I'm Addicted to the Thrill

I woke up and lay completely still. Someone else lay on my bed with me with their arm across my waist. I thought back to the night before. Hope hadn’t been home when I arrived at the apartment, and then there was no reason for her to be in my bed at all. Patrick had come upstairs with me, but he should have left. I didn’t expect him to be there. Had I fallen asleep before he left? No, he wasn’t there when I had curled up on my bed and went to sleep. I debated turning over to see who I was sharing my bed with.

I turned from my side to my back after deciding that I’d rather know who was laying there. Much to my surprise, Patrick was asleep at my side. I wanted to laugh seeing him there in his undershirt and boxers. He looked so peaceful even with the scar over his eye from last season’s playoffs. I smiled choosing to watch him sleep. Patrick stirred a few times before he actually woke up enough to open his eyes.

“Good morning,” mumbled Patrick. He looked down and removed his arm quickly all while blushing.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked him.

He nodded and got off my bed. I sat up watching him stretch. Patrick saw me staring and winked. He sat back down on the edge of my bed before scooting to sit next to me. I turned laying my leg across his lap. He pulled me closer kissing me.

“You’re really cute when you sleep,” laughed Patrick once he broke the kiss. I blushed and fidgeted with the hem of my nightgown.

He took my hand off of the sleep dress and placed his hand on my thigh. I giggled nervously wondering if this was going to lead where I figured any of this was likely to lead. Patrick kissed my neck as I wrapped my arms around his. He slipped the strap off of my shoulder and kissed my collarbone before nibbling at it. I shuddered. I let go of him and pulled his undershirt up over his head as Patrick complied and started to do the same with my nightgown.

He put me flat on the bed then got on top of me. I ran my hand through his hair before kissing him. We ran our hands over each other pulling at each other’s remaining pieces of undergarments. I pulled off his boxers as he started to pull down my underwear. Finally I came to my senses and pushed him off of him.

“Patrick, we can’t,” I told him. I wanted to. Lord, knows I wanted to, but we shouldn’t.

“Why not?” he asked breathily. He looked me up and down before I grabbed a bit of blanket to cover myself. “You want to, Danielle. I want to. You can’t deny that.”

“I want to, Patrick, but think about it. We barely know each other; you don’t have a condom- wait, do you? Oh, forget it- and this is just so, um, wrong,” I told him. “Now don’t watch me dress.”

I climbed over him to the edge of the bed once he closed his eyes. I grabbed my clothes and pulled on the jeans and t-shirt that would be best suited for the day. Patrick chuckled behind me as I pulled my shirt on. He pulled me back down on to the bed next to him.

“So, when did you get that tattoo?” he asked me lifting up the back of my shirt to see the tattoo there. I reached back and slapped his hand away.

“A while ago,” I told him. College to be exact, but he didn’t need to know that. Some of the things that I had shared with him were common knowledge, but only a handful of people knew about that tattoo. Hell, my best friends in college weren’t all in on it. Only the ones who had been with me to get it knew, and I kept it from everyone else.

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Patrick's POV

I pulled my boxers back on and stoop up. Dani had changed her mood in a matter of minutes, and this wasn’t the first time that had happened. I took her hands pulling her up with me. She looked away from me as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. I wanted to know her better, and I did have a condom. She deserved to know that it wouldn’t be wrong. I kissed her forehead then sighed.

“After this I bet you’ll want nothing to do with me,” said Dani. It finally made sense. She knew about Anna and the girl from the beginning of the most recent post season. I took her face in my hands and made sure she was going to look me in the eye.

“Danielle Halbrook, why the hell would I try to sleep with you then not want anything to do with you? Yeah, I’ve done it in the past, and I don’t expect that to make you like me any. But God forbid I change any as I grow up and learn from the fucking past,” I said. My voice was lower than normal, and I felt like I had just growled the words at her.

Dani walked away from me as soon as I let go of her mumbling about how I should get dressed and leave. As she slammed the door to the bathroom, I sat back down on her bed. I got dressed then knocked on the door to the bathroom. She was in there sniffling and cursing, but once I knocked, she stopped completely.

“Sorry, Dani. I’ll call you later,” I told her as she opened the door.

“Fine,” she said stepping out. She was so red that I wanted to laugh, but it was my fault. I guessed her quickly before leaving.

Her roommate passed me in the living room and stared. She asked if I was the Patrick from the other night, so I nodded. She recognized me. Before I could leave, she stopped me.

“Dani likes you, dude. Don’t hurt her. She’s new to this place,” said Hope.

I shrugged and left heard footsteps coming from the hall. I waved to the girls and left. Making my mind up on where to go, I drove to Jonny’s house instead of my own. He and the others were the ones that I needed to see before the day got any worse.

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I grabbed a cup of coffee from the kitchen. Hope asked all sorts of questions before taking the hint that I didn’t want to talk to her about it. I flipped through the channels on the TV as my phone rang. The Caller ID told me that it was Patrick the first time it went off. Twenty minutes passed before my phone rang again. This time it flashed up a number that I didn’t know. I figured that it was just Patrick from another number, but when it showed up again, I answered.

“It’s Niki,” said the voice on the other end. I sighed in relief that it wasn’t Patrick.

“Can I help you? I asked her. I could hear the phone change hands once I spoke.

“What did you do? He’s at my house, drinking, and complaining,” said Jonathan.

My stomach dropped. I hadn’t upset him that bad. I could hear Patrick talking in the background before I heard another female voice that I figured belong to Madi. I sighed telling the captain of the Blackhawks what had transpired earlier that morning. Every few words he stopped me to tell what I had said to someone else. My guess was Niki or Corey since Madi kept talking in the background getting Patrick’s side of the story while he drank away rejection. At least that was what Jonathan told me was going on. I pantomimed my request for the car to Hope when she came back into the room.

“Jonathan, give me your address. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told him writing tdown the address given to me as soon as I finished speaking.

Hope had told me how to use the GPS in the car during my first day in Chicago, but my phone’s map was easier to follow to the Toews residence. Niki sat outside waiting for me when I parked in front of the house. I frowned at Patrick’s car as I got out of my roommate’s. I gave Niki a quick hug as she metme in the yard. Neither of us said anything as I let go of her and walked straight for the door. Jonathan patted me on the shoulder and pointed me in the direction of the kitchen.

Patrick sat there at the table with two empty beer bottles in front of him and one in his hand. I took the one that he was holding an put in on the counter before taking a seat at the table and turning to face him. I bit my lip trying to think of the words to say to him.

“So, I tell you that I won’t sleep with you this morning, and you bother your best friend and his girlfriend by showing up and getting drunk,” I summarized. “Patrick, really?”

He looked at me and shrugged. I sighed and put my head in my hands as he got up to get his beer. This was what I should have expected from him.