Not All Hockey Boys Are Bad

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"What was I thinking? Saying yes to going with Jack to a tournament in Seattle? That's insane. I mean I barely know the guy, don't I?" I ranted.

Georgia sat across the table spinning her spoon around in her coffee. She was listening intently, trying not to crack a smile or say something that would set me off. It has only been a day since Jack asked me to join him and I was still freaking out about it.

"Ro..."

"Like we've only kissed like two or three times. We're not even a couple, why would he ask me of all people to come support him? I went on a "maybe" date with him once and now I'll be staying in the same hotel as him. This is insane, right?" I paused looking up at Georgia.

She was smirking at me. "Rosie, calm down. It's just a hockey tournament."

I nodded. She was right it was just one hockey tournament and it wasn't like I hadn't gone down with my dad to watch a few games in Seattle before. I could do this, maybe.

"If you don't wanna go for Jack, go because you love to watch hockey." Georgia says.

"Hockey, yes, go for hockey not Jack." I muttered incoherently. I chewed on the inside of my cheek over thinking about this whole thing.

I was so lost in thought that I jumped whenever two girls popped up at our table. I recognized the red head from my English class but the other I had never seen before.

"Hi!" The redhead blurts out smiling down at me. "I'm Skyler and this is Paisley."

Both smiled widely at me. I was confused. "Um... Hi, I'm Rosie and this is Georgia?" I tell them. Both giggle. Was there something funny going on? Did I have coffee on me? I looked down at my shirt and felt along my mouth. No coffee spilt.

Paisley stopped giggling and tapped Skyler on the shoulder. "We figured that, that's why we've come to say hello." She says.

Okay, I'm confused. "We've seen you hanging around Jack at the rink and we've recently found out that you're coming with us to the Seattle Tournament." Skyler explains, sort of.

"Wait, how do you know this again?" I ask.

"Oh duh." Paisley exclaims smiling. "I'm Cole's girlfriend, he like tells me everything." She says. I resist the urge to scoff.

I didn't even know Cole had a girlfriend and the way I see him flirting with girls in the hallway I figured he never even had one. Strange, maybe guys could change. Jack is certainly not the same guy he was whenever we first met. He's more open with me and smiles more often, which is not a bad sight to see at all.

"So," Skyler says bringing me out of my thoughts. "You're coming with us to Seattle? I mean you are going to come and support your boyfriend like us, right?"

"Jack's not my boyfriend." I blurt out. We weren't even official. We weren't even a thing and I hated how people assumed we were when we weren't. I don't even think Jack is the dating type, but then why'd he ask me to come to the tournament.

Paisley giggled. "Okay, so just a fling. But still, you're coming right? We could use more girls in the HGC." She says.

"The what?"

"The HGC: Hockey Girlfriends Club. It's a thing Paisley made up, but then it sort of stuck." Skyler explained giving her friend a look I've given Georgia many times.

These two were annoying, no doubt, but they weren't bad either. In a way they were just like Georgia and I, just dressed better. "Oh, well I don't know if I'll ever be a member, but I might see you two at the tournament this weekend." I say. They squealed. "Um... Well if you excuse us we've got to run."

I stand up, pulling Georgia up with me. "It was nice meeting you." I say leading Georgia out of the coffee shop.

Georgia laughed when we were outside. I scowled at her. She chuckled again and poked my cheek with her finger. "Am I going to lose my best friend to the HGC?" She teased.

"Oh, shut up." I say slapping her hand away and walk over to my car.

******

I thought my mom would've put up more of a fight when I mentioned the trip to Seattle I wanted to take this weekend, but she gave in easily.

My guess was she felt guilty for leaving me behind last weekend, so now she's going to let me do my thing.

"You're bringing Georgia with you?" She asks while folding her clothes.

I crossed my arms and leaned against her bedroom doorway. "Of course."

"Okay, then as long as you're careful." She says. I begin to turn away. "You should probably stop by your fathers house while you're down there. He called yesterday." Mom looks down at her clothes avoiding my eyes. The topic of Dad had been a tough subject since their divorce. I was surprised she even mentioned him at all.

"Well, he can call all he likes, but I'm not stopping by to speak to him." I say.

"Ro, he's you dad..." She pleaded dropping the shirt she was folding into the basket then looked up to me.

My fists clench. I hadn't spoken to my dad in 5 years. I've had no reason to after he moved to Seattle with his new wife and her two kids. He still sent me birthday cards, and called every other week, but I was determined to ignore both.

"He's my father but that doesn't mean I want to speak to him." My mom tried to say something but ignored her and walked out of the room. I had schoolwork to do.

*****
It was Thursday night, the night before we headed down to the tournament and I was stuck in my room finishing up my English paper. I had started it early because I'd miss the next day when Georgia and I would take the long drive to Seattle.

Unlike me, she was pumped and looking forward to the trip. She had even pitched in some gas money. Her reasoning being that now since she no longer had to worry about Nolan she could make her move on Tanner, the sophomore. I had tried to convince her that dating a guy younger than her might not end well but she brushed me off.

"Love knows no age!" Georgia had said teasingly yesterday when she explained her plan for this weekend.

I laughed thinking about it now as I typed on about what David Henry Thoreau had discovered when he took his hiatus in the wilderness. Oh how nice it would be to just go into the wild and escape the world for awhile, but then I thought of the bugs and the cold. I shuddered.

Pausing in the middle of the paper I took a break and checked my phone. It was past nine now. My mom had just begun her night shift and wouldn't be back until early in the morning which left me at home keeping an eye on Addie who was just a room over from mine.

My stomach growled. "Time for a late night snack." I say to myself as I roll out off my bed to head downstairs.

"Doritos or Cheetos?" I ask myself staring at both bags in the pantry.

I jumped when there was a knock on my front door. Forgetting the food I slowly crept over to the door. Who would be knocking this late on a school night?

"Hello? Who is it?" I called through the door not wanting to open it and risk being murdered.

A guy chuckled. "Rosie, it's me Jack. Who else knocks on your door?" I breathed relieved. He had a point but a little warning would've been nice.

I opened the door to see him wearing a pair of shorts and a sweaty t-shirt. His hockey bag was slung over his shoulder. Had he just gotten off of practice? "Jack..." I smiled subconsciously at his appearance.

I hadn't seen him other than in the halls this past week because he had been busy with practice. It was a surprise to even see him now even though he invited me to watch him play this weekend.

"What are you doing here?" I ask stepping aside to let him inside.

Jack stepped around me and set his bag in the ground. "What can a guy not just randomly stop at your house?" He teased and leaned against the wall.

"Well not when they're all sweaty." I say poking his chest. He chuckled and shrugged.

"Showing up at a girl's house sweaty is a new thing for me, but I'm not sure if it's all that bad." He says smirking.

"It's bad for me because you sure do stink." I plugged my nose.

"Oh really?" Jack says inching closer. I may have been teasing before when I said he stunk but now that he was closer he really did stink. I laughed keeping my nose plugged as Jack backed me up against the wall. When his body was about an inch away from touching mine he stopped.

Why did he stop? Keep going, I wanted to tell him. His close proximity set me off and I wanted to reach out and pull him closer to me even though he was drenched in sweat.

Jack reached under my chin and tilted my chin up to look at him. "Thanks for coming with us this weekend. It means a lot to have the team's lucky charm there."

I blushed at his words, even though they weren't true. "I'm no lucky charm." I whispered under my breath.

"Maybe, maybe not. But you're still a pretty fine piece of meat." He joked quoting what that Red Devil's player had said to me the night Jack saved me from them. That felt like such a long time ago, yet it only happened two weeks ago. How could so much change in such a short amount of time?

"God, those guys pissed me off." Jack muttered looking down and placing his hands on the wall behind me. "I swear if any hockey guy tries to lay his hands on you this weekend..." He trailed off looking back into my eyes. The previous light hearted mood was gone replaced by a serious one.

"Jack..." I say reaching up to grab his hand, pulled it away from the wall and laced my fingers with his. Not knowing what I was doing, I brought our hands to my chest. "What are we?"

The question had run through my mind for days now. Everyone seemed to know what were but us, and I was tired of not knowing.

"I don't know. All I know is that it scares me how badly I want you around me at all times." He says. I can feel his heart beating loudly and I knew he wasn't lying. I've never seen him this vulnerable before. I squeezed his hand.

"It scares me too."

Jack leaned closer making our foreheads touch. "Then maybe we can find out what we are this weekend. After all we are staying in the same hotel." He said winking. I couldn't help but laugh at how he ruined the mood. With my heart racing I pushed him away both of us smiling.

"You should probably go home and get some rest." I suggested not really wanting him to leave.

Jack sighed and walked over to pick up his hockey bag. "You're right. I'll see you soon, Rosie." He said leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek before he walked back out my front door.

"Ro, who was that tall boy?" I jumped not even realizing Addie had been standing at the top of the stairs. She had her teddy bear in her arms and her hair was everywhere. I glanced back at the front door smiling.

"Who knows who he was, but you should be in bed, missy." I said walking up to her to get her back to bed.