an eye on them, I go over my short exchange with Hannah. Pretty girls shouldn’t have empty drinks , I replay in my mind, making me cringe. Why in the hell did I say that? She definitely thinks I’m a weirdo now, I think to myself as I finish my beer. I’ve never had trouble talking to women, not even when I first discovered the opposite sex, but this one short-circuits my brain and I’ve barely spoken to her.
Ordering another pitcher, I make my way back to the table where JJ is also back watching as Ellie joins the other two on the dance floor. The boys are chatting around me, but I can’t focus enough to follow their conversation, I’m too focused on Hannah. For the life of me I can’t understand why my attention keeps wandering to her. I’ve seen, hell I’ve slept with, plenty of blondes before, why is this one so different?
Once they’ve danced to another song, the girls make their way back to the table. Checking my watch, I see it’s already past midnight. Standing around the table, Ellie drags JJ to the dance floor, saying he needs to dance at least one song before they leave, if not, he can’t say he’s been line dancing. Levi follows Lacey to the bathroom and Stevi is chatting up a redhead at the table to our left. Leaving me alone with Hannah.
Shuffling closer to her I ask, “How are you liking Calgary so far?”
“I love it. I visited a few years ago, and always wanted to come back, so I’m happy to be here.”
“It’s definitely the place to be. I’m happy I got drafted by Calgary, it meant I got to stay where I was born and raised. You’re from Vancouver, right?” I ask, knowing she grew up with Levi.
“Yes,” she answers without elaborating.
“Moved here from the East Coast, right?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she answers again. Seems to be hard to start a conversation with her.
“I haven’t spent much time on the East Coast, but I hear it’s gorgeous in the summer.”
Nodding her head, she doesn’t look at me. Come to think of it, she hasn’t looked at me the entire time we’ve been standing here alone.
“I get the sense you don’t like me very much,” I say, nudging her with my elbow and giving her a small smile showing her I’m teasing as she blushes.
“Not that I don’t like you, I’ve just been told to stay away from you,” she says, slurring her words a little. “Plus, you scare me a little,” she continues.
“And why do I scare you?” I ask, intrigued.
“Your eyes. They’re the exact color of the sky before thunder strikes, and I don’t like storms. They terrify me.”