When The Whistle Blows

Chapter 14

Luka accepted my answer and went back to massaging the rookie, who hadn't looked away from me since I entered the room.

"Can I help you, Withers?" I asked on a sigh.

He shook his head, "Nah. I just can't believe that that hot and tight body was hidden under all those layers of clothing." I suddenly felt uncomfortable and exposed. Of course, that's the first thing he notices.

Luka pulled back from Withers, glanced back at me, and suddenly stepped up into Withers' face.

"Apologize to her right now." Luka hissed in his face.

Withers pulled back and seemed shocked by Luka's reaction.

"Damn sorry. Didn't mean anything by it." Withers jumped down from the table.

"You're dismissed," Luka said through clenched teeth as he glared at the rookie.

Withers sent me one last leering look before he left the training room. And I couldn't help but shiver as a wave of disgust rolled through me.

"That fucker." Luka cursed as he slammed his hands on the table. "I ought to end him." He mumbled though I heard it.

"Luka it's fine. Nothing I ain't used to." I rolled my eyes, though my arms came up and I hugged myself.

"No, it's not fine. This was exactly why you didn't want to tell the team and it was going well until that asshole couldn't keep his thoughts to himself." Luka took a deep breath, seeming to steady himself. "I'm sorry. That just isn't right." He said, now calmed down.

"Thanks for standing up for me. That's why I love you." The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

I instantly froze and tried to backtrack. "I mean, as a fri-"

Luka cut me off. A grin split his face, his blue eyes searching my green ones, as he spoke. "You love me?"

Despite his grin, his voice held no taunting or humor.

"Well I-"

"Astrid." He said with his voice hard.

I sighed and hung my head. "Yes."

I heard footsteps then warm hands lifted my face off.

"That's great news." Luka smiled brightly, reminding me of Bentley.

"It is?" I said weakly.

"It is." Luka nodded. "Because Ash, I've loved you since that day I first saw you."

I blushed deeply at his confession and at the memory of the first day I ever met Luka.

~
Three and a half years ago.
Luka

I stuck my tongue out slightly as I concentrated on stacking the tape rolls. Twenty high and twenty wide, just the way Doc liked it.

Right as I went to put on the last roll, the door burst opened and made me jump. Ultimately making me knock over my tower of tape.

"Motherfu-" I turned in my swivel chair and glared at the intruder.

A young boy stood in the doorway. Shutting the door firmly as he panted lightly. His bright green eyes flicked across the room and met my eyes.

The boy wore a baggy grey sweatshirt and baggy grey sweatpants. The sweatpants appeared to have a dark stain on the front of them, near his crotch. His head was mostly covered with a blue hat with our college mascot on it. He was kinda attractive if I ever swung that way.

"Are you the student athletic trainer?" The boy said quickly and nervously.

"Yeah, I'm Luka." I stood up, completely forgetting the mess of tape behind me. "Whatcha need?"

The boy brought his hands in front of him and nervously pulled at his fingers.

Why was he so nervous?

"Well I- I uh naied aid tipenfh" He stumbled over his words and said something incoherent at the end.

"What?" I scrunched my brows together.

"I need." He took a deep breath. "I need a tampon."

What?

I couldn't help but choke at the surprise of his joke. This is an odd one for sure.

"Very funny, freshman. Now if you don't mind I need to get back to work." I rolled my eyes and turned back to my tape diaster.

The boy huffed. "I'm not joking."

"Do you think me stupid?" I glanced over my shoulder at the rookie.

"Fine, where's Doc?" He asked, annoyance apparent in his voice.

"He's not here yet. He usually gets here before practice gets out. I cover for him before practice." I explained.

I heard a grunt of pain from behind me and turned and saw the rookie holding his stomach.

What the hell?

"Can you please just get me a tampon?" the boy said. "I'm not who you think I am."

"Who are you then?" I decided to indulge in the joke.

"I'm Aiden Swartz. This is my first practice here and I'm actually a female. Now if you don't mind I'm currently bleeding and I would very much like a tampon and a change of pants." The kid said with complete seriousness.

My face suddenly paled as I remembered Doc subtly mentioning that we would have an interesting new kid on the team. This is not what I was expecting.

"I'm so sorry." I suddenly rushed into the storage room and started digging through some boxes. "I completely forget that Doc told me about you. Well, he didn't tell me you were a girl, just that you were interesting."

Finally finding what she needed, I grabbed two, closed the storage room, and handed them to her.

Then remembering her other request, I rushed over to my backpack and got out an extra pair of black sweatpants that I always keep on hand in case I get some time to slip up to the ice rinks gym.

I handed them to her and she gratefully thanked me. I showed her the training room's bathroom and let her be while she did what she needed to do.

As soon as she walked out I apologized profusely.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I feel horrible."

"Don't worry about it. But now that you know my secret, I just ask that you keep it hush-hush." She said.

"Oh no of course. Patient privacy act, remember. By the way, what's your real name?"

"Astrid."

"Well Astrid, I suppose we are friends now because I know your secret."

Despite the cliches of my words, she grinned and swayed slightly.

"Well, Luka I suppose you are right."

And even after she left the training room to go get dressed, I couldn't get the way she said my name out of my mind. She was interesting indeed. Boy, is she gonna cause some trouble on this team!
~

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Thank you for reading Chapter 14. I'm sorry for not posting for so long, I hit some awful writer's block but I'm back. And hopefully, I made up for it with this extra-long chapter. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know in the comments who your favorite character is, besides Astrid.
~Until Next Chapter