Punch Drunk Crazy

Sam could say with certainty that she had never seen a hockey game live in her life until today. The night before an envelope slid under her door and inside the envelope was two tickets to a Caps game and a note in near chicken scratch that said I know what you do, care to come see what I do?

So that was why she was following a friend from work through the crowd and to their seats. Once they were seated Sam glanced around the arena and Jessica asked her, "Damn, how'd you get these seats again?"

She wasn't sure if she was ready to advertise her neighbors and the strange relationship she had with one of them just yet. So she told Jessica, "A friend."

"Well your friend has great seats."

Sam nodded her head and looked around again, and she asked Jessica, "Is it always this packed?"

"I've only been twice but every time I catch a game on TV or live yeah." Jessica told her as the lights lowered and everyone started cheering as the players began coming onto the ice.

As players began to skate around Jessica pointed out certain players like Ovechkin, who Sam would have had to have been stupid to not know, Laich, and Holtby. Sam had snuck a quick peak on Mr. Google to find out which numbers Tom and Mike were and she found them quickly, beside each other go figure.

Sam's knowledge was limited on how hockey worked; she knew it was on ice, with a puck, that there was a goalie and that was about it. So while the game started Jessica would lean over and explain anything Sam couldn't figure out but if Sam was being honest the only thing she really cared for was finding Tom each time he was on the ice and following him. She could learn all about hockey and what he really did for a living later.

It wasn't until the third period when Tom got into a somewhat physical argument with one of the Toronto players that Sam really, truly realized just how deep she was in with this guy.

As if sensing her worry Jessica leaned over and assured her, "Oh don't worry, he's pretty tough, he can definitely handle himself."

Oh I have no doubt that he can.

Once both players were sitting in their respective penalty boxes and her level of surprise and concern had faded Sam found herself staring at Tom's back in the penalty box. They were a few rows up but she could still see him well enough and Sam realized she liked what she saw. Not in the little, shy, unsure of things way she had before. It had finally become blatantly obvious to her that she liked him, that she really, really liked him.

Well fuck.

With the game over and a win for the home team Sam found herself driving home in complete silence. She had dropped Jessica off at her apartment a few blocks from the arena, not wanting her to be walking on her own at night, and now as she drove home she wondered what came next.

This thing that she and Tom were doing, whatever one wanted to call it, was beginning to get more and more seriously. At least to her. Tonight, realizing that no matter how much she denied it or even tried to down play it she had feelings for him. Maybe not crazy deep, in love kind of feelings, but somewhere along the lines over the last few weeks as she got to know him she developed real, somewhat strong feelings for him.

The last thing that Sam understood was what the hell that meant for them.

He's a twenty-one year old hockey player and she's a near thirty-one year old lawyer. Those things just didn't mix well. Forget what either of them did for a living, a nine year age difference wasn't a little thing. It wasn't something people just got over, or didn't notice. They couldn't honestly be anything, she knew that in her head but everywhere else was telling her to take the chance and go for it.

So what the hell did she do?

- - -

There was a knock on her door forty-five minutes after she got home and she had a feeling she knew who it was. So she got up off of her couch, restacked her pile of papers and folders she had brought home from the office and headed to the door. Tom was standing on the other side, hair damn and shaggy, in a black suit, but what surprised her was Michael standing beside him, also in a dark suit, his hair also damp.

Tom grinned and asked, "How'd you like the game?"

"How do you know I went?" Sam joked, her eyebrow raising and a small smirk appearing on her face.

Michael let out a chuckle and told Tom, "I like her."

Rolling his eyes at his roommate Tom looked at Sam and informed her, "So I looked to see if you came."

"How adorable." Sam joked, again making Michael laugh.

"We wanted to know if you wanted to come get a drink with us? You know, celebrate the win and all." Tom asked her, his cheeks pinking up as if he was embarrassed, or nervous. It made Sam smile.

She glanced between the two of them and their tailored suits and asked, "Do I need to change?"

Tom chuckled and shook his head, "You're fine. We're actually gonna change quick too if that's cool."

Sam nodded and she was surprised when Michael disappeared to their apartment and Tom leaned against her door frame. So she asked him, "Aren't you changing too?"

He nodded, "I'll change once you're ready."

So she let out a dramatic sigh and pulled on a pair of ankle boots with a chunky heel, tucking the bottoms of her straight leg jeans into them before she slipped her phone into her back pocket and said, "Lead the way."

She locked her apartment door and followed Tom into his own and she rolled her eyes but still smiled as Tom joked, "I knew I'd get you in my apartment eventually."

He disappeared down the hall and Sam stayed where she was by the door but she did look around. She wasn't surprised with what she found; the place looked like a typical bachelor pad. Sparsely furnished, a ping pong table, and a bunch of water and Gatorade bottles littering the counter space in the kitchen.

Michael was the first one to appear from down the hall, in jeans and a hoodie, and he smiled and asked Sam, "So really, now that Willy isn't here and you don't have to lie, what did you really think of the game?"

She let out a chuckle and said, "It was fun… I think I figured most of it out."

Michael chuckled and as Tom approached them in jeans and a t-shirt with a zip up sweater over it he asked, "What's so funny?"

"Just you." Michael told him.

As Tom rolled his eyes Sam assured him as they walked side by side down the hallway, "We were just talking about my total lack of hockey knowledge."

Tom flushed again and he took the chance and wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulder, pulling her into his side as he told her, "Yeah I probably should have taught you a few things before springing a game on you."

He was surprised when Sam wrapped her arm across his lower back and stayed tucked into his side as they got into the elevator. She assured him, "It's fine. Apparently finding someone in Washington who actually knows about hockey isn't that hard."

Tom chuckled, and they were silent until they got into the vehicle which was when Michael, who argued for a whole minute with Sam over taking the back seat, asked her, "So what's your idea of a fun time? It really can't be hanging out with us all night right?"

She smiled and told him, "My idea of fun? Sleep."

Tom laughed and Michael said, "Seriously."

"Seriously. I work close to twenty hours a day. Going home, a glass of wine, maybe a hot bath and then sleeping. That's my idea of a good time." Sam told him, and then she let out a short laugh and added, "I sound like an eighty year old."

Tom shrugged his shoulders and tried to make her feel better by telling her, "I'd choose sleep over a lot of things too honestly."

"Okay well you're barely legal, so it's totally acceptable for you to say that." Sam stated, making him and Michael chuckle.

Tom stuck by Sam's side as Michael surged ahead to find them a table in a crowded pub style bar. Sam slid into the booth first and Tom slid in after her, and Michael went to the bar to get their drinks. It was then that Tom leaned down to talk to her and said, "Thanks for coming."

Sam nodded her head and told him honestly, "I wasn't going to."

His brow quirked, "How come?"

"Thought it wouldn't be a good idea." She told him, leaving the reason for why it wouldn't be a good idea out. She knew Tom knew why.

"So why'd you decide to come?" He asked her curiously, pulling away from her just enough to see her a little better.

Sam glanced down at the small space between them and then she looked up at him and said, "I decided to stop living in my head so much."

Tom grinned and told her, "I like that idea."

Michael groaned when he came back and saw the two of them huddled together and stated, "If this is what the night is gonna be like tell me now and I'll just go home."

Sam chuckled, her cheeks flushed and Tom rolled his eyes, firing back with, "Now you know how I feel around you and Kelly."

Mike responded with an eye roll and the middle finger and Sam just shook her head at the two of them. Sam looked up discretely at Tom as he and Mike started badgering each other back and forth, she watched as he smiled with ease, and lifted the arm opposite of her up to run his hand through his hair, pushing the stray strands back to where they were supposed to be again. She watched his as his puffy lips stretched out into a smile, which then eventually morphed into a laugh that even his side vibrated with. She was in way, way too deep here.

"So, who'd you bring to the game anyway?" Tom asked Sam curiously, looking down at her and giving her a warm smile.

"Just a girl from work, I don't have friends in case you haven't noticed. I basically just sent an email out and picked the first person to respond." Sam stated, smiling as Tom and Michael both laughed.

"It can't be that bad. I mean, if this guy has friends surely you have friends too." Michael stated, motioning to Tom with his insult.

Tom rolled his eyes and Sam shrugged her shoulders and told him, "Well one friend moved to Germany, and the other is married with a two year old and another one the way. So basically no I have no friends."

Michael chuckled and shrugged, tipping his beer bottle slightly, "Alright, you got me there."

Sam nodded slowly and Tom leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You want another drink?"

Again she nodded her head and Tom disappeared to the bar, which was when Michael turned to her intently and told her, "I have a question, and seeing as you are the only female I know who doesn't know my girlfriend I was hoping you could help me."

"Okay..." Sam said, a little wearily.

"I'm trying to come up with a good game plan for our first anniversary, you know... what to do, what to get her that kind of stuff. Everyone I've asked says jewellery and a fancy restaurant but that's just not Kelly. You kind of remind me of her so I thought maybe you could give me some ideas." He told her honestly, his cheeks pinking up in the most adorable way.

Sam smiled and asked, "Well... okay what's she like?"

"She's like super smart, half the time I don't even what the hell she's saying, and she's a sports girl... she's not really into like romantic comedy, dressing up kind of stuff." Michael told her as Tom came back with three drinks.

"So take her to a Redskins game." Sam told him.

Tom looked at Michael, and Michael looked at Tom, their faces both mirroring each other as Tom exclaimed, "Dude, why didn't we think of that?"

"Fucked if I know." Michael muttered, pulling his phone out to write that down. He then turned to Sam again and said, "Okay, you're clearly better at this than we are. What else? I can't just take her to a football game for our first anniversary."

"No, you definitely can't. I would smack you if I were her." Sam told him with a chuckle.

"Note to self, no sports dates." Tom stated, and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, take me to a Nats game and you're golden, but you also have to feed me." Sam told him matter-of-factly, and he and Michael chuckled.

"Yeah, you and Kel would get along great." Michael stated, and Tom nodded his head in agreement.

Going back to helping him with his planning Sam told Michael, "Take her to where you took her on your first date. If it was a movie and Burger King so be it. She'll appreciate the sentiment."

Michael looked at Tom and said, "I like her, don't scare her away."

Tom rolled his eyes and not so subtly glanced at his watch before he asked Sam, "You ready to go?"

She shrugged her shoulders and then nodded, allowing him to take her hand as she slid out of the booth after him. She followed, slightly behind him, but wrapped her arm around his to keep herself from getting lost in the crowd he was pushing their way through to get to the door. One they were outside she tucked herself closer to his side, he was much warmer than she was in his sweater as opposed to her in her three quarter length shirt. Tom wrapped his arm around her and pulled her even tighter against him, and Sam wrapped one arm across his back and she gently rested her other hand on his stomach, as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head gently.

"You sure you're okay to drive?" Sam asked him curiously as they approached his Jeep.

He nodded, "I'm fine, that second drink was water."

"That's not fair. I should be aware when you're making me drink by myself you know." Sam told him as she got into the passenger seat.

Tom grinned at her as he turned the key in the ignition, and once he was backed out of his parking space and out into traffic he removed one hand from the steering wheel and he reached over, grabbing Sam's hand in his. She glanced over at him as he drove, watching him, and she laughed when he started singing along to some country song on the radio.

He turned to face her as he came to a stop at a red light and he grinned as he asked her, "What? Not a Luke Bryan girl?"

"No... sorry I am definitely not." Sam told him.

"Alright so name some people you listen to." Tom told her.

"Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Norah Jones, Stevie Ray Vaughan." As she named them Tom would either shrug or nod.

He told her, "I know like two of the people you've mentioned."

"You need musical intervention." Sam told him, and he let out a laugh as he pulled into the parking lot of their apartment building.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder's again as they headed inside and into the elevator and once the doors closed behind them Sam turned to face him and she leaned up on her tip toes and kissed him. It surprised Tom for a moment before he leaned down just slightly, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him as he leaned back against the elevator wall.

Sam's hand slid up his bicep, over his shoulder and it rested against the side of his neck, her fingers slipping through the hair behind his ear. Her other hand stayed pressed against his other shoulder, and one of Tom's hands slid over the waist of her jeans and he grabbed her butt in his large hand as he deepened the kiss.

Their moment was entirely too short for either of them when the elevator came to a stop and they were forced to part as the doors opened. Sam took Tom's hand and pulled him out of the elevator as a tenant from down the hall passed them to get in. She let out a giggle as she approached her apartment door, Tom grabbing her by the hips and pulling her back against him as she fumbled with the keys in the door.

Once the door was unlocked they both walked into the apartment, Tom closed and locked the door behind them and he watched as Sam walked into the living room, kicking her heels off as she went. He leaned against the post at the end of the island counter and watched as she bent down and looked through a row of records.

Tom had to say he was disappointed when she pulled a record out and straightened up, she turned and glanced over her shoulder at him, smiling. He continued to watch her with intensity as she pulled the record from the sleeve and placed it on the player. Once the music started she turned to him, and crooked her finger and Tom pushed off of the post and headed toward her.

She slipped one arm between his arm and his side, pressing her palm against the bottom of his shoulder blade, her other hand went to the back of his neck as she pulled him down to her level and kissed him softly. Tom placed both hands on her hips, and then his large palms slid up to her waist as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip and Sam damn near instantly opened her mouth to him.

Eventually Tom pulled his lips from hers, pressing a few kisses down her jaw and neck before he grabbed fists fulls of the hem of her shirt, before he tugged it up and over her head, dropping it on the floor and Sam slowly unzipped his sweater and pushed it off of his shoulders, her eyes peering up at his as Tom reached down and pulled his t-shirt off and tossed it somewhere in the vicinity of where hers had been tossed.

Sam took a moment to appreciate his body, and good God did he have one. As they stood, nearly touching, Sam ran the tips of her fingers so gently down over every single bulge of muscle on his torso, until they stopped at the top of his jeans and she looked up at him again. Tom leaned down and connected their lips again, only for a moment before he pulled away from her ran his palms down the curve of her waist and slipped underneath her jeans where he cupped her butt in both hands for a moment. He kissed her quickly before he dragged his lips down her neck, across her shoulders and then, as he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her tightly into him his lips travelled down her chest, along the edge of the cup of her baby pink lace bra, between both of her breasts and then down her stomach.

When he glanced up at her, his lips pressed just below her belly button, Tom pulled the button on her jeans and yanked the zipper down, but Sam surprised him by grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him up to her. She told him, "You can do that later."

"Yeah? Promise?" He asked her with a smirk.

She nodded as she kissed him, and she let out a squeal when he leaned down, grabbed her by the backs of her thighs and pulled her up off of the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and Tom carefully walked down the hallway to her bedroom, where he placed her on her knees on the bed in front of her.

Sam reached between them and undid the button to his own jeans, pushing them down his hips leaving him in only black boxer briefs. She looked up at him through her lashes as her hand brushed against his length and Tom closed his eyes and let out a near groan as her fingers slipped under the waist band of his briefs and she grasped him firmly.

When he pulled her hand away Tom smirked and mimicked her, "You can do that later."

Sam smiled at him, and she leaned up as if she was going to kiss him but instead she turned and pushed him onto his back on the mattress. She smiled and told him, "Don't tell me what to do."