The Compromise

"Sid, I don't dance. I barely drink. I'm going to feel so uncomfortable!" Jess whined as she rolled onto her back on Sid's king sized bed. She came up the previous evening to spend the weekend at his place and many of the guys and their girls were going out to dinner then to a club for drinks later. It was a final outing before the guys disperse for the summer as they train in various parts of the world.

Sid would be all for staying home, but he made the mistake of promising some of his teammates that he would be there come hell or high water. He just knew he'd have a hell of a time convincing Jessica to tag along. It would be their first real outing in the city as a couple and he wanted it to go well for them.

He turned from his dresser to face his girlfriend and laughed when he saw her pouting in the middle of his bed.

"I told the guys we'd be there, Jess, at least for dinner and a couple drinks. We don't have to stay all night. You know I'm not a huge drinker either, so it is going to be pretty boring for me too." Jess watched him as he spoke. He stood in only a pair of running shorts as he dug through his dresser for fresh shirt to wear at dinner. He had just returned from a jog, something he tried to entice Jess into doing, but failed for once.

"If you weren't so damn hot I'd probably gripe some more." Sid climbed onto the bed and hovered over Jess on his hands and knees.

"Oh I am hot am I?" He teased.

"The hottest," she said as she ran a finger up and down his abdomen.

"I beg to differ, but it's a matter of opinion and quite frankly I believe you, my love, are hotter." He smiled a cheesy grin, squinting his eyes in the process.

"You're a cornball,” Jess laughed.

"You started this little game. Now get up. It's time to get ready!" Sid sat back on his calves and tugged Jess up by her hands. But she put no effort behind his pulling and instead went limp, falling against the bed.

"Fine. You're gonna be like that then I’ll make you get ready." Sid stood from the bed and grabbed a hold of Jess' ankles dragging her to the edge where he hoisted her body over his shoulder with a squeal escaping Jess' mouth in the process.

"Sid! What are you doing?" She half yelled as he carried her into the bathroom and towards the walk-in shower. He stood her up on her feet and began stripping off her clothes.

"I can undress myself sir," Jess said exasperated.

"But you weren't moving and I can't be guaranteed that you will continue undressing yourself so I’ll just go ahead and do this for you." Sid seemed proud of himself for accomplishing her shirt removal without any effort on Jess' part.

So you are going to strip me down to nothing and then what?"

"Push you in the shower and turn the water on cold," Sid said as he stripped Jess of her sweats.

"OR you can join me in there and we can get this evening started off right," Jess suggested quirking an eyebrow at Sid when he stood up straight.

"Thank you for making that the most impossible task I have ever had to deal with. I am pretty certain winning the gold medal was easier."

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere. Now lose your shorts." Jess stood defiant with her hands on her naked hips. Sid crossed his arms and waited for Jess to give in and turn for her shower.

Sid sighed dramatically and finally gave in pulling off his offending clothes and spinning Jess around to go into the shower.

"Now that's more like it!" Jess exclaimed as she waltzed in to turn on the water. Sid followed behind her, spun her around and pinned her to the wall across from the shower head.

"You know you drive me crazy," Sid said as he pressed his forehead against hers. Jess' breathing hitched in her throat. "I've never let someone affect me the way you do." Sid ran his large, calloused hands down Jess' arms, reaching her hands and lacing his fingers through hers. He captured her lips with his then abruptly pulled away.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Jess asked when she no longer felt Sidney around her. She opened her eyes to find him lathering shampoo in his hair. He was smirking at her.

"I'm getting a shower." He rinsed his hair and turned around to retrieve his body wash. Jess pouted in the back, getting sprayed with some residual water. She did not find his antics funny, but instead fighting him chose to just go along with it and shower anyway. The sooner they get ready and leave, the sooner they can be back.

Later, after dinner Jess reluctantly followed Sidney into the back door of a local club the guys tend to frequent. They were all arriving roughly at the same time so the club manager was prepared to be discreet and help the players out. They were immediately ushered through a crowded throng of messy drunk people, dancing and groping one another, to a private, much less crowded, room. It had its own bar with two bartenders and the only people in the room were players and the girls they brought with them. Jess was a little bit relieved when she noticed this, because while she went unnoticed when walking through the club, Sidney did not. She never saw so many girls stumble over to him and he brushed them off like fleas on dogs.

She was immediately intercepted by Vero and Jordan Staal's fiancé, Heather. She looked over her shoulder pleadingly towards Sid who was already engrossed in conversation with Kris and Dupers. Both came without their significant others for various reasons.

"Come on, I love this song!" Vero exclaimed as she pulled Jess to the middle of the large VIP section. The girls made their own dance floor in the area least occupied by the team.

"I don't like dancing without a drink or two in me," Jess admitted. She never liked dancing in public.

"Oh then we are doing shots!" Heather declared. "Washington apple? Washington apple?" She asked pointing to both girls. She wandered over to the bar, squeezing between two of the guys and demanded the shot of choice without considering other options.

"Maybe you should have something else too?" Vero suggested as she tried to get Jess to move around on the floor. The girls caught sight of heather waving them over to join her. On the bar in front sat four shot glasses.

"The guy made too much so Jess gets two!" Heather said as she handed each girl her own glass.

"Can I have a chaser or something? I'm not good at shots." Jess waited for a SoCo and sprite to be made before downing both shots very quickly. She sipped her chaser, which was more whiskey than soda, and felt the liquid warm her insides.

"Feeling loose yet? I wanna dance!" Vero shouted over the volume of music. Marc-Andre had snuck up behind her and she unknowingly was moving against him. When she turned around she smacked against him and shrieked causing the other two girls to break out in giggles. Jess was grateful that she had those couple shots, she could feel her demeanor changing and she felt less embarrassed at the thought of dancing in front of people she barely knew.

Sid was standing next to a high-top table watching Jess hesitate before being whisked onto the dance floor by Vero and Heather. He was happy that she was letting loose and opening up to his teammates' girlfriends and hoped that she would find value in their friendship too. He knew he had not brought up the prospect of going to both weddings this summer with Jessica, but he assumed she would oblige if given enough notice. Kunitz made his way over to the table and handed a beer to Sid.

"Man, it's really creepy how you are staring at her," Chris said. Sid snapped out of his daze and focused on the beer in front of him, embarrassed for having gotten caught staring at Jessica. "I mean, I realize you're her boyfriend, but it's still almost stalkerish," Chris continued.

"I'm sorry," Sid could feel his ears turning hot. He immediately started to peel the label off his old bottle.

"No need to apologize man. If we were downstairs I am sure those looks would creep any girl out," he took a swig of his beer, "So everything ok on the relationship front?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?" Sid got all defensive.

"Dude, it's just me here right now. She okay?" Chris as referring to the strain Sid felt with Jess after what Jess now refers to as the incident. He had confided in his linemate shortly after the miscarriage because he knew Chris would not say a word.

"Yeah, I mean we are good. She is dealing with everything much better now. Thanks, uh, thanks for not telling anyone about that. I know I was somewhat out of focus, but my mind was wandering to whether she fed herself that day."

"It was that bad?" Chris asked incredulously.

"No! If it had I would have told her mother. But I feared it would escalate to that." Sid's eyes wandered back over towards his girlfriend. She wore a pair of skinny jeans and a sequin-covered tank top. Her hair fell to her shoulders in waves and her glasses were missing. Which was rare for her since she hate her contacts. He got caught staring by her as she spun around to the music blasting in the tiny room and he waved slightly. She blew him a kiss an spun back around to dance some more with Vero and Heather, as well as several other women choosing to ditch the guys and dance with them.

He smiled and turned back to Chris. "We are going to be fine. I'm not worried at all."

"Well that's good because a Geno and Nealer and are making asses of themselves right now." Sid looked back over to the group of girls to find the two guys foolishly dancing in the middle of the group of women, making them laugh and try to escape from them. Sid remained focused as he watched James zone in on Jessica and the two burst into laughter. He never had reasons to doubt Jess' faithfulness, but she never have him a reason to be truly jealous.

And he was really feeling it as he watched Jess and James seclude themselves from the rest of the group of dancers, walk over to the bar and sit down. They weren't doing anything that would justify him feeling this way, completely insecure, but he still couldn't shake it. The way they interacted, how easy they made each other smile, how comfortable they looked together all made Sid hate James a little more.

Chris was busy talking about strategies the team should consider for next season, something that would usually interest Sid, and he was completely tuning him out. Thankfully Pascal had returned to their conversation shortly after Sid explained to Chris that he and Jess were better. There were other sets of ears listening while he struggled with this inner demon. He wanted to march over there and do one of three things: punch James, pull Jess onto the dance floor to show her he could be carefree and fun in public, or take Jess home and let out all his frustrations by making her come.

When he saw James make Jess laugh in a manner that had her touching him and he looking around to see if anyone noticed was when Sid decided he needed to swoop in. He downed the rest of his beer, said nothing to the guys around his table and waltzed right up to the former couple to intercept his girlfriend.

Jess seemed to sense his presence and turned as soon as he approached him. "Hey baby!" She shouted over the music, James turned to acknowledge Sidney too.

Sid smiled at her and leaned in to whisper, "I want to take you home right now." He hoped he didn't need to elaborate as to why. He watched her smirk, quirk am eyebrow at him then lean back on her chair towards him. He leaned down for her to reach his ear.

"Good, because all I've been thinking about since you left me hanging in the shower was how I want you to fuck me from behind," she whispered pulled back towards the bar and giggled.

It was then that Sidney realized that Jess was drunk.

Notes