Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

“I’ll make sure they promise not to tell anybody – not even Marc and Eric,” he said, and I nodded, unable to keep from smiling at him.

“Thanks Jared,” he shrugged, adjusting his coat as Jordan pulled into the parking lot.

“That’s what brothers are for, right?” he asked, making me nearly tear up. Jordan smiled softly over at me, unable to do more than squeeze my hand again for fear of a camera nearby. I couldn’t do anything more than nod, and Jared seemed touched by the fact that what he considered a simple act meant so much to me. I’d never had a sibling, so to have someone who would go so out of the way to help me meant the world to me.

“Hey, none of that – put on your manly face,” he teased lightly, making me laugh as I fisted the dampness from my eyes and took a deep breath. I looked then at the two brothers, beyond glad to have them here with me.

“Working on it,” I said, my voice pushed down to what the hockey world knew as ‘my voice’, and they both grinned.

“That’s my girl,” Jordan whispered, making me laugh at the irony of his statement.

“Get your act together Jord!” Jared reprimanded him, before turning to me. “Atta boy Cam.”

“Now let’s get out there before they wonder what the hell we’re up to,” I said, opening the door and getting out of the car. We walked over to where the rest of the Staals were, along with Neal, Sid and Becka, who gave me a hug as soon as she saw me.

“Hey! Excited?” she asked, and I nodded, the grin on my face naturally now.

“You bet,” I replied, and then saw that she was wearing a Bates jersey, not a Crosby one as I’d thought she would.

My raised eyebrow was more than enough to let her know what I was thinking. She simply shrugged, before answering my unspoken question.

“Best friends come first,” she said, and then gave me another quick hug. Sidney looked slightly put-out after realizing that she wasn’t wearing his jersey though, and I realized he might not know Becka as well as he thought. If he had he’d have understood her reluctance.

“Don’t worry about it Sid – she’ll wear your jersey eventually. She just doesn’t want to make a big thing out of it before knowing where it’s going,” I whispered to him, and then he nodded, cheering up a little.

“So it’s just because it’s new and everything?” he asked, and I nodded.

“She doesn’t like going too far out of her comfort zone until she feels a little more safe and she knows it’s going somewhere Sid. She just doesn’t want to get her heart broken. And while I know you wouldn’t, I swear to God you do anything that hurts her and I will get several of the guys to help me kick your ass,” I said, and he laughed, easing up considerably.

“No fear of that Cam; she’s amazing,” he sighed, and I smirked at the love struck expression on his face – it was so similar to the one Becka had had.

“Already picturing the wedding reception?” I teased, and his face burned a bright red at my playful accusation.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he mumbled, not making eye contact with me.

“You’re really serious about her, aren’t you?” I asked, and he nodded. Sid was a serious guy, which I’d known since I’d met him, but I hadn’t realized the extent of their feelings for each other.

“She’s amazing Cam, I mean, she gets the whole hockey thing, she gets how I am, we like the same things… she’s so smart, and so funny… I don’t know how she was single for so long,” he sighed.

“It’s because she was hoping you’d ask her out,” I said, and his eyes widened.

“Don’t bullshit me,”

“I’m not – you’re all she talked about since I introduced the two of you and you spent like forty minutes talking. You have no idea how many guys she turned down just hoping you’d do something,” I told him, hoping I wasn’t betraying Becka’s trust by saying so. It was obvious Sid was crazy about her, helping him gain some confidence and move their relationship along couldn’t hurt.

“Really? You’re serious?” he looked like a kid at Christmas, the grin on his face was so big.

“Yeah; you two were the only people who didn’t see that each other were pining after each other,” I rolled my eyes, and Sid didn’t even get embarrassed at the mention of his interest in her – how he would always ask about her or accidentally mention her when talking to somebody.

“So if I ask her to be my girlfriend – like officially – you think she’d say yes?” he asked.

“Of course she would!” I answered, and he fist-pumped before pulling me into a hug.

“I’m going to – right after the game, as soon as I see her,” he decided, looking like he was on Cloud 9.

“You do that,” I grinned as all we walked into the arena to the flashes of cameras and loud questions from reporters with the cheer of crowds in the background.