Different Stars

“Chim, Chi-miny, chim chim-miny chim chim cha-roo…” Cadence sang softly as she waited for Sidney.

“Are you singing a song from Mary Poppins?” Max Talbot asked her as he stopped to stand next to her.

“No.” Cadence lied brazenly as she shot him a “you’re crazy” look.

“You lie a lot.” Max frowned a little. “I’m not sure that you are good to be dating our little Sidney.”

“I’m not really sure how to respond to that statement. So I choose silence.”

“But you just said that. That’s not silence.”

“So, I heard that you like to date lots of women all at once.” Cadence abruptly changed the subject as she straightened up to look Max in the eyes. “I could argue that you are a bad influence on my Sidney too.”

Max smiled proudly. “Do you see what I did there?” He gave her a cocky grin. “My Sidney? You are dating. He wouldn’t tell me that. He just kept telling me to shutup. Between you and me, he can be a little rude.”

“That was pretty clever, Max.” Cadence complimented, then raised her hand. “High-five?” Just as he was swinging to hit her hand she moved it away. “Oh…too slow cheerio.”

He frowned like a sulking little boy, then perked up. “My mother always told me that air-fives are actually worth more than high-fives.”

“Now who’s lying?”

“My mother was not a liar.” Max said haughtily. Cadence laughed loudly. He was quick with the wit, she liked it.

“Fine, you win, I was singing a song from Mary Poppins. Mike was watching it on the bus and I cannot get it out of my head. Don’t you hate it when that happens?” Cadence said and was still grinning when Sidney walked up.

“Hey.” Sidney said to her before looking at Max.

“I like her Sidney.” Max said. “I vote to keep her. Just don’t fall for her high-five lies.”

“I thought hockey players were supposed to have good reflexes.” Cadence said looking at Sidney, then shrugging. Max exhaled loudly, then looked at her offended.

“I thought we would be friends.”

“We are friends. You’re fun to argue with.” Cadence reached over to pat Max’s hand.

“So it’s really a compliment then?”

“Yup.”

“Sidney won’t argue with you. Just so you know, he’s passive aggressive. Almost ninja like sometimes.”

“Thanks, Max. I’ll keep that in mind when Sidney and I are fighting.” Cadence nodded appreciatively.

“You two seem to have bonded. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.” Sidney looked from Cadence to Max and shook his head.

“It just shows that you have a great taste in women. If you hadn’t taken her, someone else would have.” Max said with mock seriousness.

“You would have tried.” Sidney told him.

“I didn’t say I would take her. I said ‘someone’ would take her. And I don’t “try” things, Sid. ” Max said, emphasizing try.

“You “try” to score goals.” Jordan Staal shot as he walked by them shirtless. Cadence had to stop from drooling.

“Hey! I will get you for that.” Max shook his head, but was wearing a small grin. “You’re bringing her to the team dinner right?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it. She just got here a couple hours ago.” Sidney answered.

“I’m here, you know. You can stop calling me ‘she‘ and ‘her‘.” Cadence shoved Sidney with her hip gently.

“You should bring her. Or maybe you should pretend to be sick so that you two lovebirds can spend more time together.” Max ignored Cadence’s interruption.

“We’ll see.” Sidney answered. He grabbed Cadence’s hand and the two started to walk away.

“Dammit, Cadee! Now I have that Mary Poppins song in my head.” Max yelled at her as he went back into the locker room. She grinned happily.

==

“Okayyyyyy.” Cadence looked around at the entry way to Sidney’s house and let out a little giggle. “When you said you bought a house, I thought that you meant a house, not a super gigantic mansion type house.”

Sidney crinkled his brow. “You don’t like it?”

“No, I like it. From what I can see anyway. I mean it’s just you though and you have ALL this space.” Cadence walked into the kitchen and spun around for emphasis. “I can do a pirouette and not knock anything off the counter.”

“I won’t be alone forever. I’ll have a wife and kids someday. Why buy a small house that I’ll just have to sell later? Besides, this gives my family somewhere to stay when they come down. ”

Cadence chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “That’s true.”

“You don’t plan for the future?”

“Not that far in the future. I have a house in the town where my mom and sister live, and I rent an apartment in New York City with a girlfriend. Really I’ve lived on a bus for so long that I can’t even remember the last time I thought about being settled. Well, being settled somewhere for more than a few weeks anyway.” That was a lie, but she didn’t feel like she should tell Sidney that she’d actually thought about having kids with him after finding out Jane was pregnant.

“No kids?” Sidney sounded appalled.

“That’s not what I said.” Cadence corrected quickly.

“But the other day you said that you weren’t sure that you wanted kids.” Sidney reminded her.

“It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seriously thought about it. I guess I haven’t had anyone around that lead me down that thought path.”

“Well, I want kids someday.” Sidney told her in a challenging tone. That coupled with the sharpness in his eye made her realize that they’d landed on a very important topic.

Cadence ran her hand along the stove for a moment, thinking of what to say. “I do too. I want kids, that is, and to be married. Preferable married before kids, but I guess I’m not that particular. Accidents happen, just ask Ben.” She paused and looked at Sidney seriously, “but I’m doing it forever. I’ve told you before about my family history and I know that you understand that. I just need you to understand that I mean it. When I get married, it will be for good. I’m takin‘ it to the grave.”

“I agree.” He gave her a small smile then reached over and pulled her into a hug.

“Who knew you had a little Captain Serious in you after all? And here I thought you were just my Captain Sexy…” Cadence told him, then reached down and squeezed his butt gently. He groaned slightly and pulled her closer.

“I have a brand new bed upstairs. I got it a few weeks ago and it’s the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.” He bent down to tell her quietly.

“I am a little tired. I wouldn’t mind trying it out..” She told him with a small smile.

“I said slept in, but I wasn’t really thinking about sleeping.” He told her honestly, and her smile grew. It had been a long time since a man hadn’t automatically expected her to sleep with him. Sidney and his soft come on was like a balm on her jaded heart. She’d spent so long getting to know him that she was actually dying to finally make love with him. And it was making love with him. It didn’t matter if it was slow and sweet or fast and hard, she would remember this forever.

Cadence faked a yawn. “I dunno. I’m pretty sleepy. I traveled so far to be here.”

Sidney grinned and gently backed her into the counter. “Are you sure?”

“Mmm…exhausted.” Cadence had to fight a smile.

Sidney rested a hand on her hip while the other reached up to pull the tie out of her hair. “Nothing I can do to wake you up?” He asked then bent down to kiss her cheek, and kiss his way down her neck.

“That’s working.” Her hands moved under his shirt. She tried to move so that she could pull it off, but his hand held her against the cabinet.

“You’re the sleepy one, not me.” He said with a lop sided grin.

“Definitely not tired anymore.” Cadence said and reached up to kiss him. He quickly took control and pulled her hair gently to deepen the kiss. “What about that bed?” She panted when he pulled away from the kiss. Sidney grinned wickedly as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up to his bedroom.

--

Watching Sidney sleep was an odd experience for Cadence. He was utterly sexy to her, but at the same time with his hair gently curling around his face, she felt oddly tender. It was a foreign feeling, this juxtaposition of wanting to jump him, but also wanting to cuddle him. She was truly happy right now, and content to just lay next to him and watch.

She carefully placed her hand on his chest and smiled slightly, simply watching it rise and fall with his breaths. Even relaxed in sleep the man was solid muscle. She’d never seen a more fit man than this and she still wasn’t sure how she ended up with him. She hated to exercise, and he exercised for a living. Unconsciously, she rhythmically tapped on his chest with her index finger. She was so lost studying his body that she didn’t realize he was awake until he reached up and grabbed her hand.

“If you want to wake me up, there are more creative ways than poking me. I know a few at least.” He said.

“Sorry, you forget that you dating a musician. Rhythm is like breathing. And I wasn’t poking. I was tapping. There’s a difference.”

“You’re always poking me and complimenting me on my manly muscles.” He told her with a sleepy grin, then pulled her close with his other arm and moved on his pillow so that he could see her better. He blinked heavily, trying to shake off sleep.

“Go back to bed. I won’t tap you anymore.”

“I’d tap that.” He said then dissolved into laughter. Cadence just gave him a confused look. “It’s a quote from She’s The Man. One of the funniest movies ever. I saw it years ago and I think I’ve watched it a million times.”

“She’s The Man…”Cadence repeated. “I’ve never seen it.

“I saw it one summer when I was hanging out with my sister. It shouldn’t be so funny, but it’s hilarious.”

Cadee smiled at his happiness. “You know what movie I can’t stop watching. Titanic. I never actually mean to watch it, but it’s on tv and I get sucked in. I watch it over and over and I know it doesn’t really have a happy ending, but I still get tense every single time.”

“I’ve never seen that movie.” He told her, his hand rubbing her back.

She gasped and leaned up on her elbows. “No! How have you not been forced to watch that movie? Jack is like every girls dream. A sweet guy that sees through Rose’s snobby and - quite frankly - bitchy, exterior to the real her. So romantic…until the iceberg hits anyway, then it’s frozen Jack and sad Rose.”

“Thanks for ruining the movie for me.” He said, with a small smile.

“I would apologize, but I’m too appalled that you haven’t seen it before.”

“We should have a movie night. We’ll watch both of them.”

“And eat buttery popcorn.” Cadence added with a grin of delight. “Butter and salt.”

“I can’t eat that.” He told her.

“Wait, we had ice cream in Dallas…were you not supposed to eat that?”

It was dark in the room, but Cadence would swear she saw a blush creep over his cheeks.

“Technically, no.”

Cadence grinned widely. “But you did anyway.”

“I wasn’t about to say no to the most beautiful women in the world. And you were so excited, it would have been like saying no to a kid on their birthday.”

Cadence’s grin grew. “I like you, Sidney Crosby. I like you a lot.”

He shook his head, but smiled too. “I like you too.”

“So… you don’t have a game tomorrow or anything, so if you’re a little sluggish at practice it wouldn’t be the end of the world would it?” Cadence asked as she shifted her hand and finger walked her way down his stomach.

“I don’t know how much coach would appreciate that.” He sucked in a breath as her hand gripped him. She squeezed softly and moved to kiss his chest, finding his nipple and swirling her tongue over it. “You’re right, that‘s no problem.” He said then groaned when he hand began to stroke him slowly.