Poker Face

The next morning, I woke up and felt Kris’s arms still around me. His face was nuzzled into the back of my neck, and I had to stifle a giggle from the way his scruff was tickling me. I noticed a note on the side table next to me, and picked it up as smoothly as I could so I wouldn’t wake Kris up.

Hey Jaime, me and the guys had to go to the Mellon to get ready for the game. I’ll call later when I get the chance, but if you need anything before then call me and you know I’ll be there in a flash. Love ya & See you later, --Sidney.

Kris moved his head just then, causing his breath and his beard to tickle my neck. I giggled a bit and felt him tense up, which only made me laugh harder. His arms pulled me in closer and his grip got tighter.

“What is so funny?” He muttered groggily.

“Your beard is tickling me!” I gasped out. He chuckled a little and ran his scruff over me on purpose. “Kris! Stop!” I pleaded. He laughed and laid back down. He rolled onto his back and pulled me with him, so now I was sprawled out on top of him. “Oof,” I muttered into his shoulder. His laugh made my body shake since I was on top of him, and soon I was having a giggle fit as well. “Oh my god, I can’t breathe,” I exclaimed as he rolled over again. This time his body was on top of mine and he buried his face into my neck. “Kris!” I said, trying to push my shoulder to my cheek so he couldn’t tickle me anymore. I would have pushed him off but he was pinning me down.

“Bien, bien,” he conceded, pulling away. He was still on top of me, but his head was now on the pillow and his face was by my neck. His breathing ticked me as well, but it was better than the beard. The longer we laid there, the harder it was for me to keep a straight face. “Now what?” He said, noticing my growing smile.

“Your breath is still tickling me,” I admitted, laughing.

“Oh mon dieu,” he muttered, exasperated. Suddenly his lips were on my neck, kissing it, and his hand came up to the other side of my head to lift it up towards him a little bit. I froze, not sure where he was going with this. “Is this better?” He asked, in between kisses. I didn’t know how to answer, but apparently he wasn’t really expecting one because he continued up my neck to my jaw. I let out a small moan, and I felt Kris smile.

His lips reached the area where I was punched and I tensed, expecting Kris to have forgotten about it and aggravate it. But he didn’t. He kissed it lightly, barely touching it with his lips at all. He kissed all around it, and would do this sort of caressing thing over the bruise with his lips. “I’ll kill him when I see him again,” he whispered, kissing it softly one last time before pulling back. He looked down at me and pulled his hand out from under my head and caressed my face. I hadn’t noticed before, but his other hand was entwined with mine. He was running his thumb over my eyebrow when his phone started ringing. He sighed and got up to answer it, leaving me breathless. A few seconds later he handed it to me, and walked out of the room, giving me privacy.

“Uh, hello?” I said uncertainly into the receiver. I was greeted with a chuckle.

“Hey Jaims, how you doing?” Sidney asked.

“Hey Sidney…I’m alright I guess. How’s everything with you?” I replied.

“Good, just gearing up for the game. How’s your face?” He inquired.

“Broken,” I snorted. *And tingly from Kris’s lips* I added in my head. I heard Sidney laugh, which snapped me back into reality. “No, but I just woke up, so I haven’t gotten the chance to have a look at it yet.”

“Ok well, Kris is there if you need anything,” Sidney reminded me. Not that I needed reminding.

“Yup,” I replied. He was silent for a few moments before speaking again.

“I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yup. Tell the guys I say Hi and good luck,” I requested. They had Game 4 today and they really needed to win.

“Sure thing….” He hesitated, like there was more he wanted to say.

“Sidney?” I prompted.

“Is Kris in there with you right now?” He asked lowly, as if somehow if Kris were in here he could hear him. I almost snorted but I held it in.

“No…” I replied, confused. “Why?” He sighed heavily. Was Sidney was upset Kris slept in bed with me? No, he was always pushing for Kris and I to get closer…and he knew about our uh…“relationship.”

“Look, I, we have a favor to ask of you,” he finally spat out.

“We?”

“Yeah, me and the guys,” he clarified.

“As if I don’t do enough for you boys,” I sighed, faking exasperation.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sid responded, amused. “I’m serious, Jaim.”

“What’s up?” He was starting to make me nervous.

“Sunday and Monday they’re doing stuff in New Brunswick for Luc,” Sid started.

“Okay…” I said, not sure where he was going with this.

“Obviously Kris is going,” Sid continued.

“Obviously….” I prompted, in the same wary tone.

“And it’s just, none of us can go with him ya know? Because of the Cup. So we were wondering, if maybe you’d go with him? You know, keep him company, keep him from doing stupid stuff. Also keep you safe in the process,” he added.

“Keep me safe?”

“Well yeah. With us always at hockey and Kris in Canada, it would leave you like a sitting duck,” Sidney pointed out.

“Gee thanks Sid. I feel so safe now,” I remarked. He just laughed.

“So…will you?” He requested.

“I dunno Sidney…” I answered. “I mean of course I would do you guys favors in a heartbeat, but this isn’t exactly your decision. If he wants me there, then I’ll go. But if not-”

“He’s not going to ask you; He’s got too much pride,” Sid argued.

“Okay well that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not going to go uninvited,” I shot back.

“I’ll just ask Kris to take you with because I don’t want you left alone,” he reasoned.

“Okay, I think you’re missing the point about me not going where I don’t belong,” I noted.

“And I think that you’re missing the point that you do belong there, with him. He needs someone, whether he admits it or not, and everyone can see that it should be you,” Sidney said. Before I could say anything else Sidney continued talking. “Go find Kris and give him the phone.” I rolled my eyes and hopped out of bed, looking for Kris. I found him cooking in the kitchen, completely shirtless. I snapped out of my trance and cleared my throat, causing him to turn and look at me. I stuck the phone out to him and he took it.

“Yeah?” He answered, continuing to work over the stove. “Yeah, later tonight. Until Monday night most likely,” he said, probably answering Sidney’s questions. Suddenly Kris glanced at me, and I knew Sidney had brought up me going. “Uh,…I dunno Sid.” I winced, knowing he didn’t want to take me and also knowing that Sidney wasn’t going to just drop it. “I understand that, it’s just-- No, you know I wouldn’t want that. Look, I- What?” I bit my lip, feeling like a total tool. “Yeah I remember that, but what does that have to do with anything? Oh, so you’re gonna pull that card huh?” I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what they were talking about. “Fine, whatever.” Kris tossed the phone back at me with out warning, and I barely caught it.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Go pack,” Sidney said, hanging up. I blinked and stared at the phone, setting it on the counter. Kris glanced at it and then continued cooking.

“Go pack,” he said, without looking at me. Wow, deja-vu.

“Um…wh-what-” I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to pretend like I had no idea what he was talking about or not. He suddenly turned towards me with an angry look on his face.

“I have to baby-sit you while I’m at my best friend’s funeral. Go. Pack.” I scurried out of the kitchen, slightly jolted. I packed a duffle bag with a couple days worth of stuff and threw my hair up. I figured I’d just shower once we got wherever we were going. A few hours later, Kris hadn’t said two words to me, and we were on a plane leaving for Canada. I tried to not bother him, although I was confused as to why he was being such a jerk. I hated flying though, and it was taking all my strength not to turn to Kris for some type of comfort.

People kept giving me strange looks, and I suddenly remembered the huge bruise on my face that I had forgotten to cover up. Hell, I hadn’t even looked at it yet. We finally landed, and before I could blink Kris was up and out of his seat. I grabbed all my stuff and tried to hurry after him, but he was mega fast. Obviously, it was part of his job description to be. Once I exited the terminal I spotted him, and thankfully we didn’t have to go to baggage claim because all we had were our duffle bags.

“Kris!” I called, trying to get him to slow down. He didn’t. He just kept walking. It’s like he wanted to get away. The airport suddenly felt more crowded, and people were whizzing past me in all directions. I started becoming nervous, because it was getting harder and harder for me to push through the crowd. I wasn’t even that concerned with finding Kris anymore, I just needed to get to an open area.

Someone bumped me hard as they passed by, and I immediately froze. They had hit my bruises head on, and it hurt. I clutched my side, turning around frantically to find an open path. However the harder I looked, the more blurred my vision became. I wasn't claustrophobic, but all these people surrounding me were making me a little panicked. I started getting dizzy, and more and more people kept bumping into me. Some even yelled at me to get out of the way. Pretty soon I couldn’t take it anymore, and I let the blackness overtake me.