The Games We Play

“Calm down. You look great,” Derek’s girlfriend, Kenzie smiled as Lacey checked her hair in the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Jonathan was taking her to Catch Thirty-Five, a very expensive high-class restaurant in Chicago. It was Friday night, and Jonathan and the team had just gotten back from playing in Nashville. Derek had asked Kenzie to drive down from Peoria to help her out with getting ready since he knew that she would be having a mild panic attack. When Kenzie arrived at the door, Lacey was almost breathing into a paper bag.

“Do I really?” she bit her lip, looking down and trying to smooth the non-existent creases in the front of her dress. She wore a simple dark blue halter top dress with her long blond hair up in an elegant bun with a few loose curls framing her face. Kenzie did her makeup for her, creating the smoky eye effect.

“You’re blind if you don’t see it,” Kenzie declared. “And trust me, Jonathan will see it. I still can’t get over the fact that you’re going out to dinner with the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. I kind of wish I was the one in your shoes.”

Lacey smirked. “You want to wear these heels? Be my guest,” she laughed. “But come on. You can’t really be thinking about dating a Blackhawk when you’ve got your hands full with Derek.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Derek is no Patrick Sharp.”

Lacey burst out laughing when a buzz came through the speaker on the wall. She pressed the button and spoke into it. “Yes?”

“It’s me,”Jonathan’s voice replied.

“Okay. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Lacey turned to Kenzie and took in a deep inhale and exhaled very slowly.

Kenzie gave her a thumbs up. “You’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Lacey repeated, purse in hand, turning to the door and wrapping her fingers over the handle. “I’ll see you later. Thanks again, Kenz.”

“Don’t mention it!” she called. “I’ll add this to the list of favours you owe me.”

Lacey grabbed a thin coat to protect her bare arms from the harsh Chicago winds and headed out the door and down the stairs. Jonathan was leaned up against his truck waiting for her dressed in a nice, crisp black suit with subtle pinstripes, and a white dress shirt without a tie. Lacey gulped when she saw him, feeling heat rise in her cheeks.

“Hey,” he grinned when he saw her. He opened the passenger’s side door for her and ushered her to get inside. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks,” she blushed. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”

The two of them drove to Catch Thirty-Five, making pleasant small talk on the way there. When they finally got to the restaurant, the hostess immediately seated them and gave them menus, even though there was a line of people waiting to get a table. No one objected, though--as soon as they saw Jonathan’s face, the mouths that had opened in protest slowly closed shut.

“So,” Jonathan began, peering at Lacey from over his menu. “What’s your favourite colour?”

“My favourite colour?” Lacey repeated with a small laugh. “Are we really playing this game? What is this, a Facebook survey?”

“Come on, I want to get to know you outside of soccer,” he prodded. “What’s your favourite colour?”

Lacey smiled and shook her head. “White.”

“Go figure, should have known by how you were wearing white everything the first time we met,” he chuckled. “Any siblings?”

“Shouldn’t I get to ask you questions, too?” Lacey suddenly interrupted. “I don’t want this to be one-sided.”

“Ask away.”

“I have two little sisters and one older half sister, by the way,” Lacey added. “What about you?”

“A younger brother named David,” he responded. “He got drafted by the New York Islanders, actually. What about your sisters, are they as into soccer as you are?”

Lacey shook her head. “My older sister from my dad’s first marriage is an eighth grade teacher at an elementary school in South Carolina. And my two younger sisters are eighteen and fifteen. Keirsten, the eighteen year old, is graduating from high school and is going to Northwestern for life sciences. Hannah, the fifteen year old, is still in high school but she loves music, so she’ll probably go down that road.”

“You’ve got quite the diverse family,” Jonathan noted. “Your dad must suffocate from all the estrogen, though,” he added as a joke.

Lacey smiled wide and shook her head. “He loves all of us. I know how badly he wanted a son, but he always tells us that we’re his little princesses...even though we’re mostly all grown up. When my sister Sara got married, my dad was really welcoming of her husband. He treats him like a son now.”

“Your parents must worry about you a lot,” Jonathan said. “Not just you, but all of your sisters. I guess it’s different having raised girls instead of boys. There’s so much more to protect them from.”

She shrugged. “I think my parents worry more about Hannah than anyone else since she’s the youngest. Sara’s already thirty and on her own and Keirsten’s always been independent. The only reason I think my parents don’t worry about me is because I took karate classes up until I got my brown belt. But I had to quit so I could focus on soccer.”

“Huh,” Jonathan commented, a small crooked smirk forming on his lips.

Lacey peered over at him. “What?”

“When I was younger I took taekwondo and almost got my black belt. The belt colour system is different though, I had a red belt with a black stripe and then I quit to focus on hockey.”

She bit back a grin. “I guess we have a lot in common, then.”

Jonathan returned her smile. “I guess we do.”

Dinner went smoothly, everything made to perfection. Lacey had never eaten such an expensive meal in her entire life, and felt badly that Jonathan had to pay for such a hefty check. He reminded her that he was a professional athlete and made a lot of money every season and so she didn’t have to worry about cost. It didn’t stop her from seeing stars when she saw the enormous number, excluding tip, when the bill had finally arrived.

Jonathan drove her back to her apartment. Lacey glanced up at the high-rise building, trying in vain to find her window. She wasn’t sure if Kenzie was still there or not, or if she had gone back to Derek’s place to stay the night. Jonathan, like a true gentleman, parked his car and got out, offering to open the door for her. Lacey blushed and got out, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

They walked to the building’s front door together, the light from the street lamps above washing them in a golden glow.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” Lacey said, looking up at him. The corners of her lips tugged into a small smile. “We should do this again. But next time, somewhere that won’t cost an arm and a leg.”

Jonathan chuckled. “I already told you, the money thing isn’t a big deal.”

“Yeah but I feel bad for making you spend so mu--”

Lacey’s words were cut off by Jonathan firmly placing his lips over hers in one deft movement. It took her a moment to register what was going on, but by the time she finally did, he pulled away.

“Goodnight, Lace.”

She felt her cheeks heat up. “Goodnight, Jon.”

Leaning down, he gave her another light peck on the cheek and got in his car before driving off. Lacey went upstairs to her apartment, her head still swimming. Her face was still flushed and her heart wouldn’t stop pounding in her chest. She unlocked her apartment door and swung it open, nearly having another heart attack when she was nearly pounced on by not only Kenzie, but Derek too.

“So, how was your date?” they asked in unison, each of them grabbing hold of one of her hands and leading her into the living room.

Once Lacey sat down and managed to calm her pulse and take in steady breaths again, she exhaled slowly and could only say, “Amazing.”