As I turned around to meet Derek, who's wearing a black hoodie, grey sweats, and a Teakwood Blazers beanie, the smirk doesn't roll off his face as I glare in his direction.

"Ha ha, very funny, but no, I came to watch the game with Daphne." I say and watch as he moves closer to me from where he was standing a second ago.

He fixes his beanie on his head which peeks out some of his dark hair. "What did you think?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

My eyebrows knit together. "Of what? The game?" He nods. "Well, in that case; I enjoyed it. You are a good player."

He smiles. Not understanding what happens in my stomach as he does so, I grasp onto my bag a little tighter. "Why thank you for boosting my ego, Mayfield. I'll see you soon."

I scoff. "Uh huh, sounds good, see you later." I say and wave him off.

I get to Daphne's car which is fogged up from the cold and I unlock it. I place my bag in the passenger seat and put the key in the ignition. But when I do so, nothing. The car doesn't turn on. I start to panic and try over and over again but it's no use. I yank the keys out and exit the car grabbing my phone. I pull up Daphne's contact but decide against it. She's with Brooks and would probably much rather be there than with me in the cold. I look across the parking lot and see Derek still walking to his car.

I can't do that. I barely know him. Well, right now it's probably my only option. I hoist my purse over my shoulder and quickly walk over to Derek who nears a black Jeep.

Derek catches me walking toward him. "Forget something?" He says chuckling and I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

I bit my lip. "Um Daphne's car won't start and uh..." I stutter that out and I don't realize I haven't taken a breath in awhile.

"You need a ride?" He asks, watching me carefully. He seems to notice my unease.

Biting my lip again I frantically nod. I look down at my toes. "You don't have to, I just, there's really no one else I know, and you're here and-"

"Ash stop," he interrupts. I meet his eyes over the hood of the car and relax a bit. His calm stare reaches me. It's comforting. "It's okay. Get in the car." He says calmly.

I open the door to the passenger side and slide into the seat. Derek does the same after he puts his backpack in the back seat. He turns on the car and when the heater turns on I sigh in relief.

He chuckles. "Cold?"

I laugh. "Well duh, it's like 20 degrees outside." I say, rubbing up and down my arms to get warm.

"It's 36 but yeah it's cold." He says and then puts the car in reverse to back out.

I don't know if it's just me but watching guys drive is the most... I don't know how to describe it but it's mesmerizing. Daphne says it's hot and as Derek puts an arm on the back of my seat and looks behind as he pulls out, I see why Daphne let's Brooks drive everywhere.

Derek catches me staring and gives me an odd look. I quickly tear my gaze away and look out the window, hoping he didn't see the blush cross over my face.

"Where to?" Derek asks as he exits the parking lot.

It dawns on me that he wouldn't know where I live. "Uh the dorms, Whistle Building."

He nods and turns down the street back to the dorms.

A few minutes later he makes a wrong turn and I notice. "You missed the turn."

"I know," he says, smirking slightly.

Nervous now, I ask, "Then where are we going?"

He stops at a red light and turns to look at me. "You said you were cold right?"

I look at him confused. "Well yeah but I can get warm in here by driving and once I get back to my dorm can't I?" I say, a little annoyed now.

He scoffs, the light turns green and he resumes driving. "Nothing gets you warmer than hot chocolate."

I raise my eyebrows. "Hot chocolate?" I ask surprised.

He nods and turns right and parks in the parking lot of a small 24 hour cafe. "What do you say?" He says turning off the car and turning towards me.

Subconsciously I look at the clock on the dash and it reads, 11:56 pm, I don't think I've ever been out this late. Okay, yes, I'm eighteen years old and have never had much of a social life. I made a promise to myself to get myself out there in college but here I am panicking about sleep.

I look back at Derek who watches me carefully, almost like he's reading my panicky brain. "Come on, just some hot chocolate and then I'll take you back."

Who am I kidding? I love hot chocolate. But with Derek is another obstacle. Of course it doesn't mean anything but maybe it does? Why would he want to drive me to get hot chocolate so I'm warm? Maybe he wants to sleep with me and this is how he thinks he's gonna get it? My stomach churns at the idea of him trying to egg me on.

I puff out a breath from my nose. "Okay fine," but then I remember something. "I don't have any money." I frown.

Derek laughs. "You're funny, come on." He says and exits the car.

I stare at him through the dash windshield confused but he just says, "Come on!"

I sigh and get out of the car as well, catching up to Derek as he gets to the door. He opens the door for me and I thank him as I walk in. The cafe is very small but very homey. The walls are a maroon color and there's lots of dark green and brown furniture.

There's only one table that has people in it but the rest are empty. An older woman and an older man stand behind the counter seeming to be arguing about something.

"Well Marge, the paprika was in the cabinet the last time I checked so you had to of moved it." The older man remarks, sternly looking at the older woman whose hands are on her hips.

"Bert that's stupid why would I move something from the cabinet. Why would you test me like-" She stops mid sentence seeing Derek and I standing there watching them fight. "Derek!" The woman exclaims.

I look at Derek who gives them a smile. "Hi Marge, how goes it?" Derek asks, slipping his hands in his hoodie pocket.

Bert gets close to the counter and excitedly asks, "How was the game? I didn't catch it on the TV 'cause the shop was so busy!" He says, his face twists with annoyance and his arms went up in frustration.

Derek chuckles. "It was a good, close game, scored at the last second," he nudges me. "Huh Ash?"

I look up at him meeting his eyes. "Sure did."

Marge catches the exchange. "And who might you be?" She asks, seemingly curious.

"I'm Ash," I say kindly. "Derek offered me a ride home because my car wouldn't start and he brought me here."

She smiles kindly. "Now Derek, why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend?" She is clearly very annoyed at him.

"Oh no we aren't-" I start

"Yeah we-" Derek says at the same time and we both stop.

"We aren't dating." I say awkwardly and twiddle my fingers together.

Marge frowns but then hits Bert on the shoulder. "Well don't make them wait," she says to him, shooing him off to the kitchen.

I look at Derek who shrugs his shoulders and leads him and I to a table in a corner room of the shop. I sit down and look at all the interesting decorations in the room. On the wall there's a cherry clock and next to it is another clock that looks like it's been around a long time.

"How do you know of this place?" I ask Derek who seems to be more entertained by me than the decorations.

He seems to think for a second. "One night after a crappy game I just started driving to clear my mind and I ended up hungry so I stopped here." Derek smiles softly. "Bert recognized me from the game and gave me a meal for free. Been coming back ever since. But I paid for my food the next times."

I giggle at the story. "That's cool, they seem nice."

"Yeah, they've got some personality to them." He starts to laugh and I laugh with him.

A few minutes later, Bert walks over with a plate of cookies and two mugs. My eyes light up with excitement as I smell the goodness. Once Bert leaves I grab a cookie and take a bit.

"Ohmygosh," I say with a full mouth.

Derek laughs at my expression, blue eyes and dimples bright with amusement.

Part of me can't even believe I'm sitting here with him. And as well as feeling relaxed while doing so. Usually with people I'm tense and either feel like I'm going to throw up or panic but I haven't felt that way since the moment he locked eyes with me over the hood of his car.

"What brought you to Teakwood?" Derek asked, sipping his mug of hot chocolate.

"My parents," I say after swallowing some of my drink. "My mom went here and I fell in love with it the moment I visited a while back. The good English department is a plus too. How about you?"

"Well hockey," he says matter-a-fact. "My dad was an NHL player for the Bruins for years. He went here as well and I've always wanted to play for them."

I think back to when he told me his dad passed away. A sad look crosses my face and he notices.

"It's alright," he says sadly but brushes me off. "As long as I remember him, he can never be gone right?"

I give him a sad smile. "Of course, you're so right." I say. "I didn't expect you to be like this."

His dark eyebrows scrunch together. "Like what?"

"I don't know? Nice?" I say and shake my head. "I've just... I've heard things about you."

He now raises an eyebrow. "Like what?" He questions.

I shrug, too nervous now to meet his gaze. "Just your reputation and well you are a hockey player."

He casts his eyes down to his mug and traces his finger over the rim. "Yeah, I mean it's probably not as bad as you think but yeah I was young and stupid." He notices a frown on my face and changes the subject. "You said you like English right? What do you want to do?"

I can tell he actually is curious about what he asks so I answer him. "Yeah, I'm studying to be an English teacher."

"Like highschool level?"

I nod. "Yeah, when I took English in high school my teacher told me I'd be a great one so I ran with it and here I am." I say and chuckle.

"When I ran into you the other day you were coming back from the English buildings weren't you?"

He remembers. "Uh yeah, I was getting out of my poetry class. How about you? What are you studying?"

"For now just business and marketing." He says, not very excitedly. "I'd like to try and make it to the NHL so chances are I'd need at least something for after that."

"Smart." I say and he nods along with me. I check my phone to see it's almost one am. I yawn and Derek sees my tired expression.

"I should get you home." He says and get up from his chair, leaving cash on the table.

"I'll pay you back," I say.

Derek shakes his head. "Seriously don't worry about it. My treat." He says smiling while I glare at his back following him to the door.

"See you soon!" Marge yells from the counter.

"Thank you!" I say back.

"Thanks guys." Derek says and we get back out to the chilly air of Teakwood, Minnesota

The drive back to the dorms is relatively silent besides the semi quiet country music playing from the radio. He parks in the lot near the dorms and stops the car.

"Thank you," I say, meeting his calm expression. "For the hot chocolate and the ride."

He watches me for a second but it's not weird. He nods. "I'll see you soon, Mayfield."

I shake my head, smiling, at him calling me by my last name and exit the car. As I walk to the entrance I look back and wave goodbye. He returns the wave and drives off.

Entering my dorm my head spins. Tonight with Derek was the first time I've ever felt like a normal person sitting and talking with someone who I don't know very well. I never had boyfriends in highschool because it usually made me nervous and boys didn't tend to like me. Maybe I'm overthinking it and exaggerating it but there's a feeling I can't place that happened tonight when I locked eyes with him.

Maybe it's nothing... or... maybe not.