Chapter Seven
Leo
If someone had told me that Sophia Grimes would show up on my doorstep asking me for a casual hookup, I would have assumed they were high as a kite. Which is why as soon as I shut the door behind her, I pinched myself on the forearm. And then on the other arm.
I didn’t wake up.
That must have really happened.
The first time I’d thought about a girl for more than just a one-night encounter, and she’d shown up and asked me for a one-night encounter.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
At least I’d managed to get creative at the last minute and convinced her to have a drink with me.
It would give me a chance to potentially interest her in something more than a one-night stand.
I didn’t think I’d be satisfied with a single evening based on the way she kept intriguing me.
Still, she seemed pretty determined for some feedback-based sex and hadn’t asked for anything more.
I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair and then pinched myself once more for good measure.
Well, fuck. It’s really not a dream.
I pulled out my phone and texted my cousin, Jace, looking for a distraction from my own thoughts.
Me: Come play video games with me.
Jace: You come to me. I live above a bar. You live on a college campus. Think, little dude.
Me: Be there soon.
I changed into workout clothes and figured I’d get in some exercise by running there. Maybe it would help with this weird pounding in my chest.
Am I nervous to sleep with this woman?
It would be safe to say that my bedroom nerves were nonexistent, and my performance record was impeccable.
Obviously. That’s why she came to me.
Oh shit, now there’s pressure.
I needed a distraction and a drink. Playing video games with Jace was probably the best option on the table.
I stepped out of my dorm and bumped into Chelsea, the freshman from the other night.
We’d never hooked up and hadn’t seen each other since I’d ignored her attention in favor of chatting with Sophia, but she shot me a sultry smile like she’d already seen me naked or was perhaps currently thinking about it.
“Hey,” she said. “I was just stopping by to see if you were around tonight.”
“I’m headed out,” I said as I pulled my buzzing phone out of my pocket and turned it off. It had been nothing but a nuisance since Sophia wrote that damn article.
“I saw the article about you.” Chelsea smiled, twirling her hair around her finger. “I was hoping to spend some time with you tonight since we got interrupted by the reporter at the hockey party.”
I blinked twice, replaying the events of that night.
Uh, yeah. That’s not how that happened. I was too shaken from my encounter with the reporter from ten minutes ago to even deal with this right now.
“I sent you a DM,” she said.
I took a deep breath and let it out through my nose.
“I’ve gotten too many notifications to keep up,” I said.
Not that I would have responded either way.
Her eyes screamed puck bunny. The closer I got to being a professional athlete, the more the women who threw themselves at me were clearly interested in being a trophy girlfriend.
I was not interested in that experience at all, nor did I intend to take advantage of them.
“Well, I’m here now. Maybe you want to hang out with me for a bit before you take off?” She smiled coyly.
“I’m sorry, Chelsea, I don’t want to be rude, but I do want to be clear. I am not interested in hooking up with you.”
She barely faltered and reached for my arm. I stepped back from her touch. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, trying to step around her. “I’m sorry you came all this way, but I’m meeting someone.” I brushed passed her, intending to leave it at that.
“Is it that reporter?” she snarled. “I saw her leaving the building a few minutes ago.”
I stopped, turning back toward her and surveying her face.
Is this the type of woman I’ve been sleeping with while the ones like Sophia are out there thinking they’re not good enough?
No wonder my phone blowing up with interested parties made me more annoyed than excited.
“I’m going to my cousin’s,” I said. “Not that it’s any of your business how I spend my night.”
She blew out a hard breath and folded her arms across her very exposed chest. “Can I come back another night?”
Does she not get it? My ability to be nice is running out.
I sighed, trying to muster up enough compassion to not hurt her feelings. “Chelsea, you seem like a nice person, so I’m going to be very straight with you. I’m not interested in hooking up with you tonight or any other night. I’m not interested in a relationship or in something casual with you.”
“Well, fine then. I hope she’s worth it,” she sneered, stomping away from me.
Oh, she’s fucking worth it, I thought as Chelsea stormed off, as if I had any reason to even think that let alone believe it after a couple of interactions.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jace asked as he opened the door to his apartment. I stood with my hands on my knees, taking slow, deep breaths at the top of the stairs above Harrison’s Bar and Pub, where Jace rented his apartment from my dad.
“I ran here. I’m catching my breath.” I popped back up and wiped my brow with the hem of my shirt.
Jace raised an eyebrow. “Okay, come on in.” He held the door open, and I walked through. “Beer’s in the fridge.”
I helped myself to one of the craft beers Jace always had on hand while he went to the living room to sit down. One quality beer wouldn’t impact my performance at practice, and I’d never needed it more.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tossed it on the living room table as I sat down next to him on the couch. “I need a new phone.”
“What’s wrong with that one?”
“Everything.” I put the bottle to my lips and took several swallows.
Jace laughed and sipped his own beer. “Seriously, man. What is going on?”
I let out a breath. “I finally did an interview for the school paper.”
“And it ruined your phone?” he asked skeptically.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “The reporter took a unique approach with it since she’s not really a reporter at all but an aspiring romance novelist writing for the paper this year.”
Jace’s mouth turned upward into a grin. “And where would someone who does not go to that school be able to read this little gem?”
“Fuck you, dude.” I shoved his shoulder. “I downloaded it on my phone. But be warned, some of the pictures coming into that thing right now are graphic.”
Jace lunged for my phone, laughing, and turned it on.
As soon as it powered up, the buzzing started.
“Wow, this thing is basically a vibrator now.” Jace turned it over in his hands, looking intrigued at what he could do with it.
He ran a hand through the light brown curls slicked back on his head while he waited for the notifications to stop flying in.
“Hence why I need a new one.” I took another long sip of beer before taking the phone from him and pulling up the article.
I handed it back to him and he read it, a smile spreading across his face as he did. “Did she know what the fallout would be?”
“No, definitely not. She’s way too nice to have caused me this much misery intentionally.” I was certain Sophia had just thought it was a fun spin, like she’d said earlier. She had no experience with the hockey-obsessed women who tried to get my attention.
Jace turned the phone back off. “I see why you came here to get away for the night.”
“That’s not even why I came,” I confessed. “The reporter? Her name’s Sophia. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Jace perked up, looking interested. My cousin was in his late twenties and hadn’t had many serious relationships.
He approached sex casually, though usually kept the same partner for a period before moving on to the next.
My one-and-done approach had always been something he’d thought I should reconsider, and he looked rather smug at the idea that I might have more than a purely sexual interest in someone for once.
“Say more,” he said.
I took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. She thinks I’m a fuckboy.”
Jace kept his eyes on me while he took another slow sip of beer, like he had all the time in the world for me to unpack why that bothered me so much.
I sighed. “It really bothers me that she sees me that way, okay?”
“It’s not the first time you’ve been called a fuckboy. My mom calls you one all the time,” Jace said, pointing out the obvious.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever cared.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and then hid my discomfort behind my beer. “She apologized too, like she could tell it bothered me. But I have no idea why it’s bothering me so much.”
“Who is this girl to you?”
“No one. I mean, she’s someone, obviously. And she’s not no one to me—that sounds terrible. She’s a friend? I guess. I’m not sure. We just met and I think we’re going to hang out more?”
More like hookup.
I shut my mouth before more spilled out.
Jace’s eyes roamed my face, and my skin heated under the scrutiny. “Leo, what’s happening right now? Are you sweating?”
“I don’t know.” I wiped my brow with my shirt again. “Yep, I guess so. My palms sweat when she’s around, which seems unusual. And apparently now I sweat when I talk about her. Or maybe this is still from the run. Oh God, I’m going to be terrible at sex for the first time.”
Jace burst out laughing. His whole body shook, and he knocked his beer on the edge of the table twice before finally setting it down successfully.
I glared at him, wondering what on earth he could find funny about the weird shit happening in my body today.
He stood up and bent over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath the same way I had after my run. He took a deep breath in through his nose and looked at me. “Hey, hockey star, I think you have your first crush.”
“No,” I said immediately, taking a sip of my beer and shaking my head. “That’s not a thing that happens to me.”
Jace smirked. “Maybe not before, but it’s happening now, man.” He picked up his beer bottle and went to the kitchen to grab another. “You want a second one?”
“If not tonight, when could I possibly ever need a second drink?” I chugged the rest of mine and set the empty bottle on the table.
“Why her?” Jace asked, returning with two open beers. “I assume she’s hot.”
I took my bottle from him. “She’s not just hot. I mean, she is, but it’s more than that. She’s beautiful, Jace.”
Jace bared all his teeth in a deep, satisfied grin.
Oh fuck, maybe I do have a crush.
“She calls me on my shit,” I said rubbing my jaw as he sat down. “I barely know her, but she couldn’t be less impressed that I’m good at hockey. In fact, I think she even likes me less because I’m known for my talent.”
“Now I’m not following.”
“Do you know how long girls have been interested in me just because I’m athletic or because they anticipate I’ll get perks as an athlete. Or even because they’ve figured out our family is wealthy?”
Jace frowned. “Yeah, I’ve had that last one plenty of times.”
“Exactly.” I took another swig of beer. “She gives zero shits, dude. Zero. It only makes her hotter.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I already agreed to sleep with her and give her feedback,” I said with a deep sigh.
Jace choked on his beer.
“Feedback?” he asked through a cough. “We might need to take a few steps back.”
“I’m not getting into it. She came to me and asked me for help, and that involves having sex with her,” I said, leaning back on the couch.
“And the problem is?”
“I really want to have sex with her, Jace. Repeatedly.”
“That’s the crush talking,” he said with a smirk.
“Great, well, this crush is going to be a fucking problem, man. She only wants one night.”
“Then you better hope you’re as good as all those other girls say and she comes back for more.”
I shook my head, shaking off the stress as I gestured to the hockey video game Jace had queued up. “Are we playing or not?”
Jace tossed me a controller and picked up the other for himself.
It wasn’t a bad point. I wanted more than sex with Sophia, but sex was what she wanted, and sex was what I was good at. Even if I had a crush on her, I could do this and give her what she asked for. I’d be secretly dying for more, but that could probably be okay. I could survive that.