Page 80 of One Shot

I nod and go back to the ice.

I can’t help but steal glances at her every couple of minutes. She’s so fucking cute when she’s immersed her writing. Her face shows a mixture of emotions: excitement, glee, a little bit of stress, and a lot of thought and concentration. I imagine it’s what I look like when I’m focused on the ice, but not nearly as adorable.

She eventually catches me staring, and I skate over to her.

“How are the articles coming along? You said you've already finished the full team one, right?”

“I’ll have to do some adjustments after editing, but yes that one is done. Thank goodness. I’ve got a lot to go on this other one, but I could use a five-minute break.”

The heaviness in my heart continues to lift as I sit down next to her on the bench. I pull her in close to me, her floral scent comforting me.

“Thanks for the breakfast. It was really sweet of you,” she mumbles into my chest. “How did your talk with Coach Andres go?”

I fill Laur in on what happened once the girls left the bar. I tell her about Mitchell’s crude comment, Liam’s drunkenness, and their fight. I tell her how Liam is benched for four games and Mitchell benched for six.

“Oh . . . they’ll both be benched for the game versus East,” she says quietly.

I nod.

“I’m sorry, Lucas. It’s my fault.”

“How is that even possible?” My eyebrow raises, perplexed by her feeling like any of this could be her fault.

“If I wasn’t all over you . . .” she starts before I butt in.

“Are you kidding? Please never apologize for being all over me. Ever.” I kiss her softly, pulling her onto my lap so she’s straddling me onthe bench.

“It isn’t your fault that Mitchell is a prick. I guarantee he saw nothing and was just being his usual delinquent self. Liam was hammered. It’s no one’s fault but theirs.”

“I’m sorry you won’t have them for the game against East,” she whispers, placing her forehead to mine and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“It’s going to be a harder game now, but we will figure it out and change our strategy. It’s nothing that you have to worry about at all.”

I desperately want to know if she is planning to attend the game. Most of me wants her to stay as far away from Nathan Kovek as possible. But a small selfish part of me wants to be able to spot her in the crowd for reassurance during what’s likely to be the hardest game of the regular season. I know it will be best for her to skip the game, and I am more than willing to always put what’s best for her first. I’ll wait until she brings up attending the game.

She sighs and kisses my lips very lightly. Before I can pull her into a deeper kiss, she slides off my lap and pulling her laptop onto hers.

“I’ve got to finish this article today, Captain Distraction.”

“Are you always going to make new pet names for me with Captain in them now?” I ask with a laugh.

She winks at me before focusing on her computer and starting to type away.

I head back to the ice. My stress level is still high, so I decide to do puck handling drills up and down the ice. It will tire me out and get me laser focused. I need to be on my A-game for the next few games.

“Hey, Captain Distraction,” Laur beckons from the bench. “I could use a five-minute break whenever you want to come skate on by.”

She’s very flirty today, and I am all about it. I do one drill to the opposite end of the ice and then halfway down the ice to get to the home team bench. Sweat clings to my skin from the drills, but she doesn’t seem to mind since she moves herself to sit on me again, straddling me with her legs behind me on the bench the second I sit down.

“Well, hello,” I say to her playfully.

“Hi, Captain,” she responds.

I lean in to kiss her. She hooks a finger into the collar of my jersey, eagerly bringing our bodies closer.

“Is this the type of distraction you want?” I whisper against her lips.

“Yes,” she whispers back, biting my lip fiercely. I want her so badly, but if she doesn’t stop, she isn’t going to finish her article.

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