ondrej

Chapter 7

Saturday's game came sooner than I had planned. After a total of six clients, being distracted from two by Ondrej after his scheduled morning skate, seven o'clock rolled along and I was stationed at my designated seat next to Felicia. She wore her fiancé's jersey, with her soon-to-be surname on the back of it. I, on the other hand, had no way of supporting Ondrej, so I settled with my Filppula jersey my dad got me four years prior. 

"So what's going on between you two?" Felicia asked, her forearms leaning on her knees. I hadn't talk her ever since the early evening, when she dropped me back off at my shop and she deserved an explanation. 

"Did Ondrej come by the shop again? I'm so confused, all of a sudden you both are buddy-buddy again." She rambled. 

I took a deep inhale and smiled, "He did stop by the shop and then he explained everything-" I was cut off, "Like how?" She intervened. 

We stood for the national anthem and I proceeded to explain to her everything Ondrej told me less than twenty-four hours before. It was all a misunderstanding and in the end, Alex should just keep his mouth shut. After the patriotic song was over, we took our seats and Felicia hung her head in her hands.

"That idiot." She sighed, silently scolding her fiancé. I laughed and looked down on ice, Stammer in the starting line up with Teddy and Tyler as wingers. 

It wasn't long before Ondrej took ice, Valtteri centering, and putting multiple pucks on net. Thankfully for Radko and Sami, we kept it in the New York Islander's zone. Then, in an instant, Val found Ondrej and sent it flying past Evgeni Nabokov for a one-nothing lead. The stadium erupted with a massive roar and Ondrej collided with Val for a goal celebration. I flung myself from the leather seat and screamed at the top of my lungs, engulfing Felicia into a hug.

Less than two minutes later, Ondrej, again, put the puck behind Nabokov from a rebound off of Sami's infamous slap shots. 

"He's really got his legs tonight!" Felicia yelled over the loud cheers. 

Two goals in the first period only meant one thing: a hat trick was a sure in. Knowing Coach, he was going to do everything he could to get my rookie his first career hat trick. And that's exactly what he did. 

Thirty seconds left in the period, Ondrej got the long pass from Victor and shot it through the five-hole to find the back of the net for the third time. My entire body was pulsing with adrenaline and legs shook from excessive amounts of it. I couldn't believe it. Not only did his first career hat trick come in the first period, it was all in a time span of less than fifteen minutes. Felicia and I jumped up and down, screaming bloody-murder, getting odd looks from all around us. 

*~*

Felicia and I waited patiently at the door to the locker room, Licia conversing with a small group of girlfriends and fiancés. I knew a few of them from being at games many times with her, but none of them knew me. From the celebration I was about to give Ondrej, they would soon find out who I was. 

"Hey, I think we're going to have a little get together to celebrate the hat trick back at the apartment." She mentioned, getting the eyes of all the girls on me. I nodded and looked back to the door waiting for my boy. I felt uncomfortable around them. I couldn't match their personalities or looks and it made me an easy target, which made me nervous. Though, I was sure they were nice girls.

Soon after, the boys started trailing out of the door and one after another they greeted their wives and girlfriends with kisses and hugs, jubilant from a five-two win against the Islanders. I leaned with my back against the wall, running through some emails and adding times to my calendar for the week ahead. Every time the door opened, my heart jolted and my eyes found the chestnut wood. Only this time, the man I was waiting for greeted them.

Ondrej looked up from his phone and looked into my blue eyes. The thinned out room erupted with light cheers and clapping, making him blush. I instantly ran up to him and jumped into his arms. The fact that he was dressed in his Sunday's best didn't faze us; I was too happy for him to care. I squealed and giggled, like a little girl, as he spun me around, getting 'awe's and coos from the few people left. Usually public display of affection made me uncomfortable, even when I was involved, but I didn't care this time.

"I'm so proud of you." I whispered coolly in his ear. 

He dropped me back to the ground and placed a quick peck to my lips, before turning to Felicia. 

"We're throwing a little party tonight for you." She stated, her arms crossed loosely on her chest. 

Ondrej snaked an arm around my waist, bringing me closer to his side, "What do you want to do?" He quietly asked me. 

I looked up to meet his bright blue eyes, "It's your night." With that, he pressed a sweet kiss to my forehead and nodded to Felicia. 

"Does Killer know?" He asked, as the three of us headed towards the back exit. 

She scoffed, getting a chuckle out of me, "He'll figure it out." 

We saw Radko, his girlfriend, Rebekha, and Nate Thompson standing directly at the end of the ramp, laughing about something. Since we all didn't know how long Alex would be, we decided to join the conversation.

Turns out Radko had spoken a lot about me, not only to the players on the team I wasn't acquainted with but also his girlfriend. She didn't look her age of twenty-three, but more of a freshman in college. Her accent showed thoroughly when she spoke, but her English was very good. 

I was immediately brought into a hug when we joined the group, "So you're the one he wouldn't shut up about?" 

Ondrej looked to his feet and smirked. Her face was glowing, the smile never fully leaving her face.

Felicia invited them to the apartment, getting exuberant nods and smiles in return. When Alex finally arrived, the group dispersed in different directions to their cars, only to see them in a few minutes. I followed Felicia and Alex to the car, only to be pulled back by Ondrej, who leaned us against his SUV. I rested my hands on his chest and looked into his eyes. 

"Why don't you ride with me?" He whispered, his lips inching closer to mine. I smiled and closed the distance, his hands finding their spot at the small of my back,

"I'd love to." 

"Kay?" Felicia called, "For the love of God, I seriously can't leave her for more than thirty seconds, Kaytie!" 

I chuckled and poked my head out into the open air; "I'll meet you there." 

I could hear her slapping her hands on her jeans in frustration and I smiled, turning back to Ondrej, being careful not to be in eyesight of the fans at the gate. He extended his hand out, allowing me to place mine gracefully into it, as he opened the passenger side door for me. I hopped in and got comfortable, Ondrej rounding the rear to take his seat. 

"Are you going to stop?" I quietly asked, the car jumping to life. 

He turned his head to me, "Only if you want me to." 

I nodded and placed my hand on his thigh. It was odd how comfortable I was with him in such a short amount of time. Not only had we met less than a week prior, I was falling for him harder than I ever thought I would. And surprisingly, so was he.

Ondrej got as close to the barricade as he could, without scratching the paint, and rolled the window down. Fans of all ages, shapes, and sizes yelled out 'hello's and 'congratulation's for his hat trick. He smiled and politely thanked as much as he could, bringing Stammer jerseys, pucks and hats into the car to mark his signature on. I smiled out the window, looking to see if I recognized anyone.

"I love your tattoos!" A young girl, with long brunette hair called out to me. 

I smiled wide, "Oh, thank you!" I chuckled, watching Ondrej's lips part to show a toothy grin. 

He turned to me, before handing the hat back to its owner, and chuckled back, "You're already on their good side, huh?" I smiled and rubbed his forearm with my thumb. He thanked everyone for showing up and drove off.