A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews! I actually did this right after chapter 8 (because of school, and I was up at 1, not falling asleep)...So I decided to put it up now, for the wait. Of course I HAD to mention the Olympics sometime or another, and just think of the 3 boys (Chris, Adam, and Jay) clueless of any other sport besides hockey. Cheers! =)
Chris woke up early the next morning to hit the gym and get some breakfast. He was thankful that his home was just the next state away, so all he had to do was do some car travel, along with the rest of Canadian bunch that lived in Florida, Jay and Adam.
When he got back to the hotel, he called up Trish, who was already awake.
"Hey Chris, what's up?" Trish asked in her usual cheerful tone.
"Oh, just getting ready to head back to Tampa. I've got to ask, though, have you figured out where Stephanie is staying?"
"Ah, no clue yet, she's still sleeping. We stayed up late last night just doing the girl things."
"And I know, I will not ask about that, since I know how sincere the girl talks are." He joked. "But, um, could you wake her up?"
"Okay, but if she wants to kill someone, it'll be you." Trish warned and laughed, as she placed the phone down and went over to the bed Stephanie was sleeping in. "Hey Stephanie, you got a caller."
"Huh?" Stephanie mumbled as she awoke, turning to face Trish. "Oh, okay." She got up slowly and went over to the phone. "Hello?"
"Steph! I can't believe it, you're up!" Chris said, joking around.
"Chris? You know it's only ten, right?" She asked while rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah, you know me, I'm not the person that sleeps in all the time." He said.
"Well gosh, I can't believe you're a human!" She laughed. "Anyway, what's up?"
"Just wondering around. Wanted to know something, where are you staying for the rest of the week?"
"Hmm...I was thinking of staying in Greenwich, but I know you both wouldn't let me do that, then at Trish's, but I don't want to annoy her for the next few days." She explained, and heard Trish yell from the bathroom, making her and Chris laugh.
"Then why not stay in Tampa? I'm driving the boys home sometime today, and hey, it's always cool to have some other company.
"I don't know about that... I mean, I wouldn't want to disturb any of your personal lives." She said while Trish came back into the room, glaring at her.
"Now what? Don't want to stay down there?" She asked in a serious tone that freaked Stephanie out.
"Personal lives? Steph, it's okay if you stay down here! Heck, besides, we need more women to straighten us out!" He said with a laugh.
Stephanie put her hand to the receiver, then looked at Trish. "Trish, I don't want to be invading on his personal space."
Trish hit herself on the forehead. "Trust me, he would love you to stay over. Just think of how great he's been to you lately."
Stephanie sighed. "Oh fine." She then took her hand off the receiver. "I guess I'll come with you for the week."
Chris nearly jumped to the ceiling when hearing that. "Awesome! Now I just got to get those lazy asses moving sometime today. I'll come up to the room when we're all ready."
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye!" They both hung up, and Stephanie looked to Trish, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"What?" Stephanie asked as she narrowed her eyes at Trish.
"Oh nothing." Trish said with a chuckle as she stepped away to go back to the bathroom. "And uh, knowing Chris, you might want to get ready soon."
"Gosh Trish, do you know more about the man than I do?" Stephanie laughed.
"Well, I do know that he just might like you a little bit." Trish said, emphasizing on the little.
"Huh?" Stephanie asked, confused. "Wait a minute, whoa...So, he's been taking care of me...Protecting me for all this time?"
"Maybe." Trish grinned as she looked into the mirror to apply some makeup.
Stephanie went to the bathroom and stood by the doorframe, looking into the mirror at Trish. "Let me guess, you've known about this?"
"Well, young Mr. Irvine just kind of clued me in after he helped you that one night after Paul. Now since you were too trapped up in everything, you never really had the chance to notice that he has been worshipping the ground you've walked on for so long now." Trish said to a shocked Stephanie.
"I...Don't think he would go that far."
Trish seemed to laugh. "Oh, yeah. When he heard about what happened to you, I think he searched the whole arena to find you, then here at the hotel."
"And to think he was sitting right next to me when he was just saying the greatest things."
"Uh, can you clue me in on that?" Trish asked, as Stephanie started to talk about the bar.
Adam's RoomAdam heard knocking at the door, and he turned over to see that it was well into the morning. He groaned when getting up, and stepped over to the door, opening it to receive a wide smile from Chris.
"Come for a smiling contest?" He asked and yawned.
"No man, we got another person for the trip." Chris said, happily.
"Eh? Little lost over here."
"By now, I guess you heard what happened to Stephanie." Chris said, while Adam nodded and let out a little growl. "But, she's okay, she stayed with Trish, and is coming to Tampa with us."
"Yeah, baby! Canadian charm works the best...Woo!" Adam laughed, and Chris just shook his head while trying not to laugh.
"Hey now, you and Jay both have wives."
"Duh. I'm talking about you! I hope she figured out by now that you are going over the roof for her."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Oh man, I'll have to knock some sense into her." Adam joked. "Anyway, I'll get ready because I know how eager you are, and I'll tell Jay that he can't have his own tanning bed today."
"Oh, he'll be so pissed." Chris grinned as Adam laughed.
"Dude, you know it." Adam said as Chris left, and he shut the door.
At the Car – Two Hours Later"We all packed?" Jay asked as he closed the trunk.
Adam smacked him on the head. "That's the third time you said that, nimrod, yeah." He said as he and Jay both got into the backseat.
"You know how aware I am after I forgot each of my wrestling tights one night." Jay said and shrugged, while Adam laughed.
"That was great!" Chris laughed as he started up the car. "I swear Adam's were like baggy pants to you!"
"You were lucky that nobody really noticed." Stephanie said with a grin as she buckled herself up.
They started on the way to Florida, telling stories for Stephanie to hear, until the radio station started on about the Olympic Opening Ceremony starting in a couple weeks.
"Do you think we have a chance at winning anything?" Adam asked, talking about the Canadian team.
All four sat in silence, thinking, struggling to come up with an answer.
"Hockey?" Chris asked.
"Two more years, smart one." Jay said.
"Maybe some water sport?" Stephanie asked.
"I don't think that's humanly possible, or at least on my standards. Anything that involves swimming or diving is just wrong."
"Weightlifting!" Chris said with a grin.
"Maybe, but isn't there like...20 sports in this year's Olympics?" Jay asked as he went back into thought.
"26." Stephanie added in.
"We should know something...Especially since our pay per view is based off of the games." Adam said.
"Yeah, it's sad...But I do know about that Michael Phelps kid!" Chris said, hearing about all the hype.
"Go on." Stephanie said as Chris started talking about Phelps.
Hours passed as Chris and Stephanie were the only ones left in the car, already dropped off Adam and Jay, which were about five minutes each away from Chris's house.
"Well, welcome to my house." Chris said as the car went into the driveway. He turned off the ignition, and got out of the car, as Stephanie got out, and he got both of their bags. "I know it's not a lavish resort...but it's gr..." He stopped when something unusual caught his eye.
Stephanie looked over to him, raising an eyebrow on what made him just stop.
"What is she doing here?" He couldn't take his eyes off the porch.
"Who's she?" Stephanie asked in a confused tone.
"Jessica."