One week. That’s all Ali had left before she would run her half-marathon with thousands of others through the city of Pittsburgh. This was the only thing on her mind during her daily runs now, and it made her run harder and run longer. Every day she pushed herself through 13 miles, running outdoors despite the conditions. She added a half-mile every day to her total as well, and every day she felt stronger. Everything was a go, except for her nerves.

Her focus went from her early morning run to the game that night. She was depending on it to act as a distraction from her nervousness. The race was only a few days away, and while that was her biggest cause of anxiety, Ali still had to conquer her awkwardness of sitting with Maureen Kunitz and the other women that night to watch the guys play.

Because James had left for the game a few hours earlier, Ali was left alone with just her thoughts as she got ready. What if they don’t like me? What if they think my cheering is obnoxious? They’re all so used to this, but I’m still not. Will I ever be, though? Will I be the youngest one there? So what if I am?

Ali stood in front of the mirror, fixing her hair for the eleventh time and it still didn’t look any different than it normally did. To dress herself up a little, she loosely curled the ends of her long hair, giving it a beachy, wavey look. She threw on James’ home jersey, straightening it over the long sleeve Under Armour shirt she wore beneath it. With a final fluff to her hair, Ali grabbed her keys and headed to the arena.

Since Ali was sitting in one of the suites in the top level of the arena, she had a whole new way of getting in that she was unfamiliar with. She parked in the usual garage she normally did, but from there it was all new. James had given her directions on which private elevator to take that would take her directly to the suite. She nervously maneuvered her way through the gathering crowd to find it.

When she did, she pressed the button and waited for the elevator to make its way down to the bottom floor. Looking around, huge amounts of fans dressed in jerseys of all numbers were filling in around her. The sound of the elevator doors opening brought her attention back.

“Hello! Club 66 Suite?” It was a kindly, older man dressed in a black suit and tie who sat inside the elevator on a small stool.

“Yes” Ali said, handing him the pass James had given her. The man looked it over and welcomed her inside.

“Nice to meet you, Allison. Name’s George.”

“Hi George.” She stood next to him as he escorted her up to the suite.

“The Real Deal!” He nodded at her jersey.

When Ali laughed, she could hear her own nerves in her voice. “All day, every day!” she joked.

The elevator dinged as they passed the second level.

“Ever been to the suite before?”

“Nope. First time.” Maybe it’s obvious to him, too she thought.

The elevator dinged again, and the doors slid open. “Well you’re in for a treat” George replied. He held his hand out. “Enjoy the game.”

Ali thanked him and stepped out onto a carpeted floor. She looked around at the amount of people already in the room. Most of the men there were in suits, others had polo shirts on, and a few had jerseys on. Ali sighed. Fuck. What am I doing here.

As she walked further into the room, she looked around for anyone she might recognize. Small globe lights illuminated the room, and bright lights shone beneath a spacious bar with all the liquor a person could ever want. To the right was the ledge that opened up to the ice below, so Ali went straight for it.

She smiled at a few people on her way over, and a rush of emotions hit her that she wasn’t expecting when she caught glimpse of the rink. It was the first time Ali looked at the ice since she was on it. It was the first time she was seeing the giant electronic screens since James had put her name on them. Subconsciously, her hand went to the diamond pendant she wore around her neck and she smiled. What she wouldn’t do to go back in time when it was just them on the ice again.

“Allison!”

She turned around, startled out of her own thoughts. “Hey! Maureen!”

“I called your name three times! Already in a daze?” she teased.

They hugged and Ali tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, I guess I was. It’s awesome up here!”

“See?” Maureen’s bright smile was larger than ever. “Told ya you had to get up here!” She halted and her eyes went to Ali’s chest. “Ummm…what is THAT?”

Ali smiled. “Half of my Christmas present.” She held up the pendent as Maureen leaned in to get a closer look.

“James got you this?”

“Yeah, why?” Ali thought the look of surprise on Maureen’s face was kind of funny.

Maureen shook her head. “I would have never guessed.” She took Ali by the hand. “Come with me, I want to introduce you to the others. They’ve got to see this.”

She led Ali over to where some of the other ladies were standing and talking to one another. Ali felt her stomach go weak with nerves. Her smile was her best defense as Maureen began to introduce her to everyone. In the group were Veronique Fleury, Carole-Lyne Dupuis, and Anne Adams. Ali breathed a sigh of relief that there were only three. She could handle three.

“So this is the girlfriend we’ve been hearing so much about!” Carole-Lyne said. She gave Ali a very big hug. “We were so excited when Maureen said you’d be joining us.”

“Aww! Thanks for that” Ali replied, feeling a little better. “Sorry it’s taken me so long to make it up here.”

“James has just been treating you to front row seats! We know how it goes.” Anne and Maureen looked at one another and smiled. “He’s been trying to impress you every game, as I’ve been told. Leave it to James, huh?”

“Speaking of impressing her…” Maureen pointed to Ali’s neck and the women let out a collective gasp.

“What!” Anne leaned in. “Wait. Wait.”

Ali felt a little uncomfortable. She didn’t mean to wear the necklace to show off, but she wasn’t all that upset she’d forgotten to put it under her jersey either.

“That is absolutely stunning.” Carole-Lyne was shaking her head. “I can’t believe it.”

“Oh now, give James some credit.” Veronique said. She placed a hand on Ali’s arm and smiled. “Marc told me you have changed James. Apparently it is so.”

Ali thought her accent was as beautiful as she was. “Well, I don’t know if it’s possible to change James, but if that’s the rumor - I’ll cop to it.”

The ladies laughed.

“James Neal giving a girl a diamond.” Maureen looked at the others. “What did I tell you all?”

“I did not believe, but I do now” Veronique replied. “It is so nice to finally meet you, Allison.”

Ali smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. They all seemed to be really nice, and rather impressed with James at the moment. All good signs, at least she thought.

And so the first meet-and-greet jitters calmed a little, Ali started to fit right in with the other women. They asked her a lot of questions: where she was from, how she met James, when they moved in together, what her job was, what her plans were. It was a lot, but Ali was happy to answer. She learned a lot about them as well. She discovered that her story was very similar to some theirs and how they met their husbands. She also discovered they all had their own unique sense of humor, and Ali took a liking to all of them.

As they stood there talking, Ali glanced over and saw two little kids running by, one of which ran into Carole-Lyne’s leg and grasped it.

“Can you not run in here please?” Carole-Lyne said, ruffling the boy’s floppy hair. “What did I tell you and your sisters about this?”

“Sorry, mommy.”

Ali smiled down at the boy when he looked up at her. “Hi!” she said. She bent down to be eye-level with him. “You must be a little Dupuis?”

Carole-Lyne looked over at the other women and smiled.

“My name’s Kody” the boy said. His smile was as wide as Pascal’s.

“Nice to meet you, Kody. My name is Ali.” She held out her hand and Kody shook it. He smiled up at his mom, who patted his head.

“You’re wearing Nealer’s number” Kody said with a grin.

Ali laughed when she heard him use James’ nickname. “I might just be his biggest fan.” She looked up and Carole-Lyne smiled at her. “And you’re wearing your dad’s number. Very cool. Your dad is a great player.”

“Thanks!” Kody said. He lifted his hand and Ali high-fived it. “Go PENS!” he yelled.

“Inside voice, Kody.” Carole-Lyne gave him a little pat on the back. “Why don’t you go find Zoe and Maeva. Tell them the game’s almost ready to go, okay?”

“Okay, mom.” And off he went.

When Ali stood again, she saw all of their eyes staring at her. In addition, they were all smiling. She looked over at Maureen for some help.

“Don’t worry” she said, leaning into Ali. “They just didn’t know what to expect from a girlfriend of James Neal, and they certainly weren’t expecting that.”

The goal horn sounded, marking the end of the countdown to game time. Ali was never more relieved.


* * *


James was playing really well, and Ali wasn’t surprised. At first, when the game first started, she was a little afraid of going nuts cheering for him. As the first period winded down, she let all concern slip away. The Pens were playing the Washington Capitals, which was a notoriously interesting rival of Crosby versus Ovechkin, and the crowd didn’t disappoint. It seemed everyone present, including the two teams, were extra emotive, and Ali was right there with them.

In fact, she was actually happy she was sitting in the suite tonight. James was especially fiery, and had already gotten in the face of two of the Caps players, and they were only one period in. If Ali were sitting any closer, she would’ve taken a swing at them too.

“Fuckers.” Ali took a sip of her beer and Maureen laughed.

“You get really fired up!”

“Well did you see that asshole?” She shook her head. “Ugh. This team.”

Maureen was smiling at her. Funny? Check. Beautiful? Check. Spirited? Check. It’s so obvious why James fell for her, it’s not even funny.

Ali caught her staring. “Yeeeeesss?” she said with a grin.

Maureen rubbed her forehead and laughed. “Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking…” She looked into Ali’s dark, expressive eyes and simply sighed. “I’m really glad you’re here” she said, embarrassed Ali caught her. “Hope that’s not too weird.”

“Oh my God, no way! Why would that be weird?” Ali ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it a little out of habit. “I’m actually glad that I have YOU here. I won’t lie, Maureen. I feel kind of…..out of place.”

“Don’t be. Trust me – they love you. I mean..." She tried to find her wording. "We would all learn to love anyone James was dating, but I know that’s not the case here.” Ali didn’t know it, but when she’d gone to the restroom before game time, the other women had approached Maureen and said how much they already liked Ali. It wasn’t lost on any of them why James liked her so much.

“Well….thank you, Maureen. That makes me feel better just hearing that.” It did. It helped Ali feel way more relaxed. “This might sound stupid, but…if it’s important to James, it’s important to me. He really loves you guys. So I mean…”

“Oh hun.” Maureen was giving her a sympathetic smile. “You couldn’t be more supportive. Don’t even worry about that.”

Ali didn’t. It was impossible to worry about anything, especially during the second period. It quickly became just as intense as the first period, and was bound to get worse until one of the teams finally scored. Every minute it remained a 0-0 game, the tension got higher and higher.

It was a lot harder to see the players from the suite, but Ali kept her eyes on the number 18 whenever it was visible on the ice. She’d move her eyes from the players to the screen, trying to stay with the puck as it was volleyed back and forth up the ice. Line changes were quick in this game, and weren’t always the normal lines the guys played in. At one point, James swung his long legs over the boards and joined Sid on the first line.

Ali giggled as she swallowed some of her beer. “I love how he hops.”

Maureen looked at her with question. “Hops?”

“Yeah!” She was smiling as she pointed at him. “When he skates fast and his feet get going, he hops. Look.”

Down on the ice, James’ skates were moving quickly so he could sprint down to the other end of the ice. The padding beneath his jersey kind of bobbed a little, giving the appearance his shirt was bouncing.

Maureen laughed. “I see what you mean!”

Ali was smiling the whole time. What a complete 180 from the jeans and sweater he wore during their private skate just the other night. The memory made her warm inside.

A whistle blew and the play was broken up. The ref called a foul against the Pens, to which the crowd thanked him with a chorus of boos. In the middle of it all was James, Letang, and a few of the Caps players. James removed his mouth guard and was saying something to the ref, but the ref was shaking his head. At the red line he held up his hand.

”Number 18. Pittsburgh. Holding.”

The crowd booed even harder.

“You’re kidding me” Ali muttered. She focused on the screen as the cameras zoomed in on James, who was holding his hands out at the ref in question. The ref was pointing at him and Nicklas Backstrom.

He reluctantly skated towards the penalty box, grabbing one of the green bottles angrily. As they replayed the foul on the jumbotron, the crowd booed again, and James was shaking his head, eyes lifted towards the screen.

The Pens needed a penalty kill. Ali kept her fingers crossed over the course of the next two minutes. She knew that if the Caps scored off the foul, James would beat himself up over it the rest of the night.

Slowly but surely, the two minutes ran down. There were a few close calls, but they were able to keep the Caps from scoring. When the penalty ended, James was out of the box faster than anyone on the ice even noticed. He flew right for Sid, who was still on the ice from the penalty kill. He sent the puck straight for James, who handled it the rest of the distance to the net. He fired away, sending the puck past the goalie, but the awful sound of the puck hitting the crossbars made the entire crowd sigh unhappily.

“FUCK.” Ali leaned back in her seat, feeling her heartbeat racing. She glanced over to make sure the Dupuis kids weren’t in earshot, but they weren’t sitting anywhere near her and Maureen.

“Sorry” Ali said sheepishly to Maureen. “I guess I do get a little excited.”

“It’s cute” Maureen replied. “I used to be the same, and I kind of miss it.”

Below on the ice, an offside was called on the Caps, however further down the rink, a scuffle was ensuing. Everyone, including those in the suite, either stood up or leaned forward as bodies were separated from one another. One of them was James. Ali watched him drop his stick and shove Backstrom again, clearly not over the penalty that was called earlier. Geno was also there, but the ref pulled him back first. When he tried to pull James back, Backstrom shoved him right into the ref.

“Oh shit.” Ali watched the screen. James had that look on him; the look where he was one nerve away from blowing up. His sharp eyebrows were bent in anger and his mouth was tense. Sid was there with his hand on James’ shoulder, trying to neutralize the situation.

Ali finally allowed herself to exhale when James grabbed his stick and skated away. While she never liked to see him get into it with someone on the ice, it would always be one of those things where she couldn’t help getting just a tiny bit turned on. Ali knew what those arms and legs could do, and that was when they were delivering pleasure. She didn’t envy the player dumb enough to tangle with James’ strength, as it could just as easily be used to punish as to please.

She took another drink of her beer and watched as the next line came out onto the ice. The camera panned from the refs back to James on the bench. He was leaned in towards Geno, discussing something that looked rather heated.

Luckily, as the second period wore on, the Pens were finally outshooting the Caps. Ali knew a point was coming; the tension on the ice was thick enough that it filled the entire arena and finally made it up to the suite where she was sitting. James’ energy never waned, and when he and his linemates were back on the ice, they dominated the scene.

In a stroke of luck, Jokinen was able to turnover the puck from the Caps. He passed it to Geno, who passed it to James. It was a two-on-one all the way down the ice, and James had the puck. His speed was too much, and so was his shot. Faking just enough to send the goalie in the wrong direction, he launched the puck right into the corner of the net that was wide open. The goal horn blasted and loud music was quick to follow.

“YEAH BABE YEAH!!!” Ali jumped out of her seat as she cheered. Everyone in the arena stood up in unison, cheering for James and the rest of the Pens on the ice. The score was now 1-0.

Maureen cheered right alongside Ali, finding a whole new energy thanks to her. She and Ali hugged tightly, and she watched Ali bounce up and down in excitement for James. The other women were cheering not only for the guys, but for Ali. Veronique even gave her a thumbs-up.

“What are the chances?” Maureen said happily.

“I don’t know, but it’s fucking hot every time he does it.”

The line caught Maureen off guard and she busted out laughing. Ali flashed her a proud grin, and then drained the rest of the liquid from her cup. Next to her, two little Dupuis children came running over.

“Nealer scored! Nealer scored!” Kody yelled.

“Yeah, Nealer!” Zoe echoed.

Ali couldn’t help but laugh. She met eyes with Carole-Lyne, who was grinning from ear to ear, knowing her kids wanted to come over to Ali to cheer.

“Did you see that?” Kody asked. By the sound of his heavy breathing, he’d been as excited as Ali was.

“Heck yes, I saw!” she answered. “What’d you think?”

“I thought it was AWESOME.”

“Me too!” Zoe echoed.

They were such little things, and Ali just adored them. Though she’d just met the rest of the family, she felt like she knew them. James always talked about how fun Pascal’s kids were, and now she was finding out for herself. Not only were they fun, they were adorable.

“Can I get another high five, K-Man!?” Ali held her hand up.

“Yeah!! Another high five!” He slapped his smaller hand against hers.

“Can I get a high five, Z-Girl?” Ali said to Zoe. The little girl awkwardly slapped Ali’s hand and giggled.

“Woooooo we scored! We scored!” Kody yelled as he and his sister jogged back towards their mother and other siblings.

“Looks like you have two new fans” Maureen said to Ali, who was still watching after the kids.

“Yeah, I suppose I’ve been accepted here after all.” She looked to Maureen and winked.


* * *


James sent Ali a text the minute he got back into the locker room and could locate where he left his phone.

Don’t leave, I’ll meet you up there. Might be a few because of media.

Since he was one of three who scored goals for the Pens, he was one of three who were asked to do interviews following the game. He wasn’t in the best of moods, considering they ended up losing by one point in the third period. It was a fast game, and despite how many shots-on-goal they had as a team, the Pens were outshot and outscored in the end.

James wasn’t exactly the happiest following the game, but he put on as neutral a face as he could for the cameras. When they got what they needed and moved on, he showered, dressed back into his suit, and headed up to the suite. Upon entering, he saw that Pascal had already made it there first, and Ali was standing with him and the family. When she turned and saw him, she came forward to meet him privately, away from the Dupuis family.

“Hi babe” she said, tone full of understanding.

“Hey.” He was just happy to feel her in his arms at that moment. “How’d it all go up here?” He knew she had been stressing a little, so he hoped she was still able to have fun.

“It was really good.” Ali smiled up at him. “You did great, by the way.”

James shook his head. “Ahh come on, Ali. I was too hot the whole time. Didn’t have my head in it.”

“Well….okay, you’re always hot” she said, grinning. “Aaaannnd you scored, so….I disagree with that last statement, too.”

She stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss, which James was grateful for. Up ahead, he saw the Dupuis family walking over with Kody heading right for them. James expected the boy to be coming for him, but instead he jumped into Ali’s arms.

“Here’s your biggest fan of the night, by the way” Ali said, bending to hug Kody. “Aren’t ya, buddy?” They high fived again, since every time Kody came anywhere near Ali, they high fived. It had quickly become their thing.

James was surprised by this, and he loved it. “Looks like he’s your biggest fan, babe. Not mine.”

“What can I say? He’s a flirter, just like you.”

She smiled up at him, and James felt a new and strange emotion inside. He watched Ali and Kody together as they did their little high five, and it made him smile. It was clear that Pascal’s son had taken a quick liking to her, and James was smitten by it. In a way, it was kind of a turn-on to see Ali so attentive with kids, let alone ones who she’d just met a few hours ago.

“James!!”

A spunky little Zoe Dupuis came bounding forward towards him. James intercepted her and swung her up into his arms. “There’s my girl!” She giggled as he lifted her high. “You’re still my girl, aren’t ya, Zo?”

“Yeah!” Zoe said, giggling.

James rubbed his nose again Zoe’s, which made her giggle even more. He kept her in his arms as Pascal and Carole-Lyne finally reached them.

“Did we just find new babysitters?” Pascal looked at his wife with a grin.

“Nice try, hunny” Carole-Lyne said at her husband’s joke.

“Great game, Duper” Ali said to him. “Some really, REALLY horrible calls made though. I'll never know how you guys deal with it.”

“Hey Daddy" Kody said, interrupting. "How come Nealer scored tonight and you didn’t?”

“Because Nealer has better hair than Daddy does, kiddo.”

Ali almost snorted. She put a hand over her mouth to cover up her smile, but James rolled his eyes. “Funny stuff, Duper. Funny stuff.”

In James' arms, one of Zoe's little hands found itself in his hair. She yanked on one of his loose waves, to which James pretended she was pulling on it hard. It got another giggle out of her. Ali and James met one another's gaze and they smiled.

“Okaaaay, Zoe, let go of James” Carole-Lyne said, her tone rather harmless. “It’s bedtime anyways, and way past yours.”

“Fine” the girl said, pushing her bottom lip out.

“Mother knows best” James said, setting the little girl down. “One more hug?”

Ali watched the girl wrap her arms around James’ neck. It might have been the greatest thing she’d seen all night. You cannot afford to get turned on right now, Ali. Don’t do it. Control it.

“If I haven’t said it enough times already, it was so great to meet you” Carole-Lyne told Ali. “Really, James. Don’t you dare let go of her or I’ll kick your butt myself.”

James laughed. “Aaaahhh, not if I can help it, so no worries there.”

Pascal took Zoe’s hand in his and threw his gym bag over the opposite shoulder. “See you at practice tomorrow, Neal?”

“With bells on.”

“Thanks for being so great with them” Carole-Lyne whispered to Ali on her way past. “I see motherhood in your future!” She winked at James, and then the family headed for the elevator.

James and Ali looked at one another.

“Don’t get any ideas” they said in unison.


* * *


James’ bad mood over the game waxed and waned throughout the rest of the night, including the drive home. He kept the focus mostly on Ali’s experience up in the suite, but his mind drifted back to all the plays and fouls and missed chances. It’s just the way he was after a loss, and even after some wins.

Once they were home, Ali and James did very little else besides get changed and get into bed. Ali knew not to mess with James' mood whenever they lost a close game to a team like the Capitals, so she left him to himself and disappeared into the bathroom.

James just wanted sleep and nothing else. Tomorrow was a new day, a new practice, and another chance. The toughest thing to do as a hockey player was to move on quickly from a loss, and James normally relied on sleep to help him with this. When he was upstairs, he stripped down to his boxer briefs and then firmly planted himself face-down on top of his bed.

Ali climbed into bed not long after James did, noticing he was lying on his stomach and facing away from her. She slid in closer and draped an arm across his bare back. Every muscle she touched felt tense. Without saying anything, she trailed her nails along the curves of those muscles, hoping maybe her touch would relax him or help in some way.

James rolled his head to the side so he could see her. “Feels nice.” He closed his eyes and let the whispery feel of Ali’s fingers trace circles along his back.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

He nodded into the pillow. “Yeah.” He felt her switch from the soft pads of her fingers to the smooth edges of her nails, causing a whole new tickling sensation. “Feeling better by the second.”

Ali smiled. “You’re so easy.” She gently flicked her nails along his neck, which she knew was a ticklish spot on him.

James scrunched his face and chuckled. “Damn you.”

“It got you smiling!”

Opening his eyes, he saw Ali smiling at her, her lips pink and soft and her gaze tender. Everything about her was calm and comfortable. His eyes followed the silver chain of her necklace, which disappeared beneath the thin cotton of her white tank top.

“Did they see that tonight?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow.

“They did.” Ali’s fingers continued gliding over his skin. “Pretty sure their eyes all popped out of their heads.”

James shifted his gaze upwards. He felt himself perk up a little inside. “Really?” Ali nodded and he brought his gaze back to the diamond he could barely see beneath her top. He also saw the faint outline her of softened nipples as well. What about this girl isn’t comfortable? Slowly, his eyelids closed as the pattern Ali drew on his back lulled him to relax even more.

“Did they like it?” He sighed contentedly.

“I think they were all impressed” Ali said, her voice remaining quiet. “If they only knew where you gave me the necklace, they may have all passed out.”

James smiled, eyes still closed. “Good thing you spared the innocent.”

Ali continued skimming her fingers down the outline of James’ spine to the dip of his lower back. All the sculpted lines of his back seemed to want Ali to draw her hand down to the rise of his ass. She was tempted to, but she resisted. James’ breathing had settled into a soft, slow rhythm now, so Ali snuggled down next to him. With one arm still draped across him, she fell asleep with her face nestled close to his.

The next day marked three days until the marathon, and it was likely the last peaceful sleep Ali would have until it was over with.

* * *