Gabrielle groaned happily as she closed the door behind her and walked into her apartment. Benet came up to greet her ecstatically and she returned the greeting unenthusiastically. She was too tired to even think let alone take the poor dog out for a walk like she normally did when she got home from work.

It was a rare fourteen-hour day; Gabby left the house at seven and didn’t get home until nine o’clock. Luckily, Sam took Benet for a really short walk before going on a big date. Gabby sat on the floor pathetically and stroked Benet. She closed her eyes and continued petting him absentmindedly until the phone rang and interrupted her sleepy daze.

Gabby grudgingly got up to search the kitchen for the home phone but Sam must have forgotten to put it back in the kitchen. Gabby half-heartedly ran to catch the phone in her room, fearing it was her mother. “Hello?” she asked, finally answering.

“Gabby?” Patrick asked.

“Hey! Patrick!” she smiled as she slipped off her large t-shirt. Going into work was just a matter of throwing on a sports bra, big t-shirt, and sweatpants and sitting for an hour while a makeup artist made you beautiful.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“Long, I just got home. No one was on their game so we had to do several takes of each scene. And I think our director was on his man-period,” she groaned.

“Man-period?”

“You know you have them,” Gabby and Patrick burst out laughing.

“So, are you busy tonight?” Patrick asked once his laughter died down.

“Nope, I’m just lounging at home and maybe going to bed early after a nice long bath,” Gabby shrugged as the doorbell rang and Benet bolted to the door, barking.

“Sounds relaxing,” Patrick commented as Gabby was walking to the door.

“Benet, move,” she muttered and tried to user Benet away from the door so she could answer. “Hang on a minute,” she sighed into the phone as she swung the door open. There stood Patrick with his phone to his ear and a goofy smile on his face. Gabby’s jaw dropped and he held up a bag of Chinese food.

“Do you always answer the door this dressed down?” he asked as his eyes scanned her body.

“I’m going to have to call you back,” she grinned and ran forward to hug him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he squeezed her tightly.

“Does this make your day better?” he asked smugly.

“It certainly does,” she smirked before leaning in to kiss him.

“Missed you,” he muttered as she continued her assault on his lips.

“This is probably the most precious thing anyone’s ever done. I feel like I’m in a movie,” she giggled.

“You’re cute,” he smiled and they walked inside. Gabby took the food from Patrick just in time for Benet to jump up and greet him.

“Hey buddy,” Patrick grinned as he pet an excited Benet.

“Thanks for bringing me dinner,” Gabby grinned.

“Thanks for kissing me half-naked when you opened the door,” Patrick winked.

“Oh my God, I totally forgot,” Gabby laughed after looking down and noticing she was just in a sports bra and sweat pants.

“You forgot you weren’t wearing a shirt? You are my kind of girl,” he smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“So you want to eat this on the couch?” Gabby asked.

“Yeah, should I grab some plates?” Patrick asked.

“Nah, it’s in boxes. Don’t dirty a plate,” Gabby waved as she grabbed some silverware.

Patrick grinned and shook his head as they made their way towards the couch. She set everything down and Benet followed them expectantly with a wagging tail. Patrick sat down on the couch and began unpacking the food. “Want to watch something?”

“What do you have?”

“Well, there’s a baseball game on and Sam restocked the beer. Interested?”

“Are you just pretending to be perfect or am I dreaming?”

“Not at all,” she laughed as she turned on the TV. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to put on a shirt.”

“Aw,” he whined and pouted. Gabby blushed and kept moving towards her room to slip on a tank top. Gabby came out only to find Patrick tossing pieces of chicken to Benet and Benet catching them midair.

“Boys,” Gabby said warningly with her hands on her hips. Two pairs of eyes turned her direction with matching guilty looks on their faces. “He’s not supposed to have people food.”

“Just dog food? That’s no way to live!” Patrick exclaimed.

“Yeah it is! It’s how you get them to live longer. Besides, he’s spoiled enough as it is,” she argued.

“Your mom is a party pooper,” Patrick said to Benet.

“Hey!” Gabby exclaimed as she ran and jumped on the couch.

“So, is your roommate going to interrupt another make out session?” he asked.

“Well, we’d have to be making out for her to get the opportunity,” she smirked and leaned towards him. “But I’m really in the mood for my lovely dinner,” she laughed as she grabbed a paper box and a pair of chopsticks.

“You’re a tease,” he pouted.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Gabby smirked.

“I plan on learning all about it,” Patrick smiled and Gabby’s heart fluttered. Patrick leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Patrick pulled away slowly and Gabby found it hard to breathe.

“I’ll go get that beer now,” she bit her lip and ran off to the kitchen.

Gabby didn’t know what it was about Patrick but he drove her crazy. He was sweet yet cocky and a really great kisser. Not to mention she had a lot of fun around him. It didn’t matter that her best friends thought it was sick she was dating her ex’s best friend, she was into him.

“Thanks,” Patrick grinned as Gabby handed him a beer and collapsed next to him. She grabbed a box of food and Benet crawled up on the couch to place his head on her leg and beg. Patrick wasn’t totally focused on the game; he was focusing more on the girl sitting next to him.

“What the fuck!” Gabby shouted angrily at a bad call and Patrick burst out laughing. “What?” Gabby pouted.

“You’re just precious,” Patrick poked her nose and she pouted further, “I’m just wondering if you’ll be like this at my hockey games.”

“Well, I grew up watching football and baseball but I know absolutely nothing about hockey,” Patrick gasped before she could complete the sentence.

“You have to learn! Come to my practice tomorrow,” he begged.

“I have work!” Gabby laughed.

“Then you’re coming to my next game and you’re sitting with someone who will teach you,” he insisted.

“Alright, I would love to,” she giggled. “If it’s so important then I will learn absolutely everything there is about hockey. I’ve always thought it was cool.”

“You’re awesome,” he grinned and kissed her on the lips.

“I just have two issues with that,” Gabby bit her lip.

“What’s that?”

“One: I don’t have a Kane jersey.”

“Easily remedied,” Patrick smiled.

“Two: we’re both kind of media magnets. We’re lucky we didn’t get caught at dinner last night. If I, a well-known southern girl, show up at a hockey game there are going to be a lot of suspicions. Especially if we get caught by a photographer when I congratulate you on your win,” she smiled.

“Oh, I didn’t think about that,” Patrick nodded.

“So we have to lay low until we’re sure enough to be on a magazine cover together.”

“You promise to watch me?” he pouted.

“Of course,” she smiled and kissed him.

“Maybe I can convince you to come to a closed practice sometime soon,” he smiled.

“We’ll see,” Gabby evaded the subject, Jonathan once again invading her mind. How was she going to legitimately date Patrick with her secret ex-boyfriend and his fiancé constantly around?

“So how about that make out session?” Patrick asked and Gabby and she grinned. Those issues she would just have to deal with later.