Talk Hockey to Me (Bears Hockey #3) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,7

him. As had Hunter, by the lift of his eyebrows.

“The assistant GM of the Chicago Aces,” Callum said slowly.

“Yep.” Bryson grinned. “Don’t question her hockey knowledge. She grew up in hockey arenas.”

“Huh,” Callum said. “Whatever.” His face wore a look of annoyance.

Asshole.

I tamped down my annoyance. I’d seen it before. Guys hated it when I knew more about hockey than they did. They also hated it when I skated faster than them and got better marks in class.

I caught Hunter’s eyes, which gleamed with amusement and…was that admiration? Did he actually like that I just busted Callum’s balls?

Callum was a second-round draft pick that year. And now he’s one of my clients.

In sophomore year, things were different. Bryson had also been drafted by the NHL and he was now back in Chicago playing for the Vegas farm team. I was beyond thrilled for him, but I missed him. Our group of friends had changed, with some of the players having left and freshmen joining the team, but Hunter and I were still there.

I found myself more and more impressed with Hunter’s hockey skills. Also, his edge. Last year he’d been an okay player, kind of out of shape but with good hockey smarts. This year, he was faster and had developed a physicality to his play that made him hard to play against. He was now on the second line. He worked hard every shift, and he made unselfish plays that actually made my heart swell.

One night, one of our Dmen, Dwayne Jones, blocked a shot. It hit him in the side of the leg. He managed to get up, but he was obviously in pain, trying to skate but limping badly. When the whistle blew, Hunter went straight to Dwayne, and helped him get off the ice. Another time, Hunter had an easy shot on an empty net near the end of the game, but he passed the puck to Tyrone, who hadn’t scored that year.

I thought about how hard Hunter worked off the ice too. He busted his ass every practice and never missed a workout. Despite his tendency to reclusiveness, he was becoming the guy everyone wanted to be around.

I found myself more and more attracted to him. I wanted to crack that steely façade. I wanted to see him smile. I wanted to see his O face.

Oh my God. What was I thinking?

It confused me because I still thought he had as much personality and excitement as a stick. On the other hand, as someone very competitive and a bit of a workaholic myself, I admired his intense focus.

I’d been invited to a frat party off campus on Thursday night. I was going to ask him to go with me. I skulked around the common room, trying to catch him at an opportune moment. I never saw him. I loitered after Stats class to try to talk to him. And it worked…I was walking toward him with a smile on my face when another girl approached him from behind, threw her arms around him and giggled.

He turned to her and kissed her. “Hey, babe. Ready for coffee?”

My stomach dropped like a rock all the way to my toes.

“Yes!”

He hadn’t realized I was even going to talk to him, and they both left without a glance my way.

Fuuuuuck.

My shoulders slumped and a heaviness settled inside me.

Well, at least his girlfriend showed up before I totally humiliated myself by inviting him to the party.

It was for the best. I needed to focus on hockey and studying.

I got to know Hunter’s girlfriend, Tandy. She became part of our group and I explained hockey to her as we watched the men’s team play. I felt she was only interested in Hunter because he was a hockey player—but I kept those feelings to myself. Their relationship was none of my business. Although, I kind of threw up a little in my mouth one day when I overheard Hunter tell a couple of guys how cool it was that Tandy knew so much about hockey. Blergh.

Whatever. I shut down any feelings of attraction I’d had for Hunter. Nothing was ever going to happen between us, and that was fine. I had enough going on in my life.

4

Kate

I was lying on a mat using a foam roller on my quads, my face scrunched up with the discomfort while I was thinking about the paper I was working on for Expository Writing. I was arguing that federal student loan policies had contributed to widespread