Not All Hockey Boys Are Bad

Chapter 8

Chapter 8
"Welp, that was interesting. Ready to go?" Georgia commented after the rink had cleared. She had come back from the bathroom just in time to see a fight break out between the two freshmen on the team. It hadn't lasted long. Both of the boys fell onto the ice and broke apart before the coach even had time to realize what was going on. Practice ended early and the two freshmen were dragged into the coaches office for a lecture.

I had almost forgotten about Jack's request to stay after for him. I groaned, "I'll have to catch up with you later..."

Georgia raised an eyebrow, "And how are you going to do that, I brought you here remember." She smirked pulling on my arm. "I'm supposed to take you home too, silly."

"No, I'm going take her home." Jack said. He was standing behind Georgia with his hockey bag slung over his shoulder. Georgia's eyes widened as her jaw dropped and she turned to look back at him then back to me. "If that's okay with you, of course." Jack added looking only at me.

I blushed. "Yeah it's um...cool." Smooth, I thought. "I'll see you later, Georgia." I said hoping she'd get the hint and leave.

Slowly she closed her jaw, returning to her normal self. "Yeah, I'll see you later...you two have... Um...fun?" She rambled as she backed out down the aisle. I watched as she mouthed various things but the only thing I caught was that she wanted the details later. Typical.

I looked back at Jack who was looking down at me. His eyes captured mine and heat spread throughout my face.

"So... Um..." I looked at my feet, not sure of what to say. "Um... What did you want to talk to me about?"
Jack scratched at the back of his neck,

"Um... Well... Are you going to the game tomorrow night?" He asked.
Of course I would be going, I've gone to every home hockey game, but he didn't need to know that. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Cool." The corners of Jack's mouth rose slightly into a grin.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" I pried. He must've wanted to ask me something else. I could see it in his eyes and the way he was looking at his feet rather than at me. There's got to be something else, right?

"Yeah, I was just curious. I just seem to do better when I know you're watching." He said staring directly into my eyes. There it was, that look again. The one that made my heart stop, by body shiver, and my blood flow faster. It made me want things I had never wanted before. Shaking it off I regained my composure, and tried to process what he had told me, though it was hard under his gaze.

"Wait, how do you know that? You couldn't possibly have noticed me at every one of your games." I argued. It wasn't possible that he noticed me when he was supposed to playing even though I wanted it to be true. But it couldn't be, I wasn't noticable.

"Maybe I have." He said his voice deep and raspy. I watched as he bit his lip and his eyes dropped to my lips before looking back into my eyes.

Jack took a step towards me, dropping his bag to the floor. 'Not this again.' I thought. I can't end up in this situation again. I couldn't think straight. Before he could trap me against the wall I darted around him.

"It's getting late, and if that's all you wanted to talk about then we should probably get going." I changed the subject. Jack was making me feel things that were new to me and I'd rather avoid them, which meant I needed to get away from him as soon as possible.

Jack's jaw tensed. It was obvious he was frustrated. "Yeah, you're right. I should get you home before the creeps come out." He mumbled before picking up his bag from the floor. He ushered for me to lead the way out and I began to walk towards the exit of the rink.

It was dark outside. The sun had set and with it went the little heat we had in the cold fall air. Jack was following close behind me as I walked into the parking lot. "Stay close to me." He whispered into my ear as he walked ahead of me leading us to the old volkswagen beetle I had noticed earlier. I was surprised, he was the one who drove this?

I stopped right behind him as he halted near the trunk of the car. He looked behind him to make sure I was still there. I shivered. "Cold?" He asked.

I shrugged. "A little. But I'm fine."
Jack wasn't convinced and began to take off his hockey jacket. "You don't have to-" I started to stop him but he already had it off and was handing it over to me.

"Here. It's warm, I promise." I could only shake my head no, my mouth was focused on stopping my teeth from chattering. Ignoring my refusal, Jack sighed. He stepped close to me, jacket in hand, and threw it over my shoulders. He smirked when it was encased around my shoulders. "Better?"

I nodded. "Maybe, but now you're going to get cold."

Jack shrugged. "I'll manage." He opened the trunk of the beetle, threw his hockey bag in the back before shutting it and walking to the driver's side of the car. He slid into the front seat without saying anything else to me and I followed his lead. The passenger seat was cold against my jeans, the leather seats freezing from the fall weather.

Jack and I sat in silence while he started the car and let it warm-up. I looked around at the inside. A shell necklace was hanging from the rearview mirror, the back seat was filled with old magazines and books, and there was a CD holder on the floor under my feet.

"I never pegged you for a beetle type of guy." I teased picking up the CD case and started to flip through the collection.

"I'm not, my car's in the shop until Monday, my grandfather let me drive this. Says it needs a little adventure every once in awhile." Jack had his head turned back while he started to back out of the parking spot. He glanced at me though and smirked.

"However, this car seems to attract the best attention."

I blushed. Was he flirting? I quickly shook that thought off. He wouldn't be flirting with me of all people.

"Do you know my address?" I asked swiftly changing the subject.

"Maybe, you live over by Kane Tucker right?" He said his eyes focused on the road in front of him.

"Yeah, Wait...how did you-"

"You're more noticeable than you think, Rosie. Plus we've toilet papered your house before." Jack confessed nonchalantly. His expression remained the same as I gasped.

"That was you!" I screeched. It took me five hours to clean up all the toilet paper from my yard freshman year because of some group of idiots. I should've guess it was Kane and his teammates.

"Yeah it was, but it was awhile ago. Luckily for you we did or we'd be driving around town all night." He chuckled to himself. I liked this side of Jack. The teasing side, the guy he was in practice surrounded by his teammates. He was sarcastic but he let his walls down a little bit. It was almost like he turned into a completely different person.

I was staring at him, I knew that I was but when he glanced over at me I felt like I was looking at him for the first time. He smiled at me, his eyes sparkling. I couldn't help but grin as my cheeks erupted in heat. It was like something had changed between us. We were crossing into uncharted territory and I wasn't sure of what to do.

"This is you." Jack said pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at my house, all the lights were off which meant Addie and my mom had to be asleep.

"Thanks for the ride." I said unbuckling myself and climbed out of his car.

Before I could shut the door though Jack stopped me. "I'll see you at the game tomorrow, Rosie." He was smiling at me, that same smile from before.

"Goodnight, Jack. I'll see you tomorrow." I closed the car door and turned to walk up the pathway leading to my house. Glancing over my shoulder I saw Jack still sitting in his car watching me, making sure I got into my house safely. I smiled to myself opening my front door.

Something has definitely changed between us tonight.