Almost Lucky

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

The cold, Denver air whipped at Gunner as he stepped out from the practicing arena. Pulling his hat further over his head, he got into the warmth of his car and sped off back home. Practice had been brutal, no doubt, since they had lost a painful 3-0 to Washington last night. Gunner couldn't blame the coach's pissy mood. After all, they had played like shit.

Reaching the parking garage to the loft building, Gunner grabbed his gear and headed up the short flight of stairs that threatened to buckle his knees in. The hallway lead him back to his room, and as he was unlocking the door, he thought back onto a few days earlier.

Gunner liked to live a pretty lavish life. Nice car, nice income, and a nice place, he liked the life he worked hard for, yet was starting to get bored coming back every night to himself.

There were definitely perks to living alone, the constant string of beautiful women being a major one. Gunner Elliot had a type: long legs, blonde hair, and everything filled out just nicely. The sex was always good, even great on special occasions, yet some nights he didn't want to bring home another GQ model from PR events. Sometimes, he just wanted to hang out at home with a friend.

Granted, he was close to all his teammates, especially Luke Ross, his assistant captain. They were pretty much brothers, and both had made wealthy and winning careers as hockey players. But Luke was gone a lot with his fiancé, so Gunner was forced to spend the evenings alone on occasion.

Until Miss Gemma Holloway. A little perky, a little clumsy, and a little cute, Gunner was surprised to see a woman walk into his apartment the other day. He had clearly stated in the advertisement that he was a man, yet she showed up like she didn't even know the difference. He had to admit, considering a person of opposite sex for a roommate wasn't exactly what he was aiming for. He wanted someone he could talk to; crudely or however men did. A roommate he could bond with over hockey and beer and women. Gemma was the last thing he had ever expected.

Yet somehow, he felt obligated to let her in. She seemed desperate enough, so desperate in fact that she had called him the morning after their meeting and told him that she'd be able to move in this Friday. So here he was now, apparently letting this person come in and live with him tomorrow.

I guess having a roommate is better than having no roommate at all... he thought.

Tomorrow would be a new day... hopefully one Gunner could easily control.

♣

It had been two weeks since Gemma had moved in. Two weeks, three fights, and infinite amounts of coffee gone to waste.

The first week went as smooth as anyone could have ever wanted. Gunner did his thing, Gemma did hers, and with polite, minimal chatting here and there, they eventually separated ways before work and came home at different times, not seeing each other until the morning again.

This routine was perfect until Gunner had to go and replace her coffee.

"What are you doing?" Gemma had asked when she walked into the kitchen, still groggy and half asleep.

"Replacing this god awful roast you've been making. You do know that this is a coffee machine, not a compost bin, right?" he said as he pulled out the filter.

"Hey!" she said, crossing her arms. "My coffee is absolutely delicious! Yours on the other hand... it's like drinking sewage water."

Gunner glared in her direction before he took the half full coffee pot, stared at her straight in the eyes, and poured it right down the drain.