Game day.. Game three of the Western Conference Finals. First game at home; the pressure was immense.

I finally opened my eyes, hearing the soft snoring of my girlfriend beside me. I smiled widely; kissing her cheek before I got up and made my way to the bathroom and in to the shower; morning skate before tonight's game would be on, and I didn't want to be late.

“Jame?” I heard her mumble from the bed once I got back into the bedroom. I smiled, a towel around my waist as I tried to quietly get something to wear without waking her up. Even in the morning she was as beautiful as ever.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to wake up” I told her sheepishly. She shook her head, a small smile playing on her exhausted looking face. She sat up in bed, patting the spot on the bed beside her. I sat down immediately, smiling at my girlfriend. This was what I loved to wake up to; a positive attitude on game day.

“It's okay, I have to get up soon anyway” she confessed resting her head on my shoulder. “You nervous?” She asked after a few moments of silence.

“Incredibly” I mumbled honestly. I wanted so badly to bring the cup back to Dallas. I wants to be the captain that ended the cup drought. I wanted this; and I wanted this badly.

“I'll be there to cheer you on” she told me with a grin; and I was ecstatic for that. She turned to kiss my cheek at the same I turned to say something to her and our lips met.

It got a lot more heated than we had both intended; for next thing we knew we were both naked, cuddling in bed like we had just before I got up a moment ago.

“Jame, you're going to be late” she chuckled, getting up from the bed. I rolled my eyes, realizing she was right. We both got dressed in silence, both having to start our work days soon.

“I'll see you after the game?” I asked, getting myself into captain mode. My phone would be turned off, and the rest of the day would be spent getting into the zone and focusing.

“That you will. Good luck tonight, Jame” she smiled proudly in my direction. “Remember how proud I am of you too” she added in a small whisper.

“I always do” I grinned, kissing her cheek as we both made our way out of my bedroom. Tyler was sitting on the couch, an apple in his hand, an annoyed expression on his face.

“I never thought you were gonna be ready” Tyler scoffed, shutting the TV of and heading towards the door.

“Calm your tits Ty” Haley laughed, slipping into her flats.

“Last time I checked I didn't have any?” Tyler asked, feeling his chest for emphasis.

“You better check again” she winked; I knew there was a reason I kept her around.

“Ouch” he mumbled, having no better come back.

“Good luck tonight guys, later!” She called before walking back across the hall to her apartment to grab her car keys.

“I do not have tits” Tyler muttered as we made our way down the hall way and to practice.




“This is it guys. This is fucking it” I muttered lowly, despite knowing nobody could here me. I wanted to win this game. And I wanted to win it badly. Practice was short and sweet; but other than my pre-game nap I spent the entire day at the American Airlines Centre. Tyler and I were the only ones who did so; mostly because I was his ride, but I didn't mind the company; and he doesn't seem to care.
I felt lucky with having such a great group of guys on the team. We were becoming so close, especially with the cup run. If we could only win it all..

The puck dropped for game three before I knew it. It seemed like the time going out to the warmup, hearing the anthems and skating back out for the face off passed quickly.

Tyler won the opening face off. I felt my heart beat like crazy in my chest. Tonight's game I had to be perfect. The puck was sent into our zone, Demers skating quickly to retrieve it. Iginla was hot on his trail, Mackinnon not too far behind.

“Fuck” I mumbled to myself when Mackinnon ripped a shot towards Kari. Luckily he saved it; face off in our zone; thirty seconds into the game. We made our way off the ice, our second line coming on.
After the first period we were tied 1-1. We were leading in shots; 10-7 despite spending six minutes of the first period down on the penalty kill. Luckily, no pun intended, we killed it. We were a little undisciplined in the first, something I hoped we could change come the second period. Coach did his little speech thing, before we were left to discuss amongst ourselves for a few minutes until the second period would be beginning.

“We gotta stay outta the box boys” I spoke up after a few moments of light chatter. “We need to play more disciplined game. Were three wins away from being in the finals; we can fucking do this! Every game matters!” The boys erupted into cheers.

The second period started on a high note; just a minute and fifteen seconds in a hook on Segs meant a penalty shot. I could tell he was feeling the pressure; he wanted to pull our team ahead. A lead this soon into the frame would be a huge momentum booster for us; we needed this.

And he didn't let us down.

“Seggy!” I shouted as he came and tapped gloves on the bench, the Dallas crowd erupting I to cheers, all of the arena on their feet. The smile on Tyler's face was great; he was ecstatic.

“Let's fucking win this!” He shouted loudly as he took his seat next to me on the bench. We had a good feeling about the rest of the game.

We won! First game at home in the series and we were up two games to one! The dressing room was on fire after the game; most of the media surrounding Tyler, who recorded a hat trick in the win. We won 3-2; all three goals coming from Tyler.

Nothing could bring me down now. All I wanted was to head home, relax, and rest up for the game in two days time. If we kept playing like we had been playing, I was certain we would be making my first trip to the Stanley Cup finals. I wanted this badly.

“Great game Tyler!” I heard a familiar female voice shout, once all of the media had cleared out. There left only Tyler, myself, Kari and Spezza; the rest of the guys all filing out first. This was pretty typical; I was usually one of the last ones out.

“Thanks Hales” he smiled proudly, accepting her quick hug.

“Hey, what about me?” I pouted jokingly. She turned to me, looking incredible in my jersey. I felt my heart swell with pride; it was amazing having someone in the crowd, cheering me on in my jersey. Sure, lots of fans wore my jersey on a nightly basis; it just meant more.

“Oh, I guess you played okay too…” She trailed off, biting back a laugh. She chuckled before pulling me in and kissing me lightly. “You played great too, captain. What did you get all three assists on his goals?” I nodded with a smirk. “You guys are something else” she shook her head.

“Hey Jamie, Tyler, you guys coming out tonight?” Kari asked the pair of us. Truthfully, I wasn't really concerned with going out; I had games to prepare for.

“Nah, I think I'm just gonna stay in” I replied, looking to Tyler who nodded.

“Count me in” he patted me on the back, saying his goodbyes before their of them left with Spezza. I grabbed what I needed and slung my arm around Haley, walking slowly towards our car.

“You seem off” I pointed out after a few moments of awkward silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Is something bothering you?” I asked, now a little concerned. “You can't lie to me Hales, I've known you for years” I teased her lightly, trying to make light of the situation.

“I found out Derek was cheating on me” oh fuck.

“What!?” I pretended to be shocked. Should I tell her I already knew? Should I pretend I didn't know? So many thoughts swam through my mind.

“Him and his damn assistant or secretary or whatever the fuck she is” she rolled her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked tentatively.

“Why wouldn't I be?” She asked with a shy laugh. “Sure, I liked Derek, and it sucks it didn't work out” she paused for a moment and turned to me, grabbing my hand and holding it lightly. “But I have you, I definitely don't need someone like Derek. Besides, I'm so much happier with you”

I felt the guilt start to eat away at me; but I couldn't bring myself to tell her I had already known.

“I'm glad. I'd do anything to make you happy, Haley” I informed her, taking her hand and pressing a soft kiss to it.

“I know” she whispered gratefully. “Do you want to re-watch the game? To get prepared for game four?” Her question caught me a little off guard.

“Well I was going to, but if you don't want to you don't have to” I told her simply. I didn't expect her to watch the game with me; she had a few times on occasion, but it wasn't something we made a habit of. Our schedules were pretty different typically.

“I want to”

The three words made me feel even worse for not telling her what I knew; but I couldn't help but keep my mouth shut. Things with the both of us were finally starting to work out; I didn't want to ruin in because of Derek.

Notes