Life Coach

Even in my phone said 10:45, I felt like I only slept for a couple hours. After all the traveling I was just plain tired. But I did have fun at Jon's parent's house. Defiantly a better welcome than the Kanes'. Obviously Jon told his family about me. Why, I don't understand but at least I didn't have to explain my story after I told them we met in Vegas. That was just humiliating.

Maybe a shower will make me up. I stretched and threw the covers off of me. I grabbed my shower bag and jumped in the guest bathroom. Back in my room, the sun was shining through the window. Hopefully today was a hot day, I wouldn't mind tanning on that dock. I put on some shorts and a tank top and headed downstairs.

In the kitchen, Jon was hunched over a bowl of cereal, his eyes glued to the TV screen, "Captain Crunch. Nice choice." I said grabbing a bowl and a spoon for myself, pouring myself some. I sat on the stool beside him, "Crosby's coming back." The TV had older footage of Crosby, saying he was most likely to return this year ready to come back strong.

"Nervous?" I teased.

"Pfft, please."

"How's training been?" I asked, scooping another spoonful in my mouth.

"I'm so ready for the season to start. Everyone I talk to says they're ready to play too."

"I'm sure you guys will do alright."

"Alright?" He turned and looked at me, "Just alright? We're gonna do fucking fantastic!"

"I don't know Jon."

"How do you now know? We're the fucking Blackhawks. We're going to win it all this year."

"Except the Cup."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I smirked.

"And why won't we win the Cup?"

"That's easy...because the Sabres will." Jon erupted in laughter, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes, "Yeah okay. That's a good one."

"Don't you doubt my Sabre's! It's a new year. We're got great players, new prospects that are hungry for blood. We're got as much of a chance than you guys, the only difference is we're going to win."

"You're mistaken little girl." He said patting my head.

"We'll see in May big boy." I mocked. I rinsed my bowl and washed it.

"So what would you like to do today?" Jon asked just putting his bowl in the sink. I rolled my eyes and washed his dishes.

"I don't know. What's there to do around here?"

"I can show you around town. We can go out on the lake. I do need to get to the store or we won't eat tonight."

"Let's go around town." He nodded and went to another room. I went and brushed my teeth then grabbed my wallet from my room.

Jon parked somewhere on the street and we walked around town. We stopped in some stores just to browse, enjoying each other's company. I was able to pick up some souvineers for family and friends. Sometimes we had to stop for some fans. When it came to the fans, Jon was very polite, posing and smiling for pictures and signing whatever the fan had at hand. He did it all with a smile, "I don't know how you do it."

"It's not a big deal. Most of the time people respect my privacy."

"Oh my god, is that Jonathan Toews?"

"And other times there's screaming fan girls." I mumbled as a group of girls approached us. Each with short skirts, heeled shoes, and what I'm assuming to be a shirt but anyone could be fooled from the lack of material, "Hi Jon." They gushed, batting their eyelashes.

"Hello ladies." Jon simply replied.

"So what are you up too?" A bleach blonde asked twirling her hair.

"I'm giving her a tour of the town." Jon answered pointing at me. The group finally noticed my presence and their faces turned to disgust.

"Is she your girlfriend?" I raised my eyebrow at the red head who asked. Can't a girl just hang with Jonathan Toews?

"No, she's just a good friend." Don't worry ladies, another day goes on where he's single.

"Oh, well there's this party tonight. You're welcome to come. You can bring her if you want."

"Um, thanks ladies but we're busy tonight."

"That's too bad. But if you change your mind, here's my number. Give me a call sometime." That blonde has some guts. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Jon. He took it with a smile. I had to control myself from laughing out loud. The girls gave him a wave and stalked off. Jon rolled his eyes and tossed the number in a trash can.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to that party? I'm sure it'll be super fun." I joked.

"As tempting as 'super fun' sounds, I have better things to do."

"Like boil your eyes in acid? I might have to do that." I said turning and seeing the group of girls watching Jon.

"Something like that." He said with a laugh.

"I wonder if she has her number pre-written just in case she bumps into you...oo, like business cards."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"We could have prank called her." I suggested.

"Yes we could, but we're not."

"You're no fun." I pouted.

---

The rest of the tour was calm and uninterrupted. We had made it to the store in one piece, "So what do you want for dinner?" Jon asked. He took the job of pushing the cart while I walked beside him.

"Are you in the mood for anything in particular?" He shook his head. Dumb question on my part. He could eat anything. We resorted to walking around the store till we something caught our eyes. When we passed the peppers, it clicked. I started grabbing a could peppers, putting them into a bag.

"Got an idea?" Jon asked. I nodded. "Then you might want to put some more in there. I'm starving." I laughed and went on my way picking up different ingredients. Every time I put a new item in the cart Jon would try and figure out what I was going to make, "Why can't you just tell me?" He whined.

"I'm sure you can wait to find out. It won't hurt you."

"I might die of starvation."

"You're being a drama queen. And I know drama queens."

Jon was able to make it home alive without passing out with lack of food. At his place he helped bring in the groceries. He started putting away the food when his phone rang. He went down the hall and left me to finish up. I turned on a radio to fill in the silence, settling on a station with music I knew, and went about preparing dinner.

It felt different hanging with Jon. Thinking about those girls from earlier, I remembered when it happened with Patrick he would flirt with them. I'd have to tell him to take a cold shower every time. But Jon didn't do that. He talked to me the whole time, joking and laughing, a complete 180 from the Captain Serious personality.

At the store, I'd turn my back to get something and when I put it in the cart, I'd see him looking at me. Did he really like me? The only real evidence that he did was when he kissed me. But since that day, it hasn't been brought up. Could I have feelings for Jon? He is the ideal guy but whenever I thought about the kiss or our time together I never had those feelings that say 'Hey! He's the one!'. But how often does that happen? Maybe I don't feel anything towards him because..."Does it smell good in here or what?" I jumped, my hand hitting the shelf in the oven, "Fuck, ow!"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry! Let's run that under some water." Mrs. Toews said turning the cold water on.

"When did Jonny Boy learn to cook?" I heard David ask coming into the kitchen, his father behind him carrying some trays.

"What happened here?" Mr. Toews asked.

"I scared the poor girl and she burned her hand." Mrs. Toews answered.

"I told you we should've called."

"Where's Jon?" David asked.

"He's somewhere on the phone." David nodded and went to look for his brother.

"What are you making and how can we get the recipe?" I smiled at Jon's dad as he leaned over the stove smelling everything.

"It's a recipe a friend of mine taught me. Do you like shrimp?"

"Honey, I love everything."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mrs. Toews offered.

"It's almost done. I just need to set the table."

"Oh, we'll do that sweetie. Why don't you go get some ice for that hand and wrap it up?" I nodded and went down the hall, finding a closet full of blankets and towels. Jon has to have a first aid kit around here somewhere. "What are you looking for?" Jon asked appearing behind me and very close might I add.

"I burned my hand and need something to wrap ice in."

"Ho did you burn your hand?" He chuckled reaching for the first aid kit on the top shelf, completely out of my eye sight.

"Your mom scared me."

"My parents are here too? I thought it was just David" Jon led me back to the kitchen, "I didn't know you guys were stopping by." He said to his parents.

"I sent you a text." His mother pointed out. Jon pulled out his phone.

"Oh...'we're coming over'." He read. I sat on a stool while Jon grabbed ice and started wrapping my hand, "Is that alright?"I nodded and said my thanks.

"We did't mean to scare her." Mrs. Toews said.

"We? You scared her. That'll teach you for yelling in the house." David told her. His mother just rolled her eyes and looked at the stove, "Kara dear, I think it's ready." I jumped down and looked around, "Yeah it's done."

"Good. Boys, go set the table." Jon and David let out groans of annoyance until their father said, "Boys, listen to your mother."

With the table set, we dug in. I struggled because it was my right hand that was injured, so eating left handed felt odd.

"Kara you must give me this recipe." Mrs. Toews said, her plate clean. All of the guys agreed.

"I have a whole bunch. You can take a look at them sometime." I told her, earning a smile not just from her but from her husband as well.

"So what did you two do today?" Mrs. Toews asked. Jon and I glanced at each other and laughed. The family joined in once we told them the story, "Well at least they invited you as well. Most would've ignored you." David said.

"They did until there was an impression we were dating." I pointed out.

"Kara wanted to prank call the girl." Jon told them.

"That's my girl." David said sending me a wink.

"Don't pay attention to girls like that.. They don't deserve you. You boys deserve an educated, pretty girl who's doing something with her life instead of sleeping with men with money." Mrs. Toews told her sons. When I looked over at her, she gave me a grin and a wink. I smiled sheepishly, not quite sure where she's going with this.

"Mom, no woman will mean as much to us as you do." David gushed.

"That's why you're my favorite." Mrs. Toews said patting his hand.

"Hey? What about me?" Jon protested.

"You're my favorite too." I laughed.

Light conversation filled the rest of dinner and continued out onto the deck. Mr. Toews started a fire in the pit and we all sat around it. Jon and I took the couch, David had one of the chairs, and their parents sat on the swing. They looked so happy together. I mean, look at their family. Both their sons have done well in life and were defiantly raised with good intentions. They were a perfect family.

"I could get use to this." I said looking out on the water. The sun was setting, making the sky and water different shades of beauty. Stars were peaking out int he sky, ready to shine brightly.

Jon looked down at me and put his arm around my shoulders, "Me too."