A Strange Arrangement

I took a deep breath as I made my way off the plane and into the seemingly never ending tunnel leading to where Kris would be waiting. I thought about the last text he sent me before we departed throughout the entire flight.

“A few more hours and you'll be here! Can't wait to see you! :)”

It was yet another purely platonic text but it was nice to daydream about possible secret emotions behind his words.

I could hear a wave of indistinct chatter and noise become clearer and clearer as I began to literally see light at the end of the tunnel. Unfamiliar faces filled my sight as I searched the crowd for the one I had been so anxious to see. I saw a small group huddled together around a figure I recognized. I tapped the person on the back as they finished signing an autograph. He turned slightly to see who I was.

“Lex!” Kris yelled as he picked me up and hugged me.

“It's nice to see you too,” I laughed slightly embarrassed by the crowd that had turned to stare.

“They probably think I'm his girlfriend,” I thought to myself and grinned slightly

“I'm so happy you're finally here. How was your flight?” he asked.

“We didn't crash so I'd consider it pretty successful.” I joked.

“Awesome,” he smiled, “Let's go grab your stuff from baggage claim.”

We turned to walk away when another fan, a young teenage boy, stopped him.

“Wait, can you sign my shirt before you leave, please?” the boy asked very politely.

“Sure,” Kris said taking the pen from the boy and proceeding to sign his shirt and make a brief conversation with him.

I stood there smiling at their exchange until I heard whispers behind me.

“Is that his girlfriend?”
“No way. He could get someone way hotter than her.”
“Right? He's a hockey player. He'd probably date a model or something.”

I put my hands in my coat pockets so no one would notice how badly I was clenching my fists. I wondered if Kris could hear the girls as well. Probably not as he was too busy with the boy.

“Alright, take care,” Kris said as the boy thanked him and walked away, “Let's go,” he said putting his arm around my shoulders and giving me a kiss on top of my head as we began to walk towards the elevator. I let my right arm slip out of my coat pocket and rested it around his waist.

I didn't want to ask if this public display of affection was occurring because of the girls' comments. In my mind, I was blissfully happy thinking this was all on account of Versteeg's own volition.

-x-

“You're starting a completely new life, my friend. Are you excited?” Kris asked flashing me that smile that had made me melt for so many years.

“I've got a job at a major publication and I'm rooming with my best friend. My life is so legit right now!” I exclaimed with a small fist pump in the air. We both began laughing.

“Oh man, I missed you, Lexi,” he admitted patting my hand and then letting it rest on top of mine.

I looked out of the corner of my eye at our hands and then up at him. He kept his eyes focused on the road.

“What is the meaning of this?!”I screamed in my head, “It's just a hand pat. Nothing more. This has been going on a while at this point though. Are you just going to leave it there or...nope, okay.”

My thoughts were interrupted by the removal of Kris' hand from mine to make a left hand turn.

“Are you going to put it back? Nope? Feel like steering with your right hand now? That's cool, too.”

“So what do you want to do first? Get settled in the apartment or grab dinner?” he asked.

“Uh, I think going to the apartment first would be best. I want to get some unpacking done before I'm too tired.” I told him.

“Apartment it is then,” he replied.

About fifteen minutes later we pulled up to the gate of a high rise building where the guard gave an acknowledging head nod and let us through. We stopped at the door of the building. A valet quickly came over to take his keys.

“What is this? A hotel or an apartment?” I teased as Kris lifted my bags from the trunk.

He laughed. “The team hooked me up. What can I say?”

We entered the gorgeous marble tiled lobby and got in the elevator. He pressed the button for the twelfth floor. I stood there studying his features out of the corner of my eye. He looked as handsome as ever. I wanted to feel him hugging me again but initiating one at that moment would probably seem quite strange.

The doors open and we began walking down the hall until we got to apartment 1208. He opened the door and revealed a beautiful, spacious apartment complete with wood floors. The kitchen had black granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. I looked around with a look of awe on my face.

“I'll take that as a positive look.” he smiled. I nodded my head as I was at a loss for words. “This is my room.” he said as he led the way down the three stairs that separated the kitchen from the living room and through the short hallway into his room.

I peered around curiously. Saying the Flyers had hooked him up was a definite understatement. I had thought his place in Chicago was swanky. This apartment put that one to shame massively.

“Wow,” I finally said as I looked in at his bathroom. “A jacuzzi tub and a shower. You're certainly living the life, my love.”

Did I really just call him “my love”? Could I be more obvious? I clenched my jaw a little hoping he wouldn't comment on my random term of endearment.

“Want to go see your room?” he asked.

“Crisis averted,” I thought as I smiled and nodded as we made our way through the living room to what was now my side of the apartment.

“Wow, I get my own flat screen? I might just stay forever.” I half joked.

“Like I said, you're welcome to if you want,” he reassured me. It made me happy to know he wanted me to stay. Maybe I would...

I wandered around my new surroundings a bit more until a picture frame on the nightstand caught my eye. I picked it up.

“Oh my god,” I gasped as I looked at the picture of Kris and I at our senior prom.

“Yeah, I found that the other day. Thought it'd be nice to put there for you. We look so young, don't we?” he laughed.

“Definitely,” I said still studying the picture.

Kris' phone began ringing and he answered it.

“Hey, what's up? No, no I can't. Because I just picked my best friend up from the airport and we're going to grab dinner. Uh, I don't know. Hold on, I'll ask” Kris put his hand over his cell phone. “Some of the guys from the team are going to get dinner and want to know if we want to go too.”

“You want me to have dinner with some of the guys from the Philadelphia Flyers, Kris? Really?” I asked him with an uncomfortable look on my face.

“Well you were going to have dinner with one of the guys from the Philadelphia Flyers anyway,” he said clearly trying to make me laugh.

“Okay then,” I said with a sigh and a nod.

“Okay, we'll be there,” he said into the phone.

“This ought to be fun,” I said to myself sarcastically.