The Truth Is...

It was five to seven when Claudia’s phone beeped with a text from James to say that he was outside. She got up from the chair at the kitchen counter and gathered her bag from by the door before she headed out of her condo, locking up behind her. Sure enough, James was parked on the curb outside of her parking space waiting for her.

He unlocked the door as she was coming around the front of the SUV and then she climbed into the passenger seat, immediately looking at him to take in his combination of dark grey dress pants with a white button up tucked in and she said, “Oh, good, I’m not under dressed.”

James turned to her with a smile, taking in her outfit and he told her, “No, you look great.”

Claudia didn’t bring up the expansion draft and neither did James, instead they were silent on the ride to the restaurant. James seemed relaxed; he was leaned back in his seat, one hand on the wheel with the other in his lap, his head was bouncing just the slightest along to whatever was on the radio. That might have been what surprised Claudia the most.

When she couldn’t handle the silence any longer she asked him, “How was your visit with your family?”

He told her, “It was good, mom requests that next time they’re in town you come to dinner at least once.”

“I feel bad enough! Don’t make me feel worse by telling me that!” Claudia exclaimed and James couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice to have someone in his life, romantically or not, who got along as well with his family as Claudia did, especially since none of his short list of girlfriends ever had.

“Don’t feel bad, you had a lot going on.” He told her, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze.

So did you. She thought.

She simply told him, “I know, but I was hoping I could have seen them more than I did.”

She had gone to dinner with him and his family once while they were in Nashville for games three and four of the final, she had sat with his family for those two games as well, but once the season was over she hadn’t had the time to see them again. She had booked everything for after the playoff series, so that she wouldn’t miss anything, which she was glad she had done but that meant that the days following it she had very little free time. She was only now starting to get totally caught up on things.

“Next time. I’m sure they’ll be up here lots this summer.” James told her, and Claudia’s eyebrow raised as she turned to him.

She asked him, “You’re not flying north for the summer?”

He let out a laugh, “Nah, I kind of like it around here. Plus, I think I’d miss you too much.”

“Don’t stay on my account.” She told him, and then she added, maybe a little too quickly, “Not that I don’t want you to. I’d like having you around this summer, I just would feel bad if you did it just for me.”

James didn’t say anything for a second, and then he turned to her as he stopped at a red light and he joked, “Sorry, what was that? I tune you out when you start to ramble.”

Claudia rolled her eyes and she reached out and slapped his arm as he tilted his head back and laughed, it occurred to her just how much she loved that sound, especially now. She surprised him by reaching out and grabbing his hand, giving it a squeeze before she told him, “Well… I don’t think I have much booked this summer.”

“So… vacation?” He asked her with a hopeful smile.

Claudia let out a laugh and said, “Sure, a vacation sounds good.”

“Where to?” James asked her, squeezing her hand this time.

“You pick.” She said.

“Somewhere warm, somewhere we could just spend the whole time on the beach.” James said, thinking for a moment before he asked her, “How about the Bahamas?”

Claudia nearly snorted, she told him, “And here I was thinking we could spend some time with your family.”

“We can do both.” James told her with a grin, saying, “I just wanna get away from life for a bit. I love my family but any time we spend in Whitby is gonna be monopolized. I like the idea of just hanging out on the beach for a week… mostly because you’ll be in a bikini.”

Laughing she told him, “In your dreams.”

“Every night.” James told her, trying his damnedest to keep a straight face but it only worked for about two and a half seconds before he broke out into that signature smile of his that was so infectious it made everyone around him smile.

“Why do I hang out with you?” Claudia joked, smiling innocently over at him.

He ignored her question and informed her, “You should be flattered, you know.”

“Oh I should, should I?” Claudia asked him, amusement present in her voice and with the small smile turning the corners of her lips up just the slightest.

Nodding James told her, “Yeah, James Neal thinks you’re pretty hot, that’s kind of a big deal.”

She tilted her head back and let out a loud laugh and then she asked him, “And yet you’ve never tried to sleep with me.”

“I like my balls where they are, thank you very much.” He deadpanned and Claudia stifled a laugh at him. She was beginning to realize just how much she was going to miss him if he left, and she wasn’t sure why but that made her stomach feel like it was tying knots in itself.

James pulled the vehicle into an empty space at the restaurant and he waited around the front of the vehicle for Claudia, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they headed into the restaurant. Claudia glanced at his hand, which was holding onto the lower part of her upper arm, and then she glanced at him as he spoke with the host about their reservation.

Two things she wasn’t able to wrap her head around; James Neal had made a reservation, and he was so, so touchy feely tonight. Not that he wasn’t always a little handsy around her, hell, there were many nights where they would curl up on the couch together to watch movies and wake up the next morning still there but all of the public displays of affection lately were a new thing.

For a moment she thought about what Lucca had said in the car the week previously.

Friends don’t look at friends the way that you two look at each other.

Before she could contemplate any further she was being pulled along with James through the restaurant to their table, which she noted was the smallest ‘u’ shaped booth she had ever seen and for some reason it made her smile. They sat down, across from each other and Claudia put her bag on the rounded section between them.

She asked him, “So what’s the deal with this dinner thing?”

James looked over at her, and she swore she saw his cheeks flush but the lighting was a little too dim for her to be sure. He told her, “I just haven’t seen you in a while, and after a couple of weeks of the only people I was eating dinner with were teammates or my parents I needed some best friend time.”

Claudia smiled at that, and she asked him, “And what’s with the bathing suit request?”

“Well, I thought we could do one last late night dip in the pool before my surgery.” James told her as he looked over the menu.

Claudia, who had yet to pick up the menu asked him curiously, “When is that, by the way?”

“Thursday morning.” James informed her.

His brow raised and he lowered his menu to the table between them as she reached into her bag and pulled out her scheduler, flipping to a page that he couldn’t see. She let out a breath of relief and she said, “I don’t have anything planned for that day, or the next two days.”

“You don’t have to be there, or take care of me after.” James told her, watching as she wrote in the book.

“Is your mom gonna be here?” She asked him, and he shook his head. Claudia told him, “Then I’m gonna bring you to the hospital, I’m gonna wait for you, and I’m gonna bring you home after. Deal with it bub.”

“Thanks.” He told her softly.

They made small talk through dinner, Claudia noticed the fact that James tried to keep the conversation on her and what she had been up to lately rather than on himself but she didn’t voice that. She let him have whatever it was he was trying to avoid for now, knowing there was likely a reason for it. James was quiet while he drove them back to his place, Claudia followed behind him up the front steps and into the house, she greeted the dogs after he did and then when he disappeared into the master to change Claudia slipped into the bathroom off of the kitchen to do the same.

When they met in the living room again James whistled, Claudia’s cheeks flushed, and he told her, “Damn, if only I had known all these years that it was possible for a one piece to look that sexy.”

Rolling her eyes Claudia gave his chest a gentle push and this time she led the way out to the pool. She sat down on the concrete edge and stuck her feet into the water and James followed her lead. It only took a moment more before he slipped into the water carefully, and then he turned around to face her, floating in the water and he asked her, “Well… are you coming?”

She rolled her eyes, and when he smirked she asked, “Must you make everything dirty?”

“What can I say, it’s truly a gift.” James told her with a grin, he kicked his foot out to splash her and then he told her, “Just get in already.”

She rolled her eyes and lowered herself into the water, but she didn’t go any further than that so James approached her slowly, and Claudia didn’t have a chance to react before he put his hand on the top of her head and dunked her under the water. When she surfaced he was a few feet away, laughing loudly, so she pulled her hair up into a bun at the top of her head and then she asked him, “Do you have a serious death wish?”

“Please, I am not afraid of a pint size human.” James told her, grinning.

She could help but splash him with as much water as she could, wiping the grin right off of his face. He did the same back, and after a minute or two of back and forth Claudia called out, “Okay, okay, enough. You’re gonna hurt your hand.”

“I’m practically indestructible at this point baby.” James told her with a smirk and Claudia rolled her eyes at him. There was really never a dull moment around him that was for sure.

Claudia reached out and pinched his side hard, and he jumped and yelped which made her laugh, “Sure.”

James didn’t respond, instead he took a seat on one of the in pool benches and Claudia sat next to him. He stretched his arms out over the pool edge and he told her softly, “So… I got a call from my agent this afternoon.”

“Oh?” She didn’t like the sound of that.

“And then I got a call from Vegas’ GM.” He told her, and Claudia was sure if it were humanly possible her heart would have plummeted into her stomach. He cleared his throat and then he told her softly, “Guess I’m going to Vegas.”

That was like a sucker punch to the gut that she was expecting but it somehow still caught her off guard.

She let out a sigh and turned to face him, resting her arm over his, putting her hand on his shoulder as she asked, “For sure?”

“Yeah, it was mostly just a courtesy call to let players know ahead of time so they’re not blindsided tomorrow night when they announce it.” James told her quietly. He kept his eyes downcast at the water in front of him as he told her, “They wanted me to come out and be a part of the draft thing but with the surgery I can’t.”

Claudia gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “How are you feeling?”

He shrugged, “I’ve had time to accept it, it was pretty obvious what was happening. The minute I got told I wasn’t being protected I knew I was good as gone.”

“I know.” Claudia said softly, she leaned into him, forehead resting against his temple for a moment before she lifted her head enough to kiss the side of his head gently. Her fingers played with the hair at the back of his head, he had only recently gotten it cut after growing it, along with the beard he was still sporting, through the playoffs. Claudia simply said, “If you ask me this is some bullshit.”

James let out a laugh, “Tell me about it.”

“I’m sorry.” She told him, resting her chin on her hand on his shoulder. James lifted his arm to put his hand on her back, between her shoulder blades, he didn’t move it, he just held her where she was like that. Curiously she asked him, “Have you told anyone else?”

“My dad text me to ask if I knew anything, so I’m assuming he probably told everyone else.” James informed her, adding in, “No one’s said anything, I think they probably just don’t know what to say. I don’t even know what to say, so I can’t imagine they do.”

“Sure you know what to say, you just don’t want to say it.” Claudia told him, she hadn’t meant to be so hard on him, or pushy, but it needed to be said. She knew James probably better than he knew himself at this point, she knew he needed to get things off of his chest but they unless he was pushed into it he wouldn’t do it on his own accord.

With a sigh James reached up and pushed his hand through his hair, wincing which made Claudia reach out and fix his hair herself. He then asked her, “Honestly?”

“Yes, honestly, what are your thoughts?” She asked him, watching as he cast his blue eyes down to the water where they stayed.

She thought maybe, for a second, that she pushed a little too hard and that he wasn’t going to answer but then he told her, “I’m pissed off.”

“About?”

“Everything. This season, the injuries, the playoffs, fucking Pittsburgh… and fucking Vegas.” He told her, keeping his eyes on the water he continued with honesty, “Kind of feels like I was tossed aside because I’m not as useful as other guys now.”

She couldn’t help but say to him, “They’re gonna miss your consistency next season, I hope they know that.”

“Yeah, they probably don’t care. One less contract to deal with, more money for the other guys.” James told her, nodding his head sharply. She was almost sorry she had even asked him, almost, because then he sighed and he told her, “I mean, I get it’s a business, and I guess I can sort of understand where they’re coming from but it doesn’t mean that it didn’t feel like a huge slap to the face. I thought this was finally it for me, that I wouldn’t have to do this again.”

Not knowing what else to say to him Claudia told him, “Vegas isn’t so bad you know.”

“Oh no?” James asked her, brow raised, the corners of his mouth were turned up just the slightest into a tiny little smile.

“Nah, there’s some cool things to do, lots of stuff to take in, depending on where you are it can be pretty beautiful out there.” She told him, and then she smiled and added, “I mean, you’ll have to start wearing sunscreen every day if you don’t want to look like a lobster permanently though.”

He barked out a laugh, “I’ll have to remember that.”

“You’ll be okay there. If I could survive Vegas you can too.” Claudia told him with a soft smile, ruffling the hair at the back of his head gently.

“I always forget you lived there.” James told her, and he asked her softly, “Did you like it?”

“Oh, I loved it, and I’m not lying or sugar coating it for you. I really did love it there.” Claudia told him honestly.

He smiled gently and then he cleared his throat and he fumbled his way through his question, “I know it’s early and kind of presumptuous to ask but… you’ll visit, right?”

With a smile she told him, “You know I will.”