Say Something

February

"Gwen!” Zoe squealed as she ran towards the front desk. “You have to come with us! We're celebrating! Get your things! Come on!”

“Zoe, I know you're excited about opening the office but I thought you were going to have an official welcome party once things were up and running,” Gwen replied, tucking a stray strand of her red hair back behind her ears.

“We will but right now we're going to celebrate this.” She thrust her hand out, the diamond on her left ring finger glittering in the light.

“Woah!” Gwen exclaimed, grabbing Zoe's hand for a better look.

“I know!” she squealed again. Max sauntered out of Zoe's office and casually leaned against Gwen's desk.

“I'm Max,” he said.

“Gwen,” she replied extending her hand to shake his. “I've heard about you non stop all week.”

“All good, I hope. There are lots of bad parts I hope she skipped.”

“Oh no, I left all that in,” Zoe purred, as she sidled up against Max. “The bad parts are the good parts.” He put his arm around her, holding her close and kissing the top of her head. “Come on, Gwen. You have to come. I don't have any friends here yet. I need you!” Zoe pouted.

Gwen laughed. “You have lots of friends. You've told me all about the other guys.”

“They're boys though,” Zoe said dismissively. “I need a girl. Besides, I'm the boss and I say works done for the day. Now let's go. I want to show Danny!”



Gwen followed Zoe and Max across town to the home of Danny Briere, one of Max’s teammates. She felt a bit like a third wheel, joining them with their friends that she did not know. Sure, she knew who they were. She had grown up in Philadelphia; following this team was a rite of passage. Everyone knew the exploits of this team, the gossip and scandal that had surrounded them over the last few seasons. But she did not know them and it made her self conscious.

Pulling into a driveway behind Max and Zoe, Gwen ended the call she had made on the drive, slipping the phone into her purse. She took a deep breath and gathered her hair back into a ponytail. She stepped out of her car as the front door opened.

“Danny!!!” Zoe yelled. She ran up the driveway to him, launching herself at him when she was close enough. He laughed as he caught her and gave her a hug.

“You are far more energetic than usual,” he commented. “And your face is nearly split with that smile.” He glanced at Max who strode up the drive with a cat ate the canary grin. “What is going on?” Danny asked looking between them. Zoe held her hand out in front of him. “Merde!” he exclaimed, grabbing hold of Zoe’s hand. “Are you two for real?” Max nodded as he joined them on the front steps, pulling Zoe to him. “Félicitations mes amis! I’m really happy for you both.”

“Oh! Gwen!” Zoe said, suddenly remembering. She called for her friend to hurry up. “Danny, this is Gwen. We work together. Gwen, this is Danny, my absolute favorite person on the Flyers team.”

“Hey!” Max pouted. Zoe swatted at his arm playfully before kissing him and then pulling him into the house to tell the others.

“Hi, its nice to meet you,” Gwen said politely as she climbed the steps to Danny’s house.

Danny smiled warmly at her, stepping back so she could enter the house before him. “You work with Zoe in Charlotte? Why did she drag you all the way here?”

Gwen smiled. Danny liked her smile. Somehow it seemed to make her green eyes sparkle even more. “I’ll have to let Zoe explain all that,” she deferred. She hesitated just inside the entryway. “Um, are there a lot of people here?”

“No, only a few of us,” Danny assured her with a smile. She was really cute, he thought to himself. 5'5", her body was lean, like a dancers but filled out with soft, womanly curves. A thought of those curves pressed against him, flesh to flesh raced through his mind.

Gwen liked his smile. It was calming and she felt a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding release as desire pooled through her body. His jeans fit nicely on his ass, his shirt tight against his muscular upper body. He was taller than she was and she wanted desperately to run her fingers through the brown hair pushed back from his face, curling behind his ears. Oh, and how delicious those ears looked! She had a sudden urge to nip at them.

"I feel so out of place,” she blurted out, before covering her mouth with her hand, not meaning to have said the thought aloud. She felt her cheeks grow hot.

Danny chuckled and smiled at her. "I promise we’re all really nice, even if we are hockey players.”

Gwen blushed hotter. “I didn’t mean, it’s just...” she trailed off, took a breath and started again. “I feel like I'm intruding, you know? I don’t know any of you except Zoe but she insisted I come and celebrate with her and Max, even though I don’t even know Max.” Danny steered her towards the living room, his hand holding her at the elbow softly to guide her.

“Here’s what you need to know,” Danny said to her, stopping her just short of the living room, letting his touch linger. The small group in the living room was talking and laughing loudly, one over the other and had not yet spotted Danny and Gwen just outside the room. Danny pointed out each man in turn, “Max is crazy in love with your boss. Never seen him happier. Scott is the funny one. If you ever need to laugh, find Scott. Claude will try to be the new Max but he’s harmless. He's really a great guy; I let him live here when he first became a Flyer. Wayne is always happy so if you’re feeling down, he will do everything in his power to put a smile on your face. And he sounds like a surfer so don’t laugh the first time you hear him talk; it will catch you off guard.”

“What about you?” Gwen asked, turning to him. Her breasts brushed his chest and she flushed again. She had not realizing how close he had been standing to her and took a step away from him. Danny wanted to reach an arm out to pull her close again but resisted.

“I’m the elder statesman of the group.”

“You can’t be that old. That one with the red hair, Scott?” Danny nodded. “He’s definitely older than you.” Danny shook his head no. “Really?” You’re like what, 28, 29? So how old is he?”

“Scott is 30. I’m 34”

“Oh” Gwen paused. “I’m 26,” she volunteered nervously

Danny groaned inwardly. Eight years. He was eight years older than Gwen. Disappointment coursed through him. He knew she’d be younger than him but eight years? He took a step back from her.

Zoe turned then, spotting the two just outside the room. She watched them and then excused herself from the other men. She watched the body language between them, noticing the way Danny held Gwen’s gaze for just a second longer than normal. She smiled to herself as she approached them. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” she asked.

“Just giving Gwen a little heads up on the others,” Danny replied. Zoe laced an arm through his and the other through Gwen’s and steered them into the room with everyone else. She moved to the couch and pushed Danny down, and then Gwen beside him. Zoe smiled as she took a seat on Max’s lap in the oversized chair across from them. The other three players eyed Gwen as Zoe led her into the room. Claude smiled broadly as Zoe deposited her on the couch in between him and Danny and leaned close to whisper hello in her ear. She turned to him and smiled shyly and returned the greeting softly.

“Everyone, this is Gwen. We work together, so please don’t harass her; I just hired her last week and she's local so I need her," Zoe said with a pointed look at Claude who ignored her. The others exchanged bewildered expressions between them before Zoe continued on breezily. “Also, I’m opening a branch of my company in Philly and moving here.”

"Yes!" Wayne exclaimed, pulling Zoe out of Max's lap and giving her a bear hug. "Cupcakes every day!" Zoe giggled at him as he set her down and she hugged the others.

“Now I see why you said you’d let Zoe explain,” Danny whispered in Gwen’s ear. She nearly sighed as she felt his breath tickle at her neck. God he was handsome. She wanted to jump in his lap and kiss him.

“Didn’t want to spoil the surprise,” she whispered back. Danny inhaled a deep breath of her scent when she leaned into him. It intoxicated him, somehow both heedy yet delicate all at once.

Claude insisted that they go out to really celebrate so everyone piled into several vehicles. Gwen excused herself to make a call and when she returned, found that she'd be riding with Zoe, Max and Danny in Max's SUV. They went to dinner first, at a restaurant Gwen had only ever dreamed of eating at. She had been working two jobs to stay afloat when the opportunity to work for Zoe came along. When they arrived, the staff shuffled around tables to pull something together for their large group. They had no reservation but were still like royalty inside. As they walked to their table, Claude fell into step beside Gwen. He smiled at her and her heart stuttered. It was a hell of a smile and he knew it. His boyish good looks, the perpetual bed head, combined with that smile made her stomach start doing flips. Danny came up on her other side and she turned to him, his warm smile bringing the flips in her belly to a frenzy. As he had not an hour earlier, he guided her by the elbow to the table, and then held a chair out for her when they reached the table beside Zoe.

“Thank you,” she said to him as she sat. He grinned and turned to take the seat beside her but Claude had already claimed it. He slid his arms across the back of Gwen’s chair and grinned at his teammate. Danny frowned and glanced around the table. Scott was sitting to Claude's left and then Wayne. Zoe was to Gwen’s right, then Max, leaving the only empty chair directly across from Gwen. He moved around the table and sat.

The conversation around the table was light, casual but Danny tuned it all out. He watched Gwen and Claude interact with each other. Claude had pulled her chair closer to him and his arm had moved from the back of the chair to her shoulders as he leaned close to her to talk. Gwen smiled at something Claude said, a small laugh escaping her lips. She looked up, right into Danny’s eyes. He looked away quickly but his eyes swung back to her quickly. She still watched him and she smiled at him. He smiled back and then the moment was broken when Claude leaned into her and whispered something close to her ear. She giggled and gently pushed him away. He grinned easily at her and moved right back beside her.

After they finished eating, Max picked up the check and then set off for their favorite club. Claude led the way inside, collecting some more of their teammates and announcing Zoe and Max's engagement to them as they made their way into the VIP area. Gwen stood just off to the side as people stopped to congratulate the pair. Eventually, Zoe pulled her out onto the dance floor with her and they danced for several songs before Max and Claude came out to join them.

Claude spun Gwen into him and put an arm around her waist as they danced. He leaned his head closer to hers. "Do you want to have dinner next week?" he asked. "We leave for a road trip tomorrow but I'd like to take you out when we're back."

"Okay, sure," Gwen agreed with a smile. "That would be nice, thank you." He grinned back at her.

From the VIP area, Danny had a birds eye view of the dance floor. He could see Claude talking closely to Gwen. 'Good for him,' Danny thought to himself. Claude needed someone in his life and Gwen was a pretty girl. Too bad he was completely jealous. He tried to shake off the idea. No, Gwen was a lot younger than him and only a couple years older than Claude. They were much better suited for one another.

When they rejoined the others, Claude kept a light hand at the small of Gwen's back, whispering to her. Wayne leaned across Claude and said something to her also, causing her to laugh. Danny turned away from them as the sound of her melodious laugh surrounded him.

Zoe came up behind Danny, touching his shoulder and coming round to stand beside him. "See something you like?" She asked with a nod of her head in Gwen's direction. Danny shook his head no. "I don’t know why you bother to lie to me, Briere. J'ai vu la façon dont vous regardait." (I saw the way you looked at her.)

"Elle a 8 ans de moins que moi," (She's 8 years younger than me) Danny protested. “Non, Claude est parfait pour elle." (No, Claude is perfect for her.)

"I'm glad you think so because he's taking her out next week." Danny pulled a face and Zoe laughed. "Thought you weren't interested," she teased.

"I'm not"

"You trying to convince me or yourself?"