Awkward

“Hey Andy,” I ran up to one of the security guys who stood in the tunnel behind our bench.

“What’s up Tazer?” he greeted me.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure thing.”

“Can you just let me know if anyone sits down in my reserved seats and who it is? You don’t have to get a name or anything, just if it’s like two girls or a guy and a girl.”

He gave me a knowing smile, “I can do that.”

“Thanks.”

Before we skated out to the ice for warm ups Andy walked up to me, “Two beautiful brunettes
are sitting there.”

“Great,” I smiled.

The seats were close to our tunnel and about two rows back from our bench, so I knew he
could get a note to her if I wrote one. I grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled something down:

Brooke,

We’re pretty pumped tonight; I may have mentioned I promised a beautiful brunette a win, so hopefully we can get you one. Meet me after the game?

Jon

I put my number under my signature and handed it to Andy, “If you could, please?”

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“Brooke.”

He nodded and walked away.

I glanced at her as we skated out for warm ups. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was long and
it was down, sitting below her shoulders in soft, styled curls. I could see the excitement all over her
face as the team hit the ice too, I liked that.

I went to hop over the little step before going onto the ice and tripped, tumbling down onto the
cold surface, “Mother fucker,” I cursed.

Patrick Kane was behind me, laughing, “Smooth Jonny.”

“Fuck off,” I grunted as I got up and skated onto the ice.

I looked back toward Brooke and saw her playing with her phone, probably thinking I was the
most uncoordinated idiot in the world. I wanted to kick myself for being so awkward, especially
when I knew someone like her was watching me. Honestly, we played in front of thousands of
people every game, at least four hundred of them had to be beautiful women, how was this one
different?

After warm ups we went back to the locker room and I checked my phone, hoping and praying
she had sent me a message. She did:

Smooth move Captain. How can someone so good on the ice be so clumsy on his feet? My friend
Allison is insisting that if we meet after the game that you have to bring one of the guys. She gave
me a list, but I told her not to be picky.

I laughed and typed a quick response:

IDK if I want to meet if up you’re going to make fun of me. Who was on her list? I’ll see what I can
scrounge up.

Brooke replied quickly:

She changed her mind, she just wants someone who can walk. Last one, I promise! LOL. She likes
Stalberg.

Of course she did, Brooke probably did too. Honestly, she would probably rather look at him than
me, he could at least walk on two feet without tripping over steps and benches.

I’ll see if he’s down for going out. Wish me luck?

I felt like a complete loser around her, like I was back in junior high, trying to awkwardly flirt and be
some kind of stud. I kind of felt like I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t because as much as
everyone thought I was some ladies’ man who had all the lines, I had one and it was, “Hey, I’m
Jonathan Toews.”

Pretty lame, huh? Truthfully, in recent years I hadn’t needed much more than that to get a girl in
bed, if I even needed that. There were a number of times I just smiled at a girl or walked up and
danced with her-awkwardly- and it was set in stone that we were going to someone’s place that
night. with Brooke though, she saw the clumsy me, the one who stumbled over words, the one who
blushed once in a while-the real me. I didn’t want to get her into bed either, not right away at least,
I wanted to get to know her. I knew there was more behind her jokes, maybe a wall or something,
and I wanted to break that. I wanted to know her inside and out, let the awkward side in me come
out all the time and not worry about how dumb I looked, I wanted to see her awkwardness and fall
in love with it. Brooke was the first girl in a long time that I actually wanted to see on a regular basis and wanted to know more than just her first name; she was someone I hoped I could have a future with hopefully more than just friends.

“Toes!” Patrick Sharp yelled at me, “Stop staring at your phone and hoping that brunette in your seat is going to text you,” the locker room erupted in laughter.

“Fuck off,” I felt my phone vibrate in my hand.

I looked at it quickly:

Good luck Captain! I’ll see you after the game, it’s all on you if I’m happy or sad…no pressure LOL.

“She’s cute,” Kaner nudged me.

“She’s the one I met yesterday when I was shopping,” I had told him about Brooke.

He raised an eyebrow, “That’s why you tripped Casanova. Slick. I looked at her when you did
it, she giggled and pouted, you know that like “Aww, poor guy” pout girls do. I think she thought it
was cute.”

“She gave me hell,” I set my phone back in my stall.

“Hey, I would have too. You meeting her after the game?”

“Yeah,” that reminded me, “Vik!” I yelled to Stalberg.

“What’s up?” he was closer to me than I realized.

“You busy tonight?”

“Well, I’m due on the ice in a few minutes, but other than that I’m totally free,” he joked.

I rolled my eyes at his stupid joke, “We’re going out after the game then.”

“Awe, Jonny,” he put his hand over his heart and pretended to wipe a tear away, “I thought
you’d never ask. What’s Kaner going to say though or Crosby?”

“You guys are dicks,” I got up and turned to the rest of the locker room to give my pre game speech.

The game ended in a shootout, with me scoring the winning goal. I was pumped when we entered the locker room, excited for the win and excited to see Brooke in a little bit.

I dealt with the media, did a short after game workout, and then showered; hoping I wasn’t taking too long and she wouldn’t give up and leave. I told Sharpie to tell his wife Abby to keep her and her friend company while they were waiting, so hopefully Abby’s friendliness didn’t scare them away.

When I walked out to the waiting area Abby was saying goodbye to the girls with Patrick
dragging her out, “Bye, it was so nice to meet both of you. Have a great Christmas! Oh, and Brooke, I’ll see you after Christmas.”

I raised my eyebrow as I walked up to Brooke, “You make friends fast.”

“When I’m stuck down here for over an hour I have to,” she shook her head, “You’re like women. What do you do in there?” she looked around my shoulder as Brent Seabrook opened the locker room doors.

“Media, after game workouts, and showers.”

“To be a fly in that shower,” her friend Allison giggled, “I’m Allison.”

“Nice to meet you,” I shook her hand, “Jon. Viktor should be out in a minute, he had to get his
hair perfect.”

She swooned, “That man.”

Brooke smacked her friend’s arm, “No drooling, I didn’t bring your bib tonight.”

I laughed and directed my attention back to Brooke, “Game winning goal in a shootout, that’s
pretty dramatic,” she smiled at me, “Good job.”

“Thanks,” I blushed, “Did you have fun?”

“Had a heart attack or two,” she nodded, “Is Duncan okay?” she asked about my teammate
who had been checked into the boards really hard and left the game for a few minutes.

“He’s got a sore shoulder, but he’ll be fine.”

“I heard my name,” Duncan walked out and then smiled at Brooke and her friend, “You must
be Brooke,” he held out his hand to her.

I glared at him because I had hoped to get out of there without anyone mentioning that I had
brought her up a time or ten before the game and at practice that morning.

“I am,” she shook his hand, “Shoulder sore?”

“A little,” he shrugged and then winced, “Okay, a lot. Nothing my wife won’t work out,” he
wiggled his eyebrows, “Jonny here hurt his groin the other day at practice, he’s been…”

I hit him on his bad shoulder, “I’m fine.”

Brooke laughed, “I’ll leave that to Kane to fix.”

Duncan laughed, “It was nice to meet you,” he nodded at Brooke, “Keep this one in check, don’t
want him to get hurt falling over his own two feet.”

When he left she looked up at me, “So, you have a strained groin muscle, huh? I bet we can
find someone tonight who could help you with that.”

Part of me hoped she meant her, but most of me hoped she didn’t. I was tired of the easy lays
and didn’t want her to be one of them. I wanted her to be flirty and forward, but not overly so. I
wanted the girl next door who wasn’t going to give in the first night, but later on down the road
would let me in with open arms. Fuck I was a pussy.

Viktor had walked up at some point while Keith was still talking to us and been talking with
Allison for a while now; it seemed as though they were getting along very well. He looked at me, “The usual?”

“Sure,” I shrugged, “Where did you guys park?”

“The middle of nowhere,” Allison told us.

“I can drive you to your car,” Viktor offered, “Or we can pick it up later.”

“I like that idea,” Allison smiled at him and he smiled back.

Brooke made a face, “You want me to take you to your car and you can follow me?”

“It’s her car,” Brook mumbled as they started to walk away, “She drove me here and obviously
isn’t planning on driving me home…slut.”

I chuckled, “I can take you home, it’s not a problem.”

“You don’t have to,” she shook her head.

“It’s fine,” I put my hand on her back, “Just let them have their moment.”

When we got to the cars I opened my passenger door for Brooke. She looked conflicted like
she didn’t know if she should ride with Viktor and Allison to make sure they got to the bar or if she should just go with me. “Let them have their moment,” I reminded her.

She sighed, “You’re right, her and I don’t get moments too often, so you’re right.”

I scoffed, figuring those two girls got their fair share of moments and she was just oblivious to
them. The good girls were always completely oblivious to the fact that men checked them out all
the time. Those were the girls that we all should want, those girls were the ones who would be
good for us in the long run.

After we were both in my car I started to get nervous again. I fumbled with my keys until I got
them into the ignition, “Where are we going?” she asked.

“Hidden Shamrock,” I told her, “We can keep a low profile there.”

“Okay,” she replied.

We drove the fifteen minutes and talked about the game, “You looked good out there Toews,”
she told me, “You looked a little like you hurt your wrist though, is it okay?”

I felt a smile tug at my lips at the sound of her worried voice, “It’s fine Brooke.”

She reached for my arm and lifted it up, “It looks swollen.”

“I play hockey, I just finished a game, everything’s swollen.”

She giggled, “Sorry, grew up with all boys who lied about being hurt, it’s a habit to worry.”

“It’s okay,” I told her, “Kind of nice to know someone cares.”

“Oh come on now, the entire city cares.”

“It’s not the same,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot.

I saw Viktor’s car already there and assumed he and Allison were inside. I looked at Brooke
and smiled, “They’re inside.