“Are you sure you’re up for this?” James called from my bed while I tried to fix my hair in the bathroom. After a mild make out session he remembered dinner plans he’d made with a few of the other players and of course extended the invitation. I couldn’t say no with his hand under my shirt.

“Yeah,” I replied over the music coming from the record player- Paul Simon telling us we can call him Al.

“Because we don’t have to go if you’re still tired or whatever,” he appeared at the door and watched me apply my second coat of mascara.

“I’m fine,” I assured him, finishing with the mascara and tossing the tube back into my make up basket. “I’m just not really sure what to wear to fancy hockey events,” I admitted gesturing to his standard dress pants and button up shirt. He looked classy and casual and I didn’t know if that meant this was a formal event or not.

“Wear whatever is comfortable,” he shrugged, leaning against the door frame.
I shot him a look of disbelief and shook my head before moving past him and making my way to my closet.

“That wasn’t helpful was it?” he looked at me bashfully and smiled.

“Not in the slightest,” I chuckled, pulling out a green cotton dress, a black skirt and three shirts. I wasn’t willing to admit it to him, but the idea of meeting his friends made me want to hide in a closet and breathe into a paper bag. We’d been official for less than four hours and already I was plunging into the glamorous world of professional sports. In my previous relationships I was stoked if the guy offered to buy me a coffee, fancy dinners weren’t even an option.

“Wear the dress,” he motioned towards the clothes on the bed. “You look good in green.”

“I do?” I asked surprised, my voice coming out high and nervous.

“I think so,” he shrugged. I could see his cheeks reddening and gave him a thankful smile. I took the dress into the bathroom and left the door open a crack, the music had stopped and I could hear him flipping through my records.

“So how are you like… going to introduce me or whatever?” I pulled my clothes off and slipped the dress on, walking into the main room for him to zip it up.

“How do you want me to introduce you?” his hands on my back made me shiver and tingle all over. His fingers lingered at the base of my neck after pulling the zipper up.

“Not as the girl who dropped acid last night?” I looked back at him hopeful. I didn’t expect he’d go around telling everyone about my exploits but I couldn’t be sure. Truth be told I had to remind myself that I didn’t really know what kind of person he was. Of course I had an idea, a basic map of him, but I couldn’t be sure.

“How about I use your name?” he smirked a wrinkled his nose playfully.

"Super hot and smart? Man I got lucky with you," I teased and turned around, placing my hand gently on his chest. There was a glimmer in his eyes when he smiled at me, dimples forming and the skin around his eyes creasing. I couldn't pull my eyes away from his face, the thin layer of red tinted beard covering his jaw and upper lip accented his soft pale skin, adding another dimension to the already captivating dynamics of his appearance.

The restaurant was a far cry from the diners i'd been frequenting and when we entered the dimly lit dining room, we were immediately greeted by a perky hostess. Without having to ask his name she led us to a private room where half of the team and their wives were seated at two tables.

"James, James, James," a voice called as we made our way to two empty seats beside one of the only people in the room I recognized, Sidney Crosby. "So nice of you to join us," the voice belonged to one of the older team members, a dark haired man who was grinning at us.
"You miss me or something, Duper?" James laughed and pulled out my chair, motioning for me to take a seat then slipping into his own.

I was seated between James and a woman I could only assume was someone's wife. Her hair was pulled into a pony tail and her exposed arms were covered in tattoos. She was easily the coolest person in the room and as she turned to introduce herself I noticed her convex stomach.

"You must Colbie," she smiled warmly. "I'm Bea." I recognized her now, she was the woman behind the bench at the home opener, the one Riley and Jack had thought couldn't be in hockey. Crosby’s rarely photographed new wife. I felt a flutter of pride when she said my name, because her knowing my name meant James had talked about me.

"It's nice to meet you," I smiled back at her and subtly admired her ink covered arms, I noticed a green coloured pin up and a cluster of bumble bees and made a mental note to look into getting some of my own.

"I guess someone is too busy with his little man crush on Duper to introduce you so I will," she laughed and reached across me to smack James on the back of the head. He looked at her shocked and pretended to be offended before grinning and rolling his eyes then turning back to the back and forth bickering with the dark haired man.

"This is my husband Sidney," she lay her hand affectionately on his arm and smiled at him. Their feelings for each other were obvious and I could feel their mutual adoration radiating throughout the room.

"It's nice to meet you," he held out his free hand to me and I shook it in amazement. I, like every other Canadian I'd met knew who he was, and the very idea of being in the same room as him made me slightly flustered.

"You too," I managed to say, my eyes wider than they needed to be and my heart racing. By now James had turned his attention back to me and had his arm resting on the back of my chair.

"How are you liking Pittsburgh?" Sidney asked and it dawned on me that James had done more than just mention my first name, he'd actually told them about me.

"So far so good," I smiled and nodded, taking a drink of the water that had been placed in front of me. Before I could say any more, Bea reached behind me and grabbed a tall blonde boy who'd been walking past us. He couldn't have been much older than me and looked like every popular boy I'd ever seen in a made for TV movie set in a high school.

"Hey," he looked down at us with a toothy smile. "I didn't see you there."

"Because I blend in so well," Bea rolled her eyes and let go of his arm.

"How's it going, bud?" the blonde haired boy turned his attention to James and clapped him on the back playfully.

“Not bad, big guy.” James turned in his chair to face him, grinning without removing his arm from my chair. “This is Colbie,” he introduced me and I noticed his grin turn into a sort of smirk.

“Damnit!” the blonde, who I still hadn’t been properly introduced to, cried and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and began leafing through a stack of green bills.

“I told you she was real,” James hissed as the blonde handed a stack of bills to the dark haired man. I could see the redness growing in James’ cheeks. I looked at them confused, not sure if I should be offended or amused.

“I believed you, Jame,” the man said, counting the bills and smiling.

“Colbie, this is Beau and that’s Pascal,” Bea introduced the two gamblers, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Don’t take it personally, they bet on everything. Last time I checked there was a $2,500 wager on the basement bits of my unborn child.”

“Hello” The man I learned was Pascal smiled and shoved the bills in his pocket.

“Nice to meet you,” Beau said with a wave and a bashful look. I smiled at them both and sat with my hands awkwardly in my lap while the guys continued to talk and Bea pointed out different people at the table. There was a smile plastered on my face and despite being happy to be involved in James’ life, I wished I’d have stayed home in bed. There was a pain brewing in my head and drained both my water glass and James’.

“You alright?” James leaned against me and whispered after we’d ordered. “Sorry I didn’t introduce you, I’m not very good at this.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled weakly. “I’m not either.” It was the truth. I had no idea how to be someone’s date, especially not to an NHL team dinner. There were too many conversations going on for me to hear everything that was being said. There were a few women at the other table, and I assumed they were wives, but they kept to themselves, their conversation seemed quiet and careful not to overpower the loud voices to the men. Bea and I were the only females at our table and I tried to get a look at the left hands of the players to see if they’d left anyone at home. For some reason the relationship status of my fellow diners seemed fascinating. I decided while scouring the table for wedding bands that I should do a series on hands and the people they belong to. Slipping my phone out I copied my ideas into an email and sent it to myself. Go figure brilliance would strike when I’d left my camera at home and was trying to make a good impression.

I faded in and out of the conversation at the table, careful not to say too much knowing that my head was still in the clouds. Every so often someone would ask me a question and the attention was turned to me, I’d answer, but I wasn’t offering up any information just yet. I hardly knew James well enough to tell him my life story, let alone his teammates.

“So James said you’re nanny?” Bea asked after our food had been served. The rest of the table was chattering about a previous game so I was the only one who’d heard her question.

“Yeah,” I smiled, covering my mouth as I swallowed a bite of potatoes. “Three kids.”

“That must be fun,” she took a bite of steak and I noticed she’d rearranged the food on her plate into sections. Three of each type of food.

“I really like it,” I nodded, finishing off my fourth glass of water. “Do you work for the team?” I’d been hesitant to ask but couldn’t hold my curiosity any longer.

“I do!” she grinned. “Well, I did. until this month. I’m on the medical team, but someone,” she motioned to Sidney who too busy talking to the rest of the table to notice us. “Got a little too freaked out about me working this close to baby time so I’m on leave now.”

“When are you due?” I asked, trying to guess in my mind what she’d say. I settled on beginning of January when she answered.

“Early February,” she glanced down at her stomach and smiled. Damn it, off by a month.

“Right before the Olympics,” I commented as the waitress filled my water glass yet again.

“Hopefully before. Man I’m hoping for before. I’d like to avoid giving birth by myself while my husband hangs out in Russia eating caviar and knish!” she laughed and caught Sidney’s attention.
“I don’t even like caviar,” he teased and gently rest his hand on her stomach. “Besides, she’ll be out before I leave. We have a deal.” Sidney smiled and winked at his wife, quickly abolishing any preconceived impressions I had of him from the media.

“I really hope you’re right, but I’m telling you now we’re having a boy,” Bea chuckled and leaned against him. “I know these things.”

“We better be right, Bea!” Beau called from the other end of the table. “I got big money on this.”

“Thanks for being so invested in my crotch creature, buddy.” she called back to him, the whole table laughing at their exchange. I got the impression that Bea was just another member of the team and I couldn’t help but envy how calm and easy going she was interacting with them. I was far from a nervous person but I could imagine commanding the attention of a room so effortlessly. I decided right there that I liked her and if this thing between James and I lasted, I would do everything I could to be friends with her.

I was laughing as Bea and Beau continued to bicker when my phone rang. I didn’t hear the first call, too focused on that action in front of me, but when my phone rang for a second time I grabbed it and excused myself from the lively table. Standing outside the room I checked my caller ID and saw his name, Leo with a heart beside it. He’d put the heart there, not me. I groaned and answered, heading for the front door of the restaurant. The more space between this conversation and James, the better.

“What the fuck, Colbie?” Leo cried into the phone. He was reasonably distressed and I felt a sliver of guilt for not calling him sooner. “I’ve called you like ten times, I thought you were dead.” My guilt quickly faded to annoyance.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. What did he want me to say? I wasn’t actually sorry but I knew he had a reason to be a little worried. I had left his house with another guy.

“Where are you? Are you okay?” he continued. For someone who claimed to be so calm and one with the earth he was the most high strung person I’d ever met.

“I’m fine,” I leaned against the brick wall of the building and pulled my coat around me tightly. “Are you in Vermont?”

“Yes, I got here a few hours ago. What happened?” he sounded like a child about to throw a temper tantrum, the difference being that most children were better behaved than Leo. “Fuck Colbie, you scared me!”

“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes to no one. “I’m sorry. I just decided to leave with James and you were too fucked up to really notice anyway.”

“Right, James. The big shot with his designer jeans. I can’t believe you even associate with that capitalist slave,” he was two comments away from climbing onto his well worn soap box.

“He’s not that bad,” I groaned, trying to fend off his rant.

“Sure, go ahead and defend the guy who just signed a $30million contract. Did he pay you to say that?” I could hear him pacing through the phone and I knew he was clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Who gives a shit what he makes, Leo. He does his job and gets paid for it. Are you jealous?” I couldn’t fight back my own frustration anymore.

“He’s a slave to the corporations and ideas that are ruining our world, I thought you would have seen that. But yeah, I am jealous. I’m jealous that my girlfriend left with some fucking pig without telling me,” he spat into the phone. “Are you with him now? Are you drinking Cristal and driving through the slums in his limo?”

“Cristal isn’t even that good!” I replied, purposely trying to piss him off now. “And no one drives around in a fucking limo in Pittsburgh.” I think part of me was hoping that if I pissed him off enough he’d hang up on me and never call back.

“Christ, Colbie, it’s like I don’t even know you sometimes. I should know my own girlfriend.” He sounded upset but I couldn’t muster any feelings of sympathy.

“I’m not your girlfriend,” I mumbled, shoving my free hand into my pocket and letting my head fall back against the wall.

“What?” his voice cracked. It could have been from anger, but it was more likely that he was crying. Leo wasn’t the kind of guy afraid to show his emotions and I couldn’t fault him for that, but it did get a little over the top.

“I’m not your girlfriend, Leo. I never was. You were never my boyfriend. We were just warm bodies for each other. You were a great fuck, but this was never going anywhere and you knew that,” I had little to no emotion in my voice. I was too tired to care, I just wanted to get rid of him and go back into the warm restaurant with my beautiful life and full glass of water.

“What are you talking about?” his voice was tight and the tears were on their way, I knew it. “I thought we had something.”

“We did,” I sighed. “We had decent to good sex. I don’t remember ever saying we were more.” Whatever was keeping me from hanging up, deserved a goddamn thank you card from his sad ass.

“So were you slutting around while we were together? Fucking every fascist who smiled at you? Are you just sucking off the one moron or have you gotten a taste of the whole team?” He was angry, crying and furious. I was genuinely surprised to hear those accusations coming from his mouth.

“You bet,” I replied coldly, there was no use defending myself to him. He was going to go around and tell all his little friends I was a good for nothing slut no matter what I said. “The support staff too. Sometimes two at a time.”

“Fuck you,” he was full on crying now. I knew I should feel bad, or at least feel something but instead I popped a piece of gum in my mouth from the pack in my pocket.

“Sorry,” I said again, not that it made any difference, bit I figured it was what he needed to hear. “You’re a great guy, I’m just not really into the whole hypocritical asshole thing, you understand. Happy Thanksgiving though!”

I finally hung up and ran into the restaurant, shivering from the cold and finding my way to the dining room again. I hung my coat up on the hooks at the door of the private room and left my phone in the pocket. I had no doubt he’d call again in a few minutes and I didn’t want to deal with him again. I was officially free to be with James, not that anything should have stopped me in the first place.

“Where’d you go?” James asked when I returned to my seat beside him.

“Just had to take a call,” I slit my hand onto his lap and he took it between his, smiling.

“Everything alright?” he looked concerned but not to the point that Leo would have been.

“Yeah, just had to deal with Leo bullshit,” I leaned closer to him, still shivering and trying to steal some of his body heat.

“Oh?” he let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest.

“No big deal. Apparently you’re a fascist and I’m a slut,” I chuckled, the feeling finally coming back in my hands.

“Sweet, sounds like a nice guy. Too bad I didn’t get to know him better,” James laughed quietly so only I could hear.

“It’s a shame. I had no idea I liked fascists,” I winked.

“That’s funny, because I’ve always known I liked sluts,” he smirked and kissed me lightly. “But hey, better to be with a fascist than a pylon.”

Notes

How's it going guys? Been a while eh? This story is like fine wine, it gets better with age. Or maybe it's like sex, which is apparently better after waiting a while.

Either way, let's take in the CROSSOVER magic I just pulled off!

xx- T