“I should do the same,” Gregory said before taking another sip from his bottle. After this beer he would go. He needed to catch up on some sleep because the last nights had been a bit restless for him and he didn’t even know why.
Benoit scooted a bit closer to Kara so Greg could sit down again. For a moment she stiffened, but then she relaxed again.
“Go ahead if you want to.” Kara smiled at Soupy, trying her best not to look at Benoit right next to her. She figured that they both probably wouldn’t end up reading her books anyway. They didn’t strike her as people who enjoyed reading a book. That wasn’t a bad thing, simply an observation. Little did she know. “Do you guys come here often?” She had to try and change the subject.
“Sometimes.” Benoit was the one to answer her question, forcing her to look his way again. “When we have time and aren’t too exhausted from training, we usually spend about an hour here talking and enjoying a beer.”
“Sometimes Tuukka or someone else comes along with us.” Gregory rolled up his sleeves while talking to her. “The bartenders know the whole team and we know them by name. It’s nice here and people usually leave us alone.”
“He’s right. Of course there are sometimes fans that come up to us and ask for a photo or an autograph, but they’re usually really nice. And it’s always fun to talk to them. They’re doing so much for us and we want to give something back.” When Benoit leaned back, his forearm grazed Kara’s and it sent a light shiver along her arm and down her back. All of a sudden she felt like she needed some fresh air, but she couldn’t just up and leave.
“That’s why you do all those fan and charity events, right?” Kara was really interested in this Plus it helped her get her mind at least a bit off the big body sitting close her and radiating heat.
“Yes, we love doing these.” Campbell’s face lit up. “Especially things like Cuts for a Cause.”
“Cuts for a Cause?” Kara raised an eyebrow. She was pretty sure she’d heard or read about this, but she couldn’t recall it.
“Shawn organizes it.” Benny emptied his bottle so he could put it back on the table. “People can bid on their favorite player on the team to cut off their hair. Not every player participates, but those who don’t usually donate money. All the money goes to charity and it’s a lot of fun.” He smiled at her before raising his head again. “I’ll definitely do it again this season.”
“Someone like Tuukka doesn’t participate in this, but therefore he gives a lot of money.” Gregory turned around to see where their goalie was.
“Yeah, he and his oh so glorious curls.” Benoit shook his head in amusement.
“Speaking of Tuukka,” Greg said while getting up again. “I’ll go see if everything’s alright. You never know what might happen with the Finn and we don’t want to get in trouble of some sort.”
With that they were alone again. Kara already feared some awkward silence, but Benoit surprised her.
“What about you and your fans?”
“They hardly recognize me and I like it that way.” She looked up at him for a moment, but turned to look at her nearly empty bottle again. “The readings are great and the people usually come up with some pretty clever questions. Then there are the crazy ones of course.”
“What do you mean with crazy?”
“Well, there were guys who got up and said that they could be the inspiration for my next main character, that they would make me scream in pleasure all night long and that stuff.”
Kara emptied her bottle and turned her head to face Benoit again. “I never know how to react to that.”
“What are you writing, gurl?” He ran a hand through his hair and practically stared at her. These were juicy details about her life and he wanted to know more. “If you want me to understand what you are talking about, you’ll have to tell me a little bit more about what you are writing. Because right now this doesn’t add up for me.” That was a bit exaggerated, but he wanted her to talk about this, about her writing and see whether his assumptions were right or wrong.
For a few seconds she thought about it, but decided that it was easier this was. “As I told you before I write women’s fiction with a bit of crime, thriller woven in. The relationship between the main characters obviously is in the focus of the story, as is the development of this relationship. So there are, like, really graphic sex-scenes in them. And because of that those people offer me to make me scream.” She bit her lower lip, not taking her eyes of Benoit. When his lips curled up in a slight smile, she felt relief wash over her. Why? She didn’t really know.
“No wonder those men make you offers.” Benoit shook his head. He’d expected everything but that. He’d rather expected her to write some gruesome stuff. Now he definitely had to check out her books when he got home. “Did you ever take one of them up on their offer?” He pressed his thigh against hers and Kara immediately felt the heat from his body.
“What?” Her mouth went dry. The last time she’d been this close to a guy had been about half a year ago, right before she’d broken things off with her boyfriend. “No!” She tried hard to concentrate on talking, because it wasn’t that easy for her anymore. She would have scooted away from him, but there was no room left. “I never even considered it. If I want someone just for sex, there are enough possibilities, but this is not one of them. It might be different for men, I don’t know.”
“I know what you mean.” Benoit leaned back, brushing his arm against hers. All this body contact was too much. She had to get out of here, get some fresh air and most importantly: get home.
“I should get going.” She immediately got up and grabbed her jacket. While putting it on, she looked around for Soupy and Tuukka but couldn’t find them. “I have to get up early tomorrow for some meetings.”
“I’ll take you to your car.” Benoit got up as well. “Soups and Tuukka are probably already gone.”
“You don’t need to take me to my car.”
“Yes I do.” He led her out of the pub and took a deep breath once they were outside. “Besides, I have to get to my car as well and they’re both in the same parking lot.”
She couldn’t argue with that, but she wanted to get home and be alone with her thoughts as fast as possible. Benny didn’t have any problems keeping up with her, so they were in the parking lot in no time.
Benoit walked with her directly to her car, where she finally looked at him again. He had a big body that could intimidate a lot of people. Not her though. She’d been playing soccer for years. When writing took up most of her free time, she had to give that up, because she couldn’t make a team rely on her. She never knew whether she’d be there for a game or not. That’s why she’d taken up boxing instead.
“Thank you for asking me to come along.” Kara smiled at him. Out here it was much easier for her to concentrate. Benoit didn’t seem to be taking up that much space. “It was fun. And thank you for the jersey.”
“No problem. We can’t have you going to the games without Bruins gear on.” He took a step closer, reached around her, brushing his chest against her arm, and opened the car door for her. He stayed this close to her, looking down at her head until she finally lifted it and looked him in the eyes. “Can’t risk having you running around in the enemy’s colors.”
“You’re probably right with that,” Kara said barely above a whisper. Her pulse quickened and she knew that she had to get away from there quickly. She couldn’t think straight anymore. “Thanks again. I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.” She got in her car and closed the door. Only then did Benny take a step back.
In silence he watched her pull away. Once she was gone he let out an exasperated breath. What had that been? He couldn’t explain his own behavior to himself. He needed sleep. Definitely.

Notes

ANYthing you have to say? :/