Chapter Fifteen
Sophia
I was freezing my ass off. I was pretty sure watching the guys’ practice was entirely unnecessary, but Jana suggested that I familiarize myself with the team and Coach Alvarez had agreed to open practices up to me for the duration of the year.
Apparently, this was a coveted gift I’d been given because Jia seemed very envious when I left the apartment at the ass crack of dawn so I could grab a latte on my way.
I sipped on the cold drink, in the cold arena, wondering—not for the first time—why I hadn’t learned to like hot lattes since living in Boston.
I wasn’t cut out for them, but I certainly wished I was at this moment while goose bumps covered my skin and my teeth chattered.
I didn’t know how watching practice was supposed to help me. They were skating around, sweaty, and presumably doing things they would do in a game. But I couldn’t make sense of what was happening. I looked up random hockey facts on my phone when I wasn’t watching the drills.
Do they play halves or quarters?
What? Three periods? What the hell is that?
The only part of this practice I’d felt inspired by so far were the little stretch things they did at the beginning that basically had them spreading their legs and humping the ice.
No wonder hockey players moved well in bed—they were more flexible than any other group of men I’d met before.
My cheeks flushed as I thought about how Leo’s hips had moved in bed the other night, and I tried to distract myself from the memory by focusing on the practice.
It was no use. Leo was zipping around the ice in a way that was ridiculously arousing. He had a sexy, determined look on his face whenever he had the puck, passing it back and forth to his teammates, taking shots on goal, or shouting orders at them.
Wait, is he the captain? I should probably already know that.
Another internet search later, and it was confirmed. Leo Harrison was the captain of the BU hockey team.
He lifted the bottom of his jersey to wipe his brow, and my jaw dropped at the sweaty abs on display.
Damn, he is so hot. I clenched my legs together.
I definitely couldn’t watch anymore practices if this was how my body was going to respond.
Maybe Maggie and Kennedy were right. I did need experience to improve my writing, and I needed it with that guy right there in front of me.
He looked up into the stands and smirked at me, giving me a little wave as he lowered his jersey. Does he know I’m staring?
I sunk down in my seat and took a deep breath.
I could do this. I could ask Leo for a few more rounds of great sex—because if I was honest, sex with him was amazing—and solve all my problems at once.
It would be the solution for everything.
For this new level of arousal that Leo seemed to activate, for my writing problems, and for being stuck hanging out with hockey players all year.
He’d probably agree because he was a man who clearly liked having regular sex and he’d seemed pleased with our encounter.
He’s a one-and-done kind of guy, Sophia. Forget about it or you’ll look like all those other clingy girls.
One thing was certain, I could not sit here and watch his ass while he glided across the ice for another second. I got up and made my way to the locker room area and sat down on a bench in the hallway, hoping to talk to him after practice was over.
A little while later, the guys all came clamoring in from the ice, Coach Alvarez behind them. Leo shot me a smile as he walked past, following his teammates into the locker room. Coach Alvarez stopped and looked at me, smiling as his salt-and-pepper hair reflected the fluorescent lights above us.
“You must be Sophia Grimes.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Coach,” I said. “Thanks for the full access. I probably won’t be watching practice very often, but it was nice to get a feel for the experience.”
“Freeze your ass off up there?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, God, yes, it was awful,” I confessed.
“Well, the boys are headed to the weight room next. You’re welcome to follow us up there if you want.”
Um, no thank you. I did not need to see Leo lifting huge weights, grunting, muscles straining. Oh, God.
“I actually have a class soon,” I said, searching for a way out of that horrific, sexual-fantasy-filled nightmare. “But thank you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure I’ll see you after the first game later this week.”
“Sure,” I said, looking up to see Leo making his way out of the locker room. He and Coach Alvarez nodded at each other before Coach disappeared into what I could only imagine was a very stinky room at this point in the morning.
“So, we meet again, Hawaii,” Leo said, grinning. His blue-gray eyes twinkled, and his dark hair was wet with sweat.
Why is that hot?
“Looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of time together,” he said.
“Yeah, looks like it,” I said, spinning the pen around in the coils of my notebook while balancing my phone on the cover.
“Guess this means I’ll have time to convince you to be my friend,” he said with a flirtatious smile, shifting the bag on his shoulder.
“I think we should have sex again,” I blurted out—more loudly than I’d intended.
Leo’s eyes widened as a smile filled his face. He looked around the hall making sure we were alone. “I completely agree. But what’s brought you to this conclusion?”
I sighed. “My agent said my sex scenes don’t sizzle.”
Leo furrowed his brow. “Not to deter you from the sex idea, because once again, totally onboard with that, but I’m going to need a lot of clarification about that last statement.”
I frowned, embarrassed to tell him the truth.
Leo reached for my hand and squeezed. “Come on, Hawaii. You can’t blurt that out and then clam up on me. Out with it.”
“I’ve been working on a romance novel for the last year and I’m in a very fortunate position to already have an agent.
She’s my dad’s agent and likes the idea of having us both as clients, so she’s been mentoring me as I work on drafts of this book.
It’s a good story, but the sex scenes suck and they’re important to the character development since it’s a contemporary romance. ”
“You’re writing a novel already?” he asked, looking amazed. “I thought you were an aspiring novelist.”
“Well, it’s not as impressive as a professional hockey career, but yes, I’ve drafted a novel. If I can ever learn how to write sex scenes, it might just be something worth reading.”
“You’re very impressive, Sophia.” Leo looked down at our joined hands and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. When his eyes met mine, they seemed almost sad. “So, you want to what? Have sex with me and then write about it?” he asked.
“I want to have great sex, so I can write about great sex,” I said, wondering why I was still letting him hold my hand but completely unable to pull it back. I liked being touched by him more than I’d expected.
He smirked and stepped a little closer as his teammates started filing out behind him, his mouth close to my ear. “You thought the sex was great?”
My cheeks warmed as I glared at him.
“It’s okay, Sophia. I’m not afraid to say it,” he whispered. “That sex was more than great. Honestly, the best I’ve ever had.”
I scoffed.
He frowned at me. “I haven’t lied to you yet, Hawaii. I’m not going to start now.”
I swallowed, my throat bobbing as I tried not to look down at his lips. “Are you willing to do this or not? Because I was hoping this could be an ongoing thing for a little while.”
“Yes, I’m very willing to have sex with you for whatever reason you gave me. Doesn’t matter, already forgot,” he teased with an eyebrow raise. “I want something in return.”
My heart rate picked up. “What do you want?”
“You have to be willing to be friends. Or at least give it an honest shot. Which means hanging out with me for things other than just sex once in a while.”
His grip on my hand tightened and his facial muscles were tight. Was he nervous to ask me that?
I squeezed his hand. “Yes, Leo. I’m willing to be friends. And you’re okay with me writing about what we do? If I feel inspired?”
A big, smug smirk filled his face as he plucked my phone from my notebook and spoke directly into my ear again. “You’ll feel inspired, Sophia. Write whatever you want.”
He started typing away on my phone and turned the screen to face me. His name and number filled my screen. “No one else has this number yet except my family.”
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “Wasn’t your phone blowing up just the other day?”
“Exactly why this number is under lock and key. The old one is at the bottom of a river.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and took the phone back. “And you trust me with it? Even though my article is the reason your last phone turned into an electrical hazard?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I trust you with it.” He bent down and kissed me lightly on the cheek. “Don’t hesitate to use it when you’re ready to start your book research, Hawaii. I’ll be waiting.”