Take Me Anywhere

"Hey, Nate," Mia forced a smile. "Are you here teaching Shannon how to skate?"

He shrugged. "Trying to. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, the new face of the NHL?"

Mia cleared her throat. "Nate, this is Sidney Crosby. Sid, this is Nate. Shannon's older brother."

Nate held his hand out for Sidney to shake, which he did reluctantly. Nate seemed satisfied, but Sidney was not too impressed. "I'm looking forward to the Olympics," Nate stated. "Should be good! You're going to be the captain's assistant, right?"

"Yeah," Sidney nodded.

"Sweet," Nate chuckled. "Well, good luck to you. Mia, I'll catch you later. Great show last night, by the way!" Then he skated off to go help out his little sister.

Sidney furrowed his brow. "I don't like him. He puts on airs."

"He's my ex-boyfriend," Mia admitted, rather bashfully. Sidney's head snapped over to look at her with wide eyes.

"You dated him?" he asked, flabbergasted. "When did you break up?"

"Um," Mia gulped, drumming her fingers along her arm anxiously. "Two and a half months ago."

"Two and a half months ago?" Sidney repeated. "Holy crap. And how long were you dating?"

Mia looked up at him curiously. "Why do you care?"

Sidney pretended not to know. "No reason, I'm just curious."

"Liar," she muttered to herself. "We dated for three years."

"You baffle me," was all he had to say. "Why did you date him for?"

"Sidney--"

"I mean, the guy's not even that good looking."

"Sidney--"

"And really, what is up with his hair--"

"Sidney mother fucking Patrick Crosby," Mia burst out. "Enough. It is none of your business. If you wanted to know about my personal life, you could have just looked it up on Google. Why does it matter if Nate and I dated? It was in the past, and we're friends now. It's not a big deal."

Sidney let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Mia," he apologized, his cheeks tinting pink. "I just...I didn't think he'd be the kind of guy you'd go for."

"Well, we went to elementary and high school together," she shrugged. "He was in my grade, he liked all of the things I did, and he helped me get better at playing guitar. I liked him, and I'm glad we're still friends."

Sidney just nodded, feeling a bit downtrodden. Mia noticed right away, and reached over to give him a hug.

"Hey," she whispered into his ear. "So far, you're not a very good skating teacher. When are you going to teach me how to stop?"

* * * * *

Alice's cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She was laying down sideways on the couch in the apartment that she shared with Mia, a very cozy looking Jordan Staal right beside her with his arms around her waist.

"Who is it?" he asked, kissing her neck lightly as she emitted a small giggle.

"It's Mia," she said, reading the text. "She and Sid apparently just went ice skating and are on their way over. It'll take them about a half hour. And, as it seems, Mia's ex showed up to ruin the fun."

"Mia's ex?" Jordan repeated. "That must've made Sid uncomfortable."

"Do you think they'll ever hook up?" Alice wondered aloud.

Jordan shrugged. "I don't know. They've got pretty rough schedules, with her being on tour and Sidney playing hockey with the Penguins and the Olympic hockey team. I'm actually surprised that they've connected so well. They barely know each other."

"My sister is still a mystery to me," Alice sighed. "Come on, you've got to get up now. I don't want Mia assuming we did inappropriate things or she's going to tell my mom."

"We did do inappropriate things," Jordan corrected. "More than once, might I add."

"Well, yeah," Alice grinned. "But that doesn't mean she has to know about it."