All Hands on Deck

The Pens went back on the road for a few days and Tessa spent some quality time with Kessel, who had to stay behind because of his back. She worked on him a couple times each day for a couple of days and he started feeling better. He was walking without pain and on the Pens first day back, he told her he was going to the rink to skate around for a bit to see how that felt.

He was in her living room doing some floor stretches under her supervision. “You wanna come? You know how to skate, right?”

“I do, I used to play hockey.”

He grinned up at her. “For real? Then you gotta come. I’m challenging to you a game of one on one, you can’t back out now.”

Laughing, Tessa bent to help him deepen a leg stretch. “You really think you can bully me into it by throwing around challenges?”

“Maybe?”

“Well…you’re right. Let’s go, I’m gonna take you down, Phil.”

They drove to the arena together and it was still early, before morning skate was set to start. Raiding the locker room they found some old equipment that kind of fit Tessa, if only being slightly too big. Luckily she was pretty tall and she made it work, throwing on a practice jersey over the top. She still had her old skates that she had brought with her from Reading, so at least the most important piece of the whole get up fit her properly.

She used the visitor’s locker room and when she was dressed, she met Phil in the hallway. “How do I look?”

“Pretty ridiculous actually. Whose pads are those?”

“No idea, they were the smallest ones, unmarked. Hope I don’t piss anyone off too badly.”

“Naw, they’ll get over it. Come on.”

Gathering up sticks and pucks, they hit the ice, both of them tentatively. Phil was worried about his back, he didn’t want to rush into it and ruin all her hard work. Tessa was just hoping she didn’t fall on her ass, though the padded pants would at least keep her a little protected from harm.

She watched him closely, letting him build up steam and skate a few wide circles before she moved away from the benches. “Feels ok?”

“Really great, pretty much normal. You’re a goddamn miracle worker.”

Tessa glowed with pride. “Good. Glad to hear it.”

Then, she did something she hadn’t done in years, she pushed off in her skates and did a few rounds around the rink. She couldn’t help the giggles that came flooding out of her and Phil started laughing at her. “Having fun?”

“Yes, actually. I had forgotten how much fun this is. How much it feels like flying.” She couldn’t stop and Phil joined her, skating alongside and matching her pace.

When she turned on a dime and started going backwards, he do so as well, not missing beat. Laughter started again and echoed through the empty rink. When they came towards the bench, Tessa slowed and then stopped, breathing heavily, but smiling.

“Whew, I guess I’m a little out of shape!”

“It’s hard work. How long did you play hockey?”

“I don’t know, six, seven years.”

He tossed her a stick. “Alright, hot shot. Let’s see what you got.”

With no goalie, they started doing one on one battles that were more play than serious. Tessa was terrible at defending so he scored nearly every time. Then again, she was pretty quick and once she got her legs under her, she could be elusive and managed to score a few times herself, but Phil still took the puck away from her more often than not due to her very poor puck protection skills.

Then, they were just goofing around, taking turns trying to see who could do the most ridiculous breakaway shot when they heard voices coming down the tunnel.

Geno skated out to meet them first. “Hey, my friend, you look good.”

“Thanks. Nessie’s been putting me through my paces.”

Geno looked at her in the ill-fitting equipment and nodded. “You look terrible, but skate very nice.”

“Thanks, pal. You’re a sweetheart.”

When Sidney skated up to them, Tessa thought his smile was going to fall off his face it was so big. She hadn’t told him she would be at the rink. “What’s all this?”

“I worked on Phil’s back this morning, he wanted to try skating. I had to come with, as his medical professional, of course.” Her grin told them she was joking and it was returned by Geno, Sidney, and Beau who had also skated up.

Sidney looked her up and down, wondering how he could be having sexual thoughts about a woman drowning in hockey pads. He thought about taking the equipment off of her, piece by piece as she did the same to him. Then, his eyes landed on her hands. “Are those…my gloves?”

Tessa looked down, she hadn’t even noticed, she had just grabbed the nearest ones, but sure enough, there was the little 87 in bold white numbers right on the wrist. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I know how you are about people touching your stuff.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Tessa felt awful and she couldn’t tell if he really thought it was ok or if he was just saying that because it was her. She started to pull the gloves off. “No, no, I’m really sorry. I should have checked.”

Sidney pushed the glove she had halfway off back onto her hand. “Keep ‘em. Seriously, it’s not a big deal.”

Beau added, “Cap needs to chill about that shit anyway. And they look better on you.”

They shared a laugh and Tessa said, “Alright, I should let you guys get to it.”

Phil was the first to protest. “No way, it’s not practice. Hang out. I still need to see your one timer.”

“Come on, you don’t want me in the way. You have work to do.”

Sidney shook his head. “Oh, I’m with Kessel on this one, I think we all need to see the famous Philly one timer.”

Geno nudged her shoulder with his. “Bet you’re better than Giroux.”

Tessa laughed, but agreed. “Alright, alright. You guys do your thing, but I need a break. I’ll show you how we girls do it in Philly when you’re done.”

She sat on the bench and watched the boys go about their morning skate business. Everyone was happy to be home and the chirping and laughter was worse (rather, better) than normal. Afterwards most of them hit the showers, but Sidney, Phil, Beau, Geno, and Hagelin hung around and took some shots at the empty net.

With Sidney passing to her, Tessa showed off her one timer, eventually. She whiffed on her first try and she thought the guys were going to die laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up, assholes. I don’t do this everyday like you do.”

Sidney was still giggling when he fed her another pass; her shot went wide, but banged loudly off the boards with authority. She took a few more and the rust started to wear off, her shot getting harder and more accurate each time. The boys, eventually, were actually impressed.

When she skated over to where they were hanging on the bench, Geno nodded his approval and said simply, “Better than Giroux.”

“You guys spoil me. I think it was the 87 gloves that did it.”

“Don’t try to blame my gloves for your awesomeness, that’s all you.”

Hagelin chimed in, “We’ll have to get your own, though. You got a number?”

“I used to be double zero, but when they made me pick a real one, I was lucky thirteen.”

The superstitious Sidney pulled a sour face. “Thirteen is unlucky, seven is the lucky number.”

“Not for me. I was born on a Friday the thirteen, I was thirteen when I got my first pair of skates, when I kissed my first boyfriend.”

Sidney rolled his eyes. “Ok, when we start talking about first boyfriends that means skate is over. I need a shower.”

Hagelin stood as well. “Agreed. You coming to the game tonight, Nessie?”

She thought about it. A week ago she would have said no, too awkward, but after game night at Flower’s and everyone welcoming her at morning skate as if she never left, she felt at home with them in the arena as she ever did. She replied, “If I’m invited, yeah, that’d be fun.”

In unison they said, “You’re always invited.” Sidney finished for them, “I’ll talk to Larry, we’ll put you with the wives and girlfriends.”

Tessa laughed and noted how he refused to meet her eyes. “I feel honored, those are great seats.”

Phil added, “Véronique will be there, too. She’ll be happy to see you.”

“Can’t wait.”

The boys went to shower and Phil drove Tessa home. Sidney texted her that he was going to run home as well, then he would be over and expected a proper welcome home greeting when they were alone. After she smiled at his text, she saw she had a voicemail from that morning and she listened to the message.

“Hey, this is Don with the Flyers, we spoke a week or so ago about a massage therapist position. Give me a call when you get a chance. My number is…”

She already had the number saved in her phone and dialed him back right away. “Hey, Don, it’s Contessa Higgins. Sorry I missed you this morning.”

“No problem, thanks for getting back to me. I wanted to talk to you about a job, if you’re interested.”

“Yeah, yeah, definitely.”

“Glad to hear it. Let me see here.” She heard him digging through a stack of papers and then he was continuing. “Alright, your salary requirements are doable, game rate just about what we were expecting, but right now we really only need a part time person, someone in Philadelphia, no road trips. That being said, we can offer you a two year deal, in addition to the rest of this season. Does that work for you?”

“Um, yes, I could make that work.”

“Obviously if circumstances allow we would look to expand your position, take you on full time and whatnot.”

“Of course, yeah, that would be great, but right now, I’m fine just staying in Philly.”

“Good, good. You’re from Philadelphia, right?”

“Not originally, but I lived there most of my life.”

“Nice, then you’ll get settled back in alright. Sounds like we have an agreement?”

“I think so, Don.”

“Should I have them send the contract, then? To the email address on your resume?”

“Yes and yes, that would be great. I’m really excited to get started.”

“Us too, when can you get here?”

“Whenever you need me I guess.”

“How about Wednesday?”

That was two days away, entirely feasible. “I can do that.”

“Then welcome to the Flyers organization Ms. Higgins. Remind me to treat you to a steak when you get into town.”

“Ha, will do. Thank you so much for this. I’m incredibly grateful that you even took my call, considering I contacted you out of the blue.”

“You have good timing, we had a need for your skills and you came highly recommended. Besides, when the great Crosby tells you not pass someone up, I figure we better listen.”

Tessa was really glad they were on the phone and not doing this in person because her jaw hit the ground. “Crosby?”

“Yup, said if we didn’t take you on we were fools. Had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“Wow, that’s sweet.”

“I’ll email you the contract today so you can go over it before you come in. Just bring it with you on Wednesday, ok?”

“Sure, sure thing. I’ll see you then.”

They hung up and Tessa sat down on her couch in a stupor. She felt close to a million emotions all at once and they were all overwhelming on their own, but together they were mind boggling. She was happy to have found work and with her hometown team no less. She was looking forward to going home to a city she loved, to her friends and her mom. She was excited for the new challenge, another adventure. She felt grateful for a second opportunity to work for an NHL team, a seemingly long term if not permanent position.

And then, on the other hand, she was sad to be leaving Pittsburgh, the city and the team. Her heart ached at the thought of not seeing Sidney everyday or at least knowing he was going to be home soon from a road trip. Then, she was slightly angry with him in that moment for intervening with Don on her behalf when he had to know she wouldn’t approve of his meddling. Soon after that thought she was filled with incredible affection for him that he was willing to help her get a job that he knew would take her away from him.

When the man himself came through her front door a half hour later, she was still sitting on the couch feeling too much of everything. “Hey.”

“Hi-ya, cutie. Nice to see you at morning skate. Glad you finally decided to show me your -” He stopped short when he saw her face. “What’s wrong?”

He sat on the couch next to her, dropping a plastic bag at his feet at he did so. Her smile never reached her eyes. “I got the job with the Flyers.”

Sidney nodded slowly and gave her a slightly sad smile as well. “I know.”

“You do?”

“Don called me yesterday, wanted to know what I thought about you. I figured with not a negative review to be found he’d have no choice but to hire you. Just a matter of time.”

“You didn’t reach out to him?”

“No, Tessa, I would never have, I know you wouldn’t like it. He reached out, me and a couple of the other guys got calls yesterday.”

“He only mentioned you. I guess an opinion from the great Crosby as he called you goes a long way.”

Sidney laughed silently and his smile became boyish and playful. “Well, not to toot my own horn, but I can be pretty influential in this hockey business.”

“Sid…” She inched over and crawled into his lap, linking her arms behind his neck and kissing him deeply. “Thank you. Thank you for doing that. For saying good things about me.”

“Not that I mind, but you don’t need to fall all over me because I told the truth.”

“Yeah, but you could have told the truth without lobbying for me, without telling him he’d be a fool not to hire me.”

“Tess, listen. I don’t want you to go, but I know you can’t stay. If you’re gonna leave, I want it to be for the best fucking job, your dream job, the one that’s gonna make you a success, but more importantly, the one that’s gonna make you the happiest. That’s this one, right?”

“Yes, this is the perfect opportunity.”

“Then you should have it. I want you happy, always. That’s it, period, nothing else to say. We’ll see each other, talk every day, whatever you need from me, I’ll give it to you. I’ll fly you back here whenever you have a day off, I’ll drive to Philadelphia every other day to see you if that’s what it takes. The one thing I won’t do is be the person who holds you back. Not when you have so much to give this world.”

“You…Sidney…I hate you for making me tear up right now.”

“Hey, no crying, that was your rule.”

Tessa laughed and brushed away a tear or two. “Ok, but these are happy tears. Some I can’t believe this super fantastic man is my life tears.”

“Still, we’re not crying over this. This is good, amazing!” He shook her in his arms. “Right? Aren’t you so fucking excited?”

“I am, I just didn’t wanna be all happy about it because of what it meant for us.”

“Fuck that. I told you, months ago, you and me can make this work, here, there, separate, together, doesn’t matter. So be happy, you earned it.”

A bright smile erupted on her face. “I’m going to Philly, baby.”

“Hell yeah you are!” He kissed her like a madman and she laughed against his mouth. After his phone call from Don the day before he had spent the rest of the day and night coming to terms with her actually leaving. His joy and enthusiasm for her were genuine, mostly because he held firm to the fact that this was the best thing that could have happened to her and he was gonna be supportive no matter what it meant for them. He kissed her one last time and said, “And I have something you can take with you. Two things, actually.” He reached down and grabbed the bag he had brought in with him. “The first is for you to wear tonight and then every day of work at your new job.”

Tessa was giggling as she unfolded the Penguin’s alternate black and yellow jersey and then turned it over to read the back: Higgins, 13. “Sid! Oh my God, this is perfect. But you know I can’t wear this in Philly, right? I’ll get fired, first of all, and probably beat up when I hit the streets afterwards.”

“Fine, fine, then you wear it tonight and whenever you come to Pittsburgh.”

“Deal. And the other?”

“Look at it.”

She pulled out another jersey, same black and bright yellow, this one, however, had a different name and number on the back, along with a C on the front. Tessa quirked her eyebrow at him. “You got me one of your jerseys? Is this like a marking your territory thing?”

Sidney shrugged. “Probably. It’s a woman’s jersey too that I purposefully got in the smallest size so it’ll be all tight and sexy.”

“Tight and sexy?”

“Yup, but that one you can only wear when you call me for phone sex. Or when we get together. Deal?”

“You’re a perv, but sure, deal.”

“Nice, go put it on for me now.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. If I have to live with you working for the Flyers you have to wear the tight and sexy jersey with my name on your back.”

Tessa rolled her eyes, but stood. “Oh, lord, I can hear it now, every request from you will be followed by a ‘I live with you working for the Flyers so you have to blah blah blah.’”

Sidney smacked her ass hard. “Don’t sass me you fucking Flyer or I’m not gonna visit you in Philly.”

Tessa scoffed. “Please, like you could go that long without sex.”

“Who says I’d be without sex?”

Her mouth hung open at the insinuation that he would find satisfaction with another woman and Sidney immediately burst out laughing, chasing her down and then heading to the bedroom with her wrapped up in his arms. “Totally kidding, but now you know I feel when you bring up Raffl in bed.”

“I suppose I deserve that, then. Fair enough.” He started kissing her neck and she reached inside his sweatpants to palm his cock. “You want me to put this on or what?”

He yanked it out of her hand and tossed it aside before he pulled back to peel off her shirt. “Fuck the jersey, I just need to be naked and inside of you as soon as possible.”

Tessa grinned as he nestled his face between her shoulder and neck. “And that's why I adore you so much.”

“When do you leave for Philly?”

“I have to be there by Wednesday. And I expect you to do nothing but fuck me every second you’re not at work for the next two days, deal?”

He dropped to his knees and pulled down her pants before licking at her pussy and smiling. “Deal.”

Notes