Only

James woke on Thursday and went to practice, stopping at Delilah’s studio with coffee, before finally heading home to wait on Tessa. The guys had teased him for the smile that nearly split his face all morning but he didn’t care. He had picked Delilah up as planned the day before and she had bought what felt like the entire Williams-Sonoma store before stopping at a Target for plates and bowls and silverware. When they reached his house, he had given her the tour of the place, even though it was only half furnished. He promised himself that this time he would fill every room, give each a purpose, and really live there.

Now he was waiting impatiently for Tessa while browsing for a dining room table on his laptop. She had texted when she and Emily had set out that morning about four hours away from Nashville. Paul had called him when he had been on his way home from Delilah’s studio, making him promise he wouldn’t let Tessa do too much and that he would take care of her until he put her on a plane back to Pittsburgh. He had promised Paul of course, that he would take care of her just like he always did. Paul warned him to keep it in his pants.

Hearing a car in his driveway, James closed his laptop and moved across the room. Seeing Tessa step from his SUV, he rushed outside and down the driveway to her, lifting her off the ground in a crushing bear hug.

“Put me down, James!” she squealed.

He set her down but continued to hug her and kissed the top of her head. “You’re here.”

“I’m here,” she giggled. “Help me with my stuff?”

He nodded and untangled himself from her, grabbing her suitcase from the back as she grabbed her purse and a smaller duffel bag. “This is all you brought?”

“If I need something that I didn’t bring I’ll go buy it. Now give me the tour.”

“You've already seen the house,” he said as the headed inside. "You picked it."

“You picked it and I haven't seen it with your things in it.”

“It’s still the same house.”

“It’s your home, James. That makes it special.”

“Oh.”

“Sometimes I wonder about you.”

“I wonder a lot.”

Tessa wandered into his kitchen and stopped, staring at the gleaming pots hanging from the pot rack and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. “The first room you completed was the kitchen?”

“I had help.”

“Obviously. Did Rich take you shopping?”

“Uh, no. My friend Delilah went with me.”

Tessa’s eyebrow shot up. “Delilah? You haven’t mentioned her yet.”

“I wasn’t sure if there was anything to mention,” he answered as he shuffled his feet.

“And is there?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“James!” Tessa exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. “I’m so happy to hear that. Do I get to meet here?”

“She’s working every day so I don’t know.”

“What does she do?”

“She owns a dance studio here.”

“Pretty?”

“Gorgeous.”

Tessa smiled. “You like her.”

“A lot,” he grinned.

“Well I hope I get to meet her but if I don’t, as long as you’re happy then so am I.”

“You’ll get to meet Daisy; she’ll be at the game tonight.”

“So will Lennon. She got in town last night. We’re gonna sit together.”

“I didn't know you and Lennon still talked."

"They weren't in Pittsburgh long but Lennon and I clicked. We had a good time together and we've been keeping in touch. If we had signed Dan, she would have made this trip with me. Since they ended up in Chicago, she decided to still come. Plus she can visit with Rich. I guess Lennon has been secretly lobbying him to her friend and she wants to check on her handiwork."

"That must be Larissa. I haven't met her but Rich seems to really like her."

"Show me the rest of the house? I know how much you like your pregame nap and I definitely need to lie down."

"Then let me show you to my room," he winked.

"No guest bedrooms?" She teased him as she followed him up the stairs.

"Actually, I already have a bed in one of them, if you prefer to sleep there."

Tessa reached for his hand at the top of the stairs. "I know we aren't together anymore but it doesn't change the fact that you're one of my best friends and I miss you. So if it's okay with you, I really just want to spend as much time as I can with you before..." She trailed off.

"Before the wedding?"

"Yeah."

He pulled Tessa to him in a hug. "You're not getting cold feet about Paulie, are you?"

"No. It's just weird without you next door. I became so used to having both of you and now you're just gone. I still want to set a third place for breakfast for you for gods sake!"

"I miss breakfast with you and Paul too." She giggled and James gave her another squeeze. "Come on, let's take a nap."

He kept Tessa's hand in his as he walked towards the master bedroom. He let her pass in front of him and he heard her laugh. "What?" He asked as he followed behind her, unbuttoning his jeans and kicking them away.

“You’re as messy as always,” she answered. Tessa turned and her eyes trailed down to his boxer briefs and bare thighs. "Sorry," she blushed, turning away from him.

"For what? I'm hot." He pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the floor. "Do you need something to sleep in? I'm not going back downstairs to get your bags."

She turned back to him and grabbed his t-shirt off the floor. "Shorts?" James nodded and walked over to his dresser. When he turned back, Tessa was pulling his shirt over her head.

James walked closer to her and reached his hand out tentatively and placed it on Tessa's stomach. "You have a bump."

"A little one," she smiled softly.

"Have you told the team yet?"

"Not yet. Paul wants to but I'm scared to."

"Of what they'll say?"

"Yeah," she admitted.

"Don't worry about them, Tess. They're just jealous. Paul is lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have Paul. Who turns their fiancé loose in Nashville with her smoking hot ex boyfriend?"

He chuckled. "Paul Martin. Because he has implicit trust in you and faith in me." He handed the shorts to her and she accepted them, tugging them on.

"Paul Martin," she giggled. "What a guy."



Delilah made it to the game during the second period with the game tied at one. When she found her seat, a ticket bought at the last minute at the box office, she smiled at the girl to her right and tucked her purse under her seat.

"Who scored?" She asked the girl in a Predators jersey.

"James Neal," she smiled.

"Awesome!"

"Maybe she was asking about the Hawks," the girl to her right spoke up. "In which case the answer is Ben Smith."

"Sorry, I only care about the Preds," Delilah smiled.

"I told you no one cares about the Hawks but you," the girl said, turning towards her. Delilah caught the Neal across the back of her jersey and smiled to herself.

"The sea of red jerseys say otherwise."

"No accounting for bad taste."

"Says the Penguins fan."

"Not this weekend."

A moment later, James ripped a slap shot that sailed past the Chicago goaltender and the crowd roared to life. The two girls to her right whispered with each other as Delilah sat back down.

At the end of the period, Delilah's phone dinged and she pulled it out to check the text message from Daisy. They texted back and forth, agreeing to meet after the game. When the teams took the ice again, she put her phone away.

Barely two minutes in, James knocked home a shot and the crowd went crazy. The girl beside her jumped up and squealed before hugging the girl beside her. Delilah could see James' wide, beaming smile and she swore he looked her way and winked which was impossible because he didn't know she had made it to the game.

At the conclusion of the game, the two girls disappeared out of the aisle and Delilah waited for the crowd to thin before standing also. She headed out onto the concourse to find Daisy. When she spotted her, she made her way to her. They hugged and made their way downstairs.

"So I think I sat next to one of those girls you told me about," Delilah said.

"A puck bunny?"

"Yeah. She had on James' jersey too."

"James has a lot of those. You'll have to get used to them and learn to ignore them if you're gonna date him."

"She squealed when he scored."

"She squealed?"

"Yes! And her friend was wearing a Blackhawks jersey."

"What number? 19 or 88?"

Delilah shook her head. "13? I never saw the back of hers but I think it was a 13 on the sleeve."

"13? Really?"

"I think so."

"Huh. Well, forget them. Do you want to meet my sister Rose?"

"Your sister is here?"

"She flew in this morning and is here until Tuesday. We're flying back to Chicago together and I'm going to stay with her for a week."

"You're going to leave Shea for a week?"

"They're on the road for ten days so he was already going to be gone."

"Oh."

"It's take a little bit of time to get used to it but it gets better, I swear. Come on, let's go find Rose."

They found Rose near the visitors locker room and after introductions were made, the three chatted away like old friends. A half hour had passed quickly when Rose's boyfriend stepped out of the locker room.

"Ladies," Jon said as he walked over to them. "You all look lovely," he smiled. "I'm Jon," he said to Delilah.

"Delilah," she responded, shaking his outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You girls have fun tonight?"

"You know Delilah and I did," Daisy teased him.

"Rub it in why don't you." Daisy laughed.

"Sorry future brother."

"You're engaged? Congratulations," Delilah said.

"Thank you," Rose replied. "Daze, do you know where I can find Rich? I wanted to say hello to him."

"How connected exactly are hockey players?" Delilah asked when daisy nodded.

"I met Rich last year, when Daisy first took the job here. But he's also good friends with one of Jon's teammates, Daniel."

"And Carbomb’s wife is one of my best friends,” Jon told her. “Carbomb went to find Len, so I suspect you'll find Rich wherever you find Lennon. Let's head over to look for them."

Rose and Jon walked just ahead of Daisy and Delilah as they headed towards the Predators locker room. Daisy caught sight of Shea and made her way towards him. Delilah watched as she threw her arms around him and kissed him.

It was in that moment that Delilah wished she could find James. She wouldn't mind being able to touch him, even kiss him to congratulate him on his hat trick. She watched as some of the other guys poured out of the locker room, none of them James.

"Hey," Craig said as he walked out with Ryan Ellis. "I thought you had a class tonight."

"I did but I let Beth take it over and made it here for the second period."

"I think James already left. He seemed like he was in a hurry. But if I were him and I just scored a hatty, I probably wouldn't mind if my attractive girlfriend showed up on my doorstep."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I just want to tell Daisy goodbye."

"I'll see you at home later," Craig grinned, giving Delilah's shoulder a squeeze.

She caught sight of Rose who had found Rich, who was standing beside a dark haired man in a suit and the girl in the Blackhawks jersey that had been sitting two seats over from her. She walked towards Daisy and Shea.

"Who is that, with Rich," Delilah questioned Daisy.

"That's Daniel Carcillo in the suit," Shea said. "I assume that's his wife that Dicky keeps talking about."

"She was sitting beside me, with the girl in the jersey I was telling you about." The two women shared a look and watched as Rose hugged the woman before she and Jon joined the three of them.

"Ro, was that Lennon?" Daisy asked.

"It was. Damn; I wanted to introduce you to her," Rose pouted. "Next week, when you're in Chicago, I'll make sure you meet."

"I'm gonna head out," Delilah said. "I'll talk to later, Daisy."

"Bye, Lilah."

She waved as she headed out of the building and out to her car. She pulled her phone out, hoping there might be a text from James but found nothing. Deciding to take Craig's advice, she drove to his house.

It was a little more than an hour since the game had ended and Delilah went over in her head every reaction James might have to her showing up unannounced at his door. As well as things had been going between them though, she decided that James wouldn't mind.

She parked in his driveway, passing an SUV with Pittsburgh plates on her way to the door. Knocking at the door, she stepped back to wait for him. When the door swung open, she smiled and started to speak before faltering and stepping down a step.

The girl in the Predators jersey stood in the doorway with a beaming smile, legs bare. Delilah could see her shoes and James kicked off behind her in the hall, a pair of jeans near his downstairs bathroom. "Can I help you?" The woman asked.

"I'm so sorry," Delilah said, going down the last two stairs. "I have the wrong house. I am so, so sorry," she continued before turning and hurrying back to her car. She backed out and turned left, driving blindly for several minutes before pulling over.

Her tears came hard and fast as she sat on the side of the road and it took her several minutes to pull herself together after. She drove home, thanking her lucky stars that Craig was still gone as she let herself into the house. She locked herself in her bedroom and curled up in her bed, clutching a pillow, wondering what it was about her that turned off so many guys.

When the tears came again, she did nothing to stop them.