Sweet Disposition

Claude made good on his word. The couple hadn’t left her apartment at all over the span of the weekend. He had barely let her out of her bedroom, let alone her bed, the only exceptions being bathroom breaks or to eat. It was heaven for the pair of them, the two making up for lost time and for the time that they would lose together as the season picked up pace. She was sore in the best possible way when she went into work that Friday, trying desperately to hide the somewhat bow-legged walk she had adopted courtesy of her boyfriend’s enthusiasm in bed. The last thing she needed was for the boys to notice and make fun of her. She could only hope that the intensity of training camp coupled with their drive to make it onto the roster was enough to distract them.



Training camp was tough. Hell, it always was. Every man present working his ass off in hopes of attaining that ever-so-important roster spot. Even though Claude had spent a good amount of his offseason training and keeping himself condition and in shape for this, it still took a lot out of him. He and the others found themselves sore and exhausted after each day. He was too drained to do anything else and after each session he and Danny would drive back to the Briere residence in Haddonfield, drag themselves up to their rooms and promptly pass out on their beds for a nap.

Claire kept busy, wrapping swelling limbs, icing sore joints, and patching up minor injuries. Regardless, she was ecstatic to be back and working with her boys again. The summer had been a much-needed break, but this was what she loved. The team was like family with more younger and older brothers than she knew what to do with. She savoured the familiarity of the strenuous schedule and the pleasant and enjoyable environment provided by the team and staff. This was home.



The past 4 days had been long and grueling. They had survived and the roster had been posted. The team gathered at a local restaurant for a celebratory bonding dinner before their first game against the Devils. They took up a rather large section of the medium-sized place with the number of tables pushed together to create one long one so they could all sit together.

Claude made sure to keep the seat beside him open for his girlfriend who he and his teammates had insisted to join them, claiming she was just as much a part of the team as they were. She had been held up after practise to go over some stuff with Jim to finish up on some paperwork from the last few days and prep for the months ahead.

They had already received their appetisers by the time Claire finally rushed in through the door. She had clearly run there straight from work, still in her staff jacket and work pants, her hair in its usual ponytail. Yet even though she was decked out in her work get-up, with the writing on the jacket clearly stating “Training Staff,” the hostess was still giving her trouble, not allowing her to join them at their massive table. A few of the guys snickered at her predicament, murmuring about the woman thinking she was a crazy fan girl who was bold enough to stalk them. He could see the frustration building on her face as she tried to reason with the woman at the front.

He let this go on for a little while, just as amused as his teammates at Claire’s struggle to keep her composure. “I’ll be right back,” he announced with a sigh, standing up and making his way over to rescue the waitress from the impending wrath of his girlfriend. “Go get her Sir G! Your damsel needs saving!” Mike all but shouted after him. Claude just rolled his eyes, choosing to restrain himself from using one of the many colourful responses that popped into his head seeing as they were in public. He ignored their laughter, quickly making his way up front to where his girlfriend was moments away from blowing up at the woman behind the podium.

“Hey babe,” he greeted, planting a soft kiss on her lips, his arms encircling her waist and pulling her close to both calm her down and to announce her status to the hostess. He could feel the tension leave her body when his lips touched hers and he fought the large grin that attempted to spread on his lips at the effect he had on her. She gently kissed him back, blushing when they pulled apart upon hearing the obnoxious catcalls from his teammates and the public display of affection that was so uncharacteristic on their part. “I ordered your favourite, I hope that’s okay,” he said ushering her away from the shocked and clearly jealous glare of the hostess and to the massive table surrounded by the Flyers.

The guys all greeted her warmly as she sat down at the table next to Claude. “Where’s my kiss C?” Mike cried, pouting and making a show of it, prompting the same kind of response from some of the other guys, namely Jeff and Carcillo. She rolled her eyes at their most recent nickname for her, an oh so clever play off of her boyfriend’s nickname, G. “If you’re that desperate for a kiss feel free to go for each other since you clearly can’t find a woman to do it,” she deadpanned, picking at the food on Claude’s plate.

The rest of the table rumbled with laughter at their teammates’ expense. The evening continued as a normal team dinner filled with laughter, making fun of each other, and some real conversations thrown in for good measure. Claude once more found himself in need of constant contact with his girlfriend, his arm for a small portion of the dinner rested on the back of her chair, his thumb occasionally rubbing her shoulder. The majority of the evening, his arm dropped from its place behind her and his hand found itself entwined with hers under the table. He was even bold enough to steal a kiss here and there over the course of the meal.

Claire was a little shocked by his rather bold display of affection, not that she was complaining. They were usually so discrete and careful of their relationship being exposed prematurely before either was ready for the public to find out. Both were aware of the glares being sent her way from some of the female staff and patrons of the restaurant. They all put her under a microscope, scrutinising her looks, how she was dressed, judging her overall appearance, sizing her up. They all saw her as competition but Claude didn’t. None of the women in this establishment had anything on the beauty beside him, who, even in her work clothes and no make-up on, was still gorgeous.

She knew not to let their glares get to her but it was a bit unnerving to say the least. I guess now’s a better time than any, she thought in regards to the reactions from women after they eventually go public. She ignored their stares to the best of her ability. The men surrounding were her coworkers and friends and she’d be damned if they scared her away from her rightful place among the group because they thought she wasn’t worthy to be in the presence of a group of attractive and wealthy athletes.

Scott, who sat in the chair to Claire’s right, had fully engaged her in a story about some of the past pranks that eh and the guys had played on each other. He had her laughing throughout, as he was want to do. Claude had only been half listening to Mike describe his experience at home during the offseason, his attention constantly drawn away by the sound of her laughter. God, he loved that sound.

“G, you listening bud?” Mike asked, reclaiming his friend’s attention. “Yeah, yeah, I’m listening.” The captain shot him a knowing look, his eyes darting to Claire before resuming the story about one of his many conquests in Kenora.

The guys were both fascinated and disgusted by the adorableness of the young couple’s relationship. Claude was so attentive of her, making sure she was happy, that she was always taken care of and tried so hard to spoil her (even if she didn’t want anything). And now with their slowly growing confidence in public, the small intimate moments that they thought no one else would notice were just to precious the guys couldn’t handle it.

They often ribbed Claude a lot in the locker room, all in fun of course, poked fun at his masculinity. The favourite phrase of the group was “open handbag, insert testicles.” He took their jabs like a champ, shamelessly admitting that he was indeed whipped and he had no qualms with giving the girl he adored what she wanted, even if she didn’t ask him for it.

“No fucking way,” she scoffed a laugh in response to whatever Scott had said in the saga that was his pranking resume. “Yup,” he grinned, popping the ‘p’, “Poor guy didn’t know what hit him.” She giggled, “You’re a sick bastard Hartsy.” He shrugged, chuckling at her reaction, clearly not apologetic for anything he’d done.

“Claaaaaire,” whined Mike from across the table, commanding her attention. She turned her gaze to him, an eyebrow arched, clearly unamused by the captain’s childishness, “What Richards?” He grinned, “Nothing.” She groaned, “Really Mike? What are you? 5?” Jeff was grinning like a mad man as he slugged his best friend in the shoulder, “Yeah Mike, how old are you?” The rest of the guys laughed, all taking the time to poke fun at their captain, much to his dismay. Claire just sat back in her seat, a smug smile on her lips, arms folded over her chest, proud that she had single handedly turned the entire team on Mike.

A few hours later, everyone was heading to their respective cars, shouting their goodbyes from across the smallish parking lot. Claude walked Claire to her car, grabbing her waist and pulling her close so he could give her a kiss. Earning a few catcalls from the stragglers who hadn’t quite gotten into their cars yet. “Goodnight Roo,” she murmured, a soft smile on her features as she pulled away to get into her car. “Goodnight Claire.”

She shot him one last smile before closing her door and driving out of the lot. With a sigh, he made his way to Danny’s SUV with a small grin, ready to go home and crash after the long stressful day. He could rest easy knowing he had a spot on the roster and the preseason would begin tomorrow. Everything was falling back into place.