Ch. 22

A/N: Sorry for the little break in between chapters.  Kind of got stuck in a little ditch and I wasn't quite sure how to get started again.  After watching Kris score his goal against Washington I got a little inspiration... So now you get an uber-long chapter to read today.

Today's soundtrack... a timeless classic in my book. totally romantic and mellow:

Turning circles when time again
It cuts like a knife oh yeah
If you love me got to know for sure
Cos it takes something more this time
Than sweet sweet lies
Before I open up my arms and fall
Losing all control
Every dream inside my soul
And when you kiss me
On that midnight street
Sweep me off my feet
Singing ain't this life so sweet

This years love had better last

David Gray – This Years Love

Ch. 22

“Are you guys actually going to win a game in regulation?” she joked into the phone as I laid in my hotel bed in Dallas.  It was Friday night and we had just gotten in from a team dinner.  We had spent the day out and about in the city, enjoying the warm weather and checking out some of the sights but I was ready to play the game tomorrow night and get back to Philly.  Wow, since when have I ever been ready to get back to see my girlfriend?  This has got to be a first.

“I think I liked it better when you acted like you didn’t know a thing about hockey…” I laughed into the phone.

“Well I’m still waiting for you to score so I can yell obnoxiously, ‘OhMyGod that’s my boyfriend!’” she said in a ditzy, high pitched voice that made me pull the phone away from my ear.

“You do that and I’m going to tell Carter to make sure Fiona calls you so that the two of you can hang out and be BFF’s,” I warned her.

“That would be evil.”

“Push my buttons and you’ll find out.”

“What did I ever do to deserve a threat like that?” she scoffed.

“Mmm, well, where should I begin…?”

“If you were here I’d be punching you.”

“If I was there we wouldn’t be talking right now,” I growled back at her.

“Hmm, sounds like I better text Carter to warn him that he might wake up in the middle of the night and find you humping his leg or something.”

“You aren’t right.”

“Never claimed to be,” she giggled into the phone.  As I laid there listening to her talk, I closed my eyes, picturing her beautiful smile and those light green eyes.  I was falling for her and bad.  The scary part being that this was not me at all.  I was never the guy who was independent, only worrying about myself; yet here I was picking up a simple necklace at a jewelry store while we were out earlier today and constantly smiling every time I thought of her.

“Dude, what is your deal?” Burish chirped me as he sat across from me at a café in Dallas.  He wasn’t playing in the game against us tomorrow, but we still made sure to meet up.  Besides Buflugyn, Adam was my closest friend from the Hawks.  He was a big prankster, but one of the best friends a guy could have.

“Huh? What?” I asked, looking up from my phone after reading a text from Abby that informed me she had finally met up with Jackson to officially dissolve things.

“You’re grinning like you just won the Cup again.”

“Just reading a text that Abby sent me…”

“Yeah, who the hell is this Abby chick anyway, besides being Brian Burke’s daughter?  Buff sent me a text to warn me that you were walking around on cloud 9 and that you were a party-pooper in Atlanta, refusing to go out and pick up chicks,” Adam chirped me for the low-down.

“Well, she lives across from me in my apartment building…”

“And let me guess, she’s basically living in your apartment now?”

“Maybe,” I said, trying to hide my smile because Adam knew how to read me like a book.

“So I’m guess that means no more ‘Steeger the Ladies Man’?”

“Basically.”

“Damn, this must be serious because you didn’t ever think twice about Dawn…”

“I know, right?”

“Good, it’s about fucking time.  So tell me about her.”

I left out a nervous laugh because let’s face it; it’s not normal for any guy to just begin gushing about a girl to their guy friends.  “Well, she’s a little shorter than me.  Right now her hair is short and strawberry blonde.  She’s got these green eyes that are fucking amazing and her body is smoking.”

“Heh.”

“Heh what?”

“Dawn was hot, but that didn’t keep you from messing around on her...”

“Abby has the perfect personality to balance me out.”

“Ah, now that’s what I’m really wondering.”

“She’s a complete smart-ass, no-nonsense chick who gives me a run for my money.”

“She sounds perfect for you.  Hell, she sounds perfect for me.”

“And for that simple fact I will not be introducing you until she’s got my ring on her finger and prego with my baby…” I joked as I threw a fry at my friend.  I could totally see Abby and him hitting it off like she did with my brother.  However, Adam knew how to charm the women like it was his main job in life and would probably charm Abby right out of my bed if he had the chance.

“Ah, you give me no credit, Steeger.”

“Like I don’t remember all the girls you stole away from me at the bars in Chicago?”

“You just need to have game,” he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head as he grinned and winked at me.  “It’s definitely something good when you can find a woman like that.  Meet Daddy Burke yet?”

This question just made me laugh, “Yeah, no, not yet.”

“Are you going to punch him or hug him?”

“Well, considering how things have worked out here in Philly thus far, I just might kiss him.”

“Yeah, I’d prolly just go with the handshake…”

“Smart idea.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner,” Jackson said regretfully into the phone as I was out for a walk on Friday afternoon.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and everyone in the city was enjoying the early spring treat, including me.  “This pediatric rotation is bloody miserable and taking up all my free time…” he continued.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, truly sympathetic.  This was the first time he had called me since our date the Saturday before I left for Toronto.

“So, how have you been?  How was your trip to Toronto?” he asked.

“I’ve been really good, actually and Toronto was great.  I’ve really missed my family, so it was nice to see them,” I spoke, making small talk and pushing off the inevitable conversation that I was kind of bummed to have.  Jackson really was a great guy and someone I wouldn’t mind befriending, but I had a strong feeling Kris would not warm up to the idea and it would just end up being awkward anyway.

“You wouldn’t by any chance be available right this moment, would you?”

“I’m actually out for a walk right now…”

“Where at?”

“I’m along

South St

.”

“Can you meet me at 4^th and

Gaskill St.

?  There is a coffee shop called the Philadelphia Java Company…”

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there in about 20 minutes if that’s okay?”

“Sure, I’ll see you then.”

I was only a few blocks away, so of course I ended up beating him there.  I ordered myself an iced tea and took a seat outside at one of the tables and waited apprehensively.  I was in the middle of texting with Kristy about what I should say to him when he spoke, “I’m fairly sure you would fit perfectly at a café in Europe.”

I looked up and smiled, “Why is that?”

“You just exude the confidence that tells me you would fit in wherever you would go,” he mused as he took my hand and kissed it.  He looked as handsome as I remembered, but suddenly his charm wasn’t what it was the first night we had met.  I had become too interested in a boy who could rock the backwards hat look, and charm me with his blue-collar ways.  And here was Jackson, dressed in a 3-piece suit with a blue tie that made his blue eyes blaze like sapphires, who was comfortable in his white collar society.  Of course within the few short moments he had been standing by my table talking with me, I couldn’t help but notice a couple women take double and triple takes at him.  And here I am officially putting him back on the single market.  My how the world makes life interesting…  “Something is different from the last time I saw you,” he said quietly when he came back with his cup of coffee.

“Oh?” I said, almost choking on my drink.

“Your eyes, they are sparkling…”

I looked down and broke eye contact with him and just shrugged.

“What’s up, Gabby?  You haven’t been this quiet since the day we meet,” he chuckled.

I looked up and smiled sadly at him.  “I’ve started seeing someone,” I said quietly, pulling my eyes up and forcing myself to look into his.  “It has nothing to do with being unhappy on the two dates we had.  This was completely unexpected…”

I stopped talking when I felt his hand cover mine.  “Well this is kind of a surprise,” he said, sounding like he was caught of guard.

I left out an ironic laugh, “Yeah, you’re telling me.”

“So I’m guessing this was someone you already knew?”

I nodded my head, unable to stop myself from letting out a smile.  “He is.”

“He wouldn’t be the guy with that Audi, would he?”

I looked at Jackson curiously when I answered, “Yes?”

“I saw him drop you off at the hospital the night of our first date…”

“Oh, yeah, he offered to drive me since he was headed to his game,” I said.

“That’s one sweet ass car,” Jackson laughed.

All I could do was groan.

“He seriously said that?!” I laughed.

“Yeah, he did and if he wasn’t such a nice guy, I’m fairly sure I would have slapped him for it,” she grumbled as she took a step out onto the ice.  We didn’t have a scheduled practice today, but Abby wanted to get out on the ice to do some skating of her own.  She mentioned something about having a bad dream about Brendan last night and then something about needing to clear her head from the bad thoughts.  I needed to do a light work-out anyway, so I figured I’d tag along.

“I honestly think the Audi is growing on you, just like I’ve grown on you,” I skated over to her wrapping an arm around her to spin in around.

“You really are full of yourself Versteeg…” she sighed and clicked her tongue.  “Too bad you talk a big game and can’t back it up with your hockey skills.”  At this she pushed away from me and sped across to the other side of the rink. 

I was going to chase after her, but decided it was time to once and for all settle the score on who was the better at playing hockey.  I snuck into the equipment room and grabbed a set of sticks, a puck and my gloves.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she glided past me while I was throwing the pair of gloves down for our make-shift goal.

“Settling this once and for all.”

“Hope your ready to be shown up by a girl,” she sneered, grabbing a stick out of my hand.  She was volleying the puck back and forth on the ice when I went over and poke-checked it away from her.  Instead of yelling at me she quickly chased me down and threw her body against me in an attempt to get me off the puck.  I was surprised by the hit she gave, but I held my ground and headed towards the goal.  I was paying more attention to the puck than I was her, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked up to shoot the puck and found her in front of me.  She was obviously quick on her skates and next thing I knew she poke-checked the puck from me, dangled the puck as she spun around me and took off for a breakaway.  I could only laugh as she spun herself around like a ballerina after scoring the goal.

“I’m fairly sure you cheat.”

“I’m fairly sure I’m just better than you.”

“Well if that’s the case, are you going to teach me a few of your tricks, Burke?”

“Maybe later on down the line…” she played as she handed over her hockey stick and went back to doing figure-8’s around the rink, humming a happy tune.  After I set the equipment aside I caught up to her and wrapped an arm low around her waist and skated along side of her.  “Were you a figure skater in another life?” she asked, sounding amused that I was actually able to skate next to her like this without tripping up.

“I used to skate with my mom like this when I was little…”

“It took Tyler forever to learn how to do this without tripping us both.”

“Just gives you another reason on why I’m better for you,” I joked as I laid a kiss on her head.

“So my Mom asked me what we did on our first date…” Kris rolled his eyes as he looked over at me and squeezed my hand.  We were on our way home from Skate Zone after a nice morning of skating together.  I hadn’t had a dream about Brendan ever since Kris and I started really hanging out, so I was actually shocked when I woke up in a fit-full screaming session last night.  I was kind of surprised that he was willing to come along with me, because I knew they didn’t have practice today and I knew he was probably tired from the week long road trip, but he said he would count it as his light work-out for the day.

“What did she say when you told her that you were dating me?” I asked.

Kris laughed, “I had to pull the phone away from my ear because this god awful squeal suddenly came across the phone.  She then said something about making sure I brought you along home with me for the summer.  I warned her not to get her hopes up about that because you probably won’t put up with me for that long.”

“Well, it’s good you did, because I planned on dropping your ass after you introduce me to Jonny Toews…”

“OhMyGod you would totally eat him alive!” Kris laughed hysterically.  “Honestly, he would probably hide in a corner and cry if you pulled half the shit you’ve pulled on me.”

“Am I that horrible?” I exclaimed.

“That horrible and then some.  You’ve totally corrupted me, to the point that I had to tell my mom our first date was our day trip to Reading to visit Mitch…”

“It’s not my fault that you seduced me!  And why would you have to tell your mom when our first date was?”

“Because she’s a sappy romantic who thinks she needs to know every detail when it comes to a romance.”

“Maybe we should have asked her to send us the memo of what the proper order is for dating,” I giggled.

“Well if we want to feel better about it, then we can just count going to the bar and to Reading together as our first two dates.”

“Guilty conscious?”

“Nah, I’m never going to be sorry for making you yell out my name,” he grinned while puffing out his chest.

I just groaned and smacked my forehead.

“Just think, if you wouldn’t have decided to go out on a few dates with Dr. Doolittle, you could have been getting some a little sooner.”

“Last time I checked, sex isn’t what makes a relationship…” I played, knowing what kind of rise I would get out of him.

“Hey! Wait! I-uh-damn you Abby,” he grumbled.  “You know damn well I do not look at this relationship as just good sex.”

“You don’t?” I acted surprised, even placing my hand over my heart for added theatrics.

“Grrr,” he growled.  “How do you know every button to push, woman?!”

“You are just too easy,” I sputtered out as I laughed hysterically.

“I’m going to skip our lunch date and take you back to the apartment to punish you,” he threatened as he made it look like he was going to make a U-turn in the middle of the busy street.

“You might be able to get away with that if you didn’t drive such a fancy ass car, but I’m thinking you’ll be caught,” I continued to pick.

“You weren’t complaining about my car last night,” he chirped.

I leaned across the console and whispered heavily into his ear, “I’ve never complained about the driver’s performance.”

By the time I was done speaking, Kris was swatting at me and shivering from my breath.  “Seriously Abby, I’m about ready to turn the car around and just head home.”

“Do what you want,” I once again whispered into his ear.  I laughed when the car lurched forward and heard the clicking of the blinker echoing in the car.

“No lunch…” he grumbled, acting like this was a punishment.

“We can make lunch after you spank me,” I giggled, now hearing him smash the gas pedal to the floor.  “Geesh, the way you are acting would make me think you haven’t gotten any in months…”

“I haven’t since I was traded here.  The Friday night after Toronto was the first I’ve had sex.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I scoffed.  “There is no way in hell you went that long.”

“Why not?”

“Because no hockey player can keep it in his pants for that long.  Come on Kris, I’m not naïve.  I know you guys have an over-active sex drive. Plus I even remember having a similar conversation with you just the other week in the car…”  I looked over at him to find him clenching his jaw and unclenching it.  “Ha! See! I knew it!” I exclaimed, pointing at him.  “You did have sex.”

“One blow job,” he hissed quietly.

“What?”

“I had one blow job since I’ve been here and that was actually in New York City and I could have gone farther but I didn’t because all I could think about was you and even though you still weren’t really giving me the time of day, I still felt like it would have been cheating on you in someway.”

This completely shut me up.  The silence in the car was deafening and I suddenly felt like I was the size of an ant.  Oh shit.  “That was right before our trip to Reading,” I said quietly.

“Yeah.”

I sat there for a moment and stared at the dashboard, allowing things to mull around in my head for a moment.  “So if what you say is true and what you said about constantly cheating on Dawn while you were actually dating her, what is different now?” I asked slowly.  I didn’t dare to look over at him; instead I waited with baited breath.  Depending on the next words that came out of his mouth, it could very well be the death of me.  If I was on the fence about how serious this was, his words might very well put rest to all of that and there would be no turning back because I knew I would fall hard for him.  I silently took in a breath as he loudly sucked in his own air and held it as he began to speak. 

“After Dawn and I broke up, I sat downstairs talking to my mom the next morning…they had heard the whole argument because Dawn was not very quiet when we’d argue.  I told mom that I wasn’t sure why I just didn’t ask Dawn to marry me and be done with it.  I mean we had been together for so long and according to Dawn it was the next logical step.  However, I just always thought I’d be a one woman man once I actually settled down and obviously that wasn’t at all the case while I was dating Dawn.  I always felt bad the morning after I cheated, especially when I’d wake up and have a text message from her or call to talk to her but I never thought twice about it when the next willing woman would come along.  Anyway, my mom asked why I didn’t propose to Dawn and I told her that it just didn’t feel right.  Her response was then I did the right thing because lying to yourself is one thing, but lying to your heart is a whole other matter.  Another thing she always said to us boys was that when the right person came along we’d instantly know; we might find ourselves doing things we would have never done before to make sure it worked with that person, but at some point we’d realize that it was completely different from anything we ever knew.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that since I met you that morning in the gym I just felt like I had to get to know you.  I have never pursued a girl like I pursued you and truthfully I’ve never felt the way I do when we are together.” He paused for a moment and left out a nervous laugh.  “Wow, that totally sounded like something out of a movie.  It’s official; you have ruined me, Abby Burke.”

And I’m just sitting here waiting to be woken up from this beautiful day-dream.

It was official, she has ruined me.  The only thing stopping me from telling her that I love her is that I’m scared something is going to come along and tell me that this is all a dream.  Life is never this perfect.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you are coming to the game tonight,” Kris exclaimed as he swirled his key-ring around his index finger, waiting in my apartment for me to finish getting dressed.  I had the night off and I figured it would probably be a good idea for me to go to one of his games, especially since he was a whiny baby every time I was unable to go because of work.

“I’ve seen you play twice,” I reminded him as I walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom to grab my jersey out of the closet.

“But I didn’t even know you when you were in New York and I highly doubt you had much of a choice when it came to the Leafs games,” he called out.

“I just saw you play the other week in Canada…”

“Again, I repeat that no choice statement.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled the jersey over my head.  “You guys are pathetic.”

“Like you didn’t get extra pumped up when a friend or family member was in the crowd cheering you on when you played hockey?” he asked, walking into my room.

I pushed my hair back from my face and looked up at him, “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right,” he smiled.  “Wow, how did you get that old-school jersey with my number on it?” he suddenly asked as he took note of the #10 on the sleeve.  I giggled quietly as I turned around to show him the name on the back of the jersey.  “LeClair?!”

“Yeah.  He had the number before you Mr. Bigshot.”

“I know this…but…will you wear my jersey if I get you one before the game?” he asked, suddenly sounding as if it would be the end of the world if I said no.

“What’s it to ya?” I decided to make him suffer a bit.

“My self-esteem.”

“You’re pathetic.  I have never worn my boyfriend’s jersey,” I informed him.

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“How come?”

“Cause I think it would just be bad to break up with him and still have his jersey in my closet,” I answered seriously.

“Well then I’m definitely making you wear my jersey tonight,” he growled as he suddenly wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into him.

“Why is that?” I squeaked.

“Because that would just mean that you can’t leave me.”

“Only you would think of that.”

“Only you would make me think like that,” he said sincerely before kissing me gently on the lips.  “Please wear my jersey,” he said quietly as we ended the kiss, his forehead still against mine.

“You realize I’m going to be the only person with a Versteeg jersey in the arena…”

“What are you trying to say?”

“That you suck.”

“I suck?”

“Yes, because you always get your way,” I pouted before pulling my LeClair jersey up and over my head, throwing it on my bed before walking out of the room to head to the game.  I just shook my head when I watched him do a fist-pump as if he just scored a goal, I decided later on that night that it was better to watch him do that on the ice with 19,000 fans cheering along with him.

The Washington Capitals were in the building and the place was becoming more and more like that play-off atmosphere every player loved to feed off of.  We were fighting to stay in first place of the Eastern Conference, along with fighting to find the stride the team had played with up until the last month.  We were slightly relieved that Ovi was not going to be playing, but there were plenty of other guys on the Caps that were just as dangerous as their captain.

During warm-ups I found Abby and Kristy standing up against the glass.  Abby was giggling with her nose literally pressed up against the glass, putting on her best impression of being an obsessed fan.  Carcillo got over to her first, slamming himself into the glass, making her and Kristy scream and promptly back away.  I laughed when I got over to find her scolding Carcillo through the glass.

“Totally not funny, Danny!” she yelled at him, causing some lingering puck bunnies to shoot dirty yet curious glances at the girls.

“That will teach you to put your nose to the glass,” he yelled back, tipping a puck over to a little kid that was standing a few feet away from Kristy.  “Hey, nice jersey by the way, I’m thinking Steeger had to scour the bottom of the boxed to find that for you…” he chirped as he turned and thwacked me across the shins with his stick.

She was still shaking her head when I bumped myself into the glass in front of her.  “Show off,” she called, trying to act like she was still cool for me but she couldn’t stop herself from blushing.

“Where are your seats?”

She turned and pointed to her coat that was just 5 rows off the ice, along the aisle.  I nodded and punched the glass before returning to the warm-up.  “Good luck!” I heard her yell, causing me to smile and just lift my hand up to acknowledge.  It was time to get my game face on.

We came out hard in the first, but when the horn sounded to end the period we were down 2-0, due to Bob playing poorly between the pipes with Neuvy putting on a decent act for his team.  The team was completely down when we walked into the locker room.  “We can still take care of shit out there!” Someone chirped as Lavy walked into the room to give us his point of view.  The stab in the heart came early in the 2^nd period when Wideman slammed one past Bob.  Boosh was immediately called upon and back to battle we went. 7 minutes later I was fed a pass from the defense and took a Hail-Mary shot at the next, scoring the first goal of the game and giving us the life we needed to push back.  I left out a whoop and did my fist pump celebration, making sure I did it right in front of Abby and Kristy.

What an amazing game.  It was hard hitting, fast paced; everything about it was exciting making it feel like a play-off hockey game.  The fans were pumped, but the place quickly quieted when the Flyers went down 3-0 a little over a minute into the 2^nd period.  Some Boooosh chants rang out through the arena as he replaced Bob.  When the puck hit the ice with Boosh now minding the net, it looked as if Lavy traded out all of his players for a completely different team.  Physical play stepped up 10-fold and the forecheck was spot-on.  I watched as Kris wound up for a slap-shot and next thing I knew the horn was making my heart vibrate inside my chest as Kristy and I flew up and screamed our lungs out with the rest of the fans.  I cracked up as Kris came skating by to celebrate his goal, mouthpiece still hanging out of his mouth as he flashed that familiar shit-eating grin.  Someone patted me on the back and yelled, “Well I guess that makes you feel good after spending money to buy that jersey…” I just nodded and laughed even harder.

By the time the shoot-out came we were biting our nails and soon we were left in our seats watching the Caps celebrate the shoot-out win against the team who almost came back to win from a 3-0 deficit.  What another story it would have been.  Instead it was just 1 point given to the team who battled harder than the team that got 2 points.

After the game, Kristy and I found ourselves downstairs waiting outside the locker room, waiting for the guys to come out.  I made small talk with Matt Carle’s and Braydon Coburn’s wives who came over to introduce themselves.  I received a couple sideways glances from a couple other women, but I was used to it after all these years.  Some WAG’s were more welcoming than others, and considering Kris was the new guy to the team, I was definitely at the bottom of the totem pole.  I’m sure some of the women were aware of who my relation was, but that didn’t seem to change their demeanor towards me and frankly, I was okay with that.  I was still enjoying the anonymity of my life here in Philly but even I knew it wouldn’t always be that way.

“So you interested in going out tonight?” Kris asked as he swiftly pulled me into a hug as soon as he walked out of the locker room.  “The guys want to head to Lucky Strike and do some bowling to just blow off some steam.”

“I’m game,” I smiled before kissing him softly on the lips.  “Besides, we need to celebrate that goal of yours,” I laughed easily.

We were walking out to the player’s parking lot when my phone began ringing in my purse.  I unhooked my arm from Kris’ and dug through my purse retrieve my phone.  I looked down at the caller ID and noted it was my dad; I was slightly surprised that he was calling me, considering he knew I was at the game tonight. 

“What’s up Daddy?” I chirped into my phone.

“Is this Abby Burke?” a stranger’s voice asked over the line, throwing me off kilter.

“It is…”

“Is Brian your father?”

“He is,” I answered, a knot quickly forming in my stomach.

“Ma’am this is Captain Gotwall from the Royal Mounted Police.  There has been an accident involving your father…”