Status: Coming Soon!
What You Don't Know, Can't Hurt You
Chapter 1: Part 1
I met Brayden Schenn about a year and a half ago. It was my birthday weekend, which had been a big deal for me since I turned 19. I had been in Canada that year and so I was turning legal age. I turned my one big day into a full weekend of partying. A year and a half ago, it was my 21st birthday – which meant I would officially be legal in the States.
I was new to Philadelphia. I had moved in with my lifelong best friend just a month earlier. I never really made friends easily – especially with girls – so I was going to celebrate with the few friends that I had. They were all boys that played on James hockey team and I had only met a few of them a couple of times but they seemed cool. I knew James would be right beside me all weekend, having his friends come along was just a bonus.
I had met the now famous James van Riemsdyk when we were both still in diapers. He lived two houses down from mine; our mothers were best friends so it was completely understandable that we developed the relationship that we have. We both started out playing hockey at a very young age. Although I was a girl, in our younger years I was able to keep up with him. But, it wasn’t long before he was off playing on bigger and better teams to help improve his career.
We stayed in touch, talking on the telephone nearly every day, texting usually all day every day. He was always like a brother to me and that was all I had ever seen him as. We had never even gone as far as a quick peck on the lips – everyone around us said we would eventually end up married, but personally I could never see that happening.
Once I graduated from high school I had decided that I would go to university in Canada. Being young and stupid, I quickly realized that was not the spot for me. I called James nearly every night crying, telling him that I just wanted to come home. It didn’t take us long to decide that I would be transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. I was waitlisted for a long time, which made me very nervous, but I eventually got an acceptance letter and we both were beyond thrilled.
We moved in together just before the regular season started. He was always busy training and getting ready for the season. Eventually my birthday rolled around and he promised to spend the entire weekend with me. I never expected it to get quite as crazy as it did.
“Zoe, you almost ready?” James yelled up the stairs. He was taking me somewhere but I was not quite sure where – all he told me was to dress in party clothes. I wore a black skirt with a dressy purple tank and matching heels.
“Wow! My BFF is hawttt,” he said in a sassy tone, making fun of the way girls talk. We always joked like that back and forth with each other.
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes as he grabbed my arm making sure I didn’t fall down the stairs. He knew me way too well and how clumsy I really was.
We got in his car and started to drive. I was still unsure of where we were going, so I decided it was time to ask him.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“You’ve met Giroux and Schenner right?”
I had to stop and think for a minute. Had I? After thinking for a good 30 seconds I replied, “Umm, I think I met Giroux. That’s the ginger right? I don’t think I met the other guy.”
“Well we are going to their place. It’s not too far from here. We’ll pre-drink there and then go out to the clubs.”
“Perfect,” was all I said.
Before I knew it, we were pulling up into a driveway full of cars. We went up to the front door and didn’t even bother to ring the doorbell. We walked in and there were people all throughout the house. There weren’t many girls there, mostly just boys off the team. James took me around the house meeting everyone. Most of them hugged me and wished me a happy birthday, promising me that I would have the time of my life.
We finally entered the kitchen where three of them stood. “Zoe you remember Claude right?” James asked, assuming I did. “This is Max, and that’s Brayden.”
Claude gave me a quick hug and Max shook my hand. Brayden and I just stood there eyeing each other. He was drop dead gorgeous and I’m sure he could tell I thought so.
James and I continued to mingle with everyone; eventually I was feeling pretty good and needed to go pee. He told me that the bathroom was upstairs to the right.
As I walked upstairs I heard a door open, and before I knew it I was face to face with Brayden. I could tell he was looking me up and down. “Fancy seeing you up here birthday girl,” he said as I continued to stare at him. Before I knew it he kissed me. “That was your birthday present. I can tell you’re totally into me,” he continued in his hot Canadian accent. That accent just made me want to kiss even him more.
I leaned up and this time it was longer – almost a mini make out session. “And that was your birthday present Mr. Schenn. I’m not stupid, I see you looking at me,” I said seductively. Even though I had no idea when his actual birthday was, it just felt like the right thing to say.
We both went back down stairs acting like nothing had happened but I was secretly hoping for more. I rejoined James; he was talking to Matt Read and Max while Brayden went over towards Giroux and a few other guys. I would catch him every now and then looking over my way; I hoped he didn’t catch me too many times because I looked over at him A LOT.
The clock was approaching midnight and the boys decided it was time to call a few cabs and head to the club.
As luck would have it, Brayden climbed into the cab with Claude, Max, Matt, James and I. He sat right down beside me. While all the other boys were busy talking about some pre game workout they were going to try this year Brayden leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You are my dancing partner tonight.” He looked at me and winked. Usually I turned away from guys that were super cocky, but coming from him it just turned me on.
We got to the club and the first thing everyone did was head to the bar. James ordered me a Pornstar, knowing they were my all time favorite. He handed it to me and said, “For my favorite birthday girl!” Brayden gave James a jealous look because he had gotten to me first, but what could he expect? We had been inseparable since we were babies.
We all made our way in to the VIP section and sat down at a huge booth. James was on one side of me and Brayden on the other; by this time a couple of the boys were beginning to notice Brayden’s attempts to get close to me. It wasn’t long before some of the boys were picking up random girls and heading to the dance floor.
“You ready?” Brayden said while winking at me.
“For what?” I asked stupidly.
“Come on, we’re going to dance.” He grabbed my hand and we headed towards the booming music and the packed dance floor.
It was so packed that nobody even noticed us. We danced for a long time – if you could call it that. It was more like massively grinding.
Finally he leaned in and whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Thank God,” I thought to myself. All of this dancing and liquor had me really turned on and I was ready to leave about an hour ago.
“My place or yours?” I quickly asked.
“Mine. Looks like Reemer has himself a girl over there.” I took a look around the dance floor. James did seem really close with a girl, but then again Giroux looked like he was going to get some tonight too. We both thought about it for a minute as we waited for our cab. We ended up decided on his place simply because it was closer.
I sent James a quick text letting him know I was leaving.
“I’m leaving, going back to Brayden’s. Call me in the morning!”
He instantly replied, “Be gentle. He’s 19. Break him in easy. I’m going home now too, Nicole is about to have the time of her life.”
I just laughed because nobody else would understand our relationship. People always thought it was weird for two young adults – of opposite sex – to be so close, talk about everything including sex and not have feelings for each other.
The cab ride went by really fast – probably because we were in the backseat making out like the teenager he was. We barely made it through the front door of his house before we began to strip each other of our clothes. We made our way up to his room and started our night of crazy wild sex.
The next morning we met up with James, his girl of the night, Claude and his and went to breakfast. I headed back home with James and we told each other everything that happened the night before. He said he regretted hooking up with Nikki or whatever her name was because she figured out who he was and instantly became an obsessive fan girl.
I was hoping that Brayden wasn’t thinking the same thing about me but I had known who he was before, and he was the one laying the moves on me. We were just pulling up into our driveway when my phone beeped. I looked down and it was a number I didn’t recognize.
“Hey it’s Brayden. Not to be creepy or anything but I got your number from James. We doing round 2 tonight?”
I instantly punch James in the arm, “What?” he said, “I thought you guys were adorable together.”
We went home and each went into our own rooms, both taking naps most of the afternoon because neither of us had gotten much sleep the previous night. Before I knew it, we were getting ready to head back over to Giroux’s and Schenn’s house for round 2.
I was new to Philadelphia. I had moved in with my lifelong best friend just a month earlier. I never really made friends easily – especially with girls – so I was going to celebrate with the few friends that I had. They were all boys that played on James hockey team and I had only met a few of them a couple of times but they seemed cool. I knew James would be right beside me all weekend, having his friends come along was just a bonus.
I had met the now famous James van Riemsdyk when we were both still in diapers. He lived two houses down from mine; our mothers were best friends so it was completely understandable that we developed the relationship that we have. We both started out playing hockey at a very young age. Although I was a girl, in our younger years I was able to keep up with him. But, it wasn’t long before he was off playing on bigger and better teams to help improve his career.
We stayed in touch, talking on the telephone nearly every day, texting usually all day every day. He was always like a brother to me and that was all I had ever seen him as. We had never even gone as far as a quick peck on the lips – everyone around us said we would eventually end up married, but personally I could never see that happening.
Once I graduated from high school I had decided that I would go to university in Canada. Being young and stupid, I quickly realized that was not the spot for me. I called James nearly every night crying, telling him that I just wanted to come home. It didn’t take us long to decide that I would be transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. I was waitlisted for a long time, which made me very nervous, but I eventually got an acceptance letter and we both were beyond thrilled.
We moved in together just before the regular season started. He was always busy training and getting ready for the season. Eventually my birthday rolled around and he promised to spend the entire weekend with me. I never expected it to get quite as crazy as it did.
“Zoe, you almost ready?” James yelled up the stairs. He was taking me somewhere but I was not quite sure where – all he told me was to dress in party clothes. I wore a black skirt with a dressy purple tank and matching heels.
“Wow! My BFF is hawttt,” he said in a sassy tone, making fun of the way girls talk. We always joked like that back and forth with each other.
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes as he grabbed my arm making sure I didn’t fall down the stairs. He knew me way too well and how clumsy I really was.
We got in his car and started to drive. I was still unsure of where we were going, so I decided it was time to ask him.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“You’ve met Giroux and Schenner right?”
I had to stop and think for a minute. Had I? After thinking for a good 30 seconds I replied, “Umm, I think I met Giroux. That’s the ginger right? I don’t think I met the other guy.”
“Well we are going to their place. It’s not too far from here. We’ll pre-drink there and then go out to the clubs.”
“Perfect,” was all I said.
Before I knew it, we were pulling up into a driveway full of cars. We went up to the front door and didn’t even bother to ring the doorbell. We walked in and there were people all throughout the house. There weren’t many girls there, mostly just boys off the team. James took me around the house meeting everyone. Most of them hugged me and wished me a happy birthday, promising me that I would have the time of my life.
We finally entered the kitchen where three of them stood. “Zoe you remember Claude right?” James asked, assuming I did. “This is Max, and that’s Brayden.”
Claude gave me a quick hug and Max shook my hand. Brayden and I just stood there eyeing each other. He was drop dead gorgeous and I’m sure he could tell I thought so.
James and I continued to mingle with everyone; eventually I was feeling pretty good and needed to go pee. He told me that the bathroom was upstairs to the right.
As I walked upstairs I heard a door open, and before I knew it I was face to face with Brayden. I could tell he was looking me up and down. “Fancy seeing you up here birthday girl,” he said as I continued to stare at him. Before I knew it he kissed me. “That was your birthday present. I can tell you’re totally into me,” he continued in his hot Canadian accent. That accent just made me want to kiss even him more.
I leaned up and this time it was longer – almost a mini make out session. “And that was your birthday present Mr. Schenn. I’m not stupid, I see you looking at me,” I said seductively. Even though I had no idea when his actual birthday was, it just felt like the right thing to say.
We both went back down stairs acting like nothing had happened but I was secretly hoping for more. I rejoined James; he was talking to Matt Read and Max while Brayden went over towards Giroux and a few other guys. I would catch him every now and then looking over my way; I hoped he didn’t catch me too many times because I looked over at him A LOT.
The clock was approaching midnight and the boys decided it was time to call a few cabs and head to the club.
As luck would have it, Brayden climbed into the cab with Claude, Max, Matt, James and I. He sat right down beside me. While all the other boys were busy talking about some pre game workout they were going to try this year Brayden leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You are my dancing partner tonight.” He looked at me and winked. Usually I turned away from guys that were super cocky, but coming from him it just turned me on.
We got to the club and the first thing everyone did was head to the bar. James ordered me a Pornstar, knowing they were my all time favorite. He handed it to me and said, “For my favorite birthday girl!” Brayden gave James a jealous look because he had gotten to me first, but what could he expect? We had been inseparable since we were babies.
We all made our way in to the VIP section and sat down at a huge booth. James was on one side of me and Brayden on the other; by this time a couple of the boys were beginning to notice Brayden’s attempts to get close to me. It wasn’t long before some of the boys were picking up random girls and heading to the dance floor.
“You ready?” Brayden said while winking at me.
“For what?” I asked stupidly.
“Come on, we’re going to dance.” He grabbed my hand and we headed towards the booming music and the packed dance floor.
It was so packed that nobody even noticed us. We danced for a long time – if you could call it that. It was more like massively grinding.
Finally he leaned in and whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Thank God,” I thought to myself. All of this dancing and liquor had me really turned on and I was ready to leave about an hour ago.
“My place or yours?” I quickly asked.
“Mine. Looks like Reemer has himself a girl over there.” I took a look around the dance floor. James did seem really close with a girl, but then again Giroux looked like he was going to get some tonight too. We both thought about it for a minute as we waited for our cab. We ended up decided on his place simply because it was closer.
I sent James a quick text letting him know I was leaving.
“I’m leaving, going back to Brayden’s. Call me in the morning!”
He instantly replied, “Be gentle. He’s 19. Break him in easy. I’m going home now too, Nicole is about to have the time of her life.”
I just laughed because nobody else would understand our relationship. People always thought it was weird for two young adults – of opposite sex – to be so close, talk about everything including sex and not have feelings for each other.
The cab ride went by really fast – probably because we were in the backseat making out like the teenager he was. We barely made it through the front door of his house before we began to strip each other of our clothes. We made our way up to his room and started our night of crazy wild sex.
The next morning we met up with James, his girl of the night, Claude and his and went to breakfast. I headed back home with James and we told each other everything that happened the night before. He said he regretted hooking up with Nikki or whatever her name was because she figured out who he was and instantly became an obsessive fan girl.
I was hoping that Brayden wasn’t thinking the same thing about me but I had known who he was before, and he was the one laying the moves on me. We were just pulling up into our driveway when my phone beeped. I looked down and it was a number I didn’t recognize.
“Hey it’s Brayden. Not to be creepy or anything but I got your number from James. We doing round 2 tonight?”
I instantly punch James in the arm, “What?” he said, “I thought you guys were adorable together.”
We went home and each went into our own rooms, both taking naps most of the afternoon because neither of us had gotten much sleep the previous night. Before I knew it, we were getting ready to head back over to Giroux’s and Schenn’s house for round 2.