Stay, Stay, Stay

~~~
Jordan

“Dude, I need help.”

“Gronk, what the fuck did you get yourself into this time?” James Neal’s voice drifted through the earpiece on my phone.

“Chill, it’s nothing bad. It has to do with the girl from the bar last night.”

“Oh, the one you wouldn’t shut up about all night?”

“Yeah, that one. Anyway, she accepted my coffee invitation this morning – “

“Damn, Gronk actually got a woman to go out with him? Did you sleep with her yet?”

“No, fuck off Nealer. It’s not like that.”

“Alright, alright. Well, it wouldn’t be a normal day if you didn’t need my help, so spill.”

“Uh no, I don’t ask for help every day, you’re just making that up.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, man,” Neal chuckled.

“Anyway, long story short, she’s a veterinarian and I’m going to work with her now.”

“Shit, man, you like her more than I thought you did. Okay, so what’s the problem?”

I sighed.

“I don’t know...am I in over my head? Like I’m pretty sure this is the most I’ve pursued a girl since high school.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man. Do you like her? Like a lot?”

“Yeah,” I responded without missing a beat.

“Then just go for it. You’re not in over your head. And if you fuck up, just call me and I’ll help you fix it.”

“Yeah, alright. Thanks Nealer.”

“Anytime, Gronk. Those of us that are more experienced with the ladies enjoy mentoring those who aren’t.”

“Fuck you, Nealer,” I replied with a laugh. I could hear him cracking up on the other end of the line before we both hung up.

Deep breath, Jordan. Deep breath.

~~~
Katherine

I sat back in the seat of my truck and took a breath before dialing my roommate’s number.

“How’d it go?” she immediately picked up and blurted excitedly.

“No one answers their phone on the first ring unless they’re waiting around for someone to call,” I shot at her.

“What can I say? I’m excited! Now tell me, how was it?”

“Well...I may have accidentally invited him to come to work with me...” I trailed off and started the ignition.

“Damn girl, you’re not wasting any time!”

“Okay, well in my defense, I wasn’t really thinking. I got kind of distracted by his eyes.” I admitted.

“Oh my god, that is something you would do,” she laughed loudly.

“Seriously though, I need your help. I have no idea what I’m doing. What if I make a complete fool of myself?” I glanced at the rearview mirror then pulled out of the parking spot and into the street, checking that Jordan was following me before continuing.

“You’ll be fine! Just act normal. He wouldn’t have agreed to come with if he didn’t like you.”

“Yeah…I know that you’re right, but I can’t help wondering if I’m secretly on that show Punk’d or something.”

“Katherine, you’re the smartest person I know. You would have noticed by now if huge TV cameras were following you around everywhere.”

“…true.” I had to admit, she had a point.

“Just go with it. Be spontaneous for once in your life. You really like him, he really likes you – just see what happens. You never know, he might be the love of your life.”

“Doubtful.”

“Katherine, I’m serious! You wanted my advice, so there it is. Oh and hey, if things don’t work out with you two, will you give him my number?”

I tried to stifle my laughter.

“We’ll see about that. But fine, I’ll take your advice. I know you’re right, I guess I’m just scared.”

“Scared is good! Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Oh hey, my mom’s calling so I gotta go, but good luck!”

“Alright, thanks hun.” The line went silent.

I tossed my phone in the cup holder, rolled down my window and turned on the radio. Country music made everything better.

A few minutes later I pulled into my reserved parking spot at the office and checked my hair in the mirror while Jordan parked his car. I grabbed my purse and hopped out of the truck as he meandered over.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, why a truck? Don’t most girls drive tiny cars?” he questioned.

“Well I’m not most girls, am I?” I shot back with a smirk.

“True...very true.”

Jordan smiled gently and stared softly into my eyes. I found myself smiling back, but managed to snap out of my trance.

“Honestly though, I’ve always wanted a truck. And it’s practical too, in case I need to transport a horse or something like that, it has the towing capacity to pull a trailer. Plus it has a lot of room to transport my equipment, like my x-ray and ultrasound machines.”

“You have portable x-ray and ultrasound machines? That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, and expensive. I’ve gotta head inside and get to work so I can pay those babies off. Ready?”

He nodded, and I led the way inside.

“Good morning!” Kayla, my receptionist, chirped as we walked in.

“Hey Kayla! Anything new that I need to know about?”

“Nothing much. Mr. Martin called and asked if you could stop by to float some teeth, but that’s about it.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“That you would call when you had an approximate ETA.”

“Perfect!”

I had almost forgotten that Jordan was standing behind me until he spoke up.

“You don’t make set appointment times?” he asked.

I spoke over my shoulder to him as I headed over to my desk.

“Sometimes I do, depending on the client. But a lot of times it’s hard to set specific times because you never know how long you’ll be with a certain client, or if you’ll get stuck in traffic. So I usually start with a set appointment in the morning and unless a client needs a specific time, I just play the day by ear.”

He nodded.

“Makes sense.”

“Oh, sorry, you can sit if you want. Here you go.” I pulled a chair up next to my desk as Jordan walked over from his spot by the door.

“Alright, today we have an appointment at 10:45 and then two other people to see after that. Man, slow day.”

“You know how it is, business usually slows down around this time since people need to spend their money on school supplies for their kids,” Kayla jumped in.

“Are slow days bad?” Jordan asked.

“Well I do need money to pay the bills, so slow days kind of hurt my bank account. But at the same time, they’re nice because I get to end the day early. Honestly, I’d rather work a lot of hours a few days a week than have a lot of half-days. But hey, if the bills are getting paid, I’m not complaining.”

“That’s a good point,” he chuckled.

I smiled back at him.

“Anything else, Kayla?” I turned the subject back towards work.

“Well, actually, there is one more thing: why is there a Pittsburgh Penguin standing in our office?”

Oh, right. I had completely forgotten to introduce Jordan.

“Oops, sorry. Jordan, this is Kayla, she’s my receptionist and my best friend here at work. Kayla, I’m sure you recognize Jordan Staal.”

Jordan walked over, smiling as he extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped as she slowly shook his hand.

“You too,” she managed, then spun her chair around to face me.

“Katherine, why didn’t you tell me you knew a professional athlete?” She crossed her arms indignantly.

“Calm down, I just met him last night. And we should actually head out so we make it to our appointment on time,” I informed her as the phone started to ring.

Kayla glanced at the phone, groaning, as Jordan and I headed towards the door.

“This isn’t over, missy. I want all the details!” she called over her shoulder before picking up the phone.

Jordan and I both laughed at her antics as we walked out the door.

As we headed out, I was hit with a wave of anxiety over my lack of appointments, and felt the sudden need to lean back against the door of my truck to take a breath.

“You okay?” Jordan looked concerned.

“Yeah, just…stressed all of a sudden. It’s tough being just out of school and needing appointments to pay all my bills on time. This week has been especially slow, and I know it’ll pick back up after school starts, but I’m just anxious.”

I looked down at the parking lot and frowned, gently kicking the gravel with my boots.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you, you didn’t need to know all of that,” I apologized.

“Hey, no,” he responded softly. He placed a finger under my chin and gently lifted my head up so that I was forced to stare back into his worried blue eyes.

“Don’t apologize. I’m here for you. I don’t mind, honestly.”

I had to smile a little at his sincerity. His eyes never left mine as he stroked his thumb lightly across my cheek.

“You know what will take your mind off of all this?” he asked softly.

“What?” I countered just as quietly.

Jordan moved closer to me, placing his other hand on the door next to my head, his blue eyes staring down at me intensely.

“This,” he whispered, then slowly lowered his lips to mine.

~~~
Jordan

She kissed me back gently at first, then more firmly as she brought her hands up to play with my hair. I deepened the kiss, moving my hands to her waist and pushing her backwards so she was flat against the truck. We stayed like that for a few minutes until I pulled away for air. She smiled up at me, her lips dark red and cheeks flushed.

“Yeah, that definitely did the trick,” she whispered.

I looked down at her, grinning like an idiot.

“Sorry your hair is all messed up now.” Katherine bit her lip and stood on her tip toes, running her fingers through my hair in an attempt to fix it.

“There, that’s a little better. You can try to fix it in the truck, we’d better get going so we’re not late.”

She pulled away from my grasp, grinning cheekily as she got into the truck and motioned me to the passenger’s side.

God, this woman was going to kill me.

As she waited for me to buckle my seatbelt, Katherine reached into the back seat and rummaged around for something.

“Here, you might want to throw this on.” She tossed me a Chicago Blackhawks ball cap.

“I’d rather be recognized,” I stuck my tongue out in disgust.

“Fine, I’ll wear it then.” Katherine grabbed the cap from my hands and placed it on her head.

“Ugh. That hat would look so much better if it were black and gold.”

“Well you’re stuck with this one because I don’t have a Pens hat,” she replied. I made a mental note to buy her one, as well as anything else that I might find while browsing around the Pens store.

As we waited to pull out of the parking lot, Katherine took her right hand off the steering wheel and tentatively took my hand. I gently intertwined my fingers with hers, trying not to grin too obviously in excitement as we headed towards our first appointment.