The Compromise

“No such luck on meeting the boy toy at your birthday dinner?” Amanda asked early Friday morning in mid January. Jess and Amanda were in the teachers’ room waiting for morning announcements before the start of the school day.

“No he is actually on the team’s road trip. They get back late Sunday, but they have practice Monday so I don’t know when I’ll actually see him,” Jessica explained. The girls were finalizing their plans for dinner with their coworkers when the topic of meeting Sidney came up.

It had been officially longer than a month since she and Sidney started dating, and over a month since Sidney was not on the ice. Aside from their confrontation in Sid’s basement, the couple got through the holidays with ease. Jess managed to win Sid’s dad over during their dinner and Sid surprised Jess by showing up on Christmas Eve at her parents’ house for their traditional Italian seafood feast. He didn’t stay but for a couple hours, and wished everyone a Merry Christmas before returning to Pittsburgh and his family. They spent New Year’s Eve at Consol for the afternoon game and then curled up on his couch flipping through the variety of countdown shows on T.V. later that night.

Contrary to what she said to Sidney, she knew deep down that James still wanted to work things out and be together. So she found it easier to ignore him. After a few days of not responding to his texts and calls, he seemed to get the hint and stopped bothering her.

Now over two weeks into the New Year and Sidney was cleared to skate with the team; which was why he was finally traveling with the team again. Jess was thrilled when he called her two days before telling her that he would be going with the team on the six day road trip. She knew he was telling her this because a dinner for birthdays with her family had been planned and Sidney was originally planning on attending. She understood how important it was that he could travel with his teammates, and wasn’t feeling slighted in the least. She was proud that he was progressing and hoped that he would return to the game sooner rather than later.

Jess tuned out Amanda as she was talking with a couple other teachers standing nearby about some issues they were having with the computer program they used with their students to harness their math skills. Instead, she waited quietly for their principal to come in and run through what was happening that day.

“Jessica!” Jess looked around embarrassed when her name was being called over the intercom system.

“Yes?” she replied weakly. She may have half the school year in and have made friends with the teachers she worked with in the junior high, but she still felt uncomfortable around the older, more experienced teachers.

“You have an obscenely large vase of flowers and balloons in the office. Can you stop in to get it before you go to your classroom?” Michelle, the secretary, asked.

“Yes, I can.” ‘Great, an even bigger reason to be embarrassed,’ she thought. Amanda’s eyes were wide with humor. Jess could tell she wanted to say something about it and she knew that Amanda was thinking it came from Sidney. Jess didn’t think so. Jess had a feeling her parents were behind the gift, as they were really the only ones who knew the address to have something delivered to her. After Mr. Hensen, the principal, came in to speak with the staff Amanda grabbed Jess by the elbow and the pair raced over to the main office to pick up the delivery.

When Jess walked in she was blown away by the bouquet of ranunculus in a variety of different colors and happy birthday balloons attached with a ribbon. Jess broke into a grin, looked for a card, then shrugged when Amanda questioned if they came from Sidney.

“There isn’t a card,” Jess said. Both women looked at the flowers puzzled. “Are you sure these are for me?” Jess directed the question towards the secretary.

“The florist who delivered them said that they were. She didn’t leave anything else with them though,” Michelle explained. Jess shrugged her shoulders again, handed Amanda her mail from her mailbox, and lifted the large vase and ribbon.

“I’ll text Sidney later to say thanks. He’s not very good at keeping secrets so I’ll know if they came from him,” Jess said as they walked down towards the junior high. The pair managed to get through the throng of students with choruses of ‘happy birthdays’ directed at Jess. She thanked them for acknowledging her day and continued to her room. Amanda had already handed her mail off to one of Jess’ homeroom students when Jess walked to her desk, placing the vase on a spare desk near her own.

She searched for her cell to silence the ringer, but also to shoot Sid a quick text to thank him for the beautiful arrangement. She even took a photo of the display and forwarded it to him so he could see what was given to her. She was touched that he did such a thing for her, even if he didn’t include a card. She thought maybe he didn’t want it to get out that Sidney Crosby was sending a girl flowers and balloons.

It was during morning attendance when she noticed her phone light up. She grinned when she saw Sid’s name across the screen.

“Those are really beautiful babe. Not from me though!” Jess was floored. She texted her mom the same thing she had sent Sid and got virtually the same response. As the students began filing out of her room for first period she noticed another message from Sid.

“They’re from James.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sid, you’re really gonna do this?” Pascal asked as Sid paced back and forth in his teammate’s hotel room. Sid barged in on him and Chris as they were just waking up for the morning skate. After receiving the text from Jess he knew those flowers came from James.

“Well what the hell am I supposed to do? I need to talk to him. He is completely out of line!” Sid was fuming. Chris stood and pushed Sidney to sit down on the nearby desk chair.

“Listen, this is getting out of hand. You may not like what I am about to tell you Sid, but you need to be open minded. Alright?” Chris paused and waited for Sid to acknowledge that he was listening.

“James loves Jessica. It’s that simple. Now you can either accept that or you can go down to his room and kick his ass. But look at it from an outsider’s perspective. James was with Jess for two years. They moved across the country in order to maintain their relationship. I am certain in his mind he always just assumed that Jess would come back. She always has. He isn’t doing this to egg you on, to paint you in a bad light to her; he truly still loves her and hopes he can win her back. Do you have reasons to be worried? No. I don’t think so. I haven’t really spent that much time with her, but seeing how she interacts with you as compared to how she was with him, you can tell she is drawn to you more so than she ever was with him."

Sid considered everything Chris just said, but before he could respond Pascal piped in.

"Sid, I think it speaks volumes that she thought the flowers came from you immediately. You didn't send her flowers too did you?"

"No, I'm going to her place from the airport on Sunday. She thinks we have practice Monday morning so I am surprising her."

"Nice, is she skipping Monday since it’s her birthday?"

"No, she has no school for a federal holiday."

"Well that's perfect! She'll be happy that she gets to spend her actual birthday with you."

Sid nodded his head. He hoped she would be as excited as Pascal claimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you going to do with them?" Amanda asked Jess during their lunch break.

"I'll take the balloons off of them and leave the flowers here. My nephews will enjoy the balloons," Jess shrugged.

"You're not going to thank him for them or anything?" Jess studied her friend for a minute.

"I think it's better if I don't. I want everything to work out with Sid. And that won't happen if I keep letting James in somehow. I was wrong in thinking we could be friends."

Amanda nodded in understanding. "What did Sid say about it all?"

"I haven't talked to him. But I know he is really getting worked up over how James keeps interfering somehow."

Jess glanced at her phone. She had texted Sid during her free period, but he hadn't replied back. She was hoping being in such close proximity to James that he wouldn't do something he may later regret.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sidney listened to his older teammates and didn't confront James as he had intended. He knew he needed to let it go and just avoid the personal drama while on the road. They still had two days left before they would be back in Pittsburgh, no use in causing a scene and subsequently added tension to the team.

The team managed to breeze through Florida with two wins and he assured Jess before the first game that he wouldn’t do anything to upset James.

“I’ll ignore him Jess, believe me,” Sidney assured her when he finally got back to her.

“Good, I really think it’s the best thing to do. If he sees you getting worked up by this then it may encourage him to do something more,” Jess explained.

“I know babe. I talked with Pascal and Kunitz about it,” Sid was relaxing in his hotel room before the game.

“You did? What did they have to say?”

“They both said the same thing you did essentially. They like you a lot.” Jess smiled at this. She was still worried that the team would view her as some sort of harlot because she went from one player to another.

“Alright, go do your thing babe. I am going to get changed for dinner and paint and sip with the girls from school,” Jess said.

“Well, have fun. Paint something fun. I love you,” Sid said sleepily. He was feeling tired from his ice workout.

“I will. I love you too.”

He recalled how calm she sounded on the phone about the entire situation, or how she viewed it, a non-situation. He believed more than ever that James was trying to play some sort of mind game with the couple because just the night before he watched as James hit on a girl in the hotel bar and follow her out shortly after the team all arrived.

Now he was sitting in hotel lobby waiting to board the bus to take the team to the airport and back to Pittsburgh. The rest of the team was trickling down with their belongings when Sid caught sight of James.

He had successfully managed through the last two days of the road trip avoiding the other man, but it appeared that James was seeking Sid out now. He approached Sid slowly.

“Hey man, feel good being on the ice again?” James asked trying to make small talk.

“Yeah, looking forward to actually playing again,” Sid replied. He knew he couldn’t completely ignore his teammate; there weren’t really any other guys around to walk away from James.

“It will be nice to get to play with you.” Sid nodded and passed a tight lipped smile towards James.

“So how is Jess?” Sid felt his blood boil. But he pushed his anger aside and turned to James. They had started walking towards the entrance where the bus was parked. Sid stopped in his tracks when James mentioned Jessica.

“She’s fine,” Sid kept it short.

“She won’t talk to me anymore,” James turned to face Sidney. They were standing just five feet from the door and within earshot of the rest of the team.

“Well, maybe if you stopped doing stupid shit she might give you a chance to be her friend,” Sid started to walk again. James put out his arm to stop his captain.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” James asked curious. Sid was trying his best to keep calm, but it was hard when the guy wouldn’t let things be.

“You are playing with fire Neal. Leave her alone.” Sid pulled his arm free from James’ grasp and started to walk again.

“You’re one to talk; you practically sabotaged my entire relationship with her!” James voice elevated. Sid spun around stopping James from stalking towards him.

“You’re right. I admitted that I liked Jess while she was with you. But I never stepped out of line by giving her gifts that would be deemed inappropriate from a friend. Everything that happened between Jess and me happened because she wanted it to. I never acted on my feelings when she was with you in any capacity.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. What about last summer?”

“Oh that’s right, we kissed. But only when she thought you had cheated and moved out on your ass.”

“And just before the season.” James seemed to be faltering in what he was trying to say. His points were being met match for match by Sid. Sid wasn’t going to lose this battle.

“When I was drunk? I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, am I right?” Sid was surprised that he was able to remain so calm during this confrontation. Their exchange was drawing attention, and Sid noticed Pascal standing not too far from the two of them ready to get into between them if an actual fight broke out.

“And believe me, you aren’t going to win Jess over if you are out screwing anything on legs.” Sid walked away, nodded at Pascal to indicate that he wasn’t going to throw a punch and walked towards Marc-Andre who was already seated on the bus. Sid settled into his seat and rubbed his face. The confrontation did nothing but anger him, and he felt he let Jess down by doing it. But James didn’t bother Sid the rest of their time traveling back to Pittsburgh, and as soon as he had his bag Sid dashed towards his car. He hoped he would catch Jess before she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late, but Jess was waiting to hear from Sidney that he made it home alright. She was fine with his traveling, she was used to it from her time with James, but she got anxious when she didn’t hear from him right away.

The pounding on her door alarmed her. She walked gingerly towards her door, and secretly wished she had a big, scary dog or Sid there with her to answer the door for her. She flicked on the outside light and peaked through the glass on her door. She was relieved and threw the door open quickly. She jumped into Sid’s arms and wrapped her legs around his hips causing him to lose his balance briefly. He adjusted to her weight, pressed his lips to hers and carried her and his bags into the apartment pushing the door closed with his foot.

“What are you doing here?” Jess asked between kisses.

“It’s your birthday!” Sid exclaimed as he pulled back from her lips. He admired how she looked perfect without loads of makeup and in her glasses. She started to push them up to rest on the top of her head when he reached to stop her.

“You won’t be able to see me,” Sid said quietly. Jess smiled. He knew well enough that she needed them to see far away. Jess rolled her eyes and let her legs fall to the floor. Sid wouldn’t let go of her though.

“Don’t you have practice tomorrow?” Jess asked.

“No, I lied. I wanted to surprise you.” Sid smiled, “Plus, I felt bad that I missed dinner with your family. I wanted to hear what Braden had to say about hockey practice!”

Jess laughed, she witnessed her nephew’s first time on the ice firsthand earlier that day.

“He was all over the place once he figured out he could use his stick as a crutch to keep him upright,” Jess said.

“Yeah, he’ll get the hang of it. I can’t wait to see him!” Sid set his suit jacket on the back of the dining table chair and sat down on the couch. He pulled Jess down to sit on his lap. She nuzzled her face against the side of his neck and placed some light kisses along his collar.

“I missed you,” Jess said as her hands began to wander across his chest and abdomen.

“I missed you too baby,” Sid inhaled shakily when he felt Jess rub her hands along his inner thighs, dangerously close to his arousal. “I have to tell you something first babe. Before we get carried away.”

“What?” Jess asked as she continued her attack with her lips on any exposed skin. She shifted so she was straddling him and pressed her sex against him causing him to throw his head back and almost forget what he needed to say.

“It’s about James.” Jess stopped.

“I told you to stay away from him!”

“I did! Until he came up to me as we were leaving earlier this evening.”

“What happened?” Jess climbed off of Sidney and sat next to him, just out of arm’s reach.

“Are you mad?” Sid asked incredulously. She had told him to be up front about things and now she was mad.

“Not mad that you are telling me. That’s what I wanted. But why couldn’t you just let it go?”

“Because I am at my wit’s end on this Jess! I am tired of him trying to drive a wedge between us. He won’t even give us a chance! It’s like he wants to do anything in his power to make us fail. I am tired of it!”

“Do you think what he is doing is going to make me want to leave you for him or something?”

“I told him he is wrong for interfering the way he has been. He threw it in my face that I did it too.” Sid looked defeated. He didn’t want to fight with Jessica. This wasn’t something that they needed to fight about. He wished they could laugh about James’ attempts instead.

“Listen Sidney because this is the last time I am going to say this. I don’t want James. I don’t even want to be his friend.” Jess moved to straddle Sidney’s lap again. She braced her hands against his neck making him to stare at her.

“I’m just not used to relationship drama,” Sid said.

“You think I am? This last year has been horrific! We promised that 2012 would be less drama.”

“It will be, the year is still very new. I promise I will avoid confronting him again. I will show him support as his captain and teammate, but our personal lives will no longer interact with each other. No matter how hard he tries,” Sid promised. Jess smiled and pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss. But Sid wouldn’t let Jess pull away from their embrace and inched his hands up under her t-shirt running them up her bare back. He moaned when he realized she was without a bra and quickly pushed the shirt over her head so he could attack her exposed nipples.

He gripped her ass and lifted her easily as he moved towards her bedroom. Jess worked diligently at removing his tie and unbuttoning his dress shirt. By the time he stood her upright at the foot of her bed, they were both standing in only their undergarments, panting and wanting each other.

Sid’s hands ghosted over her shoulders, taking into account the softness of her skin. She could feel his hot breath against her neck and it made goosebumps rise, her nipples tightening into hard little nubs. "You're so amazingly beautiful," he whispered against her skin.

Jess shivered, turning her head, her breath escaping on a soft sigh. His hand cupped her jaw, thumb rubbing lightly over the sensitive skin. Their mouths met in a hot, wet kiss that left her breathless with need. She felt his hips rock against her, the hard length of his cock pressing tightly against the cleft of her ass, left nearly bare by the dark green lace of the thong she wore. The soft lace rubbed against her clit with every shift of his hips, heat seeping along her veins, licking fire in its wake.

"Need you," she gasped, breaking free of the scorching kiss, lifting her hand above her head and winding it into the thick, brown curls at his nape. "So much."

His hand splayed against her hip, holding her firmly against his body, thumb teasing at the elastic of her thong. "Not yet," he whispered against her neck, biting lightly at her leaping pulsepoint. "Want to tease you some more."

"Please." The word was ragged and soft and filled with every ounce of desire that filled her at his touch. She felt him grin against her skin and it made her angry, her nails digging into his forearm. He bit down harder and she moaned, his fingers dipping into the soft lace to press lightly against the soft brush of curls that shielded her pussy. His long fingers dipped into her, running along the seam, spreading the slippery liquid that seeped in a steady flow. Without warning, he plunged two fingers into her slick entrance, thumb grazing against the tiny bud of her clit, leaving her shuddering and breathless. Curling his fingers, he fucked her slowly, rocking his hips into her with every stroke.

It was too much and not enough, every stroke of his fingers ratcheting up the tight coil of tension in her core. His free hand found her breast, pulling and twisting the tight nub of her nipple until she was writhing and gasping against him, bucking her hips back into his, mewling helplessly as a heady miasma of pleasure and need consumed her. Flinging her head back, she came hot and hard, clenching around his fingers, nails digging into his forearm.

Aftershocks of bliss coursed through her as she hung, limp and spent - her knees weak and refusing to hold her weight. He pivoted, pushing her hungrily to the bed, stripping off the soaked bit of lace that hid her from his eyes. She stared up at him languidly, her tongue sliding along dry lips as he stripped out of the only remaining barrier, kicking the tight boxer briefs aside before joining her on the bed. Palming her thigh, he lifted it high and entered her with a deep, heavy thrust, jerking her back up the bed with the force of it.

He pushed hard and fast, pulling out almost to the point of exit and then thrusting hard back in, each stroke dragging the head of his cock against her clit. She keened long and low, nails digging into whatever she could reach – his broad shoulders, skimming across the flat nipples, standing at attention on his smooth chest, the solid thickness of his wrist. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she bowed upwards, meeting him stroke for satisfying stroke.

"Say my name," he grunted, lifting her ass and holding her up off the bed so that only her shoulders rested on the mattress.

A wicked grin curved her lips and she licked her lips again. "Sid," she purred, rolling her hips against him.
He groaned and dipped his head, pulling one tight nipple into the dense heat of his mouth, flicking it with his tongue before biting down on it and tugging. Her head dropped back, mouth opening soundlessly as pleasure screamed through her with every sensual tug and pull on her body.

Licking his way across her chest, he gave the other the same treatment, wincing as her nails dug into his shoulders, digging furrows down his back. "Who do you belong to?" he growled against her skin, licking a heated trail down her stomach, reaching between them to flick his long fingers against her clit as he pounded into her, deeper and harder with each snap and roll of his hips.

"You," she gasped, bliss spiraling through her. Color burst behind her closed eyelids, every nerve ending screaming as the all consuming wave crested and broke, dragging her under its seductive pull. "Always you!"

"Fuck yes," he grunted, hips rising and falling against hers in an endless roll that dragged her deeper into the depths. She came again as he collapsed against her, his back heaving as he fought for breath, forehead pressed tightly to her chest.

Glancing to the clock on the nightstand, Sid smiled against her chest, “Happy birthday.” Jess laughed in satisfaction.

Notes