The Things No One Else Sees

Lucy dumped all the colored pencils into the plastic storage container and stowed it in the cabinet behind her desk. The kids were all gone for the day and she had spelling tests to grade before she could leave.

It had been two days, but she could still feel his arms around her while they sat on the beach by the fire. Goddamn him. After too many minutes of shamelessly enjoying the way his body felt against hers, she’d excused herself and went home. And pulled out a vibrator to get herself off because she could not be expected to cuddle up with Lupul and not get hot and bothered.

He’d texted her the next morning--something cute and innocent. She knew what he was up to, though. Laying on the charm by appealing to her heart hadn’t worked, so now he was moving on to plan B-- sexual frustration.

A muffled ding from the bottom desk drawer made her jump. She pulled it open and dug her phone out of her purse. It was a text message.

JOFF: What do you think?

She read the text three times, trying to figure out what he was talking about. What did she think about what? Just as she pulled up the keyboard to ask him what he meant, her phone dinged again to indicate a message. A picture popped up right below his text.

Lucy almost swallowed her tongue. Touching the picture made it bigger, filling her screen. It was of his bare stomach, his lower abdomen, his hip, and upper thigh. A white towel was strategically being held in front of his crotch to provide modesty. She had to remember to breath with all that smooth, tanned skin all over her phone. WIth shaking hands, she texted him back.

LUCY: Nice, but I prefer backs.

She sat the phone down and picked up the stack of spelling tests. She needed to focus and not think about Joffrey Lupul’s dick. What the fuck did he think he was doing, sending her a picture like that out of the blue at three o’clock in the afternoon? Not even two minutes later and only one spelling test through the stack, her phone dinged again. Lucy tried to be cool, but she snatched her phone up.

Another picture, this time of his back. He’d taken the picture in a mirror and she could see his handsome profile because his head was turned slightly to the side to look at the phone screen. Damn. He was flexing, showing off to her, because he knew she had a thing for his back.

LUCY: Practicing for your next nude photo shoot?

JOFF: Just trying to get a rise out of you, Lucy.

LUCY: I’m at attention. Stop teasing me with your body.

JOFF: Tease me back then. Are you one of those teachers that dresses up all sexy with the tight pencil skirt and the glasses?

She laughed. This was bad. She shouldn’t be doing this because she’d promised herself that Joffrey Lupul was on the cannot-have-list. She couldn’t handle finding all new friends because one of the group had devastated her. But he was flirting and he was funny and it was hard not to get pulled into it.

LUCY: Sorry. Slacks and a blouse. But I might go daring with my undies now and then.

JOFF: Lemme see.

LUCY: No! Perv.

JOFF: A couple friends and I are going out tomorrow night. You should come along.

LUCY: Jacob and Deanna are out of town.

JOFF: I can’t hang out with you without your chaperone?

She sighed and pushed her hair back. Her brain was screaming that this was a bad idea, but her heart and those areas lower in her body were telling her that she needed to go.

LUCY: Text me details and I’ll think about it.

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

She’d saved the pictures. They were permanently on the memory card of her phone, nestled in there with pictures of the beach and those buildings downtown she’d photographed a month ago. When a gorgeous guy sends you suggestive pictures of his body, you didn’t just delete them.

It was a school night, and she told herself she was just stopping by to be friendly and maintain a good relationship with Lupul. They need to get rid of all that heavy weirdness that had happened in California. She didn’t know what she’d do if she had to watch him pick up girls. Probably leave the club so she didn’t cry or vomit up her dinner. She was determined to be a big girl about it, though.

The club wasn’t as loud as she’d expected, but that was because it was a Thursday night. She walked in a circuit around the dance floor, searching the tables and the bar along the far wall for him. She felt a little out of place in her jeans and her black blouse. The sleeves came down to her elbows and the neckline was draped to show off her chest. Everyone else was dressed to the nines in short skirts and halter tops and skin-tight dresses.

“Lucy,” she felt an arm slide around her waist from behind.

Turning, she moved out of his reach and forced a smile. “Lupul,” she said with a nod.

He was in a pair of black slacks and a white dress shirt. It was unbuttoned at the top and bottom so he looked casual and sexy. His eyes were clear and happy, not at all drunk, which was what she’d been fearing.

“Come on and I’ll introduce you to everyone. We just got here.”

She followed him over to a cordoned-off area a few yards away--the bottle service tables that cost a fortune. There were three guys lounging on a group of oversized velvet chairs and settees.

One had shaggy blonde hair with a stern mouth and brow bones that made him look perpetually angry, but when Lupul introduced him as Phil Kessel, he gave her a wide, warm smile and a little wave. When he wasn’t scowling, he looked like a nice guy.

The next guy was in jeans, which made her feel more at ease. At least she wasn’t the only one who had dressed down. His brown hair was longer than it really should be, which made it curl out, flipping in all different directions. He gave her a nod and a smile. His name was Tyler Bozak.

“They both play with me,” Lupul told her.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, giving them an awkward smile. She felt like she’d been tricked into a date where she was introduced to and dissected by a council of his friends.

“And this is Biz,” Lupul said, nodding at the man closest to her. He was sitting in the middle of a small settee and it looked even smaller with his tall frame on it.

“Paul,” the man said, leaning forward. His eyes were dark and he had a full mustache, but no other facial hair--an unusual look. His slacks were slick and expensive-looking, but he had a wife-beater on instead of a dress shirt, another unusual choice. One arm was covered in tattoos, and he looked dangerous. Not because of his wardrobe choice or the ink, but because of the way he watched her.

Lupul gestured to the armchair to the left of Paul. “Have a seat. I’ll go get the waitress. What do you want?”

“Whatever,” Lucy said, trying not to feel weird and awkward with these guys. Why weren’t there other people here? She’d thought this was a group thing.

When Lupul walked off, weaving through the people clustered up against the ropes that separated the private tables from everything else, she forced a quick smile and moved to sit in the chair.

“Why don’t you sit beside me, Lucy?” Paul’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. His grip was firm, but not uncomfortable. He easily changed her momentum from the chair to the settee. She tried to compose herself once there, but his arm went around her back and his body wasn’t giving her much space.

“So, you don’t like hockey at all?” he asked, turning into her and blocking out the other two guys.

“Uh, not really,” Lucy said, shifting away and pushing herself into the armrest.

“Mmm, I’m pretty good when they let me play.”

“You play for Toronto?”

He laughed and turned his head to look at Phil and Tyler. “No, I play for Phoenix.”

“Why are you here?”

“Having a little fun before training camp starts. Loops and I are good friends. So, what do you do, Lucy?”

“I’m, uh, a teacher.” She ducked her head when his free hand came up to brush against her hair.

Paul smiled. “Oh yeah? I always had a thing for teachers.”

She looked around him at the other two guys. Phil looked like he felt bad for her. “So, do you guys like Toronto? Are you from around here?”

“Saskatchewan,” Tyler told her.

“The States,” Phil added. “Wisconsin.

“Really? One of my best friends from high school graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.”

He raised his brows. “Oh yeah? That’s my hometown.”

“She moved there for her fiance. Her husband now, I guess. They love it in Madison.”

Paul leaned closer and picked up her left hand. “I don’t see a ring. Why aren’t you married?”

Lucy smiled tightly at him and pulled her hand away. He was attractive and wasn’t exactly creepy, but how thick he was laying it on made her uncomfortable. “I’m a prude,” she said, leveling her gaze on him.

He blinked and then busted out into laughter.

“Leave her alone, Biz,” Lupul said as he came back with a waitress in a short skirt and skin-tight tank top. She left a couple bottles of booze and a couple beers on the low table. Lupul twisted the cap off a beer and handed it to her. He didn’t look thrilled that she was sitting beside Paul, but he didn’t say anything.

“Hey, I like her, Loops,” Paul said, pouring himself a shot. He knocked it back and sat the shot glass back on the table in front of him before turning to look at Lucy again. “Why are you hanging out with Lupul? You’re not his type.”

Lucy’s eyes shifted over to look at the man in question, her eyebrows raised. She turned back to Paul. “I know I’m not his type, but we’re musical soulmates, apparently.”

“Well, you’re my type,” he said, ignoring pretty much everything she’d said.

Tyler snorted. “Every woman is your type, Biz.”

“Lucy is my favorite type.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your favorite type today.” He was like a cliche of a typical horny hockey player who couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“Hey now, don’t hurt me,” Paul said, flashing her a big smile. “We haven’t set a wedding date yet.”

She looked over at Lupul. His fingers were curled over the ends of the armrests and his back was stiff. She wondered if he’d murder Paul after she left. But he hadn’t said anything and obviously hadn’t told his friends that there was some weirdness between the two of them. Otherwise, Paul, if he were a true friend, wouldn’t have been hitting on her.

“In twenty-five years if I’m still single,” she told Paul.

“Such a hard ass,” he complained.

Tyler had wondered off. He was approaching a blond at the bar. Phil was leaning over and talking to the group at the table next to them.

Lupul was playing on his phone. It irritated her. Why did he invite her out here just to throw her to Paul Bissonnette and dick around on his phone? Especially after he sent her those goddamn pictures.

Paul leaned in and whispered, “I’m way hotter than, Lupul, right? I mean, come on.” He gave her a goofy look, and Lucy couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up and out of her mouth. She hadn’t quiet figured him out. Was he laying it on so thick because he was the life of the party and just wanted to make her feel comfortable or was he really a whore that was looking for a hookup?

“Maybe lose the mustache. It’s a little too Burt Reynolds for me.”

“Let’s go to the bathroom; I’ll shave it off right now.”

She giggled. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Paul leaned in and pressed his lips to her ear. “I’m intrigued, Lucy. A girl hanging around Loops who he hasn’t bagged? What’s the story?”

She shrugged. “No story. We’re friends.”

Lupul wasn’t even listening. He had stood up and walked a few feet away, his phone pressed to his ear. She watched him pull it away and then smile at some girl that walked up to take a swing and see if she could hit a home run by scoring Joffrey Lupul, star center. He was smiling at that bitch. Lucy clenched her teeth.

“You like me?” Paul asked, his mouth on her ear again, his voice a rumble.

Lucy pulled back and looked into his eyes. He was predatory and gleeful. “You’re okay,” she said. “A little too touchy-feely for my tastes.”

“I’m an affectionate guy.”

“But you don’t know me.”

He dropped his arm around her shoulder. “But I’d like to.”

“Plenty of easy pickings in this place for a hockey player, even one from Arizona.”

He chuckled. “They’re boring; you’re fun.”

“Only because I’m not throwing myself at you,” she replied. Lupul was now talking to two women. One of them was wearing underwear. Those weren’t shorts; they were underwear. Who the fuck wore that kind of shit?

Paul’s lips were on her ear again. It gave her goosebumps. “You go to the bathroom with me, I’ll make you come so hard you’ll scream. And I won’t even take off your pants to do it.”

She froze. His breath was ghosting over her ear and down her neck. She had never been propositioned like that before.

“And then we can go back to your place and I’ll get you off three more times tonight. But I will have to take your pants off for that. Afterward we can set the wedding date.”

Wow. Somebody had some confidence. A little part of her--specifically, the sexually frustrated part--wondered if he could deliver.

Paul had pulled back to look at her face. She turned her head toward him, and he took it as approval to move in. His lips were close to her face and they were getting closer. Lucy put her hand up, blocking him. His lips landed on her fingertips, not her mouth. “Not that kind of girl, Paul. Better move on if you’re looking for a place to spend the night in Toronto.”

He grinned at her. “I’ve got four more days here, sweetheart. I’ll wear you down because you know we’re meant to be.”

Lucy rolled her eyes again and then looked over to find Lupul. The girls were chattering away right in front of him, but he was watching her. His entire body was tense, and his eyes were hard and burning. Jesus. She needed to get out of this place. It was such a huge mistake to come. He’d thrown her to probably the biggest manwhore in the league and now he was chatting up women while she watched.

“Tell Lupul that this isn’t my kind of place. I’m leaving,” she told Paul.

“Where will I sleep tonight?”

She smiled at him. “I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding a bed. Maybe Lupul will bunk with you if all the women here are prudes like me.”

Lupul’s eyes were on her as she walked out. She could feel them searing holes into her skin.

Notes