Chapter 13**edited 9/5!**

The past few months flew by and it was already December.  Winter in the Burgh was my favorite for sure, I had quickly adjusted to the freezing temperatures and all the snow, and so I’ve grown to love it. 

“Hey babe,” James says as him, Jordan and Max sit at the bar top at work.

“Hi!” I say to him and then the boys

“So, we have a surprise for you 2,” Max tells me and Miranda

“Round 2 in Vegas?” Miranda asks

“Close…but no,” Jordan says

“Our last road trip before Christmas is to California,” James says

“And we want you girls to come with us,”

“Really?” I say

“Yeah, we figured we shouldn’t rub it in your face that were getting out of the cold weather, so were bringing you with us,”

“That sounds awesome!” Miranda says

“And don’t worry, it’s been discussed with Joey,”

“Wow, you sure are getting in good with him,”

“So when do we leave?”

“Next Tuesday.  Pack your bathing suits too, if we behave, we’ll get some beach time,” Jordan says, happily

“Is your lady friend coming Jordie?” I ask him

“Heather? No, she's in T-Bay,”

“Ya know, I'm beginning to think she doesn't exist!" I say, joking

"Whatever, she does!"

"Then we look forward to meeting her, sometime in the near future,"

“So did you get us a room too or what’s the plan?” Miranda asks

“Yeah, V and Kels are going out too so you can all room together,” Max says

“And there’s room on the team plane to fly out with us” James adds

“Sweet! This is gonna be amazing!”

Tuesday is here before we know it.  I had packed the night before and stayed with James at his house. 

“Good morning gentlemen…um and ladies,” Coach says as we get situated in the bus to go to the airport,

“Since we had our morning skate, once we land it will be all about relaxing.  We’ll check into the hotel around 2, then your free to do whatever you want until dinner at 6:30 which will probably be somewhere near the hotel. Then it’s lights out at 10. Got it?”

“Yes sir,” the boys respond

“Ladies, you have a room at each stop already?” Dan asks us

“A room? Oh I thought we could share with the boys?” V asks sarcastically

“Very funny V,” He says laughing

“Yes Dan, the 4 of us are sharing rooms at all the stops,” Kels says

“Thank god I don’t have daughters,” he replies still laughing

“Yeah, then we’d all be worried for you,” I say joking back

Our first stop was Anaheim. The hotel we were staying at was way nice, the girls and I had the best view from the balcony.  After we checked in and dropped off luggage, we went walking around the city and mainly enjoyed the dramatic change in weather.  While the guys got bored after a while, the girls and I did what we knew best…shopping.

The boys beat the Ducks then lost to the Kings. Dan held practice before the game against the Sharks while the girls and I went shopping.  I found the most gorgeous Chanel necklace that I fell in love with, so I took a picture of it to send to my mom, and sent it to James on accident…oops.

We beat the Sharks in Logan’s first game against his former team, the fans were still welcoming of him, which was nice, especially since he started his career there. 

Back in Pitt and back to reality.  James family came down for Christmas, they stayed at the hotel at Station Square, because with all 6 of them, James’ house was super crowded.

Christmas with the Neal’s was a great one.  He had been really good at being sneaky, and got me the Chanel necklace that I was looking at in San Jose…I was shocked that he went back to get it, and even more shocked that he kept it a secret. 

It was New Year’s Eve and Mario was throwing his annual party for the team and their families.  Me, Kelsi, Vero and Miranda all went to get our hair and make-up done before going our separate ways before going to Mario's tonight.  I had brought stuff with me to stay at James' house again, which was becoming more frequent.  James and I were talking while we finished getting ready.  We had a glass of wine before heading out when I noticed that James was kind of shaky and a little nervous.

"Babe, are you ok?" I ask him

Chapter 12

***New post! Haha a lot sooner then I thought...hope yall still stick around and keep reading! Im almost positive that this one wont be as long as my Chicago story...but we'll see! :)

~J

“Hey skank, why don’t you find your own man?” I ask, getting between her and James
“Um, no I like this one,” She says like the dumb blonde she is

“Um, THIS ONE, has a name, and he also has a girlfriend,”
“Too bad for her, huh?” she states, trying to act all tough

“No, too bad for you,” I say getting closer to her “Logan doesn’t want you, and guess what, neither does he,” as I point to James

“So, why don’t you do us all a favor and go back to where you belong,” Logan adds, jumping in

“But baby!” She squeals

“Don’t baby me, you gold digging whore, I don’t want you back. EVER.”
“He can find someone who wants him for who he is, not his money OR his last name,” I yell as she gives me dirty looks

“Are you going to let her talk to me like that??” She cries to Logan

“Yes, actually I am. Leave Ashley! I don’t want to see you ever again,”

The bouncers escort the girls out; I’m not even caring at this point, because I was too busy being mad at James for not pushing her away.  So I take more shots.  Sid and Max come up to me to tell me that James drinking so much because he knows I’m mad at him.  They drag him out of the bathroom and back upstairs, but he just sits on the couch

“Jay, he’s a mess,” Max tells me

“Oh, and I’m not? I had to watch that skank shove her tongue down my boyfriend’s throat! God only knows where it’s been,”

“I know, he’s upset because he messed up,”
“He’s also drunk,” I say wiping away tears
“And so are you, people make stupid mistakes when they are drunk,”

I didn’t want to admit it…but Max did have a point, just don’t tell him I said that, his ego is already big enough.

“I knew there was a reason to keep you around,” I say, half smiling

“Because my good looks and charm?” He says with his signature smile

“Because even though you’re such a womanizer, you still know how to help friends out,” I say, looking back at James
“Well I love you both, and I’m just looking out for you guys. Nealer really likes you, and I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time, give him another chance,”

“You know what, not giving him another chance didn’t even cross my mind, I’d regret it if I didn’t, he means so much to me,”
“That’s my girl!” He says, grabbing drinks from Jordan

“Where we going?” James asks as Jordan and Max help him out of the club

“We’re going home,” Max says

“I don’t want to go home with you Max!”

“Your not, your staying at Jay’s tonight,”
“But Jay hates me! Hey wait, where is Jay?” He says stopping, “Jay!!” he yells

“What James? I’m right here,” I say, walking next to Sid

“Do you hate me?” he asks

“No.”
“But some slut kissed me,”
“I know, I took care of her. I’ll deal with you in the morning,” I say as we keep walking

“Jay, do you want me to take him home?” Sid asks

“No, I have to deal with him eventually, but thanks,” I say, glad to have Sid looking after all of us. Any girl would be lucky to have this guy.

“Your good for him, Jay. Any other girl woulda kicked him to the curb,” he tells me

“Thanks Sid,”
“No problem, call me if you need anything,” he says as he gives me a kiss on the cheek and gets in his car to head home.

Jordan and Max get James upstairs with just enough time for him to run to the bathroom to throw up.

“Dan is going to kill him at practice!” I say sitting on my bed

“Practice is optional tomorrow, I have a feeling he’ll skip out on it,” Jordan says

“Good thing then. Shit, did ya’ll see Allie or Mel?” I ask, worried

“Yeah they left with Beau and LC,”

“Oh ok good, I feel horrible leaving them,”

“They saw what happened, I think they will understand,”

“Do you need anymore help?” Max asks

“I don’t think so, I’ll just leave him in here and get rid of all the alcohol, he can come to bed when he decides to stop getting sick,”
“Ok, well call either one of us if you need anything, got it?” Jordan says

“Will do. Good to have you guys around,”

“Absolutely, your family now too, and we always look after the girls especially. Sleep good ok,” Max says

“I will, let me know when ya’ll get home ok?”

“Shit! Sid left…that bastard,” Jordan says, defeated

“You can stay here, that couch is so comfortable,” I tell him

The next morning, Jordan wakes up first and decides to go to practice, since he’s not hungover, and little mister Staal wants to be a little kiss ass today.  James and I worked out our rough patch.  In all honesty, I did see him push her away but I was staying mad because I knew she was out to get one of the boys on the team.  Since getting sick, he had brushed his teeth a million times, so I figured by that time it was ok to kiss him again.  Fighting is always the worst, but in a way I think it makes us stronger.

Tonight was the season opener and we were all beyond excited to be back in the hockey environment (since preseason technically doesn’t count).  Between Vero, Kelsey, they had taken over the first row of glass seats, which gave them 4 open tickets to give to the other girls and I.  So tonight, we decided to wear our men’s jerseys to let EVERYONE know that they are off limits J and to support them of course.

After a strong home opening win against the Canucks, road trip #1 was underway.  The girls and I had met up at the arena to say bye to the guys then decided to do lunch and plan game nights while they were gone.  I was glad to have this close-knit group of girlfriends, especially since we are all in the same boat, and with Kels and Vero being around for so long, they help us new girlfriends adjust.