Storm Warning
008
It's Tessa's idea that they go hiking on Sunday morning so after Cash makes sure his manager can handle the bar through the lunch rush, the four of them load up in his truck and make the twenty minute drive up to a state park with plenty of hiking trails. Lyla's never been a very athletic type of person so when Kyle and Tessa decide to have a race to see who can get to the end of the long trail first, she hangs back to continue her leisurely pace with Cash. They talk as they walk, Cash asking a billion cheeky questions about Jeff, and before they reach the end, Tessa's already doubled back to meet them. Kyle is nowhere in sight.
"Dumbass was trying so hard to beat me, he slammed into some poor girl on the trail," Tessa laughs. "Now he's chatting her up."
Cash shakes his head. "Only my brother."
"Come on, y'all. The lake's down this way."
Tessa grabs both Cash's hand and Lyla's and leads them down a side path off the main trail that eventually comes out into a wide open space with a nice grassy area leading down from the treeline to the edge of the water. There's a small pier that juts out about twenty feet into the water and Lyla meanders down to it while Cash chases Tessa down to the edge of the lake and she squeals and yells at him. The view from the end is pretty nice and she pulls her phone out from the waistband of her yoga pants to take a picture of it, but before she even has a chance to, the phone starts vibrating in her hand.
She automatically assumes it's just someone from Chicago calling but is surprised when she sees Jeff's name across the screen instead of a bunch of numbers. This is the first time he's actually called her, and it's a FaceTime call no less. She answers it, leaning back against the wooden rails as she waits for it to connect, and when it does, she's met with, not Jeff, but Elias's blurry face on the screen. He greets her in Swedish and she returns it, but Jeff must've heard her voice and realized that Elias has his phone because he rushes over and there's a tussle before his face finally comes into view of the camera.
"I'm sorry," he says immediately.
She laughs. "It's okay. What's up?"
"Help us!" Elias shouts from somewhere out of view before Jeff leans over presumably to punch him in the arm because immediately after, there's some protesting and grumbling in the background and then the sound of a door shutting.
"Sorry," he says again once Elias is gone and he's the only one left in the hotel room. "He's been really annoying, threatening to call you all morning. I didn't think he'd actually do it."
"Oh, so you didn't actually want to talk to me?" she jokes, but he takes it seriously and his eyes widen.
"No, no, it's not that! I just-....Well, I didn't wanna bother you while you were out with your friends."
"You're not bothering me," she grins. "I'm just resting for a minute and enjoying the view while Cash is trying to push Tessa into the lake and Kyle is still on the trail somewhere chatting up some girl he ran into."
"Oh....Well, in the case, can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Where's a good place to eat in Chicago?"
The phone slips out of her hand before she even realizes what's happening and she barely puts her foot out in time to stop it from bouncing off the wood and into the water. She wasn't aware that they were going to Chicago on this trip and the question had thrown her off guard. She curses under her breath as she bends down to pick up her phone and instead of risking her phone going for a swim again, she just sits down in the very spot she's standing in.
"Lyla? You okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I just dropped my phone."
"The guys and I were trying to decide what to eat for lunch and I thought you might have some good recommendations since you used to live here."
"Umm, yeah sure. There's a really good Italian place called Moretti's in Wicker Park. I used to eat there a lot because it was right down the block from my apartment. Any of their calzones are to die for. Or if you want something lighter, there's this place called Stone Village Grill right by the arena. It's so good, you'd never guess it's healthy, but it actually is."
"Alright," he grins. "Thanks."
"So you're, uh, in my old stomping grounds, huh?"
"We don't play until tomorrow night so we have today free. I think some of us are gonna go explore the city a little bit after we eat."
"You guys have fun with that. Call me if you get lost."
He chuckles. "It's a good possibility. Jordan likes to pretend he knows where he's going, but I have serious doubts about his sense of direction."
There's a banging on the door of his hotel room and he turns his head to look just as it opens. A moment later, Brett's face is taking up her whole screen by grabbing the phone out of Jeff's hand. "Hey, Lyles! Whatcha doin'?"
"Hiking. What are you doing?"
"Starving because Skinny's taking forever in here."
Lyla smiles when she hears Jeff protesting in the background. "Hey, you should be thanking him. It's only because of him that you won't go somewhere shitty for lunch. The recommendations he has now are pretty damn good, if I do say so myself."
"Oh, right, 'cause you used to live here! I forgot."
"Mhmm. So you're welcome."
Brett grins in return and thanks her before he hands the phone back to Jeff and slaps him on the back. "Come on, Skins. The boys are waiting."
"Yeah, I'll be there in a second," he sighs and he waits for Brett to leave the room before he looks back at her on his phone screen. "Sorry."
"Stop apologizing, you're fine. Go enjoy a fabulous lunch and your day off."
"You enjoy your hike."
"Yeah right," she snorts. "What could be more enjoyable than walking on a dirt trail deep in the woods? The view is pretty great though."
"I'm sure it's better with you in it," he mumbles and then his eyes widen when he sees the grin break out out on her face. He didn't realize he'd said it out loud. His cheeks turn red immediately and she can see it even through the phone when he's sitting in a dimly lit hotel room.
"Aww, thank you," she coos sweetly. "Chicago's got some pretty great views too but I bet they'll be better with your face in them."
He flushes an even darker red but then he breaks out into a grin too and she's sure if he was sitting next to her, she wouldn't be able to resist pinching those dimpled cheeks. There's a heavy knock on his door and he lets out an annoyed groan. "I guess that's my cue."
"They may leave without you if you don't go now."
"That's definitely something they would do."
"Well, I hope you guys have fun. Good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks. I guess I'll see you Wednesday?"
"Wednesday," she agrees and he grins widely at her through the screen before he finally ends the call.
She lets out a heavy sigh before she pushes herself back up to her feet and she turns to go back down the little pier before remembering her original intention of taking a photo of the view. Smiling at the idea that pops into her head, she holds her phone out to take a quick photo of herself in front of the great view and then she sends it to Jeff before she takes an actual photo of the view minus herself. The reply she gets from him is almost instantaneous and she's surprised at his confidence, which he didn't have when she was just on FaceTime with him.
definitely better with you in it
You're too sweet :) I hope you know I expect a Chicago selfie in return
that may be awhile. we're just now in the lobby
Well I look forward to it
Lyla replaces her phone back into the waistband of her yoga pants and makes the walk back down the short little pier to where her friends are waiting, with an extra person now in tow. The pretty blonde is standing super close to Kyle and she keeps looking at him and smiling so Lyla figures she must be the one he crashed into on the trail. She seems polite enough when Kyle introduces her as his roommate so she's alright in Lyla's book.
Tessa's giving her a little smirk like she knows something but when Lyla raises her brows at her in curiosity, she just shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "Have a nice chat?"
"Oh hush," Lyla scoffs before lacing her arm through both Tessa's and Cash's. "Now, I've had enough of this hiking business. Take me somewhere with food."
It isn't until about thirty minutes later when she's sitting in between Kyle's new lady friend and Cash in a wooden corner booth at a loud, dimly lit mexican restaurant and sipping a strawberry margarita that her phone vibrates against her side. She pulls her phone out, and when she sees that it's a new text from Jeff, she opens it immediately, smiling at the photo he's sent of himself with a big dimpled smile and holding with both hands a calzone that's bigger than his head.
Gotta say, I'm a little disappointed you went for the prince size instead of the king
theres one bigger than this? impossible
Very possible. I've eaten one
how???
There may have been alcohol involved. Also, I didn't eat for three days after
oh god there's a wall
NO JEFF DON'T
He doesn't reply right away and she has a pretty good idea why but that thought is confirmed about two minutes later when she receives another photo with the caption too late :). The photo he took is of a photo of her that's one of probably a hundred on a wall in Moretti's; when she put it there, she'd tried to make sure it was as hidden as possible behind others, but he'd found it easily. Thankfully, it wasn't glaringly obvious in the picture that she was drunk; instead she just looked insanely happy to be holding that king sized calzone, her eyes closed and a big smile on her face. Not a lot of people who came into Moretti's could order a king calzone and eat the whole thing, so those that did got their photo on the wall.
That's not me
it definitely is
No, that's drunk Lyla. She's a totally different girl
well she seems like fun
Way more fun than regular Lyla
maybe i'll get to meet her sometime
Not until after the third date at least
so theres gonna be a 3rd date?
I guess that depends on you
so i should get busy planning date #2 then
You have to actually ask me out first, you know
gonna do that in person
If you must....
i must
-
The pair of little blonde girls at the end of the bottom row are giggling to themselves and whispering back and forth in between looking out to the ice. They're probably about seven or eight years old and wearing matching red tee shirts, one with the number 53 on the back and one with the number 16. The boy who sits between them looks a few years older, maybe twelve or thirteen at the most, and he's got a Hurricanes ball cap turned backwards over his equally blond hair and a sharpie marker in his hand.
Lyla looks around for their parents but there are no adults in the immediate vicinity. She notices a woman further back who's angrily muttering into her cell phone with a sour look on her face and even after she hangs up and rejoins her children at their seats, she's scowling. She keeps checking the watch on her thin wrist and then she sighs loudly as if bringing her kids there was some huge inconvenience. The boy glances over apologetically every time but the little girls don't even notice their mother because they're too focused on all the action happening on the ice.
Jeff had called her the day before to ask if she wanted to meet him for lunch after his practice was over but since she didn't have anything else to do with her morning, she had decided to head over to the rink early and watch the practice since it was open to the public. He doesn't know she's there and that makes it much easier for her to watch him in his natural habitat with all his friends and teammates, completely at ease. When the coach finally blows the whistle signaling the end of practice, the boys start filing off the ice and back to the locker rooms but both the little girls jump up from their seats and run over to the door and the big brother is right behind them, apologizing when one latches on to Elias's hand as he comes off.
Lyla keeps her safe distance as she watches Jeff come off behind him and both boys kneel down to talk to the small twins, even looking up to say something to the brother too. The brother hands over the sharpie marker he'd been holding and both Jeff and Elias sign the backs of the girls' shirts before taking the boy's cap and signing it for him as well. The mother finally gets up from her seat then to walk over and she pulls out her iPhone to take a quick photo of the five of them but as soon as she's replaced it in her bag, she's rushing the children to leave, listing all the homework and chores they still have to do. The little girl in the #53 shirt throws her short arms around Jeff's neck unabashedly and he lets out a surprised laugh as he pats her on the back.
She can't keep the smile off her face as she watches him interact with the three children and he doesn't stand back up to full height until the little girls are gone. He follows Elias back down the tunnel while she pulls her phone out to text him, knowing he'll check it as soon as he gets back to the locker room.
Now that was the cutest thing I've ever seen
Without waiting for a response, she gets up from her seat and follows the same direction they've just gone. Five minutes later, she's standing outside the double doors with a security guard who tells her she's not allowed inside even though she knows that. The ding of her phone in her back pocket means Jeff's replied to her message and she pulls it out to see that he's definitely surprised to find out she's there. She lets him know that she's right outside and not more than fifteen seconds later, a dark head of hair peeks out from behind the heavy doors, then the rest of him follows. He's still dressed in his base layer and looking very sweaty.
"You didn't have to come out right this second. I can wait for you patiently while you shower."
The security officer looks between them before slowly turning to walk away.
"Can you do something else for me?"
"What's that?" she asks, raising her brows in curiosity.
"I've been commanded to bring you back to meet some of the guys. I told them it's too early and they're just going to scare you, but they threatened me with physical harm."
Lyla laughs and shakes her head. "A couple of hockey players can't scare me. Is everybody decent?"
"As decent as they're gonna get."
"Well, lets go then."
Jeff pushes the door open further to let her walk in and then he points her in the right direction, through the family lounge and past the equipment room to the dressing room. There are a couple of guys lingering there, thankfully still dressed, although most of them have already gone into the locker room to shower. Brett's sitting in his stall taking off his pads and he grins widely and waves when he spots her. She does the same in return as Jeff leans halfway into the locker room door to announce to someone that she's here per their request and then he rolls his eyes before leading her over to his stall.
"Hot damn, that girl's got some legs!"
Lyla's head jerks up at the new loud voice and Jeff suddenly feels overheated, almost positive his cheeks have gone red. He knows it's true; in fact, he's thought about those long, toned legs wrapped around his waist more times than he could ever admit, but unlike his loud-mouthed teammate, he'd never call attention to it that way. She doesn't seem to mind it though as she grins and makes her way over to the giant blond man who's just gotten out of the shower, deciding right away that she likes him. "Uh, t-this is Lyla," Jeff says, fumbling over his words as he follows her. "Lyla, this is, uh, Jordan."
"Skinny, how'd you manage to score a girl like this?" he teases, lightly punching the younger man's shoulder. "I'm kind of speechless."
If it's humanly possible to be any more embarrassed, Jeff's just reached that level. He isn't sure he even has 'scored' her yet and Jordan is probably just making everything worse every time he opens his big mouth.
"Not speechless enough," Jeff mutters, giving a sideways glance to his teammate.
Jordan only laughs as he hooks his arm around Jeff's neck and pulls him into his side so that he can ruffle his hair. Jeff shoves him away as best as he can but the blond man has a good five or six inches of height on him, is still dripping water, and seems to really enjoy embarrassing his younger teammate in front of pretty girls.
"Why don't you go shower, Skins," Jordan suggests, patting him on the back. "I'll use this time to get to know your girl here."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Jeff protests automatically because, as much as he's embarrassed him when he's standing right there, he knows Jordan can do irreversible damage when Jeff's not around to stop him, or at least try to.
"It's okay," she smiles, lightly touching his bicep and she doesn't miss the obvious wink Jordan gives him when she does it. "Go ahead and shower. Brett and I'll keep him in check, right, Brett?"
All three of them turn to look at Bellemore sitting in his stall and he smirks. "Sure, Lyles. Whatever you say."
"You can hurry if it'll make you feel better," Jordan adds with a little grin and Jeff rolls his eyes, but he doesn't argue, because he really does need a shower before they go out to lunch.
He takes the fastest shower of his life, and that includes junior hockey when the team was given a four minute time limit so the hot water didn't run out before everyone could get washed up. When he returns to the dressing room, Jordan is still sitting there in his stall in just his towel talking to Lyla, who's made herself at home in Jeff's stall, and they've been joined by Nash who's sitting right next to her in his own stall. She's laughing at something Bellemore has said and Jeff has to physically stop walking in order to watch her for a moment.
"Hey, you," she says with a grin when she notices him standing there and all of the guys look up at him then, Jordan with a little smirk like he's told her something he shouldn't have and that makes Jeff very nervous.
He tosses his towel into the bin by the door and crosses over to the other side of the dressing room where she is. "Ready?"
"Mhmm," she nods, standing up next to him and she takes him by surprise when she easily slips her hand into his and gives it a little squeeze. "Bye, boys. Nice to meet you all."
"Hey," Bellemore objects, offended.
"And it was nice to see you again, Brett, as always. You boys behave yourselves."
"Don't be a stranger!" Jordan calls as they're walking toward the door. "We can't have Skinny hiding you away all for himself."
Lyla pauses her walking and glances over at Jeff before turning to look over her shoulder at Jordan with a smile. "You may never see me again."
Jordan laughs as she and Jeff walk out of the door and as soon as they're alone walking through the family lounge, he lets out a heavy sigh and squeezes her hand back.
"Damn right."
"Dumbass was trying so hard to beat me, he slammed into some poor girl on the trail," Tessa laughs. "Now he's chatting her up."
Cash shakes his head. "Only my brother."
"Come on, y'all. The lake's down this way."
Tessa grabs both Cash's hand and Lyla's and leads them down a side path off the main trail that eventually comes out into a wide open space with a nice grassy area leading down from the treeline to the edge of the water. There's a small pier that juts out about twenty feet into the water and Lyla meanders down to it while Cash chases Tessa down to the edge of the lake and she squeals and yells at him. The view from the end is pretty nice and she pulls her phone out from the waistband of her yoga pants to take a picture of it, but before she even has a chance to, the phone starts vibrating in her hand.
She automatically assumes it's just someone from Chicago calling but is surprised when she sees Jeff's name across the screen instead of a bunch of numbers. This is the first time he's actually called her, and it's a FaceTime call no less. She answers it, leaning back against the wooden rails as she waits for it to connect, and when it does, she's met with, not Jeff, but Elias's blurry face on the screen. He greets her in Swedish and she returns it, but Jeff must've heard her voice and realized that Elias has his phone because he rushes over and there's a tussle before his face finally comes into view of the camera.
"I'm sorry," he says immediately.
She laughs. "It's okay. What's up?"
"Help us!" Elias shouts from somewhere out of view before Jeff leans over presumably to punch him in the arm because immediately after, there's some protesting and grumbling in the background and then the sound of a door shutting.
"Sorry," he says again once Elias is gone and he's the only one left in the hotel room. "He's been really annoying, threatening to call you all morning. I didn't think he'd actually do it."
"Oh, so you didn't actually want to talk to me?" she jokes, but he takes it seriously and his eyes widen.
"No, no, it's not that! I just-....Well, I didn't wanna bother you while you were out with your friends."
"You're not bothering me," she grins. "I'm just resting for a minute and enjoying the view while Cash is trying to push Tessa into the lake and Kyle is still on the trail somewhere chatting up some girl he ran into."
"Oh....Well, in the case, can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Where's a good place to eat in Chicago?"
The phone slips out of her hand before she even realizes what's happening and she barely puts her foot out in time to stop it from bouncing off the wood and into the water. She wasn't aware that they were going to Chicago on this trip and the question had thrown her off guard. She curses under her breath as she bends down to pick up her phone and instead of risking her phone going for a swim again, she just sits down in the very spot she's standing in.
"Lyla? You okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I just dropped my phone."
"The guys and I were trying to decide what to eat for lunch and I thought you might have some good recommendations since you used to live here."
"Umm, yeah sure. There's a really good Italian place called Moretti's in Wicker Park. I used to eat there a lot because it was right down the block from my apartment. Any of their calzones are to die for. Or if you want something lighter, there's this place called Stone Village Grill right by the arena. It's so good, you'd never guess it's healthy, but it actually is."
"Alright," he grins. "Thanks."
"So you're, uh, in my old stomping grounds, huh?"
"We don't play until tomorrow night so we have today free. I think some of us are gonna go explore the city a little bit after we eat."
"You guys have fun with that. Call me if you get lost."
He chuckles. "It's a good possibility. Jordan likes to pretend he knows where he's going, but I have serious doubts about his sense of direction."
There's a banging on the door of his hotel room and he turns his head to look just as it opens. A moment later, Brett's face is taking up her whole screen by grabbing the phone out of Jeff's hand. "Hey, Lyles! Whatcha doin'?"
"Hiking. What are you doing?"
"Starving because Skinny's taking forever in here."
Lyla smiles when she hears Jeff protesting in the background. "Hey, you should be thanking him. It's only because of him that you won't go somewhere shitty for lunch. The recommendations he has now are pretty damn good, if I do say so myself."
"Oh, right, 'cause you used to live here! I forgot."
"Mhmm. So you're welcome."
Brett grins in return and thanks her before he hands the phone back to Jeff and slaps him on the back. "Come on, Skins. The boys are waiting."
"Yeah, I'll be there in a second," he sighs and he waits for Brett to leave the room before he looks back at her on his phone screen. "Sorry."
"Stop apologizing, you're fine. Go enjoy a fabulous lunch and your day off."
"You enjoy your hike."
"Yeah right," she snorts. "What could be more enjoyable than walking on a dirt trail deep in the woods? The view is pretty great though."
"I'm sure it's better with you in it," he mumbles and then his eyes widen when he sees the grin break out out on her face. He didn't realize he'd said it out loud. His cheeks turn red immediately and she can see it even through the phone when he's sitting in a dimly lit hotel room.
"Aww, thank you," she coos sweetly. "Chicago's got some pretty great views too but I bet they'll be better with your face in them."
He flushes an even darker red but then he breaks out into a grin too and she's sure if he was sitting next to her, she wouldn't be able to resist pinching those dimpled cheeks. There's a heavy knock on his door and he lets out an annoyed groan. "I guess that's my cue."
"They may leave without you if you don't go now."
"That's definitely something they would do."
"Well, I hope you guys have fun. Good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks. I guess I'll see you Wednesday?"
"Wednesday," she agrees and he grins widely at her through the screen before he finally ends the call.
She lets out a heavy sigh before she pushes herself back up to her feet and she turns to go back down the little pier before remembering her original intention of taking a photo of the view. Smiling at the idea that pops into her head, she holds her phone out to take a quick photo of herself in front of the great view and then she sends it to Jeff before she takes an actual photo of the view minus herself. The reply she gets from him is almost instantaneous and she's surprised at his confidence, which he didn't have when she was just on FaceTime with him.
definitely better with you in it
You're too sweet :) I hope you know I expect a Chicago selfie in return
that may be awhile. we're just now in the lobby
Well I look forward to it
Lyla replaces her phone back into the waistband of her yoga pants and makes the walk back down the short little pier to where her friends are waiting, with an extra person now in tow. The pretty blonde is standing super close to Kyle and she keeps looking at him and smiling so Lyla figures she must be the one he crashed into on the trail. She seems polite enough when Kyle introduces her as his roommate so she's alright in Lyla's book.
Tessa's giving her a little smirk like she knows something but when Lyla raises her brows at her in curiosity, she just shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "Have a nice chat?"
"Oh hush," Lyla scoffs before lacing her arm through both Tessa's and Cash's. "Now, I've had enough of this hiking business. Take me somewhere with food."
It isn't until about thirty minutes later when she's sitting in between Kyle's new lady friend and Cash in a wooden corner booth at a loud, dimly lit mexican restaurant and sipping a strawberry margarita that her phone vibrates against her side. She pulls her phone out, and when she sees that it's a new text from Jeff, she opens it immediately, smiling at the photo he's sent of himself with a big dimpled smile and holding with both hands a calzone that's bigger than his head.
Gotta say, I'm a little disappointed you went for the prince size instead of the king
theres one bigger than this? impossible
Very possible. I've eaten one
how???
There may have been alcohol involved. Also, I didn't eat for three days after
oh god there's a wall
NO JEFF DON'T
He doesn't reply right away and she has a pretty good idea why but that thought is confirmed about two minutes later when she receives another photo with the caption too late :). The photo he took is of a photo of her that's one of probably a hundred on a wall in Moretti's; when she put it there, she'd tried to make sure it was as hidden as possible behind others, but he'd found it easily. Thankfully, it wasn't glaringly obvious in the picture that she was drunk; instead she just looked insanely happy to be holding that king sized calzone, her eyes closed and a big smile on her face. Not a lot of people who came into Moretti's could order a king calzone and eat the whole thing, so those that did got their photo on the wall.
That's not me
it definitely is
No, that's drunk Lyla. She's a totally different girl
well she seems like fun
Way more fun than regular Lyla
maybe i'll get to meet her sometime
Not until after the third date at least
so theres gonna be a 3rd date?
I guess that depends on you
so i should get busy planning date #2 then
You have to actually ask me out first, you know
gonna do that in person
If you must....
i must
-
The pair of little blonde girls at the end of the bottom row are giggling to themselves and whispering back and forth in between looking out to the ice. They're probably about seven or eight years old and wearing matching red tee shirts, one with the number 53 on the back and one with the number 16. The boy who sits between them looks a few years older, maybe twelve or thirteen at the most, and he's got a Hurricanes ball cap turned backwards over his equally blond hair and a sharpie marker in his hand.
Lyla looks around for their parents but there are no adults in the immediate vicinity. She notices a woman further back who's angrily muttering into her cell phone with a sour look on her face and even after she hangs up and rejoins her children at their seats, she's scowling. She keeps checking the watch on her thin wrist and then she sighs loudly as if bringing her kids there was some huge inconvenience. The boy glances over apologetically every time but the little girls don't even notice their mother because they're too focused on all the action happening on the ice.
Jeff had called her the day before to ask if she wanted to meet him for lunch after his practice was over but since she didn't have anything else to do with her morning, she had decided to head over to the rink early and watch the practice since it was open to the public. He doesn't know she's there and that makes it much easier for her to watch him in his natural habitat with all his friends and teammates, completely at ease. When the coach finally blows the whistle signaling the end of practice, the boys start filing off the ice and back to the locker rooms but both the little girls jump up from their seats and run over to the door and the big brother is right behind them, apologizing when one latches on to Elias's hand as he comes off.
Lyla keeps her safe distance as she watches Jeff come off behind him and both boys kneel down to talk to the small twins, even looking up to say something to the brother too. The brother hands over the sharpie marker he'd been holding and both Jeff and Elias sign the backs of the girls' shirts before taking the boy's cap and signing it for him as well. The mother finally gets up from her seat then to walk over and she pulls out her iPhone to take a quick photo of the five of them but as soon as she's replaced it in her bag, she's rushing the children to leave, listing all the homework and chores they still have to do. The little girl in the #53 shirt throws her short arms around Jeff's neck unabashedly and he lets out a surprised laugh as he pats her on the back.
She can't keep the smile off her face as she watches him interact with the three children and he doesn't stand back up to full height until the little girls are gone. He follows Elias back down the tunnel while she pulls her phone out to text him, knowing he'll check it as soon as he gets back to the locker room.
Now that was the cutest thing I've ever seen
Without waiting for a response, she gets up from her seat and follows the same direction they've just gone. Five minutes later, she's standing outside the double doors with a security guard who tells her she's not allowed inside even though she knows that. The ding of her phone in her back pocket means Jeff's replied to her message and she pulls it out to see that he's definitely surprised to find out she's there. She lets him know that she's right outside and not more than fifteen seconds later, a dark head of hair peeks out from behind the heavy doors, then the rest of him follows. He's still dressed in his base layer and looking very sweaty.
"You didn't have to come out right this second. I can wait for you patiently while you shower."
The security officer looks between them before slowly turning to walk away.
"Can you do something else for me?"
"What's that?" she asks, raising her brows in curiosity.
"I've been commanded to bring you back to meet some of the guys. I told them it's too early and they're just going to scare you, but they threatened me with physical harm."
Lyla laughs and shakes her head. "A couple of hockey players can't scare me. Is everybody decent?"
"As decent as they're gonna get."
"Well, lets go then."
Jeff pushes the door open further to let her walk in and then he points her in the right direction, through the family lounge and past the equipment room to the dressing room. There are a couple of guys lingering there, thankfully still dressed, although most of them have already gone into the locker room to shower. Brett's sitting in his stall taking off his pads and he grins widely and waves when he spots her. She does the same in return as Jeff leans halfway into the locker room door to announce to someone that she's here per their request and then he rolls his eyes before leading her over to his stall.
"Hot damn, that girl's got some legs!"
Lyla's head jerks up at the new loud voice and Jeff suddenly feels overheated, almost positive his cheeks have gone red. He knows it's true; in fact, he's thought about those long, toned legs wrapped around his waist more times than he could ever admit, but unlike his loud-mouthed teammate, he'd never call attention to it that way. She doesn't seem to mind it though as she grins and makes her way over to the giant blond man who's just gotten out of the shower, deciding right away that she likes him. "Uh, t-this is Lyla," Jeff says, fumbling over his words as he follows her. "Lyla, this is, uh, Jordan."
"Skinny, how'd you manage to score a girl like this?" he teases, lightly punching the younger man's shoulder. "I'm kind of speechless."
If it's humanly possible to be any more embarrassed, Jeff's just reached that level. He isn't sure he even has 'scored' her yet and Jordan is probably just making everything worse every time he opens his big mouth.
"Not speechless enough," Jeff mutters, giving a sideways glance to his teammate.
Jordan only laughs as he hooks his arm around Jeff's neck and pulls him into his side so that he can ruffle his hair. Jeff shoves him away as best as he can but the blond man has a good five or six inches of height on him, is still dripping water, and seems to really enjoy embarrassing his younger teammate in front of pretty girls.
"Why don't you go shower, Skins," Jordan suggests, patting him on the back. "I'll use this time to get to know your girl here."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Jeff protests automatically because, as much as he's embarrassed him when he's standing right there, he knows Jordan can do irreversible damage when Jeff's not around to stop him, or at least try to.
"It's okay," she smiles, lightly touching his bicep and she doesn't miss the obvious wink Jordan gives him when she does it. "Go ahead and shower. Brett and I'll keep him in check, right, Brett?"
All three of them turn to look at Bellemore sitting in his stall and he smirks. "Sure, Lyles. Whatever you say."
"You can hurry if it'll make you feel better," Jordan adds with a little grin and Jeff rolls his eyes, but he doesn't argue, because he really does need a shower before they go out to lunch.
He takes the fastest shower of his life, and that includes junior hockey when the team was given a four minute time limit so the hot water didn't run out before everyone could get washed up. When he returns to the dressing room, Jordan is still sitting there in his stall in just his towel talking to Lyla, who's made herself at home in Jeff's stall, and they've been joined by Nash who's sitting right next to her in his own stall. She's laughing at something Bellemore has said and Jeff has to physically stop walking in order to watch her for a moment.
"Hey, you," she says with a grin when she notices him standing there and all of the guys look up at him then, Jordan with a little smirk like he's told her something he shouldn't have and that makes Jeff very nervous.
He tosses his towel into the bin by the door and crosses over to the other side of the dressing room where she is. "Ready?"
"Mhmm," she nods, standing up next to him and she takes him by surprise when she easily slips her hand into his and gives it a little squeeze. "Bye, boys. Nice to meet you all."
"Hey," Bellemore objects, offended.
"And it was nice to see you again, Brett, as always. You boys behave yourselves."
"Don't be a stranger!" Jordan calls as they're walking toward the door. "We can't have Skinny hiding you away all for himself."
Lyla pauses her walking and glances over at Jeff before turning to look over her shoulder at Jordan with a smile. "You may never see me again."
Jordan laughs as she and Jeff walk out of the door and as soon as they're alone walking through the family lounge, he lets out a heavy sigh and squeezes her hand back.
"Damn right."