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The Boys 'Round Here

Thirty-Five

Mondays had never bothered John. He’d never been much for sleeping in. He liked school, and after school there was always hockey. Since hockey wasn’t a normal job, Mondays were just another day he did or didn’t have a game.

This summer, Mondays had taken on a new meaning. They came after Sundays - and Sunday was John’s favorite day. He could sleep in late with Meghan, spend every minute with her if he played his cards right. No workout, nowhere to be. Then Monday came around.

At least Meghan was here today, tapping her fingers to the music on the radio as John drove to the gym. They hadn’t talked about it, just gotten up and dressed. She wore the same outfit as they day they met - black leggings and a pink and black striped running tank. That’s how John knew that Meghan knew.

This was the first time since the cottage John was back at his normal workout - with James. Meghan wasn’t about to let him walk in there alone.

“Okay?” she said when they were just inside the door.

“Yeah,” John hoped. Right there in front of a lot of people paying no attention, people they’d seen all summer long, Meghan kissed John square on the mouth.

Since Kaylynn’s party, something changed between them. Once Meghan said she would start looking for a job in New York, their relationship felt stronger. Sturdier. The ticking clock had slowed considerably, quieted a bit. In that quiet, John realized his own heart had been racing for months, like his mind, toward the end of whatever this was. He was afraid. While there was no guarantee even now, the fact that she wanted to try let him finally stop holding his breath.

John was in love. He didn’t want to be the only one.

Meghan glanced over her shoulder in time to see John shaking hands with Gary. She said a little prayer that James would be okay.

“Hey.”

She nearly walked right into him. He’d been waiting near the pilates room, leaning against the wall and making every girl headed to class giggle and shake. The hair-tossing used to catch his eye. Now James kept his eyes down. He’d seen Meghan and John come in, looked away before the inevitable kiss. He started at the floor until her sneakers came into view. Even so the first sight of her face hit him like a hammer.

“Hi,” she said, her voice breathy with surprise. In the week since the cottage, he’d cut his hair - it was short and messy on top, close-cropped along the sides as back. She’d gotten so used to the longer curls. It made him look younger, more like the James she had always known. God, he was gorgeous. He also looked tired: his gaze felt too heavy to lift, like the sad commas etched into the sides of his mouth.

“Look, Meg, I’m…,” he started the speech he’d practiced all weekend, “sorry.”

“I know,” she sighed. All the fight had gone out of her by the time she and John were back in Toronto.

“The things I said - I didn’t mean them.”

The words came back to Meghan, both what James had said to her and what he’d said to make John so mad. He claimed she didn’t need John, that she’d never go New York or his train wreck of a team. He dismissed John as her “hobby.” She immediately countered by calling John her boyfriend for the first time. Had that been only eight days ago? The word ‘boyfriend’ seemed laughably inadequate.

“Yes, you did,” Meghan replied softly. She’d tried to be kind of James all summer and it backfired. He heard what he wanted. Now it was time to be clear and, finally, honest. “But it doesn’t matter what you say.”

“You’re going, aren’t you?”

“I’m going to try. My way,” she said.

James expected that but it still felt like a pit opening to swallow him. “So I’m losing you.”

“You don’t have to, you just have to learn to share. And be nice to John.”

James shook his head ruefully. “He’s a good guy, okay? Fuck. We all know it.”

“I love him.”

The words slipped out, brushing her lips as John’s had so many times. They hovered, almost visible in the air, like snowflakes seeming to defy gravity. Meghan’s eyes got wider than James’ did.

He exhaled, disturbing the delicate stillness and erasing her statement. He pushed out the hope and frustration he’d been holding since that moment, in this same gym, two months ago when Meghan kissed John like it was no big deal. It had in fact been a very big deal.

“He’s so lucky,” James said.

“Me too,” she answered.

It went like it always had when James was sad or low. He opened his arms and Meghan came into his embrace without hesitation. She held him tightly and he rested his chin on the top of her head. It still felt like the place she really belonged.

“I don’t think we should see each other for a while,” she said into his t-shirt. He nodded, knowing it was already time to let go. Meghan only stepped back a few inches though, her hands still clasped behind his back. “But when you’re ready,” she said, “I’ll be waiting.”

“You’ll both be waiting, you mean,” he tried to joke.

Meghan finally released her hold on James. “He’s a good guy. You’ll like him.”
____

Gary ignored the empty spaces next to John while he explained the day’s torturous plan, and he kept ignoring it when James materialized there just a minute late. John figured Robs was a mind reader. Jedis could do that, right? He didn’t ignore Stamkos’ arrival a whole four minutes late.

“Nice of you to join us, Stammer,” Gary grinned. “Your girl must be pretty special if she still let you show up today after the party you threw her.”

Steven barely reacted, didn’t chirp back. John and James momentarily forgot their animosity and exchanged a confused look. Steven was usually the lighthearted one - what was into him? Gary went back to detailing their punishment, not caring if the boys were in a bad mood. When the speech was done, John felt a little bump against his shoulder.

“Sorry, man,” James said, making intentional eye contact this time.

“It’s cool.” John appreciated this wasn’t easy for Neal to do. Nor should it be. “But don’t ever talk to Meghan like that again.”

Neal’s trademark shit-eating grin flashed. “So I’m allowed to talk to her?”

John suffered through the workout. The guys barely spoke but it was more likely the endless squats and sprints than any lingering anger left from the cottage weekend. When Gary finally released them, James took off to the locker room without a word. John spent a full minute on the floor next to Steven’s lifeless body and groaned.

“Dude,” he rolled his head towards Steven’s. “You barely said a word since Gary nearly kicked your ass for being late.”

Stamkos struggled his way into a sitting position. “I wasn’t… sorry.”

“What’s up with you today?”

“Kaylynn’s applying for jobs in Tampa.”

John’s heart swooped in his chest, probably dangerous after so much physical exertion. A smile split across his face. “Stammer, that’s great!”

It took Steven a puzzling moment to reply. “You’re right, it is. It’s just…,” he pulled his hat off and raked at his sweaty hair, “I thought there might have been a chance she could have come work for the team and -”

“There isn’t?” John guessed. He knew that wouldn’t work for Meghan, but it made sense for someone in Kaylynn’s field.

Steven nodded. “She’s applied to other places but I don’t know. I had just thought….”

“I get it,” he leaned back on his hands. “Meghan’s in the same boat.”

“The same…,” Steven turned, surprise in his light blue eyes. “What do you… like she’s applying for jobs? In New York?”

John almost laughed - he’d been so happy, he’d forgotten to mention it to anyone. Maybe he wouldn’t have chosen Steven, who hoped so desperately for Kaylynn to do the same, but now it seemed like something to celebrate.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “said she’s starting this week, too.”

They stared at each other for a moment, neither really believing the summer had gone this way. Both were in over their heads - and well aware of it - but now there was a chance it could work out the way they’d spent the last two months hoping.

Steven relaxed visibly, his shoulders rounding down and posture loosening. “That’s amazing, man. When did she -”

“At Kaylynn’s party,” John shrugged, giving Steven some credit for the night where everything went right. “But like you said, there’s no guarantee. Who knows if she’ll even find anything?”

Steven got to his feet. John reluctantly did the same. “It’s not easy, that’s for sure.”

John felt like he’d said the right thing if Steven was joking about it now. “With these two? Has it ever been?”

James was gone from the locker room. Steven worked a clean shirt over his head, while John retrieved his bag and dug out his phone. Meghan usually let him know if she was done first because he felt weird about perving into the pilates room to look for her. All those girls in tights stretching - he didn’t want to be the creep who made it a spectator sport.

There was indeed a text. He scrolled through. “Uh oh. They’re at it again.”

“Who?” Steven asked, sitting on the bench to change his shoes. John simply raised his eyebrows -one look and Steven knew: Kaylynn and Meghan. He tried to look skeptical, but he was smiling. “What now?”

“Double date. Tonight.”

Stamkos’ mood had definitely turned around. “You and I invited, or did they find two other players to tag along?”

“Wouldn’t put it past either of them,” John muttered, still reading. Then his eyes shot up to meet Steven’s. “Oh shit - mini golf.”

“Oh man, Meg must have twisted Kay’s arm to get her to agree to that,” he laughed. “Who knows what she’ll be getting in return.”

John gave Steven a look that said are you kidding?

“As if Meg is the one who’ll be paying for it.” John knew Kaylynn would be taking out any reluctance on the guy in front of him. “You know it’s not that easy, Stammer.”

____

In the car, John asked about mini golf and Meghan simply promised to wipe the course with him. They didn’t talk about James on the ride home. They didn’t talk about him over turkey sandwiches for lunch on the deck, or when Meghan finished hers and stood up, stripped off her gym clothes and jumped naked into the pool. They didn’t talk about anything for a while after that.

Later in the day, John leaned over the back of the couch and put his chin on Meghan’s shoulder. She had her hair up, feet up and was tapping away at her laptop, scrolling through a page of new car ads.

“You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever known,” he said, eying her screen. Since her car was rear-ended, she’d been driving a loaner. The insurance company was sure to come back and say that boxy old ride wasn’t worth fixing - but it wouldn’t be worth much money either. All John’s hints about her car situation had been ignored.

Now, Meghan smiled.

“It’s always going to be like this, isn’t it?”

Still smiling, she nodded. John turned away, patting the car keys in his pocket loudly enough to jingle. She didn’t react until he was out the front door.

“Where are you going?” Meghan called, running after him.

“Nowhere.” John climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Don’t do it!”

He rolled down the window, face all innocent. “Do what?”

Meghan stomped her foot like a child. She looked so casual in white shorts and a yellow t-shirt, barefoot in the driveway, trying not to smile. Daring him to do exactly what she told him not to. Eventually John knew he’d have to break this little pattern of always following her lead. This seemed like the perfect opportunity - so he rolled up the window and waved as he backed away.

His phone rang twice before he reached his destination, John ignored both calls. If Meghan thought this was a spontaneous decision, even better. Really he’d been thinking about it for a while and had even done some research. He was smiling when he pulled into the dealership…

… and when he pulled back into his driveway two hours later. In a new car. Meghan opened the front door and stood there, hand on her hip, giving him a glare.

“Like it?”

The corner of her mouth twitched. The dark gray Acura RDX luxury compact SUV glinted in the sun like a spaceship. It was smaller than a truck but built like a little tank. Of course Meghan liked it - it was gorgeous.

“It has all-wheel drive and a nine-point-seven safety rating,” he said, grinning. “For driving in the snow.”

Meghan rolled her eyes. Of course, John would buy the safest car on the road.

“Twenty-eight miles to the gallon. Only have to fill it up once to get to Long Island.”

“You didn’t have to,” Meghan said.

For all his bravado in buying the gift, he was still unsure he hadn’t overstepped. “I wanted to. And you need it.”

She gave up and ran down the stairs, launching into a hug. He was laughing when he caught her. The car was extravagant to her - and she knew it was to John too. He didn’t flash his money around. He hadn’t made fun of her for being probably the only WAG in history to turn down a stop at Bendel’s in New York. And she was going to have to buy a car as soon as the insurance claim on Professor McGonigal came in - sure to be a small check for an old, boxy car with a zillion kilometers on it. John to the rescue again. The words she’d confessed to James at the gym that morning rolled around in her mind: I love him. Not for a gift, she thought. Not yet.

“You haven’t seen the best part.” John leaned in and turned the key, firing the engine. His iPod was still plugged into the radio. “Play song: Boston,” he said. A moment later, the piano notes of Augustana’s “Boston” filled the car.

Meghan looked impressed. “Play song: Spice Up Your Life.”

The radio paused, then resumed the Augustana song.

“I don’t have the Spice Girls on my iPod,” John said sarcastically.

She kissed him anyway. “You’ll learn.”
____

Night was just falling as Meghan turned her new car into the parking lot at Timber Creek Family Fun Centre. Lights glowed all over the clubhouse and on every tree and post around the park’s perimeter. The sign out front advertised batting cages, a driving range, gemstone mining area and all kinds of games to play.

“They got a jumping castle?!” she leapt out of the car.

“Looks like it closed at four-thirty,” John examined a sign pasted to the building’s front.

“Oh well.” Meghan took in the sight of John in a dark gray Oshawa Generals t-shirt over red shorts and sneakers - sensible footwear, of course. “We can bounce on your bed later.”

He grabbed her for a quick, slightly groping hug. She giggled in approval. Her dark, wavy hair was loose down her back, grazing the bare skin of her shoulders. She wore a simple white tank top, cut-off jean shorts that made John’s eyes cross and bright blue low-top Converse sneakers. Tiny bits of turquoise in each earlobe brought the color up to her smiling face.

“You’re beautiful,” he said casually, setting free a flight of butterflies in Meghan’s stomach. She gave him a kiss that was even more inappropriate than the hug.

“Hey, hey, break it up!” Steven shouted from halfway across the parking lot. He was hand-in-hand with Kaylynn, who looked stylishly beautiful in a blousy hot-pink top with yellow flats that pulled perfect contrast from her designer multicolored shorts. Meghan thought it was a good thing John didn’t expect her to look that put together everyday. This girl, with her edgy fashion sense and pretty face, would make a killer WAG.

Meghan hugged Steven with extra force. John had shared the news that Kaylynn was looking for jobs in Tampa - and thank God. If she and John had to do long distance for a while, Toronto and Long Island weren’t that far apart. Tampa was another story: they didn’t even have winter, might as well be living on the moon.

“So you all know, I’ve won here before. I’m pretty talented,” Meghan announced.

Steven scoffed. “I’ll give you pretty, but… why would you come all the way to Stouffville to play mini-golf?”

“Del Zotto lives near here,” she said casually. John’s head spun around, like his nemesis might actually be there, impeccably dressed and waiting to make any number of holes in one. He didn’t ask when - or why - Meghan had been here with that guy.

“I need a beer if we’re going to golf,” Kaylynn nodded toward the bar, just beyond the check-in desk. “Let’s get it on.”

Knowing the boys had matching mile-wide competitive streaks, Meghan suggested they go couple vs. couple for the front nine. Steven joked about going down with Kaylynn’s ship. She sipped her beer and rolled her eyes. The course was themed like an old mining camp, for the most part. Meghan went first and lined up a putt under a creaky old wooden water tower. It banked off the far wall, rolled toward the green and ended up three meters from the hole.

“Not bad, not bad.” John stepped into place and took two practice swings. His shot followed hers almost exactly, coming to rest next to her ball with a little love tap.

“Aww,” Meghan joked. Steven and Kaylynn looked at each other and gagged in unison, then
Kaylynn handed him her beer and walked to the tee.

“I will never understand what you guys see in golf.” After watching two attempts, she sent her golf ball on a tighter route and hit the bank closer in, giving the shot more force. It sped across the turf and finally rolled to a stop less than a meter from the cup. Even she looked surprised.

“Uh, I think we have a ringer,” John said. Steven gave her a congratulatory peck as he moved up to putt.

“Taught her everything she knows,” Stamkos assured his teammate. Placing the ball on the outside divot of the tee mat, he carefully eyed the spot on the corner he wanted to strike. It was like picking the corner over the goalie’s shoulder in hockey. Steven rolled his wrists, felt right and swung.

The ball went way wide, missing the wall entirely and zooming into the circular green. It bounced once, caught a faux-rock obstacle and caromed back up the fairway. They stared at the golf ball as it ran out of momentum just two meters in front of Steven’s feet.

“Little rusty,” John teased.

Steven leveled a hard gaze at his friend and said, “Two Rocket Richard trophies.”

Meghan swatted Stamkos on the backside with her club. “One and a half.”

Kaylynn birdied the first four holes, showing considerably more interest in mini golf as the game went on. Maybe it was just beating Steven, who was a solid five strokes behind her already. He looked at his club like it might be faulty. Meghan bumped against John’s hip, both of them enjoying the show.

“Are you any good at real golf?” Kay asked.

“I am! I play in tournaments!” Steven insisted.

“And wear white pants,” Meghan added. Steven had made a few bold fashion choices on the course this summer, to the delight of Stamkos fangirls. Kaylynn nodded approvingly; he should look good even if he didn’t play that way.

Meghan and John had almost matching scores. She knew he was a very good golfer, but apparently real course talent didn’t always translate into miniature. Still she caught him eyeing her stance at the fifth tee. The hole was on two levels: the first sloped down toward three holes that carried the ball in tubes to the lower level, spitting it out at one of three spots on the green.

“Suggestions, coach?” she said.

“Er, uh,” John stuttered. He’d been looking at her legs, not the hole. “Aim for the left one.”

“That one?” she pointed toward the right - the hole that would clearly end closest to the target below.

“Yeah, I meant that one,” he muttered. She rocked teasingly side to side, hips rolling beneath those little cutoffs, as if unsure how to aim properly.

“Let me help,” John said, stepping in behind her.

“Oh Jesus!” Steven laughed.

John wrapped his arms around Meghan, hands over hers where they gripped the club. She smelled like citrus. “Just turn a little….” They swung together and the ball went directly into the hole on the right.

Kaylynn giggled. “There sure are a lot of balls and holes around here.”

Meghan wished she had a moment alone with Kaylynn to ask about the job search in Tampa. If anything, she sensed a little stress between Steven and Kaylynn that hadn’t been there at her party. The ticking clock as affecting everyone. Meghan wanted to tell her new friend that it would work out - Steven was worth it, just hang in there. Maybe saying so out loud would make it true for herself too.

She watched John two-putt over a little bridge and into the eighth hole. He leaned down to retrieve his ball, flexing every muscle in his body and some muscles that normal guys didn’t have. Such an everyday gesture, but nothing was ever normal with John.

“Suggestions, coach?” he mimicked what she’d said before.

“Nope, you’re perfect.”

For the back nine, they switched to boys vs. girls. The outcome was no different: Kaylynn played like a prodigy, Steven was confoundingly terrible. John and Meghan played equally and the girls won. Steven noticed John slip Kaylynn the final scorecard, which she tucked into her pocket. Nice momento, he frowned. “Kaylynn’s buying dessert.”

Meghan feigned shock. “Steven Stamkos eats his feelings. Who knew?”

They claimed a table in the clubhouse, sitting on rickety benches and leaning across the formica top. Steven got a vanilla cone and Kaylynn a strawberry twist. Meghan insisted on a hot fudge sundae; John had to ask twice before she let him share.

It arrived on their table with a big, bright red cherry sitting atop a peak of whipped cream. They both glanced at it, then each other. Meghan lifted her eyebrows. John blushed. Kaylynn elbowed Steven, then licked a big, slow swipe of frosty ice cream all the way around her cone, drawing the tip of her tongue up at the last second to swipe the corner of her lip. Her lashes fluttered in pleasure. When it was over, she opened her eyes to see Steven’s jaw hanging open. Even Meghan and John had abandoned their flirting to watch.

“Shit, Kay. That was hot,” Meghan said.

“Can you do that?” John asked Meghan.

Steven was getting up. “We need more ice cream.”
____

On the ride home, Meghan had a tough time keeping her right hand on the wheel when it could be on John’s thigh. He took up more room in the passenger seat than she was used to.

“Do you think she’s gonna go?” he asked without preamble.

“Kaylynn? To Tampa? I think she wants to, but it won’t be easy for her to find something.”

John looked at Meghan. Her skin was flawless in the near-dark of the car’s interior, her green eyes still sparkling from all the laughter of the night. He wanted to have that, have her lightness and happiness, in his life everyday. He reached for her leg.

“I’ve never been so glad that my team is in New York.”
____

Notes

Comments

Just finished this story and wanted to say that you're an incredible writer. :)
I think you'd write a great MDZ story btw.

I'm so sad that it's over. ): But thank you for spending so much time and effort to write something so wonderful!

OMGEmilyGrace OMGEmilyGrace
4/7/14

Omg poor James :(

hockeywife hockeywife
2/27/14

This story is amazing. My favorite. I love it so much

racheal racheal
2/10/14

I love this story so much!!!

RedWingsGirl2 RedWingsGirl2
1/12/14