The next morning, Ali felt James get out of bed. Not long after, she felt him return under the covers beside her. She forced her heavy eyelids to open, seeing James pull the comforter over his bare shoulders.

“Everything alright?”

He snuggled deeper under the blanket, pulling her closer. “Yeah, just no morning skate.”

“How come?”

“Snow.”

Ali lifted her head to look out their bedroom window. All she could see was the pale reflection of the streetlights glowing yellow against the falling flakes.

“How much is out there?” she asked, resting her head on his chest.

“I just looked out the front door, but it looked like twice as much as when we left Paulie’s.”

Ali felt his arms wrap around her. He held her tight, and it was way too comfortable in his arms. This was the last thing Ali remembered as she fell back asleep. Neither spoke any further, and they both slept snug against one another for a few more hours.

When James awoke the second time, he lying was on his side and facing Ali. She was still asleep, and her face soft and calm, her breathing regular. James was tempted to touch her; not even in a sexual sense, but in a protective sense. Last night would rank in his top ten for moments he’s shared with her, despite its simplicity. He was constantly surprising himself, and was getting more used to the ‘New James’ as he shed the ‘Old James’ image that didn’t seem to ever want to die.

He gave into his temptation and reached out of the blanket to gently caress Ali’s face. He let his fingers play through her hair, brushing it over her naked skin. As he suspected, her eyes slowly opened.

“Morning, beautiful" he said.

Ali smiled and closed her eyes. “Keep going....feels good.”

James gladly obeyed. He brushed the loose hairs from around her face, admiring how pretty she was just lying there sleeping. Ali smiled against his hand.

“Think you’ll still play tonight?” she asked softly.

“We won’t get off that easy” James said with a laugh. “Besides, I want to play the Canes. Gotta give my boy Staalsy some shit for old times sake.” He tickled Ali’s chin, which got her to giggle. She opened her eyes and grabbed his finger.

“That tickles.”

James smiled. “Supposed to, babe.” He felt her lips brush the skin of his fingers. “Want to get up?”

“Not really.” Ali smiled. “Do you?”

“Nope.”

They lay quietly together, facing one another with their heads pressed into their pillows. Ali noticed the ginger-colored hair that lined James’ strong jaw and full mouth was getting longer. Reaching over, she tickled it along his cheek.

“Getting longer.”

“Should I shave?”

“NO.”

Laughing, James held up his hand. “Okay! Okay! Point taken.” He thought it was so funny how different Ali was compared to other chicks. In the past, they would almost always beg him to shave; yet here was a girl who really got a rise out of him having stubble.

“So what did Beau say last night about Brittany?” he asked, feeling Ali’s nails run along the length of his tattooed arm. The slight tickle felt amazing.

Ali shook her head. “I don’t get that girl.”

“Hey now, no reason to call Beau that.” He laughed when he saw Ali’s face crinkle.

“You’re mean!”

“Sorry, I had to.” James tapped her nose. “Anyways, why don’t you ‘get’ her?”

“Well for starters, she told Beau more about the breakup than me.” Ali ran the nail of her index finger along the swirled pattern of ink on his arm. “It pisses me off, actually. Why wouldn’t she just tell me? She just MET Beau.”

James met her agitated stare. “Let me tell you a little something about men…”

Ali groaned.

“Ah, ah, ah! Just hear me out!” When Ali finished rolling her eyes, James continued. “We have an amazing way of listening to stuff none of us really understand because we had sex with someone. Also – we understand that the chick we had sex with is willing to tell us anything [i]because[/i] we had sex with them.”

“I know all this, James.”

“Well…you didn’t have sex with Brittany, so she didn’t tell you.” James raised an eyebrow. “…..or did you?”

Ali slapped his hand lightly. “Don’t you wish.” She watched his smirk get bigger.

“Okay, so…hot girl-on-girl action aside, Beau is kind of innocent here” James said. “Really. I think Britt is just telling him the details because she feels guilty for the breakup and what she did. That’s what I think, anyway.”

“I think you might be right.” She was actually pretty impressed that James’ had such a level-headed approach to the whole thing. “At least, I hope you’re right. Thank you.”

“Sure thing.” James leaned in, unable to contain himself any longer. Their mouths met and slowly melded into a deep kiss. “If you need any other instruction on how a man works, just let me know” he said, his voice husky.

Ali giggled. “I think it’s pretty obvious how you work, babe.” She gave his growing hard-on a squeeze.

James nodded. “Yeah, you should keep doing that…” He felt her squeeze his dick again and he licked his bottom lip.

“I think I’ve got a handle on how men operate as a whole.”

“Key word being ‘handle’…” His eyes snapped shut as her hand worked his length. “…uggh, this isn’t fair…”

“What’s not fair?” Ali used a fake pouty, baby voice. If James’ eyes had been open, he would’ve seen her grinning.

“…..how you do this….to me….”

“Oh, I think it’s quite fair.”

James growled low and rolled himself over Ali, pinning her beneath him. His eyes were very much open now, and they had that all-too-familiar, heavy-lidded look to them.

“You know what else seemed cool in the movies?” James asked, kissing down Ali’s neck. “Fucking during a snowstorm.”

Ali let out a laugh. “As if you need a reason like a storm—“

“—No, no, listen.” He lifted a finger to her mouth, tracing her lips. He told himself he had to hold off on putting any part of him inside that beautiful mouth. “Just you and me and all those snowflakes. That’s kinda hot, right?”

“I never found snowflakes attractive.” She laughed when she saw James’ serious face break into a grin. “No, I get what you’re saying. And I agree.” She kissed him again, the weight of his body pressing her back into their mattress. James forgot how big of a guy he was sometimes, but Ali never minded his weight against her.

“You know…” Ali said, when her mouth was free again. “Winter always was my favorite season.”

“…I though fall was?”

She slid her hands up his neck to hold his face firmly. “This morning? Winter is.”

Their mouths met again before James could think of or say a witty remark. It didn’t take long before he was inside her, and all of their focus was on one another. It could have been snowing, raining, or hailing outside, and neither of them would have ever known.


* * *


By the time 4 o’clock rolled around, James was dressed in another sharp-looking suit and shoes, ready to head into town for the game. He gave Ali a kiss, which turned into two kisses, which turned into four kisses, until he finally pulled himself away.

Outside, Pittsburgh was a mess. It snowed hard all morning, but shortly after noon it started to ease up a little. This gave the city enough time to start catching up on removing what snow had already fallen. After James and Ali woke up together the second time, his first job after showering was to try and shovel enough of a path for his and Ali’s cars to make it out of the garage.

From inside the house, Ali watched from the bedroom window as James and Paul both shoveled snow from their driveways. Every now and then, they’d meet halfway just to shovel snow at one another like little kids. It made her smile that two hugely talented hockey players could still revert back to being big kids at times.

When it was time for James to head out, his shoveling efforts were almost nonexistent thanks to the new snow. When he made it out onto the main highway that was bare from plowing and salting, he called Ali and told her how bad it still was in their neighborhood.

“Do you still love winter?” he asked with a smile.

“I’m not just in love with winter, I’m obsessed with it now.”

“Well don’t kill yourself if you decide to go out later. Looks like our neighborhood is pretty sloppy still.”

“Oh man, really? I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere anyways. I have a game to watch.”

Even after months of games together now, James still felt a little energy spark inside him whenever he knew Ali would be watching him. “Thanks for always being there, babe.”

“Don’t get sappy, Sexy. Get your game face on” she insisted cheerfully. “We can talk about how awesome we are afterwards.”

James laughed. “You got it. Talk to you later?”

“Always. Bye babe.”

“Love you.” James hung up, and then pulled onto one of the many bridges crossing the three rivers around the city. His thoughts stayed on Ali as he maneuvered through traffic. Guys around the world would give him shit for life if they could read his thoughts; he just couldn’t help but smile to himself for the night and morning that he shared with Ali. Yes, sex was fun. He needed it, she needed it, and they produced the best they could for one another. But ‘best’ was an understatement. He lost his fucking mind with that girl.

Before, with the girls he’d bring back after games or after a night out with the guys, he didn’t care what happened. He didn’t care how long it took, except that he lasted long enough for his ego to approve. He never cared if they were enjoying themselves, he only cared that he got what he needed. He also never cared if they ever called him again, because really - when one disappeared, three more would appear. It’s just the way it was.

But now?

Fuck me.

James shifted and pulled onto the final parkway that would lead to the Consol Energy Center. He noticed the snow piled up along sidewalks and in between the cluster of tall buildings that made up downtown Pittsburgh. Traffic was at an extra slow crawl as municipal plow trucks took turns pushing snow wherever they could.

At a red light, James looked out his window, but wasn't really looking at anything at all. When traffic started rolling forward again, he took two side streets and winded up at the entrance to the staff parking garage. In a few hours he would dress into a uniform that led people to think they knew who James Neal was. He’d play the game that thousands paid to see him play, and he’d do whatever was physically possible for the team he loved and the guys he loved to play with.

But every movement, whether he would ever admit it or not, was for that girl he cared about back at the house they lived in.

* * *

Back home, Ali attempted to shovel what she could for when James came home later that night. In all truths, she loved shoveling snow. It was fun to have a reason to be in the snow, plus it was a great workout.

In her mittens and knit hat with a pom-pom at the top, she shuffled into the garage to find the shovel. When she opened the garage door, she finally saw what James had been talking about. Everything was covered in a glorious blanket of winter white, with much smaller snowflakes falling now, and just the hint of the charcoal gray concrete of their driveway visible.

She went about shoveling the driveway, enjoying herself more than most would, given this type of task. Ali realized she had no commitments that day, so she took her time and enjoyed just being in the snow. Her and James’ tracks from the night before were totally covered up, but when she moved from the driveway to their back walkway and part of their porch that wasn’t covered, she smiled at the memory.

God, he’s adorable. She shook her head and brushed the snow off the steps leading down from the deck. What man thinks its cool to have sex during a snowstorm?

“James. That’s who.” Ali said this aloud and laughed a little. I am 100% in love with a man who likes cranberry sauce from the can, and admits enjoying snowball fights and hot cocoa and fucking during snowstorms.

When she finished outside, Ali went in and made a late lunch. She killed time around the house until the game was on. Finding herself back under her favorite oversized, cushy blanket, Ali settled in with some tea and watched as the first period was underway.

* * *

James skated back to the bench for a line change. It was halfway through the second period, and he was feeling good. His body felt strong, his mind was centered, and he was playing well. He now sat between Geno and Letang, watching the game play out from behind the boards. James shot some water into his mouth, eyes focused on the puck as it bounced between members of the Canes. They were trying to put themselves on the board, but with very little luck. The score was 3-zip, and James couldn’t be happier. He missed Jordan Staal as a teammate, but some things needed to remain: and winning against him was one.

Crosby’s line jumped onto the ice as the puck was dumped to the opposite end of the rink. Bylsma nudged James on the shoulder.

“Nealer – go!”

James jumped over the bench boards and took Kunitz’s place on the ice. His skates flew, and in no time he was helping Sid and Dupuis get the puck back into possession. He skiffed it off to Duper, who carried it down to Sid at center ice. As he was sprinting to catch up with them, James saw Ron Hainsey’s stick appear in front of his skate, which sent him flying. James landed on the ice on his stomach with the sound of the whistle blowing from somewhere offside.

As James stood up, he could only focus on getting his breath back. He felt a cramp somewhere in his stomach and a throbbing in his knees. Fuck, not my knee, don’t let it be my knee. Some of the crowd was cheering for him as he stood up, while the other half of the crowd was booing the refs for the lack of a penalty.

In all the noise, James skated over to Hainsey, who stood only two or three feet away. “The fuck, man? You wanna go?”

Hainsey glared at him. “Don’t start with me.”

A ref skated over, separating the two before any more could be exchanged between them. James kept his eyes on Hainsey as they skated back to their respective benches.

“Nealsy, he trip you” Geno said. “Obvious.”

“He’s an asshole.” James took a drink and wiped his visor. He glanced over at the Canes’ bench as Hainsey went right back out onto the ice during a shift change.

Geno nodded at James. “Knee okay?”

“For now.”

The crowd let out a loud sigh, and everyone on the Penguin’s bench stood up. They watched as Sutter tried to get a rebound off a shot from Jokinen, but missed. There was a struggle behind the net before the whistle blew. A face off would occur near the Pen’s net.

“Geno! Neal! Bennett!”

James hopped over the bench, which did make his knee talk a little. He ignored it and got into position out on the ice behind Geno, waiting for the face off. He checked to the left of him and then to the right, getting a quick feel for who was on the ice for the Canes.

The puck dropped and Bennett won the face off, sending the puck back to Geno. He waited, then passed to Niskanen, who ran into some trouble on the side boards. James shot out and got Nisky’s pass, which he took with him around the back of the net to set Geno up in front.

Just as James skated around the corner of the net, he was knocked in face with the butt end of someone’s stick. His own stick flung out of his hands as he covered his face. His eyes stung, his nose pounded as if in slow motion, and he already tasted blood in his mouth.

When James looked down at his hands, blood covered his gloves. He freed his hand from the glove and touched his nose. No blood there. He touched his mouth and looked, no blood there either. He touched a sensitive spot on his cheek and his hand was bloodied once more.

Fuck.

Geno skated over with a referee. James was trying to figure out if he still had teeth or if his nose was still in tact, and he seemed lucky in that respect. He looked at Geno, who gave him a subtle smile to let him know it wasn’t bad.

When the ref led him back to the bench, first aid was already on him. They were applying some red stuff to his face, and dabbed a bit of in on the corner of his eyebrow as well.

“Who was it?” he asked Geno. He noticed his jaw was also sore.

“Hainesy.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

The medic held James’ face still as he cleaned the cut on his cheek. James had no clue what it looked like, nor did he care. Pain wasn’t even a consideration. His blood was boiling and wanted revenge on the asshole who went for him twice.

IT’S A PENS POWERBALL….POWER PLAAYYY!

The announcer’s loud voice got the crowd back into the game, but James sat this power play out. By the time they patched him back up and stopped the bleeding, he was back out on the ice to finish the last three minutes of the second period.

As the Pens walked back down the tunnel to their locker room, Sid met up with James. His sweaty face was bent with concern. “You alright? Doesn’t look too bad, really.”

“It’s fine.” James tried to crack a grin, but the movement made the cut on his brow sting. “Fuck though.”

Sid gave him a friendly tap on the back and then took his seat on the bench near the door. After Coach went over plays and strategies for the final period, James finally got a glimpse at his face in one of the locker room mirrors. In a weird way, he thought he looked pretty badass. There was a nasty cut on his left cheek, and a matching cut on his brow, just an inch up. You could tell a stick had hit him, if nothing else.

James grabbed a fresh stick and headed out into the tunnel to wait for the start of the third period. It occurred to him that Ali was probably worried right this second, assuming she’d seen the collision. Since this was highly likely, he promised to skate twice as hard to finish the game…both for her and for the team.

Fuck the Canes, he thought, and filed out onto the ice with the rest of his teammates.


* * *


“Hold still.”

“I am!”

“Don’t talk, then.” Ali smiled at James as she dabbed a cotton swab full of ointment on his brow. His blue eyes stared up at her, watching as she tended to him. “I don’t know how you guys do this,” she said, trying not to miss the cut because she was enamored by his gaze.

“This is the fun part, though.”

She laughed. “Is it?” She set the swab down on the table and grabbed a butterfly bandage.

“You weren’t that afraid, were you?” James asked her. They both sat at the kitchen table; Ali in tiny pink shorts and a very thin, white tank top that did nothing to help James stay focused on her from the neck up. He was out of his post-game suit and was shirtless in slouchy gray sleep pants in a chair in front of her.

“Nah, I know you’re tough.” Ali held the bandage up to his head. “Now really – don’t move.”

James smiled, and let Ali place two tiny butterfly bandages to his brow. There was something insanely cute about how she was tending to him like she was. He had a host of medic personnel that would see to any concern he ever had, but this might have been the best first aid he’d ever received.

“There.” Ali said back, feeling satisfied. “All fixed up.”

“Thank you, babe.”

“How does this feel?” She very lightly touched the larger cut on his cheek, which she already bandaged. “This one looks worse.”

“Feels worse, too. But neither are bad.” He watched Ali get up and head over to her large work bag she left near the doorway. She grabbed a Gatorade from the fridge before returning.

“This may help, too.” She handed him four Ibuprofens and the drink. She shrugged and gave him a bashful little smirk. “Four seems reasonable for this, right? I just hate when you’re in pain, tough or not.”

James stood up and kissed her. “You’re the best.” He downed the pills and half the bottle of sports drink. He wrapped an arm around Ali’s slim waist as he did so, making sure she didn’t go anywhere. “Honestly. No one fixes me up better than you.”

She smiled up at him. “I try. I know you probably have a bunch of professional—“

“Hey.” He gently grabbed the back of her neck through her hair, giving her a squeeze. “This makes me feel way better than some expensive pain killer or anti-inflammatory shot they’ll give me tomorrow.” He pressed a kiss to her temple before he let her go.

Ali nodded, feeling better. Sometimes she felt silly, and she didn’t want James to feel like she was babying him. That would do more damage to a guy’s ego than anything, but James seemed to be enjoying her first aid care.

“Well thank you for that" she replied. They kissed again, and Ali cheated a little and ran her hands over his bare abs and pecs. What wouldn’t this heal on me? The thought made her smile a little, which James caught.

“What’s up?”

She shook her head. “Not a thing.”

James knew what she was smiling about, and that made him feel better than all the medicine in the world. If he had two gashes on his face, he didn’t feel it then.

“Oh now, come on” Ali said, laughing. “Really!??!”

James glanced down below his waist, then looked at Ali. “It has a mind of it’s own, I swear.”

“You need tell him and YOU that you both need rest, and nothing else.” Ali patted him on the chest. “Doctor’s orders.”

“See…” James backed up. “You can’t say shit like that and not expect it to do this.”

To say Ali wasn’t enjoying the way James was actually pointing at his hard-on would be a lie, but she tried to hide her smirk from him as best she could. “Let’s just go to bed, babe” she said, taking his hand.

“Let me guess - doctor’s orders?” His voice was pouty.

“Yes.”

As Ali led him up the stairs, James was now considering the way her hips and ass moved in her little shorts might be all the medicine he needed.

* * *