Hello

I hadn't seen Kris in five days. He texted me constantly, and I watched 2 out of the 4 games he played while on his road trip. Each time they showed a close up of him, I got a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was kind of bummed that he hadn't asked me to hang out again, until he explained that he was on a road trip. 

I really needed to stop investing my thoughts on the guy. There was no way he had time in his life for a relationship right now. And I didn't need one. I was just glad to have a new friend in my new life in my new city.

My phone rang the day after Kris' last road trip game, and I smiled as I saw Kris's caller ID.

"Bonjour."

Kris laughed. "Bonjour." I frowned. He sounded a lot better speaking French than I did. Although I guess that made sense. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How was your trip?" 

"Tiring."

"That's not fun. If it makes you feel any better, University has me wiped out, too," I offered.

Kris chuckled. "That doesn't make me feel better. It makes me feel sad for you."

I laughed, leaning back against my couch.

"Are you free?"

I bit my lip and glanced at the clock. "Yes."

"Are you home?"

"Yeah, why?" I laughed.

"Meet me outside the doors in five minutes."

***

I sat across from Kris in the small ice cream shop. It was a quiet place nestled in a small corner of downtown Pittsburgh. I could tell why Kris came here; it was low key, and that was best for guys like him.

I glanced out the window and then back at Kris, a grin spreading across my face. He looked up from his small sundae and gave me a crooked grin. 

"What?"

"Us Canadians are the only ones who would be eating ice cream in winter," I declared. 

"Technically it's still fall."

I rolled my eyes at Kris' comment. "I'm still in Canadian mode, and in Canada it's considered winter right now," I pointed out.

Kris nodded in agreement. "True." He placed his balled up napkin in his sundae bowl. "What do you miss most?"

I thought about it while taking the final spoonful of my own sundae. I wiped my chin, where a bit of ice cream had dripped, and grinned sheepishly at Kris as he watched, amused. "Um, I'd say my family. And my friends. And my dog..." I let out a sigh and stared down at the table.

"I'm sorry," Kris said gently.

"No, it's fine," I assured him. "I'll get used to it. It's just my first month away, you know?"

Kris nodded. "Okay, well instead of sitting here and getting sad about things we miss... How about going to make new friends?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Max... Max Talbot?" Kris said his name in the form of a question and I nodded, signaling that I knew who Max was. "He's having a BBQ at his house right now with some guys. You'd probably be the only girl, but..."

I smiled. "I'd love to. I don't have another class until 7:00 tonight." I didn't mind being the only girl; I had a lot of guy friends back home. Mind you, there were only a few of them that came close to looking like Kris and his teammates...

***
I fidgeted with my hands and fussed with my hair as Kris and I waited for Max to open his front door. Kris looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Livia."

My head snapped up and I looked at him with innocent eyes. "Yes?"

"Be yourself. You have nothing to worry about."

I nodded and took a deep breath. The door finally opened and Max Talbot appeared. He had a goofy grin on his face and his eyes were an incredible shade of blue. 

"Bonjour!" he greeted. "Ca c'est Livia?" I recognized my name and blushed. Kris glanced at me and nodded. The two of them exchanged a man hug before Max turned to me, hesitating for a mere second before pulling me into a hug. I caught Kris' eyes and he grinned. I assumed this was normal and gently hugged Max back. "Any friend of Kris' is a friend of mine!" he boomed, and motioned for us to head inside. My cheeks were still a dark shade of red, and I ignored Kris as he laughed silently from beside me. I smoothed out my shirt and we headed into the backyard. I almost had a heart attack when I caught a glimpse of a pool, but when I saw that nobody was in it, I calmed down a bit. Thank goodness I wouldn't have to deal with shirtless hockey players today.

"Attention!" Max said, his word coming out sounding more French than English. "This is Livia without an 'o', Kris' new friend." He winked and I rolled my eyes at the way he said 'friend'. "Say hi everyone!"

They all obeyed Max's command, sending a loud chorus of voices into the air. A few guys walked over. 

"Hey, Livia without an 'o'," the tall blonde I recognized as Jordan Staal greeted. He extended his hand and I shook it meekly. His hand was about the size of my head. He was huge. "I'm Jordan." 

"Hi," I smiled.

I nearly had a heart attack when Sidney Crosby extended his hand for me to shake. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an internal fangirl moment; the Kid was adorable. Next came Marc-Andre Fleury, followed by Pascal Dupuis. 

"I like your hair!" Marc-Andre informed me. 

"Thank you." My smile grew wide as he smiled; it was infectious.

"So I bet you only came to see me shirtless." Jordan flexed his arm muscle and wiggled his eyebrows. My mouth fell open at the thought and I couldn't speak. All I could do was blush.

"Jordan!" Kris hissed from beside me. "Way to scare the poor girl!"

Jordan burst into laughter and I winced. "I'm sorry, Livia," he offered. "I had to. Don't be ashamed; you're one of many who wish they could see all of this." He ran his hand up and down his stomach and winked before heading over to join a different group. I turned to Kris with wide eyes.

"Je m'excuse," Kris said quietly. 

"Yeah, he's kind of an idiot," Max informed me. I nodded, but I still wanted to disappear.

"Kris," Marc-Andre started, and I heard his French accent start to come through. Oh no. They were not going to have a conversation in French, were they? I understood the basics, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to keep up. "Elle est belle, mon ami." Max nodded as though he agreed.

Kris shook his head and I looked back and forth between all three. "Je ne la connais pas assez bien."

Max clapped Kris on the shoulder and I crossed my arms. This was so not cool. "Eh bien, dépêchez-vous. Vous avez été seul assez longtemps."

I let out a heavy sigh, and they finally seemed to notice me. I stared at them pointedly.

"Sorry," Kris said hastily. "Let's go eat." His hand found the small of my back and he guided me over to the barbecue.