[thirty-three]

Lillianah's POV

A girl, who I recognized from the club, joined us in our seats for the game. "You must be Lillianah, I have heard so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you," she smiled as she offered me her hand. "I'm going to take a leap and say you're Marc's girlfriend?" She smiled and nodded her head as we shook hands. "You know I couldn't believe Marc when he told me Max got a girlfriend, a steady girlfriend. You must really be something special to settle that boy down." "Honestly, I use to be a playgirl just like he use to be a playboy. We sort of settled each other down." We watched as the boys took to the ice and Marc and Max stopped in the middle of the ice and looked at us in horror. "They probably think we're sharing embarrassing stories about them," she laughed. "I'm sorry, I never got your name, it's Vero right?" "Oh yeah, Veronique, but I do go by Vero." We looked back down to the ice and they were both shaking their heads. At that moment, that's when I felt like an official hockey girlfriend. Whatever that meant. Then to break up the moment Kris skated by looking at us, I could only wonder what was his deal. "Oh, we're going to Diesel tonight if you and Max wanted to come with," Vero stated bringing my eyes away from Kris. I growled under my breath. Diesel of all places. "I'll have to ask him what he wants to do," I answered with a smile.

The Penguins went on to win the game three to two in overtime and we all made our way down to the locker room to wait for Max and Marc. "So does Max have an extravagant Valentine's day planned?" Vero asked as we sat in the family lounge. "I have no idea, we really haven't talked about it. I think we were both confused about what to do," I couldn't help but laugh, it was the truth. I watched as Max walked out of the locker room, "hey, where are my parents?" "They were tired and headed back to the hotel, they said good game and they will see you tomorrow," I smiled before giving him a kiss. I watched as Vero stood up and walked away as Marc came out, and Max took her seat. "So I really want to go out with everyone tonight, and I really want you to come with, so-" "I really don't want to go to Diesel though," I laughed cringing. "That's why I convinced the guys to go to the brewery instead. The one we went to after the first game you went to." A smile crept on to my face and I kissed him once again. "Thank you Max." He helped me up on to my crutches and we made our way out to his car.

"So at the brewery, they've been messing around with my jersey that hangs above the bar, so just ignore it okay?" I looked over at him in the car and couldn't control my laughter. "You know if you didn't say anything I probably would have never noticed?" "Damn, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut." Max parked the car and got out. When he opened my door I asked him for my crutches and he assured me I wasn't going to need them. I stood up on one leg outside of his car and he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "MAX!! Oh my god, don't drop me! I'll kill you if you drop me!" I held on tightly to his shirt as he crossed the street and went straight in to the bar. I could tell the bar was packed and full of life with all of the noise, but the only view I had was of Max's ass. Which, well, is a pretty nice view, so I'm not complaining. He climbed some stairs and then finally set me down on an over sized black leather love seat. The first thing I did of course was look for Max's jersey. Two paper hearts and a whip were attached to his jersey. I laughed once again as he sat down next to me handing me a beer. "I like the whip," I laughed and he whipped his head around to look at the jersey. "That's so embarrassing." "I might have to go snatch the whip for later." "We can leave now if you'd like." I shook my head and just as he leaned in to kiss me I wrapped my lips around the rim of my glass taking a drink of my beer. "That's cruel." "Don't worry baby, you'll get some lovin' later, but right now my eyes are on this beer. It's been a long week."

"So Max said your covered in tattoos, but I don't see any," Vero laughed as she sat down next to me on the love seat. "I have a few, I wouldn't say covered though," I laughed back and I could tell she wanted to see some. "He said something about your rib cage, that it's pretty cool looking." I smiled at her and stood up only to find out that I was in fact drunk. I managed to keep my balance and pulled my long shit up to expose my rib cage to her. Her eyes lit up but I felt like someone else was looking at me too. I glanced around to see Max starring at me with a devilish grin and then right behind him was Kris who was also starring with a smirk. I pulled my shirt back down and plopped back down next to Vero. "Hey can I ask you something, and just keep it between us?" I asked her as I picked my beer up off the table. "Yeah of course." "What's the deal with Kris?" She started laughing and then pulled me close to her so we were touching shoulders. "It's only obvious to everyone that he has the hots for you. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to pull a move on you, he's known for that. The way you and Max are though, he doesn't have a chance in hell with you." I looked back over to the boys to see Max was in a laughing fit with Sidney, and just behind them Kris was watching me very closely. I felt a blush creep over my face and I quickly looked away.

I nearly felt stranded on the love seat without my crutches, but I always had someone next to me chatting me up. I held my glass up for Max to see I was ready for a refill and he walked over to me. "How many have you had?" He asked trying to keep a straight face. "I'd say about four," I answered counting my fingers. As my eyes were looking down on my fingers, Max's head was suddenly down by my waist and he once again picked me up over his shoulder. "MAXIME TALBOT IF-" "If I drop you, you're going to kill me, I know. I won't drop you." He took me over to the bar and sat me down on top of it. "Brad! Beers!" He yelled at the bartender as he stood between my legs. His hands stayed on my thighs and I could only smile looking in to his eyes. "What?" He asked laughing with a confused look on his face. "Nothing, I just like looking at you." "Good, I like looking at you too." All of a sudden I felt the urge to bring Kris up, to see if Max knew. I debated with myself if I should bring it up or not. "So I heard one of your teammates likes me." It just came out while I was still debating bringing it up in my mind. My eyes grew wide but I kept them on Max. He rolled his eyes and dug his head down on to my lap. "Kris, I know. If he ever bothers you or tries anything with you, you just let me know." "Max, even if he did try something he has no shot. I'm all yours. So what do you say? After this beer want to head home?" "Home. Our home. Of course, I want nothing more." He leaned forward and kissed me eagerly. I looked down at him after we pulled away, "why is your shirt almost off?" The top five buttons had been undone and you can almost see his belly button. "This tends to happen when I drink. Sorry."

Max's POV

"I don't like the looks of that. All of our dirty little secrets are probably being shared right now." "Yeah, that doesn't look good." Flower and I watched Lillianah and Vero chat it up in their seats and we were both equally scared. We both know how girls talk, they love sharing details. No one really needs to know how much of a softie I really am. "Alright, I know how she makes you go all crazy, so time to focus on the game here Maxie." I tapped his pads and went about the rest of my warmup. It's not easy getting her out of my mind to focus on the game. I somehow managed though. With every stoppage of play my eyes lingered up to where she was sitting and she was either laughing with my mom or Vero, and sometimes both. I wanted so badly to score a goal late in the third period to end the game, so I didn't have to wait any longer to have her in my arms. Yet I failed, we failed, the game headed to overtime. I pushed the hardest I could, luckily assisting Staalsy on the game winning goal only a minute into overtime. This only meant one thing; celebrating!

"You're coming to Diesel right?" I looked up to see Crosby standing over me. "Actually, no. I want to go out, but not to Diesel, that's the last place Lil wants to go to. Can't we go somewhere else? The brewery maybe?" "But I just want to dance," Staalsy complained in his best 'feminine' voice which resulted in various looks from around the room. He quickly ducked his head to tie his shoes before we all erupted into laughter. "What do you say? Brewery?" Crosby asked a few of the guys standing behind him. It took a minute but eventually everyone agreed. "Thanks guys, I'm not joking when I'm saying she lives there. She worked forty-two hours in three days." Just thinking about working those hours made me cringe. "Sounds like it's about time you knocked her up and force her to quit her job so you can take care of her," Gilly laughed from across the locker room forcing my eyes to nearly budge out of my head. "Pre-preg-" "Chill out Talbot, it was just a joke!" I took a deep breath before pulling my blazer on and walked out of the locker room. I didn't find Hal's joke very funny. I walked out to see Vero and Lillianah sitting together laughing. "Hey, where are my parents?" I already knew they were heading back to the hotel, I just needed to say something to make sure I could still talk. Just to make sure I wasn't still in shock, the thought of kids. I definitely need a drink now. 

Driving to the brewery I knew it was a topic we would have to discuss, just not any time soon. I don't want kids. I don't know if that's a deal breaker or not when it comes to women, but I'm not exactly the greatest with kids. Sure I can act like one, but to actually raise one? Not good. I had to bite my tongue from asking her on the drive. Was she the type of girl to want kids? I can't actually visualize her being pregnant. I shook my head and cleared my head of all thoughts of starting a family. It was frightening. I parked the car across the street from the brewery and walked around the car to the passenger side. "Can you hand me my crutches?" She asked after climbing out of the car, standing on one leg. "You won't need them," I smiled as I bent over and lifted her up over my shoulder. "MAX!! Oh my god, don't drop me! I'll kill you if you drop me!" I felt her clinch on to my shirt, but I knew the faster I got in the brewery the faster I could have a beer and the faster I could forget about the idea of having kids. I set her down on the love seat upstairs and headed straight to the bar. Brad quickly handed over two beers and I made my way back over to Lillianah handing her one. "I like the whip," she laughed and I quickly whipped my head around to see Crosby now added a whip to my jersey. "That's so embarrassing," I mumbled before taking a swig of my beer. "I might have to go snatch the whip for later." "We can leave now if you'd like." I smiled as I leaned in to kiss her but she quickly held up her beer and took a drink from it. "That's cruel," I whined starring at her lips.

"Max, you look like you just saw a ghost," Flower stated as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we stood at the bar. "I'm just thinking, I can't get my mind off of something." "You can tell your best friend, come on, do you need to cry on my shoulder?" I looked up at him and peeled his arm off of my shoulders. "Do you want kids?" I asked. "With you? No. With Vero? Yes." "Have you always wanted kids?" I quickly looked over to see Lillianah and Vero chatting yet again on the love seat. "I didn't want kids up until about a year ago. Remember when Vero had the miscarriage? That changed everything for me. I honestly believe now that a child is the greatest thing a woman can ever give a man. Having gone through a miscarriage, knowing there was a little baby in there, it changed my mind. I want kids, I want to be a dad." I took in what Flower was telling me and remembered how much of a mess he was when he found out Vero had miscarried. We were on a road trip in Alberta when she called to tell him. No one wants to see anyone go through emotional pain like that. That didn't change my mind though, I just can't see myself having kids. "Why are you thinking about kids Max? You're getting ahead of yourself." He knew I was freaking out for no reason, he knew I was far, far from starting a 'family'. "I know, it's just what Hal said earlier, it got me thinking." I looked back over to the girls to see Lillianah was standing up, pulling her shirt up. She was showing off her tattoo, which I didn't mind at all, I was enjoying the view. 

I lifted her back up over my shoulder and set her back down on top of the bar. I ran my hands up and down her thighs as Brad brought us two beers. She was starring at me with a smile on her face, but it was a mischievous smile, as if she had something planned, like she might attack me. "What?" "Nothing, I just like looking at you." I smiled, "I like looking at you too." We continued to stare at each other before her smile faded and a look of worry washed over her face. "So I heard one of your teammates likes me." Kris, that bastard. I rested my head on top of her lap and bit down on my lip. I pulled my head back up and looked into her eyes. "Kris, I know. If he ever bothers you or tries anything with you, you just let me know." Of course he was going to try something, I was just trying to convince myself he wouldn't. That's just how Kris is, sneaky and his brain is in his pants. He's a young version of me, I know how he works. "Max, even if he did try something he has no shot. I'm all yours. So what do you say? After this beer want to head home?" "Home. Our home. Of course, I want nothing more." We quickly finished our beers and I called for a taxi. When we got home I unlocked the door and tried to push it open, except right on the other side of the door was ninety-five pounds of sleeping bulldog. Lillianah started laughing. "He tends to do that a lot to me too, when he gets mad for leaving him. Hold on. King! Come on baby boy, move." I pushed a little bit more on the door and soon enough it opened, King sitting there starring at me like I was an asshole. I know King, I know, I don't want kids, stop judging me.