Simple Kind of Life

Every muscle in his body ached as Jeff and the team filed into the locker room after a grueling practice. Preseason had started and Lavi was cracking down hard on the players. His sore knees thanked him as Jeff sat down at his stall and unlaced his skates.

“You coming over this weekend?” Briere asked as he disrobed. Danny was throwing an impromptu pool party to celebrate the abnormally warm September weather.

“Probably.

"You should bring your girlfriend." Jeff could tell Danny wasn't being facetious, but that didn't stop the other guys from laughing. Richie had spilled his secret, blabbing about how Carter had been spending a lot of time with a married woman and her children.

"It's not like that. She's just a chick I hang out with."

"It must be good if you're willing to put up with a kid." Hartnell chimed in as he ran his fingers through his damp curls.

The sex was good, but he didn't feel the need to get graphic with his teammates. Avery wasn't some whore to pass around and he didn't want to talk about her like that. But he also didn’t want to give the impression that it was a serious relationship. Because it wasn’t.

Jeff shrugged his teammates off as they dispersed and he continued to peel his gear from his body.

“It’s not like that, huh?” Mike asked, a grin on his face. “What’s on your toes?”

Jeff peered down and nearly gasped in horror at the hot pink nail polish adorning his toenails. Lili wanted to test out a flashy shade of magenta polish and decided Jeff made the perfect guinea pig. He gave the child a firm “no” but then she unleashed a pair of big eyes followed by a sad little pout and it was all over. The man caved and received a full manicure and pedicure while Avery sat back and laughed at his expense. He meant to wake up early before practice and remove the lacquer, but he overslept. He took the varnish off his fingers but completely forgot about the toes.

“Fuck.” He whispered, curling his toes in an attempt to hide them. He threw on some socks and opted to shower at home. If anyone else saw, he’d never live it down. “I couldn’t say no. She gave me the pouty face.”

“You’re really digging this domestic life, aren’t you?” Cam had joined them and sat on the bench next to Danny. It was nice to see her back in the locker room. After winning the Stanley Cup, Cam revealed her relationship with Mike Richards and a firestorm followed. The commissioner of the NHL wanted her removed from the league for fraternizing with a team member. He was almost successful, but the team and the Flyers organization rallied around her and demanded she stay. The commissioner relented and allowed Cam to come back under the condition that she and Mike never acknowledge their relationship publically again.

Jeff shrugged. “It’s different.”

Danny grinned as he got up. “Whatever she is, bring her along. They’ll be plenty of kids there if she wants to bring hers.” He patted Jeff’s shoulder before he left. Jeff, Cam, and Mike also got up and headed toward the parking lot.

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” The girl asked, scooping her hair into a messy ponytail.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Meaning?”

Cam sighed. “No offense, but she’s got a lot of baggage. She’s got a kid, she’s still married. And you’re not exactly at the same place in your life as she is.”

Jeff must have looked dumbfounded because the brunette rolled her eyes. “You like to drink, you like to fuck random girls, and you like to go out. She’s a mother with responsibilities. You see the difference?”

“I told you, it’s not that serious.”

“Dude, you’re not fooling anyone.” Until then, Mike had been quiet. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with her. Her kid painted your fucking toenails.”

Jeff brushed them off and said his goodbyes before heading off to his car. It didn’t matter what they said, he knew they were wrong. He could end it with Avery and neither one of them would think twice about it.

****************************************************************************************************

Sunscreen, towels, change of clothes, juice boxes, PB&J’s just in case Lili gets picky about eating. Was she forgetting anything? Avery’s eyes scanned over the items spread out on the coffee table in the living room and placed her hands on her hips.

“You got everything, let’s go.” Aaron was growing impatient as he watching her mulling over what to bring to the pool party.

“Go grab Lil and quit rushing me.” The teen laughed at her and headed upstairs to fetch the child.

Avery felt nervous and uncertain. When Jeff had invited her to the party, she almost said no. She liked that their relationship was its own entity and didn’t spill into their actual lives. Occasionally, they would spend time together with Lili before Avery sent the child to bed. This allowed them to be alone for the night. In the morning, he’d leave and normal life would resume. Now he wanted to bring her into his world and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Avery was finally packing up a tote bag when she could hear Lili’s voice chatting away. She had Avery’s cell phone to her ear and was animatedly talking into it.

“Say bye to Grammy, Lil.” The child frowned but nodded.

“Bye abuelita Cruz.” Lili handed the phone off to her mother.

“Hey Cruz.” As far as mother-in-laws go, Avery couldn’t have asked for a greater one. She had been dating James for only a few months when her parents died and Cruz had taken over the mother role to her and Aaron without missing a beat. Avery didn’t know where she would be without Cruz.

“How you doing, mija?” Came her gentle voice with just a tinge of a Mexican accent. Years of living in the United States have watered it down, but Avery could still sense it.

“Good. We’re doing very well.”

“Lil told me she started ballet.” Avery grinned. Lili was not a graceful child, but she was determined.

“She loves it. Her first recital is in a few months, so as soon as I get tickets, you’re on the invite list.”

There was a slight pause before Cruz spoke again. “And how are you doing?”

Avery wasn’t sure what to make of the tone her mother-in-law used, so she decided to tread carefully. “I’m hanging in there.”

“Did you know he’s getting out of rehab today?” Avery’s eyes widened. She had no idea James was even in a program.

“No, I didn’t. How long was he in treatment for?”

“90 days. Can you believe it?”

She honestly couldn’t. Three months clean was quite a long stretch for James and deep down, she was proud of him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“He wanted it to be a surprise for you and Lili.”

And then she remembered.

“Cruz, I mailed him the divorce papers.” Avery could hear the woman sigh.

“I thought you were gonna wait.”

Avery had discussed it with Cruz, but she couldn’t wait any longer. How could she have known he was in rehab? He was always changing phone numbers and he never returned her calls. The only communication they had was through his mother.

“I’m happy that he’s getting help, but it’s over regardless.”

“I know, honey. I don’t condone what my son did, but I just wish the timing was better. I don’t want him coming home to divorce papers in his mailbox.”

As far as Avery was concerned, it wasn’t her problem. In fact, she figured he was getting away easy. She didn’t want alimony or child support, all she wanted was his signature so she could finally be free of him.

“I’m sorry, Cruz. I didn’t know.”

“Well, Jamie knew this was coming. He’ll just have to cope.” The woman sighed deeply into the phone. It didn’t matter how old James got, his mother still worried about him. “I think it’ll be good for him if he got to see Liliana.”

Avery frowned and rubbed her temple with her free hand. A headache was settling in behind her eyes. This was not how she wanted to start her day. She was uncomfortable with the idea, considering the last time Lili saw her father, he was smacking her mother around.

“I don’t know, Cruz.”

“I know this isn’t easy for you. But promise you’ll think about it.”

Avery hated being put in this position. She always said she’d never keep James away from his child if he got his act together, but she had witnessed this song and dance before only for her husband to revert back to his old ways.

“I’ll entertain the idea,” Her eyes shifted over to Aaron, who was tapping his watch impatiently while Lili stood with her arms crossed. “Listen, I gotta go, but I’ll call you later.”

“Alright, mija. Love you.”

“Love you too, ma.” She hung up, much to the relief of the children staring her down. “OK, OK, I’m done, let’s go.”

The family piled into Avery’s car and she followed the directions Jeff texted her. It took them a good 45 minutes to get to the beautiful neighborhood one of Jeff’s teammates resided it. It was obviously an upscale location, but it wasn’t pretentious or overtly extravagant. It seemed classy, but laidback.

“Man, we gotta move here.” Aaron commented as they drove through the neighborhood.

“You have a couple hundred grand you don’t want?” Avery shot back at him as she drove slowly to scan each house number. Immediately she saw a larger house with cars and trucks filling the driveway and she figured it was her destination. She pulled the car against the curb and unloaded Lili, who was being particularly clingy that day. She absolutely insisted on being carried.

“You are getting way too big for this, Squeaks.” Avery huffed, lugging the child and their tote bag up the driveway with Aaron trailing behind them. She placed the beach bag on the ground and knocked on the front door. The entrance flung open to reveal a young, sandy haired boy clad in swim trunks and dripping wet.

“You must be here for the party. Come with me.” Avery and Aaron exchanged looks before following the boy. “I’m Cameron, by the way.” He added over his shoulder. The house was cozy and lived it, making Avery feel comfortable. She expected a more ostentatious setting from an athlete, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Cameron led them through a large kitchen filled with food to the backyard, which was crawling with people. She recognized a couple of Jeff’s teammates, but she couldn’t recall their names. A smaller, dark haired man smiled upon seeing her and approached.

“You must be Avery. I’m Danny. You’ve obviously met my son.” He grabbed the sandy haired boy and gave him a noogie. Cameron groaned and struggled against his father’s grasp. He managed to escape and made a run for the pool. He jumped into the air and cannonballed into the water.

“Hi Danny. This is Lili and Aaron.” He smiled warmly at the kids.

“There’s tons of food, help yourselves. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” Avery grinned at his subtle accent and nodded before thanking him.

“Jeff!” Lili squealed in the woman’s ear, causing her to cringe. The blond was in the pool with a group of his teammates and turned his head toward them. He smiled widely before excusing himself from his friends. Water poured from him as he pushed himself out of the pool and headed toward them. Avery fought the urge to gawk as the moisture travelled down his toned abdomen to the swim trunks that hung low on his tanned hips. She never understood how relationships were forged based on lust alone…until she met Jeff.

“You made it.” He threw his long arms around the woman and child, leaving wet marks on their clothes. His lips brushed against Avery’s in a chaste kiss before he grinned at her and lightly tugged one of her braided pigtails.

“I did not think your sister would show up.” He directed the sentence to Aaron as he swatted at the teen’s shoulder. “C’mon we’re playing water basketball, we could use another person.”

“Can I play too?” Lili asked. Avery was about to tell her no when Jeff cut in.

“Of course. We need a team captain.” For the first time that day, Lili loosened her grip on her mother and happily jumped into Jeff’s arms.

“Wait, I gotta get floaties on her.” Avery followed after them, rifling through her beach bag. Jeff placed the child on the ground before lowering himself in the shallow end of the pool. Avery quickly blew up the floaties and dipped them in the water to slide them on the little girl’s arms. Once she was ready, Jeff grabbed her and placed her on his shoulders. Aaron joined them while Avery sat on the edge of the pool, calf deep in the water.

“Hey there.” Avery looked up to see a cute brunette settling down next to her.

“Hi.”

“Avery, right?” She asked, peering at her with curious gray eyes.

“My reputation precedes me.” The girl smiled and nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember anyone’s name.” She said, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. Avery felt terribly rude.

The brunette laughed. “It’s OK. I’ll give you the run down. That’s Scottie, Dan, Ville, Claude, Zac, James, and Mike. The three boys are Danny’s clones, Carson, Caelan, and Cameron. ” She pointed out each guy in the pool and a bunch of others sprinkled around the backyard. “And I’m Cam.”

Though Cam was athletically built, Avery couldn’t see such a tiny thing play a violent sport like hockey. But she remembered seeing stories about her on every single news station after her team won some championship.

“Right, we met in Sea Isle. Sorry, it was a crazy night.”

She grinned. “I see your brother survived.”

“Barely.”

They sat with their legs swirling in the warm water as they watched the boys horsing around, trying to play basketball. Liliana had the ball and Jeff was blocking as she dropped the ball into the floating net. The guys cheered while Dan high-fived the child.

“Your daughter is super cute.” Cam commented casually, a grin on her lips.

“Thank you.”

“And Cartsy’s really taken a shine to her.”

Avery smiled. It took them awhile, but they eventually warmed up to each other. “Yeah, he’s been really great with her, surprisingly.”

“Yeah, it’s a shocker to all of us too.” She took a swig from the beer bottle she had been holding. “So Carter says you’re still married?”

Avery could feel the casual conversation shifting into serious territory. “Yeah. Lili’s dad and I are in the middle of a divorce.”

“What’s the hold up?” Avery found her question to be incredibly rude and prying, but she knew Cam was only trying to protect her friend.

“He hasn’t signed the divorce papers yet. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.”

“Would you be offended if I ask what happened between you guys?”

Avery sighed and flicked a mosquito off her arm. “Drugs.” She said simply, not wanting to get into details.

Cam’s face softened. “Oh. Sorry I asked.”

Avery nodded. “It’s OK. You’re just trying to protect your friend. And I’m not looking to hurt him.”

The girl looked over at her and smirked. “You better not. I’ll cut you.”

“I don’t doubt you will.”

Cam lowered her guns and the conversation relaxed a bit. “They are such goofballs.” She nodded her chin toward the rowdy group of males in the pool. Carson and Caelan were trying to dunk Scott underwater while Cameron was hanging off of Aaron’s back.

“Mommy! Did you see me? Did you see me score?” Liliana asked as Jeff drifted over to the two women with the child still on his shoulders.

“I saw, Squeaks. You smoked those boys.”

The sky slowly made its ritualistic transition from bright blue to deep pink as the sun set over the horizon, causing the crowd to thin out. Aaron took Lili inside with Danny’s sons for popcorn and a movie while the other teammates settled into the kitchen for some drinks, leaving Avery and Jeff to sit on the edge of the pool.

“So. Did you have fun?” He shifted slightly, making the blond hair on his legs tickle her thigh. She grinned at the interaction.

“Yeah. Was there any doubt?” He shrugged.

“Maybe. I was worried the guys wouldn’t behave themselves.”

She watched as their feet swirled in the warm water. Her toes wriggled, making the liquid whoosh through them. “Why wouldn’t they?

“You know how in grade school, when a guy has a crush on a girl, his friends make him miserable?” Avery nodded, biting her lip to keep from smiling like an idiot. “Well, we’re kinda stuck in that grade school mentality.”

“You have a crush on me?” He turned his head quickly, a grin on his boyish face.

“What? I never said that. If anything, you totally have a crush on me.” Avery laughed as she pushed off the concrete edge and into the pool. The tepid water felt lovely against her skin.

“Oh yes. With your wit and charm, how could I resist you?”

His smug grin melted into a frown. “Your sarcastic tone might suggest you don’t think I’m witty and charming.”

The male followed her lead and slid off the ledge. He wasted no time in capturing her, pinning the woman between his body and the wall of the pool.

"You're quite witty and charming." She whispered as his forehead met gently with hers.

"I think you're just saying that because you're in a very compromising position." His fingers pinched at her sides, sending her into a fit of painful belly laughs. Tickling was not a favorite pastime of Avery’s, causing her to hastily grab at his wrists in hopes to prevent further inhuman forms of torture.

“Stop!” She begged, squirming against his hands.

“Can’t stop. Must tickle.”

"You are twisted, Carter." She managed to murmur before his lips settled on hers. The textured walls of the pool scratched up her back as he kissed her roughly, but she didn’t care. Her hands immediately found their way to the damp stands of his thick hair as her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Jeff quickly turned away from Avery to focus on the interlopers. The light from the house outlined their slim bodies, leaving their features drowned out by darkness.

"What do you want, Dan? Zac?" Jeff growled, clearly irritated by the interruption.

"I left my phone out here." Dan held up the devise. "Sorry, proceed."

Zac winked at them and pursed his lips before the two disappeared into the house.

"Oh my God." Avery placed her clammy hand over her eyes as Jeff buried his face into her neck and laughed.

"If you haven't noticed, the guys are really good at ruining the moment." He whispered against her skin.

"Oh, I've taken notice."

"Maybe we should head inside." She shook her head in disagreement. After being caught pawing at Jeff like a hormone crazed teenager, the last thing she wanted was to face the inevitable scrutiny.

He simply grabbed her hand and led her out of the pool. The night air met harshly with her saturated skin, causing her teeth to chatter slightly. Jeff grinned and tossed her a towel before grabbing one for himself.

Still dripping, they entered the house and received big smiles and catcalls from Jeff’s teammates. Avery blushed, bringing her hand to her burning face.

“Don’t worry, Av. You’re not the first one to get caught making out in Danny’s pool.” Mike commented, earning an elbow jab from Cam.

“Mr. Danny?” The attention turned to Lili, who was holding a big empty bowl. “Can we have some more popcorn?”

“Sure.” He took the bowl from her and rummaged through the cabinets for a microwavable bag of kernels.

“Can we also have some ice cream?” Danny paused and peered at the little girl, his lips curling at the corners.

“Did the boys send you out here to ask for more ice cream after I specifically told them no?”

The child smiled widely and nodded.

“Nice try, boys!” He called out into the living room, causing three groans to echo through the house.

“C’mon, Danny. Cut my future girlfriend some slack.” Zac chimed in, sending a smirk at Lili. She blushed and immediately attached herself to Avery’s leg.

“I’m not your girlfriend, Zac.” The child stuck her tongue out at the male.

“Keep saying that and you’ll hurt my feelings.”

The child grabbed at Avery’s shorts and raised her arms, indicating she wanted to be held. That was her cue to start getting ready to leave. When Lili got tired, she’d become clingy and progress to the cranky stage. Avery didn’t know these men well enough to subject them to a cranky Liliana.

“We should probably get going. It’s way past this one’s bedtime.”

“But mommy,” Lil’s mouth opened to emit an enormous yawn. “I’m not tired yet.”

Avery gathered her belongings along with her brother before saying goodbye to everyone and thanking Danny for the invite.

“Let me walk you out.” Jeff offered, grabbing Avery’s beach bag. They headed down the driveway and Avery buckled the child into her car seat while Aaron situated himself in the passenger’s side seat.

“Thanks for coming over.” Jeff leaned in a placed a small kiss on her lips.

“Thanks for inviting me.” She wrapped her arms around his waist for a hug.

“I was thinking we could do this again. Ya know, like hang out somewhere other than the bedroom.” Avery chuckled and looked down at her flip-flop clad feet.

“You don’t want to hang out in my bedroom anymore?”

He shook his head. “Oh no, I still wanna do that. But maybe we can, I don’t know, like see a movie or have dinner first.”

“Like a date?” He shrugged.

“Maybe,” He pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. “I’m going on the road tomorrow for two weeks, so I’ll call you when I get back into town.”

Avery nodded. “I think I’d like that. See ya in a few weeks.”

They kissed one last time before Avery said goodbye and slipped into her car.