Chapter 2
Emily's POV
What could be so bad about Jack O'Callahan? Sure, he was a Boston boy, but he seemed nice enough. A little cocky, but nice. And, oh boy, those blue eyes. A girl could get lost for weeks in those eyes.
What the hell am I talking about? I'm with Mac, right? So, I shouldn't be thinking about another guy. Except Jack's kind of like forbidden fruit, and I want a taste. Only tricky part is how to go about that.
Luckily for me, Jack took care of that one. See, I went with Mac to practice the next day. And wouldn't you know that the Boston guys had the ice before them. After they'd cleared the ice I figured they would have left. But no, some of them decided to stick around. Guess who was one of them.
I was sitting in the stands when Jack walked up behind me and covered my eyes with his hands.
"Guess who?" he said, attempting to disguise his voice.
"Santa?" I asked, pulling at his hands. Truth was, I wanted to see if Robbie was looking in my direction.
"Hmm, close," Jack answered with a laugh as he sat dangerously close next to me. "But I'm better than Santa."
"Keep telling yourself that Boston boy. Whatever gets you through the day," I told him, elbowing him in the ribs. "Ya know, I'm not 'allowed' to see you."
"Yeah, and you strike me as the kind of girl who listens to orders given by a guy," Jack retorted.
"Very observant," I mused. "Look, I really like Robbie, and I'm very good at messing this kind of thing up. And I'm trying my damnedest not to do that. However, you are making that very difficult."
"I just want to be friends," Jack stated, throwing his hands up in surrender, or to show me that he didn't have his fingers crossed. "I thought it was okay for friends to hang out."
"I didn't know we were friends. I mean, changing your flat and then being knocked to the ground by you doesn't seal a friendship."
"True, but I don't know. I just figured, why not give it a try? Dare to be different, Morrison," Jack said with a wink.
"How is hanging out with you daring to be different?" I questioned, truly puzzled by his statement.
"I don't know. It just sounded good in my head," Jack replied with a laugh. And what a nice laugh. "Look, come with me, we'll get some ice cream and work on this whole being friends thing."
"Known me less than 24 hours and you've already found my weakness," I told him. "One thing though."
"What's that?"
"How's it gonna look if I leave here with you?" I inquired. "I mean, Robbie's right down there, and I'm pretty sure he's been watching us."
"I'll leave first, then you leave like ten minutes…no, make that three minutes later," Jack suggested.
"I don't know, O'Callahan. You know we're gonna get caught," I said uneasily.
"Worried?"
"More for you than for me," I said, standing up.
"I'm supposed to leave first," Jack replied, standing up and following me.
"Robbie wasn't looking," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I figured the coast was clear. Plus, you're buying me ice cream. How could I not leave?"
"Who said anything about buying?" Jack asked himself, thinking I didn't hear it.
I'm sitting in a park, eating ice cream with Jack O'Callahan, the guy my boyfriend has deemed a mortal enemy. Yeah, that works.
"You okay?" Jack asked, nudging me lightly, but not lightly enough to keep me from dropping a spoonful of ice cream in my lap.
"Damnit. Yeah I'm fine," I answered, frustratingly scrubbing my pant leg with a paper napkin until it fell apart.
"I didn't mean to scare you or anything," Jack said, apologetically.
"No, it's fine. Really, don't worry about it," I said, looking up to meet his eyes. A slight giggle escaped my lips, which I tried to mask, but to no avail.
"What's so funny?" Jack inquired.
"You've got ice cream on your chin," I told him, suppressing a laugh.
"May I have a napkin, you napkin hog?" he asked, looking around for more.
"Sorry, this was the last one," I replied, holding up the tattered paper. "Might just have to use your sleeve."
"I guess so," he said, using the back of his hand, but not getting it all.
"Let me, ya big baby," I said, moving my hand up to his chin to wipe away the remaining milky liquid. I think my hand may have lingered there for too long, though. Before I knew it, Jack's lips were meshed with mine, and I wasn't pulling away. Forbidden fruit definitely tastes sweet.
"I'm sorry," Jack whispered as he pulled away.
"Yeah, me too," I replied sheepishly, as I looked down at my shoes. As I pulled my head back up, I happened to notice a familiar car across the way. "Oh shit, not good."
"What's not good?" Jack questioned.
"See that brown car across the street?" Jack nodded. "That's Buzz Schneider's car, which means he's around somewhere. If he saw us kiss, he's gonna go right to Robbie."
"Maybe he didn't," Jack offered, wrapping a strong arm around my shoulders, as I sat there, head in hands. "I'll get you back to the hotel."
"Thanks, Jack," I responded, as he pulled me up off the bench before moving to his car.
We rode in silence all the way back. When he pulled up, first surveying to make sure no Minnesota hockey players would beat the hell out of him, I finally spoke.
"I'm sorry for freaking out like that," I told him with a slight laugh.
"No, I shouldn't have kissed the girlfriend of the guy who wants to kill me," Jack replied, placing his hand on mine. I leaned in a softly captured his lips with mine. "What was that for?"
"I figured I should get that out of my system," I explained before getting out.
