Dolce Vita

"Sloane you cannot, I repeat, cannot be serious right now." Sloane rolled her eyes at Kim as they sat down in the booth with Kelly and Abby, who exchanged a look between them. Sloane opened the menu, and ignored Kim, who then turned to Kelly and Abby and begged them, "Tell her she's crazy."

"You're crazy." Kelly said before turning to Kim and asking, "Why is she crazy?"

"Because she didn't come home until three in the morning the other night and now she refuses to give me any details of her date with Roman." Kim explained, making Sloane roll her eyes again.

"Wasn't a date." Sloane stated.

Kim grumbled, "You're impossible."

"Why is my love life your business anyway?" Sloane asked Kim, closing her menu after deciding what she was going to have for lunch. She wasn't looking forward to this afternoon, she had agreed to go shopping with Kim to find the perfect outfit for her date with Colin when they got back from their road trip. Sloane had felt bad that Roman had been up until nearly four am and then got on a plane at 3 that afternoon, but he had assured her by text when he was waiting to take off that it was fine, and based on the game he had played the night before it hadn't been an issue.

Kim placed her menu on top of Sloane's and told her, "Because someone has to keep you from making the dumbest mistake in the history of man kind."

"And that would be?"

"Sloane seriously? You spent like five hours with him. You expect me not to believe that you guys didn't even kiss?" Kim asked as if it were the most important thing in the world for her to know what Sloane and Roman had been up to at three am.

"We played twenty questions, had dinner, watched Friday Night Lights and then he drove me home, where he walked me to the door and then went back to his car." Sloane said with a shrug.

Kim practically choked on her drink and exclaimed, "You mean you didn't even try to kiss him? Or invite him up? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Why do you care so much?" Sloane asked her curiously.

"Because you clearly have no idea how perfect you two are for each other, on top of the fact that you guys would be like the hottest couple on the planet." Kim told her quickly, shooting her a look when she laughed.

"You're insane." Sloane stated as their waitress came over to their table to take their orders.

Once their orders were taken Kelly told Sloane, "You really do make a pretty hot couple."

Abby nodded in agreement, "Yeah and Roman really does like you."

"I hate all of you." Sloane muttered.

"Come on Sloane, what's the big deal? Just make a move!" Kim told her, she watched Sloane's cheeks flush. As Sloane took a large drink of her water Kim asked, "Oh my god. You've never made the first move, have you?"

"Well… no… I've never had to!" Sloane exclaimed, her whole faced red when everyone looked floored.

"Okay… first move 101." Kim told her, pulling a notebook from her purse and a pen. She opened it, and started writing and reading out loud, "You just have to do it and deal with the possibility of rejection."

"And you can't think, don't assume the worst is gonna happen because you just won't know until you try." Kelly told her with a pointed look. While she hadn't known Sloane long she had gathered by now Sloane wasn't an impulsive person, she made calculated decisions.

Abby pitched in with, "Just kiss him. He'll be receptive trust me."

"How are you so sure?" Sloane asked her wearily.

"Because Seth told me that Roman was going on to a few of the guys about not knowing if he should make a move or not, because he didn't eat to freak you out."

Sloane grumbled, "Damn you and your perfect relationship with your cute boyfriend."

"Don't hate."

- - -

"Any plans for tonight?" Roman asked Shea as they walked out to the team bus after their game. They were in Los Angeles for a few days before moving on to Colorado, Roman never knew what to do on these weird road trips where they would spend more than a day or two in one city.

Shea shrugged, "Maybe just grab dinner and get some sleep. I think some of the guys were talking about going to a movie."

"Oh…cool." Roman stated with a nod.

Glancing over at his younger teammate Shea couldn't help but chuckle and ask him, "You wanna grab a bite to eat?"

Roman nodded and said, "Well since you asked."

Shea laughed and they got onto the bus, taking a seat beside each other. Once the bus was moving he asked Roman, "Does this have anything to do with that girl? Kim's friend?"

He shrugged, "I mean... yes and no."

"You got a picture of her? Because I don't know if I've ever met her or not." Shea asked, watching as he thought about it for a moment before he opened twitter and found her. He flicked through a few photos that didn't have her in it before he found one of Sloane and Kim at dinner. She was wearing a plastic birthday crown, and a big smile, and he was once again blown away by how effortlessly gorgeous she was. Shea studied the photo for a few seconds before determining that he had never met her before and he told Roman, "She's pretty."

"Yeah she is." Roman stated, shoving his phone into the pocket of his dress pants. He lowered his voice so not to be overheard and told Shea, "Honestly I don't even know how to go about this whole thing. Any other girl I'd just send her flowers and impress her with my credit card but Sloane would probably slap me across the face and never talk to me again if I did that."

"That's how you know she's worth it." Shea told him honestly.

"Was that how you knew Riley was worth it?" Roman asked curiously, he was never one to pry into the personal lives of his teammates, especially not his captains, but he'd always been envious of Shea for what he has with Riley.

Shea smiled and nodded, "She pretty much hated me when we first met."

"Really?"

He got a chuckle just thinking about it and he knew Roman would laugh too when he told him, "I tried to be all slick and introduce myself to her at a party but it turns out we actually met the year before I just didn't recognize her."

"Oh… yeah… how did you get her to go out with you after that?" Roman asked with a chuckle at Shea's expense.

As the bus came to a stop at the hotel Shea told Roman, "That is a story for another day."

They made a quick stop to their rooms to change before they met in the hotel restaurant and found a table in the back. Not that the restaurant was very busy at 10 at night anyway. Once they were seated and had ordered Roman asked Shea, "I feel so out of my element here. I don't even know what I would say to her."

"That's a good sign you know. Means you really actually care for her, that it's more than just a hit it and quit it thing." Shea told him, raising his eyebrow when Roman looked at him in confusion. He couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction and ask, "What?"

"It's just weird to hear you say those kind of things." Roman told him with a shrug.

"Do all of you guys think I'm a saint or something?" Shea asked curiously, this wasn't even close to the first time one of his teammates had balked at something he'd said that was similar to the 'hit it and quit it' comment he had just made.

Roman shrugged and told him, "Well… I mean… almost all of us have only ever known Shea and Riley, we never knew what you were like before you guys were together. You've been together since like 9th grade haven't you?"

"I was 18 when we started dating, and I did have a life before I met her you know. Not to mention all the seasons where I was in Nashville and she was in Vancouver when we weren't exclusive." Shea stated, as if his past should have been obvious.

"Well you're a very private person, and I've only known you as the exclusive married guy." Roman told him, watching as Shea raised an eyebrow.

"We're not married." He stated.

"Yeah but you might as well be. Honestly I'm surprised you haven't asked her already." Roman said, watching Shea shrug before he curiously asked, "Why haven't you by the way?"

"Asked her to marry me? It's just not the right time. She's finally starting to get on her feet and feel normal here I don't want to do anything to make her feel more like a social pariah than she already does." Shea told him honestly.

Roman's eyebrows crunched together and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"This doesn't get repeated, because I know it embarrasses her. It's taken a long time to get her to feel comfortable here. At first it was the issue of her not being able to work so she felt like she was just living off me and not contributing anything, and then all of a sudden on top of that she's the captains girlfriend and that comes with a set of responsibilities she wasn't ready for. The lifestyle that comes with our careers it's not Riley's thing, frankly it makes her really uncomfortable, but she's finally started to figure it all out and she's learned to be okay with it all." Shea explained, knowing it probably surprised his defense partner. Riley was so involved in all the behind the scenes wives and girlfriends things, she was the glue in the wives room, it probably would have shocked anyone to hear how uncomfortable all the things she did on a near daily basis made her feel.

"So a wedding is the last thing you wanna drop on her? Aren't you worried she might think you don't want to marry her? I mean you guys have been together for years, don't you think eventually she'll start wondering why you haven't proposed?" Roman asked curiously, he knew Shea wasn't the whisperer of all things female but he figured that with the lengthy relationship he had he could learn a thing or two from him.

He shrugged in response, "One day, but to be honest a ring is the last thing on her mind I know that."

"How do you do it?" Roman asked him, and when Shea raised his eyebrow he clarified, "Make it last as long as you have?"

The longest relationship Roman had ever been in was just over 2 years when he was in high school. He had trouble even imagining being together for 11 years like Shea and Riley had. Shea simply told him, "Make the effort and do the little things. I get her flowers on her birthday every year, whether we're at home or on the road. I talk to her at least once a day, I never forget an important date, and I've kept a good relationship with her family, which is more important than you might think."

"See but that doesn't really help me much now. I can't even figure out how to get her to go out with me." Roman told him, and when Shea chuckled at him he raised his eyebrow at him.

"You're over thinking it dude. Just get to know her and the rest will follow." Shea told him, crunching his eyebrows together when Roman whipped out his phone and began typing furiously. After a few seconds, when the typing stopped and he was just scrolling Shea asked him, "What are you doing?"

"Googling her." Roman stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. After a few seconds he let out a quiet noise of achievement and opened the link displayed on his phone before he looked up and explained to Shea, "She writes for an online magazine thing. I figured if I Googled her I'd find it."

"And?" Shea asked, intrigued.

He skimmed through a few articles, nothing really stood out but there had to have been at least several hundred articles on here. He bookmarked the page and then opened an article that caught his attention, reading the title out loud, "What you're doing wrong; a modern version of How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. What the hell is that, a movie?"

"Yeah Riley has it." When he said this Roman looked up from his phone and raised his eyebrow. Shea sighed and summarized it the best he could, "Girl has to write something about how to lose a guy in ten days, girl meets guy, girl falls in love with guy, the end. Total chick flick."

"Which is exactly why I've never seen it."

- - -

Sloane was sitting on the couch in her apartment, hair up in a big, messy bun, in pyjama bottoms and a baggy sweater. She had her laptop sitting on the coffee table in front of her, and the Preds pre game on the TV. She glanced at her phone which was sitting on the couch beside her, and debated texting Roman. She knew he wouldn't see it until after the game but she convinced herself to do it anyway, taking a picture of her TV she sent it to him with the message I'm supposed to be working… you've corrupted me.

She put her phone back on the couch and ate her dinner before she looked back at her computer again. She really did need to get this article out, but nothing was coming to mind. The first period began, and Sloane found herself chewing on her nails as she watched, and when the camera focused on Roman on the bench she was suddenly reminded of the conversation she, Kim, Kelly and Abby had earlier that day.

You can't think, just do it. You won't know until you try.

Suddenly she had her next article topic. She pulled her laptop up onto her lap, opened a document and started writing.

Ladies and gentleman it's time to get to the bottom of the age old question of who makes the first move.

Sure it would be great if we could all read minds and know whether a guy (or girl) was into us or not, but unfortunately that's not possible.

Tradition has the guy making the first move, but it's 2013 people, live a little! So let's get down to it, weigh out the good and bad of making the move and not.

In making the first move you show him you're confident, and adventurous, and not afraid to be the one who initiates things (he doesn't have to know you spent hours going over every possible out come before you even made plans with him).

Chances are he's into you but he's too afraid to risk the possibility of you rejecting him to actually do anything about it, believe it or not men aren't always the big, tough, macho characters you see in pretty much every Clint Eastwood movie.

Or he likes you but honestly has no idea you feel the same way, and you need to communicate and tell him you do feel the same way. Keep in mind; we can't read their minds and they can't read ours, and you could easily be giving off the wrong vibe without even realizing it.

However, where there's good there's always bad.

He could say no and you'd be thoroughly embarrassed. In which case you just have to brush it off and accept the fact that it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway.

He's only interested in being your 'night time' friend. This is probably worse than him saying no, but if that's not something you're interested in just lay that out and see what he wants. If he doesn't want to be in a real relationship with you and you're not willing to compromise then move on and find the guy who does want a relationship with you.

It just doesn't work out or isn't what you expected. So he says yes, your plan of making the first move was successful, but now you find out you're dating the most boring person to grace the planet earth. Which is worse? Being the rejecter or the rejectee?

So ultimately the decision is up to you, I say go for it. I think I'm going to test this out one of these days. Really what's the worst that can happen? He says no? If that's the end of the world for you, honey this article couldn't help you anyway.