A Hockey Tutor (4 page)

Wes’ face lifted again. “Oh, you’re the tutor. That’s great. I mean, that you’re not his girlfriend. I mean, you know,” he trailed off.

I laughed. “Yes, I know.”

“He told us he had gotten a tutor. He didn’t tell us she was beautiful,” he said, flashing me a megawatt smile.

“Well, thanks for that,” I flirted back.

“Wes, what are you doing here? Figured you’d to be in the science lab, or something.” Andrew came up behind me, and I could hear the sarcastic tone in his voice.

“Oh, I figured after such a great game, I would celebrate with my teammates.”

“I see you’ve met Katie.”

“Yes, we were having a nice conversation, before the interruption.”

Andrew looked over at me and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Great party.”

“I'll be right over there, if you need me.”

Andrew shot Wes a look, patted my shoulder, and walked back to Amber.

“I think you have a protector,” Wes leaned down and whispered in my ear. I felt a blush creep up my face. Was Andrew protecting me?

I shook my head. “I think he’s protecting his NHL career.”

It was Wes’ turn to shake his head. “No. Even if he doesn’t graduate, the NHL will still take him. He’s the highest ranking goalie in the US right now, and the season hasn’t even started.”

That was information I wasn’t privy to. So what’s the point of spending so much money on me?

“The only problem is,” Wes continued, “he has to play to keep his ranking through this season. Then he’ll be drafted in the summer.”

I nodded. Well, that answered my question

I could hear Amber’s obnoxious laugh from across the room. Looking over, I could see her hanging on Andrew like a curtain on a rod. How annoying. It was clear she was way more excited to be with him than he was to be with her.

“Katie?”

“Huh?”

“I
said,
‘Do you want another drink?”

“Sure,” I answered, and we headed over to the bar.

I mixed another drink and asked Wes about his classes. He was a junior, and taking a heavy load this semester.

“Why are you taking so many credits, especially with hockey?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I like to keep busy.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant. I had started taking college courses in high school. It helped me focus on something other than my sadness. I wanted to take more classes when I came to college, but I didn’t want to overdo it. My father said that if my grades slipped, I would have to come back home.

“Want to dance?” Wes pointed to the dining room, which the partiers had turned into a dance floor. Wes seemed like a good guy, and I loved to dance.

“Sure,” I said, smiling at him. He grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. He stepped in close and put his hands on my hips as we swayed with the tempo of the music.

“This okay?”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. It was better than okay.

We danced to a couple songs, and I was having a great time. Then Wes asked if I wanted another drink.

I looked down at my watch and realized it was getting late.

“Thanks, but I think I’m going to go home.”

“Do you live nearby?”

“Four blocks.”

“Would you mind if I walked you home?” he asked, putting his hand on my hip again.

“Um, can you give me just a minute?”

“Sure.”

I walked over to where Lindsay and Franks were talking. “Hey,” I tapped Lindsay on the shoulder. “I’m leaving.”

“Why?” she asked, eyeing Wes standing behind me.

“Well, I have a big day tomorrow,
as do other people
,” I said loud enough for Andrew to hear.

“Yes, I know, one o’clock.” He rolled his eyes at me.

“And don’t forget practice in the morning,” I reminded him. “Anyway,” I turned back to Lindsay and asked, “Are you good?”

She looked at Franks, and then winked at me. “I’m good, and you’re good, too.” She tossed her head in Wes’ direction.

I groaned. “Don’t start. I’ll see you later.” I left her standing there, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Ready to go?” Wes asked.

“Yes.”

Wes took my hand and led me through the crowd and out the front door.

We didn’t rush down the block. It was nice to take a slow stroll with him. The pad of his thumb rubbed over mine.

“I’m surprised I hadn’t seen you on campus before.” I know I would remember if I had.

“I’m new actually. I transferred here.”

“How come?”

“For the hockey scholarship.”

“I know what you mean. College is so expensive.” I sighed, knowing how much I would have to pay when it graduate. Even with my scholarship I still had a lot of expenses.

“Yes.” He gently squeezed my hand.

“Did you grow up far from here?”

“Um, not really.” Wes looked away from me, and I had the feeling that he didn’t want to talk about his home life.

“Are you from around here?”

I shook my head. “Illinois. I actually grew up in a small farming town.”

“Wow. I bet that was really fun.”

“Sometimes. My brother and I were always outside helping my dad doing stuff around the land. We were most busy during planting and harvesting season.” I shrugged like it wasn’t any big deal, but in reality, it was the most exhausting task I could ever imagine.

Well, this is it,” I said when we arrived at my apartment.

The corners of Wes’ mouth slightly turned up. “Can I call you sometime?” he asked. I thought about it for a second. He didn’t overly flirt with me. He was very good looking. Plus, I wasn’t seeing anyone. “Sure.”

Wes gave me a big smile. I gave him my number, and he texted me his.

He stepped closer to me, and gently kissed me on the cheek. My breath caught as I felt his soft lips on my skin. “Have a good night, Katie.” He grinned as he walked away, back up the street.

Chapter 4 – Andrew

I stood next to Franks and watched Katie walk away with Wes. I didn’t trust Wes, and I didn’t like him hanging out with Katie.

A couple of my teammates started doing shots with me. I knew I needed to slow down, but I didn’t want to. I started to feel the effects of the alcohol, and it was a little hard to stay up, or keep my balance.

The last thing I remembered, Amber was asking if I was okay.

**

“I don’t care who you are, get out!” Katie’s voice was in my head.

“You’re a real bitch, you know that?” Was that Amber’s voice.

I opened my eyes the tiniest bit, and the bright light from the sun almost blinded me. I groaned as I felt my head pounding, and closed my eyes again

“Stop yelling,” I finally managed to say.

“Andrew, tell this bitch that I don’t have to leave just because she says so.” Amber was sitting next to me on the bed, covered up with a sheet. Great, it looked like I had a great time with her, and I didn’t even remember.

“Andrew, you have to be at practice in thirty minutes, get up.” Katie kicked the side of my bed. I groaned again. You’ve got to be kidding me. I have a serious hangover.

“He’s an adult; he doesn’t have to listen to you. You’re not his mother!” Amber yelled back at Katie.

“Get out of this room, before I throw you out,” Katie said in a low, serious tone. “I’m not his mother, but I
am
his tutor, so he’s going to listen to me.”

“Amber, just go. I have things to do today.” My voice was horse, my mouth was dry, but I was finally able to put together a full sentence.

Amber huffed in defiance and dressed quickly, without another word. Katie was standing by my side of the bed with her arms crossed. Amber gave her the evil eye before slamming my bedroom door.

I grumbled again, as my head pounded harder.

“Andrew, you need to get ready. Get in the shower, and let’s go.” Katie’s tone wasn’t as serious, or as loud, as it was with Amber.

“Fine.” I jerked the covers off and swung my legs over the edge of my bed.

I looked down and realized I was naked.

“Like what you see?” I teased her.

She raised her face and connected with my eyes. “Sorry, I can’t tell because I don’t have a magnifying glass with me. You now have twenty-seven minutes to get ready.” She turned toward my bedroom door, and walked out.

I sat there with my jaw dropped. Did she really say that to me? I jumped into the shower and got ready, still fueled with anger.

My head was killing me as I came down the stairs. The house was a wreck from the party last night, but I didn’t care. Katie was sitting at the dining room table. In front of her was a plate of toast and coffee; next to her, another plate and cup, along with a couple white pills.

“Sit down, eat, and take those two aspirins,” she instructed.

“You know I’m pissed off at you,” I informed her as I sat down.

She took a drink of coffee. “I can handle it.”

“I mean it, Katie,” I said more sternly.

“Tough,” she said, glaring at me. “Your father hired me for a purpose, and I’m going to do my job.”

“He hired you to tutor me, not be a raging bitch.” I pushed the plate away and crossed my arms.

“Let me tell you something,
Andrew
. Your father is paying me a lot of money to help keep your nose on the goal, which is decent grades, and the NHL. You should be so lucky as to have a father that cares that much about you, because some people don’t have that. Now, if you just want to lie around and sleep with anything that breathes, and drink alcohol until you’re in a coma, then go ahead. I’ll return the money to your dad and I’ll go about my business. But if you want to grow up and take some responsibility, then I’ll help you.” Her jaw was set, her arms folded. Neither one of us said anything; we stared each other down.

“Eat your toast; we have to leave in about thirty minutes.” She pushed the plate back towards me.

“Thirty minutes?” She had been barking at me for twenty-five minutes that we had to go.

“Yeah, I might have embellished the time before, but Ms. Blondie wouldn’t get out of the room.” She picked at her toast. I took a bite of mine and we ate in silence.

I liked the quiet. It was the only time that I could really think.

“Hey, Katie.” I cleared my throat. I didn’t know if I should say anything to her or not. Maybe I should shut up about it.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want to waste your time.” I meant it to. I wanted to succeed in school and get into the NHL.

“Andrew, I like partying and having a good time as much as the next girl. Hell, everyone needs a break once in a while. But you have to find your balance, okay?” She smiled, and patted my hand.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Come on, let’s get this day started.” She stood up and cleared the table. I followed suit.

After dumping everything into the sink, I grabbed my bag and headed to the front door, where Katie was waiting. We went out to the car, and she drove us to the rink.

“Okay, so after practice, you’re going to lift weights, and I will meet you at the library at one, deal?”

I nodded. “Yep, sounds good.”

“I have your books already. See ya at one.”

I got out of the car and watched her drive away. Katie was right; I did need to find a balance. I had felt out balance, lost, for the last two years.

I proceeded into the rink and headed to the locker room. I was the last one to arrive, and most of my teammates were already on the ice. Coach nodded and said, “Nice of you to join us today, Moore.". I knew he was going to be harder on me today. It didn’t help that my head was still pounding.

I dressed and went out on the ice. Coach was beginning to run drills for the team. Wes and I were leaning against the bench, waiting for them to finish.

“Great party last night.”

I ignored him. I wished he could’ve kicked Wes out of his house as soon as he showed his ugly mug. But, in the interest of team unity, I sucked it up.

“You’re looking a little green this morning, though.”

“Shut up. Even hung over, I can stop more pucks than you.”

Wes paused. “I think Katie and I hit it off pretty well.”

I shrugged.

“Do you have a problem with that, Andrew?”

His smirk pissed me off. I wanted nothing more than to punch him right in the face.

Even though I wanted to tell him to stay away from her, I shook my head. “No, I have no ties to her, except that she’s my tutor.”

“From where I'm standing, she looks like your nanny.”

“You know I still don’t like you,” I hissed at him.

“I don’t care. Juniors was a long time ago. I have other plans now.” He glared back at me.

“Oh, that’s right, Mr. Science Guy. You’re going to be a bigshot doctor.”

Wes scoffed. “Well, that is the plan. Unlike you, of course. Tell me, what happens if you fail this time? I guess the NHL could give you a job as a towel boy.”

I had never wanted to punch someone as much as I wanted to punch him at that very moment. I got right up in his face, and he didn’t even back down.

“Enough!” I heard Coach yell from the other side. He skated up to us. “I told you both at the beginning of training camp there were going to be no issues or fights. Are we clear?”

We both looked at Coach and nodded. I stayed away from Wes for the rest of practice.

Practice was long and hard, and thankfully the hangover was finally letting up. When I returned to the locker room, I stripped off my equipment and went to the workout room. I lifted weights for a while; then ran several miles on the treadmill. My legs were burning so badly, I had to stop.

I jumped into a hot shower and let the water loosen my tight muscles, and I felt a lot better. I dried off, put on clean clothes, and checked my phone. I needed to hurry if I was going to make it to the library by one.

Walking across campus, I enjoyed the fresh air. I loved this time of year, mainly because it was getting closer to the start of the season. The first game was always the most nerve-wracking for me, because it sets the tone for the whole season. This was an important one for me. I knew everyone would be watching, and I’m not going to screw it up.

I thought more about what Katie had said to me today. I needed to grow up. I knew she was right, but my head, wasn't letting me do it. All signs pointed to me being drafted this summer. The looming question was, was I ready?

If I thought about it long enough, the answer was yes. Playing in the NHL was all I had ever wanted. This past year in Juniors was the greatest time of my life, until the final game. Even then, I wouldn’t change a single thing about my hockey career decisions.

As I approached the library, I saw Katie standing outside talking to Wes. He leaned over and swept a piece of flyway hair out of her eyes. Man, I hated that guy.

“Hey, Andrew.” Katie smiled as I made my way towards them.

“Hey.” I said quickly, before I turned my attention to Wes and said, through clenched teeth, “How did you get here so fast?”

“I lifted weights before practice. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you’re not hung over.”

I could feel my fingers tighten into a fist, and I took a step toward Wes. He must have seen my clenched hand, because he took a step back.

“Well, I’ll let you two get some studying done. I’ll see you tonight, Katie.” I watched as he squeezed her hand before leaving. I glared at the back of his head as he walked away.

“He’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit. Wes had just asked me if I had a problem with it, and I told him no. But the truth is, I did have a problem with it. Then again, I knew Wes better than Katie did. I knew what he was really like under that cunning smile.

“Are you ready?” Katie asked, bringing me out of my angry fog.

I nodded.

I followed Katie to a table and watched as she unloaded her bag.

“Are you going to stand while I tutor?”

Even though I really wanted to go to bed, I relented and sat down,. Katie started with my Monday morning class first and was going over the syllabus. I didn’t realize how much I had missed. Katie was attentive to detail, and was constantly asking if I understood. I did, because Katie was a great teacher. We finished two papers and all the homework questions for our Business Management class. I had never done so much school work at one time.

“Well, I think we're done for today,” Katie announced as she began to gather her books. “This is what we need to get done by Monday.” She went over everything that I needed to do, and even gave me a list. Then she handed me my agenda for the next couple of weeks. When I looked at it, and saw the tremendous amount of studying, I took a deep breath, unsure if I could do it.

As if she was reading my mind, Katie patted my hand. “It’s not that bad. Come on, I’ll run you home, and we can pick up tomorrow.” She stood up.

“You coming to the party tonight?” I asked quickly.

She shrugged. “Wes and I might swing by.”

I bit down on my lip to keep from telling her to stay the hell away from Wes. I helped her gather the rest of the books, and then to my house.

I thanked her for today. She really was helpful. I grabbed my stuff from the trunk. The house was completely cleaned. I’m really glad I hired that cleaning lady, because I sure as hell didn’t want to do it.

I walked, stiff-legged, to my bedroom. My legs were still hurting, and I ended up just falling into my bed. I lay there thinking about the craziness that was my life. The past few days had been like I was in a Wizard of Oz tornado.

I heard my phone ringing in my pocket. When I retrieved it, I saw that it was Amber. I hit ignore. I wasn’t dealing with her right now. At that very moment, all I wanted to do was close my eyes. But when I did, the schedule that Katie made for me for the next weeks flashed before my eyes. How was I going to make it through this semester?