Page 67 of Hockey Player Seeking Fan

"She’s justagirl. For now."

“Uh huh, sure. Whatever, Mr. Non Committal.”

I take a deep breath. "Hey, I should get going. I have a date, and I should get ready."

"With this girl or someone else?”

“Does it matter?”

"What? Tyler, what are you doing?"

"Trust me, sis. One day you’ll understand."

"One day? Tyler, my engagement just got called off because my fiancé was cheating on me. That ‘one day’ is here," she says, laughing ironically. "But I hope you know what you’re doing."

"So do I, sis," I say, and hang up.

I enter the Old Sea Brigade, look around, and wait to see if any woman is going to come up to me. But no one does.

I head toward the bar, and I’m about to order a drink when a cute, short redhead stops next to me.

"Hey there. Tyler, right?"

"Hi," I say, staring at her.

"I’m Melanie. I think Jennifer called you earlier?"

"Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you. Would you like something to drink?"

"Yeah, get me an IPA or something."

"Sure," I say.

She bites down on her lower lip, and I watch as she pushes her chest forward. She’s pretty—in an obvious way. Pretty, not stunning. She’s got on a lot of makeup, caked so thick I can actually see it starting to rub off.

It’s not a look I normally go for, but I’m just here to enjoy the evening.

I grab the beer and we head over to a free booth and take a seat.

"So, why exactly did you want to meet me?" I ask.

"You’re going to think this is funny, but I’ve never done a hockey star before."

"Sorry, what?" Did I just hear her correctly?

She chugs her beer and leans back before flipping her hair and leaning forward again.

"I’m gonna be straight with you. I’ve had a basketball player. A couple of football players. Baseball. They’re actually not that good. A soccer player who played for Real Madrid—and let me tell you, they were packing. But I’ve never had any ice hockeyplayers. And well... I said to myself,How am I going to have a list and not have a hockey player? I want the hockey player.And you—you’re the ice hockey player."

"So romantic," I say sarcastically.

She grins. "Fuck romance, right? I want your dick inside of me. And I heard you like to share it around, so I really don’t know what you’re waiting for. You've got a condom right? We can go in the bathroom and you can give me the best five minutes of my life." She throws her head back and laughs. "Or wait, maybe you’re a ten-minute guy?"

I lean back and shake my head, taking a couple of gulps of beer.

What she’s saying doesn’t even shock me. It’s not like I’ve never had casual sex before. It’s not like I’ve never met a woman who was interested in the same. But I’ve certainly never met a woman this jaded. This crass. And it just strikes me—she's the exact opposite of Erica.

I take a deep breath.