Two Different Worlds Collide

More than a few girls came by the table gushing over the guys, both Liza and I getting more than our fair share of dirty looks for having places at the table with the guys. Nash left at about twelve thirty, saying that his girlfriend didn’t like when he came in too late, and soon Zach had a pretty blonde draped over him from Nash’s empty chair. Sometimes I had to try not to laugh at how obvious she was, and Jared seemed to be having the same problem.

“Want to dance?” he quietly asked. I was surprised – the guys had just finished arguing about not dancing – but I nodded. He set down his beer and took my hand as we stood up, making Michal wolf whistle at us.

“Must be keeper – Staalsy is dancing!” he teased, and I ruffled his hair as I walked by, making him laugh. Liza and Brett raised eyebrows at us, and Jared merely shrugged. We got about fifteen feet away and both happened to turn back to the table at once, seeing the blonde hanging over Zach, and started laughing out loud.

“God, I didn’t want to be a dick, but…” he burst. I nodded, wiping at a tear that was starting to form at the corner of my eye from laughing so hard.

“But really? Are you that desperate?” I asked, and he nodded, putting his hands high on my waist as he turned to face me. Jared was a stereotypical nice guy, as I’d found. He made a point of not making crude jokes in front of Liza and I, he’d reprimanded any of the other guys for making jokes he considered inappropriate in front of us girls, and was very sweet about making sure I had a drink when I needed one. I knew he would have done the same for Liza had Brett not taken care of it.

“I don’t understand girls like that,” I admitted, and he shrugged.

“Me either,” we both giggled for a second after that, continuing to dance. As the song went on we ended up closer together, and soon I could smell his body wash, his chest and neck mere inches from my nose, and his hands had moved to my hips. Not inappropriately, but comfortably. My arms were around his shoulders, and silently I thanked Liza for making me wear the high heels.

“So, what brought you girls down all the way from Edmonton?” he asked as the song changed to yet another slow song.

“Spring Break,” I admitted, my cheeks turning pink. He laughed, before realizing I was one hundred percent serious.

“Really? Don’t people usually go to Mexico and stuff for that?” he asked, and I shrugged.

“They do if they can afford it,” I replied, and he nodded wisely.

“I see. University?” I nodded, and he waited for me to explain.

“Journalism degree, I’m in my third year.”

“That’s cool. I’ve thought about some online classes, but sometimes I’d be too busy to keep up, you know? For the most part I think I could do it, but I don’t even know what I’d want to take,” he told me, catching me off guard. He was the last of the legendary Staal brothers awaiting NHL greatness; why was he wondering about school?

“What?” I must’ve been quiet longer than I thought, and my expression gave me away.

“I just… don’t know why you’re thinking about it. I mean, you’ve kind of got this whole NHL contract thing going on,” I explained, making him laugh.

“Yeah, but I haven’t made the NHL yet,” he reminded me, before continuing. “And besides, I’d like to think I could do something with my life after hockey. It’s not like you’re exactly old when you retire. There’s lots of time to have a career afterward. I just want to keep my options open.”

“That’s really cool,” I told him, watching his toothy grin spread across his face. Even with his missing tooth, it was a pretty cute little smile.

“Thanks,”

“And as far as not knowing what you want, you’ll just have to take some different electives and see what catches your attention. I spent my first year of university just taking general classes without any idea as to what I wanted to do,” I shrugged, and he nodded.

“That’s what I think I’m going to do – there’s some online classes offered through UNC,”

“You’ll have to let me know how it goes,” I agreed, before hiding my face against his chest when I realized what I had said. That insinuated keeping in touch and this being more than just running into each other, something that had little to no chance of happening. I didn’t want him to think I was anything like that blonde, or that I was being clingy – it had just slipped out. Talking with Jared was easy, like we’d known each other for longer than a few hours.

“For sure – you might have to help me out a bit… writing isn’t really my strong suit,” he chuckled, making me relax slightly after my idiotic comment.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, I can say what I want to all right, but when I have to write it down… it just all goes to shit,” he admitted, making me laugh as the song ended and switched to a fast one.

“Well, if you do need some help you’ll know who to ask,” I smiled, taking the hand he offered as we headed back in the direction of the table. We stopped when all we could see was Zach and the blonde playing tonsil hockey, and Jared suggested we get another drink. I quickly agreed and we found ourselves weaving our way through the dance floor once again. I grinned when I spotted Brett and Liza grinding with each other; they really were cute together, even if they were both hammered. Jared caught sight of them too and turned his eyes to me for a moment, a smile playing at his lips.

“There’s a little table over there that’s free,” Jared spoke right next to my ear, making me jump. Just a second ago I’d moved my gaze to avoid watching the bartender shamelessly flirting with him and shoving her boobs at him.

“Sure, sounds good,” I agreed, following along behind him. Once in a while he’d look behind him to check that I was still there. After about the third time he handed me my drink, and then took my free hand with his and held it as we walked. I felt myself starting to blush at his gesture, even though it was just so he didn’t lose me in the crowd.

We sat and talked for another hour or so, until Brett and Liza managed to stumble over to us, hanging off of each other.

“We’re gonna head out,” Brett announced, and Liza tugged on my arm before sitting on my lap to talk to me.

“Is that okay? Cheye I don’t wanna ditch you… but he’s so hot and nice,” she began to explain herself. I shushed her and then promptly shoved her up off my lap back to standing.

“You two kids have fun – you be good to her or I’ll break you, got it?” I warned Brett, who put a hand over his heart.

“I swear, I will make sure nothing bad happens to her,” he promised, and Liza gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek goodbye before Brett wrapped his arms around her and they made their way out of the bar. Jared caught me trying not to yawn, and noticed I hadn’t touched my last beer.

“You ready to head out?” he asked, and I shrugged.

“I’m okay – it’s nice just sitting and talking like this,” I admitted, and he smiled at me.

“Yeah, I know. I can take you back if you want – I assume you guys are staying at a hotel?” he asked, and I nodded.

“That’s okay – I don’t want to be a pain in your ass,”

“Nah, it’s fine – I’m about ready to call it a night too, and it’s cheaper if we split a cab anyway,” he insisted, and put an arm around me as we made our way out of the bar. We waved goodbye to Michal and Zach, who obviously thought we were leaving to hook up by the way they acted, and Jared quickly hailed a cab, opening the door and gesturing for me to get in. He crawled in beside me, buckling himself into the middle seat rather than the far side. I didn’t mind – Charlotte had gotten much cooler in the time we’d been in the bar – so I curled into his side as he slipped an arm around me.