Status: Monthly, or sooner.

Loosen Up

Dinner

A part of me wishes I had brought Tyler along with me on this trip, so I could have someone to talk to or someone to take my mind off of that off-season. Although, he did try to stop me from doing this. Maybe he's right, and maybe I should make a U-turn and head back to Toronto. But the flashbacks were circling around me and I could not help but continue driving.

..May 26th, 2011

Bozie and I spent the next few hours playing COD with Nick. I was only focused on what the rest of the evening held. Every once in a while, Rhea would come into the living room and sit near me. She'd laugh at whoever kept getting killed in the game, which was me most of the time, and then she'd leave to go to the kitchen.

When it was about six in the evening, I took a seat beside Tyler, taking a look at all the food that Mrs. Thompson had prepared with the help of her granddaughter. Home-made chicken soup, chicken, cooked vegetables, fried rice, red wine, and sauce that tasted so good although I had no idea what it was made of. Rhea sat across from me, beside her brother Nick. Mrs. Thompson and Robert sat on opposite ends of the dark wooden dinner table.

"I hope you boys like it." Robert smiled nicely.

"It's delicious," I complimented, trying to eat with my manners. I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and felt Tyler step on my foot. I knew what he was thinking; that I was sucking up just for his daughter. Well, he wasn't all wrong.

"You should really check out the lakehouse that's available in town," Nick said, sipping some of his wine.

"Yeah we were actually thinking about it," Tyler nodded. "Phil told me it looked great from the outside."

"Which one? The one the Rollson's rented last year?" Robert asked Nick.

"Yeah,"

"Oh she's a beauty." he said. "You should check it out tomorrow."

"Err-well, tonight, I mean, we wouldn't want to cause even more trouble." Tyler chuckled.

"I know the landlord," Robert replied, and I remembered that's what Rhea had told me. "Joshua's in Regina until tomorrow, anyway. And besides, you might be two of the only Leafs players I like."

I laughed uncomfortably at his Leafs comment, trying not to be awkward. I stepped back on Bozie's foot and he laughed along as well.

"Dad," Rhea rolled her eyes and smiled at me.

"The best part about the lake area?" Nick began. "The chicks."

Tyler woke up instantly. "Hm?"

"Two twin babes own one of them. They usually throw the best college parties, too." he smirked.

Mrs. Thompson sighed. "All you kids care about is partying and staying up late doing no good things."

All of us laughed at her comment. Rhea swallowed another spoonful of her soup and then said, "Did you tell Boz about Vodka Vick?"

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I did."

"Tonight at nine." she gave a friendly wink.

I smiled and the night progressed as Robert asked us more questions, and we finished dinner. Tyler, Nick and I were back in the living room as the table was being cleared. I swiped my phone on and scrolled through my Twitter until Rhea came in.

"Phil," she said to me, the 'ph' rolling softly off her lips.

"Yeah?" I swallowed.

"Come, I want to show you something." she headed for the front door.

I glanced over to see Tyler and Nick shouting at the T.V in excitement, still playing video games and too busy to notice. I got up and followed behind her, scratching my neck. We both put our shoes on and walked outside. It had gotten just a bit cooler, since it was 8 at night. I wondered where she was taking me. My first thought was the whole Vodka Vick thing, but I remembered that's not for another hour.

"Where are we going?" I followed her down the white porch steps.

She turned around and walked backwards, facing me and smiling lightly with her arms crossed over her chest. It wasn't too dark so I could still see the features of her face and presence of the scenery around us. "I want you to meet Arrow."

"Oh, alright." I grinned.

We walked beside each other up the barn. One of the lights was on inside but she leaned over to one of the walls and flickered on another over-head lamp. The place was full of messy haystacks and wooden stalls. It was warm and actually felt quite cozy.

"Here he is," she opened one of the gates. "Hey baby.." She petted the black horse slowly and then looked at me.

"Hey big fella," I stroked his nose gently, with her by my side scratching his neck with one arm wrapped around him.

"He's calm around you. He likes you." she said. "Usually he's all jumpy when he sees someone new."

I grinned. "Well I'm glad I made a good first impression."

She laughed, "I really want to go for a ride right now, but my dad wouldn't be happy. He says it's dangerous to do it this late."

"How come?"

"Well, horses do have good night vision, but my dad's just scared that I won't let Arrow adjust to the darkness. He assumes I'll want to go fast and then possibly freak him out and get thrown off." she replied.

"Oh, I see."

"I've secretly done it once and I didn't even go far, just around the neighborhood. Night riding is the best. Arrow loves it too."

I smiled. "Rebel."

"I know, eh? Badass." she winked.

I almost chocked on my own spit. "Wh.."

She laughed. "I'm good, but I'm not good enough to not swear, Phil."

I chuckled. "The more you know."

"Is this your first time petting a horse?" she asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Cute." she bit her bottom lip when I raised an eyebrow at her.

My hands were on my hips and a small smile peaked across my lips. My voice was as gentle as possible when I responded with, "You have so much passion in your eyes, you know that?"

Her plump lips slowly popped open and she blinked her eyes. She blushed but didn't break her eyes apart from mine. "That's the first time someone's said that to me."

One of my shoulders shrugged lightly. "It's the truth." I took a few steps up to the wooden board and leaned back against it.

She stroked Arrow and put the side of her head against his nose for a moment, still looking at me. She was so beautiful. Her eyes were shining, her skin tone was practically glowing under the yellow light. I stared her down, up her curves and then to her eyes once again.

"You're different than the others, aren't you?" she broke the silence, her phrase almost turning into a whisper.

I licked my lips and let out a small exhale through my nose. "I am."

"Different than most guys.." she continued, her voice going even quieter as her gaze moved down to my chest. She was still standing beside Arrow, petting him.

I felt like I was going to pass out if it wasn't for the stall behind me. "And you're different than most girls I've met."

Then, she smiled but only a little bit. "It's weird."

"What is?"

"I feel like I've known you for longer than I really have." Rhea said.

"Me too," I responded, with butterflies screwing around in my stomach that almost dropped.

I stood up straight and took my back off of the stall wall behind me. My arms were still crossed as I took small steps towards her to the same spot I was at before, except this time, taking another step closer. She had removed her hand from the horse who was now munching on hay. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. I just sighed and we both stood there.

Just as I was going to speak, the doors of the barn creaked open and Nick's voice echoed in. "Rhea? Phil?"

She blinked away and cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, Nick, in here with Arrow."

I coughed and we both opened the gate after she petted her horse one more time. Nick was standing beside Tyler by the opening doors as he looked around at the place. Bozie then saw me and a sneaky grin slid across his face.

"Introduced him to Arrow?" Nick asked.

"Yup," Rhea replied.

"Let's go show these guys Vodka Vick." he added, and Bozie held up a bottle of rum.

Rhea glanced at me and we followed behind them, shutting off the lights in the barn. When all four of us arrived, I quickly felt the good atmosphere in the area. Rhea was right when she said that people loved this guy.

We sat down on one of the logs in the open circle with the fireplace in the middle. Other people in their twenties and early thrities also sat around with bottles of beer, vodka and whiskey. Surely enough, Vick was drinking vodka.

I was in between Tyler and Rhea, her knee brushing against mine. I was hunched over with my hands clasped in front of me, getting familiar with the faces of these people. Two other guys sat down near Nick and low-fived him. Nick introduced them to Tyler and I; Jerry Davidson and Don Kingstone, his closest friends.

"Alrrr-ight," Victor called out. He had messy dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a black sweatshirt with ripped up blue jeans. All the twenty or thirty people started cheering and Bozie and I went along with it.

"Ladies and gents, sing alllong w-with me!" he put the bottle down and tapped his guitar.

Although he was drunk way too early, and clearly he was drunk for most of his time, I sensed he was an all around good person to be around--in this case, at least. He was friendly with the people here, smiling and laughing with them, and didn't look like the bad angry drunk type.

A group of guys had handed us all cans of beer, along with the loads of alcohol everyone had brought along. I knew better than to drink too much, since I was returning to someone else's home later, but it was still fun to watch everyone get completely wasted. Including Bozie who was already laughing with some girl in a crop top and cowboy boots.

Rhea linked her arm through mine and her shoulder bumped against mine. "You enjoying this?"

It took me a moment to get used to her touching me. I cleared my throat. "I, yeah, I am."

She glanced at me and while everyone was singing along with the happily drunken man, my mind turned down all that volume and I only focused on her. With the tips of my fingers in my other hand I wiggled the almost empty can of beer as I watched her. Then, her tired head plopped on my shoulder.

I looked ahead at the fire burning and closed my eyes. Jesus, quick, Phil, be a man! I swallowed and moved my arm away from where hers was linked. She took her head off my shoulder briefly, and maybe she thought that I didn't want her near me, but then I assured her by wrapping that arm around her waist and pulling her in again.

I felt her sigh against my touch and she put her head on my upper-chest and nearby shoulder area again, now closer to my neck. I tried to control the beating of my heart but I was flipping out. Her soft hair smelled like honey and her right hand ended up on my thigh. The best part was that I knew for a fact she wasn't drunk. She hadn't even finished her first beer.

I glanced at Tyler again who unsurprisingly was making out with that same girl I noticed him with earlier. I rolled my eyes and then looked over at Nick who was drunk out of his mind. He had one arm wrapped around Vodka Vick and was singing and holding his bottle high in the dark sky.

"Is it possible to feel the way I do right now?" I managed to say quietly. I really wondered if it was possible to like someone this fast. If it was impossible before, however, then I proved the world wrong.

She didn't say anything for a moment. I guess it was alright because her next reply made the wait worth it all. "I bet you I feel the exact same way."

"And thank youuuuuu, errry-body! Thank youu very much!" Victor cheered bowing his head and then tipping over. A bunch of people were already either passed out on the logs or on each other.

I felt responsible to get Nick and Tyler home safe and to not wake up on the ground in the morning. I looked around at everybody once more and then lightly brushed my fingers up and down her other shoulder.

"Let's get you home." I said.

She nodded and slowly slid away. She didn't look at me but just stretched her arms forward. I brought my arm back and folded my hands together again. She then turned her head to face me again, and a small, hopeful smile appeared.

I stood up and held one friendly hand out for her. She took it and then we moved apart as I got Tyler to stand up, as she convinced Nick that he has a home. All four of us walked home, two of which could actually walk, and the other two had to be guided the right way. Thankfully they brought flashlights, and plus our phones helped out.

When we got back, we had to be extra quiet considering their father and grandma were asleep. It was almost midnight. Tyler fell flat on his twin bed and Nick passed out in his own room. After turning the lights off for Bozie, I walked to the door near our bedroom. I knocked on Rhea's half open door.

"Come in," she said quietly.

I opened it wider and leaned against the doorframe. She had changed into pink pajama shorts and a pink V-neck. She flipped her wavy hair back with one hand and smiled at me. I looked around at her room for the first time. It had simple white walls but with many framed scenery and paintings. She had a nice queen sized bed with a brown nightstand to match the backboard.

"That was quite something." I turned my attention back to her. She was standing at the end of her bed. Her knee bent forward and she rubbed it up against her other bare leg, making my mouth go wet with drool.

"I told you people get really wasted at these things." she laughed lightly. "Thankfully it's only like once or twice a week."

I laughed and looked down at my feet. "I, uh, just wanted to say goodnight."

"Alright." she licked her lips.

I was quiet for a while, losing myself in the moment. I wanted so badly to wrap my self around her and kiss her but I knew it couldn't happen. It couldn't. "Goodnight, Rhea."

"G'night, Phil." she replied.

I cleared my throat and looked at her once more before stepping out and closing her bedroom door.
♠ ♠ ♠
Long wait, I know. Read my other stories which update faster ("Don't Fall Back" ft. Colton Orr) or ("Seduce Me" which isn't a hockey story but it is about a teacher-student relationship which is pretty crazy!)

Man, HBO 24/7 has been crazy, you know. Weird this story is about flashbacks in 2011 when it's almost 2014 in real life haha. May I just say what a crazy few months it's been for the Leafs? They will get out of this slump though, and it will alllll be okay.....

I hope 2013 treated you well and I hope 2014 is filled with happiness for all of you! Have a safe holiday break. Take care xo