Love Bites

----- Grace Hartin

"God damn it Grace are you ready to go yet?" Amanda yelled to me from where she was sprawled out on her bed.

"Yes!" I yelled back for the fifth time as I applied a little clear brow gel.

"You keep saying yes, but I don't see you coming out of the bathroom," she retorted.

I didn't know why she was so surprised that I was taking so long. For as long as I could remember the bathroom was one of my favorite rooms in the house and I could spend hours getting ready. It wasn't that I tried on a million different outfits or spent time styling my hair, because I did neither of those. I simply took my time and enjoyed the process of getting ready. Plus, it's fun to dance around to music as you get dressed and make faces at yourself in the mirror.

"Well at least I'm worth the wait," I joked as I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the room with a series of poses.

For my efforts all I got was an eye roll, "That's debatable, but at least you aren't trying to impress me."

Amanda was a pain in the ass and I knew that. Sometimes she did strike a point that bugged me, but I also knew that she didn't really mean any harm, so it was hard to get upset with her. Today was important enough that I did frown and begin towards my suitcase, "Well I guess I better try something else on."

She jumped from the bed and pounced on my hand just before I reached my suitcase to bat it away, "Don't touch your clothing. I may not be interested but I'm sure that you will get someone's attention tonight. Just like I will too."

Her outfit was eye catching as usual, maybe even more so. With a little spin she showed off her perfect fit jeans that flared slightly over her brown heels. She finished the move with an air kiss and a wink, which she had obviously been practicing. No shame was wasted as she leaned over to show off her cleavage that was completely on display in her plain white t-shirt with a small v-neck cut, only her boobs didn't seem to understand the meaning of a small v-neck cut.

"Ugh," I made the most sarcastic noise that I could manage and covered my eyes like someone had just turned on their high beams as they drove at me head on. "Cover up woman."

Her puppy face expression back at me had to have been rehearsed for this moment in time as well, "Aww don't be jealous of me and my boobs." My mouth fell open and I couldn't help but laugh at her bluntness. She grabbed both our bags and pushed me out of our room, all the while continuing to reassure me even when we were in the elevator with an elderly couple going from the 7th floor to the 5th. "And your boobs are the perfect size. They're noticeable without being big enough for anyone to call them fake. Plus," she held up her hands in front of my breasts and made a squeezing motion in the air, "I'm sure that they're a good handful."

I batted her hands down before the elderly couple could see. My cheeks were burning hot and I stared at the floor until they left to avoid judgement.

"Thanks for that," I whacked Amanda on the arm as the doors closed.

She let out her obnoxious laugh, the most obnoxious laugh I knew, and leaned on the wall for support as she gasped for breath. "Oh my god that was hilarious. I hope that whoever is watching the elevator security footage enjoyed that." She yelled the last part and knowing my luck I bet the person watching us had seen the whole thing and had maybe even fallen out of their chair laughing.

"Funny," I snapped back as I tried to regain my composure.

Amanda pushed me lightly and it took every fiber of my being not to smile. "It wasn't so bad. You just," she snickered again, "blushed a little."

Ha.

"A little?" My cheeks still felt warm, "I'm still blushing from before." As always Amanda looked perfectly normal, her blush was only visible when she laughed so hard that she stopped being able to breathe. "At least you're black so you can hide your blush."

"And how many hockey WAGs are black?" she shot back her favorite comeback.

I rolled my eyes- she always used that card, "And how many are halfies?"

The elevator dinged when we reached the lobby. The ride had felt like forever, especially from floors 7-5, yet oddly like we going down a rabbit's hole. The walls that had been surrounding us were a dark velvet and the wooden floor had a dark stain with a glossy finish. Above our heads was a large mirror that almost made you look like you were falling into nothing, which didn't sound so bad when the elderly couple had been with us.

"After we hit the clubs tonight there will be one of each kind of WAG," I thought she said with a quick smirk as she walked past me and out of the elevator.

I wasn't deaf but I had to have heard her wrong. We were 17. How on Earth would we get into a club?

It took me a second to realize that I was still in the elevator as she walked towards the little restaurant that served breakfast. The door began shutting just after I jumped out and scurried after her.

"Wait what did you say?"

----- Patrick Kane

"Guys you'll be on in 3 minutes," on of the backstage guys called to us.

From where Sharpy, Jonny and I sat backstage we could hear the crowd gathering in the large room. Like every other year there would be row after row of fans who would hoot and holler at just about anything, even if it ruined the audio of the video they were recording on their phones at the same time. I loved it, and I'm sure the other guys did too, but something about the waiting beforehand made me more nervous than a game.

"Okay," I shouted back when the man's shadow didn't leave the doorway to the room we sat in. It wasn't early, about 11, but my mind was still asleep. Nothing I had tried that morning had woken me up; not coffee, not jogging, not more sleeping, and not even pranking Jonny.

Sharpy looked wide awake. My best bet was that he'd had a classic family morning, a nice breakfast and some cartoons before dragging me out of bed to prank Jonny, who looked the worst out of the three of us. The way that he walked into our trap and didn't even bother to do anything about it proved that he hadn't slept a wink. Normally after someone puts a bucket of cold water over your door so that when you open it you get soaked you also get pissed. He just stood there dripping as we laughed for barely a second before continuing to the bathroom to get ready.

"So guys, you ready?" Sharpy glanced at me and tried to subtly motion to Jonny, even though we both knew what was up with him.

I yawned louder and wider than necessary, "I'm not. I feel like I barely slept. How about you Jonny?"

He shrugged, leaning over to rest his arms on his knees and cradle his head in his hands. "I don't think I can do this." We all knew that he didn't have a choice though. "I shouldn't be here like this, I'll just ruin it for everyone. It's not their fault that I can't pull it together."

For the past week he'd been wallowing in the aftermath of his breakup with Lindsey. He'd been with her for about 3 years and I don't think any of us expected - or wanted - them to last that long, but the breakup hadn't been a surprise. Seemingly everyone, except for him, saw how her actions with Jonny changed him and how the ones away from him changed our opinion on her for the worst, but no matter what we tried to say to him about it it didn't change what he saw. When he did see it for himself it was at a party that he wasn't even supposed to be at. Crawford got a plus one, and even though I would've been a great addition to that party, he took Jonny and when he saw Lindsey being her away-from-him-self it decked him and none of us were sure if he'd be able to get back up.

This was also all on top of a pretty shitty season for him. About halfway through the season he became suspicious of Lindsey after some 'old' photos leaked and his game paid the price. He couldn't focus, so he missed shots and when he missed shots he got frustrated which usually landed him in the penalty box, ruining his focus even more with the time to sit and think.

He was still our captain though, and that's why I turned down the offer to take over as captain for the 2016-2017 season. The idea of not having Jonny at the head of our team didn't feel right. "Well you're going to have to do this," I said, feeling confident with the agreeing grunt from Sharpy. "You're our captain and you can't let her get into your head and run your life like this. Breakups suck," I knew just as well as he did. My relationship with Amanda fell apart early in the season and it had hurt. It's hard to find a woman who understands the hockey lifestyle and can put up with it. Amanda understood but it was obvious that she wasn't ready to accept it for the long haul, especially after the arguments over Jonny and Lindsey, who she was always defending. Sharpy was a lucky guy. "But we have to get past them and do our job."

I didn't know what else to say that would be inspiring, but Sharpy stepped in, "And if you can't get past it for the job at least shove it under the rug for later. I know it doesn't sound like a good thing but it works. Especially when you get married and the problem doesn't run away with a DJ."

Jonny finally laughed at that. He looked up at us like a teenage boy who had just been told by the girl that he'd been hooking up with that they weren't actually a couple.

"Good point, eh?" Sharpy looked pretty satisfied as he stood, "Now let's go before you start sobbing again."

I waited for Jonny to walk ahead of me before leaving the room. Jonny was muttering something about never sobbing over the breakup which Sharpy caught and responded to just before we stepped out onto the stage to meet the crowd, "Oh please, I thought my room was between a group of hormonal teenagers and single middle aged women."

Notes