Knock Knock

“So, did you have a nice chat with Nathalie last night?” Wayne asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me suggestively as I slumped into the kitchen.

“We just talked,” I muttered, pouring myself a cup of coffee.

“Sure you did,” Wayne smirked, and I felt my face twinge as I mixed some cream into the cup.

“Oh look at you Claude, turning pink!” Matt jeered from the couch where he was eating a bowl of cereal and watching Sportscenter.

“Shut up,” I snapped, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. I bit into it loudly and Scott walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Claude, why’s your face all red? That can’t be sunburn,” Scott said, and I let out an irritated growl, glaring at him while chewing my apple.

“Claude hooked up with Nathalie last night and he doesn’t want to tell us,” Wayne said, and I put my apple down on the counter.

“We just kissed Wayne. Her friend got a phone call and ran onto the deck before the kiss could go any further,” I grumbled, knowing full well they’d antagonize me until I told them.

“Oh, so you did kiss her?” Max said, and I jumped. He was leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, apparently having listened to the entire conversation so far.

“I hate you guys,” I sighed, sipping my coffee slowly.

Nathalie’s Point of View

“I hate you guys,” I sighed as Mike and John began to crack up, John laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair and onto the floor.

“Dude, you’re such a cock block!” John finally managed to choke out, sending Mike into further hysterics. I scowled at the both of them before picking up my plate of eggs and walking out onto the back patio. I was tired of listening to the idiots rail on me for kissing Claude.

“Hey there, you look like you could use some company,” I heard a voice say, and I spun around to see Sean leaning against the fence.

“Oh hey, what’re you doing here?” I asked.

“Just out for my morning run. I saw you so I figured I’d say hi,” Sean smiled, and I grinned back at him before waving him over.

“Where are the others?” I asked, taking a small bite of my breakfast.

“I prefer to run alone,” Sean shrugged, and I nodded in understanding. Some things were better to do by yourself. Sean leaned against the railing, and I offered him some of my breakfast.

“No thanks, I work hard to keep this girlish figure,” he joked, and I snorted.

“If you’re a girl, then I’m doing something wrong,” I said, looking him up and down. Sean let out a laugh and hopped up so that he was sitting on the railing. He examined me closely with his big, puppy-like brown eyes before laughing and tapping the hat that was on my head.

“Claude gave you his hat huh?” Sean asked, and I raised my eyebrows.

“I’ve had it for like…four days now,” I shrugged, and Sean frowned.

“Oh…I didn’t notice. I’m surprised though; that’s Claude’s favorite hat,” Sean said quietly, and I raised an eyebrow again.

“Is it really?” I asked.

“Yeah. He never lets anyone touch it. Sometimes me and Schenner will hide it in like the cabinets and stuff if we really want to piss him off…he flips out,” Sean chuckled, and I felt a bit of heat rising in my cheeks.

“Oh…I didn’t know that,” I whispered before staring at my plate for a minute.

Claude’s Point of View

Hey Claude, I was wondering if you wanted to hit up the boardwalk or something tonight. Sean told me that the guys were all going on some overnight deep sea fishing thing and that you didn’t really do fishing, so I figured I’d see if you wanted to hang out.

I let a smile cross my face as I read the text from Nathalie. Sean and the guys had planned on going fishing, but originally I had planned on going too. That was until Wayne, Zac, and Sean came up with the brilliant plot to leave me behind so that Nathalie and I could hang out without her feeling guilty about intruding on “team time”, which she had said earlier that day when we invited her and her friends to join us on the beach again. Instead, they went to Cape May for the day, and I was feeling a little sullen about not seeing her. I was also a little alarmed by how much I looked forward to seeing Nathalie. We had just met, and already she was beginning to grow on me. She was friendly, funny, and she was absolutely gorgeous. She was probably five two, five three at the tallest, with long, poker straight red hair and huge, jade green eyes. She always had a mischievous look on her face, and she oozed confidence. She was ridiculously attractive to me, and not just physically.

The second the doorbell rang I was off the couch and at the door. I grinned as Nathalie smiled up at me, toying with the hem of her green tee, which was just short enough to reveal a small sliver of her fair midriff.

“Hey Claude,” she smiled, and I waved her into the house before pulling her into a hug.

“Hey Nathalie,” I said, smiling back at her. Her cheeks flushed a bit as I tapped the brim of my hat, enjoying how it looked on her more and more each time I saw it. I was a little sad about losing my favorite hat, but the weird, prideful purr that formed in my chest every time I saw her wearing it was enough to keep my mourning at bay.

“I have a surprise for you Claude,” Nathalie said, slipping her backpack off of her shoulders.

“You do?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah. Sean told me that I kind of stole your favorite hat, so as payback I figured that well…I’d give you mine,” she said, pulling a vintage style Devils hat out of the bag. I stared at the hunter green and scarlet hat for a second before taking it from her.

“Thanks,” I smiled, unsure of whether or not I should put it on.

“You don’t have to wear it…just keep it since I have yours,” Nathalie mumbled, realizing my hesitation.

“Nah, I’ll wear it…just not in front of the guys. They’d beat me up,” I laughed, putting the cap on backwards. Nathalie beamed at me and nodded in approval before walking into the living room and flopping down on the couch.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight Claude?” she asked.

“Movie?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Holy shit crap, why did I let you pick out a scary one?” Nathalie whimpered, her eyes glued to the TV screen as she clutched a pillow to her chest. We had picked out A Nightmare On Elm Street, and despite the fact that it was an old movie that almost everyone on earth had seen, Nathalie was freaking out. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my chest so that she could cower against me.

“You picked it, not me,” I laughed quietly, and she jumped as Freddy popped out again. After she got over the initial shock she snuggled into my chest and eventually her hands dropped from the pillow she had had in a death grip, and I forced myself to keep my eyes glued on the screen as she began to gently toy with my fingers. I slowly laced my fingers through hers and looked down at her. Her eyes were dancing in amusement and she wasn’t looking at the TV anymore.

“You look too cute in my hat,” she whispered, and I chuckled.

“I could say the same to you,” I smirked, and her cheeks flushed as she shifted so that she was sitting in my lap. Her arms wound their way around my neck and she pressed her forehead against mine. I tried my best to play it cool, but I had a feeling she could see how badly I wanted her to kiss me. I was trying to keep myself under wraps and not act like a preteen, so I waited for Nathalie to make the first move, which she did. As her lips pressed against mine, I watched her eyes slide shut before mine did the same. The kisses were slow and gentle at first, each one causing my heart to beat a little faster, but then I ran my tongue over her bottom lip and she parted her lips. Our tongues collided almost instantly, and the kiss got more intense. She shifted so that she was straddling me, never breaking the kiss in the process. She knocked the hat off of my head and ran her fingers through my hair, sending a shiver down my spine as I ran my hands up her sides and brushed my thumbs against the skin that was showing from under her tee shirt.

After a while I ground my hips against hers, drawing a groan from her. Nathalie tugged at my shirt, and I broke away from her just long enough to peel it off and throw it to the ground. She ran her hands up my bare chest before locking lips with me again, curling her fingers through my hair.

Nathalie’s Point of View

I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that Claude was intoxicating. Everything about him felt so right. His smell, his taste, the way his hair felt when I ran my fingers through it, even the slight stubble on his chin brushing against my skin as he began to trail his lips down my jaw before sucking on my neck. I groaned quietly as Claude nibbled at the delicate flesh of my neck and there was no way I could ignore the growing bulge forming under my hips. My eyes slid shut as Claude ran his hands up my sides, kissing and biting at my neck, and I just sat there like that until I thought I couldn’t take it anymore. I started to tug at his belt, but right as he reached down to undo it, the doorbell rang.

“Tabarnac de câlisse!” Claude hissed, and I snorted at his choice in words. Tabarnac de calisse was your typical French Canadian stream of swear words that, when translated directly, meant tabernacle of the Chalice, but to French Canadians were a little more offensive. He pulled his shirt on before running to answer the door, and I heard him laugh almost uncomfortably as he opened the door.

“Oh, hey Danny. I thought you were coming down tomorrow,” Claude said, clearing his throat, and I heard Danny mutter something about kids and not sleeping before Claude let him into the house. I whipped Claude’s hat off my head and picked up mine, putting it on before Danny noticed.

“Hi…I’m Danny,” Danny said, holding out his hand. I bit back the distaste that immediately sprung up in my mind (I had never really forgiven Danny Briere for constantly scoring on the Devils in the playoffs), and smiled before shaking his hand.

“Nathalie,” I said simply, and Danny let go of my hand and turned to Claude.

“Peux-tu m'aider transporter les garcons dans le maison?(Can you help me carry my boys in the house?)” Danny asked Claude, and Claude gave me an apologetic look before nodding and walking outside with Danny. Claude came back in with Cameron in his arms, and I couldn’t help but laugh. The three Briere boys were a bit too big to be carried into the house, and Danny had made Caelan and Carson walk in, but they were both looking a little sleepy.

“Qui est elle?(Who is she?)” Caelan asked, nodding in my direction.

“Je m’appelle Nathalie. Je suis une amie du Claude, (My name is Nathalie. I’m a friend of Claude’s)” I said, and he looked at me skeptically before shaking his head and heading into the bedroom Claude had pointed out to Danny. Once the three boys were in the room, Danny and Claude chatted for a minute before Danny heading into the room as well, intent on getting a full night’s sleep after driving down.

“Sorry about that…Danny said the boys refused to go to sleep, so he decided to come down a night early to knock them out,” Claude sighed, running a hand through his hair as he walked back into the living room.

“It’s fine. They’re like your family, why would I get mad?” I said before I even thought about it. I had seen just from the way Claude had been willing to help Danny with his boys, and the way the boys acted with Claude in the few seconds they had been out in the foyer that they were all very close.

“Huh…you’re the first person to really notice that right off the bat,” Claude smiled, approaching me slowly.

“I’m observant,” I smirked.

“So, what are you observing right now?” Claude smirked, and I swallowed roughly. He had a cocky smile plastered onto his face, and I slipped my fingers through his belt loops, pulling him towards the couch.

“Je vois un homme qui est tres chaud (I see a man who is very hot),” I purred, landing on the couch and pulling him on top of me. He chuckled before planting his lips firmly on mine. Just as I was about to tug his shirt off I heard a cough and I felt my cheeks flush.

“Sorry, but Cameron wanted a drink…” Danny said awkwardly before grabbing a bottle of water and practically dashing from the kitchen.

“Remind me to get my own place next year,” Claude mumbled unhappily, dropping his head so that his forehead was on my shoulder and beginning to sulk.

“Yeah, sounds good to me,” I mumbled, equally as embarrassed and sulky as Claude was.