Chapter 10

So I put up a playlist of songs that to me go along with the story so far. There's not one for each chapter, but the first song definitely goes with chapter 1 and the others are self-explanatory thus far since they were all mentioned in chapters. Each time a song reminds me of a chapter I'm writing from here on out I'll add it.










I groaned a little when I felt Bauer shove up against my leg. I was big time hungover to the point that I thought I was going to die. The last thing I needed was to have Bauer trying to wake me up. I felt him move again against my leg when a chill ran down my spine. That wasn’t Bauer.

Very slowly, both because of my headache and because I didn’t know what I was going to see, I opened my eyes. My breath caught in my throat at the face I found myself staring at. Okay, I didn’t have to panic. Just because I’m sleeping in bed next to him doesn’t mean anything happened, right?

A second chill ran down my spine. I felt like I was naked. I slowly lifted the blanket so I wouldn’t wake him and peeked under. I was definitely naked. Oh God, what the hell had I done? I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to think. Did we have sex? I racked my brain but couldn’t remember anything.

If I didn’t remember it, it couldn’t have happened right? I’d never blacked out while drinking before so I tried to think of what the last thing I could remember was. I found that my last memory was Sidney yelling at Jack for touching me. Oh Jesus. I looked back over at my bedmate and cringed. At what point had that incident escalated into me being naked in bed with him?

Okay, think, Misty, think. I needed to get out of bed and get dressed. Maybe if I didn’t remember, he wouldn’t either. I peered around the room trying to find my clothes. I spotted them in all corners of the room. I took a deep breath and made my move. I inched out of bed, pausing every few seconds hoping I wasn’t waking him up. I was almost out of bed when I heard him start to stir.

“Misty?” he croaked out. I hastily pulled the blankets back over me to cover my naked body.

“Hi,” I squeaked out. I turned back over and looked straight into Sidney’s eyes. He grimaced as he opened his eyes.

“What are you doing in my bed?” he asked.

“You don’t know?” I returned. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. Well, I guess that meant he didn’t remember what happened last night either. “Honestly, I have no idea how I got here.” He sat up a bit and then his eyes opened wide.

“Are you-?” he started as his gaze drifted from my face to the sheet I was desperately clinging to myself.

“Yeah,” I managed to choke out.

“Did we?” he asked. I shrugged.

“Your guess is as good as mine although based on the fact that our clothes are strewn about the room I’m going to go with yes.” He looked just as embarrassed as I felt. I covered my face with my hands.

“I am so sorry,” he apologized. We sat there in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

“Maybe I should go,” I finally said.

“Yeah, okay,” he replied but neither of us moved. I looked over at him and tried to figure out how to tell him that I wasn’t exactly comfortable getting up naked in front of him and getting dressed. When his eyes met mine he seemed to get it. “I’ll just be in the bathroom.”

He grabbed the boxers on the floor next to him and discreetly slid them on before getting out of bed and closing the door behind him. I hopped out of bed and hurriedly got dressed. I told him I was done and he came back out. I walked downstairs to find Bauer with Sidney following me, probably to look for Sam.

“Hey, look who it is!” Walker called out when we walked into the kitchen. He was sitting around the table with Caden, Wesley, and Jack.

“We thought you two would be out a little longer after the performance you put on last night,” Caden joked. I felt my face turn bright red as the four of them laughed.










When Sidney woke up and saw Misty in bed next to him, he was confused. When he realized they were both naked, he was curious. How the hell had they ended up naked and in bed together? When he realized she didn't remember anything either, he was horrified. After an awkward exchange he left the room to give her enough privacy to get dressed.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and shook his head. He tried to figure out how that had happened, but he couldn’t. He remembered sitting around the fire, but that was it. His memories of the night before died with the fire. Misty didn’t seem to remember anything either. That only made him feel worse. Despite the fact that he didn’t remember a thing, he still felt like he’d taken advantage of her.

She didn’t seem okay about it either. She seemed shaken and he’d never seen her like that. She let him know when she was dressed and he followed her downstairs. He had to find Sam and check out the damage to his house, hoping it wasn’t too bad.

“Hey, look who it is!” Walker said to them when they walked into the kitchen. He cringed when he saw the looks on their faces. They knew.

“We thought you two would be out a little longer after the performance you put on last night,” Caden said.

“Hey,” he warned, but they weren’t listening.

“You two said you were tired and going to bed and next thing we know we all heard the headboard pounding against the wall and a whole lot of screams from you both,” Wesley followed up. He turned to look at Misty, worried about how she felt about the situation. He was surprised at the look on her face. She was smiling.

“Aw, you guys are just jealous you didn’t get any last night,” she shot back at them. He was speechless. Was this the same girl that had barely been able to form a sentence upstairs a few minutes ago?

“I think you two got enough for both of us,” Jack replied. She just shrugged.

“I’d brag, but you all obviously know how it went,” she joked. He couldn’t believe the change in her demeanor. Something just didn’t feel right, but he tried to hide it as he laughed along with everyone else. “Well, I’d love to stay and go through all the dirty details, but I have to get Bauer home and get him breakfast. Thanks for a lovely day yesterday. See you guys later!”

Sidney watched her as she called out for Bauer who came running into the kitchen. The rest of the guys went back to reliving the night before but he continued to watch Misty. She paused at the counter next to the door to pick up her car keys. When she did she turned her head enough that he could see her profile. He also saw the single tear that rolled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away as she walked out the door.

Suddenly he understood. Before this moment he hadn’t understood how Misty could be so crazy and so upbeat all the time, especially after everything with Mason. Now he got it. The goofiness and the sarcasm were a defensive mechanism. If you act like nothing can get to you, people don’t try to upset or hurt you. He’d thought Misty was unflappable. Now he knew better.

When he’d seen the transformation from the bedroom to the kitchen he was confused. As he watched the silent tear fall down her face when she thought no one was watching he felt like he knew her better. And he wondered how often she’d only pretended to be fine when she was hurting inside.

“So how was she?” Caden asked, grinning up at Sidney and interrupting his thoughts. Sidney glared back at him.

“Let it go.” The table was silent for a minute.

“How about Callie slutting around trying to make Sid jealous?” Walker said, changing the subject. They all laughed and Sidney was glad that they’d gotten the point.










I sat on the couch, drinking my tenth glass of water that day. When I’d gotten home I’d cried. How could I have done something so stupid? Now the tears were gone, but the regret remained. I can’t believe I’d done something like that. Not once had I been that girl. It just wasn’t me. I was sick of water and got up to make some coffee. Before I made it into the kitchen I heard my doorbell ring. I opened the door and saw Sidney standing on the other side.

“Hi,” I said quietly. I hated that things felt awkward with us now. I’d never been in this position before and I didn’t exactly know what to do.

“Hi,” he returned. I opened the door to let him in.

“Can I get you something to drink? I was going to make coffee,” I offered. He put his hands up.

“I’ve had you’re coffee. No thanks,” he replied. I scowled at him.

“I won’t make it as strong this time, I promise.” He laughed and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll have a cup then.” I walked back into the kitchen and he followed me, sitting at the table. I took out the coffee and started to get it ready. “How many cups are you planning on making?”

“Just a couple, why?” I asked, glancing at him over my shoulder. I saw his eyes go wide.

“I thought you said you weren’t making it like last time!” he exclaimed.

“I’m not even close,” I defended myself as Sidney rolled his eyes at me. I resisted the urge to add anymore and instead got the coffee going. I sat down at the table across from him. We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before he broke the silence.

“I’m really sorry about last night and then about the guys this morning,” he apologized.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. At least I don’t think it is,” I added, trying to make him smile.

“You don’t have to do that,” he told me.

“Do what?” I asked.

“Act like it doesn’t bother you.”

I just looked at him for a minute. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. No one had ever called me out before. Things fell silent again as we both tried to think of something to say. I had a million thoughts racing through my head and I decided I just needed to get them out, even if they were a little jumbled.

“I’m not some puck slut,” I blurted out. His head snapped up in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“Mason was the only hockey player I’d ever been with, and I was in love with him. I never intended on sleeping with you. I’m not like that. I don’t want you to think I’m like that,” I explained.

“Misty, I never did. I know girls that are like that and you couldn’t be any more different from them,” he assured me.

“I also don’t black out, and I don’t just sleep with people. I was in a relationship with the other guys before you. You’re the first person I’m not dating that I’ve slept with. I’m not that girl. Not that there’s anything wrong with girls that do that, but it’s not me.” He reached across the table and took my hand in his.

“I know. You don’t have to do this. I’m not going to expect anything and I’m not going to think any different of you. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to make sure that we were okay.” I managed a relieved smile.

“We’re okay.”

The coffee was ready at that point and I got up to pour two cups. When I turned to walk back to the table I saw Bauer standing with his front paws on Sidney’s lap, wagging his tail. I smiled at the sight. I couldn’t believe how fast Bauer had taken to Sidney. I knew that despite my worries, if Bauer, who didn’t trust anyone, could trust Sidney, I should be able to trust him too.