Sidney lay there in bed just staring at Misty, who was asleep on his chest. He’d been awake for a while, but he’d been afraid to move. If he moved he might wake her up, and then she’d probably move off of him and he wasn’t ready for that. He wanted to stay here like this, holding her, as long as possible.
Instead he watched her eyelids flutter every now and then, her chest rise and fall with her breathing, and the corner of her mouth twitch on occasion. Her hair fell over her shoulder, cascading down to the bed, and if he wasn’t pinned down the way he was, he’d be running his hand through it. He could still smell coconuts in it.
Sidney thought about last night, about seeing her outside the rink. Once he’d gotten over the shock at seeing her and having her run away from him, which he still didn’t understand, he’d realized that he hadn’t been that happy in a long time. Seeing her had stirred something up in him he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt.
Misty had driven 9 hours just to surprise him for a night or two with plans to turn right around and drive 9 hours back. Her time on the road was almost as long as she’d planned on seeing him for. No one had ever done that for him before. He’d never forget it.
His heart had surged at the first smile she’d given him, when she’d decided to come out with him. It was strange, because he already knew he was in love with her, but this feeling now, this was different. It was more intense. It was like he suddenly realized a part of him had been missing for the past few months.
He wished that he had the balls to tell her. It just wasn’t that easy. He’d never, not once, ever felt like he loved someone before. No matter how much he loved her, it just wasn’t easy to come out and say it. There was always that fear of rejection, that he’d misread something and she didn’t even feel remotely the same. There was the fear that if he told her and she didn’t feel the same way he’d be crushed. There was the fear that it would ruin their relationship and he’d never see her again.
Even so, he’d felt something shift in their relationship last night. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t pinpoint a moment when it happened, but he knew it did. Things were different between them now. They were no longer just friends. They weren’t together, they’d never even indicated to each other that they wanted anything more than friendship, but he felt it. He just wasn’t sure what exactly that was, and what it meant for them.
He heard a tiny whimper escape from Misty’s lips and she shifted slightly. He watched as her eyes slowly opened. She took a moment before turning her head so that those beautiful blue eyes of hers connected with his. He felt himself smile at her and watched as her lips turned up into one of her own.
“Morning,” he said.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked.
“Not long,” he lied. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, obviously not believing him. She could usually see through his bullshit.
“You could have woken me up, you know,” she chastised.
“I just didn’t want to bother you,” he told her, only telling half of the truth. She sighed and rolled her eyes before pushing herself off of him and glancing at the clock on the nightstand.
“Boy am I not looking forward to doing the walk of shame into the hotel later,” she half laughed. He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him.
“I’m sorry about forgetting to bring you back last night,” he apologized, even though he wasn’t sorry at all.
“No biggie,” she assured him as she sat up and stretched out. He suddenly wished he hadn’t given her some clothes to sleep in last night so that she’d be doing that naked instead of in a baggy t-shirt and shorts. “So where are we going for breakfast?”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Breakfast. Where are we going? I know you, Crosby. There’s no way there’s anything edible here to eat.” He laughed and got out of bed right after she did.
“I know a place.” He watched her collect her clothes from the night before and watched with disappointment as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, to change.
They hadn’t discussed how long she was going to stay in town for, and he knew he had to bring it up. Vero was right last night, like she usually was. He had to ask Misty to stay longer than just last night, or even just through tomorrow. She’d just gotten here and he wasn’t ready to see her leave yet.
Once they were both dressed he gave her the tour of the house before they left for breakfast. As they sat across from each other in a booth at the tiny diner it was like they hadn’t been apart at all. They talked and laughed throughout breakfast like they’d done all summer long. When the conversation finally hit a lull he decided now was as good a time as any.
“How long can you stay?” he asked. She shrugged and stuffed a bite of a chocolate chip waffle into her mouth.
“As long as you want me,” she replied, dunking a home fry into some ketchup. If that were the case, she’d never be going home.
“You don’t have to get back to work?” he checked. He didn’t want to exactly jump straight at asking her to stay until Christmas, which was a few weeks away.
“It’s closed until after the New Year for renovations. I told you that,” she replied, giving him that look she gave when someone really should know better than to make the comment they just had.
“Right.”
He watched as she stuck her fork into the eggs on his plate, taking a large mouthful. He hated when people ate off of his plate. It was one of his biggest pet peeves. Except when Misty did it. Instead he moved his plate a little closer to her and took a bite of her chocolate chip waffle. She smiled and wrinkled up her nose at him in response.
“You can stay as long as you want, you know,” he said after a minute. She grinned across the table at him.
“Thanks, but I only have enough clothes for a couple of days.” He felt the disappointment hit him like a semi. Then a thought struck him.
“So go buy new clothes,” he suggested. She lifted her eyebrows at him and snorted out a laugh.
“Yeah, I don’t have the money to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe just to stick around here a little longer,” she said with a shake of her head.
“I’ll give you money,” he offered. He watched her let go of her fork, and heard its loud clatter when it hit the plate. Her expression told him exactly what she thought of that idea.
“No. I’m not taking your money for clothes,” she told him firmly. She picked up her orange juice and took a long sip as if the conversation was over.
“Well, I don’t want you to go yet,” he blurted out heatedly before thinking about it. The straw fell out of her mouth and back into the glass. She didn’t say anything for a moment and he wanted to take it back.
“I don’t want to go yet, either,” she whispered, avoiding looking into his eyes.
“Then please just go shopping. I don’t mind. Really,” he practically begged. He wished it was possible for him to sound a little less like an idiot, but at this point he almost didn’t care. He needed her to stay in Pittsburgh as long as she could.
“I guess I could just get a few things.” He felt himself begin to smile.
They spent the next few minutes discussing how this was going to work. He couldn’t exactly head to the mall with her and take her himself, because he’d get mobbed. He said he’d give her his credit card to which she rolled her eyes at him. Did he think if she used a credit card with his name on it that they’d believe she knew him and it was okay for her to use it? Eventually he made a phone call. Finally it was settled. She’d go shopping with Vero tomorrow while they were at practice, and Sidney would pay Flower back for whatever she spent.
“I still don’t like it,” Misty told him as they walked into the lobby of the hotel. He sighed.
“I know. You don’t have to say that every 10 seconds,” he replied.
She glared at him while they waited for the elevator. A couple of people got off the elevator when it arrived and Sidney slunk low, pulling his hat down, hoping they wouldn’t recognize him. They didn’t so much as give him a second glance. He couldn’t even imagine what people would think if they saw him at the hotel with Misty who was still obviously in clothes meant to be worn out on a Saturday night and not to brunch on Sunday.
“I told you to stay in the car,” Misty commented as the elevator doors closed them in.
“I wasn’t going to just circle the block until you were done,” he argued. She shrugged and laughed when he put his head down so the group waiting for the elevator on Misty’s floor wouldn’t see his face.
She threw her stuff back into the bag she’d brought with her from home and they made their way back to the lobby. Sidney went to get the car while Misty checked out. By the time he pulled up in front, she was waiting for him. She threw her bag in the back seat before hopping in beside him.
“I hope it’s not an inconvenience for you to have to move into a different bedroom for a while,” she said as they started to drive away. He furrowed his brow in confusion.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“You told me I could have any bedroom I wanted when I came to visit. I’m taking the master suite,” she announced with a grin on her face.
“Like hell,” he responded with a laugh.
“It’s not polite to go back on your promise to a guest,” she joked. It was good to have Misty back.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Chapter 33
Sidney parked and I followed him and Vero to the club. We walked right in and headed upstairs to the VIP section. Music was blasting, everyone had a drink in their hand, and it did not look at all like the kind of place Sidney would like to go to. I could also see that there were already guys from the team there.
“What the hell? How did I beat you two? What’s going on?” a guy asked, walking up to us. By the way he looked at Vero I guessed he must be Marc.
“This is Misty, the girl from this summer. We stopped to pick her up on the way,” Vero told him.
The girl from the summer? I gave Sidney a strange look at that and he smiled sheepishly at me. Then I caught the grin Marc threw over at Sidney before shaking my hand. What was that about? I followed them further in and smiled when I saw a familiar face looking at me in surprise.
“Hey, Max!” I greeted him as he got up to give me a hug.
“Misty! What are you doing here? Sid didn’t tell me you were coming in.”
“He didn’t know. I surprised him tonight.” He gave me a wink and a laugh before making room at the table for us to sit down.
I was introduced to the rest of the guys and girls that were at the table with us. There were a lot of comments calling me 'the girl from the summer' and it was a little strange. It didn’t bother me that Sidney had talked about me, but I couldn’t figure out the looks everyone kept giving him. Why was everyone looking at the two of us like that?
Sidney and I remained sitting at the table even as everyone else moved around and mingled. Sidney said he wanted to stay as discreet as possible, which I understood. Someone was always sitting with us to talk to so I didn’t mind. That is until I was a few drinks and shots deep and “Shooting Star” came on. There was absolutely no way I could hear that song and not dance.
“Dance with me!” I said to Sidney as I got up and held a hand out to him. He gave me a look like I was crazy.
“You know I don’t dance,” he told me.
“Too embarrassed?” I joked. He gave me a look that told me that he was. I leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I can think of a thousand ways to embarrass you that would be worse than dancing just off the top of my head.”
He looked at me cautiously for a second and then sighed. He took my hand and stood up. Sidney knew I wasn’t bluffing when I said that. We made our way to the dance floor and I began to dance immediately. Sidney kind of stood there for a moment awkwardly. I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed his hands, pulling him closer to me.
As I danced in front of him he eventually picked up on my rhythm and began to dance as well. For someone who was so convinced that he was a bad dancer, Sidney really wasn’t all that bad. He just had to let go and have fun, which he began to do the longer we danced. I wasn’t about to let him go after just one song and we ended up dancing for quite a while. We only stopped when my drink ran out and I decided to get another one.
“I’ve got it,” Max said, coming up next to me and pushing my hand holding the $20 bill away. I saw Marc and Kris Letang were with him.
“Hey, thanks.” I took the drink when it arrived and took a sip.
“How did you get the kid to dance?” Marc asked curiously.
“I guessed correctly that he didn’t because he was embarrassed to be bad,” I told him. The three of them looked at me like I was crazy.
“Yeah, okay, but how did you get him to dance?” Kris pushed. I grinned and took another sip of my drink.
“I told him I could think of a thousand ways to embarrass him worse.” They started laughing.
“See, I told you this one was un petit petard,” Max joked.
“What did you just call me?” I asked him. They all laughed again. “I took Spanish!”
“He called you a little firecracker,” Kris explained. I grinned over at him.
“Oh, Maxy, you shouldn’t have,” I said batting my eyelashes and giving him a light slap on the shoulder.
“Would you care to dance, petard?” he asked, holding out his hand.
“Why I’d love to, el mujeriego,” I responded. He lifted an eyebrow at me. “I called you a womanizer.” He laughed as he swung me out towards the dance floor.
“What has that boy been telling you about me?”
Sidney watched Misty talking to some of his teammates at the bar with a smile on his face. He was currently supposed to be listening to some story Staalsy was telling, but his mind had wandered elsewhere. He couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling he’d had when he’d realized that it really was Misty here in Pittsburgh.
“Dude, really? Just go over there with her if that’s where you want to be,” Jordan said after punching him in the arm.
“I never said…..”
“You didn’t have to. It’s obvious,” Goligoski chastised.
“At least your description of her was spot on. She’s a rocket,” Tyler Kennedy threw in.
“Hey, who girl with Talbot?” Geno asked, sitting down at the table.
Sidney glanced over along with everyone else at the table. He was less than thrilled to see that it was Misty. They were out on the dance floor dancing a little too close for his liking. Fucking Talbot. He knew, he fucking knew. He was there this summer and saw then. What the fuck was he doing? He watched as they danced and smiled. He cringed when Max suddenly dipped Misty and she came up laughing.
“He’s mowing your lawn, man,” Jordan said. Fucking Talbot.
“Is there a reason you’re sitting here watching Max dance with Misty instead of getting up and stopping it?” Vero asked storming over.
“V, come on,” he started. She stopped him with a glare.
“What is wrong with you?! She came to see you, not him. Get your ass off out of that chair and go get her!” she ordered. For someone who was so tiny and looked so sweet, Vero could be terrifying.
“Alright, alright,” he said as he stood up, holding his hands out in surrender. Sidney trained his eyes on Misty and Max and began to walk in their direction. Before he even got to them Misty saw him and beamed over at him. Then she parted from Max and walked over to him.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to come back out here,” she pouted. At least he knew she would have preferred dancing with him over Talbot.
“I was just keeping your girl warm,” Max shot as he passed.
Sidney glared over his shoulder at him. Max chuckled and winked knowing full well that Sidney couldn’t say anything about that with Misty right here. There was just no response to that without making his feelings for her obvious, and that was probably not the right way to tell someone you were in love with them. Fucking Talbot.
“I’m not really sure I’m up for more dancing,” he told Misty. She giggled and nodded.
“One more and we’ll go home. I’m getting a little tired. Sound good?” she suggested. He could handle that.
He couldn’t help but imagine what else they could be doing as they danced. Everything Misty was doing right now was turning him on. He’d almost forgotten the power she seemed to have over him. Every once in a while she’d move a certain way and he’d get a whiff of her hair. It smelled amazing, like coconuts. God, he wanted her.
The song ended and she held up her end of the bargain. She led him off the dance floor and they grabbed their coats. They made their rounds to say goodbye to everyone, and he watched as Misty and Vero exchanged numbers. Once again, it had taken a whole couple of hours for Misty to charm his friends.
They walked out to his car and he began the drive. They talked and caught up through most of it, but his mind remained where it had been when they were dancing. This was the worst it had been. He’d almost figured being apart for a while would calm his feelings, but that hadn’t happened. The distance seemed to have strengthened them.
“Uh, Sid, this isn’t the hotel,” Misty said to him when he parked the car.
“Shit,” he mumbled when he looked up at his house. He’d just driven home automatically without thinking twice about it. “I’ll bring you back in the morning. I really don’t want to drive all the way back down there.”
“No problem. You can give me the tour,” she said as she hopped out of his car. She followed him into the house and he saw her looking around at the parts she could see from the front entrance.
“This is it,” he told her, motioning with his hands. His hand brushed hers as he returned it to his side and he felt a jolt go through his body.
“You know, I think I’m too tired for the whole tour right now,” he heard her say.
He turned to look at her and noticed a strange look on her face. He couldn’t quite read it, but he did see the slight smile. He felt like he knew what she meant. He hoped he was right as he decided to take the chance. He leaned down and kissed her. She responded exactly how he hoped she would, snaking her arms around his neck and kissing him back.
“Let me show you the bedroom then,” he suggested when they parted. He saw the quick smile play across her lips before she turned and headed for the stairs ahead of him.
“What the hell? How did I beat you two? What’s going on?” a guy asked, walking up to us. By the way he looked at Vero I guessed he must be Marc.
“This is Misty, the girl from this summer. We stopped to pick her up on the way,” Vero told him.
The girl from the summer? I gave Sidney a strange look at that and he smiled sheepishly at me. Then I caught the grin Marc threw over at Sidney before shaking my hand. What was that about? I followed them further in and smiled when I saw a familiar face looking at me in surprise.
“Hey, Max!” I greeted him as he got up to give me a hug.
“Misty! What are you doing here? Sid didn’t tell me you were coming in.”
“He didn’t know. I surprised him tonight.” He gave me a wink and a laugh before making room at the table for us to sit down.
I was introduced to the rest of the guys and girls that were at the table with us. There were a lot of comments calling me 'the girl from the summer' and it was a little strange. It didn’t bother me that Sidney had talked about me, but I couldn’t figure out the looks everyone kept giving him. Why was everyone looking at the two of us like that?
Sidney and I remained sitting at the table even as everyone else moved around and mingled. Sidney said he wanted to stay as discreet as possible, which I understood. Someone was always sitting with us to talk to so I didn’t mind. That is until I was a few drinks and shots deep and “Shooting Star” came on. There was absolutely no way I could hear that song and not dance.
“Dance with me!” I said to Sidney as I got up and held a hand out to him. He gave me a look like I was crazy.
“You know I don’t dance,” he told me.
“Too embarrassed?” I joked. He gave me a look that told me that he was. I leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I can think of a thousand ways to embarrass you that would be worse than dancing just off the top of my head.”
He looked at me cautiously for a second and then sighed. He took my hand and stood up. Sidney knew I wasn’t bluffing when I said that. We made our way to the dance floor and I began to dance immediately. Sidney kind of stood there for a moment awkwardly. I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed his hands, pulling him closer to me.
As I danced in front of him he eventually picked up on my rhythm and began to dance as well. For someone who was so convinced that he was a bad dancer, Sidney really wasn’t all that bad. He just had to let go and have fun, which he began to do the longer we danced. I wasn’t about to let him go after just one song and we ended up dancing for quite a while. We only stopped when my drink ran out and I decided to get another one.
“I’ve got it,” Max said, coming up next to me and pushing my hand holding the $20 bill away. I saw Marc and Kris Letang were with him.
“Hey, thanks.” I took the drink when it arrived and took a sip.
“How did you get the kid to dance?” Marc asked curiously.
“I guessed correctly that he didn’t because he was embarrassed to be bad,” I told him. The three of them looked at me like I was crazy.
“Yeah, okay, but how did you get him to dance?” Kris pushed. I grinned and took another sip of my drink.
“I told him I could think of a thousand ways to embarrass him worse.” They started laughing.
“See, I told you this one was un petit petard,” Max joked.
“What did you just call me?” I asked him. They all laughed again. “I took Spanish!”
“He called you a little firecracker,” Kris explained. I grinned over at him.
“Oh, Maxy, you shouldn’t have,” I said batting my eyelashes and giving him a light slap on the shoulder.
“Would you care to dance, petard?” he asked, holding out his hand.
“Why I’d love to, el mujeriego,” I responded. He lifted an eyebrow at me. “I called you a womanizer.” He laughed as he swung me out towards the dance floor.
“What has that boy been telling you about me?”
Sidney watched Misty talking to some of his teammates at the bar with a smile on his face. He was currently supposed to be listening to some story Staalsy was telling, but his mind had wandered elsewhere. He couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling he’d had when he’d realized that it really was Misty here in Pittsburgh.
“Dude, really? Just go over there with her if that’s where you want to be,” Jordan said after punching him in the arm.
“I never said…..”
“You didn’t have to. It’s obvious,” Goligoski chastised.
“At least your description of her was spot on. She’s a rocket,” Tyler Kennedy threw in.
“Hey, who girl with Talbot?” Geno asked, sitting down at the table.
Sidney glanced over along with everyone else at the table. He was less than thrilled to see that it was Misty. They were out on the dance floor dancing a little too close for his liking. Fucking Talbot. He knew, he fucking knew. He was there this summer and saw then. What the fuck was he doing? He watched as they danced and smiled. He cringed when Max suddenly dipped Misty and she came up laughing.
“He’s mowing your lawn, man,” Jordan said. Fucking Talbot.
“Is there a reason you’re sitting here watching Max dance with Misty instead of getting up and stopping it?” Vero asked storming over.
“V, come on,” he started. She stopped him with a glare.
“What is wrong with you?! She came to see you, not him. Get your ass off out of that chair and go get her!” she ordered. For someone who was so tiny and looked so sweet, Vero could be terrifying.
“Alright, alright,” he said as he stood up, holding his hands out in surrender. Sidney trained his eyes on Misty and Max and began to walk in their direction. Before he even got to them Misty saw him and beamed over at him. Then she parted from Max and walked over to him.
“I didn’t think you were ever going to come back out here,” she pouted. At least he knew she would have preferred dancing with him over Talbot.
“I was just keeping your girl warm,” Max shot as he passed.
Sidney glared over his shoulder at him. Max chuckled and winked knowing full well that Sidney couldn’t say anything about that with Misty right here. There was just no response to that without making his feelings for her obvious, and that was probably not the right way to tell someone you were in love with them. Fucking Talbot.
“I’m not really sure I’m up for more dancing,” he told Misty. She giggled and nodded.
“One more and we’ll go home. I’m getting a little tired. Sound good?” she suggested. He could handle that.
He couldn’t help but imagine what else they could be doing as they danced. Everything Misty was doing right now was turning him on. He’d almost forgotten the power she seemed to have over him. Every once in a while she’d move a certain way and he’d get a whiff of her hair. It smelled amazing, like coconuts. God, he wanted her.
The song ended and she held up her end of the bargain. She led him off the dance floor and they grabbed their coats. They made their rounds to say goodbye to everyone, and he watched as Misty and Vero exchanged numbers. Once again, it had taken a whole couple of hours for Misty to charm his friends.
They walked out to his car and he began the drive. They talked and caught up through most of it, but his mind remained where it had been when they were dancing. This was the worst it had been. He’d almost figured being apart for a while would calm his feelings, but that hadn’t happened. The distance seemed to have strengthened them.
“Uh, Sid, this isn’t the hotel,” Misty said to him when he parked the car.
“Shit,” he mumbled when he looked up at his house. He’d just driven home automatically without thinking twice about it. “I’ll bring you back in the morning. I really don’t want to drive all the way back down there.”
“No problem. You can give me the tour,” she said as she hopped out of his car. She followed him into the house and he saw her looking around at the parts she could see from the front entrance.
“This is it,” he told her, motioning with his hands. His hand brushed hers as he returned it to his side and he felt a jolt go through his body.
“You know, I think I’m too tired for the whole tour right now,” he heard her say.
He turned to look at her and noticed a strange look on her face. He couldn’t quite read it, but he did see the slight smile. He felt like he knew what she meant. He hoped he was right as he decided to take the chance. He leaned down and kissed her. She responded exactly how he hoped she would, snaking her arms around his neck and kissing him back.
“Let me show you the bedroom then,” he suggested when they parted. He saw the quick smile play across her lips before she turned and headed for the stairs ahead of him.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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.
“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.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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.
“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.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, January 29, 2010
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.
“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.
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