Misadventures of a Rookie by Toni Aleo
I nodded. “Check.”
“And don’t flirt with me.”
“In front of the kids, right?”
“At all when we’re on the ice.”
I made a face. “That’s hard, though. You’re so hot.”
She shook her head. “For real. I take this completely seriously, and I need you to realize that. I depend on this money.”
There was desperation in her voice, and I didn’t understand it. My work ethic was sound. I didn’t get why she would assume it wouldn’t be here. “Fine, I’ll be completely professional. I won’t let you down.”
She swallowed hard and then nodded. “Thank you.” She looked past me and then smiled. “There she is. Let’s do this.”
I held up my fist. “Yeah, let’s kick ass.”
Her eyes widened a bit, but she pressed her fist to mine and smiled. “Yeah. Don’t embarrass me, please.”
Before I could say anything, she was wobbling away, and I couldn’t help but grin.
Because I was excited to prove her wrong.
* * *
Bo was sucking on her lips as she tapped her good sneaker into the rubber floor. Her lips were pursed, and her hair was a little messy from trying to demonstrate. When she couldn’t do it, she ran her fingers through her hair angrily. Her face was red, her nose especially, as she moved her hands through the air. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, so I just sat there, waiting for her to speak to me.
We had finished all her privates. All the girls were great, and I enjoyed working with them. They were adorable, but I especially loved watching Bo with them. She was so motherly and gushed on them. She was nothing like my mom, who did a whole lot of yelling and direction. Bo was nicer, which surprised me, given how bitchy she was most of the time.
She especially had a soft spot for the little skaters. I guess I did too. We went over time with Amelia because she was trying so hard to get her leap and we wanted her to get it. It was fun—lots of fun—and I didn’t regret coming to help instead of going out with the guys for a beer. I wanted to be here.
With Bo.
“So that was cool. Will we have the same girls all week, or do they come weekly?”
She looked down at me. I was sitting on the bench, untying my skates. Clearing her throat, she tucked her hands into the sleeve holes of her shirt. “We’ll have two of them on Thursday, but other than that, they all come next week.”
“Cool. Do we get Tenisha again? She’s going to get that jump; I’ll make sure of it.”
She smiled. “Yeah, she comes on Thursday.”
“Awesome.” I flashed her a grin before looking down to take my skate off. “So was I on my best behavior?”
When I looked up, she was struggling again. It was sort of funny, but she nodded, a smile curling her lips. “You did fantastic. I thought I was going to have to do a lot more. You are actually really great.”
“Yeah, I’m basically great at everything.”
When she rolled her eyes, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Anyway, I appreciate you helping me. Thank you.”
“Anytime. Honestly. I had a blast,” I said as I slid my feet into my sandals. Standing up, letting my skates hang from my fingers, I smiled down at her. “Wanna go get a drink?”
She shook her head almost immediately, like she knew what I was going to say. “I can’t drink on my pain meds.”
“We can get food and a bottle of water.”
She looked away, shaking her head. “I can’t. I’ve got homework and makeup shit since I missed last night.”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
“Yeah, so—”
“I’ll walk you out.”
She didn’t want me to, I could tell, but I wanted to. Dropping to her speed since she was hobbling on crutches, I walked beside her in silence until I asked, “So, you said that you depend on the money. Do you not make much as an ice girl?”
She laughed out loud, looking up at me like I was kidding. “Oh, you’re serious?” She laughed a little more, and I realized she must have made shit. “I make forty dollars a game.”
I made a face. “That’s totally not worth it. I mean, just with all the shit the players put you guys through.”
She nodded. “The girls like it.”
“You don’t.”
“No one really messes with me, and all you do is stare.”
That made me unbelievably happy. I didn’t want to beat up anyone on my team. I liked the guys. “Well, when I see a gorgeous girl, I gotta check her out.”
She blushed a bit as she looked down, watching where she was going.
“So, you depend on this, then?”
She nodded. “I make a lot here, I’ve built a great clientele, and everyone loves me.”
“You’re great with them.”
“Thank you.”
“So you were a figure skater?”
“I was, all growing up, but I wasn’t good enough to do anything with it. I’m really smart though, so I got a full scholarship without skating.”
I smiled. “That’s awesome.” I paused, hoping that she would ask me something, but she didn’t. So I asked, “So you’re not paying for school?”
She shook her head. “No, I pay for most of it. I only got a partial scholarship to MPT.”
“I thought you said you got a full scholarship?”
“Yeah. That was for an Ivy League school.”
“But you didn’t go?”
“Nope, I lost that.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Mistakes.”
“Like?”
“Stuff,” she said, waving her hand at me. “I’m not telling you.”
“Yet.”
“Or ever. We aren’t friends.”
I laughed at that. “Of course we are. We’re practically besties.”
“If your friends treat you the way I do, then I would suggest you get some new friends.”
I smiled. “Nah, they’re cool, but you’re my favorite.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Because you won’t let me, but just think, we have a date on Saturday, and I’ll learn all kinds of things. Like how many freckles are on that sweet pussy of yours.”
Reaching out, she smacked my chest. “There could be kids out here.”
I shrugged innocently. “Hey, we’re not on the ice.”
She rolled her eyes, looking out in the parking lot. “Whatever.”
Holding the door for her, I asked, “Can you drive?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” She wobbled to her car. “Bye, Gus the Bus.”
I laughed. “See ya, BJSJ.”
I was answered by her laughter, and I couldn’t think of a better way for our night to end.
Problem was, I wanted more.
A lot more.
Chapter Thirteen
Bo
Gus moved with ease.
It was almost like he floated on the ice. The way he held his stick, it was like it was part of him. He moved around people like they weren’t even there. His puck handling was downright sick, and when he shot from the point, I was convinced he wouldn’t make it, but he did—with no effort at all. It seemed like he knew the puck would go in before he even let his stick slam into it. It was insane, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t love watching him play. I enjoyed it immensely. Not that I would ever admit that to him.
He’d let it go to his head, and since Gus Persson’s head was big enough for an army, I wouldn’t contribute to that. I’d watch him, though.
Leaning on my shovel, I kept my chin on the handle and leaned my hips into the bar, putting more of my weight on my good leg. I watched as he skated the rink like he owned it. In a way, he did. The puck always found its way to his stick. His teammates loved him. The crowd loved him. Shit, everyone loved him. Well, everyone except me. I had to stay smart when it came to Gus.
I had to keep him at arm’s length, though it was becoming very hard. I really a
Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.
I held my breath as Gus stormed toward the goal, right in front of where I was standing. He had such determination on his face. His eyes narrowed with the goal in sight as he moved the puck with a quickness that I was convinced only hockey players possessed. When a defenseman tried to cut him off, he passed it up to no one, but then he was there, grabbing the puck and rushing the goal once more. He deked right and then right once more, pulling the goalie completely out, but instead of shooting then, even with an open goal, he spun around and backhanded it in.
Like a fucking boss.
An obnoxious boss, but a boss, nonetheless.
I cried out, surprising myself. I threw my arms in the air, and the shovel toppled to the ground. What the hell was I doing? I was immediately embarrassed at my reaction and tried to reach down for my shovel. But Lizzy was there, handing it to me with a look on her face.
“Hmmmmm.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hmm what?”
“Oh nothing,” she said, a little grin pulling at her lips. “Just hmm.”
The whistle blew for an ice cleaning, and I stuck my tongue out at her. “There is no reason for hmm.”
She just smiled. “Oh, of course not.” Her eyes were all-knowing as she rushed out onto the ice. I hobbled to the door and handed my shovel to another girl as I held the trash can for her to fill. Emily wasn’t much of a talker. I was pretty sure she hadn’t said more than two words to me, but she was quick as hell on the ice. She scooped the ice and dumped it in, but for some reason, I wasn’t paying attention.
I was watching Gus.
Like a dumbass.
Squirting water into his mouth, he licked his lips as some of it dripped down his chin onto his jersey. A grin was on his lips, his eyes bright as he leaned into the boards, talking to his teammates. When he squirted more water in his mouth, I held on to the trash can, my whole body going hot. Pulling his jersey out, he squirted the water down his chest, his neck, and then all over his face.
He was hot.
And I don’t mean the temperature.
It was utterly sinful the way the water dripped down his sharp angles and caught in the stubble on his jaw. My pussy clenched at the sight, and I wanted to lick every single drop off his face, his neck…hell, his body. I didn’t care. I was suddenly so damn parched that I couldn’t think of anything but that water in my mouth.
Hell, all of Gus in my mouth.
Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?
But before I could even try to figure that out, he turned, his gaze meeting mine as he wiped his chin with his hand in such a simple movement but, I swore, an erotic one. His eyes were dark and when his tongue came out, wetting his lips even more, my knuckles gripping the trash can went white within seconds. When his lips started to curve, his teeth slowly showing as he held my gaze, I wanted so bad to look away, to flick him off just to show I didn’t care, but I couldn’t move.
Not even when Emily missed the whole trash can and covered me with the excess ice.
“Oh, shit, Bo. I’m so sorry.”
Still I couldn’t answer. I just shrugged, moving my hands down the front of my little uniform. I should have been worried. Really worried.
Because not even the ice was able to cool me down at that moment.
And that was bad.
Very fucking bad.
* * *
Lying back in my bed, my ankle perched up on a pillow, I worked on some homework that I had left until the last minute. It wasn’t like me to wait so long to finish, but I had been distracted. Between my ankle and hoping that Gus didn’t embarrass me at work, I had reasons to be distracted, but that just validated my issues with Gus even more. He was nothing but trouble. I knew this, yet my thoughts kept swirling back to him.
Shit, I was two seconds from drawing little hearts on my homework.
Groaning, I shook my head as I went back to work, pushing aside any and every thought of Gus. I was doing great, until my door opened and Lizzy popped her head in. “Hey.”
I looked up, a smile on my face. “Hey.”
She came in, falling down on the bed, careful of my foot as she leaned on her hands. “So, I think I’m going to go out with Roger.”
My face twisted in confusion. “Roger as in Roger McMillian, our professor?”
She shrugged, a grin curving her lips in an innocent but oh-so-wrong way. “Yeah, he’s not like a professor professor. Come on.”
“He’s still our professor,” I stressed. “I’m pretty sure that is against the rules.”
She smiled. “It’s frowned upon, but he said he’ll do it if I want to. And I do.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s like forty.”
“He’s only thirty-one.”
“That’s ten years older than you!”
“So? He’s hot.”
He was, but still. “Lizzy, you can find someone your age.”
“Age is just a number,” she said, waving me off. “Plus, I really want to get laid and by a man.”
My face scrunched up. “Are you having sex with females and I didn’t know it?”
She laughed, rolling onto her back. “No, I mean, I want a man who is going to love every single inch of me. Not a selfish man, where I’m sucking his dick for an hour and getting a finger shoved up my puss as his foreplay. I want someone to take his time with me.”
And just like that, my thoughts flew back to Gus. Squirming in the bed, I nodded. “Yeah, I guess…”
“Come on! You know what I mean, like a guy who will stay between my legs for hours with his mouth. Someone who is worried about my orgasm. Someone who cares about pleasing me. All these guys just want to come and don’t care about me, ya know?”
Swallowing hard, I tried to calm my body, but it was useless. Between my dream and having Gus between my legs in real life and then seeing him with water dripping down that mouth of his and thinking that could have been the remnants of my orgasm, there was no way I could think of anything but. Gus was just like Lizzy was describing, not that she knew that. I did not tell her. Anything. Involving Gus…
Not that it mattered. It was my business. I answered, “Yeah.”
“Good, I’m glad you agree.”
Since I didn’t want to argue with her, and hell, it wasn’t my life, I nodded. “You do you, Liz.”
She smiled happily as she rolled on her stomach, eyeing me. “So things with Gus going well?”
I made a face, trying to hide my panic. “Things? There is nothing.”
“Bo, he’s helping you at the rink. And I saw the way you looked at him tonight.”
I waved her off. “Please, that was nothing. He’s the reason my ankle is busted.”
She pulled her brows together and pursed her lips as she pointed to me. “I thought you said you tripped and twisted it.”
I nodded. I’d forgotten that was what I told her. “I tripped over him! He’s got big ole feet.”
She scoffed. “You’re lying to me, you asshole.”
I laughed. Nervously. “I would never.”
“Whatever. I know something is going on.”
“Nothing is going on,” I said once more, waving her off, and then I pointed to the door. “Go on. I’ve got work to do.”
She rolled her eyes, scooting off the bed. “I know something is, but fine. I’ll let you lie and try to keep him all to yourself.”
As she got off the bed, I gave her a look. “Nothing is going on.”
She just laughed. “Fine, but remember, Bo St. James, be careful. Gus isn’t the kind of guy to settle down.”
I rolled my eyes. “There is nothing to be careful about. For one, I’m not settling down, and f
“That’s what they all say when it comes to Gus the Bus,” she sang as she went out the door, shutting it behind her before I could say anything else. Not sure what I would have said, but either way, it wasn’t going to happen. I might have thought he was hot as sin and cool when he wasn’t being a pigheaded, obnoxious fuck boy, but that was only ten percent of the time. The other ninety percent, I hated him.
And that was that.
When my phone sounded, I reached for it, and just like that, my granny was in my head, speaking her famous phrase. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Gus: Hey, how’s the ankle?
I almost didn’t text him back. We’d exchanged numbers so that if anything came up this week, he could get ahold of me or the other way around. This was not allowed.
Bo: Are you going to be late tomorrow?
Gus: No. I was just checking in.
Bo: You don’t need to check in unless you aren’t coming.
Gus: Fuck, BJSJ, calm down. I’m just saying hey and checking in on your ankle. I was worried about you.
That stupid nickname he had for me was going to get on my last nerve. Especially since it made me grin like a stupid schoolgirl. And then I got another text from him.
Gus: If you don’t tell me, I’ll call.
Damn it. Rolling my eyes, I threw my pencil on the bed and typed back violently.
Bo: My ankle is fine.
Gus: Good. Keeping it elevated?
Bo: Yes.
Gus: Great. Is the swelling going down?
Bo: Some.
Gus: Great, you’ll be back to normal in no time. It killed me seeing you by the doors today.
My face scrunched up. Why did he care?
Bo: Why?
Gus: You looked bored. Plus, I couldn’t check out your ass and tits from where I was. It was depressing.
I didn’t respond, caught for a moment in the thought of him checking me out while I’d been so unbelievably hot for him.