Before I knew it, we were off campus and arriving at a really cute, little café. It looked like a converted cottage with a long porch out the front. We walked through the front door, and I instantly felt like I had transported worlds. We were met with a wave of heat, coffee beans, and bacon. To our left was a lounge room, with several mismatched armchairs and couches set to face each other in different arrangements. People sat around chatting, some on their laptops; I think one was even sleeping. To my right was a dining room with a massive ten-seater, long, rectangular, dark wood table. The chairs matched the table and were high backed with cushions attached to the seat. There was a couple at the far end who were eating together, looking super cute with some sort of cake.
We walked straight down the hallway, as I peeled off my mittens and beanie, which opened out into an open plan kitchen and seating area. The kitchen looked like a normal kitchen, but with all the professional cookware installed. There was a coffee machine spewing steam into the air, waitresses buzzing around clearing tables. The curtains were swept back to let in the light, and I could see an outdoor alfresco area which would be perfect in warmer weather.
How had I never heard of this place before?
Justin found us a table in the corner furthest from the kitchen and dropped his bag, “Any special requests?” He asked me.
“Nope, surprise me.” I replied distractedly, as I fluffed out my hair removing my beanie line. This place was seriously amazing. I turned to look back where we came from and let out a gasp, there was a floor to ceiling bookshelf running along the wall. There had to be at least five hundred books all haphazardly stacked and placed as if people just pulled them out and put them back uncaring of the order.
I let my eyes roam around the room, taking in all of the activity. After a few minutes of people watching, I sat down in my chair and pulled out my phone, which had several text messages from Christian and Stephanie.
Christian: How’s your day going?
Smiling, I swiped open Christian’s message first. I couldn’t say I had been at a tutor session; surely, he would know that Justin has sessions on Saturdays.
Me: Good. Had a study session with a friend, getting some food now.
Clicking out of his message I swapped over to Stephanie.
Stephanie: Hey dollface, are we still doing dinner tonight? Could totally use a romcom night.
Me: Sure are! I should be done with my research soon. Meet back at the dorm?
My phone buzzed with a message from Christian.
Christian: I hope you were studying something other than PSY101, I’ll be crushed if I wasn’t invited :p
Me: Crushed huh? Well rest assured, it was a different subject.
Bubbles instantly appeared, so I waited for his reply.
Christian: Well in the interest of making sure I am invited to all future PSY101 study sessions, want to be my study partner for finals?
I was just able to reply with a yes before Justin came back carrying two giant mugs full of something steaming. I quickly locked my phone and slipped it back in my bag and cleared the table of his bag just in time for him to place the mugs down.
I leaned forward and sniffed appreciatively. Tomato soup, yum.
“I hope you like tomato soup, I saw it on the menu this morning when I grabbed our muffins.” Justin pulled out two spoons from one pocket and a couple of napkins from the other. He nervously adjusted his beanie, which I found incredibly endearing.
“I love tomato soup, especially on cold days, it just warms you right up. And this is the magical place that you got those awesome muffins from? Mine was so good.” I replied as I reached for a spoon.
“Yeah, I usually stop by here when I walk into campus. Something about the fresh air with a warm coffee.” Justin stirred his soup and blew on it. For such a big guy he was so deliberate with his actions. My eyes ran over his shoulders and down to his hand that held his spoon so delicately, like he knew he was too big for the standard sized cutlery and needed to treat it gently. He didn’t really seem to be the type to do anything impulsive or rash. And he was so thoughtful, every girl’s dream guy. A protector.
We sat there in silence while we ate, just enjoying the moment. Every now and then, I would catch him watching me with a look of concentration, like I was a puzzle he needed to solve. I would just smile, and he would smile back. I had to be incredibly gentle with how I approached this one, worried that I would scare him off.
When I finished off the last of my soup, dying to run my finger around the inside and get every last delicious morsel, I reached for a napkin and made sure I hadn’t left a giant red smear anywhere. “Thanks for the soup, it was delicious. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place. I’ve lived here for two and a half years and no idea it existed.”
“You just haven’t been hanging out with the right people,” He replied, with a cheeky smile as he leaned back in his chair, done with his soup too.
“Oh, and I take it you are the right people?” I teased back.
A superior look crossed his face, even as humor made his eyes bright, “Yep, sure am. Hang out with me more often, and I’ll show you all my favorite places.”
I laughed back at him, but in my head, I was analyzing each of his words. Did he just ask me out, again? Interested but not too interested.
“I’m not sure anywhere could beat this place, but I’m happy for you to continue to impress me.” I smirked back at him.
He just laughed as he grabbed his backpack. “Okay H, I have to go. I need to hit the gym and do a few things with my team this afternoon. Thanks for helping me study today, still up for another session on Wednesday?”
“All good, and yep totally up for another session. See you then,” I smiled up at him. He waded through the crowd, turned and waved just before he headed down the hallway and out of view.
I turned back to my empty soup mug and just sat there staring at it for a second. I was starting to question myself about this whole situation. I mean, if I had of met Justin or Christian, or even Vinnie, outside of my research for the Puck article would I be genuinely interested in them? Was using them to intentionally get into the Puck Games the right thing to do?
I really needed girl time with Steph.
Chapter 13
Saturday 2nd December – 23 days until Christmas
Hayden
“Sugar, unlock the door for me before I drop all this food,” Steph called through the door, as I hurried out of the bathroom; hair still wrapped in a towel from my shower.
“Coming,” I called back. I unlocked and pulled the door open, instantly reaching forward to grab whatever hung precariously, which just so happened to be the pizza. I saved the boxes and leaned in for a fancy air and cheek kiss. Something Steph had done to me since the day we first met, back in junior year.
“Thanks hun, I really thought I was going to end up leaving road killed pizza across our door,” she replied gratefully as she readjusted the bags hanging from her wrists.
I stepped back, making room for Steph to enter. “At least that would have made for an interesting article. Student cracks under the pressure of final exams, makes sacrifice to the gods on dorm room door.” I said as I moved one arm across the imaginary banner I could see in front of me.
Steph just let out a light laugh at my antics, used to my journalistic dramatics, and put her grocery bags on her desk at the end of her bed. I placed the pizzas on my desk and went to help her unpack the ice cream and wine, putting both in our mini bar fridge. Steph had turned twenty-one about three months ago, and even though we had both been drinking since junior year, she now felt the need to have a bottle of wine whenever she felt like I was hosting her to dinner. Something about Southern hospitality requiring guests not to turn up empty handed. Not sure how that applied when it was in her own dorm room though.
As she cracked open the wine, I grabbed some glasses from on top of the bar fridge, “So how are you doing with the whole Puck Games thing?” I asked, genuinely
concerned about her. She’d barely been checking in for the past few days. She’d had an event she needed to cover last night for The Press, and Thursday night I’d been at The Press, and the Winter Wonderland Committee the night before.
She took a deep breath and looked up at me. Her eyes still held an edge of hurt, but now there was a little of her usual fire burning in them. Her lips quirked up in an attempt at an amused smirk as she, “I’m doing okay. I’ve met more hockey players in the last few days than I care to ever meet again. I can even spot them at a distance now. Some are polite about it, asking me for coffee, but others just come right up to me and ask me if I want to increase my Puck score with a quick session in a supply closet. Seriously, who does it in a supply closet?” She demanded to know as she flipped open a pizza box and aggressively removed a piece of pizza, almost dragging all the toppings with it.
“Wow, calm down there, your soapbox is stealing all the toppings,” I chided her as I approached with a knife to fix the situation. “And what do you mean they are all approaching you?”
Were Justin, Christian, and Vinnie chasing Steph? While they were all talking to me? Surely not…
“Oh you know, the majority of the second and third string players. Some guy by the name of Edwards is incredibly persistent, but James has been with me almost constantly, walking me to and from classes. Its seriously helping with the whole situation, they are less interested in approaching me if I am with another guy.” She replied as she moved to sit up near my pillows with one hand hovering under her slice, so she didn’t drop any bits.
My relief at no first-string players having approached her should have set off alarm bells in my head; however, I chose to ignore that and focused on a pertinent detail Steph had let slip.
“So, you and James have been hanging out a lot lately huh?” I prodded as I grabbed my own slice, careful to keep my tone as neutral as possible. I backed up to the foot of my bed and sat down, tucking one leg under me as I faced her.
She wasn’t even phased by the question. “Yeah, he’s been a real sweetheart. I’ll have to find a way to thank him, when all of this dies down.”
I just sat there staring at her. She didn’t know or was choosing to ignore that James liked her, and knowing Steph, it was more like she was completely oblivious to James’ crush. Steph always went for the athletic bad boys.
I remembered this one time she had been crushing on one of the track team guys. It had taken me two pints of ice cream and a bag of chocolate chip cookies to find out that he had broken her heart when he told her he played for the same team as her.
Sometimes, her naivety made me physically shake my head at her. I loved the girl to pieces and would do anything for her, even if that meant getting myself entered into the Puck Games.
“Hun, you know that James isn’t just being a gentleman right?” I asked gently as I lowered my slice without taking a bite.
“Of course he is! James is a true gentleman, Hay.” She replied, as she gestured for me to pass her the pizza box. I turned around and grabbed the box, placing it on the bed between us. We’d eat it fast enough that it wouldn’t mark my quilt.
I put my slice of pizza on the lid side of the box and gave Steph my full attention. She met my eyes as she took a bite into her second slice.
“James has a massive crush on you. That’s why he is chaperoning you around.” I stated bluntly. Sometimes, Steph just needed the facts laid out straight for her.
Suddenly, I was up and standing beside her, thumping her on the back as she choked on her mouthful of pizza. Once she had her breath back, she reached for her glass of wine and took an extra-large swallow.
“Whh...what do you mean, James likes me? He doesn’t like me, I would know if he did.” She replied with tear filled eyes; coughs still racked her tiny frame; blonde curls went haywire with the jerky movement.
I sat back on my side of the bed and reached for my slice again, “Exactly that. He has had a crush on you for about two years, ever since he joined The Press. Think about it hun, you two met in your first-year economics class, and a guy who has no athletic or journalistic interests whatsoever, signed up for the sports section of the paper, the only position available at the time, a paper you happen to be on. As soon as Beth graduated last year, James moved his stuff so that he was sitting at the desk next to yours. Everyone at The Press can see it. Massive. Crush.” I stared at her, letting her see my sincerity.
She just sat there a little shocked for a moment, but then I saw her brain ticking over, remembering all of the little interactions they had had over the past few years. That time James had brought in a cupcake into The Press with a single candle for her birthday. The time he had stayed back with her late into the night editing a joint story they had done together.
Her mouth slowly opened to form an O as the penny dropped. I reached across the pizza and patted her hand as I took my first bite. She had all the facts now, she just needed to decide what she was going to do with them.
“So, enough about you, onto me. My research into the Puck Games is going okay. I have three possible sources to getting more information.” I told her as I continued to work my way through my first slice.
“Three? Who are they? Other Pucks?” She asked me, as she sent me a grateful look.
“The first-string forwards.” I confessed, not exactly sure why I felt so embarrassed.
I swear she would have choked on her food again if she’d had a mouthful.
“All of them? How did you meet them all? I know you interviewed that Vinnie guy, but the other two?”
“Just the Universe fiddling in my affairs really. Christian is in my PSY100 class, you know the one I have been putting off since first year? Apparently, he was doing the same thing. And Justin signed up for a TutorAid, and I got the message. I honestly had no idea that they were both hockey players until Thursday afternoon, when they all messaged me after they had training.”
“Oh my goodness, what did you do?” Riveted by my story, she had left her slice of pizza hanging from her hand.
“I just played it cool, and kept replying back to all of them as quickly as I could. I have no idea if they all know about me with each other or not, but something tells me they don’t. They haven’t dropped each other’s names or brought up the Puck Games. I just have this really weird feeling that everything isn’t as it seems. I actually wanted your advice on something.”
“Ask away, I am a fount of advice!” She replied with a little flair of her hands to emphasis her fountiness.
“Okay well, today I was wondering whether or not I would actually be interested in any of them if I had of met them not knowing about the Puck Games? I mean, Christian and I started a silly note passing session yesterday. He asked me if I missed him, and now, we have a study session planned together. Justin brought me a muffin today and then took me out to lunch to his favorite cafe. We even had two moments, but I backed down from both. And then Vinnie, he honestly seemed bummed when I pretended that I’d given him the wrong number and he was messaging a random, and now, we have what I think is a date after the hockey game tomorrow. They all seem to be going to a lot of work, too much if they just want to get laid. So, I’m wondering if they are sincere about liking me, if it’s wrong for me to be using them to intentionally get entered into the Puck Games?” I blurted out and then covered my face with my hands.
The silence stretched so long that I peeked through my fingers to look at Steph.
She just blinked at me, then held up a hand and ticked off her fingers one by one. “I have questions. One, how did they all get your number? Two, what do they look like? Three, do you think you would be interested in them if you didn’t know about the Puck Games, and four, what were these moments?”
For the next little while, I told Steph everything that had happened so far while we finished off our pizza and a second glass of wine. I even showed her the team picture I had saved to my laptop for the article. She had pointed out each of the players that had approa
ched her so far, causing the knot of concern in my chest to disappear when she didn’t point out my guys.
Err, the guys. Not my. They weren’t mine.
She kept interjecting with questions, and I did my best to be honest, but it was hard since I genuinely wasn’t sure what the truth was when it came to how I felt, how they felt, and what they each knew about me. The not knowing if they all knew about me with each of them was killing me.
After a moment, Steph nodded to herself. “Okay, so to me, I think you should continue on your path,” I went to protest but she held up a hand, “Hear me out. Let’s say there was no Puck Games article, and you had just met these guys randomly, from what you’ve said, I don’t think you would have shut any of them down. And right now, none of them have come out and asked you out on an actual date. Sure, they have all made plans to see you again, that’s exactly what Damian did with me. I think you should assume they don’t know about each other, since they haven’t even mentioned their roommates’ names to try and catch you out. I think that if you get yourself into a position where a kiss is on the table, you should definitely take it, since I know for a fact you actually have to have sex with a hockey player to end up on the board. And, I think we need to find another Puck, someone who knows the rules. We are flying blind here, and if we could get some more information, we will be able to come up with a better plan. You have two tickets to the home game tomorrow, right?” Steph asked.
“Yeah, Vinnie got me some media passes.” I replied, feeling overwhelmed with the whole situation and happy to let Steph make a few decisions for me.
“Excellent, well I will come with you and be your wing woman, that way you can’t get yourself into any trouble, and I will be able to give you an unbiased opinion on Vinnie at least.” She finished with a head nod, as if she had sorted out the whole situation and the topic was closed.
All We Want For Christmas Is You: A Reverse Harem Christmas Story Page 8