I stared at the two victory green jerseys hanging up in my closet. I'd told Tay that I was wearing number four, but I was sorely tempted to wear number ninety-one. I threw them both on my bed, closed my eyes and grabbed one, pulling it over my head. I refused to look down at the sleeves or even in the mirror. I didn't want to know whose it was until we got there; I didn't want to be tempted to change it. I met Tay in the truck and plugged in my pump up playlist.
"Oh, I like-"
"I don't know which jersey this is and I don't want to know yet," I cut her off.
"I was gonna say that I like your hair, hon," Tay shook her head.
"Oh, thanks," I mutters before gunning the engine and starting to drive.
After several hours of loud country music and horrible singing, Tay and I crossed city lines into Dallas, Texas. I turned the music down a little so I could focus on finding a place to park. We were early, but I wasn't as familiar with Dallas as I was with Houston or Austin, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't get us all mixed up.
"The arena's parking is over there," Tay pointed to a large concrete structure and I pulled in, taking a parking pass.
"So where are we eating?" I asked as we got out of the cab of the truck.
"I don't know. Was I supposed to find a place?" Tay replied, whipping out her phone and googling restaurants. I shut the door of the truck and locked it as we walked out of the parking structure. We were early and there were only a few other cars parked.
"There's a really sweet noodle place about three blocks from here," someone said from behind us, "I like your jersey, by the way."
I turned around to find Jason Demers walking towards us with a crooked smile on his face. I checked my sleeve and it had the number four in it, Demers would be across the back, which explained why he liked it.
"Thanks," I smiled, "and I like it, too."
"Are you ladies coming tonight? If not, I can certainly arrange something..."
"Jamie's got us covered," Tay flashed a dazzling smile and turned me around.
"Oh," he sped up to walk next to us, "I'm Jason."
I shook his hand, "Andi."
"You're the Andi??" His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Uhh, maybe?" I smiled nervously.
"Well, you can't wear my jersey then! I need to get you a new one-"
"No, I want to wear this one," I protested.
"Jamie wouldn't approve, especially now that we've met. And there's no way I can keep this from him until after the game; I'm horrible with secrets," Jason rambled on.
"Slow down, cowboy, I've got her covered," Tay said, swiping my keys and dragging me back to the truck. "Just give us a sec, Demers!" She yelled. Tay opened the door, grabbed a Texas Tech string bag and pulled my other jersey out.
My eyes widened, "No-"
"Yes, Andi. Just wear the damn thing. You're bad with secrets, too, you can't not wear it; I know how you feel about him."
"I can't- he doesn't-"
Tay glared at me and started pulling at the Demers sweater. "Fine, fine, fine! I can do it myself, Tay," I changed and we met Jason at the exit.
"Ready for lunch, ladies?" He wrapped his arms around our shoulders as if we had been best buddies forever.
"Yessir," Tay said brightly as we continued on our way.
After lunch, Jason left to head back to American Airlines Center to get ready for the game and we still had an hour or two to kill. "To the mall!" Tay shouted. I rolled my eyes and found myself being dragged to the nearest shopping monstrosity. Tay managed to visit half the stores in the place before the doors even opened for the game.
We found our seats and I was awed by the view. I'd been to hockey games, but glass seats were rare, like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. We were so close to the ice; I couldn't believe Jamie had pulled the strings to get us here. The warmup music started and the guys skated out and began stretching and taking shots on the net. Jason saw us checked the glass in front of us as a greeting. Some of the other guys looked over and laughed. Tyler Seguin, however, did not laugh when he saw us. The blood drained from his face and his eyes widened; he clearly hadn't been expecting us. His eyes fell back to the puck on his stick and he skated around the Stars' half of the ice, his jaw set firmly as he did so. Jamie looked at us and shrugged. He must have seen the upset look on my face because he came over and tapped on the glass. "Smile," he mouthed to me. Then he made a bunch of funny faces and I couldn't help but smile. Jamie gave me a thumbs up and went back to skating. Demers whacked a puck at us that bounced off the glass with a loud thud before skating to the bench. The teams went back to the locker rooms for pre-game talks and Tay and I sat impatiently with the rest of the fans as we waited for puck drop.
"Should've worn Demers," I muttered.
"You did, and he liked it, but the goal was to get you and Tyler back together."
"We were never a thing... Wait, the goal? Were you in on this?" I scrutinized my best friend suspiciously.
"No, but that was clearly the plan. That's why Jason wanted you to change, hon."
I shrugged, "If you say so."
"I do, now let's watch the boys kick some ass!"
The Stars annihilated the Coyotes, seven to one with Jamie and Tyler each tallying two goals. Jason Demers scored one, Cody Eakin scored another, and Patrick Sharp scored the other goal. Once the game was over, Tay and I followed the crowds until we found a staff member who could help us out. They led us down several flights of stairs and through a handful of hallways until we reached a set of double doors. "Here you are," the guy in the Stars polo said with a smile.
"Thanks," Tay replied. I nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. Would Tyler be happy to see me? He certainly hadn't been earlier, but they'd won a game between then and now. Tay knocked excitedly and there was some yelling and the sound of something falling before Jason Demers opened the door and stuck his head outside. "Who is it?" He asked in a high pitched voice with his eyes closed.
"Andi and Tay," I replied, slapping his cheek lightly.
"What's the password?" Someone called from inside.
"Jamie Benn is my favorite?" I asked.
"Stars Rock?" Tay suggested. The guys laughed and Jason let us in.
Jamie came forward in two large steps and picked me up,"Hi, Andi, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Jamie," I laughed. He put me down and shook hands with Tay, then went around the room introducing the guys. There was one missing: Tyler. Jamie knew that already and frowned when I noticed, "He's being a bit of an asshole tonight," Jamie said.
"Where'd he go?" Tay asked.
"Left as soon as he got out of his equipment. I can find him if you want, he won't ignore my calls-" Jamie was silenced by "Highway to Hell" blasting out of his phone. "Or, he'll call me," Jamie muttered. "What's up, bud?"
Jamie frowned and listened as Tyler carried on on the other end, "Yeah, they're here." Something sounding like loud profanity issued from the other end of the call. "No, listen, Seggy, you can't keep running like this. Where are you?" Jamie motioned to me and I walked over. He reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone and held it out for me to unlock. I did and he pulled up the maps app and plugged in a location. "I'm not going to tell her, or Tay," he winked at us and handed back my phone. "Yeah, the guys and I will be there in a few. Some of us actually have to work to get our pads and pants off, not all of us have flat asses like you." Tyler replied with another set of profanity and Jamie laughed. "See ya soon, bro," he hung up.
"We're done changing, so whenever you two are ready, we'll track him down. If the location changes, I'll text you," Jamie took my phone again and plugged in his number, and a few others, too. "Are we ready to roll?"
Author's Note
Hey, hey, hockey fans! I hope y'all aren't too mad at me for being gone so long. I've been really busy. Hopefully now that things are settling down I'll be able to update more frequently (fingers crossed). Please vote and comment to let me know what you thought of the update. Thanks a million!! xox