Shirts and Skins

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jeff's POV

Game day.

Usually, at that point, I'd be filling up on fluids and preparing mentally. And it really bothered me that I wasn't. I hated not being there with the guys. But I was going to watch the game from a box with Lindsay and my family, and I was really excited for that. But I would have rather been on the ice with the guys.

Lindsay threw on her jersey before finishing packing her bag. We decided to pack our bags now instead of having to pack them in a rush in the morning. I had already packed my bag, so I pretended to watch television. Really, I was watching her. The way she gracefully moved, twirling and spinning, a gentle smile across her face. She was dancing to music that wasn't there, like she was moving to the beat of her own drum. I couldn't believe I had finally found my girl.

She caught me watching her.

"What?" she smiled.

"Nothing." I responded.

"What?" she laughed, slowly making her way towards me.

"Just admiring you." I admitted.

"Me? Why me?" she said as she climbed onto the bed next to me.

"I'm just so glad you ran into me in the arena that day, instead of someone else."

I was barely able to finish my sentence before Lindsay was kissing me. I began kissing her and my hands made their way to her hips. I felt her tongue against mine, and her fingers entwined in my hair. I grabbed her jersey and pulled it, along with her shirt, over her head and blindly tossed it in the direction of the other bed. She climbed on top of me, breathing heavily. She grabbed the base of my shirt and pulled it over my head, before beginning to kiss me again.

I was about to remove her Lululemon tights when there was a knock at the door.

"Just a minute!" I called out, out of breath and pissed at the unwelcome interruption.

I threw my shirt on, gave Lindsay back her shirt and jersey and pulled the door open. It was Joni Pitkanin. He looked at my messy hair, noticed I was a little short on breath, then smiled.

"The bus is getting ready to leave. Are you two ready?"

"Yeah, we're ready to go." I said, walking back into the room and throwing shoes on.

Joni was also out with a concussion, so he was taking the bus with us. Lindsay and I followed Joni down to the lobby. We said hello the desk clerk as we walked past, then out to the bus.

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"Mom, come to Gate 2. I'll meet you there." I told my Mom over the phone.

"You're sure?" she said.

I sighed. "Yes Mom, I'm waiting there with security right now."

"Well, I'm on Lakeshore Boulevard, where should I go from there?" she asked.

I had no idea. I had played here maybe a few times in my career. I asked the guard, and he instructed me to tell her to continue following the building East, and she'd eventually hit gate 4, then gate 3, then gate 2. I relayed the information to her, and she, along with my Dad, Ben and Jill, all showed up, all wearing Canes jerseys.

I immediately walked up to Jill and gave her a huge hug. I missed really missed her.

"You're lucky I love you, because the year's biggest party is going on at Derek's house tonight, and I'm missing it for this." she gave me sass with a smile.

"Great to see you too Jill." I laughed.

I introduced her to Lindsay, to which Jill gave me a huge smile afterwards.