Allison's POV:

"Thanks for taking me out tonight, guys." I said as Deryk pulled into my driveway

"No problem." He replied with a smile. We had dropped off Geno and Kris and it was just me and Deryk.

"So...how's James?"

"He's himself. Other than issues with Jennifer, I assume he's fine. I mean he hasn't come into practice shitface drunk or hungover like he did when you left him for max or when he and Jen were together...so that's a plus. I haven't really talked to him, honestly."

"Oh..." I started

"I'm sorry about your baby..."

"It's okay...I mean I'm sad, but I think it was a sign...I'm not ready to be a mom and honestly...I had been considering giving the baby up for adoption."

"I see...well I gotta get going. We have a skate on the morning. You should come. The other guys miss you. The women miss you...James won't cause an issue, I'm sure he won't even be there...it's optional."

"Okay. I think I will. Thanks again, Deryk!" I smiled

"Allison, you can call me Engo." He laughed

I laughed, "I know. I like Deryk more."

He laughed again before driving away. Deryk was right. I shouldn't let this rift with James keep me from spending time with my friends.

I headed inside my house and turned on my tv, flipping through the channels. There wasn't much on, but I found some old movie and started watching it before drifting off to sleep.

James' POV:

Melanie arrived shortly after we hung up. She was wearing black yoga pants that showed off her ass perfectly and a white out shirt from a game last season. "Hey." she said, smiling.

"Hi."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sorry." I smiled and stepped aside, allowing her inside.

"It's okay. So...you got any more vodka?" she laughed

"No, that was the last bottle..."

"You drank a hole bottle of vodka?"

"No. It was only half full."

"That's good." Melanie sat down on my couch and looked up at me, "Are you okay? You seem...I don't know...you seem off."

"Just some shit with Jennifer. She's moving back to Dallas and wants to take the kids with her."

"Oh. How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know. I mean, I'm so busy during the season that the kids would have to be in day care or some thing and that's what I do not want. I don't want someone else raising my kids. So what Jennifer was saying was, the kids would be with her during season and in the Summer with me. For Holidays we'd alternate or spend them together." I replied

"Is that what you want?" she asked

"I'm not sure. I want what's best for the kids and what's best is to have both of us in their lives."

Melanie nodded, "True. That's what's important."

"Yeah. So...what do you want to do?"

"Well...there was actually some thing I wanted to talk to you about." she started. I nodded and she continued, "I like you, James. I want us to be able to have some thing other than just sex."

"I know, Melanie. That's what I want too." I confessed

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I like talking to you and spending time with you and I like you.."

"But?" she asked

"There's no 'but'."

"You mean...you don't care what Allison..." she started

"No." I interrupted, "I don't. I'm done with her. It's over between me and her. She acts like I'm this horrible person, when she has done the same things as me. It's ridiculous and I'm just over it and her...do you care what she thinks?"

Melanie sighed, "Not really...I mean...she i..was my best friend, but that all changed when she slapped me across the face and accused me of 'stealing her boyfriend'."

I nodded, "Yeah."

"So is that a 'yes'?" she asked with a laugh

I smiled and kissed her, "Yes."

Notes