Chapter Six
Sophia
I paused for a moment on the second-floor landing before walking down the hall and stopping in front of Leo’s door.
According to Jia, he’d been living in this building for years, along with a few of the other hockey guys who must have preferred living away from the townhouses where the rest of the team lived.
The giant scarlet and white number twelve on his door confirmed that the room at the end of the hallway was his since that was his jersey number.
Twenty-four hours after my article on him came out Jana had already assigned me another hockey article.
Apparently, the first one had been successful—whatever that meant given the short time since its release.
She wanted me to do another piece on Leo and include Shawn Rickles this time.
Shawn was also going to be a rookie for the Bruins next year, so the idea was to feature them together talking about their hopes for their professional careers.
I’d already emailed Shawn to set up a time to talk to him tomorrow. I should have done the same thing with Leo because that was the appropriate way to handle this situation. Instead, I was trying to find the confidence to knock on his door.
Jia and Alyssa had really gotten to me last night. Despite what they’d said, I’d spent my entire morning workout wondering what was wrong with me.
Why don’t I have wild, sexy nights like the two of them? Why, even when I do start seeing a guy, do our sexual encounters just feel transactional?
Connor and I had started having sex at the end of our senior year.
Neither one of us had really known what we were doing, but it hadn’t been terrible.
Even when we’d been on separate sides of the continental US and saw each other infrequently, our sexual encounters hadn’t been what you’d expect of two young people passionately in love and apart for months at a time.
I’d often walked away wondering why I wasn’t better at pleasing him and when an orgasm with him would feel better than what I could give myself.
The few short flings I’d had since never included sex.
I’d fooled around with other guys but had never felt anything close to the passion my friends talked about.
At this point, I believed that having a guy go down on you wasn’t nearly as great as everyone made it sound.
My vibrator pleased me far more than any guy had ever done with his fingers.
It was like they all needed an instruction manual to find a clitoris and nothing was less sexy than having to direct them to the right spot while they were vigorously rubbing at something that was absolutely not my clit.
You know who finds my clit on the first try, every time? Me.
I had kind of enjoyed giving blowjobs, if for no other reason than I liked the thought of bringing someone to their knees—proverbially speaking since I was the one on my knees—but Connor had never enjoyed them.
He’d even gone soft once while I was sucking on him, and it had pretty much crushed my confidence.
I’d never been willing to do it with anyone since.
All my self-doubt was starting to get to me, and I wondered if sleeping with Leo, even once, would give me back a little confidence. Worst case scenario, I felt nothing when I was with him either and then I’d know for sure that I was the problem.
When I’d walked into our suite after class today and heard Alyssa going at it with one of her friends with benefits in her room, I thought I was starting to lose my mind.
It wasn’t the sounds of two women in the heat of the moment that had bothered me as much as the fact that I was fed the hell up with not experiencing it myself.
Hence where I am right now.
I lifted my hand and rapped twice on Leo’s door before I lost my nerve.
Leo pulled the door open, shirtless. “Hawaii!” he said, like we were long lost friends.
“If it’s not the person who wrote the article responsible for this.
” He held up his phone—vibrating with incoming notifications, texts, and DMs—and shook it at me.
“Rumor has it I’m looking for love. Thanks a lot. ”
My cheeks warmed and I thought about running away.
His bare chest was doing something to my body that I couldn’t explain.
The definition on his body rivaled anything I’d ever seen, even on male models, and he had a tattoo on his chest of two hockey sticks in the shape of an X with a puck below them and the number twelve above.
Another tattoo of an intricate flame design was just above his hip bone.
The infinity symbol on his bicep, that I could now see said Never Settle made three visible tattoos, all drawing my eyes to them.
He was even hotter than I’d imagined, and for some reason the ink on his body made me weak in the knees.
Yep, if this doesn’t work, I’m definitely the problem.
“Sorry about that,” I said with a smile. “I thought the article was cute. I put a fun little spin on it so it wasn’t just another hockey biopic. I can see how it might have resulted in this though.”
“I’ll forgive you. Once the phone stops buzzing, anyway. You did a nice job even if it means I might need a new phone number.”
I chuckled and gestured to his chest, since I was unable to stop gawking. “Was twelve your number when you played youth hockey too?”
He looked at me quizzically and then down at his exposed chest. He lifted his eyes back to mine and smirked. “Yes, I’ve been wearing the number since my first organized team.”
“Cool,” I said, shifting awkwardly. “Do the other tattoos have any meaning?”
He raised one eyebrow. “Is this another interview?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m asking for me.” My cheeks flushed at the admission.
Leo smiled and pointed to the one above his hip. “My cousin drew all of them. He’s got the same flames on his chest—they’re a symbol of protection since we always have each other’s backs. He’s my best friend and an artist all wrapped up in a businessman’s suit.” Leo chuckled.
“Why Never Settle?” I asked, pointing to the infinity symbol.
That seems very specific.
His smirk grew as he leaned against the doorframe. “Did you come all the way here to ask about my tattoos or do you have another purpose for knocking on my door this evening?”
“Oh, right,” I said. “They want me to write another article on you and include Shawn Rickles this time. Apparently the first one is generating a lot of buzz already.”
He held up his phone again, still going off with notifications. “Quite literally,” he said, stepping back. “Come on in.”
I stepped through the door and Leo shut it behind me.
The living space was small with one couch, TV, and small kitchenette.
The bathroom door was open across the room from the entrance, and from a distance, seemed cleaner than most dorm bathrooms I’d seen.
He walked toward the open bedroom door on the left.
I followed him, standing in the doorway of his bedroom while he grabbed a T-shirt off the edge of his bed and pulled it on. I watched, captivated by his back muscles as he did, apparently unable to form cohesive thoughts anymore.
I am so in over my head.
“Where’s your notebook?” he asked, gesturing to my empty hands.
“Oh, shoot.” I winced. “I kind of stopped over on a whim. I’m sorry. I can just email you the questions.”
I turned to leave but Leo reached for my hand, causing me to turn and meet his eyes as electricity surged between us. The sensation startled me, and I worked to cover my reaction. “What are you really doing here, Hawaii?”
“I really do have to ask you some questions for another article.” I took a deep breath.
Oh, forget it.
I threw the truth out there. “Do you want to have sex with me?”
Leo’s eyes widened and a grin took over his face. “Right now?”
“No. Well, I don’t know. Maybe?”
Real sexy, Soph. You look like you have no idea what you’re doing already.
“I’ve never propositioned someone before,” I said, my cheeks warm with embarrassment.
“Well, I’m glad you’re starting with me. By all means, please continue,” he said looking like a smug little shit as he sat down on the edge of his bed.
“I came to ask you if you’d be interested in hooking up with me so I can experience good sex for the first time,” I said in a rush.
His lips twitched but to his credit he didn’t laugh at me. “You want me to give you lessons?”
“No, of course not,” I said indignantly. “This isn’t some porn fantasy.”
“Obviously, or you would have shown up for this second interview in a sexy little schoolgirl outfit,” he said with an obnoxious smirk.
“Is this how you talk to women? Because I was led to believe that you were nice to your hookups. That you were clear about boundaries.”
“I’m joking, I promise.” He put his hands up in surrender, smiling smugly. “State your request and rationale more specifically, Sophia, and I might be able to help you.”
I sighed. “God, this is embarrassing.”
“You’ve already started this conversation, you might as well finish it,” he said, looking far too delighted at my distress.
“I’ve only had sex with one guy who I dated for a while in high school, and it sucked. I’ve dated a few guys here, but things never feel passionate and I’m not sure if the problem is them or me. But it’s probably me, right?”
Leo’s eyes traveled from the top of my head to my toes and back, lingering everywhere in between and raising my body temperature significantly. “Doubtful,” he said.
My mouth went dry. I was in skinny jeans, black, pointed flats, and a long sweater, but he’d just made me feel completely naked with the way his eyes roamed over me.
“I know I’m straight, so don’t even ask if that’s the problem,” I said.
“I wasn’t going to,” he said. “What brings you to my doorstep to resolve this situation?”
He leaned back on his hands, but I stayed rooted in place. I might need to bolt any second. My cheeks flushed again as I said, “You have a reputation for being very satisfying.”
He grinned and lifted his chin proudly. “Thank you.”