Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?
Chapter One
“It’s about time you got here,” Jordan laughed as he pushed his friend through the doorway. “We’ve been waiting on you forever.”
“I ‘ad some things to do,” Kris waved off, not wanting to really be questioned about why he was late. Truth was, he’d found some pictures and managed to distract himself. Of course, telling his friends that would draw way too much attention.
“You Frenchmen and your [i]things[/i],” the tall blonde scoffed as he made his way into the kitchen. “You sure you weren’t just munching on some frogs?”
Kris’s face fell at the familiar jest, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away. It wasn’t really uncommon for his friends to tease him about being French, nor for them to bring in a frog joke. But the fact that he knew who had started it tugged at him a bit.
“Non, snails today, mon ami,” he laughed back, putting on his poker face so Jordan wouldn’t see the inner torment he was dealing with. All day he’d been miserable as he thought over the mistakes he had made in the last year and a half. Things would have been so different if he’d just thought things through instead of acting on impulse, but he hadn’t done that, and it had cost him dearly.
Jordan shook his head as he opened up the sliding door to the backyard where everyone had gathered. It was a beautiful summer day in Pittsburgh, and everyone seemed to congregate in the sun to catch up after the trips that had been made during their brief off season.
“Tanger’s here!” he announced to everyone in the yard. A few people looked up and smiled, some waved, and a few gave nods of acknowledgement. They all knew that Kris had been more withdrawn than usual last season, and couldn’t help but wonder if this season would be the same. It was a bit worrisome that the man was keeping so much to himself lately. Everyone speculated around the reason, but no one wanted to vocalize it. They didn’t want to incur the quiet man’s wrath yet again.
“No Barbie this time?”
Kris was a bit taken aback by the question, and stared at his teammate’s girlfriend for a moment before answering. Raychel had been a fixture in the group of younger players since Kris had been recalled for Wilkes-Barre with Tyler Kennedy. At that time, she and Tyler had just been friends, very close friends. But after Tyler talked her into moving to Pittsburgh with him, things quickly changed. The two of them had what most people would think was the dream relationship. They respected each other, cared for each other, and even though they had their spats, they both knew when to concede and apologize. After a few years together, the relationship had become a well oiled machine, and they’d yet to encounter a major problem. That was probably why they were planning to get married next summer.
“Non, no Barbie,” he sighed, refusing to allow her to get him worked up. She’d given him a very hard time about the girls that he had brought around on the occasions he would actually hang out with everyone else on the team. She obviously didn’t approve, and she made it obvious. Kris had a hard time keeping a girl around that Raychel didn’t approve of; she was one of his closest friends. She only wanted what was best for him, and she was an excellent judge of character. She had, after all, introduced him to her.
“Good, I was really getting sick of you bringing puck sluts, bimbos, or stuck up bitches,” she smiled in relief. “Or all of the above. I really wasn’t a fan of when that happened.”
“I know,” he chuckled, taking the beer that Tyler offered him with a grateful smile. “’Ow was your summer?” he asked the couple while twisting off the cap.
“It was alright,” Tyler shrugged. “We spent a couple of weeks with Ray’s parents, then a while up in the Soo.”
“A week on the Gulf,” Raychel added with a smile. “Fucker finally took me to the beach like he promised.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault that things kept coming up,” Tyler defending, going into a playful argument with his girlfriend. However, the moment Kris heard a familiar giggle, he was no longer paying attention to the bickering couple. Instead, his heart leapt from his chest and he instantly began to search for the source. It had to have been her. He knew the sound of her laugh. He had relished it for so long, it was embedded in his brain.
But wouldn’t they have told him she was here? Better yet, why would they have invited him if she was here? His entire team knew that he didn’t like to be around her, so usually they did their best to keep them separate when it was a small get together.
“Dammit Jordan, give it back!”
The stubborn demand confirmed his thoughts. She was here. He knew her voice, it still haunted him. No matter how far away he stayed, no matter what he did to try to distract himself, he couldn’t get it out of his head. Only a second later, the long legged woman shot out of the house, running after the lanky blonde that had apparently taken something from her.
Kris’s eyes were glued to her, studying her. He’d only seen brief glimpses of her in the past year, most of them from a distance during a game or at a large dinner the team had. He couldn’t believe the change he saw in her. Her hair was longer, and it’s natural color rather than black or some artificial color, and she left it down to blow in the wind rather than putting it in a bun. Her skin had just a hint of a tan to it, and her body seemed to have slimmed down. Apparently she was still going to the gym like she had been when they were together.
“Nope! I’m just going to have to take a look at these texts,” Jordan grinned, waving her phone in front of his face. So that was what he had taken from her, Kris mused. She never was a fan of people looking through her phone. After her niece had looked through it and found a less than appropriate picture of him on it, she’d been much more careful about letting people play with her phone.
“Those texts are none of your business, Staal,” she growled, leaping in the air and catching him around the legs. The two of them went tumbling to the ground, but not before Jordan passed her phone off to Sidney. More than eager to join in the game, the captain caught the phone and ignored the warning glare that his girlfriend gave him as he began to hit buttons.
“Sidney Crosby, I will destroy you if you don’t give me my phone back right now,” she yelled from her tangled place on the ground with Jordan. She was trying to force her way up, but the blonde was determined to keep her on the ground. “Lyndsey, help me!” she appealed to Sid’s girlfriend. The pretty brunette just laughed and shook her head, unable to help her friend.
“You know how they are,” she stated simply, causing Gabrielle to huff and punch Jordan in the shoulder.
“Hmm… who exactly is this Josh fellow?” Sidney asked, grinning when Gabrielle stopped fighting even though Jordan continued to whine about his shoulder.
“It’s really not your business Sidney,” she told him in an eerily calm voice while her eyes slid over to connect with Kris’s. Kris felt his gut clench. It must be her new boyfriend. Of course she’d have a boyfriend, they’d been broken up for over a year. It wasn’t like she was going to stay single and wait for him forever. It didn’t take the sting away from the realization, though.
“Au contraire, ma copine, it is everyone’s business,” Max Talbot announced as he entered the backyard with his arm around a girl that Kris wasn’t familiar with. Their former teammate was taking time to visit and had apparently brought his new girlfriend. “We have to look out for our girl.”
“It really isn’t,” she hissed back, finally getting fed up and shoving Jordan off of her. “It doesn’t matter who I’m texting, and if I want you guys to know, I’ll tell you. Now will you please give me back my fucking phone?” she demanded, her temper beginning to flare.
“Here,” Sidney said quietly, holding the device out with an apologetic smile. “We were just trying to have some fun.”
“Well, next time have some fun with someone else,” she chastised, picking up a drink from the table and walking toward the house. “And by the way,” she said suddenly, stopping to turn and look at everyone. “Josh is just a friend, from back home,” she made clear, releasing the tension that Kris had felt building in his gut. With that, she walked into the house, not sparing anyone a second glance.
His eyes stayed glued to the door, almost willing her to come back out. He wasn’t sure why though. It’s not like he’d actually talk to her. No, he was too proud for that. She had dumped him, there was no way he was going to be the one to talk to her first. He would wait till she realized her mistake, she was sure to, eventually. Until then, they could both be miserable.
It was starting to look like only one of them was truly miserable though.
“Are you trying to glare a hole through my patio door?”
Kris jumped a bit at the sound of Jordan’s voice as he took the seat next to him. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed the blonde giant was near him. He shrugged and avoided meeting Jordan’s eyes. He really didn’t want his friend to see the bitterness that lay there.
“Kris,” his friend sighed, running a hand over his face. “She’s our friend too. It’s getting ridiculous. We’re tired of only having one of you around at a time. It’s been a year, how can you still hate her?”
“I don’t ‘ate ‘er,” Kris grumbled, glaring at the ground. They really didn’t know him very well if they thought he hated her. How could he ever hate her?
“Bullshit. Look, I understand that you were mad that she dumped you, but dammit for some reason it upset her too. And neither of you have said a word about it to either of us. If you’re not going to tell us what the fuck went down, we’re done catering to you to help you avoid her. If you’re still mad at her, fine, but can you at least tolerate her presence for a little while?” Jordan ranted as Kris perked up. They didn’t know about the break up? Gabrielle hadn’t said anything?
“She never told you why?” he asked in curiosity. Surely she would have told Jordan. She told Jordan everything. The blonde groaned and shook his head.
“No, she said it wasn’t our business. The excuse she uses every time she knows we won’t like the answer,” he explained with a roll of the eyes. “We figure she just wasn’t ready for a real relationship, so she dumped you. We’ve got on her ass for it over and over again, but it’s always the same answer. All we want is to know why so you two can sort yourselves out, but since neither of you are talking, we don’t really know what to do. And this shit is getting old.”
Kris was stunned. She hadn’t talked about it, to anyone. She’d kept it to herself. For a year. A year of being hassled and nagged by their friends, and she still hadn’t told them. She truly was one of the most loyal people he knew.
He shook his head and stood up, unable to take these thoughts and being so near to her with this recent discovery. “I’m going to ‘ead ‘ome,” he explained to his confused friend. “I’m not feeling too well.”
“Alright man, I’ll just see you later,” Jordan replied a bit cautiously. He could tell something was going on, but thankfully he wasn’t going to dig. That was one thing Kris really liked about Jordan, he knew when to keep his nose out of things.
“Yeah, and Staal?”
“Yeah buddy?”
“It wasn’t Gabrielle’s fault,” Kris said simply, leaving the whole yard in confusion as he walked into the house. Gabrielle must have been on her way back out, because she froze in the kitchen when he walked in, a nervous stare on her face with just a hint of fear hiding in her eyes.
“H-hey,” she stuttered out, attempting to put a polite smile on her face. Kris saw through it though, it wasn’t sincere. She was scared of him.
“Salut,” he answered quietly, hurriedly walking past her before things got any more awkward. That didn’t stop him from taking a deep breath as the scent of her perfume hit him. His lips upturned in a small smile as the familiar scent surrounded him before it was suddenly gone, just like she was, and the smile fell. “Je t’aime,” he whispered to himself, determined to go home and drown on the misery that the day had caused him.
“I ‘ad some things to do,” Kris waved off, not wanting to really be questioned about why he was late. Truth was, he’d found some pictures and managed to distract himself. Of course, telling his friends that would draw way too much attention.
“You Frenchmen and your [i]things[/i],” the tall blonde scoffed as he made his way into the kitchen. “You sure you weren’t just munching on some frogs?”
Kris’s face fell at the familiar jest, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away. It wasn’t really uncommon for his friends to tease him about being French, nor for them to bring in a frog joke. But the fact that he knew who had started it tugged at him a bit.
“Non, snails today, mon ami,” he laughed back, putting on his poker face so Jordan wouldn’t see the inner torment he was dealing with. All day he’d been miserable as he thought over the mistakes he had made in the last year and a half. Things would have been so different if he’d just thought things through instead of acting on impulse, but he hadn’t done that, and it had cost him dearly.
Jordan shook his head as he opened up the sliding door to the backyard where everyone had gathered. It was a beautiful summer day in Pittsburgh, and everyone seemed to congregate in the sun to catch up after the trips that had been made during their brief off season.
“Tanger’s here!” he announced to everyone in the yard. A few people looked up and smiled, some waved, and a few gave nods of acknowledgement. They all knew that Kris had been more withdrawn than usual last season, and couldn’t help but wonder if this season would be the same. It was a bit worrisome that the man was keeping so much to himself lately. Everyone speculated around the reason, but no one wanted to vocalize it. They didn’t want to incur the quiet man’s wrath yet again.
“No Barbie this time?”
Kris was a bit taken aback by the question, and stared at his teammate’s girlfriend for a moment before answering. Raychel had been a fixture in the group of younger players since Kris had been recalled for Wilkes-Barre with Tyler Kennedy. At that time, she and Tyler had just been friends, very close friends. But after Tyler talked her into moving to Pittsburgh with him, things quickly changed. The two of them had what most people would think was the dream relationship. They respected each other, cared for each other, and even though they had their spats, they both knew when to concede and apologize. After a few years together, the relationship had become a well oiled machine, and they’d yet to encounter a major problem. That was probably why they were planning to get married next summer.
“Non, no Barbie,” he sighed, refusing to allow her to get him worked up. She’d given him a very hard time about the girls that he had brought around on the occasions he would actually hang out with everyone else on the team. She obviously didn’t approve, and she made it obvious. Kris had a hard time keeping a girl around that Raychel didn’t approve of; she was one of his closest friends. She only wanted what was best for him, and she was an excellent judge of character. She had, after all, introduced him to her.
“Good, I was really getting sick of you bringing puck sluts, bimbos, or stuck up bitches,” she smiled in relief. “Or all of the above. I really wasn’t a fan of when that happened.”
“I know,” he chuckled, taking the beer that Tyler offered him with a grateful smile. “’Ow was your summer?” he asked the couple while twisting off the cap.
“It was alright,” Tyler shrugged. “We spent a couple of weeks with Ray’s parents, then a while up in the Soo.”
“A week on the Gulf,” Raychel added with a smile. “Fucker finally took me to the beach like he promised.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault that things kept coming up,” Tyler defending, going into a playful argument with his girlfriend. However, the moment Kris heard a familiar giggle, he was no longer paying attention to the bickering couple. Instead, his heart leapt from his chest and he instantly began to search for the source. It had to have been her. He knew the sound of her laugh. He had relished it for so long, it was embedded in his brain.
But wouldn’t they have told him she was here? Better yet, why would they have invited him if she was here? His entire team knew that he didn’t like to be around her, so usually they did their best to keep them separate when it was a small get together.
“Dammit Jordan, give it back!”
The stubborn demand confirmed his thoughts. She was here. He knew her voice, it still haunted him. No matter how far away he stayed, no matter what he did to try to distract himself, he couldn’t get it out of his head. Only a second later, the long legged woman shot out of the house, running after the lanky blonde that had apparently taken something from her.
Kris’s eyes were glued to her, studying her. He’d only seen brief glimpses of her in the past year, most of them from a distance during a game or at a large dinner the team had. He couldn’t believe the change he saw in her. Her hair was longer, and it’s natural color rather than black or some artificial color, and she left it down to blow in the wind rather than putting it in a bun. Her skin had just a hint of a tan to it, and her body seemed to have slimmed down. Apparently she was still going to the gym like she had been when they were together.
“Nope! I’m just going to have to take a look at these texts,” Jordan grinned, waving her phone in front of his face. So that was what he had taken from her, Kris mused. She never was a fan of people looking through her phone. After her niece had looked through it and found a less than appropriate picture of him on it, she’d been much more careful about letting people play with her phone.
“Those texts are none of your business, Staal,” she growled, leaping in the air and catching him around the legs. The two of them went tumbling to the ground, but not before Jordan passed her phone off to Sidney. More than eager to join in the game, the captain caught the phone and ignored the warning glare that his girlfriend gave him as he began to hit buttons.
“Sidney Crosby, I will destroy you if you don’t give me my phone back right now,” she yelled from her tangled place on the ground with Jordan. She was trying to force her way up, but the blonde was determined to keep her on the ground. “Lyndsey, help me!” she appealed to Sid’s girlfriend. The pretty brunette just laughed and shook her head, unable to help her friend.
“You know how they are,” she stated simply, causing Gabrielle to huff and punch Jordan in the shoulder.
“Hmm… who exactly is this Josh fellow?” Sidney asked, grinning when Gabrielle stopped fighting even though Jordan continued to whine about his shoulder.
“It’s really not your business Sidney,” she told him in an eerily calm voice while her eyes slid over to connect with Kris’s. Kris felt his gut clench. It must be her new boyfriend. Of course she’d have a boyfriend, they’d been broken up for over a year. It wasn’t like she was going to stay single and wait for him forever. It didn’t take the sting away from the realization, though.
“Au contraire, ma copine, it is everyone’s business,” Max Talbot announced as he entered the backyard with his arm around a girl that Kris wasn’t familiar with. Their former teammate was taking time to visit and had apparently brought his new girlfriend. “We have to look out for our girl.”
“It really isn’t,” she hissed back, finally getting fed up and shoving Jordan off of her. “It doesn’t matter who I’m texting, and if I want you guys to know, I’ll tell you. Now will you please give me back my fucking phone?” she demanded, her temper beginning to flare.
“Here,” Sidney said quietly, holding the device out with an apologetic smile. “We were just trying to have some fun.”
“Well, next time have some fun with someone else,” she chastised, picking up a drink from the table and walking toward the house. “And by the way,” she said suddenly, stopping to turn and look at everyone. “Josh is just a friend, from back home,” she made clear, releasing the tension that Kris had felt building in his gut. With that, she walked into the house, not sparing anyone a second glance.
His eyes stayed glued to the door, almost willing her to come back out. He wasn’t sure why though. It’s not like he’d actually talk to her. No, he was too proud for that. She had dumped him, there was no way he was going to be the one to talk to her first. He would wait till she realized her mistake, she was sure to, eventually. Until then, they could both be miserable.
It was starting to look like only one of them was truly miserable though.
“Are you trying to glare a hole through my patio door?”
Kris jumped a bit at the sound of Jordan’s voice as he took the seat next to him. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed the blonde giant was near him. He shrugged and avoided meeting Jordan’s eyes. He really didn’t want his friend to see the bitterness that lay there.
“Kris,” his friend sighed, running a hand over his face. “She’s our friend too. It’s getting ridiculous. We’re tired of only having one of you around at a time. It’s been a year, how can you still hate her?”
“I don’t ‘ate ‘er,” Kris grumbled, glaring at the ground. They really didn’t know him very well if they thought he hated her. How could he ever hate her?
“Bullshit. Look, I understand that you were mad that she dumped you, but dammit for some reason it upset her too. And neither of you have said a word about it to either of us. If you’re not going to tell us what the fuck went down, we’re done catering to you to help you avoid her. If you’re still mad at her, fine, but can you at least tolerate her presence for a little while?” Jordan ranted as Kris perked up. They didn’t know about the break up? Gabrielle hadn’t said anything?
“She never told you why?” he asked in curiosity. Surely she would have told Jordan. She told Jordan everything. The blonde groaned and shook his head.
“No, she said it wasn’t our business. The excuse she uses every time she knows we won’t like the answer,” he explained with a roll of the eyes. “We figure she just wasn’t ready for a real relationship, so she dumped you. We’ve got on her ass for it over and over again, but it’s always the same answer. All we want is to know why so you two can sort yourselves out, but since neither of you are talking, we don’t really know what to do. And this shit is getting old.”
Kris was stunned. She hadn’t talked about it, to anyone. She’d kept it to herself. For a year. A year of being hassled and nagged by their friends, and she still hadn’t told them. She truly was one of the most loyal people he knew.
He shook his head and stood up, unable to take these thoughts and being so near to her with this recent discovery. “I’m going to ‘ead ‘ome,” he explained to his confused friend. “I’m not feeling too well.”
“Alright man, I’ll just see you later,” Jordan replied a bit cautiously. He could tell something was going on, but thankfully he wasn’t going to dig. That was one thing Kris really liked about Jordan, he knew when to keep his nose out of things.
“Yeah, and Staal?”
“Yeah buddy?”
“It wasn’t Gabrielle’s fault,” Kris said simply, leaving the whole yard in confusion as he walked into the house. Gabrielle must have been on her way back out, because she froze in the kitchen when he walked in, a nervous stare on her face with just a hint of fear hiding in her eyes.
“H-hey,” she stuttered out, attempting to put a polite smile on her face. Kris saw through it though, it wasn’t sincere. She was scared of him.
“Salut,” he answered quietly, hurriedly walking past her before things got any more awkward. That didn’t stop him from taking a deep breath as the scent of her perfume hit him. His lips upturned in a small smile as the familiar scent surrounded him before it was suddenly gone, just like she was, and the smile fell. “Je t’aime,” he whispered to himself, determined to go home and drown on the misery that the day had caused him.
So I would love an update on this story! Please and thanks
8/27/20