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The Boys 'Round Here

Six

John sat down on the couch with a bottle of water and his laptop. It was Sunday night and despite the huge lunch he still felt queasy from the party the night before. He’d driven home from James’ place and taken a second nap, then started thinking about Meghan. So he did what any 22-year old guy would do: looked her up on Facebook.

It wasn’t that easy - John didn’t even know her last name. Luckily Stamkos’ profile was really private and it was a quick task to go through his friends and find her. Most of Meghan’s profile was hidden too. John wondered if that was her style or if it came from hanging around with NHL players and getting reactions like from the waitress at lunch. Her cover image was a shot of Lake Ontario from a boat and her profile photo was her posing alongside a guard outside Buckingham Palace.

John liked her. No matter what he’d told himself before it was obvious both his brain and body were now on board with the decision. Between his fantasy upon seeing her in the garage and the way she’d taken care of him, John was done. Sexy and sweet.

It was Steven’s comment that stuck in his mind; Meghan getting “gooey” and James getting pissed. Was Meghan feeling something? Steven knew her better, maybe he saw something John didn’t. Maybe it was just a warning not to mess up their little group by falling for her.

Too late.

He wanted to see her now, or tomorrow, or at least the day after that. The trouble was John didn’t have her number. He was dependent on James to make plans. If Steven was right and James was upset, it was a bad idea to be at his mercy. Plus, John was very aware he had never been alone with Meghan. There had been a few brief encounters in the house, but even when she’d sat down next to him on the bed there were always other people around. There was always another guy nearby who wouldn’t hesitate to take any of the chances John had passed up. He didn’t really know Meghan - all he knew was that he wanted to.

John clicked the ‘friend request’ button and hoped she would hurry.

Almost immediately, Meghan saw the notification on her phone - a little red icon on her Facebook page.

John Tavares
9 mutual friends

Her stomach did an embarrassing drop, like a model falling off the runway in a fashion show. It was just Facebook! Swooooop, her insides said. Meghan accepted, of course.

You are now friends with John Tavares. Send him a message!

“Okay,” she told the screen.

Flirting with John was fun. Meghan was surprised to find him so good at it. His lines could be pretty clever, like joking that she should open a button on her dress or her boobs had lost at the bar when he got their drinks for free. And he didn’t even giggle when he said “boobs.” He was still a champion dork, but John had a little bit of game mixed in.

Would he ever do anything about it? That was a different story, but one Meghan could not resist helping along. If it was nothing more than flirting, she was still having a lot of fun.

If it was nothing more than flirting, she should probably stop kissing him.

I hope you survive Robs in the morning, she typed.

Meghan spent half an hour trolling through John’s photos. Nearly all of them were hockey-related, plus a few golf pics, two lacrosse photos and a very few candid shots, usually of John with friends. In every one of those she saw the same thing: the guy she liked.

John was also surprised to see the notification that he and Meghan were now friends. Inside her profile were a lot more than the two photos she’d shared publicly: out with friends, on a boat with James, playing alongside a little kid. There was a picture of Stamkos laying by the pool that she’d taken that day they’d lounged around James’ house. Every photo of her was beautiful, happy, silly.

John knew he had to do something to see that face again soon. He scrolled through her timeline, wondering if this constituted stalking. He didn’t follow her to a bar like Stamkos had, so it felt okay to browse. Between someone sharing a photo of Grumpy Cat on her timeline and the notification that she’d liked Essie nailpolish, John saw a concert graphic. Her status said, “Wish we were going to this!” The link took him to a ticket page for Fall Out Boy at the TD Echo Beach pavillion in Toronto. Right across the middle in a red bar it said SOLD OUT.

John thought about the advice Meghan had given Stamkos for winning over his girl: keep it casual, no pressure. Care more about her fun than your own.

The concert was in three days. And so John had his plan. One good thing about making money was that nothing was ever really sold out. Just then Meghan’s message popped up in the bottom corner of his screen.

He typed out a reply, looked at it for a minute then rewrote it. That got changed too. John told himself that it didn’t have to be a big deal - it’s not like he was taking her so a fancy dinner and dancing. This was a show. It didn’t have to be a date if there were 5,000 other people around. Unless she wanted it to be one.

I have to make it till Wednesday, or who’s going to see Fall Out Boy with you?

Meghan gasped. She walked right past James in the living room, upstairs and into her room. As she closed the door, John messaged again.

Want to go with me?

She typed so fast it was a blur. Shut up, are you kidding?!

John could picture Meghan’s face lighting up into a big smile. He hoped James could see it, but knew she was smarter than that. Nope. I have tickets and you have a very sad status about missing it.

OMGYESSSSSSS! she said, hoping John would laugh at her enthusiasm and not cringe about her inner twelve-year old girl. She was dancing around her room like one.

John had an idiot’s grin on his face and hormones going crazy in his body. He struggled to sound cool. Opening bands go on at 8. Pick you up at 7, dinner first?

Pick me up, Meghan thought. John lived closer to the city. He would have to drive to Whitby to get her, drive back to the city, then do it all again to drop her off. After offering her a ticket it seemed like a lot to ask for him to chauffeur her all over southern Ontario too.

I can drive, since you’re closer.

John’s manners wondered if it was less of a date if he didn’t pick her up. His dick wondered if the odds were better that post-concert Meghan wouldn’t want to drive all the way home. No way he’d get invited to stay over at James’ again, but perhaps Meghan could be persuaded to let John return the hospitality.

John laughed. He would never be able to pull that off.

Either way, I don’t mind, he replied.

It’s the least I can do. Send me your address, Meghan said. She scribbled it down on a piece of paper. Got it. Thanks, John. You can’t imagine how excited I am.

John replied to that one out loud. “Oh yeah, I can.”
____

John made it through Monday without mentioning Meghan to the boys at the gym. He did look for her - she was in a pilates class and he wanted to see stretching in stretch pants - but no luck. Just as well, maybe, because that morning’s workout was the worst one yet. John’s hangover lingered and he nearly barfed before needing to sit in the ice bath for twenty minutes after, remembering why he hated sitting in it during the season. It did help.

Tuesday morning John made it into the gym without limping.

“What’s up, gu...,” John started to say, then he realized Meghan was standing with James and Steven. Her long legs showed beneath a pair of black shorts, the tan coming along nicely. On top she wore a purple racerback tank. He felt his expression soften into a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey!” Meghan wished for a moment these guys would workout in something other than mesh. It fit them all dangerously, covering everything while at the same time revealing it. To her right, Steven was wearing a neon blue shirt with sleeves that looked ready to split. James had on long-sleeved Under Armour. John’s basketball shorts were indecent. He had a baseball cap on, which accentuated the softness of his mouth.

John didn’t mention the concert because he wasn’t sure if Meghan had. She was about to ask Steven how his date with photoshoot girl went when Roberts came in. The entire room just about snapped to attention.

“Morning,” he said, then to Meghan, “Wanna train with us today?”

“I want to die just thinking about it,” she smiled back.

The idea of Meghan running and sweating alongside them, her chest heaving right up against the neckline of that tank top, made John dizzy. He’d kill himself showing off for her. He’d never make it to their un-date.

Roberts pulled the boys over toward the weight racks and Meghan set off for cardio. Someday she’d try Roberts’ routine, just to test herself. First she had to trust herself not to faint at the sight of so many man muscles doing so many reps. Hair would be flopping, breathing would be heavy, thighs would be flexing - okay, maybe she’d never be ready.

As she started up the elliptical and set it to a good place, Meghan hit play on her iPod. Some mashup started pumping through her headphones as blood began doing the same through her veins. As always, when she ran she let her mind wander. Maybe Robs would let her help with a workout instead: James could bench press her, one hand on her thigh and one at the back of her neck. Steven could hold a squat with her in his lap. She could lay on John’s back while he did push-ups.

It was as good run.

Afterward she did some free weights, careful as always to keep her form perfect. If there was one thing to draw a trainer’s eye, it was arching the back or raising the shoulders. She kept an eye on herself in the mirror - and twice caught John doing the same.

John quickly looked away, hoping the exertion and sweat would cover his blush. He couldn’t focus on his tricep dips while Meghan was bent over at the waist, doing back rows. Her squats were excellent - low and deep and really beyond what her shorts were built to handle.

“She’s working harder than you are, Tavares,” Roberts said, busting him.

“Looks better too,” Steven said from his deadlift, obviously having been watching Meghan himself. “I mean, damn.”

John smiled as he got back to his reps. He’d thank Steven later.
____

Meghan showered and dressed after her workout, knowing James wouldn’t be done for a little while longer. It looked like Robs was delivering another round of punishment. She almost felt bad about suggesting the burgers on Sunday. That made her think about lunch today, which made her glad she’d showered. While James seemed to get more attractive as he got sweatier, Meghan had no illusions that the same thing worked for her. She took her book outside onto a bench and left her hair to air-dry.

“Good book?”

It was John. He’d seen her leave the building, after watching her disappear into the locker room. Her fresh and clean look was a big departure from his soaked shirt and hair. John stayed a few feet back.

Meghan had a sudden impulse to close the distance and lick his neck. She blinked it away.

“Did you get busted for checking me out in there?”

“Stamkos did.”

She rolled her eyes. “That Steven. Always stalking people on the internet and being a creep.”

John laughed. “It’s not stalking if it’s on Twitter. Or Facebook.”

“I’m excited for tomorrow,” Meghan said honestly. She had a feeling John bought the tickets after he saw her post, but on the outside chance he’d already been going, it was likely she’d taken the spot from another girl. “Really excited. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Thanks for taking care of me the other day.” John still felt like a fool for that one.

“You’re much easier than James when he’d drunk.”

As if on cue, James and Steven came out the front door. They had their bags and fresh drinks. Obviously John had come outside without going to the locker room first, just to see her. Her heart thumped.

“Ready there, Jazzercise?” James asked.

“No,” she spun to Steven around with a devilish grin on her face. “How was your date, stud?”

Steven blushed right through the red spectrum, his pale complexion giving up a hundred different shades. “Good.”

“How good?”

“It was....” Steven tried to fight it but the memory of flirting with Kaylynn, of sitting close in the whisky bar was instantly intoxicating. Even his less-than-cool showing at Kaylynn’s Cuban restaurant choice, where everything had been way too spicy, made him smile. It wasn’t often that Steven was caught out of his element by a girl and he was enjoying the feeling far too much. “Fantastic.”

“Gay,” James said.

“Shut up!” Meghan whacked James in the chest, pushing him out of the way so she could hug Steven. Stamkos was a guy’s guy with the softest heart, always so different from James and MDZ. Meghan knew Steven was the kind of guy who believed in true love and could very well be the prince in some lucky girl’s fairytale. She squeezed him playfully and he laughed.

John watched Meghan, so excited for another person’s good date, and wondered if there was any chance she’d feel the same after their concert. Could she be that happy for herself, if she found the right guy?

Meghan pinched Steven’s side. “So, seeing her again?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Nothing definite yet, except that I’m definitely seeing her again.”

James made a snoring noise, but this time he stepped beyond the range of Meghan’s slap and headed toward his car. She and Steven made to follow. John told them all goodbye and turned to go back inside.

Meghan was so excited for Steven and his date that she’d almost forgotten about her own - if it was a date at all. As John turned away, the sculpted shape of his body receding toward the doors, she felt a surge of desire to feel the same happy, dopey, blushing way Steven felt. She couldn’t resist.

“Hey John!” Meghan called. “See you tomorrow night.”

John slowed, his feet attempting to overthrow his brain and drive his body over to where Meghan was standing. Dripping sweat or not, he would kiss the breath right out of her lungs for that. Announcing their plans to everyone - kind of. Instead he waved and she went on her way.

James was holding the door of his Mercedes open. “Tomorrow night?”

Meghan climbed into the small back seat. “We’re going to the Fall Out Boy show in Toronto.”

All the air went out of the car. Steven and James both turned to look between the seats, where she was trapped in the little space not meant for a person to actually ride in. It was like being in a police car with no cage between the cops and prisoner.

“What?” James said.

“John got tickets to Fall Out Boy. I wanted to, but it sold out really fast and I’m not working, so I can’t be spending all that money on a concert.”

James’ brow furrowed. “You could’ve asked me.”

“I’m not asking you to take me to a show! You’re already letting me live for free.”

He shrugged. “I like Fall Out Boy.”

Meghan made a deadpan face. “How many times have I heard you say you hate that ‘Light ‘Em Up’ song? A billion? A zillion?”

“That’s only because the Pens were using it first! Then the NHL caught on and it plays every ten fucking seconds!” James answered rather loudly.

“It is overplayed,” Steven added diplomatically.

Meghan hissed at him. “You shut up. John asked me and I said yes. Big deal.”

“So it’s a date,” James said flatly. “Everybody’s got a fucking date.”

Silence fell in the tiny cockpit of the car. Steven looked away but James kept his eyes fixed on Meghan. She stared right back at him, green eyes versus blue. His full lips looked ready to pout.

“I don’t know,” she shook her head.

James turned toward the wheel in a huff. He turned the key and gunned the engine, then looked at her in the rearview mirror. “I know.”
____

Meghan stood in front of the laptop that was arranged just so on her desk. Lucy’s face occupied the Skype window on the screen. Meghan twirled around in her bright blue tank dress with black piping: it wasn’t too tight, wasn’t too short. With a black cuff bracelet and some low boots, it was just a little rock and roll.

“I like the other one,” Lucy said.

“The shorts?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s outside, it’s a concert, you’re gonna be standing forever. And plus, dresses are for dates, right?”

Meghan held up the pink shorts and bright green shirt combo she had previously modeled. It was very summery, almost neon, and kind of resembled a watermelon. In any other situation, Meghan would have worn that in a heartbeat.

“Yeah, but....” Meghan didn’t have to finish her thought. If it was a date she didn’t want to be disappointing, after all. “You can never be overeducated or overdressed, right?”

Lucy shrugged. “I guess so.”

After the heated discussion in the car, Meghan and James had not spoken. He’d showered off the gym and gone out to do whatever boys do when they’re upset with their roommates. Meghan had taken her time eating lunch, doing some errands and waiting for Lucy to finish work so they could have a fashion show.

“The show’s at Echo Beach right? The whole ground there is sand. They made some changes for this summer but last year, it was kinda sketchy,” Lucy said.

“I was thinking shoes instead of sandals. God knows what people are dropping in there, plus we’ll probably be dancing,” Meghan agreed.

That got a laugh. Lucy said, “I’ve still gotta see John Tavares dancing to believe it.”
____

On Wednesday morning, John got to the gym early. He suited up and did a little run, so he was busy on the treadmill when Stamkos and Neal walked in. Steven waved hello but James just headed for the locker room. Not a conversation anyone was looking forward to.

Robs ran them hard, like always. There wasn’t any joking or talking today. John noticed that he was keeping pace better than last week. He was still standing when it ended.

Steven gave him a sympathetic look.

Great, John thought. He didn’t want to argue with Neal but mostly he didn’t want anything ruining his day, because he planned to have an awesome, world-record kind of night. Still he went into the locker room with the guys and took his time collecting his stuff.

“Have fun tonight,” James finally said.

John stopped and faced him. There was nothing wrong with inviting Meghan to a show. If James had a problem with the idea of a date, he needed to say something clear. John could not read his mind, and thought he might not care anyway.

“Thanks.”

James wished that John would say something lecherous so he could punch the kid in his face. That would make it about James protecting Meghan, instead of whatever the hell was really going on. It was the on-ice solution. Someone gave you crap, you knocked them upside the head. It was not something James ever did in the real world, but it sure would suit right now. Instead John just looked at him, all aw-shucks and Scouts Canada. Where was that jackass Del Zotto when James needed him?

“She likes Thai food,” James blurted. Then he grabbed his stuff and stormed out.
____

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