How Nice.

Chapter 7How Nice.

Heron~The stadium was full, as was usual with most home games. After tonight, we were back on the road, so that left me very little time to spend with Eliza before she decided that I wasn’t the guy for her.When I had requested to be on her show, I hadn’t expected to have so much fun. Though I’d meant what I’d said about admiring her grit, I’d also been attracted to her, giving me two motives for reaching out to her. Still, I hadn’t realized how much fun she was. Her personality wasn’t a gimmick for her channel. Eliza was Eliza, and she didn’t pretend to be anything or anyone else.There was also how she hadn’t been afraid to call me out on the liberties that I’d taken with her. With the camera rolling, she had questioned my forwardness, and it was nice to be with someone that you didn’t have to guess with. Yeah, we weren’t officially a couple yet, but I was working on that. Had I offended her in any way, then she wouldn’t have agreed to come to my game.I’d also gotten a ton of shit from my teammates and station buddies for the episode. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told Eliza that the jump in viewership numbers had been due to my team and fellow firefighters. As soon as Eliza had agreed to have me on her show, I had sent out two separate group texts, letting all the guys know. Though ten was rather late, the graveyard shift at the station had no problem with that, and with no game the next day, my teammates had suffered no repercussions for staying up late to watch the episode. My brother and sister had also stayed up to watch the show.“You can thank me later.”I turned to see Sean grinning my way as we jogged towards the field. “For what?”All teeth, he said, “I told Tony to jumbotron your girl.”“Why’d you do that for? It’s not like I’ll be sitting next to her to kiss her, you idiot.”“Don’t you want her to get more viewers?” he asked, still grinning like a loon.“I don’t want her getting up and leaving,” I retorted.“Nah, your girl is a tough cookie,” he said, winking before he hurried off.When Eliza had accepted my invitation to the game, she had asked if her friend and her friend’s husband could also tag along, so I wasn’t worried that she’d be alone in the stands. Nonetheless, since she’d been clear about not chasing fame, I wasn’t sure if sticking her face on the jumbotron was such a good idea. After cleaning up after the show, we had avoided speaking about our ‘label’, so while I already saw her as my girlfriend, I wasn’t sure what was floating inside her head at the moment.As we made our way out of the tunnel, I couldn’t stop myself from looking up at the stands, specifically the seats that I’d gotten for Eliza and her friends. The woman had me feeling like a teenager with his first crush, and it was kind of embarrassing. I couldn’t remember the last time that a woman had caught my attention like this. I found myself eager to see what would come out of her lips next, and I knew that I’d never be bored with Eliza Dodger around.Like a tool, as soon as I spotted her, I waved. Yeah, it was going to direct some attention her way, but I liked the idea of people knowing that she was here for me. I also liked letting people know that I wanted her here. Again, our groupies weren’t as ruthless as jersey chasers or puck bunnies, but they could be pretty insistent when they wanted to be. Now, while I knew that I wasn’t the type of guy to stray, I needed Eliza to know it.“Ready to kick some ass?” Charlie Grouse asked, that trademark smirk on his face. “I mean, you don’t want to lose in front of your girl, do you?”“Get fucked,” I replied, chuckling.Just then, Oscar Kubiak jogged by me. “He might not get a second date if we don’t win.”“We’re not going to lose,” I called out, and I wasn’t bragging. The Patch Cougars were good, but not as good as we were. If they could only get a bit more muscle on their team, they’d be better.“Ooohhh,” Sean teased, following Oscar. “Being over-confident is a guaranteed loss.”“I’m not being over-confident,” I told him. “I just know that we got this.”“I want to know where the damn cupcakes are,” Chris Reinhart grumbled as he took his position as our loosehead. Charlie was on my other side as our tighthead. I had two of the best at my side, yet all they could think about was how I was trying to get Eliza to date me. Sometimes, we were worse than gossipy old women at the hair salon.“I took them to my parents’ house for my brother and sister,” I informed him. “I didn’t think that you guys would really want some.”“Why not?” he asked, sounding affronted. “Why can’t we like cupcakes?”“Gentlemen,” one of the refs announced, signaling the start of the game.I looked back into the stands one last time before I had to force my head in the game. Eliza was sitting a bit too far away for my liking, but I could still see her sitting next to her friends. She didn’t wave back or anything like that, but I could see her thinking that she might get in trouble for distracting me. In the short time that I’d gotten to know her, I knew enough to know that she got weird ideas in her head sometimes.With everyone finally in position for the kickoff, the game was underway. Luckily, we were experts at tuning out all the white noise around us. Fans were constantly chanting, cheering, booing, or even getting in fights in the stands, so it was imperative that we were able to block all that chaos out. In fact, it was the same for fighting fires. There was always a certain level of hysteria expected when arriving at a fire, so you had to ignore that to focus on the bigger picture. I guess that’s why I was so drawn to Eliza. She had a goal with her show, and she wasn’t going to let any negativity distract her from that goal. I could definitely appreciate that trait in a person.As soon as halftime hit, I looked back up at the stands to see Eliza sitting forward in her seat. She threw me a quick wave, and I just grinned. My hope was that she was having a good time, and the plan was for me to get her better seats next time. Even though the season was coming to an end, I wanted her at as many games as possible after this. Yeah, I knew that she wouldn’t be able to travel with me, but we still had a few home games left.“If that’s not the look of love on a man’s face, then I don’t know what is,” Sean chuckled.“You guys need to worry about the game, not my love life,” I muttered.“Ah, so it is love,” Oscar remarked. “I knew it.”“Good thing I had Tony put her on the jumbotron,” Sean announced, grinning.“Christ, can you guys quit talking about Treyton’s girlfriend and concentrate on the damn game?”All that could be heard was a chorus of, “Yes, Coach.”*****Eliza~“This shit is insane,” Ranger laughed as we watched the teams rein it in for halftime.“No kidding,” Coops agreed. “I mean, I knew that rugby was a very physical sport, but you’d have to be insane to sign up for this shit willingly.”There was no doubt about it; rugby was for the deranged. I wasn’t a stranger to sports, but the more that I watched, the more that I was convinced that rugby wasn’t a sport. It was a freakin’ brawl with referees on the field. Whoever came up with the sport had to have been one violent psychopath to think that rugby could be viewed as anything more than a street fight. Albeit a street fight with rules, but still.“I just…I mean, I know the objective is to score a goal, but…” I shook my head. “I’m going to need to look up the rules. I have no idea what they’re doing out there.”“Why not just have Heron explain it to you?” Ranger asked.After Heron and I had finished cleaning up after the show, I had turned off the camera, Heron had helped me put everything away, then he had asked me to come to his game, match…whatever it was called. Even though it’d felt like things were moving too fast, I’d found myself saying yes, and I’d also found myself not caring much about having just met the man a week ago.Heron Treyton was turning out to be a charmer, and I was quickly falling for those charms. When we had managed to find a box to pack up the cupcakes, he’d told me about his little brother and sister, and how he’d wanted to give the cupcakes to them. I’d been stunned to hear about how he had teenage siblings, and he had sweetly laughed about how his parents had been stunned, too.Heron had ended up leaving after midnight, and even though I’d had to work the next morning, the loss of sleep had been worth it. Most people with my work schedule would have chosen a Friday or Saturday to record their shows, but people were busy during the weekend, so I’d figured that I could nab some viewers during the weekday.At any rate, when I had arrived at the stadium, I honestly hadn’t expected so many people to be in attendance. Rugby wasn’t as popular as other sports, so I had expected a small venue with only a few hundred people. However, that’s not what I’d gotten. They were playing in a full-sized stadium, and nearly every seat was occupied. The fans were also cheering and screaming like they understood what was happening on the field, and good for them. Though I was confused as hell, it was still neat to see other people enjoying the sport so much.“I think that Heron probably has better things to do,” I muttered.“No way,” Ranger chuckled. “People love talking about their hobbies and what they’re passionate about. I bet once you get him talking about rugby, he won’t be able to shut up.”“I think we need to address what’s really going on here,” Coops chimed in. “You said that you guys were just friends, but if that’s the case, then why was your face all over the jumbotron.”I almost grimaced. About ten minutes into the game, Coops had nudged me when my face had ended up on the huge screen. Yeah, it could have simply been chance, but I had a feeling that my face on that thing had been done on purpose. Good or bad, Heron was trying to get me more followers, and though sweet, I wasn’t sure sticking my face on the jumbotron was the way to go.“I like him,” I admitted. “I just…you don’t think that it’s too fast?”Before Coops could answer, Ranger was leaning across her chest, eyeballing me. “Love waits for no man, Eliza,” he stated sagely. “Though rare, love at first sight is a real thing.” He shrugged. “You feel what you feel, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”I glanced at Coops while jerking my thumb Ranger’s way. “Sensitivity classes?”Ranger laughed. “I’m speaking from experience, you dingus.”Grinning, I came clean. “He just seems a little too good to be true.”Coops let out an unladylike snort. “Trust me, he’s not. He’s flawed just like all the rest of them.”“I heard that.”“You were meant to,” she fired back at Ranger.“You’re evil, woman,” Ranger remarked, not seemingly bothered by that fact at all.Ignoring her husband, Coops asked, “What do you have against a hot and heavy affair? It’s okay to date someone without marriage as the endgame, Eliza.”“That seems like a waste of time,” I replied. “I mean, what’s the point if it’s not going to lead to forever?”“You can give your damn toys a break,” she retorted. “That’s the point.”“Yeah, so, you ladies want something to drink? Eat? Anything that will get me out of having to witness the rest of this conversation? Ranger asked, making us both laugh.“Yeah, just bring back whatever, babe,” Coops answered, letting him off the hook.As soon as Ranger was on his way towards the concession area, I said, “Look, I’m all for some hot and heavy action, but…I’m thirty-one, Coops. Shouldn’t I start looking for something serious?”“Don’t do that,” she advised. “Don’t jinx yourself like that. Let Heron be an adventure, and if he turns out to be more, then great. If not, then you’ll have a story on your deathbed that involves a sexy as hell rugby player/firefighter. Besides, there’s a big difference between dating someone and seeing someone. Who says you can’t be open to dating other people while you’re dating Heron?”“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “He doesn’t seem like the sharing type.”“Look, you’ve never been one to shy away from the uncomfortable conversations, so why not just ask him what he’s after where you’re concerned? You can meet up with him after the game and ask.”Deciding to come clean, I said, “I think I might already be in over my head with the charming bastard. I think my feelings might actually get hurt if he’s just looking for a quick lay.”“Okay, that changes things,” she muttered in thought. “So, how about you still ask him what his intentions are, then go from there? If he says that he just wants something casual, then you guys can part ways as friends. If he says that he wants something serious, then ride his dick until you can’t walk tomorrow.”I choked out a laugh. “Wow, great advice.”Coops shot me a look. “Because you haven’t been thinking about it since you first laid eyes on the man?” she challenged.“That’s beside the point,” I lied.“Sure, it is,” she snorted. “That’s the only point, Eliza.”“You’re terrible,” I chuckled as I shook my head.Coops grinned. “Yet, I still don’t hear you calling me a liar.”Thanks to my best friend, I ended up spending the remaining minutes of the game imagining having hot sex with Heron Treyton, a man that I’d just met a few days ago. While casual sex wasn’t my thing, I wasn’t exactly a stranger to one-night stands. However, I already knew that I wanted more than casual with the rugby/firefighter, and that’s what had me feeling unsure.However, technically, this was our third date if the third date rule still applied.