by Kat Obie
“Oh, hell yes. You need to do that. You can’t actually just ignore it. I mean seriously. It’s a bit crazy to me that you guys have issues talking.”
“We don’t have an issue talking. Yes, we avoided talking about some stuff. It’s more, would I be getting her hopes up for nothing by mentioning the offer sheet? As you said, it’s unlikely that I will be picked up by Philly. Is it worth mentioning it at all?”
“Just tell her. Girls are more likely to get pissed if you don’t say anything. Is it worth a fight by not mentioning it?”
He took a swig of his beer and said, “I get you. Well, thanks for listening to me.”
“Anytime. Also it’s time to get your ass back to Cleveland. You should be training with me and your team. The season is starting soon. I don’t give a shit about your contract status.”
“Aye, mon capitaine.”
He continued to drink the beer that he opened and settled in on the couch. He was tempted to make some dinner but Jenna banned him from the kitchen after he nearly caused a fire. However, he knew that he could snag them a dinner reservation over at one of the Stephen Starr restaurants to treat her. Thankfully, she’d been cool with his efforts to try out all his places during the summer and it shouldn’t cause any red flags that he was stressed out.
Jenna
She got home from work and noticed that Corey was already drinking a crawler straight from the can. It was unusual to see him drinking beer when she got home, let alone a can of that size.
“Okay, babe, what’s going on?”
“What makes you think there’s something up?” he asked casually.
She climbed onto his lap and gave him a few kisses. They were deep and passionate. She hoped it would be a bit disarming to him. “I know you. So spill.”
He ran his hand through his blond hair as he always did when he gathered his thoughts. “I had a call from my agent that might interest you.”
“Shouldn’t that be good news?”
He shrugged. “You know how things have been a bit of a struggle with the Sound? I want a long-term deal. I don’t want to be doing this in two more years and negotiate again. Well, apparently Philly reached out to Sloan and asked about the possibility of an offer sheet.”
“That’s good, right?”
Jenna loved the idea of him being in Philly, but she wasn’t really sure if that was what he wanted. He didn’t always talk a whole lot about his training and if he was enjoying himself this summer. When he trained in Cleveland, he would talk about how it went and the jokes in the locker room. But she knew that Scotty started some pick up practices in Cleveland last week so he wasn’t rushing to get back to Cleveland to train with his family.
“It can be. If anything, it will force the hand of the Sound. They will have to match the offer sheet or lose a ton of stuff. I can get the terms that I want.”
“So that would be good for you.”
He started to rub her shoulders and caress her boobs, which felt so good. She just hoped that he would free her breasts from boob jail for the day. He groaned and he said, “Yeah. But I don’t want to get your hopes up. It’s unlikely that Philly would actually get me.”
“That’s okay. I just want you to get a decent contract. We can make it work regardless.”
“Thanks, beautiful. Come on, don’t get me hard right now. I got us reservations at Buddakahn. Hell, we should be going there.”
She got off his lap and offered her hand to pull him upward. She wasn’t going to dare be late to one of her favorite restaurants. “You were really worried about my reaction, weren’t you?”
“I knew you would understand but I was worried.”
They had a quiet ride over to the restaurant. She always liked how chic Buddakahn was and the food was amazing. A little pricey but so good. They were seated immediately at a secluded two top in the back of the restaurant. They were able to order pretty quickly. As the server took the menus, Corey got a serious look on his face.
“So I did want to ask you something. What would you say to the idea of coming back to Cleveland on a part-time basis?”
She actually sputtered her drink some. She was so surprised. Then she felt awful since she didn’t want him to take it the wrong way. She wasn’t actually against the idea whatsoever. Instead she was pretty excited about the prospect, but she wasn’t sure if she could pull it off.
“I’m so sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to do that.”
He smirked big-time. “So what did you mean to do, beautiful?”
“Ask you what you had in mind without choking on my water. It’s not that I’m against the idea. I just need to know your thought process.”
“I know your job is here and hell, I won’t even be in Cleveland all the time. We all know how many road trips I have to go on. But what if you were to stay at my place in Cleveland when I was there sometimes. Would it be possible to work from my house? I already have the fancy internet. I could get anything else, standing desks, monitors, literally anything you could want. Is that something that’s feasible?”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” she said with a smile. It was true. This was something that she could present to work, and with a strong enough proposal, she could do pretty much everything remotely.
He looked so hopeful. He grabbed her hand and started to rub it with his thumb as he looked endearingly into her eyes. “So you want to do it. To come back to Cleveland with me?”
“I will be honest, I can’t commit to anything right now. Do I want to? Yes. I think it’s a great idea.”
She thought he was about to jump over the table to kiss her or hold her. He had the same look on his face that he had whenever he held the Stanley Cup in his hands. It was pretty good to know she could make him that damn happy. She started to laugh and look at her drink.
“What are you laughing at, beautiful?”
“You,” she said simply with no harshness in her voice. It wasn’t a jab in any sense of the word.
“Explain,” he said with a smirk.
“I think you like the idea of me trying to get the approval to move with you as a good thing. You love our relationship.”
“Oh, you have no idea. I was totally afraid you would shoot me down flat. I’ve loved the time this summer so much. I don’t want to go back to Cleveland too quickly knowing that we will be apart.”
“I know that Scotty’s been full-time in Cleveland and has been holding practices for about a week now. You could have gone back at any point. I just wasn’t sure if I was preventing you from going back or if it was the contract situation.”
“You knew.” As he took a sip of his drink, he smirked. “Of course you knew. Al had to be ecstatic to have him back. Do you know if Scotty is using her to coach again?”
“No to the coaching. He keeps getting ice time during the day when she has to work. I know she wants to be out on the ice a bit more with him.”
“Of course she does. She freaking loves the ice as much as he does.” He shook his head and asked, “It’s still crazy to me that you know so much about the team through her.”
“It’s not like Petey or Scotty doesn’t know what you’re up to over the summer. She’s my best friend. Don’t think I didn’t notice how you dodged the question about why you were avoiding Cleveland.”
He took an exaggerated sigh and said, “If you have to know, it’s a mix of both. I will hold out if I don’t get a deal. Sloan and I already discussed that. If I show up for practice they won’t give me the terms. I’m hoping that things will get fixed soon. I know that the OTA practices that Scotty is doing won’t hurt my contract stuff as much but being in Cleveland and not attending the official training camp would look bad. It’s in the hands of Sloan and the Sound right now. My plan is still to head out to Cleveland next week. I wanted as much time with you so I was planning on a later return than some of the guys even if the contract was perfect. If anything, me training out here was what helped to catch the attention of Philly. So it’s all good.”
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“It’s crazy to think about how quickly the summer has flown by. So question, why did you wait until a week before you headed home to ask me to come back with you?”
He took a bite of food. She wanted to tease him about the dodge but he just smiled. “Honestly, I didn’t want to pressure you. Nor did I want to think about the off-season ending.”
That was something that she could honestly see him doing. He wasn’t one to really rock the boat at times. It’s weird he was so laser focused on his career but when it came to his personal life, he was so much more in the moment. She liked that dichotomy in his personality.
“It’s cool, babe.”
“This was surprisingly easy. I half expected you to say hell no or that I might have to get you drunk again,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh, babe. I’m not that bad. Besides, I know you at this point. When we were starting, I had to figure out if you were the playboy or the stand-up guy that could be trusted. Thankfully you proved that you are the stand-up guy with a playboy past. You didn’t have to get me drunk to ask about coming here. You just chose to wait until after we were drunk to ask.”
He laughed. “Seriously. Do the same rules apply if you come to my place?”
“What rules?”
“No burning things in the kitchen and must supply your own bed for our use?”
“I trust your bed. It’s not like I haven’t used it a dozen times already. But yes, if I’m around, I would prefer if you didn’t cook. You can’t be trusted.”
19
Jenna
Jenna and Alice were waiting in the conference room used by the wives and girlfriends while they waited for the guys to clear the locker room. Almost everyone had already left with their partners and it was only the two of them. Jenna wasn’t used to waiting this long for Corey while Alice seemed accustomed to waiting for Scotty. She knew that Alice called Scotty a rink rat and tonight she could see why.
“You should totally come out tomorrow night,” said Alice.
“I don’t know.” Jenna was leaning toward going out with Alice if only to meet more people in Cleveland, but she also wanted to spend as much time with Corey as possible. She was torn on if she really wanted to hang out with Alice and her friends.
Just then Scotty came up and started hugging Alice from behind. She melted into him. Both of them had stupid grins on their faces. Their honeymoon period was definitely not even close to being over. He immediately asked, “What are you guys talking about?”
Wanting to watch Alice’s reaction ’cause it would be funny, Jenna said, “Just talking about when you will get Alice knocked up.”
Alice immediately turned beet-red and stiffened in his arms. Scotty couldn’t have had a different reaction as he smiled so widely as he pulled her closer. He said, “Easy, whenever my wifey will let me. Come on, what were you guys actually talking about?”
Alice quickly piped in, probably hoping Jenna wouldn’t try to embarrass her a second time. “Trying to get her to come out to my game tomorrow night.”
“Babe, you are going to bore her with all the hockey this week, especially tomorrow night.”
“No I won’t. If you and Corey can come tomorrow night to the game, there’s no way she’ll be bored. You know he always likes to take the piss out of my lack of skill.” That was how Jenna knew that three of them had hung out a fair amount even when Jenna wasn’t there last spring. What Jenna wasn’t expecting was when Alice turned toward Scotty and asked, “What’s going on with him anyway? You’re always the last one to be ready to leave.”
“He had to get checked out by the medical staff.”
Jenna grimaced. She was pretty sure she knew what caused the injury. “Was it that block shot off his wrist? You think it’s okay?”
“Yeah. It didn’t seem too bad but there was some swelling so they wanted to check it out. He probably won’t be out unless there’s more than just swelling. Even then, maybe a week to at most six weeks.” That didn’t make Jenna happy at all. She knew that Scotty was guessing on the timeline and was only trying to placate her worries. It was a nasty blocked shot, and she was hoping that it caught on the padding some. She really hoped he wasn’t out with a broken wrist.
“Why does this always happen to Corey?”
Jenna thought she kept that to herself, but apparently it was vocalized since Scotty said, “Mix of rotten luck and putting himself out on the line. Speaking as a teammate, I love that he puts himself out on the line and will block shots.” Scotty pulled Alice into yet another hug. “Remember we won’t know anything until they get back the MRI results.”
“And they are negative!” said a boisterous voice that could have only come from Corey. He immediately came up to her and pulled her in tight for a hug with his good hand. “Don’t worry, beautiful. While it may hurt like a bitch, they can’t keep me out of the lineup that easily. Just glad you stuck around for me.”
“Why wouldn’t I? Besides, where would I go?”
He smiled sinfully but didn’t say anything at first. Jenna knew he was in more pain than he was letting on. His eyes weren’t shining like they did when he felt good. His good mood and sexual appetite has been in full throttle since he since signed his $35 million contract spread over five years and she agreed to be in Cleveland as much as she could. He then must have caught himself and immediately said, “Come on, let’s go get some food.”
Corey
Corey’s wrist was throbbing some but his back kept making him wince. He couldn’t sleep due to the pain. He wasn’t expecting the doctor to worry about his skin when he only went to speak to him about his wrist. Yet as the lidocaine shot in his back wore off, he seemed to keep aggravating the spot in the back that Doc made him get tested.
Knowing that he wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon, he got up from the bed he was sharing with Jenna. He didn’t want to disturb her sleep with his restlessness. He went to the basement so he could either skate or lift; something where he could exhaust himself and moan as much as he needed to without waking up his love.
Unfortunately the moment he opened the bedroom door, Jenna woke up. She looked rather sleepy as she flopped over in the bed. “Where are you going at this hour?”
“Downstairs.” He was about to say more when Jenna came up and gave him a hug around his shoulders.
“Did you take any meds yet?”
Corey shook his head. She knew damn well that he was avoiding the pain pills. She was one of the only people who knew about his fears of getting addicted to them. He literally had almost everything he ever wanted. Sure he wanted to get married to Jenna but the fact she was practically living with him was major progress. He knew if he got addicted to pills, everything would be flushed down the drain.
“Babe, take the Advil or Aleve. You don’t need to worry about those.”
“I know I should. It’s uncomfortable but I don’t want to take anything,” he said with a kiss. “Why don’t you go back to sleep?”
Jenna gave him a stern look and said, “Not without you.”
Corey didn’t want to get into a fight. He was torn and he hated that feeling. He just wished that Jenna would have stayed asleep and he wouldn’t be torn on what to do next. He laid his head on Jenna’s and closed his eyes wishing he wasn’t in pain and being ordered back to bed. He grunted, “Fine.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Her sweet voice was so full of concern.
“Yeah.” He immediately winced because of course both his back and wrist made themselves known.
Jenna shook her head and said, “Stubborn boy.”
Corey actually laughed at that. He thought they had gotten past him being ten years younger. Yet tonight, it was back in his face. He knew that he couldn’t actually change his age but for whatever reason it worked to take his mind off the pain. He kissed Jenna’s forehead. “I’ll be back in a moment, beautiful.”
He then separated from Jenna’s embrace and headed for the bathroom. He didn’t need to explain himself. He
went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out the Advil. He emptied two pills into his hand and filled a cup of water from the sink. He quickly swallowed the pills and washed them down. He turned to leave the bathroom and he saw Jenna standing at the door with a sly smile on her face. She held out her hand. “Now, let’s get back to bed.”
He was half tempted to say “Yes, ma’am” but he knew he would just make Jenna think she was an old woman. Not the piece of perfection that she was. “Alright, beautiful.”
20
Jenna
Alice had come over to her and Corey’s place to watch the Sound play against Vegas. One of the best perks of moving to Cleveland was being able to have someone to watch all the games with. The Sound looked real good thus far that season and it was fun to see the guys play each night. Jenna was hoping that they would repeat for the Stanley Cup championship.
The game against the Knights was the first game back for Corey since he banged up his wrist. He was looking pretty sturdy and going after the pucks like normal. He was playing as if there was a weight lifted off of him.
“Can’t even tell he was laid off a couple games,” said Alice when he took a shot on goal that got stopped by the Vegas goalie.
“Yeah,” Jenna said with some subtle pride.
“So are you glad he’s healthy?”
“Oh, hell yes. He was miserable and neither of us could sleep since he would get in and out of bed.”
“Yuck. I’m sorry.” Alice took a sip of her beer. She shook her head and said, “I’m so glad that Scotty was so super easy with his knee injury.”
Jenna smiled and pointed her beer toward Alice. “Helped that he wasn’t even around that often.”
Alice agreed, “That part sucked. I like having him around.”
“Oh, I bet you do. You guys can’t keep your hands off of each other. So besides him being miserable being hurt, how’s the sex?”
