| �So what have you been up to in the past fourteen years?� Eric asked, stretching out and relaxing. Brielle laughed. �Being a little broad in the subject matter, aren�t we?� she asked. Eric shrugged. �Maybe. But hell, I�ve been playing hockey for the past fourteen years. I�d imagine you spent a lot of time on the ice. And I can imagine you did quite a bit of coaching.� �I didn�t play as much as I would�ve liked to,� she admitted. �There aren�t many women�s teams in Anaheim. What few they have, pretty much sucked and I automatically got the C and I always got special treatment because my brother�s a Duck, and you know how much I hate getting something for nothing.� �Yes, I know how much you hate special treatment,� Eric commented. �You always did, especially when we were kids.� Brielle nodded. �Yeah. So I did do more coaching than playing,� she said thoughtfully. �The Ice Dogs now have a winning record and are defending their first place conference spot because of me,� she said with a smile. �Aha,� Eric said, nodding his head, �the Ice Dogs. Your boyfriend was on that team?� he asked, well knowing the answer. Brielle frowned. �How did you know?� she asked. �Army told me,� he replied, shrugging casually. �When he first found out you were coaching us, he did his homework, just like a good little rookie.� Brielle nodded. �Yeah, Chris was on that team. But he�s my ex-boyfriend, nothing more or less� she said, looking down into the water. �I see Army�s taken his place,� Eric said, not taking his vision away from Brielle�s eyes, downcast or not. Brielle smiled slightly. �Yeah, I guess you could say that,� she said, looking back to Eric. �Chris just� wasn�t the one for me.� Eric raised an eyebrow. �And Army is?� he asked, purely out of curiosity. Brielle tucked a stray strand of hair that had come undone from her ponytail behind her ear and looked back to the water, avoiding Eric�s gaze. �I don�t know if he�s The One,� she said hesitantly. �But I like him. I live for the here and now Eric, you should know that about me by now.� �Yeah, I know that,� Eric said. Remembering their childhood friendship, he laughed. �I remember, when we were kids, you could never tell me what you were doing the coming weekend if we didn�t have any games. The only constant thing in your life was our hockey schedule.� Brielle smiled. �Yeah, and it still pretty much is,� she said, letting out a small laugh. �I couldn�t tell you what I�m doing tomorrow, since we have off.� �You mean you�re not gonna be attached to Army at the waist all day tomorrow?� Eric asked, feigning shock. Brielle blinked. �Since when is my sex life any of your concern?� she asked, laughing. She knew he was just playing around, and wasn�t offended by any of his comments. Eric�s eyes gleamed mischievously as he stood up and moved toward her from his spot opposite her. Before Brielle could ask what he was doing, he had moved to whisper in her ear, �Since you�re not with me,� he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down, grinning while Brielle�s face registered nothing short of complete shock. ~*~*~ Brielle squealed as Eric splashed her. Eric had gotten into one of his Silly Moods, and she had mentioned that she was learning to surf when she moved from Long Beach, which was a mistake. Eric began making waves in the spa, simulating the ocean, and soon enough, he had begun to splash Brielle. �Stop it, you freak,� she said, laughing. She was trying to shield her face with her hands while Eric threw the water from the spa at her. �Eric, knock it off� Or I�m gonna be forced to hurt you,� Brielle said, still laughing but getting more annoyed with every splash that hit her. �Hurt me?� Eric asked, laughing, as Brielle grabbed his hands to stop his splashing. �Sweetheart, you may be faster than me, but you sure as hell can�t hurt me.� �I can try,� Brielle said, no longer laughing, but now struggling against Eric. He was stronger than she was, obviously, and was successfully holding her back. After a few moments of struggling, Eric suddenly remembered something. �Hey Elle� Are you still ticklish?� he asked, grinning while holding her wrists. Her eyes widened, but she managed to squeak out, �No!� Eric saw her hesitation, and consequently didn�t believe a word she had said. He let go of her wrists, and began to tickle the sides of her stomach and arms. Brielle immediately started laughing, and grabbed at his hands to try and stop him. �Eric� Stop it� I swear� I will bench you so fast� Damnit Eric�� Every sentence Brielle spoke was punctuated with laughter. No one heard her laughing, the room where the spa was kept was soundproof. And most of the team had already left the arena to get ready for the night out at Brews Brothers. Brielle and Eric had originally intended on staying in the spa for a few minutes to relax their tired muscles from a grueling scrimmage, but they had gotten into reminiscing about their past, they had stayed in the spa talking for about an hour before Eric started to tickle Brielle. In the midst of his tickling, Eric hadn�t realized it, but he had pulled Brielle into his lap, sitting her sideways. He stopped tickling her after her threats of benching him, but when he stopped, their eyes locked. He had happened to deposit his arms around Brielle�s waist, resting on her hip, and hers were on his shoulders. At first, neither one of them realized what was happening; their heads seemed to be gravitating toward each others, and before they knew it, their lips were on each others. The instant their lips touched, both Eric and Brielle completely forgot about Colby. Like Brielle had mentioned, she lived in the here and now, and Eric had shared her opinion on life since they were eleven years old. Fourteen years later, they still lived by that philosophy, and consequently, the thought of Brielle�s supposed boyfriend was the furthest thing from their minds. For a few moments, both were in heaven. It was simple enough; the two had been in love with each other since the first time they skated on the same ice and had caught each other�s eye when they were barely tall enough to see over the goal. They both realized it the instant their lips touched. They both never admitted it, of course, because they thought they were moving on with their lives. But every so often, thoughts of �I wonder what he�s up to� and �I wonder if she�s still in Anaheim� crossed their minds. Circumstances had always kept them apart, and now that they were together again, and friends again, they were determined to make the most of it. If even for a few precious moments when no one was looking. Before long, Brielle�s mind drifted to Colby. As much as she was in love with Eric, Colby meant a lot to her and she didn�t want to hurt him. He had done so much to get her to see what she meant to him, and she didn�t want to be the one to put out the light in his eyes that was there when he looked at her. She suddenly pulled away from Eric and removed herself from his lap, murmuring, �Colby,� as she stood up and grabbed her towel. Eric sat silently, staring off into space, wondering what had possessed him to kiss Brielle. Not only was she supposed to be just his friend from when they were kids, she was his coach. And to top it all off, she was his teammate�s girlfriend. And Colby wasn�t only a teammate, he was rapidly becoming one of his best friends. Brielle wrapped the towel around herself and exited the room, muttering, �I�ll see you at Brews Brothers,� as the door shut behind her. From her actions, she had made it clear that no one was ever going to know about that kiss. Eric closed his eyes and let his head hit the side of the spa out of pure frustration. �I am the biggest idiot known to man,� he mused to himself, standing up and grabbing his own towel, stepping out of the spa. �I finally kiss the girl, fourteen years after I should�ve, and she�s Army�s girlfriend. I have the worst timing known to man,� he muttered to himself, quickly drying off and wrapping the towel around his waist. He remembered to shut off the spa before he exited the room, heading for the dressing room to grab his clothes and get changed before heading to the bar. He fully intended on drinking himself into a drunken stupor that night, he would have to remind himself to get a ride with Tom so he wouldn�t have to drive. |
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