The Compromise

Jessica woke with a throbbing head, a cotton dry mouth, and an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She instantly noticed that she was not in the guest bedroom she claimed as her own in Sidney’s house. As she tried to focus on her surroundings she also tried to recall what had happened the night before. She knew that the team had a lot to celebrate after beating the Islanders 5-0 and happily obliged to join some of the guys and their girls at Diesel in South Side. She was introduced to everyone as James’ girl even though he hadn’t joined them for the festivities. Having the guys think of her as James’ girlfriend only helped keep creepers away.

And not only did the team have a lot to celebrate, but Sidney did as well. His return to the ice after being sidelined for so long had him produce two goals and two assists in an uproariously loud house. Sid’s parents were proud, his dad showing no visible excitement, but his mom jumping up and down every time he was on the ice. Her excitement coursed through Jess’ veins and she too found herself on her feet every time Sid was out there. She was happy that his parents welcomed her so openly and spoke with her every chance they got. In the end, she was glad she took the ticket Sid got her because now she got to meet two of the three most important people in her friend’s life.

Now Jess focused in on a meticulously neat walk-in closet with the doors wide open, one suit haphazardly lying on the floor. She started to recognize certain things about the room: the giant Reebok bag, the row of hats, and the smell of Sidney. She turned her head and realized she was alone in the king sized bed and relief washed over her. It looked like no one slept in the bed but her. She was glad to know she didn’t do anything stupid. She was just sleeping in Sidney’s bed. It wasn’t until she heard the bedroom door swing open did she turn over to see him. He stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes grew large when he took in the sight of her in his bed.

“You know you’re naked?” Sidney asked rather than greeting her. Jess looked down and quickly covered up her exposed breasts and shielded her face from Sid. She could feel the burn.

“Why are you naked?” Sid asked incredulously.

“Why am I in your bed?” Jess retorted.

“Who is in your room?”

“There is someone in my room?”

“Yeah, I thought it was you. The person is snoring just as loud as you do!”

“HEY! I don’t snore!” She exclaimed as she threw a pillow at him. Her aim was off since she refused to look at Sid.

“Ha, okay we’ll go with that,” Sid laughed as he walked towards his closet. Jess poked her head out from under the covers and glanced around the room for her clothes.

“What did you do with my clothes?” Jess asked.

“I didn’t do anything with them! I just got home,” Sid yelled from inside his closet. Jess shot up in bed, keeping her body covered.

“Can you give me a shirt and some shorts or something? I’d like to slink out of here with what little dignity I have left,” Jess said. Sidney laughed. He grabbed an old Rimouski t-shirt and a pair of his boxers knowing she wouldn’t fit in any gym shorts or sweats. She grabbed the clothes from his hands while he kept his eyes closed. She quickly threw on the shirt and let him know he could open his eyes. Sid sat down on the opposite side of the bed with his back to her.

“Seriously, who is in my room? I am scared to go in!” Jess exclaimed as she struggled to pull on the shorts without Sid seeing her naked bottom. She finished and told him he could turn around.

“Honestly, I have no clue. We kept you away from the creepy guys pretty well. But you succeeded in getting drunk,” Sid said as he adjusted his position so he could look at her.

“Why did you let me get drunk? And where did you sleep if you are just getting home?”

“I was drunk too and we both get drunk anymore off of three drinks so it didn’t take too much. As for where I slept, I spent a very uncomfortable night on the couch of the one Aaron Asham.” They both erupted into a fit of giggles.

“Wait, he wasn’t with us! How did you end up there?” Sid shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. Most of the night was a blur for him as well.

“I think I can explain,” came a male’s voice through the crack of Sid’s bedroom door. Jess’ heart began to race. Her head was pounding too much to place the voice, maybe she was still slightly drunk. The door creaked open further to reveal James, naked from the waist up. He was only in his boxer briefs.

“Couldn’t you have put on clothes before coming in here?” Sid asked as he winced, not wanting to see another man in his underwear.

“Not like you’ve never seen my business kid.” Jess started to laugh at how ridiculous everything was.

“Where did you come from?” Jess asked through her fits of giggles. She was now propped up against the headboard, Sid mimicking her movements, trying to control herself.

“Are you still drunk?” James asked incredulously.

“So you’re the one always snoring, I thought it was her!” Sid interjected, pointing at Jess. Jess hit Sid in the face with a spare pillow.

“Stop! Both of you! What the hell happened last night?” Jess asked. She was getting impatient. She wanted to know how she ended up back at Sidney’s house with James.

“You called me around midnight completely blitzed, insisting that Diesel was better than Mario’s,” James said. He continued to stand in near the door. “So, Nisky, Asham and I left Mario’s and came over to Diesel. When we got there you insisted on leaving, but I didn’t want you to go by yourself so I got into the cab with you; which was a good thing because you did not have enough cash to cover the fare to here.”

“Did we…?” Jess started to ask. She heard a groan from her right and saw Sid looking uncomfortable.

“LA LA LA! I DON’T WANT TO KNOW!”Sid had his fingers in his ears trying to block out the conversation transpiring between the former lovers.

“Can we talk about that when he isn’t sitting a foot from you?” James started to return to his defensive self, “And when you aren’t wearing his clothes.” Jess glanced down and started to move from the bed.

“Listen, can I say something to you two?” Sid asked stopping Jess and James in their tracks. Both focused their attention onto Sid.

“I think you both are idiots,” Sid started, “I think you both are being stupid. Go back to your room, hash all of this goddamn mess out and fucking be together!”

Jess and James just stared at him. Neither moved to leave, both at a loss of words.

“I’m being serious. James your game sucked last night. You spent more fucking time in the penalty box because you wanted punch me but couldn’t, and Jess you’ve cried more in the last twenty four hours than I can deal with. You both are miserable and quite frankly I’d like to enjoy the season playing with the Real Fucking Deal, not some douche who keeps losing his mind over a girl who WILL ALWAYS BE HIS!”

Jess jumped slightly at Sid’s elevated voice, reached for James’ arm and turned for the door. James didn’t budge. He looked like he wanted to fire something back at his teammate.

“And I really don’t want to be looking at you in your underwear, so please go before my parents get here,” Sid directed his comment towards James. James dropped his gaze to the floor and allowed Jess to lead him out of the room back down the hall to where she had been staying.

Once inside the pair didn’t say a word. Jess grabbed her own sleep shorts and tank and walked into the attached bathroom to change. She didn’t notice that James had followed her and was leaning against the door frame watching her change.

“You really are breathtaking,” James whispered. His focus wasn’t on her though. She wondered where he was staring and where his mind was. Even with a hangover, hair all over the place, mascara and eyeliner stains under her eyes, he still found her attractive.

“You never drink,” James said a bit louder.

“I know.”

“It had me worried. All I knew when you called me was that I needed to get to you to make sure you were okay,” James explained.

“Was I that bad?”

“Well, my judgment was impaired as well, not like you though. I just needed to make sure you made it back here safely. Then you started to cry,” James cracked a smile.

“Seriously? Why this time?”

“You didn’t want me to pay for the cab to drive me all the way home. You started crying when you realized you couldn’t drive me home yourself,” James said. He was chewing his bottom lip trying to refrain from laughing.

“Oh God!” Jess covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “This is why I don’t drink!” She said through her fingers.

“Yeah, well. So I came in to make sure you got into bed alright. You still weren’t calm when I tried to leave the room to sleep in another room. So I climbed into bed to calm you down. You fell asleep on my shoulder. I fell asleep like that too. You woke me up around 3 am, and I just couldn’t tell you no.” He shrugged.

“Now that I don’t believe. I didn’t throw myself onto you, did I?” Jess always had to keep his hands off her, never force him to do it with her.

“Jess, we had sex. I fell asleep and when I woke up you were gone.” Jess walked past James into the bedroom to find her outfit crumbled on the ground. Never mind who came onto whom, there was enough evidence to prove that she in fact lost her clothes at some point. She turned towards James but said nothing. He motioned for her to sit on the bed with him. She followed him and clasped hands with him.

“I don’t know if I am entirely ready to be with you,” James started. Jess wasn’t expecting him to say that. “But I don’t want to share you with someone else either.”

“I wouldn’t dream of being with someone else Jimmy,” Jess said. She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m going to do my best to show you that I am completely committed to you and only you, so much so that you want to be with me.” James smiled.

“I feel like I should be the one working that hard,” he said.

“Maybe we both should be,” Jess shrugged. “So no dating?”

“Not yet, please. But we can talk, I won’t ignore you and I am not going to be running to date anyone else,” James said. Jess nodded. She wouldn’t be either, she knew.

“I love you too. I didn’t get to tell you that the other morning,” Jess said as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

“I know you do.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I should probably go, ride me to Consol? I left my car there.” Jess nodded again. She was unable to speak. She had hoped for a better outcome than this.

She watched him rise from the bed and pick up his discarded suit. He dressed hastily, threw on his shoes and turned to walk out the door with her. Jess threw on a pair of boots and one of James’ old hoodies from when he played for Dallas, grabbed her purse. She walked towards the door but as he started to open it she pushed it closed, grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him into him for a searing kiss. He didn’t respond at first, shocked by Jess being so aggressive, but allowed her to push her tongue into his mouth. His hands snaked around her and grabbed her ass, bare aside from the pair of shorts she still wore.

Her hands ran across the expanse of his chest, underneath his dress shirt that he left open exposing only his white t-shirt. He sighed into the kiss and pulled her body flush against his.

“Grab your stuff, you’re coming with me,” James whispered against her lips. Jess nodded in agreement but wouldn’t break their kiss. Instead she pushed her hands under his shirt and ran her fingers across his pecks. “You’re driving me crazy,” James growled.

“Good,” Jess said as she lifted his shirt high enough to place wide, slopping kisses across his chest. She bit down softly on his nipple and he whimpered. Jess didn’t stop there. She kissed down his abdomen dipping her tongue into his belly button. A soft moan only encouraged Jess to her knees and to the strain in his dress pants. Her fingers trembled as she unzipped his pants much to his protests.

“Babe, what are you doing? You don’t…oh God..” James eyes involuntarily closed and jaw dropped open as Jess removed his throbbing cock from its confines and placed the head in her mouth. He inhaled sharply as Jess continued to push his pants down while sucking lightly on his tip. He ran his fingers through her loose ponytail as she continued to take more of his length in her mouth. “Incredible,” James whispered. He leaned against the door for support as his legs felt like they were going to give in.

This was something she was never comfortable doing, and no matter how much he promised her that he didn’t mind not getting it she knew he enjoyed it. His fingers continued to message her scalp and he softly said her name, over and over, she tried to focus on that and ignore the part that she might be doing something wrong.

She took him into her mouth, bobbing her head slowly as she massaged him with her tongue, and then she added her hand to stroke the rest of him. She started moving faster, moaning deeply in the back of her throat as she took him in further, and she hoped he felt that. The hand not working with her mouth was anchored to his hipbone, and her nails dug into his soft skin as she tried to get him off.

“Okay, okay, stop. I’m gonna come,” James exclaimed. But Jess wouldn’t pull away until he was finished and she was swallowing every last drop of him. He exploded in her mouth with a loud grunt and a profession of love.

Jess helped pull up his pants and stood when James crushed her to him. He was breathing heavy, still trying to recover from what just happened. “Fuck, Jess.” She giggled, her face pressed against his chest.

“Still want me to come stay with you?” She looked up at him. His breathing slowed. He nodded eagerly. “Good, because I plan on doing that to you again and again and again,” Jess trailed off as James gripped her ponytail and collided his lips to hers.

Notes