I woke up the next day to my room filled with rays of sun beaming in through my windows. It was beautiful out and it made me happy to start off the day.

I got nervous thinking about seeing James, that one kiss made me want much more from him. I wasn't going to be the one to bring it up though because I was afraid it didn't really mean anything and I was just confusing the signs.

I looked over at the clock on my nightstand to see what time it was. 11:00 am. I decided it was time to get up, so I rolled out of bed, wiped my eyes and headed to the bathroom to do my morning routine. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and brushed my hair, then walked out into the living room to see if James was up yet.

When I walked in he was sprawled out on the couch watching TSN very intently. Once he heard me come in his eyes shot up to look at me and he looked a little pained before he smiled and turned his attention back to the television.

I approached the couch and moved his feet onto my lap as I sat down so we could both be comfortable. We were both just staring at the tv in silence when we heard my stomach growl loudly and we started laughing at the noise.

"I'm hungry. When are we going for brunch with the boys?" I whined.

"We're meeting them at a little diner that we love around 12." He replied as he rolled onto his back so he was looking at me.

"Okay." I sighed. I wanted to talk to him about the night before but I just wasn't sure what to say, so I waited, hoping that he would say something. I didn't have to wait long before he broke the silence.

"Cass?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about last night, I don't know what I was thinking. That was so uncalled for. You're one of my best friends and I don't want to lose you. Can we just go back to normal and pretend like it didn't happen?"

Well that wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. I was kind of wishing for a romantic moment. Maybe he'd say 'last night was perfect' or 'I like you, Cass' or maybe he'd just kiss me again it again because he could tell how much I loved it.

None of that happened of course. I should have been more prepared for him to say what he did, but I wasn't. All I could blurt out was a quiet "Sure." then he smiled and gave me a hug and the
little bit of awkwardness that was there earlier, vanished.

Around 11:20 I started getting ready so we could leave on time to meet the boys at the diner.

I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I was fed up with my glasses so I decided to try putting my contacts in. It was bad enough that I couldn't use my right hand but it was hard to see those tiny things so I could put them in, it was a disaster.

I dropped one of them on the floor so I crawled around looking for it but I just couldn't find it and before I knew it I hit my head off the door.

"Fuck!" I cursed. Next thing I knew James was at the door.

"Are you alright?" His voice was laced with concern.

"Yeah I just hit my head off the door looking for my contacts because they fell on the floor." I said as I sat on the tile floor rubbing the top of my head.

"Let me in so I can help you." I moved away from the door so he could get in and look around. It wasn't long before he found them and he rinsed them off for me so there was nothing on them then put them back in their case.

He helped me up off the ground and took a look at my head.

"Well there's no bump, is it still hurting?" He asked.

"No it's feeling better now." I said then I reached out for my contact's case but he grabbed it before I could get it.

"I'll help you, I don't know why you never ask me to." He said shaking his head.

"Because I like to try doing things on my own before I ask for someone's help." I stated.

He opened the contacts' case and put one on his finger. He looked at me to make sure I was ready before he put them in. He was so gentle that the only way I knew they were on was because I could see so much better. I looked up at him to see he was smiling down at me. I looked straight into his blue eyes and I could tell that he was thinking hard about something.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, curious.

"It's nothing...Now get ready! It's 11:30!" He ordered then walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone again.

By the time I was ready it was 11:45. I gave myself one last look in the mirror to make sure I looked okay then walked out of my room. James walked out of the living room and into the hallway once he heard me coming. He gave me a questioning look when he saw me.

"Who are you all dressed up for missy?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"Can't I wear a dress because it's a nice day out?" I replied as I slipped into my flats.

"Yeah but you're wearing it because you're meeting the guys." He stated and knelt down to tie up his sneakers.

"Okay so maybe I wanted to look half decent because I'm meeting THE Pittsburgh Penguins. I'm sure you would too if you weren't one of them."

"Okay fine but just so you know, Flower, Geno and Suttsy are taken." He said jokingly and slipped out the door.

"Hey! I don't want to date one of your teammates!" I yelled and locked the door behind us then began to chase after him.

The diner had a nice homey feel, I noticed it the second I walked in. I wasn't surprised they liked it there so much. It was a small place, not packed with people and the people that were there didn't pay much attention to the big group of NHLer's that ariived before me and James.

We walked up to the table in the back where they were seated and they all turned their attention to me.

"Cassie meet Tanger, Suttsy, Pauly, Flower, Beau, Geno and Sid." He pointed to each one as he said their names and they all said their hello's.

"Hey guys it's nice to meet you." I smiled and took an empty spot next to Sid. James sat across from me, next to Beau.

"So Cassie is it true that you're a bigger klutz than me?" Beau asked with a big smile on his face. I blushed knowing that I was painfully klutzy and I didn't think that anyone could come close.

"Shut up Beau." Flower said and James gave him a smack upside the head.

"Sorry Cassie, it wasn't meant to be an insult. I was just asking because the team loves to make fun of me for it so you could be my saviour." I had to laugh at that, poor Beau.

"No we'll still tease you for it." Pauly replied and all the boys joined in and stated their agreement.

"So Cassie are you in University?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah I'm studying to be a Nurse. I would really love to work in a children's hospital once I'm done with school." I said, and got excited thinking about my future.

"That's awesome! When will you finish?" Sid asked and it seemed like he was actually interested.

"I'll graduate in 2014. One more year to go."

"Cool." He said with a smile then the waitress came to take all of our orders. She was really nice and didn't even seem to care who she was serving. If I was her a couple of weeks ago I would have freaked out. I never thought I'd even meet the guys, let alone have lunch with them.

James excused himself to go to the bathroom and just when he was out of earshot Flower spoke up.

"So Cassie let's get real here, give us some dirt on James. Anything interesting you can tell us about him?" He asked, the wheels turning in his head. He was most likely figuring out some sort of prank to pull on him. All the guys leaned their heads down closer to me so they could hear better. Apparently they all wanted to get some insider information too.

"Welllllllllll... He loves the movie Bridesmaids and he gets overly invested in The Bachelorette." I laughed thinking about it and they all did too.

When James came back out some of them were still laughing about James' little obsessions and he raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" He asked me.

"Always a bridesmaid never a bride mon ami." Kris said to him before I could answer. That didn't satisfy James though, he still looked pretty confused.

"It's nothing important." I said and patted him on the arm.

Soon after, the waitress came back to the table with our food. We all thanked her and she went on her way again.

"This smells amazing." I said staring at the stack of waffles in front of me. I took my eyes off of my own food to see what everyone else got and the guys had their plates filled with tons of different things. I was surprised some of it didn't fall off because they had that much.

"I thought I eat a lot." I mumbled to myself. Sid heard me and couldn't help but laugh with me because he knew the amount they ate was ridiculous. Hockey players and their appetites.

I turned my head back to my plate. I didn't really think it through when I ordered the waffles. Sure I was comfortable with eating now but how the hell was I supposed to cut them? That was a stupid move on my part.

I tried cutting them with one hand but it just wasn't working out, the waffles kept sliding all over the plate and I was getting nowhere. Thankfully, Sid noticed and didn't say anything. He just stuck his fork and held it there for me while I cut them all up. No one else noticed thank god, that would have been embarrassing. Once I had them all cut in small pieces I thanked Sid then went on eating.

"You come to game tomorrow?" Geno asked, looking at me. They all turned their heads then to hear the answer.

"No, I don't think so." I replied and turned my attention back to my waffles.

"Why not?" He asked, and I looked back at him. There was confusion written all over his face.

"I don't have tickets." I frowned a little, but I made it go away as quick as it came.

"Don't be silly mon amie, we can get you tickets if you want them." Fleury said.

"Yeah! You can go with Josie if you want, she'd love to have the company. She likes to be able to see the ice better and she finds she can't see a much of anything from the WAG's box so she's alone sometimes." Brandon added.

"Oh is Josie your girlfriend?" I figured it was obvious but you can never be too sure.

"Yup. So is that okay with you?" He asked.

"Yeah sounds good!" I replied hopeful that I'd at least make a new friend out of it.

"Okay I'll tell her to meet you at will call for 6:30?" He asked as he pulled his phone out to text her.

"Perfect." I responded then finished up what was left of my waffles.

The guys were great. I had a lot of fun talking with them and getting to know them better. We were all joking around with each other and they seemed to like me so I was glad.

James didn't really talk much though. Once we started eating he was quiet and didn't say much after. It wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't in a good mood like the rest of us.

We sat around and chatted for a little while longer but I could tell something was up with James so I knew it was time to go. I told the guys that my arm was acting up and I left my painkillers home so we needed to head out. They all ate up the lie and gave me careful hugs before we left. Sidney was last, he whispered in my ear.

"Figure out what's wrong with him and make sure he's okay will you?" He pulled back from the hug and I nodded my head. James came back from paying the bill just as Sid was letting go.

"Ready to go?" He asked, his voice monotone.

"Yup. Bye guys!" I waved to them and they all said they'd see me the after the game. I turned around to walk out with James and he was already halfway out the door.

"Wait up!" I said running after him. He didn't turn around or wait for me so I sped up until I reached him then I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

"What the hell has gotten into you?!" He stared and me blankly then turned around and kept walking.

"James!" I walked up to him and stood in front of him.

"What?" He asked annoyed. I was sure we were making a scene but at that point I didn't really care.

"What's wrong with you?!" I demanded an answer and I wasn't going to let it go until I got one.

"You and Sid? Really? I saw it. The flirting, the hug and the whispering in your ear. It was like I wasn't even there, but Sid certainly was. Could you get any more obvious?" He said, pissed. That made me livid.

"Do you really think that after what you went through with Shianne I would ignore you just to talk to Sid? Seriously?! Just because one girl wanted Sidney doesn't mean every girl will James. And Sid and I were NOT flirting, it's called chatting and making conversation. If you did that instead of assuming I have this huge crush on him we wouldn't be here right now. By the way Sid just wanted me to find out what's going on with you and make sure you're okay, that's all he whispered to me. So don't be such an asshole next time." I said then started to walk back in the direction of his car.