Staci sat at the one of the tables in the back of the room in family lounge as she waited for Tyler after the game. It was just passed eleven o’clock and most of the families were gone by now, but she didn’t expect anything less. The Star’s just lost a tough one to the Blackhawks so she knew Tyler would be one of the last ones out of the room, at least he usually was after a loss.
Tyler walked out, followed by the two Benn boys, the only reason she knew who the other brother was, was because she meet him before the game, along with the rest of the team. Tyler walked straight to where Staci sat and dropped his head on her shoulder.
Staci couldn’t help but smile as she ran her hand though his dark hair. “Pizza at your place,” she asked, wanting to cheer up Tyler somehow, even though she knew it would be hard to do after a loss.
He nodded, not lifting his head from her shoulder, “can Jamie come too?”
“Of course,” Staci laughed, I mean she couldn’t really say no, it was his house after all.

---

“Remember that time at Steven’s party.” Tyler laughed as Jamie, Staci and he all sat around his coffee table in the living room, empty pizza boxes in the middle. It was just past one in the morning at this point but no one cared, they were all having too much fun, and even though it was at Staci expense, she didn’t care because at least Tyler was happy.
Staci leaned forward, head in her hands as she groaned which only made Tyler laugh harder as she mumbled, “that one still haunts me.”
“What happened?” Jamie nudged Staci’s foot from where he sat next to her on the couch, because now he was dying to hear this story. Even though he didn’t think it was possible that this story could be better than hearing the story about the drunken strip tease that Staci once gave the hockey team, or the party where Staci supposedly made out with her best friend Mary.
“Well let’s just say Staci may have had a little too much to drink and at the time there was this rumor going around that we were going out,” he pointed between Staci and himself with a grin, “so Staci wanted to prove to everyone that we were not going out and so she came up with this crazy plan that she was just going to make out with every guy at the party.” Tyler and Jamie laughed, “I think she may have even made out with a few girls too.”
“And the sad part is I couldn’t even defend myself because I don’t remember any of it, work up the next morning with a killer headache.” Staci shook her head as she lifted it up from her hands.
“So Tyler you have any drinks,” Jamie joked with a grin in Staci’s direction, “I wouldn’t mind a make out session, or possibly a strip tease.”
“Well Jamie,” Staci leaned on the corner of the couch so that she was facing Jamie, “you don’t need to get me drunk to make out with you.”
“And I think that is my cue to leave,” Tyler said as he pushed himself off the armchair with a shake of his head.
“You can take that as whatever you want to take it as.” Staci laughed with a wink in Tyler’s direction and with a roll of his eyes he disappeared from the room.
“So you and Tyler, eh,” Jamie raised one dark eyebrow at Staci as he leaned back on the couch, so that they were now facing each other.
She shook her head with a laugh, “Did Tyler tell you how we met?”
“No.”
Of course not, Staci thought to herself, Tyler hated that story almost as much as she hated Steven’s party story. “Well believe it or not, we meet at my friend Tracy’s party.”
“No way,” Jamie joked, “Tyler at a party.”
“Well Jamie you’re going to have to believe it,” Staci played along, “because Tyler was at Tracy’s party, when he was just a mere little sophomore. He asked me if I was cold because he knew how we could warm up,” she laughed as she thought about it and Jamie laughed along as he tried to image a young, awkward Tyler. “He even added a wink, as if I didn’t know what he meant.” Her stomach hurt as she laughed. “But anyway,” she took a deep breath, “after that he made it a point to find me at every party and each time he had a cheesier pick up line. A couple parties later I started to feel bad for him so I took him under my wing and we’ve been friends ever since.”
“Wow,” Jamie laughed as he leaned closer to Staci, “I didn’t peg you for the type of person to take pity on someone.”
“I don’t know if pity’s the right word. I would say I was being more selfish” Staci told him as she adjusted herself closer to Jamie. “You see I’m an only child and when Tyler kept pursing me I figured I could train him to be the little brother I never had.”
“So you are older than Tyler then?” Jamie asked with a smile as he noticed how her body followed his.
“You know it’s not nice to ask a lady her age.”
“Well I don’t see a lady around here.”
“You don’t know me.”
“No, but I’d like to.” Jamie bit his lip, almost shyly as he studied Staci with his brown eyes and Staci blushed, she actually blushed. That wasn’t something she was used to; usually Staci was the one making the guys blush.
She didn’t let that stop her though as she leaned in closer, their faces inches apart, as she spoke, “You know I have a room right up stairs if you’re interested.”
A coy smile slid onto Jamie’s face. He didn’t know what to say to that, so he did the only logical thing, he leaned in and closed the gap between them.

Notes