Raining on Sunday

“I’m not entirely sure that’s the right idea, Coach. Look at where he consistently keeps his feet, there’s a window right there. If we could get Letang to come in from the right side, he could open it up enough for a score. Tavares always does that, it’s consistent every time he gets close enough to the net.”

“Kemp, that’s genius. Why hadn’t I seen that?” Coach Johnston sat back in his chair and rewound the film, replaying a play from the last Islanders game.I shrugged, and made note of the time on the film for future reference. He leaned forward again, and traced his finger on the screen, as if his finger was a player. “We can get Nealer in there for that score, Neal’s fast on his feet. Thinks quick too.” He continued. I nodded and continued to watch until there was a knock on the door. “Come on in!”

The door opened slowly and none other than Sidney Crosby peaked his head in. “Hey, Eisley.” He offered a warm smile, I returned one back and continued to write on my notebook. “Coach, was wondering about my skates. Haven’t seen any of the guys in the workshop so I wanted to know when they might be ready.”

Coach Johnston leaned under his desk and pulled out a box, and laid it on the desk. “Had them done early this morning, let the guys go home early. Here you go, Crosby.” Sidney’s eyes widened. His skates had the blades changed already? He wasn’t used to things getting done so quickly. The new coach had already made an impression on the golden boy. With the potentially the last game of the playoffs in two nights, the Consol had been unusually quiet. The boys would come for morning skates, and practices but didn’t stay long after that unless to study film with Coach. One face you could always count on to be around, was Sidney Crosby’s. The time we spent together had increased over the season, we found ourselves to be close friends.

“Thanks, coach. You coming to the dinner tonight, Eisley?” He asked, a coy smile on his face. I rolled my eyes, “You know I will be there. It’s only the seventh time you’ve asked me.” I laughed, playfully nudging him with my foot. He smiled and turned, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Coach looked at me with a funny eye and turned back to the film. “Better watch out, Kemp. We may have the nicest team, but that doesn’t mean our players don’t have a reputation.” I didn’t say anything, but just continued my notes.

I unlocked the front door to the house, and let myself in, letting out a sigh. Two dogs ran up to me, jumping on my legs. “Hey Nixon, Hey Sadie.” I greeted them, bending down to give them both kisses. I threw my purse on the kitchen counter and looked through the mail on the counter, bills, bills, and more bills. Part of the agreement to me living here was that I didn’t have to pay rent, but had to pay the electricity and water bill. I also took up the Internet and phone bill. I heard the dogs trot over to the stairs and saw James skipping down the stairs. I smiled at him. “You’re home later than I expected.” He smiled, jumping up on the counter next to me. I laughed, reading the neighborhood newspaper. “Your team is two days away from potentially the last game of the playoffs, and I’m the one making sure you’re capable of making it to the finals.”

“We’re in good hands.” He nudged me. Nixon laid down by my feet, so I sat on the floor and let James talk about his day. Six months ago, when my lease at my apartment was going up, James Neal heard I was looking for a new place to live and gave me an offer I couldn’t resist. Living rent free in his house, since he was gone most of the time, he wanted someone to look after it and his dog Nixon. I felt bad living rent free, so I took the bills that needed to be paid monthly. Living with James was easy most of the time, but keeping it strictly platonic was sometimes a dueling task.

“I have to get ready for dinner tonight. What’s going on after it?” I asked, pulling my blonde hair into a ponytail and peeling off my Nikes to place by the door. “About that, we’re all going to the 502 bar.I wanted to see if you’d be my date tonight.” He smiled, working the Neal charm. I giggled, and stood close to him. “Now why would I go and do a thing like that?” I flirted. He winked, looking down at me. “So I can bring you home tonight.”

“We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome all of the families and friends of the Penguins association. I’m honored to be working with this team, after a great season and hope we can take this to the finals. I’d like to introduce some of the faces behind the team, some very important people.” Mario Lemieux spoke into a microphone and introduced, the coach’s and some of the people who donated money to the association. I least expected my name to be called, but when I heard, “Finally, our lovely Eisley Kemp, who has been running around getting the boys together and putting together some of our winning plays. She has been an excellent asset to the team this season, and we couldn’t be more glad to have her on board with us.” I stood up and waved, next to me, James clapped and beamed up at me. I looked back at him and put a hand on his shoulder while I clapped. I looked over to the table where Sidney was sitting and he gave me a thumbs up. I felt my cheeks reddening. I sat back down and joined in on the team blessing before the food was served. James placed his hand on my leg, and leaned over to me. “Did I tell you how stunning you look in that dress tonight?” His whisper sent chills down my arm. I wore a red off the shoulder dress, which ended mid-thigh with black pumps. “Thank you, Mr. Neal.” I winked. “Lazy, you can’t keep her to yourself tonight! You owe dance with me tonight at club!” Geno said to me over the table, in his broken English. I nodded and agreed, and enjoyed the rest of my meal. While coach was making a speech, I felt the phone in my clutch that rested on my lap send off a vibration. I pulled it out and saw a text from Sid.

Sid 87: Think the chicken was dry enough?

Me: Lol, I didn’t want to say anything but they could of at least left a little flavor to enjoy

Sid 87: I could go for a burger and milkshake right now

Me: I second that, but isn’t that against your diet?

Sid 87: What coach doesn’t know, won’t kill him ;)

I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, I looked up and smiled. He had his head turned towards coach, who was finishing up his speech, but had his eyes on me, to which he sent a smile and a wink back at.

The rest of the team dinner went smoothly, and after a few drinks at the club, the evening was getting more and more interesting. In between the shots James kept handing me, and the dances Geno kept pulling me up before, I hardly had noticed the girl who was sitting on Sidney’s lap. She was a pretty bottle blonde, with long legs and fake boobs. I felt sick to my stomach watching her laugh at his jokes. Part of me felt protective, like those were my jokes to be laughing at, those were my legs to be sitting on. Why was I feeling like this? Sidney was just a friend. I stood in the entrance of the VIP section, Geno’s hand was dangerously low on my hip as he talked to Kris Letang, and watched Sid interact with the woman stealing his attention. He looked over, for a brief moment, and looked down as the color drained from his face, like he could tell what I was feeling. I walked over to the table at which James was sitting at and grabbed the shots in front of him, taking them quickly. “Whoa, better slow down there killer.” James laughed, I looked over to Sidney was who now watching my every move. “You of all people know, I don’t like things slow.” I winked, pulling him up to dance with me. James’ smile widened and he placed his hands on my hips and led me to the dance floor, I could feel Sidney’s eyes on us as we left his view. I grinded against James in every way, and could feel him breathing down my neck. Every sense in my body was awakened. I turned to face him, not breaking eye contact. Behind me, Sidney led the blonde onto the dance floor, just enough to be in my line of vision, he danced with her, while keeping his eyes on me. I felt brave and looked up at James, and grabbed his neck and pulled him down, crashing his lips on mine. James deepened the kiss, letting his tongue run freely in my mouth, his hands exploring new territory. After a while, I pulled away and saw a smirk all over his face. He knew what was going to happen next. Behind him, Sid stood still, his jaw slightly unhitched. “Still wanna take me home, Neal?” I asked, pulling on his collar lightly. He nodded and reached for the car keys in his pocket, leading me out of the club.

Notes

First chapter, let me know any ideas or if I should continue ^.^