“You okay, Matt?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just thinking.”
“About the scouts? Coach said not to worry. If you freak out about it, it’ll hurt your game.”
“I know. I want to play my best but I don’t want to try too hard and screw it up for everyone. We’ve got some amazing guys on the team. We all deserve to be drafted into the NHL.”
“From your mouth to the scouts’ ears,” Travis says. “You coming to lunch with the guys?”
“Nah, not today. I have homework for my econ class.”
“Lame. See you tomorrow night, then.”
With Travis gone, I’m alone in the locker room. The homework excuse was a lie. I just need to decompress for a while before class with Sophie.
Is this how it’s going to be from now on? I pull out my phone and check the calendar. Just twelve weeks left until graduation. That means fewer than thirty-six classes left with Sophie because of holidays and spring break. I can see her fewer than thirty-six times. I won’t explode.
At least, I hope I won’t. Honestly, after a couple more weeks, I’ll probably forget this stuff every happened.
I wish I could fast forward. Since I can’t, I go home and veg out until it’s time to go to class.
Sophie is already at her desk when I arrive. She usually gets there after me, so I’m surprised to see her.
She doesn’t look up when I take my seat.
I quietly blow out a breath. Why does it feel like a breakup when we were never together? It should not be this hard to sit next to a girl I haven’t even seen naked.
“Oh, good, you’re all here,” Dr. Cruise says when he walks into the classroom. “I’m changing up the syllabus a bit.”
The class is at attention now. This could be good or bad. Dr. Cruise might add an extra unit to cram into our already packed schedule, or he might cut something due to time.
“I won a trip to Vegas for this weekend,” he continues. We all laugh. Dr. Cruise is a big fan of calling into radio station contests. He actually wins like once a month, but it’s usually concert tickets or a trip to the Home Show in Boston or other small things. “I leave Friday and come back Monday, so I’m cancelling class. Instead, I want you guys to work on a project in that time. You’ll present the projects next Wednesday.”
Oh, thank goodness. Projects, I can handle. I only have three hockey games in the next seven days. With no class, I’ll have plenty of time to get it done.
“Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, what is the project? Well, lucky for you, I made a whole sheet of instructions for you. Even luckier for you, I’m partnering you up. Lucky for me, I put you in alphabetical order, so now I can just pair you up that way. Yay!”
No one but the professor is excited about this. Especially not me, because working with a partner means I’m working with Sophie. It’s how the breakdown works, even if the professor starts from the end of the alphabet.
She finally looks at me. “Well,” she says. “I guess we’re partners.”
“You guess correctly, Ms. Dunlap. Here are your worksheets. It outlines every part of the project. Seventy-five percent of your grade will be the project itself, the other twenty-five percent will be the presentation. Make it interesting, folks! The project will count for ten percent of your final grade. That might not seem like much, but consider the number of assignments we have in this course. You’ll want a good grade here!”
After he hands out the worksheets, Dr. Cruise returns to the front of the room.
“You’ll notice that there is a topic at the top of your sheet. That’s so you aren’t all doing the same thing. The difficulties are the same for everyone, so no one is getting an easy topic here. I expect you to use your regular class time to work on the project on Friday and Monday. You may need to meet outside of those times. Discuss with your partner. Consider the next twenty minutes to be your first meeting.”
The room erupts in a frenzy. This is an upper level class, so most of us are seniors. We’re ready to get out of here, but we need to pass to get there. Plus, these econ classes are the ones that matter. Future employers looking at our transcripts will focus on major-specific courses.
“So,” I begin. “Why don’t we figure out a meeting schedule first? I can do Thursday morning until two, Friday during class obviously, Sunday after five, Monday during class, Tuesday morning until two.”
“Ugh. I can do Friday and Monday during class, but the rest I can’t. I have my internship until one on Tuesday and Thursday, and I’m busy Sunday night.”
I force myself not to ask what she’s doing on Sunday. If she’s going out with Zack, I don’t want to know.
“What about Friday or Saturday night?” Sophie asks. “You can handle not going out and partying for two nights.”
Her comment takes me aback. What is she talking about? I rarely go out or party. When I do, I only drink a little. I thought she knew this. We talked about it that first night.
“I have games Friday and Saturday. Saturday is away and I won’t get back until Sunday afternoon. Friday night is home. The game will end around eight if you want to work after that. Maybe at nine?”
Sophie sighs. “I guess that’ll have to work. So Friday during regular class time then again at nine, and we’ll finish up on Monday during class time. What about Monday night if we have work to do?”
“Monday night should work if we need it.”
We silently look over the sheet. I think our three planned meetings will be enough. It’s a lot of work, but Dr. Cruise is only giving us a week. He made sure not to overdo it.
“Do you want to start brainstorming ideas for each section?”
“Sure.”
Sophie writes as we talk about our topic. We do well with each section, getting through half of them before Dr. Cruise calls us back to attention. He gives half a lecture with the remaining time. Sophie doodles in her notebook as she takes notes. The habit is kind of adorable.
I force myself to focus on the lecture instead of the girl beside me. For the last twenty minutes, Sophie seemed to warm up to me. We were working on the project, but I made her laugh a few times. I consider that to be a win.
“Alright, guys, I’ll see you and your projects in a week!” Dr. Cruise says as class comes to an end. I close my notebook and slide it into my backpack. Sophie does the same. This time, instead of running off immediately like she has been, she waits for me to be ready.
“I want to do well on this project, Matt,” she says. “I expect you to take it seriously.”
“I expect the same of you.”
Sophie nods sharply. “Okay. I guess I’ll see you on Friday, then.”
I meet her eyes. “I’ll see you then.”
Sophie hesitates like she has something else to say, but she bites her tongue. We walk out of the room together in awkward silence.
“Where is your next class?” I ask her.
“I have a break. I’m meeting Carmen for lunch.”
Carmen. I’ll have to tell her that I’m doing a project with Sophie. She’ll consider this a perfect opportunity to keep trying. After how easy things were between us as we brainstormed, I’m wondering if Carmen is right.
Sophie is being cold now, but she’s warmer than she was on Thursday. Could she maybe feel what I’m feeling? It seems like she doesn’t want us to separate just yet.
I have another class, otherwise I would offer to go to lunch with them.
We get to the student union, which is on my way to my next class. I know from last week’s conversation that this is where Sophie and Carmen meet three days a week. Somehow, they don’t get sick of the food here. I guess it’s like the diner for me. I eat a lot of the same foods, but I do switch it up sometimes.
“I have to get to class,” I say. “Have fun at lunch.”
Sophie pauses. “Yeah. Thanks. Have fun in class. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We stand there for a second like neither of us quite knows what to do. The heat between us is palpabl
e. I bet the people around us can feel it as much as I can.
She takes a step back. “See you tomorrow,” Sophie repeats.
With that, she heads into the student union and I finish the walk to my class. The entire time, I’m thinking about Sophie. What the hell was that? Why did she go from not looking at me to not wanting to walk away?
This girl is so confusing. She’s dating another guy, at least casually. All we did is make out and dance. There’s no reason for it to be this complicated.
Yet, I don’t want to give up yet. Carmen is right. The double date was a disaster, but that’s because Sophie didn’t know it was supposed to be real.
We’re working on a project together. That gives me the opportunity to get to know her in a more casual setting. I’ll slowly work my way up to asking her out for real next Wednesday.
Hopefully, this plan works.
I don’t want to lose Sophie. In just a short time, I’ve really started to like her.
Not knowing if she likes me back is terrifying, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. I think Sophie will be worth it.
11
Sophie
I hate Matt Harper.
There, I said it. It’s true. He is the worst person on the planet.
I should’ve begged Dr. Cruise for a different partner. I would rather work on the project alone than work with Matt.
It’s nine-fifteen. I’m sitting at my apartment, alone, waiting for him to show up. He was supposed to be here at nine. We don’t have a ton of time to work on this project because of our schedules. You’d think he’d take it a bit more seriously.
I get that he had a game tonight. However, it ended at eight. How long does it take to change out of hockey gear?
“Are you with Travis?” I text Carmen.
Her response is immediate. “Not yet. Coach is yelling. Can hear it from the hallway.”
Well, at least that explains why Matt is so late. Even with the excuse, I’m furious. I can’t work on this project alone!
We made progress earlier today. We got together in the library and worked for a full hour. We’ve brainstormed ideas for each of the five sections. Dr. Cruise gave each group a topic and we have to do a lot of research on jobs within that field, salaries, and even the lifestyles people who work in the field would have. It’s an intense project, but I think we’ll do okay.
If Matt ever shows up.
“Okay, they’re out. Take it easy on Matt, he looks upset.”
“They won,” I respond. “What could he possibly be upset about?”
“Coach obviously didn’t think the win was enough. Matt seemed out of it all night.”
I stare at the text. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling he was distracted because of me.
We almost kissed earlier. I shut it down quick, but the moment was there. We were leaving the library after working on the project. On a whim, I hugged Matt goodbye. It was a stupid decision on my part. As we separated, Matt started to lean down, and I pulled away. I don’t know what I was thinking, hugging him like that. We’re partners, that’s it. We’re not even friends.
I wanted to kiss him. Pulling away was nearly impossible. My lips yearned to remember what his felt like as they pressed against mine.
That’s exactly why I stopped it. If we kissed, I would’ve been a goner. I need to maintain boundaries. That’s the only way I’ll get over Matt.
Fifteen minutes after Carmen’s text, there’s a knock on my door. I answer it in my sweatpants and t-shirt. This is another part of my plan to get over him. He won’t be attracted to a girl wearing an outfit like this.
“Hey,” I say. “You’re late.”
“Sorry. The game went a little long and then Coach wanted to talk to us afterwards.”
He slowly walks into my apartment when I step aside. I get that he’s probably tired, but he could show a little more enthusiasm here. He’s a half hour late. Acting like he wants to be here is the least he can do.
“Well, better late than never. Let’s get to work.”
Matt pulls his notebook out of his backpack. He has a copy of everything we went over today, which is surprising. I didn’t expect him to bring anything since he just came from a game. At least he’s somewhat prepared.
“Did you do research on the lifestyle section? Talk to professors?”
Matt shakes his head. “I didn’t have a chance.”
“What? You were supposed to take care of that today. How are we supposed to get interviews now?”
“We have Monday and Tuesday. Hell, most professors answer their email on weekends. I’ll just send them a bunch of questions and hope they respond.”
“Hope?” I ask, my voice rising. “You’ll hope? Matt, this project is important. Why aren’t you taking it seriously?”
“I am taking it seriously! Sorry I haven’t gotten the interviews yet. They’re kind of low priority.”
“Are you kidding me? They’re an entire section of the project!”
“Yeah, just one section. I started working on the budget today.”
“Started? Matt, you said you’d be done with those two sections before your game. Did you do anything?”
“I just told you what I did!”
“It’s not enough!” I shout. “We’re never going to finish if you don’t pull your weight.”
“Pull my weight? Sophie, come on. I know I was late but you need to get off my case. I had hockey shit to do so I couldn’t work on the project. I’ll finish Sunday afternoon so we can go over it on Monday.”
“We were supposed to have the entire project finished and proofread before Monday so we can practice our presentation!”
“It will be finished! Would you just calm the fuck down?”
“Do not tell me to calm down! If you would get your shit done, we wouldn’t be having this argument.”
“If you let me work at my own pace, we wouldn’t be having this argument.”
“Your pace is slow, obviously,” I say. “Even now you’re moving like someone hit the slow-motion button on you.”
“My body is sore from the game.”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get to work.”
Matt stands up. “No. I can’t work with you if you’re going to be such a bitch.”
I join him in front of the couch. “I’m not being a bitch! I’m being real. You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain.”
“I told you I’d get it done. I didn’t promise it’d be done tonight.”
“Yes, you did!”
“I did not!”
I’m panting, but it’s not just from our argument. We’re standing close together. I can smell the soap he used in his post-game shower.
Without thinking, I grab his shirt and pull him down. His lips find mine in an intense, fiery kiss.
Matt pulls away after a few seconds. “We wouldn’t do that.”
“Fuck it,” I say, attaching our lips once again. “I don’t care anymore.”
Matt hesitates for a second, but he can’t stay away for long. He nibbles my lip until I open wide for his tongue.
Fuck, this guy is good at kissing. I knew it that night when we made out in Damien’s room, but it’s even more obvious now.
I need him. If I have to go another day without knowing what Matt’s cock feels like inside me, I’m going to die.
“Let’s go to my room,” I pant between kisses.
“Sophie, I don’t know…”
My hands find his belt. “It’s fine. Please. I want to.”
Matt pulls back far enough to study my eyes. God, he’s attractive. I didn’t notice the green rim around his brown eyes before. His nose is slightly crooked, probably from an old break. His hair, still damp from the shower, is plastered against his forehead.
I will never get used to looking at him. I have to avoid him in class because if I don’t, I’ll stare for far too long. I’d die of embarrassment if he caught me.
“Okay,” Matt says. He must see the desp
eration and willingness in my eyes. “Take me to your room.”
I grab his hand and lead the way to my closed door. I’m glad I cleaned up my room today so I’m not too embarrassed to bring him in here.
I am embarrassed that I’m wearing a regular bra and cotton underwear. I obviously wasn’t planning for this to happen. In fact, I planned for this not to happen.
The sweatpants weren’t a deterrent. I like Matt even more for that.
In my room, I leave the light off, but the moon creeps through my curtains enough that I can see Matt’s outline. He’s smiling at me as we stand next to my bed.
Gently, he pushes me so we’re both laying on top of the covers.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers, kissing my chin and neck. “Absolutely perfect.”
I shiver at his words and his touch. My ex was never this sweet in bed. He was more interested in getting it over with than any kind of foreplay. It’s no wonder I faked many orgasms when we were together.
I don’t know why I stayed with him for as long as I did. That’s my biggest regret in life. If I’d have left him earlier, I wouldn’t be so hesitant to be with Matt. I wouldn’t be broken.
“Gorgeous,” Matt says, breaking me out of my thoughts. I’d much rather be present than dwelling on the past.
It’s unfair that I’m getting all of the attention. I reach between us and cup Matt’s boner through his jeans. He twitches at my touch.
I unbuckle his belt and push down his jeans, freeing his hot member. It springs to life immediately, ready for me.
I’ve heard guys don’t really like hand jobs. Something about how girls are too hard on the balls or something. I’d rather use my mouth, anyway. I’ve always loved giving blow jobs. I think that’s why my ex stuck around. He said I gave the best BJ he’d ever had. Apparently, his side chicks couldn’t compare.
I move Matt so he’s the one laying on the bed. At first, I straddle him, kissing his lips and neck before moving down to his erection.
“Fuck, Sophie,” he moans when I first take just the tip between my lips. He gets even louder when I swallow down his full member. “That’s it, baby, just like that.”
I give him some of my best work, and he enjoys it. I keep my tongue on his cock the entire time. I’ve heard guys love the feeling.
Cocky Puck: A College Sports Romance (Hockey Hearthrobs) Page 7
