Claimed By The Hockey Star

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I walked into the community outreach center the very next morning still wrapped up in a strange, warm fog that I could not seem to shake off. The beautiful memory of Khalid’s soft forehead kiss from the night before, combined with that surprisingly sweet, normal street-food dinner on the Chicago sidewalk, completely refused to leave my mind. It was only Day Two of our official ninety-day agreement, and I was already seriously questioning my own sanity. I was supposed to be resisting this man, not daydreaming about him while walking into my professional workplace.

“Good morning, Venessa!” Lena called out from behind the front reception desk. Her voice sounded suspiciously cheerful and bright for a rainy Thursday morning. “You have a little bit of a delivery waiting for you in the back.”

I froze mid-step, my fingers instantly clutching my warm coffee cup tightly like a lifeline. A heavy knot formed in my stomach. “A delivery? What kind of delivery, Lena?”

Before I could even process the wide, knowing grin that spread across her face, I took a step into the main open office area and stopped completely dead in my tracks. My mouth fell open in total shock.

There, covering almost every single square inch of my wooden desk, was an absolutely enormous, giant bouquet of one hundred long-stemmed red roses. They were a deep, velvety shade of dark crimson, perfectly arranged in a massive, heavy crystal vase that caught the fluorescent office lights. Sitting right next to the giant tower of flowers was a sleek, expensive black box of luxury chocolates tied up tightly with a beautiful, blood-red silk ribbon. The thick, sweet scent of the fresh roses hit my nose like a massive wave—it was incredibly rich, deeply romantic, and completely, totally overwhelming for a small neighborhood community center.

The entire open office seemed to pause. Phones suddenly went silent on their bases. Keyboards completely stopped clicking as fingers froze over the keys. Every single head in the room turned toward my desk like it was the most exciting and dramatic thing that had happened to our staff all year.

I approached my desk very slowly, stepping carefully as if the beautiful flowers might actually jump out and bite me. A small, elegant white card peeked out from the very center of the crimson bouquet. With trembling fingers, I reached out and pulled the paper free from the plastic clip holding it.

Day Two, little liar.

These roses aren’t nearly as beautiful as you looked in that red sweater last night.

I can’t stop thinking about the way you smiled at Benson’s food truck.

— Your Beast

A wild wave of deep red heat instantly flooded my neck and face. My cheeks felt like they were on fire. He had noticed. He had noticed that I actually wore his team color to the stadium, even though I had argued with him about it beforehand.

Suddenly, a hand snatched the white card right out of my fingers before I could hide it away in my pocket.

“Oh. My. God!” Mia’s voice exploded right next to my ear. She must have come into the office early today just to witness this grand gesture. My best friend rushed around my desk, her eyes wide with absolute delight and mischief. “He did not just do this!”

Before I could stop her, Mia read the words on the card out loud to the entire room in a dramatic, loud, and theatrical voice. Half the office staff immediately erupted into loud giggles, high-pitched squeals, and wolf whistles.

“'Your Beast'?” Lena clutched both her hands over her chest, gasping for air. “Venessa, you have been holding out on us big time! Since when are you dating a famous professional hockey player?”

“I am absolutely not dating him!” I protested loudly, my voice cracking slightly as I tried to grab the card back from Mia and shove it deep into my leather bag. It was completely useless, though. The heavy damage was already done.

Mrs. Adebayo, our strict program director, stepped slowly out of her private office. Her thick eyebrows were raised incredibly high on her forehead as she looked at the massive mountain of flowers. “Those are beautiful, Venessa. Very… bold. Someone must care about you a whole lot.”

Mia wasn’t done teasing me yet. She began to circle the giant bouquet like a hungry shark checking out its prey. “One hundred long-stemmed roses? Girl, this man is down completely bad for you. And look at these luxury chocolates! These are the super fancy Swiss ones that cost more than my actual apartment rent. You need to spill the tea right now, Venessa. You went to his big game last night, didn’t you? I want every single detail from start to finish.”

I dropped heavily into my rolling office chair, burying my hot face in my hands as the intense teasing from the rest of the staff began to grow.

“Does he happen to have any single teammates?” one of the young interns asked hopefully from the back row. “Specifically single, rich ones?”

“Does he look just as good in real life as he does on the giant television screens?” Lena added, leaning over her partition. “Because that man is fine with a capital F.”

Mia leaned her elbows on my desk, a wicked smirk on her face. “From the way Venessa is blushing right now, he looks even better in person. And he kissed her yesterday in his car! She told me a little bit about it yesterday afternoon, but she left out all the most important, juicy parts!”

“Mia!” I hissed in a sharp whisper, glaring at my best friend through my fingers. “You are supposed to be on my side!”

“I am completely on your side, Venessa,” Mia laughed, completely unbothered by my anger. “The side that says you deserve to be chased by a six-foot-five hockey god who sends you one hundred premium roses the morning after a game.”

The entire office exploded with a fresh round of loud laughter. Even Mrs. Lillian cracked a rare smile before disappearing back into her office, muttering something under her breath about “young love and big money.”

I grabbed my phone out of my bag, fully intending to type out a very angry text message to scold Khalid for causing a scene, but there was already a new message from him waiting on my lock screen.

Khalid: Did they arrive at your desk yet?

Venessa: Are you honestly trying to get me fired from my job, Khalid? My entire office has completely lost their minds right now. No one is doing any actual work.

Khalid: Good. Let everyone in that building know you belong to me now. How does your red sweater look sitting next to all those roses?

I glanced down at my clothes. I was wearing that same crimson knit sweater again today—mostly because it was the only red item I owned and, apparently, my brain had decided to completely betray me this morning. I didn't reply to his text. He didn't need any more ammunition to fuel his massive ego.

Mia plopped down heavily in the plastic chair right beside my desk, casually reaching out to steal an expensive piece of chocolate from the black box. “Okay, serious question, Ven. Are you actually going to do this? Because this does not look like 'I'm just thinking about it' energy. This looks like 'I have a possessive NHL captain totally obsessed with me' energy.”

I let out a long, heavy sigh, staring into the sea of deep red roses. They were absolutely stunning. They were almost too much to handle. They were exactly like him.

“It is only a ninety-day deal,” I muttered under my breath, keeping my voice low so the interns wouldn't hear me. “If I don't fall for him by the very end of the three months, he promises to walk away forever. That was the strict agreement we made in the car.”

Mia raised an eyebrow, chewing her chocolate slowly. “And what happens if you actually do fall for him, Venessa?”

I didn't have an answer for her. The mere thought of falling for a man like Khalid completely terrified me to my core.

The rest of the morning was absolute torture. Every single time a coworker walked past my small desk area, they made some sort of loud comment or joke.

“It smells like a cheesy romance novel over in this corner today,” one of the counselors said with a wink.

“Venessa has got herself a secret admirer… who happens to be six-foot-five and famous on television,” another one whispered.

“You better be careful, girl,” a senior staff member added with a chuckle. “Men who send that many flowers usually have a crazy amount of stamina to match.”

By lunchtime, I had physically moved half of the heavy roses out to the front reception desk just so I could actually see my computer screen to do my work. Suddenly, my phone buzzed against the wood again.

Khalid: Want to get lunch? I can drive over right now and pick you up.

Venessa: Absolutely not, Khalid. You explicitly promised me yesterday that you would stop showing up at my workplace.

Khalid: I said I wouldn't step foot inside the actual building unless you invited me in. The outside parking lot is completely fair game, little liar.

Venessa: Stay far away, Beast. I am literally drowning in roses and office gossip today because of you.

Khalid: Good. That means you are thinking about me every single time you look at them. I will be thinking about you all day while I am on the ice.

I put my phone on complete silent mode and shoved it deep into a desk drawer. I tried my absolute best to focus on the long grant proposal I was supposed to finish writing by the end of the week. But it was completely impossible. Every single breath I inhaled brought the sweet, heavy scent of roses into my lungs. Every single time I closed my eyes to rest them, I saw his handsome face lighting up on the ice when he spotted me in the front row. I remembered the way he had pointed that winning hockey stick directly at my seat like a silent promise to the world.

Mia appeared at my desk again during our afternoon coffee break, holding two warm paper cups in her hands. She handed one over to me and sat down on the edge of the desk, her expression becoming a bit more serious and quiet this time.

“For real though, Venessa,” she said, her voice dropping low. “He seems incredibly intense. Like… really, really intense. You have been through a whole lot of pain in your past, Ven. Are you absolutely sure your heart can handle a man like him?”

That was the exact same terrifying question I kept asking myself over and over again in the quiet moments of the day.

“I don't know, Mia,” I admitted honestly, staring down at the dark liquid in my cup. “But there is just something different about him. When he looks at me with those dark eyes, it feels like absolutely nothing else exists in the world. It is incredibly scary. And it is completely addictive.”

Mia smiled softly at me, reaching out to pat my shoulder. “Just promise me you won't lose yourself in his big world, okay? And if he ever dares to hurt you, I will gladly help you hide his massive body. I don't care if he is a hockey superstar or not.”

I let out a loud laugh, feeling some of the heavy tension in my shoulders finally begin to ease up. “We have a deal.”

The long afternoon dragged on with more playful teasing from the staff, more stolen pieces of Swiss chocolate, and more quiet whispers near the water cooler. By five o'clock in the evening, I was completely exhausted, but my heart felt strangely lighter than it had in a very long time. As I packed up my notebooks and computer for the night, I caught myself gently touching one of the soft rose petals left on my desk. It felt just like velvet under my fingertips.

My phone screen lit up on the desk with one final text message for the day.

Khalid: Dinner tomorrow night. A very private place. Wear whatever clothes make you feel beautiful, Venessa. I am going to earn that kiss I want so badly.

I stared at the glowing message for a very long time, my thumb hovering silently over the digital keyboard. I wanted to fight him on it. I wanted to type out a sarcastic reply to protect myself.

Instead, I slipped the phone into my leather bag without typing a single word back. I gathered a small handful of the red roses to take home to my apartment, walked out of the building, and headed out into the cold, windy Chicago evening with a wide smile that I could not quite wipe off my face.

Day Two was officially down.

There were exactly eighty-eight more days left to go in our agreement.

And as I walked toward the train station in the freezing winter air, clutching the beautiful flowers close to my chest, I was already completely terrified of how much a part of me was looking forward to Day Three.