Raining on Sunday

Why is it so hot, Jesus.” I sighed kicking the blanket off my body, I suddenly felt exposed, a breeze touching every place on my body. I opened my eyes, and saw not only was I naked but I was naked and my legs were twisted in sheets with James Neal’s naked body. He was obviously in a deep sleep, the blankets only covering his bottom half. I stood out of the bed quickly, and quietly tip toed out of the room, down the hallway to my own room. I threw on a t shirt and shorts, and ran downstairs to let the dogs out and frantically searched for my phone. I found it dropped on the living room floor next to the button up shirt James was wearing the night previous. I sighed and unlocked it, a text flashed across the screen and saw it was from Sid at 3:23 AM.

Sid 87: I never stood a chance did I? Was all the flirting in the past year in my head? I was going to wait till the end of the season to ask you out, but in my usual fashion, always a minute too late.

I sighed and closed out of the message, and walked back upstairs to jump in the shower. My head wasn’t hurting nearly as bad as it should be, but my heart was. What had I done? I was a good girl, I never did things like this. When I got the job at the Consol, everyone had warned me about things like this, mixing play and professionalism, but for almost a year and a half I kept to myself, and maintained a good friendship with all the guys. I couldn’t believe I’d jeopardize it all for a moment of jealousy. I never had a shot with Sidney, I don’t know why I was so upset. But then the text he sent…at 3 in the morning he was drunk. I thought back to a time when James told me how the truth comes out when you’re drunk, and I felt sick again. I got out of the shower and dried off, slipping into a pair of running leggings, and a long sleeved Penguins pull over. I trotted downstairs, remembering the dogs outside. I prayed that the quick shower, hadn’t left them out in the cold too long. As soon as I hit the last step, both came running. “I heard you let them out, I figured I should let them back in before we had two new statues outside.” James laughed, stirring his coffee. I looked at him, he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of lounge pants, his hair was in its usually perfectly messy order, and I felt myself gawking at the sight before me. A flashback of his skin against mine hit me quickly, and I felt myself blush so I turned my attention quickly towards the two dogs in front of me. I bent down and kissed Nixon and Sadie on the forehead, “Thanks, James. I was just anxious to wash off last night.” I laughed and then froze, he looked at me and smiled. “Am I that bad?” He giggled. I stood still, and stuttered. “N-no-no, I just meant, I smelt like alcohol. Bad vodka mixes and all that.” He laughed at me and put his coffee down, wrapping one of his long arms around my waist, to pull me closer. He didn’t say anything, just kissed me deeply. I felt myself go into a state of shock, what the hell is going on? Inside I was screaming, my body was warm and full and I felt like I was floating. I backed away, and smiled, holding my hand to my lips. My alarm went off in my pocket, signally it was time for me to leave for work. “I should go to work. And you, should show up early today.” I told him, he didn’t move from his position leaning against the counter. He just smiled. I turned and picked up my purse and kicked on a pair of boots, and a coat that was near the door and ran out to my car. I sat back and pulled out, thinking about James leaning against the counter, with his stupid perfect face and his stupid perfect hair and his stupid perfect body.

“Kemp, can you bring me the secondary playbook? It’s in the second drawer of the black cabinet behind my desk.” Coach asked, handing me a set of keys, while keeping his eyes on the players in front of him. I took the keys and leapt out of the seat, jogging to the back to where coach’s office was. I was running through instagram, laughing to myself at a picture that Geno had uploaded of he and I at the club last night. He was picking me up by my waist with one arm, and I looked completely unamused. I took a screenshot and felt my body collide with another.

“I’m so sorry!” I stood back up, looking at Sid who was offering his hand. He just looked at me. “Can we talk?” He asked. I nodded and he followed me to the office. I closed the door behind me. “I’m sorry about that text last night, I wasn’t in my right mind-“ “Sid, just forget about it. It never happened.” I smiled at him, and handed him a cold bottle of water from coach’s fridge. “You ready for the game tomorrow?” I asked. He looked down, “Make or break it right?” I nodded, unlocking the drawer and pulling out the playbook. “You’re really going to like these plays.” I smiled. He didn’t say anything, so I left the office, with him in tow. “There’s my girl.” I heard from behind me. A sweaty James Neal appeared from the weight room. “Hey, I gotta run this to coach but I’m hungry. Want me to pick up dinner?” I asked him. He agreed and I ran off to the rink handing off the playbook. I discussed some plays and we talked amongst ourselves for a few minutes. At 1:30 all the players were called out to the ice. They all stood next to each other in a row, all the coaches, trainers, and myself were lined up facing them, leaning against the railing.

"This is it boys. This is it. Tomorrow, this place isn't just an arena. It isn't just a locker room. It's our home. It's our family. The people standing out on the ice with you right now, those are your brothers. And this is your chance to bring back what is rightfully ours. I can't thank you enough for letting me coach you boys, it's an honor to be able to stand on this ice with you. This is our last practice, and tonight I want you to go home. Whether it be alone, or with your wife, girlfriend, lover, whoever. Enjoy them. Enjoy the calm before the storm. You've worked hard all season, so hard for this moment. This is your chance. We're gonna run a scrimmage with some of the new plays and we'll call it a day. Kemp, call out the teams." Coach walked into the bathroom, he'd never admit but he had tears in his eyes. He was proud of the boys. Hell, we all were. We were ready for this too. We deserved the finals. We deserved the Stanley Cup. I pulled out the roster and named off two teams, and the different lines. I stood in the middle of the ice, getting ready for the puck drop. Sid and Geno were facing off for the puck. I looked at both of them, both with intensity in their eyes. I felt my heart flutter with pride, I threw down the puck and watched the boys do what they did best.

The arena was empty after practice. I stayed late at the Consol and James sent me a text letting me know he was on the way home, I sent one back quickly letting him know I was getting ready to leave to pick up dinner. I did a quick walk through of the offices, making sure everything was locked, and went into the locker room, and stood in the middle, taking a deep breath staring at all the clean jerseys and equipment that decorated the wall. "It's beautiful, right?" I heard from behind. I slightly jumped and turned to see Sidney, walking around with his hair wet, and his hands shoved in his pockets. He must have just gotten out of the shower, he didn't have shoes on either. "I can't believe tomorrow could send us to the finals. This is it, Sid." He stood next to me, hands still in his pocket, looking around at the scenery in front of us. "Thank you, Eisley for everything. For helping the team. Helping me, even so. I couldn't have gotten through this season without you." "I'm just doing my job, Sid. You're the one doing all the work. I'm proud of you." I nudged him with my hip. He let out a deep breath and turned to me, stepping closer, putting his hand on my hip. I felt the heat rising in my body as I forced myself to make eye contact with him. "I should get going, I told Nealer I'd pick up dinner before I got home." I broke the silence before anything could happen, turned on my heel, and as I walked by, I patted Mario Lemieux's jersey box, like I did every time I left the locker room. I stopped right at the entrance and turned to Sidney, who hadn't moved from his spot in the middle of the locker room. "Hey Sid? Good luck tomorrow." I smiled. He just stood there and stared.

I let myself in the house through the entrance in the garage, it was unusually colder and quiet in our neighborhood today. The house was warm as I set down the food on the kitchen counter, I kicked off my boots and peeled off my sweater. I rubbed my hands together for warmth and smelt the fireplace going. I walked over to the living room and saw James, asleep on the couch with both dogs laying on him. The TV was playing quietly. On the coffee table in front of him, was a box that was wrapped. I sat down by his head and rubbed my fingers through his hair. "Dinners here, Nealsy." He lightly stirred and stretched, sitting up and smiling. "I guess I drifted off." He chuckled. I stood up and grabbed the food from kitchen, and brought it to him. He opened the food, and ate the thai food. We sat in silence, watching the tv, I had one leg tucked under my other thigh and my knee curled up. "I got something for you." He leaned forward, and handed me the box that was on the table. "James...I-" "No, stop. It's not because of our new found bedroom relationship but i've been planning this for a while. I knew if I we made to playoffs, on my part, I did it because of you." He sighed. I opened the box, and pulled out a beautiful necklace. It was a silver necklace, with hockey skates dangling on them, there were diamonds embedded in it and his number was engraved on the blades of one of the skates. I took a deep breath. "I know it's like, super personal and may even seem a bit romantic, but I'd be more than honored to have you wear my number around your neck." I swallowed hard, and my heart was pounding. I felt my eyes stinging. "This is the most wonderful thing I've ever gotten, James. Thank you, so much." I covered my mouth and let a tear fall out. I turned around and pulled my hair up, signally for him to put it on, which he obliged. I looked at it, hanging around my neck. He pulled me into his lap and kissed me passionately. "What are we?" I asked, looking in his eyes. "I'm not sure, we don't have to figure that out right now either." He smiled. My heart was pounding. We finished dinner, and I said goodnight, and walked upstairs, taking Sadie to bed with me. I looked in the mirror and admired the new jewelry around my neck. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a selfie, showing it off. I sent out a tweet and attached the picture,

@EisleyKempPens: Thank you @jneal18 for this beautiful necklace, incredibly proud of all my boys this season but especially this one in particular.

I laid my phone down on my bedside table, set an alarm and closed my eyes. I needed sleep. A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I answered. "Sleep with me tonight, please?" His voice was soft. I smiled and stood up, opening the door and followed him to his room. I pulled his blankets over me and turned on my side, feeling him spoon behind me, wrapping his long arms around my body. I closed my eyes, and tried falling asleep but all I could think of was Sidney, and how I just left him standing there.

Notes

Chapter twooo! Thank you everyone for your kind words on the first chapter, I should have three out soon :]