James had practice the next morning, so he moved as quietly as he could as he got ready to leave. He miraculously didn’t wake Ali, and for all he knew, his movements hadn’t stirred his sister awake either. He slipped out without a sound, leaving a note for them on the kitchen table.

This left Rebecca and Ali to do their own thing together all morning. Ali woke up first, made coffee, read James’ cute note, then read one of two magazines she received in the mail the day before. She sorted through the other mail, deciding those were the only two things worth her time in the whole stack.

She had her nose in an article when Rebecca shuffled downstairs. The minute Ali saw her, she almost giggled. Her blonde hair was sticking up in the back, which made it occur to Ali that the entire Neal family would have perpetually messy hair their entire lives.

“Morning” Rebecca said, scratching at her hair. “Do I smell coffee?”

Ali pointed over at the pot. “Just made some. Take as much as you’d like.”

Rebecca was wearing furry pink slippers that made her feet look three sizes bigger than they actually were. They made scuff noises on the tile as she went to grab a mug from one of the cupboards.

“Sleep okay?” Ali asked.

“Mm hm….but I still need this to function.” She filled her cup and went over to join Ali at the table. “Whatchya reading?”

“Just some magazine my mom bought me a subscription for, for Christmas” Ali answered. She flipped the cover around for Rebecca to see.

“Cool.”

“Your brother left us a note.” Ali tossed Rebecca the note.

Her eyes scanned the paper and she let out a giggly-chuckle. “What a dork. Who says that?”

She was referring to the salutation James had written, claiming they were not ‘to do anything involving food’ until he got home. Ali had also giggled when she read it, but she knew better than to exclude James from food-related activities, especially following a game-day practice.

“What do we do in the mean time?” Ali asked. “He normally gets back around 11 on game day skates, so we have some time.”

Rebecca took a sip of coffee and thought for a bit. “We could go work out?”

“On your vacation?” Ali laughed. “I whole-heartedly object!”

“Is this a vacation?” Rebecca looked at her sadly. “Because it doesn’t feel like one…”

“Well then.” Ali stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s high time we get you out of the dumps and turn this into a true vacay.”

Rebecca cocked her head, and one of the pieces of her wavy hair sticking up flopped to the side. “What do you mean?” She was smiling as she said this.

“Go upstairs and get dressed. Shower too, if you’d like” Ali said. “We’re going for pedicures.”

“REALLY!?” She gasped.

“My treat.” Ali shot her thumb in the direction of the stairway. “I’ll make the appointment, you get ready. Deal?”

Rebecca stood up quickly. “MAJOR deal!!” She picked up her coffe mug. “Can I take this with me?”

Ali laughed. “Of course!”

She hurried upstairs and Ali nodded to herself. She liked where this was going, and looked forward to get a touch-up on her toenails as well. It cracked her up when she heard the shower water running so quickly upstairs. This prompted her to hurry up herself.

After the two girls showered and got ready for the day, Ali drove to the nail salon she normally got her nails done at. During the short drive, Rebecca did most of the talking. She was catching Ali up on all the latest happenings back in Whitby, although Ali had a hard time following, since she hardly knew anyone up there. Nonetheless, Rebecca talked with such enthusiasm that it was still fun to listen to her story, whether Ali knew all the key players or not.

When they arrived, but before they got out of Ali’s SUV, she turned to face Rebecca in the car. “Now…don’t worry or feel bad about anything….but pick out whatever package you want. If you want your fingernails done too, I’m down with that.”

She made a sad face. “Are you sure? You are so nice, Ali, really.”

“It’s part of the breakup party” Ali replied. “In fact, it’s the first step.”

With a laugh, Rebecca stared at her like she was crazy. “Break up party? What is that?”

“We celebrate you losing a douchebag in your life” she stated plainly. “And that’s what he was, right?”

Rebecca nodded.

“So I’m going to throw you a party and turn this into a true vacation!” She smiled proudly. “And if we’re going to the game tonight, we need to look our very best. Obviously.”

“Obviously” Becca replied, giggling. “You’re the best.”

“Don’t thank me until all the steps are completed! Okay?”

“Got it.”

“That’s settled then.” Ali opened her door. “Let’s go!”

* * *

“Your sister’s in town?”

“Yeah, just for a week though” James replied, flipping a puck lazily back and forth with his stick. “She broke up with her boyfriend and needed a distraction.”

“Well then we need to take her out!” Bortuzzo replied. “That’ll get her mind off things.”

“If you think for one second you’re hitting on her—“

“Dude, she’s like 12, isn’t she?”

James let his stick go limp in his hand as he sighed at Rob. “No. She isn’t twelve.”

“Okay, so why don’t we take her out tonight after the game?” He stared at James like it was the most unmistakable plan in the world.

Before James could answer, Geno skated over. He tapped him in the calf with his stick. “You’re up, Nealsy.”

“We’ll continue this later” James said to Rob before skating off. He wasn’t totally sold on going out after the game, but he’d have to see what his sister wanted to do.

James went through the drills Bylsma was running, which were executed in heats of three people at a time, consistently switching on and off with the rest of his teammates. All in all, it wasn’t a strenuous practice, but it required a lot of concentration. He felt like his brain was fried by the time he reached his car and weaved through the various highways to get home.

When he got home, however….he witnessed a scene he never expected to see.

As he walked through the door, he heard two voices singing along with music that was blaring loudly from the living room. Coming to the entryway, James saw his girlfriend and his sister dancing together to music. Being that close, James figured they would see him. Luckily for him, they didn’t notice him arrive, so their dancing continued with James quietly looking on.

“WEEE!!!

ARE NEVER-EVER-EVERRR

GETTING BACK TOGETHER!!!”

“We-EEEEE! Are NEVER EVER EVERRRRR

GETTING BACK TOGETHER!”

Rebecca and Ali faced one another and pointed.

“YOU GO TALK

TO MY FRIENDS

TALK TO MY FRIENDS

TALK TO MEEE!”

They turned and danced in a circle, shaking their hips and tossing their hair, and James was certain he had never seen anything so ridiculous in his life. He nodded along with the beat as the two girls continued singing, totally oblivious to him.

Finally, when they did another little spin, Ali spotted James leaning against the frame of the entryway. She pointed at him and continued singing with Rebecca:

”YOU GO TALK TO MY FRIENDS, TALK TO MY FRIENDS, TALK TO ME!” Ali sang, swaying her hips as she slowly came over.

Behind, Rebecca saw her brother and smiled, watching Ali singing to him. Ali turned and purposely pushing her ass into James’ pelvis in doing so. She faced Rebecca, and now Rebecca came over, bouncing to the beat.

“CAUSE WE-EEEEEE!

ARE NEVER, EVER, EVER—“

“—Getting back together!!” James sang.

Both Ali and Rebecca busted out laughing, because it was the final note of the song, and his voice was a horrendously match to Taylor Swift’s. Rebecca hurried over and turned the music down as the next song came on while Ali turned and hugged James.

“I love you, but you better stick to your day job, babe.”

“What? You don’t think I can sing?” he asked rather innocently.

“You call that singing?” Rebecca piped up. She came nearer and slung an arm over Ali’s shoulders. They were both a little out of breath from their dancing around.

“If you think that wasn’t singing, then whatever that was…” James waved his hand around towards the center of the room, “…wasn’t dancing.”

Ali grinned at him, taking his teasing in stride. “We’re having a breakup party, and dancing is very much a key part of it.”

He raised an eyebrow and looked at Rebecca. “Breakup party?”

“Yes! Ali is introducing it to me. Isn’t it the greatest idea?”

Her and Ali looked at one another and smiled. When Ali’s eyes met James’, she gave a friendly little shrug.

“It’s something my friends and I used to do in high school” Ali explained. “We turned a negative into a positive, and this is step two.”

“Well…….can I be invited?” James asked, trying to process what a breakup party was.

Rebecca shook her head. “No boys, not even you.”

“Babe?” He looked at Ali.

“Sorry.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “First rule of the breakup party is that Becca gets to make the rules.”

James was stunned. He really thought he’d be able to join in on this, but they were actually ousting him.

“Well when does the breakup party end?!?”

“Whenever I say it does” Rebecca said with a grin.

“And I have to go upstairs?”

“You could go outside. Right, Ali?”

Ali nodded, her eyes on James. “Sorry, babe.”

“Well shit!” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and stood there staring at them. “I don’t like parties I’m not invited to that are being held in my house.”

Neither of the girls said anything.

James stared at them. “I see how it is.”

Both of them smiled.

“Fine, I don’t need to go to a breakup party anyway.” He turned to leave, but looked over his shoulder. “Are you sure I can’t—“

“NO!” they both shouted, laughing at him. Ali thought he looked so sad and dejected, but it was hilarious at the same time.

James hung his head, upset he couldn’t see what a breakup party was. This was a totally foreign thing to him. Do chicks always have breakup parties? Did a girl ever do this after I dumped her?

He thought about it the whole way up the stairs to the bedroom. Just as he closed the door, the music started again. James recognized what song it was from the first couple of notes. It was Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know, and he LOVED that song. Throwing open the bedroom door, he bounded down the stairs back to the living room.

Rebecca and Ali were fist pumping to the opening notes, but halted as James appeared.

“I want in on this!”

“But we told you!” Rebecca said, shouting over the music. “You’re not allowed!” Nearby, Ali was still dancing, but also laughing.

“Hey James.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.

He didn’t care. He wanted in on this party.

So….of all things…James started singing.

”…cause the love that you gave that we made wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide!”

“No!!!” Ali sang back.

James leaned in to her. ”And every time you speak her name, does she know how you told me you'd hold me—“

--Until you died! Until you died! they both sang, grinning at each other.

“WELL I’M HERE

TO REMIND YOU…”

All three of them started singing. They faced one another and yelled the angry lyrics, each one of them having a hard time keeping it together because they were all cracking up in a fit of laughter. Ali had never seen James sing along like this, and she had no clue he would even know the words, let alone like this particular song.

It went on like this until the end. James lifted his sister over his shoulder and spun her around when the last note played, getting yet another laugh from her.

“I love breakup parties!” he said, dropping her to her feet. “What’s next? Can I make a request?”

Both Ali and Rebecca looked at him and sighed.

It was no use.

* * *

James had to shower one more time before he suited up, picked up Paulie, and headed to the arena for the game. The girls had let him stay for the rest of their dance party, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He made Ali promise she’d never tell any of the guys he sang along to Alanis Morissette. Once she made the promise, he let her pick where they were going to eat for lunch. The choice between her and his sister was Thai, which made him smell of curry, so back to the shower he went.

He was doing what he could to preserve his hair and keep it dry, but when Ali opened the glass door of the shower behind him, he almost jumped into the stream of hot water.

“Sorry!” Ali grimaced. “Did you get it wet?”

“No….but it was close.” He watched Ali’s eyes trail down his soaped up body. “See something of interest?”

She nodded. “I know you have to rush and all…so….since I can’t touch – I’ll just take a peek.”

James grinned at her. He really hoped she noticed that what that simple little phrase of hers was currently doing to him.

“How much of a peek do you want?”

“Just do your thing. I’ll be a perv and just watch.”

Why is this turning me on so much. he wondered. With a smile, James closed the door which now put a steamy, wet pane of glass between them.

Even through the tiny drops of water that was clouding her view, Ali took a seat on the sink opposite the shower. She giggled because the first thing James did was press his bare ass up against the glass.

“EW!” she yelled at him, which made him laugh.

“What’s wrong with my ass?” he asked, watching her pretend to block her vision with her hands. He shook his head while laughing, soaping up the rest of his torso. He needed to concentrate somewhat, because he really did need to hustle and he really did need to keep his hair dry.

The whole thing was a bit of a hot mess to Ali. Men weren’t exactly the most graceful creatures on the planet, and James was definitely not an exception to that. She often wondered how he moved so fluidly on the ice when he was normally just tall and stiff most of the time.

Well….then there’s his bedroom abilities….

She smiled to herself, watching as rivers of soapy water ran over the expanse of his back. This was one part of James’ body that was underappreciated. He had inches and inches of rock hard surface area that she adored, but his back was perfect. In her opinion, she liked James’ thinner frame. He wasn’t bulky, but damn was he strong. There was way too much hidden strength in those arms and in that back, and it made Ali quiver a little just thinking about it. She was glad he wasn’t facing her in that moment because she knew she must have looked ridiculous just sitting there watching him.

When he did look over, he saw a twinkle in her eye as she sat calmly, watching him. He turned as faced her, soaping up his lower abdomen and around his dick. Ali shamelessly let her eyes move south, not even pretending to hide her smile.

“Ahhhhh NOW I see the smile come out” he said from behind the glass. He was getting way too much enjoyment out of this. He tugged on his dick as though he was working himself just to get another rise out of her. In a perfect response, he watched her eyes sort of glaze over. James realized he was a little harder than he probably needed to be at that moment with no hope of release.

“See what you do?” He held both hands up, letting his semi-stiff dick to stand on its own for her. “Do you see?”

“Oh I see, alright” Ali replied, talking loudly so he heard her over the water. “And I like what I’m seeing very much!”

James gave her that quasi-smirky smile she loved and then faced the water again. Ali watched all the suds roll down his muscular legs and into the drain. Clear water now splashed over the ink covering his entire right arm.

“Have I told you how much I love your tats, babe?” she called to him.

He looked over. “Yeah? Tell me again.”

Ali rolled her eyes. Such an attention whore. “I love your sleeve!”

James flexed his arm and Ali literally felt a spark in her nethers.

“Tease!”

All she got out of him then was another grin. He flipped the handle and the water came to an end, leaving nothing but squeaky-clean skin Ali could dirty up very quickly if she had the chance.

She was kind enough to toss James a towel as he stepped out of the shower. As much as she hated to watch it go, she let out a sigh when James wrapped the large white towel around his waist.

“I know. Don’t look so sad” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“The minute I see you in all of your gear tonight, a very similar smile will return” Ali replied. “I’m pretty excited.”

“Are ya?” James instantly felt good inside when she said that. “You’re just excited to go with my sister.”

“That too!” Ali watched James run a dab of gel through his hair, staring into the mirror. She jumped down and faced the mirror along with him. “But mostly because I get to watch you again. You know how that turns me on.”

Ignoring his still-wet skin, she wrapped her arms around James’ waist from behind, nestling her head against his side. James found this particularly nice, especially since it was kind of out of the blue. Whether Ali knew it or not, when she did little things like that, it helped him before games in ways he really couldn’t explain. He just got a little extra push from it, especially when he knew she’d be in the stands watching him.

Outside, Rebecca could be heard knocking on the door. Both Ali and James looked over as they heard her on the other side.

“Can one of you come out here? With clothes on? Pleeeaaasssee?”

“We’re both clothed, Bec!” James yelled back.

“What are you doing in there then? Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Why!”

“Because you’re not invited to the bathroom party!”

Ali smirked at James, who was clearly quite proud of himself. They both heard Rebecca let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Jerk! Ali???”

“Coming!” She separated from James, but not before he pulled her back by the elbow and kissed her.

“See you tonight” he said.

They kissed again.

“Good luck, Superstar.”

Ali smiled and left him to get ready, and then joined Rebecca to get ready themselves. It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh, and she couldn’t wait to be joined by the little sister of #18 to watch the guys play.

* * *