Two Different Worlds Collide

“Why are we going to my place?” he asked, and Brett shrugged.

“Because then we can watch movies or play Wii or something, and my place is too messy. Zach hasn’t done his half of the cleaning,” he explained as if it made all of the sense in the world. Jared stayed quiet, and led us up to his place. He invited us in, but I could see he was scanning the living room and kitchen for anything he considered needed to be hidden.

“Looks safe,” he finally decided, his hand at the small of my back leading me to the living room. It was a small studio-style apartment; where everything was open and connected except for the three doors off of the far north wall, which I assumed led to the bathroom and his bedroom.

“So, uh, this is my place,” he announced, as if he needed to as Brett made himself at home and Liza curled up to him on the loveseat. Jared sat next to me as Brett turned on the TV, before we decided on watching a movie. I was still sleepy, and didn’t care about what we watched as Jared made himself comfortable and pulled me into his arms. With his steady breathing beneath me, and his warm arms around me I soon drifted off to sleep.

~Jared~

“It’s okay – she can stay here and sleep. I think she was tired when we went for lunch,” I explained to my friends. Brett’s cousin had played in Raleigh last night and wanted to come over to his place, so he wanted to take Liza with him and go. Liza had insisted she and Cheyenne could go and check out the museums or something, obviously frightened by the thought of meeting Brett’s cousin, considering they’d only met last night and that had ended with them going home together. Cheyenne had fallen asleep so quickly I hadn’t wanted to wake her, and it had taken me a few minutes to extricate myself from her to walk Brett and Liza to the door.

“You sure?” Liza worried, eyeing her sleeping friend who was now curled around one of my blankets on the couch.

“Yeah, of course; it’s not a problem. I’ll text you guys when she wakes up,” I assured her, and a few minutes later they were out the door. Brett really liked Liza, and I could see why. Aside from being beautiful, she was kind and she definitely liked to take care of others, something Brett kind of needed. He did all right for himself, but he always needed reminders to do the little things, somewhere that Liza would fit perfectly into his life. He’d admitted it to me on the way here last night, that while he’d only had the intentions of a one-night stand, long before they left the bar he wanted it to be something more. I knew exactly how he felt, because it was the same with Cheyenne – the same reason that I hadn’t wanted to sleep with her last night. Well, I had, but I knew I wouldn’t. Not unless she had really, really wanted to, because that would have ruined any chance at really getting to know her and talking to her, even if I knew it would end up painful. She would go back to Edmonton and her life; I’d stay here and keep playing hockey, as simple as that.

She made a sound in her sleep, so I walked over and scooped her up, carrying her to my bedroom. I’d actually just cleaned a couple days ago, so it wasn’t too bad mess-wise. I laid her down, and she curled into my pillow, her expression softening, her brow unfurrowing. I crawled in next to her and put my arm around her waist, content to wait for her to wake up. She scooted closer, her face pressed to my chest before she let out a sigh. I couldn’t help but smile and push some of her long hair out of her face, admiring how soft it was.

When my phone rang I jumped, not having expected any phone calls. Mom had called yesterday before the game, so it wouldn’t be her. Not unless something had happened to one of my brothers in their games last night.

“Hello?” I tried to keep quiet, not wanting to wake the girl who was fast asleep in my arms.

“Jay? Why are you whispering?” Jordan’s voice came over the phone. I resisted the urge to groan, because he was a chatterbox and a freaking half on the phone.

“Because—”

“Oh… you have a friend over,” he knowingly explained for me, and this time I did groan.

“It’s not like that Jordan,”

“I’m guessing not because why the hell would your one nighter still be there at one thirty in the afternoon?” he asked, and I ran a hand over my face. Jordan might have got married two summers ago, but he hadn’t grown up one bit.

“Because she’s not a one night stand,” I hissed, and knew the silence on the other end meant he was confused.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” he asked.

“No,”

“Okay, explain this situation to me – I’ve got nothing here bro,”

“Well, we met at the bar last night and just hung out and talked, and we went out for lunch today and talked, and we were watching a movie with Brett and Liza and she fell asleep, so yeah,” I quickly summed it up for him, and I could picture him nodding as he tried to put all of the pieces together.

“So you’re wanting her to be your girlfriend? Is that how this is going?”

“Well, I’d like that to happen, but it won’t,” I sighed.

“Friend zone?”

“No, more like time zone,” I answered, and Jordan made a sound that let me know the light bulb had finally turned on.

“Shit… how far away?”

“She’s going to school in Edmonton,” I answered. He let out a low whistle, and I wished he wouldn’t have to be right.

“Shit Jay – couldn’t you find a nice girl from either Thunder Bay or, I don’t know… somewhere at least within driving distance from you?” he asked.

“You think I wouldn’t like that?” I snapped back, before taking a deep breath. It was a bit of a touchy subject, especially when I was the only one of my brothers who wasn’t married and settled down, ready to have a family. They all thought Tasha was it for me, because of how long we’d been together. We’d had less rocky patches than Jord and Heather had, but something was just missing. And then when I’d found out about the other guy in Toronto I’d nearly lost it. But even then I’d been stupid enough to take her back one more time because she was basically all I knew. We’d been together so long I was scared to break things off and find something new. But when I learned that she hadn’t broke things off with the other guy I was done with the fights and the whole bit, more than happy to walk away.

“Sorry. Well, how long is she in Charlotte for?”

“Spring break – her and Liza came down here, of all places,” I chuckled, looking down at her for a second before returning my gaze to the window.

“So we’ll get to meet her tomorrow after your game?” he asked, and I felt my stomach drop. Talk about a death sentence for any kind of relationship right there.

“Uh, I, um, I don’t know about that,” I choked out, and Jordan laughed.

“Come on, she’s gotta pass inspection from me and Eric before it can go anywhere,” he teased.

“She would, it’s just…”

“Well good. We’ll all go out to the same bar after the game and meet this girl of yours,” Jordan decided. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was even more stubborn than Marc, so I finally had no choice but to let it drop. We talked for a few more minutes until I heard someone arrive at his house.

“Oh, hey sweetheart,” I made a face as I heard him kiss his wife hello before he returned to the conversation. “Well, see you tomorrow Jay – if I don’t see you before the game, good luck!”

“Good luck Jared! Kick some ass!” I heard Heather chime in, and thanked them before saying goodbye.

I returned my phone to the charger on my nightstand before properly curling up with Cheyenne; my arms around her and her head tucked beneath my chin. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the soft fruity smell of her shampoo intoxicating to my senses.

The phone startled me awake, and I realized I must’ve dozed off. Cheyenne started to wake up then too, and blearily blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings.

“Morning sleepyhead,” I told her, kissing her forehead as I reached for my phone. Brett had texted me, wondering on behalf of Liza if Cheyenne was awake or not. I answered that she’d just woke up, as she stretched in my arms and then cuddled back against me with a smile on her face.

“Morning,” she told me, making me chuckle as I leaned in for a kiss. I couldn’t seem to get enough of her, and soon one innocent kiss had turned into a full on make out session under the covers of my bed.

“Now that’s a way to wake up,” she mumbled against my lips, causing me to burst into laughter. Her cheeks turned pink, as I’d noticed they were prone to doing, and she buried her face against my neck to hide her embarrassment.

“I definitely agree,” I whispered into her ear, feeling her shiver. I had to bite back a moan then, knowing this was not the time or place to get out of hand again. Instead I kissed her cheek and then rested my chin on top of her head, rolling onto my back and bringing her with me so she was across my chest. She fit perfectly against me, even though she was quite a bit smaller than me.

“Where’d Brett and Liza get to?” she asked a few minutes later, squirming slightly to turn herself on her side.

“Brett’s cousin played my brother’s team last night, so he wanted to come out for a bit and say hi, so Brett hauled Liza over to his place with him,” I replied, and her eyes lit up.

“How’d she take that news?”

“She looked scared shitless,” I admitted, and she laughed.

“Liza’s not a casual kind of person… she likes commitment and long-term… so I don’t know how she’s got this thing going with him, but I’m glad. He seems good for her, and if he wants her to meet his cousin she’s probably dying inside from being so happy,” she said, and I nodded. I wasn’t sure how to bring up the thing about my brothers.

“So, um, Jordan called while you were asleep,” I started, and her brows furrowed slightly.

“You mean like Michal or…?”

“No, my brother,” I clarified, and she nodded. “Well, um, he and Eric want to meet you after my game tomorrow night.”

As I’d feared her eyes widened and she sat up straight, looking like a deer in the headlights.

“Um… what exactly did you tell them about me? I mean, do they always want to meet the random girls you meet?” she asked, unknowingly causing a little pang in my chest. I didn’t want her to be a random girl I’d met.

“Well, you aren’t exactly a random girl Cheyenne,” I whispered, and sat up as well. “I just said that we’d met last night at the bar and had talked and stuff, and then about going for lunch today and talking and hanging out. That’s really it, but Jordan’s convinced he’s got to meet you, and Jordan’s just about impossible to argue with,” I admitted, and saw her shoulders sag. The way I’d said it had come out like I didn’t want her to meet them. Which wasn’t true – I did – just not like this where my brothers would make her feel uncomfortable or grill her.

“O-oh,”

“I’d like for you to meet them, just not like this. They’re a little… overprotective sometimes. One of the great perks of being the baby brother,” the sarcasm was nearly dripping off of my tongue as I spoke, getting the tiniest of smiles out of her.

“Jared, you know that this… this wouldn’t work,” she looked up at me, her green eyes looking dejected. “It’s just… you have a whole life here, and mine’s back in Edmonton. I like you Jared, I do, but I don’t want to get too attached just to leave and never see you again.”

Her admission stunned me. I wasn’t sure if she’d returned the feelings I had, but I knew we’d connected as friends as well as the attraction we shared. Whether the attraction was more than physical I hadn’t been sure, because I didn’t know how she felt. Knowing this was going to make the short time we had even more painful when it ended.

“I know Cheyenne, but it doesn’t mean we couldn’t give it a try,” I pointed out, and saw her suck her lip into her mouth. She chewed on her lip when she was nervous, I’d noticed. On top of that it was incredibly sexy.

I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers, and without a second’s hesitation she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and let me pull her into my body and onto my lap. The kisses got more heated as her hands skimmed my back and then down my chest and stomach, making me kiss her hard to stifle the sound coming from my throat. My fingers had just reached the hem of her shirt and started to toy with it when there was a knock at the door and we broke apart. I leaned my forehead on hers, breathing heavily and wishing we didn’t have such shitty timing.