After I let my class out, I waited for James to show up. I didn’t know when he’d be back but I knew he that we were meeting at the studio.
I walked out to the front desk and smiled at Melissa, “Hey, I’m going to dance for a little bit but someone is supposed to be meeting me here, just send him back to Studio 7 okay?”
Melissa nodded and smiled at me before I turned around to head back to the studio. I wasn’t stressed but I was pissed. I understood that the girls were beginners but they should be able to remember a simple dance especially when we had been practicing the same dance for about two months and on top of that, I asked the moms to make sure their girls practiced and I’m positive none of them did. I groaned and started the music, taking my mind off the horrible class I had and tried to focus on something else. I let my mind wander as I danced. Every move was seamless. I moved from move to move without hesitation but my mind wasn’t on the dance or dancing, it was on James. Why did he want to get to know me so much? I wasn’t that interesting. The fact that he had come all the way to the dance studio after practice was a sure sign that he was serious about getting to know me but why. I had a lot of issues, dance was the center of my life, and most of all I was unreasonably stubborn. I finished the routine with a sigh and then jumped when I heard someone clapping. I turned around and saw James standing there with a smile on his face.

“How long have you been there?” I asked biting my lip.

James smiled, “Long enough to see that you love dancing.”

I blushed and looked down. I had always been self-conscious about my dancing even though I had won many titles, I still felt like I could have done more, “Dancing is my life. It has been since I was four, nothing has ever meant more to me than dance.”

“ What about your family?” He asked. I could tell he was slightly confused about my statement.

I bit my lip, “When I said that nothing was more important than dance, I meant dance to me is like hockey to you. It came before school, dating, all the things that a normal person would care about but not my dad, my dad always came before dance and Abby understood that. He was all I had besides dance. My dad and dance were all I had.”

“And where does Jill fall into this?” James asked.

I smiled, “We met at this studio. She has never been as big on dance as I was but her mom wanted her to try it out. She danced for a few years but when her mom realized that Jill had other interests and really didn’t want to dance, she decided it was better to pull her out than spend money on something that her daughter wasn’t interested in doing but we had already formed a bond, and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

“Are you ready to go?” He asked, I guess he was satisfied with my answers or he was hungry and would grill me more about dance and my life at the restaurant.

I nodded and grabbed my bag, “Yea, let’s get going, superstar.”

“I’m not the superstar here, that’s Crosby,” James said grabbing my bag from me. “But I’m okay with not being in the spotlight.”

I smiled, “I feel you are going to be bigger here than you think. Right now you are still trying to find your spot but mark my words next season, you are going to be big and have lots of fans here.”

“You think so?” He asked laughing slightly.

I nodded, “I know so. I told my dad when we got Jordy that he was going to be a great center and that we were hogging all the good players. When all three of them are healthy, I swear we could be unstoppable. All three of them, Geno, Sid and Jordy, are first line centers, or could be in Jordy’s case, but because of Sid, Geno is second line and Jordy is third. My dad know sees what I saw in Jordan in 2006, and before you know it you’ll see what I see in you.”

“How many of the guys do you know?” James asked holding open the door to the diner we had stopped at.

I chuckled, “All of them. Jill is dating Tyler and I have been friends with Vero since 2007. We met at a spin class and hit it off, through her, Jill met Tyler and they fell in love, and all I get is Jordan hitting on me now and then. Though I did go on a date with Kris but we realized that it would never work out besides friends between the two of us.”

“So, you’re the one that Vero has been trying to set me up with?” James asked with a laugh. “Who is your best friend on the team?”

I nodded, “Yea, Vero has been trying to get me to go to a game, well before you were traded her but even more now that you’ve been traded. She called me a whore when I told her that I met you already and that you lived in my building. My best friend on the team is probably Sidney.”

“Sidney, really?” James asked with a trace of humor in his voice. “How did that happen?”

I shrugged, “I guess we understand each other because we both are passionate about what we do. Hockey is his life just like dance is my life. We found in each other a sense of companionship that we could only find in someone who understands what its like to dedicate your life to one thing.”

“I guess I can understand that. I was just thinking maybe Marc-Andre or Jordan would be your best friend, never thought it would be Sidney,” He said with a grin.

I laughed and shook my head, “Jordan will tell you he is my best friend. He likes to think because we work out together, that makes him my best friend forever.”

“You work out with Jordan?” James asked frowning. “Didn’t you say he hits on you?”

I giggled, “All the time but I know that he is just a shameless flirt. Plus he has Heather, and those two are adorable together.”

“How does a girl like you not have a boyfriend?” James asked taking a sip of the water he just got from the waitress.

I rolled my eyes, “Because I’m dedicated to dancing. It has been the cause of every relationship that I’ve had breaking up. It has always been that way, so I’m waiting for the guy that will understand my dedication to dance. Sid and I joke that we might be the only people in the world that understands the other and that we should just get married already but I don’t think I could do that.”

“Why not? If Sid understands you so well, why not date him?” He asked with a small smile. I couldn’t tell if he was asking in joking way or if he was being serious or if he was asking to see what I was looking for, so he could be that guy.

I shrugged, “I guess mainly because he’s Sid the Kid and dating him would throw me into the limelight. I like my life the way it is, and dating him would turn it upside down. Plus, I’m not attracted to him at all.”

“And being attracted to someone is a huge part of it?” James asked with a smirk.

I nodded, “I can’t be with someone that I wouldn’t fuck.”

I giggled as James choked on his water. He looked at me wide eyed to which I looked back at him innocently as our food was placed in front of us. I waited for him to take a bite of his food before starting to eat my own. Every few seconds I looked up at James and smiled because I would catch him looking at me, which made me blush a little.

“LEXI-KINS!” Someone screamed causing everyone, and I mean everyone, in the diner to turn to the door and for me to slink down in the booth to hide from Jill but I knew it was too late, she had seen me and was on her way over to where James and I were at.

I looked at James and sighed, “I’m sorry for everything that’s about to happen.”

“Lexi-kins, you didn’t tell me that you had a date tonight,” Jill said with a giggle. “Oh, hi James. Lexi, you’re dating James Neal and you didn’t tell me, you whore.”

I blushed and looked up at her, “I’m not dating him, he asked me out to dinner as a thank you for helping with the washers the other night and you know that because I already told you.”

“And you also told me that you said no because you didn’t want to seem like a slut, yet here you are on a date with him,” Jill said as she raised an eyebrow at me. “And I thought you were coming home before the game to change.”

I shrugged, “Change of plans. Plus we are getting to know each other, as friends, Jill. Nothing more than just friends.”

“Sure friends,” She giggled and looked at James with a smile. “We are going to go and let you enjoy your friendly dinner.”

I felt my face heat up as she winked at me and headed to her and Tyler’s booth. I was going to kill her.

Tyler started to walk after Jill but stopped then pulled something out of his back pocket and tossed it at James, “Don’t forget to use that, don’t need any little mixtures of the two of you running around.”

My mouth dropped open and my face flushed as I looked at the silver packet sitting in James’s lap. Tyler had thrown a condom at James. I couldn’t believe that he had just thrown a condom at James and told him to use it. Why the hell did he have condoms in his back pocket? I finally looked at James, who looked just as embarrassed as I did. “I’m so sorry,” I started. “I don’t know what they were thinking.”

James laughed a little, “Its okay, they were obviously joking around. It’s really okay, I’m used to the guys in the locker room, trust me that is worse than this.

“I just can’t believe that he threw a condom at you,” I said biting my lip. “I mean we aren’t dating and I’m sorry. That’s just the way Jill and I are with each other.”

He smiled, “Really, it’s no big deal. Plus, if we were really dating, I’m pretty sure I would need this.”

I blushed, “You wish you would need that.”

“Are you saying you aren’t in the least bit attracted to me?” James asked with a smirk.

I bit my lip, “I’m saying that you aren’t getting any from me unless you actually work for it.”

“Maybe, I will,” He said with a grin.

I bit back a grin, “And just maybe in the end you’ll have to use that condom.”

James laughed and got up to pay the check before anything more could be said. I watched him talk to the cashier with a smile. He seemed to be a really great guy and he made me laugh but I wasn’t sure I wanted to date anyone right now. Especially since my life was so busy, did I have time to fit a man into my schedule and what if I fell in love with him, just to have him do what Adam did to me? I don’t think my heart could handle another break like that. I couldn’t help but smile when I heard him laugh lightly at something the cashier said. As much as I didn’t want to get involved with him, there was something enticing about him, something that made me want to throw all caution to the wind and jump head first into whatever he wanted from me. I smiled and got up from my seat as he came back.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said with a smile. “I should get going back to my apartment and you should get to the arena. I’ll see you after the game.”

James leaned down and kissed my cheek, making me blush, “I had fun we should do this again, soon. I feel like we could be best friend.”

“I feel this is the start of something great,” I said with a grin. “Good luck tonight.”

He smiled and waved goodbye before he headed towards the arena. I bit back another smile before I turned on my heal and walked towards my apartment. There was something about James Neal and I didn’t know what it was but I had a feeling it was going to turn my life upside down and there was a part of me that was excited about the possibilities, and another that was completely terrified but as my dad would say, whatever happens, happens. He would always tell me, you couldn’t live you life in fear of what might happen but live each moment like it was your last. I was finally going to listen to him, and live my life like every moment was my last and let whatever was meant to happen, happen. It was terrifying but exciting and I couldn’t wait to see where it took me or better yet where James would take me.

Notes