-----Claude's POV

"So we know you almost killed the girl- but did ya get her number?" Mase asks as he starts the dark blue SUV- Jake, Sean, Raffl, Brayden and I are crammed in it like sardines headed to his house to all hang out.

"Nah I didn't," I confess.

"What? Why?" Sean asks before anyone else can.

"Because he's too shy; he can never go up to a girl and just say hi- is that why you trampled the girl instead this time? Still didn't work, eh?" Brayden jokes and the guys laugh.

"Look, I thought it'd be creepy if I asked for her number," I reason.

"I guess I should've asked for her number since you didn't," Raff says and I turn around and punch him in the knee playfully.

"Listen, I'm pretty sure she'd be creeped out if I even asked for her phone number," I admit truthfully.

"Yeah sure G," Mase chirps.

"I'm surprised she didn't hang on you like some girls, maybe you're losing it G," Schenner teases again. I just shake my head, laugh, and ignore some of their next comments towards me. It was refreshing to meet Kat- she didn't hop and hang all over me leaving me to get one of the guys out of the conversation; she was pretty genuine- well from what I could tell at least. Most of the guys lately have been giving me shit for being single and spending so much time playing hockey and solely focusing on hockey. Truthfully, I'm just tired of the one night stands and short relationships.

"Well hopefully we see this girl-" Raffl starts to say but I cut him off.

"Kat- she has a name."

Raff rolls his eyes and half laughs, "hopefully we see Kat again soon or even at all and get G to grow a pair and get her number."

I wasn't going to say anything but I was secretly hoping I'd see her again too- but the chances of that were slim- she was just another fan showing up to a practice.

-----Kat's POV

"Soooo, what's with the smile?" Julie asks excitedly as looks up from her laptop noticing my grin as I walk through the doorway.

"It was a very good first day," I confess trying not to sound too excited/happy.

"SPILL! What happened?!" she says as I sit at the counter across from her.

"Well I actually ran into Claude Giroux, literally. I fell backwards- I wasn't even looking where I was going- go figure," I laugh softly.

"Shit! Are you serious?" she says with a smirk.

"Yes! I didn't even realize it at first either! I feel like a huge idiot," I confess, "my first day and I'm already causing a commotion- nonetheless running into the fucking Flyers captain."

Jamie just laughs at my embarrassment and I join her after a few seconds of thinking of how silly I must've looked, "don't worry, he probably thought it was cute," she says and I can't help but to scoff immediately, "yeah and he wanted to get my number too, good joke Jules," I say and she just rolls her eyes at me.

"One question though."

"Yeah?" I reply as I grab a water bottle from the fridge.

"How'd he smell?" she asks with a huge grin.

"What?" I almost shout as I choke on my water.

"You must've smelt him don't lie!" Julie says laughing.

I shake my head and scoff, "you're crazy!" I say as I walk towards my room and shut my door. I hear Jules walk up to my door demanding an answer, "Kaaaaaat," she chimes, "you didn't answer me. How'd he smell?" I keep quiet hoping she'll walk away but she persists. Honestly if I wasn't employed by the Flyers, I would've told Jules every detail and completely fan girled but I decided when I took the job I wasn't going to be like that since I wanted to take the job seriously and professionally. Truth is Claude smelt good- I mean it wasn't like I literally smelled him, it was hard not to smell his scent when the breeze just kept pushing it my way.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me how he smelt. There's no shame in smelling an attractive hockey player Kat so just own up to it!" she says through the door, "I know you're trying not to fan girl and really you're doing a great job but you're not at work right now and it's only lil ol' me."

I get off my bed and open the door. Jules is smiling with her arms crossed, pleased that I've finally come to terms with her, "Good, okay? He smelt sooooo good," I say with a big smirk, she claps her hands together and we laugh at how ridiculous we must sound.

*****

"So have you talked to Kyle at all today?" Jules asks after she comes back into the apartment with chinese take out. We weren't making a lot of our food since we hadn't gotten groceries yet- we were going to live like Carrie Bradshaw for only a few more days.

I give her a confused look and she looks at me like I have three heads. "You know your boyfriend?"

"Oh shit, uhm no, I've been busy editing and checking out these pictures I took today," I say and she shakes her head and laughs, "I guess you're too busy thinking about Giroux too?"

"Don't be silly Jules," I say and give her a look as I dig into my pork fried rice.

"You didn't answer my question, how are you guys?" she asks once again after taking a couple bites of her chicken.

"Good I guess," I admit with a shrug. Honestly, him and I are "eh" but really he's been there for me for everything like the fire this summer- something I still didn't want to talk about and he knows not to push the subject; Kyle's a good guy and it's a good relationship- that's good enough for me.

-----Claude's POV

"I can tell you're beating yourself up about this," Mase says when he finds me in the kitchen searching for a beer in the fridge.

"Come on, it's not that noticeable is it?" I ask- I was glad Steve waited for everyone to leave to confront me.

"G, you barely talked today," he admits, "I can tell you've been in your head all day."

"It's just I'm mad I didn't ask for her number," I confess, "but I also feel so stupid for being angry about it- we talked for not even 5 minutes!" I was glad to be able to talk to Steve about this- he was a guy on the team that you could talk to about your problems and he wouldn't give you a hard time about it- with some of the other guys they'd have to get some alcohol in them before they'd stop chirping you.

"Well all I have to say is keep your eyes open for her- as creepy as that sounds," he says with a soft laugh, "but honestly if it's meant to be, you'll see her again- just don't beat yourself up about it in the meantime, eh?"

"Thanks," I say and give him a pat on the back before we head into the living to play some video games, "don't tell the other guys I'm acting like this or talking about this- they'll rag on me like hell."

"No problem G," Mase replies with a smile.

Notes

Hey guys I know this chapter is slow but I'm just trying to build for the next chapter! This chapter and the next were originally supposed to be just one chapter but I decided to make it two! Sorry I made you guys wait so long! I had some crazy finals/final projects and now I'm in Missouri- but I'll be home soon ready to write more chapters! Thanks for reading don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe, I love feedback!