Something So Perfect

by Natasha Madison

  “Don’t mind him. He gets pissy when someone prettier comes along,” Phil says to me. “You’ll get it back.”

  By the time the end of the first period comes it’s still 0-0. We walk into the dressing room, all of us sitting down while the coach goes over plays that we fucked up on. Once he’s done he walks out, leaving us to ourselves.

  “Almost made us down one with that move,” Max says to the whole room.

  Luka gets up, taking his stick.

  “What, Max? You never fucked up? What about the time you had a cramp and couldn’t skate and I had a three on one?” Luka shakes his head, looking at me. “Don’t do that shit again.” He points to me and walks out to get his skate fixed.

  I don’t say anything nor do I try and engage in any conversations. I

  go over plays in my head. Once I get on the ice I get more comfortable. I make more daring plays, more chances till one finally pays off when I stick poke at a pass, intercepting it at the blue line.

  I skate up to the puck ahead of me, my speed going ahead of the puck, so I’m toe dragging the puck through my skates and coming one on one with the goalie. I’m coming in fast and the goalie goes deeper into his net, protecting nearly every single part, but he goes a little too low and I see the sweet spot right above the pads. I lift up my stick a little, snapping it into the net.

  The building goes crazy. The fans are on their feet. I throw my one leg up, skating on one, fisting my hands by my sides, roaring out, “Fuck yeah.”

  My line mates come and celebrate with me.

  “There goes that monkey off your back,” Jamie says as we skate to the bench, high-fiving everyone.

  Brendan puts his hands in my face when I get on the bench. I smile big and look up at the only person I care to see. Karrie. I find her and see her smiling at me. I wink at her, the camera catching it and having everyone cheering, thinking it is for them, but she knows it is all for her.

  The rest of the period is rushing to keep the lead. It ends with us sealing the win with an empty net goal. While celebrating, I’m walking off the ice when I'm tapped by a reporter who wants to ask me questions, but he has to wait because I’ve been voted the first star of the game. I skate back onto the ice with three pucks, throwing them into the crowd while I skate around. I look up at the box, seeing her standing on her feet while she cheers for me. Or the team. I’m saying she’s cheering for me.

  While getting off the ice the reporter pulls me aside with questions.

  “So back on the ice it started out shaky, but you got your feet back. How did it feel?”

  I push the hair back from my face, smiling.

  “I’ve been training, hoping to get back on the ice, and it feels great. The team welcomed me, so it’s great to have the support.”

  “Getting that first goal tonight, how big was that?”

  “I think it was great. I was just lucky it was me. Could have been any of my teammates. We all played our hearts out, so it was a team effort.”

  “Thank you for your time.”

  “Thank you,” I say, going back into the dressing room where my team cheers as I walk in.

  One person throws his gloves at me. I sit down, taking off my stuff. Our team’s bags are in front of each of us.

  I take my jersey off, throwing it into the big gray basket in the middle of the room. The equipment manager, Bill, will make sure they are all washed and ready for the next game. The away jerseys are already packed. I take off my gloves, throwing them into the bag as well as the rest of my equipment. Zipping up the bag, I tell Bill my bag is ready. He walks over and grabs it, putting it on the cart.

  I walk to the shower where most of the guys are already. We have an hour before the bus leaves for the airport, so we all have to get ready. I’m one of the first finished, so I get dressed and grab my phone. I have texts from my mother and Cooper. As well as Allison.

  They are all messages of good luck and then congratulations. I smile, knowing I made them proud.

  Allison sends me a picture of the whole family wearing my New York jersey and then the house erupting the second I scored.

  Cooper went just as nuts yelling, “That’s my boy.”

  I smile at the video. Walking out, I see Karrie leaning against the wall, her legs crossed in front of her. When she sees me walking out she smiles huge at me. I'm itching to put my hands in her hair and tilt her head to the side, claiming her mouth with mine.

  “There he is,” she says, walking to me. “Number one star of the team.” She claps her hands.

  I smile at her and am about to grab her hand when Dan and Robert walk out, my hand going back to my side instead of in hers.

  “There he is,” Robert says to me. “Great game.” They continue walking down the hall.

  “I gave them our luggage, so it’s already on the bus. You ready?” I ask her, walking toward the bus. Most of my teammates are starting to follow us.

  She walks on the bus before me, sitting down in the front. I sit right next to her, blocking her from the guys, or at least hoping, but it doesn’t work. One by one they come on the bus, introducing themselves and laying on the charm. Fuck, some of them are married. I’m about to lose my shit so much my leg is bouncing up and down.

  “This wouldn’t happen if you wore normal clothes.” I check my phone, seeing all the tweets and hashtags about Grant is back.

  “What is normal clothes? Is my ass hanging out? No, are my tits displayed out? No. I’m covered up,” she hisses out at me. “By the way”—she folds her arms over her chest—“I met a couple of your friends today. They were going on and on about you and your three-way activities.” She stares out the window. “Jerkface.”

  “Three-way?” I don’t say anything else because Max comes on the bus, looking straight at Karrie.

  “Hey, beautiful, so glad you’ll be traveling with the team.” He smiles, walking away from us.

  The last person on the bus is the coach as the door closes and we make our way to the airport where we walk on the tarmac straight onto the plane. I don’t stray far from Karrie’s side even when she gets on the plane, putting her purse beside her.

  When I get there, I look at it while she huffs and places it under her seat. “Can’t you go sit somewhere else?” she mumbles.

  “I can,” I say, sitting next to her, putting on my seat belt, “but then who will keep you company?” I close my eyes, resting my head on the back of the chair.

  She must see me with my eyes closed and chooses not to say anything. Because the next thing I know we are going down the runway on our way to Philly with our elbows fighting over the armrest. Stubborn girl.

  Chapter Eight

  Karrie

  “This wouldn’t happen if you wore normal clothes.” The words play over and over in my head.

  I look sideways at him. “Jerk,” I whisper when I see him leaning his head back, his eyes closed. What the hell did he mean by that anyway, I ask myself, checking my very stylish outfit.

  The plane jerks just a touch, giving me the chance to knock his elbow, waking him. “What time is it?” he asks, his voice soft, making me forget why I was mad at him in the first place.

  “We should be landing in fifteen minutes. Are you tired?” I ask him while he blinks his eyes a bit to focus.

  “I didn’t sleep well last night,” he says quietly, taking in everyone else, who is either listening to music or with their eyes closed. Some are reading, some are playing cards, others are on their phone, but no one is really talking.

  “Why?” I ask, worried he might be getting sick.

  “I guess I was just nervous about today. Almost like it’s the first day back at school after summer break.” He smiles and shrugs. “It's stupid.”

  I turn, reaching over and touching the same elbow I almost tried to dislocate. “It's not stupid. I get it. I still remember the day before I started high school I set out my clothes and dreamed all night that I would miss my alarm.”

  “Yeah, Allison is like
that.” He sits up straighter. “She also brings a change of clothes to school. Well, she did till Cooper decided that he was going to surprise her with lunch. Let’s just say she had a wardrobe check for a month. She was pissed.” He laughs softly, thinking about the memory. The ache in my heart was faint for not having that big family dynamic. Don’t get me wrong, my dad was always there for everything, I just had no one to share it with.

  “Your sister sounds like my kind of person.” I smile at him while the landing wheels make sounds, letting us know it’s time for landing.

  Once the plane lands, he stands up and his hand goes out to me. I grab it so I can get up, but I shouldn’t have. The simple touch has given me goose bumps all over my arms, making me shiver. It’s almost electric. I’m not sure he feels it, but one look up at him and I see his eyes fixed on our hands that are still connected. The door of the plane opens, making him drop my hand. Reaching up, he grabs his carry-on luggage and mine, carrying it off the plane for me.

  They roll the steps straight to the plane, letting us get off on the tarmac. Again, a greyhound bus is waiting for us. I hold on to the railing, walking down behind Matthew. This time he is the one on the bus first. I was planning on sitting in another seat, but once I climb the bus he’s there, standing in the aisle, not moving.

  “Excuse me,” I say, trying to get around him.

  “Sit down, Karrie.” Three words. Three words that make me grit my teeth together. I make my way to the window, sitting and crossing my legs. He sits next to me, his feet crossed at the ankle, his hands crossed in the middle of his legs. “See how easy that was?”

  I roll my eyes at him and glance out the window, not making eye contact with anyone. By the time the bus is loaded and we are on the way to the hotel, fatigue is starting to kick in. I close my eyes, listening to the little chatter that’s now going on around me.

  I don’t know how long I’m asleep till I hear Matthew whisper in my ear, “Babe, we’re here.”

  I open my eyes and see that my head has fallen on Matthew’s arm. I sit up right away, looking around, making sure no one saw that.

  He gets up again and reaches for my hand, but I stand up without taking it. Walking off the bus again, I see him holding my bag, so I reach out for it, but he just shoots me a look of ‘don’t even try it.’ So I walk ahead of him into the hotel.

  The hotel coordinator is there waiting for us. The guys each line up, say their name, and get their key cards. I get to the desk and say my name.

  “Here is your card. Just so you know, the room is adjoining to a Matthew Grant.”

  I nod, taking it and walking to the elevator that has already taken some of the guys up.

  There are about six of us who fill the next elevator. The guys look beat. We are all on the same floor. Slowly they each walk into their rooms saying goodnight with a see you tomorrow. Matthew stops at his door while I continue to mine, opening it and letting myself in.

  It’s a standard king-sized bedroom. The shades are still open, the light from the moon coming in. I approach the window, which overlooks the highway. It’s almost two a.m., so few cars are on the road. I kick off my shoes and shrug my jacket off. I start pulling the shirt from the waist of my skirt when I hear a soft knock at the closed door that separates my room from Matthew’s.

  Walking to it, I open it up, expecting him to spit some nonsense at me, but what I see stops me from saying anything.

  His jacket is off, the tie gone, two buttons at the collar open, showing his smooth chest. He’s leaning against the doorframe.

  “What?” I ask, trying not to take him in fully.

  “Tonight was one of the best nights of my life.” He starts talking while I’m still standing here holding the door handle in one hand. “After the fuck up, that is. I beat myself up. Cursed myself. I smashed my stick so hard I’m surprised it didn't break.”

  I look into his eyes, a light from his room making me see that his eyes are lighter than before.

  “Then I had that breakaway and saw the puck hit the back of the net. I can’t explain exactly what was going through my mind. It was such a big moment. It felt like maybe I deserved this second chance.”

  “Matthew,” I whisper, going in closer to him, “you deserve this and so much more.” The hand not holding the handle reaches out to touch his chest. It is a normal action, but to him it is something more. He looks down at my hand on him, making me do the same.

  “I celebrated with my team, but in my head I was thinking of two people. One, I was thinking about my family, hoping like fuck I was making them proud.” His hand goes on top of mine on his chest, his huge hand covering mine. His fingers lace with mine. “The second was you.”

  My breath intakes and I stop breathing, or at least that’s what it feels like. My heart is beating, beating so loud I’m sure he can hear it. Hell, I’m sure that everyone can hear it through the walls.

  “Skating back to the bench, I looked up and saw you cheering, cheering not just for the team, but deep down hoping that it was cheering for me.” He comes closer to me, my chin dipping closer to my chest.

  Our chests almost touch, but with my heels off I’m almost in the middle of his chest. Our hands now both at our sides, one of mine still on the doorknob. “Tell me, baby, tell me you were cheering for me.”

  My throat is dry, so dry it’s like I’m in a desert walking all day long, running. Till his finger goes under my chin, lifting my face so I can look at him. “Tell me, did I make you proud?” His voice is almost silent.

  I don’t say anything. I just nod. My feet go up on my tippy toes so I can touch his face, my hand going to his cheek. The stubble pinches my hand. “I was cheering for you.” My thumb rubs up his cheek and then slowly over his lips, my body moving without thinking. My body moving on need. My need to touch him, my need to tell him, “I was so proud of you.” It’s the last thing I say to him before he bends down and takes my lips against his.

  Softly at first, so soft I don’t know if I’m dreaming this or it’s really happening, till his hands go to the back of my neck, into my hair, pulling my head back, his eyes meeting mine, then he kisses me and this time there’s no wondering if he is or isn’t. Because he’s consuming me, his mouth over mine, his tongue licking my lips, making my tongue come out and meet his.

  The second his tongue touches mine his hand fists my hair tighter, the groan coming out from me, vibrating from, Or in, my body. One hand goes around my waist, picking me up while my hands wrap around his neck, our lips never separating. Our tongues play a game of tug of war. Our heads move from side to side to get deeper into each other. Our chests heave, almost like we just crossed the finish line at a marathon.

  “Fuck.” I hear him hiss out when we finally let each other go.

  I go back in to kiss his lips softly, just wanting one more touch. One more kiss.

  “We,” I say, sliding down his body, “um, let’s just say it was a lack of judgment.” I walk back into my room, ready to close the door, but he’s now in my room. “I’m really tired.”

  “Lack of judgment?” He shakes his head. “That kiss just knocked me on my ass.” He runs his hands through his hair, making him even sexier, making me even more irritated that he can look so good.

  “Matthew,” I say right before his hand cups my hip, squeezing.

  “Go change for bed before I pick you up, throw you on that bed, and show you exactly what a lack of judgment will get you. I’ll be buried so deep in you, you’ll wonder how we’ll ever be apart again.”

  Yup, panties gone. Yup, I’ve lost my mind, and yup, I’m really hoping he has a lack of judgment right about now.

  I turn to walk away, but his hand holds me in place, his head bending to kiss me on my lips, my lips accepting his. My lips tingle when he finally leaves. I grab my bag, going into the bathroom, collapsing on the back of the door. Closing my eyes, I still feel his hands on me. Getting up and regarding myself in the mirror, I see that my lips are plumper. I rub my fingers o
ver them, still feeling his kiss. I wash my face, taking my makeup off, and applying my night cream.

  After putting on my PJs, I close the light before I open the door. The room is pitched in darkness at this point, so I’m sure he’s gone to bed. Walking toward my bed, I see something under the covers—I see him under my covers.

  “Matthew,” I whisper, putting my knee on the bed, but he doesn’t hear me. He’s long gone. His soft snore fills the room. His body finally gets the rest he needs. I get into bed with him. It’s a big bed, right? Wrong. The minute I turn on my side, he’s in the back of me. His legs intertwine with mine, his hand resting across my waist.

  “Night, babe.”

  I don’t answer him because the soft snoring starts again.

  Chapter Nine

  Matthew

  I’m walking down the corridor right after skate practice, holding two cups of coffee. It’s been four hours since I’ve been up and gone and I’m wondering if Karrie will even be in her room.

  Last night’s kiss played in my mind all night long. After she walked in her bathroom, I undressed and decided I’d wait to get another goodnight kiss in her bed. I wasn’t counting on crashing. My body just gave up and sleep took over. I felt her come to bed, felt the covers move, felt the bed dip, my eyes opening just for a second to get her near me. As soon as my body hugged hers, I fell back into a slumber. In fact, I hadn't slept that good in forever.

  Then waking up and peeking over at her, her mouth was slightly open while soft snores came out of her. I was almost tempted to yank her into me, but I didn’t know how she would react to the whole I was in your bed last night. So I slowly climbed out of bed, my cock under protest since he felt her ass wiggle right before I moved away from her. Walking into my bathroom in my room, I took a shower and also took care of business in the name of a raging hard-on. Fuck.

  Getting out and drying off, I walked to my bag with the towel around my waist. A look into her room showed me she’d turned over and that she was still sleeping. I grabbed my things for the gym and made my way downstairs for breakfast with Phil and then my first team practice.