13 hockey fights

The pub was on the second floor wrap around balcony. The enire first floor was the arcade. It was a little dark so it took a moment for their eyes to adjust.

"I want food I'm starving!" One of the guys said and headed for the stairs.

"I'm going to go figure out the tokens." Keisha said pulling some of the girls with her.

Kitt stood frozen. It looked like a lot if fun, but it also looked quite expensive. She looked up at the cafe area and decided a coke and people watching was her best option.

Leo had such an excited look in his eye that it broke Kitt's heart a little. He would feel the need to stay with her.

"I'm going to go find the washroom, I will find you in a bit." She smiled.

"Ok, sounds good." He smiled and headed off in the direction of the games.

Kitt found the washroom and took her time using the facilities, fixing her hair and just stalling.

When she couldn't justify hanging out in the washroom any more she went to find her friends, she could watch them for a while and then go find Leo.

"What are you guys playing?" She came up to stand beside Josie who was piloting a weird chair with a huge screen in front of it.

"Goo zapper." She said aiming her shooter at the target and firing.

"It's not called goo zapper." Kitt laughed.

"Who cares? It is a game where you shoot things with goo for points." Josie said.

"Sounds exhilarating." Kitt laughed.

"So we came all this way to see Leo and you are here and he is here, yet you are watching me zap goo cans, and he is probably looking for you." Josie said quietly.

"Oh I just went to the washroom and then saw you over here, so I popped over." Kitt tried to sound nonchalant.

"You should go find him, he's probably looking for you." Josie encouraged.

"You said that already." Kitt rolled her eyes.

"Go find him." Josie nodded.

Kitt went in search of Leo her plan to waste time not working as well as she had hoped. Josie had called her out almost instantly.

Leo was playing one of his teammates at a basketball shooter game. When she walked into the vicinity it was almost like he could sense her.

"Kitt! Come show this yahoo how to shoot!" Leo called her over.

"I will watch you, I'm not good at basketball." She smiled and stood back to watch.

"You can have my spot, I'm going to go do the VR sky diving." The guy said handing her his ball.

"Thanks." She said as he  met up with another guy and they jumped on one another trying for dominance.

"Come on, I bet you will kick my ass at this too." Leo laughed.

"I will watch, I really suck." She begged off.

"At least use up his credits, Nick is a little dumb he left a bunch on the machine." He pointed to the score board, his friend Nick had activated.

"Ok I will try, but no promises!" She tossed the ball and watched it ricochet off the net.

"So you need to tuck your elbow in, your not trying to fly!" He teased.

"You don't know that!" She laughed.

"Here, let me show you." He offered stepping in behind her. He put a ball into her hand and put his hands over hers, which meant his arms were around her.

She let herself lean back until her back was leaned on his chest. She even let her he'd fall back onto his shoulder. They stood like that for a second, neither moving or saying a word.

"Now, you just shoot." He said gently into her ear. His breath tickled her ear sending shivers down her spine. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to feel his lips on her neck and ear. Her heart fluttered.

She felt his hands push the ball up and out of her hand. It flew smoothly through the air, nothing but net.

"See? Just like that." He whispered. Her body reacted to his closeness, his voice so close to her ear, his breath brushing her skin.

"Yeah, you make it seem just so simple." She smiled.

"LEO! FOOD?" A booming voice called across the room.

"Sure meet you up there!" He called over his shoulder before stepping away.

She noticed the absence of his strength and warmth and it made her mad at herself. He was her friend. Nothing more. She had to stop letting her hormones try to trick her when her head knew better. She shivered.

"You ok?" He asked turning back to his game.

"Yep." She couldn't look at him just yet.

They shot the last few baskets in silence. She was hyper aware of his presence. They finished up and went to find the rest of their group in the pub area.

"You hungry? I need something to eat!" Leo asked as they walked up to the counter.

"Nah, I'm good." She said looking at the prices on the menu board. Almost Twenty five dollars for a combo meal was so far beyond her means she stopped looking.

"You have to have something!" Leo insisted.

"Oh no I think I left my phone at the game down stairs! I better grab it before someone takes it!" Kitt said patting her pockets.

She knew exactly where her phone was, it was in her back pack with her debit card. Her dwindling bank account, however, was also exactly how she had left it.

Kitt turned to walk away feeling a little hollow. She hated being in this position.

She wandered around for a few minutes, just enough time for Leo to order and get his food before she went back to the group, she hoped to blend in with everyone, not making it obvious she was the only one not eating.

Leo was at one of the long tables the group had taken over. He sat at an angle so he could talk to the guys sitting behind him. Josie and a guy were engrossed in a very animated conversation, Keisha and some of their teammates were chatting and laughing  easily on one end of the table and the rest of the group filled in the empty spaces.

She could have grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside any of her friends and they would have welcomed her with open arms, but she was feeling out of place and anxious. She continued to stand just outside the group debating what to do when the guy talking to Leo called her over.

"Hey twenty-nine! Come here." He said waving his arm at her.

"Yeah?" She stood between the tables looking from one group to the next. Not looking at Leo, scared he might be able to pick up on her insecurities. They didn't know each other that well, but she had a feeling he was intuitive.

"Can you explain to your friend here that being a forward is different than being a defense?" The guy said looking at Kitt.

"Well I mean obviously they are different." She wasn't sure what she was getting herself into.

"But like, you are a center, yeah?" He looked to her. She nodded. "So you know that forwards have to skate more, which makes us faster than the defence who are busy standing around." The guy grinned and winked. Kitt knew he was trying to get to Leo, since he was a defenseman.

"Well, I guess if you have such a great forward line that you can just stand around, you never have to worry about protecting your end. But in SOME cases the defense are the ones who win the games, purely by keeping the goals out and sending the puck back to the forward every time they loose it. More shots on goal usually mean more goals, I mean if the talent is there." She said with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

"Ouch Owen, she has you pegged there." One of the guys at his table laughed.

"Come sit." Leo said smiling up at her.

"Not much room." She looked around at the crowd.

"Please? Help me with these fries." He nodded at the giant plate of untouched fries on his plate.

"There's no room." She looked around herself again. There wS only room enough for her to stand where she was.

"Sure there is plenty of room." Leo patted his knee.

"For you maybe." She laughed.

"Here, you can sit here." He pulled her towards him and offered his knee as a chair.

"Um, I don't want to crush you before your game." She tried to back away, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"It's fine." He insisted. She sat as delicately as possible, trying not to put her full weight on his leg.

He pushed the plate in front of her and she took a fry.

It was time to go. The group had had their fill of snacks and games, but it was time to get back to the area.

They walked down the stairs laughing at one of the guys impression of their Coach.

"Fucking Knights my ass. They had to bring their girls team in to win a fucking game." Kitt heard a voice say loudly from the bottom of the stairs. Apparently everyone heard and also looked to the bottom of the steps.

When She turned to see who was talking she felt her stomach drop. A large guy stood with a group looking up at them.

They tried to ignore the comment.

"Maybe some of their players are girls! They could swap those pansy ass boys for them dyke ass girls and no one would even notice." One of the other broad shouldered brutes piped up.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Josie pushed her way to the front of the group as they stepped off the stairs.

"Check this out, they even have this dyke bitch as a body guard. How sad." A voice mocked.

Kitt got pushed to the back as her friends all surged forward. She lost sight of Josie and the group of lunk heads hurling insults. She couldn't hear anything either.

"...Bitter because you lost or because your boyfriend thinks I'm hot?" One of the Knights yelled.

Before anyone could stop it fists were flying. Half their group instantly backed away, while the rest piled on. Josie was red faced and furious when one of the Knights carried her over to Kitt and Alex and deposited her in front of them.

"Watch her, she is going to kill someone." He said before going back to try to pull his players away from the fight.

Kitt watched in horror as fists flew and she caught sight of Leo just as one landed squarely over his eye. She jumped into action and ran over to him and bent down to check his face.

"Get this puck pussy out of here before she gets hurt." She heard a voice full of spit sneer.

"You think this one gives it up to anyone with a stick?" A guy grabbed her by the hair to stand her up. His voice was cold and hard and it scared Kitt. He was the type of guy who said things like 'its not my fault, she was asking for it.'

Her self defense kicked in and she grabbed his hand holding her hair with both of hers. She turned and kicked. Her strong legs made them good weapons against assault.

The guy went down like a ton of bricks. He let go of her hair to grab his crotch as his knees buckled.

She grabbed Leo's hand and pulled him away as quickly as she could. He was still holding his face where the angry brute had connected.

Once she had successfully pulled Leo away the rest of their group followed suit. They rushed out the doors leaving bruised and bloodied men in the lobby to deal with the repercussions.

"What the fuck was that?" Josie asked looking furiously back at the doors. Her jersey twisted sideways and sporting blood drops, but she wasn't bleeding.

"Those are the guys we beat this morning." One of the guys explained touching his swollen lip and checking for blood.

"Wow. They sure do like to fight!" Alex said looking completely bewildered.

"Yeah, they are known for it." Leo said leaning on Kitt's shoulder.

"We should get out of here." Keisha said looking back at the door worried it wasn't over.

"Let's head back and hop the bus down the street." A guy suggested and they unanimously agreed.

"It's a good thing Axel wasn't there. Someone would have left in a body bag." One of the Knights half joked.

"Andbit could have been him." Leo agreed.