Head Games

When Dave heard a soft knock on his apartment door, he groaned slightly. He had a feeling it was a neighbor of his or something, coming to ‘welcome’ him to the building. It wasn’t that he minded that or anything, but it was late and he was tired.

He had already changed into just a pair of sweatpants, and he didn’t really feel like changing back either. He sighed and got up, knowing he couldn’t just ignore the person. He glanced out his peephole, stunned to see a soaking wet Mia on the other side.

He opened his door quickly, and Mia jumped slightly.

“Mia?”

“Hi,” she shivered.

“What are you doing here?”

“I got your note,” she told him. He stared at her, neither of them moving.

“Look, Mia-”

“Brent’s not my boyfriend,” she blurted.

“What?”

“After you dumped me, Brent told me I should start dating again to get back at you and make you jealous, and he thought that some how it would make you see what you were missing and you’d ask for me back,” Mia explained. Dave sighed, not sure whether or not he was angry or relieved.

“Why don’t you come on inside,” Dave told her, seeing her shiver again. “I’ll get you some dry clothes and we’ll talk.”

Mia walked inside, and Dave shut and locked the door behind her before heading to his bedroom. Mia followed, looking at the spacious apartment in awe.

While Dave rifled through his drawers, Mia began stripping off her wet clothes. Dave turned around with clothes in his hand, freezing when he saw Mia standing there half-naked. He snapped out of it when he heard her teeth chatter, and he approached her with the clothes.

“Dave, I need to know something,” she announced, halting him in his tracks. He held out the clothes to her, but she pushed them away.

“Anything.”

“Do you still love me?” She asked.

“Yes,” he answered immediately.

“…Do you still want me?”

“Yes.”

“It’s just, you did leave me, and although I want to take you back, I can’t help but feel a little cautious, you know?” Mia pointed out. “I need to be sure. I need you to be sure.”

“I am absolutely sure, Mia,” Dave responded. “I love you. I want you. Only you.”

Mia threw her arms around Dave’s neck, pressing her lips against his. Dave was caught off guard, and haphazardly put his arms around Mia’s waist to catch her. As things got more heated, Dave’s hand traveled lower to the back of Mia’s thighs, hoisting her up to wrap her legs around him.

Dave walked backwards to his bed and they both collapsed back onto it.

“Wait Mia,” Dave suddenly breathed out. Mia pulled away confused, hurt etched into her features. Dave was in the middle of the bed, and he grabbed Mia by the waist and pulled her closer to him.

“What is it?” She asked, fearing the worst. Dave settled his arms around her and looked into her eyes.

“It just doesn’t feel right, you know? Going this far when you’ve only just forgiven me. And even then, I’m not sure you’ve really forgiven me. I want you to be able to trust me completely before we rush right back into things,” he explained. Mia relaxed into his arms immediately, relieved that he still wanted to be with her.

“So, you want to take things slow,” Mia questioned.

“Don’t you?”

“Not really,” she grinned, leaning up and kissing his jaw up to his earlobe. She nipped at it lightly, and Dave could feel his breathing become ragged.

“Mia,” he groaned, turning towards her and placing halting hands on her shoulders. Mia giggled and wrapped her arms around Dave’s middle, burying her face into his neck.

“Fine,” she sighed with fake exasperation. She raised her head to look at Dave, and he leaned down and pecked her on the lips.

“I love you,” he told her.

“I love you too,” she smiled. “Can I have those dry clothes now?”

“Nah,” Dave replied, stripping off his sweatpants and taking off her undergarments. “We’re sleeping naked.” He pulled the covers over them before bringing Mia as close as she could get. They laid there, breathing each other’s scents, finally feeling a sense of calm wash over their lives.

---

“Dave and Mia are here!!” Adam Burish yelled out. The rest of the room erupted in cheers, causing the young and newly engaged couple to smile. It had been almost six months since Dave and Mia reunited, and Dave had been serious when he said he wanted to take things slow.

It had driven Mia crazy, and after a while Dave started teasing her. Eventually Mia figured that two could play at that game, and she teased him right back.

Sexually.

She wore low cut tops or short skirts, she sauntered around in sexy lingerie, she would sit close to him on the couch and rub against him ‘innocently’ to get him hot and bothered before walking away completely.

Of course, Dave had been the one to crack, something Mia still had not let him live down.

“And how is the happy couple this evening?” Adam greeted, ushering them into the party in his loft.

“We’re awesome Bur,” Dave laughed. Adam smiled and shut the door behind them before they all walked further into the room to mingle with everyone else. About ten minutes later, Brent Seabrook approached Dave and Mia.

“Hey,” he greeted, hugging them both.

“What’s up Seabs?” Dave smiled. Their friendship hadn’t suffered at all after the truth had been laid out. Dave was actually a little thankful to Brent for keeping Mia away from other men. Mia explained to Dave that she had never had sex with Brent, and Dave explained that whenever he went out on a ‘date’ he was really hanging out at his cousin Samantha’s house.

Both of them felt equally foolish, and therefore were able to forgive and forget much easier.

“I want you to meet someone,” Brent noted, looking behind him and grabbing a young girl’s hand. Mia nudged Dave and grinned at him. “Dave, Mia, this is my girlfriend, Erin. Erin, this is my teammate Dave Bolland and his fiancée Mia.”

Mia and Dave both shook Erin’s hand, greeting her warmly. The couple shot Brent sly looks, and he just shook his head and laughed.

“Erin, why don’t you and I go somewhere and talk?” Mia asserted, hooking her arm through Erin’s. Brent audibly groaned.

“Um, alright?” Erin replied unsurely. “What about?”

“Your boyfriend,” Mia smiled. Erin gave her a look, wondering how she knew anything about Brent. “We used to date.”

“Mia,” Brent groaned again as Erin looked even more confused.

Mia just chuckled and whisked Erin away, promising to tell her the whole story.

“That’s exactly the story Erin needs to hear at the beginning of our relationship,” Brent mumbled.

“If anything, she’ll think it was sweet. Don’t worry man,” Dave laughed.

“Yeah,” Brent nodded, glancing at the two women who had retreated to the side of the room that all the women were at.

Mia saw him looking at them, so she whispered something to Erin who also looked at Brent. Then the two women giggled, causing Brent to grunt. When he looked over again, Alyssa, Mia’s best friend and Ben Eager’s fiancée was giggling at him too.

“Women,” Brent mused. Dave laughed again at the expense of his teammate, who just glared in response.

A couple hours later, Mia was sitting on the ground in Adam’s living room, with her back against the couch. Dave was in between her legs, leaning against her, and she was running her fingers through his hair as the remaining people at the party were having a small conversation. The party had winded down quite a bit, and everyone was in a lethargic kind of state.

Dave finally arose, pulling Mia with him.

“Well, I’ve got to get this pretty lady home,” he stated, saying goodbye to everyone that was left. “We’ll see you guys around.”

Everyone said goodbye and Mia waved as they left the party.

The ride home was comfortably silent, both too tired to talk. One of the aspects of their relationship that hadn’t moved slowly was the fact that once they had gotten back together they began living together again too. Since Dave’s new apartment was much bigger and nicer, he just moved Mia’s stuff to his place. Mia didn’t really mind, because it didn’t affect her commuting time to anywhere.

Plus, it was a really nice place.

Dave looked over at Mia, who had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. He smiled slightly, thinking about how lucky he was that they were back to normal. He didn’t realize how much he loved Mia until he couldn’t have her, and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

“Mia,” Dave whispered, trying to wake her up. They had arrived back home and Dave had already parked the car and was on her side already, trying to get her out. She only stirred lightly, so Dave smiled and picked her up carefully. He carried her up to the apartment, placing her on the bed before going back out and locking up.

On his way back to the room he stripped down to his boxers, grabbing a large t-shirt from one of his drawers. It wasn’t for him though, it was for Mia. He walked over to her and slipped off her dress, and Dave noted she must be really tired if she didn’t wake up. He slid the shirt over her head, getting her all settled under the covers afterwards.

Dave picked up all their dirty clothes and put them in the hamper before getting into bed next to Mia.

“I love you,” he whispered into her hair as he pulled her into him. She stirred again, turning her body so she was facing him.

“I love you too,” she whispered back, settling against his chest. Dave tightened his grip around his fiancée, who in turn did the same. Both were happy to be back together again, and they knew that they could handle whatever the future had in store for them.