They grinned at each other. ‘’Charming.’’ Ben said. They pulled on their clothes quickly and hurried out of the bathroom, Laurel unable to make eye contact with the growing queue of annoyed people with full bladders. Lucky the music is so loud, Laurel thought, alarmed.
‘’I have one more question for you,’’ she said as they walked back outside where the band were singing their last song. ‘’Well I have many actually. But was the only reason you trained me because I blackmailed you?’’
‘’You really have to ask that question?’’ he teased with raised eyebrows. ‘’I liked you from the start Pompoms. I was just scared of trusting you. I didn’t know if I loved you or I hated you. Those emotions can be pretty close sometimes!’’
She wacked him over the head gently, giving him a look.
‘’So you started trusting me when I started blackmailing you?’’ she said.
‘’Something like that,’’ and he winked. ‘’Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends.’’
He dragged her over to his boisterous bunch of teammates, most of whom Laurel was familiar with due to the unsavory offer he had made them.
‘’Finally, you guys are together!’’ one of them commented. ‘’It was so obvious you liked each other from the start.’’
‘’You would’ve beat the hell out of us if we’d done anything with her!’’ another one laughed.
Ben sniggered, flattered that his teammates knew him so well, but embarrassed in front of Laurel.
She grinned, and waved her friends over to join them. By the end of the night everyone was happy and drunk and even quiet little Amy was sitting on the knee of the huge goalkeeper giggling and flirting.
‘’Wanna go for a walk?’’ Ben asked Laurel and she nodded happily.
‘’Bye guys, we’re leaving. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!’’ he yelled at his friends.
‘’Dude, don’t forget the time changed for figure tomorrow. It’s 11 instead of 10.’’ One of them yelled back.
‘’Great, an extra hour in bed!’’ he replied and laughed a little nervously, giving Laurel a sideways glance.
‘’Figure?’’ she said slowly, ‘’As in figure skating!! What the hell? You said it was a secret!’’
She flounced angrily away but he was jogging next to her laughing uncontrollably.
‘’You really thought you were blackmailing me!’’ he cried, ‘’It’s so funny! You’re so funny!’’
And he grabbed her and kissed her again and again until she calmed down and saw the funny side of it too. ‘’You sweet, evil, irresistible girl’’ he told her, and kissed her once more.
‘’But why were you so weird with me some days? And so mean at the beginning?’’ she asked, still puzzled and trying to get her head around everything.
‘’I was angry that you snuck in on me and watched me. And at the start I really didn’t want anyone to know that I figure skated. At my high school they made fun of me for it. I even beat up a kid real bad after he said something.’’ He grimaced, ‘’I’m not proud of that. And my Dad, well he’s old-fashioned. He was the ice hockey star of this college in his day and that’s all he wants me to be too. I hope he’ll come around eventually.’’
She stroked his face, looking concerned.
They reached the diner, and he held the door open for her to walk inside.
‘’Plus you were always hanging out with that tall nerdy guy. I was a bit jealous, I have to admit.’’
‘’Me and Paul are friends, nothing more,’’ she smiled, remembering the incident at the diner where they were sitting right now.
‘’As far as the blackmailing goes, I was resentful at first, obviously,’’ he said, ‘’and then I was disappointed that you still continued with the deal even after we… you know.’’
‘’Yeah, I know,’’ she looked at the floor, ashamed, ‘’I wanted to. But I was scared. I didn’t want to lose you. Or my training.’’ She glanced at him, wondering whether they would carry on as usual.
‘’I love training you,’’ he reassured her, ‘’Of course our sessions will continue. You have real talent, you know! I’m so proud of how far you’ve come! We’ll have you at those state championships for sure!’’
Laurel beamed from ear to ear and said, ‘’Really?’’
‘’Yes! And I have something else to ask you too. I want to start pair’s figure skating. And I want my partner to be you. What do you say?’’