Jane had spent a restless night next to Viktor, when it should have been him instead of her. He was getting ready to play his first playoff game of the season and thought back to this morning while tying his skates. He’d woken up in the middle of the night to see her staring at the ceiling. Her eyes were wide open, her breathing labored.
“Are you alright?” he’d asked still sleepy.
Jane had turned her head towards him, the look on her face making him want to protect her even more, and asked: “Can you just hold me?” Her voice had barely been a whisper, but Viktor had reached out immediately to pull her close.
She had sighed against his chest, closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Viktor had watched over a bit longer until he had fallen asleep again. When he’d woken up in the morning, he’d known instantly that Jane had hardly gotten any more sleep.
He wished that he could have done something. Something to make her feel more at ease and actually look forward to work, but it was damn near impossible.
The good thing was, that the team had accepted her with open arms. Most of the guys had hugged her, because they’d known her beforehand. She was now officially a part of the team in some way.
“Jane wants to talk to you, before you go out, see if everything’s alright,” Patrick said to Viktor, already completely dressed for warm ups.
“I was just about to go to her.” Viktor stood up, put on the rest of his gear and his jersey, and headed towards the physio room where Jane was waiting for him. Viktor closed the door and said: “You wanted to see me?”
“How are you feeling?” Jane was leaning against a table, arms crossed in front of her. She was dressed comfortably in jeans and a red Blackhawks shirt.
“Good. Ready to hit the ice and shoot some goals,” he said with a grin. “What about you? We need to make sure that you get enough rest tonight after last night.”
Jane sighed. “I’m okay. I’m running on coffee and energy drinks, but it’s fun. I love working here.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He was still looking at her, when she uncrossed her arms and walked towards him. With a smile she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled herself up to her tiptoes and kissed him. This was what she’d wanted to do ever since she’d arrived at the building. Viktor wrapped his arms around her, held her close. It took everything he had to end the kiss and not push her up against the wall.
“I have to go,” he mumbled against her lips, stealing another kiss from her. “Will you be watching?”
“Of course.” She ran a hand over his cheeks, over the stubble of his beard. “I’ll be up there with Abby.”
“Okay. I’ll see you hopefully after the game.” He said hopefully, because he’d see her should something happen. Then she’d be called down to help, and nobody wanted that to happen at all.
They went separate ways and Jane joined Abby, who wasn’t looking so well.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh, hey!” Abby said, forcing a smile. “Yeah, don’t worry. Playoff jitters. It hits me worse than Patrick.”
“You’ll be fine.” Jane sat down next to Abby and looked down at the ice. Warm ups were nearly over and the game was about to start. The national Anthem had sent shivers own Jane’s spine.
Once the game was underway, she relaxed a little bit. Just a tiny bit, because now she was focused and couldn’t think or worry about anything that much anymore. The whole place was on fire. But there was no goal in the first period.
Once everyone was off the ice, Jane was about to get up to get something to drink, when Abby leaned over her chair and threw up into a trash can next to her. Jane jumped to attention and pulled her hair back.
“Don’t tell me that’s because of the playoffs. Was it that bad last year?” She helped Abby up, so they could go to the restroom. Abby wanted to wash her face and hands, rinse her mouth.
“No, it wasn’t.”
When Abby was finished, they started walking back to their seats. Jane was watching her with a worried expression. “Maybe you should go and see a doctor. You’re a little pale and if it’s not only due to the playoffs –“
“I’m pregnant,” Abby blurted out, cutting Jane off. Her eyes widened in surprise before she started grinning from ear to ear. “But you can’t tell anyone, okay? We want to wait till the first trimester is over just to be sure.”
A bitter smile lay on Abbys lips. Jane pulled her into a hug, knowing full well that they’d already had a miscarriage.
“If you need anything, let me know, okay?”
“Thank you.” Abby squeezed her friend's hand.
Luckily, Jane could stay with Abby for the rest of the game. The Blackhawks won 2-0 with goals from Viktor and their captain. There were no big injuries so far, and they had two days off until game two of the series. Jane and Abby headed down to meet with the guys.
They had to wait quite some time, but they didn’t mind. Jane was talking to the coach, when Viktor stepped out. Upon seeing her, he started grinning like a madman, walked towards her and swept her up in his arms, while Coach Q was still talking to her.
“Don’t you learn how to treat a woman in Sweden?” Coach Q said with a smile.
“Sorry, Coach, but I’m just so grateful to this woman.” He let her down again and looked at her. “It’s all thanks to her that I’m here, and that I scored a goal today.”
“I know. That’s why I’m so happy that she’s now a part of the team.” The coach watched them together, a smile on his lips upon realizing what was going on between them. “I’ll see you in two days. Enjoy the day off.”
“Yeah,” Viktor managed, still looking at Jane. They said goodbye to Abby and Patrick before heading off to Viktor’s place. On the drive there, he talked about the game to keep himself busy, and stop his mind from wandering places. Jane was smiling to herself in the passenger seat, listening to his soothing words, to everything he had to say. He was so passionate when he talked about hockey, that she couldn’t help but smile.
When they finally reached the apartment, Viktor couldn’t help it anymore. He pulled her against his chest, before the door was even closed.
“What are you doing?” Jane asked with a smile, running her hands through his still damp hair. “Didn’t you say that we have to make sure that I get enough sleep?”
“We can sleep in tomorrow. There’s no alarm going off and we don’t have to be anywhere.” He brushed his lips over hers, put his hands beneath her jacket and took it off. He didn’t bother with putting it away. Instead he took off his own jacket as well and dropped it as well.
“That does sound a little tempting.”
“A little?” Viktor raised an eyebrow before he picked her up in a princess carry and walked with her to the bedroom. She giggled in his arms, but held on to his neck. She still had her hands at the back of his neck, when he put her down. Viktor leaned down to kiss her lips, and Jane pulled him onto the bed, on top of her. Feeling his familiar weight pressing down on her, made her sigh in happiness.
She ran her hands down his sides, put them beneath his shirt and touched the bare skin on his back. She could feel that he was already aroused, and it wasn’t any different for her. Viktor kissed her again and again, until he had enough and pushed himself up. Kneeling between her thighs, he stared down at her, not saying a word.
Jane stared back, heart pounding so loud that it was ringing in her ears. Slowly she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. Viktor was watching her every move, imitating her behavior and getting rid of his own shirt. Jane slowly sat up and put her hands on his chest.
“Okay,” she whispered, “It’s not just a little tempting.”
Viktor smiled at her, pulled her close and kissed her again.