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The Games We Play

Thirty-three

The next day, James and Ali went for a run together. James had already gone to practice for the morning, but was feeling lively enough that when she asked if he wanted to join, he agreed to go along. They decided to just run down the street and along the nearby walking trail instead of driving somewhere.

It was snowing lightly outside under fuzzy gray skies, and the brisk air only energized the couple more as they ran. They kept a pretty decent pace to begin, but James slowed a bit towards the second half of the run so Ali didn’t have to keep up so much. When they took a break, he was only half as out of breath as Ali, but was nonetheless impressed with her progress.

“You’ll be hitting a 7 minute mile here pretty quick if you keep this up, babe.”

She sucked down her water hard, then wiped her mouth. “Only two minutes slower than you.”

“Don’t compare yourself to anyone but you.” He waved his hand for the bottle.

“I’m not, I’m not…but it’d be cool to run with you and know you’re not going slower than you want because of me.”

When James handed back the bottle, he thumped her shoulder lightly with it. “You know it’s not like that.”

They met eyes and smiled at each other.

“What is your goal?” he asked.

“To run the city’s New Year’s Day half marathon.”

James’ laughed. “Are you kidding?”

Ali shook her head. “I was just looking it up at work the other day when I was bored. I think I could do it.” She noticed he had a look of admiration. “What?”

“Nothing!”

“You’re judging.”

“Allison.” He looked at her seriously. “I think it’s great. You should do it! You’ve been running a lot lately, and just judging from your pace today, I think it’s more than doable.”

“Let’s go” Ali said, starting to jog.

James ran along side, still thinking about her idea of running the annual race Pittsburgh held. He stopped running and held Ali back. “I think this is a really great idea. Seriously.”

Ali laughed through heavy breaths. “Well….thank you. Seriously.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”

“I literally just looked it up” she answered. “It was only a consideration up until then.”

“Do it.”

Ali looked at him.

“You have to. I say so.” James grinned. “Did that work?”

“With flying colors.”

They started jogging again, and Ali picked up the pace. James kept up with her easily, enjoying the notion that he’d get to watch her race in a couple months. In fact, he went past being proud of her and went straight to being thrilled.

Arms pumping and her ponytail bouncing, Ali looked over and smiled at him.

Shit, how does she hear me thinking like that? James smiled back and decided she had some sort of hidden talent with reading his mind, so he focused on the run. He increased his speed slightly, his long legs covering twice the distance in one stride as Ali did in two strides. He shifted his blue over to see if she would argue the increase in pace, but she sped up without complaint.

“Keep going” she exhaled.

James sped up more, watching as Ali matched him. Why is this turning me on?

“Go on – turn it up, Neal!”

He raised an eyebrow. Increasing his pace even further, Ali matched him, her breathing labored but a faint smile still remained on her face. James laughed, way too impressed to do much else.

“Babe!”

“Go more!” she breathed. “Cmon cmon cmon!”

James and Ali increased their pace at the same time, both of them close to a sprint. They were on their way back up their street with only about a mile left in the run.

“All the way to the house!” Ali said, pointing.

Their sneakers pounded the sidewalk in unison. James felt the chill of sweat on his back and along his forehead, and now he knew Ali was serious about the marathon. They kept a near-sprint pace all the way back to their house, covering that last mile in no time at all.

When they finally made it to their driveway, James and Ali needed a second to catch their breath before either could speak. James clasped his hands on top of his head, watching Ali walk in a lazy circle, focusing on her breath. When she faced him, a weary grin appeared on her face.

“Told you I was serious.”

“I know!” He walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Damn good job.”

Across the street, Paul came down his driveway shaking his head. “You two have a bet with one another or what the hell?” He walked the rest of the way over to where James and Ali were standing near their garage.

“Can I tell him?” James’ eyes were shining with excitement.

Ali nodded. “Sure…”

“You got plans on new years, Paulie?”

“Uhhh….” He looked between the two of them. “Probably being hung over on your couch.”

James made a face, ignoring him. “Get this: Ali’s going to run the new year’s half marathon….and we’re going to watch her.”

Paul crossed his hands over his chest. “No way! Really?”

“Gonna give it a shot” Ali said, trying to be humble about it.

“Have you ever been in a race before?” Paul asked.

She shook her head. “First one.”

James gave Paul an impressed smile. “Do you see why I love this girl?”

“Well hell, if she can keep up with you like I just saw, there should be no problem.”

“Thanks, Paulie” Ali said, her breath heavy, but coming down. She pulled her bottle from her waist pack and took a drink while the guys talked.

“What’s going on the rest of the day?” Paul asked.

James shrugged. “Probably just watch the game later.”

“I was thinking of calling Borts and Bennett up to watch it at my place – you two want to join?”

James looked at Ali, who shrugged. “I’m down. You?”

“I’m for it” he answered.

Paul looked pleased. “Great! Just come over whenever.”

“You better hope Bortuzzo doesn’t puss out on you again, dude.” James stole the bottle from Ali and drained the rest of the water.

“No shit, I’ll force him this time” Paul said with a laugh. “Alright, I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Later, Paul” Ali said with a wave. She watched him shuffle back over to his house. “That should be fun!”

James tugged on her ponytail. “Shower?”

“Yes pleeeaaassse” she replied, giving his ass a slap on her way up to their front door.


* * *

It was an hour before the Steelers/Patriots game, and by the looks of it, Bortuzzo had actually shown up at Paul’s across the street. James chuckled to himself when he saw his friend’s car out the kitchen window.

“Paulie must’ve given him hell, because there he is.”

Ali peeked over the sink and out the window. “Sweet! I never get to hang with him. Is he any fun?”

“Fun?” James laughed. “He’s a riot! Just a lazy bastard; always stays home.”

“Are you about ready?” Ali asked, throwing a scarf on over the plain white crewneck t-shirt. She didn’t bother putting on an ‘outfit’, per say, since they were only going over to Paul’s to watch a football game. James had a long sleeve nylon running shirt on (a clean one, since they showered), a Steelers cotton tee overtop, and black sweatpants.

They threw their coats on and James grabbed the two small cases of beer he pulled from the freezer downstairs. They hurried over to Paul’s under steadily falling snow, coats flapping in the wind. Ali knocked on the door while James rubbed her arms to keep her warm.

“Beer!” Bortuzzo said, greeting them.

“Yeah, and none of it’s for you” James taunted, walking past him into the house.

“Heyyyy, what’s up, Ali!”

“Hiya Rob” she said, stepping inside.

“Nice of you to join us heathens for a game” he said, his big friendly smile welcoming her. “Nealer said you guys rocked it out on Thanksgiving.”

He actually told them? Ali didn’t know what else to do but smile. She was just excited James admitted his domestic success to the guys. Remember to thank him later.

When Ali and Bortuzzo rounded the corner into the living room, Beau nearly jumped right out of the recliner to smother her in a huge hug. “Long time no see, woman!”

“I should say the same to you!” she laughed. She held out her hand, and Beau caught on immediately. They went into their silly little handshake they’d made up when they were both drunk in Buffalo, falling into a fit of laughter.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe you even remember that.” Beau flopped back onto the recliner. “She’s a keeper, Neal.”

James already had two beers cracked open and he handed one to Ali. “In more ways than one.”

Ali immediately felt at home with the guys in the room. Paul was obviously the one she felt closest too, but only because she saw him so often. Now, since Beau’s romp with Brittany, Ali sort of had an odd and unspoken understanding with him. It made it way more comfortable to be around him, although Ali fully didn’t understand it.

Taking a seat next to James, she curled her legs under her and leaned an arm over the armrest of the couch. The guys around her fell right in to their typical smack talk with one another, laughing about some incident that happened at practice earlier that morning. It was always interesting to watch these guys off the ice. Ali liked to see James when he was relaxed around his friends. She knew they shared a bond with each other on the ice, but James always carried himself a bit differently with his boys when they were just lounging. It was pretty obvious to her that James was who a lot of the guys turned to when it came to adding that extra ounce of fun.

“You guys want pizza?” Paul hollered from the kitchen. He walked in, holding his phone to his ear. “And do you care what’s on it?”

Everyone shook their head ‘no’, so Paul disappeared back into the kitchen. James noticed Ali was being kind of quiet, so he rubbed her leg.

“You cool, babe?”

“Yeah! Why?”

Paul reappeared. “How many do we want?”

“Eight.” Rob faked his best serious-face.

“Twelve” Beau added.

James held out four fingers.

When Paul looked at Ali, she tried not to laugh. She bit her lip and just shrugged.

“Ugh.” Paul disappeared again. Ali could hear him mumbling to himself, and it made her smile at James.

“You’re kinda quiet” James said, lowering his voice. “You sure everything’s good?”

“Yeah! Just watching you guys do your thing.” He accepted the smile she gave him, and even leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

“Dude.”

James looked at Beau. “No room to talk, Sunny – you banged her best friend in my guest room.”

Beau met the eyes of Rob, his bright eyes both guilty and satisfied. “What can I say.”

Paul came back into the living room and took a seat purposely between James and Ali. He casually yawned and lifted an arm behind her shoulders. Ali giggled, and James took it in stride.

It was kind of nice they could all be at ease around one another. The Steelers game went into the second quarter ahead of the Patriots, and the guys were dying. Ali thought Bortuzzo was going to split Paul’s coffee table in half whenever he pounded his hand on the table after they scored.

The pizzas, which Paul ordered six of to split the difference, came right at the end of the second quarter. James and Rob went into the kitchen to help Paul out with them, and to help pay for them as well. This left Beau and Ali alone in the living room.

“So, Ali…”

She already knew where he was going with this. “Yeah?”

Beau kind of shrugged a little, beating around the bush. “Well….first off, sorry about everything, you know…a few weeks ago.”

“It worked itself out” Ali replied, taking a sudden interest in the status of her fingernails.
“No, but for real.” Beau’s deep voice drew her eyes to him, especially as he leaned forward in the recliner. “I didn’t mean to tell Nealer and not tell you about the whole picture thing.”

“I know you didn’t.” She was honest about that. “Like I said, it worked itself out. I think James and I are a lot better because of it, actually.”

“Seems like it to me. The guy doesn’t act like this, ya know…” he said with a laugh.

“A lot of people keep telling me that!” Ali smiled. “See why I’m not too worried?”

Beau nodded. In the kitchen, the guys were laughing at something; James’ voice was louder than the rest. Beau and Ali looked at one another, and Beau shook his head.

“He’s special, isn’t he?”

“Oh, very special” Ali said, giggling a little. “Hey, my turn to say something to you.”

Beau’s eyes widened. He sat back a little, finger going to his chin to show his obvious interest. “Hmm….do tell, do tell.”

“Okay, so, hear me out.” Ali leaned forward now. “Brittany.” It was all she had to say to see a change in Beau. “Have you talked to her lately?”

“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his fluffy blonde hair. “Is that okay?”

“Oh my god, yeah! I don’t care!” Ali couldn’t help but laugh. “I was actually going to ask you if she told you about her breakup with Tyler.”

Beau looked a little guilty. “Yeah…..she told me. Said it was pretty hard, but it was better this way.”

“So wait.” Ali blinked. “She actually told you how it went down?” When Beau nodded, he looked a little confused, but it was actually her who was the confused one. “Well shit, Beau. She hasn’t even told ME!”

In the entryway to the living room, Paul appeared. “If you don’t join the party, Nealer’s gonna eat everything before you get a chance.”

“LIES” James shouted from the kitchen, his mouth audibly full.

Beau and Ali stood up as Paul left them again, but Beau held her arm, stopping her from leaving. “Don’t worry about her not saying anything, Als. I’m sure she’ll come around.”

“Did she do it over, you know…”

“I don’t think so. I HOPE not.” Beau answered. “Like I said…sorry for everything—“

“You’re allowed to bang whoever you want, you know” Ali joked. That got a little laugh from Beau and she felt better.

“Well thanks for that” he chuckled. “Not sure Nealer would appreciate uhh, what my next suggestion would be—“

“BEAU BENNETT!”

“Joking! Joking!”

They both laughed over this, each of them feeling a little better now that they’d spoken about the topic that was looming over Ali for the longest time.

When they went into the kitchen, they realized Paul wasn’t lying. One pizza box was already empty, and half of a second had a serious dent in it. James was in the middle of a bite, so he patted the bar stool next to him for Ali to sit on.

“Jeeze…save any for me?” she joked.

James lifted his piece of half-eaten slice towards her and she took a bite. “There’s still four pies left, babe.”

“I’ll just eat yours.”

Beau fell into the conversation between Paulie and Bortuzzo, so James leaned in close to Ali as she grabbed a slice. “You and Beau talk Brittany?”

Ali chewed and nodded.

“That’s probably good, right?”

She nodded again. “I think so…but I’ll tell you more later.”

James kissed her, then moved back over his plate. Ali sat chewing her pizza, but her thoughts were still running over her best friend telling Beau more than she told her.

“Another beer, James.”

He reached across the counter and grabbed another can. “Serious tonight, eh?”

“Serious.”


* * *


The game took a downturn and the Patriots ended up winning, much to the disappointment of everyone in the room. James and Ali stuck around for at least another 30 minutes after the game ended, then headed across the street around midnight. To their surprise, it was snowing even harder, and the houses and yards all across their little cul de sac were now covered in a blanket of white.

Once they hurried across the street and made it inside, James fluffed his hair to remove the snow from it. “Where the hell did this snow come from?”

Ali stomped her boots on the mat by the door while James took his trainers off. “I don’t know, but I’m totally going out there and making my first snowball and it’ll be thrown at YOUR ass.”

“What!”

“You heard me” Ali teased. She snuck a finger under the waistband of James’ sweatpants and tugged. “Snowball. Your ass. My victory.”

James was laughing. “Oh, is that so?” He turned and ran for the back door, slipping a little because of his socks.

“HEY!” Ali took off after him.

James flung open the door that lead out to their back porch and scooped up as much snow as he could from the exposed railing.

“You can’t take my idea like that!” Ali yelled, half laughing. She braced herself and held her hands up to shield her face when James turned towards her.

“Afraid I’ll mess up your hair?” he taunted. He loved how she was already holding her hands up, since he actually had no intention of hitting her.

“Shouldn’t that be my question?”

Laughing, James held the snowball up farther. “Don’t tempt me, baby.”

“Oh, I’ll tempt!” Ali went for the opposite end of the porch to scoop up more snow, but James was after her. She hurried up and grabbed a handful and tossed it at him, the snow spraying weakly across his coat.

“That’s all you got?”

His crooked grin was plastered across his face, his eyes alive with color. He backed Ali into the corner of the porch, still holding the snowball.

“Let me go and we can make this a fair fight!”

James tilted his head and kissed Ali, his lips moving slowly and deliberately. As he kissed her, he quickly pulled the collar of her shirt and dumped the snowball down inside.

“OHMYGOD” she shrieked.

James laughed as he watched Ali jump back from their kiss and began doing some sort of odd dance to get rid of the snow that was down her shirt.

“You ASS!!” Ali shoved her hand up her shirt, trying desperately to get rid of the snow.

He would’ve felt a little worse if Ali hadn’t been laughing the entire time she was fishing out the snow. “Oh man….I’m sorry - was that cold?”

Ali saw the smirk on his face and charged past him. Since she still had her boots on, she ran out into the yard and scooped up as much snow as her two hands could hold.

“Okay now THAT’S not fair!” James said from the porch, looking down at his socks.

“Get your wimpy ass down here then!”

James considered it for a second, and then ran down into the snow, tackling Ali to the ground. She squealed again as she felt her skin hit the snow, so she pushed the handful of snow she was holding onto James’ neck. At that point, they were both laughing like little kids, rolling around in the snow even though neither of them were properly dressed for it.

Finally, they picked each other up off the ground, and James brushed the snow off Ali’s butt for her.

“Who’s cold now?” she asked, seeing his face turning pink in the cold. Big, fat snowflakes were falling hard, snuffing out sound all around them, save for their voices.

“Both of us, clearly.” He nodded towards her now-wet white t-shirt, which revealed two hard nipples.

“You perv” she said, pushing him, but his arms were already around her.

“You’re the best, you know that?” James looked at her, snow all over his head and his hair sticking up in all directions. “You really, really are.”

“Thank you, babe.”

They kissed again there in the snow, both of them shivering a little, but were warmed by the heat in their embrace. Slowly, they made it inside. It was nearly one in the morning by the time they changed into new clothes and settled onto the couch together. James even made hot cocoa.

“Seems fitting, right?” he said, holding two mugs. He handed Ali one and then took a seat next to her while holding his.

“Hits the spot, for sure.” Ali took a long drink, happy for the warmth that spread through her chilled body.

James watched her as she spread the blanket over them. He sighed happily, which made Ali look over.

“Tired?”

He shrugged. “I think the word is ‘happy’.” Ali’s dark eyes looked at him as she smiled, taking another drink of her cocoa. James actually thought it was one of the nicest sights he’d ever seen before. “Hey, can I admit something?” he asked.

“Sure, babe.” She sat attentively, waiting. James wanted to make sure he didn’t sound like a tool when he said it, but he also kind of didn’t care how it came out.

“I’ve always wanted to do this.”

Ali smiled. “Do what?”

“This.” He moved his eyes around them, noting the blanket, the cocoa, and the snow outside. “Always wanted to have hot cocoa after a snowball fight.”

Ali didn’t want to laugh, but she did. “Surely you did this growing up?”

“Oh yeah, definitely. Mike was a little bitch with snowballs,” James said with a chuckle. With his hand, he gently moved some of the damper pieces of Ali’s long hair away from her face. “But what I mean is…I’ve always wanted to do this whole thing with a girl I love.” He rolled his eyes at himself. “It seemed cool in all the movies, so….”

Biting her lip, Ali thought that was one of the nicest things she ever heard him say. She also thought he never looked more adorable than he did at that moment.

“Well we’ve got a whole winter ahead of us” she said, taking his hand in hers. His fingers were still cold to the touch, so she held his hand tighter. “And there’s a lot of damn snowballs waiting for us out there.”

With a quick pull, Ali pulled on James’ hand so he fell forward enough that their lips met. She tried to put all the love she felt at that moment into that kiss, and hoped James knew just how lucky she felt to have him.


* * *

Notes

....I kinda want to be that snow. #sorrynotsorry ;-)

Comments

@Lolo2020


Thank you so much! Amazing people still read it and enjoy it so much. That was my goal :)

Winter22 Winter22
2/6/17

I absolutely adore this story! I've read it a few times and it gets better each time!

Lolo2020 Lolo2020
12/12/16

Love love loved this :) great work!!

anna anna
9/17/14

Just started reading. Can I say that they do not have to do anything but acknowledge people if even that when they are in a club. If girls are approaching them they can say no, they can just chose to ignore them. So James saying there was a s slip up is crap. He is allowed to be friends and talk to other girls and all but having someone literally just hang off of him. No

6-28-14 ** A NOTE TO MY READERS **

As a result of James getting traded, I've found myself at a loss for words; a loss I'm not sure I'll be quick to recover from. The trade was a hard hit, and it will take some time for me to get over the initial hurt.

I wanted to post a message to at least tell all of you who have followed my stories up to this point that after this, I'm not sure how long it's going to be before I post a new story. James will forever be a Penguin to me, and likely to many of you as well. I'm just not sure how to go forward right now. As a result - I can't promise I'll be back, but I hope to be. I really do.

Let's let the dust settle and the hurt fade...and maybe we'll find one other again on this wonderful site.

Thank you all again for your support...It really has made writing so much fun for me, and I don't want to go forward with another story until it's fun again. Right now - that doesn't seem plausible.

I'll leave it open for any of you to message me anytime, if you'd like. I will occasionally check in just to see how everyone's doing. :-)

Regards,
Winter

Winter22 Winter22
6/28/14