Friendly Affections

“I appreciate this,” I told my new teammate as he opened to the door to his apartment and welcomed me in. “I haven’t really gotten to meet anyone yet in Columbus, since I settled in.”
“Yeah, it’s whatever. Just a get together to welcome you.” Cam answered, leading me into the small apartment. I could still sense he was uncomfortable around me, the new guy, a fresh trade, who the Bluejackets had given up Jeff Carter for. But I was willing to try my hardest to show them I was a great replacement.
I surveyed the room as he grabbed us some beers from the kitchen, taking in how the tasteful drapery matched the fringe on the rug perfectly and all the wood work was the same type. I bit back an antidote about Cam’s feminine decorating skill and stayed silent not wanting to already to offend him. There would be plenty of time for insults after we became friends.
We were saved from our awkward silence as more people filtered in. Most where my new teammates who greeted me warmly with slaps on the back and vulgar comments I recognized as friendly. I noticed there were a few WAGs sprinkled in the mix too, clinging to player’s arms looking sparkly, pretty and entirely unavailable to my dismay.
More than once I caught a pretty dark haired woman’s eyes on me, tracing the outline of my body lighting and curiously. I was never one to turn away when a pretty woman looked, so I excused myself from the conversation I was in and weaved my way over to her where she stood at the island in the kitchen.
“Hi.” I said to her, once I was standing before her with a hand out held. “I’m Jack.”
If she was at all surprised by my abrupt contact, she hid it well as she accepted to the handshake. She also raised her eyebrows at me in amusement, but before she could respond another voice cut in.
“Is ‘I’m Jack’ the line you use on all the girls, or just my sister and me?” The words weren’t hostile, but they weren’t friendly. It was a mix between the two, as if the speaker couldn’t decide whether or not they wanted to tease me or demean me.
She was standing just behind the other woman, looking a good deal shorter, and a good deal curvier than her counterpart. Her hand was on her hip, and paired with an almost bemused smile, I had to grin back. She was just as pretty as she had been a week before in the restaurant, with dark eyes and sassy words.
“Caught me.” I answered.
The sister slid her eyes from me to the other woman questioningly. “Do you know each other?”
When I nodded my head she instead shook hers, dark hair swaying, and replied, “No, not really. We had a run-in the other day—literally, now that I think of it. All I know is his name's Jack, he's way to sincere and is from Indiana. Jack, this is Kate and Kate, this is Jack. There. Everyone knows everyone.”
“Well there’s a little more to it than that,” I added after her. “Like I have no idea what her name is, only that she’s sarcastic and from Northern Ohio—which is apparently the same as Michigan.”
“Are you ever going to stop saying that?” Kate laughed with tinkling laughter that caught the attention of people around the room. More than few of my teammates shot me curious looks of approval when they saw the company I was holding.
“But it’s true!” Her sister exploded incredulously. “We’re pretty much from Michigan. I mean, drive three minutes north and you're over the state line!”
“No it’s –” Kate began only to be cut off once again.
“So, Jack, what are you doing here?” She hurriedly asked, cutting Kate from the conversation. She was dead set on getting the last word on where they were actually from.
Kate gave her sister a look of annoyance, shook her head at me like: good luck, buddy, and then wandered over to Cam who was calling her name.
“...I’m Jack.” I answered, gesturing to the cake one of the WAGs had brought. It was obnoxiously decorated – which was to be expected – and said across it “Welcome to Columbus, Jack!”.
Ignoring my gesture, she exclaimed “I know, you’ve said it to me three times now!”
“Three more times than you’ve said your name.” I countered.
“Jodie, Jodie, Jodie.” She answered. “There. Now we’ve even.” It was pretty, but still with a bite. Just like her personality.
“So how did you get involved with a bunch of pro-hockey players, Jodie?” I leaned back against the counter top and she leaned against the one opposite me.
“Nope, it’s my turn to ask a question now.” She told me, crossing her arms across her chest with a winning smile. “So, Jack, how did you get involved with pro-hockey players?”
I gave her a bemused smile. “I am a pro-hockey player. Jack Johnson. The one who all this,” I indicated to the groups of people standing around drinking and laughing, “Is for. I told you I played hockey the other day.”
“Oh, I see.” She answered, and I swore, if possible, she was a little embarrassed. She then stood up straight, and stepped away from the counter. “Want a beer?” She reach in the refrigerator and pulled two from the cooler. I accepted the bottle, popped the top off on the counter and took a long swig.
“So what about you?” I said after a moment of silent drinking.
“What do you mean ‘what about you’?” Her hand was curled around the bottle tightly, and she rested it on the counter. I tried to ignore how attractive it was that she was drinking a beer and wearing a cocktail dress simultaneously, something I hadn’t ever seen a woman accomplish, and paid attention to her face.
“Get involved with pro-hockey players?” This is were I expected her to say she was dating one of my teammates or married to them, knowing my luck with pretty girls and their availability.
“I’m not.” She took another drink of her beer, and I tried not to be to transfixed by her lips on the bottle. “Kate works for the Bluejackets and on-and-off dates one of them. I just hang around because pro-athletes throw the best parties.” At this she gave me a wicked smile I understood all to well. “I honestly didn’t even know Ohio had a team until I moved her and Kate got a job with them.”
“Why did you move to Col –” I began, but she shook her head and I shut my mouth.
“It’s my turn to ask a question.” She told me. “You asked how I was involved with pro-hockey players, so now I get to ask one.”
I made a face at her. “What, are we paying a game? When did this start?”
“When we first spoke.” She answered impatiently. “But stop, it’s my turn to ask a question, but you just keep asking them with no courtesy for the rules. Hell, I thought you were the sincere and polite one, but it seems all those classes have gone to waste.”
I groaned, pretending to be irritated. “This is going to go on for a long time, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She put emphasize on her answer. “You bet it is. From now until the last time we ever speak, this game is going.”
“But what if I don’t want to answer a question?” I continued, wondering just what I was getting myself into with this eccentric girl.
“Then you lose. Now stop asking questions.” She was getting so flustered by my interruptions that her face was flushed. “It’s still my turn.”
“Okay, okay,” I seceded. “What’s your question?”
She heft an eyebrow at me. “That’s a question.”
Our gazes met and I knew we were both fighting laughter at the whole ridiculous situation we were buying into. But it went on like that for the rest of night, our question game going back and forth, with constant banter and laughter. It was comfortable, and I was glad to finally have found someone in Columbus that I could converse easily with.