Page 2 of The Sky Between Us

“Figures.” Aiden rolled his eyes and with careful moves he placed the milk in the metal cup to create foam. I observed his moves, mostly his ripped muscles, but I could feel his eyes on me. “What’s your circle like?”

“Mostly it consists of me, myself and I.”

“Too cool to hang with the others?” He lifted a brow and his judgmental tone made me lift my eyes to meet his. I didn’t like that tone.

“None of your business, actually.” I smiled at him with my sweetest smile and watched him push the buttons on the espresso machine.

“Wow, okay.” Aiden shook his head and turned his attention to the coffee, dropping the subject. Clearly, he wasn’t used to people blowing him off, but I’d coach him very soon.

It took him half an hour to explain the basics: the he differences between lattes and cappuccinos, and their milk dosage, the specialties and syrups. I learned where the most important things were kept that I will need to use. My brain was soaking up all the information and it all didn’t seem difficult. It was simple: coffee and milk, in all its flavorful glory.

At least that’s what I thought until rush hour hit the coffee shop. All the impatient and rude people crammed into the shop, barked their orders at me and wanted their drinks yesterday. No wonder Starbucks baristas misspelled names. I could barely hear people’s orders from the loud crowd that was forming. My only job was taking the order and making the payment, but I wasn’t fast enough and everyone was getting frustrated.

Aiden, on the other hand, seemed to not only be a fast runner but an even quicker coffee maker. He could prepare three drinks at the same time and never missed an order. I was impressed. I didn’t expect him to take the job seriously. To be fair, I never expected anything good from soccer players and I had my prejudices when it came to them, but I couldn’t deny that Aiden was different. There were times I forgot to take my eyes off of him and listen to the customer’s order, or I felt shivers running down my spine when we would accidentally touch.

He was Aiden Hitchings. No human being was able to withstand him. It was his perfect blend of charming looks, wicked smiles and flirtatious words that made all the girls fall for him. That and the fact that whenever he talked, he made you feel like the only girl in the world. The way his sky-blue eyes bore into my soul, the way the tip of his mouth curled into a soft smile and the undivided attention he showered everyone with.

But I had no choice, I had to resist him. I couldn’t fall for any of that. I wasn’t allowed to make the same mistake twice. Guys like him, that charmed you with sweet words were the most dangerous. I knew that first handed and there was no way in hell I was going to let the past repeat itself.

After my four hours were up, I couldn’t wait to listen to a monotonous lecture with a monotone professor. I was exhausted from standing and running like a headless chicken back and forth behind the counter. The job was harder than I thought. Aiden and I were both heading out and he offered me a smile, as he swung his gym bag onto his shoulder. I couldn’t help but wonder why he was doing this job, especially after his early morning practice in the middle of his NCAA Championship season. He didn’t seem like a person who needed extra money. Of course, I knew nothing about his family background. It was just a guess based on rumors.

“Are you heading back to campus?” he motioned with his head into the direction of our university. I nodded and tried my hardest not to yawn. “Need a ride?”

“No, I have my car.” I nodded towards the white Range Rover parked further down and offered him a small smile. “Thanks for teaching me today.”

“No worries.” He gave me a cautious smile. “Good job. You will pick it up soon. The first day is always hard.”

“Hope so.”

“Don’t worry,” he winked, making it hard for me to keep a straight face.

With a shrug, I crossed my arms, acting unbothered. “Thanks.”

“See you at campus?” he called over his shoulder as he headed towards his silver Audi SUV.

I shook my head even if I knew he couldn’t see me, because there was no way I would ever look for his company. It was bad enough that we had to work together.

I couldn’t get her out of my head.

There were millions of girls throwing themselves at me, yet I still kept thinking about that sarcastic, stuck up chick I worked with.

The coach’s daughter.

Only I would get myself into that kind of trouble, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how quickly girls came into my life and bed, all I could think about was Hazel. She thought she was better than anyone and that she didn’t need to hang out with us to be cool. She was incredibly self-absorbed and it irked me. I have never met anyone like her. Girls would die to be with me, and she was acting like she was out of my league, but only for one simple reason. My career. Yeah, she had a hot body and a cute face. At first glance, one would think she is shy and normal. Like a sweet little angel. As soon as she opened her mouth, the devil took over. It was confusing. I was usually a good judge of character. She was a mystery. I should have left it alone, ignored it and just survived those four short hours that I got to spend with her. The problem was, I wasn’t a quitter… and I was way too curious. I wanted to crack her mystery.

After winning the second game of the season last weekend, Coach still made us do extra sprints at the end of our evening practice. He said it was supposed to help us focus next time, which was stupid as our next game was almost three weeks away.

Clearly, I wasn’t even focused on the game, nor on my team which was a big mistake for a captain. When Hazel showed up in my life, she was taking up way too much of my energy and brain. On top of everything, it seemed like Coach was in a bad mood too, and it didn’t help the overall picture.

I blamed that on Hazel as well.

The first few weeks of classes and practice were always the worst. We started back in July to prepare for the season as our championship started in August, but since classes started, our focus was divided. Oh, and don’t get me started on the parties. We hosted epic parties on Thursdays and that might have been the reason the team and I were dead. I felt like I should have told my team not to drink or at least not get wasted, but who was I to stop them when I got trashed first?

I felt the fake grass under my feet as I turned to sprint back the other way. The open-air stadium where we practiced echoed with the panting of my teammates, making me lose the little motivation I had (thanks to a killer hangover).

“We are done for today.”

My favorite sentence on Friday evenings sounded perfect accompanied by the annoyingly loud whistle.

---