Love is a Laserquest

Kris' POV:

I walked Alexandria to her car though I didn't want to. After not seeing her for 7 months, a 75 minute lunch wasn't nearly enough time together.

She claimed to be happy with this new guy, Eric, but her eyes said otherwise. I'd known her long enough to know when she was lying and she was definitely holding back. She was finally letting me back in though. I wasn't going to push her to face the truth just yet.

She slid into the driver's side, closed the door and rolled down the window. I leaned over the side of her BMW hybrid and spoke. “So, it was good seeing you. Hopefully it won't be too long until it happens again, you know like...7 months long.” Luckily she laughed at that.

“I promise it won't be. I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe you can come by and see where Sara and I live sometime.”

“Sounds good. In the next couple of days, hopefully, because the pre-season starts next week so things will get a little crazy after that.” I said knowing deep down I'd find a way to make time for her.

“Okay,” she said smiling at me. I hadn't seen that smile in anything but pictures for a while. It was a beautiful sight. “I'll see you soon then.”

“Alright,” I said standing back up so she could drive away. “Take it easy.”

And then she was gone.

I got into my car and began driving though I didn't really know where my destination was. I was so happy with the unexpected way the afternoon had turned out. I had all these thoughts swimming around in my head and I needed to get them out. But Alexandria was the one that I told everything to.

I started scrolling through the contacts in my phone looking for a name that appeared worthy.

“Adam...Andrej...Andrew...Antii...Brian B....Brian Campb-. Yes! Soupy!”

I pressed “Call” and waited for him to pick up.

“Hey, Steeger. What's up, man?”

“Hey, I'm coming over.” I said quickly.

“Okay. To what do I owe the pleasure of you inviting yourself to my house?” he asked with that typical Campbell humor.

“I'll explain when I get there. It's about Lexi.” Brian and I had played together on the Blackhawks so he had met Alexandria plenty of times. When I found out I'd be making the move to South Florida, I was relieved to know my new team wouldn't be entirely made up of strange faces.

“Oh god, this is how bad comedies start. Is she getting married? Are you recruiting me to crash her wedding? Because I'll let you know now, I'm not doing it, Steeg. Let the girl be happy.”

“You're an idiot. It's nothing like that all. I'll see you in 20 minutes though.”

-x-

“Alright, lay it on me.” Brian said plopping down on his couch and staring at me with that goofy Soupy grin on his face.

“So Lexi texts me today out of the blue and says she wants to talk. She sends the address to this restaurant in Miami and tells me to meet her there.”

“What?” he looked at me confused. “And you went? What if she tried to murder you?”

“Why would she do that?”

“Why do women do anything that they do? Because they're crazy. Don't tell Lauren I said that though.” he said pointing at me and glancing around the area for any sign of his fiance.

“Anyway, I go and she's sitting there, right? And I'm nervous because I haven't seen her in forever, but I tap her on the shoulder and say hey. She turns around and looks completely shocked. Turns out her roommate, Sara, was the one who texted me pretending to be her.”

“Very sneaky. I like it. She knew you guys were too stubborn to make it happen on your own, so she intervened. Nice.”

“Yeah, so it started out kind of awkward, but things went back to normal really quickly. We just caught up on things and god, she looks great.” I said thinking back to every aspect of her appearance.

“As I recall, didn't she always? Isn't that why Burish was always asking you to hook him up?” he asked.

“Well yeah, but I was too blind to recognize that before, and there was no way I was going to let Adam near my best friend. I love the guy but I don't trust anyone when it comes to her. Speaking of which, apparently she's got a boyfriend.”

“What?” His eyes widened as he gave a breathless laugh. “When did that happen?”

“Recently, I guess. She says he works for the Herald. His name's Eric.” I shook my head vigorously as I thought of what this guy must be like. “Douchebag. I can tell she's not happy with him though. She admitted she still loves me.”

“She just came out and said that?” Brian asked skeptically.

“She said 'I still love you as my best friend, and some other feelings don't go away so easily.' I mean she basically admitted it without fully saying it.”

“You sound like a chick, Kris. This is adorable.” Brian laughed.

“Fuck off, man. This is major. You know how much I missed her.” I told him leaning forward in my seat.

“I know. It's all I heard about for months.” Campbell rolled his eyes jokingly. “So what are you going to do now?”

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully thinking of how to respond. “I'm just going to get her back.” I shook my head again, this time with certainty as my words came out with blatant simplicity.

“Alright. I support you, bro. It's a shame though. I was warming up to the idea of wedding sabotage. Could've been fun.”