Brave the Storm

Eric woke up to the throbbing in his head and groaned. His head pounded like someone was taking a hammer to his skull. He could barely get up from his comfortable bed let alone think about making the trek to the bathroom. He opened on eye to quickly glance at the clock before his head ache became worse with sunlight streaming into the room from the barely draped window. It was seven in the morning and he had an hour before the team bus would leave for the airport. He groaned again and somehow got himself to the shower. After quickly showering and attempting to stop the rolling in his stomach, he changed into his black dress pants and a blue buttoned down shirt. He put on his socks and dress shoes and opened his door. He saw a sticky note on the door and took it off so he could read it:

Eric,
Remember I forgive you only if you forget about your feelings
-Kai

He ran a hand through his hair and pulled the ends before pulling the sticky note off the door and shoving it into his pocket. He would have slammed his head on the door if it didn’t hurt so damn much. He pulled the door shut forcefully and made his way to the conference room on the lobby floor where the team was having a private breakfast. He walked in and saw that Kailyn was the only one still there, after all, they had a half an hour until they left. She was sitting at a table playing with her scrambled eggs with her fork and talking to someone on the phone, “Maya I am not discussing this with you right now! Because it was just decided last night! Now I have to go, I’ll fill you in later.”

Eric busied himself by filling his plate so he didn’t appear to be eavesdropping as she hung up. He got hash browns, sausage, and toast. He then sat right in front of her and her phone rang again. She sent him an apologetic smile as she glanced at her Caller I.D. and answered, “Can I call you back? He just came in for breakfast. All right, I’ll email you on the plane. Bye babe.”

Babe? What the hell was going on? His pounding head couldn’t piece together the missing essential piece of information. Who did she call babe? He didn’t remember her calling any of her friends babe at the party. His stomach dropped at the thought of her rekindling things with Mike all because of what he had done. If that were the case, then he really would throw up what he drank last night. Either way, he needed some answers.

When she hung up he stared her down, silently demanding that she tell him what was going on. She sighed and ran a hand through her surprisingly unbraided hair. She looked him in the eyes and just blurted it out, “That was Jonny Toews. I called him after you came to my room. I realized that I do need to move on in a healthier way then trying to beat Mike up. Jon and I are dating.”

“What happened to ‘I’m a mess and need to get my shit together?’ What about Jonathan has you singing another tune?”

“What happened to me ‘getting back into the game?’ I like him Eric,” she said, defiantly crossing her arms.

“I get that Kai, I really do. I just, I’ve seen you at the point where you are so upset and you make yourself sick. You get so emotionally involved in everything that takes place in your life. I don’t ever want it backfire again. I can’t believe you want to get into a relationship that already has so much feeling and attachment. It doesn’t seem like the best move for you and I don’t want it to hurt you.”

Kailyn shook her head in the negative and ate some more of her whole grain white toast, “On the contrary it’s the best one I can make. Jon knows what he is getting into; he knows what I want right now and he will give it to me. It’s a calculated risk.”

Eric gritted his teeth in anger. Did she really think he was this stupid? This wasn’t because she ‘liked Jonathan’ though that was most likely an added bonus. No, she just wanted an insurance policy to keep him at bay. She knew just as well as he did that there was no possible way to forget his feelings for her when his job demanded him to be around her nearly every day. She was using Jonathan as a shield so she wouldn’t have to face the music. As long as he was in the picture, she could blissfully ignore the tension between the man sitting in front of her.

In that moment Eric decided to do a stupid thing. He didn’t care though. He just had to get her to feel the pure jealousy of Jonathan that was pulsing through his veins. In this moment he decided that it was the best thing for him to do because he wanted her to feel how much she had hurt him. Though he had just admitted his feelings didn’t mean they just happened, he had a strong affection for her from day one. He just hoped she felt a semblance of what he believed her to, then again, he wasn’t the one ogling him when he got out of the shower, “Fine,” he agreed while leaning his chair on its back legs and resting the back of his head on his intertwined fingers, “Since you are all taken care of, I might as well get back in the dating game as well.”

He suppressed a smirk when he saw her jaw clench for just a second before relaxing once more. She gained the air of dismissal and told him, “Fine, you do what you have to do.”

This time he couldn’t hold back his smirk as his eyes gained a mischievous glint to them and he shrugged, “If you say so.”

*******

Eric slammed his hotel door with more force than necessary. He then gave the dark painted wood door a solid kick for good measure.

Jared looked up from his position on his bed and raised an eyebrow, “What the hell has you so pissed? We won the last game, we just need to make sure we do all the right things again and the season will turn from its slow start.”

Eric went to the tiny white fridge and snatched one of the water bottles out. As suddenly as he pulled it out, he threw it at the back board of his bed and watched it crash down on his bed. He was ready to pull his hair out! Why did she do this to him? Yes, she deserved to start her dating life again, but why did she seem to make sure he was there this whole day when she was all over Jon. She was always holding his hand, hugging him, or kissing him on the cheek. He knew he had to sit there and take it so they could be at least civil to each other again, but it was going to kill him.

He wanted to tear into Jon and take his anger out on him like a punching bag. That wouldn’t be right though, Kailyn was the one behind all of this, he was simply being a good friend and doing what he believed would help her recover. He was selflessly playing the rebound so no one else had to. At least, that was what Sidney assured him when he had talked to him on the phone after Eric called him ranting and raving about his best friend. The two had quickly decided that it was best for them to remain in communication when they were concerned about Kailyn.

That still didn’t help his problem of wanting to beat the shit out of something. He needed to get his anger out. As he considered this, he began pacing to see if it would help, “I want to tear into one of them, but I know I can’t. How can she do this? She doesn’t ‘like him’ like that!” He shouted while using his fingers to mimic quotation marks.

Jared shrugged and gave his brother a sympathetic look, “I know it’s hard, but just think of it this way, he is the rebound so you aren’t. This is good for you because she is getting it out of the way. She needs a meaningless relationship before she gets serious again. When she’s ready to have a meaningful relationship again, you will be waiting and ready.” He stopped and seemed to consider something before a smirk took over her features. “You just need to speed the process up. I think you should enact your jealousy plan. If she likes you as much as we think she does, then she will hate what you are about to do.”

*******

Kailyn slammed her hotel door closed, jumped on to her bed, grabbed her white pillow and screamed into it. She was furious, no, beyond furious. Her hands were shaking with the need to punch the blond slut. Kailyn had sat by Eric the entire game against the Dallas Stars. Saw the way he watched the woman's ass sway from side to side in her tight black spandex pants as she cleaned the ice by their bench; he was eye fucking her from first glance. He had wasted no time after the game, sweet talking his way into her pants. She screamed into her pillow again as she thought about what was going on in the next room. She threw her pillow and let it hit the wall with a dull thud and then rest on the green carpet.

He was the biggest douche, second biggest douche, she had ever had the terrible luck to meet. The real Eric was coming out in spades. So much for the seemingly perfect captain, he was just like every other no good man out in the world. One puck bunny she could see. He was lonely and he needed some attention, fine. This was the fifth girl he let into his bed and had his way with. She thought he meant he was getting a girl to date! Not a different one every night to fuck with no commitment!

She ripped open her suitcase and found some gym shorts and a T-shirt to change into. She then stormed down to the hotel gym to run while Eric took care of his extracurricular distraction. No wonder they had lost 5-2. She knew there was no point in trying to sleep. The adrenaline was coursing through her veins and she could practically see red. This was battling with the upset feeling in her gut. She was just so downtrodden by this turn of events. She felt the need to call Jonathan, but she didn’t want to rant about another man to her boyfriend.

Boyfriend, Kailyn rolled her eyes as she thought the word while getting on the treadmill and starting to run. What a stupid idea. It had just bit her in the ass tenfold. She should have remained single so Eric had felt no need to go out and occupy his time with other girls. He was supposed to be there for her, and she didn’t have to look around to know he wasn’t. Even if he started dating a respectable girl, Kailyn wouldn’t like it. No one deserved the sweet Eric Staal. No one would ever be good enough for him. After a good, long run, Kailyn went back to her room, showered, and went to bed. They had to catch a flight to New Jersey, home of Eric’s first conquest with her around.