Hey Girl

**Avery**
I couldn't believe I was here, in a country theme bar in Dallas, Texas. I should have expected it, but secretly hoped the state wouldn't live up to its stereotypes. It was a wasted effort.

So naturally when Hannah had spotted this place upon check in last night, she declared we were coming here at least one night we were in town. I tried to fight her, but it was useless. She quickly dressed herself before turning her country dress talents on me. When I saw myself, I was surprised at how good I looked in the simple outfit, but I still wasn't ready for the place.

Hannah had to literally drag me through the door and when we stopped, I glanced around. There were people everywhere, the music was loud, the atmosphere seemed relaxed. Your normal bar setting.

"Let's go get some drinks!" Hannah yelled over the music. "You need to loosen up!" She smiled. With a roll of my eyes, I let her drag me to the bar. "Let's do shots!"

I groaned and glared at my best friend. "Of what?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Fireball! We gotta here." She exclaimed before starting to sing a line from a Florida Georgia Line song.

"I don't want to. I'll get a drink, but I'm not doing shots." I huffed.

"Come on A, just one?"

I shook my head, knowing that I looked like a drama queen. "I've told you before, I don't like it. Plus I really don't want to do shots."

"You don't have to do Fireball. How about Vodka? I've seen you down those before." She smirked.

Reluctantly I agreed, promising myself that this would be my only shot of the night. I glanced around the bar while Hannah ordered our drinks. As much as I disliked country music, this place was actually pretty cool. Not to mention low key.

"Did you hear that A?" Hannah whispered.

"No I wasn't paying attention. What happened?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "That guy down there bought our drinks for us." I glanced over her shoulder and about choked on air. I glanced down at her and saw her nodding. "I'm going to go talk to him." Before I could protest, she was standing next to him.

I watched the two of them interact a little before I was dragged into the conversation. I shook my head and quickly agreed on the invitation to join the guy and his friends. Hannah shot me a look as we followed him through the crowd and I simply stared at her. She knew who he was, she had an idea of who his "friends" were and she was totally calm about. I on the other hand was freaking out. I went to take a drink of my vodka soda and froze when we approached the table. Sitting there was Jamie Benn, captain of the Dallas Stars and Tyler's best friend Freddy who was an amazing musician.

"A, come sit down." Hannah said in a sweet, yet stern voice. I knew she was trying to get me to snap out of it.

I took the empty seat between Hannah and Jamie and tried to control my nerves. That all went out the window as soon as Jamie smiled at me. Our shots were handed out and I quickly suggest we count them down so I don't have to wait long for the alcohol to enter my system.

I can't help but smile when all the guys try to tough out the burn of the Fireball, but they can't. Sure enough Hannah is going about her business like her insides weren't on fire and knowing her, they weren't.

"How long have you two been friends?" Jamie asked after I teased Hannah about her birthday.

"Um, about three years I think. We met at the hockey information meeting two seasons ago."

"You play?"

I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. "No, wish I did though. We manage our school's team together."

"NCAA?"

"Yeah! Our school is D3 though, not D1. But It's still NCAA," I answered with a small self conscious laugh.

"Hockey is hockey, right? No matter what level." The encouraging smile he gave me kind of took my breath away. God that's so cheesy.

"Exactly! It's fantastic and so much fun. Hannah and I love it and we've become such awesome friends because of it."

Later, Hannah and Tyler went to go dance, leaving me to sit with Jamie and Freddy. Casual small talk was all I could come up with at that point. I didn't have enough alcohol in me to make me outgoing and talkative yet. Not to mention I was still too nervous to talk much with these guys. Not too long after, I watched as Hannah and Tyler left the bar, wondering what was really going on. I knew she wasn't the type to ditch me just to get laid. I also knew she wouldn't leave with a guy she just met, even if he was Tyler Seguin.

"Where are they running off too?" Jamie asked me.

I shrugged. "All Hannah said was that Tyler needed to get out of here, so they were leaving." I glanced at the guy next to me. "Is he okay?"

Jamie shrugged. "He seemed it when they left. Maybe something happened on the dance floor that they aren't saying."

I gasped and spun around. "You don't think they're going to hook up do you? That's not like Hannah at all."

Jamie shrugged and glanced at Freddy who was unusually quiet. "What do you think Fred? You think Hannah and Tyler went back to hook up?"

"Probably. Tyler is like that....well was like that." He glanced at us. "I don't know honestly. He seemed a little off when they left."

"Fan encounter maybe?" I asked

"Maybe. Let's give them time to do whatever they left to do. Can I get you another drink?" Jamie asked.

"Sure, thanks" I smiled

When he left the table, I looked over at Freddy who was glancing down at his phone. "Hey, is everything okay?" I asked gently. He had been checking his phone a lot lately and he seemed to get sad every time he did.

He sighed and placed his phone on the table. "Yeah I guess. There's a girl back home that I really like, but she won't give me the time of day unless we're working on new music. One of my buddies is out and saw her with her ex boyfriend and I don't like it."

"This wouldn't happen to be the pretty blond from one of your music videos, would it?"

Freddy's eyes widened. "How did you? You know who I am?"

I nodded. "You're Tyler's best friend." I winked.

"Have you known this whole time?" I nodded again. "That explains the panicked look when Ty brought the two of you over."

"Yeah, I'm not so good at hiding my shock or amazement. I thought I was going to die when the bar tender pointed out Tyler to us. Then he invited is over here and there was Jamie just chillin'" I chuckled.

Freddy laughed and shook his head. "You played it so cool." He glanced around. "Does Hannah know?"

"Yeah. She's better at keeping her cool." Freddy was about to say something, but I cut him off. "Before you question her, she is not the type to just hook up with someone the first time they meet. Yes, she knows who Tyler is but the reason they left was not to hook up." I defended my best friend.

"I never thought that. I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I really like Hannah, she's a cool girl. She can hang with us and not get upset when someone doesn't give her attention" he smiled at me. "You too. You guys are so down to earth."

"Thanks Freddy. I know you're just looking out for Tyler. Things haven't really been easy for him."

Freddy simply shook his head and went back to his phone that chimed on the table. I looked over to the bar and saw that Jamie hadn't gotten very far in his quest for drinks. There were a couple of girls surrounding him and he looked uncomfortable. I glanced back at Freddy and sighed. I should just leave him on his own, I barely knew him but the jealousy that was bubbling up inside me freaked me out.

I had no right to be jealous about the girls. I just met Jamie and I don't even know if we could call ourselves friends, but we have spent all night talking and getting to know each other. I knew I was flirting with him, but what I didn't know was whether it was the alcohol or true feelings.

The look I received next was one I knew well. Jamie looked back at our table from his spot talking to a pretty blonde in a pink cowboy hat and cowboy boots with a stiletto high heel. I didn't even know those were a thing. But when Jamie's eyes locked on mine, they were desperate and pleading. He was asking to be saved.

I got those looks all the time when I would go out to with some of the guys on the team I managed. And I would shamelessly go play the girlfriend card. Whenever one of my guys would find himself in a situation where a girl couldn't take a hint and realize that he wasn't interested, I would go over and pretend to be his girlfriend so she would know not to come looking for him after I dragged him back to the group we were with.

It was easy to do with them. I had known them for years and I was comfortable with them. Probably too comfortable.

There was no way on earth I was going to go do that for Jamie Freaking Benn. Jamie Captain of the Dallas Stars Benn. Jamie Olympic Gold Medal Winning Benn.

It was then that I realized I was in way over my head.

I dropped eye contact with Jamie as quickly as possible, turning my attention back to Freddy. I opened my mouth to say something, anything that would distract me from the helpless looks Jamie kept giving me, but then a Luke Bryan song started playing too loud and too country for my liking. I may or may not have openly cringed.

"Not a country girl, huh?" Freddy questioned, amusement clear in his tone.

"Not even remotely," I groaned, putting my elbows on the table and holding my head in my hands.

"So you're not gonna shake it for me?"

"Oh god stop!" I exclaimed and slapped at his shoulder making him laugh. His country song references weren't funny nor appreciated.

If someone told me yesterday, hell six hours ago, that I'd be sitting in a bar with Fred Gervasi, hitting him and joking around like we were old friends, I would have told them to go drown in a lake. Once I leave here, I'm never going to believe that this was all real.

"Jamie wants you to go over there and shake it for him though."

Good moment gone.

"As if," I replied trying to play it off like it was nothing. "He just wants that girl to get her velociraptor claws off of him." Good job, Avery. Dinosaur comments are totally normal. Why are you such an idiot?.

Freddy grinned like he couldn't believe I just said that. But in an entertained way instead of an awkward way so I took it as a win.

"Well if you don't go be fake girlfriend, I will have to go be fake boyfriend and trust me no one wants to see that."

"I'd beg to differ," I shot back with a smirk and he laughed like I shocked it out of him. I was never this quippy with someone after knowing them for such a short period of time. It usually took months, even years, for me to feel this comfortable with someone. Maybe the alcohol was hitting me harder than I thought.

"You're something else, A. Just going be something else over there." I knew he was pointing at Jamie, but when I actually allowed myself to look over, Jamie pulled his bottom lip between his teeth looking extra pitiful and needy. One can only resist those doe eyes for so long. So after I rolled my eyes at Freddy, I made my way over to the bar.

**Jamie**
"Everything okay, babe? You said you'd be right back," Avery said when she got close enough to be heard. I couldn't have been happier that she started off the bat with calling me babe. I would have felt really uncomfortable initiating things in case she hadn't understood what I was mentally asking her for for the past five minutes.

"I'm fine," I answered and pushed some of her hair behind her ear, running my hand through the rest of it and playing with the ends for just a second before resting my hand on the small of her back. She leaned up a pressed a quick kiss on my cheek, no doubt making my face turn red as I smiled. "Just got talking to Emma."

"Nice to meet you," Avery greeted cheerfully and offered her hand out for a handshake. Emma looked at it like it personally offended her but shook it anyway. "I'm Avery."

"Jamie's girlfriend?" Emma questioned skeptically. I turned my head and kissed Avery's temple hoping that was answer enough. But Emma was still looking unconvinced. So I did the only thing I could think of. I put my fingers under Avery's chin, tilted her head to look at me, and placed a gentle kiss to her lips. Nothing more than a peck.

I knew I was crossing the line. And feeling Avery tense up at my touch only confirmed it.

"Did you order our drinks yet?" Avery questioned when I pulled away. She was acting so nonchalant about it, but I could tell she just wanted to get away from here. I shook my head, not really able to find my words. Avery turned her attention back to Emma with a roll of her eyes. "I can never trust this one to do anything. It was nice meeting you." Avery then gave Emma one last smile as she laced her fingers with mine and pulled me to a less crowded part of the bar to order our drinks.

"Are you okay, A?" I asked after we ordered and she still hadn't actually said anything to me. She hadn't even looked at me.

Both remained true when she simply nodded her head in response to my question, causing me to sigh in frustration.

"Look, I hadn't expected to kiss you when you came over. I know I made you uncomfortable and I shouldn't have done that when you were doing me a favor. But I'm not going to say I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for something I don't regret. I'll apologize for making you uncomfortable but I won't apologize for kissing you." I was caught off guard by the words falling out of my mouth like I had no control over them. I knew I became painfully honest when I had too much to drink, but I didn't think I had a lot. Avery was shocked by what I said too, if the look on her face was anything to go by. At least she was looking at me now. Progress.

"What are you even saying?" she questioned, trying to play it off. But I could see that she knew exactly what I was saying, but didn't want to face it. I should have known better. Simply from the way she reacted to me earlier in the night, I knew she wasn't going to believe that I could possibly be interested in her.

"What I'm saying is," I mumbled as I took a step closer to her and moved the rest my hand on her waist. And just like that, it's like I could see a switch go off in her head. First it was panic written all over her face, but then it was like she closed off her emotions. She didn't want me to read her. But I was surprisingly good at reading people. I removed my hand from her and stepped back to leave a comfortable amount of space between us before continuing. "I won't push for something you don't want."

The look she gave me was a mix of surprise and confusion. I met it with a small genuine smile and she averted her eyes, looking at the bar where the bartender had just put our drinks.

"I think we should get back to Freddy. He'll get himself into trouble if he's left alone too long," she snickered as she grabbed her brink and started to walk back to the table, leaving me to trail behind her like a puppy.

I meant what I said about not pressuring her into a relationship right off the bat. We had just met after all. But I could tell she was interested in me by the way she shied away from me without straight up turning me down. She just needed to get passed the whole me being a professional hockey player thing. I could understand that. And if being friends with me first is what it takes for her to be comfortable with me romantically, I'll be the fastest friend she ever made.

I just needed to find a way to see her again after tonight.

"Ay Jamie," Freddy called for my attention when I got to the table. "Ty is having the team over to her place tomorrow right?" I had forgotten about that. Segs did invite the team over tomorrow, so I nodded my head in response. "So it would be a bad idea to try and pick up tonight?"

"Man whore," Avery mumbled and tried to cover it with a fake cough. I couldn't help but laugh. She comes off as innocent and dorky and then she surprises you. "What did I say about getting in trouble when being left alone?" she joked, turning her attention towards me. We continued to laugh, ignoring the glares Freddy was giving us.

"Seeing as you're staying at his place while you're here, probably not the best idea."

Wait. Bingo.

"But you can come over if you want," I told Avery. "Segs had probably already invited Hannah."

"We'll see."

**Avery**
Later that night, after Jamie and Freddy took me back to my hotel and collected Tyler to take him home, I couldn't keep anything to myself anymore.

"Jamie kissed me," I announced as Hannah and I were getting into bed for the night.

"Tyler kissed me too," Hannah added with a giddy smile appearing on her face. Keeping her cool? What a load of bologna.

"Is this real life? Can you punch me in the face so I'll wake up?"

"Wouldn't a pinch work?" Hannah laughed in response.

"A pinch is too weak. I'd need like a brutal pounding to wake me up from this. We're in farm country; let's go find a cow to sit on my head. That'll probably work." Hannah couldn't help but laugh, even though she was rolling her eyes at me. "Or, you know, a tractor. Just run me over with it. I'm sure to wake up after that."

"What if we just go to sleep and see if we wake up normal in the morning?"

"I suppose that might work," I agreed as I rolled over on my side to turn out the light and go to sleep.

"A?" Hannah questioned about ten minutes later, cutting the silence in the room.

"Yeah, Han?"

"Can we fangirl? I feel like we've earned a little fangirling."

A huge grin took over my entire face. I didn't even need to look over to Hannah's bed to know that she was wearing the same grin. I tried to contain it, I swear to god, but an explosive giggle came out of me. Hannah's laughter came seconds later. And then the laughing continued for a couple more minutes. We laughed at ourselves, at each other, and at this ridiculous situation we had gotten ourselves into.

"A?" Hannah asked again after a minute or two of silence after our laughter finally died down.

"Yeah, Han?"

"I hope this isn't over when we wake up."

"Me neither."