60 Mia and Hunter (1)

Earlier that day…

Mia and Hunter reached the sports club and headed straight for the locker rooms.

On their way there, Hunter waved his membership card toward the reception and the people there greeted him by name and didn't ask about her.

It seems that he is a regular and that his card allows for guests to be brought in, Mia concluded.

Men and women have separate locker rooms. Hunter walked with Mia to the door she will take and spoke with a staff member who was standing there with her gear, obviously waiting for them.

"I will wait for you on the other side, where sports fields are.", Hunter told Mia before heading toward the men's locker room.

Mia took a second to observe the space used as a locker room. Lockers are lined up along the walls, and the space in the middle of the locker room has several benches. There are few 'privacy spots' where dark red curtain hangs from the ceiling, obstructing the view partially for women who prefer to change their clothes in privacy.

The sign on the wall was pointing the guests into their desired direction. She saw that in order to reach sports fields she needs to take a left behind the dividing wall.

Mia saw that her jersey has a number 4 on it and she was pleased that the gear staff prepared included tights, a t-shirt, and a sports bra. Great! Other than panties, it was a full change of clothes.

Mia was halfway with changing her clothes, when a female voice came from her back: "You came here with Hunter?"

Mia turned toward the voice, puzzled by the unexpected hostility. Mia just arrived here, and the two of them headed straight to the hallway with locker rooms. How does this tall woman with auburn hair tied up in a ponytail know with whom she came? Mia faintly remembered that during those ten seconds they stood in front with the staff member, twice the door opened and someone went out, or was it in? It does not matter.

"Yes. I came with Hunter.", Mia responded, assuming that the woman is an ex. Or is it the current girlfriend? Well, she does not care about that. She went back to putting her gear on.

Mia was happy that the skates fit perfectly. Everything else can be tightened and adjusted, but the shoes need a good fit. Like Cinderella! Mia stifled a laugh at that thought.

Mia was startled when she turned around and saw that the auburn-colored-hair woman is still there, glaring at her.

"Do we have a problem?", Mia narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin. She was never the one to shy from a confrontation.

The woman is much taller than Mia, but at that point, Mia was intimidating, making the woman step backward.

"I thought so…", Mia mumbled and put her helmet on before rolling out on her perfectly fitting inline skates.

When Mia got out, Hunter was not there, probably still getting ready. Based on the jersey she was wearing, she recognized three people who were standing nearby in matching jerseys as her future teammates. She contemplated if she should approach them first or wait for Hunter, but they spotted her before she decided on it.

"You must be Mike's replacement that Hunter found. I'm Jake.", the young man introduced himself while apprehensively glancing at Mia.

'He looks small and fragile. Will he be OK on the field?', all three men had the same thoughts at the sight of Mia.

The gear hides her figure, and the helmet obstructs her face. They assumed it's a guy.

All three men gasped in surprise when she spoke and her voice revealed her gender: "I am Mia."

The other two introduced themselves as Ashton and Derek.

"You met?", Hunter asked Mia when he approached.

Mia nodded cheerfully while eyeing the available playing fields. She had a good lunch, and she is full of energy which awaits to be spent.

Mia is a glutton who eats a lot and enjoys pleasures that a scrumptious meal can bring but she is also very active. With a black belt in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, and being versatile in many sports like volleyball, tennis and surfing she leads a very active lifestyle. Her favorite at the moment is freestyle rock climbing and her biggest challenge is to find someone to share her love for the activities she enjoys.

Bri is not very active. She prefers lazing around and going to a spa.

Mia often has to do the activities by herself. That is why when Mia heard that Hunter is a teammate short, she volunteered immediately. There is nothing better than doing what you love in company. More than once she tried getting into team sports, but often the teams are already formed and at best she gets is to be a fill-in. Like now. But she will take what she can.

Back to present...

"We are doing four quarters, ten minutes each with five minute breaks in-between.", Hunter explained to Mia. "It's not a league, but we are not slacking. Do your best. Derek is the goalie. As a starting lineup, Ashton and Jake will be offense, while the two of us will be the defense…"

"Are you sure she will be OK?"

Jake's question made Mia frown.

"What if she gets hurt?", Ashton asked.

Mia sneered, irritated by their condescending tone. Are they looking down on her? "I don't fall easily, and for someone to hit me… they need to catch me first."

Her fighting spirit was set ablaze when she heard mocking from the opposing team. They were trash-talking before the game even started!

"Ohh, is that a girl I see?", one of the opposing players said.

"How about we increase the stakes? When we win, she goes with me on a date!", the opponent with a number 12 on his jersey said.

"Do your best to tune them out.", Hunter told Mia while patting her shoulder gently, sounding like a concerned parent.

Mia raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh.

"Yes! Let's increase the stakes!", Mia bellowed back. "When we win, you go for a plastic surgery to fix that ugly face of yours! … On a second thought, even if we lose you need a surgery because I don't date ugly mutts!"

Hunter frowned, unsure what to think about this explosion of insults that came out of Mia. She is a girl, why is she provoking them?

Jake, Ashton and Derek laughed.

"You found a feisty one!", Ashton told Hunter.

Mia ignored her teammates. Her gaze was fixed on that opponent with number 12 on his jersey who dared to say he will make her date him!

The game looked as professional as it could. They even had the referee.

If any of them had any doubts about Mia's capabilities, Mia cleared them up within first few minutes.

She is fast, extremely agile. The man from the opposing team with number 12 rushed on few occasions toward Mia, trying to bump into her, but she avoided him with ease.

Through the game she continued taunting the opposing players, making Hunter focus go on keeping her safe from their wrath, even though no one could touch her.

The game ended with their win of 34:20.

Mia's control of the puck is amazing and out of 34 goals, she scored 21. With the most assists and a foolproof defense, Mia was the MVP of the game.

They got to shake hands with opponents at the end of the game.

"You are lucky we didn't shake hands on raising the bets…", Mia said tauntingly to the man with number 12 on his jersey.

He grunted in response.

After handshakes, Mia removed her helmet and tussled her shoulder length blonde hair in the back.

Jake, Ashton and Derek paused. This is the first time Mia removed her helmet since she came out of the women's locker room.

"You didn't say that our number 4 is a beauty!", Derek exclaimed at Hunter while his eyes didn't leave Mia.

Mia ignored Derek. It's not the first time guys hit on her shamelessly.

A man cleared his throat behind Mia, making her turn to see who it is. It was a man with number 12, from the opposing team.

"I apologize for being crude…", he said awkwardly. "If you allow me to make it up to you… can we have a coffee?"

"No way!", Jake interjected, standing between the man and Mia. "Are you trying to poach our teammate? She is going for a coffee with me!"

"And me…", Derek added.

Jake's eyes shifted before he corrected himself. "With her teammates."

Hunter cleared his throat. "I promised to take her back after the game."

"Ehh?", Ashton scrutinized Hunter. "Are you trying to monopolize her? Mia, you want to go with us, right?"

"If you don't have anything urgent, we can make it a dinner…", Derek offered.

At the mentioning of dinner, Mia's eyes sparkled. These people want to feed her!

"Mia, say something…", Hunter urged her. "What do you want?"

Mia looked at Hunter and her other three teammates, and even the opponent with number 12 was standing there, all looking her way.

"I want to take a shower.", Mia said and made her way into the women's locker room without looking back.

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