Jamie's POV
"I still can't believe you took her home last Friday and didn't sleep with her," Trevor says. I roll my eyes.
Leave it to Trevor to think about something like that.
"I didn't sleep with her because I know she doesn't actually like me that way. It was just the booze talking. Plus, if I did that, she would have pushed me further away and I'd definitely lose the bet." I explain. Trevor shrugs.
"I mean, sure, she was drunk, but sometimes people are more truthful while drunk."
"Yeah, but we don't know for certain if she was either telling the truth or if she's more horny when she's drunk." Mason adds.
"The man's got a point," I say, nodding to Mason.
"Even if that's how she is, she still only went for you, Jimmy. She could have gone for me or Mason, but she went for you which means she likes you." Trevor explains. I shake my head.
"I still don't know about that, Z. Plus, if I mention it to her, she'll definitely deny everything that happened on Friday."
"I'd still talk to her anyways, Jimmy." Mason says with a shrug. I sigh.
"Fine. I'll talk to her after practice today,"
Elle's POV
After practice, I walk out of the Power Players locker room and bump into Jamie, dropping my phone on the floor.
"Sorry about that, Elle. Let me get your phone for you," Jamie says.
"No. It's fine. I can get it," I say.
We both bend down at the same time and bump heads.
"You've got a hard head, Jamie." I mutter, rubbing my forehead. Jamie laughs.
"Sorry Elle. You okay?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm good. I got a hard head like you just said," Jamie says with a smirk, handing me my phone.
"Right. Thanks for grabbing my phone for me," I say with a laugh. Jamie and I start walking out to the parking garage together and I look over at him. "So? What're you doing over here? The Power Players locker room isn't exactly on the way to the parking garage,"
"Well, I just figured I'd talk to you." Jamie replies with a shrug. I frown.
"Talk? About what?"
"I was thinking maybe about Friday night? If you're okay with that," Jamie replies.
I shut my eyes for a second and shake my head.
"Jamie, I don't really want to get into that right now. I was drunk. I didn't mean anything I said. Case closed,"
"Case closed? You were flirting with me, telling me I was hot." Jamie argues. I chuckle.
"Okay, and? People never mean what they say when they're drunk, Jamie. Just drop it, okay?"
"But,"
"I said drop it, Jamie!"
Jamie looks a little shocked by me shouting at him and he finally decides to drop it. He follows behind me in complete silence, most likely worried that he might say something else that sets me off.
I turn to face Jamie and stop walking. I look into his blue grey eyes and sigh.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just don't really wanna talk about it right now,"
"Okay. I understand. I won't talk about it then," Jamie says. I nod.
"Thank you. I appreciate it,"
We walk down to our cars and I look over at Jamie.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah?"
"You think maybe you would wanna come eat lunch with me tomorrow during my lunch break at the school?" I ask. Jamie smiles.
"Um, sure. Yeah. I could pick us up some Chinese takeout on the way over,"
"Sounds great. I'll see you at noon tomorrow then," I say. Jamie nods.
"Got it. Noon tomorrow. See you then,"
Jamie's POV
When I get in the passenger seat of Trevor's car, I silently cheer to myself. I may not be going out on an official date with Elle, but it's close. Trevor is sitting next to me in the driver's seat and he gives me a weird look.
"What's got you so excited?" He asks as he takes a sip from his bottle of water.
"Elle asked me if I wanted to have lunch with her tomorrow. I'm bringing Chinese takeout to the school during her lunch break but it's a start, right?" I explain. Trevor shrugs.
"I guess. You know, you should come by a little early to see her while she's working. It might give you some more time with her,"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Z. She's a teacher. I don't think she'd be very happy if I got there early," I say. Trevor rolls his eyes.
"Oh come on, Jamie. Just do it. I'm sure she'll love it,"
"Fine. I'll do it, but if she gets mad at me, I'm blaming you." I threaten.
"Okay. You can tell her it's my fault you came early if she gets pissed. I don't really care," Trevor says.
I mull it over in my head and decide that I might as well come see Elle a little early tomorrow. The worse that could happen is that she yells at me.
Elle's POV
The next day, I'm in the middle of teaching my students easy addition problems when I hear someone knock at my door. I assume another teacher or the principal is at my door, but I look up to find Jamie waving at me.
"Keep working on your math problems, kids, while I talk to who's outside." I say.
I open the door and close it behind me before Jamie can go inside.
"Jamie, what are you doing here?" I hiss angrily. Jamie shrugs.
"We're having lunch together, remember? I brought Chinese food,"
"I know, but why are you here so early?" I ask.
"I was in the area and figured I'd just come early. There's no crime in that," Jamie replies with a shrug. I sigh.
"Well, I'm still teaching and you're distracting my students. How'd you get in without me being there anyways?"
"The front desk lady's a huge Ducks fan and she knew who I was," Jamie answers.
I shut my eyes, mentally cursing myself for forgetting that our front desk lady, Karen, loved the Anaheim Ducks.
"And what would you have done if she wasn't a Ducks fan? Tell her I was your girlfriend?" I ask. Jamie shrugs.
"I mean, that was going to be my first option until she noticed that I played for the Ducks."
I want to stay mad at Jamie, but I can't. While I've been trying to fight off the attraction I have towards Jamie, a tiny voice in the back of my head right now is telling me that he's too cute to stay mad at and I shouldn't yell at him anymore.
"You are too cute, Jamie Drysdale." I say, shaking my head. I almost begin laughing at the dumbstruck look on his face at what I just said to him. "Come on in to my room. The kids probably want to meet you,"
I wasn't wrong about that. As soon as I brought Jamie inside, all the kids started practically ambushing him, asking question after question.
"Who are you?"
"Are you hockey player?"
"What's your name?"
"Are you Ms. Cooper's boyfriend?"
Jamie laughs, loving all the attention from the kids as they excitedly try to get as close as they can to him. Luckily, it's now story time so the kids are only missing me reading them a book.
"Alright, alright, I will answer questions but only one at a time. My name is Jamie Drysdale and I am a defenseman on the Anaheim Ducks hockey team. Your teacher, Ms. Cooper, and I are just friends." Jamie explains with a smile.
He's an absolute natural with the kids and, if there's one thing I find attractive, it's a man who works well with kids.
When class is over, I instruct the kids to collect their bags and say good bye to Jamie. As the kids walk out the door, a few of them give both me and Jamie hugs.
Once the last kid has left, Jamie sets down our takeout on my desk and pulls up a chair so we can eat our lunch.
"I like those kids. They're all very nice and well behaved," Jamie says as he takes a bite of his chicken. I smile.
"Yeah. They're good kids,"
Leah walks into my classroom with a Tupperware container filled with salad and her eyes grow wide when she sees the hockey player sitting across from me.
"No way! Jamie Drysdale?! Elle, why didn't you tell me you two were dating?" She asks.
My cheeks flush and I notice Jamie's cheeks turning red too.
"We're not dating, Leah. I just invited him to have lunch with me. That's all," I reply. Leah shrugs.
"M'kay. I just wish you would have told me that you were ordering takeout. Then I'd have that instead of this boring salad,"
"I'll be sure to let you know next time, Leah." I say with a laugh.
"Great. Thanks Elle," Leah says with a smile.
Jamie's POV
"Hold on. She got mad at you and then said you were too cute? I think she may be starting to warm up to you, Jimmy." Trevor says with a smirk. I shrug.
"Maybe. At least I'm hoping that's why she said it,"
Today is our game against the Vancouver Canucks and right now we're at pregame practice. Trevor's been raving about this game all morning. He says he can't wait to see his "best friend" Quinn Hughes although I've heard that Quinn isn't really a big fan of his little brother Jack's overly talkative friend.
"Oh, she definitely likes you, Jamie. You should ask her out to dinner for tonight. We've got an early game tonight so we'll be done by around seven thirty ish. And, after dinner, the two of you could go back to her apartment or to our house and watch a movie together." Trevor suggests with a shrug.
"Okay. I'll ask her. Thanks Z," I say. Trevor smiles.
"Don't mention it, Jimmy."
*
Before the game, I search the Honda Center, trying to find Elle. I find her outside of the Power Players locker room in her cheer uniform talking to Taylor and Julia. I walk up to her and she smiles when she sees me.
Boy, do I love that smile of hers. I shake away the thought, telling myself that I'm here to get her to fall in love with me not the other way around.
"Hey Jamie. What's up? Shouldn't you be down in the locker room with the guys getting ready for the game right now?" She asks. I nod.
"Well, yeah, but I have something to ask you quick."
"Oh? What do you want to ask me?"
"I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight after the game," I reply. Elle's smile broadens.
"Sure. I'd love to,"
"Great. Wait for me outside of the locker room after the game?" I ask. Elle laughs.
"Sure. I can do that,"
"Awesome. See you then,"
"Yeah. See you then, Jamie."
I wave good bye to Elle and she does the same, a big dimpled smile on her face.
I think I may have gotten this girl to like me.
Elle's POV
"What am I doing? I can't go out with him. He's a hockey player," I say, looking between Julia and Taylor worriedly.
"What do you mean you can't go out with him? He's super sweet and I doubt history will repeat itself, Elle." Julia says. I shake my head.
"But what if it does? I couldn't live with myself it happened again,"
The thought of someone cheating on me again makes my stomach feel all queasy and I try not to think about it.
"I should have never said yes. The date is going to be so awkward,"
"It'll only be awkward if you make it awkward, Elle. If you feel so strongly about this, maybe you should talk to him about it. I'm sure Jamie will understand," Taylor suggests. I shrug.
"I mean, I guess I could, but what if he doesn't understand."
"He will, Elle, trust me." Taylor replies. I nod, deciding that Taylor could be right.
Jamie is very nice and I'm sure he'll be reluctant to listen to me. I just hope that what I have to say is something that he will understand wholeheartedly.