Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  Scotty was technically working the game. He wasn’t taking many notes outright, but he took in everything happening on the ice. She didn’t want to interrupt, so she was quiet for the first five minutes. Scotty leaned over and put his arm around her body. “This isn’t my Alice. You are way too quiet. What happened to the animated fan girl?”

  “I thought you needed to concentrate.”

  Scotty nibbled at her ear, sending fire through her system. He then pulled away and said, “You know so much about the team, and your little verbal explosions are always entertaining and sometimes useful. Besides, you have no idea how much I love watching you get into the game. So, tell me two things that I should know about your other team.”

  “My other team?” asked Alice teasingly. “I thought the Flyers were my team.”

  Joking around just as much, he said, “What am I? Chopped liver?”

  “You’re mine and I love you. But I’m only rooting for the team you play on. It’s not like they are my Flyers.”

  “As long as you’re mine, I guess I can deal with you still calling the Flyers your team. So come on, tell me what you know.”

  Alice shook her head. It was an old joke between them. “Whoever scores the second goal in the game will usually win. This has been true since November. Also, Sandy is a beast who has really blossomed this year. He’s been producing offense out of nowhere and has been doing some decent checking.”

  Right as Alice said that, it was like the defensive man heard her and pounded an Isle offensive player hard. The play then shifted down ice, with the Flyers on a breakaway opportunity and Raffie taking the lead.

  “Okay, then, what’s his fault? Why don’t I remember him from when we played them?”

  “He’s a newbie. He makes mistakes and usually at the most inopportune times. And I think you gotta play mostly against the other D. While Sandy is Gudi’s partner, it seemed like Gudi was gunning for you the entire game.”

  Scotty’s face lit up. She was a little confused; there was nothing she’d said that he didn’t really know. He just pulled her closer. “You have no idea how sexy it is to hear you remember shit like that.”

  “Why? That was the first time you broke my focus from a Flyers game.”

  “I did?” Scotty was astounded by her comments. But instead of asking for details, he just teased her instead. “Wait, the Flyers game? I thought it was a Sound game.”

  “You totally did. That hip stinger when you got crushed into the boards. I was afraid it might have been more than a stinger. It’s dumb, I know.”

  Scotty kissed her and pulled her in tight. They were enjoying the moment. The game was semi-lackluster thus far. Mainly it was a give and go with strong hits on both sides. Unlike earlier in the game, Alice would react to the hard hits being delivered. It was a chippy game.

  When the first period ended and the Mites on Ice were being set up, Alice asked if Scotty wanted anything. Unsurprisingly, he wanted a Yuengling. He tried to give her his credit card, which she promptly declined, but he said, “Take it.”

  Alice just shook her head and said, “No, I got it.” Scotty gave her a look. He obviously wanted to treat her but she ignored him. She kissed him as she moved past him. She said, “I may be a bit. I need crab fries.”

  Scotty nodded. Alice made her way to the Chickie and Pete’s stall for the crab fries and Scotty’s beer. While the lines were moving quickly, Alice decided to save time by ordering two Yuenglings.

  When she sat down, Scotty snagged a fry and dipped it into the cheese cup. Alice teased, “Hey. Who said you can have one?”

  “I did,” Scotty said with his cocky smile. “That’s pretty good, but it’s not as good as poutine.”

  “Okay, seriously? How can you compare the two? Both are amazing in their own right.” She took a bite of her own fries. She pouted, “Now I want poutine with my crab fries. Fuck.”

  That made Scotty chuckle, and they shared the crab fries. Alice’s eyes were pulled down ice to a Coots on the breakaway opportunity with G on his tail. Alice muttered, “go, go, go.” Some of the fans yelled “shoot”, Alice was still waiting for her guys to get fully set up so they didn’t waste their shot.

  Alice focused on the ice that she didn’t notice the men in black come down the stairs. When Coots missed the shot and Giroux wasn’t in time for the rebound, Alice just said, “Damnit” while throwing her head down and Scotty laughed.

  Next thing Alice knew, Gritty stood beside Scotty. Scotty focused on the game as he had an arm around Alice. They looked like the perfect couple. When Gritty stole Scotty’s hat, Alice saw red for a moment. Scott must have noticed her tense up because he whispered, “While it’s cute, don’t do anything stupid.”

  That was his way of reminding her that there were cameras. She just relaxed into Scotty’s torso. With a grand flourish, Gritty covered Scotty’s red hair with a Flyers hat. Scotty immediately moved the hat to Alice’s head as he kissed her. He looked at Gritty with a smile and a shrug. “While I’ll root for the Flyers today with my girl, I’ll always be rooting for the Sound.” Gritty threw his hands up in defeat and walked away.

  Alice just hoped that the little stunt wouldn’t cost Scotty his favorite hat. It was clear that the fans all knew who he was at that moment, and they gave him a mix of boos and cheers.

  A man in black, part of Gritty’s security team, gave Scotty his hat back. Scotty smiled and affixed it to his head. Then he went back to cuddling with Alice. Alice was just getting comfortable watching the game when Scotty turned to her and said, “See, that didn’t seem too bad.”

  “I guess not, but why do I think that this might go viral?”

  “’Cause it will,” said Scotty causally. “On the plus side, that hat does look better on you.”

  “You seem way too happy about that,” said Alice. He was cocky, although he wasn’t smug.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I just told both the Flyers and Sound bases that you are my girl, and you didn’t do anything to ruin Noelle’s love for Gritty. Although she might be a bit jealous.”

  Alice glared at him for a moment. He was right, though, and she knew it. She was happy that he’d proclaimed his love for her and they all knew how she was a Flyers fan. She was also coming to terms with how she had a bit of a protective streak over Scotty. At least he was amused by it.

  Alice took a sip of her beer. That’s when Scotty must have realized that she wasn’t drinking one of her normal beers. It wasn’t dark as sin and looked much like his drink. He asked, “Are you drinking a regular beer?”

  “I am. So?” Alice said, making light of the situation. She knew it was abnormal for her to drink the lager, but she used to drink Yuengling all the time before getting into craft beer.

  Scotty took the teasing even further by feeling her forehead to check if she had a fever. He said, “Okay, so no fever. Who are you and what have you done to my girlfriend?”

  Alice busted out laughing and nearly sprayed her sip of beer. “She’s right here. You know Yuengling is a perfectly serviceable lager. I didn’t want to miss the game and I would have had to stand in both the crab fries and craft beer lines. So I got a beer from Chickie and Pete’s to save time. It’s not like you are the only one who drinks a lager. I just drink fancier lagers 95% of the time. Oh and for fuck sakes with the turnovers.”

  Scotty laughed. “Okay, that’s my Alice. Although it’s still weird to see you drinking my beer.”

  Alice shrugged and didn’t say anything as she drank her beer. At that moment, Alice’s attention was drawn towards the ice. The Flyers were pressuring and got fully set up on the cycle. Alice hoped it would get through the goalie, but the puck ricocheted off the crossbar, prompting Alice to say, “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

  “What, you disliked that?”

  “Ya think?” asked Alice sarcastically. They both knew she wanted the Flyers to score early and often.

  Scotty leaned over and said, “You know that shot was just enough off the tape that JVR was
n’t going to get the goal. He barely had enough control to fling it on the net. It wasn’t going to be accurate.”

  Not wanting to be schooled in hockey at the moment, Alice teased, “What team are you even rooting for, then?”

  “Yours. I was just talking about that shot, babe. I see their captain has the opportunity now.”

  G was on the puck and had a great line for the shot after winning the face off and getting the puck back from Coots. G pulled the puck and got through the five hole, getting the first goal of the game. Immediately, Alice launched to her feet, cheering the goal like much of the stadium. Scotty stayed put since it was too hard to get resituated with his leg injury, but as Alice sat down again, he wrapped his arms around her and asked, “Do you smile this much when I score?”

  “It’s probably way more, babe.”

  He kissed her passionately, and she let her eyes close and her breath be taken away with the kiss. She didn’t care if the whole arena could see them. It was just a kiss until they got back to the hotel. After that, it would be purely adult activities.

  19

  Scott

  The game swiftly turned in the Isles’ favor. He’d never heard Alice swear so much in a short time period, but he had a feeling that was a common occurrence when she watched her guys lose. It wasn’t a good turn of events, but he couldn’t help but laugh at her reactions.

  The worst thing in his book so far was how stiff the seats were making his leg. Even with being able to extend it out into the aisle much of the time, it was tough on his leg. Especially when he would have to fold up.

  After the game, Scotty had to meet with Doug to discuss their insights. Alice headed over to the Victory at the Xfinity Live Center that was nearby. He was glad to hear that she went there. He could talk with Doug for as long as needed, and Alice wouldn’t be bored.

  After a full hour of discussion, he had a good grasp on what was expected of him as a scout and a good feeling that his observations were being paid attention to. He felt confident.

  He didn’t have any problems finding Xfinity Live or the bar that Alice was hanging out at. It was filled with hockey fans, and he was greeted with a mix of insults and cheers, which was to be expected.

  He gave out a few autographs and selfies as he made his way towards Alice. Fortunately, Alice caught sight of him and headed towards him. She was a ninja cutting through the crowd and made much more progress than he did.

  Once she stood next to him, she gave him a hug and said, “Why didn’t you text? This place is always packed post-game. I would have met you outside.”

  Scotty scoffed. “I’m not a local, remember? How am I supposed to know where Flyers fans hang out after games?” Although, given the proximity to the rink, it made sense that this would be a hang out before and after the games. He then asked, “Would it be okay if we headed back to the hotel?”

  Scotty created a path back out of the doors of Xfinity Live. He ordered an Uber in the hopes it would be there when they got out of the packed center. They were able to make it out of the area without too many problems. They definitely had some colorful language tossed their way.

  It was a quick ride back to the hotel, and they collapsed onto the bed. They didn’t immediately start trying to peel each other’s clothes off. Alice did peel off the jersey she had on for the game as they cuddled on the bed.

  As they lay there, Scotty thought more about the fact that Alice didn’t want a place in Philly. He hadn’t expected it. She was trying to be practical. Denise would have jumped at the idea of another place for them, especially if it was in one of her favorite cities. Hell, Denise would have definitely used his credit card at the game. He liked how Alice just wanted to be with him. He turned to her. “Do you seriously want to go to my home in Canada? It’s not exactly close to much or anything super exciting.”

  Alice looked up at him like he was crazy and asked, “Why wouldn’t I want to go to your happy place? You keep taking me to one of mine.”

  Scotty cocked his eyebrow. It was the second time she had mentioned there was another place that could make her happy that wasn’t Philly. He knew it wasn’t Cleveland. While she didn’t mind Cleveland, it didn’t instill that lightness in her eyes like being in Philly did. Scotty grabbed Alice by her sides and asked, “One of your favorite places? Where else should I take you?”

  “Any place you are,” said Alice. It was a cheesy answer. Scotty tickled her to get the real answer. “Fine, fine,” she shrieked in between tickles. “Lake Placid.”

  “Really? You like it there?” said Scotty, surprised. He’d always thought of Alice as being a bit of a city girl.

  He’d been to Lake Placid for countless tournaments. It was a pretty sleepy town. It wasn’t much different from his Ontario home. His other home was so quiet and secluded, he figured that Alice would hate it there. So he kept putting off any trips to that home, even though he loved it by his lake or even skating in his own rink.

  “More like love it. I love the history there. I adore the history there. I loved skating on the 1980 and 1932 Olympic rink. The Lussi rink was slightly tortuous, or maybe it was only tortuous since that meant doing figures. You have the OTC there. I used to do figure skating camps there in high school. Yes, it’s a quiet town, but I like getting away from it all.”

  Scotty laughed. That made so much sense and gave him hope that she would love his summer home. He really hadn’t thought she would love being so far away from city life, but if she liked Lake Placid, then she would likely like his place.

  He pulled her in close. He liked the idea of spending some quiet time by a fire at his other home, more or less isolated from the world.

  He realized that he hadn’t gotten a proper workout for the day. He knew that if he wanted to get back on the ice sooner rather than later, he couldn’t just sacrifice those. He groaned and said, “Hey, want to join me for a workout?”

  “Not really,” Alice said, but Scotty could tell there was a chance she might still do it since she moved off him. He held onto her. “Sorry, but I have no desire to do anything tonight.”

  “Come down with me at least. You don’t have to do anything, but I need to do some stuff. Please.” Scotty waggled his eyebrows. Unlike when he tried to lay the charm on early in the morning to get her to eat breakfast, she seemed to be susceptible to it.

  Alice agreed, so both got into their swimsuits with gym stuff on top. Scott liked that she joined him in both strength training and swimming. She didn’t push hard, but she did train with him and kept him company. While Scotty wouldn’t tell her, he thought that it was super sexy of her to work out with him.

  Back in the hotel room, Scotty wanted to rid Alice of both the towel and the swimsuit she wore. He kissed her feverishly, and she wrapped herself around his waist. They were like cats in heat. He could hear Alice groan and purr with pleasure. They headed towards the shower, and he lowered Alice to the floor. She prepped the shower, and he got the condom on.

  The shower sex was hot and wet. He loved it. He was allowed to touch Alice anywhere. He had to stop her from slipping when she got off and he shampooed her hair. He loved doing that. It was soft, long, and beautiful. Hell, he loved playing with her long hair, especially since it was always tightly pulled back until the end of the day.

  After the shower, they headed for the king size bed as she said, “Hey, we should talk.”

  “Talk? Now? Really?” asked Scotty. He didn’t know what was going on in Alice’s mind. Normally they would cuddle or get ready for their next round. He thought they were in a good spot. Sure, she’d surprised him earlier in the day about not wanting a place in Philly.

  Alice curled up beside Scott and looked into his eyes. She said resolutely, “So, we need to get on the same page about things. Sometimes it feels like you want to make big changes and you try to fix everything anytime I’m having a bad day. I don’t need you to always fix things.” Scotty wanted to interrupt her, but she caught him and put a finger over his lips. “I know you
love me and are trying to make me feel better. But I want to be consulted on life decisions like buying a place in Philly before the viewings. Most of the time, I just want to be held.”

  “I didn’t mean it to be like that.” Scott felt bad. He hugged her tightly and said, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make you smile. I thought you would like it.”

  “And I know that. But sometimes it’s too much. I mean, seriously babe, a place in Old City? That’s pricey even with your contract.”

  “So, it was too much?” asked Scotty.

  “Yeah, it was too much. I don’t need everything. Hell, baby, you have no idea how powerful your hugs are. I don’t want to be fixed all the time.”

  Scotty readjusted his body. He looked at her like she was the only person in the whole world. “I know baby. I am just sorry. I didn’t mean to make you think you didn’t matter. I really was just trying to give you something I thought you would love. So, what did you want to get on the same page about because I thought we were?”

  “Well, I thought we were too and then you surprised me with visiting a realtor.” Alice fingered her ring from him. Her words flowed in a stream of consciousness. “I know you said you wanted to do the engagement right, and that automatically means marriage. We live together already, but the one piece that we never really talked about was kids.”

  Scotty smiled and played with the end of Alice’s hair as he daydreamt about the perfect scenario. “I see us having some kids after we get married. It’s one, maybe two kids. I don’t know if I’ll still be playing when we have them. But I do know that we will be happy and we will be together. You would be a great mom. I’ve seen how you treat Noelle and Klaus.”

  Alice seemed to make herself super comfortable in his arms. The warmth from her just seemed to radiate off her and she said, “That sounds about perfect. I can tell you would spoil any kids that we have.”

  “For sure. That’s the best part of having money,” he said with a laugh. He laid his head back on the pillow but turned to look at Alice, “You will let me spoil them, right?”