Too Blind to See It!

I'd never laughed so hard in my life, as Zach and I fell through the door of my apartment rolling in hysterics.

"Did you see the look on Marty's face when that kid threw up on him?"

I was doubled over with laughter. "It was priceless," I added. "I wonder if that will make it on to the Devil's website."

"Yeah, somehow I don't think PR is going to let that happen," Zach replied.

"Give me a second Zach, I want to go change." I slipped into my bedroom and threw on some sweats, truth be told, we laughed so much I really had to pee. I had the best time today. The kids were priceless, and so appreciative. Many of them didn't have family that took care of them properly. The kids got new coats, boots, gloves and hats, plus a couple of things that Zach bought them personally. He was so good with the children that I was surprised when he told me he really didn't have any kids in his family. The only children he was ever around belonged to some of his teammates. Of course he didn't spend much time with them either because Allison doesn't like kids. I wondered if that meant she wasn't interested in having children of her own, but I didn't ask. It would be a sin if Zach Parise didn't have children. His babies would be gorgeous with those eyes and dimples and Zach would be an amazing father.

As I walked back to to Zach, now dressed comfortably, I noticed he had made himself completely comfortable in my kitchen. He handed me a water. "I wish you would have let me take you to lunch."

"You always seem to bring me food. I can cook you know."

"I don't know actually," he replied.

"Well I can."

"Sure," he said doubting me.

"Zach Parise! I can so cook."

"No one as pretty and smart as you cooks too. No one is that perfect Jenna."

I blushed at him calling me pretty, but the fact that he called me smart too made me smile inside. "Fine. I'll show you. When does Allison come back?"

"Thursday."

"Do you have a game Wednesday night?"

"No."

"Then I'm making you dinner." Zach smirked at me and that's when things became more clear. "Wait just a minute. You tricked me didn't you?"

"What me?" The tone in his voice was his confession.

"You just tricked me into inviting you for dinner." I suddenly felt like someone had pulled my chair out from underneath me. He just called me pretty and smart, but he was only doing it to get me to make him dinner while his girlfriend's out of town.

"Is that so wrong Jen? I hate eating alone." He pouted and gave me a sad face.

For the first time the shortening of my name didn't sound beautiful coming from his lips. I felt crushed.

I don't know if he could tell he'd done something wrong, but he started back peddling. "You don't have to cook. I was just teasing. I'll order something and bring it over, or we can go out. I'd cook for you Jenna, but I only make omelets. Do you like omelets?"

It was nice that Zach realized he hurt my feelings. Most guys would never have picked up on that. He really was the perfect guy, and he was looking for a friend while his girl was out of town. That wasn't a crime. I removed the forlorn look from my face, though the feeling lingered. "No, I'll cook for you. I hate to see you eating out the entire time Allison's gone."

"Are you sure it won't interfere with your date?" His tone was teasing, but I sensed something else there too. I knew what he meant, me going out with Marc Staal.

"I'm not really going out with him Zach."

"You're not? I was here in your kitchen, you made plans."

"Well I am, we're going to have lunch."

Zach laughed, but it sounded more like nervous laughter than humorous laughter. "Seriously Jenna? You don't know it's a date?"

"Well dinner is a date, but lunch. Lunch is just lunch. I said no to Dinner."

"You keep telling yourself that, but I'm pretty sure Marc thinks it's a date."

"I'm not sure why he asked me out in the first place," I said honestly.

"You're kidding me right?"

"I've only met him once for like a minute. Why would he want to go out with me?"

Zach's head flew back slightly almost in disbelief. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You're beautiful. You're smart and excuse my crudeness, but we're not all just looking for a good lay. It's hard for someone who does what we do, in the spotlight all the time, to find someone to date that doesn't have insincere motives. You..." He put his hand on my chin bringing my eyes up to meet his. "You would make an incredible girlfriend, and that is why Marc Staal asked you out." His tone was sweet, but stern like a teacher trying to get his point across.

I was blushing from head to toe. Zach moved his hand from my face, but I could still feel it there. I wanted to be able to feel it there forever.

"Now having said all that, you probably should let him down easy."

"Wait..What?" I asked completely confused.

"Men are complications, remember?"

"I did say that didn't I?"

"Don't tell him until after he pays for lunch though."

I punched him in the arm playfully. He soon got up, and I walked him out. Zach turned around and looked at me for a second as I hung on the door. "So, I'll see you Wednesday night then. Should I bring wine?"

"Sure."

"White or Red."

"That depends, do you like steak."

"Oh Yeah!"

"Then red." He smirked, then finally turned and walked down the hallway.

I leaned against the closed door with my eyes closed. 'I'd never, never try to break him and Allison up, but is it really that bad to dream?' I wondered.

"I thought he'd never leave!" The voice came from the other side of my couch, and I let out a piercing scream.

"PHOEBE! What the hell are you doing here? Have you been here the whole time? What, were you spying on me?"

"Relax will you Princess? I was waiting for you to get back, and I fell asleep on your couch. I didn't want to break up the neighborly love fest the two of you had going on."

"Stop it Phoebe. When are you going to get it through your head that we're just friends?"

"When you both start to act like it. 'I'll make you dinner lover boy'," she teased sexily. Then her voice grew deeper. "Red or white wine darling?" she mocked.

I elbowed her as I sat down on the couch. "Stop. Just stop."

"OK fine, I'll let that go, but when the hell were you going to tell me Marc Staal asked you out. Oh and when are you going to tell me I was right, I was so right."

"It's not a date. I'm too busy to just date random guys Pheebs. It's just lunch, and he's meeting me at school."

"I agree with your boyfriend that just left. It's a date, and he's not just a random guy. He's Marc Staal, brother of Jordan Staal... Brother of Jordan... wait right here." She jumped off the couch grabbing something from her bag and landed back on the couch in an instant. She threw something at me that landed between the cushions. I pulled it out.

"PHOEBE!" She had thrown a condom at me. "What are you giving me this for?" I giggled.

"Safe sex."

"I am not having safe sex with Marc Staal."

"It's better to be safe Jenna girl. Sex with a condom isn't as good as without, but we can't be to careful can we?"

I tossed it back at her. "I'm NOT having sex with Marc Staal."

"Right, then use it for your dinner date with Zach then."

I put my head in my hands. "You are so frustrating."

"I know but you love me."

**** Dinner w/ Zach

The steaks were marinating; I wouldn't put them on until Zach got here. The risotto was done, and tasted awesome, if I do say so myself. The table was set. It was just a small two person kitchen table, but it worked for tonight. The cloth fell to the floor with the plates set just so between the silverware. I hoped he didn't mind paper napkins. What was I thinking, of course he doesn't mind paper napkins. I placed the wine glasses above and to the right of the plates and stood back to look. Should I put candles out. No NOO! No candles, that's romantic. This is not romantic, this is two friends having dinner.

Zach arrived and looked nice in his jeans and dress shirt, bottle of wine in hand. "Oh my god Jenna! It smells like heaven in here." He practically followed his nose to the kitchen. "Nice," he said referring to the table I'd set for dinner.

"How do you like your steak?"

"Medium Rare."

"Great me too," I replied smiling. I set the steaks in the broiler and smeared on the garlic infused butter I'd made earlier that day. That's when I heard my muffled cell phone ringing. "Zach can you grab that? It's there in my purse."

Zach picked up my metal Little Earth bag and opened it. The little legs tipped over and the contents of my purse spilled out. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath. No biggie I thought, at least I don't have anything embarrassing like tampons in there. He was too busy picking up the contents of my purse and the phone stopped ringing. When I heard him giggle to himself I looked around to see what he could have found funny. He was holding a condom up between his index finger and thumb. Every muscle in my body ceased up. I couldn't move, but the blood flow to my face still worked.

"Th..Th...That's not mine."

Zach put it back in my purse and snapped it closed, giggling more in the process. "It's Ok Jenna, it's better to have safe sex."

"No...No.. really that's not mine. It's Phoebe's. She gave it to me as a joke. She must have slipped it in there when I wasn't looking."

He didn't say anything, probably because he sensed that this was one of those moments that left me mortified. I did not do well with extreme embarrassment.

I was busying myself to avoid further mortification, when Zach reached around me and handed me a glass filled with red wine. "Here! Relax will you? You look so tense." He put his hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. It was just a little sign of affection between friends, but my body didn't see it that way. I had fireworks shooting throughout my insides.

The steaks were done quickly, and I made a plate for both Zach and I while he lavished me with complements, mixed with insults to his girlfriend's cooking. I was silently pleased that there was something I was better at then her. We sat down at dinner and made small talk between his complements and noises that were meant to express his enjoyment of the food, but made me squirm a little in my seat.

"We're friends right?" Zach asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Of course."

"Well then I'm just going to ask you...Why did you freak about me finding the condom in your purse. I mean, it's not a big deal."

I dropped my fork to the plate with a loud clank, that startled both of us. How was I going to answer this? If Phoebe were here she would have made a joke to cover up the embarrassment of the situation. As much as she liked to embarrass me herself, she was very protective of me in situations like this. There was no sign of Phoebe, though she could be hiding anywhere ready to jump out with a video camera.

"Never mind. I shouldn't have asked you. It's none of my business."

He gave be the out I so desperately needed, but he had been so honest with me when he discussed his issues with Allison, I felt like I owed him the same honesty. "You'r right it's none of your business." I winked at him letting him know I was joking and trying to lighten the mood. "It's just...well...that is definitely not mine."

"OooK?"

Zach took a bite of his steak just as I blurted out, "I'm not sexually active." That must have caught him off guard because he immediately started choking. "Zach, Zach! are you Ok?" I tried really hard not to giggle.

He waved me off and took a big gulp of wine. When he finally caught his breath he laughed at himself. "Sorry Jenna. I just wasn't expecting that. I mean you just came right out and said it. It caught me off guard. Can you warn me when you're going to do something like that again?"

"Ok, here's your warning." Zach looked confused. "It's important to me that you know thats not my condom, because I'm not that kind of girl."

"I know. I know Jenna, but I still don't see the big deal. Women should be safe just like men. What if it did happen, at least you'd be prepared."

Was I going to have to spell it out for him? "You're not reading between the lines Zach. I've never used one of those before. I've never needed to."

Zach's eyes grew big as saucers as he gaped at me. "You're a ... You're a...Virgin?"

I was a little hurt by his reaction. I wasn't embarrassed to be a virgin. I'm not embarrassed that I'm saving myself for the perfect guy at the perfect time. It would make Phoebe laugh, but I'm really rather proud of it. "Don't say it like it's a disease."

"No NO! I didn't mean it like that. It's just it's a surprise that's all. You're a virgin," he said it like he was trying to make himself believe it.