Tomorrow's a New Day

After the loss to the Marlies on Wednesday, Lily was praying for a win on Friday against the Stars. And as if God heard her prayers, the Amerks won 9-4.

"Now no celebrating tonight. You boys have a game tomorrow and I don't want any hung over players."

"Yes coach." A couple of guys replied to Lily's orders. It might have been a win worthy of a good celebration but if they expected to play the same way the next day, no celebrations.

So when Lily came in Saturday to help out the equipment team, she was excited for a repeat of the night before.

Lily got to work unpacking the boy's gear in the correct spots in their stalls, moving down the line player after player. After setting up Marcus' gear up, she went through the next bag but something was wrong. Something didn't seem right.

"Here Lily," Jack said. He handed her a white Amerks jersey but it wasn't Zach's number or name on the back. Instead it read, Adam 72.

Adam? Who's Adam? Lily thought hanging the new jersey up in the stall.

"Hey Lily." Marcus said, appearing out of no where and standing in front of his stall.

"Hey Marcus. Where's Kassian?" She asked, folding the Adam hockey bag up.

"Excuse me," Another voice said from behind her. She turned and was faced with a broad chest dressed in a suit and tie. She lifted her eyes slow to the face of the man. Her mouth fell and eyes widened at the sight of Luke Adam standing before her, "Thanks for setting up my stall." He said with a shy smirk.

"You're not Zach Kassian." Lily obviously pointed out. Luke scratched the back on his neck, looking down at his feet.

Lily had never realized just how short she was in comparison to these boys only a year or so older than her. She also never realized how much of an idiot she was just standing in front of this poor boys stall.

"Lily, why don't you let Luke get ready for the game?" Marcus said, pulling Lily over to his stall and out of the way of Luke's.

"Um...yeah sure...hey Marcus can you help me get something in the equipment room. I'm too short." She said, never taking her saucer eyes off the Sabres player.

"...um sure?" Marcus followed the stunned worker into the hallway where she fell against the wall, a hand covering her mouth, "I thought you needed--"

"Why is Luke Adam in Rochester?" She interrupted.

"He got sent down and Kassian went up. Don't you get the tweets or whatever?"

"My phone died."

"Why's it a big deal?"

"It's Luke Adam!"

"...and?"

"He's a Sabre!"

"Lily, all of us are Sabres. Like, half the team was called up." Marcus said, shaking his head.

"But he played up there! He played with Jason Pominville and Derek Roy and," She gasped, "Nathan Gerbe!"

"You work with the Rochester Americans where half the team has played with the Sabres and you've never fangirled around us." Marcus pointed out.

"I've worked with you guys for half a season. I'm use to you. But Luke Adam...and I just acted like an idiot in front of him!" She cried, dropping her head into her hands.

"It's...okay...?" Marcus said, patting Lily's shoulder in whatever support you could give a person who just embarrassed themselves.

"I'm going to go find a rock and live under that." Lily walked away, her face burning red, leaving Marcus to figure what just happened.

Marcus hadn't seen Lily again until after the game. Of course by then, he wasn't really in the mood to see anyone since the Amerks lost 1-4 to the Rampage.

"Dude, I'm starving." Corey Tropp said as he fixed his tie after the game.

"I am too." TJ Brennan agreed. The boys made plans to head over to Dinosaur BBQ once everyone was changed back into their suits and ties.

Walking out of the BCA, Phil spotted Lily heading their way, her face buried in her bag as she searched for her keys, "Hey Lily!" She looked up and smiled at the group of Amerks.

"Hey boys, how you holding up?"

"We're going to go eat our sorrows in BBQ, wanna come?" Phil asked.

"Sure, let me just go put my bag in my car."

"I'll come with you." Brayden said, breaking away from the group with Lily once they stepped out of the building. "So how've you been? I haven't seen you all game." He asked as the two crossed the street to the parking lot.

"Yeah that's 'cuz I was hiding from Luke Adam." Brayden gave her a curious look, "I might of made a fool of myself in front of him." The defenseman let out a laugh, shaking his head imagining the sight. "He's not going to Dinosaur is he? Because I can't promise I won't freak out again."

"No, I think he was heading back to his hotel." Brayden answered with a sly grin, which Lily didn't notice.

"Good because once was enough for me."

Tossing her bag in the back seat of her jeep, Brayden and Lily walked over in the cold night to Dinosaur BBQ where the rest of the Amerks had a table and two seats waiting for them. When the hostess stopped making goo-goo eyes at Brayden, she showed them to the table where Marcus, Phil, Corey, TJ, Travis, Corey Fienhage, Nick Crawford, Jon Parker, Jacob Lagace, and Luke Adam sat.

Lily's face turned red in the dark lit room as she turned to Brayden and punched his arm, "Ow! What was that for?"

"You told me he wasn't going to be here!" She hissed.

"Oops." He grinned, which only caused Lily to punch him again, "That hurts. How are you that strong?"

"What took you two so long?" Corey T. asked as Brayden took a seat between him and Phil, and Lily between Marcus and of course, Luke.

"She couldn't find her car." Brayden answered. Lily kicked his leg under the table and a glare that could kill. The rest of the boys just laughed accepting that Lily would forget where she parked.

Waiting for the waitress to return with their orders, Lily scanned the table just realizing she was the only female at the table, but not the only female realizing it. Around the place, every single woman was glancing and pointing at the table, sometimes at the guys and other times at her with a heated stare.

"So Lily, how's life treating you?"

"Um, okay I guess. I don't think I'll live to see my 21st birthday though."

"Why's that?"

"Because every female in the room is stabbing me with their eyes." Instantly, all of the guys looked around.

"You must feel like the luckiest woman in the world right now." Corey teased.

"Yeah sure, tease me now because you won't ever see me again. I'll be at the bottom of the Genesee River swimming with the fishies."

"We won't let anything happen to you." Marcus said, throwing his arm around the back of Lily's chair.

"Yeah, that didn't help." Lily commented, noticing the two girls across the room gasp and lean into each other, whispering probably hated words at Lily.

Since she was already going to hell thanks to him, Marcus pulled Lily into a big bear hug. Lily never thought she would want to get out of the grasp of a good looking, strong, young man, but as the glares got worse all she wanted to do was to crawl under the rock she needed from before.

Even the waitress gave Lily a dirty look when she came back with their food. Her plate was not so nicely placed in front of her and threatened to fall off the table onto Lily's lap. As the guys dug into their meals, Lily examined her pulled pork.

"What are you doing?" Marcus asked, mouth full of food.

"I'm checking to see if she spit on my food." Marcus dug his fork into Lily's pork and took a bite.

"Nope, you're good." Lily reached over and took a french fry from his plate in revenge.

The conversation among the group was casual, staying off the topic of the game and the loss. The topics varied like what the guys had planned for their day off, "What about you Lily?" Brayden asked.

"I've got to work."

"Work? Where?"

"Target in the morning and the studio in the afternoon."

"Studio? What are you a artist of something?"

"I teach gymnastics." The guys nodded their heads, all imagining the small woman doing a variety of flips and tricks.

"So you're really flexible?" Luke asked, finally talking to Lily since the embarrassing incident earlier.

"Yeah I am." She mumbled.

"And do all those flippy thingys?" Corey T. added.

"How many gymnasts do you know that can do those flippy thingys?"

"You totally have to show us!" Phil added, the guys agreeing. "Next game, you've gotta show us you're moves."

"What if I don't wanna?" She retorted.

"We'll sick Finely on you."

"Only if you win." She bargained.

The guys chirped how cool they thought Lily's gymnastic abilities were and began planning out how they were going to win the next game.

What am I getting myself into?



"Oh my god Lily, you won't believe who's here!" Jackie, one of Lily's younger students, said as her teacher walked into the studio Wednesday afternoon. "There's a huge group of extremely hot guys in the studio!"

"Who are they?" Lily asked, taking off her sneakers and setting them in her locker.

"I have no idea but they look like 20 years old."

"Sweetie...you're 17...that's illegal." Lily said patting her head.

"Doesn't mean I can't look. I think Ian and Leo are waiting for you, by the way." Lily thanked the teenager and headed into the studio where numerous kids and teenagers were practicing on the various equipment. But the crowd on the middle mat was not hard to find.

"Lily!" Ian waved over causing the group to turn and burst out in cheers. Lily just blushed.

There, standing barefoot in shorts and T-Shirts were the Rochester Americans.

"What the hell are all of you doing here?" She asked walking up to the group of 25 Amerks.

"A little birdie told us you were a gymnast. We were hoping you'd help out the boys with some training." Jason Kilijanski, the Amerks Strength and Conditioning Coach said, stepping out of the group. "So we called up your studio and they offered to help us out."

"That is...fantastic."

"Looks like we get to see your moves before the game." Phil said.

"I'm not showing you anything. I'm in charge here." She warned, stepping up to the 5'10" hockey player, only coming up to his chest. The smug look on his face faded to a scared frown.

"Alright guys, how about we get started?" Ian said, getting the attention of the group, "We'll do some simple stretches first then move on to the hard stuff." Lily joined the other two trainers up front and let the boys get into several rows.

"I forgot you worked with these guys. Should be interesting, eh?" Leo joked, nudging Lily. She just ignored the dark haired gymnast and sat on the mat in the butterfly stretch.

The three trainers walked the team through a variety of stretches, working on different areas of the body and making sure they were warmed up.

"Since we're already on the floor we're going to start with some VMW's. You're going to lie down on the floor," Lily did as Ian instructed, showing the boys what they needed to do, "You're going to put your arms in the shape of a V with your thumbs pointing up. Keep your head face down the whole time. Now you're going to lift your arms straight up as high as you can. Go ahead and try it out."

All the players followed instructions, laying completely flat to the ground and lifted their arms up, "Do about 10 of these." Ian said. "After that, you'll spread your arms to the side, thumbs still up, and you'll lift your arms again. Do 10 of those."

Leo and Ian walked around the guys, making sure they were keeping the right position, "For the last one, you'll bend you're elbows into a W shape, elbows in, not like a field goal, and you'll lift, pinching your shoulder blades. After that 10, we're going to add some weights."

The boys were given some 5lb weights and did two extra sets of 10. Once finished, Ian walked them step by step through different exercises targeting all the muscles. Lily laughed at the boys as they complained about not being able to hold a position or how they won't be able to move tomorrow.

For Lily, this was a common work out. If she had gone through what the boys do for hockey, she'd be in the same condition as they were now, but at this moment she was just going to enjoy it.

After the two hour consistent work out, the boys were sprawled out off the mat and drank some water, "It wasn't that bad." Lily said. The boys moaned their opinions of the work out. "You guys did great. You'll feel like crap tomorrow but stretch it out, ice it maybe, and you'll feel great. If you continue to do the stretches you'll improve your flexibility and strength. Stick with it and you can be a gymnast too, doing all those flippy thingys."

"I think you should show us some flippy thingys now. We deserve it." Corey T. suggested. Lily glanced between Leo and Ian, who shrugged. Lily walked over to the far left corner of the mat and stood. With a running start, she preformed a round off, two back handsprings, and a back tuck, sticking the landing with ease. The hockey players clapped, a couple whistles blown at the fascination of Lily's talent.

"Show us one of your best moves." Corey encouraged.

"Only if you show me yours." Lily retaliated. Corey stood up, accepting the challenge. He struck a pose and did the most pathetic cartwheel Lily had ever seen. Everyone watching laughed as he played it off as if he won the Olympic gold. "I'm not sure how I'm going to beat that." Lily said, heading for the back corner again. Running, she performed a Double Salto Forwards with a half twist, wowing the crowd.

"She just kicked your ass Tropp!" Phil jabbed at his teammate.

"Let's see what you can do!" Corey fired back. Phil shrugged and stood up in front of his teammates, going into a strong handstand. Lily joined him and began walking around him on her hands. When both went back to their feet Lily said, "Try this." She went back to the handstand and bent her elbows as if she was doing a push up. Phil shook his head and went back with his friends.

Leo and Ian got into the mix, showing off a couple of their moves and letting Lily relax. As she stood off to the side, Marcus couldn't help but look at her. Whenever he sees her, she's dressed in khakis and the Amerks shirt and jacket. Here, she was in a skin tight leotard and short yellow shorts. Seeing Lily in every day clothes, he never would have thought Lily was as fit as she really was. The small brunette was defined in the arms, the legs, the back, and the chest. Someone would just think this girl was short and skinny, but there was defiantly more to her, I could get use to this view he thought.

"Okay boys, our time is up. It's been a pleasure working with you. If you enjoyed the workout, we offer private sessions. We've talked with your coaches and they're okay if you want to sign up. If not, just don't try the flips at home. Have a good one guys. Good luck with the season." Leo closed out, releasing the hockey team from their practice.

The boys went to their belongings off to the side, slipping their sneakers on and zipping up their coats, "Dude, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Who knew that's what she was hiding underneath her Amerks clothes." Marcus heard Phil say a couple guys down. Those that heard agreed, shocked that there was more to the 5'1" woman.

"She's fucking flexible too. Did you see her ? I bet she can bend every which way." Phil added.

"Calm down Varone." Marcus warned, not pleased that his teammates would talk about Lily in that way. Even if he couldn't stop himself from thinking the same thing, he didn't want his teammates doing the same. But why? He has a girlfriend whereas some of his fellow teammates were single and available to make a move. She wouldn't fall for them.

"Come on Marcus, we're getting some dinner." Corey T. said, noticing his teammate not keeping up with the group. "Hey...where's Nabbers?" He asked glancing around for the Amerk player.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Phil said spotting the young player chatting with Lily. His cheeks hot red as he scratched the back of his neck, looking down at his feet. Lily gave him a sincere smile and nodded, only making Brayden's smile grow obviously pleased with Lily's answer.

"What do you think he asked her?" Luke asked, the whole team still watching the hockey player and the gymnast.

"He totally asked her out. Look at him! He's blushing like a tomato!" Travis answered observing the blush on Bryaden's cheeks.

"I can't believe he asked her out." Corey added.

"He didn't ask her out." Marcus told him, denying the thought of his friend asking his other friend-who's-a-girl out.

"No...he did." By now the gymnast and the hockey player were by his stuff. Brayden pulled his phone from his coat pocket and handed it to Lily.

Everyone on the team smirked, excited to interrogate their teammate once they left.

"So what are you boys got planned for the evening?" Lily asked, her and Brayden joining the group.

"Gonna go grab a bite to eat. Think you can sneak away?" Phil answered.

"I wish but I've got some gymnasts to train."

"You can go with them, Lily. You don't have any private classes do you?" Leo said walking into the lobby to the front desk.

"Not tonight, no."

"Then go ahead. We've got it covered." Lily glanced between Leo and the smiling players.

"I'll go get my stuff then."

When Lily returned from the locker room, Marcus was waiting for her, "The guys went ahead." Lily smiled and led Marcus to her jeep and headed for Denny's, as Marcus informed her.

"So what's going on between you and Nabbers?" Marcus asked after five minutes of radio silence.

"Nothing, he just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"What's it to you?" She asked.

"I just wanna know."

"He wants some private lessons."

I bet he does...that bastard.

"And you're going to give them to him?"

"Um...yeah? Is that an issue?"

"No, no. I guess that's...cool."

"He wants a different workout." Lily noticed Marucs' eye roll and couldn't understand what was wrong with the idea of Brayden getting some extra help on his work out.

I don't think you're thinking the same workout he's thinking. Marcus thinks not doubting his teammates real attentions.



The Amerks were faced with another three games in a row by the weekend. Friday was the best night Lily had seen the boys play; 6-2 against the Monsters, a couple fights, and the two point win. But what's a hockey game without a puck to the face?

Lily watched almost in slow motion as Brayden took a slapshot right at Marcus' face up in one of the suites since she was working up there for the night. She could easily see the puddle of blood as it pattered to the ice and followed Marcus as he skated to the locker room, "I'll be right back." She said to Alice, a fellow worker.

Lily rushed through the BCA at lightning speed in her heels down to the trainers room where Marcus was getting stitched up.

"How's he doing?" Lily asked Rob Frost, the Head Athletic Trainer.

"Got some stitches and lost a tooth. He'll live." He answered. Lily smiled and let the Trainer head back to the bench for the remainder of the game.

Walking into the room, Marcus was laying down with an ice pack to his face, "Hey buddy...how ya feeling?"

"Like I got a puck to the face." He replied, his words muffled by the pack.

"Well at least you remember what happened. Can I see it?" He lowers the pack to show off the inch or so scar above his lip and a missing tooth, "Ewww that's gross...it's awesome!"

"Marcus!" A high pitched scream called out from outside the room. Then Tiffany appeared just in the door way out of breath and a panic look on her painted face. She shuffled her high heeled boots over to Marcus' side, "Baby are you okay?" She asked looking him over like the puck hit every part of his body.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He grumbled not enjoying her touching him all over the place. He noticed Lily back away from the table, giving the couple space.

"I was so worried. Let me see," She says like she knows what to do. Marcus lets her see his injury, in which she begs him to cover back up, "That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." Tiffany backed away from Marcus like a disease.

"It's just a scar Tiffany."

"And you'll have it forever. That's just...ew. I need to go." She hurried out, Lily and Marcus watching in disbelief as Barbie just freaked out over a scar.

"Wanna watch the rest of the game?" Lily asks. Marcus nods and puts his pack back on his face while Lily turns the TV on to the game, turning the volume up and taking a seat on Marcus' bench.

Marcus forgot about the game as he took in the brunette in front of him. She was nicely dressed in a buttoned blouse and skirt, her legs crossed as she leaned on her knee. Her short hair was straight and clipped back, and barely any make-up on. She looked...

"You look really nice today." Lily turned back to Marcus.

"You don't look to bad either...considering." She joked, "The ladies will love the scar. And the missing tooth, you and Kassian will have them swooning."

"Apparently not all of them." Marcus hinted at the scene seconds ago with his disgusted girlfriend.

"Yeah, well, she doesn't know what she's missing." Lily told him with a pat on his knee.

The two finished watching the rest of the game before Lily had to head back to clean the suites. Marcus certainly appreciated her coming down from her job to see how he was, appreciating a good scar when she see one, unlike the person who's suppose to care about him no matter what he looks like; face deformity or not.

"Man, I am so sorry about that." Nabbers said coming in after the final buzzer.

"No worries man. Part of the job."

"You gotta get a picture of that. I'm sure everyone's worried." Marcus said he would before Brayden left to change. Marcus was able to snap a picture of himself and post it to Twitter for his followers to see, promising it was not too bad. He knew for tomorrow's game, he'd be sporting the cage mask but it was better than not playing at all.

The Trainer let Marcus go to the locker room and change for the long road trip ahead of the Amerks. Their bags were packed up and the boys were on the bus waiting, "We're just waiting for one more person." Coach told the boys, boarding the bus.

The players settled into their seats, fluffing their pillows, turning their computers or electronic devices on, and relaxing into their chairs.

Marcus had set up his lap top to sit on the tray in front of him with his seat reclining just right when the boys around him let out cheers. At the front of the bus, Lily walked down the row looking for a seat of her own.

"Lily." Marcus said, getting her attention and patting the seat beside him.

"Thanks. Thought I was gonna have to share a seat with Tropp." She said, sliding her backpack underneath her seat.

"That's why we force him to the back of the bus." He joked. Lily smiled and pulled out one of her school books, her iPod, and a light.

"What are you watching?" She asked seeing the previews play on his laptop.

"Old School."

"Never seen it." Marcus shifted in his chair with a disbelief look on his face.

"You're kidding me right?" Lily just shrugged. "No. That's not happening." Marcus grabbed Lily's book and put it between him and bus, then grabbing a mult-adapter for headphones from his bag, he plugged his and her headphones into it, "You are going to watch this and enjoy."

"Yes sir." She replied. Marcus changed his position so his back was leaning against the wall of the bus and his legs stretched diagonally across the floor. The laptop was moved to the tray in front of Lily and turned to face them. Lily slid down in her seat, using Marcus as a back rest, her feet hanging off the arm rest.

Lily pulled out her phone to check her messages and to text her roommate that she wasn't coming home until Sunday.

Most of her messages were from Twitter, receiving updates from the Sabres and the Amerks game, plus a couple extra. One of them being Marcus Foligno. She opened up the picture he attached to his tweet and burst out laughing. She had to cover her face she was laughing to loudly.

"What are you laughing at?" Marcus asked. The movie barely even started and she was splitting a gut. Then she showed him the his picture.

"You look so drugged up! Did you take this yourself? This is hilarious!" She answered in between laughs.

"I was on painkillers."

"You looking fucking high." She said, throwing her head back against him with another laugh.

"Okay, okay. The movie started. Please silence all cell phones and pagers and no texting during the movie. Thank you." He mimicked the movie theater voice and accepted Lily's relaxing body against his. His left arm had to wrap around her to allow her a more comfortable rest while her right arm was resting on his thigh, making the two as comfortable as they can be on a coach bus.

The four hour trip to Lake Erie was decently comfortable. The game...didn't turn out as pretty as the night before and going into Sunday everyone was hoping for a win against the last place team in their division. But that too fell apart, the Amerks lost 2-7.

Lily had been working the suites again that night and after the constant moving the past three days, she was just ready to go to bed. And that was her plan...until she went down to the locker room.

"Lily, you coming to the Distillery?" Phil asked, spotting the brown eyed beauty walking towards him and some of the other guys.

"I was gonna head home. I've got class in the morning."

"Oh come on! One night won't hurt! It's dinner!"

"No really guys. This is your event. I'd be alone while you're with your dates or whatever." Lily argued.

"Be my date." Brayden suggested. Lily opened her mouth but found no excuse to come out. This would be dinner since she had starved herself all day from work and gymnastics. She really had no idea how she was even standing at this moment. But she would of preferred getting food back at her dorm, not be a part of a group she won't have a chance to be in, "Come on, you're coming with us." Bryaden grabbed Lily's hand and brought her to her Jeep, catching a ride with her.

"I don't know where this place is." Lily told him as she started the engine.

"I'll give you directions."

Lily drove with one hand on the wheel and the other holding her tired head. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her Sunday night.

"Is everything okay?" Brayden asked, Lily's unhappiness obvious. The guys did drag her to this and it was out of the way for her.

"I'm fine." Was all she said. Even when they arrived at the Distillery she was quiet, following Brayden to the back where the other guys were seated with their girlfriends and wives. Immediately, Lily felt out of place.

Brayden pulled out Lily's chair for her. The action didn't go unnoticed by the surrounding girlfriends at the table. Lily gave the pretty blonde a small smile and opened up her menu even if food was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

"I'm Maddy," The blonde said, "Corey's girlfriend."

"Lily."

"I didn't know Brayden had a--"

"He doesn't, er well, it's not me. I work with the team." This brought a couple more girlfriends into the discussion. The idea of having a female working closely with the team put up a defensive wall within the girlfriends.

"What do you do with the team?" A brunette asked this time. She sat beside Maddy, Travis on her other side. Lily could only assume they were together.

"A little bit of everything, I guess." Lily shrugged, not sure how to tell them she's done everything.

"Do you travel with the team?"

"Only a couple times. I have other jobs so I can't every go on every trip."

"What are your other jobs?" Maddy asked.

"I'm a student, work at Target, and teach gymnastics." All of the female eyes looked over Lily, taking in her small figure.

"Wow, busy woman." A different brunette added.

"So you teach little kids gymnastics?"

"I do. Along with some older ones for competitions. I even had a class with the guys Wednesday." Lily regretted informing them of that. Just by the look on their faces, the girlfriends were ready to set Lily in her place.

"Is that why Travis was complaining about being beaten by a dwarf?" Travis turned his head after hearing his name.

"Are you talking about Wednesday?" He questioned, bringing in some of the other guys around them.

"That was because of you?" The brunette beside Derek Whitmore asked.

"She's a slave driver! I couldn't move the next day. Practice was hell!" Travis whined.

"I don't think it was that bad. You guys get shoved into walls for a living. A little gymnastics training won't hurt."

"Speak for yourself!" Phil retorted at Lily, "Let's strap some skates on you and see how you do playing hockey!" The boys nodded, agreeing giving Lily a taste of her own medicine.

The groups from before returned to their original state; boys with boys, girlfriends with girlfriends. And Lily...with Lily.

She pulled her phone from her purse to check the time, 8:00...It's gonna be a long night.

"Tiffany! You made it!" Maddy yelled, standing to hug the new blonde joining the table.

"I'm here now." Tiffany took the seat beside Maddy, the familiar brunette across from her sparking a flame in the tall blonde.

"You're here...how nice." Lily just offers a small smile at Marcus' girlfriend and turns her attention else where.

At various tables, the players sit with their families and friends. Lily considered the guys her friends but tonight she felt like the loser mistakenly placed among the jocks and their cheerleader girlfriends. High school all over again.

Lily didn't participate in any of their conversations, feeling rather rude for just sitting at the table. She needed to get away, some space to breathe. So Lily pushes her chair away from the table and heads for the bar. Her young age will keep her from drinking but the space will keep her breathing.

"I don't think I've ever seen her around." Maddy says as soon as Lily rounds the corner, out of sight.

"I have," Tiffany hisses, "She was with Marcus after he got hit." She says loud enough for the girls around her to hear.

"You don't like her?" Maddy questioned. Tiffany shakes her head.

"Did you see her? She acts like she's better than the rest of us."

"I don't know. She kinda looked out of place. She's probably shy." Sarah Whitmore says.

"Well duh! I don't know what exactly she thinks she's doing but she better back off." Tiffany sneers.

"You think she's trying to hook up with the guys?"

"Why else would she hang around them? She works with them, goes on road trips, she was at Marcus' Super Bowl party, she 'trains' them in gymnastics. and now she's here."

"She came with Brayden--" Sarah pointed out.

"See? At least she's trying for a single guy. Not that she's got a chance with him. I mean, did you see her? I swear, if I ever see her hanging out with Marcus, she'll be fired."

The girlfriends of hockey players usually get along, being there for each other and the team. But as Maddy and Sarah listened to Tiffany, they were finding it hard to believe the small Amerks worker was causing harm. Lily didn't even look comfortable being here, what makes Tiffany think she's plotting to steal their guys away?

And it wasn't just the girls that heard Tiffany's big mouth talk Lily down. Some of the guys had listened in, not appreciating the fact that someone would say something like that about a person they don't know. Lily was far from what Tiffany was describing and the boys knew it.

Brayden was the one that got up to find his roommate who wasn't sitting with his girlfriend, "Hey Marcus." He waved Marcus over near the bar, "I probably shouldn't be saying this but Tiffany's dissing Lily and its pissing the guys off."

"What? What do you mean?" Marcus asked.

"She was saying that Lily was trying to get with all of us just because she works with us. She even threatened to get Lily fired if she was near you again."

"Tiffany said all of that?" Brayden nodded, "Where's Lily?" Brayden nodded towards the bar where she sat on a stool messing with her phone. "She didn't hear any of it, did she?"

"No, she left just before anything was said."

"Thanks Nabbers." Marcus patted his teammate on the shoulder and walked over to Lily, leaning against the bar beside her, "Having fun?"

"A blast." She mumbled, her face still in her phone. It looked like she was texting someone but Marcus couldn't see the name.

"Are you okay Lily? You don't seem yourself."

"I'm fine Marcus. You should go back to your team."

"You should too. You're part of this group."

"No Marcus, I'm not."

"What makes you think you're not a part of this team?" He asked, turning to face her, a hand on his hip while he still leaned on the bar. Lily let out a sigh and un-clipped her hair, running her fingers through it frustrated.

"I'm just not. I work for the Amerks, that's it."

"Who told you that?"

"No one but--"

"No buts. You're a part of this team as much as anyone else. Now let's go back and be a part of the team." He told her taking her hand, but she pulled back.

"Marcus I can't. I feel like a party pooper and I don't want to ruin the night."

"Lily...we lost 7-2...the night was already ruined." This time he grasped her hand tighter and dragged her back to the group.

Even with the pained expression on her face, Tiffany was not too pleased seeing her boyfriends hand holding that girl's hand.

Everyone was situated around the tables and ordered their meals, talking aimlessly about nothing in particular. Lily spoke but only when spoken too, eating her meal in silence.

As soon as she finished her meal, she found the waitress and asked for the check. She paid quickly and went back for her stuff.

"Are you leaving?" Luke asked, watching as she slipped on her jacket.

"Yeah, I've got work to do for tomorrow. I already paid so you're all set."

"Wait...you paid for dinner?" Brayden questioned. There were quite a few people in their group and he couldn't imagine the total was cheap.

"Um yeah, think of it as a thanks for inviting me." The boys started to pull out their wallets, "No! I'll see you all later. It was nice meeting you all." She waved to the girlfriends/wives and the rest of the team before booking it out of the restaurant .

"Talk about a Debbie Downer." Tiffany mumbled with a chuckle.

"You don't even know her." Marcus pointed out, annoyed that his girlfriend was being a bitch.

"I know enough."

"You don't know shit! Lily's awesome. She's good at her job."

"I'm sure she is." That was the final straw for Marcus. He had had enough arguments about this with Tiffany and he never thought she would actually spread her opinions about Lily to others, in public nonetheless.

Marcus doesn't take lightly to his friends being attacked especially when they can't defend themselves, "We'll talk about this later."