Not All Hockey Boys Are Bad

Chapter 5

"I can take care of myself."

He huffed in frustration. "Just let me at least walk you to your car." He suggested, then added, "Just for good measure." I groaned lightly hoping he'd get the message that I didn't think this was necessary but I agreed anyway. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he followed me out the door.

My car was parked a good ten or twenty feet away from Toasties and with only one lamp post for light I could see Jack's concern for walking alone. We walked in silence and I occasionally looked over to Jack. He was intently searching our surroundings for any danger and I couldn't help to feel incredibly safe with him by my side. I wasn't even watching where I was walking because I was so entranced with the boy beside me. When he looked down at me, I felt something in me spark, and I stopped walking.

"This your car?" He asked pointing to a beaten up cadillac with gold rimmed wheels. I blushed, realizing that my car was one over.

"Um... No that one is." I mumbled and brushed past him to reach my car, an old jeep. He followed and then stopped and stood behind me. "Well thanks I gue-" I was stopped as a hand came over my mouth and I was pushed against the side of my car. I wanted to scream but Jack shushed me, pressing his body against mine. His head looking above the hood of my car and across the street. From what I could hear, there were two men walking down the street sharing an intense conversation.

"I need that money by tomorrow." One said.

"I don't have the money. I spent what I had left on the rent I had due." The other one replied, and I could tell he was much younger than his buddy.

"Fuck, I don't think you understand how angry Mikey will be if we don't pay off what we owe. I am not going down on your dumbass account."

"Fuck you, I've got priorities. And it ain't my fault that you're in deep shit in the first place!" I winced as I heard a body get shoved against a wall. The man yelped.

"I swear to god if you don't-" The man stopped talking. "What are you looking at, boy." My eyes widened and I knew he was talking to Jack. I heard footsteps coming towards us and Jack tensed against me. My body erupted into tingles when I felt Jack reach into my hand and grabbed my keys. He kept eye contact with the oncoming men as he unlocked my car door and opened it.
"Get in." He ordered.

"What, no, Jack... You can't tell m-"

"Get in the car, now." He looked down at me with a harsh look in his eyes. I wanted to fight back but I found myself following orders as I climbed in to the passenger seat.

"Jack, what are-" I started to say, but he cut me off.

"Lock the doors." He said before closing the door on me and walking around to meet the two men. One of them glanced down at me and smirked, but Jack moved in front of me blocking his view. Why was he protecting me? We hardly knew each other. I reasoned then brushed my thoughts away when the men started to speak.

"Hey bud, what d'ya got there, a honey for the night?" Both men smirked. Jack's jaw tensed and his hands formed into fists. I recognized this action from watching him in the rink. The opposing team's players would chirp at him and he'd react even though he tried to control the anger. However, now off the rink the action seemed more deadly. "What do you want?" Jack asked them harshly.

They put there hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, you were the one listening into our business, bud." One said.

"And we don't like eavesdroppers." The other added. "So why don't we settle this, the good ole way, huh?" The guy put up his fists and gave Jack a fake one, two. Jack didn't move. It was obvious he thought he could take these guys in the way he stood; unamused. I only could hope he'd back down.

"Look, I've got games tomorrow and I'd like to keep my knuckles clean, so how about we call this a misunderstanding and pretend it never happened." Jack said. I could tell he was trying to maintain his calm.

"Fine, but we want fifty bucks in cash, and we'll walk or you can hand us your little girlfriend and we'll leave. Don't worry though, we'll take good care of her." I gulped and shied away from the window. Jack took another step to block me from their views. He kept an eye on the men as he pulled out his wallet.

"I'll give you eighty if you leave us alone now and if you ever see either one of us again, deal?" Jack offered no emotion in his voice.

The men accepted the offer greedily and gave me one last look before winking and continuing on there way. When they turned the corner and were out of sight I released my breath and climbed out of my car to walk to the driver's side where Jack continued to stand staring after the men. Noticing me in front of him he met my eyes and smirked. "How is it that whenever you're around these situations always occur?" He asked with a little bit of humor in his voice.

"Maybe it's just my charming personality that attracts the attention of the male population, good or bad." I joked.

"So far I think you're only attracting the bad." His eyes darted down to my lips then returned to my eyes as he bit his lip. "Yeah you're definitely attracting the bad."

He didn't give me a chance to respond as he took a look around, gave me a once-over, and then he was gone.