Just Another Season

by Longley, Avery J.

  Sometime after he’d gotten back from the arena and taken a shower, based on his still damp hair, he’d come down to her apartment to start prepping for the evening’s dinner. Emma was starting to like these types of meals, when all 3 of them would gather and chat and just enjoy each other’s company. It wasn’t like anything she was used to. Growing up, dinners were usually served by maids or butlers and were rarely a family affair unless her parents were trying to impress someone.

  And then there was the matter of the relationship between the Perrault cousins – it was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. The closest relationship Emma had with any of her siblings was her brother Keegan, and even their relationship was cantankerous at best. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just do the things that were expected of her – like stopping her schooling after high school and marrying a ‘nice boy’ from the local country club. And she couldn’t understand why he didn’t appreciate how much that life wasn’t her – that it never had been, nor would it ever be. She was never going to be someone’s trophy wife – hell, she’d be lucky if she was someone’s wife at all!

  She must have looked off in her own little world because Luke stopped in front of her and waved his hand a bit. “Bonjour!” He chirped cheerfully and she couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Ah, there’s that smile again.” She watched as he set the timer on the stove before heading to the kitchen table and flopping into one of the chairs. “So, tell Uncle Lukey whyfor Emma was so sad, ya?”

  Rolling her eyes, but smiling nonetheless, Emma settled down in the chair opposite Luke and rested her elbows on the table, leaning her face into her hands. “I wasn’t sad. Not when you got here at least.” Internally cussing at realizing her slip, she hoped that Luke hadn’t caught it, but he was far more observant than she gave him credit for.

  “So, what did my cousin do that had you sad before?” Luke questioned casually, eyebrow just a bit arched in the air. Before Emma could mount any sort of a protest, Luke shook his head, telling her, “I know my cousin, and more than that, I know his temper. I also noticed that he’s passed out from painkillers right now, which means he’s had a setback of some sorts. And I’m guessing he never bothered to warn you to steer clear of his ass when he’s in full on crank mode, yes?”

  Blinking in surprise, Emma wondered just what else Luke had noticed without commenting, and for a long second, she couldn’t even muster up any sort of response. Finally, she murmured softly to him, “He pushed too hard in therapy, he said. Guess whatever wasn’t torn before, is now? But yeah, he told me to go away.”

  “You cannot take it personally.” Luke told her immediately and Emma once again rolled her eyes. “Do not roll your eyes at me, I’m telling you, he’d yell at his own Mama if it had been her instead of you. And I’m sure then he apologized profusely, tried to explain why he was upset. Am I close?”

  Looking at Luke suspiciously, Emma questioned, “What, did he call you and tell you what happened?”

  Snorting in response, Luke shook his head. “Non. Need I remind you where I was all day? Do you think the coach would have taken it well if I jumped off the ice to take a personal call from my cousin who has having relationship problems? Non. I’d still be doing suicides if that were the case.” His voice taking on a more serious tone, Luke reached across the table and grabbed Emma’s hand with a tenderness that surprised her. “I’m not telling you this because I’m privy to whatever goes on in your lives. I’m telling you this because I’m his cousin and I love him, and I want to see him happy.”

  Turning away from Luke at his words, she told him softly, “You should check on dinner.”

  He snorted again but did get up to peer into the stove, and it was at that point that Ryan maneuvered into the room, yawning, but a look of slight indignation on his face. “Are you two quite finished talking about me? Or do I need to wait until my dinner is burned to a crisp before I can come out here?”

  Luke folded his arms across his chest and shot his cousin a look. “I don’t know, perhaps I should let yours burn since you were so mean to Emma.”

  Eyes darting back and forth between Emma and Luke, Ryan’s voice was practically a whine when he responded, “I’ve already apologized, what else do you want me to do?”

  Still staring at his cousin with his arms folded, Luke asked, “Have you groveled and begged for forgiveness yet?”

  Again, Ryan’s eyes cut back and forth between Emma and Luke before finally settling on Luke. “You realize that if I do grovel, that I won’t be able to get up on my own, yes?” Luke shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the floor, and after a long moment, Ryan growled soft and rested his crutches against the wall, lowering himself to the ground until he was on hands and toes. Looking up at Emma, who was trying hard not to smile, he told her softly, “I’m sorry for being an ass. Would you please forgive me for my behavior?”

  Still trying to keep from smiling, Emma glanced over at Luke, asking him, “What do you think?” While she wouldn’t forget the way she had been treated the matter of forgiveness was already a dead issue in her mind. And while she didn’t understand why Ryan cared, she had no doubts that he did.

  “I think he should eat his dinner down there.” Luke murmured and Emma almost bit her tongue off to keep the laughter in when she heard Ryan growl without any words in response.

  Kneeling in front of Ryan and gazing into his eyes, she told him softly. “I forgive you.” The look on his face was so relieved that Emma found herself wanting to lean forward a bit and kiss him - until the peanut gallery reminded them both of his presence.

  “Awww, so sweet. Baaaaaarf.” Luke was putting a topping on what appeared to be baked macaroni and cheese and even though she was annoyed at him for ruining the moment, Emma couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Luke’s face.

  “You’re an ass, Luke Perrault. It’s a damn good thing you’re a good cook.”

  He snorted once more. “As I’ve told you before, you are not the first woman to tell me that, and I’m most certain, you will not be the last.”

  Chapter 17 - Ambidextrous

  It had been a few weeks since Ryan had re-injured himself at therapy, but once again, the swelling was finally going down. In fact, he’d been walking around the apartment without the crutches, since it was rare he was ever on his feet for an extended period. But tonight was the first pre-season game of the season – and perhaps the last game he’d see for a while until after his surgery – so the crutches were coming back out for his appearance at the arena.

  He had mixed emotions about heading back to the arena, knowing there wouldn’t be a chance in hell that he could get on the ice or even in uniform. On the flip side of that though, he was looking forward to being able to see Emma at work, and even being able to provide her with terminology and such throughout the game that would aid with her article.

  Per team policy, Ryan was dressed in one of his nicer suits, accented by a blue and gray tie that closely matched the team colors. The cumbersome leg brace was still present, but there was little he could do about that. He’d debated his glasses to refine the polished look he had going, but ultimately decided to stick with the contacts. As the bedroom door opened across the hallway, though, Ryan could see that Emma had made the opposite decision.

  Much like she had on the day of the first fan fest, Emma looked stunning. She was wearing those same pin stripe pants and white shirt, and Ryan was quite amused to note his leather jacket topped the outfit. “I’m not ever getting that jacket back, am I?” He teased.

  She grinned so wide that her eyes crinkled. “I think it looks better on me than it does you.”

  They were starting to tread on dangerous ground here. If Ryan had his cousins’ morals he’d perhaps make a comment about seeing if she looked as good out of it as she did in it, but he bit his tongue and just grinned back at her and held out his arm for her to hook hers through. They’d decided it made more sense to head together to the game, so she’d get the benefit of his pa
rking spot, and they’d both need to stick around after the game anyways.

  Once they did arrive at the arena and grabbed their credentials entitling them to press box access, they headed inside, with Ryan waiting in the concourse area while Emma went down to pick up the evenings press notes from the Blizzard’s Director of Communications. While he waited, the doors opened for the fans and almost immediately he was recognized by some of their more loyal fan base.

  “Ryan Perrault! Oh my god! Can we have our picture with you?”

  The girl was young, perhaps still in high school, but she was so excited that she was practically shaking so Ryan nodded and grinned. “Of course.” While he waited for the girl and her friend to find someone to take the picture, he backed up towards the wall a bit more, leaning his crutches against it right behind them and shifting his weight so it was on his good leg.

  Finally, the girls came closer and he put his arms around them both and smiled as the pictures were taken. As soon as they were done he grabbed for the crutches again and prepared to find Emma and head off to the press box but these girls were full of questions. “How’s your knee? Are you going to play this season? Does it still hurt?”

  Shifting around again to make sure he had good balance on the crutches, Ryan turned back towards them and noted with some chagrin that other people had noticed him as well and he was starting to develop a crowd. “I should be having surgery in the next week. Unfortunately, it’s looking like I won’t be playing this season, but you never know. And I’ll definitely still be around.” He gave them both a wink and then bit on his tongue so he wouldn’t laugh when they grabbed each other and started squealing. “Bye ladies. I have to head off to the press box.” Giving them a small wave, he turned again and started heading towards the elevator, finding Emma gazing at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “Personal fan club?” She asked as she said to the security guard that they were ready to take the elevator to the secured level the press box was located on.

  Ryan shrugged his shoulders then swung himself into the elevator. “Fans. Kids. They were really excited to meet me.”

  “So I noticed.” Emma replied dryly.

  Nudging her with his crutch, Ryan teased softly, “Why Ms. Connelly, are you jealous of the little teenyboppers?”

  “No!” She answered immediately, but the blush creeping up her cheeks told a different story.

  Ryan laughed again as the elevator doors opened and he headed off to the press box, Emma on his heels making noises of displeasure.

  ~*~

  L. Perrault in alone vs goaltender - goalie makes save.

  Emma looked up when she felt the elbow in her ribs – Ryan had elected to sit beside her in the front row of the press box and she glanced over at him. “When it’s one player in alone on the goalie, that’s called a breakaway.” He explained before he turned his eyes back to the action on the ice.

  Making the correction on the document full of notes, Emma looked up just in time to see the Blizzard’s opponents score yet again against the tryout goalie who had now found himself as the starter. Hearing Ryan groan beside her, she reached beneath the counter and patted his knee.

  “I would have stopped that.” Ryan grumbled. “Blind-folded, with one arm tied behind my back. We’re getting shellacked, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.”

  Turning her eyes back to the action that had resumed on the ice, Emma reminded him softly, “Cards you were dealt.”

  “Doesn’t mean I have to like them.” He muttered in response.

  Rolling her eyes a bit and trying to ignore him, Emma resumed her typing, periodically looking up from her keyboard to watch the action, still trying to absorb as much as she could before the ‘real’ games started. She was grateful for these exhibition games; not just because they didn’t count in the standings, but because if the Blizzard played this bad every game, they were going to have an awful season. It also gave her more time to learn. And Ryan, even if he was being cranky at the moment, was helping.

  “Uh Emma? You might want to look up.”

  Glancing over at Ryan, she found that he was blushing quite a bit, and when she followed his finger, she discovered why – the Blizzard’s entertainment crew had decided to make her and Ryan the object of the “kiss cam” being shown on the big screen above the arena, and down below where they sat she could hear the crowd shouting encouragement. And since play had halted on the ice as well, she could even see the players hooting and hollering.

  Smirking just a bit, Emma pointed at herself, and then pointed at Ryan, and then tilted her head at the camera, trying not to laugh when the view of herself on the screen ‘nodded’ back at her. “You don’t have to do this,” Ryan whispered beneath his breath, and out of the corner of her eyes, she could see that his face was almost scarlet red.

  Emma winked at him and repeated the pointing for the camera one more time and when the camera ‘nodded’ again, she turned towards Ryan, finding that he was staring back at her with wide eyes. Reaching forward and grabbing him by the lapels of his suit jacket, Emma pulled Ryan close and kissed him hard for what seemed like an eternity, finally separating when she needed to catch her breath.

  She could hear the crowd whistling their approval, and looking down on the ice, she saw Luke bent at the waist, doubled over in laughter, while most of the rest of his teammates banged their sticks against the boards circling the ice – Ryan noted Trent wasn’t, but he doubted Emma would.

  Flushed, and still more than a bit wide-eyed, Ryan voice was still a breathless whisper, “That means that they approve.”

  Laughing and giving him another wink, Emma murmured. “Good to know.”

  ~*~

  After the game had ended and the Blizzard had gotten their asses handed to them, both Ryan and Emma had taken the elevator down to the player’s level. Ryan headed off into the locker room to be with teammates. This was the first time many of them had seen him since he’d left the arena in an ambulance and there was a lot of back patting and discussion when he arrived.

  “Gentlemen.” The coach began, once everyone had settled down into their respective locker room stalls. “I hope you’re as ashamed by your effort tonight as I am. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when the best action we had all night was by Perrault up in the press box.” He paused when the room busted out laughing and Ryan’s cheeks began to burn again. “Incidentally Perrault, get a room!”

  The coach continued to talk with the team about how and where they needed to improve, but did commend Luke on the goal he had scored late in the game. Meanwhile, Ryan maneuvered himself over to his cousin’s locker, sitting beside him on the bench.

  Soon the coach ended his pep talk, telling the team that they’d get their opponents the next time, and headed out of the locker room to let them get changed back into their ‘street clothes’. As Ryan prepared to exit himself to keep Emma company while she waited to do her interviews, he heard a voice behind him say, “Yeah, we’ll get those homos next time.”

  “Do not use those words in here.” Luke said immediately while Ryan shifted back around to face the room, curious to what his cousin was up to.

  The player, who Ryan could now see was one of the defensemen, Gabe Gordon if memory served, retorted immediately, “Why, are you queer?”

  Luke by this point was standing and half-undressed and he merely raised an eyebrow at his teammate. “And if I was?” Flexing his arms out in front of himself in a silent challenge, Ryan held his breath while he waited to see how this encounter would play out. Luke had already proven himself to be the best player on the team – would his teammates challenge him? Take offense to what he was saying?

  Gordon shook his head. “There’s no fucking way you’re queer. You’ve already bedded half of the damn cheerleading squad.”

  “I am.” Luke paused and then glanced over at Ryan, asking him, “Que se passe-t-il?”

  Ryan knew exactly the word Luke was looking for – Luke was trying to cover for
him, to be the bisexual teammate so that if Ryan ever did get back in the locker room, he wouldn’t be harassed. But he wasn’t completely willing to let Luke take that much weight on himself so he answered, “Ambidextrous.”

  “Oui, ambidextrous.” Luke shrugged then grinned, not understanding why some of his teammates chuckled soft into their hands. “Does not matter to me.” Luke moved further into the center of the locker room and swung around to face all his teammates. “Does who I bang have any impact on what I do on the ice?”

  “Not that I’m aware.” That was Trent who spoke up and if Ryan wasn’t so afraid of blowing his own cover, he’d have hopped across the locker room to hug him.

  “Then if anyone has any close-minded comments, keep them to yourself.” With that, Luke turned back to his locker, resuming the process of getting undressed. The locker room remained silent for a long uncomfortable moment before the regular post-game chatter resumed, and after Ryan exhaled, he finally exited, still shaking his head at what Luke had just done.

  “Are they going to be ready for me soon?” Emma questioned Ryan as soon as he reached her, recorder already in her hand ready to go.