by Kat Obie
J: Yeah, it really was.
Jenna was debating what to say next. She wanted to flirt and possibly show off more of her personality, but should she address the fact he brought up the accident? But before she could respond, he texted her again.
C: Ever come out to Cleveland?
J: Not yet, but I’ve been meaning to visit Alice. Maybe for the right person it will happen sooner.
Jenna felt proud of herself for that one. She was completely honest about the situation and was a tad flirty. She’d been meaning to visit Alice but until now, it always made more sense for Alice to come back to Philly. She wasn’t opposed to Cleveland in any way. If it was to see both Alice and Corey, it was much more likely to happen.
C: Might I be the right person?
J: I don’t know, are you?
C: Could be if you got to know me.
That was cocky. It was one of the few times that she saw him get cocky during the evening. In many ways, he was just completely charming, but it seemed like there were still bits of that flashy rookie. She liked the bravado, especially how it came out in small doses. He wanted to be special to her and she wanted it deep down despite the denials.
J: You can say that or you can prove it.
C: Oh I will.
That’s when Jenna realized that she was running on autopilot through the subway lines. It wasn’t until she got to the point where she would lose her phone signal that she realized where she was and she failed to warn Corey that it would happen. She got so wrapped up with their texting that she would just have to wait until she got reception again. The worst thing about having to ride the Broad Street Line was that it gave her time to overthink everything, and she couldn’t use her phone until she got to her stop. She knew she should hate Corey. He hit her with his car and it was a miracle she wasn’t seriously hurt. But she wasn’t mad at him at all in part because she was also to blame for getting hit since she never even looked to see where she was going. What bothered her was that she was ten years older than him. He was a baby and could barely legally drink. Although when they were hanging out, he didn’t seem like he was any younger than anyone else at the table. He got all the jokes they were making and could make her laugh.
Gah, she didn’t know what to think. If the age thing didn’t bother her, there was still the other problem: they lived hours apart. Sure, they could visit each other, but he was in the middle of the season. His schedule would be hectic and he couldn’t visit her until summer. She would have to come out to him most of the time since he would only come to Philly a few times a year during the season. But if she wasn’t coming to visit Alice, her best friend, would it be fair to make more trips to visit a guy? He was really hot.
She knew she had it bad. She just hoped she didn’t get burned in the process.
Corey
The text exchange with Jenna was going great and then radio silence. It was crazy. He wasn’t sure what he did to upset her. He was starting to think Alice was easier to understand, and he had a hell of a time pegging her personality until she told him that she thought he was a good guy. He was half tempted to text an apology but he hadn’t done anything wrong. They were flirting and she gave as good as he did.
Petey was on the bed next to him shaking his head. “Dude, relax. You know Alice’s friends were going to take the subway. She probably just lost phone reception.”
Corey knew Petey was right but he still didn’t like it. He wanted to talk to Jenna. He put his phone in the charger trying not to stress out about it. “I know but she was cool.”
“I get that. But you might scare her off if you come on too strong. This is a dump and chase play. You can’t just crash the net with a girl.”
“Dude, can you compare my dating life to any more hockey terms or make it more forced?” scoffed Corey.
Petey just tossed a pillow at Corey. He easily caught it and threw it back at his roommate. Petey just laughed as he said, “If you’re that worried, you can ask Alice what could be going on.”
“I don’t have her number.”
“You know she’s with Scotty. Just call the room.”
“No way. Scotty may like me this year but if he even thinks I’m trying to make a move on Alice, I’m dead.”
“There’s no way he would think that. You had eyes only for Jenna all night. Scotty isn’t blind. He would just assume you wanted to talk to Alice about her.”
Corey nodded. Petey was right and he was obsessing in the worst way. Scotty would be willing to help him out and would never think that he was trying to ask Alice out. But he would probably be interrupting them having sex though, which was a bad idea.
“Am I playing with fire?” asked Corey. It was one of the few times he started to question the wisdom of pursuing Jenna. He didn’t really think about the fact that their circle of friends were closer than he was used to. It could blow up easily if things went bad.
“I don’t think so. But you got to remember that long distance relationships suck ass.”
“Yeah. Fuck. What am I thinking?” Corey leaned back on the pillow that he propped against the headboard. He knew that Petey had been in a long distance relationship and it had seemed like they were going through more hard times than good. Did Corey really want that for himself? He turned his head toward Petey and asked, “How are things with Aubrey?”
“Things, well…” Petey paused. Corey knew that wasn’t a good sign. “Rough. She’s having a tough semester and hates how I’m not around anymore.” Petey shook his head. “I don’t know how much longer it will last. I feel like I’m losing her.”
“That sucks.” Corey felt for his friend. He knew that the two had been dating for a long time but it seemed like the more he was playing in the NHL, the more issues they were having. Corey’s phone then pinged and he immediately reached for it. All his fears evaporated when he saw that it was Jenna.
J: Sorry. Lost signal and had to wait to get off the subway.
C: About time, I missed you.
J: Did you really?
He loved that Jenna was challenging him and not taking things at face value. It showed the fire in her. Then again, this was the same girl who got hit by a car and walked away like nothing ever happened. It was like being hockey strong but better.
C: I never asked tonight, do you play hockey like Alice?
J: Nope. She’s insane for that.
C: Wait, hockey players are crazy?
J: Not all hockey players are crazy. But Alice is. Especially when she played with a concussion despite knowing better.
That surprised Corey. He never saw her be risky on the ice. Everything seemed calculated and to hear she would just push through the pain like that was surprising. That impressed him, although he still thought it was far hotter that Jenna could get hit by a car and pretend that nothing ever happened.
C: I do know you walked away from an accident like it was nothing. It’s not like that’s sane behavior.
J: True. So tell me something about yourself.
C: I play hockey, I love sleep and I like you.
Corey wanted to ask the same question about Jenna but she was too quick to the punch since she followed up with:
J: Sweet talker too. It’s time for me to hit the sack.
C: Sleep well. Talk to you tomorrow.
J: Sounds good. Sleep well.
As Corey was putting his phone back onto the nightstand, Petey asked, “Feeling better?”
“Yeah.”
“Time for lights out?”
“Yeah. That’s if you aren’t calling Aubrey.”
“Text only until the end of the week. She’s too stressed with school and wants me to not distract her.” There was something about how Petey said that that made it seem like he was questioning if that was really her motivation.
“Sorry, man.” That didn’t seem like a good sign at all. While he wouldn’t ever tell his friend, he had a feeling that Aubrey might be stringing him along or seeing someone else.
“I keep
trying to tell myself that it’s not a big deal, and it will allow me to focus on staying with the Sound for as long as possible, but it’s just not working.” Petey turned out the lights. They were going to be traveling early in the morning to get to NYC for their next game. Sleep was always needed for recovery and keeping up with the busy pace of their schedule.
“But remember, with each and every game you stay here, it becomes less likely you will get sent back down to Hamilton. They want you here, man. I know I want you here, and it seems like Scotty and Lager do too.”
“I know. But I was reminded just tonight that if I don’t play stronger again, I’ll get bounced back to Hamilton.”
That seemed shocking. Yes, Petey made a few bad plays tonight but nothing out of the norm for a rookie. Hell, if Corey was being honest with himself, he had his fair share of fuckups on the ice and he wasn’t afraid of going back to Hamilton.
“Did Berman tell you that?” asked Corey.
Petey said, “Worse. Parks did.”
Corey cringed. If it came from the general manager instead of the coach, Petey was in danger of getting sent back down. That meant they were considering trading for a defensive guy rather than letting Petey develop with the Sound. Yeah, it took one bad game to get cut.
“You got this though. Just play your game. We want you here and you know that. Just let me know if I can help.”
“You listening is helpful.”
3
Jenna
Jenna was getting home from work and starting to relax for the evening. Of course, as she flopped down on the couch her phone rang. She smiled since it had to be Corey. The two of them had been chatting nearly every night as long as he wasn’t playing and even then, he would leave a message or two for her post game.
She grabbed her phone and said, “Hey.”
“Hey there, beautiful.”
Jenna blushed when he called her that. It didn’t matter he called her that every time they talked since they met in Philly the second time. She was just glad he couldn’t see her blush.
“So what are you up tonight since you clearly are not playing hockey?”
“Just talking to this pretty girl in hopes that she might want to come and visit soon. Maybe even officially become my girlfriend.”
“Oh, really? What makes you think she can come over?”
“’Cause Philly ain’t that far away. We could easily make it work for a weekend. It’s not like you would be just coming out for me.”
“I don’t know. It just seems pretty fast.”
“It’s your pace, beautiful. I just want to see you and show off my city to you. I don’t even care if you stay at my place, if you stay with Alice or at a hotel. I just want to see you again.”
That had Jenna so completely torn. Corey was saying all the right things. Yet he was still a baby, and who was he really? Well, the last question was becoming clearer by the day. He was a sweetheart and was so focused on the things he wanted, which for now meant hockey and trying to date her.
“Maybe. When were you thinking?”
“Soon, beautiful. Just soon. I just want to be with you.”
Jenna’s heart melted a tad. He was making it clear he wanted her. Not some random puck bunny that he could meet. She knew for sure she wasn’t ready to commit to some relationship with a guy in another state. She wasn’t one to just drop everything for a guy, but she did want to see him. She knew her resolve would be breaking soon enough and he would get his visit. She wanted to talk to Alice about visiting first. So it was time to shut it down for good tonight and talk to Alice soon about it.
“Don’t you have a flight or curfew or something?”
Corey actually growled that time. It was cute to hear him get so frustrated and he didn’t swear. She learned that he would typically growl or moan as a way to buy him some time to say something without being offensive. He wasn’t as compulsive as she once thought.
“Curfew isn’t for hours. We just got to the hotel but a few of the guys will be going out to eat soon.”
“You should go. Be part of the team.”
“I’m thinking about it. But I wanted to make sure we could talk before it got too late, beautiful.”
“I’m glad you did. Truly. I just want to pass out early tonight.”
“Go sleep. We’ll talk later. I need you to come out and visit me.”
Corey
Getting off the phone with Jenna, Corey felt frustrated. Yet again, she balked at the idea of becoming a couple. Sure, they lived in different cities but they had been talking nonstop. It seemed like the natural progression of things. Hell, even if he was in the same town as her, it wouldn’t be much different with his career. He knew he needed to get an outsider’s opinion and Petey would be of no use, since things never seemed to be on stable ground with Aubrey.
Taking a risk, he decided to stop by Scotty’s room. Out of all the guys on the team that he could turn to, Scotty seemed like he would be the easiest to talk to about girls. Well, Lager would be easy to talk to about it. The downside was Lager would use that as a chirp and tell the whole team. Scotty would just give him the advice and keep it to himself.
He knocked on the door, but at first there was no answer. Corey was about ready to head back to his room and just deal with things on his own when his captain then opened the door.
“Hey, Cor, what’s up?”
“Can we talk for a moment?” Corey asked quickly. Scotty made a slight face as he briefly looked toward the desk then he became much more welcoming. So Corey added quickly, “Sorry I know it’s late.”
“Nah, it’s okay. Come on in.” Scotty opened the door wider. Scotty’s hotel room was basically the same as the one he was sharing with Petey except it was much neater. Scotty sat by the desk and pointed the iPad toward the curtains. Corey sat on the bed across from the desk. Corey was starting to wonder if he had interrupted a call between him and Alice. At the same time, Scotty didn’t seem to actually end anything or close the iPad. He must have hung up before getting the door but it was weird to turn the screen away.
Scotty was all business as he said, “What’s going on?”
Corey ran his hand through his hair and said, “Trouble with girls.”
Not missing a beat, Scotty asked, “Girls or Jenna?”
“Jenna.”
Scotty shook his head but didn’t seem to be too surprised. He was relaxed and said, “So what’s the problem?”
“She’s awesome and fun and I want to get to know her better. Literally, we have been talking to each other every day since we all hung out week. But any time I suggest that she come out to Cleveland so we can go on a real date, she shuts it down. It’s like she’s afraid. Well, it’s that or the other thing.”
That’s when Corey swore at himself. He knew that wasn’t the way he wanted to mention how Jenna and he first met. Scotty’s interest was piqued. He raised an eyebrow and asked the obvious, “What’s the other thing?”
“Well, I got into a little trouble last spring in Philly. I was taking my sister to a show and I accidentally struck a person trying to cross the street. She didn’t press charges or anything. Didn’t want any information. She just hopped up and walked away like nothing happened. Scared the shit out of me and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Literally. Well, when we hung out with Alice’s friends in Philly, I found out it was her.”
Corey was afraid to look up at his captain. He should have told Scotty about that sooner but he was hoping to forget about it. Just kept his hands clenched together and looked at the tattoos on his fingers and the tribal gauntlets on his wrist, too afraid to look Scotty in the eye.
Scotty broke the silence and said, “Is that why you calmed down this year?”
“Yeah. I knew if I didn’t, the next time something like that happened, I wouldn’t be so lucky. I want to play hockey as long as I can. I know reputations catch up to you. So that was my wake-up call. Despite thinking that I would never see her again, even though I always hoped
I would.”
“Have you guys talked about the accident at all?”
“No. We just dance around the topic.”
“Dammit, Corey. You guys need to talk about it, if only to get it off the table. You won’t get the date you want otherwise.”
“I know. There’s a part of me that thinks that it might be something else. She’s been just as guilty about changing the subject when either of us mentions the accident. It’s like we both want to pretend it never happened.”
“Any idea as to why she keeps shutting you down?”
Corey shook his head. He had no idea what he thought. For the most part, they really clicked and got along. “She seems skittish but I keep telling her that there’s no pressure and we will go at her pace.”
Scotty got up and tapped his shoulder. “That’s all you can do. Just have to keep talking to her and get her to trust you.”
4
Jenna
Alice was visiting Philadelphia again. Unlike her last visit, this trip was planned well in advance. Ever since Alice left Philadelphia, she would make an annual birthday trip to go see a Flyers game with Jenna and this year seemed like one of the best games yet since it was going to be the stadium series game with the Flyers vs. the Penguins. That’s why Jenna picked it for Alice’s birthday game this year. It was usually their time to exchange birthday and Christmas gifts but they did that on the trip that Alice sprung on Jenna a couple weeks ago.
As Jenna and Alice got settled in at the Evil Genius for the second time in two weeks, this time it was a much quieter affair since it was just the two of them. While the taproom selection hadn’t changed all that much since their last visit, it was one of their favorites places to go to.
Almost immediately as they sat down with their beers, Alice straight up asked, “So how are things with Corey? Are you pissed at him?” Jenna was glad she wasn’t drinking any beer at that moment because if she was, it would have been sputtered out all over the table. At first, Jenna wasn’t sure what Alice was getting at. She never admitted that things had gotten a little tense the other night when she didn’t answer Corey on actually labeling their relationship, nor did she mention he was the one who had hit her. Alice smiled and said, “I know he’s the guy that hit you last spring.”
