I chuckled. “Kind of hypocritical, don’t you think?” Kennedy had experienced two miscarriages during her senior year of college after my dad had gotten her pregnant.
“Yeah well, Danny and I weren’t a one-night stand or friends with benefits,” she hissed. “And I was irresponsible with my birth control. You’re much more responsible than me.”
“I am. I won’t get pregnant on a one-night stand,” I said with a laugh.
We talked for a few more minutes before I hung up and went into the dining hall to find Jia and Alyssa. Maybe this hockey situation could work out in my favor. I was going to be spending a lot of time with the team, which included Leo, and I would certainly say our encounter last night was an experience that could inspire me to write better sex scenes. Maybe if I was going to be around a lot, he’d be interested in another arrangement.
Chapter Fifteen
Sophia
I was freezing myass off. I was pretty sure watching the guys’ practice was entirely unnecessary, but Jana suggested that I familiarize myself with the team and Coach Alvarez had agreed to open practices up to me for the duration of the year. Apparently, this was a coveted gift I’d been given because Jia seemed very envious when I left the apartment at the ass crack of dawn so I could grab a latte on my way. I sipped on the cold drink, in the cold arena, wondering—not for the first time—why I hadn’t learned to like hot lattes since living in Boston. I wasn’t cut out for them, but I certainly wished I was at this moment while goose bumps covered my skin and my teeth chattered.
I didn’t know how watching practice was supposed to help me. They were skating around, sweaty, and presumably doing things they would do in a game. But I couldn’t make sense of what was happening. I looked up random hockey facts on my phone when I wasn’t watching the drills.
Do they play halves or quarters?
What? Three periods? What the hell is that?
The only part of this practice I’d felt inspired by so far were the little stretch things they did at the beginning that basically had them spreading their legs and humping the ice. No wonder hockey players moved well in bed—they were more flexible than any other group of men I’d met before. My cheeks flushed as I thought about how Leo’s hips had moved in bed the other night, and I tried to distract myself from the memory by focusing on the practice.
It was no use. Leo was zipping around the ice in a way that was ridiculously arousing. He had a sexy, determined look on his face whenever he had the puck, passing it back and forth to his teammates, taking shots on goal, or shouting orders at them.
Wait, is he the captain? I should probably already know that.
Another internet search later, and it was confirmed. Leo Harrison was the captain of the BU hockey team.
He lifted the bottom of his jersey to wipe his brow, and my jaw dropped at the sweaty abs on display.Damn, he is so hot. I clenched my legs together. I definitely couldn’t watch anymore practices if this was how my body was going to respond. Maybe Maggie and Kennedy were right. I did need experience to improve my writing, and I needed it with that guy right there in front of me.
He looked up into the stands and smirked at me, giving me a little wave as he lowered his jersey.Does he know I’m staring?
I sunk down in my seat and took a deep breath.I could do this. I could ask Leo for a few more rounds of great sex—because if I was honest, sex with him was amazing—and solve all my problems at once. It would be the solution for everything. For this new level of arousal that Leo seemed to activate, for my writing problems, and for being stuckhanging out with hockey players all year. He’d probably agree because he was a man who clearly liked having regular sex and he’d seemed pleased with our encounter.
He’s a one-and-done kind of guy, Sophia. Forget about it or you’ll look like all those other clingy girls.
One thing was certain, I could not sit here and watch his ass while he glided across the ice for another second. I got up and made my way to the locker room area and sat down on a bench in the hallway, hoping to talk to him after practice was over.
A little while later, the guys all came clamoring in from the ice, Coach Alvarez behind them. Leo shot me a smile as he walked past, following his teammates into the locker room. Coach Alvarez stopped and looked at me, smiling as his salt-and-pepper hair reflected the fluorescent lights above us.
“You must be Sophia Grimes.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Coach,” I said. “Thanks for the full access. I probably won’t be watching practice very often, but it was nice to get a feel for the experience.”
“Freeze your ass off up there?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, God, yes, it was awful,” I confessed.
“Well, the boys are headed to the weight room next. You’re welcome to follow us up there if you want.”
Um, no thank you. I did not need to see Leo lifting huge weights, grunting, muscles straining.Oh, God.
“I actually have a class soon,” I said, searching for a way out of that horrific, sexual-fantasy-filled nightmare. “But thank you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure I’ll see you after the first game later this week.”
“Sure,” I said, looking up to see Leo making his way out of the locker room. He and Coach Alvarez nodded at each other before Coach disappeared into what I could only imagine was a very stinky room at this point in the morning.
“So, we meet again, Hawaii,” Leo said, grinning. His blue-gray eyes twinkled, and his dark hair was wet with sweat.
