Page 19 of One Shot

I start to get up, but a hand reaches out to me. It’s Captain Lucas. Dreamy as ever. I take his hand, and he hauls me up, hard. I slam into his chest, but he seems unfazed. Lucas doesn’t even move an inch when my body collides with his. Shit. His body is against mine. I can feel his perfectly muscled torso against me. My brain fixates on thedivine V gracing that torso. It’s beyond seductive. The warmth coming off his body is so inviting. My body heats in more ways than one. I look up into his brown eyes. They’re almost hypnotic this close. The gold specks in the light brown draw me into a trance.

“Laur? Lauren? Are you okay? You look out of it. Shit. I am so sorry. Do you have a medical condition I don’t know about? You seem pale. Let me call one of the med staff; someone should be around to come check you out.”

“What?” My voice is a hoarse whisper. I blink and shake my head, ridding myself of the trance. “Oh. No.” My voice is still quiet. “I’m fine. No, I’m fine. You just startled me! I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“Are you sure?” Lucas looks at me concerned.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure I was just startled. I’m perfectly fine.”I just have to remind myself I do not want anything from you no matter how gorgeous and fit you are.

“Okay. You are looking better, I guess . . .” He chuckles. “I’m crazy, and I’m here an hour early two or three times a week to practice more on my own. What are you doing here? You didn’t say no to taking photos of ice ghosts.”

Look out of it? Oh boy, little do you know how not out of it I was. I was just imagining us out of these clothes with our bodies much closer together. I need to keep my distance from you.

“Oh. Of course you do, Captain. Sorry, I’ll leave you to it,” I respond instead.

“Trying to stay mysteriously sexy by not telling me?” He raises one eyebrow, looking at me, waiting for an answer. I realize I completely ignored his question. Thinking about the captain is making me act very out of character.

“I just wanted to adjust some settings on my camera so I can take better action shots during practices. It’s a hobby of mine. I’m not very good but figured we could use the extra photos for social media, maybe some articles, or whatever.” I peer down at the ice, shyly avoiding his dreamy eyes.

“Amateur photographer, huh? Need an amateur model? I’m sure it’s easier to adjust the lighting and whatnot with a person in the frame. I don’t mind at all. You need to practice and so do I.”

“No, that’s okay. I’m sure it will be fine.” I turn to leave.

“Come on, Laur. You don’t have to hate me, you know. We are probably going to spend a lot of time around each other. We might as well be friends.” Lucas gazes into my eyes. I can’t tell if I see friendship there, but I can’t have him thinking I hate him, even if I wouldn’t mind hating him.

“Okay.” I nod in agreement.

“Let me go gear up. I’ll be back soon. Don’t get spooked or fall without me!”

Lucas is off to the locker room. Fall without him? I’ll just fall for him, and that is not part of my plan for this year. It can’t be. This is a bad idea. I shouldn’t spend one-on-one time with him. At least during his interview there was another human in the room. It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. Plus, I really could use someone so I can get the damn settings right on this camera. Those YouTube tutorials were not as helpful as they seemed last night.

Lucas comes back to the ice in his practice gear. I feel the familiar sensation between my legs as I take in Lucas. How is he somehow even more attractive with more layers on? It must be the appearance of him in full gear with the luscious hockey flow. Damn. I am such a sucker for good hair.

“What do you need me to do?” Lucas asks.

“Just pretend I’m not here and practice like you normally would.”

Lucas does a few loops around the rink at various speeds with his stick and puck. After about the third time around, he starts stickhandling drills, moving the puck back and forth rapidly. I start snapping pictures. He looks up, stopping when he notices. He starts again but goes up and down the length of the ice instead and skates backwards every few seconds. I’m done adjusting my camera.

I look at what I’ve captured so far and notice that he’s subtly making faces at me. I giggle at one where he’s cross-eyed and his tongue is sticking out just a tiny bit like a little kid does when they concentrate hard.

“Lucas, you’re supposed to pretend I’m not here. Stop making faces! I won’t be able to use any of these,” I reprimand between giggles.

“I thought they were just test photos! Don’t use these.” He tells me not to use them but keeps going around the ice making ridiculous faces for me to capture.

“Oh, I am going to use them. Especially this one where you look like a constipated seven-year-old trying to wink at a girl for the first time.”

I cover my mouth, attempting not to snort with laughter. But the more pictures I take, the more certain I am getting an amazing ab workout in from all my giggling.

Lucas stops right in front of me, spraying me with ice.

“Hey! That’s cold. Don’t be mean to me, Captain, just because your amateur modeling days will be ending soon with these facial expressions.”

Lucas leans over me to catch a glimpse of the photos I’ve taken, sending my heart racing. My giggles subside as his breath grazes my neck and the longing between my legs is back again. His laughter fills the empty rink, replacing my giggles and pulling me back to reality.

“I hope I’m really not that unattractive when I play. That’s so disappointing. I should just put my helmet on so you can barely see my face.”

“You couldn’t look unattractive. Keep the helmet off. I’ll take some real shots if you’re up for it.” Did I really just admit I find him attractive? Shit. I knew this was a bad idea. I’m too comfortable with him.I’ve sworn off love, I remind myself. I don’t want to be invested or interested in anyone.

---