Dessert - Jack Hughes

4

"Woah lyss these seats are literally right behind the bench." Megan says as she follows Elyssa to the seats Jack gifted her.
"They were probably expensive as hell. I'm gonna pay him back" Elyssa thinks out loud.
"Not yet. Depending on how this night goes, you might not need to" Megan insinuates.
Elyssa shoves her shoulder, "Shut up."
The girls scroll on their phones, waiting for the Devils to warm up. Elyssa looks up to see Jack just a few feet away. He smiles at her, sending flutters through her stomach. Damn his smile is perfect. She feels a blush rise to her cheeks.
"You're blushing" Megan pokes her side.
"No I'm not. It's cold in here" Elyssa fights back a smile. Megan lifts her hands in the air showing that she surrenders. Soon the game is staring.
"Number 86, Jack Hughes!" The announcer cheers. Jack skates out onto the ice joining his team. He looks in the crowd for Elyssa. She shoots him a smile with a thumbs up.
The game was scoreless the entire first period. The second period, both teams scored two goals. The third period was coming to an end, with 2 minutes left. The Devils get the puck and pass it up to Jack. He slaps the puck into the net, breaking the tie. He skates around the perimeter of the ice, celebrating. Elyssa watches him with a smile. They make eye contact and Jack sends her a wink, making Elyssa blush once again. The rest of the period was basic, neither team scoring again.
"Elyssa Cooper?" A strong voice asks from behind the girls. They turn around to see a man who seemed to be 7 feet tall and dressed in all black.
"Uh yes?" Elyssa answers.
"Come with me" he simply says.
"Um can I bring my friend? We kinda came here together" she asks nervously.
"Sure. Let's go" the big man turns to walk up the steps. He leads the two girls to the back of the arena. The part that's not open to the public.
"Excuse me? Sir?" Megan breaks the silence as they're both following him down a long hallway. He hums in response.
"Uh yeah, where are you taking us?" Megan asks.
"Hughes asked me to make sure Cooper finds her way to the locker room after the game." He says without looking at the girls. His stare stayed forward, walking them to the locker room apparently. Elyssa and Megan nod to each other, jokingly acting like they should have known that.
"Here we are" the man stops at a door that said 'Devils'.
"Thanks" Elyssa smiles at him and he leaves the two girls there.
"Well now what?" Megan asks.
"I don't know. We just sit here and wait for Jack to come out?" Elyssa proposes. Megan shrugs, sitting on the ground. Elyssa follows her lead, leaning her back against the wall that faces the locker room door.
"We're sure we can't go in there?" Megan asks after 10 minutes of waiting.
"I mean, I assume not. I think it's kinda a thing that only the team goes into the locker room" Elyssa answers. They both return to their phones for another 5 minutes
"You made it!" Elyssa and Megan hear. They look up to see Jack Hughes walking out of the locker room. The girls stand up to greet Jack.
"Hi" Elyssa stands as Jack approaches her.
"Cooper" he smiles, pulling her into a side hug. He smelled like deodorant with a little bit of sweat mixed in and his body was warm.
"I'm Megan Jones" she holds out her hand.
"Nice to meet you" he shakes her hand.
"I'm waiting on my roommate Ty. We can all go get something to eat?" Jack suggests.
"Yeah that sounds good" Elyssa agrees. Relief fills her mind, happy she won't have to eat with Jack alone. Not that she doesn't want to be alone with him. But she barely knows him, there's be too much of an opportunity to awkwardness to creep in. She has always kind of depended on Megan to start conversations. Megan's always been the more social one.
"So how'd you like the game?" He asks to pass time.
"It was good. I was staring to think you sucked before you scored that goal" Elyssa jokes, trying to not be awkward.
"Hey now" Jack laughs, pretending to be hurt by the comment. Just then Ty comes out of the locker room.
"Ty Smith" Jack introduces the two girls to him.
"Nice to meet you" he shakes both girls hands.

The group ends up at a small restaurant. They were the only ones there. They sat at a booth, Elyssa and Megan next to each other and Jack and Ty together.
"So how'd you two meet?" Jack asks the best friends.
"At an audition. We were both going for the same job. Neither of us got it and after the audition we went out to eat and talked shit on the other models." Elyssa laughs. The rest of the group laughs as well. They spent about three hours sitting in the booth talking before they got asked to leave because the place was closing. Ty and Megan were both in their cars waiting for Jack and Elyssa.
"So Cooper, you gonna give me your phone number or are you gonna make me keep DMing you on instagram?" Jack jokes. Elyssa responds by holding out her hand. He places his phone in it.
"You should really get a new screen protector" Elyssa jokes as she hands him his phone back after entering her number.
"I'll add it to the list" he jokes back. The two stand, inches apart. Elyssa felt awkward. She didn't know what to do. Was he gonna kiss her? Maybe just a hug? This wasn't really a date so maybe he'll just say bye and leave. She looks down at the ground.
"I'll text you." Jack breaks the silence.
Elyssa looks up, "uh yeah. Sounds good." She smiles. He pulls her into a hug. Elyssas heart starts racing. Her cheek presses against his muscular chest. She feels his strong arms wrap around her body. He smells amazing. Not clean and showered. But a little musky, like he just got done playing a hockey game and put deodorant on to cover it up.
"Thanks for the invite Hughes" Elyssa says once they break the hug.
"Any time Cooper" he responds as he watches her get into Megan's car. She smiles to herself as she sat in the passenger seat.

random number
I had a great time tonight :)

Elyssa adds the number to her contacts.

Lyss
Me too. Let's do it again sometime?
Jack😈
For sure. Good night.
Lyss
Good night.