Secret Teller

"Patrick Kane!" a blonde haired, green eyed girl sang from right outside the locker room. "Johnny Toews! Patrick Sharp! Andrew Ladd!"

The door opened and she skipped inside. "Sarah," Andrew Ladd greeted her as he always did after a home game. "Loud and obnoxious as always."

She rolled her eyes, pushing him out of her way. She found her best friend, Pat Kane sitting in his stall shirtless watching Kris Versteeg rap after an amazing shootout win against the Dallas Stars.

"Good game out there," Sarah complimented him and he smiled.

"Thanks. We all did amazing. It was a hard game," he admitted, making no move to put a shirt on. Sarah would never admit it out loud, but she was perfectly fine without a shirt on his toned body.

She nodded. "It was a nail biter, let me tell you."

He laughed. "And you weren’t even playing."

She stuck out her tongue at her best friend. "Because the NHL has a problem with letting girls play. So I do the next best thing, teach girls and boys the art of hockey."

Patrick Kane smiled at the green eyed girl that he loved so much. He was everything that he wanted and no other girl was. She just didn’t know it yet. His eyes stayed glued on her as she watched Versteeg finish up the last of the song.

"What?" Sarah had turned back to him and he had been caught staring. Her head was tilted to the side in a really, really cute way.

He forced a smile to appear on his lips to cover the fact that he had been thinking about her and how he would probably never be his. "Nothing."

"Sarah?" Versteeg came up to them, a look of concern etched into his expression. "Have you seen Robyn?"

Robyn was Versteeg’s girlfriend Sarah’s closest friend since the interesting girl had come to Chicago. They usually sat at the games together, but Robyn wasn’t feeling well. That was the message she was supposed to pass on. "She wasn’t feeling good and left halfway through the second. She says not to worry about her as per usual."

Versteeg nodded, already getting on his jacket. Honestly, he was such a sweet boy and Robyn was lucky to have him. Sarah wondered a lot, lately more than ever, if Patrick would ever be that concerned about her, even if she just wasn’t feeling good. They were best friends and all, but she thought, could it ever be more than that?

"Sarah? You ready to go? Tazer already has the car warmed up," Patrick brought the girl back to reality.

She put on her best fake smile. "Sure, let’s go."

Pat slipped his hand around her waist as they walked through the snowy parking lot and she was confused, but she wasn’t about to say anything.

The Captain gave his teammate a look as he watched him with his arm around her waist. He knew about Kaner’s crush on his best friend and he knew about Sarah’s crush on her best friend. Neither of them would say it to each other’s faces and he was wondering if maybe they gave up on pride and just admitted it.

Obviously not. Pat gave him a look that told him not to say anything. It seemed that he was testing his boundaries.

It was an awkward ride back to their condo. Usually Sarah and Patrick would be in some animated conversation while Toews drove back with the radio in the background. Not that time. Sarah sat in the front staring out into the Chicago city and Patrick sat in the backseat looking at the back of Sarah’s head.

"Awkward," Toews said, the radio off for the first time in a long time.

Sarah gave him a sideways glance. "How so?"

"Well I don’t know if you guys are feeling it, but I am definitely feeling it."

"Tazer. . ." Patrick said in a warning voice, hoping his teammate wasn’t about to say something stupid.

"I’ll give you both five seconds to say something."

Five. Nothing.

Four. Tension in the air.

Three. Sarah shifted in her seat, not knowing if the Captain was bluffing or not.

Two. Pat gave his teammate another look through the rearview mirror.

One. Out of luck.

"All right. Here’s the deal," Toews said pulling up at their place. "Sarah," he turned to the blonde haired girl. "If I hear another word about how you’ll never love Kaner ever again I think I might strangle him. And Kaner," he turned to his fuming other best friend. "If I have to listen to Sarah go on about your awesomeocity one more day I’m going to have to get traded to another team. You both are in love with each other. Admit it. Kiss each other. Move on with life."

Sarah got out of the car and so did Patrick. They stared at each other for a long time and then he couldn’t take it any longer. He pulled her in and crashed his lips onto hers and it was like a brick was thrown from his shoulders. She kissed him back with everything she had been holding back.

"Well," she said in between kisses. "Remind me never to go to Tazer with another secret."

He laughed. "For once, I’m glad he’s awkward and can’t keep out of my business. Because now finally I can stop wondering about the what if’s."

"Tell me about it. I was spinning myself in circles with all the wondering," she smiled and pulled him back in for another long awaited kiss.