Chapter 32

Sidney finished up the interviews with the press and got into the shower. He’d allowed himself to be talked into going to Diesel tonight. Normally he didn’t go out at all, instead choosing to stay out of the limelight whenever possible, but the guys had been relentless. As he got dressed, Flower made his way over to him.

“I have to stick around a bit and ice my shoulder after that shot I took in the last minute. I’ll be a while. Is there any way you can take Vero to Diesel with you?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course,” he agreed.

“Thanks, man. And remember, you touch her, you die,” Flower joked.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a laugh.

Sidney made his way to the family room and found Vero in conversation with some of the other girls that were left. He explained the situation to her and she followed him to his car. Vero was like a sister to him and he never minded spending time with her. He held the door open for her as they stepped outside.

“Thank you, mon ami,” Vero said to him. He crooked his elbow and held his arm out for her. She linked her arm with his and he walked her to his car.

“Marc told me he’d kill me if I touched you. Good thing he’s not here to see this,” Sidney told her. She looked up at him and laughed.

“It’ll be our little secret,” she responded. Sidney laughed and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“Ours and the dozens of people out here. Think they like me better?” Vero just laughed again as they reached his car. He opened the door for her and helped her in before going to the driver’s side and getting in himself.

Vero got to work getting in contact with everyone else about the night as Sidney started signing autographs. She was usually the social chair for get-togethers. Sidney handed an autograph back to a fan when he glanced up and out his windshield. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a pair of bright blue eyes peering in at him.

“No way,” he whispered. Vero glanced over at him but he didn’t say anything more as the blue eyes disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared. It had been too dark and had happened too quickly for him to see any other features on the girl, but he hadn’t seen eyes like that on anyone else. Was it possible?

“Sid, are you okay?” Vero asked, her voice laced with concern. It snapped him back to reality.

“Sorry, I have to go,” Sidney apologized to the rest of the fans waiting for an autograph.

He didn’t have time to keep signing. He had to find out if it was her. He pulled the car up to the road and looked up and down the street hoping to see where she’d gone. Unfortunately there were groups of people all over. Where was she?

“Okay, Sidney, you need to tell me what’s going on,” Vero demanded.

“Misty. I thought I just saw Misty,” he told her, keeping his eyes on the lookout. He heard Vero’s sharp intake of breath next to him.

“The girl from the summer is here? Where?” Vero was now looking around as well.

“I don’t know. I only saw her for a second.”

“Are you sure it was her?” Vero asked. He just turned and looked at her. “Right, how silly of me to question you. You’re only in love with her.” Sidney groaned and didn’t respond. He’d made the mistake of talking to Vero about Misty.

“I think I know where she is,” he said as a sudden realization hit him.

He pulled out onto the street and drove to the only place he could think of that Misty would be. He got out of the car when he got to the coffee shop without a word to Vero. He could see inside and saw a girl standing at the counter. He began to smile. It was her.










I’d wiped the tears away before walking into the coffee shop I’d scoped out when I’d gotten to town. I wanted to at least hold it together until I got back to the hotel room for the night. There was only one other person in there when I walked up to the counter. I ignored them and placed my order.

I stared at the countertop, fixated on one spot as I waited for my coffee. It was the only way I could keep myself from breaking down right here and bawling my eyes out. The cup was placed in front of me and without picking my head up, I turned to walk out. When I did I walked right into a body standing directly behind me.

“God, could you stand a little closer, creep?!” I shouted in anger at whoever this person was.

I heard a laugh in response. I jerked my head up, daggers in my eyes as I got ready to yell at the asshole again. Before another scathing comment left my mouth I staggered back a few steps when I saw who I’d run into.

“Maybe you should pay more attention to where you’re going when you have hot coffee in your hands,” Sidney said to me, a smile playing on his lips.

“Sid?” I choked out.

“How are you surprised to see me? Shouldn’t it be me that’s surprised to see you?” he asked.

“I.....I just.....I wanted coffee,” I stammered, still shocked.

“You came all the way to Pittsburgh for coffee?” he questioned.

“No, I came to surprise you, but....." I stopped talking. What was I going to say that didn’t make me sound jealous?

“But you ran instead?” He looked really confused and hurt as I got embarrassed.

“You saw me?” He nodded and his face fell.

“Why did you run from me?” I struggled to think of something to say when the brunette walked into the shop. She was even more beautiful up close.

“Sid, is everything okay?” she asked in a French accent.

“Yeah, I think so. Vero, this is Misty. Misty, this is Vero,” he introduced us.

The name sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it. How did I know it? Had I just been stupid enough to listen to Sid talk about a girl he was seeing or sleeping with in Pittsburgh during the summer without realizing it? Vero looked like she was about to say something, but I just wanted to get out of there.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry for interrupting your night. I’m just going to go now.” I lowered my eyes and started to head for the door. I felt Sidney grab on to my arm.

“What? You came here to see me and now you’re just going to leave?” I looked between the two of them and knew my face was getting red.

“I.....I didn’t know about.....I should have called first.” I wanted to die. Suddenly Vero laughed.

“I’m not dating Sidney!” she exclaimed. Both Sidney and I turned our eyes to her in surprise.

“What’s going on? Why would you say that?” Sidney asked in confusion. Vero just looked across the café at me with a smile.

“I’m dating Marc-Andre Fleury. Sidney was taking me out to a club while Marc stayed back to ice his shoulder,” she explained. I felt my cheeks turning bright red as I then remembered why her name had sounded familiar. Sidney had said she was like a sister to him. Then I started to laugh.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Sidney said in confusion as he looked between the two of us.

“Don’t worry about it, Crosby. Moments over,” I told him.

“You should come out with us. We’ll introduce you to everyone. How long are you in town for?” Vero asked.

“I’m not sure. I just planned to stay for a day or two depending on Sid. I don’t exactly know that I’m dressed to go out.” She looked me over.

“Do you have anything else with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, at the hotel.”

“Then we’ll go there so you can change. Sidney let’s go,” she ordered.

She linked her arm through mine like we were old friends and we left Sidney standing in the café as we got into the car, chatting away. He gave us a strange look and made a comment about girls being strange before driving us to the hotel. We went upstairs and I pulled out my suitcase. Vero helped me pick and I changed quickly.

“Tell her to stay longer than a day or two,” I heard Vero telling Sidney in a hushed tone through the bathroom door.

“It’s not up to me how long she stays,” he responded. I could hear Vero’s sigh.

“Are you dumb? She said it depended on you. Now she drove all the way down here to see you. If you let her leave that soon you’re an idiot.” Deciding that I didn't want to continue to eavesdrop I walked out of the bathroom and pretended I hadn’t heard any of the conversation.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yes, much. Now let’s head out. Marc’s going to be worried you stole me away,” Vero joked winking over at Sidney. The three of us walked out of the hotel room and got back into Sidney’s car as he drove us to a place called Diesel. I had to admit, just being around him again had my heart fluttering like crazy.

Chapter 31

“How many schools allow you to major in exercise science?” Evanne asked me as I sat in front of my laptop at her apartment.

“This says that there are 406 in the country,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

“Okay, well, there’s got to be a way to eliminate a fair amount of those. Do you want a big school or a small school?” she asked. I thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t know. I mean, I went to a big school before and loved it, but I can see how having a smaller school would be an advantage. Smaller class sizes, knowing everyone, and all that.”

I looked back at the computer screen in front of me. I’d delayed far too long in beginning to search for a school for the start of the following year. Applications were going to start being due soon, so I had to figure things out and figure them out quickly. I glanced at page 1 of 41 on the list of schools and groaned again.

“Are there any in Pittsburgh?” Evie asked.

I turned my attention to her and narrowed my eyes. I didn’t want her to know that I was literally just about to check the state of Pennsylvania. That was a bad idea though. A really bad idea. You gave your life up once for a guy, Misty, don’t do it again, I warned myself.

“I don’t know,” I told her nonchalantly with a shrug. I wasn’t going to look. I was not going to look.

“Yeah, right. Okay, fine. Let’s start with states you don’t want to go to,” she suggested.

“Well, I think I can eliminate the south. Way too hot down there for me. I like having seasons, ya know? Also, I can do without the weather we had in Minnesota when I went to school there. We’ll stick with the middle third of the country.”

I continued to peruse the list of schools and eliminated some more mentally just based on not having a clue about the school itself. I wanted it to at least be well known if I wanted a chance to get a good job when I graduated. I stopped clicking through when I reached the schools in Pennsylvania. Evie noticed my hesitation and made her way over to me to look over my shoulder.

“I wonder how close each of those places are to Pittsburgh,” she started. I closed my laptop and glared at her.

“I’m not going to school in Pittsburgh simply because Sidney is there. I’m going to go to a school with a good program, no matter where it is,” I explained. She let out a derisive snort.

“Whatever you say.”

“I have to get to work. I’ll talk to you later.”

I packed up my laptop and headed out to my car. I hadn’t been lying when I told her that I wanted to go to a school with a good program. I just hated to admit that if that program happened to me near Pittsburgh, I’d hardly be complaining. I mean, how could it be bad to be close to your best friend?

I walked into work a little while later and clocked in. I went through the usual, setting up for the dinner shift and such. When the restaurant opened I sucked up my thoughts of how much I hated being a waitress and went over to my first table with a smile on my face. The night ended without much of a hassle thankfully and I helped with the clean up.

“Okay everyone, it’s going to be a long time before I see you again, so I wanted to say thanks and have a good vacation!” my boss, Jake called out. The restaurant was closing for renovations for a month, putting me out of work for a while. I wasn’t at all complaining about that. “Misty, hold on!”

“What’s up, Jake?” I asked.

“Just curious to see what your plans were while you didn’t have any work,” he said. Jake was a close family friend and I’d known him for years.

“Not sure. I’m probably going to start looking at new schools for next year,” I told him truthfully. He nodded and smiled.

“About time you decided to go back.” I rolled my eyes at him. He was just like my parents.

“I’ll see you soon, I’m sure,” I called to him with a wave as I walked out the door. I drove home and settled down in front of the TV in my room.

What was I going to do with the next month? It was almost December, so it was too cold to really spend much time outside doing anything. You could only ski so many times, especially by yourself since everyone else I knew would be working. I opened my laptop up to the list of schools I’d started and let out a sigh. Now was not the time. Thankfully my phone rang, distracting me.

“How was your last day of work for a while?” Sidney asked when I picked up.

“Actually not too bad. No one was annoying. I’m not sure if that’s because people were generally in good moods, or I just was because I don’t have to go back for a while,” I joked.

We talked for a while about what was going on with us and about his upcoming games. He told me that for pretty much the entire month of December they were at home with hardly any road games and an idea started to form in my head. We hung up not long after and I immediately went online to check his schedule.

I decided I was going to go visit him in Pittsburgh at some point, I’d just have to figure out when the best time was. I missed him, a lot. It was pretty ridiculous actually how much I missed the guy. I thought time would alleviate it a bit, but it had only gotten worse. Not really wanting to waste energy on it now, I put the computer away and got into bed. I’d sleep on it and then figure it out later.

A few days later I was already bored out of my mind. I needed to get out of New York and I needed to do it now. The more I thought about it, the more I decided to just show up and surprise Sidney. He’d probably kill me for not telling him, but I knew it wouldn’t be a big deal. He’d be happy to see me and I was going to be really happy to see him. After all, I was in love with the guy.

I packed up a small suitcase with enough clothes to last a couple of days and got to sleep that night. It’d been hard not to tell him that I was coming when we talked on the phone. I’d been grinning like a fool through the entire conversation and everything he said made me want to blurt out the news.

I woke up early the next morning and grabbed a travel mug filled with coffee. Then I said goodbye to my parents and Bauer, who was staying home this time. I got into my car and started the almost 9 hour drive to Pittsburgh. I’d booked a hotel room in downtown Pittsburgh near the rink the night before. The Pens were playing that night, and while I couldn’t go to the game, I could wait for him outside after.

I stopped once on the trip for food and a bathroom break, but I made the stop as quick as possible. I just wanted to be there. Even if I still had to wait for the game to end, I’d be there, that much closer to Sidney. Finally I drove into the city and then found the hotel and checked in. I had a bit of time to kill before the game started and set out to explore the city a bit.

Of course the first thing I looked for was a coffee shop. No matter how much coffee they serve at hotels, it’s still always brutal. I found one just a couple blocks from both the hotel and the rink that was open late. I got a cup to make sure it was okay, and on first sip I knew I’d found my place. As it got closer to game time I made my way back to the hotel and ordered room service.

After I finished dinner I got to work getting ready while the game played in the background. I let out a loud cheer when Sidney scored the Pens first goal against Colorado before getting back to getting ready. Sidney sealed the game with an empty net goal at the end and the Penguins won 4-1.

I finished getting ready and then threw on a coat, a knit hat, and a pair of gloves to go along with my boots. It wasn’t like I had gotten completely made up to stand outside and wait, but I’d wanted to look good. Then I left and walked over to the rink. I wasn’t sure exactly where the guys came out, but found a group of fans standing in the cold, looking like they were waiting.

“Excuse me, is this where the guys will come out?” I asked a girl in a Penguins jersey over a sweatshirt.

“Yeah, it is,” she responded.

I smiled and waited. I stood outside with the fans, my heart speeding up every minute that went by. I giggled to myself as I thought about his reaction to seeing me standing in the crowd. I could picture his face and the slow spreading of his grin as realization struck him.

Thankfully it wasn’t terribly cold outside that night because I felt like it was taking forever for anyone to come out. My anticipation was heightened when the first few guys started making their way out of the rink to the cheers of the fans. Any minute now Sidney was going to walk out that door. I bit my lip as I waited and then I saw him. He stepped out the door and my eyes lit up and I grinned. Then I saw her.

A gorgeous brunette stepped out behind him. My grin fell as he held the door open for her and she smiled and thanked him. I felt like someone was tearing my heart out as the brunette linked her arm with Sidney’s as they made their way to his car. The girl smiled up at him and laughed at something he said. She responded and he laughed back as he whispered something into her ear.

Tears stung my eyes and I felt like I was going to be sick. Why hadn’t he told me that he’d met someone? I thought I was his best friend. Wasn’t that what he told me? He should have mentioned that he’d met someone. Except that was only part of why I felt the way I did right now.

Sidney was with another girl. I know that I had only recently realized the extent of my feelings towards him, but it still hurt. Badly. I knew that he didn’t feel the same way about me, that he only saw me as a friend, but having to find out about it this way just made it hurt more. I’d come to surprise him, hoping maybe…..but that wasn’t going to happen now.

I watched him hold the car door open for her and take her hand to help her in. I couldn’t watch this anymore. As he got into his car I turned my back on the scene and made my way through the crowd. I needed to get out of there. There was only one thing I wanted right now, and that was to get away.

After pushing my way through the throng of people I turned back. Sidney was leaning out of the window signing autographs while the girl in his car texted away on her phone. I allowed myself that one last glance before turning back to the street. I needed a cup of coffee now and tomorrow I was going home.

Chapter 30

Sidney walked into the third house he’d looked at this week. He’d made the decision to move out of Mario’s and get his own place. He was 23 and it was about time. The realtor began talking about the house, pointing out some of its advantages and quirks. He took in the foyer and the tile floor they were standing on like he was told. So far it looked like the others. Then they walked into the living room.

He was struck immediately by how bright the room was with the sunlight. It wasn’t that there were more windows than normal, but they just happened to be situated so that every inch of the room was covered in light. Then he noticed that there was a window seat under a window that overlooked a pretty great view. Misty would love this room and that window seat. He could practically see her sitting there reading a book. She loved sunlight.

He was surprised by the thought because it had caught him completely off-guard. He hadn’t thought of her in either of the other two houses he had seen, so why this time? He walked over to the window seat and sat down for a moment. It was perfect. This room was perfect.

He then followed the realtor into the dining room. She told him some more about the house and the room before leading him into the kitchen. He was surprised for a second time when he could see Misty baking brownies at the stove or eating Chinese food out of the containers at the island. That hadn’t happened in either of the other kitchens either.

He tried a second time to push her out of his mind as he looked around the rest of the house. They finished off the first floor and made their way upstairs to look at all the bedrooms. He was pleased with himself when the only thought he had was that it was a perfect number for if his friends or family came in for a weekend.

The last stop was the master bedroom. Well, it was more a suite than a bedroom. It was enormous and full of sunlight just like the living room had been. He walked over to the window and saw that it held the same view as the window with the seat. There’d be no negatives to waking up to that every morning.

When the closet was opened he saw that there was way more room than he could possibly use. Of course, there was plenty of room for Misty’s stuff. He shook his head at himself when she popped into his head again. Why was he even considering her when thinking about this house? She wasn’t moving in here with him, and it wasn't even an option. He had to forget about her and make this decision on his own.

The bathroom proved to be a problem in that resolution when he saw that there were separate sinks and the shower door was clear and contained two showerheads and a seat. God damn, that shower. He had other thoughts about Misty right now that had nothing to do with her living there with him.

He forced himself to listen to the realtor instead of thinking about Misty naked in the shower with him and followed her back downstairs. They stood again in the living room as she gave him the last few bits of information on the place. Really, the only negative to it was that it was obviously not made for just one person, and he told the realtor that.

Just then his phone rang and he glanced down at the caller ID. He smiled just at the sight of her name. He felt like thinking about her so much this afternoon had almost conjured up this phone call. If it had been anyone else he would have hit ‘ignore’, but he wouldn’t do that to her.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he said to the realtor before picking up.

“I just had a table eat all but like two bites of their lunch and then tell me it was the worst thing they’ve ever eaten and they didn’t think they should have to pay for it. If it was so awful, why did you eat it instead of ordering something else?!” she exclaimed. He laughed.

“Bad day at work?” he asked.

“I swear, someday I’m going to invent a machine that will automatically eliminate every person in the world that I wouldn’t get along with,” she replied. He laughed again. Misty cracked him up when she was in one of these moods. “Anyway, what are you up to?”

“I’m actually looking at a house right now,” he told her.

“Oh yeah? Is it nice?” she questioned.

“Yeah, it is. Big kitchen, plenty of guest rooms, tons of sunlight everywhere,” he explained.

“If you’re dumb enough to get a place without tons of sunlight, we will no longer be friends,” she joked.

“Don’t worry, I would never dream of doing such a thing.”

“Which bedroom is mine when I come to visit?” she asked.

“Any one you want,” he replied.

“I’ll take the master bedroom then.”

He smiled when she said that. Despite figuring she meant she just wanted the biggest room when she came to visit, he liked to think maybe she’d meant she’d share it with him instead of taking her own room. They only talked another minute with a promise to talk again later. He turned back to the realtor who was looking at him with a smile on her face.

“Girlfriend?” she asked. He wasn’t sure if she was simply curious, or liked knowing more about his personal life than the rest of the general public.

“No, my best friend,” he told her. She nodded and asked him what he thought of the house. He told her he’d take it.










I got home from work that night and hung out with my parents in the living room watching TV for a little while before they went up to bed. Nick was back at school for the year, and I was left alone with Bauer. Like every other night I made my way into my bedroom because I didn’t want to disturb my parents while they were trying to sleep.
It was depressing being back home. I’d give just about anything to be back in Cole Harbour and have it be summer again. I’d been home for about a week, and there was no sign of it getting better. I’d grown up wanting out of this town, and here I was, not any closer to getting out for good. The summer away had only shown me how badly I needed out.

I thought back to the summer once again, like I had been over and over again since I’d been back. I smiled to myself at all the good memories I had and looked up at the pictures I’d put on my wall of everyone back there that I knew I’d keep in touch with. There were pictures of me and the girls posing and goofing off in front of the camera. There were pictures of the guys messing around. Then there were pictures of Sidney and I.

We had pictures that had been taken when we weren’t aware of it. There were pictures taken of us laughing together over something, pictures of us fishing, pictures of us competing over something stupid I’m sure. There were also the pictures of us posing for the camera, our arms around each other, grinning crazily. Lastly there was my personal favorite, the one where I’d planted a kiss on his cheek last second, and the shocked expression on his face, mid-giggle, was priceless.

When I left Cole Harbour I felt like I was leaving a piece of me behind so I’d printed out these pictures to never forget what I’d had that summer. I’d been on my own, with only myself and Bauer to rely on. I’d done it. I’d proven to myself that I could live on my own and not be dependent on anyone else. And I’d met some of the best people ever in the process.

I’d spent every day the week after Sidney left with at least one of the girls or the guys, or some combination of them. They’d wanted to make sure I was okay with him gone, and I’d wanted to spend as much time with them as I could before I left. The night before I headed home they’d taken me out for dinner and drinks. It was supposed to be an early night so I could get plenty of sleep, but we closed down the bars that night, just having too much fun to part. I’d paid dearly for it the next morning when I woke up to make the drive.

My head had hurt when I woke up and I downed a couple of painkillers with my coffee before starting out. Bauer and I stood out in the front yard for a while looking back at the house that had been our home for the summer. A tear had slid down my cheek when I turned to get into my car. I’d fully intended on getting right on the road, but I found myself heading somewhere else instead.

I’d pulled up to Sidney’s house and sat in the car for a moment, wondering what the hell I was doing there. I eventually got out of the car and walked out to the back, Bauer on my heels. I walked to the end of the dock and looked out over the lake for a while. When I turned to head back to my car I took one long last look at his house.

“Goodbye,” I’d said aloud, a few more tears escaping my eyes. Then I’d gotten back into my car and began the journey home.

The sound of my phone ringing jolted me out of my memories and I had half a mind to just hit ignore and retreat back into them. Deciding that wasn’t the healthiest option I glanced at the screen. I was glad I’d changed my mind when I saw a picture of Sidney had popped up onto it.

“Are you a homeowner yet?” I asked when I answered. He chuckled.

“I am.”

“Which house?”

“The one I was in when you called earlier. The one with all the sunlight,” he told me. I grinned even though he couldn’t see it.

“Then we can still be friends,” I joked.

“Oh good, I was worried,” he responded sarcastically. I laughed along with him. “There’s a window seat with an amazing view, right where all that sunlight comes in.” My grin grew when he told me.

“Sounds like the place you’ll have to tear me away from when I come to visit.”

“Yeah, I figured that would be the case.”

We talked for a while longer and the smile remained on my face the entire time. Even though I was stuck here with my parents instead of in the town I’d fallen in love with this summer, it hurt a little less when I talked to Sidney. Everything hurt less when I heard his voice.

Chapter 29

I stood half naked in front of my closet, agonizing over what to wear. I’d have a much easier time deciding what to wear on a first date than to dinner with Sidney’s parents. I eventually decided on something and changed before waiting for Sidney to pick me up. Bauer gave me a look like ‘what are you doing?’ and I had no answer.

When he’d called me to tell me that they wanted me to come over to dinner with him the night before he left, I’d been stunned. It was their last night with their son, so why did they want me there? His father didn’t even like me. Sidney had said something about his father suddenly seeming to have a change in heart as far as I was concerned, but I didn’t believe it. What could have possibly changed his mind?

I saw Sidney’s Range Rover pull into my driveway and I walked outside, locking the door behind me. I asked him for probably the thousandth time to tell me why his parents wanted me at dinner. For probably the thousandth time, he didn’t have an answer. Thankfully, he seemed as surprised as I was.

“Sid! Misty!” Taylor called out when we pulled up and got out of the car. I smiled and waved to her.

“Hey, kid,” Sidney greeted her. She rolled her eyes and was about to retort when I punched him in the shoulder.

“Would you stop treating her like she’s 5?” I asked him. Taylor beamed over at me.

“Thank you,” she said. Then she gave him a punch in the shoulder of her own. He gave us both dirty looks as we walked in the house.

“Hey Mom, Dad!” Sidney called out. They came around a corner from the kitchen with smiles on their faces.

“Hi you two. Come on back and grab something to drink,” Trina told us cheerfully.

“Can I help with anything?” I offered after taking a glass of wine that Troy handed me.

“No, no. Everything’s done and cooking. Go on outside with everyone else. I’ll be out in a moment,” she declined.

Wishing that she’d wanted help, I reluctantly stepped outside where Sidney was with Troy and Taylor. I joined in the conversation with the three of them, and strangely never felt the vibe from Troy I’d always gotten from him. Trina was out shortly and we all just sat and talked until dinner was ready.

Once food was on plates, the conversation changed over to the upcoming season. I got quiet like I always did when there was talk about Pittsburgh. Even though Sidney was leaving tomorrow, I still wasn’t ready for him to go. I probably never would have been. The subject dominated the conversation for the rest of the night.

At one point I thought that I was going to lose it, and excused myself to go inside under the guise of getting another glass of wine. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself another glass while fighting back the tears that had started to build. I’d just gotten myself under control when I heard footsteps come in behind me. I turned to see Troy standing behind me.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I put a fake smile on my face and nodded.

“Yeah, good, thanks,” I lied. He smiled over at me and sighed.

“You have feelings for my son, don’t you?” He said it more as a statement than as a question, and it took me by surprise. It took me a while to be able to form any sentence that wouldn’t have sounded ridiculous.

“He’s become my best friend,” I told him.

“That’s not what I meant.” I averted my eyes from his gaze and took a deep breath.

“I care for him, yes.” There was no point in lying to him now. After tonight, I might never see him again.

“Does he know?” I shrugged.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve never told him, but other people have figured it out. I don’t think they’ve said anything, but I can’t be sure.” Troy nodded and leaned back against the counter.

“He has the weight of the world on his shoulders,” Troy sighed. I could tell that the pressure on his son pained him as much as it did Sidney.

“I know that. It’s part of the reason I’ve never told him.” Troy smiled over at me.

“I think I may have misjudged you when we first met. I apologize if I was ever rude.” His apology surprised me, and I’m sure that he could tell.

“Thank you. I’m sorry that you have to be so guarded with everyone that comes into your son’s life. It shouldn’t have to be that way.” He nodded and sighed.

“You’re right. He doesn’t deserve that.” Sidney walked into the kitchen just then and looked at us both oddly.

“You two have been gone a while. Everything okay?” he asked.

Troy and I looked at each other and I felt like we finally understood one another. I knew that he was only doing what he thought was best for his son, and he knew that I wasn’t trying to cash in on him. We both cared for Sidney deeply. Because of that I knew there wouldn’t be any more problems between us.

“Yeah, we were just trying to sneak a look at what your mother made for dessert,” Troy told him, giving me a small smile when Sidney turned away from him to look at me. I nodded and smiled to assure Sidney that everything was fine.

Troy and I followed Sidney back outside. Any tension I had felt before the talk with Troy had vanished, and I was able to try to enjoy the rest of the night. We left pretty late and Sidney drove me back to my house. He pulled in the driveway and then turned to me.

“Do you just want to go in and get Bauer then stay the night at my place?” he asked. I jumped at the chance to spend as much time as possible with him before he left in the morning.

I packed some stuff, grabbed Bauer and got into my car to follow him. When we got to Sidney’s I went upstairs to drop my stuff off. I automatically put it down in his bedroom instead of a guest room. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d spent the night in the same place and not slept in the same bed. It just seemed to be assumed that we would.

When I got back downstairs I didn’t see Sidney anywhere. As I searched for him, I glanced out a back window and saw him standing at the end of his dock. I left Bauer and Sam inside and made my way out to where he was standing. He turned at the sound of my footsteps and smiled sadly.

“It never gets easier to leave home, does it?” I asked him as we both looked out over the lake.

“No, it never does.”

I took off my sandals and sat down, letting the water lap at my feet. Sidney followed suit. We sat like that in silence for a while. The reflection of the moon shifted and undulated with the waves coming into shore from the light breeze. The sound of a fish coming to the surface resonated around us in the silence.

“How did you like Cole Harbour?” Sidney asked after a while. I thought about how I wanted to answer that for a bit before responding.

“It feels like home,” I answered truthfully.

A tear slid down my cheek when I told him that. I felt him wipe it away and then put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder as we continued to look out over the lake. I squeezed my eyes closed, resisting the urge to cry. If there had ever been an appropriate moment to do it though, this was it.

“Cole Harbour will still be here next summer,” Sidney whispered, breaking the silence that had fallen over us again. I turned to look at him when I heard that. The tears began to fall then and there was nothing I could do about it. He took my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

He rested his forehead against mine. We sat like that, foreheads pressed together for a long time. Neither of us seemed willing to pull away and end the moment. Another splash caused us both to jerk back in surprise. It was like we had forgotten that the world existed for a while.

“I need to get to bed. It’s going to be an early morning,” he said, regret lacing his voice. I nodded and allowed him to help me up.

We went inside and got ready for bed. Sidney pulled back the covers and I crawled in beside him in the bed. He wrapped both of his arms around me and I rested my head on his chest. Despite not wanting to sleep so I could savor the last few hours with him, I felt my lids growing heavy. Just as I was about to fall unconscious I thought I felt Sidney place a kiss on the top of my head.

The alarm went off the following morning and I cringed at the sound. Sidney pulled away from me to turn it off and I realized neither of us had moved all night. We both got up and got dressed. We’d disagreed about it, but I wanted to leave before his family got there to drive him to the airport. They deserved to have some time alone with him to say goodbye.

I collected all of my stuff and got Bauer ready to go. I put everything into my car, including Bauer and took another look at Sidney’s house. My eyes fell on his and I tried to smile at him. He did the same and then walked over to give me a hug. We clung to each other for a long time, until he finally pulled back.

“Have a safe trip. Call me when you get to Pittsburgh,” I told him.

“I will. Enjoy your last week here.”

“I will.”

He hugged me one last time before I turned and got into my car. With one last glance at Sidney, and a wave, I backed out of his driveway and drove home. The second I was inside my temporary summer home I slid down to the floor in front of the door and allowed the tears to come. I let the sobs tear through me as I felt like my heart was shattering into a million pieces.

Chapter 28

Someone started a fire and Zara, Valerie, and I took seats where we could gaze out over the rest of the party. We talked and laughed as I kept an eye on Sidney most of the night. I could feel my heart starting to ache as I thought about the fact that I only had a couple of more days in the same town as him, but I kept on the smile and kept laughing hoping that no one would notice.

“Is she serious right now?” Valerie asked. I followed her gaze and my eyes settled on Callie.

“Why would she even come here after what happened?” Zara added in amazement. I’d told them both about what had happened the night Mason had proposed.

“Apparently she doesn’t get it,” I responded.

We remained seated by the fire as I watched Callie search out Sidney. I’m not going to lie, seeing her here made me sick. I wish that I could have just gone up to her and told her to leave, but it wasn’t my party. Instead I simply sent her a glare every time she looked in my direction and clenched my jaw every time I watched her touch Sidney.

“Slut!” Valerie exclaimed when Callie wrapped her arms around Sidney’s neck and whispered something in his ear.

“I need a new drink,” I lied. Really, I just needed to get away from the sight of her throwing herself at him.

I walked into the kitchen and dumped what was left of my drink down the drain. Then I rested both hands on the counter and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Sidney was not my boyfriend, so I had no right to get as worked up about this as I was. When I felt a little calmer, I mixed a new drink.

“So no ring?” I heard a female voice ask from behind me. I turned to see Callie standing there.

“No. No ring,” I replied coolly. It really wasn’t any of her business.

“You wanted someone with a little more notoriety and money?” I narrowed my eyes at what she was implying.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I wanted to just go back outside, but like she’d done before, she was blocking my way.

“No? If it walks like a puck slut, talks like a puck slut…..” At this point I wasn’t just annoyed, I was angry.

“Hello pot, meet kettle.” She narrowed her eyes right back at me.

“Right, because you really care about him.”

“Dammit, Callie, he’s my best friend. Of course I care about him. I want nothing more than for him to be happy. I just don’t think being with you would do that.”

“I’ve known Sidney most of his life,” she told me.

“And I just want to go back outside,” I returned.

She moved aside and gestured towards the door, signaling that I was welcome to walk by. I picked up my drink and made my way towards her and the back door. As soon as I got to her I felt something cold and wet on my chest. I looked down to see her empty glass hovering upside down over me. When my eyes met hers there was a smile in them.

“Oops,” she half laughed out.

I shook my head at her and put my drink down on the counter. I turned and made my way back into the kitchen where I opened the cupboard door that I knew held the cleaning products. Then I found the paper towels and made my way over to the puddle that had formed on the floor. I knelt down and began to wipe it up.

“You know, Callie, if you cared anything for Sidney like you claim you do, you would stop pissing off his friends and trashing his house. In fact, you’d think you’d be more considerate in general. If I wasn’t here to do it, you would have left this mess on the floor, and what would happen if Sam came in here and lapped it up? Do you think it’s good for a dog to ingest all this alcohol? Sam could have gotten sick, which would have upset Sidney, but you didn’t think to consider that at all, did you?”










Sidney walked inside just in time to hear Misty telling Callie that he was her best friend and she just wanted him to be happy. He had no idea what was going on between them right now, but that statement in itself made him smile and depressed him all at the same time. He made his way past a couple of onlookers in time to watch Callie dump a drink down Misty’s shirt.

He was about to intervene in fear of a fight when Misty’s actions stopped him in his tracks. Instead of retaliating he watched in amazement as she calmly grabbed cleaning supplies and cleaned up the mess on his floor. After Misty gave Callie a little speech she put her head back down to the mess and finished cleaning.

“He’s not yours, you know. Long after you’re gone, I’ll still be here,” Callie said. This time Sidney did step forward.

“I’ve heard enough.” Both Misty and Callie turned to look at him in surprise.

“Sidney!” Callie exclaimed.

“I just don’t even know where to start. Callie, I really don’t know how else to do this, because you seem to not be able to figure it out, so I’m just going to say it. We will never be together. Never. You need to accept that.” Callie opened her mouth to say something, but he wasn’t done yet. “One more thing. I don’t know exactly what your problem with Misty is, but you will never be her and she’s not ever going anywhere. Until the day you can accept that, you’re not welcome back in this house.”

Sidney watched as Callie made a quick exit out the front door. The second the door was closed behind her applause broke out from the crowd that had formed around the kitchen. Someone shouted, “It’s about time!” Sidney rolled his eyes and then smiled before making his way over to Misty. He put away the cleaning supplies and turned back to her.

“I’m really sorry about Callie,” he apologized. She smiled and shrugged.

“It’s not your fault she’s an idiot,” Misty joked. He laughed and then remembered her shirt.

“Come on. Let’s go get you another shirt to wear.” She nodded and followed him up the stairs.

They walked into his bedroom and he began opening dresser drawers and looking for a shirt for her to wear. He finally pulled out a t-shirt that shouldn’t be way too big on her. He handed it over and she took it, giving it a once over. With a shrug she pulled her wet shirt over her head and then put his shirt on. It had been just a brief moment that he got to see her standing there in just her bra, but he thoroughly enjoyed that brief moment.

“How do I look?” Misty asked him. He had to shake the visual out of his head before he could respond.

“Like you’re wearing a dress over jeans,” he replied. She laughed and grabbed a corner of the shirt. He watched as she tied a knot at the side, tightening the shirt, and exposing part of her abdomen.

“I know, so 90’s, but it’s the best I can do,” she said. He didn’t mind one bit.

They made their way back down to the party and everyone else. For the next little while he was told multiple times that he’d made the right choice kicking Callie out of his house. He couldn’t help but agree with them. Good riddance.

As the night went on, he couldn’t help but seek Misty out every few minutes. The more he saw her in his shirt, the more he liked it on her. Was there anything sexier than a hot girl wearing your t-shirt? He imagined getting it back and being able to smell her on it. Then he imagined being the one to take it off of her.

He hated that it took for Mason to show up and propose to Misty to make him realize how he really felt about her. He’d been able to justify not telling her how he felt before by saying that he was only interested in a summer fling and it wasn’t fair to her after all she’d gone through. Now he knew he wasn’t at all interested in just a fling, but it was too late to do anything about it.

He only had a few days left in Cole Harbour, which meant only a few days left with Misty. It was unbelievable how much it hurt to know he’d be leaving her in a few days with no idea when he’d see her again. It wasn’t supposed to hurt that much when you left someone you’d only known for two and a half months.

The party began to break up long after midnight and he had to say goodbye once again to his friends. He probably wouldn’t see any of them again before he left due to saying goodbye to his family and packing. Once everyone was gone or passed out somewhere in his house he made his way upstairs to bed, with Misty right behind him.

“Thanks for letting me wear your shirt,” she said to him. He turned back to tell her she didn’t need to thank him, and saw that she’d taken it off and tossed it into his pile of laundry.

“I doubt your shirt is any cleaner than it was earlier,” he said, caught off-guard by the sight of her half naked in front of him again.

“You’re probably right.” She turned and dug into his laundry to get it again. He walked over and grabbed her arm to stop her.

“I’ll give you clothes to sleep in.”

She turned and looked up at him with a smile. Oh, God, why does she always have to lick her lips at times like this? Somehow he managed to keep himself in check and make his way to his dresser to get her clothes. When he turned back to give her the clothes, he found that her jeans were now on the floor.

“Clothes,” she said, holding a hand out for them.

He should have just tossed them to her, but he didn’t. Instead he walked over and handed them to her. Their fingers touched just as she licked her lips again. Someday he was going to have to ask her if she did that on purpose. Now was just not the time, because currently his mouth was too occupied with kissing her to say anything at all.

As he kissed her and slowly removed the rest of her clothing he wondered if she’d caught on to how he felt about her. As he let her remove his clothing he wondered if maybe she felt the same way. As they moved in sync and called out each other’s names, he wondered if he’d ever find out the answers to the two previous questions.

Chapter 27

I glanced at myself in the mirror. I concluded that I looked appropriate for a summer hockey game that would have basically no fans. I was cute without trying too hard. When Zara and Valerie showed up at my door I saw that they were dressed the same way, much to my relief. I got into the car and we headed to the rink.

Sidney had been playing hockey all summer with his friends and other guys that played, but I’d never gone. It wasn’t exactly closed to the public, but it also wasn’t advertised. Fans never went to watch the summer hockey games. The guys didn’t take the game seriously, they just wanted to skate to keep up their skills. Today was the last game of the summer and Zara, Valerie, and I had decided to go cheer on the guys.

A few days had passed since the night Mason had shown up at my door. Sidney and I had woken up the next morning and didn’t really talk about it. We’d just gone on like it was a normal day. I wasn’t sure how else to go about things. Yes, I was in love with him, but he was leaving for Pittsburgh in less than a week. The last thing I wanted was for the last few days with him to be awkward, so I went on like I always had with him.

“Do you want to go down and see the guys before the game?” Zara asked.

“Is that a good idea?” I returned.

“We do it every time we come. They’re always dressed this close to starting, and no one gets mad because they don’t take the game seriously,” Valerie explained.

“Okay then, let’s go.” I followed the two of them down a hallway to a door. We could hear male voices on the other side. Zara knocked loudly on the door before opening it.

“Cover up, boys!” she called out.

We walked in to the locker room to a bunch of greetings. I realized that I recognized just about every guy in there. Most had been at Sidney’s at one of his parties, or out with us at some point. Sidney caught my eye as I walked in, and he smiled over at me. I walked away from Zara and Valerie and made my way over to him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. He was mostly dressed, but on top he was just wearing an underarmor shirt. It showed off the muscles in his chest. I had to tear my eyes away.

“We decided to come watch the last game and they wanted to come down and say hi to everyone beforehand,” I told him.

“Well, since you’re going to be here, want to grab dinner with everyone after?” I smiled and nodded.

“Sounds good.” I looked past him into his stall. I’d never been into a locker room with Mason before, and I’d always been curious about how guys kept their stuff. “These your sticks?” I reached out to grab one, and Sidney grabbed my hand before I could.

“Don’t touch them, please,” he said in complete seriousness. I looked at him strangely.

“Sid hates having people touch his sticks after he tapes them up before a game,” Caden threw in from the stall next to us. “One of his little superstitions.” I looked back at Sidney and laughed.

“It’s not funny!” he exclaimed. I laughed harder.

“I didn’t realize. I apologize,” I told him between laughs.

He rolled his eyes at me before putting on his shoulder pads. I turned and started talking to Caden and playing with his sticks when I noticed Sidney walk away from his stall and around a corner. I put Caden’s stick back and stepped in front of Sidney’s stall. I stretched a hand out towards a stick, and then hesitated. He’d kill me if he knew I’d touched it.

“You’re playing with fire,” Wes called over to me. The entire locker room went silent as I grabbed one of Sidney’s sticks and posed with it.

“It was nice knowing you, Misty,” Walker cracked. I grinned and pulled a pen out of my purse.

“What the hell are you doing? What the hell is she doing?” Caden asked as I took the top off and made a little smiley face on the tape just under the knob. It was small enough that unless you really looked, you’d never see it.

“I’m going to see what happens if he uses the stick I touched before a game,” I announced. I placed the stick carefully back in its place as the locker room broke into nervous laughter. A moment later Sidney came back around the corner. I simply grinned over at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“Have a good game, Crosby,” I said. I turned and Zara and Valerie followed me out of the locker room.

We took seats at center ice and the game started not long after. There were only five other people at the game, and they looked like family members. Not wanting to be “those” girls, we kept quiet during the game, talking only amongst ourselves as we watched. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh at each of the five goals Sidney scored that afternoon. I couldn’t be sure until after the game which stick he’d used, but I had a feeling.

Once the game was over, a public skate began and the three of us grabbed some hot chocolate and sat in the lobby to wait for the guys to shower and get dressed. As Walker, Caden, and Wes filed out of the locker room ahead of Sidney, they each shook their heads at me with smiles on their faces. Despite not having any media to speak of here, Sidney was still one of the last out of the locker room. I saw him carrying the couple of sticks he'd brought with him.

“Which stick did you use today?” I asked him. He gave me a confused look.

“What? Why?”

“Just show me what stick you used,” I demanded.

He held one out and I took it from him. I turned it around and looked just under the knob, where I’d placed the smiley face on one of the sticks. There the smiley face was, staring me right in the face. I began to laugh hysterically when I saw that the stick that had gotten him five goals today was the one I had played around with. There was just one more thing to check.

“Is five goals typical for you in these games?” I asked.

“Not at all. I just felt like I couldn’t miss today.” He was still giving me a strange look as I began to laugh again. I turned the stick and pointed at the face I’d made. “What the fuck is that?”

“When you walked away, I grabbed a stick and made that so I’d know which one it was after. I was doing an experiment to see what happened if someone touched your stick,” I told him.

I watched his eyes narrow at me and his lips tighten into a straight line. He was obviously less than amused at what I’d just revealed. He grabbed the stick and ripped it out of my hands. Then without a word he turned and stormed out of the lobby and towards his car. I knew I’d crossed a line and took a deep breath before following him out.

“We’ll miss you, Misty!” I heard Wes call after me. Sidney slammed the trunk closed after putting his stuff in the back before turning and seeing me standing there.

“I specifically told you I don’t want anyone touching my sticks, but you couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he half asked, half yelled angrily. The smiles and laughter were gone from me now.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was going to be this big a deal. I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it would be,” I apologized. He stayed standing there, glaring at me for a moment without speaking.

“God, you just always do that. You just think you can fuck with people’s stuff and if nothing bad happens, it’s not a problem!” His scathing words hurt and I took a step back from him. I could see him making fists with his hands.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

“I don’t ever ask for anything from you. The one time I do, you can’t listen. You have to disregard it!”

“I’m sorry!”

Sidney turned away from me and I felt like shit. Then I saw him start to shake. I’d made him so mad that he was shaking? Then I heard the sound coming from him. It took a minute for me to recognize it. Was he laughing? He turned back around to me with a shake of his head and a smile on his face.

“I scored five goals with a stick you messed around with,” he said in disbelief. I smiled back at him and giggled. “God, why can’t I ever stay made at you?” I put my palms face up and gave an exaggerated shrug.

“I guess I’m just too damn cute,” I joked. He threw his arm around me with a laugh.

“Let’s get everyone and grab dinner,” he suggested.

Two days later I was on Sidney’s boat with the usual group. He’d completely forgiven me for messing with his stick and even threatened to force me to touch every stick for each of his games for the upcoming season. Now we were just hanging out, enjoying a late summer day before Sidney had one last party at his place before he left for the season.

After lying in the warm sun for a while, I jumped into the lake to cool off. I was off in my own world as I swam around the boat, getting in a little exercise as I went. No one had jumped in to join me, and I didn’t mind. After a while I swam back over to the boat and pulled myself up the ladder that had been left down for me.

“It’s about time I move out and get my own place,” I heard Sidney saying.

“I don’t know. It’s not such a bad deal living with Mario. You don’t even have to see them if you don’t want to,” Walker replied.

They were talking about Sidney being back in Pittsburgh. I felt a knot forming in my stomach. I didn’t want to talk or think about Sidney not being in Cole Harbour anymore. Especially since after he left, I was leaving as well. After that, I had no idea when I’d see him again. I just knew that he’d no longer be a short drive away and I wouldn’t be able to see him whenever I wanted.

The conversation about Pittsburgh and Sidney looking for a house there continued as I lay back on a towel and remained quiet. Zara and Valerie both realized pretty quickly what was going on with me, since I wasn’t known to not participate in a conversation. Zara gave my hand a squeeze and gave me a small smile. I tried to return the smile, but just couldn’t. I spent the rest of the time on the boat doing everything in my power to ignore all the Pittsburgh talk.

After a few hours on the boat we made our way back to Sidney’s where the girls and I made up some appetizer like food for the party and the guys went on an alcohol run. Once we were done with the food, we took turns with the showers and began to get ready. We finished up just as the first of the people coming began to show up.

We made our way downstairs and mixed up some drinks before heading outside to hang out. I stood among the group of friends I’d made and knew that it might be the last time that would ever happen. Even if I were to come back and visit the following summer, it was still the last time this summer, and that saddened me. I wondered if I’d ever have another summer like this one.

Chapter 26

I received a question on the last chapter asking why Mason Raymond. It's a pretty simple answer. I knew what I wanted to be the background for Misty. I wanted her to have given up her life and dreams and drop out of college to be with her boyfriend, a hockey player. I also knew what her age was, so I had to then find a list of NHLers who would have been in college at the same time as she would have been. Then I wanted to pick someone that was probably least likely to know Sidney and was still cute at the same time. Hence, Mason Raymond. I hope that helps! Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter too, everyone! I really appreciate it all.










Sidney turned his head at the unexpected voice. He didn’t get up, didn’t even move when their eyes locked. He was too upset about everything and too stunned at who was standing there to do much of anything. It took him a minute to respond and even when he did he couldn’t muster any emotion into his voice.

“What are you doing here, Callie?” he asked. She smiled over at him and flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing off the revealing strapless top she was wearing. He then noticed the six pack in her other hand.

“I heard you were coming home from Olympic camp today. I wanted to come over and see how it went.” She was lying, and he knew it. She’d never given a shit about how anything in hockey had gone before unless it made him money he could spend on her.

“It was fine,” he responded shortly. She either didn’t notice the mood he was in, or didn’t care. She made her way from the doorway and sat down next to him on the couch.

“If it was so fine, why are you here alone instead of out celebrating?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Callie, I’m just not in the mood right now. Can we talk later or something?” He didn’t care if he sounded like an asshole or if he was giving her hope by saying they could talk later. He just wanted her out of his house.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, giving him her best concerned look he was sure she’d practiced in front of the mirror. The day she cared what anyone else was feeling was the day hell would freeze over.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She pouted at him before grabbing a beer and opening it.

“Take this and tell me what’s going on.”

Reluctantly he took the beer from her and took a long swig. He figured his friends were going to be there soon with something stronger. For now he was going to take whatever alcohol he could get and if that meant he had to deal with Callie, then so be it. She sat there quietly as he took another swig.

“Sidney,” she prodded. He sighed. She was the last person he wanted to talk to about this, and yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He just wanted it all out of his head.

“Misty’s engaged.” Callie looked surprised, and he wasn’t sure if she was surprised about the engagement or him being upset about it.

“To who?” Sidney had a quick fantasy of running Mason through with a stick.

“Her ex, Mason.”

“The other hockey player,” Callie concluded. Sidney nodded and took another drink of his beer. “You’re not happy for her?”

“Not a fucking chance.” It was out before Sidney realized he’d said it. It was one thing to tell Callie that Misty was engaged. It was another to tell Callie how he felt about Misty.

“You’re in love with her?” There was hurt in the question, but Sidney didn’t give a shit about Callie’s feelings right now.

“No.” He’d lied, but this was not something he was going to discuss with his ex-girlfriend. Callie smiled a little and moved closer to him, putting her hand on his knee.

“I could help you forget,” she whispered into his ear.

“Not what I’m looking for, Callie,” he declined. She didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. She moved her hand further up his leg and shifted so that if she were any closer to him, she’d be on his lap.

“Maybe not, but I promise it’ll help.”

He turned his head to tell her she should go. Before he had a chance, she’d planted her mouth to his. He was stunned and it took him a minute to register what was going on. By the time his brain had caught up to the kiss, Callie was straddling him. He grabbed her by the hips and prepared to practically throw her off of him.

“Sidney? Sid, we have to talk about…..oh, I’m sorry.”

Callie pulled her mouth from his just as he whipped his head around to look at the door, where the voice had come from. He felt nauseous when he saw Misty standing in the open doorway. She was looking at him with red-rimmed eyes that told him she’d been crying, and a look of pure shock. Her eyes shifted back and forth between him and Callie. It took him another minute to realize Callie was still straddling him.

“I can see this is a bad time. I’ll get out of your way.” Misty turned and bolted out the door.

“Misty!” he called after her. He shoved Callie off of his lap and jumped up from the couch. She didn’t reappear in the doorway.

“Awkward,” Callie muttered behind him with a giggle.

“Shut up!” he spat at her. She looked utterly stunned at his tone.

“Excuse me?”

“You need to leave,” he demanded, glaring at her. She opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it and walked out the door.

He grabbed his car keys and walked out the door himself a moment later. For the first time since he’d seen the box Mason was holding at Misty’s he felt something. He wasn’t numb anymore. It wasn’t because Misty had caught him with Callie on his lap. It was because when she’d bolted out the door, closing it behind her, he’d noticed that there was no ring on her left hand.










I pulled back into my driveway and shut off the car. I let my head fall to the steering wheel and started to cry. A car door slamming next door jolted my head up. Not wanting to look like a lunatic crying in my car in the driveway, I got out and made my way inside. I paced around the living room with the image of Callie straddling Sidney, their lips interlocked, burned into my brain. I picked up my phone, walked into my bedroom, and called the one person I could talk to.

“Misty!” Evanne’s voice greeted me cheerfully. I sobbed in response. “Jesus, Mist, what’s wrong?” I took a deep breath before starting.

“Mason was here.”

“What? Why?” she asked in surprise.

“He asked me to marry him.” I heard her sharp intake of breath and there was silence on her end for a moment.

“What did you say?” I collapsed down onto my bed.

“I turned him down.”

“Good.” I was too shocked at the comment to respond. “Look, I know you loved him, but I never liked him. You were too good for him. He treated you like a trophy, not someone he loved and respected.”

“I know.” It was hard to admit, but deep down I’d always known. “Sidney was here when it happened.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Sidney was here when Mason came. He left before the proposal, but he knew what was going on.” Evanne sighed.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” she asked. New tears started to fall down my face.

“Yes,” I choked out.

“You have to talk to him.”

“I tried. I went over after Mason left. Evie, I found his ex-girlfriend straddling him on the couch,” I sobbed out. Evanne cursed.

“Listen to me. I know how he feels about you. I saw it firsthand. The guy’s crazy about you. He was probably upset when Mason showed up and just needed something to forget. I might have done the same thing if I were him.”

She was right. At least I hoped she was right. I hoped more than anything that Sidney felt the same way about me that I felt about him and he had just been doing what she’d said. I could get over what I’d seen if that was the case. I was about to respond to Evie when I heard my front door fly open.

“Misty!” Sidney’s voice rang out.

“Who is that?” Evie asked.

“Sidney.”

“Call me back tomorrow.” I hung up the phone without responding and slowly made my way out of the bedroom.

Sidney was already on his way down the hallway when I walked out. He froze in place when our eyes locked. We stood there for a moment just staring at each other until he broke the stare. I watched as his eyes shifted from my face to my left hand. I covered it self-consciously and turned my gaze down to the floor.

“You’re not wearing a ring,” I heard him say. I shook my head before looking back up at him. “What happened?”

“They say that if a man really knows and loves his girlfriend he’ll have no problem buying her a ring that she’ll love when he proposes. He’ll buy a ring that matches her perfectly. The ring Mason bought was amazing,” I said. He looked at me in confusion.

“I don’t understand.” I wiped a few tears from my cheeks before continuing.

“It was amazing, but it didn’t feel right. I looked at it and I couldn’t imagine wearing that ring for the rest of my life. It made me realize that Mason doesn’t know me at all. He never did. I can’t marry someone that doesn’t know or understand me.”

“I’m sorry.” I shrugged at his comment. At least now he knew I wasn’t going to marry Mason. “I was in the middle of pushing Callie off of me when you walked in.” I hadn’t expected the comment and it took me by surprise. Too many things were surprising me tonight.

“What?”

“I didn’t ask her to come over. She just showed up and before I knew what was going on, she was on top of me. I was about to push her off of me when you came in.”

I felt such relief hearing that, that I laughed. I didn’t just laugh, I nearly doubled over in laughter. Sidney looked at me strangely for a moment, before joining in. The two of us stood in the middle of my hallway laughing for no reason other than the fact that we didn’t really know what else to do.

“God, I’m tired,” I finally managed to say. Sidney smiled at me understandingly.

“Me too.”

“Bed?” I suggested. He just nodded before following me back into my bedroom.

I crawled into bed with him right behind me. He wrapped his arms around me before pulling me into him. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I think we were both too emotionally exhausted from tonight to talk about anything else right now. Instead I turned my brain off from everything except the feel of his arms around me as I fell asleep.