Toxic

I couldn't get out fast enough. It took Carolina grabbing me by the arm and pointing out I didn't even have shoes on for me to realize that I wasn't anywhere near ready. I couldn't go run after the first guy that actually meant something to me. I couldn't run after him without having showered in two days. I took the faster shower in my life. As I showered, Carolina threw clothes onto my bed for me to wear, and I put them on without question. Most of the time, I didn't let her dress me, but in this case, I didn't have the time to second guess her.

"Do you think they're still at practice?!" I shouted across the apartment as I staggered to put my right shoe on.

"How would I know? Just hurry up and get to him!"

That was all I needed. Once my left shoe was on my foot, I was gone.

The drive to where the Capitals practiced took a lot longer than I thought it would. Once I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a crowd of people waiting for the players to exit into the parking lots. "Shit..." I muttered. As people kept pouring from the building, I fought my way through the crowd. Once I reached the stands, I felt my heart drop. There was one skater left on the ice, and it wasn't the one I was looking on.

"Hey!" I shouted, obviously not loud enough to get the player's attention.

Nothing.

"Hey!!!" I banged on the glass slightly, making the player turn, but once he did, I instantly regretted it. Brooks Laich was staring me right in the face and I felt my heart drop.

Picking up a puck, he tossed it over the glass at me with a cocky grin on his face. "You're welcome."

I watches as the puck hit the floor and let me eyebrow rise. "I don't really want a puck." Picking it up, I tossed it in my hands a little bit before looking to Brooks as he was skating away. I knew that it wasn't the way to get to see Mike.

"Wait!"

Turning on his skates, he threw his arms up slightly at me. "What? You don't want a puck, and I don't have anything else for you. What can I do?"

"I need to see Mike Green," I said, still flipping the puck slightly.

"Yeah, right." He waved me off and started to skate away.

Sighing, I took a few steps back and threw the puck as far as I could over the glass and in Brooks' direction. "I'm Cooke, you assface."

Apparently, those were the magic words.

-x-

I followed Brooks down the labyrinth of the rink, trying by best to keep up and not get lost. I didn't get overwhelmed easily, but for some reason this was giving me that feeling. Brooks had been talking almost the entire time we had been walking, but I didn't catch a single word he said until he stopped in his tracks and I ran straight into his back.

"I'm not sure if he's even still...What the fuck? Are you not paying any fucking attention."

"This is all new to me, okay?! I'm sorry!" I folded my arms over my chest and clenched my jaw. "What were you saying?"

Pushing the door to the locker room, Brooks looked in curiously, trying to see who was still around. "I was saying I don't know if he's even still here. It doesn't look like he's in here anymore, but just...just stay here. I'll be back."

"Fine," I sighed before Brooks disappeared. If someone told me that I would be standing here waiting for a Capital, I would have laughed in their face. Pulling my phone out, I looked at the time, hoping more than anything the next person to walk through the locker room doors would be Mike, and not Brooks. Of course, that didn't happen. Brooks emerged about ten minutes later, his bag in one hand, and his sticks in another.

"Here. Hold these," He said, shoving the sticks into my arms.

"What am I? You're damn pack mule?"

"Mike said you were feisty. He also said you were good in bed. We can test if that theory is true later."

I rolled my eyes in disgust at him before looking at his hockey sticks. "What are doing?"

"You want to see Mike? I'll take you to see him. You're all he talks about right now. I don't know what you did to him, but he's crazy about you. Which leads me to ask, why have you been avoiding him for two days?"

Brooks began walking as he spoke, and I followed him closely, occasionally whacking him with his own hockey stick out of annoyance. I felt like I had to play a game with him, and I didn't want to. "It's a long story."

"Well, we have a pretty good car ride, explain it to me then." Popping open the trunk of his car, Brooks threw his things in the back before motioning for me to get in. Sighing, I pulled over the passenger's seat and sat down, preparing myself for one long ass car ride.