The Opportunity Has Just Begun

“Hey Cam, do you want to come out for lunch today?” James taped me in the shin with his stick while we waited in line for our turn on the drills.
“Umm Sid and I usually just stay at home.”
“Will Sid can come if he wants,” he rolled his eyes.
“She need Sid hold her hand,” Geno butted in.
“No I don’t,” I narrowed my eyes at the rude Russian as James chuckled.
“Well come lunch, prove.”
“I will come for lunch but not because I have to prove anything to anyone but because I want to,” I looked at Geno who poked his tongue out at me.

I huffed in annoyance and turned to face away from him mumbling under my breath how much I hated him and how much I couldn’t wait for someone to smack the smart ass out of him.

“Hey dude, are you bringing your girlfriend?” James asked someone and I couldn’t help but turn around to see who he was talking about.
“Oksana like fancy stuff,” Geno shrugged.
“So no?”
“No,” Geno nodded.

He had a girlfriend? I had been here almost two weeks and no one mentioned Geno having a girlfriend. Why hadn’t I seen her? He spent quite a few times hanging out with Sid and I yet she was nowhere to be seen.

I shrugged it off, so there was more guys on this team with girlfriends than without why did it matter? It explained while Geno was so weird sometimes. Like when I was sick before the game the other night and he just sat back and watched with concerned rather than actually asking if I was ok like everyone else did.

I didn’t care though. Everyone had their own way of going about things and if being slightly awkward and weird was Geno;s way of doing things then that was his choice.

I had spent the first few weeks staying close by Sid. He was a safe bet to not get caught up in all the craziness that came with these hockey boys but I needed to branch out a little.

“So what do you want to eat?” Brandon slid into the stall next to me.
“Umm I don’t know, what do you guys think?” I looked around at the others who had talked this place up so much they would be sure to have some suggestion.
“How about a salad?” James piped up.
“What and you think just because I am a girl I like to eat just a salad for lunch, come on.”
“Yeah James, seriously,” Brandon reached over and grabbed the corner of the menu in my hands tilting it a little for him to look at.

I was trying not to think about my teammates arm slung around the back of the booth behind me and the fact that I could hear him breathing due to his closeness. I wasn’t interested in him but it was refreshing to have one of them finally just be nice to me.

They were all for teasing and having a good joke which made me feel like part of the team, one of the guys but I also liked to be treated like a girl sometimes.

So far opening the door for me with a smile, getting me a drink, sticking up for me and just having a normal conversation with me was all I needed to feel like a girl around them and Brandon was doing just that.

“Do you want a lift home?” he jogged after me slinging his arm around my shoulders.
“Umm,” I stopped looking around for Geno who was supposed to be taking me home, “yeah ok,” I shrugged when I couldn’t see the happy Russian.

“Your door,” he opened the passenger side.
“Thanks,” I laughed as he bowed before jogging around and climbing in.

I caught a glimpse of Geno as he and a few of the other guys finally walked out the door of the diner. He looked a little upset, maybe let down as he noticed me too.

It’s not like I had to stay with him at all times. I was grown up, I could do what I wanted besides at the moment I was nothing but a teammate on the ice and still an acquaintance off the ice to everyone but Sid so I was a free agent without question, or so I thought.