Swipe

Once Elle was up and functioning in the morning, her first order of business was to check in on Jamie. Just sending him a message knotted up her stomach with something that felt like guilt. But what the fuck could she possibly feel guilty about? This whole situation was completely out of their control. No single person could possible direct air traffic for the continent, especially not when so many fucking problems had happened all at once.

Despite her innocence, she still dragged her feet packing her suitcase and cleaning up the house. She’d barely made a dent in the luxurious accommodations but she swept the hard wood and threw the bedding from the Master into the washing machine with a note that it needed to be ran. She was on the road to the airport by eight, sitting at her gate by 9.

A desperate part of her wanted Jamie to magically appear. If he’d taken the early morning flight from ATL, which had departed and arrived without incident, he’d have been waiting a little less than an hour for her to show.

But he didn’t surprise her from behind a pylon and she boarded her plane with one last longing look back at MSY. It was a mythical creature to Jamie but it was the same old thing for Elle, no problems to speak of.

He’d texted her at 9, let her know that he was waiting to board his flight back to Dallas.

That burn appeared in her stomach once more.

Back to Vancouver for her and back to Dallas for him.

This whole thing sucked.

She thought about the ways her weekend should have turned out.

She should have an intimate knowledge of every peak and valley on Jamie’s defined chest. She should know all the places that made him squirm when she ran her fingers over the sensitive skin she knew she’d find. She should have a distinct and keen interest in coaxing amazing sounds out of his throat as her tongue traced the lines of his muscles.

Her face burned on the plane.

She fought back tears at wasted opportunity.

Beyond the sex, that she was almost entirely sure would have been mind-blowing and earth shattering, she knew she’d have to wait 70 days to know the sun on Jamie’s face first thing in the morning. She’d have to wait to know what his breath would feel like on her cheek as he held her.

Fuck this.

Fuck all of this.

She should just call in sick and fly down there.

That thought stayed with her all the way through her trip home. Through her arrival, and the long walk to the trains, and the ride back to her apartment.

She was checking flight times to Dallas when the elevator dinged open on her floor.

Nicole was waiting in the hall, her comfiest clothes on and two glasses of wine in her hands. Elle stepped out of the elevator, put down her shit, threw back the glass of wine her friend offered, and collapsed into Nicole’s arms. She’d had a moment yesterday when she hadn’t been able to avoid tears on the phone with Jamie. She had steeled herself to treat a weekend with him like a throw away moment of glory and it had ended leaving her a desperate, yearning mess.

The next time she saw Jamie, if she ever saw him outside the airport, would not be a throw away. She would not be able to control her heart like she knew she would need to in order to survive this whole ordeal. Yesterday, that weakness had slipped through over the phone with him and today she let it run through her veins as Nicole held her.

The red head hadn’t had many chances to console Elle over the years but this time, she squeezed her friend close and offered meaningless platitudes while rubbing her back gently.

They made quite the sight in the hall. The other two people living on the floor had seen much worse behavior from the two women and neither gave a shit. This was an unmitigated disaster, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in Elle’s life since the 2011 riots.

Nicole guided her into her own apartment. Elle didn’t even have the energy to wonder how Nicole had procured the keys for her place but whatever. Her favorite blanket was folded in her favorite spot, just waiting for her to curl up and forget the world for a while. Before she let herself get completely sucked up into self-deprecation, she sent a message to Jamie.

-------

Elle: Everything about this is almost the worst thing ever. I’m home and the only thing I want to do right now is curl into your chest. This is so not okay.

Jamie read the message with a heavy heart and an even heavier soul. She’d managed to put into words exactly how he felt as he drove back to his house from the airport in Dallas. The weekend had sucked. He just wanted to be holding her right at that moment.

The world was full of shit and he hated ever bit of it.

Segs wasn’t helping, texting him every half hour to make sure he hadn’t done something crazy. Like run off to Vancouver. Because he’d had that ponderance, more than once. When he’d been falling asleep his last thought was that he had two days before he had to be at practice. When he’d been brushing his teeth that morning he’d rationalized that if he called in sick he could stretch those two days into four.

As the plane carrying him back to Dallas had taken off, fucking finally off the ground, he’d figured five days max. He could go to Vancouver for five full days before he’d have to back at the arena and he’d only miss two practices.

What were two practices when your team was doing amazing and you were the best captain ever?

These thoughts were counterproductive but he still entertained them, all the way up to him pulling his SUV into his driveway.

And really.

What was to stop him from just showing up at her house? Besides the fact that he didn’t actually know her address. He’d never bothered to ask and she’d never had a reason to share. He knew where she lived, roughly. He’d played tournaments in Richmond when he’d been young so it wouldn’t be completely impossible to track her down.

Minus the fact that the greater Vancouver Metropolis was sprawling. It’d be like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Jamie texted Segs before he really had a chance to think through his decision.

Me: Do you know Elle’s address, by any chance. Just asking for a friend.

At least he’d get a chuckle out of Segs. He was probably on the ice. Jamie dragged his suitcase into the house and left it by the laundry door. His house seemed so empty after almost two full days of travel. He was expecting a small child to burst into tears at any moment, around every corner.

Segs got back to him in a half hour with a question mark and then a series of mocking messages, asking if he was going to just fly up there. Jamie was vague with his answer, which he knew wouldn’t fool Segs in the slightest. He would absolutely know that was Jamie’s plan all along.

Segs: I may have acquired her address.

Me: Well. What is it?

Segs: Why do you want to know?

Jamie frowned, trying to think of a good reason.

Segs: Why does your friend want to know?

Me: Reasons.

Segs: What reasons?

Jamie growled.

Me: Why do you think? I’m going to send her a fruit basket. Just give me her fucking address.

The typing icon appeared for much longer than he was comfortable with. Jamie paced his living room, seconds away from just calling Segs and demanding he give up Elle’s address. When the text finally came through, he sighed in relief. He should have known Segs was just giving him shit.

He dragged his suitcase up to his room and exchanged three days of travel-worn clothes for fresh ones. His phone dinged with a text as he loaded the suitcase back up in his truck.

Elle: Wine was a bad choice. Now I’m drunk and sad.

He drove a lot faster than he should have all the way back to Love Field.

-------

It took almost two hours for Elle’s tears to finally dry up. She felt worn out and sent through the wash and she hadn’t even been the one stuck at random airports across the U.S. Jamie must be feeling a lot worse. Her texts were largely unanswered; he’d sent back a message after she’d admitted to drinking too much wine, and then another text telling her he’d figure something out.

Leaving the fixing of this situation to Jamie did not sit well with her. Especially since Jamie’s hands were a bit more tied with his job. Jetz could get along without her for a couple of days. What’s his face with the new baby owed her one. The Stars could not do without their captain once practice resumed.

“I should just fly down to Dallas. There’s a flight leaving in a few hours I could be on.” Her voice broke the background noise of the TV. Elle glanced at Nicole to see her reaction and was perplexed to see her friend had visibly paled. Nicole glanced over before snatching Elle’s phone out of her hands. She took Elle’s palms gently, and told her in no uncertain terms that it would be a very bad idea for Elle to get on a flight for Texas.

“You just got back from a terrible weekend. I get it. Let it settle, though. You’re not going to do anyone any favors running off half-cocked to Dallas.”

Elle frowned. Nicole had just held her through hours of sobbing and carrying on. Nicole had consoled her and listened to her moan and bitch about just needing Jamie like she was a useless sack of potatoes without him.

She’d been ridiculous. The one other time Nicole had seen her like this, she’d practically kicked Elle out of her apartment for bringing the mood down. But now Nicole was insisting that she stay put?

“It wouldn’t be half-cocked. I’d tell him I was coming. Obviously. It’d be a dick move to just show up on his door step.” It would also be a miracle to get to his house without his knowledge. She had no idea where Jamie lived. But she did know who knew and it would be pretty spectacular to surprise him.

Nicole could read the thoughts just by watching the expressions change on her face. “It would be a dick move. It would also be rash and poorly planned. You have to work tomorrow, remember?”

“Yeah, but that’s not a big deal. I can call in.” Duh. Seriously, what was Nicole’s deal?

The redhead dropped Elle’s hands and grabbed onto her shoulders now, shaking her lightly with every word. “Do you hear yourself? You’ve never called off work.” She shook harder now. “Jamie Benn is not worth losing your amazing job over.”

Elle didn’t know that she entirely agreed. Nicole had a point that she never missed work but she wouldn’t lose her job. She’d cover her own ass. Everything would be fine.

As though she was completely aware she was fighting a losing battle against Elle’s internal monolog, Nicole grabbed at the bottle of wine sitting on the table. She poured a healthy glass. “Okay. I won’t talk you out of this, not yet. So, you’re going to drink this wine. We’re going to watch a couple of episodes of 30 Rock, and then, when it’s time for you to get ready to go to the airport we’ll talk again.”

Elle opened her mouth to protest. Nicole practically dumped a gulp of wine down her throat.

“All right, for Christ’s sake. I wasn’t going to leave immediately anyway.” Elle pouted again.

Fuck Nicole, very much.

Two episodes turned into four and the three bottles of wine Nicole had stocked up dwindled down to a half full Cabernet. Elle had her fair share, but Nicole had always been the heavier drinker. As the credits rolled on the last episode, she pushed up from the couch gently so as to not wake the napping Nicole. She planned on repacking her bag and being out of the city before Nicole woke, the plane to Dallas taking off in a little under two hours.

She was almost dead silent as she exchanged her dirty clothes for clean ones. She’d dirtied most of her nice sun dresses so she stuck to shorts and tank tops. Her suitcase was lighter, she felt a lot better now that she had a plan, and she should have been looking at something other than her phone when she walked back to the living room.

Her suitcase banged loudly on her hallway end table and Nicole bolted awake.

“What about the bees?!” Elle froze, staring at Nicole in panic. She must have been having a hell of a dream. The redhead took a deep breath before she turned to look at Elle. Her eyes were wide, startled and grumpy.

“Elle. What are you doing?”

Elle set her suitcase behind her gently, hoping to hide the evidence of sneaking out. “Nothing. Just grabbing some more wine.”

Nicole’s brow furrowed. “What’s with the suitcase?”

Elle pushed it back a little farther with one foot. “What suitcase?”

The other woman’s sigh was heavy as she stalked over to her friend. She ignored Elle’s squawk of irritation and grabbed the offending article up. “You’re not going to Dallas. It’s a stupid plan. Just relax, take a nap. Everything will be better when you wake up.”

Elle pouted. Nicole glared. Elle reached for her suitcase. Nicole stalked to the door. Ripping the portal open she chucked the suitcase into the hallway and slammed the door behind it. “No. Stop being so obstinate.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You want me to have hot crazy sex, right? And the fastest way to accomplish that is by going to Dallas. Right?! What part of this plan isn’t coming across with you?!” Elle really just couldn’t understand what the fuck Nicole was thinking.

Her friend sighed heavily, hands on her hips. “Look. I know you want to run off and fix this just like you fix everything else. But you have to believe me that everything is going to be okay. You have to.” Her eyes shifted to her phone on the table as it buzzed.

Elle had the thought that Nicole had spent a lot of time over the last handful of hours since she’d returned home texting someone. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Nicole shook her head and went to check her phone. Elle growled. Nicole’s face lit up a little at whatever the screen said and Elle knew instantly that Nicole was plotting. Nicole was plotting something and she wasn’t telling Elle and whatever was going on required her to stay home.

She really hoped Nicole was secretly arranging her secondary transit to Dallas and wasn’t trying to break her heart. Her heart had been through enough over the last few days. Whatever this secret plan was, Elle really needed to know. She attempted to be stealthy and sneak up on Nicole but the redhead had a preternatural observation skills. Her phone rocketed to the sky, out of Elle’s reach.

“What does the phone say, Nicole?” Elle jumped, her fingertips grazing the bottom of the phone case. She jumped again. Nicole held her back with a hand on her shoulder. Elle had never been so frustrated by being just two inches shorter than her friend.

“None of your business, Elle. Just relax. I’m-“

Elle caught Nicole by surprise, rolling under her hand to catch the other woman in the chest with her shoulder. They tumbled to the floor, barely missing the coffee table. “Jesus fuck, Elle! You’re going to kill us.”

“Just let me see the phone. I’m not above suplex-ing you, you know.”

“You don’t even know what that is!”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Give me the phone or you’ll find out.”

A tussle ensued, both reaching for the phone and getting pulled away by the other. Elle was breathing hard by the time she had Nicole straddled across the middle of her chest, her arms pinned by Elle’s knees and the cell phone held victoriously in Elle’s hand.

“Now then, what’s the ruckus?” She unlocked the phone and immediately frowned. The most recent text was the last in a long line, with a coded sender and a strange message.

That One Dude: Just landed. 30 minutes or less. Good luck Ginger.

“What the fuck Nicole?”

Nicole wiggled, trying to throw Elle off. “Get up. You’re squishing my tits.”

Elle rolled her eyes and went all the way to the beginning of the conversation. Almost two weeks ago.

That One Dude: So you’re the best friend. Are you hot?

Me: Hotter than you, that’s for sure.

That One Dude: You wound me. How is Thing 2 doing?

Me: Singing Disney tunes. Totally tone deaf. I may cry.

That One Dude: Ugh, that’s the worst. Thing 1 decided he needed a whole new wardrobe and dragged me off to Kohl’s. Like, what millionaire shops at Kohl’s?

The texts went on like this with Nicole bantering with this random, strange person. And talking about Thing 1 and Thing 2 and- dammit Elle had too much wine to deal with this shit. “Seriously Nicole, what the fuck?”

“If you haven’t figured it out by now, I feel so sorry for your future offspring. Their mother is a moron.”

Elle stared down at Nicole. She was smiling devilishly up at her. She opened her mouth to demand further explanation when there was a knock on the door.

Both women turned to look, as though they could discern the intruder before actually getting up and checking. Nicole took advantage of Elle’s distraction, shoving her up and over her head. Elle sprawled, disoriented with the wine and absolutely not expecting some Judo shit from Nicole.

The redhead sprang to her feet and snatched her phone up from where Elle had lost control of it. “That’s my cue to ditch. You’re welcome dumbass.”

Elle rolled over to her back, elbows partially propping her up. She couldn’t see the whole door from her vantage point, the entry way not wide enough for her to catch a glimpse of the person waiting in the hallway. Especially not with Nicole blocking the view.

She sure as shit heard Nicole’s overly excited hello. And her goodbye as she pushed out of Elle’s apartment.

When Jamie, Jamie fucking Benn, walked into her apartment she was beyond flabbergasted. Eyes wide, limbs going numb from shock and her position, and her mouth working like it wanted to get something out but totally unable to string together coherent thoughts. Jamie called out her name before he caught sight of her lying on the floor.

“Elle! Are you all right?”

She probably looked like a mess.

Jamie took another step into her world. She vaguely realized that he looked exhausted and worn thin. And so fucking amazing. Yet, hesitant. Because he’d said her name a couple of times now and she hadn’t responded. Just stared at him in shock and awe.

Elle took a deep breath to sort her thoughts, hoisting herself a little higher, and said, “Holy fucking shit.” She was dreaming. That was the only possible explanation. He couldn’t really be there. She had to know, had to be sure this wasn’t real because this sort of shit didn’t happen in real life. Love stories like this didn’t actually happen to real people. “Come here. Right. Now.”

His eyes narrowed warily but he complied, shutting the door and setting his bag down first. When he crossed the living room to offer her a hand, Elle took it without hesitation. He lifted her easily. For some reason she’d remembered him being shorter. She wondered if they’d ever been around each other when she wasn’t wearing heels at least three inches tall. Probably not.

And good fucking lord that T-shirt. It strained across his chest, the soft looking cotton hardly adequate at hiding the strength she knew was hiding underneath. His skin was pale but the white of his shirt made the tattoos running down his arms look vibrant in the dim light of her apartment. Jamie’s one hand lingered on hers, the other coming up to cup her elbow. His skin was warm where they touched.

He was there.

She wasn’t dreaming. This wasn’t some strange alcohol-fueled delusion.

He was right in front of her.

Nicole’s reluctance to fess up to any planning or shenanigans made perfect sense right at that moment, as did the cryptic texts. Tyler had to be ‘That One Dude’, the two of them scheming. She thanked the both of them mentally for making sure they didn’t have another terrible missed connection. More fruit baskets would be necessary. “Elle-“

Her mouth cut Jamie off before he could continue to wonder if her brain had broken. He tasted like coffee and spearmint chewing gum, his lips as soft as she’d always hoped they’d be. And he was motionless under her ministrations, tension or worry or the fact that they were physically strangers keeping his from moving. That only lasted as long as it took her to coax his lips open.

Jamie swept her in close, his arms hiking her up his body. Her feet left the ground so she wrapped his legs around his waist. Jesus fucking Christ he was there and she was wrapped around him. She groaned, not knowing what else to do. A hand buried frantically into her hair, tilting her head and giving him better access to her mouth.

She made a noise at that, the breathy, high-pitched whine he’d mentioned liking weeks ago. It spurred him on.

He pulled back with a growl. She tried to chase him, to keep kissing him, but he shook his head. “Bedroom. Now.”

“Down the hall, last room on the right.”

Jamie’s steps were hurried and a fumble through the unknown. Despite the unsteady sway of his gait, Elle’s body was secure in his arms, hands anchoring them together. She pulled him into another kiss, this one with infinite more teeth than the last. His bottom lip was supple as she nipped at it. “Elle.” His voice was a warning as much as it was a plea. She bit again, a little harder, and his grip shuddered around her.

“Jamie. Please.”

He shuddered again. Bed be damned, he pinned her to the wall of her hallway. His hips had no problem supporting her weight when he leaned back far enough to rip his t-shirt off. Her eyes blurred at the sight of him. Mid-season physique for Jamie Benn was a lot of bulky muscles and angled joints. No wonder she’d felt weightless to him. He probably benched twice her weight as a warm up.

Elle obediently lifted her arms when he tugged at the hem of her shirt. She hadn’t wanted to bother with a bra earlier, and all support was stripped bare as he almost tore her tank top in half. His eyes devoured the sight of her bare torso. Her name fell from his lips like a litany. Elle arched her back as inquisitive fingertips found the peak of one breast. Fuck he was going to kill her. She tried to convey this with words, beg him again to get a move one. All pleas were cut short when he dipped his head to lave at her flesh with his nimble tongue.

“Jamie, fuck! Come on.”

Fingers stumbling over familiar buttons and zippers; Jamie had a couple false starts on his jeans as she distracted him with every line of her body. Elle would have helped, but her own hands were full with his shoulders. She traced the dip of his clavicle and chased the touch with her mouth. His skin was smoother than she’d expected, tasting of sweat. His head fell back when her teeth found a particularly sensitive spot on his neck.

“Elle. Elle your pants.”

She lifted her head reluctantly, knowing he’d have to let her down to get her pants off. The hall way acrobatics would have to be put on hold, momentarily. The wooden hall was cold against her bare toes but Jamie didn’t give her much of a chance to think about it. He hooked his thumbs in her waist band and swept everything to the floor.

Her head thumped against the wall hard. On the way back up he hitched one leg back up, spreading her wide. From the wicked burn in her nether regions, she knew that she had to be soaking wet.

Jamie’s eyes locked on hers, his pupils blown wide. She gulped at the determination she found in his gaze. He lowered his head, his mouth finding the pulse at her throat as his thumb grazed her cleft. Elle sobbed at the electricity his touch sent shooting up her spine. Yeah, she was soaked. Jamie’s grip on her thigh tightened at the discovery, her name murmured against the skin of her jaw.

“Elle, I can’t wait.” He leaned forward to punctuate his low whine. She could feel him press into the soft curve of her stomach. He was hard and long against her. She nodded frantically. Yes, no more waiting.

He picked her up easily again. The wall offered them both a measure of balance. “Are you sure?” He looked like he would cry if she said no. It was charming that he thought to ask though.

“Yes. Fuck yes. Please.”

Their eyes locked as he positioned himself. Elle was about to compliment him for not needing to look as he pushed in just the tip. Jamie held himself there, the arm he had braced next to her head shaking with the effort not to move any more. She suspected it was a kindness to her; the size of him against her stomach had made her mouth water. His length had probably given women problems in the past. That wouldn’t be an issue here, not with how fucking worked up she was.

“Oooooh fuck. More.” He gave her another few inches and her head thrashed. Christ he was wide. But she could still take more. “Jamie, I need all of you.”

That was the perfect thing to say. He whined again and slid all the way in. Elle’s voice joined his as he started a furious pace. He was lighting her up, both inside and out. And he was almost hitting that spot inside her she knew would make her go off like a top.

“What do you need?” It was like he knew he was just a smidge off.

“Tilt my hips up. I can’t- wrong angle.”

He stilled, taking a tiny step back to give her some space. Both of his hands came down to hold her ass. And yes. When he resumed his pace, he pushed right up into that spot inside her. Elle’s fingers grasped at the wall behind her. She was kept afloat with her shoulders and physics but the repetitive push was about to make her fly off into space.

“Jamie. Yes. Please- I-“

He groaned out her name, pulling her up to meet his every thrust and that was it. Elle was done for. She grabbed at his shoulders, knowing boneless-ness was on its way and Jamie helped her along. His arms shifted around her, pulling up right into his body. It set off a chain reaction, the last of her orgasm pulling her right into another as his pelvic bone pressed hard against her clit.

She let out a surprised yelp, head lolling back and eyes closed. Holy fuck.

“Holy fuck. Elle.” He sounded close.

She really wanted to care and she would. Really, she would. As soon as her body woke the fuck back up.

His hip pistoned in double time, and she could actually feel him grow impossibly harder inside her. She squeezed down on his length and Jamie shouted, her name the only recognizable sound. His hips shot forward and paused as his body shook into her. Jamie rode out his orgasm with his weight pinning them both to the wall. Elle ran a tender hand through his hair, secretly amused that it still looked great despite the mind bending sex.

Their heavy breathing was the only sound in the apartment for a long while.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and pleased. He pressed a kiss below her ear and leaned back just enough to look down into her eyes. Elle could have drowned herself in that warm brown gaze. He smiled, almost a little sheepish since he was still buried inside of her, holding her up and keeping her close. “Hi.”

She knew this smile; it was the secretly pleased but still a little shy smile she’d come to love during their Skype chats.

In person is was way more endearing.

She kissed his nose because she couldn’t help herself and then leaned in, resting her forehead against his cheek. “Hi.”

Notes

I AM SO SORRY I HAD TO TORTURE THEM SO LONG. I didn't want to but my muse wouldn't let me write it any shorter. As a consolation for dealing with the angst and terrible travel, have some sex. And, of course, the next chapter will likely be much of the same.

Thanks for the comments! :)