Crashing Hard (Loving the Sound Book 2) Read online

  A: You will think this is insane, but I’m going to move in with Scotty.

  J: What? Really? When?

  A: Well, he asked earlier today and gave me a puppy when he came home from the All-Star game. I couldn’t say no. It was so good before the All-Star game.

  J: Staying at his place and living with him is a little different.

  A: I know. It’s why I’m going to keep the lease to my old place just in case. But I want to do it. I think I love him.

  J: I can understand that. So when do you move in?

  A: I guess last night? Tonight? Most of my stuff won’t arrive until later. But I am sleeping over again, just like last night.

  J: Alright. Have a good night. But I want the details, especially how you guys met.

  A: I ran into him playing pickup. Like I always said.

  J: Seriously? He was playing pickup with a bunch of wannabes?

  A: No. Women will use the team locker room if they aren’t using it. Everyone was supposed to be gone. He wasn’t. I literally ran into him. I guess he hung around and watched pickup. I don’t know. But afterward he wanted my number so he could help improve my game. I wasn’t an idiot. I gave him my info.

  A: Seriously, I need to go. Scotty is waiting.

  Jenna had to laugh. That was Alice. But it still seemed so surreal that her friend was moving in with a famous hockey player. So much so that Jenna was known to send photos of him when Alice was having a bad day, although she would send Alice way more photos of their favorite gingers from the Flyers. They both had things for the gingers.

  Jenna couldn’t blame Alice for wanting to move in with him. A couple years ago, a crazy lady set their porch on fire and Alice moved out immediately. But she moved in with a close friend until she could find a new place to live. Jenna just didn’t like how quickly Alice was moving in with Scotty. She would have liked the opportunity to vet him since he was a professional athlete. So many of them were playboys and she didn’t want Alice to get crushed.

  Jenna started to do some internet research on Scotty. Not that she could change Alice’s mind about the guy but if there were any red flags, it was her duty to warn Alice. Jenna saw that he was basically the perfect poster boy for the team. Then again, he was the face of the Sound. As Jenna was looking at other posts from his Instagram, she recognized a familiar face from what felt like a lifetime ago. He looked older than the last time she saw him but there was no denying who he was.

  “No fucking way!”

  It was the cute asshole who hit her with his car last year. He had a beard and filled in his frame a bit more since he ran into her, and both changes made him look about five years older and even more attractive than before. She finally knew his name: Corey Corso. It was pretty clear he was a player with the Sound from by Scotty’s profile. She took a quick look at his stats and such and quickly realized why he looked like such a baby when they first met: he was nearly ten years younger than she was and was barely twenty-one. She kicked herself yet again for not getting his information after the accident. Jenna texted Alice one last time and expected that she wouldn’t respond until the morning, but Alice had unique access to find out more about her mystery boy.

  J: What do you know about Corey Corso?

  She knew she should go to bed, but she needed to busy herself if only to exhaust her mind. So she continued to explore the internet on her phone to learn more about Corey. It seemed like there had been a huge change in his habits from last season to this season. Last season, he was a typical hotshot playboy. Tons of women, drinking and a high-octane style of playing. This season, he was mostly on the third line and seemed a little more consistent. It was clear he was hanging out with Scotty and his friends more this year than the previous. She liked the new look but she wasn’t sure what was his true personality.

  Jenna realized that the girl who was in the car with Corey was his sister. No wonder he didn’t like her being called his girlfriend. She appeared to be a model who was out of control. There were photos of her doing drugs, which was one thing that Corey seemed to have not ever done. It was clear that Corey was spending a lot less time with his sister this year and instead had dialed in on hockey. There wasn’t a single picture linking the two of them since shortly after the accident. Jenna was wondering if there had been a falling out.

  Eventually Jenna went to sleep. It was a good sleep except it was short. When she was awoken by her alarm, she saw that Alice had responded to last night’s text.

  A: He’s one of Scotty’s friends. Seems like a good guy. Been to his rink a few times. Why do you ask?

  J: No reason.

  A: No reason? Are you sure? I know he’s your type.

  J: Yeah. Just curious.

  Jenna just hoped that would be enough to keep Alice from sniffing her out. Alice was one of the few people who knew about when she got hit by a car. Alice was pissed when it happened and she wasn’t sure how Alice would react to finding out that Corey was the one who had hit her. But there was no denying that he was easy on the eyes. At least Alice liked Corey, and she couldn’t stand flashy playboy types so maybe he really had changed for the better.

  2

  Corey

  The game against Philadelphia was intense but the Sound won and that’s all that mattered. As they were getting out of their gear, Lager tried to shock Corey by saying, “Did you hear Scotty is actually going to a real bar tonight?”

  Corey was surprised and asked, “What do you mean by a real bar?”

  Sure, Scotty was a pretty boring drinker, always sticking to a Yuengling if he could. But they had been to several bars together over the last year or so. Corey wasn’t sure what Lager was getting at.

  “Dude, get it right. They’re going to a taproom, not a bar,” piped in Petey. That intrigued Corey. He hadn’t been to a brewery in a while. He loved going to taprooms and bars. He heard that Philly had some good ones so he was curious to hear where Scotty was planning on going.

  “Regardless, Alice isn’t making it easy on Scotty tonight.”

  Scotty laughed and said, “It’s her favorite place in the city. It’s not a big deal.”

  Corey still wasn’t sure what to make of Scotty’s girlfriend. They had hung out a few times since the OTA but she was usually really quiet any time Scotty asked if they could come over to skate. The only time he really saw much of her personality was when Scotty brought her out to help coach. Her “freak line” had definitely helped his stats. He knew from Scotty that she was really into craft beer and he had even asked Corey for advice on what to pick up from the store for her.

  “Would she mind if a couple of us came along too?” asked Corey. He knew from Scotty that she was practically a local, so he was curious what her favorite place was. He figured it would be a sure bet.

  “Nah. She invited a few of her friends from the city to hang out with us. Besides that asshole already invited himself,” Scotty said, pointing toward Lager. “Might as well have you and Petey join too.” So that was easy.

  It didn’t take too long for the Uber to drop off the four of them at the taproom. Lager was still giving Scotty a hard time about going to one. Petey and Corey were mostly letting the two older guys do their thing while they joked among themselves.

  He followed Scotty into the taproom. It didn’t take long to find Alice since she immediately came up to them. But that didn’t surprise him; it was who Alice was sitting next to before she came up to them that stopped him in his tracks. Sitting with the group of Alice’s friends was the girl he couldn’t forget.

  What the fuck? She’s here?

  Corey barely paid attention to what Alice was saying about ordering since he was looking at the girl he had hit. Petey pulled on his arm to get his attention. As they walked to the bar to order, Petey whispered, “Yo, what’s your problem? It’s like you saw a ghost.”

  “Remember what happened the last time we were in Philly?”

  “Yeah. Why? Is she here?” Petey was the only person he had told about
how he hit someone with his car with his sister the last time they were in Philly and how he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  “Yeah, sitting next to Alice.”

  Before Petey had a chance to say anything, Lager said, “I bet you guys twenty dollars that Scotty won’t drink tonight. This place is too funky for him.”

  Corey just said, “You’re on.” Corey needed something to take his mind off the fact he had an opportunity to properly meet and get to know the girl who had changed his life. Although after closer inspection of the beer menu, he thought he might be giving Lager twenty dollars. The beers were all off the beaten track in terms of flavor combinations, which suited Corey just fine, but he did have trouble seeing Scotty order anything.

  As they were heading over to the seats, Corey knew he would have to talk with the car accident girl. God, he needed to find out her name since that was an awful thing to be calling her. Instead of thinking about that, he pointed out to Lager how Scotty was drinking from Alice’s flight and said, “Dude, pay up.”

  Surprising none of the Sound guys, Lager tried to get out of the bet by saying, “He didn’t buy it. It doesn’t count.”

  Petey said, “No, you said drink. Pay him.” Corey wasn’t too surprised when Petey chimed in. Petey always had his back even if that meant making his landlord pay out.

  Lager pulled out a twenty and handed it over to Corey as he said, “Fine. It’s still weird.” Corey shrugged. He never said it was normal for Scotty to drink something other than a boring lager. He just thought that there was no way Scotty was going to be the only person not drinking tonight.

  Alice and Scotty just laughed at the whole interaction. If Corey didn’t know better, it seemed like Scotty was going to say something to Lager but instead he turned toward Alice and whispered into her ear. The two of them were definitely in that super-romantic phase of their relationship. It was cute to see them interact as long as you saw it for what it was. It didn’t take long for Scotty to excuse himself for his own drink order.

  Corey decided to sit next to the mystery girl. He was glad when she didn’t jump away or appear to mind that he sat next to her. Lager chose the open seat closest to him while Petey moved in between some of Alice’s other friends almost to help break up the Sound guys. They could be a wee bit intimidating since they were all tall and fit. He was glad that Petey was still close enough to be his wingman or run interference if needed. Thankfully, he and the girl were ignoring the elephant in the room.

  Once Scotty returned to the group and sat down next to Alice again, Alice finally introduced everyone. Corey had never been so happy to find out someone’s name before. It was Jenna. Corey barely listened to the other introductions after finding out Jenna’s name. His attention was solely on the brunette with an easy smile and glasses.

  The night was filled with laughter and Jenga. Corey was amused by all the things that were written on the blocks and how competitive Jenna got with him. Then it turned into the two of them against Petey and one of Alice’s other friends. It seemed like Alice, Scotty, Lager and a couple of her friends were having a good time talking in a subgroup that wasn’t involved in Jenga.

  When Jenna finished her flight, he immediately downed the last beer in his and asked if she wanted another beer. She asked for a large pour of That’s How They Get You. Corey laughed at the name for the second time that night. He couldn’t remember what that was initially until he went to the bar for the drink and realized it was one of the beers he left off his flight, so he opted to get a large pour hoping it was good.

  The taproom was starting to shut down around them. Scotty looked down at his watch and realized that they were going to be cutting it dangerously close to curfew and they should be heading back to the hotel soon if they wanted to stay out of trouble. The only issue was Corey wanted to walk Jenna and her friends to the SEPTA station. Petey elbowed him and shot him a look, basically screaming at him that their captain was right there and was already on his phone ordering an Uber. There was no way Corey would be allowed to do the chivalrous thing to walk them to the station. Lager was also on his phone ordering a car.

  As they waited for their Ubers, they all said their goodbyes for the evening. It was the usual that everyone had a good time and they should do it again but it felt more genuine then just saying it for politeness sake. Corey mentioned to Jenna that he would have loved to walk them at least to the station.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’re all going in the same direction. I won’t be walking solo.”

  Corey nodded. He still didn’t really like the idea of them walking alone. All the guys were on the small side but Lager’s Uber arrived. Immediately, Petey jumped inside. He was about ready to get into the same car, since they usually rode together while on the road, when Lager leaned over and said, “Keep an eye on the lovebirds.” So he did what he was told.

  Scotty’s Uber came up to the curb shortly after. Corey got in first, then Alice and Scotty. Alice was cuddling up to Scotty. While the two of them were overt in their affection, but they were not out of control by any means. Besides out of all of them, Scotty always obeyed the rules. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Scotty actually get lit up. Hell, it was Scotty who was concerned about the four of them breaking curfew. They didn’t need a chaperone to keep them from making out too much.

  They got settled in the car and it was a pretty quiet ride. But Corey realized how much of an idiot he was and they had been in too much of a rush to make that damn curfew that he just let out a dejected, “Dammit, I didn’t get her number.”

  Scotty nudged Alice. Alice’s face turned slightly serious as she said, “Jenna is one of my best friends and I know you’re a great guy, but I can’t just give it to you. Let me text her and see what she says. If she says okay, I will give it to you.”

  All hope wasn’t lost but he hated how Alice didn’t just give him the number. He understood where she was coming from and he knew where he stood with her. He watched as Alice quickly texted her friend. It was obvious Scotty was getting tired since he was leaning on Alice and he was trying to hide his fatigue by kissing the side of her forehead.

  It felt like ages until Alice smiled and handed Corey her phone with a contact page open. It was probably just a few seconds but he wanted to text Jenna as soon as he could. He was quick to snap the photo and start to save the information into his phone. He said, “I owe you one.”

  Scotty immediately said, “More like a few if you count the fact that she’s the reason you’re on the first power play unit and suddenly the star everyone is talking about this month.”

  It was clear that Scotty had embarrassed Alice with the attention and she started blushing. Corey knew his captain was probably right. While the power play one unit was her idea, it took both Lager and Scotty advocating the use of the formation to Coach Berman before it happened in a real game. While he would always open up his rink to the two of them, he was wondering if that would be enough if things worked out with Jenna.

  The car was silent for the last ten minutes of the ride as Corey was texting on his phone. He knew he had a wide grin on his face but he didn’t care. He had had a good time and was talking to the girl who haunted his dreams.

  Jenna

  She couldn’t believe it. It was weird to see her best friend wearing anything but Flyers colors at a Flyers game, but she was wearing her boyfriend’s jersey to the game since he was playing in it. That was going to take a while to get used to. After the game, that was something she never expected. She knew that Scotty was going to meet them at Evil Genius. Alice wanted to introduce her new boyfriend and have him spend some time hanging out with her friends. Scotty was everything Alice made him out to be: charming, romantic and seriously hot. She wasn’t expecting that he was going to bring along some of his teammates. Of course, he had to bring along Corey Corso. It was clear that he was also surprised as hell to see her again. They both did a double take initially and then pretended like they had never met before. They both complet
ely ignored the fact that he had hit her with his car. It seemed like they were hitting it off, which was crazy since she never went for young guys. He didn’t act like a young guy. He belonged with them in every way. They played several games of Jenga and talked the whole night long.

  It seemed like he was interested in her; he even wanted to walk them to the SEPTA station. Then Scotty put an end to that discussion when he said they were going to miss curfew and that they needed to get back. But Corey never asked for her information. Was he really interested in her? It wouldn’t go anywhere if they couldn’t talk to each other. Sure she could possibly slide into his DMs, but that just wasn’t her style. The sperm should chase the egg; not the other way around. Corey should have made the first move if he was interested.

  She wished that Alice was heading back to her place with her like a normal Philly trip. She could discuss the whole Corey situation with her, which she needed. But she knew it made way more sense for Alice to head back with the guys since she was staying with Scotty for the night. Besides, it was clear they were both completely smitten with each other.

  As she was boarding the El (the Market-Frankford elevated subway line), she got a message from Alice asking if she was allowed to share her contact information with Corey. It was easy to say yes. She was reassured that Corey didn’t put on an act that he was interested in her. She knew that she shouldn’t get her hopes up too much since he was likely to never contact her. ’Cause seriously, everyone knows how often people will share their numbers and then never contact them. Not to mention the other fact: he was too young for her. But even as she was starting to accept the idea that Corey wouldn’t ever actually reach out to her, she got a message from an unknown number.

  C: Hey, beautiful. It was good seeing you again. Glad you’re okay after everything. Crazy to run into you again. -Corey