9. Wyatt

9

WYATT

A m I really that gone that I'm imagining her now?

I blinked, half expecting to find she was an illusion. But no, she was really here. The lighting in the practice rink wasn't the greatest but despite the shitty lights Josie looked beautiful.

I watched her look around, tucking her hair behind her ears like she wasn't sure if she should be here. I couldn't deny that I was curious as to how she got in, considering it was a private training arena.

How did she get past security?

"Are you lost, sweet cheeks?" One of my teammates called out, and Josie's head snapped towards the ice, taking in the entire team before her eyes landed on me.

I found myself skating across the ice before I realized what I was doing. Pulling my helmet off, I shook my head, loosening the sweaty hair stuck to my forehand. Our eyes met, with her wide, brown eyes and flushed cheeks. Nothing could wipe the smile from my face.

Fuck…she looks even prettier than she did in the elevator.

Then again, the light was better here than in the elevator and I felt like I was seeing her properly for the first time. I skidded to a stop at the edge of the ice, running my gaze over her as she walked towards me.

Once again, she was wearing a tight pair of jeans that looked like they were glued to her long, sculpted legs. The thick green sweater she wore looked comfy and warm. Today her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, showing off her cheekbones and the light freckles across her nose.

"Hi." Her voice brought me out of my awkward staring.

"Hi," I returned the greeting. It felt surreal seeing her again, almost like I'd imagined our encounter in the elevator.

"Sorry for barging in like this, I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Her eyes drifted behind me, no doubt the entire team stood there watching us. They weren't exactly discreet.

"You're totally fine. Practice just finished anyways."

"I can tell." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. I ran a hand through my sweaty hair and held back a grimace. Here I was, standing in front of her, sweating like a pig, while she stood there looking gorgeous.

"I—"

"What—" We said at the same time. Laughing, I gestured for her to go first. "After you."

"I hope it isn't too weird that I just showed up. I'd thought about asking the apartment building manager your apartment number, but I figured he wouldn't tell me. So then I considered coming here, but didn't want to look like a stalker." She smiled wryly as she rambled.

"But then I figured, what the hell? I knew you guys practiced here, so I took the chance. Which now seems way more stalker-ish now that I'm standing here." A smile formed on my face as I watched her talk, remembering that she'd told me she was prone to ramble until someone stopped her, but I enjoyed the sound of her voice.

"It's not stalker-ish, I promise," I managed to say, before she could speak again, and her cheeks flushed again. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I'd considered doing the same, but I held back. I silently thanked whoever it was up there for bringing her to the rink.

"I just wanted to return this." It was only then I noticed my jersey in her arms–I'd forgotten I'd given it to her in the elevator. She held it out for me. "I washed it, I hope that's okay. Didn't know if you had some sort of ritual with it or not."

I chuckled under my breath. A lot of guys do have superstitions about not washing their jerseys. Thankfully I wasn't one of them.

"Thank you." I reached for the jersey, but before I could grab it, someone else swiped it from her. My head snapped to the side to find Trevor standing there, grinning like a fool.

"Well, hello. Who do we have here?" He looked between Josie and I, a mischievous look in his eye that I knew too well. Sighing, I introduced them. "Trevor, this is Josie. Josie, this is my dumbass friend, Trevor."

"Don't forget about me," another voice piped in. Glaring, I turned to Bryton. Of course, these two just had to come over and butt in.

"I'm Bryton, this asshole's other best friend." He shoved me with his shoulder, grinning widely at Josie. I glared at my two best friends before turning to Josie. She stood there smiling at the three of us.

"It's nice to meet you." Her smile eased the tension from my shoulders–tension that steadily built up over the past three days.

I quickly glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one else was coming up behind us but most of the team were making their way off the ice. Probably courtesy of the two guys beside me.

"I see you have his jersey," Trevor said, and I turned back to see him holding it up.

"Figured I'd better return it before someone thinks I stole it." The cheeky grin she gave me almost made me melt into a puddle.

"So, I'll take it you're the girl from the elevator," Bryton butted in a second later.

"That would be me."

I wanted to smack my forehead.

Great, now she knows I'd talked about her.

I really needed to get Josie away from my friends. Instead of making me look good they were doing the opposite.

So much for being my wingmen.

"When Wyatt told us he got stuck in an elevator with a pretty girl we didn't believe him." Trevor leaned against the side board, a flirty smile on his face.

Josie flushed under his gaze. It was the Trevor Hall effect. He could charm any woman with a single glance. Usually it didn't bother me, but right now, I wanted nothing more than to smack that smile off his face.

Both Trevor and Bryton looked at me with matching grins, and I just knew they were going to say something stupid.

"You should have seen this guy today," Bryton started. "He was a hot mess thinking about you."

"He almost started crying and he's not an attractive crier either," Trevor added.

"Then there was the whole ‘woe is me' situation in the locker room."

Josie listened to my two best friends with a raised eyebrow, lips twitching. I knew I had to put an end to this before the two assholes went any further with their lies.

"Okay, that's enough." I placed my hands on their shoulders and gave them a nudge. "Time for you to go."

"But we want to get to know Josie better!" Trevor protested, but I tightened my grip. "She clearly wants to talk to us more than you," he added, winking at her. As Josie giggled, I felt my jaw clench.

"Yeah, come on Wyatt." Of course Bryton had to egg him on. Glaring, I pushed them towards the tunnel to the locker room.

"Fine, fine, we're going." Freeing himself from my grip, Trevor skated backwards, looking at Josie. "Nice to meet you."

"Hopefully we see you again." Bryton gave her a wave.

"Nice to meet you, too," Josie called out, smiling at the two idiots. I shook my head at my best friends as they finally skated away. Not before wiggling their eyebrows at me. "Sorry about them." I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned around to face her.

"No worries, they seem really nice."

"They're shit stirrers," I mumbled. "Don't believe a word they say."

"Oh, so you weren't crying in the locker room?" Josie teased. Seeing the way her eyes lit up, I suddenly didn't care what my friends said.

"Someone was cutting onions in there," I teased back. It dawned on me I couldn't remember the last time I'd had such easy banter with someone of the opposite sex. It was nice.

"Well, I better let you go. I just wanted to drop by and return the jersey." She took a step back. As her eyes met mine and I couldn't deny the spark of something in my chest. "I'll…uh, see you around." She turned on her heel and walked away.

The sight of her leaving made my stomach sink. I couldn't let her walk away, not after she just got here. It had been three days of battling with myself, wanting to see her, and now I had my chance. I couldn't let the opportunity slip through my fingers. Not like I did in the elevator.

"Wait," I called out before she could take another step. She stopped, slowly turning back around to face me.

"Are you free right now?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.

This was not really what I'd had in mind when I thought about seeing her again. Standing here in my bulky hockey gear with sweat dripping off my face. Thought I'd at least look presentable.

"Yeah, I'm free." I could hear the question in her voice.

"Want to go grab something to eat?" I couldn't stop the hopeful tone in my voice.

Please say yes.

Josie stood there for a full minute without saying a word. Right when I thought she'd say no, she answered. "You do owe me a hamburger."

A wide smile spread across my face at the mention of our conversation over an old nutrition bar. "I do."

She grinned right back at me, the smile lighting up her entire face.

"I'll be out in five minutes," I said. "Wait for me?"

"Okay," Josie nodded. Not wanting to waste another second, I gave her one last smile before pushing off the board and skating across the ice towards the locker room. I was going to regret not stretching and cooling off properly, but I had something more important waiting for me.