Sweet Disposition

The next day at work, Claire couldn’t get the kiss of her mind. She felt like a teenage girl, mentally swooning every time she recalled the sensation of his lips on hers. She both welcomed and detested the semi-hormonal feeling that had taken over her senses.

Her thoughts would often drift to ones of a certain ginger-haired hockey player over the course of the day. Whenever she caught her mind wandering she would shake her head, chastising herself before bringing her thoughts back to the present.

It was getting closer to the end of practice and Claire was sitting on one of the beds in the trainers’ room. As practice progressed there weren’t many visitors to the room with the exception of those who needed joints taped and such. She had been by the ice before making the way back to the room to ready for any after practice visits from the team.

“Claire,” called Jim as he walked into the room, “We’ve got a few coming in, one needs the ice bath.” She nodded, pouring in the ice and turning on the hose, leaving it to run as it filled up the basin. Soon enough the guys began to file in as they got out of their gear, the first to arrive being Scotty Hartnell. “Ice bath Hartsy?” she asked, hoping to avoid any form of real conversation that could lead to his knowledge of her relationship with number 28.

“Yup,” he grinned as he walked over to the tub, having already changed into the appropriate clothing for the ice bath and now readying himself to go into the freezing water. She quickly removed the hose as soon as he lowered himself in, turning it off as she did so. Her actions earned a laugh from the curly-haired ginger, “What? Don’t’ trust me Claire?”

She didn’t even try to hold back the smile from forming on her lips, shaking her head, “Not after what happened last time I left you unsupervised with the hose. You sprayed me and anyone else who walked by. I think it’s valid that I remove your means of wreaking havoc.” He chuckled, shooting her a cheeky grin with a devious glint in his eyes, “I see your point, smart thinking there taking away the hose. But you forget that I can just do this.”

She let out a little yelp, just managing to dodge the icy water he splashed in her direction. The brunette shook her head, a grin quickly forming over the initial look of shock that had flashed briefly over her pretty features, “Guess I should have seen that coming, eh?” The two laughed, her previous fears seeming to fade away into the background.

Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter walked in with Jim in tow as Scott attempted to splash her again. “Having fun there Hartsy?” Simon asked, making his way to the bed nearest Claire. “Maybe,” Scott laughed with the large signature grin plastered on his face. Jim just shook his head, chuckling to himself as he beckoned for Jeff to hop up onto the other bed, “He giving you trouble again Claire?”

“Isn’t he always?” Simon supplied with a grin and a playful glance at his curly-haired teammate. Everyone laughed at his comment before Claire added, “I take away the hose and he still manages to find a way to try and get water on me.” Another bout of laughter echoed in the room as the two trainers turned to the respective hockey player beside them.

“Est-ce votre cheville encore vous déranger Simon?” (Is your ankle still bothering you Simon?) she asked the French Canadian, slipping seamlessly into her second language without so much as a second thought. She knew that the French-speaking players appreciated when she spoke to them in their native tongue. It was partially because of her use of the language that she had managed to gain the hockey players’ trust and approval so quickly.

“Ouais. La bande a un peu aidé, mais c'est encore un peu incertain,” (Yeah. The tape helped a bit, but it’s still a little iffy.) he replied with a warm smile. She nodded, turning to fetch a wrap before coming back to remove the athletic tape from his ankle, “Permettez-moi de chercher de la glace pour vous.” (Let me get some ice for you.) He shook his head, “Non, ne vous inquiétez pas, j'ai besoin de rentrer à la maison de toute façon.” (No, don’t worry about it, I need to get home anyway.) She nodded, making quick work of peeling off the tape and replacing it with the wrap, “Ne pas oublier de la glace lorsque vous arrivez à la maison, Simon.” (Don’t forget to ice it when you get home, Simon.)

He winced a bit as she adjusted his foot positioning before sending her a smirk as she carefully and skillfully wrapped his ankle, “Je ne vais pas, je le jure.” (I won’t, I swear.) She chuckled at his response, looking up at him as she finished, gently releasing his foot, “Tout le reste vous dérange?” (Anything else bothering you?)

“Non, pas aujourd'hui ma chère. Merci pour votre aide,” (No, not today my dear. Thanks for the help.) he grinned at her, slipping on his sneakers before scooting off of the bed. “No problem, see you tomorrow Gags,” she smirked, switching easily back to English, “And don’t forget to ice that ankle when you get home!” He laughed, nodding his head as he walked out the door to the locker room.

The two remaining hockey players continued to chat with the trainers as they were looked over and treated accordingly. As Scott was finally cleared to get out of the ice bath, Jim had to step out for a moment, muttering something about running to the bathroom or his office or something, leaving her alone with them.

As she was handing off a warm towel to Scott, Jeff chose the time to speak. “Shit Claire,” he blurted out, as always unable to keep his thoughts to himself, “every time you go speaking French I hate your boyfriend just a little bit more. I swear, you could give me a hard-on just by talking to me like that.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, “It’s times like these Jeff that I wonder how you’re so popular with women.”

Scott burst into laughter as the blonde forward smirked, clearly unashamed of his words, “Most girls find it flattering, Claire, that I think it’s hot when they speak another language. G’s a lucky guy to have that with you. You’re gorgeous, hot, smart, and you can speak three languages. I mean, I guess the speaking French part isn’t as... exotic or different as you speaking English to him. But hey, you’ve got the whole bilingual thing going for you and that is one hell of a turn-on for any guy, G included.”

She smacked him upside the head as she walked over to grab an ice compress for his knee, eliciting another bark of laughter from Scott, “You’re a fucking idiot Jeff. You swore to Claude that you wouldn’t say anything about this you prick!”

“Ow,” he hissed, rubbing the back of his head more so out of shock that she had hit him than pain, “I promised him I wouldn’t say anything in front of anyone who didn’t know, and, as far as I can tell, everyone in this room knows.”

He flinched at the initial contact of the ice pack as she placed it on his elevated knee. “We’re in the trainer’s room you moron! People come in and out of here all the time,” she seethed, clearly unimpressed with his answer. “Your point? It’s just us in here. It’s not like we’re broadcasting this to the whole world,” he defended. She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief, “The chances of someone walking in on something they shouldn’t hear are pretty big, especially when they’re coming from your big mouth.”

Scott threw his head back in a hearty laugh, clearly having a grand old time witnessing their little exchange. “Look, just keep your mouth shut and don’t talk about it here, or so help me Jeff…” He glowered at her, huffing as he grumbled, “Fine, sorry.”

“That goes for you too Hartnell,” she added, shooting a glare in his direction, instantly silencing his laughter and effectively wiping the grin off his face. None of the boys on the team quite knew how respond to Claire when she became irate in times such as this. The only thing they could possibly think to do when her voice took on that sharp, stern, authoritative tone was to just shut up and listen. The last thing they wanted to have to deal with was an angry Claire, or even worse, an equally pissed off coach or Jim and now to top it all off a pissed off Claude. In short, it wasn’t a pretty ending for anyone who even remotely tried to get on her bad side.

“You got it Claire,” he replied, offering a small reassuring smile. She nodded as Jim walked in shortly after, checking in on her and the two hockey players. He seemed to feel the tension in the air, “The boys giving you trouble while I was gone?” he asked, his protective side peaking slightly. “No, nothing I couldn’t handle,” she replied, a somewhat triumphant smile gracing her pretty features. “Good,” he grinned, checking up on the guys one last time before dismissing her for the day.