I'll Be Right Beside You

Evelyn sat with her head leaning against the back of the booth she occupied, her eyes closed, and a small smile on her face. She felt Ben put a hand on her thigh, lightly moving it up and down and increasing the pressure with each movement. “Baby, are you sleeping?” He asked her. Evelyn smiled wider and shook her head, not moving from her position. She felt Ben’s lips on her cheek, then her jaw, and then the corner of her mouth. Opening her eyes slowly, she realized most of the eyes at the incredibly long table the Blackhawks occupied were on her and Ben.

Blushing lightly, she finally saw her plate of food being set down in front of her as the three separate waiters and waitresses the large party had brought out their orders. Evelyn took one look down at the large plate of pasta in front of her and grinned, telling Ben she was starving. Next to her, Adam Burish laughed. “You’re one of a kind, Lyn.” Evelyn grinned at him, a mouth full of pasta, only making him laugh more.

What was supposed to be a moderately sized team get together had turned huge, and most of the team was there, girlfriend or not. Evelyn just wished that Phoebe could have been there, too, no doubt they would have had a lot to gossip about. But, Evelyn’s best friend had driven to Rockford the day before, after she had gotten out of work, wanting to spend the holiday with her new boyfriend. Evelyn had to smile at the thought of them; they reminded her so much of she and Ben when they had started dating just over a year ago.

Everyone was in a good mood that night; the Blackhawks had won over the Dallas Stars six goals to two. Ben, luckily, was in good mood too, which was surprising to Evelyn. Usually no matter the outcome of a game, if he had had an altercation with an opponent, no matter how small it was, he would spend the rest of the night giving Evelyn the silent treatment and brooding. But here he was, laughing, talking, and just generally being light-hearted and carefree.

“Hey, Evelyn?”

“Hm,” She responded, turning to look at Adam who had been the one to get her attention. All he did was point to the waitress that had been serving them all night, silently asking his female friend’s opinion on the cute girl. Evelyn looked at the small waitress whose extremely long and wavy brown hair was tied up in a loose bun. She had big, brown and innocent eyes that were framed by a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, and a smile that was easy to hold your attention.

“She’s gorgeous, Adam.”

“Yeah,” He said, uncharacteristically quiet. “She is.”

Evelyn turned to Ben, her eyebrows raised and a look of surprise settling over her features. Ben looked amused, his usual half-grin stretched even wider. Shaking his head, he watched Burr get up from the table and walk up to their waitress, sticking a hand out for her to shake. Evelyn’s amusement only deepened when Cam Barker and his girlfriend came rushing through the doors, apologizing for their lateness. It was no secret that the new couple was simply infatuated with each other and frisky as all hell.

Cam had a smirk on his face as they sat down, but Aimee just looked embarrassed, a rare form of her, Evelyn mused. It was fucking hard to embarrass Aimee. Evelyn shook her head, asking Aimee if she had had a good time with Cam after the game. The other girl fake glared and muttered a ‘shut up’ in Evelyn’s direction, sticking her tongue out for emphasis.

As the night wore on, the couples moved around the table, socializing with each other. It wasn’t often that the guys got to relax like that – all together, so it was just nice. Evelyn’s stomach was stuffed by the time everyone began clearing out of the bar. Walking to their cars, a few guys from the team agreed to meet up at a club, at the urging of a few of the youngest guys. Burr climbed into the backseat of Ben’s Navigator, pulling the waitress behind him. Evelyn grinned and turned around in the passenger seat, introducing herself.

“Hi, I’m Evelyn,” She said, offering a hand. “Ben’s girlfriend.”

“I’m Nikkita,” The girl said, smiling shyly. “You can call me Kita though. Everyone does.”

As she spoke, Evelyn realized she had a southern accent, which made her eyes widen and a smile stretch across her face, “Where are you from, Kita?”

“Kentucky,” She beautiful brunette answered. “I’m up here for graduate school.” Evelyn was instantly intrigued by the girl, and especially at the prospect of graduate school, an idea Evelyn herself had been tossing around inside her head for quite a while. Of course, she hadn’t even brought up the idea to Ben; it would only mean she would have less time to spend with him, cutting her hours down at the paper, but picking up even more hours on classes.

As the four of them drove to the club everyone was pretty sure Patrick Kane had suggested, Kita frowned when she realized what she was wearing, a pair of black slacks and a white button-up shirt with a pair of plain, flat shoes. Evelyn told her not to worry as Ben pulled up along the curb, just outside the club. Kicking both Ben and Adam out of the car, Evelyn locked the doors and crawled into the trunk, pulling a bag out to show Kita.

“A city girl never goes anywhere without extra clothes and shoes, Kita.”

Kita giggled, picking out a silver top she had just fallen in love with. Evelyn grinned, telling her Adam was sure to love it too, as she stared down at the southern girl’s ample cleavage. Blushing, Kita pulled on a pair of black heels, following Evelyn out of the car to see the whole team waiting for them. Blushing, Kita stepped behind Evelyn slightly as the girl introduced her.

Pulling Adam’s crush into the club with her, Evelyn ditched her boyfriend like all the other girls had done and moved to the middle of the dance floor. She could tell right away that Kita would fit in with the group of girls Evelyn called her friends. She was easygoing, funny, and relaxed. As Lady GaGa’s song ‘Poker Face’ starting playing throughout the club and Evelyn and Kita squealed simultaneously, stating how much they loved her, they broke into a fit of giggles. Dancing with each other, they made sure both Ben and Adam’s eyes were on them.

“Are they looking?” Kita asked, letting her butt grind against Evelyn’s front. Evelyn nodded her head, laughing at Ben’s expression. Adam was the first to get up and pull Kita away for himself. Evelyn shrugged and kept dancing, letting her head fall back against Ben’s chest when he came up behind her, putting his hands on her hips.

”I did not know you can move like this,” He told her, as she moved in front of him. “I would have taken you out to clubs all the time!” Evelyn laughed and turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You can’t dance, Benny,” She told him, letting her forehead rest against his chest as she grinded her hips into his. He laughed in response, pulling her off of the dance floor, sitting in a booth and bringing her down onto his lap.

Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he brought his lips to her ear and asked if she was ready to leave. Evelyn nodded and jumped off Ben’s lap, rushing over to the girls to say a goodnight to them. Making sure she sought Kita out, wanting to bid her new friend a goodnight, as well. “It was so nice to meet you,” Kita gushed, pulling Evelyn into a hug. Evelyn grinned back at her, “It was nice meeting you, too. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, okay?”

Kita blushed, letting herself be pulled back to the dance floor by Adam. Evelyn shook her head and walked back to Ben, wrapping her arms around his middle. He grinned down at her and led her out to his truck, quickly pulling away from the curb and heading to their apartment.

Ben was nervous as hell, and he didn’t know why. It was only Valentine’s Day, and it was only Evelyn. She seemed to notice his nerves, gripping his hand tightly as they stepped into their apartment. Ben’s eyes immediately went to her, wanting to see her reaction to their apartment. He had had a couple of the guys from the team that didn’t have girlfriends set this up for him before they met the team at the club.

Candles and flowers were all over their apartment, making the place look like something Evelyn had envisioned a fairy tale looking like. She turned to Ben with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open, “You did this?” He shrugged, “A few of the guys helped, but it was my idea, yeah.” She smiled, “It’s so…”

“Uncharacteristic of me?”

“Yes,” She laughed. “That too, but I was going to say lovely. Ben… This is more than I ever could have asked for.” He grinned, pulling a box of the coffee table and handing it to her, urging her to open it. Evelyn shook her head, telling Ben that he shouldn’t have gotten her anything. He laughed and told her to open the goddamn box.

Her heart swelled as she looked at the necklace. Hanging from a thin silver chain, was a platinum letter ‘B’ with a diamond in the middle. She looked up at Ben with tears in her eyes, “I love it so much.” Ben wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up and pressed his lips to hers, “I love you so much.”

Evelyn stared into his eyes, telling him she had a gift for him, too. Ben shook his head, telling her that it could wait, “All I want tonight is you, baby.” Evelyn pressed her lips against his, more than happy to let him have what he wanted.