The Best Job Ever.

Chapter 5:

The morning skate the next morning was an early one.

Okay, it wasn’t really that early...

We had gotten home late and Coach Blysma wanted the boys back around 9:00.

It was well after 1:00 as I checked my phone on the way to my car.

'(1) New Message: Brandon<3'

I clicked it and read the message.

'Will you meet me at my car?'

'Sureee.'

I responded and put my phone in my hoodie pocket as I headed to look for Brandon's car.

***

I only found it because I saw him leaning up against the outside of it.

"Hiii." I said walking up to him.

"Hey, babe." He said smiling.

I stood directly in front of him and grabbed his large hands and began playing with his fingers.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to do a lunch date or something." He asked looking down at our hands.

"Mmm, as tempting as that issss, I kinda already have a lunch date..." I said looking up at his unshaven face.

"Oh?" He said raising his eyebrows.

"My roomie, Sophie, claimed me for this afternoon." I explained. "

You haven't been home very much lately; you deserve a day with your friends." He said smiling.

"Well, what about dinner? I could pick up a pizza and come over?" I smiled.

"Orrrr, I could pick up the pizza, and I could meet Sophie?" He smiled back.

"I just wanted to eat pizza, and watch a movie, and cuddle, and fall asleep in your arms..." I basically mumbled, looking down.

"We can still cuddle, and you can still fall asleep in my arms." He said pulling my chin up with a finger.

"I thought you were a big, tough hockey player?" I said trying to mimic his low voice.

"I ammm a big, tough hockey player." He said mocking my lowered voice. "I just like to cuddle, too. And I really want to meet your friends." He said his voice back to normal.

"I knowww." I said as he pressed his forehead to mine. "So, you better be at my place with pizza at 6:30." I said before I pressed my lips to his.

"Okay. I'm excited already." He said pulling away with a smile.

I felt my phone vibrate in my hoodie pocket which was currently pressed between us.

"You gonna get that?" He chuckled.

"Yeahhh. Sorry." I smiled. I pulled it put and saw what time it was. 1:30. "Crap! I'm supposed to be at Panera already!" I said turning to leave.

"Oh, wait. Bye, babe!" I said running back and pecking him on the lips.

"Bye, baby." He said smacking my ass as I turned to run off.

"Oh! I don’t have time for you right now, Sutter!" I said over my shoulder as I kept running away. I heard his low laughter as I continued to my car.

***

"Anna! Over here, babe!" Sophia said flinging her long tanned arms around in the air.

"Sophie. Stop! You're making a scene!" I laughed as I walked up to her.

She threw her arms around me and pulled me into a crushing hug.

"I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages." She said pulling away and holding me arms length away. "Oh, wait. That's because I haven’t. And I live with you. That's sad An. Reallll sad." She
giggled.

"Uhh, I know, Soph, I know. I've just been busy with my new job, having to be at morning skates, and practices, and games. But I loveee it!" I said as I sat down.

Sophia had ordered us food when I called her pack and told her I was on my way. She got me my favorite. Roast turkey sandwich and cheddar broccoli soup.

"Ooo, do tell me how that's going as I haven’t talked to you in like a week." She said. "Mmm, and tell me about all the hot hockey players!" She said through a bite of her sandwich.

"Well, it's actually sooo much to take in. And I've barely slept this past week, because I just quit Mattie's earlier this week. So, I was working closing shifts there and getting up and going to morning skates, and off-day practices. But, I think I'll be better this upcoming week, because I get to come home and sleeppp." I smiled.

"Okay, hot hockey players?! Helloooo??" She pressed. "Is Beau Bennett has gorgeous as he is in pictures?" She asked.

"Oh. Him." I frowned.

"Yes. Him. What about him?" She asked.

"Beau is definitely more gorgeous in person. But, god. He's kinda annoying. And flirty." I said making a face.

"Honey! Why has he not tapped this yet, if he's flirty?!" She said motioning to me.

"Soph, you know I don’t just have sex for the fun of it, first off. And second, I'm technically not supposed to have relationships with my athletes." I said.

"You say technically like..." she said silently asking me a question.

"So...there might be another hot hockey player..." I said looking down at my soup.

"Annabelle Jones! Spill. Right. Now. Whooo?!?" She asked leaning over the table towards me.

"Brandon Sutter." I said looking up at her.

"Annabelleee!!! He's adorable! Are you serious?! I saw that picture you posted of the two of you after the game yesterday! Ahh! This is just too much for me!" She squealed.

"Soph! Calm down and listen to me. You can’t say anything. Like at all. I could lose my job if they find out about us. Anddd, I haven’t told my parents. Or Jed. Or Sean." I said.

"Oh. I won’t tell anyone! Scout's honor!" She laughed.

"Sophia, I'm serious!" I said fighting back my own laughter.

"Okay, okay. But, for real, I won’t tell anyone." She said.

"Good. Now, is the apartment semi-clean?" I asked.

"Umm, define semi-clean..." she said.

"Soph..." I said.

"Yeah, it's clean. Why?" She asked.

"Brandon's coming over later for pizza, movies, and cuddling." I smiled.

"Awwwe!!! I get to meet him?! Like THE Brandon Sutter is coming to our place?!" She said sounding like a fan girl.

"Yes. Buttt, he's not THE Brandon Sutter. He's MY Brandon Sutter, so don’t be weird." I said to her.

"Can I get like 30 seconds of fan girl? Anna, I get to meet a Pittsburgh Penguin. And, not everyone's immune to their sheer amazingness." She laughed.

"Oh, what everrrr." I said rolling my eyes.

"Okay, I've told you about my job," I started.

"Oh, hardly!" She interrupted. I sighed. "Why don’t you tell about your week? How has the gym
been?" I asked.

"I have a couple new clients. Ooo, there's this really cute guy that just started. Mmm, he's delicious. But, I think I'm gonna ask him to lunch tomorrow." She smiled.

"Ooo, what's his name?" I asked wagging my eyebrows.

"Jordan...I think. But he is a hottie with a bodyyy. And I've talked to him a few times, and he actually seems really sweet." She said smiling.

"Go get it, Soph!" I laughed.

"Oh, I plan on it." She smirked.

We spent the next few hours just gossiping, talking, and catching up; something I realized you miss when you're around a bunch of guys basically 24/7 for a week.

***

Our little apartment of 2 bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen and a fairly large living room was a mess!

We had just walked through the door. After Panera, Soph mentioned to me that we need a few groceries, so we stopped at a Giant Eagle on the way home. And that took a while, so it's currently 5:30, Brandon's supposed to be here in an hour, and our place is a mess.

"Sophia. You told me the place wasn’t a mess." I said glaring over at her.

"Well, I guess our definition of a mess is different?" She said shrugging and looking extremely guilty.

"You know what, a fight's not even worth it. Let's just get this place cleaned up and the groceries put away. You can do the groceries, and I'll start the cleaning." I said with a sigh.

"Okay. I am sorry An." She apologized taking herself and the bags she was carrying into the kitchen.

I walked into the living room and started cleaning. She had her clothes alllll over the place. She must not sleep in her room when I'm not here. There was also dishes and garbage all over our coffee table. I picked up all the things I could carry and went into the kitchen, heading towards the sink.

"Soph, do you, like, not sleep in your bed when I'm not home?" I ask throwing the dirty dishes in the sink.

"...yes. Well, last night I fell asleep watching the game. And the other nights...yeah, I just don’t sleep in my bed." She said moving to the sink and turning on the water.

"I'll start these." She said offering me a smile.

"Okay. I'm throwing all your clothes in your room, Soph." I said as I turned to leave the kitchen.

***

There was a knock at the door, literally 5 minutes after I put the sweeper away and made a final look over of the place.

I ran to the door with a smile, and opened the door.

Brandon stood in the hallway of our apartment building with light, loose fitting jeans, a gray v-neck, and a gray hat turned backwards on with pizza in one hand and a 12 pack of beer in the other.

"Hey, babe." He said smiling.

"Hiii." I said smiling.

I stood there staring at him, looking up and down, for a good 20 seconds.

He raised his eyebrows a little bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry, come in." I laughed, blush creeping into my cheeks.

"Is Sophia here?" He asked as we walked into the kitchen.

He placed the beer and pizza on the counter as I leaned up against it.

"Oh, yes. She's just in the bathroom freshening up." I said rolling my eyes. "I didn’t get the chance to, as I was cleaning up her mess, so I do apologize for being an ugly date tonight." I said scrunching up my face.

"Shh, silly girl. You're still beautiful. I honestly don’t see anything wrong with how you look right now." He smiled and moved closer to me, running his fingertips down my cheeks.

I moved my head and pressed my cheek into his hand and closed my eyes.

I felt his warm lips press against mine, and slowly moved my hands to around his neck. As our lips began to move and the kiss deepened, I moved one hand into his hair and one onto his rough and unshaven cheek and pulled his face even closer to mine.

His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against his hips as the ground into mine, and I couldn’t help but laugh into his mouth as I felt his rather hard erection grind into my hips.

"What?" He asked trying to pull me back to him.

"Brandonnn." I said laughing and looking slightly down at his crotch.

"Well, this is exactly what you do to me. I'm sooo turned on right now." He almost whined and successfully pulled me back into his arms.

"Maybe I would've helped take care of that if we were at your place. But we're not..." I whispered into his ear, standing on my tiptoes.

I've had sex and done things with guys before, but since I hit college and graduated, I've really settled down and haven’t rushed things with guys.

Brandon and I have been dating for not even a month.

I still feel like I'm not comfortable enough around him to get naked with him watching.

But, I'm slowly getting there and he'll be the first to know when I am.

He groaned as I moved away from him and to the doorway that lead to the hallway where our bedrooms and bathroom were.

"Sophie! Are you almost done?" I hollered.

"Yeah! I'm coming right now!" She hollered back, her voice getting louder as she walked down the hallway.

"Oh. Hi." She said looking like a deer in the headlights as she walked into the kitchen and saw Brandon.

"Sophia, this is Brandon. Brandon, this is Sophie." I said smiling.

"Hi, Sophia." Brandon said smiling and taking a step towards her.

"Ohmigod. I can’t believe THE Brandon Sutter is standing in our kitchen. Oh my god." She said covering her mouth with a hand.

I smacked my forehead with a hand and ran it down my face, smashing my nose and lips as it ran over them.

"Yeah, that's me." Brandon nervously laughed.

Then Sophia literally almost tackled him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh?" He said reluctantly putting his arms around her and looking at me.

I smiled back and nervously laughed.

"Okay, Soph, you can let go now...Soph? Sophia!" I yelled.
She let go.

"I'm sorry. I just had to make sure you were real, and then you smell so good, so I didn’t want to let go. And you such pretty brown eyes. And oh no, I'm rambling." She said laughing nervously.

"It's okay." He smiled.

"Damn, Anna. You were right. They're sooo much better in person." She laughed.

I smiled at her and walked over to Brandon, pulled myself up against his side and looked up at him.

"Well, I brought some pizza and beer, so if you're hungry?" He said looking down at me and squeezing my side and then looking at Sophia.

***

"You know, I remember when you still played for the Hurricanes." Sophia said with a mouth full of pizza, pointing at him.

Sophia was sitting in our recliner, Brandon was on our couch, and I was lying on the floor with my feet positioned on his lap.

"Do you?" Brandon asked. "I honestly feel like I had zero popularity until I got here. And now, I see signs at the games that say marry me all the time." He laughed.

"Oh, well, me and Anna have lived with each other since freshman year of college and we've watched every Pens game we could. So, I remember hearing your name a couple times with the Canes. Do you miss them?" She asked.

"Um, yeah. Sometimes. But, now, I have a family built here now. I've found my spot on the team and where I belong, so I tend to never really miss it now. But at first it was definitely rough. Plus, I'd be missing some pretty important people from my life, too, if it never happened." He said looking over at me.

I couldn’t help the dorky grin the spread across my face.

I ducked my head down and lightly hit the ground with my hand. "Well, are we gonna watch a movie, orrr?" I said looking at Sophie first, and then to Brandon.

"Sure." He said smiling again.

"You can pick." I said.

"I hope you like Disney, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings, because those are basically all we have." Sophia laughed.

***

To my shock, Brandon actually ended up picking Finding Nemo.

Which is up there on my favorite Disney/Pixar movies list.

I had moved from the floor to the couch, inside Brandon's arms.

Which meant that I fell asleep.

I was woke up, though, when I felt him slowly shifting his weight behind me.

"Brandon?" I asked sleepily.

"Shh. It's okay, babe." He said stopping his movement.
It's late or really early rather. I'm gonna head home." He whispered to me.

"Mmm, here, lemme show you out." I said still half asleep.

"You don't have to. I can go out by myself." He said cuddling his face into my hair.

"Orrr, you could just stay here." I said turning in his arms into a position where I was straddling him and burying my face into his t-shirt.

"Mmm, welll, it is 4:00 AM already..." he said rubbing my back.”You're twisting my arm, but I'll stay."
I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Brandon?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Does it bother you that we don’t do things?" I asked sitting up and putting my hands on his chest.

"Things?" He asked drawing his eyebrows down.

"Yeah, like...thingsss." I said trying to get him to understand.

"Oh! Those things!" He laughed.

"Don’t laugh at me!" I said hiding my face in his chest.

"Annaaa. Look at me." He chuckled trying to pull me up again.

I gave in and sat up with the familiar burn of embarrassment on my cheeks.

"Don’t be embarrassed, babe." He said cupping my cheek in his hand.

"But I am, and I can’t help ittt." I said avoiding his eye contact and pressing my face further into his hand.

"Have you had sex before?" He almost whispered breaking his eye contact and looking at his stomach.

"Uh, yeah!" I said sounding a little offended.

"Really?" He asked looking at me.

"Yes!" I said smacking his chest.

"Okay, okay! Sorry!" He said holding his hands up to protect himself. "You just seemed like you never had before."

"Well, I haven’t in a very long time. Like, since I started college. I slept around a lot in high school, surprisingly, and didn’t like the person I was becoming, so I went to college and started over." I said only looking at him at the very end.

"Not since high school?!" He said, leaving his mouth open a little bit.

"Close your mouth, honey. Might catch some flies. And not all of us think with our penis." I said.

"I'm sure you've dated guys on college, there's no way someone could keep their hands off you, and you've never done something with them?" He asked.

"There were actually only like 3, and they were all short term. And I definitely wanted to. But, then I would think that I didn’t know them well enough, or they'd want in my pants after only a week." I said rolling my eyes.

"I mean, I can see why they would..." he said slowly moving my hands up my thighs.

I grabbed them before they got too far and intertwined our fingers.

"I know. But, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Cause you're different than those silly little school boys, and mean a lot more already..." I said bringing his hand to my face.

"We'll get there whenever you're ready." He said moving closer to me and placing a light kiss on my lips.