Not in my Job Description - Avery Clavens Book 1

Chapter 2 - Nothing like a little blood on the ice

The Garden was just starting to fill up when I arrived. It was thirty minutes before puck drop, so people still had plenty of time. I made my way towards my seat and didn’t see anyone sitting in the seats around me, allowing me to hope Mr. Date wasn’t going to show.

The players were doing drills on the ice to get warmed up for the game, giving me numerous distractions to keep occupied. One of my favorite players was at center ice chirping to the opposing team, attempting to get them off their game.

I’d have loved to hear exactly what was being said. I always imagined it was like the movie Slap Shot. I could hear the hilarious things they said to each other in the movie playing out on the ice, at least that’s what I chose to read on the players’ lips.

Five minutes to go, still no date, my nerves started to settle. As I was standing up for the National Anthem, I heard, “Excuse me, but I think that’s my seat next to you.”

Darn. I was so close. Since he’d already waited so long, he could’ve waited until puck drop, so I didn’t have to bother filling the space between the anthem and the start of the game.

I moved out of the way so he could stand in front of his seat and sing along with the anthem. My nerves started back up as I tried to get a glimpse of what the guy looked like. From the side, all I could see was dark brown hair and a nose that appeared to have been broken a time or two. Something about it didn’t look quite straight.

After the song came to an end, we both settled in to our seats and he glanced over at me. His brown eyes widened a little bit when we made eye contact. I guessed any expectations he had for me went down the drain. Whereas with me, if I was considering it a real date, I’d be pleasantly surprised.

The man was hot, and I was certain every letter in the word hot needed to be capitalized. His brown hair was cut short and clean. Not quite military cut, but pretty close.

On further inspection, his eyes weren’t just brown, but had flecks of gold that really made them pop. His nose had most definitely been broken, but that didn’t take away from his looks at all. In fact, it added a bit of character to an already exceptional face.

Not wanting to speak first, I waited while he took in the sight of who he was stuck with for the game. I couldn’t tell the thoughts running wild in his head, but he was analyzing something, and I had a feeling he was trying to figure out how many beers he’d need to get through the night.

“Umm. You must be Avery,” he stammered out. “I’m Nathaniel.”

With that he stuck out his hand and I politely reached over to shake. The second our hands touched I felt a charge tickle up my arm.  I wasn’t sure what to think of it, so I chalked it up to him dragging his shoes on some carpet.

I took my hand away and wiped it as covertly as possible on my pant leg. The tingly feeling didn’t immediately fade and I wondered where he’d found an area of carpet big enough to accumulate that much charge.

“Yes, I’m Avery. It’s nice to meet you, even though it’s under these circumstances,” I said.  He looked at me curiously so I quickly added, “This whole blind date thing. I’m generally really nervous to begin with, getting set up does nothing for those nerves.”

“I see,” he said as he continued to stare at me. “I thought maybe you didn’t like hockey and were expecting this to be a long night.”

“Oh no, I love hockey,” I replied. “That part of the evening is going to be great. It’s the being around thousands of people that will have me looking over my shoulder all night.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll help look over your shoulder to make sure no one is sneaking up on you.” His eyes implored me to believe him, and I knew I needed to get them focused on anything other than me.