Overlooked

He handed me a beer with a wink and walked to the next table. The leggy brunette squealed as he slid in next to her, the expensive martini sloshing over the sides, laughing and licking his fingers before handing the glass to her. “Joffrey, come on. Can’t you do anything right? Now it is going to be all sticky. I’m so not drinking that.” She pouted in her designer dress and I was off to the rescue again. Colby smiled as I stood, walked over to the table and sat on the edge smiling, my ballet style flats hanging from my toes.

“It’s ok Lena, I’ll take this one and grab you another one.” I said, draining the glass in two sips and sliding it to Joffrey, who looked embarrassed. I licked my fingers, each one exiting my mouth with a popping sound. I had no idea why he put up with Lena. They had been together for a year and fought constantly. I felt for him but it was his own stupid fault; he put up with it.

Colby met me at the bar and paid for the new drink. “Why does she have to be here? I mean seriously Carly. Why can’t you get him to dump her? He listens to everything you say.” I shrugged my shoulders and looked over at the pair. I had wondered that very same thing but couldn’t bring myself to confront him on it.

“I can’t do it Army, I can’t interfere in his love life.” I said and he looked at me couriously.
“Even if it is at the expense of your happiness?” He asked with a twinkle in his eye and he hurried back to the table, the bar getting more crowded as more of their teammates arrived.

I decided to play pool with the guys. Army and I versus Luke and Tyler. “So how is school going Carly?” Luke asked and I gave him a wink.

“I’ll be up all night tomorrow studying in exchange for spending a few hours out but it is worth it to see you guys.” I said. I was a senior at the University of Toronto, studying sports medicine. I had met the guys at the beginning of last season, a visit to the rink to shadow a trainer developed into an unlikely friendship. Lupes and I hit it off, his friends often teased I may be the one female he hasn’t tried to get into bed. I joked back telling them I wasn’t interested in him, that I had my eyes set on someone already and that when Colby was ready, it was on. In truth, I was really good friends with Colby’s wife Melissa. Her and Colby may have been the only people connected to this team that I didn’t lie to. I was in love with Joffrey, and scared to death to tell him.

The night started to die down. Lena got mad and took a taxi home when Luke accidentally dripped his beer on her shoes. I sat down with Lupes and Luke and we watched the young guys scrambling to find someone to take home, laughing at their selections and watching some of them get shot down. “So Luke, quiet tonight. No girl in mind?” I asked and he looked up with a grin.

“Nah, trying to calm down, find one person to spend time with. I’m done with all of that nonsense anymore.” He said and he looked slightly embarrassed.

“Well Luke, you are doing the right thing. All of them girls are trouble.” I said, standing up and grabbing my bag. “Come on Lupes, I am so tired. I have been up since five o’clock this morning. You promised you would take me home when I was ready.” I said and he stood, pulling me into a hug.

We said goodbye to his teammates and walked to his car, hand in hand. “Carly, can I stay at your place tonight? I just don’t feel like arguing.” He asked quietly and I nodded squeezing his hand.

We got back to my place and lounged around on the sofa for a little while, he was silent and definitely moping. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries, but I felt horrible for him. I got up and grabbed two bottles of water and the bottle of Excedrin, taking two and offering him water and the pills. He accepted it with a small smile. “Thanks pumpkin, what would I do without you?” He said, rubbing his hand on my calf clad in tights. It ignited a fire within me I had never experienced and I had to grip the sofa to keep my hands to myself.

I stood quickly, excusing myself to get blankets for the guest room. I laid them on the bed and went back out to the living room. Joff was stretched out, wearing boxers only, flipping channels on the remote. I sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of him. “Night Lupes. I have a ton of studying to get finished tomorrow.” I said, kissing his forehead.

“Hey Car, I’ll leave you tickets to the game tomorrow night. I have a friend coming into town I would love for you to meet.” He said with a grin.

“Fine, I should be able to take a break by then. Sweet dreams.” I said and went into my bedroom. I laid in bed awake for an hour, trying to think of a way to make him see I was the best person for him. I would never make him hurt the way she did.

****************************************************************************

I woke early, throwing on a hoodie before entering the kitchen and nearly fainting. Joffrey, in boxers only, was standing with his back to me at the stove, cooking an omelet. The muscles in his back made me want to run my hand across them and explore each and every inch of his delicious body. “Sup Carly. Figured I’d repay you for being the best friend a guy could ask for. Thank you for letting me stay last night. I couldn’t go home and fight with her while I was drinking.” I nodded as he slid a plate towards me. “Eat up and relax a little before you start to work.” I thanked him and he went into the living room and started to get dressed.

“Hey, before I forget, I have something to ask you.” Joffrey never approached any topic formally and my heart started to beat faster. “Valentines Day is Tuesday night and we have off. Would you say yes if Luke asked you out to dinner? He was kind of feeling me out on it and I don’t want to set him up for failure. I was thinking you two could double with Lena and I. You don’t get out enough and it will be fun.” My heart dropped but I didn’t want to say no to him.

“Umm, I guess I would.” I said, shoving a piece of egg in my mouth so I couldn’t say anything else.

“Ok pumpkin, I’m off to settle this girl down before I go to morning skate. Make sure you come later tonight.” I nodded and the minute he shut the door to my apartment I felt the tears fall. I didn’t see why he kept going back to her. She treated him terribly, not caring how he felt, yet he went back to her time after time. Couldn’t he see that I would be there for him?

Lena and I were polar opposites and I guess I just wasn’t his type. I was five feet, two inches tall max, long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I was thin and athletic and probably in need of a boob job and a stylist. Lena was almost six foot tall and her legs went on for miles. Her long brunette hair was always professionally styled and she dressed in impeccable clothing I couldn’t afford, nor would I be comfortable in. Her Daddy owned some huge company and she did a little bit of modeling and lived off of him.

I worked hard, twenty hours a week as a bartender, just to offset the cost of the schooling I was paying for. I dressed casually for the most part, hitting up thrift stores and sales to make ends meet. I was on par to graduate in May as an athletic trainer and all of the sacrifices were well worth it. My parents didn’t have much money, in fact they spent most of what they had on my twelve year old brother, who was playing hockey on a team that my parents could barely afford.

I was frustrated and hurt that he didn’t see past her looks. She was a total bitch and completely wrong for him. I just hoped in time he would eventually realize it. I wiped away the tears and pulled out my books, settling in for a long day of studying.

Before I knew it, it was five o’clock and I needed to get ready to leave. I jumped in the shower while stressing over what to wear. I finished and went through my closet like a tornado, finally settling on a pair of dark blue jeans and a blue long sleeved shirt that was nice and fitted. I did my hair, letting it fall in waves and even took a little time to put on a little makeup, praying I would at least catch his eye if nothing else.

I caught a taxi to the arena, knowing because it was a Saturday night game that they would want to go out afterwards. I grabbed a beer after picking up my tickets at the window. They were good seats, only a row back from the penalty box. I just hoped Lena wasn’t there.

The boys came out for pre-game warm-ups. Luke skated by and did a double take, smiling to me as he looked over the second time. The two seats next to me were empty, indicating Lena was supposed to be here eventually. They way Lupes kept looking over was pathetic. He looked hurt that she hadn’t shown up by puck drop. They boys were playing the Blue Jackets and were clearly dominating them. Lupes had a goal and an assist before the end of the second when Lena finally showed up with a girl equally as pretty. “See there goes my baby. He says he has a friend in town, not sure who it is but I will introduce you if it is worth it.”

I just shook my head angrily. How could she not know who his friend was. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was. He talked about Jeff a lot, including the fact that he just had a little girl a few weeks ago.

By the time the game was over and we were making our way down to the locker room, my anger was bubbling over. She bitched about his play in the third period, telling her friend that if he kept it up she may have withhold sex. She whined during most of the period, complaining it was taking too long and that she was ready to go out. I was seriously seconds away from beating her into the concrete steps when Joff hit an empty netter for his second goal of the night causing me to stand screaming with the thousands that actually appreciated him as a hockey player.

I started to make my way down to the locker room. I sat on a chair outside and talked to Melissa. “You know, you would’t be this upset all of the time if you let him know how you feel.” She said and I just shook my head.

“Mel, you know I can’t risk my friendship with him. It is so not worth it.” I had just finished my sentence when Luke came out, head to toe in Under Armour.

“So Carly, do you want to go out Tuesday night, get dinner?” He asked hesitantly and I nodded. He immediately looked relieved and I had to smile back at him. It was adorable. The guys finished up and we hit the bar, Lupes coming in a little bit later with Jeff Carter, Lena and her friend. He brought Jeff over to meet me as the girls headed straight for the bathroom.

“So Cartsy, this is my best friend Carly. We met when I first got traded here. She is the best.” Jeff said hi and shook my hand as Lupes went to the bar to grab beers.

“Carter, if you need me to save you from the puck bunnies just let me know. Lena’s friend seems like a total pain in the ass.” He laughed and thanked me, promising me he would probably need it before getting up to help Lupes with all of the drinks.

Luke sat down next to me in the booth and casually slipped his arm around me, giving me a small smile before handing me a drink. I had to give the kid credit, he was trying to be smooth.

By the end of the night, I had rescued Carter twice from the slut, played two really fun games of pool with Lupes and had a few nice conversations with Luke who seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Nice enough to make me start to think Lupes didn’t deserve me and maybe I was being the idiot and should move on.

Notes

:) Finally starting to ease over here. This is one of my three finally active again stories. Comments make me want to write and are much appreciated. I will switch this over as quick as I can but if you want more, mibba has 13 chapters posted. If you decide to read my stuff..... the writing in the early stories isn't great but I know you will enjoy the story lines. All of my Flyers stuff interconnects, so start with the earliest story. A Second Chance at Love. I will edit the stuff the best I can as I bring it over.