Leo
The season was dueto start in a week and, based on the wall-to-wall crowd of drunk students in this apartment, the guys were planning to cram in as much partying as possible until then. Coach had a very low tolerance for bullshit during the season. Drunk and sloppy on campus counted as bullshit as far as he was concerned.
Even without Coach’s stance on drinking, I’d never been a huge partier. First, nothing was worse than being hungover and doing sprints on the ice. It only took one morning over a trash can next to the bench to figure out that no temporary pleasure from the night before was worth that experience. Second, I preferred to be sober enough to enjoy the evening if I left with someone. It allowed me to be clearheaded and upfront about my intentions.
My reputation had never really bothered me until Sophia shared her opinion of me during my interview. She was a beautiful, smart girl who didn’t know me at all, and she’d already pegged me as a dumb athlete anda fuckboy. It bothered me more than it usually did when people wrote me off. I knew I treated the women I slept with well, and I hadn’t needed anyone else to validate that—untilshedoubted me.
I was trying to extricate myself from a very clingy freshman who’d been batting her eyelashes at me for the last ten minutes while we stood near the beer pong table. I wasn’t interested in her, but even if I had been, I would have stopped looking at her fifteen minutes ago when my eyes landed on the wannabee reporter across the room.Shewas the one I wanted to talk to.
“I’m sorry, Chelsea, I’m just not feeling it tonight,” I said, pulling her hand off my arm. “I’ll see you around.”
I made my way over to where Sophia stood with a tall redhead and a petite Asian girl. I smiled at them as Sophia turned toward me, her wide eyes locking on mine like she was surprised I was acknowledging her. By the end of the interview, I was pretty sure she’d warmed up to me enough that she wasn’t repulsed by me at least. But apparently, she still hadn’t expected me to want to make casual conversation at parties.
“Hey, Hawaii,” I said with a charming smile.
“Hi, Leo,” she said politely, tucking her long dark hair behind her ear. She quickly introduced me to her roommates, Alyssa and Jia. After saying hello, Alyssa made a quick excuse for stepping away before grabbing Jia’s wrist and pulling her into the crowd, leaving Sophia and me alone.
“My editor loved the article. It should be in tomorrow’s paper,” Sophia said.
“Cool, can’t wait to read it,” I said. “I’m hoping I don’t come off too terrible. I’ve been avoiding interviews since I got here. I’m not really interested in being probed by reporters about my life.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s going to be your life soon, you know. And don’t worry, I’m not really a reporter.” She took a sip of her beer and crinkled her nose slightly. “I’m an English major and I intend to write fiction. This newspaper writing is just to differentiate my skills.”
“Maybe that’s why the interview wasn’t so bad then. It felt more like a conversation.”
She pursed her lips. “I was kind of bitchy at the beginning and I feel bad about it. I made a lot of assumptions about you. Many of them related to your window escapades.”
I chuckled. “I noticed.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding genuine. I appreciated her ability to apologize rather than just pretend she hadn’t shown up with a false image of me.
I shrugged. “It’s fine. But I think you need to spend some time with me now so you can learn what I’m really like. Only seems fair.”
She narrowed her eyes, and an amused smile filled her face. “What could you and I possibly have in common that would make this endeavor worthwhile?”
“How much beer have you had?” I tipped my chin at the bottle she was holding away from her body, like even the smell of it bothered her.
“A few sips. I hate beer.”
“I’ve been holding this for an hour.” I lifted mine in the air. “Haven’t even taken a sip. So, there’s one thing in common already. Let’s get out of here.”
“Are you kidding?” she exclaimed, her jaw dropping. “That’s how fast you move? Establish a weak connection about something we both dislike and then you think we’re off to bed? I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Give me a break, Hawaii. I was going to take you somewhere to talk where I can actually hear you.”
“Mhm,” she said skeptically, looking at the couch behind me. “We can talk right there. You’ll just have to sit close enough to hear me.”
“Are you trying to sit on my lap?” I asked, smirking.
“You are really something. Remind me why I should sit down and talk to you?”
“Because there’s a part of you that definitely thinks I’m charming,” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“Mhm.” She shook her head and brushed past me to sit. I stopped at a cooler at the edge of the room to grab a hard seltzer before sitting down next to her. Our knees bumped against each other, but she made no move to get further away from me. The tingling sensation I felt with her against me was so new and addictive, I had no desire to move either.
“Alright.” I shifted my upper body to face her. “It’s my turn to ask the questions.”
“Oh, really?”
