Hopes So High

This had all started as a vacation for Alice Getzlaf. Desperate to escape the overcast and humid British Columbia fall weather, she found herself on the first plane out to visit her older brother at his Newport Beach home. It was supposed to only be for a couple weeks, but the weeks blended into months and eventually Alice found herself in late May nursing a beer in her hands as she soaked in the warmth of the bonfire burning before her.

Attending Ducks team parties had been her brother's idea, and at first Alice had been hesitant. But knowing no one else here, making new friends seemed a lot more fun than sitting at home by herself every weekend. Eventually when Ryan would opt out of team parties for date night with his girlfriend, Alice would still show up for a bit just to see the boys that had quickly become her closest friends.

The season had ended for Ryan's hockey team, most of them moving back to spend the summer in their hometowns with family and friends. But there was still a large enough group left in California that would gather on Saturday nights for a couple drinks. This particular night they were all at Joffrey Lupul's beach side house, a bonfire lit in the sand on the beach that his backyard backed on to.

Alice was resting on a makeshift bench that was really an old log that had been dragged down into the sand, her beer bottle resting in the sand between her feet. Since Ryan was absent, she could drink freely. While she was legal age, he still thought of her as his baby sister and had his overprotective moments.

She pulled the oversized sweater she had taken from her brother closer to her body, pulling it down further to cover some of her bare legs. It had been a typical hot California day when she had arrived, so a tank top and shorts had seemed like the logical outfit of choice. She had been incredibly thankful that Ryan had left one of his sweaters in the back seat of her Jeep for her to steal tonight.

She was sitting next to Brett Festerling, a fellow British Columbia native, listening to Joffrey and Bobby Ryan strumming away on a couple acoustic guitars. The loud laughter and chatter among the large group made the music the two were making difficult to hear, but Alice was still mesmerized. She couldn't tear her eyes off of the way his fingers easily glided up and down the frets of the guitar, plucking away at the different strings. She could faintly recognize the tune as a John Mayer song and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"You do know, I won't tell your brother if you go and see Bobby over there."

Brett's words pulled Alice from the daze she hadn't realized she was in. She looked up at him quickly, letting out a nervous laugh. "That's okay, I'm perfectly okay with you here to keep me company." She playfully elbowed him gently in the side before reaching down for her beer again.

"Oh, puh-lease, Alice." Brett laughed, shoving her away lightly. "You haven't kept your eyes off Silver over there."

Alice didn't say anything, she just took another sip from her beer, letting her eyes wander back over to Bobby. He briefly tore his eyes away from the chords he was playing, flashing her a smile.

"Don't think none of us have noticed how crazy you two are about each other. Just go talk to him, Getzy will never know."

"There's nothing between 'Silver' and I." Alice used air quotes around the nickname her own brother had coined for the Olympic medalist. "Besides, I'd much rather be here with my fellow BC boy."

He let out a hearty laugh, patting her lightly on the knee. "Well, I'm gonna go over there and talk to Perry." He gestured towards a couple of guys who were talking in a group closer to the shore. "And if you were to go see Bobby over there, I think I'd conveniently turn a blind eye just for you."

Brett gathered up his own drink and left towards the group, glancing over his shoulder with a wink towards Alice. Her plan was to just continue to sit by herself, enjoying the warmth the fire was providing to her legs; it had become quite cool down by the water after the sun went down. But as Alice finished off her beer, she realized that she was the only one here not sitting with a group, or engaged in a conversation. She must have looked awkward sitting by herself, and almost as if he knew, Joffrey pocketed the pick he had been using to play and clapped Bobby on the back before getting up and bringing his guitar back up towards the house.

Leaving her, now empty, bottle in the sand she ventured the small distance around the bonfire to take a seat on the bench next to Bobby, who was still gently strumming away at the acoustic guitar. He stopped his playing to look up at Alice, a genuine smile appearing it's way onto his face.

"Oh no. Don't stop playing just because I'm here."

He smirked pocketing his own pick, and removing the guitar from his lap. He leaned the guitar up against the bench beside him as he spoke, "I can't. I get too nervous playing in front of pretty girls."

Alice thanked God that it was too dark to see the blush creeping up her neck as he spoke. "I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to try." She squeezed his knee lightly.

He laughed, reaching behind him to pick up a beer from the sand that Alice hadn't noticed he had. "I wonder what you're brother would think about you flirting with me, Allie."

When Ryan had first introduced Bobby and Alice, she had just gotten back from working out at the gym, covered in sweat and wearing an old tanktop and shorts from her high school gym class. But Bobby had still smiled at her with his 1000 watt smile, picking up on the childhood nickname that Ryan always called his baby sister. To the rest of the team she was Alice, but to Bobby and Ryan, she would always be Allie.

The pair had quickly bonded, since he was practically always at Ryan's house any ways. Within a few short weeks of being in California, Alice had quickly fallen for the soft-spoken boy with the charming smile. She was never sure how he had felt about her in return, especially with her overbearing brother interfering on any possible alone time they had.

"What Ryan doesn't know won't hurt him." She gave him a sweet smile as he took another sip from his beer. She slipped off her flip flops, wiggling her toes into the cool sand, still slightly damp from the rain that had fallen earlier that afternoon.

Their conversation never moved passed small talk, casually sharing stories from back home with one another. When they reached a comfortable silence between them, a large group of guys from the shore came wandering back up to the bonfire. Their loud laughter drowned out any attempt at conversation between Alice and Bobby.

He reached over to grab her hand, intertwining their fingers together. Whispering to her as the group began another large group discussion, "How about we go inside to talk for a bit? Get away from the crowd?"

Sneaking away from the crowd quietly, his guitar in one hand, Alice's hand in the other, they made their way into the house, locking the door to Joffrey's office they took a seat on the plush leather couch that was in the room. As their conversation moved further along, they each moved closer to each other on the couch, until practically their entire bodies were pressed up against each other.

"Silver!" They jumped apart at the sound of footsteps coming barrelling down the hallway towards the office. "Are you with baby Getzy right now?"

Alice flinched at the nickname some of the boys had begun calling her. She absolutely hated when they referred to her as simply Ryan's baby sister.

"We should probably get out of here before they find us. We'll never hear the end of this one."

Alice nodded, heading towards the door they had come through. Bobby quickly grabbed her hand and lead her towards the door on the other side of the room that led out onto the back porch.

"Bobby, we know you're getting some, but we're unlocking this door. Please be clothed."

As he shut the door again behind them, Bobby let out a hearty laugh lacing his fingers together with Alice's again. They headed around the side of the house to the driveway Bobby still clutching his guitar with his free hand.

"Where to now?"

Bobby slipped his hand free of Alice's to check the time on his phone before shrugging. "It's getting pretty late."

She bit her lip, silently debating her next move over in her head. "Ryan won't be home until tomorrow night."

"Lead the way, Allie." His full lips formed into a smirk as he grabbed her hand once more.

The streets were still wet from the rain earlier that day. The way Alice's flip flops splashed water from the puddles onto the backs of her legs drove her crazy. She frowned as they walked through another set of puddles, completely soaking her feet, and defeating the purpose of the pedicure she had gotten that morning. While Alice's Jeep was still parked down the street from Joffrey's house, she had had a couple of beers while still at the bonfire, and was unsure if she was really in the best state to be driving.

They walked in a comfortable silence the short walk back to her brother's house that she had been staying at. But as they approached the front gate, she suddenly remembered where her keys were; sitting in the glove compartment of her car.

"Don't worry, I got this." Bobby gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, before turning his attention to the front gate. In one swift motion, he jumped up onto the gate, swinging one leg over at a time before jumping down on the opposite side. He unlocked it, letting Alice inside.

"Oh, my hero." She teased, wrapping her arms around him.

"Anything for you, Allie." He smiled, resting their foreheads against each others. He slowly closed the gap between them, kissing her softly at first. At that moment, Alice felt her entire mind go blank, the only thing that seemed to exist around her was Bobby and his lips on hers. This kiss was nothing like what she had felt in former flings, she knew that Bobby meant this, and that he wanted this just as badly as Alice did.

__________

Alice crawled towards the end of the bed where Bobby sat, his guitar resting once again in his lap as he strummed a soft rhythm. As she sat up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his abdomen, the thin white sheet the only thing separating their naked bodies. Her chin rested upon his shoulder as she watched him pluck away at the strings. He turned his head quickly, stealing kisses from her as he switched between chords.

"You're awake." He whispered, kissing her once again.

"Mhmm." She nodded, mesmerized by his musical talent. He stopped playing, setting the guitar down onto the floor before turning his full attention back to Alice. "No, don't stop playing." She whined, as he wrapped his own arms around her waist.

"I told you, I get too nervous playing in front of pretty girls, Allie."

She rolled her eyes before kissing him again, leaning backwards so the pair could fall comfortably back onto the bed. As they laid entangled together among the sheets, Bobby slowly rubbed his hands up and down her back, breathing in the soft scent of her hair.

As Alice's breathing became slow and quiet as she began to fall back asleep, Bobby placed a soft kiss on the top her head. "I gotta say, Allie," He whispered into her hair, "Hands down, this was the best day I could ever remember. And I mean it."