Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  She walked back to the main room to see that Scott had opened up his dress shirt all the way. She could see his abdominal muscles pop through the undershirt he was wearing. He had his legs stretched out on the little ottoman she kept under the desk, but it was pulled out further than normal so he could access it. She handed him the dark Belgian ale and sat down in her favorite chair beside him.

  They quickly settled into the game. It was mainly her getting animated and cussing at the screen, either in happiness or frustration at the Flyers. Scott just laughed at her reactions. He really didn’t seem to have any stake in the game other than watching her. At times, she wasn’t sure he was watching the game at all. By the end of the game, the Flyers lost in OT and they’d both finished their beers.

  “You really are a true Philly fan,” said Scott.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She knew all too well that most people tended to have a negative opinion of Philly fans.

  “You cursed out your guys as much as you rooted them on. Normal fans don’t do that.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I can hear them from the stands when I’m on the ice. The negative shit tends to come from the opposing fans. Not the home crowd.”

  Alice knew that to be true. Flyers fans would boo a bad play and just as quickly forgive them with one good play. She liked to think of it as just being expressive. She knew they would have bad days, but she didn’t have to like it. Especially when she knew how good they could be.

  “Do you expect me to have a different style of rooting for you?” She was probing.

  Scotty reached over to pull her chair closer so he could kiss her. “You aren’t a normal fan. So no. But you are my type of fan.”

  Alice smiled and kissed him back, wishing they were in more than desk chairs. This was when being on a couch would have been perfect.

  “I can live with that.” She noticed the empty beer glasses on the desk. “I never did ask, how did you like the beer?”

  “Heavy but good. What was it?”

  “Bourbon barrel-aged Feats of Strength from Market Brewing. I figured it was appropriate given the fact you had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick this evening. It was a hell of a game and a good fight. What did he say to you to piss you off so much?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He was in the wrong and we settled it,” Scott said a little coldly.

  It must have been something personal, and he didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to push. She knew enough about the hockey code to know he was right. The score was settled for now, and nothing needed to be said.

  His voice shifted to a much lighter tone. “So, you watched the game?”

  “Yeah. Of course, I did.”

  Scott grinned and seemed almost surprised to hear she’d watched his game.

  “Why wouldn’t I be watching you play?” Alice continued. “Even if the Flyers are playing, I run the dual screens. I just can’t decide who gets the big screen and who gets the little screen.”

  “Oh really? Why am I not instantly on the big screen?”

  “Um, have we not met before or did you forget what we were just watching? I love my Flyers. I can’t just bump them down to the little screen after meeting you only a week ago. Of course, if you give me the right reasons, I could be persuaded to maybe bump you up to big screen status.”

  “Oh really? What reason might that be?” he asked with a devilish smile.

  “I have a few ideas, but you’ll have to figure that one out for yourself,” said Alice. She was way more forward then normal. She usually walled herself off to prevent herself from getting too close to anyone.

  Scott

  Scott was thoroughly enjoying himself. He loved to give her shit about her taste in hockey teams or how she cheered them on. It really wasn’t all that different from what he would say on the ice, if he wasn’t mic’ed up.

  It was refreshing to be with a girl who knew the sport and enjoyed it. Since he’d gotten into the league, he’d been in cities like Cleveland that didn’t have the strongest hockey bases, unlike some teams.

  Scott loved that Alice was flirting and inviting him to do more. While he was usually quick to start making out and let his affections be known, he was slower to get someone into bed. Part of that was practical since he didn’t want to worry about getting hit up for child support. Then there was the general boredom from one-night stands with easy girls. He knew that Alice wasn’t going to be a one-night stand.

  Alice was way too guarded to be looking for a quick lay or to trap a player. She’d been stunned when he figured out her approximate address. She didn’t let just anyone into her place.

  Scott stood up. “I bet you have a few ideas. But I may have a few of my own.”

  He scooped up Alice for another long kiss and then pushed towards the kitchen area and what he hoped to be a bedroom.

  He inhaled her scent: a mix of sweetness with lemon and a tiny hint of chlorine in the background. She was so easy to lift and maneuver with her petite frame. She wrapped her legs around his waist so that he could walk easily and he was astonished how strong her legs were. Sure, she did a lot of activities that would help to create strong legs, despite how lithe they looked.

  When they got into the kitchen, he noticed right away that there were two doors open. He broke away from the kiss just long enough to ask, “Which way to the bed?”

  Alice sounded lusty when she said, “Straight.”

  Soon enough they were in the bedroom. He could make out the outline of the bed and dropped Alice onto it.

  She unbuckled his belt, but Scott reasserted some control and gave himself time to adjust. He reached towards her waist so he could get rid of both her leggings and panties with one good tug.

  He wanted to do so much to her body. Alice was already wet with desire, but Scott wanted to make sure she enjoyed every minute with him. He took it slow and licked her lower body. She moaned and twisted in pleasure. He loved seeing the look of elation on her face.

  Once she hit her climax, she surprised him by returning the favor while he was still standing beside the bed. She pulled down his pants and boxers just enough to have easy access to his hardening member. She knelt on the bed and massaged his private parts with her tongue. She gave him the best blowjob he’d ever had, with the right amount of pressure and moisture and no hint of accidental bites. He was too close to the brink.

  “Wait. I’m too close.”

  He quickly pulled out his emergency condom from his wallet. He deftly ripped the foil and slid the condom over his dick. He climbed onto the bed and straddled her.

  He pulled her shirt off. He already knew she wasn’t wearing a bra since he could see her nipples through the thin tee. He used his left hand to massage, cup, and pinch her nipple. He then used his fingers to get her nice and wet and ready for penetration. She was tight but willing. It didn’t take long for her to be completely ready.

  They got into a good rhythm. He found her pleasure zones right away. Alice purred as he continued to thrust and pull back. He knew he would be coming way too quickly for his taste. It had been too long since he’d had sex, and the electric charge he felt with Alice proved they had some insane chemistry. He wished he could last much, much longer.

  After he came, he quickly excused himself to take care of the condom and cursed his lack of more condoms. He laid down beside Alice.

  Everything from the day hit him at that moment. He was exhausted from the brutal hockey game, the flight, and even the sex. He wanted to do nothing more than cuddle with Alice and hold her all night long, if not go for a few more rounds later. But he had to get home.

  He hadn’t planned to spend the night. He didn’t pack enough clothes for it. But more importantly, he knew that Chloe needed him to get home. He’d only asked the dog walker to come to the house for one walk and feeding. She would be going crazy and probably trying to eat anything she could get her paws on. Which meant either the couch or a shoe, neither of which his beloved pit bull shou
ld be eating.

  At the same time, he just couldn’t pull himself up from Alice’s side and considered how long it would take until he could go again.

  4

  Alice

  Things were going well with Scott. They were able to spend so much time together thanks to the home stand. She knew that she was starting to fall for him, which was something she hadn’t done in years.

  In some ways, she was afraid of the emotions that were running through her since she’d been careful not to open up her trust too quickly after getting crushed. She really didn’t want to get hurt again, but he was so easy to like.

  She dropped some hints towards her family that she was seeing someone, but she kept it pretty vague. Enough that they knew what she was up to but not have too many questions. She wanted to keep the relationship very casual.

  Her dad knew the most since he called her out for her sudden interest in the Cleveland Sound and how she was watching a lot of their games all of a sudden. She had to admit the main reason was due to the new guy in her life but didn’t mention that Scott was playing for the Sound. Dad would have asked a ton of questions.

  Scott was going out with his teammates to celebrate postgame. They were able to pull off a major comeback win with their cross-state rivals, Columbus. After being down by four, Scott cracked the netminder. They didn’t have a lead until the overtime goal by Lager with an assist by Scott.

  Scott was extremely apologetic about not hanging out with her that evening. Alice didn’t want him to miss out on fun with the guys just to hang out with her every night he was in town.

  Besides, she was pretty tired after a long day. Him going out with his buddies from the team was the perfect excuse to go to bed early.

  He promised to make it up to her the next night which mattered to her way more because it was her birthday. Alice usually kept her birthday low key other than using it as an excuse to gather some friends around for a board game night or a trip to see a hockey game. This year was no different.

  She didn’t tell Scott that her birthday was coming up. Although she wouldn’t be surprised if he knew since he seemed to be doing his homework on her and picking up on all the clues.

  She was sound asleep until she heard a slight thud and some rustling of papers that woke her up. She wasn’t that concerned since she lived in an apartment complex and would sometimes be woken up with noises from her upstairs neighbor or from the cars in the parking lot.

  There was something about the noise that made her concerned they might be coming from within her apartment rather than upstairs. She was on guard for a minute or two.

  Then the noises stopped. They must have been coming from upstairs. It was safe to turn over and go back to sleep.

  The bedroom door opened.

  Oh shit, this is real. I have to act.

  They were in the midst of the largest snowstorm of the season. Maybe it was maintenance. She said, “hello,” trying to figure out what was going on as she jumped out of bed. She removed the eye mask she normally slept with.

  There was a lean figure about 6-foot-tall in her doorway, possibly holding a flashlight.

  Fortunately, he ran out of the doorway and headed out the kitchen door to escape. The door slammed shut, and the keys rattled off the door. She grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand and rushed out into the main room while dialing 911. Even without the lights, she could tell that her iPad was gone, they’d gone through the desk, and one of her decorative boxes was overturned in the main room.

  It wasn’t a complete wreck, but things had been opened and moved around randomly.

  In a haze, she relayed the information to the 911 operator as she ran her hand through her hair, trying to survey what was missing or moved. She was careful not to touch a damn thing. She’d listened to thousands of hours of true crime podcasts and knew that she would have to wait for the police to arrive.

  It seemed to take forever. That would be the adrenaline coursing through her and not the actual passage of time. She paced back and forth and played with her hair just to keep her hands busy and not freak out. She turned the ponytail into a bun and then let go.

  She fired off two texts, one to Meghan and one to Scott: Worst night ever. Someone broke into my place. Stole my iPad.

  She wanted to let Meghan know since she might be awake and give her practical support on what to expect with the procedures. Scott was purely for support and hoping he was still awake after his night of drinking.

  Finally, the doorbell rang. Alice grabbed her glasses and the keys to let the officer into her place. There was only one officer at the door, but he was friendly and non-threatening. He entered the place and asked to turn on the lights so they could easily move around.

  She recited the events thus far and anything she noticed to be moved, opened, or missing. This included the desk being opened up, the box in the front room being toppled over, a battery pack removed from one of her purses and left on the desk, a bag of Goldfish crackers that was moved into the kitchen, the silver nutcracker salt and pepper shakers got moved out of the desk but weren’t taken, and the missing iPad.

  The police officer asked her to access her Apple Account so they could get the serial number of her iPad. She also had to describe her home screen and the iPad case. She couldn’t open up the account initially since it wanted dual-layer authentication. Eventually, she got it. Then they tracked her iPad on his phone. They got the location and he radioed it to the other officers, sending a screenshot from the Find my Phone app to the officers’ group chat.

  Alice wrote up her statement about everything that was missing, moved, and whatnot. As she took a closer look at her desk, she realized her Echo Dot was also gone. So the officer radioed his officers to look for the missing virtual assistant as well.

  As Alice was writing, the police officer processed the evidence. First, he took DNA swabs of various surfaces, including the two different doorknobs that the thief touched. Alice swabbed her cheeks so they could differentiate hers from the burglar. Then he fingerprinted the desk and took photos of everything.

  Alice had always been interested in true crime. The police officer took great care to explain what he was doing, which helped to calm and focus her. It was neat to see how the feather-like brush would expose any and all fingerprints on the white desk surface.

  A second police officer came in with a couple of brown bags of different sizes. He opened the conversation with, “So, I have good news and I have bad news.”

  Alice wasn’t sure what to expect. It seemed like it would be mostly good news by the looks of things. She didn’t think they would be able to recover anything, let alone so quickly. She was stressed out and her voice wasn’t being super cooperative—it was jagged and slightly panicky—so she nodded.

  The second officer set all the bags but one on a desk chair. “We think we found your Alexa. Do you happen to have the box for it still?”

  Alice nodded and went over to the small shelving unit that was beside her desk. It was littered with papers, her latest knitting project, notebooks, and the suede box for the silver nutcrackers. She had to shift a few things to get to where she left the Alexa box. She handed it to the officer.

  He hoped to verify the serial numbers on the box and the Alexa itself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t read anything on the Alexa’s underside. They had to plug it in to see if it could connect with the Alexa app. The device went from offline to online and recognized her voice when she spoke to it.

  “So that’s definitely yours,” said the second officer, picking up the largest brown evidence bag. “As for the bad news, this is what’s left of the iPad we recovered.”

  He pulled out an iPad that was shattered. It was in 3 pieces with wires and a miracle keeping the thing connected. There was no way she could even think about getting it repaired. “Most likely, once they realized that we were tracking them, they just”—he twisted his hands in opposite directions, as though renting the device in two— “and tossed it.”


  Alice honestly wasn’t too surprised. She didn’t think she would get anything back. It crushed her to see her tablet so completely destroyed. It had been a constant companion and source of contentment and media.

  She could tell from the occasional messages on the police radio that they could follow the footprints in the snow and the two officers in her apartment were calling her place the primary site.

  The first officer asked the second to fingerprint the Alexa while he finished collecting prints from the desk. The Alexa was the trickiest to fingerprint since they had to use black powder on a black device. It was a crap shoot to see if they were transferring anything of value. After he did what he could do, he handed her the Alexa. “I tried my best not to damage it.”

  The first officer finished fingerprinting in the main room and packed up his kit. He gave Alice his card with the case number. His name was Officer LePrince. Then he left.

  It had been an hour and a half since the burglar entered her apartment. The gravity of it all settled in. Panic and anxiety hit her, so she sat on her bed and clutched the two teddy bears she would sleep with whenever she wasn’t sharing the bed with someone.

  She needed to speak to someone. The first call she made was practical and would be a calming influence if he picked up the phone: her dad. Since it was past 2:30 am, she wasn’t surprised when she got his voicemail.

  The next call was to her sister. She figured there was a good chance that Allison would pick up the phone since she was constantly up in the middle of the night taking care of her 4-year-old. But that too went to voicemail. She tried calling her mom. Since her parent's divorce, she couldn’t just call one parent anymore. Voicemail.

  At that point, Alice was starting to really lose her grasp on her emotions and her nerves felt like they were on fire. She decided to make the one call that she was hoping to avoid because she hated how late she was calling knowing that he had a game. But she knew that he would be the one who picked up the phone and would make sure she wasn’t alone. She dialed Scott.