“Five minutes, I swear,” David Rundblad said with his trademark grin, “You gotta live a little, Ollie Bear.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson rolled his eyes, “Stop calling me that.” David messed Oliver’s hair and laughed as he went berserk. His best friend wasn’t exactly a diva, but his hair was something he was rather proud of.
“Not my fault I wake up and mine is flawless,” David joked, holding the door for Jakob Silfverberg, who was walking with them, “Which ice surface?”
“I think it’s 2B, if I remember correctly,” Silver replied, “Yeah, the sign up sheet said 2B.”
“Giant ice complex with several rinks,” David grinned, “Sounds like a dream. Canada finally got something right, didn’t they?”
“You know this is like stalking, right?” Oliver sighed, “It’s pretty perverted, too...”
“Like I said, live a little,” David replied simply, “And I prefer to call it ‘window shopping’.”
Oliver felt extremely uncomfortable. As an Ottawa Senators rookie outside of his native Sweden, he wanted nothing more than to make the best impression possible. David wasn’t a bad guy, but Oliver worried he might steer him off the path he needed to follow.
That, and Oliver wasn’t that great with girls.
Silver had found out that the Sens were the second team in the NHL in Canada that was getting Ice Girls, otherwise known as cheerleaders, hockey-style. David was fascinated by this and so was Silver, but Oliver had been less impressed. Back in Leksand where he had finished three seasons, they had the same thing- ‘Star Babes’ - but the bleach-blonde, orange-skinned girls that danced in the stands didn’t exactly appeal to him. David had insisted on going to watch the tryouts and so had Silver. Oliver was basically dragged alone against his will.
“Here it is, 2B,” David pushed the door open, “Let’s just go sit over there.” He gestured to the seats by the bench.
“What if someone asks who we are?” Oliver asked.
Silver pulled out his Senators pass, “We’ll say we’re allowed because we’re players. And that Sens TV is interviewing us afterward about what we feel Ice Girls will bring to the team.”
“Like herpes?” Oliver quipped. David shot him a look.
“Just chill out, sit back, and enjoy,” he said, propping himself up in a folded seat, “Well damn. Check it out.”
The girls had started filing out onto the ice, wearing nothing but little black short-shorts and sports bras with hockey helmets. Each girl had a pair of hockey skates with socks, gloves and a stick. David licked his lips and Silver raised his eyebrows in approval. Oliver felt bored.
A puck suddenly shot their way and peppered around the glass, causing the boys to jump back. Oliver leaned forward to see who had shot it, and noticed a petite, tanned girl with dark brown hair and big, brown eyes. She had the same look of shock on her face as they did.
The woman coaching the session stopped and scolded her. The girl looked like she wanted to cry and hung her head, nodding slowly. Oliver watched her carefully, and to his amazement saw she could puck handle to a decent level. Her coordination was spectacular. Why wasn’t she playing hockey?
“Autumn, dear, we’re not using the pucks,” Veronica explained, “You won’t be needing them.” Embarrassed, Autumn took the milk crate filled with the tiny rubber pucks and began to skate away with them, not before looking over her shoulder again to see if she was still being watched. She was.
Oliver swore that he had never seen a more beautiful girl in his entire life. He felt his stomach flutter in an odd little way that it had only done once before. Leaning forward towards the glass, he waited for her to return to the ice, and his heart skipped a beat when she did.
For the first time, Oliver let his mind wander lustfully, as David’s always did. Only he kept it to himself. Selfishly he looked her up and down- she was thin, but not stick-like; she had curves in all the right places, including her perky butt, he thought with a grin. Her hair was long and in untamed waves that he thought would be amazing to get his fingers lost in.
But it was her eyes that drove him crazy. There were wide and innocent, but at the same time, dark and unnerving. A dead stare could kill someone, and then she could turn around and bring them back to life. Oliver didn’t realize how much he was looking at her until David nudged him.
“You found something you like, yeah?”
Oliver felt his cheeks flush, “Shut up...”
“No, it’s good, get your mind off that bitch,” David said, “And I’m calling her that because she deserves it.” Oliver had been through a bad break-up just before moving to Ottawa, and it was a delicate subject. David hated anyone that hurt any of his friends, that girl included, so he was relieved to see Oliver admiring someone.
One by one, each girl was asked to skate a lap around the ice, stick in hand. Then, they had to use shovels as though clearing the ice. It was all to see who was most coordinated and who could keep the job going while still entertaining the crowd. The three boys were deeply entertained, David especially. He noted at least three or four girls he found attractive. Oliver just shook his head. He didn’t know how he could do it.
After the initial tryout, Veronica and Tammy told the girls to do some ‘freestyle’- therefore they could do whatever they wanted on the ice. The two coaches sat together on the bench and reviewed each girl, checking off who they thought was best suited for the team. As they did this, the girls started to talk amongst each other, even though the competition was obviously tense, some had made friends.
Nathalie decided to approach the girl she’d nearly walked into and seen a few times.
“Hey,” she said brightly, skating up to her, “I’m Nathalie.”
“Oh, I’m Autumn,” she replied, “Nice to meet you.”
“Where are you from?” Nathalie asked her, “Are you from here?”
“No, actually, just outside of Toronto. Just moved here.”
“Wow, new job or something?”
“Just needed a change.” Autumn didn’t feel the need to spill her guts to this complete stranger.
“Nathalie, Autumn, Mariella, Wendy,” Veronica called out. It seemed last names were not needed. The four girls skated over to the bench and were spoken to briefly.
“Autumn,” Oliver sounded out in his mind, “Autumn.” What a perfect name, he thought.
“Thank you for trying out, girls,” Tammy said as Mariella and Wendy departed, “You look as though you’re the smallest one here. Perfect to be the team Flyer.” Autumn’s eyes widened. “And you have excellent strength. We need that, you could be anything on the team.” Nathalie felt a smile on her lips. “So. Practice in two days. Uniform measurements tomorrow. And Autumn, we need your address for contact purposes.”
“Oh,” Autumn looked down, “I don’t actually have one, yet. I’m still looking for a place to live...”
Nathalie nudged her, “I’m actually looking for a roommate. If that’s ok, I mean. We’re both gonna be working here, so...”
“Well, I’ll let you two work that out,” Tammy said with a nod, “Welcome to the team, ladies.”
“Are you sure?” Autumn asked, “We’ve barely exchanged words...”
“I’m just asking because I don’t know anyone else here, and I can’t afford the apartment I have on my own,” Nathalie told her, “You’re the biggest acquaintance I’ve made in this country.”
Autumn frowned, “...country?”
“I’m from Sweden,” Nathalie explained, “I came here for change.”
Sweden. Autumn felt her heart sink. Of course she had to be from Sweden, the very place she wanted to escape and erase from her memory. But really, what other option did she have, in such a short time? She couldn’t afford a hotel forever.
“Ok,” Autumn said, nodding, “Sounds good. Maybe we could go for lunch, get to know each other?”
Nathalie smiled, excited, “I’d love to!”
Autumn sighed, relieved, “Ok. Cool. Let’s go get changed.”
David nudged Oliver, "You want to go grab some food? I've seen enough."
Oliver, seeing the girl he liked was no longer on the ice, didn't hesitate, "Yeah, sounds good. Do you know the way out of here?"
"I think I do," Silver said, standing up, "Let's see if we can get Erik to go with us, maybe meet up?"
"Sure thing, I'll text him," David said, grabbing his phone as they ascended up the stairs, "Damn. I cannot wait for this season to start."
"You're going to stalk their practices, aren't you?" Oliver said, rolling his eyes.
"You know it."
