A Season of Firsts

10/11/15

“Cara, pleeeeeaaaase?” Olivia begged.

“Liv, on a Tuesday? You have school Wednesday and I have to be up at 5. Can't we go to a weekend game?”

“Not and meet the players!”

“Wait, you get to meet them too?”

“Yes! Jamie for sure. Maybe more. And you know he's my favorite. Come on, for once having MS is good for something! You've gotta go with me.”

“Ok ok I can't have you miss your chance to meet the love of your life,” Cara winked. “I'll go with you.”

“Oh my god, if you embarrass me in front of him I will never speak to you again,” Olivia said, wide-eyed. Then she smiled and tackle-hugged her aunt. “But thank you thank you thank you!”

Hugging her back, Cara chuckled. “You know I would never do that to you, kiddo. You should be glad your dad is out of town though, because my big brother would definitely embarrass you.”

“Oh god. Yes. Yes he would. And then I would have to kill him and you would have to adopt me.”

“Ha! Well we can't have that, now can we? I don't want to raise a jailbird niece-daughter.”

“Pfft. No jury would convict me.”

“Let's not find out, ok?” Cara laughed and Olivia nodded. She hugged Cara tightly before climbing onto the bed and pulling out her phone. She opened up her favorite picture of the Dallas Stars’ captain and turned the screen to show Cara. “Isn't he beautiful?” she sighed.

Cara looked at the photo and raised her eyebrows. “Wow, yeah, he's pretty cute.” Probably a douchebag, she thought. “Ok, now that that's settled, let's go eat.”

…

10/13/15

“Oh my god, there he is. Oh my god oh my god.”

“Liv, don't hyperventilate. Play it cool.”

“Yeah. Cool. I can be cool. Sure.”

Jamie made his way around the group, greeting each person individually. When he got to Olivia, she managed to hold it together.

“Hi, what's your name?” he asked.

“Olivia Ryan. It's great to meet you, Jamie. Nice goal tonight!”

“Thanks, it was a fun game, eh?” he grinned.

“Yeah it was. Tell Spezza congrats on the hatty. Can you sign my jersey?”

“Sure, of course,” he smiled as she handed it to him. “Oh hey, nice jersey. More of a Jordie fan myself though,” he winked. “Who's your friend here?”

Olivia giggled at his joke. “This is my Aunt Cara.”

“Nice to meet you, Jamie.” Cara shook his hand. “This is a very sweet thing for you to do for these kids. Liv’s really been looking forward to it. She's a huge Stars fan.”

“Happy to do it. How about you? You a Stars fan too?”

“Sure, but in a much more casual way. I don't watch a ton of hockey. I do like coming to the games with Liv sometimes.”

“Well we’ll have to see if we can get you to bring her to some more. What do you think, Olivia?” He flashed the teenager a big smile.

“Definitely!” she beamed. “You heard the captain, Cara. You should bring me to more games.”

Cara laughed. “Double teaming me! So unfair.” She put her hands up. “Ok I'll see what I can do. Only because you're my favorite niece.”

“Pffft. I'm your only niece. But I'll take it.”

“Ok ok. Jamie, can I get a picture of you two?” Cara asked.

“Yeah, sure. Actually, hold on.” He waved to one of the ushers. “You should be in it too,” he smiled at Cara. She shrugged an ok and handed the usher her phone, and Jamie put an arm around each of them, his hands on their shoulders.

“We're on the road the next couple weeks, but I hope you can come out when we're back in town,” he said to Cara when they were done with the photo.

“If you insist,” she smiled. “It’ll have to be a weekend though. This school night stuff was a one-time-only deal.”

“Oh absolutely. Can’t be responsible for any bad grades.”

Cara giggled. “I was talking about me, actually. I gotta be up at 5 in the morning.”

“Oh wow. Yeah, I should let you two get going then. Good night, ladies. See you soon.” Shaking their hands again, he flashed a big smile at Olivia and lingered a moment with Cara’s hand in his. A brief thought of how that hand would feel elsewhere on her body ran through her head, and she blushed as she looked up, only to see him blushing slightly too. They smiled softly at one another, then he turned to go greet some more guests. As he walked away, Olivia looked at Cara with saucer eyes and silently screamed “Oh. My. God.”

Cara, giggling at her, turned her toward the door. “Ok, you heard the man, let's go.” Liv elbowed her ribs as they walked. “Ow. What was that for?”

“Someone's still looking at you,” Olivia said, grinning.

She looked around and caught Jamie staring. He smiled bashfully and turned back to the fans he was talking to. But he kept glancing over at her and smiling. Cara smiled back at him but tilted her head toward the people he was with, telling him with her eyes to pay attention to them. He sheepishly looked at his feet for a moment before giving the other fans his full attention.

“Did you … did you just mom Jamie Benn?” Olivia laughed when they were out of earshot.

“Maybe,” Cara giggled. “He should've been paying attention to those people, not staring at us.”

“Staring at you, you mean. His eyes were not on me.”

“Oh, you're being silly. Why would he be looking at me? You're the fan.” But Cara knew she was right. She wasn't so naive that she didn't know when a guy was making eyes at her. “Besides, he's a professional athlete. Who am I? I don't run in his circles.”

“You are gorgeous.” Olivia did some quick math in her head. “And only eight months younger than him. He was so flirting with you.”

“Maybe he's just a flirt. Hot guys like that know they're hot. They love to get women all wound up over them. It's good for their enormous egos.”

“Oh so you do think he's hot.”

“I said I was skeptical, not blind. Yes, he's hot. Jesus, Liv.”

“Anyway, he's notoriously shy and reserved. To the point of rudeness, usually.”

“He didn't seem shy or reserved with us at all.”

“That's what I'm trying to tell you! He was flirting! Only explanation. I'll show you some of his awkward fan photos later. He put his hand on your shoulder, for god’s sake. He doesn't do that.”

“He had his hand on yours too, y'know.”

“Yes. Yes he did. And I may never wash this shirt again. But he wanted you in that picture. His hand was on my shoulder so it wouldn’t look weird that he was touching you.”

“Doesn't matter. Nothing will come of it. Not like he asked for my number or anything. I'm glad you got to meet your crush, though. And that I didn’t embarrass you.” Cara winked at her niece, who looked like she might break her face with the smile that was plastered across it.

“I'll let it go. For now. Because holy crap Jamie Benn talked to me! And put his arm around me! And said my name! I think I might die.” Cara occasionally forgot her very mature niece was only 16, but this squealing, flailing fangirl was adorable in all her melodramatic teenage glory. Cara smiled and giggled all the way home, listening to Olivia rave about the Stars captain — everything from his Art Ross trophy to his dimples.

…

A week later, Cara got an excited text message from Olivia.

Liv: He. Sent. Us. Tickets.

Auntie C: Who? To what?

Liv: Jamie Freaking Benn. To Sat game vs Fla.

Auntie C: Seriously? How?

Liv: Hospital. W our names on them. Dad picked up today

Auntie C: Well that's a little weird. Y'all gonna go?

Liv: Nooooooo addressed to me n YOU. Note says maybe these will help convince ur aunt to bring u to another game

Auntie C: Ohhh.

Liv: So can u go?

Liv: GLASS SEATS

Liv: And VIP passes

Liv: Told u he was flirting

Liv: OMG the captain likes u

Liv: Cara? U there?

Auntie C: I'm here. Calm down, spaz. I dunno Liv. It's a little creepy don't ya think? Tracking us down thru the hospital?

Liv: Not like he got address from them just sent tix there

Auntie C: Ok ok I'll go. But only because it will make you happy.

Liv: U r the BEST

Auntie C: Yeah yeah I know. ;p Love you kiddo. See you Saturday. What time?

Liv: Games at 7. Pick me up at 5?

Auntie C: Kk

…

10/24/15

“Holy shit!”

“Language.”

“Holy crap!” Olivia stuck out her tongue. “Cara, he gave us seats right where they do their little jump thing.”

“Their what?”

“You'll see. Just watch.”

Before she could question further, the players skated onto the ice for warmups. After a couple of focused laps, Jamie spotted them and flashed a grin. He kept to his routine, but every time he was near their seats, he'd glance over and smile. Eventually, Tyler Seguin hip checked him and cocked his head like a confused puppy, clearly asking what was up. Jamie grinned again and Tyler followed his eyes over to Cara and Olivia. Next time Tyler passed their way, he slammed into the glass right in front of them, making them jump and shriek in surprise, then he skated away giggling. Jamie saw and cracked up.

“What’s up with those two? Tag team?” Cara asked.

“They're best friends,” Olivia laughed. “And obviously co-conspirators.”

“Noted.” Nodding, Cara decided she'd better keep an eye on both of them.

A few minutes later, Tyler was showing off in front of them, stick handling and spinning around, when Jamie skated up and they jumped into each other, bumping shoulders in midair. Jamie skated off, laughing, and Tyler tossed the puck he had been handling to a fan before skating off as well.

“There! That’s their little jump thing. They do it before every game,” Olivia explained.

“Gotcha. Before every game, huh? That’s actually cute.”

“It is. They’re so adorable. They really are close. It shows on the ice, too.”

Cara smiled. The two did seem to have amazing chemistry. She wouldn’t admit it to Liv, but she had looked Jamie up online and watched a few videos. He seemed kind of awkward but charming, a hell of an athlete — and pretty easy on the eyes.

Jamie made one last shot at the net, then jumped into the glass in front of them and winked at them — they weren’t as startled this time — before heading off the ice. The rest of the players followed, Tyler skating off last. Olivia explained that this was also part of the routine — Tyler being the last player off, including the opposing team.

Through the first period, Cara caught Jamie a few times grinning and glancing over at her from the bench. The Stars scored first, one of Tyler’s shots deflecting in off Jamie’s skate and knocking the blade off, which caused a somewhat comical exit from the ice. After that, though, the game went downhill, and she didn’t get any more smiles from the bench. Jamie added a second goal in the third period — a prettier one than the first — but the Stars still lost 6-2.

After the game, they headed down to the VIP area to wait for the players. One or two at a time, the guys came out of the locker room, most stopping to say hi, pose for pictures, sign autographs. Jamie and Tyler were last out, along with Jason Demers, whispering and shoving each other as they walked over. Jamie introduced his teammates to Olivia first, then Cara. After they said hi to Cara, they both punched Jamie in the arm and giggled like children, then pulled Olivia into a selfie and chatted her up while they signed her jersey.

“So, um, sorry we couldn’t win this one for you,” he told Cara. “Did you have a good time anyway?”

Cara nodded. “I did. It was still exciting. Thanks for the great seats.”

“Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Glad you could make it. I wasn’t sure how to get you the tickets. Tyler suggested the hospital would know.”

“Well, I’ll have to thank him if I can pry him away from my niece. That was actually a great idea. Although I did think it was a little weird.”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to be weird. I, uh, just thought it’d be a good way to, uh, get you to another game. And I, uh …” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “... really wanted you to come. To a game. And um, I was happy to see you in the stands.” A blush crept up his neck as he talked. “So I was wondering, uh, we’re having a little Halloween party tomorrow, and I, um, wondered if you’d like to come. If you’re free.”

“Me? Or both of us?”

“Um, just you, actually. It’s not really a uh, kid-friendly party.”

“Oh I see. Is this a costume party?”

“Yeah but you don’t have to dress up if you don’t want to. Not everyone will.”

“Are you dressing up?”

He barked out a laugh. “Yeah, uh, me and those idiots over there,” he pointed at Demers and Seguin, still laughing and talking with Olivia, “we have a, um, group costume.”

“Oh. Well that sounds … intriguing. Can I think about it and get back to you?”

“Yeah, sure, absolutely. Let me give you my number, and you can, um, text me or call me if you want and I can give you the details.”

Cara unlocked her phone and made a new contact for him, then let him put in his number. His fingers brushed hers when he handed her back the phone, and he let them linger for a moment longer than strictly necessary, looking at her intently. She held his eye contact until she heard muffled giggling coming from the group a few feet away. When she turned to look toward the sound, she found her niece and two hockey players watching her and Jamie with their hands over their mouths, trying not to laugh. Busted, they burst out in giggles as she and Jamie walked toward them. Tyler and Jason high-fived Olivia before telling her and Cara good night and walking away. Jamie rolled his eyes at their backs, then bid farewell to Cara and Olivia with a nervous smile and an awkward wave. He trotted to catch up to the other boys and smacked both of them on the back of the head when he got there.

“Oh my god, did Jamie Benn just give you his number? Did he ask you out? Are you serious right now? Is this a dream? This is a dream, right?”

“Shut up,” she smiled. “Yes, he gave me his number. He invited me to a party. Not a date. And no, it’s not a dream. But it is late, and I need to get you home, so let’s go.”

All the way home, Olivia alternated fits of giggles and minor freakouts about her aunt being asked out by her favorite hockey player. Cara couldn’t help but smile at her, but she made her promise not to blab about it to everyone she knew. The poor guy deserved whatever tiny bit of privacy he could maintain, and he didn’t need a horde of teenage girls speculating about his social life — any more than they already did. Olivia gladly agreed, on the condition that Cara take her to more hockey games.

Notes