"And hell yes I love my truck, but I want you to know, honey I love your love the most..."


Three days. That’s how long it had been since Cassidy had spoken to Jamie; although it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his part. He called almost constantly and filtered in text messages throughout the day, but all went ignored by Cassidy.

It was easy to pin this on the new job. While in the past three days she had been working, she did have time to at least call him back. But per usual, it was easier to run from something good than to wait around until she screwed it up. And just as Jamie had said, while it was easier, it was also lonelier.

Today had been one of Cassidy’s luckier days at work. Being a Monday, everyone was at work, busying themselves with the week to come. Better yet, she was working the afternoon shift. And while there were people filtering in, it was nothing like the rush of a Friday night. It was only four o’clock, and after spending the last hour preparing the bar for the next shift; making sure everything was stocked, she was ready to go.

She punched her number into the computer, clocking out, and then walked out from behind the bar, saying goodbye to her manager. Cassidy stepped out into the daylight, squinting and shielding her eyes as she’d just spent the last five hours in a dark, dingy bar.

“What’s a guy got to do to get his girlfriend to call him back?”

Cassidy spun around and looked at Jamie, who was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a gray t-shirt and a backwards baseball cap. His face was fairly exposed to the world, and she found it odd that he wasn’t trying to hide himself. She almost couldn’t talk and instead waited for him to approach her.

As they began walking, Cassidy clasped her hands together in front of her waist and Jamie shoved his into his pockets, sensing her discomfort.

“So you got a bit freaked out… is that really worth running away from?” He paused, “you seemed to offer up the love thing willingly so I’m not sure why you ran.”

“I was trying…”

Before she could answer, a tall black-haired woman ran up to Jamie, batted her eyelashes and grinned as her cheeks turned a rosy color. “Jamie? Can I get a picture and your autograph?”

Jamie shot a glance at Cassidy as if he were apologizing for the interruption. But then he turned back to the woman and wrapped his arm around her mid-back, smiling widely as her friend snapped a picture. Surely it’d be on every social media network within an hour.

“Do you have a pen and something…”

The beautiful girl produced a Sharpie from one of her purse pockets and handed it to Jamie. He stood, slightly confused, until the girl pulled up her tight shirt up, revealing her hip and asked him to sign it. He obliged hesitantly, sinking down to a crouching position in front of her. With the permanent marker in one hand, he pressed his other hand against the back of her knee, holding still as he began to sign his name along the woman’s hipbone. After he stood up and handed the Sharpie back to her, he took a few steps back towards Cassidy.

“Is this your sister?” The girl inquired, looking Cassidy up and down, as she was still wearing her small fitting work outfit.

“Uh, no. This is my girlfriend.”

The black-haired girl grimaced and walked a way without another word. All the while, Cassidy stared at Jamie. When he finally looked back at her, he offered a small smile but got nothing in return. So he grabbed Cassidy’s wrist and linked her arm with his, continuing down the sidewalk.

“Did you just say it because you thought I wanted to hear it, or did you say it because you meant it?” Jamie murmured, as if he were unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

“I meant it,” she looked up at Jamie and gripped onto his arm tighter. “But just because I meant it doesn’t mean it’s any less frightening.”

He leaned into her, nudging against her shoulder gently. “You know, it is alright to depend on someone other than your family.”

Within a moment, Jamie was leading her into the American Airlines Center. She had known the bar was close, but not that close. He moved through the hallways quickly and efficiently, mumbling greetings to everyone who passed. No one dared stop him, or question his motives, as he was the captain of their beloved team.

His expertise of these back hallways had them at the ice in no time, giving Cassidy no chance to catch her breath and really grasp what was going on. Especially when Jamie unlatched the boards and stepped onto the ice slowly. He stared at his feet, ensuring that his shoes wouldn’t slip on the ice, and then held out his hand to Cassidy to grip onto.

“There’s absolutely zero grip on these boots,” she shrieked. Deciding to take a leap of faith, she grasped Jamie’s hand and stepped out, immediately slipping forward.

As she stumbled into his arms, he lifted her up effortlessly and shuffled his feet towards the bench. After setting her on the ridge, he stepped off the ice and sat down, starting the process of putting on his skates.

“I figured the concept of love scared you a little bit; which is understandable. However, you don’t get good things in life by being scared. Hence the hockey sticks and pucks.”

Cassidy looked beside Jamie, noting the pair of skates and other equipment. Before she could protest, he was in front of her, on his knees pulling off her cowboy boots and replacing them with the small pair of hockey skates. When everything was laced up, he tossed the pucks out onto the ice and took both hockey sticks in his hands.

“What exactly is your plan in all of this?”

Jamie smiled and brought his stick blade against a puck, and shot at the net, chuckling at the noise it made when it went wide and hit the boards. “I love this game; I’d give my life for this game.” He paused and handed a stick to Cassidy, smirking as she took it for him and began to handle it awkwardly. “Fear limits your ability to be free. And seeing as though we’re sparrows, we need all the freedom we can get. So today, we’re going to show and tell each other about the things we love; no exceptions.”

Cassidy pursed her lips as Jamie reached for another puck, stick-handling quickly, weaving it around his body like the expert he was. “I love slapshots,” he looked at her and then swung at the puck, watching as it elevated and flew into the back of the net. “Something about the power and the way it sounds going into the back of the net… reminds me why I fell in love with this game.”

He passed a puck to Cassidy, and absently, she began to push it around with the blade of her stick. She wasn’t graceful at it, but it kept her eyes off of Jamie, and for that she was grateful. “I love macaroni and cheese.” When she glanced up at Jamie and saw his smile, she began to giggle. With the mood lightened, she took a swing at the puck, only to watch it skid across the ice and stop short of the goal crease. “My mom would make it from scratch and it was literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten. But after she passed away I couldn’t find the recipe so I haven’t had it since. But I love all sorts of macaroni and cheese.”

Jamie chuckled and shook his head as he passed her another puck, “see that wasn’t so hard.” He balanced a puck on the end of his stick, “let’s see… I love my house. It was my first big investment. A sign that somehow I had made it; I’m proud of that house, even if it is just a bachelor pad.”

Cassidy stepped forward, feeling her feet slip beneath her. Jamie reached out to help her, but she kept herself balanced without him. “I suppose it’s my turn now?” She reached out and poked Jamie’s leg with the blade of her stick. “I love Hawkeye, BJ, Trapper, and Radar.”

He squinted his eyes in bewilderment, trying to grasp onto the tangent she was beginning on.

She giggled, “they were the coonhounds we had growing up. We named them after the characters from M*A*S*H, but I’d go out with them while my dad worked on the farms. The sweetest dogs I’d ever known.” Cassidy shuffled towards Jamie until she could reach out and grip onto his t-shirt, pulling herself closer to him, “your turn captain.”

Jamie wrapped one arm around her while keeping his stick clasped in his other hand. He propped it against the ice, leaning on it gently. “I love Cassidy Knox. She sees me as Jamie Benn, the boy from Victoria, British Columbia and not Jamie Benn, captain of the Dallas Stars. She’s the best person I’ve ever met and one day she’s gonna change the world.” He set his hand on the back of her neck and looked down at her, smiling comfortingly.

“And I love Jamie Benn. He’s making me see my worth. Plus he’s super sexy, so that helps…” She giggled and buried her head into his chest, running her fingers across his t-shirt. “His passion and his strength, not just in hockey but in life, is astounding and inspiring.” Cassidy looked up to see Jamie’s cheeks turning red. She smiled and leaned up to kiss his lips quickly.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, setting his lips against her forehead, allowing them to linger for a moment as he took a deep breath in.

“Thank you,”

After standing at center ice, embracing each other, Jamie finally decided it was time to actually start playing. Which basically meant he flew around the ice while Cassidy shifted on her feet, trying to follow him around. This went on until she summoned some sort of skill god and was successfully able to move around, although not at the speed of the NHL player beside her.

Jamie stood by the boards, playing keep-away with a puck as Cassidy tried desperately to take it from his possession. It was then she remembered the different kinds of checking he had spent countless hours trying to explain. Taking it upon herself to interpret those checks however she pleased, she stood next to Jamie and began pushing her hip to the side, ramming it into Jamie’s hip.

“What are you doing?” He shrieked excitedly. Not only did he like the motion she was doing, he also appreciated the physical contact between them.

“I’m hip-checking you,”

“Not quite, Cass.” He smiled and turned his head to watch her as she skated behind him. Once she was out of sight, he felt her entire body pressing against his. “And what type of checking is this?”

“Fore-checking?” She guessed, rocking her hips back and forth, now only doing it to tease him.

“No, this is called sexual harassment.” He smiled and turned around, locking his arms around her waist and held her close. Soon they were moving back towards the bench, tired of their playful exercise. “I’m going on another road trip soon. Are you going to be able to come along?”

Back at the bench, Cassidy sat down and began pulling at the laces of her skates, slipping them off her feet and pulled her cowboy boots back on. Without the constant motion, the chilled air was beginning to get to her. “Not this time. Maybe over my spring break in April. How long are you gone?”

Jamie pulled off his skates and took a deep breath in, “two weeks. We go to Vancouver, Colorado, California, and Arizona before coming home.”

“That’s a long one,” she murmured, feeling her heart sink to her stomach. Per usual, her timing was perfect. The moment she tells a guy she loves him, he’s on his way out for a half a month.

Walking back through the hallways of the arena, Jamie clutched onto Cassidy’s hand, offering as much support and understanding as he could. This was just one of the many road trips he would go on in the rest of his career. And it probably wouldn’t get any easier. He’d go off, and because of school or a job, Cassidy would be forced to stay back. It wasn’t a life she had planned for; and wasn’t entirely sure it was a life she ended up with… Constantly waiting for a man to return home, like he’d been to war, coming back with bumps and bruises to just have to go back out in a few weeks.

“Between class and work you’ll be so busy you probably won’t even notice I’m gone.” He pushed open the heavy glass door, leading Cassidy outside and back to the bar where their cars were parked.

She shot him a disapprovingly glance. Of course she’d notice he was gone. She found it practically impossible not to think about him, “Jame…” She looked up at him, melting into his side as he wrapped his arm around her back, hooking his hand on her hip and held her close. “Just promise me you won’t go out and find another girl while you’re in California. I hear they’re pretty out there.”

He chuckled and looked towards his car, which was parked right behind Cassidy’s. Tugging on her waist, he leaned down and kissed her lips quickly, grazing his teeth against her bottom lip before pulling away and setting his forehead against hers. “I promise.” He smiled and kissed her forehead gently, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Cass.”

She looked up at him and nodded. It was now or never; time for her to be brave. Jamie smiled again quickly and turned to head for his car. Just as he stepped off the curb to get to the driver side door, Cassidy figured this was her moment to step up. “I love you, Jamie.”

He paused, dead in his tracks, and turned back to face Cassidy, immediately seeing that his grin had widened. He pulled open the driver side door, still looking at her contentedly. “I love you too.” He smiled again before sitting in his car, starting the engine and waving once more before he drove off.

Cassidy waited until she could no longer see his car before she made for hers, sitting down in her much smaller sedan, and made off for the apartment. She’d be happy to go home and tell Kennedy about her progress.

Notes

This song is titled after "Love Your Love The Most" by Eric Church.

Here's one last chapter before we begin 2015! Happy New Year everyone!

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