What if I say I’m not like the others?
What if I say I’m not just another
one of your plays?
You’re the pretender.
What if I say I will never surrender?

Ali’s feet pounded the sidewalk in time with the song on her iPod. Her focus was on her breath and the point at which she was trying to reach ahead of her. Only a half-mile more and she was done.

In time or so I’m told
I’m just another soul for sale
Oh well

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, arms pumping, legs burning. Just a little further……..

The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We’re temporary
Temporary
Same old story

Finally, Ali reached the park water fountain. She came to a halt and bent over, resting her hands on her knees. Only after she pulled out her earbuds did she realize how heavily she was breathing.

Because it was getting colder in Pennsylvania, Ali took more and more of her workouts outside to enjoy the cooler autumn temperatures. Lately, Schenley Park became her running route of her choice. College students and civilians frequented the park, but she liked that it was never overly crowded. Leafy trees dropped gold and burgundy leaves on the pavement where she ran, giving some character to her workout.

Ali rested her hands on her head and took a minute longer to catch her breath. She grabbed a Gatorade from her waistpack, emptying half of it one long gulp. As she began to walk back to where her car was parked, she checked the messages on her phone. There was a voicemail from Brittany, so she skipped listening to it and just called her.

“Hey, what’s up? You called?”

“Oh yeah, it’s nothing urgent! Just seeing what you’re up to.” Brittany’s mood was it’s usual cheerful state.

“Just finished a run, in fact.” Ali took another swig of her drink. “You?”

“Out shopping right now” she answered. “I saw James got hurt last night! That’s so crazy! Is he okay?”

“I think so, but he’s not playing tonight.” Realizing her breathing was still too labored to talk, Ali rested on a nearby park bench. “He should play in Vancouver in a couple nights, if all goes well.”

“That’s good.” There was a short pause. “Has he said anything about….you know….”

“Nah. He saved most of his tormenting for Beau.”

Brittany laughed. “Aw…Poor thing. He called me last night, ya know.”

Ali’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah? Did Tyler hear you talking to him?” The words came out of her mouth before she even had a chance to think about them.

“Really? We’re going there right now?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Ali wiped the sweat from her forehead onto her black capris. “Just curious how you’re juggling all this.”

“I’d like to juggle it without you judging me.” Brittany’s tone was now flat. “Can I get that from my best friend?”

She leaned her head against the back of the wood bench, too tired to argue. “Yes.”

“Thank you.”

There was more silence on the line, which Ali honestly didn’t mind. It helped her mentally talk herself into not blowing up on Brittany. Her visit had been so much fun, but her tryst with Beau left lingering effects that she’d rather just dump and be done with.

“You there?” Brittany asked.

“Yep. Juuuust sitting here, catching my breath.” She stood up and slid the Gatorade into its holder on her pack. “I should probably go, anyways. Talk to you later?”

“Sure.”

Ali heard the call drop before she could say goodbye. In keeping with the theme of the past week, she decided to brush it off. She knew Britt wouldn’t stay upset for long, so she just let it go.

* * *

James was bored as fuck.

He sat in a club suite high above where all the action was…action he wanted to be a part of. His knee felt fine, but there he sat anyways, watching his team struggle against the Red Wings. It burned him that he couldn’t play. He was needed out there. He wanted to be out there.

He leaned forward over the counter in front of him, nervously rolling his phone in his hands. His eyes followed the puck, evaluating every play as the game went on below. It was warm in the suite, and it made James want to take off his suit coat or loosen a button or two beneath his tie, but he suffered through.

Eventually the game ended in a surprise upset with the Pens claiming a narrow victory over Detroit. James headed down three flights of stairs, albeit slowly, to the visitor locker room where the rest of his teammates were. A few of the media asked him for a brief interview about his injury, and he supplied what information he could.

When they wrapped up, he took the shuttle back to the hotel with Geno, Bennett, Niskanen, Fleury, Pauly, and Sid. They made some loose plans to make it out to dinner and at least a few drinks since their flight the next morning was an early one.

“You may want to change out of that jacket, Neal” Beau teased. “I don’t want people to necessarily avoid us tonight, if you know what I mean.”

James laughed along with the others. “Say what you want, but this is as fresh as it gets, boys. Just look at Geno over there…” He nodded in the direction of his friend. “Pressed pants with moccasins. We define style.”

“Nealsy wish he could wear baby blue like this.” He tugged at the lapel of his coat, flipping the collar up. James rolled his eyes at the sight.

“Should we ask any of the others if they want to come?” Sid asked. “Sutter was looking for a fight tonight…I’m thinking we need to buy him a drink.”

“Suttsy’s always looking for fight” Geno laughed. “This not new.”

“Okay, so let’s grab him and Bortuzzo.” James wheeled around in the seat again to see Sid. “You driving, Kid?”

“I’ll get us there…no promises I’ll get us back.”

“Good enough.” James faced forward again, reaching for his cell in his pocket. He quickly sent a text to Ali:

Heading out for a bit tonight, but shouldn’t be too late. Don’t go to sleep until I get to talk to you.

The guys spent ten minutes at the hotel assembling themselves and getting one of the private van keys from the front desk. Before they knew it, they found themselves at a bar not too far from where they were staying. It was in a comfortably busy section of the city near the airport, and the bar itself was busy enough to create a buzz in the air.

Sutter lead the way to where they would park themselves for the next couple hours, choosing a sizable table at the far right of the bar. James’ first impression of the place was pretty good; it seemed like a decent crowd with plenty of character. A couple pool tables, big couches everywhere for seating, and from what he could tell…at least two separate bars. Classic rock music blared over the speakers.

“Shots to start?” Sutter was already smiling guiltily.

“How about we do a shot for every penalty you caused tonight” Sid said with a laugh.

“We should drink for every time Lazy says knee doesn’t hurt, but does.” Geno gave James an elbow in the side for emphasis.

“Fuck you, man.”

“You love.”

James gave him a side-eye and smiled.

As Sutter was at the bar getting their drinks, a gaggle of college-aged girls spilled into the bar, getting out of the chill Detroit air. They huddled for a minute, deciding where to sit. James eyed them from his seat, watching as the leader of the group scanned the bar for a big enough table for all of them. It all went downhill from there when she spotted their table.

James watched her mouth the words 'oh my god', then she turned and showed one of her friends their location.

Sid saw what James was seeing. “They’ll go away, they always do.”

The girls hurried over and swarmed around them. The leader, a charismatic-looking brunette with large doe eyes, spoke first.

“Hi……you’re Sidney Crosby, right?”

Sid nodded, his bashful smile appearing. “That’s me.”

James heard a couple of the girls make some sort of odd squeaking noise.

“Wow, um….” Doe Eyes stuttered, unsure of herself. “Well…We’re all Red Wings fans, but we absolutely love you.”

“Thank you.” Sid eyed James for some help.

“You girls catch the game tonight?” James asked.

Doe Eyes met his gaze and seemed to get lost in it. He waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts.

“Yes! Wait…you’re James Neal?”

“Forever and always.” He felt like fucking with her, just for the hell of it. “How’d you like my slapshot goal tonight?”

She exhaled and clapped her hands together. “Ohmigod, it was so amazing. You guys are so great. Like…if I had to pick a second favorite team, it’d be the Penguins.”

James nodded, and he caught Sid trying not to laugh next to him. Bortuzzo kicked his leg under the table.

“Well thanks, uh…..?”

She stared blankly at him. “Oh! Ohmigod, I’m so dumb….Maggie. My name’s Maggie.” The other girls behind her pushed her. “And these are my sorority sisters.”

“Sorority?!? I bet you watch a lot of hockey on your downtime.” Somehow, he kept a straight face.

“All the time, you have no idea” Maggie answered. One of her sorority sisters behind her pulled at the back of her top. She looked back and glared before returning her gaze to the table. “Well….It’s really awesome getting to meet you all. We should go. If any of you wanna come back and say hi….we’ll be over there.” She pointed to an empty table across the bar.

James watched as the group of them quickly dispersed from their area. He also happened to watch Maggie’s tight little ass as she left with them.

“You’re such an asshole” Bortuzzo said, laughing.

James shrugged. “There was no way they watched hockey. I’m surprised they even knew who we were.”

Sutter reappeared with small tray of shots and slid it to the middle of the table. “Damn…Sunny was right. Way to scare them off with your ‘style’, Nealer.”

“For your information” James began, claiming a shot glass, “those lovely ladies are sorority sisters and were very busy tonight. They walked away on their own.”

Sutter took a seat and looked at Sid, who nodded in confirmation. “Well damn, sounds like we need to raise a glass to hot chicks knowing who the hell we are.”

The group downed their first round, and followed it up with two more rounds not long after that. With just a slight bit of trouble from his knee, James stood and headed back to the restrooms to take a piss.

“James?”

He turned around to see Doe Eyes standing there. “Yeah?”

“I forgot to ask you if I could have your autograph” she said. “Would you mind?”

“Do you have a pen?” He walked back to her, noticing her glancing over her shoulder at her friends still at the table.

“I have a marker!” she said, her attractive smile beaming.

James watched as she yanked the corner of her lace top down to expose a very perky breast cupped in a fire engine red bra.

“You still don’t mind, do you?”

On the inside, he was laughing, but he took the marker nonetheless. “Sure, what the hell.” Bending down, he placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her steady and then began to scribble out his name on the soft flesh.

And then he felt Maggie’s lips on his.

A giant flash of light occurred nearby. James pulled back immediately, stunned at what just happened.

“What the fuck?”

Another flash.

He looked over and saw one of her friend’s take a picture with her cell phone and laughing hysterically.

“Don’t be upset” Maggie said, her voice almost at a purr. “I’m going to finger myself tonight while I look down at your signature. I may use the picture, too.”

James tossed the mark on the floor. “You’re fucking nuts.” Anger flared in his voice as he turned to go back towards the restroom. “Oh, and by the way?” he turned back to Maggie. “I actually didn’t play tonight. There was no slapshot goal. So I hope you remember how fucking stupid you look when you’re three fingers deep.”

He left her standing there with her mouth open. By the time he emerged again from the restroom, their table was empty and the girls were nowhere to be seen.

“You sure get into a lot of trouble, Nealer” Sid said as James sat down.

“Did you see that?!? What the fuck was that?”

“I think the whole bar saw it” Fleury replied.

“Ladies love Nealsy” Geno said. “Picture already on Instagram.”

“It’s what?” James couldn’t believe it. “Let me see…” He grabbed Geno’s phone to look for himself. Sid leaned over to see as well.

“At least you look good” he said in jest.

James rolled his eyes, one hand going to his hair. “I don’t know how this always fucking happens.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t go far….Shit like this always happens and nothing ever comes of it” Sutter told him.

Across the table, Paul raised a finger. “Uh…I hate to spoil the fun, but what happens if Ali sees that?”

James shook his head. “She won’t – she doesn’t have Instagram.”

“What about Facebook or Twitter?” Sid asked.

He looked over and glared at his Captain. “Why would she need any of those when she has you to let her know?” He was starting to feel heat rise within his body, his heartbeat accelerating. “In fact, I bet you’ll call her tonight and tell her. Who wants to bet money on it with me?” he asked the rest of the table.

“Hey, I’m not the one fucking up all the time—“

“—I don’t fuck up all the time, Crosby.”

“Well you don’t treat her the way she deserves, that’s for fucking sure.”

James blinked, his rage building. “So…what, you got a thing for Ali? Is that what this is about?”

“Hey, hey….” Geno said, standing up. “Nealsy, cool down.”

Sid’s face remained calm. James threw his hands up and pushed back from the table. “Whatever, Sid. I didn’t fuck up this time and you know it. You watched it. That bitch leaned in to me.”

Sid shrugged. None of the others made a move.

“Alright, I’ll take the hint. I’ll go back to the hotel on my own so I don’t ‘fuck up’ any more tonight.”

Geno watched James until he left the bar before taking a seat. He looked at the others with just as much surprise in his eyes as they had.

Sutter was laughing. “What the fuck just happened?”

Sid took a drink of his beer. “Typical Neal.”

* * *

Knee pain or not, James walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. It wasn’t far, but he probably still shouldn’t have done it. He used Google Maps on his phone to get him there, and overall, it only took 45 minutes to get back. Thankfully, his knee didn’t start hurting too badly until the last 10 minutes.

In that time, he dialed Ali, hoping the rage he felt wouldn’t be noticeable in his voice. When she answered the phone, he could tell she’d fallen asleep already.

“Ahhhh I dozed off” she said, sleepily.

“Hopefully you weren’t asleep for too long?” He shoved his free hand in the pocket of his jeans, leaning into his phone.

“Not long.” She yawned, and James heard her stretching. “Wish you were here beside me…it’s so cold.”

“It’s cold here too, and for some reason I’m outside walking in it.”

“Walking? What about your knee?”

“I got in a small fight with Sid, so I left the bar” James admitted. He was already feeling guilty. “I’m walking back to the hotel now.”

“Why did you two fight!?”

If only he could say. “Just a stupid argument.” The guilt wasn’t just over having words with his teammate, but the fact that some bitch kissed him and her bitch friend took a picture of it.

“Hey, can I tell you something?” he asked abruptly

“Mm-hmm.”

James debated telling her. If he told her right then and there what happened with the girl, he’d cut Sid off if he had any ideas about doing it behind his back. He decided instead to trust his Captain.

“Nisky doesn’t cuddle with me the way you do.”

Ali let out a laugh that trailed off into a giggle. “You are such a dork.”

James smiled. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk when I land in Vancouver.”

“Nighty night.” She made a smooching noise, then hung up.

* * *

James was watching tv on his bed when he heard commotion outside in the hallway. The sound of an electronic beep was heard, then the door opened.

“Sid wants to see you” Matt said, tossing his key card on a nearby table. Voices continued to filter in through the open door.

“He can come down here and get me if he wants” James replied.

Matt looked over and Sid appeared in the room next to him. The sharp angles of his jaw were clenched tight, but it wasn’t like Sidney Crosby to get angry. James could see he was holding something back.

“Why did you leave like that?” Sid asked him. His black Reebok hat shielded his eyes, making his glare seem darker.

James shrugged. “Figured it was the best thing to do. You didn’t seem like you wanted to talk much anyways.”

“Can we talk now?”

Matt looked nervously between them. “You know…I can leave…”

“Stay. This won’t take long.” James stared at Sid from the bed, prompting him with his eyes. There was never a more stark contrast than Sid’s dark stare and the bright, emotional color of James’.

“Look” Sid began, lifting a hand. “I didn’t mean to tread on your space. I just….” He searched for his words and James continued to stare. “I just think that….from what I know about Ali, and knowing how you are, Neal—“

“Used to be.”

Sid nodded. “Right. Okay. So knowing how you used to be…I feel like I have to kind of look out for her. I just don’t like seeing such a beautiful girl hurt like she was at the bar in Buffalo. I don’t mean anything else other than that.”

The room was silent. Matt stood between the two, watching them closely. James had to process what Sid was saying, but he never took his eyes off him.

“Just tell me if you have a thing for her, and I’ll drop it.”

Sid laughed. “I don’t have a thing for her, James.”

“Why did you fucking text her when I was I moody one day at practice?”

This made Sid hesitate. “You mean last week? I was just trying to—“

“See, but that’s the thing, Sid” he said, standing up. “I don’t need anyone looking out for her, or for me. You’re my Captain, and I respect the hell out of you, but I don’t need you coaching me off the ice.”

With a firm nod, Sidney agreed. “Okay, I’ll back off.”

“This doesn’t change anything between us on the ice.” James felt he needed to make this clear. “Really.”

“Same here.”

They smiled at each other, and the heavy tension in the room lifted. Sid still felt like he had more to say to James, but he had to shelve it for the time being. James felt somewhat satisfied with how the talk went, but he wasn’t sure it would end there.

“See you on the plane tomorrow, Nealer.”

James watched as Sid left the room. “Later, Cap.”

* * *

Notes

......why am I still envisioning James jerking off when that was soooooooooo yesterday? ;-)