Playing the Game of Love

October 7th, 2010
Thursday
The Julien household, Lexington, MA
2:00 A.M.

Raina awoke yet again to the sound of a loud alarm in her ear. She groaned in annoyance and found the off button with her hand. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and looked around her dark room. Knowing she had an hour before they had to be at the airport, she forced herself up and began to get dressed. She decided to go in her blue plaid flannel pajama bottoms because she’d try to get some sleep on the plane. She choose a tight white log sleeve shirt to wear and a pair of shoe-like blue slippers. She heard her parents moving around downstairs in the kitchen and then her mom call up.

“Raina are you up?”

“Yup I’ll be down in a few.” Again knowing she’d probably be sleeping some of the flight, she didn’t put on much make-up except for a bit of concealer. She packed her laptop, got her purse and her bag of clothes and then headed downstairs to eat. Her father and mother were already dressed. Raina had a quick breakfast and decided to have cereal rather than the normal huge breakfast she liked to eat.

Her father finished before her and got up from the table.

“I’m going to bring the car around to the entrance so we can start loading things into it.” Raina’s mother was driving them to the airport and dropping them off. Raina finished up her breakfast and put her bowl in the dish washer and then headed downstairs with her luggage to the car. It had stopped raining and the sky had become clear, giving her a good view of the billions of stars twinkling in the sky.

She helped her dad load the larger suitcases into the back and then put all her carry on in the back row of seats where she would be sitting for the ride to the airport. Once everything was in the car her father called her mom to tell her they were all ready to leave.

There was no traffic on the way into Boston like there usually would be. It was pitch black outside. There were no other cars, and all of the houses they passed had their light's off. Only the occasional street light shown through the darkness. She leaned her forehead against the cool window, listening to her parents talk quietly from the front seat. She heard her phone vibrate from inside her purse and she sat up feeling more awake and began to dig through it, looking for her phone. She finally pulled it out to see she had a text message from Milan.

Hey I'm at the airport, are you on your way?

I'm almost there, are some of the players there too?

Ya most of them are here already.

What flight is Brittany taking?

She's flying out later today. I’m meeting her in Czech in the morning.

Did she want to come on the flight with you?

Ya she's still a little mad about it even though I told her that it wasn't allowed.

Raina felt the car stop and heard her father open the door.

''We're here." She pushed open her own door to see that the entrance to the airport was extremely busy despite it being 2:30 in the morning. People were being picked up and dropped off constantly. She could hear tons of different sounds around her. Car doors opening, and shutting, People talking, reuniting with each other or saying goodbye. She helped her mom and dad unload the luggage from the back.

After hugging her mom goodbye, she and her dad went inside the airport. They didn't need boarding passes, anyone going on the Bruin's private plane had special passes that had already been given to them. They did however, still have to go through the safety tests. As Raina waited to go through the metal detector, she noticed the man standing in front of her was Marc Savard. Raina smiled and said

''Hey Markity-Mark, ready for the flight?" he turned around and grinned at her.

“Yep, I can't wait to get on the ice again."

"Let’s hope we win." Marc stepped through the metal detector followed by Raina. They passed through the rest of the safety tests and turned in their luggage. They headed off to the boarding gate. Raina could already hear the loud talk of the rowdy and excited hockey players from somewhere up ahead of them. Despite her exhaustion she felt herself getting wound up and hyper. She elbowed Marc the side and said

“Hey Savvy I'll race you." Without waiting for an answer she took off. She looked back to see that Marc had accepted the challenge and was right behind her. She sped up, dodging past a couple of annoyed people. He caught up to her. They were running neck and neck when she saw the team sitting at a group of benches. She gave Marc a playful shove to knock him off balance. He gave her one back and she pushed him a final time, knocking him over a bench face first. She saw Tuukka, Blake, and Vlad sitting together. Vlad saw her coming and jumped up.

"RAINA!!" he yelled. He spread his arms open wide as if to hug her.

''VLADDY!!" she called back. She ran towards Vlad and jumped on him, hugging him tightly around the waist she ended up knocking him over backwards back into his seat. She sat down between him and Blake. She smiled at Marc as he walked towards her

“I Won!"

“You lost, admit it.'' she said back.

"I never lose!" She lightly punched him in the stomach before he sat down. She turned to talk to Tuukka who looked absolutely exhausted.

“What happened to you?"

“Jaz is still pissed off at me”

“Why?"

“She thinks I was flirting with another girl yesterday after practice when we went out
for a walk. The girl I was talking to just wanted an autograph."

“Want me to talk to her?"

“Ya that would be nice, thanks." she took a look around the room and spotted Milan talking to two girls. The instant she saw them she could tell they were puck bunnies. One was a tall skinny blonde, and the other, a short plump red head. The blonde’s hair was obviously fake. It was a light platinum blonde color. Her roots were darker indicating she was truly a much darker shade of blonde. She had an obvious fake tan to match. She was orange. The redhead also had a fake orange tan making her hair and skin color look odd in contrast. Both of them were wearing bright pink mini skirts, high black stilettos, and white belly shirts. She caught wind of their conversation.

“We just LOVE hockey! The Bruin's are our favorite team." Raina decided to cut in.

''Hey Looch!" She said beaming at him as she walked over. She slid her arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. ''Who are your friends?" He seemed surprised as she stared at him with a false smile on her face; and a questioning look in her eyes.

''Oh um, this is Melissa and Katherine." She turned to the girls and said

"So did you guys watch the draft back in June?" The girls looked at each other in confusion obviously not knowing what the NHL Draft was. Not waiting for an answer she said to Milan,

"We should be going. Don't want to be late boarding the plane."

"You're right we should get going. Nice meeting you two girls." He then turned and walked away with her back to where the team was sitting. When the two girls were out of earshot she turned to Milan and said in a teasing tone.

''Don't the girls just love you.'' He smiled at her.

“Yep I'm just to damn sexy to resist." she rolled her eyes as he sat down between Blake and Vlad.

“Hey that's my seat!"

“To bad." he said stretching back in relaxation, and putting his arms behind his head. She pouted at him.

''Fine you leave me no choice." she sat down into his lap as hard as she could, making him groan in pain. She wriggled around a bit more in his lap before settling in.

“God Ray, don’t give him a boner.”said Vlad laughing. Milan’s face went red with embarrassment. Raina didn’t answer but instead leaned her body back into him, and sunk her head back into his chest. She felt him inhale sharply in what she thought to be desire. She knew she had him hooked again.

Milan didn’t know why he was suddenly so attracted to her. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way. Raina was his close friend, and that’s all she’d ever been. He had a girlfriend, laying in his bed, wrapped in his sheets, living in his house. But dear God did Raina drive him insane. He could feel her shapely body pressed into his. It took him a minute to realize he had wrapped his arms around her narrow waist.

Raina smirked when she felt him snake his arms around her, loosely holding her in place. She felt her body heat skyrocket when he moved his face so it was next to hers, slightly turned towards her face. She shivered when she felt him breathing softly onto the delicate skin on her neck. She wanted him to whisper dirty things into her ear. The only one around them that seemed to have taken notice was Tuukka. He watched them with a smile on his face. Unable to contain it, she smiled happily back at him. At last she could be flirty with Milan and not have Brittany hanging over them like a hawk.

"Excuse me can I have everyone’s attention please." The loud buzz of talk died down and she looked up to see her dad talking. “The flights been delayed for another hour, instead we'll be leaving at 4:00." Raina didn't know whether to feel good or bad about the situation. More time in the airport meant more private time with Milan. But a delayed flight meant they'd arrive in Czech later than planned. She felt her stomach growl and to Milan’s disappointment she stood up off his lap and said

“I didn't have a big breakfast this morning; I'm going to get something from Dunks.” Milan stood up beside her and said

''I'll come along." The two walked down the airport hallway, looking out for the large pink and orange Dunkin Donuts sign. Raina didn't know where the shop was located so she continued to search until she found it. She felt like an electric current had run through her body when Milan grabbed her hand and said ''I see it!'' Milan pulled Raina into the small shop. She was instantly hit with the scent of coffee and a sweet cinnamon that she seemed to smell in every Dunkin Donuts she walked into. She bought two chocolate glazed donuts and then waited by the entrance of the store watching people go by. Milan brought out a large paper bag.

“What did you buy?" He opened the bag to reveal an assortment of donuts and bagels.

''You're planning on eating that entire bag?!”

“I didn't have much to eat this morning either, and I figured you'd want to help me eat some of it.” They sat down on a bench which was hidden from sight from anyone passing by because it was up against the backside of a wall that hid it from view. They sat there for about fifteen minutes until there were only a few donuts left at the bottom of the bag.

"Is Brittany still upset?"

“About what,”

“About finding us on that bed together?" Raina wanted him to remember.

“She’s fine now, she just hasn't gotten used to the idea that I have friends that
aren't all male. But she got excited when I told her she’s meeting my parents. I knew her before in high school from my older brother’s soccer team but she never actually met my parents.'' Great, now she was meeting his parents. Would they approve of her? She’d probably put on the "I'm a perfect angel" facade. Raina held back a snort of disgust.

"Your parents are coming to see you play on the 16th right?"

"Ya after the game we are going out to at some fancy upscale Italian restaurant, that's when Brittany is meeting them.” Raina smiled to herself as she thought about what would happen if Brittany tripped while walking towards the table they were sitting at and ended up falling into it, knocking food all over Milan and both his parents.

“Awww when am I gonna meet your parents?” she said flirtatiously, running her hand lightly down his arm, making him shiver in secret delight. She leaned in closer to him, placing her hand on his chest, batting her dark eyes and long lashes at him.

“M-my parents,” he said nervously, “Um, well I was thinking the day after you could come over to my place and meet them.” Still leaned in close to him she said in a little above a whisper,

“Are they strict?”

“My father is.”

“I don’t think he’ll like me much then.” She said giggling.

“Behave yourself around them.” He said sternly.

“No promises,” she moved in even closer so their lips were only inches apart, making her want to press them to his. Her voice lowered to a whisper again as she looked him straight in the eyes. “Did your daddy beat you when you were naughty?”

Milan nearly let a moan escape his lips as she seductively purred those last words into his ear. She was pressed so tightly to him; the only air between their bodies was the space between their lips. He somehow managed to keep his head and said

“He wasn't abusive, he's just very serious.”

“What about your mother?"

"You'll get along with her fine; she's pretty laid back.”

“So which of the two did you inherit all this from?” she said, running her hands down his squared jaw, feeling the rough peach fuzz that had grown in since he had last shaved. His breath quickened, he found himself wanting her touch him in more places than just his face. A soft moan escaped his lips and he saw Raina smirk with satisfaction. Jesus what had he gotten himself into. His instinctual side was telling him to take all of her right then and there on the bench, but his logical side was telling him no. He felt the tip of their noses touch, their faces moving closer every second. What stopped them was the announcement over the intercom.

“Anybody departing on any 3:00 flight please return to your boarding gate.” Raina sat up off of him and said

“Shit my dad’s gonna be pissed! What time is it?” It took a minute for what she was asking to register in Milan’s head who was still in shock over what had just happened. He jumped into action a few seconds later and hurriedly pulled out his phone.

“It’s 2:55,”

“We have to go, come on!” They both ran back towards their gate to see a line of hockey players waiting to get their passes checked. Both Raina and Milan skidded to a stop at the end of the line, out of breath. When they were both checked in, they boarded the plane, Milan still following after Raina in shock. The first thing they saw upon entering the plane was the staff room. Tables that looked like the type you would find in a camper lined the walls. Four seats surrounded each table. In the middle of the wide aisle a bar table stood with what looked like every drink known to mankind stacked securely in a metal shelf on top. They moved further down the plane into the second room. Like in the first room, camper-like tables lined the walls. The chairs looked more like a regular plane seat, unlike the ones in the staff room. There was another bar table set up in the middle of the aisle. Each room had flat screen TVs hanging in every corner of the room. The interior design of the plane was Bruin’s themed being only the colors gold, black, white, and gray for the seats. On each seat, a small towel with the Bruin’s logo on it hung over the top.

“I want the window seat!" She said to Milan sounding desperate.

''Fine, have it your way then,” he said laughing. He moved out of the way for her to get in. They sat across from Tuukka and Marc who were already stuffing themselves on the small Cheez-it Packets the flight attendant had passed out.

"So where were you two for the past hour,” said Tuukka teasingly.

“Do tell us,” said Marc smirking. Milan felt his face go red with embarrassment again.

“Just messing around," said Raina as she pushed open her window to see the city lights from Boston in the distance.

“I’m sure you were” said Tuukka. Raina smiled to herself as she pressed her face to the window. It had been a perfect night so far without any interruption to come between her and Milan. For the rest of the night he was all hers, and there was nothing Brittany could do about it.
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