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Skating over to the bench, Steve took his helmet off. He squirted his Gatorade on his head, hoping that it would cool him down. It worked a little, but he knew he wouldn't last very long. Moving back and forth in the crease would make him hot again very soon.
He was just about to skate back to the crease, but Vladimir Tarasenko tapped him on the shoulder. Steve was going to ask what was wrong, but Tarasenko pointed up at the jumbotron.
Pictured inside of a heart with the words "KISS CAM" plastered across the top was Steve and linesman James Barnes, who he didn't know was behind him. Turning around, Steve pulled James in. Without hesitation, Steve planted a quick kiss to James' lips. The crowd went wild. When Steve pulled back, he raised his glove in salute to the crowd.
James looked amused with Steve. He didn't say anything. He just skated over to the faceoff circle to Steve's left to drop the puck.
Play continued for a good five minutes before Cam Talbot put a stop to the play by making a miraculous save. Even though he wasn't supposed to, Steve tapped his stick on the ice to show Talbot that he was impressed.
Another commercial break commenced, so Steve skated back over to the bench to see what the goalie coach had to say to him. It was a rather brief discussion, meaning Steve had a little while longer to dick around the bench. He was chuckling along to something that David Backes said when Backes pointed up to the jumbotron.
Once again, Steve's face was plastered in the KISS CAM heart alongside James. This time, it was James that initiated the kiss. It lasted for a little longer this time. When they pulled back, Steve wanted to trail his fingers along his lips, he enjoyed it that much.
Jake Allen took his glove and rustled Steve's hair with it. Steve stuck his tongue out at Allen before he skated back to the crease. All he could hear was the bench making catcalls as he was going. He shook his head as he readied himself in the crease.
Steve made a save a few minutes later off a shot that whizzed in from Connor McDavid. McDavid skated up to Steve and put his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Why don't you get his number?" McDavid chuckled.
As McDavid skated back to the bench, Steve stood there and pondered that for a moment. He was considering it. The kiss had been so good that Steve wanted to kiss James again and again and again.
Lonnie Cameron just shook his head as he retrieved the puck out of Steve's glove. "Hell, ask him on a date." He also chuckled as he skated over to the faceoff circle.
Once the game came to an end, Steve walked down the tunnel towards the locker room. Just as he was about to walk in, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see James standing there.
He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote down his number before handing the paper to Steve. "Anytime you wanna go out on a date, you call me. Just do it discreetly."
"Thanks, James," Steve said, as he walked into the locker room.
When he sat down in his stall, his entire team started whistling and catcalling him. The guy sitting next to him, Carl Gunnarsson, ruffled Steve's hair and shoved him playfully a couple of times.
Steve was grateful that he was on a team that was as accepting as the St. Louis Blues were.