Escape

He had been too shy to talk to her. Instead, he sat at the bar with a drink in his hand as he watched his teammate walk up to the pretty brunette, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. It was after a come-from-behind victory that had snapped the team’s five game losing streak, and with spirits renewed, a night out before their well earned day off had been decided on. And as soon as Anze Kopitar walked into the bar with a few teammates, he saw her, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t look away.

Dustin Brown nudged the young forward as he took the open seat next to him, an amused smile on his face as he looked between Anze and Jarret Stoll, who was buying the young woman a drink. “You should have talked to her, man.” Anze only gave his captain a blank look, shaking his head before he turned back to his drink. “Do you like hockey?” Dustin asked, making Anze stare at him in confusion. “That’s your opening line, Anze! Whether she says yes or no, you tell her who you are, and you’re in.”

“I hope you don’t use that line,” the Slovenian commented, the pretty face of Dustin’s wife popping into his head.

“I only used it once,” he said matter-of-factly. “And I married the girl I used it on.” Dustin grinned at Anze, slapping his hand on his teammate’s shoulder before he moved across the bar, to where some of their other teammates had gathered.

As he took another sip of his drink, Anze’s light blue eyes fell on the girl, and this time her eyes were on him, too. He smiled lightly as he noticed her small smile, his eyes glancing to Jarret who still stood next to her, his mouth moving as he nodded his head toward where Anze was sitting. A curse passed through his lips as the girl smiled wider, her head nodding as Jarret laughed, offering her his hand.

She grabbed her drink in her hands, giving Jarret a last smile before he moved past him and walked toward where Anze sat. “Hey,” she said as she approached. “Is this seat taken?” she asked, motioning to where Dustin had previously been sitting.

“No, of course not,” he managed to answer, watching as her she gracefully slid onto the stool before she turned to him. “I’m Anze,” he told her, watching her smile widen.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she told him. “I’m Lauren. Your teammate, Jarret, said I might want to meet you; I hope you don’t mind.”

Ignoring his teammates who stood behind Lauren as they mouthed words to him and made gestures and faces, he focused all of his attention on the young woman who smiled up at him. He told her he’d be crazy mind her company, commending himself for sounding so calm and collected when inside, he had been dancing with excitement.

-

It had been two days later, in the middle of the third period during another home game that Anze had taken a rough hit against the boards, his knee hitting against the ice awkwardly as he fell. Knowing he was done for the rest of the game, and possibly the next couple, he let himself be led to the locker room, stripping his gear off as he went. “Easy on the leg, Kopy,” the Kings head trainer told him as he helped him onto the table once they were inside the training room.

As the trainer's fingers poked and prodded at the sore knee, Anze bit down on his bottom lip, the discomfort in his joint hitting him. “Just a pull and a bruise,” the trainer said, smiling down at the hockey player, who smiled in relief, despite the slight pain he was feeling. “We’ll ice it for a while, then we’ll get it wrapped up.”

Anze laid there, his hands over his eyes to block out the brightness of the florescent lights above him, faintly hearing the sounds of the game through the open door to the room. He heard the distinct sound of ice in a bag before the he felt the coldness against his leg, as he moved to sit up.

His eyes widened as Lauren smiled at him, her hand holding the bag of ice against his slightly swollen knee. “What a way to welcome me to my internship,” she laughed. “Putting me to work early.”

“Internship?” he asked the woman he had spent the entire night talking with until the bar closed just two days before. “You never said it was with the Kings,” he laughed, sure his cheeks turned slightly pink when she winked one of her light brown eyes at him

“I thought it would be a fun surprise; I didn’t think you’d get hurt,” she frowned, looking at the bruise that was already forming on his left knee.

“I’ll be fine,” he told her as the final buzzer sounded as he teammates’ voices grew closer and closer. Lauren let Anze’s hand take over holding the ice as a Jarret Stoll walked into the room, a wide grin on his face.

“Hey, Lauren, you think I can get some ice for my shoulder?” he asked, sending an amused look at Anze. “Hey, Kopy.”

“You knew she was the athletic training student, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did. I know everything,” the Canadian grinned, taking the ice from Lauren’s hands as she turned her attention back to Anze’s knee.

He gave her a small smile. “Do you think, maybe, you’d want to grab a bite to eat?” he asked, knowing it was worth a shot. She had given him her phone number, after all. He just hadn’t called her yet.

“I hope you don’t mean tonight,” she scolded, grabbing the ice off of his knee, her petite fingers pressing against it lightly. “This knee needs to be wrapped, iced, and elevated all night.”

“Then we can get some takeout, bring it back to my place, and you can make sure I do that,” he suggested, hoping he wasn’t being too forceful. Luckily for him, Lauren had grinned, agreeing with his idea as she made up another ice bag for another player.

-

Despite adding another hat trick to his resume and helping his teammates to another victory, Anze Kopitar was quick to leave the Staples Center. He only said a few humble words to the media before he quickly showered and dressed. He drove well over the speed limit as he cruised down the surprisingly empty streets in his Cadillac Escalade, Venice Beach his destination.

He pulled his keys from his pocket as he bounded up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. Finding the key she had given him a couple months before, he quietly let himself in, frowning when he saw all the lights off. Throwing his suit jacket over the back of the couch, he stepped further into the apartment. “Lauren?” he called, heading toward her bedroom, where the only light in the dark apartment came from.

He laughed at the sight of his girlfriend of a year, passed out on her bed amongst books, notebooks, and papers. He smiled and stepped further into the room, removing the large textbook that rested on top of her stomach, exposing the bare skin left uncovered from her tee shirt that rode up her midsection. Quickly gathering everything and placing them neatly on her desk, Anze climbed onto the bed next to her, his large hand wiping away some of the hair that covered her face.

“Lauren,” he said quietly, leaning down and pressing his lips against her temple. “Wake up, love.” He watched as Lauren’s body stirred, a small smile spreading across her pretty face as her eyes blinked open and adjusted to the light. Anze smiled down at her, leaning to kiss her lips as she stretched her arms over her head. “You fell asleep studying again,” he pointed out, thinking of all the other times he had walked into the same scene.

Lauren laughed, rubbing her fingers over her eyes as she turned her body and cuddled into Anze’s chest. “I missed the game,” she frowned, having planned on watching it as she studied for her big test the next day. “Did you guys win?”

“We did,” he grinned. “four to one; I scored three.”

“I missed your hat trick,” she frowned again, burying her head in his shoulder as he laughed.

“I’ll have more, don’t worry.”

“So full of yourself, Mr. Kopitar,” Lauren replied, her brown eyes twinkling in amusement as she looked into his icy blue ones, grinning as his lips connected with hers just a second later. Her arms wrapped around his big body as he gently held the side of her face with one hand, her hip with the other.

“I’ll be happy when you graduate in a couple months,” he said into her neck as she yawned.

“But then I’ll have graduate school and more internships,” she laughed, running a hand through Anze’s light brown curls. He groaned against the skin of her neck, his hot breath washing over her as his voice sent vibrations down her spine. Instinctively moving closer to him, she threw a leg over his hip, her head falling to her pillow. “I’m so tired,” she commented, just as her eyes closed.

Anze nodded his agreement and kicked his dress shoes off before he stood from the bed, making Lauren frown as the cool air of the room replaced her boyfriend’s warmth. He quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a tee shirt he kept at her place for that exact kind of situation before he pulled the covers down on the side of the bed that had become his. Picking Lauren up easily, he held her as he flipped all the covers down, dropping her down onto the sheets as she laughed.

Lauren cuddled up against Anze again, her head against his chest as he laid on his back, his arm wrapped around her. “I love you,” she murmured against his tee shirt before she quickly fell back asleep. Anze smiled, repeating her words back to her as he held her closer and he thought about the game, his girlfriend, their relationship, and their future.