Score On Me

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1It was a typical January night in Pittsburgh. Snow fell in large flakes as Kat drove to the Rivers arena for a Pittsburgh Renegades hockey game. The stupid heater stopped working again, and her hands were almost numb from the freezing cold. Silently she cursed at herself. How could I forget my goddamn gloves?

“Stupid piece of s**t car,” she muttered. She was irritated, but it wasn’t really because of her stupid car.

She was supposed to meet Liz at the game, but something had come up and her friend had to back out, which left Kat on her own. Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

At twenty-four years old, Kat Torella lived alone in a tiny, but cute, apartment. She drove a junky little two-door, powder blue coupe. Kat loved her hockey; specifically, she loved Kris Lafleur. He was the team’s best defenseman. He was young, about her age, and a favorite amongst females. She fangirled over his flowing dark hair—his signature look—falling almost to his shoulders. It begged to be touched, and it always seemed to look effortlessly perfect.

She wore her Lafleur jersey, her Lafleur earrings and she had her Renegades purse. The purse signed by Kris Lafleur. That day was forever burned into her memory…

The hot sun beat down on her black jersey as she waited for practice to be over. She stood there for what felt like forever, but it was well worth the wait. Even with her long, dark brown hair gathered up in a ponytail, she was getting hot. The black fabric absorbed the heat, and she wished she’d worn a t-shirt instead, or at least a tank top under the jersey. Finally, a few of the guys walked out to the waiting crowd. Her breath caught as she gawked, motionless. Lafleur was standing right there, just a few feet away.

The people in front of her had brought sharpie markers and a t-shirt for the guys to sign. Looking over at them, her heart sped up and she started to sweat as panic set in. She didn’t have a marker or anything for him to sign. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She had her jersey on, so short of shoving her chest in his face to sign the black fabric, she was out of luck; but she had seriously considered it.

She asked the people in front of her if she could use their marker. When they moved over to hand it to her she looked up. Suddenly, she was face to face with Kris Lafleur. She froze.

The corner of his mouth turned up until a smile crossed his lips. He was even more handsome in person. His incredible smiling eyes mesmerized her, looked right into her. Somehow, she managed to smile back. At least she was able to do that.

Once he said hello she pretty much lost it. She didn’t remember standing next to him, or how she got there. She did know that she smiled a lot and had held out her Renegades purse and asked him if he would sign it. The couple standing next to her were nice enough to take her photo with the hockey hunk.

That photo now hung on the wall in her apartment.

Kat loved her hockey team, and was psyched to be going to the game, even if it was by herself. Her heart sank a little. As excited as she was to be going, it would be more fun with someone.

Snapping out of her self-pity, she concentrated on the road. She missed the rush hour traffic, so it took her only ten minutes to reach the university. Once she cut through that neighborhood she would be at the new arena.

She parked her car in the giant parking garage, pulled on her coat, and made the quick walk through the chill night air. Walking out of the garage, she admired the huge statue in front of the arena of the team’s owner and original golden boy, Ben Nolan.

The arena doors were already open, so she filed into the huge building with the other early fans, and headed over to the team store. Her eyes lit up as she walked through the rows of jerseys, and t-shirts. She brought a beautiful soft Renegades blanket to her cheek and then dropped it when she saw the hundred-dollar price tag. Stay focused. She wasn’t here for herself. She was here to buy a Tyler Kidd t-shirt for Gia, her sister, who also loved hockey. When they were younger, they would watch the games together on television and go ice-skating.

At the moment, Gia was in the Florida Keys enjoying the sun and warm weather with their parents. They always asked Kat to go too, but she had to work. Well, that was her ‘go to’ excuse. Catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror, her heart fell a little. Her stomach rumbled. Spending a week or more in a bathing suit with her parents was less than enticing.

After picking up the Tyler Kidd jersey, she had her ticket scanned and then made a beeline for the cafe.

Unfortunately, the line of hockey fans spilled out the door into the arena lobby. Disappointed and pouting, Kat slowly walked to her seat instead. She didn’t want to miss warm ups; that was her favorite part. Coffee could wait until after the game. Since she was there alone there was no reason to rush tonight. She could take her time after the game.

Walking leisurely towards her section, the tasty aroma of her favorite game time snack flooded her senses—nachos with jalapeno cheese. She raced to the counter, forgetting all about the coffee.

Once the tasty nachos were in her hands, she crossed the arena to her section. Kat pulled out her ticket, handing it to the female usher.

“You know, warm ups are getting ready to start. They’re allowing people to stand down by the glass to watch.” The usher pointed to the row by the glass.

Kat smiled at her. “Awesome, thanks!” Juggling all that she was carrying, she hurried down towards the ice. She had only sat close to the glass at practices, never at the Rivers Arena. She beat most of the crowd to the front row.

A Zamboni slid up and down the ice, making sure it was fresh for game time.

The girl next to her jumped up and down, flipping around her teased hair, and almost dipping it in Kat’s nacho cheese. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Scanning the crowd she knew she didn’t belong here. She was in a sea of skinny blondes. For a moment the excitement drained out of her. She felt invisible. Her eyes ran over every tiny waist, large breasts trying to pop out of snug tees, and perfect asses that looked like their blue jeans were painted on. She hadn’t seen jeans that size in—well, she probably never saw jeans that size. Her fat a*s was nothing to stare at, unless someone was making fun of it. They might as well put her up on the Jumbotron for all to see: the wide-load in the front row, stuffing her face with nachos.

Crunching down on another chip, her eyes landed on a thin girl glaring at her as she looked Kat over.

“Hey watch it!” The girl snapped, as she flipped her hair practically in Kat’s cheese sauce. “Don’t get that cheese on me, fatty.”

Ignoring her, Kat turned her attention to the ice. She could see her reflection in the glass, that round, chubby little girl was staring back at her. The one that was teased in school when her chubby thighs rubbed together and made her shorts ride up. The chubby girl that other kids chased around at recess, laughing at her attempt to run. The chubby girl people always stared at as she ate.

The smallest thing could set her off. As an adult she was generally happy with herself. Sure, she wasn’t anywhere near skinny. But, she was happy, until she saw a reflection of herself. Well, and then there was her mom. She wasn’t a bad person, but she never hid her disgust at Kat’s size. She was a catalyst behind her weight worries. Kat was only a size fourteen, but that wasn’t approved weight in the Torella household. That was fat. She was fat.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. Maybe she shouldn’t have sat in the front row. It would have been easier to hide farther back. Opening her eyes back up, she searched the ice for the players.

The music started. She ate some of her nachos watching the guys skate out onto the ice. She could almost reach out and touch them from here, if the glass wasn’t in the way, that was. The goalies were on the ice first. They skated to their nets, and started to stretch. Kaden O’Conner, was in the net closer to Kat. He sprawled on the ice, doing splits and stretches that she didn’t even think she was capable of doing! Lifting his helmet up, his dark blond hair fell in his eyes. He poured some water in his mouth, then spat it out onto the ice.

Waiting for his teammates, he skated in wide arcs around the ice, passing right by where she was standing. He was so close to her. Before she had much time to think about being that close to a Renegades player, the other guys started to hit the ice. There was Kris Lafleur! She could see his number from across the ice. He didn’t have his helmet on and his hair blew around as he glided along the ice.

He is so damn hot. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart skipped a beat.

Watching him skate gave her butterflies. She normally wasn’t the type of girl to go ga-ga over movie stars or anything like that. But she had a crazy thing for this hockey player! She couldn’t explain it, there was something about those deep, brown eyes, the way they captivated her. However, Kat was no puck bunny. She loved the game itself. She’d loved it for longer than she could remember; the hot guys were just a bonus. A big bonus.

Gia had bought her a puck bunny t-shirt for her birthday last year as a joke. She always teased Kat and said she wouldn’t know what to do with Lafleur if she was ever lucky enough to get her hands on him. On the contrary, Kat was pretty sure she would know exactly what to do with him!

She tossed a huge chip into her mouth, nacho cheese dribbled down her chin. Of course, at that very moment Kris Lafleur skated towards where she was standing. He was only a few feet from her. Even though they were separated by glass, her heart raced. Lafleur looked into the crowd, catching her eye. His gaze stayed on her as his teammates skated around him.

He wasn’t just looking at the fans, he was looking at her. She blinked a few times. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? But it was real. He was staring directly at her, the girl with nacho cheese dripping down her chin. Really? Crap! I’m such a mess! She quickly wiped her chin with her napkin. Her face burned with embarrassment.

She watched as his eyes moved to the ice and he skated backwards a few strides. He was farther away from the glass, but he looked back up at her and grinned. Her heart skipped a beat. This couldn’t be happening.

She watched as his eyes moved to the ice and he skated backwards a few strides. He was farther away from the glass, but he looked back up at her and grinned. Her heart skipped a beat. This couldn’t be happening.

Kids and girls screamed, “Lafleur!” and pounded on the glass. There was even a girl with really big boobs holding a “Marry Me Kris” sign, and bouncing more than she needed to. But he never moved his eyes from Kat, ignoring the other fans around her, ignoring the homemade signs and even ignoring all of the big boobs. He nodded in Kat’s direction with that small smile on his lips, then skated to the other end of the ice.

She watched him speed up, skating around the net. Did Kris Lafleur just smile at her? At her? No…