6
Conor
What a great fucking day this has been. There is no better feeling than waking up on a Saturday and knowing you don’t have a game.
Don’t get me wrong, I do love game days.
The anticipation, the thrill, the adrenaline, it’s a feeling that can’t even be described by words.
You just have to live it to know how amazing it is.
But Coach has been pushing us to our limits lately, running us to the ground and kicking our asses, and I think the whole team are fucking exhausted.
Cap came back last week and now we’re playing better than we ever have.
Things finally seem to be clicking back into place.
Knight is all moved in downstairs, Coach is back to being an ass, and my head is slowly beginning to feel a little less fuzzy.
We’ll get our winning streak back now. I can just feel it.
After a full day of kicking Knight and Michaelson’s asses at golf, I head upstairs to Cap and Olivia’s place before heading home. I knock lightly on the door, not wanting to disturb Bella if she’s sleeping, and open it a crack, peeking my head in.
“Josh? Olliepop?” I call, quietly. Silence. I step inside, easing the door shut behind me. “I think it’s safe to assume there’s no sexual activity going on since I can’t hear any screaming.”
When Olivia and Josh first got together, I used to spend an embarrassing amount of time fantasizing over the woman sneaking in and out of his bed every night.
I had no clue that the mystery woman was my Olliepop.
They kept their relationship hidden for months, only telling me the truth because I walked in on them together.
Now imagine the absolute horror going through my head when I found out that those sexy screams were coming from someone I now considered a sister. It’s the only time in my life where I have felt dirty and not in the good way.
Thankfully, it has now become one of our favorite running jokes. Well, my favorite. Olivia’s face still burns bright red every single time it’s brought up. It’s brilliant.
A quiet sigh drifts in from deeper inside the apartment. “You okay, Olliepop?” I ask, rounding the corner and see Olivia lying on the hard floor tiles.
“I think I fell asleep down here.” She mumbles, her voice groggy and she keeps her eyes shut. Isabella has been giving her a tough time. I know, because I can hear her crying at stupid hours of the night from my apartment below.
“And how exactly did you end up on the floor?” Olivia cracks one eye open to look at me.
“I’m hot.”
“Yeah, you are.” I flash her a grin.
“Shut up, Conor.” She groans, kicking her leg out to try and hit me but misses by a mile. Apart from the guys, Olivia is my only true friend. Our friendship started out a little rocky but once she got to know me, she loved me. I have that effect on people.
“That doesn't answer my question though. How did you end up on the floor?”
“I laid down on the floor, obviously.”
“But, why?”
“Because I’m hot and the floor is cold.” She lifts her hands in the air towards me, a silent command to help her up. I take her hands in mine and haul her to her feet. “My hips must have locked or something because I couldn't get up. So I took a nap instead.”
“That makes perfect sense.” I move to the fridge, grabbing two bottles of cold water and passing one to Olivia. “Where’s my Connie girl?”
Olivia rolls her eyes. “You know, sometimes I regret naming her after you.” She says as she flops down onto the couch. Isabella Connie Woods. Isabella, after Josh’s mom who passed away when he was a teenager, and Connie, because they couldn’t resist honoring the greatest man they’ve ever known.
“Josh took her to see Dee and Charlie. They should be home soon.” I sit next to her, wrapping my arm around her as she settles against me with a tired sigh. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you think our friendship is normal?”
I glance down at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” she gestures between us, “if some people were to look at us now, they’d think we’re more than friends. Is that not weird?”
“Maybe. But we shouldn't care what other people think. We know what this is.”
“And what is it?”
“You being the most annoying woman I have ever met but I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
Olivia elbows me in the ribs. “I was gonna say we’re basically siblings.”
“Yeah, that too.”
A small smile tugs at her lips. “It’s a good thing Josh trusts us both.”
“Cap knows I would never cross that line with you. I know we flirt all the time-”
“You flirt all the time.” She interrupts, “I tolerate it.”
“I prefer to think of it as appreciating beauty.”
“I prefer to think that you’re incapable of behaving yourself.”
Olivia laughs to herself. “You’re just a flirty guy. I bet you sit at home, flirting with yourself in the mirror.”
“I don’t even have to flirt with the mirror.”
“No?”
“Nope. The mirror falls in love with me the second I’m in front of it.”
She groans so dramatically that I’m half convinced she’s about to throw herself back down onto the floor.
My phone buzzes in my pocket so I pull it out.
Angel: Can we talk?
“Ohh, who's Angel?” Olivia asks, her energy shifting from sleepy to alert in point two seconds.
“No one, Olliepop.” I say, booping her nose and slipping my phone back into my pocket.
“I have another question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“How come you never have a girlfriend?”
Her question catches me off guard. No one has actually asked me that before.
Everyone just assumes that I like the bachelor life, sleeping around and never taking anything seriously.
No one knows the real reason why I avoid relationships like the plague.
“You can’t tell anyone. It’ll make me seem like too much of a girl if you do. ”
“Promise.” Olivia crosses her hand over her heart.
I can trust this woman with my life, so I tell her the truth. “What if I meet a woman that I really care about? What if I see a future with someone and find out she was only ever with me because I play hockey?” I hang my head, shame and vulnerability making it too hard to look her in the eye.
“Conor.” Her voice softens. “You’re an incredible guy. Hockey might get someone's attention, but it isn't what would make them stay.”
“I don’t know.”
“Well I do.” She squeezes my arm. “I know it’s scary. I know a lot of the guys probably feel the same way. But don’t shut yourself off from having something meaningful because of something that hasn’t even happened yet.”
I smile weakly at her. “Thanks.”
“You deserve someone who loves you for you. You would make someone really happy if you gave it a chance.” She tilts her head, “Why don’t you find someone who doesn’t really care about hockey?”
“Like who?”
She’s quiet for a moment as she thinks. “Like Sasha!”
I almost choke on air at the sound of her name. Does Olivia know we had dinner a couple of weeks ago? She hasn’t said anything about it and now, seconds after Sasha texts me…
“Not Sasha, obviously. You gotta keep your dirty paws off her. But I think someone like her would be good for you.”
“Why can’t I date Sasha?” I ask her. Does she not think I’m good enough for her? I’m actually fucking offended.
“Because she’s too pure. I don’t want you corrupting her.”
I bark out a laugh. I think she’d be the one corrupting me. “Anyway, I should go. I need a shower.” I say instead of voicing my opinion on the matter.
“Yeah go, you fucking stink.”
I leave Olivia’s apartment, replying to Sasha’s text in the elevator on the way down to my floor.
Me: Finally come to your senses?
Angel: Shut up *eyeroll emoji*
Angel: Can I come over?
Me: Any time you want, baby ;)
Five minutes later, someone starts trying to kick my front door off its hinges.
That’s not knocking. That’s attempted murder.
Considering that the door is shaking from the bottom, I can either assume that whoever is on the other side is about two feet tall, or Sasha is kicking the shit out of my door. Whoever it is sounds pissed.
The second I swing the door open, I get a hard kick in the shin. “Ouch! What the fuck?”
Sasha barges past me, moving into the living room. “Sorry,” she says without sounding sorry at all. “I was aiming for the door.” There’s a smug little grin pulling at her lips and it’s sexy as hell. She’s sexy as hell. And she’s wearing the fuck out of that curve hugging dress.
“Did you buy the whole mall today?” I ask her, eyeing the thousands of bags she dumps on the floor at her feet.
She shrugs as she steps over them and moves towards my couch. “Pretty much.” She plops her sexy little ass down on the couch cushions, slipping her heels off and revealing her silky feet. I wouldn’t say I'm a foot kinda guy but damn, hers are maybe something I’d consider. “Sit.”
I do as she says without hesitation, dropping beside her and draping my arm around her shoulders and tugging her close. “What are you doing?” She asks, eyeing me carefully.
“You came over…” I trail off, waggling my eyebrows at her.
She stares at me for a few seconds before speaking.
“To talk, you weirdo. Get off.” She shoves me lightly and I huff a laugh, sliding to the other end of the couch.
She still has that mischievous twinkle in her deep, chocolate, brown eyes but there’s something else in there too, something I can’t place. “I need you to do something for me.”
Anything. “Okay.”
“It’s big.”
Yeah, it is. I bite back my grin. “Okay.”
“You’re such a child.” She deadpans.
“What?”
“I know exactly what you were thinking.” She glares at me before going back to the topic at hand. “You can say no if you want to.”
Never. “Okay.”
“Can you stop saying okay?”
“Okay.” I pause, “Shit, sorry. Yes, I can.”
Sasha takes a deep breath, her fingers twitching nervously around the hem of her dress.
“I need you to be my boyfriend.”
“Okay.” Wait. What?