I Feel More With Everyday That Goes By

I groggily opened my eyes before rubbing them and opening them once more. Yawning, I picked my iPhone up from the nightstand and checked the time. HOLY FUCK. It was seven fifty five and I had five minutes to get ready to go to breakfast. I threw the covers from my body despite how cold the room felt without them because I didn’t have the luxury of preparing myself for the cool breeze.

I ripped through my suitcase and pulled out a pair of yoga pants and a black tank top. I hurriedly tried to slip on my Asics tennis shoes without the assistance of leaning against the wall and promptly fell on my ass. I let out an agonized groan, not even caring if Morgan was sleeping because my ass really hurt. I put my shoes on the rest of the way. I ran into the bathroom and combed my hair before putting on some make up at lightning speed. I was just grabbing my wristlet when there was a knock on the door. I walked the short distance to it and opened the door.

As soon as Mike set eyes on me he grinned cheekily, “Miss your alarm?” he asked as he took my hand, pulling me out into the hallway. I shut the door behind me. When I looked back at Mike he pulled me into his arms.

I let out a content sigh as I took in his now familiar scent. “I woke up five minutes before you got here,” I mumbled against his soft t-shirt.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and began to lead me down the hall towards the elevator. “Let’s get some food in you so you can wake up a little. We are just having breakfast in the arena with the guys. I hope that’s okay,” he told me, pushing the down button for the elevator.

Stepping inside the square, metal transporter I finally replied, “As long as there is coffee, it’s perfectly acceptable. If you have bagels then it won’t even matter if there’s coffee.” I grinned as I felt the vibrations of Mike’s laugh before looking up into his eyes.

“We have begals and coffee,” he told me.

“Thank God. Let’s go,” I replied. I broke out of his embrace and my feet pounded on the marble floor as I took to a run through the lobby. Bad life choice because like five steps in I slipped on a wet spot and landed on my ass, my elbow, and my back. Mercifully everything but my head hit the floor. I lay on the ground staring up at the white ceiling contemplating what exactly I did to deserve this. Mike’s head popped into my view; he was grinning down at me with a smart ass expression.

“Didn’t anyone tell you not to run in the lobby when you were a kid?”

I let out a groan as my cheeks heated and closed my eyes, “Just go and leave me in my shame.”

“Is everything intact besides your dignity?” he asked cheekily.

I cracked an eye open a little and gave him an unimpressed look, “I think so.”

He crossed his wrists as he offered them to me. I took them and he hauled me to my feet with seemingly no effort at all. We walked to the his car parked right in the check in area. I made it there safely, so Mike seemed to think I could make it into the car by myself. I was a big girl after all. At least I thought I was until I slipped on the running board and slammed my shin against the wretched black plastic.

I looked up at the gray concrete overhang that was shielding the car from the rain and let out a stream of curse words. As if to spite me, the sky let out a loud crack of thunder and released a bolt of lightning. I fucking hated everything about storms. As if it sensed my last thought, I began to rain harder. I was kneeling on the running board, letting the water seep into my pants with my elbows on the seat I was supposed to be sitting in. I looked at Mike, but I really wished I hadn’t. He was looking at me with barely contained bemusement and a quirked eyebrow. I ignored him and got into my seat safely and bucked up before closing my door.

Mike started the car and said absolutely nothing about my less than stellar morning activities. He drove us in the direction of the arena after pulling out of the hotel parking lot. I sighed and attempted to explain what just happened. I wanted to save a little face but let’s be real, I suck at anything and everything that needed coordination or balance including, but not, limited to walking, patting my head and rubbing my stomach at the same time, and just generally making it through a day without hurting myself. “I’m having a bit an off day,” I mumbled.

He let out a snort of laughter, “Babe you’re having more than a bit of an off day.”

“I know,” I moaned. “I’m not a professional athlete leave me alone.”

***********
Two hours later, my head was pounding because of studying for the LSAT exam and my dedication to being a Duke Blue Devil by getting a good score waning, I looked up to see that the players were no longer on the ice. With a great sigh of relief I closed my book and replaced it in my back pack. I waited for a few minutes for Mike to come and get me. I was more than ready for the nap I was promised. I hope Mike was not a ten or even twenty minute nap kind of guy. I was going to need at least a few hours. I also hoped he had a fuck ton of blankets because I get unnecessarily cold when I sleep. As I was considering what kind of napper Mike may be, he appeared at my side, slinging my bag on his back before offering me one of his hands. I interlocked my fingers with his as we made our way back to his car and then drove to his apartment. We parked in the underground garage and rode the elevator up to the penthouse apartment. Mike unlocked the door before he motioned me to go in ahead of him.

His house was nothing like him, but totally him at the same time. His home had an industrial feel with the most prominent feature being the staircase that looked like a reinforced fire escape instead of one that belonged in a house though it was probably my favorite part of the entryway. He had dark wood flooring as well as furnishings like side tables for the couches in the living room which contrasted with his black painted side table and black cushioned couches. Separating the dinning area and the living room was a lone brick pillar that really didn’t do much separating but was a nice touch nonetheless.

His kitchen had a breakfast bar with metal stools that looked like they would become uncomfortable after a while tucked slightly the black granite slab on top of the base of what made the breakfast bar. Steel appliances worked with the gray paint on the walls of the kitchen to contrast the black cabinets which I really enjoyed. I noticed that he had neon artwork all over his apartment as well as skateboard decks. Not the most common way to decorate walls which fit his think outside of the box personality but made me want to rob him blind. Seriously, I just wanted all of the art on his walls so much that I could barely stand it.

Mike took my hand and led me down a concealed hall that led to his master bedroom. His walls in his rooms were a very tranquil cocoa. That matched the bedding on the King size orthopedic bed. Mike set my book bag by the door before he led the way to the bed. “Can I borrow a hoody and some sweat pants?” I asked Mike shyly.

He gave me a strange look before silently taking off his hoody and handing it to me. “Are expecting to dream of the arctic?” he asked.

I shook my head in the negative, “I just get really cold when I sleep.” I put the rather huge hoody on.

Mike had a devilish smirk on his face that I notice only after I put the hood down and made my hair presentable again. I raised an eyebrow and put my hands on my hips, making a the sweatshirt look more like a poncho. “What?” I asked snottily. I was just begging him to make fun of me because I was more than ready to try to induce bodily harm upon him. In a flash, he had me bridal style in his arms and in another second I was thrown to the bed with a very girly shriek leaving my body before I bounced a couple times on the bed. I didn’t have to worry about my shoes because I had taken them off downstairs. Mike clambered on the bed behind me and gathered me into his arms. After a little bit of difficulty, he was able to cover us with the blankets without letting me squirm away from him.

I tried to twist my head to glare up at Mike, but he had a vise-like grip around my waist. I wanted to hate how his strong arm felt around my midsection and how it felt to have his larger body wrapped around my smaller one. I felt the warmth of his body seeping into mine. It was no wonder why he was looking at me strangely when I said I wanted extra clothes. “Go to sleep baby,” he said sleepily as his eyes fluttered closed.

“Dude, how am I supposed to sleep like this?” I asked him.

He cracked an eye open and commented, “You close your eyes?”

I let out a huff and wrestled out of his arms before standing up beside the bed. I grabbed the comforter with both hands and yanked it away from Mike before wrapping up in the blanket. Ignoring Mike’s gaze I clambered back into bed and snuggled close to Mike. I stuck my fingers out of the comforter to push the pillow so that only my forehead was resting on it. “Okay,” I said with a content sigh, “You figure out what you want to do from there.”

Mike let out a chuckle, “I didn’t take you for a high maintenance kind of girl.” He put both hands on my waist and pulled my back to his front before wrapping both arms around my waist as tight as he could comfortably.

I rolled my eyes, not that he could see but it made me feel better. “I’m high maintenance when I sleep, that’s it. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it I guess,” Mike said with a fake sigh. “Sleep tight.”

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I tried to quiet my mind, but after ten minutes I knew sleep wasn’t going to happen for me. I seriously was the worst sleeper in the world. The conditions had to be near perfect for me to be able to lose consciousness. I tried for another five minutes to sleep before I let out a small huff.

“Come here,” Mike said softly.

“I’m right here,” I snarked.

“I meant turn and face me asshole.”

I let out a little snort followed by a stream of laughter before doing what he said. I smiled and tilted my head up to look into his eyes. “Did you just call me an asshole?” I asked him with a smile.

“I did,” Mike said, seemingly very proud of himself. “Are you ready to stop being stubborn and cuddle my way?”

I rolled my eyes but nodded nonetheless. He unwrapped my cocoon and slipped the blanket out from underneath me. He dropped it on the other side of his body before moving farther up the bed. When he was settled his hands moved to my hips and pulled me against him. He tucked my head under his chin and wrapped his right arm under my left to rest on my back. Instead of simply laying my arm on top of his, I wrapped it around his neck loosely.

While it was a foreign sleeping position, it wasn’t uncomfortable. I felt more relaxed now. It seemed that my ‘as little contact as possible’ idea had been making it hard for me to relax when I was too busy trying not to invade his space. Now that he had put as little space between us, I didn’t feel as awkward. If that wasn’t a shocker in and of itself, I initiated more contact by tangling our ankles together. Honestly, I was pretty amazed how much better I felt mind and body snuggled into him. My mind was at ease now that I didn’t have to sleep in such a tense position and I could feel Mike’s body heat seeing through my clothes which would keep me at a comfortable temperature.

I let out a small yawn, my body quickly succumbing to the sleep I had been trying to achieve. “Okay fine. You were right,” I said begrudgingly. I was silent for a moment, considering whether or not to say something else, “You are right about a lot of things concerning us,” I admitted softly.

Instead of the smart ass remark I was expecting he pushed me away slightly and lifted my chin so I would meet his eyes.

“You like to be independent, I get that. I find that something that attracts me to you because I won’t have to worry about how you cope when I’m away from you. I just need you to realize that being with me doesn’t have to change how strong or independent you are. It just means that you have some extra firepower if you want it,” he told me softly. “Honestly because of my job it’s better for us if I have to fight for your affection. It would be harder on us if you wanted to be glued to my ass all the time.”

“Okay,” I said quietly as I broke eye contact and looked down with a small smile on my face.

“Okay?” he asked. “I know I’m pushing my luck, but you and I both now we aren’t talking about just being a spring break fling so will you be my girlfriend?”

I let out a huff, “You’re always pushing and pushing aren’t you?”

“It’s in my nature,” he said shrugging. “Sleep on it. We seriously have to nap now.”

Instead of arguing or burning my brain, I followed his suggestion and fell asleep in his arms.
*****
As soon as the game was over, Morgan and I ran to the bathroom. We said we would be done in ten minutes and we meant it. I threw ripped off Morgan’s Backstrom jersey, my leggings, and t-shirt (odd order but I was in a hurry). Morgan had laid my dress over the door and slid my heels under the door of my stall. I encased myself in my simple dark green dress. I reached just passed my knees and was strapless. It was plain except the same shade wide ribbon that was tied in a bow in the back.

I slipped on my dark green pumps. I was quite a fan of these shoes, not only because it made me closer to my friends’ heights, but also because the outside was covered in velvet. I thanked God that I wore a bra that could be worn with and without straps and hurriedly took the pink straps off before I came out looking like a ninny. Unlocking the bathroom door, I walked up to the sinks and mirrors before bending over to put my other clothes into Morgan’s purse. I swear we could hide a dead body in that thing and no one would know. It seriously held an impressive amount of stuff. I stood and made sure my hair looked all right. Why I was checking my hair, I have no idea because its usually in its natural pin straight style. I have no talent besides braids with regard to my hair.

I reapplied some lip gloss before facing Morgan and she faced me. When we both gave each other the okay, we walked back to the locker room together. I looked at my cellphone and saw that we had taken exactly nine minutes.

Mike and I parted ways from Alex and Morgan in the players’ lot and got into our separate cars. Mike and I were meeting Brooks and Meghan at the restaurant. Mike had told me what the restaurant was called, but not surprisingly I forgot. Mike held my hand lightly in one of his own as he drove to our destination. We were silent for most of the ride until I broke the silence, “You played well tonight,” I told him softly.

He smiled, though he kept his eyes on the road in front of us. “Thank you.”

“That hit on Stamkos was sexy as fuck too,” I said with a smirk.

Mike looked my way briefly to see if I was serious before releasing a smirk of his own, “Duly noted. I’ll make sure I lay more people out when you’re in the stands.” He briefly let go of my hand in order to turn into the parking lot of a hotel. I was kind of confused but then I figured that we were going to the restaurant inside the hotel. He pulled up to the entrance for valet parking.

Some nice teenage attendant, dressed in a white button down under a dark blue vest coupled with a pair of black slacks, opened the door of the Escalade for me and took my hand in order to help me out. Mike exchanged some words with another similarly dressed attendant before walking over to me and taking my hand. He tipped both of the attendants and led me into the hotel. “Careful,” Mike told me softly.

At first I wanted to be offended that he felt the need to bring up my less than stellar lobby antics, but upon looking up at him, he seemed genuinely concerned with my safety. I gave him a small smile before I let go of his hand and grabbed on to the juncture of his bicep and forearm so that I would have a more secure aid for walking. “As long as you’re here I think I’ll be perfectly unscathed.”

“Jesus,” Mike breathed, “Stay this amicable and I’ll be more into you than I already was.”

I let out a small giggle. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch. I am a generally nice person.”

Through his suit jacket, I felt Mike move his shoulders up and down in a shrugging motion. “You were feeling the situation out. I can understand caution.” He pushed the elevator ‘up’ button before looking down at me once more, “But yes you were unnecessarily bitchy. Not so much to me, but Alex is damn near convinced that you hate him.”

I let out a groan, “I can’t help it. I’m a Penguins fan and we always paint him in a bad light. It doesn’t help that every news story I’ve heard about him was him being a douche.”

“Yeah I can understand that. Our rivalry is pretty deep, but I think you need to get to know him away from the rink before you pass judgement on him. He’s a pretty decent family man. But even with regards to the fame around him, he has gained a fair amount of maturity.”

“It doesn’t help that Meghan doesn’t like him either,” I told him.

“Meghan and Brooks have been together for quite a while. Meghan hasn’t let her first impression of him go, and I have to admit that he was an asshole at that time. He’s grown up since she first met him.”

The elevator right in front of us let out a ding before it opened the doors and we stepped in. As the golden painted doors slid closed I thought about what Mike had said. As much as I wanted to keep hating on Ovechkin, it just wasn’t going to happen. My best friend was essentially dating him and I really wasn’t into the drama that a best friend not getting along with the boyfriend caused.

Mike also had a pretty solid point as well. It was pretty obvious that Alex had calmed down since his first few years in the NHL. It was unfair to compare him to Sidney Crosby when they had different experiences their first years. While both of them were thrust into the spotlight, Crosby had the advantage of living with a well known hockey player that had been in Crosby’s position before. Crosby had someone to guide him through all the new experiences, Ovechkin did not. Based on that fact alone, it was unfair of me to expect the same maturity from two different people in two different situations. It was really starting to get on my nerves how wrong I was about everything this week. I had been a judgmental bitch and that shit needed to stop like how I told Morgan it would.

I let out a huff, “Can I be right about something this week? It’s been a huge blow to my ego that you have been right about everything.”

The doors opened and we found ourselves on the top floor of the hotel and all we had to do was walk up to the hostess in front of us. The restaurant was pretty huge. There were tables an booths covering a very large square footage.

I took my hand out of his as Mike led us up to the hostess dressed smartly in a pantsuit. She was thin enough and professional looking that she absolutely rocked the pantsuit. She had some kick ass heels on as well. “Hi Nat,” Mike grinned.

“Hi Mike,” she greeted with a friendly smile. “Brooks and Meghan are already at the table.”

“Great, thanks.” We walked all the way to the back of the room that had a glass wall overlooking the city.

I mentally cursed my lack of luck. Out of all the restaurants in D.C. we were going to the one that was on the top floor of a hotel that had a window for a wall. Perfect.

It wasn’t like a really believed that I was going to go flying out the window and fall to my death on the sidewalk below. Obviously they would not have a window there with the booths right up next to it if the owners believed that it was some kind of safety risk. My fear of heights was dumb. It was irrational and yet knowing this, my fear still remained.

I hugged both Brooks and Meghan and was surprised that neither had brought up my tense state, bless their hearts. I tried to converse calmly and happily all throughout dinner, but that damn window wall was seriously freaking me out. All I kept thinking about was every movie I had ever seen where someone dies from falling out a window. Luckily I think I got through the dinner in a relatively friendly manner so they would not be offended since they had been so nice to me. When we were getting ready to leave after the boys paid the bill, I all but jumped from the booth.

“Jen and I are probably going to get some frozen yogurt and walk around for a bit, do you want to come?” Mike asked the other couple.

Mike and Brooks had one of their silent eye conversations before Brooks looked down at Meghan. “Sounds good to me as long as it is okay with Penguin,” he replied.

“Sounds like a great idea!” Meghan said in an excited tone.

“I need to talk to Jen real quick but we’ll meet you in the lobby yeah?” Mike said and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

Brooks nodded before taking Meghan’s hand and leading her towards the elevator.

Mike watched them go all the way until the elevator doors shut before he sighed, put his hands in his slacks pockets, and finally looked at me. “Are you pulling away from me because I asked you to be my girlfriend?” he asked quietly.

What? I’m confused because I felt like we had made a lot of progress today and now he was telling me that we really weren’t. Why did he think I was pulling away? Sure I had been a little aloof at dinner, but I blame that damn window/wall. I sent him what I was sure was a very confused look. “I’m not doing anything differently from this morning,” I told him flatly.

“As soon as we got into the restaurant, you needed to let go of my hand and put space between us. The whole dinner you were tense and looked like you would rather have been absolutely anywhere else,” he told me.

Oh. Whoops. I looked around and saw that we were standing in the middle of a restaurant full of dining people and trying to have an extremely private conversation. I suddenly felt very awkward; well, more awkward than usual. It was looking like I was going to have to have another sharing session with Mike and this was definitely not my venue of choice. “Can we talk about this somewhere else?” I asked.

He nodded and led me to the elevator. We had a silent ride down to the lobby. Mike stepped out of the elevator and began to make his way towards where Brooks and Meghan were standing close together. They had their heads bent together and they were talking and laughing quietly as random people walked around them. They were seriously right in the middle of the room, not that they would have noticed because they were too caught up in each other. It was so fucking adorable. Instead of letting him continue, I grabbed his arm and led him into a random hallway so we could continue our conversation. “You did nothing wrong Mike. In fact, ever since I met you there has not been one thing you have done wrong. This is all me and tonight was still on me.”

“What’s going on with you?” Mike asked with a curious and concerned expression on his face.

“I don’t really like public displays of affection and as miniscule as it seems, I don’t like holding hands because I feel like someone will look at me and think I need that man in my life so I don’t fall apart. I want to show people that I can take care of myself through all my actions.”

He opened his mouth in order to protest or say something, but I held up my index finger with a pleading expression. I was silently asking him to hear me out. “I’m aware that is stupid and irrational and I will work on it. I’ve never had to consider how what another person thought of that. I realize now that it probably made you feel like I’m ashamed to be seen with you and I’m sorry.”

He nodded accepting my explanation, “What was wrong at dinner?”

My face instantly heated and gained a pink tint to it. Seriously, this was the stupidest thing. I would definitely rather not tell him about my insane fear of falling out of the window/wall. “It’s stupid,” I mumbled.

“I don’t care just tell me.”

“Can we just let that one slide? I’ll agree to be your girlfriend if you do?” Yup, I’m shameless. I am bribing Mike Green instead of telling him about my fear of heights. There has to be something extremely wrong with me.

Mike was silent for a moment before a bright grin took over his face, “Now I really want to know since you are trying to bribe me instead of just telling me.”

I grimaced at him and once again cursed my stupid and irrational fear of heights. Normally when I was high up in the air, I was protected by certain elements such as walls to prevent me from falling, etcetera. It wasn’t like I was Christian Bale in Batman when he was hanging out on the extremely thin steeple of a building, so what the hell was I so afraid? It was stupid. Stupid enough that not every single person in the world was afraid of heights, I mean there were people that jumped out of the air plane that kept them perfectly safe when they were high up in the air without any problems at all and embarrassing enough that I really rather not tell Mike about my issues.

But if there was anything that I was absolutely sure of in terms of Michael David Green’s personality was that he was a determined man. He knew I was stubborn and he was obnoxiously determined enough that he would combat against my stubbornness in order to come out victorious. Becoming involved with a professional athlete definitely had its downfalls in terms of my personality against his. I guess this would be a monumental moment in our fledgling relationship. I was about to trust him with information that made me vulnerable without as much pomp and circumstance as I previously done with admitting that I was rather fond of him, and how he handled that information was going to define our relationship for me. “I’mafraidofheights,” I mumbled quickly.

The corners of Mike’s coffee colored eyes crinkled as he squinted at me in confusion. “I’m sorry what?” he asked.

I sighed and hugged him around his middle over his crisp dress shirt and under his suit coat. I buried my face in his chest. Mike didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around me as tight as they would go but didn’t get uncomfortable. His tight hold on me made me hug him all the more tighter.

“I’m afraid of heights,” I told him softly.

He heaved a sigh that I felt myself due to our close proximity. “You should have told me baby,” he said equally as soft a tone. He took me by the shoulders and pushed me away from his body so we could make eye contact, “Everyone is afraid of something. It doesn’t mean that you are weak, it just means that you are human.” He gave me a short, tight hug before taking my hand and leading me over to Brooks and Meghan.

“Are we all good?” Brooks asked Mike.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Froyo!” Meghan squaled excitedly. She grabbed my fore arm and tugged me away from Mike and towards the door. I glanced back at Mike with wide eyes and a look that clearly screamed help me.

The asshole just smiled his charming smile and silently followed after Meghan and I. I used my free hand that Meghan wasn’t holding hostage to reach back in hopes Mike would get the hint.

He caught on and quickened his pace so he was walking next to me and twisted our pinkie fingers together. I’m pretty sure I could have died from swooning over this little act of affection. Yup, I was definitely in deep like with this man.

“How did you get into hockey Jen?” Meghan asked conversationally.

“Well I don’t like football and my family is very sports oriented, so they basically told me to pick a sport and watch it. I was into it but I wasn’t as hardcore as I am now. Turns out my dad’s Canadian clients were really close with Sidney Crosby. They told Crosby I had been in the hospital for roughly a month and that I could use a pick me up,” Jen smiled brightly because even though it was a very physically painful part of her past, the memory of Sidney Crosby’s kind action made that time all the more bearable. “He was scheduled to visit me, but I guess I got so excited that I hurried up and got better. I was released the morning he was going to come that afternoon.”

“Aw man!” Meghan said with a small pout.

“Not to fear, he had scheduled to visit a lot more than just me so it wasn’t a major inconvenience for him. About a week into my recovery at home when I got a package, and wouldn’t you know, it was one of Crosby’s rookie jerseys and a signed one at that.”

“Holy shit!” Meghan exclaimed excitedly as Brooks groaned.

“Been a hardcore Penguins fan ever since,” I explained shrugging as if to silently say that it was obvious that I would always remain incredibly loyal to my team.

“But I’m confused, if you love the Penguins so much, how are you and Morgan even friends?” Brooks asked from the other side of Meghan as he glanced my way. He had his arm slung around Meghan’s waist.

I let out a groan. “I was helping her rearrange her room freshman year and the Penguins just so happened to play you guys that night and my plan to get her into hockey worked but to get her to support the Pens as much as I do majorly backfired.”

“I’ll say,” Mike said with a small, teasing smile. Her leaned down and kissed my cheek.

“Who is your favorite Penguin player? Crosby?” Meghan hazarded to guess.

“While I love the Captain is a stand up guy who happens to be insanely talented, my favorite player on the current roster has to be Deryk Engelland.”

Both professional players stopped in their tracks and sent me wide eyed looks of disbelief. “Deryk Engelland is your favorite Penguin,” Mike asked her slowly as if he was extra slow and didn’t understand.

“Yes,” I said in a matter of fact tone.

“But…” Brooks said as he also struggled to understand the concept as well, “He sucks.”

“Brooks!” Meghan yelled indignantly as she smacked his chest. She looked over to me with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. His loyalties to his team block out his manners some times.”

I shrugged indifferently, “It’s fine. I’m well aware he’s not the best player out there, but he’s sexy as fuck when he throws a punch or lets loose one of those smirks.”

Both men just kept staring at me. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I like James Neal also.”

They both shared a look before nodding in acceptance and continuing to walk. “Do you mind if I ask what you were in the hospital for?” Brooks asked me as his blue eyes met mine briefly.

“Long story short I have a rare brain deformity. No, I’m not going to die. I have shunts in my head that drain extra fluid where a small part of my brain is missing down to my stomach. I was in the hospital so long because both of my shunts were working against each other and it takes a lot of time to get them back in sync.”

“You poor thing,” Meghan said.

The conversation was cut off because they had reached the frozen yogurt shop. Mike, Meghan, and I found a small round table in the corner while Brooks placed our orders. Mike grabbed two extra chairs from another abandoned table to crowd around the one we claimed before sitting down beside me. He turned his head to look at me and asked, “Do you have any restrictions because of your disease?”

“The part of my brain that is smaller than it should be is the part where my balance and coordination is. Exhibit A is this morning when I fell like eight times,” I told him. Before he said anything I said, “You don’t need to say anything Green Bean. I’ve had to deal with it my whole life. It’s just something that I’ve learned to live with. It works better if the both of us just take it in stride.”

“Okay,” Mike said simply. He leaned down and connected his lips with my cheek in a lingering peck. My face became an instant tomato at the open affection and it didn’t help that Meghan telling us how cute we were.

Brooks chose that moment to return with the goods and distributed them to their rightful owners. Meghan had chocolate raspberry. Brooks ordered toffee. Mike received cherry and I got coffee flavored.

“Okay Landowski, here comes the real test. What kind of music do you like?”

I let out a small laugh and looked at Mike with a raised brow. He shrugged and commented, “Brooks is a big music buff. Answer this correctly and he will start to plan the wedding, that’s how much he will approve.”

I looked back at Brooks, “I grew up listening to classic rock with my dad. As I got older, I’ve branched out to see what other music is like. I mainly stick to newer rock but I still have fondness for classic rock. I like most everything but rap.” I said before shoving an unattractive amount of froyo into my mouth like I hadn’t just had dinner.

Brooks nodded his head in approval as he swallowed his normal sized scoop because he knew how to function in normal society. He looked at Mike and told him, “I like her. Who is your favorite musician?”

“I absolutely love Billie Joe Armstrong. Not so much for his music even though it is kick ass too. I look up to him a lot because my favorite hobby is writing and he’s pretty open about how he writes his music. He’s super intelligent not in the book smart sense, but in a worldly sense. He just seems like someone I could learn a lot from.

“As far as someone whose music I absolutely adore simply for their absolute music genius is Pete Wentz. His lyrics are off the wall but so relatable at the same time. He seems like an jerk as a person but as far as his lyrics go, I’m incredibly jealous of him.”

“I like Fall Out Boy, but I guess I haven’t paid close enough attention to the lyrics to think they are that awesome,” Brooks said thoughtfully.

“They are a little off the wall and at the surface you are like ‘this is weird,’ but then you realize how understood they make you feel. It makes you sit there and wonder what the hell just happened because you thought you didn’t get what he was talking about but at the same time you totally get what he’s talking about. It’s the epitome of brain ninja-ing.”

“Oh my God!” Meghan exclaimed excitedly as she waved her spoon around in rapid motions. She was practically bouncing in her seat and it was really funny yet adorable.

“Aw man,” Brooks groaned as he rubbed a hand over his face before continuing, “I was hoping she would miss the Dane Cook reference.”

I raised an eyebrow at the blue eyed man. “Are you saying that you don’t like Dane Cook because if that is what you’re saying, then I definitely do not approve of you.”

Brooks held his hands up in surrender, “Hey, I like Dane Cook as much as the next person, but Meghan gets an unhealthy amount of amusement from it. No matter how many times she watches Vicious Circle—which has definitely surpassed the thousands—she ends up cackling like a hyena every time. I do not understand.”

“Jesus,” I groaned, “You Crapitals are a serious drag. Are any of you cool?”

“HA!” Meghan exclaimed pointing her spoon in Brooks’ face. “I told you everyone in Pittsburgh calls you Crapitals!”

“She doesn’t even count! She doesn’t even live in Pittsburgh,” Brooks said rolling his eyes. He thought for a minute before his eyebrows scrunched and he looked over at me, “Wait. Do you live in Pittsburgh?”

“I live about an hour and a half away, but I’m there about every other day for games, doctors appointments, and such so for all intents and purposes I pretty much live there.”

“Well I think that’s our cue to take our leave before Meghan and Jen start a ‘I hate the Capitals even though our boyfriends play on the team club.’” Brooks said as he stood. He gathered his and Meghan’s trash and threw it away as Meghan stood and put her light jacket on.

Mike and I stood and Meghan gave me a quick hug, “I’ll text you later and we can have our club meeting,” she said with a giggle and a wink.

I let out a loud and very obnoxious sound that probably couldn’t be classified as a laugh before covering my mouth and nodding my head. “That was extremely attractive Landowski,” Brooks said with a chuckle of his own and a kiss to my hair. I never understood why people did that, but being on the receiving end of it was just fine I supposed. There would be a comforting hand on the shoulder farthest away before the person, usually a man because they were tall enough to complete the head kissing move, brought you closer to them in a side hug and planted one right on the hair.

I figured it would be nasty for the giver. I mean what if you got hair in your mouth, and God forbid that hair be dirty or greasy. Overall I figured it just wouldn’t be a good experience. Though it might have been for Brooks, it was pretty nice on my end. It was oddly reassuring that I was now on Brooks’ good side. It also seemed more like a protective gesture to me now. Prior to this moment I had considered it to be more of a romantic gesture. Nope, it was more like your older brother saying, ‘I got your back’ with no words. It was sadly apparent that my brief time in Washington had showed me that I had ‘not gotten out enough’ in life.

Meghan gave Mike a hug before Brooks gave him a handshake and ushered his girlfriend out of the building.

Mike and I headed out of the frozen yogurt place and in the opposite direction of his escalade.

I looked up at Mike, silently asking him why we were headed the wrong way, but his face gave away nothing. It was devoid of emotion. I hooked my arm around Mike’s like I had done on previous occasions. The wind blew lightly around us, rustling the leaves on the trees nearby.

I felt my shoulders shake, involuntarily when a particularly cool breeze hit my uncovered skin. Mike disconnected our arms and took off his suit jacket. He placed his jacket on my shoulders. “Thank you.” I told him softly.

He didn’t nod. He didn’t smile, nothing. I could feel him pulling away. He was all of the sudden becoming distant and I had no idea why. He had been fine all night and now he didn’t even seem like he was really here. It felt like his mind was a million miles away. I was so busy observing him that I practically jumped out of my skin when he spoke, “Have you given anymore thought about what I asked you earlier?”

Had I? I kept asking myself whether I could see myself in the stands or even in the Capitals’ family suite silently cheering Mike on or whether I really wanted to be in a relationship with someone who was five hours away from me while he played at home and God knows how far when he was traveling. I knew I liked him very much. I knew that I had survived twenty one years of not having a boyfriend and anytime I would get to see Mike would be a step up from that, and that I would be able to handle being away from him for extended periods of time.

“How am I supposed to answer that when you only gave me a few hours?”

He sighed and rubbed his forehead with the tips of him fingers, “I guess I should have known you were going to shoot me down. You were finally being nice because you knew you were going to say no to me. Not to mention you wore another man’s jersey to my game.”

“Whoa wait a minute,” I said as I pulled on his arm to get him to stop walking and to face me. When he did I finally saw an emotion and one he was trying to hide, disappointment. “Another man? Nick Backstrom is your team mate Mike.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a professional athlete. We’re competitive. I can’t stand seeing you in another’s man’s jersey when I have been trying so hard to get to be the one whose jersey you wear.”

I finally got the hint. He was jealous. Man, I was the biggest bitch out there. I made him go through all of this shit. I was just plain rude on some occasions especially with his friend, and now that I had admitted I had feelings for him I go and wear someone else’s jersey. Dick move. I was about to go into extreme guilt mode until a thought came to me that made me smile.

“Um before we get into the merits of whether or not I will wear your jersey, I would need to have one in my possession first?”

Mike opened his mouth to retort but stopped short and shut his mouth, “Wait you don’t have one?”

“No. I can’t bring that shit into my house are you kidding? My whole family is made of Penguins fans. It wouldn’t make it to my closet before someone lit it on fire, so I never bought one. And now I’m not paying for one because I’m your girlfriend damn it you should give me one of yours.”

A shit eating grin appeared on Mike’s face, “So you’re my girlfriend eh?”

I sent a teasing smile back in his direction before saying, “No.”

His arms shot out and pulled me by the waist into his body. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Oh I think that’s what you said. You just accepted that you’re my significant other.”

I laughed before replying, “I don’t think I did.”

“Well then I may just have to smother you with kisses until you agree to be my plus one.” True to his words he covered my face in wet, sloppy, and over exaggerated kisses.

I laughed and tried to fight him off to no avail. “Okay! Okay! I will be your girlfriend!” I conceded with a chuckle.