Hair, Nails & Hockey

Chapter Nine

-Sarah-

"James!" Missy yelled happily as she jumped out of my arms and ran towards the center section of the large table with James Neal was sitting.

"Hey pretty girl!" he smiled brightly as he stood up and picked her up, hugging her, "Nice jersey."

"It's pink!" she said and I smiled, seeing her wearing her little pink Penguins jersey.

"Sar!" I heard and looked to see Ian holding up his arm, also sitting in the center section of the table, "We saved you a seat."

After the game, a game which the Penguins won, I left to go and pick Missy up from the party, she was excited to see the guys, especially James. Jake ended up staying with Ian because when I left, the whole team was in the middle of signing a jersey with no name or number on the back, and it must have been ten sizes too big for him, it was cute.

I walked over towards the seat and saw that it was in-between Ian and Geno, I blushed and looked down at the fact that I was sitting next to him. He stood up, pulled out my chair for me and then sat back down, my eyes a little wide from his courtesy, '...No one does that anymore...'

"Did you get lost?" Geno asked and I shook my head.

"No, Missy's friend lives on the outskirts of the opposite side of the city," I said and Geno nodded his head, "Nice goal today," I said and Geno smiled and nodded his head.

"Thank you."

We at some kind of steakhouse, the guys were telling us to get whatever we wanted because it was on them, I looked at Ian and he smirked, "Yeah, they do this to me a lot."

"Wow, don't get fired from them," I teased and the guys laughed. I looked down the table and saw that Jake was at the end of the table sitting in-between Kody Dupuis and Sidney, Pascal sat on the other side of his son and was in the middle of a conversation with Brook Orpik, I was getting better at remembering all of their names.

"The paps are here," I heard and looked to see Kris Letang walking into the room.

"Paps?" I asked and Geno looked at me.

"Paparazzi," he said and I nodded my head, "They sometimes no good, when we leave, stay close."

"All right," I said and he gave me a reassuring smile, "Do they follow you guys a lot?"

"Everyday," he said and then sighed, "It get annoying after while."

"I would bet," I said and then turned around and looked out of the window of the restaurant to see some men outside holding cameras.

"No look at them, you give what they want," Geno said and I hopped around in my seat and mumbled and apology, "No, it ok, they just annoying."

The waitress had brought out some appetizers that the guys had ordered before I had gotten to the restaurant, she then walked over towards me and took my order. I looked around at the table and saw that most of the guys were in the middle of a conversation with each other. I looked at Jake and Kody and saw that they were playing some kind of video game with two PsP's, I didn't know where Jake got the one he was playing with. I looked at Missy and saw that she curled up asleep on his lap, and I smiled because it was so cute.

"So Sarah," I leaned back in my chair when I saw Marc, who was sitting next to Geno, wanting to talk to me, "What exactly do you do?"

"I'm a trained cosmetologist and physical therapist," I said and heard some of the guys that were eavesdropping give a low whistle showing that they were a little impressed, "The spa that I work, I work in every department, hair cutting, nails, waxing, facial and massages."

"That's a lot to take on, especially with my wife," Marc said and I giggled.

"I enjoy Vero's company, she's one of my most favorite clients," I said and Marc smiled and nodded her head.

After dinner, the guys didn't lie, they all threw their credit cards into the middle of the table for the waitress and told her to split the bill with each other their cards, poor girl. After everything was situated we all gathered our things, I placed Jake's winter coat on while Ian got Missy. We were leaving the restaurant and Geno was right, these people were not nice people, I stuck close to Ian and Geno, carrying Missy while Ian held Jake. I could hear Missy crying, scared of all the flashes from the camera and the crazy questions the reports were asking. I even felt Geno slip his arm around my back and guide me towards the parking lot.

"That was crazy, why the hell are they assholes," one of the guys asked and I walked over towards my car and Ian opened the back door to put Jake in his seat.

Jake was actually loving the attention, Missy, not so much. I was bouncing her up and down, rubbing her back and trying to get her to calm down, "It's ok, it' ok sweetie, they're gone."

"Hey pretty girl, what's wrong?" James came over and I smiled and handed Missy to him and watched as he smiled towards her. I smiled brightly when Missy wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her face into his neck. The guys started to bust James for being so good with James, "Shut up."

"Well we'd better get going, a lot to do around the house and you guys have a game tomorrow," Ian said and the guys nodded their heads, "G, when did you want to look at the pictures I got of you today? Mario said he only needed one and I have a few, so you gotta let me know which one you want to use."

"Uh, we do it now?"

"Ok, my stuff is at home so..."

"I follow you," he said and I turned around and placed Missy into her seat, hiding my blush at the fact that Geno was going to be in my home.

'...Thank god I cleaned last night...' I thought and then composed myself before turning around and looking at the door.

Ian and I waved goodbye to the guys and watched as they all dispersed and walked towards their cars. Ian walked up to me and smiled, "I dropped my car off at home and Sid gave me a ride here."

"All right, you can drive," I said and handed Ian my Nissan Rogue.

By the time we had gotten home it was close to eight o'clock and I looked into the backseat to see that Jake and Missy were asleep. I smiled and then got out of the car to get Missy while Ian got Jake. Just as Ian was about to walk into the side door in the garage, a car pulled up in our driveway and I remembered that Geno was here to look at some pictures.

"I'll wait for him, you can go," Ian said and I nodded my head and hurried into the house and looked around to see that it still was clean.

I laid Missy on the couch and walked into the hallway. I called for our dog and heard him running down the stairs, "Hi Rocko," I heard voices and quickly grabbed for Rocko's collar. When he saw Geno, he started to growl, not liking the unfamiliar person in the room, "Sorry, he's very protective."

"Good guard dog," Geno said and I blushed and nodded my head.

"Come on boy," I said and pulled him along as Geno and Ian walked into the living room. I placed Rocko outside, planning on getting him in a few minutes, I still needed to get Missy and Jake upstairs and ready for bed. I walked into the living room and saw Ian sitting on the edge of the recliner typing something on his laptop while Geno looked around the room. When he saw me, he gave a nervous smile, which I returned.

"So you both live here?" Geno asked and I nodded my head, "Nice place."

"Thank you, we just moved here a few months ago," I said and Geno nodded his head, "Ian, can you bring Jake upstairs?"

"Uh yeah, give me one minute, I have to pull these pictures up for Geno," Ian said and I sighed and nodded my head.

"I help?" Geno said and I looked at him and gave him a small smile.

"Thanks man, I'll have the pictures up when you come back down," Ian said and Geno nodded his head and then walked over towards where Jake was laying on the couch and picked him up.

'...God, just stop thinking and start walking...' I thought as I quickly turned around and felt the heat rise to my face. It was an awkward silence as we walked up the stairs and I showed Geno to Missy and Jake's room, "Thanks so much Geno," I said and turned around to face him, but came face to face with his chest, "Uh-"

"Sorry," he mumbled and then stepped back and giant step and scratched the back of his head, "Too close."

"It's fine," I giggled and then rubbed the side of my arm, "Uh-"

"Oh, right, um, pictures," he said and I smiled nervously and nodded my head.

"Thanks for your help," I said and Geno gave me this dorky cute smile and waved.

"See you later," he said and then turned around to leave but walked into the wall.

"Oh! Are you all right?" I bit my lip to hold back a giggle.

"That a wall," he mumbled as he rubbed his forehead, "I good."

"All right," I let out a little laugh, "Avoid those walls!" I said as Geno chuckled and walked out of the room and I heard him walk down the stairs, '...Avoid those walls? That's the best that I could come up with? What the hell?!...'