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cale and tracey went back to the room after the NHL awards and wanted to rest a bit before going to an after party hosted by ESPN. tracey headed to the washroom to check her hair and makeup while cale took the chair on the deck outside their room. he needed a few minutes to himself, after essentially 'playing the role' that the NHL had 'found' in him. happy go, nerdy and down-to-earth modern alberta cowboy. yet, he was so much more than that. so much much more. he wished the NHL could see the other side of him that was funny, spontaneous, and altogether different. when people saw him at bars or clubs with his teammates, it's as if they couldn't understand why he'd be there of all people. yet, the people closest to him knew and understand. sure, he was gentle, kind, and soft-spoken but he was loud and sometimes abrasive- especially if he had a few margaritas in his system.
tracey opened the deck's sliding door, and cale continued to look out. she found a spot on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. she kissed his cheek, and yet he continued to look forward. she rested her head on his and took in a few moments of interruption. "hey hun..." she said after a few minutes. "hmm." he responded. "what about a trip for our 5th year anniversary?" she questioned, and he shrugged. "I don't know trace...especially since we don't know when this will end." he responded, referring to the playoffs. "no i know, but what about july or august?" she asked, trying to find a medium. happy one at that. "i don't know. august is when i start to train heavily again and july is when my parents take that big family trip to bc." he said cooly, as if she didn't know what his usual summer schedule was. "ok, that's fine. we will talk about it later." she responded and got no response. two minutes later, his phone goes off. he goes to get up, but tracey beats him. "let me go get, stay here. relax." she said pecking his cheek. he nods, gently closing his eyes.
tracey heads back into the suite, and heads over to his ringing phone. the contact name of, "rh." pops up. her eyebrows burrow, as she tries to figure out who that could be. there was no conversation history between the two nor a contact picture. the last phone call and facetime they had was around the time shit hit the fan in the better halves group. the situation with the landeskogs. she read the time and saw it was around 9 pm when tracey had gone to sleep for her early flight the next morning. tracey ran through different people it could possibly be, but came up short. "who was it?" cale asked coming into the suite and walking up behind her. he softly 'snatched' the phone and saw the contact name. he sighed, shutting his phone and stepped back so tracey could get her shoes on again and her purse. "ready to go?" she asked and he nodded. "lets go." she said with a soft smile, opening the door for cale and walking out as he took the door from her.
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cale opened the taxi door for her, and he hopped in right after her. the two headed to a upscale bar two blocks away. cale would have walked but knew tracey would hate to walk with her heels that long. though, he selfishly knew jasmine would have yanked off her heels so quickly if it meant the two could have had some alone time before another social hour commenced. but anywho, the clocked hit 9 pm and the two had just walked into the bar. tracey and cale made there way towards the bar and quickly ordered. tracey with her famous cosmopolitan and cale with boringly, a glass of water. though he knew, he didn't feel comfortable drinking around everyone at this point in the playoffs. "who do you want to go talk -" tracey had almost finished her question when cale headed off past her, to chat with mcdavid. the two greeted one another, with lauren (mcdavids gf) looking past him to see tracey watching from afar. lauren excused herself from the guys and walked towards the somewhat embarrassed tracey. "hey trace." lauren said greeting the brunette girl. "hi." tracey said shyly hugging her. the two chatted while their boyfriends chatted from across the room. "so why did you bring tracey if you're just going to embaress her?" he asked, making cale choke on his water. suttle.
cale tried to find an excuse, "oh come on, don't play stupid. lauren recognized it. why do you think she went over to talk to her huh? is it because of jasmine?" he questioned, and cale shook his head. "no no..nothing like that." cale paused trying to find the right words. connor nodded, knowing the look on his face. "how long?" connor asked. cale burrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "how long have you known that she wasn't the one and that you wanted things to be over? for good." connor explained. cale smiled softly, "the day i met jasmine. even though we were in completely different chapters of our lives and points in our relationships. i just knew, that somehow someway that we were going to be together." cale paused sipping his water and taking a peek at tracey who was engrossed in a conversation with lauren.
"and then i fucked up and took back tracey. in which i knew would harm jasmine and i's relationship. and i know jasmine can never forgive me and nor should she after the shit i put her through and what tracey did." he confessed and connor nodded. "yeah, i heard about it from lauren. though i don't excuse what you did nor tracey,i think you two should break it off. clearly it isn't working out since you've been stuck on jasmine since the night you two met. and not to mention, the time you left your hotel and the time you got here lauren go the scoop about a random contact calling you tonight. please for the love of god, tell me if it was her or not." connor said finishing his drink, and leaving to get another one. he came back two minutes later to cale sitting at a hightop. connor also set down a small glass of whiskey on ice. "you are right. she called me. i have her under 'rh' which stands for redhead. though, i deleted all of our conversations from before. all tracey saw was the last time i called her which was the night the news of her dad's infidelity broke. and i haven't spoken to her since, so i have no idea why she'd call tonight." he said taking a sip of his drink. "maybe to congratulate?" connor shrugged and cale shook his head. "no, i don't think she'd call just for that. with her and not in a bad way, it would be for something important." cale said confidently and connor nodded.
"well whatever it is, tracey deserves to be cut loose. don't keep stringing her along." and cale nodded. "no i know, tomorrow morning i think. before we head back to denver." cale concluded to which connor offered a clink with his drink.
the two headed out after an hour, stating that they had an early morning. which was a stretch, but people brought it. as the two walked out of the elevator, tracey toyed with the idea of saying something. as soon as they entered the suite, cale offered a hand for tracey to hold as she took off her heels. neither one let go, as the two looked at one another. "turn on that one song.." cale trailed off to which tracey smiled, lighting up her face. cale turned on the table's light, and turned off the overhead.
as soon as he did so, the song ' if i had you' by doris day. a fitting song for this very night, as the two danced into the early hours of the morning.
