The Hockey Player (Matt Sturniolo)

Asshole

Aurora's POV

That sneak.

A few days after Matt got back in contact, I was back at work. Not knowing what his angle was, that insistent, handsome, arrogant, hockey player raised every red flag.

What bothered me was how he stuck himself in my thoughts. Not in a nice way, and I thought he was delusional thinking I'd be impressed with his lines. I wiped every counter with enough pressure to remove the steel polish. "Guess that was the whole idea"

I nearly passed out from laughing when Matt mentioned our date. Was he thinking? The important question was, why didn't he stop? He couldn't have been attracted to me. The only reason I didn't block the second number was because I wondered what his angle was.

The door chime knocked me from my thoughts. Positive energy flowed through my tired limbs from the tall, thin guy who's eyes brightened behind his glasses.

"Finn!" My voice was higher than I wanted it to be.

"Hey, Aurora. You look..."

"Crazy" I smiled. "How are you?"

"Good" he said, looking around the restaurant. "Is Dan here?"

"No" my brother didn't know, but he was grounded when he got home. Stuck with our parents and Wheel Of Fortune. I couldn't wait for him to go home to that development. "Your usual?"

Finn nodded and pulled out his wallet. I rang up his order of a small pizza and a side salad. He dropped a tip into the jar, making me smile. This was the kind of guy I needed in my life. Quickly, I assembled his salad and tossed in some extra bacon.

He cleared his throat behind me. "Charlotte, Anne, or Emily?"

"How is that a question?"

Finn and I debated which Bronte sister had written the best book until his pizza box slid under the warmer. "See you at school on Monday, Aurora?"

"Yeah" I waved as he opened the doors.

I sighed. Not that I dated, but if I did, that was a much better suited guy for me. I was grateful for him. Only my senior class would remember Jack's rumours.

While I never asked Dan to get involved, he would've punched anyone who brought up my past. The door chime interrupted my thoughts again.

"Hey" a low voice said

Three large guys dressed in black shirts and sweat pants approached. Their broad shoulders, confident postures and high lifted chins all screamed jocks.

With one finger over the register, I assumed they had a big order. Yet again, no fat on them. "What can I get you?"

"I'll take..." either super confident or the type who didn't take a no, he looked at my chest. "Your number"

I cleared my throat and pushed a silver tray between us. He looked at my name tag. "Aurora"

The way he spoke, like he expected me to melt and beg him to call me, was creepy. "How about pizza?" I pointed, to the menu board behind me. "Since this is a pizza place"

"Come on" he leaned in and gazed at me with puppy eyes. "Give me your number. Please"

College. With that reminder, I bit my tongue. Despite my jobs 'take this' socialisation, this creep toed the line. He was lucky Dan was three hours away. "Sure" I said in a dry tone. "Eight, three, one, four, three, eight, five, six, seven, eight"

He pulled out his phone and mumbled the numbers until he realised I gave 831-GET- LOST.

Mr smooth had to type in the whole thing until he realised it was fake. He leaned over the counter and smirked at me. "What's your real number, Aurora?"