Chapter 12

*So we're going to pretend that after Max's surgery, he was back playing earlier than he will be in real life this season (I'm so sad he won't be back until December!). I started writing and realized my mistake before deciding that I wasn't going to correct it because it is my story afterall :D Also, I hate the crazy spacing that blogger just inserts randomly into the story making me go back and try to correct everything 10 times.


Max's POV:

I winced as the trainer checked my ribs and shoulder before handing me some ice and walking away to check on Malkin. We were playing against Dallas tonight and I had taken a nasty hit before the end of the second period and was called off to get wrapped up again. My shoulder was still a little weak after my surgery last June and every time I took a hit, I could practically hear the management and trainers wincing. It was a pain in the ass to be called off the ice all of the time too even when I knew that I could keep playing. Players on the other team always knew about it too making me an even bigger target. Luckily we were winning or I would have been in an even worse mood. It was two days after Christmas and I hadn't seen her in over a week due to our separate holiday plans. I was excited to play tonight thinking that I would see Lizzy at the game. Instead of making her feel awkward by buying her a Christmas gift, I had decided to send her 4 tickets to the game instead thinking she could bring family or friends with her. When I looked up into the stands during warm-ups, the seats were empty and I tried to block out the disappointment by concentrating on the game. I was surprised to see that she had called on Christmas morning to wish me a Merry Christmas but I had been sleeping and hadn't heard my phone go off. We played phone tag before she finally texted saying, "Good luck at your game" and I hadn't heard from her since.

Now that I had gotten excited about seeing her tonight and saw that she wasn't here, I had been taking my frustration out on the ice and was now probably going to end up benched for the rest of the game because of my shoulder.

"Okay Mr. Talbot, I just need you to stand up with your arm out so we can re-wrap your shoulder." I slid off the bench to let the trainer work on me noticing a movement out of the corner of my eye. I was shocked to see Lizzy standing in the doorway of the trainer's room looking slightly out of place with her eyes focused on me.

When she saw that I had seen her, she hesitated before I waved her over smiling slightly at her obvious hesitation.

"You came? I didn't see you" I told her as she walked over to my side nodding at the trainer in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, I brought my Mom, Aunt and Uncle with me to use the seats but Mario saw us and invited us to sit with him in his box. My Uncle's a huge fan so we sat up there instead with him and Nathalie." she told me still concentrating on what the trainer was doing to my shoulder. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in a way I was starting to find seriously cute.

"I'm glad you came" I told her smiling genuinely for the first time that night.

"What happened out there?" She said looking worried. "I came down to make sure you were okay when I saw that they weren't bringing you back out" she explained.

"You came down to make sure that I was okay?" I asked grinning hugely now. She was worried. This alone made me forget the pain in my shoulder.

"Yeah, I mean I know you had that surgery and the guys were obviously targeting you- plus all those horrible calls. I mean, some of those hits were obvious penalties" she said getting all riled up. I loved that she was getting angry on my behalf. I wished the trainer would go away so that I could kiss her already. She would probably make my shoulder a lot worse if I tried something like that in front of someone on the staff.

"All done Mr. Talbot" the trainer said interrupting us and handing the ice pack back to me to hold.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked moving closer to me now that the trainer was gone.

"Yeah, I'll live. As soon as I get hit at all on the ice, I'm called off and brought back here even if I'm not really hurting." I explained trying not to sound too frustrated. I did like her worrying about me but I didn't want her panicking like everyone else I know.

"What about your ribs?" she asked gently inspecting the slight bruising that was starting to appear.

"This is nothing for hockey players" I told her jokingly seeing her relax a little. I used the opportunity to pull her closer to me and hopefully maneuver a kiss out of the situation. I could tell she was still worried about hurting my sides when Geno interrupted us.

"Hey Talbot, let go of your lady and get back on the bench" he called over to us grinning madly. Lizzy blushed but smiled at Geno acknowledging his joke.

"Will I see you after the game?" I asked her still not letting go.

"I think so. You'll have to stick around for awhile, right?" she asked referring to the media stuff we usually had to do. Maybe I could sneak out this time. I was sick of answering questions about injuries that weren't even a big deal.

"Yeah, did you drive with your family?" She shook her head no explaining that she drove herself and would see them off before waiting for me in the parking lot.

"I've got a better idea, why don't you just come down to the locker room after the game? That way you can see the rest of the guys?"

She smiled and nodded okay before kissing me on the cheek and waving to Geno again. Suddenly I felt like playing and laced up determined to get back on the ice.

Eliza's POV:


I couldn't help it, I freaked out when I saw Max get hit on the ice and was standing up trying to see what was going on while Nathalie and my Mom told me to relax. My Aunt and Uncle, who don't know about my relationship with him were completely confused. Mario was on the phone within minutes talking to someone while I waited to see if Max would reappear on the bench.

"Why don't you go down and see him?" Nathalie murmured to me smiling slightly. I guess she knew that we were sort of involved if my reaction didn't give it away already. I wonder how she found out? I hadn't freaked out when Malkin had been taken away earlier in the game so I guess it was a little obvious when I got worried over Max.

I excused myself and rushed down to see him worried that I would be in the way but not really caring anyway.

In the training room, I spotted Max getting up from a bench with a trainer attending to his ribs and shoulder. His chest that I liked so much was turning blue at the sides distracting me from ogling him. He noticed me and I went over trying to stay out of the way.

I wanted to tell him to stay out of the rest of the game- he was already in pain, but I knew he wouldn't listen to me. I knew him well enough to know that he would bully and fight his way back onto the ice tonight- even if everyone insisted that he stay on the bench.

He asked me to wait for him tonight and I agreed before giving in to my urge and kissing him on the cheek.


The rest of the game, Max played amazingly well despite his still healing shoulder. He ended up having an assist with Sidney scoring the winning goal and I was relieved that everyone would be in a good mood when I went down to the locker room.

"Are you coming with us honey?" My Aunt asked me after they had thanked the Lemieuxs a million times. Nathalie offered to walk them out to their cars to avoid the crowds in the main halls of the arena and hugged me tightly before whisking everyone away winking at me before disappearing.

"Are you going down?" Mario asked. I nodded slightly embarrassed that he assumed and maybe knew that I would be going down to the locker room.

"Let's go down and give them hell for only winning by one point just to see Sid squirm." he joked leading me out of the room to ride down to the locker room in the private elevator.

We reached the locker room within minutes and braved the media frenzy that was going on. I escaped when the reporters spotted Mario choosing to see if I could find Max over the sea of heads in the now cramped locker room. I said hi to a few players stripping off layers of gear laughing when Kris and Jordan jokingly blew kisses at me from their stalls. Both of those boys needed to find new girls to bother and keep them occupied. Too bad I don't really have a lot of female friends in Pittsburgh, this whole team is just too good looking. I remembered Emma who I had gone out to lunch with twice since meeting her at a game a few weeks ago but I had noticed that she had a huge and obvious crush on Sidney who sadly, didn't seem to notice her at all. She was too sweet to waste time on someone who only had eyes for hockey and I hoped that she would find someone nice soon.

Finally I was able to see Max talking to reporters and decided to use the time to observe him with the media. He was a favorite here in Pittsburgh and I knew he might be awhile but I liked that he was willing to joke with the reporters and fans and talk about his shoulder even though I knew he didn't want to.

"Allo? You are Eliza?" a strongly accented voice said interrupting my staring. I turned to see a petite brunette smiling at me.

"Yes, I'm sorry you are?"

"Oh, I'm Vero, Marc-Andre's girlfriend" she said putting out her hand for me to shake. I liked her accent and was happy to meet the woman who kept Marc in check.

"I thought it was you but wasn't sure. I've heard a lot about you from different guys on the team and Max. All good things, don't worry." she added still smiling at me.

"Max wanted me to meet him down here so I've just been watching all of the media stuff" I explained. It was my first time meeting a serious girlfriend on the team and I knew that she and Marc had been dating for a long time. It made me nervous considering she knew all of the ins and outs of the team.

"Well I'm glad you came down. I heard about you from Marc and was sad that I missed you a few weeks ago when you all went out together. We're all surprised to see how much Max has calmed down since meeting you." she said waving to Marc who had spotted her across the room.

"Well, it's my job to look after the boys and make sure they don't get into legal trouble."

"Yes, well he's calmed down in other ways as well. I've never seen him focused on one girl for so long! Are you two official or is he still circling around you?" Obviously Vero had no trouble speaking her mind or getting to the point. While I appreciated that, I didn't have an answer to her question.

"No, I mean I don't know. I mean, we're just sort of seeing each other." she raised her eyebrows at my bungled explanation. "We're undefined" I breathed out wishing that I had a better response to the number one question in my life.

Vero merely smiled at me and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll both figure it out. Until then, it's nice to have another woman around here. These boys need more good women to keep them in check."

I laughed agreeing with her and chatted making plans to sit with her at the next home game. Even if Max and I were undefined and taking it slow, there was no reason for me to not have more female friends around here. Maybe she could help me find someone nice for Emma in the process.

Max was finally free and came over to let me know he would shower really quickly and then be ready to leave. He winked at Vero in greeting and I reminded him to shave before he rolled his eyes and nodded at me heading off for the showers. I couldn't help it, his hair practically regenerated into a beard daily and I knew he was proud of that but he looked like a grizzly bear.

"Are you sure you're not dating?" Vero teased me once Max was gone. I mock glared at her before bursting into laughter with her. What else could I do?

Max's POV:

I shaved knowing that would make her happy. She had told me once before that my ability to grow a beard in less than a week freaked her out a little bit and if she was going to let me kiss her more without the beard, then the beard was gonna go. Especially since she had been my lucky charm tonight. Malkin had of course told everyone that she had come down to see me making their usual ragging even worse. After I had assisted Sid in a goal, he had joked on the ice about their being more pep in my step after seeing her. Needless to say, Crosby got shoved into the boards after the game for that one. I think everyone pretty much knew that we were involved and I hoped that no one said anything to freak her out in the locker room. I wanted to celebrate tonight, not move backwards 5 steps with her.

Once I was showered and dressed back in my suit, I walked back out into the hallway where I saw Eliza waiting patiently and checking messages on her blackberry. She had curled her hair tonight but had gotten tired of it at some point in the night and it was now pulled up into a high ponytail, pieces of it falling around her face while she worked. It gave a sexier edge to the jeans and fitted, dark blue vest she had worn that night. Now sitting alone in the hallway, she had tucked one of her legs up underneath her and was sitting slouched ignoring noise from the staff already beginning to clean up the arena. He liked looking at her when she was working and the intense look she had on her face when she was in her own world. Of course he liked interrupting her and wiping the seriousness off her face too.

"Excuse me miss, who are you waiting for?" I asked using my best impression of an American, male accent. She looked up in surprise before rolling her eyes at me and grinning.

"I don't know. Some dumb hockey player. I think his name might be Max something..." she said playing along. She was getting better at keeping up with me and I had missed teasing her over the past week.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said pulling her to me for a kiss. I didn't care if anyone saw us right now or what her reaction would be. She had been my good luck charm and I wanted to thank her for it. She sighed wrapping her arms around my neck opening her mouth for me. She tasted sweet like rum and coke making me feel drunk off of her in return. She felt incredibly soft molded to my body and I didn't know how much longer I could keep up with this whole going slow thing. She was driving me crazy. She broke the kiss far too early and pecked my ear teasingly.

"I'm hungry." She announced smiling up at me. I was hungry for something too but didn't think she would appreciate hearing that.

"Do you want to grab something to eat?" I asked resisting the urge to bite down on her neck instead.

"Sure- can we just go to a diner or something? I can give you directions to a really good one if you're up for the drive?" I agreed a little surprised she didn't want to just eat take out. We had never gone out to eat and for some reason this seemed significant.

"Okay, I'll drive." I said picking up her giant purse and sliding my arm around her waist. Someday I need to figure out what's in this thing that makes it weigh 20 pounds.

"Wait, I have my car, you can just follow me." She argued walking along with me.

"But how am I supposed to enjoy your company if we're in separate cars?" I asked her wishing she would just listen to me for once.

"But I need my car Max. And you won't want to drive me all the way back here and then back out of the city to your house." She was right but I still wanted her with me. I could talk her into staying at my house tonight and then I could just bring her back in the morning to get her car.

"Well, you could just stay at my house tonight. Mrs. Rollins will make you breakfast in the morning." I said hoping that would win her over. She paused obviously thinking about my offer and weighing all of the options like she always did.

"I guess I could. I mean, you don't mind right?" she asked as we left the arena finally out in the fresh air. No fans were lingering around and all of the rest of the players had left except for Sid who usually stayed later than anyone anyway. Did she really think that I would mind if she stayed over?

I stopped her before she could open the passenger door to my car giving her a hard kiss on the mouth. I meant for it to be short, just enough for her to understand my point, but she made a little noise in the back of her throat once again opening her mouth to mine. She made the noise again when I pushed her firmly against the car and I had to bite back a groan of my own. This time I broke the kiss- we had to get out of here before I did something stupid. Like convincing her to get in the backseat of my car. I started laughing when I realized what I just thought wondering how she would feel about finding her own lingerie in the backseat of my car instead of other women's during her car checks.
"What are you laughing about?" she said blinking up at me in confusion.

"Nothing, let's get going, it's already late. Do you have to work tomorrow?" I asked changing the subject.

"No, the offices are closed until January 2nd unless there's some sort of emergency but hopefully everyone will be good and we won't have to worry."

At least that meant she wouldn't be rushing around in the morning and I didn't have to leave for an away game until the next day leaving us with some time to spend together. She directed me to the diner only 20 minutes away from the city and I learned that she was a radio hog swatting my hands away every time I tried to change the station from the holiday stuff. Finally she grabbed my hand in hers and glared at me after I was successful at changing the station and told me to keep my eyes on the road before "I'll Be Home for Christmas" filled the car again.

Eliza's POV:

I was happy that Max agreed to eat at one of my favorite diners. Ever since I got my license at 16, one of my favorite things to do was go eat breakfast at night. In college and grad school I used to do it with friends all of the time when we were stressed or go with my parents when they were visiting and I was excited to share it with someone new now. As stupid as it sounds, it was a tradition of sorts with me and it was somehow important that Max like this tradition of mine.

The diner itself was quiet and we slid into a red, pleather bench Max choosing to sit next to me surprising me and the waitress. When I looked at him he grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "What? We can share pie better this way" he said picking up the dessert menus. He swapped pie too?

"Well, do you want to balance it with a fruit slice and a chocolate slice?"

"Are you a pro at this?" he asked nudging me teasingly. What was I supposed to say? Technically I have done this a lot so I decided not to embarrass myself further and try to deny it.

"So did your family enjoy the game?" he asked after we had ordered our pie.

"Yeah, thanks for sending the tickets. And I'm sorry if you thought we hadn't used them." I said taking a sip of my coffee. "Is your side and shoulder okay?" Obviously I couldn't see his bruising under the fancy suit he was wearing but I was still a little bit worried and I didn't usually do worried.

"I'm fine, I promise. They call me off the ice to get checked for every little thing now even though I know I should just play through it." Our pie had arrived and we both leaned in to share the pieces we had ordered. We had figured out a system and we were careful to both share the crusts. I had explained before that pie crust was sacred and I did not appreciate people who didn't respect the rule of sharing the pie crust. I think he had tested me a couple of times by acting like he was going to eat the entire crust but I couldn't tell. After I had told him the whole story behind my diner frequenting, he laughed saying that he always did Tim Hortons runs back in Canada.

"It used to be the spot where I could take girls I was seeing for maple donuts late at night." he told me grinning mischieviously. I nearly choked on my pie when he said girls as in plural but then again, who was I kidding. This is the man who flirted with a receptionist for publicity in a car commercial. I laughed picturing an adolescent Max thinking he was hot stuff and taking the ladies out for a donut.

"I'm sure that you were just the epitome of sex appeal back then, weren't you?" I said trying not to laugh.

"Still am, still am." he said prodding my wrist with his fork. I nodded secretly agreeing with him but he didn't need his ego stroked even more than it usually was by people. After finishing our pie and coffee, he paid before I could snatch the check away from him and led me back to his car.

We pulled up to his house thirty minutes later and I was surprised to see that his house was barely decorated for the holidays.

"You didn't decorate!" I said clearly outraged. It was Christmas and therefore you had to decorate.

"There wasn't really a good reason to. I mean, I wasn't around due to our schedule and I went home to visit family and they decorated." he said shrugging putting his gym bag down on the floor and then moving it into the laundry room after I gave him a look. Dirty gym bags in a beautiful kitchen were just wrong.

"Ah, the ice queen look." he said smirking at me. "I've somehow come to enjoy seeing that look directed at me." he said walking towards me.

"Well, apparently it keeps you in line." I said thinking of what both Nathalie and Vero had told me earlier that evening.

"What?" he said loosening is tie and tugging on it uncomfortably. I shook my head saying that it wasn't important before helping him loosen the tie before he wripped it off.

"Do you want to go get changed?" I asked him trying to save the suit.

"Yeah, you can wear a t-shirt and shorts of mine if you want" he said as we walked upstairs.

I stopped again to pull the tie completely off for him and unbuttoned the top three buttons without realizing it. As I slipped the last button through the loop, he stopped my hands leaning down to kiss me on the side of my jaw and pull me closer by the waist. I could smell his aftershave floating around me as he moved down toward my neck. I was such a sucker for the neck area and couldn't help but lean back so that he had more access. He chuckled and continued to kiss me while I played with the slightly longer hair at the nape of his neck.

"You smell good" he murmured starting to walk me backwards. I felt the back of my knees hit something soft before tumbling back with Max falling on top of me with a slight grunt. I was too wrapped up in the feeling of his hands rubbing my back to care. He nudged my shirt up where had my vest gone? now nibbling on my earlobe. Breathing heavily he undid his dress shirt and removed it before settling back on top of me pulling my shirt over my head in the process. I was too busy just feeling everything to notice tha we were breaking our rule of taking it slow. His bare skin against my curves felt amazing and I was literally tingling all over from the simple contact. His mouth moved to mine finally capturing my lips in a hot kiss that aligned our bodies together even more almost making me forget what was undoubtedly happening. I broke the kiss not entirely sure what I was going to do. All I knew is that I wanted Max to keep making me feel this way even though we weren't ready I wasn't ready and that scared me.

"Wait" I breathed dizzy from the feeling of his hard body on mine. Was he going to be angry if I didn't let him continue?