The Rookie

I felt my phone vibrating underneath my pillow the next morning, before answering I rolled over to look at the alarm clock on my night stand. Holy shit, it was almost noon! Maybe I had had a little bit more to drink that I had thought…

The number was unknown, but despite my head hurting I knew exactly who it was. I couldn’t forget my outing with Mr. Beau Bennett this afternoon.

“Hello?” I asked. I was trying my best to hide the fact that I had just woken up, but my efforts were useless.

“Someone have a little too much to drink last night? You sound horrible.” Beau teased on the other end.

“Ha-ha. Very funny.” I retorted.

He laughed.

“Well, I was actually calling to see if you wanted me to come pick you up? I figured you might have a hang over of sorts.”

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he was right and not diving sounded pretty appealing. After accepting his offer, he told me he’d be here in about an hour. Hanging up the phone I threw off the covers and made my way towards the shower.

The hot water was soothing my throbbing headache. Surprisingly as I got ready though, I didn’t feel nervous or anxious. Even as I drove to the BBQ last night, my stomach had been in knots. Everyday that I had gone to the office this past week, I had been worried about run-ins with players. Yet, Beau Bennett was on his way to come pick me up and I was having to force myself to overthink the situation. I guess I just felt really comfortable around the guy.

I heard a knock on my door and opened it to find Beau; a bottle of Ginger Ale in one hand and a packet of Advil in the other.

“Instant hangover cure.” He said as he welcomed himself into my apartment and headed straight for the kitchen looking for a glass.

“Take this.” He demanded as he shoved the glass on soda and two tablets in my hand. I rolled my eyes, but had to admit. This was an awfully sweet gesture.

I dramatically drank the Ginger Ale and the tablets before sticking out my tongue and saying, “See. All gone.”

He chuckled.

“Okay smart ass. Let’s go.” Beau led me down the stairs to the outside of my apartment. I really didn’t even have to guess which vehicle sitting on the street was his. A blacked out Range Rover really stood out like a sore thumb in this part of town.

The way there he continued to tease me, but in a cute and flirty way. We were both practically on our sides laughing when he showed me a video that Sidney had sent to the whole team after his adventure with Millie the night before.

“So you and Millie ever have a thing?” I asked.

Beau practically spit out his drink and looked at me with a confused look.

“No. Where did that come from?!”

I hadn’t gotten over the fact that he had been the first guy she ran to that day in the locker room. Millie may have been made out of plastic and bronzer, but she wasn’t ugly to say the least. He was also a rookie and I had assumed that he didn’t understand her antics like some of the older guys on the team. I was curious, but his reaction shot down all my suspicions. That was a relief.

“Look, I don’t know what rumors that girl is trying to spread but I wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pull. She’s my age so she throws herself at me whenever the opportunity presents itself.”

Okay, now I believed him.

I just smiled and said, “Good.” Thinking that would be the end of that conversation, but it wasn’t.

I was surprised and totally taken off guard when he asked, “Why? If we were together would you be jealous?”

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. At this point we were sitting in the Consol’s parking lot, Beau had not turned off the Range Rover; he was waiting for an answer.

“Maybe.” I finally said and then reached for the door handle to let myself out. I thought maybe he would try and pry for more information, but instead a huge smile was plastered on his face. I guess that response was good enough for him.

Beau’s POV

It was so hard to keep my cool around Sage. Her reaction in the car had let me know that she felt something between us. My mom had raised me to never be the guy that just slept with a girl and then walked away, but that didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was kiss this girl.

We walked through the threshold of one of the doors and were now looking out at the ice. I turned to Sage and almost wanted to take out my phone and take a picture of her expression. She was looking at the arena like it was the most gorgeous site she had ever seen.

“Come on.” I said as I grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her trance.

I lead us down to the ice and for a good twenty minutes we were both trying to keep our balance as we attempted to move. This was so much easier to do on my skates! At some point, Sage had made her way to the boards by our bench and was now perched on top of them.

As gracefully as I could, I moved back towards her. When I finally made it to the boards though, I had positioned myself so that Sage was now sandwiched between my widespread arms; facing me. We had locked into each other’s gaze and I could not help myself any longer. Before I knew it, my lips were crashing on to hers. When she did not resist, I deepened the kiss and she let my tough slide gently into her mouth. It wasn’t much longer before she was returning the favor and her hands were town woven into my hair.

Then, her feet were wrapped around my waist. She put both of her hands around my neck and I let my hands cradle her as I lifted her from the boards; our lips still locked. As I tried to take a step backwards though, my foot slipped. Without warning, I was now lying on my back, on the ice, with Sage resting on my chest.

I knew panic was all over my face and I worried that she would slap me for my clumsiness, but instead she just laughed. I couldn’t help but join her.