Chapter 18

I woke up to the sound of a groan mixed in with a giggle. I turned my head to see Bauer standing up on the bed, wagging his tail, and sticking his nose right into Sidney’s face. Sid turned his head only to have Bauer hop over him and stick his nose right into his face again. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Would you get your dog out of my face?” he growled, still trying to get away. Bauer thought it was a game and kept going back in for more.

I pulled the blankets off of me and got out of bed. When Bauer saw I was up, he jumped off the bed and ran over to me. I pet him for a minute before slipping on a pair of flip flops and strapping his leash onto him. Then I took him outside, which is what I knew he wanted. When he was done I brought him back inside and saw that Sidney was up and standing on the balcony overlooking the lake. I paused for a moment, seeing him standing there in just a pair of shorts, and admired the muscles in his back.

“How does it compare to home?” I asked him, finally joining him out there.

“It’s not bad,” he replied with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him.

“Let’s get dressed. I’ll show you around a bit before my parents are out of work and we head over there,” I suggested. Sidney agreed and we took turns using the bathroom to shower and get ready.

When we were ready we made our way to Sidney’s car and I gave him the directions to the house where I’d grown up. When we rounded the corner onto my street I could see my parents both sitting outside on the porch reading, like they often did in nice weather. Sidney pulled into the driveway and my parents both looked up. I could see the confused looks on their faces when we pulled in, not recognizing the car.

“Hi guys!” I called out when I opened the passenger door. My parents looked at me in surprise as I let Bauer out of the back.

“Hi,” my mom replied, still looking questioningly at the car. Sidney slowly got out and smiled at my parents.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you guys this, but it was kind of last minute. This is Sidney. Sid, these are my parents, Wade and Ada,” I introduced them. Both of them looked at Sidney in surprise. My dad made the first move, holding his hand out to Sid.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sidney.” My mom followed him doing the same.

“It’s nice to meet you both too. Misty’s talked about you both a lot,” Sidney told them politely.

I wouldn’t necessarily call the introductions awkward, but I could tell that my parents weren't exactly sure how to act around Sidney. They both knew who he was and what he was to hockey. I could see they were both in a little shock that he was standing in their driveway shaking their hands. Thankfully Bauer couldn’t hold himself back any longer and jumped up onto my mom.

“Well, hello, Bauer,” she said laughing and petting him. He wagged his tail for a bit before repeating the same thing with my dad.

I laughed as I saw the interaction between him and my parents. He’d been living with them for a couple months before we’d gone up to Cole Harbour. He obviously missed them. As I was watching him I heard the front door of the house open. I looked up to see Nick walk outside. He smiled at me and then froze in his tracks when he saw Sidney standing next to me.

“Nick, this is Sidney. Sid, that’s my brother Nick.” I tried to hold back my smile and laugh as I watched Nick narrow his eyes at Sidney before making his way down the front steps and over to us.

“Hi,” he mumbled as he shook Sidney’s hand.

“I swear I’m not an asshole,” Sidney replied. That was it. I couldn’t hold back the laugh anymore, and it burst out in a loud guffaw. I doubled over in laughter as my family looked at me like I was crazy. Sidney turned and grinned at me, knowing exactly why I was laughing.

“Um, okay,” Nick responded, looking questioningly between the two of us. I finally composed myself as I rested a hand on Sidney’s shoulder to keep myself propped up.

“I told Sidney you hated him,” I explained. Nick’s eyes opened wide in horror and both of my parents started to laugh.

“No I don’t!” he exclaimed shaking his head.

“Wasn’t it you that just said to me about a month ago that Sidney was an asshole even after I told you he was a nice guy?” I loved embarrassing my brother.

“Misty!” he yelled. I doubled over in laughter again and everyone but Nick joined in. “I hate you.” That only caused me to laugh harder. Nick rolled his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me until I was done.

“I’m sorry. Sometimes I just can’t help myself,” I apologized.

The five of us made our way inside and I gave Sidney a tour of the house. He looked into my room and glanced back at me in confusion. I had to explain that when I’d moved out to live with Mason, my parents had given me everything and then turned it into a guest room/office. There was absolutely nothing left in that room that would imply I’d grown up in it for 19 years aside from the walls remaining purple.

My father got to work making dinner for us since in the Wilson family my mom didn’t cook. I talked away with my family like I usually did about everything going on back in Cole Harbour. I’d kept them somewhat up to date, but talking on the phone just wasn’t the same as talking in person to me. Nick finally managed to relax in Sidney’s presence and be himself. If I wasn’t mistaken he seemed to like Sidney.

Dinner ended and Sidney and I hung around for a little bit. As the sun started to fall I decided that I should show Sidney what the night life in my hometown was like. My parents agreed to take Bauer for the night so that we could do what we wanted. We drove back and once again parked off the metered streets.

“Dessert?” I asked Sidney as we walked down the street.

He nodded and I led him into an ice cream shop. There was a line, but I walked right up to the register. Sidney tried to stop me, but I shrugged him off. It was about time I got to be the one with the perks, as small as they may be. I’d worked there in the past. The manager saw me and ran over to talk. I introduced them before putting in the order. We received our cones for free and talked for another minute before walking back outside to eat our ice cream. Oatmeal Cookie Chunk for me of course.

“I’m going to go inside and wash my hands,” Sidney told me when he’d finished. I nodded and left alone I finished my cone and did some people watching.

“Misty, is that you?” a male voice I’d hoped to never hear again asked from behind me.