Storm Warning

Lyla had liked Cash's girlfriend Tessa as soon as she met her. She's not at all loud or outspoken, but she doesn't have to be because she has Cash wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger anyway. She's probably one of the most beautiful people Lyla has ever met and incredibly sweet on top of that. They've unsurprisingly become fast friends and Lyla ends up spending most of her time with her, dragging the older girl around with her as she explores the new city they live in. Tessa doesn't complain, instead letting Lyla guide her all around, even though Lyla really doesn't have a clue where she's going most of the time.

There's a text waiting on Lyla's phone when she climbs out of the shower on Sunday. It's Jillian wanting to know if Jeff has asked her out yet, and she has to laugh at the younger girl's straightforwardness as she replies, saying that no, she hasn't heard anything out of him in the week since she saw him last. Jillian doesn't respond so Lyla just shrugs it off, going on about her business with getting dressed.

She and Tessa join Cash and Kyle down in the bar to watch the Hurricanes game on Tuesday night and the boys take extra care to tease her every time Jeff's face comes up on the giant screen. Tessa is quickly brought up to speed when she questions what the big deal is about that one particular player but Lyla just rolls her eyes at the boys and keeps on eating her burger, complete with weird sauce concoctions, as the Canes end the night with a disappointing loss.

Thursday's agenda is blank since Tessa has to work so Lyla goes down to the bar to annoy Cash for awhile. It's not busy, considering that it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, so she takes it upon herself to reach over the bar and grab the remote control so that she can change the channel from boring CNN to something a little more entertaining. Of course, what comes on at 3 o'clock on a Thursday that's entertaining? There's a broadcast on of last night's basketball game between the Bulls and the Hornets, so with no better choices, she settles for that. She'd gone to a couple of Bulls games with friends back when she lived in Chicago and, while fun, it was certainly no hockey game. Coincidentally, the Hornets are the team most local for Raleigh so at least if someone else were to come in, they'd be fine watching it too.

Day drinking isn't one of her normal pastimes, but she's got no plans for the rest of the day and besides, she can get drinks for free, so she figures why not? Cash jokingly gives her a judgy head shake as he makes her third of the afternoon, but she just sticks her tongue out at him and snatches the glass from his hands before turning her attention back to the plasma screen as he disappears back into the kitchen. One thing she's found out about herself over the years is that, no matter the sport, she can get seriously into a game to the point where she's cheering and/or yelling, and this boring basketball game is no exception. An overlooked foul here, a missed three-pointer there is enough to have her grumbling under her breath at the shitty job the Bulls seem to be doing with this game and she doesn't even realize she's no longer alone until she catches some movement in her peripheral vision.

She turns her head just as two guys walk up to the bar and slide onto the bar stools at the other end, six seats down from her. They both look vaguely familiar but she can't place where she's seen their faces until the one closest to her turns to look at his friend and she catches the logo on the backwards gray and purple cap he's wearing. The door behind the bar swings open as Cash returns from the kitchen and he pauses when he sees the two new customers whom he immediately recognizes. He glances over at Lyla but she just raises her brows at him and grins before she picks up her drink to take another sip.

While Cash is occupied with getting their orders, she turns back to the television screen, noticing that the Hornets have racked up seven more points since she last glanced at the score. Even though the game was played like eighteen hours before and it's not like anyone at the game would actually hear her anyway, she groans in frustration at the foul that's called on one of the Bulls players. "What the actual fuck? That's the worst call I've ever seen! Honestly, who the fuck's pocket is that ref in?" she grumbles to herself, tossing back over half of her drink.

The quiet snickering to her left breaks her concentration from mentally chanting 'miss it, miss it' during the free throw and when she looks over, Cash has disappeared again and both guys are watching her with amused grins. "What, you didn't see that? That was a bullshit call."

"Not really much of a basketball fan," the one closest to her says with a shrug.

"Yeah, well neither am I but there's no hockey game on so...."

Both perk up upon hearing that and their grins only grow wider, more confident. "Oh, you like hockey?"

"I enjoy it, yeah. You?" The guys glance at each other, unsure of what to say, but she just watches them in amusement for a moment before she lets out a little laugh, pleased with the reactions she got from them. "I'm kidding. I know who you are."

"You do?"

They look genuinely surprised, but she knows that hockey doesn't garner quite as much attention and interest in Raleigh as it does in Chicago. The players in Chicago are basically celebrities and the fans can be rabid, like in one particular instance where she'd heard a certain player was followed back to his home and then approached for a photo and an autograph on his own doorstep. Lyla imagines the fans here are much more laid back and reserved with their team.

She chuckles. "Well, I do like hockey, and Raleigh's where I live at the moment so gotta support the Canes."

"So who's your favorite player?" the second, taller one asks with a grin that she can't help but return. He's fishing for a compliment no doubt but she isn't going to give him one.

"I don't know yet," she shrugs. "Got any suggestions?"

He grins wider. "I might."

She laughs softly and shakes her head, turning back to the tv as she brings the glass to her lips again, downing the last of its contents.

"Can I get you another one of those?"

His voice is closer now and when she turns her head to look, she finds him slipping onto the stool right next to hers, leaving his teammate six seats over. "They're on the house for me," she smiles apologetically. "But thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Lyla."

"Lyla, I'm Brett," he says, reaching a hand out to her.

She laughs as she shakes it. "I know."

"And I guess you know Murph down there too?"

"I do," she nods, grinning. "Ryan, why don't you come join the party?"

Ryan glances over at Brett first, as if asking permission to intrude on Brett's pick-up attempt, before he looks back at Lyla and matches her smile. He grabs his beer and walks over to her other side to sit, and when Cash reemerges from the kitchen, he gives her an incredulous look. She just gives him a shrug and a little smile before holding out her empty glass to him and he rolls his eyes as he walks over to take it from her and make another.

"Cash, I believe you know these two," she says, shoving her thumbs in the directions of each of the boys she's sandwiched between. "Guys, this is my friend, Cash."

The three of them exchange pleasantries while Lyla sips on her drink and Cash ends up making small talk with Ryan about his injury, leaving her and Brett to watch the last few minutes of the game on the tv ahead of them. She doesn't realize she's actually muttering the things about the teams that she's thinking in her head until he laughs at her and when the game finally ends with the Bulls losing, she grumbles about the outcome. Things quiet down a little when the guys' food comes out because they're both obviously starving. A simple comment about the type of spices in the sauce Ryan ordered on his burger somehow turns into Lyla telling stories about the week she spent in Mexico during the Día de los Muertos festival and from then on, the conversation is nonstop. They're constantly bouncing around from one topic to another, periodically stopping to watch the recaps of other sports' games on the televisions.

The place is starting to get busy again with the supper crowd coming in when the boys decide to take their leave, citing dinner plans with friends and an early Friday morning as their reason. Ryan steps outside to answer a phone call from his girlfriend after saying a quick goodbye, which gives Brett the perfect amount of time he needs to ask Lyla for her number.

She bites her lip, thinking for a moment that maybe she shouldn't because, after all, this is Jeff's teammate and even though he hasn't texted her yet, she knows thanks to Jillian that he's probably trying to work up the courage to. Then again, it's been almost two weeks, and if he isn't going to make a move to show he's interested, then why shouldn't she give her number to someone who will? He's already taken more initiative than Jeff has, just by asking for her number in the first place. "Sure," she finally agrees, holding her hand out to him and he grins as he gives her his phone so that she can enter her information into his contact list before giving it back.

"I'll text you later this week," he promises before he leaves and she has no doubt that he will.

-

After a tiring trip, a disappointing loss, and a circle of media asking question after question, Jeff is exhausted and the last thing he wants to deal with is more nagging from his sisters. Both Erica and Jillian have been texting him daily about whether or not he's going to call Lyla and he's more conflicted than ever on if he should. What if he waited too long and now it's too late? What if she thinks he's lame for getting the number from his sister instead of asking for it himself? What if she never even liked him anyway and she thinks he's stupid for ever thinking he had a shot? All the new questions he keeps coming up with are crowding his brain and he's still trying to focus on getting out of his gear when most of his teammates have already headed to the showers.

His phone beeps from its position on the wooden bench and he quickly lunges for it to make sure that it's not Jillian saying she followed through on the threat to just tell Lyla everything and embarrass him. It's not though; it's just a text from one of his old friends from home, asking a question about something completely unrelated and irrelevant. He exits out of the current message thread and goes back to the conversation he'd been having with his younger sister on the flight earlier. An incoming message interrupts his read-through, automatically shooting back down to the bottom of the conversation and the new text he's just received from her.

i'm gonna do it, jeffy. like tomorrow. so if you don't want that to happen, you have to talk to her. ooh, AND show proof!! dead serious rn.

"What's wrong with you, Skins?"

Jeff glances up from his phone just as his teammate and friend Ryan comes to a stop in front of his stall, having waited to enter the locker room after all the media cleared out. "You mean besides the shitty job I just did out there?"

"You were the only goal we got all night," Ryan reminds him, plopping down in Nash's currently unoccupied stall right next to him. "Really, man, what's up?"

"Nothing," Jeff says with a sigh and he quickly puts his phone back into the side pocket of his duffel bag as if hiding it away will cure his problem. "It's just my sisters being annoying like always."

Ryan chuckles. "What is it this time?"

"You remember that girl I told you about- the one they met at the hotel when they were here?"

"You mean the hot, foreign one you have a huge middle school crush on?"

Jeff rolls his eyes at his friend's description but he can't exactly argue with it so instead he just shrugs. "Erica sent me her number last week to text her and neither of them has left me alone about it since."

"Wait a minute," Ryan says, shaking his head. "You didn't even get her number yourself the last time you saw her?"

Jeff shakes his head, blushing a little, because yeah, it was pretty stupid of him not to. She'd even said she hoped to see him around which pretty much would have been his in. But then again, there was no way he could've done it with his sisters sitting right there; that would've been downright embarrassing. Although, he's not sure if it wouldn't be worse to text her now and have to say he got her number from his little sister. "Nothing I can do about it now."

"You hung out at her place though, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't just show up there. She'd think I was a creep. Although-....." Jeff pauses as he thinks it over for a moment, but then he shakes his head, quickly abandoning the idea. "Nah, never mind."

"What?" Ryan prompts, elbowing his friend.

"Well, her roommate's brother owns a bar and I think she hangs out there a lot."

"Hey, there you go, Skins! There's your in. What's the place called? We can go when we get home, see if she's there."

"Coop's. It's uptown, over by that antique place and some kind of yoga studio or something."

"Whoa, wait, seriously? I was just there," Ryan tells him as he thinks back to two days ago when he and Brett had a super late lunch at that exact bar. His mind immediately goes to the beautiful girl at the bar, the one who had such a casual, easy-going relationship with the bartender/waiter/(possibly?) owner. "Shit, Skinny, what's your girl's name?"

"Lyla," Jeff answers hesitantly and his brows furrow in confusion when Ryan bursts out laughing like that's the best joke he's heard in his life. "What's so funny?"

"Oh man, this is great," he says after he's paused to take a breather, shaking his head in amusement. "I mean, holy shit, yeah she's-.....wow."

"You met her?"

"Yeah, she was in there. Sitting at the bar, sassing the refs of the basketball game on the tvs."

"Sounds like her," Jeff agrees, grinning as he pictures it, but then a frown takes over as he grows suddenly jealous of his friend for actually seeing it. He knows he must have it bad if he's getting this annoyed about something so trivial. He already feels possessive of her, like Ryan being able to talk about her is kind of unfair because he saw her first and he hung out with her first and he definitely knows her better than Ryan does.

"She's A+, man."

"I know she is," he retorts defensively. He doesn't need anyone to tell him how great she is because he's been around her enough to know. He especially doesn't need Ryan to tell him when he's only hung out with her once.

Ryan can tell that he's affecting Jeff and it makes him grin. It's exactly the push Jeff needs to man up and do something about this great girl that's right in front of him. "Listen, not trying to nag or anything, but if you want her, you better do something about it, and soon. I'm pretty sure Bellemore's already half in love with her and he's not gonna miss out on a chance."

"Yeah," Jeff agrees because he knows his friend is right, but the thought of Brett beating him to the punch makes his jaw clench and his glare at the floor harden. He can't lose out on her just because he's too chicken to ask her out when she's so easily accessible to him. He plants his hands against his thighs and pushes himself to stand up so that he can more easily shed his sweaty gray tee shirt before tossing it onto the seat he was just sitting in.

"And hey, Skins," Ryan adds on for the final push. "If you don't wanna accept her number from your sister, you could always just ask Bellemore. 'Cause he has it."

Jeff scowls at his friend's shit-eating grin and stalks off toward the showers, determination etched into his features. He'll definitely be texting her as soon as he gets on the plane.

-

It's late Saturday night when her phone buzzes against her thigh as she's watching some German documentary about bees on Kyle's nextflix account, but it's not any of the people she'd be expecting. This text is from a number that isn't saved in her phone, but it's not the Chicago number that's permanently burned into her memory either. Curious, she slides her finger across the screen to open the message.

hi it's jeff. i hope you don't mind, i got your # from my sister

She can't help but smile at the text that she's been waiting for all week since Jillian first asked her if she'd heard from him.

Oh, you ARE still alive? You had me worried for a minute there.

It takes him ten minutes to send a response and she halfway wonders if he's asking one of his sisters for help, or maybe a teammate considering he's on an away game trip at the moment.

sorry it's been pretty crazy. more losses for the books....

Couple of wins too though

I've been watching

hopefully not tonight you weren't. tonight was bad

It might've been a loss but every team has them. Plus you scored a goal so it wasn't all bad at least

we were sloppy the whole game

So you'll do better next time

Cap'n dropping gloves was pretty exciting though

it doesn't happen often

I mean, I'd be pissed too if someone high sticked me in the face and didn't even get a minor called for it

are you busy on thursday?

Lyla laughs at how abrupt his change of subject is with absolutely no transition at all but she just rolls with it instead of poking fun at him a little bit like she wants to. It isn't worth it to embarrass him when she can't enjoy the flush that would surely rise on his cheeks and spread down his neck.

That depends. Why, what'd you have in mind?

dinner and a movie at my place?

She catches herself smiling stupidly again, something she does all the time when Jeff is concerned. He's definitely surprised her because she didn't think he was ever going to bite the bullet and even text her, much less take the initiative to be the one to originate plans to hang out together. She's strangely proud of him for it.

Sounds perfect