Cooper Callahan
I apparently have a mitten kink, because when I see Josie again, she's without them and I feel myself frown a little bit because of it.
We're all sitting in the locker room when coaches voice echoes through "LADY COMING".
"If it's blondie, let's hope so." Adam Finn another rookie snickers, beside Kyle Horowtiz, both 19 and fucking imbeciles.
"She can come anywhere she wan-" Adam starts.
"Dont you fucking finish that sentence." I growl. Adam stops, smiling, but his expression changes, brows jumping as he sees my face.
"That's his best friends little sister. Jack Jensen's sister. Have some respect." Justin Jacobi, one of the guys who played almost as many years with Jack as I did.
"Regardless of whose sister she is, she's a female. Have some respect anyways, you fucks." Colin Maxwell says. He's newer to the team as well, married, with two kids. Little girls. So yeah, he gets it more than most of them do.
Kyle just snickers.
"Ooo dad yelled at you." Kyle teases Adam and I roll my eyes. I wasn't the oldest on the team, but they still called me Dad, because they thought it was funny. It wasn't.
"Shut up man" Adam jostles him with his elbow.
Then around the corner, come the mittenless hands. Bummer. But my lips tick just slighly seeing them tucked into one of her jean pockets, hand flopping over the pocket.
"Boys, this is Josie. She's out social media consultant and she's going to be guiding you and helping you with your social media. For those of you who don't have social media accounts.." Russel pauses looking at me, and Tomas Danforth the oldest on the team , and a few others.
"She'll be doing a brief hour long class on how to set up an account. You're all expected to attend even if you already have one. I shouldnt have to say it, but bring your fuc...bring your phones." He says cutting off his cursing in Josie's presence. Because yeah, a few of these idiots WOULD show up without their phones if he hadn't said so.
We were already pre warned of the "class" so it's no surprise to us. We're just silent and nod in agreement. I might hate the idea of being a fucking ham for everyone to see, but I did not hate the idea of looking at Josie for an hour.
"Hi, I'm Josie." She says and lifts her hand and waves. I also wouldnt mind listening to that voice for an hour either.
"I look forward to getting to know you all. I know some of you know OF me already, I'm Josie Jensen, Jack Jensen's sister. If you've been with the team for some time now you've probably heard me screeching behind the glass, or maybe the glare of my braces and glasses during my teenage years blinding you while you were on the ice."
This gets small little huffs of laughter around the room.
"Well, I'll let you get to changing and slapping each other on the butts , or, whatever it is you do in the locker rooms." She says and this gets more laughter.
"See ya" She gives a little wave and her eyes come to me last and maybe I'm crazy, but her smile grows a little more. Of course it did you idiot, she knows you more than the others. You've sat at her parents dinner table, been to her house. Seen her in her Taylor Swift t and One Direction t shirts. I give her a little nod.
One of the guys gives Kyle a shove as he leans over to watch her ass as she leaves. Russell, our coach, glares at him while she leaves with Tony the owner of the team.
"Now listen here, and listen good." Russell says lifting his hand and shaking his finger around the room.
"I don't want any fucking trouble for any of you. And you KNOW what I fucking mean. The social media consultant, is off fucking limits, you hear me?" He says.
"Yes Coach" we all answer, even though half the team doesnt need to be told , but the other half, yeah, a warning is a good idea, and I'm grateful for it so I dont have to be the one to do it.
"How old is she?" Adam Finn asks, the one that wasnt about to make a comment about Josie "Coming" wherever she wants.
"Doesnt fucking matter, does it?" Russell glares at him. "Cause you're NOT interested." He says, leveling him with a more stern glare.
"Oh yes he is." Kyle says. "Me too."
I grit my teeth and Russell heaves a sigh.
"Dont fuck with me right now boys." Russell says.
"That's what Josie is for." Tyler Trevino a twenty five year old team mate, whispers beside Adam , but I fucking hear it.
I will fucking break all of their damn necks. Thankfully Ian Anderson, a twenty four year old next to Tyler punches his arm.
"NOT cool." He mutters and the coach heaves another sigh, shaking his head.
"You got twenty minutes. Then get your asses into the meeting room. Don't be fucking late." He says and walks off muttering to himself.
"God DAYUMN" Elijah says, and puts his hands in front of himself and thrusts with his hips, pretending he's hitting it from behind.
"Oh Elijah, give it to me" Kyle squeals in a mock female voice.
"ENOUGH!" I yell, dead silence following, as every head turns to me.
"I swear to god, if I hear one of you say one more disrespectful thing about her, I will bash your fucking heads in. GOT ME?" I bellow.
Elijah drops his hands, and gulps.
"I was just kidding boss" he says. I glare at him. Dad. Boss. Captain. It was all the same to them.
"Yeah Cap, c'mon we're just playing ar-"
"Well dont. Grow the fuck up and shut your fucking mouths. That's someones fucking daughter. Knock it the fuck off." I growl.
Colin and Justin, my two favorites on the team, probably because they have the most respect for others, they nod in agreement with me.
"Got it Cap." Kyle says and salutes me. I growl, snarling and then stomp off, ripping off my clothes and gear.
-----
Twenty minutes laters we're all sitting in the meeting room at the stadium on the top floor and Josie is standing at the front of the room as Tony the owner talks to her while she sets up. She laughs a little, and I can't really hear what he's saying, but he's faced with his back to us. He can't possibly be that fucking funny. He's forty two, and just bought the team three years ago.
I see him keep talking and Josie just nods, and smiles as he keeps talking while she shuffles a few papers and then turns on her laptop, which mirrors on the large television behind her. What the hell could Tony be talking to her about?
"Well, you have my number. You can call me when you're done here." I hear him say, just barely, not even sure if I heard right. But i see a few of the guys sitting closer to where they're standing give each other looks, and apparently, yeah. Tony Calvaro just told a girl half his age to call him. Of course it could be related to the job, or wanting to know how this meeting goes, or to talk about her plans and what not. But it rubs me the wrong way, especially how he looks at her as he goes to leave. I don't fucking thing so, you fuck. I think to myself as he glimpses her up and down , smiling to himself. Like he's proud of himself. I snarl.
Josie seems unbothered as she focuses on her lap top and brings up a new screen and then has two different screens one mocking an iphone, and the other an android.
"Alright." She says and looks up and smiles around the room.
"hi again" she says. A chorus of hellos go out in return and she smiles brighter. She didnt look nervous, but was she?
"Okay so..before we get started...I suppose it's a good idea to tell you a little bit about myself." She says and walks around the table at the front, and faces us all as we sit line up and down the side of a longer table that runs perpendicular to the one at the front where she's set up.
"Again, I'm Josie, and I'm here to make you all social media savvy." She says with a smile. Then gives a little speach about her interests, her education, her pets. Her favorite foods, and other random tidbits that I find myself making note of. Locking everything I didnt already know about her away in my brain. Then she goes into why we're all here.
"Some of you are familiar already I hear, with keeping up a social media presence which is good. And while It's my job to help your team mates who might not be , I'm going to ask those of you who ARE, to be helpful to your team mates. Mister Calvaro really wants the Penguins to dominate the social media craze happening right now. Any pointers you can give to one another will be helpful along the way." She says and then turns and grabs a clipboard off the desk. She peeks down at it.
"Oh." she says to herself and then turns and picks up a pair of glasses off the desk and slips them on. I feel my molars grind, because jesus christ. Did she HAVE to wear glasses ? And did they HAVE to look so fucking hot?
"Alright so....I've done my homework, and from what I've gathered, quite a few of you already have a great social media presence." she says.
"And some of you...have ...well...none." She says and a few of the other men who share the same, give no fucking about social media as I do, give a little laugh.
"Today, we're starting with Instagram. Anyone who doesn't have an account, raise your hand for me?" She asks. Six different hands go up, one of them is mine. She smiles and nods at each of us.
"Alright, we're first going to set you up with an account. Pull out your phones please." She says and everyone in the room does it.
"I'll demonstrate on the screen, for both android and iphone how to first download the app." She says.
"You dinosaurs." Marty McBride, one of the younger ones, a twenty year old snickers, teasing us. Im sure we all know how to download an app, but I dont say anything. Because Josie is adorable up there in her glasses with her pretty smile, and pointing up at the screen instructing us how to get to our app stores.
"To make it Easier." Lenny White, a thirty five year old, also without an instagram says. " I think us six all have iphones."
"Laaaame" Ruben Fletcher says and waves his android around. I roll my eyes and just shake my head. Bunch of fucking clowns.
"Oh, that's perfect, alright, you can all go here then. She points to the little gear icon."
A few minutes later the six of us without an Instgram are setting up our accounts.
"Now if you already have a user name in mind, go ahead and put that in here." She says and points to the box specifically labeled username.
"If you dont have one in mind, that's okay, you can always change it later on. And I'll show you how as part of what we go over today." She says.
I stare at the screen.
I grimace when Cooper Callahan is already taken. I add a 7 to the end since that's my jersey number. I grumble again.
"Having problems pops?" Barry a man the same age as me asks. I shoot him a look as he sits next to me.
"All the names are taken." I grumble and he chuckles.
"Try DaddyTripleC" he says and I glare at him. They call me triple C, for Captain Cooper Callahan.
"No." I growl.
"DaddyCooperCal?" He teases again and I grumble.
"Is everyone all set with their username and a password?" Josie asks and I huff. Why did I feel stupid right now? I couldnt even think of a stupid fucking name to put in here.
"Cap is havin trouble thinking of a sexy username." Barry says and I shoot him a look.
"Oh." Josie says and then she walks around the table and down my side. "Well I wouldnt try to um, do anything...uh...sexy..nothing too suggestive either." She says.
"He wanted IceDaddy69 but it was taken." Barry says.
I grip my phone and Josie laughs nervously.
"Oh well, um , that's...maybe not the sixty nine...but women might..like the um..daddy part." She says and I look up at her. She's blushing.
"I was not trying to make my user name IceDaddy69." I say.
Barry laughs and the whole team errupts with laughter around the table, and I take a deep breath and grumble.
"I tried a few and they were both taken." I say.
"You could try something simple, try Callahan07Penguins, for now." she says and I type it in and it says it's available. I sigh.
"Thanks Josie." I say.
"Of course." she says sweetly, and places her hand on my shoulder for just a moment and then walks back to the front of the room.