“Shit, captain got laid last night!” Was the first thing I heard the next morning as I made my way into the dressing room for practice. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the prying glances I was getting, before taking my seat. I guess I didn't realize the entire dressing room had their eyes on me.
“Uh, why are you all looking at me like that?” I scrunched up my face in confusion, digging into my hockey bag to help avoid eye contact.

“Whose the lucky lady?” Spezza enthused with a grin.

“Or the lucky guy, whatever your preference is” Kari chirped with a wink, lots of laughs ensuing. I didn't care how much I got razzed; I wasn't going to tell them anything about my night. Well, other than the fact I finally got the girl of my dreams. I finally was dating Haley.

You probably couldn't knock the smile off my face, I was certain of that much. It was indescribable how it felt to kiss her; to be with her. I knew I was falling for her quickly; and I was okay with that.

Waking up next to her this morning felt right; and it was something I wanted to feel for a long time.

Suddenly I was glad we were neighbours; I wouldn't have to venture far to see her ever.

“Funny” I finally spoke up rolling my eyes.

“So? Are we getting details or nah?” Spezza spoke up again, asking the question I'm certain everyone in the damn dressing room wanted to know.

“Was it that Francine chick again?”

I felt my face fall a little. I didn't particularly want to talk about her anymore.

“Don't be an idiot” Tyler spoke up. I sent him a thankful glance; I couldn't seem to think of anything to say. I wasn't sure why I wasn't just telling them I had a girlfriend; just hearing Francine's name sent shivers down my spine.

“You didn't” Jordie finally spoke up, sudden realization hitting him. “I never thought I would see the day” he pretended to wipe a fake tear off of his cheek.

“Ha- funny” I rolled my eyes.

“So, are you guys a couple or…?” Jordie asked curiously. Now he certainly had everyone's attention, as I think they all realized what Jordie was talking about.

“We are” I muttered, busying myself with tying my skates instead of enduring anymore of their torture and questioning.

“Guys!” Jordie shouted, standing up in the centre of the dressing room. He smirked in my direction, an evil smile playing on his lips. I inwardly cringed; this wasn't good. “Let's all congratulate my little brother on finally growing his first set of balls”

The dressing room erupted into laughter and hollering different things at me; but for once I didn't mind. Sure, I wasn't a huge fan of having all this attention on me but I finally had Haley; nothing could bring down how ecstatic I was about that.

Practice time came quickly and went quickly, which I didn't mind. For the next few hours, nobody cracked jokes about me growing a pair, or having a new girlfriend. The only thing we were all concentrated on was the conference finals; and winning the next game.

Coming back to Dallas with the series tied wasn't a bad place to be. Obviously, I'd prefer to be 2 and 0, but I knew I couldn't be picky; we couldn't win them all. I was incredibly nervous about the next game. I knew the pressure seemed to be on us, especially coming back home; the fans wanted to see their team advance to the Finals to win their first cup since 1999; and I wanted to be the captain to lead them to it.
We all worked incredibly hard the entire on ice practice, and the entire time we worked out a little at the gym, cooling down. It was obvious how much every player in the room wanted to win as badly as I did. Tomorrow we played game three; that would really be the teller.

I was a little more nervous than usual; Haley would be at the game; the first game as my girlfriend. I knew I couldn't afford to put any unnecessary pressure on myself; I needed to keep my head in the game.
After practice Jordie, Tyler and I decided to head to the diner across the street from our apartment to grab a bite to eat. Haley was going to be working until the evening, and we had the night off. Tyler, Jordie and his girlfriend, Jessica and I were probably just going to lay low; I was hoping Haley would be keen on coming too.

“All jokes aside bro, I'm really happy for you” Jordie brought the subject back to Haley and I shortly after we received our lunches. I smiled awkwardly; I didn’t like being the topic of discussion so much.

“Thanks, man” I nodded simply, taking a bite of the pasta I had ordered.

“I'm so glad you both figured your shit out” Tyler laughed. I didn't blame him; we had inadvertently put him in the middle of something that should have been figured out by the pair of us the moment I walked in on the conversation.

“Sorry about that” I muttered an apology. I did feel bad.

“Like I keep telling her, it's fine” Tyler chuckled, eating a piece of his chicken. “I still can't believe you'd actually think we'd get together”

“What was I supposed to think?” I asked in my defence. “It was the only thing I could think of she wouldn't want to tell me” I added. When Tyler had first come to Dallas, Haley had an immediate crush on him. And then she met him. And that changed quickly. It was the tattoos and initial attraction; but he really wasn't her type. I hid my jealously from her; and eventually the crush ended the more we hung out.

“Why would she have hidden that from you?” Tyler asked, confused.

“She had a crush on you when you first came here” I shrugged, instantly realizing I shouldn't have said that. “Fuck you can't tell her I told you that”

“What!?” Tyler and Jordie asked at the same time.

“Don't get mad at me for this- and I quote- ‘Fuck, that Seguin guy is really hot; too bad he had to ruin it by opening his damn mouth’” I recited what she had told me what seemed like ages ago.

“Ouch” Tyler mumbled, pretending to be offended. “I'm completely making fun of her for this” Tyler then decided once he was finished pretending to be upset by her words.

“I'm never going to live this down” I shuddered with a frown.

“Hey- guys” Tyler's face turned from joking to serious in a matter of seconds. “Isn't that Derek?” I whipped my head around, seeing Derek come into the diner, hand in hand with his assistant, Jessica. I felt my heart begin to race; the amount of hatred I had for the guy was unreal. Much to my distaste and surprise, he came waltzing towards us.

“Jamie!” He greeted with fake enthusiasm.

“Uh- hey” I stammered awkwardly, unsure of why he was even speaking to me. I looked to Jordie and Tyler who wore similar expressions to my own; we were all confused.

“Can we help you?” Tyler spoke up; sometimes I was thankful he was way more outgoing than I.
“I heard you and Haley are dating now” he stated with a smug expression. Jessica had walked away a moment ago, standing in line at the counter to grab something to go.

“What's it to you?” I asked abruptly.

“You won't be for long” he sneered. Seriously? How old was this guy?

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me” I rolled my eyes; Jesus Christ this guy was a nut case.

“Look, were just trying to enjoy our lunch, do you mind?” Tyler spoke up before I had the chance to say anything. He grunted something I couldn't quite catch, before leaning down to whisper something in my ear.

“Remember how I told you I would make it so Haley wanted nothing to do with you if you told her about Jess? Still gonna” he winked, before patting my shoulder and walking away.

I sat in my seat, a little confused; a little lost. What the hell do I do?

Notes