Nirvana

James jumped slightly as the front door opened, he turned his head to look behind him and found Harley kicking her shoes off. She was wearing a pair of black shorts and a light blue tank top, covered in sweat, and had headphones hanging from around her neck. She waved gently at him and said, “I'm stealing your shower since I don't officially have one. I'll only be a few minutes.”

James nodded, but didn't respond, he wasn't sure how to respond, so instead he watched her as she made her way down the hall, yanking her tank top off and leaving herself in a sports bra before she even got into the bathroom. He had only known her a few days, and he was already getting the notion to not ask questions, she didn't seem like the kind of girl to do what someone else suggested that was for sure.

Harley turned the shower on in Rich's bathroom as hot as it would go, and grabbed the zip lock bag of her things from under the sink, she couldn't help but smile at that. Right where she left them. She grabbed her shampoo and body wash before stripping out of the remainder of her clothing and stepping into the shower. She was sure she hadn't been in the shower longer than ten minutes before she got out, she had never been one that enjoyed long showers. She towel dried her hair the best she could before wrapping herself in a towel and collecting her clothing before she poked her head out the bathroom door and made her way into Rich's bedroom. She tossed her clothes in his laundry basket before she grabbed an extra bra and a t-shirt, pairing that with another pair of his sweat pants that she had to roll at the waist to make sure they weren't dragging under her feet.

She dropped onto the couch, a respectful distance away from James, and put her feet on the coffee table before she turned to him and asked, “So how do you like Nashville?”

James pondered the question for a moment before he told her honestly, “I haven't really seen much of it. I pretty much go between here, the arena, and the bar you work at.”

Harley smiled and couldn't help but correct him, “Actually I own the bar.”

James raised his eyebrow, caught by surprise, “You own it?”

“Yup.” She popped the 'p' and ran her fingers through her hair, untangling it before she pulled it up into a pony tail.

“So.. you run?” James could have smacked himself. You run? Really.

Harley didn't seem to care about his question, she simply nodded and told him, “You know, it's a good way to see the city.”

“That's true.” James responded, looking at the TV across from him before asking, “When do you go?”

“5 in the morning every Monday Wednesday and Friday.” Harley told him, catching him by surprise for a second time that morning.

He raised his eyebrow, “Do you ever sleep?”

“Only every other day.” Harley joked, making him laugh. After a few seconds of silence she told him, “You could come, if you want. Meet me at the bar.”

“So...Wednesday at five?” James asked, checking on his phone to make sure he didn't have an early practice that morning.

Rich walked in, pulling his sunglasses from his face and onto his hat, glancing between the two of them before he took a seat on the other couch. He motioned to Harley and stated, “Those are my clothes.”

Harley rolled her eyes, “Thank you captain obvious.”

“Sometimes I wonder why exactly I allow you to hang out at my house.” Rich muttered, making Harley grin.

“Because I do your laundry for you.” She told him, laughing when his head snapped up to look at her. She nodded to his non verbal question and said, “Should be done within the next ten minutes. I however am not drying them for you, because I need to go.”

When she got up and collected her phone and headphones Rich told her, “Thanks.”

She nodded and pulled her runners back on before she turned to James and said, “I'll see you Wednesday.”

- - -

Harley was laying on her back on the floor in the middle of the bar when she heard the door open. She looked up just long enough to confirm it was Shea and not some random thinking she was already open at one in the afternoon, before she looked back at the ceiling. Shea pulled his hood up before he laid on his back opposite of her, his head lined up with hers. They lay there in silence for a long time, he was surprised she didn't even have the music on. Diosa was different in the middle of the day with no music than it was at night in full swing, Shea had always found it odd.

“So.” Shea was the first to speak.

Harley mimicked him, “So.”

“Are those Clunie's clothes?” He asked curiously, and Harley looked at him as if he had three heads.

“Seriously Shea? When was the last time you saw me in my own clothes aside from between three in the afternoon and four in the morning.” She told her, and Shea couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

“True.” Shea said, before they fell back into silence again. It wasn't anything more than five minutes before he asked her, “Any particular reason we're laying on the floor of a bar at one in the afternoon?”

“Because I somehow managed to get myself into a situation I probably shouldn't have, and this is my most productive self hate spot.” Harley told him, making Shea turn to her with an eyebrow raised. Knowing he wouldn't directly ask Harley explained, “I may have made running buddies out of your new teammate.”

“Somehow I don't see that going over well with Rich.” Shea warned her, and Harley already knew that, it was why she had been laying on the floor thinking of ways she could close up shop and disappear from Nashville without a trace. Shea sensed her anger with herself, it wasn't hard to do if you knew Harley as well as he did, and he told her, “It's just running. Right?”

“Right.” She said, more to herself than to him. That's all it was, just running. She wasn't about to dwell on the fact that she had caught him staring at her ass more than once, or that she was sure he had caught her checking him out once or twice as well. He was Rich's teammate, and he was off limits.

Curiously Shea asked her, “Does he know? About you and Clunie?”

“No. If he asks I might tell him, but that's only if he asks and if I feel like sharing. That's not exactly something I'm proud of you know.” Harley told him, making Shea laugh loudly. She rolled her eyes, reached out and smacked his stomach before telling him, “You know what I mean!”

“I do. Which is also how I know that you might as well just tell Rich now rather than later.”

Harley rolled her eyes and stared at the ceiling again, finding spots where things had somehow reached the white ceiling that she needed to clean eventually, before she told him, “Well... I mean... he kind of does. I might have mentioned something right before I left his place.”

“So you left James to answer questions from Rich when he knows nothing about your personal... history?” Shea asked, not surprised by Harley's actions.

“I know, I'm a terrible person.” Harley muttered, narrowing her eyes as Shea laughed again.

Changing the subject Shea asked her, “So what are you doing for your birthday?”

“You guys are in the middle of a giant like 10 day road trip, don't you dare even think of doing anything.” Harley warned him, making him hold his hands up in surrender mode.

“You looked.” He stated, making her roll her eyes at him for what seemed like the tenth time that hour.

She shrugged, “Yes, I looked. I was curious. But to answer your question, working, and then I'm probably gonna drink my seemingly disappearing youth away in the back.”

Shea laughed, “If you're thinking you're old, remember I'm barely younger than you.”

“Yeah but you're a guy, and guys age way better than women, it's a known fact.” Harley told him with a nod of affirmation.

“Oh yeah? Name one.”

“George Clooney, Mario Lopez, Brad Pitt... I could go on.” Harley stated, holding her hands up to count for good measure.

Shea shook his head, “Doesn't count, they're millionaires.”

Harley paused for a moment, before she asked him, “Have you looked at your contract lately?”

“Touche.” He told her with a laugh, and he was thankfully when he heard her laugh with him. After a few seconds he asked her, “You could meet us in Calgary.”

Harley let out a short laugh, “Yeah, okay.”

“Come on, Rich would love it.” Shea smirked, making her groan before he added in, “And I'm sure Nealer would not object.”

“Have I ever told you I hate you?” She asked, getting up from the floor and Shea followed her actions.

“I've seen you look at him more than you think you do.” Shea told her, taking a seat on a bar stool as she made her way around the other side of the bar and dug around on the shelf.

Pulling a bottle of JD and a shot glass out she muttered, “I need a drink to even have this conversation.”

Shea let out a chuckle and asked, “What's the issue? He seems like a decent guy.”

“So did Rich.” Harley pointed out, tipping her shot glass slightly toward him before she downed it.

“He is a decent guy. He just wasn't to you, but to be fair you weren't that great to him either.” Shea told her, giving her a glance that made her narrow her eyes at him before she filled the glass up again.

“You know when I agreed to sign you up as my friend you were supposed to take my side not both ours.” Harley told him, and Shea simply shook his head with an amused smile on his face.

“Seriously Har, you gotta get over it at some point.”