Sabina's POV- March 2018

Adrian had been pretty quiet the entire drive, and I could not tell if it was because of the Kings 7-2 loss. Yes, I played hockey but that gave me no right to give any criticism. He had not played his best, but neither had his teammates. You lose as a team, and you win as one as well. 

"Thanks for coming out"

"Thank you for inviting me out," I told him.

"I've been craving Korean BBQ, and none of the guys want to come with"

"I'm glad I can join you then" I stated.

He chuckled.

"You are much nicer company"

I laughed as he winked at me before holding the door open for me. Once we were inside, we were quickly seated. He stood out like a sore thumb, probably because he was overdressed.

"I'll give you two some minutes to decide on what you want to eat, but before I go would you like to order your drinks?"

My eyes glanced through the menu before looking up.

"I'll have a ginger ale," I told him.

"Of course"

He looked at Adrian.

"I'll have the same, and could we get a pitcher of water?"

The waiter nodded.

"I will be back with your drinks"

As he left, Adrian spoke up.

"When you were in Korea, did you get a chance to eat some authentic food?"

I smiled.

"Yeah, even though we were told not to," I told him.

There was a reason why our nutritionist warned us about eating the local foods, and that was food poisoning. I actually played a game fighting a bug, and it was honestly the worse. Yet I chose to disregard the warnings because most of the time, the food was worth it.

"I love food, so when we went exploring I convinced Dani to try some street food with me," I said.

Most of the team went to watch skiing, whereas I chose to try the food, priorities.

"I tried fried squid" I disclosed.

"How'd that taste?"

"Like calamari" I stated.

I tried all kinds of dumplings.

"There deserts were by far the best" I admitted.

The cotton candy, mochi, ice cream, rice cakes, and red bean buns tasted amazing.

"Did you eat Korean BBQ?"

"Yes, I literally dragged Dani with me on our last night there" I answered.

It was why some of us were tired because we chose to eat instead of sleeping that night.

"So what should we order?"

I bit my lower lip as I scanned through the menu.

"How hungry are you?" I questioned.

He smiled.

"Very"

I nodded and glanced up as our waiter made his presence known by placing a nice amount of sides on our table. He lit up the grill and then smiled at us.

"What shall I start you both off?"

Adrian looked at me.

"We'll have" I started.

After listing off at least 5 cuts, I gestured at the sides.

"Also can we get more bean sprouts and cucumbers," I told him.

"Of course, do you want the cucumbers with kimichi?"

"Yes please" I answered.

He nodded.

"I'll give you two some privacy"

As he left, I turned to Adrian who was folding his sleeves up showing his tatted sleeve.

"How long did it take you to complete your sleeve?" I asked.

He glanced at me.

"About 4 years"

The detailing was beautiful.

"Do you have any tattoos?"

I found myself smiling.

"I actually have two" I disclosed.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Do tell"

Obviously they were not visible.

"My dad is not too fond of tattoos" I admitted.

He visibly gulped.

"I got them on body parts that can be covered with clothing once I start working in my field" I told him.

I reached for my phone.

"Right after graduation, while I was living in Buffalo I got a thigh tattoo" I stated.

I obviously couldn't show him the actual tattoo since we were in a restaurant and I was wearing pants, so I showed him a picture.

"To be honest, getting my second tattoo hurt more" I stated.

"Where'd you get your tattoo?"

"On my left foot," I replied.

"What'd you get?"

"The Olympic rings" I answered.

He smiled.

"You certainly earned your rings"

Two time Olympic Medalist, one gold and one silver.

"Any other piercings besides the ones on your ear?"

I eyed the kimichi cucumbers.

"Just those" I confirmed before reaching for my set of chopsticks.

"So what do you think of Lucy? I never asked"

"She's lovely" I answered.

He smiled.

"That's great to hear"

"She felt the need to explain that your relationship is simply platonic" I stated.

As he stared at me, I reached for a piece of cucumber with my chopsticks.

"You have a genuine friend there," I said before popping the cucumber in my mouth to eat.

"I'm glad you see that. A lot of people think its impossible for opposite sexes to be just friends"

"She's really protective of you," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Did you she make you feel uncomfortable?"

I shook my head.

"No, nothing like that" I answered.

We both looked up as our waiter placed the cuts on the table.

"She just wanted to see if my intentions were right," I said.

He watched as I placed some cuts of meat on the grill.

"And what are your intentions?"

"We're getting to know each other, and enjoying our company" I stated.

A smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah we are"

A full meal later, and frozen yogurt we found ourselves outside my condo.

"So I was thinking you could come over on Monday for Brunch" I mentioned.

He nodded.

"I can drop by after practice"

"Thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful," I said.

"It's not too much, right?"

I shook my head.

"Okay, good. Thank you for coming out to the game, and to dinner"

"I had a really good time" I brought up

"I'm glad you did"

I stood there waiting for him to take the hint. Thankfully, he did and nervously scratched his jaw.

"Before I go, could I..."

He closed the gap between us and lightly touched my chin with his fingers.

"Can I?"

"You can" I answered.

His eyes fluttered close before mines followed. My hands found their way to his shoulders as our lips hovered over one another. His scent was intoxicating and even though it was just a light peck...it left me wanting more.