Chapter 9

I'm back!! Thanks Mel for posting for me while I was gone, I would have had some more, but I didn't have this chapter finished yet. I also want to thank my commenters, I see that I have some new readers and just some that have gotten caught up and I wanted to say thanks for your encouraging words!!

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And now onto the our next chapter!!

I'm on the road of least resistance
I'd rather give up than give into this
So promise me only one thing, would you?
Just don't ever make me promises..
No promises, no promises

I've never done this before
Promises, promises,
I'm enjoying the illusion
And the things my body says

Promises, Promises – Incubus

Ch. 9

Despite the game in progress just on the other side of the wall, it was as if the air had been taken from the hallway and the silence was deafening.  Honestly, I had no clue what she was going to say or do.  Everything was up to the heavens and I was now just waiting for an answer.

She didn’t look anything like she did that night at Sidney’s.  She looked like Hanna, my Hanna, the girl who seemed to be more comfortable in a pair of jeans.  Her dark, thick hair was pulled back in a pony-tail, making her look like a teenager when coupled with her height.

“Do you really believe this can work for the long term?” she asked quietly, finally breaking the tension after a few minutes that had felt like hours.  As much as I wanted to hear her say that she loved me too, it was a legitimate question, especially since our lives hadn’t been connected for the past year.  “I mean, we’re not in Dallas anymore…Hell, we don’t even live in the same damn state now and look how crappy everything ended up when I was in Europe…”

I stepped back, clasped onto her wrists that were planted by her sides and looked down at her and locked eyes.  “Hanna.” I said a little louder than I probably needed to, but it was the only way to get her to shut-up when she went on one of her rambling rants.  She looked up at me again, her brown eyes filled with surprise and confusion.  Before she could say anything I continued.  “I do believe this can work.  Obviously it’s going to take a little to get to where I want us to be, but we will be able to figure things out.  I should have told you while we were still in Dallas that I was in love with you but I was scared to.  I just didn’t think it was possible to fall in love with someone in such a short amount of time.  I figured I was just over exaggerating.  I guess I didn’t want to believe.  When I said about breaking it off, I kind of hoped you would be dead set against it, but then you agreed without much of a fight.  I figured that I had been correct in my thoughts, that I had embellished what we had between us and I decided that it was time to move on.  But then I found myself unable to move on and unable to stop thinking about you, even though we hadn’t seen or spoke to each other in so long.”

“I only said okay to splitting because I thought it was what you wanted.  I didn’t want to seem like the crazy, overly dependent girlfriend…Plus, I felt like I was probably holding you back.” she said quietly, breaking eye contact with me.  “And then I thought I was over you but everything still kept coming back to you.”  She paused, looked back up at me and this time there were tears in her eyes.  “I’m just afraid of taking the first step.”

“Believe me, this was one of the hardest things for me to do…by coming here and seeing you, not knowing if you would be okay with it,” I chuckled.

“Yeah, I have to admit I was shocked to see you standing in the hallway talking with Mike and Ben,” she giggled with the smile caressing her eyes.  “You don’t usually take the first steps…”

“I am this time.  I need you back in my life, Hanna.  I promise to make this work.”

“Don’t promise me, just make me believe,” she said sincerely.  “I’m not even sure if I believe you are standing here with me at the moment.”

I smiled before leaning towards her, invading her personal space.  Despite the musty scent of the arena hallway, I could still smell the faint vanilla scent radiating off of her, just like I did that night at Sidney’s.  “Hanna, you’re the one who told me that people find nice balances.”

She laughed nervously.  “Yeah, I think I remember telling you that in that bar in Dallas the first night you put your hands on me.”

I’m fairly sure she was picturing the same memory I was.  It had been an awkward moment we had shared, yet it was such a turning point in our lives.  I’ll never forget how it felt touching her for the first time.  Without even thinking, I put my hands on her hips like I did that night, but this time there was no music and no 10 foot space between us.  I moved in and pulled her against me.  She lifted her chin up, giving me free access to kiss her.  “We can make this right,” I whispered just millimeters from her lips before sealing my promise to her with a gently kiss. 

I gently guided her arms up around my neck, to which she hooked her fingers around, pulling us closer together.  Soon we were making out in the hallway of the arena; my body pressed against hers so that she became one with the cold, cinder-block wall.  We jumped apart when the horn blew, signaling the end of the first period.  I couldn’t help but laugh at the jaded look on her face, in fact, it was the only thing I could do besides go right back to kissing her and risk getting caught by both teams coming off the ice.

“I need to get in the locker room…” she said in a barely audible whisper.

“I’ll be up in the stands waiting for you,” I nodded, laid a kiss on her head and walked away, feeling like I was floating on air.

“You’re blushing,” Mike grumbled as he stood next to me in the locker room during the intermission.  Coach had already gave him his little pep talk, so the guys were just getting themselves back together to go back out for the next period.

I shot a look over at Mike and looked away, feeling slightly ashamed.  “No comments from you,” I scolded.

“I think I have every right to comment,” he shot back in a tone that warned me he was hurt and that I had to either say the right things or just keep my mouth shut.  I looked back over at him and saw the jealousy in his eyes.  “I really meant it when I said I will fight him the next time we play.”

“And I’m fairly sure you are more mature than that, Mike,” I stated simply.  “This is personal business and has nothing to do with the game.”

“Just please be careful, that’s all I ask,” he pleaded, his facial features softening, letting me know that I won this battle.  “I don’t want you to get hurt…”

“I appreciate your worries, but I promise not to jump into this head first.  However, let it be known that he never treated me bad and that we broke up because the time was just not right for us,” I said quietly.

Mike sighed and planted his one foot against the wall.  “I know.  I guess that’s what makes this a little tougher to swallow.  I know you are in love with him.”

I discreetly reached between us and grabbed his hand.  He squeezed it and held onto it until we went to leave the locker room.  I followed Mike and Ben up to their seats and found James sitting close by.  I looked over at Mike, silently asking permission for James to sit with us.  He nodded and forced a close-lipped smile.  It was probably rude of me to ask so much from him just a few weeks after our break-up, but the friendship we had meant more than anything to either of us.  I mouthed thank-you and then turned to motion James to come over and sit with us.

It was a close game but not because both teams were playing well.  It was a terrible outing for both sides and all Ben and Mike did was yell and complain about it.

“Seriously?! Shut the fuck up!” I hissed at the two of them.  “I definitely don’t miss watching games with the two of you…” I grumbled.

Mike stuck his tongue out at me and Ben shot back, “Well, it’s not like you’re any better, Miss I scream at the TV while watching hockey games.”

I went to defend myself, but James was laughing hysterically next to me.  I turned to look at him as he’s nodding his head up and down in agreement to Ben.  “She totally does!” he laughed.

“It’s so annoying!” Mike piped in his input.  All of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a roast and I was the main target.

“Are you kidding me?!” I screeched.  “I do not believe this is happening!” I fumed.

“You have to agree with us babe,” Mike clapped me on the shoulder, drawing the last straw.

“I’m not your babe and I don’t even understand how this turned into let’s pick on Hanna, but I’m totally done,” I growled, abruptly standing up and attempted to crawl over James’ lap.  Of course my escape route was blockaded and I soon found myself pulled onto his lap.  Luckily we were in the back of the arena, so no one really saw the drama.  “Let go of me Neal.”

“Take a chill pill, Richards,” he said in a tone that always seemed to get my attention.  “We were just having a little fun.  Would you rather me and Mike sit here and punch the shit out of each other instead?” he joked.

I looked over at Mike who shrugged with a shit ass grin on his face and then huffed.  “I really hate the 3 of you.”

“Oh come on Banana, you love us,” Ben declared.

I shook my head and James finally relaxed his grip on me, allowing me to take my seat again.

This is my crazy life.

“So what are you doing for the rest of your All-Star break?” Hanna asked before the end of the 3^rd period.

“I don’t really have anything planned.  How about you?” I smirked to myself as ideas tumbled around in my head.

She just kept her head forward, watching the game as she spoke.  “I just plan on relaxing a bit…”

I swiftly sat forward to whisper my idea into her ear, attempting to be respectful to Mike because I was fairly sure he was listening to every little thing being said between us.  It was kind of like sitting next to your parents and you didn’t want them to know you were planning on meeting up after curfew.  “I want to take you to my cottage for the weekend.  I think some time alone will be good for the two of us.”

“Won’t it be cold?” she turned towards me, now just inches from my face.

“I’m sure we can think of ways to keep each other warm,” I winked and threw on my best come hither smile.

She slapped at my arm and pushed me away.  “Fine.  I’ll need directions,” she said nonchalantly yet the amusement in her tone seeped through.

“We’ll meet in Toronto and drive in from there,” I said quietly.  “Do you want me to buy your ticket?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.  “I do have a job now.”

“Yes, you do, but I am trying to be a gentleman here…”

At this Mike snorted and confirmed my initial suspicions about his eavesdropping.  “Yeah, like it’s being all gentleman-like to plan a sex filled weekend!” Mike chirped and shook his head.

I immediately went to reach overtop Hanna so that I could grab onto his collar and possible cold-cock him but Hanna beat me to the collar grabbing part and was already hissing at him.  I just laughed and sat back into my seat.

“Call me when you get back to Pittsburgh,” I said as we stood out in the cold in the parking lot of the arena.  As soon as I got on the bus I was going to order my plane ticket; it was as if Christmas came late.  I am not going to lie; I was looking forward to this weekend at his lake-side cabin since he told me about it last year when we were in Whitby.

“It might be late…”

“I’m riding a bus back to Glen Falls, I’m sure you’ll be off the road before I am,” I grimaced.

This made him chuckle.  He pulled me to him and rested his chin on the top of my head.  I loved how it felt to have him completely wrapped around me again.  He felt like home.  “I plan on holding you like this without as much clothing by this time tomorrow night,” he said.

“As long as we’re inside, I’m quite okay with that plan,” I grinned up at him.

“I wish we could just pick-up to where we left off,” he said quietly.

“If we did that, we wouldn’t be building a stronger us.  I’m okay with starting at halfway; this is what makes it all worth it, right?”

He nodded and kissed me lightly on the lips.  “This is what I’ve missed.  You’re the only woman, besides my mother that has been able to talk sense to me.”

“And I’m fairly sure you’re the only man in the world that finds that sexy,” I laughed before pulling his lips back to mine and kissing him deeply, giving him only an ounce of what to expect for our upcoming weekend together.