What If I Told You I Love You

I didn't see much of my new bestie after that. I tried to avoid him the best I could but it was pretty much unnecessary since he was off doing media things. I left the arena a little while later to go meet Mel for lunch at a nearby cafe. We were regulars there so I wasn't surprised to find that Mel had already ordered for me. I walked into the cafe, still slightly on edge after my previous encounters with TJ. He just seemed to rub me in the wrong way. His presence alone was enough to send my blood pressure to the limit.

I collapsed into my chair across from Mel who was playing on her phone. She held a finger up as she continued to pound away on her phone. I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the water in front of me. Mel giggled across from me and I shook my head at her dorkiness. She was totally checking her e-mail and reading a chain letter that someone sent her. I didn't even know people actually read those.

I let my gaze go out the window while my mind drifted back to the blonde haired boy who hadn't left my head since I ran into him this morning. It wasn't fair that he had to be such an asshole, then maybe I could consider being friends with him. One thing was for sure though, I was NOT going on any road trips this year. I would rather be bored, alone in my big house, than stuck in a hotel room with my new enemy. No thanks, I'd rather cut my eyelashes off.

"So, how were things at the rink? Did you find a rookie to sink your teeth into?" Mel asked, putting her phone down. She took a sip of her iced tea and studied me intently.

"Oh you bet I did, but not in a good way," I shrugged. Mel stayed silent but I could feel her eyes on me as I swirled my straw around in my glass.

"Are you going to tell me or are you going to just play with that stupid straw?" She snapping her fingers in my face.

"I don't really want to talk about it." She put her hand over mine, stopping my circular motion. I looked into her hazel eyes, trying to play it off like I was bored.

"Tell. Me. Now."

"Fine," I sighed, "so I met a couple of the rookies including, the holy kid himself, TJ Oshie." She squealed and I flinched from the sudden loud noise.

"Is he as cute as my cousin said?" She asked, referring to her cousin who went to North Dakota with TJ.

"Yeah, about that.. Does your cousin do crack, or maybe some type of heavier drug?" I asked.

"Um, no." Mel gave me a questioning look, "ohh, is he that ugly?" Her nose wrinkled in distaste.

"No, she was right, the kid is easy on the eyes. But none of that matters after he opens his fucking mouth. The kid is the biggest asshole I have met, and that is saying something. I've met a lot of nasty people in my life, but after seeing TJ Oshie for two hours tops, he already has me convinced that he stole the top spot." I finished just as the waitress set our food down in front of us. I smiled at her and dug right into my sandwich. I was starving after only ingesting coffee so far today.

"Oh, he can't be that bad Rena." Mel said, using my nickname. I rolled my eyes, she had no idea what this guy was capable of, but here she was defending him.

"Actually I'm pretty sure he is. And that's not even the worst part. My dad totally has him pegged for the guy who is going to sweep me off my feet and make me drop Derek. I don't understand why he is pushing me towards hockey players. He knows how much I hate them and I'm happy with Derek anyway." I took another bite of my sandwich looking across the table at my best friend who just picked at her salad.

Mel didn't like Derek any more than my dad did, she just tended to keep her mouth shut about it. It wasn't that Derek didn't treat me right, he did. They just thought he was only in it for the perks of being with me, such as free tickets, fame, and getting to be close to the players. They didn't give me any credit for being a good judge of character. They just wrote him off the second they were introduced to him. That was another reason why Mel defending TJ annoyed me. Here she was, defending the asshole who called me an Ice Girl of all things, and she hated my boyfriend on first sight. She hadn't even met TJ yet, and she was already putting him above the man that I was with.

"So what are you going to do about the whole having to be besties with TJ thing, if you don't get along?" She asked, brushing off any comment having to do with Derek. I looked up at the ceiling to try to play off my eye roll at her not so subtle ignorance.

"I don't know, keep my distance unless my dad happens to be pushing up together. I mean, I can be civil if I have too, I'm just not sure if he can."

Mel nodded and completely changed the subject as we finished eating. We didn't venture back to TJ until we were done, and heading out to the parking lot.

"So is TJ going to be your rookie of the year then?" She questioned, looking both ways before crossing the street.

I knew what she was referring to but I couldn't believe that she though I would pick him as the rookie to flirt with this year. Every year, Mel and I each pick a rookie that we considered dateable, someone who has potential to be good boyfriend material. We flirt with them, sort of boost their confidence and help them feel welcomed to St. Louis. A lot of the time the guys don't buy into our bull crap flirting but we end up making some pretty good friends and sometimes we come out with some hilarious stories.

But when it's all said and done, we try to help the new guys with rookie hazing, directions around town, and the ins and outs of the girls who will throw themselves at the boys. It ends up being a win-win for both parties, they get a bunch of help from us, and we get to ask them favors that are ridiculous but they do anyway. Like last year, Mel choose Erik Johnson and she decided to see how far she could push him, so she took him with on a spa day, shopping trip and she even made him run to the store to get tampons. Surprisingly, they are still really good friends.

"Mel, no fucking way is TJ my rookie. I can't stand that fucker, how could I be nice to him, let alone flirt with him?" I asked, stopping with her when we reached her Audi.

"Well that's the thing. If he drives you crazy, why don't you just do the same thing back to him. Flirt with him, make him crazy, do all the things he does to you. Give him a taste of his own medicine, see if that gets him off of your back."

"Oh, I see what your saying, shove his game back into his face." Mel grinned and she shook her keys at me, signaling she was in a hurry. I nodded and pulled her into a hug.

"I almost feel bad for this poor kid." She murmured, looking thoughtful for a second.

"Psh, I'm not. If your going to dish it out, you better be able to take it." I smirked before waltzing over to my black Audi. Maybe I was wrong about this year. It might just be a lot better than I ever anticipated. Maybe, it would be the best one yet.

*** (TJ)

I had just finished putting my equipment in my stall when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, praying it wasn't that bitchy girl, Sirena, from earlier in the day. I let out a relived breath when I saw Bergie looking slightly exhausted from all the interviews and media things we had to do today.

"Hey, you done for the day?" He asked me, his Swedish accent making a noticeable appearance.

"Yeah, thank god. I don't think I can come up with anymore responses to the same questions over and over again. How did it go for you?"

"Okay," He responded, rearranging some of his equipment so he could sit down. "So what's up with you and Sirena?"

"I don't know, I didn't do anything to her and she freaked out on me." I told him.

"Well you must have done something. Girls don't just freak out for nothing."

"Bergie, it's called a monthly visitor. But I don't think that's what her problem is. I think she might have been born with a stick up her ass and her nose in the air."

"Nah, she just hates hockey players," David Perron said from next to me.

"Why? It's not like we did anything to her." I said, sitting down in my stall. I took my hat off, shaking my head and running a hand through my hair. I replaced my hat while sitting forward in my stall. I crossed my arms and set them on my knees, looking towards Dave for an explanation.

"Well, you haven't done anything to her but a bunch of the Blues rookies have in past years." Dave spoke, smirking slightly.

"Elab-Elabar-uh, is it Elaborate?" Bergie asked, looking at me specifically. I nodded giving him a crooked smile. He was pretty good with his English but he still needed some help here and there.

"I'm sure you guys know about rookie bets so to speak?" He raised an eyebrow and we both nodded. It was a standard in hockey. It was kind of like pledging for a fraternity, not that I would ever be in anything as gay as that but hockey was a sort of brotherhood. "Well, every year, on our team at least, the newbies are each given a girl that they have to hook up with by the end of the year. I know, the end of the year seems like a long time, but every guy who has been given Sirena, has been shut down like no other. Erik Johnson got her last year, it didn't go over very well. He ended up pretty much being shunned by Sirena but he got extra attention from her best friend Mel. What I'm trying to say is one of you guys is going to get her this year, and TJ you better hope it's not you."

"Why? You don't think I could do it?" I asked, feeling like my pride was being ripped on. This girl couldn't be that hard to get in bed. She had to have some sort of weakness. Every girl did, it's called romance. I happen to be good at that, even though I've never been in love, I know how to make girls feel like they are special. It's not like I'm lying to them, they are, just for different reasons than they think they are.

"Dude, guys have had a hard enough time getting her in bed when they have never met her. She already hates you."

"She doesn't hate me, she was just crabby." I insisted.

"Whatever bro." Dave said.

A loud clap caused all of us to turn our attention to the front of the room where David Backes stood with a grin on his face.

"Alright boys, it's our favorite time of the year. Today the season officially begins as does the infamous rookie bet. It's time for you little rookies to meet your new buddies so to speak. Remember, in case some of you don't know, you have to sleep with the girl chosen for you by the end of your rookie year, and by end we mean the day our season ends so does your nookie time. No groaning or yelling about your selection. You get what you get and no trading. If you try to do any of those, we will give you a different girl who is a lot harder on the eyes." A couple of the guys snickered when David looked over at DJ King who just flipped him off causing the boys to erupt with laughter.

"Alright, if you want to see how much worse you could have it, just ask DJ over there. Anyways, on to the girls. We are going to start with our favorite Swede, Patrik Berglund. Oh Bergie, you got so lucky with this one. Your new favorite girl is Mel Standford. She's beautiful and she might just take pity on you because you can barely speak English," David laughed.

"I can speak just fine," Bergie mumbled under his breath, taking the picture of Mel and looking it over. I glanced over his shoulder at it, she was cute, short brown hair, pretty smile, sparkly eyes. Bergie looked at me and shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head. I gave him a nod of approval and turned my attention back to David.

I listened as all the guys got their girls. I noticed that none of them so far had gotten Sirena and for some weird reason, relief washed through me every time they wouldn't say her name. I could tell the guys were purposefully leaving me for last which I guess I didn't really mind. Eventually the guys dwindled down and it was my turn.

"TJ you were hard to find a girl for seeing as how your a man whore." I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. The guys laughed and Dave clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Well, you might have your hands a little full with Sirena Stillman." The whole locker room erupted with cheers and Osh's. I grinned and took it all in.

"Boys, she won't be able to resist the Oshie charm." I flexed my muscles causing the boys to laugh even harder.

"Hey, I'm not done. If you get her to sleep with you TJ, we are willing to throw in some cash for you. I mean a huge pot of money. No guy has been able to sleep with the owner's daughter. Don't fail us Osh. We want details."

"You'll get details. Don't even worry about that. I like to kiss and brag. You boys ready to pay up?" I asked, confidence oozed into my voice bring my signature smirk with it. They thought Sirena was going to be hard to get into bed. Psh, none of them could sweet talk like I could. Also, none of them really knew about my success with girls at North Dakota. They just came to me. Sirena would be no different.

"Well for your sake Osh I hope so. If you fail, your in for some tough shit. Any rookies who don't complete their mission are going to have some serious consequences." David reached behind him to grab a cup of "water". "To a great season, a Stanley Cup and heres to hoping this is the year Sirena loses her Blues virginity."

The locker room burst into loud noise again as David downed the "water". I smiled, already knowing that this was the year for all of those, especially the last past. Sirena Stillman was going to be a challenge, sure, but in my 21 years on this earth, I had never encountered a challenge I couldn't beat. She would be no different.

David handed me Sirena's picture and I looked it over. I took in her beautiful face, her long brown hair and the way her eyes seemed to bore into mine. Her easy smile made a smile form onto my lips. She sure was easy on the eyes. She may not like me right now but it wouldn't be long before I had her screaming my name and begging for me not to stop. I grabbed the cup of "water" from Bergie's out stretched hand. I lifted it to Sirena's picture, Here's to you my dear and hoping you are as good as you look.