I'll Be Right Beside You

I woke up to my cellphone ringing, and quickly grabbed it and left the bedroom so I wouldn’t wake up Cam.

“Hey Jay, what’s up?” I asked, running a hand through my hair as I stood in the living room.

“Not much… how’s Cam doing? We saw the interview on TV, she looked pretty rough,” he replied, and I sighed.

“Not great, she’s freaking out about it. They re-signed her, but some of the guys haven’t gotten over the whole idea yet, and God only knows what the rest of the league will be like,” I told him.

‘Well, Eric and I are going to work on that here, and I know Marc will do the same in New York,” I nodded, and then his words hit me.

“Wait, you said you and Eric?”

“Hell fucking yeah! I made the last cuts!” he announced, and I could’ve let out a whoop, I was so excited for him.

“Congratulations Jay! That’s incredible! See we told you you’d get there! God, I hope we can watch your first game on TV or something,”

“That’d be really cool,” he agreed, and we chatted for a while longer.

“I’ll let you go Jordy, just wanted to tell you the news and check on Cam before I head out for practice,”

“All right Jay – talk to you later,” I told him, and he echoed the goodbye before hanging up. It was nine o’clock, but I didn’t feel like getting up for the day yet, so instead I crawled in next to Cam.

~ * ~

Cam

I woke up slowly, my nose stuffy and my head hurting. Jordan was laying next to me, one arm around my waist, the other holding up the page of his latest edition of The Hockey News magazine while he read.

“Morning sweetheart,” his smile and voice were soft as he put down his magazine and wrapped his free arm around me before giving me a kiss.

“Morning,” my voice felt thick and my throat was rough, another thing I hated about crying.

“How are you feeling?” he pulled me in tight to his body, and his breath was warm against my cheek. I pushed myself closer to him, and nuzzled my face against his neck, inhaling the soft scent of his body wash mixed with that of his aftershave. It was the most comforting smell I knew, and I took a deep breath and let it go slowly before answering.

“I’m okay,” I allowed, and he pressed a long kiss to the top of my head.

“Okay, that’s better than what I’d thought,” he chuckled, and I just shrugged. Yesterday had been hellish, that was the only way I could describe it. I knew it would be hard, but I hadn’t expected the frenzy that the conference became once it registered to the reporters what I’d said.

“Me too,” I admitted, making him laugh before he sighed, holding me in a tight embrace. I could stay here forever with him, and feel like things were going to be okay. It had been a tough realization to make, but one that I had made not long before coming back to Pittsburgh – as much as I loved hockey, if push came to shove I would give it up for him. Not necessarily happily, but I would do it, and never regret my decision.

“So, what do you want to do today? After we eat breakfast that is,” he asked, his stomach grumbling loudly and making me laugh.

“I don’t know – what do you want to do?” I asked in return, sitting up and stretching, feeling the bed shift as Jordan sat up as well, and then wrapped his arms around me.

“Well, I know I need to work out today, but other than that…” he shrugged, pressing butterfly soft kisses along my shoulder and neck.

“That sounds good,” I agreed, leaning back into him and kissing his cheek.

“Okay, then maybe we can watch a movie or something like that,” he suggested, and again I nodded. We got out of bed and made our way to the kitchen, where I looked in the fridge for something to eat. Bacon and eggs seemed like the best bet, and even though I really didn’t feel like eating I knew Jordan would worry if I didn’t. So I began scrambling eggs while Jordan started the bacon and got bread ready to put in the toaster.

We curled up on the couch to eat our breakfast, but unlike his usual habits Jordan didn’t turn the TV on, he instead turned the radio on. I looked at him in confusion, and he just shrugged nonchalantly. It struck me then that he didn’t want me to see any stories about the press conference.

I didn’t say anything about it, and instead picked at my eggs, eating maybe half of my breakfast before setting my plate down on the coffee table, my stomach churning. Jordan rubbed my shoulder softly, and I knew the amount I’d eaten wasn’t enough to ease his concern for me.

At about eleven o’clock we got ready to head to CONSOL, and thankfully there was nobody at the arena working out. It was twelve thirty when we left the arena, and instead of going back to his apartment we went to mine. Becka wasn’t there, she’d left for class, but she’d left me a note, saying that she hoped all was well with me and that sort of thing, as well as telling me to call her if I needed anything. Jordan hopped in the shower while I made grilled chicken Caesar Salad for lunch, and I took a quick shower as soon as the salads were made and he’d gotten dressed in an old T-shirt that he’d left here at some point and his gym shorts. I slid into a hoodie and a pair of shorts before heading back to the kitchen to eat, finding Jordan waiting for me.

“This smells amazing Cam – thanks. I was actually going to make lunch, seeing as you made breakfast,” he sheepishly admitted, and I raised myself up on my tiptoes to peck his lips. He couldn’t cook to save his life, but it was sure endearing and adorable that he was trying to.

“Well then I’ll let you make supper,” I smirked, and he rolled his eyes at me before nipping my lip.

“Okay, as long as you promise to help if I need it,” he agreed.

“Of course,” the grin that spread across his face made me giggle, and with that we sat down to have our lunch.