Let Me Be Your Wings

Jaime was persistent.

I moved with Patrick and Adam through the dance club talking with the players who were all having a good time. I was currently working on my second pomegranate martini which Adam made fun of me for. The woman he was with was named Sasha and she seemed to be nice. As we moved through the hockey players, we saw Jaime everywhere. She was found hanging off of Jonathan Toews, flirting with Patrick Kane, she was seen trying to get Anti Niemi to go down and dance with her. She tried to get Marion Hossa, who is married, to try and do body shots with her, he declined. She even tried to pull Patrick away from our group, convinced that she could get him to go home with her. I found her slimy and slightly depressing. She was throwing herself at any and all Blackhawks player and her desperate act was embarrassing to watch. However, she did catch the eye of Shaw who was currently indulging her by ordering her a drink.

“Having fun?” Patrick asked.

I finished my drink and set it down, “I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I’m not going to lie, Patrick, I don’t like being used as a back-off-slut blanket.”

He frowned, “I had no idea she was going to be here.”

“No, it’s not that. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t just tell her to back off. I just watched five guys do it.”

He shrugged, “She’s got something for me, what can I say?” He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me outside to the balcony. The music was still loud, but not nearly as deafening. Leading me over to the railing, he positioned me against the building while he leaned into me. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was using you.”

I didn’t look up at him. Having not eaten before I started drinking I was a little worse for wear right now and I wasn’t sure I could control myself if I looked at him. Instead I stared hard at his chest and answered, “I want to keep this a professional relationship, Patrick.”

“For how long?”

I couldn’t help it; I looked up at him in shock only to be further shocked by how incredibly close he was. I took a moment to swallow my heart which a jumped into my throat to say “I don’t know.”

He leaned in, “I think it’s been long enough.”

“It’s been a week.”

He shrugged moving in again, “That’s a long time.”

I felt my judgement cloud up. My womanhood tightened as I felt his breath on my lips. I inhaled his cologne and my knees felt weak. I looked up at him unsure and asked, “Is it?”

He smiled, “Oh yeah.”

I frowned, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Then stop me.”

He moved in even closer. I had no idea how there was still space between us. My breathing hitched as he neared my lips. But right before he reached them, Jaime came out onto the balcony, “Sharpy! There you are!”

The interruption scared us, causing Patrick to jump away from me. We watched as Jaime stumbled over, clearly the drinks that Shaw had ordered for her were taking affect. She made it over to us without falling over her heels and again threw herself onto Patrick. Pouting she said, “Why won’t you talk with me, Sharpy?”

I took this moment to take a few breaths and clear my head, gain some control. I watched as Patrick tried to get out from under her grasp, but it was no use. Instead he said, “You um… seemed preoccupied with Shaw.”

She giggled, “Yeah, isn’t he nice? He’s a cutie! But I don’t want a cutie, I want a stallion.” She slid the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Patrick to slide down his stomach.

He gripped her wrist and managed to untangle himself from her, “Please don’t do that.”

“Oh come on, Sharpy,” she jerked her head at me, “Do you really think she’s going to keep you satisfied?”

Patrick frowned, “Jaime, listen to me, this isn’t going to happen. I’m not interested in being with you in any way, shape, or form. Stop hanging on me. Go back to Shaw, he seemed interested.”

She stepped back and looked stunned. She pouted for a moment saying, “Come on, baby, you don’t mean that.”

Patrick looked at her and said, “I’m not your baby.”

With that she scowled at me, “Whatever, have fun with your puck slut.”

Walking away, she reentered the dance club. Patrick looked at me and I back at him, thankful this time that there was some distance between us. I gave him a smile, “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No, I guess not.” He gave me a small smile. Taking a step forward, he went to take my waist again, but I moved back to the door.

“I’m going to get another drink,” I smiled.

“Let me come with you.”

“I can get it. With you saying no to Jaime, I no longer have to worry about her sneaking up on you.” Walking away, I entered the club and went to the bartender getting a cold glass of water. I needed to be better about my drinking if I was going to keep doing it around Patrick Sharp. Kris Versteeg saw me at the bar and came over.

“Staying hydrated?”

I smiled at him, “Gotta drink water. Responsible drinking habits are important.”

He laughed, “Good to see you get away from Sharp and Burish. Jaime get the hint?”

I nodded, “Oh yeah.”

“Have you danced at all tonight?”

I shook my head, “No.”

“Well finish that and we’ll go down. Just a little fun now that you’re not being used as a human shield.”

I laughed and drained my water. Setting the glass down, I held out my hand for him to take. Giving me a smirk, he led me down the stairs and out onto the center of the dance floor. Some of the other players were down with their significant others. I saw Duncan and Kelly near the edge, him dipping her every once in a while. I turned my attention to Kris and we both started moving to the beat. He placed his hands on my waist, keeping his eyes on mine, watching for any sign that he needed to stop. I placed my hands on his shoulders and we held each other there while we danced.

The one glass of water wasn’t enough to keep me completely mistake free however, and as the dancing progressed, Kris and I had lost our space. We were not pressed against each other, dancing to the beat of the music our eyes locked. I gave Kris and smile and he returned it. He made a face at me and I laughed at him. When the song changed, we pulled away from each other and stood for a moment. Kris took my hand and together we walked back upstairs. I stopped at the bar and got another water. I stood with him, Madden, and Sopel at the railing overlooking the dance floor. They teased us about our close dancing, and I took a sip of my water and rolled my eyes at all of them. When I finished my water, I felt like I had sobered up enough to nurse a martini. Getting a second drink, I was caught by Adam and his girl Sasha, who brought me outside.

“Nice dancing with Versteeg,” Adam said, “Very classy shit.”

I laughed, “I try.”

“So Adam tells me you take photos of the Hawks,” Sasha said, “That sounds fun.”

I nodded, “It is.”

“She takes them mostly of me.”

We giggled and she replied, “Oh I’m sure she spends all of her time snapping the stupid poses you do.”

I laughed at her and took a drink of my martini. I ended up hanging with Sasha for most of the night. She was a lot of fun and was a very refreshing compared to some the girls hanging out here, not counting Amanda and Kelly. I had a few more drinks with her and soon we had a small group of girls on the balcony. She, Kelly, Amanda, and I all stood around a tall table while the boys were inside talking about god knows what. We had a few rounds between us and Sasha turned to me.

“So what were you and Sharpy doing in the corner earlier?”

I looked at her confused.

“Oh-ho no,” she said pointing at me, “I saw you two almost kiss. You’ve got your eyes set on that man! And I must say, great taste.”

Kelly and Amanda both gasped, “You said you weren’t with him!”

I shook my head, “I’m not.”

Amanda smiled, “Mm-hm. We warned you. He’s got it hot for you.”

“Shit.” I hung my head, “What am I going to do?”

“You could always go for it,” said Kelly, “He’s got to be great in bed.”

Amanda slapped Kelly’s arm, “Kelly!”

Kelly held up her hands, “I’m just saying, we’ve watched him take home enough women that he’s bound to have picked up a few tricks or two.”

I frowned, “How many has he been with?”

Kelly and Amanda both shook their heads, “Not that many.”

I eyed them suspiciously, “I can’t help but feel you guys are back tracking.”

Amanda giggled, “I mean… he’s been with enough women for us all to notice that he’s been with a lot of women.”

I laughed, “Has he ever had a serious relationship?”

“Once,” nodded Kelly, “It was for about a year. But she was the one that left. She couldn’t handle the hockey schedule.”

“Which, being able to travel with the team would give you an advantage,” nodded Amanda.

“Well thanks for the advice, ladies,” I said, “I think I’ll wait to be more established here before I throw away my job. Besides, I’m pretty sure there is an anti-fraternization clause in my contract.”

Kelly pft at me, “Come on. Your uncle is a head of the franchise!”

“Just because he’s a family friend doesn’t mean I can take advantage of him like that.”

“Oh,” said Sasha, “Here he comes!”

I finished my drink and turned to see Patrick coming over holding my coat, “The club is closing soon, do you want to leave?”

I gave him a smile, “Sure.”

The girls ‘oo’ed and giggled as I walked away, but thankfully Patrick didn’t notice. Again, we were the only ones in the elevator as it descended but this time I wasn’t afraid to look at Patrick. He again was looking at me, but this time it was different. He was no longer looking like he was going to score tonight. I tried to place what the expression was, but for some reason I couldn’t. Together we walked out of the building and we stood in silence as we waited for Patrick’s car to be retrieved. The drive back to my apartment was quiet as well. When he pulled into my parking lot, he got out of his car and opened my door. I was able to get one foot on the ground when he wrapped his arm around me and placed his mouth on mine. I didn’t question it. I kissed him back, wrapping my hand around his neck holding him closer to me. Pulling me away from the car, he shut the passenger side door and pushed me back onto it. We stayed like that for I don’t know how long, but eventually we pulled away due to lack of oxygen. We stood there looking at each other, breathing heavily. My red lipstick was smeared over his face, and I’m sure my face looked exactly the same.

“Do you want to come up,” I asked.

Patrick was quiet for a moment, but then giving me a hard kiss replied, “Yes. But I shouldn’t.”

I looked at him confused, “But-”

“I just wanted you to know what I wanted… before you really shut me down.”

He took a step away from me, and with a final nod, he walked around his car and got back in. He gave me a nod as he pulled out of the parking space and then drove off down the street. I stood there in the parking lot confused out of my mind. I wanted to jump with joy, but also wanted to collapse. Instead, I turned and entered my building. Entering my apartment, I entered my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. Sure enough the red lipstick was all over my face. I touched the red wax and felt his lips on mine again. Washing my face, I got ready for bed, and felt his hands on me as he pinned me to his car. Covering myself in my sheets, I felt the chill of the vehicle behind me as we kissed. I set my alarm for the next day, and I closed my eyes to go to sleep thinking of Patrick Sharp.