Sidney
Our offices at the arena were beginning to take shape. The furniture was all in place. We'd managed to create separate offices for me, Keri, Barb and Nicole in what had started out as two large empty rooms. The rest of the Flyers office staff worked across the hall in another space, allowing us to be close, but still have space for our Stahl corporate work.
We were only waiting on the arrival of the double glass doors that would lead into our office. For now, we just had a big opening.
And today, finally, our drink station—a carved cherry buffet--had been installed. Now we had a coffeemaker just like the one in our New York offices, and we had a small refrigerator and an icemaker.
I was pouring myself a cup of coffee while Barb organized the sugar packets and stir sticks. I could hear Nicole telling Keri about the scarves she'd ordered online.
"It's so damn cold in this place," she grumbled. "I'm going to start wearing a jacket and scarf all the time."
"There's an ice rink downstairs," I reminded her. "It has to be cold."
"It's worth it to have a hockey team..."
Nicole was interrupted by Keri, who let out a scream so loud and shrill that I dropped my coffee, spilling it all over my white V-neck sweater.
"Dammit," I cried, pulling the hot, wet sweater away from my skin. "Keri, what the—"
"A mouse! A giant one!" she said frantically, jumping up onto Barb's desk. "I hate mice."
She was near tears, and Barb and Nicole had moved to stand behind the desk. They all looked at me.
"It's probably gone," I said. "You probably scared the heck out of it, Keri."
"It's under there!" She pointed at the drink station. "I saw it run under there! I'm sorry about your shirt, Sid, but I am seriously scared of all rodents."
Just saying the word seemed to make her shudder.
"You girls okay?"
One of the janitors stuck his head through the open doorway, looking at Keri, who was crouched on the desk.
"Sid!"
The male voice calling my name was accompanied by pounding footsteps in the hallway. Killian appeared with Liam close behind.
"You alright?" Killian asked, coming into the office. His pale blue eyes were locked on me.
"We're okay. There's a mouse—"
"A mutant mouse!" Keri cried, her eyes wide with terror. "That thing was the size of a kitten."
Killian blew out a breath, looking relieved. "Probably a rat. We get them in here on occasion."
"I might have a trap downstairs," the janitor suggested.
"It's under there," I said, pointing to the drink station.
"I'm sorry, but I can't come down from here until it's gone," Keri said.
"We'll get rid of it," Liam said, looking at Killian. "You take one end and I'll take the other. We'll chase it out and then catch it."
"With your hands?" I looked at them, horrified. "It might bite you or something."
Killian glanced around the room. They both wore their practice pants and t-shirts, and Liam pulled his t-shirt over his head.
"We can trap it in my shirt," he said, walking to one end of the drink station.
"Be careful," Keri said in a small voice. "That thing might gnaw your face off."
Liam gave her an amused glance. "We've got it, don't worry."
One of Liam's arms was covered in a dark sleeve tattoo, and his skin glistened with moisture. All three of my employees were staring openly.
Killian pulled his t-shirt over his head, and I couldn't help staring myself. He had several small tattoos on the top of his chest. Every one of his arm and chest muscles was defined with sweat. I swallowed hard and forced my eyes away.
They both took a goaltender's stance at the ends of the drink station, and I couldn't resist a small grin. This puck was going to be fast and furry, but hopefully it wouldn't be flying through the air.
The janitor swept a broom handle beneath the reclaimed buffet and a blur of gray emerged out Liam's end. He jumped on it, covering the rat – which was enormous – with his shirt. He enclosed it and picked it up.
The bundle in his shirt was squirming and squealing, and I looked over at Keri. She was pale and looked on the verge of passing out.
"Get it out of here," Killian said.
"I'll take it to the alley." Liam walked out the doorway and a collective sigh of relief sounded around the room.
"Barb, can you call an exterminator?" I asked. "We need to have this place treated."
Killian went to Barb's desk and offered Keri a hand. She took it and he helped her down.
"I'm so sorry, Sid," she said.
I waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing. You alright now?"
She nodded. "I think I'll go down and watch practice for a bit if you don't mind. Just getting out of this office for a bit will help. I'll be okay when I get back."
Killian cocked his head at me, tilting it toward the open doorway. I followed him into the hallway, hoping he didn't plan to continue our argument from the other night.
"You want one of my t-shirts?" he asked. "I'd give you this one, but it's sweaty."
I looked down at my brown-stained chest. I kept extra clothes in my New York office, but hadn't gotten around to bringing anything here.
"That'd be nice. I'd go home and change, but I have a meeting at eleven."
"I'll bring one up."
I fell into step beside him. "I can just come down with you. Thanks for the save, by the way."
He glanced over and grinned. "No problem. I take it that was Keri who screamed?"
"Yeah. She's mortified by the whole thing, I can tell."
"That scared the shit out of me. I thought someone was up here hurting you guys or something. I took my skates off in about five seconds."
His concern and chivalry warmed me. I'd never had a man run to my rescue. Mostly because I'd never needed it, but he didn't know that. I would've caught the rat myself. It wouldn't have been the most pleasant part of my day, and it probably would've involved putting a bucket over it until an exterminator arrived, but I would've taken care of it.
"You weren't scared of it," he said as we walked down the concrete arena stairs.
"No."
"What are you scared of, it not rats?"
I didn't even have to think before answering. "Failure. That's the only thing that scares me."
We were at the bottom of the stairs now, and Killian stopped and looked me over. I saw admiration in his expression. "You're something else, Sidney Stahl."
"So are you, Captain."
Orion came around a corner and saw us. His brow furrowed when he noticed Killian's bare chest.
"Just helping with a rat in the office," Killian said. "We used our shirts to catch it."
"There's a rat in there?" Orion eyed the shirt balled up in Killian's fist.
"No, uh ... Liam caught it." Killian pulled his shirt back on over his head.
We hadn't been doing anything wrong, so why did I feel like we'd been busted? I smiled at Orion and crossed my arms over my coffee-soaked chest, hoping nothing beneath my sweater was showing.
"The team's looking good, Coach," I said. "And I hope we'll see you and Samara at the fundraiser Saturday night."
"Oh, we'll be there for sure ... I have to run, I've got an interview to get to."
He nodded and headed back down the hallway he'd come from. Killian and I walked the rest of the way to the locker room in silence.
"Hang on," he said when we got to the door. He went inside and as soon as the door closed I heard him yell.
"There's a lady comin' in, boys! Cover your junk."
The door opened again and I stepped inside.
"I can wait out here," I said. "I mean, you can just grab one."
"Come on in. The place is almost empty anyway."
The locker room was neat and quiet. The dark carpet with the blue and white Flyers logo in its center was swept perfectly clean.
Killian approached an open wood locker along the wall and grabbed two folded up t-shirts.
"You want a Flyers one or one from my college team?"
"Uh, you pick," I said.
He handed me a gray one. "This one's smaller. I'll guard the stall if you want to change in here."
I felt another player looking at us. "I'll change in the bathroom. Thank you for loaning me the shirt. I'll return it."
I turned and left the locker room. Liam was walking in the door as I was walking out.
"Thanks," I said. He nodded at me silently.
I went right to the bathroom, where I took off my sweater and replaced it with Killian's Penn State Hockey shirt. It carried his scent – a mix of leather hockey gloves and his cologne. I was alone, so I let myself inhale it for a few seconds before leaving the bathroom. Though I could have sent Nicole to my condo to get me a new shirt, I knew I wouldn't. Killian and I were never going to happen for several reasons. Mostly because it would be unethical, but also because we were completely wrong for each other. But I could admit to myself that I found him very sexy and this shirt was as close as I'd ever be getting to him...and I planned to wear it as long as possible.