Be Mine - Two

Gabby pulled the sheet of paper from her pocket for the ten thousandth time.  It had been folded and refolded so many times it might fall apart on the next opening, like a precious antique.  Walking across baggage claim, she read the signs held out by a few private car drivers just in case.  James had offered one, she had assured him a cab would be fine.  

Twenty minutes later, they were rolling into downtown Pittsburgh.  She remembered the bridges and the tram, the US Steel Tower and how surprisingly close the football and baseball stadiums were.  Older buildings were marked by decades-old dark stains from the milldust.  The driver pulled up in front of CONSUL Energy Center Arena.

The place looked deserted except for a lone security guard lounging inside the entrance she’d been instructed to use.  A knock on the door brought him around.  He opened the door a crack, giving her jeans and overnight bag a skeptical look.

Hi, I’m here for a semi-blind date with James Neal.

“Hi, I’m here to meet....”

“Gabrielle?” a voice called.  The guard turned to see a forty-something woman in a pants suit scurrying up to them.  “It’s okay, Larry.”

He opened the door and just like that, she was inside the Penguins arena.

“Hi, I’m Janice.  James asked me to meet you.  Sorry about that,” she glanced back at the guard.  “We couldn’t have a cab take you to the player’s entrance, so....”

“It’s okay.  Sorry to interrupt your work day.”

They veered toward one of many doorways leading into the bowl of seats and the ice.  “Want to see?”

The Penguins were on the ice - some in black jerseys, some wearing white or gold.  Coaches in black warm-ups wove between them, as deft on skates as any player.  A group at one end listened to instruction while at the other shots were flying toward a manned net.

Wow.  Gabby swooned a little at the sight, hoping Janice wouldn’t assume she was pregnant or something.  It was just so... cool.  Penguins practice.  Where the players were just people but all the magic happened.

“He’s over there,” Janice pointed.  The jerseys were blank, but Gabby picked out James by his height and lanky build, the way he leaned over his stick.  Then she turned.  “They’re almost done. Come on, I’ll take you downstairs.”

It was even more interesting below the surface of the arena.  Gabby had seen a TV program about the underground city that operated Disney World, and it must have looked similar.  She was inside the machine now.

Out on the ice, coach was wrapping up his talk.  James bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet, digging his skate blades into little ruts near the hash marks.  Gabby should be here by now.  He didn’t want to keep her waiting.

“Neal.”

He blinked - everyone was looking at him.

“Sorry Coach, his girlfriend’s here.  It’s been a while, if you know what I mean” Sullivan piped up.  James turned a death stare in that direction but couldn’t see Steve’s short body between all the big guys.

Little shit.

“Thank God,” Niskanen moaned.   “I might get to sleep through a nap.”  Everyone busted up laughing.  Bylsma tossed his clipboard onto the bench in surrender.

“Get out of here, fools.”

They weren’t even off the ice before the questions started.  

“Girlfriend?” Jordan Staal asked loudly.  “You get some new shirts or she like your shitty sense of style?”

“It was the belt,” Pascal Dupuis guessed.  “That gay Louis Vuitton belt he wears.”

Kris Letang hurried forward and blocked the locker room door.  “Do we get to meet her?”

The entire crew stopped, like an army suddenly halting their march.  James rolled his eyes.  He shouldn’t have brought her here.  Why did she have to like hockey?  Of course, then she wouldn’t have known him.  Why did her flight have be so early?  Because he’d wanted to spend the day with her.

God damn it, it’s my own fault.

“Fine, but shower first.  You all fucking reek.”

They piled into the room to the tune of Tyler Kennedy singing, “Nealer’s buying lunch!”

Janice deposited Gabby in what she assumed was a lounge for families during games.  Flat-screen TVs adorned every wall, comfortable couches and chairs were spread around.  She examined the photos on display - Pens highlights, some she recognized and some from before her time.  She told herself they were all just regular people and that she’d been mostly fine with James, Geno and Steve.  She could handle a few more hockey players.

James ripped his gear off and ran for the shower.  He wanted a minute alone with Gabby before the guys descended on her.  He scrubbed and shampooed, did his best to tame his hedgehog hair, and pulled on his favorite jeans with a dark blue sweater.  It was a land speed record for him.

“Meet us at Primanti Bros on the Strip!” he hollered as he hurried out of the room.  

Gabby’s heart did a backflip at the sound of the door opening.

Fucking A, was the first thing that came to James’ mind.  Gabby wore a clingy v-neck sweater the color of leaves turning gold in fall.  A sliver of white tank top was visible at the top edge, just covering the promise of a peek at her cleavage.  The white also peeked out at her waist, highlighting the curve of her body.  Dark jeans hugged slender thighs and covered the top of brown boots with medium heels.  Her thick curls shone with copper highlights, each one perfectly formed and falling over her shoulders like spilled pennies.  Her brown eyes were smiling even more than her perfect mouth.

“Hi,” she said.

It was a complete surprise she could say anything at all.  James was so.... James.  There was no other way to describe it.  She’d watched him play and be interviewed so many times it felt like she knew him.  He was familiar.  He was also insanely fucking hot.  

Completely unfair.

His heavy knit navy sweater was the soft kind you wanted to snuggle against.  Long sleeves covered the tops of his hands.  Jeans didn’t hide the fact that he used his thighs and ass to pay the bills, with gray Converse sneakers peeking out the bottom.  His hair was a not-quite-perfect mess but he looked like he’d hurried to see her.  His smile started small, almost shy, then grew into a total grin.

“Hey.”

She took two running steps and jumped into his arms.  It was like a movie.  If she wasn’t so impressed with the easy way he caught and held her off the floor, she might have barfed.

James buried his face in her hair and squeezed her tight.  If nothing more physical than this happened, the trip was a success.  He was a nice guy.  Some perverted part of his brain had taken over and written those Tweets.

I’m not going to do anything about them, he admitted, breathing in her scent.

Then she was sliding down the front of his body, arms around each other in a full press.  Gabby tilted her head up, looking right into his eyes.  When her feet hit the ground, her chin was level with the middle of his chest.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said.

Gabby had seen the Leonardo DiCaprio version of Romeo + Juliet ten times.  She loved the costume party scene, when it seems like the older, more clever Romeo holds all the cards but it’s naive, coltish Juliet who grabs him by the back of the head and pulls him into their first kiss.  Rash and fearless and probably a mistake, as it starts a wildfire.

She lifted onto her toes and kissed James full on the mouth.  Just like that.

Whoosh.  His hands slipped up under her hair, tilted her head back and took full advantage of the moment she parted her lips.  Gabby was grateful for the hold or she might have fallen at the first brush of his tongue.  It was the first kiss equivalent of jumping off a roof.

“Hey!”

James and Gabby both flinched, flying from each others’ arms like guilty kids and landing three feet apart.  Sullivan was holding the door wide open.

“That is gross, my kids eat in here!”

Gabby started cracking up.  Her insides felt like shaken soda in a can, her face the color of a Coke label, her lips still trembling from the kiss.  She covered her face and lost it.  James took a good-natured swing at Steve and grabbed him into a headlock.  Sullivan tried to take out Neal’s feet, but he didn’t have the reach.

“Sorry, sorry,” Steve brushed himself off as Neal released his grip.  “Hi Gabby, nice to see you.”

“Steve,” she nodded, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Sorry about this one, he doesn’t get out much.” Sullivan jerked a thumb at Neal.  “But he promised us lunch.  And we’re hungry.”

“Hungry!” Geno yelled from the hallway.  “Gabby hurry!”

James rolled his eyes.  Leave it to his teammates to make sure things were as awkward as possible.  Without thinking, he reached out a hand for Gabby as if holding hands was something they did every day.  It was a natural reaction.  He didn’t realize what he’d done until she slipped her fingers between his and squeezed.  James blushed like a little girl.

“Hello!” Geno hugged her like an octopus and she squealed.  He was instant friends with everyone - once he knew your name, you could get an eight-armed hug at any moment.  “I glad you are here.  Lazy loney. Sooooo boring.”

James wanted to die.  Gabby slid an arm around his waist and leaned against him in all her compact, curvy glory.  He decided he wanted to live.  They walked together to the parking lot, Gabby talking to Sully and Geno about her trip while James twisted one of her curls around his finger.  She tossed her bag into his black Mercedes and swung into the front seat, James reached for the gear shift.

“Wait a sec.”  

James paused.  Steve and Geno’s cars disappeared toward the exit.  Then Gabby’s hand was turning his face and the lights went out as she kissed him again.  Her mouth was soft and warm, daring him to reciprocate.  But before he could get out of his seatbelt, out of his seat and out of his pants, Gabby was sighing against his lips.

“I didn’t get to finish before,” she said.  Her gaze was open and frank, watching him as if unsure how he’d react.  It took him a second, blinking slowly, to clear away the stars he was seeing.  The look on her face was hope.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said, all moony like a teenager.

The uncertainty melted from her eyes.  “Let’s go, Lazy.”
_

Just on a date with James Neal. And the Penguins. No big deal.  This situation clearly calls for a huge sandwich with the french fries stuffed inside.

Gabby’s inner monologue may have been rambling on the way to the restaurant.  James pointed out landmarks along the way and she nodded politely, not hearing a word.  His tall, lanky frame seemed to take up all the space in the front seat and she kept waiting for his hand to come down on her leg and stay there.  But James, clinging to any shred of manners he had left, kept both hands on the wheel.

“Are you sure this is okay?” He put the car in park along a curb.  “We can ditch them and go somewhere else, if you want.  I don’t... I don’t trust them to behave.  They’re wild animals.”

This is Sophie’s Choice, Gabby thought.  Lunch with my favorite hockey team or more kissing James Neal.  She chose the latter.

“Over here!” A voice boomed the moment they were in the door.  James was shaking his head, but a smile stayed on his face.  The Pens had taken over two tables in the corner of the dining room.  It was smack in the middle of lunch hour and the place was pretty busy.

Christ on a bike, Gabby nearly said out loud.

For fuck’s sake, James thought.  Why are these my friends?  It only ever bothered him when there were girls around.

Jordan Staal, the one who’d shouted, was extricating himself from behind the table.  James was tall but Jordan was also and wide.  And very blond.  Gabby bit her lip to keep her mouth from falling open.  James rolled his eyes as Staal stopped in front of Gabby like he was going to deliver a big welcome.. then shrugged and just smiled.

“I was going to say something to embarrass Nealer, but you’re too pretty.  I’m Jordan.”

“Gabby.”

“And you know the rest of these guys.”
Gabby waved to the table full of players.  Steve and Geno were on the end closest.  Jordan had abandoned a chair next to Tyler Kennedy.  Gabby had to force her eyes past Kris Letang with only a brief smile,  for fear she’d faint.  Next was Paul Martin, who stood and politely shook her hand.  She’d read somewhere that he and James had been roommates in Pittsburgh last season.  Paul pulled out the seat next to him and Gabby felt like a kid, shorter than nearly everyone by a head, as if her feet shouldn’t touch the floor.  James stretched his arm around the back of her chair.

They ordered pitchers of beer and the trademark sandwiches with cole slaw and french fries stuffed inside.   James watched his friends banter and elbow like brothers; Gabby was a little wide-eyed, taking it all in.

“Okay?” he said quietly, half-turning toward her.  She smiled at him, nodding.  

“Then stop staring at Tanger’s hair.”

Gabby blushed.  James pushed his hand up under her curls and rested it against the back of her neck.  

“So Gabby, Nealer hasn’t told us a damned thing about you.  He’s afraid we’ll intrude on his turf,” TK said.  “Where’d you guys meet?”

“In a coffee shop.”

“Oh yeah?  What shop?  Because I don’t remember any girls like you at the....”

“In DC.”

Dead silence.  Geno broke the silence with a bark of a laugh.

“In DC? ” Kris asked.  “Last week?”

James squeezed gently at the nape of her neck.  If she misunderstood the guys, she’d think they were judging her.  A girl who meets a guy once then flies to see him on a semi-blind date is... well, awesome, James thought.  The guys would agree.  But Gabby might not see it.

She shrugged.  “Yup.”

“So you’re...,” Jordan leaned forward onto his elbows.

Anything could come next: a golddigger, a puckbunny, a mental patient... one guess was as good as the next.  If they asked what she was doing here, she didn’t know.  She was only reasonably sure James even intended for her to stay at his house.  It was a whim and it was crazy, but here she was.

“... a Caps fan,” he finished.

Gabby burst out laughing.  “No!  God no.  I’m a Pens fan.”

Worse to be called a Caps fan than a whore or a psycho? she wondered.

“Oh, okay!” Jordan’s aggressive posture fell away.  “I figured James picked you up with some shit story about....”

“No,” Geno cut in.  “Gabby talk to James first.  She recognize.  James get all red and forget to talk but me and Sully are there saving the day.”

“Sounds about right,” Paul said.

James hung his head in embarrassment, but Gabby slid her hand up to rest on his thigh.  And nearly swooned.  There was a thick, hard muscle beneath those jeans and she instantly pictured twenty R-rated ways to use it.   The waitstaff arrived with trays of sandwiches and everyone shut up long enough for the heat in her face to fade.  

The rest of lunch was easy.  Conversations broke up between the group and Gabby talked mostly to Paul and Kris, guessing they were closest to James in personality.  James mostly watched her charm his friends, and noticed how easily they let her win them over.  They had the same instant liking for Gabby he’d felt in DC.

Well maybe not all the ways I like her.

Then he looked at Kris and knew yes, it really was all the ways.

When the pitchers were empty and the plates cleared, the waiter brought the check.  Everyone pointed at James, including Gabby.  He gladly paid.

“Bye Gabby!” Geno kissed her cheek.  She promised to see him, and everyone, at the game the next night.  They promised various things in return, from goals to the Kiss Cam to mooning the entire CONSOL Energy Center.  She was still laughing as she buckled into James’ car.  They both stared out the windshield for a moment, and Gabby sighed happily.

“Now what?”  she asked.

James couldn’t help looking at her.  She was fighting a smile, biting the soft, juicy rise of her lip into a perfect little divot.  The glow from all that attention lingered in her cheeks and she smelled so damned good.

“Fantasy team?”  He couldn’t believe the words came out of his mouth.

She let the smile break across her face.  “Yeah.”
_