That's All She Wrote || James Diamond

Edge of Seventeen

Thursday night.

Or as the boys had fondly renamed it "Crib Hockey Night," though, if you asked Roxanne, almost every single night was hockey night once the NHL pro season had begun earlier in the month. Though the boys really only turned the games on if their favorite teams were playing - they were far too busy to watch every single match - tonight was an especially important night.

James' favorite team, the L.A. Kings were in a fierce battle against Logan's favorite team, the Vancouver Canucks. Both boys were dressed completely up in all of their merchandise, which were mainly fleece pullovers, wool beanies, and knitted scarves, so they had set the air conditioner to near freezing, and were fighting with each other for the entire first part of the match. By the first intermission, the teams were both tied with one goal each and the tension in the room could not be more palpable.

Despite having their own separate favorite teams, both Kendall and Carlos had seemingly taken sides as well, but it felt more like Kendall taking Logan's side and Caros taking James' side than picking a team to win the current match. The other two, decked out in their own favorite team's gear despite neither of them having played for a few days, were even placing bets as to whether James and Logan would get physical after the end of the game despite whoever actually won.

Roxy had baked chocolate chip cookies in lieu of choosing a side, seeing as she knew the end result of the match would cause a messy fight between her friends regardless. However, since she was dating the biggest L.A. Kings fan in the world, she found herself cheering a little harder whenever she thought they made a good play.

Tucked into James' side on the orange sectional of 2-J, the girl munched down one of her treats as she watched, while trying to take in as much of the space heater-like warmth rolling off his body as she could. Crib Hockey Night was no joke; For a moment she swore she could see her breath condensating as she shivered into her boyfriend to steal a bit more of his heat.

The chill was one of the only two downsides to their game-watching habits, but the boys swore it was necessary because it made them feel like they were actually there at the rink. And, of course, it gave them an excuse to dress up in all their expensive sweater-jerseys and excess merch they could never wear out in sunny Los Angeles. The second downside was the self-censoring the boys had to participate in, considering Kendall's 12-year-old little sister was hiding away in her room. There was always something about sports games that riled fans up to the point where they yelled at their TV as if the people on the other side of the screen could hear them. This game was no exception, especially due to the nature of James and Logan's team rivalry.

Paying more attention to her baked good than the next play proved to be a fatal mistake for the writer, who looked down just at the wrong time. In those few seconds, James had jumped into the air, practically screaming, "What the fu-dge was that, Drewiske?!" as one of his favorite players earned himself a penalty.

With her space-heater still standing, watching the screen so intently Roxy thought for a second he might be brainwashed, the girl shivered a little extra as she waited for him to sit back down and warm her up again.

From the longer section of the couch beside her, Kendall broke his focus on the TV for a moment to grab another cookie before noticing his friend's discomfort.

"Jesus, Rox, you look like you're freezing!" He exclaimed, rapidly taking his Minnesota Wild patterned scarf from around his neck and holding it out for her to take.

Before her fingers could make contact with the knitted fabric, James gasped, finally ripping his attention from the game before stepping in front of the exchange to stop it.

"No! Don't touch that, it's unlucky! He's trying to trick you, Roxy, I swear!"

In response, Kendall just snickered. Each of them had their own superstitions and lucky items when it came to their games. In James' mind, touching the merchandise of another hockey team on purpose was as good as a death sentence for the Kings.