Don't Be Scared, It's Only Love...

Charlotte Michaels was sneaking out of her latest fuck’s room as quietly as she could. It wasn’t quiet enough though, because the man still laying in bed suddenly groaned and sat up, yawning and staring at her with a bored expression.

"Oh. Hey, uhh...." the man said in a deep voice, a sheepish smile on his face as he prompted her to remind him her name.

"Charlotte," she supplied softly, wanting nothing more than to leave the man and his shamelessness to go take a long nap in her own bed.

"Yeah. Charlotte, well it was nice.... Guess I’ll see you later," he said awkwardly. Charlotte smiled a quick tight-lipped smile before responding.

"Right," she said smoothly, turning her back on the man and walking out of his apartment in last night’s wrinkled clothes. Ahh, the walk of shame; an act that was quickly becoming routine for 20 year old Charlotte. She wasn’t necessarily ashamed because to her everyone was entitled to choosing how they spent their time and she chose to spend it this way.

She hailed a cab and was on her way back to her own apartment when her phone rang. Caller I.D. read Jenny. Charlotte rolled her eyes, her big sister always called to check up on her. She quickly answered the phone.

"Hey Jen," Charlotte said dully. She heard a laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Charlie, whats wrong? Not happy to hear from your big sis?" she teased. Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled.

"No, course I am Jen, I’m just a little tired." Charlotte explained, sighing. She heard another laugh.

"Oh, was this one too wild for you?" her sister joked. Charlotte rolled her eyes without a smile this time, sometimes her sister just annoyed her to no end.

"Ha ha, very funny. No, he was boring as shit. But hey, I gotta go, was there something you needed?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah! Before I forget, wanna do something with me tonight?" said Jenny.

"Uhh.... what?" Charlotte replied hesitantly.

"Oh, well...... You’re gonna flip, Dad got us tickets to the Hurricanes game and guess who they’re playing?!" she burst out excitedly.

"Who?"

"THE PENGUINS!" Jenny screamed. Charlotte winced at the sound.

"Oh wow, that’s so awesome, J. Count me in. I guess we’ll leave in a little since it’s about 2 hours to Raleigh?" Charlotte guessed.

"Yep, What time is it now? 9:30 I think. Okay I’ll come by your place and pick you up at 11. So be ready!" her sister said quickly. "I guess you gotta go so I’ll see you in a little, okay? Bye!"

"B-," Charlotte started to say bye to her sister but the phone clicked off. Charlotte laughed to herself. Sometimes her sister was too energetic for her own good.

***

Charlotte and Jenny took their seats at the RBC Center. It was 10 minutes until they dropped the puck and Charlotte was feeling pretty excited. Their seats weren’t the best in the arena, but Charlotte was grateful. She settled into her seat with some nachos and a coke and laughed with her sister as they talked and waited for the game to start.

Finally it came time to do the national anthem and everything. Then, the puck was dropped. Jordan Staal did the faceoff against his brother, Eric. Charlotte supposed that was to heighten the buzz that came about every time the Staal brothers met up on the ice. Jordan won the faceoff and went off down the ice. Charlotte smiled to herself. Nothing like a good game of hockey to get her mind off of everything going on.

***

The final buzzer sounded and Charlotte and Jenny jumped from their seats in celebration, practically the only ones in the building doing so. The Hurricanes’ fans hung their heads in disappointment while some more intoxicated fans jeered as the Pens skated off the ice. The final score was 3-0 Pens. The stars of the game were called. The third star of the night was Sidney Crosby who scored 1 point and had 1 assist. The second star of the night was Jordan Staal who had 2 goals and 1 assist. Then the first star of the night was Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins’ goalie because he blocked 32 out of 32 shots pelted at him.

Charlotte’s voice was hoarse from all the yelling but the bright smile on her face stayed as everyone started to file out of the arena. Herself and her sister walked out with the crowd and she started towards the door to leave the RBC Center. Jenny pulled her back and smiled slyly.

"Where are you planning on heading, Char?" Jenny asked her sister, smiling like a Cheshire cat. Charlotte gave her sister a confused and annoyed look.

"Home. Where do you think?" Charlotte replied in annoyance. She went to leave again but Jenny pulled her back yet again.

"I guess I forgot to mention… dad got us passes to go to the Penguins locker room. Apparently Dan Bylsma owes him something....." Jenny trailed off thoughtfully. Charlotte grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her towards the locker rooms where a security guard was standing.

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Let’s go!" Charlotte practically screamed as she dragged Jenny away. Jenny laughed as they approached the security guard and pulled the passes out of her purse. The security guard laughed at their enthusiasm and nodded for them to go in.

As they rounded the corner of the hallway they saw a door marked Visiting Team’s Locker Room. Charlotte thought about the shirtless, toned, fit men waiting behind this door and beamed with pleasure.

Oh yes, this would be fun. But who knew she would walk into this locker room and find someone worthy of more than a one night stand? Certainly not her.