Him and I

James Neal laughed, a deep, loud, bellowing, doubled over belly laugh at the sight of his backyard. Red and white and maple leaf decorations covered tables and were strung haphazardly. Coolers of beer overflowed with Molson.

And on the other side of the backyard, it looked mostly the same, except it was all red, white, and blue. Streamers, tablecloths with Stars and Stripes, and coolers of Budweiser.

Oh yeah, and two bald eagle pool floats.

“Are you laughing at my hard work?” Alexandra "Alex" Gates asked indignantly.

“We’re having a Canada day party. It threw up America over there,” he gestured.

“We are having a joint celebration; we talked about it and you said it was fine.”

He pulled Alex into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “It is fine. I just didn't realize it was going to look like this. I mean, you are going to be the only American here.”

“Not true,” Alex replied as she twirled away from him.

“Excuse me?”

“I invited Paul.”

“Paul Martin? Mr. Minnesota Paul Martin?”

“Yep, that Paul Martin. He's staying with us too. And bringing a girl so behave.”

“A girl?! He didn't tell me he was dating anyone.”

“Well he told me and he wants us to meet her. And Craig is coming too.”

“What?”

“I needed Americans. It would've been weird if I was the only one.”

“Any other surprises?”

“Nope. Willy couldn't make it, that bum.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is Smitty staying with us too?”

“No; he got a car and a hotel room before I could stop him. But I'm pretty sure at least half the people you've invited will probably end up crashing here tonight.”

“As long as I don't find you curled up beside Tavares.”

“No promises,” Alex winked as she headed back inside.



Their party was in full swing several hours later and James was at the grill with Steven. Across the yard he could see Alex with Paul and the girl he brought with him, Lily. Alex had liked her immediately and the pair had hit it it off, which had made Paul smile.

In the pool, Craig lounged on one of the eagle floats and he had attracted the eye of a couple of the single women at the party. Nearby PK and John were leaned back against the pool wall, each with a beer in hand.

“What do you think Subby and John are talking about?” Steven asked James.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Probably he's telling PK how to be boring.”

“Or showing him how it's done to attract the opposite sex,” Steven chuckled.

James turned as John pulled himself out of the water. Several women openly watched him but John was oblivious. James was not. Especially not when he saw Alex’s head tilt from her position to admire the view. Steven’s laughter pulled him from his murderous thoughts.

“Oh man, you're girlfriend is totally going to leave you for Tavares one day. She's so into him,” he wheezed through his laughter.

“She's not into him,” James grumbled. As PK followed John out of the pool and the pair headed towards Steven and James, he saw Alex's eyes trail after the pair. When her eyes met James, she smiled brightly, waved, and blew him a kiss.

“Why does he look like he's about to hulk out?” PK asked Steven.

“Alex was checking out John when he got out of the pool.” John flushed and ducked his head. “She checked you out too, Subby.”

“Oh yeah?” PK grinned. He turned and flexed in Alex's direction and James smacked him in the back of the head.

“Fuck you, man. That's my girlfriend,” James growled.

PK laughed. “I'm just messing with you. Damn. When did you get so sensitive?”

“I'm not sensitive.”

“Bullshit,” Steven replied. “You wanted to murder John two minutes ago. I saw it in your eyes.” James only response was to frown. “Don't forget that she picked you, that she loves you.”

“What if...” James started but stopped.

“What?” Steven prompted him.

He sighed. “What if she leaves me? I have to leave Nashville. She doesn't know if she is going to come too. I have no idea where her head is at. I don't know if she's going to leave For Goodness Cakes and follow me, or if she's going to stay in Nashville for her business and just visit me.”

The other three exchanged looks before John spoke. “Even if she doesn't move to Las Vegas, she's always going to be yours. Nothing is going to change that.”

“There's so much distance though. And different time zones.”

“You make it work.”

“What if we can't?”

“You're throwing a Canada Day/Fourth of July party, Nealer. If you can make this work, a little long distance won't kill you.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“I've never known you to be pessimistic and you shouldn't start now. She loves you. I mean, she picked you over Rinne. Or did you forget that?”

“If she stays and I leave, she might decide she made the wrong choice.”

“If she stays, PK will be there and you know he's going to keep an eye on her. He won't let that happen. No one, not even her undying, unrequited love for me, is going to break you two apart. You're endgame. How do you not know that?”

James cracked a smile at that. “You think we’ll make it?”

“Of course,” John smiled broadly. “Dude, Alex is a knockout. And not only is she gorgeous, but she's smart and funny and no nonsense. She has pursuits outside of you, a mind of her own; she is what we're all looking for, you lucky son of a bitch.”

“I am lucky,” he agreed.

“I'd kill for a girl like her,” Steven admitted. “I want to meet someone that could be forever. And you had her under your nose the whole time.”

They all laughed. “Look,” Steven started. “I hope she goes with you. I really do. We tease you because you're an easy target, but also because we love you, man. And we love Alex. I ship it.”

“You're my OTP,” PK added.

“See?” John said. “We have faith. Now you just gotta have it for yourself.”

James nodded. “You're right. You're always right. Fuck you for that you level headed mother fucker.”

There was more laughter. “That's why we all get along. Our personalities are all different but they mesh with each other. That's why you and Alex work too.”

“What are you fools talking about?” Alex asked, walking up and slipping an arm around James’s middle. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her against him.

“You,” John answered.

“Me?” She demurred. “Why John Tavares, did you challenge James Neal to a duel for my heart?”

“Don't tease him,” Steven admonished her. “He's sensitive right now.”

“Shut up, Stammer,” James said through gritted teeth.

Alex looked between them. Knowing James would never tell her, she turned to the one man she knew would with complete honesty. “What's going on?” She asked PK.

He glanced at James who shook his head. “Sorry, man,” he said to him before turning to Alex. “Nealer is having a crisis of faith and we were setting him straight. Well, Johnny was setting him straight. Stammer and I are just the backup.”

“What kind of crisis?” She asked as she looked up at James. “About us?”

“Can we not do this right now?” James said to her quietly.

“Fine, we can talk later,” she replied evenly. “Steven, can you help me inside?”

“Sure,” he nodded. He shot a look at James before following Alex inside.

Alex moved around the kitchen in silence while Steven leaned against a counter. She fussed with trays of food before finally she stopped and looked up at Steven.

“Do I need to be worried?” She asked, her eyes watery and her voice shaky.

He crossed to her in three steps and enveloped her in a hug. “No, of course not. It's just James being insecure. Everything will be fine. You guys are going to be fine no matter what, okay?” She sniffled and Steven hugged her tighter. “Please don't cry. Not over James. There's just a lot going on and he doesn't know how to deal. You know how he is; hell, you know him better than I do. He's freaking out a little and forgetting what he knows to be true. And if he doesn't get it together, you can leave him for John.”

Alex giggled. “My backup plan.”

Steven chuckled. “I can't believe I'm not your backup.”

“You can be the backup to my backup.”

“Yeah, I can live with that.”

“Thanks, Steven,” she said, kissing his cheek.

“Just maybe don't tease him about John too much today.”

“Noted,” she smiled. “Now, can you grab beer from the garage to refill the coolers?”



Late into the night, as the house emptied, Alex found herself sitting across from Paul and Lily. Steven was to her left and they were joking and laughing. She saw James start towards them and she smiled at him.

“Hey,” he said, leaning down to kiss Alex before picking her up and taking her seat, settling her in his lap.

“You could have asked me to stand up,” Alex told him.

“I could have but my way is better.”

“Your lucky I love you.”

“So lucky,” he agreed with a cheeky grin.

“Paul was just telling me how nice San Jose is and that if I move to Vegas and get sick of you, he has a guest room I can use whenever I want.”

“When are you gonna put this guy out of his misery anyway?” Steven asked. “You know he's worrying himself sick not knowing if you're going or not.”

“There's a lot to think about, Stamkos,” she answered. “But I'm mostly sure I know what I'm gonna do.”

“And??”

She laughed. “I'm not going to tell you before I talk to James about it.”

“Hey, Alex?” PK called out from the back door of the house. “Do you have extra pillows somewhere?”

She stood and started for the door. “Why do you need pillows? I left you plenty.”

“I know but Tavares is hogging them.”

“You boys are so needy.”

“You would know; you're dating the neediest of them,” Paul chuckled.

“Excuse you, Paul Martin but my boyfriend is James Neal, not Steven Stamkos,” Alex shot over her shoulder.

“Hey!” Steven shouted as James laughed loudly. “I'm not needy.”

“You are but it's adorable that you think you're not,” Alex grinned before disappearing inside with PK.

“I'm not needy,” Steven said to Paul, Lily, and James.

“We’re all a little needy,” Paul offered sagely.

“But if Alex is calling you out on it, dude, you must be super needy,” James laughed.

“You know I'm only letting you enjoy this because she likes Tavares better than you.”

James scowled. “She does not.”

“She does too.”

“Boys, boys, you're both pretty,” Lily laughed.

“But your girlfriend absolutely likes Tavares better than you,” Paul added. “And Stamkos is just mad it's not him anymore.”

“Anymore?” Steven asked, sitting up straighter.

James groaned. “Shut the fuck up, Paulie.”

“No, keep talking,” Steven spoke over him. “What don't I know?” He leaned forward with anticipation.

“Alex had a brief crush on you once. How did you not know?”

Steven’s eyes widened and he turned slowly to look at James. “She liked me? And you didn't tell me? Dude!”

“She didn't like you. She thought you were cute.”

“How long ago?” He asked Paul.

Paul shrugged. “I guess it was back when Nealer got traded to Pittsburgh and I met her for the first time. She was in town and we were playing your team and James had plans to meet you for dinner or something.”

“I remember that,” Steven said. “I hadn't met her before but James was really excited about me meeting his friend and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was meeting his friend from Dallas in Pittsburgh when I had been to Dallas plenty of times.”

“He showed her a picture while they were over at my place and for the next two days, she wouldn't stop asking about you or talking about how handsome you were. It drove him insane.”

“And then what happened?”

“She met you,” James stated. “You said something, I don't remember what anymore but that was it. The crush was over, thank god.”

“Well if I had known I was going to mess up my chance with her I wouldn't have said it!”

“Wouldn’t have said what?” Alex asked as she rejoined them.

“You liked me!” Steven shouted.

Alex felt the blush start at her toes and rise straight to her face. “You told him?!” She said, spinning to face James.

“Hell no! Paul did.”

“Paulie!” She shrieked.

“I didn't know it was a secret,” he shrugged.

Alex turned back to Steven. “Don't you dare tell PK and John.”

“I won't as long as you admit that I'm smoking hot and your number one backup.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ok, here's the story,” she started as she sat down in James’s lap. “James showed me a picture of you from the summer before. And you look good with your shirt off which I know you know. And despite the fact that James was sexing me up in every room of his too big house for one person, I thought you were hot and told James so. He in turn said you were a prick by the way.”

“I resent that,” Steven said to him.

James shrugged. “I stand by the remark.”

“Anyway,” Alex interrupted, “I tried to casually ask about you, and I definitely googled you, and then when I met you, when you thought I couldn't hear, you started telling James about the rink rat you banged the night before in a bar bathroom and that's fucking gross and then you asked if if he was banging me and how my tits looked and that was the end of that.”

Steven’s whole face fell. “I'm sorry for asking about your boobs. That was a really dick move on my part and I want you to know that I don't do dumb shit like screw girls in public restrooms or ask about my friend’s friends boobs anymore. If I remember correctly though, James just about punched me in the face for asking that. I should've known he was more into you than he said then.”

“You're forgiven. To be honest, I forgave you for inquiring about my boobs by the end of that dinner. Despite that, I decided you were an okay guy and I knew we'd always have fun together. We both enjoy giving James a hard time after all. And I know you're not that guy anymore; you haven't been that much of a douchebag for at least three years.”

Steven stood up and pulled Alex from James’s lap and squeezed her tightly in a bear hug. “You rolling your eyes at me all those times we had dinner in Dallas and Nashville helped put me in my place you know.”

“All what times?” James asked as Steven set Alex down.

She flushed again and Steven looked to her. “Doesn't he know?” He asked. Alex shook her head. “Well, fuck.”

“What don't I know?” James demanded. “Did you two fuck behind my back?”

“On that note,” Paul said as he quickly stood, grabbing Lily’s hand and pulling her to her feet, “Lily and I are going to bed. See you in the morning.”

He and Lily hurried away as James stood, staring at his best friend and his girlfriend, his face red with anger. When he heard the back door close, he spoke again.

“Did you fuck her?” He asked lowly.

“It's not like that, Nealer,” Steven replied. “Alex and I are friends. That's why you introduced us, right? So we'd get along?”

“I didn't introduce you to her until after I left Dallas so when did you have dinner with her in Dallas?” He seethed.

“James,” Alex said quietly, touching his arm. He jerked back from her.

“Tell me.” Steven and Alex shared a look and James felt his blood boil. “One of you needs to fucking answer me,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I gave Steven my number before he left Pittsburgh,” Alex told him. “And when Tampa came to Dallas a couple months after we met, he called and asked if I wanted to grab dinner with him.”

“You went on a date with Steven?”

“It wasn't a date.” “Yes, we went on a date.”

“Steven!” Alex exclaimed.

“What? I called you, invited you to dinner, and I paid. That's a date.”

“Well of course you paid; you make more money than I do.”

“You went on a date with Steven and never told me?” James asked, the hurt in his voice evident.

“It wasn't a big deal and definitely was never a date,” she added with a pointed look in Steven’s direction. “We went to dinner, James, and Steven flirted with our waitress the entire night and got a not so subtle invitation to a bathroom blow job from the hostess that sat us after he flirted shamelessly with her too.”

“It was a friend date. You know about those; you were taking her on the same ones,” Steven added.

“I was also getting my brains screwed out by her after,” James shot back coldly.

“For the record, you were the only friends with benefits arrangement in my life,” Alex told him. “At the time, when Steven called, it was maybe six weeks since I had visited Pittsburgh and I hadn't heard much from you since I went home to Dallas. You were going out with your boys and enjoying everything that came with being a Penguin. I missed you though and when Steven called it felt like a lifeline to you.”

Steven grinned. “You asked about him or dropped his name at least six times in the first twenty minutes,” he said as he remembered the night. “Oh my god, how did I not know then you two were totally in love with each other? I just thought you probably liked each other but the long distance put a kibosh on anything actually happening between you.”

Alex reached for James’s hand and laced her fingers with his. “I called Steven on all his bullshit and gave him girl advice at that dinner but I've never liked him as anything more than a friend. There has only ever been room in my heart for one hockey player.”

“Tavares,” Steven spoke up with a smirk.

“You're the worst friend,” Alex told him as she shoved him. He fell back dramatically and she rolled her eyes at him. “Despite how annoying he is,” she continued to James, “we always got together after that for dinner or whatever we could squeeze in the one time a year Tampa came to town and when I moved to Nashville we did the same. And then when you got traded to Nashville we all went.”'

“You never told me you were seeing Steven.”

“You say that as if Steven and I were dating and we definitely weren't. We're friends and friends share meals occasionally.”

“Then why didn't you ever mention it?”

“Because I didn't think I had to. I didn't know I was supposed to tell you every time I went to dinner with one of my friends. You might as well know that Brad and I tried to get together every time he visited after he left too. And when I go home to Dallas to see my family, I usually catch up with Mike.”

“Mike Modano?”

“Yep.”

“I can't believe this.”

“James, you introduced me to these people and I saw them all the time. I never thought you were going to be offended that I maintained friendships with some of those guys. And this is exactly why I never told you that I saw Steven without you. I knew you'd overreact.”

“I'm not overreacting!”

“Dude, you're totally overreacting,” Steven said. “It was just dinner. I never kissed her. Even I was smart enough to know you liked her at least a little bit more than you were admitting back then. I like having Alex for a friend for the same reasons you do: she's easy going, she doesn't freak out if I go radio silent for three days, she's funny, she's a total ball buster, and she doesn't give a shit that I'm Steven Stamkos. Her girl advice is pretty on point too.”

“Thanks,” Alex said to him.

“You're welcome.” He turned back to James. “I promise you I wasn't trying to put the moves on her and steal her from you. You introduced us and I thought she was cool and I wanted to get to know her better. She was a part of your life and I figured she probably was always going to be a part of yours for awhile so I wanted to know the person you knew since I'm always going to be in your life too. Don't you want the most important people in your life to get along?”

“I do, and Becs and my mom have loved Alex since they met her,” James replied.

“Dude!”

James laughed. “I'm sorry I overreacted.”

“I'm sorry we didn't tell you that we hung out without you,” Alex told him.

“I'm sorry your girlfriend had a crush on me first,” Steven said with a shit eating grin.

Alex rolled her eyes at him. “You realize I thought James was hotter than sin the minute he rolled out of his car when he rear ended me and I could barely function when he turned those concerned eyes at me the first time, right? I definitely had a crush on James first.”

James beamed and tugged Alex under his arm. “I knew deep down you loved me best,” he said before kissing her at the temple.

“Keep telling yourself that, babe,” Alex smirked.