She Makes Me Wanna

The Tampa Bay crowd was not nearly as enthusiastic to see me return to the ice as my teammates were. I skated out with the first line and began my warm-ups, bubbling over with excitement. A few of the guys on the Lightning nodded in my direction. I had been told in the locker room that I was one of the “most interesting rookies in the league” as of right now, and that most of the players were following my progress. Jack had been slipping severely, and had been moved down to the third line, which worried me slightly. Craig Adams was now my right winger, and Jack wasn’t happy about his regression at all. However, I stopped concentrating on Jack’s playing issues and started concentrating on the game as soon as the puck dropped. Sidney lost the faceoff, but I quickly checked Lecavalier and stole the puck back. I dished it out to Tanger, and we raced towards Roloson. Tanger flicked it towards him, but Roloson easily blocked it and the puck came skidding back towards me. I passed it to Adams, who passed it to Sidney, who passed it back to Tanger, and then we crashed the net. Sidney managed to jam the puck into the net, right before Roloson’s pads came down on his stick, giving us a quick 1-0 lead. A few more minutes into the game, the third line was out. Jack was playing harder than ever, and I could see the mounting frustration on his face. He was like an unstoppable force out there, and I cringed as he checked Steve Downie. However, my cringe suddenly turned to elation as Jack took the puck and raced down center ice, leaving the Lightning’s defense in the dust.

“Go, go, go!” I screamed, cheering Jack on. He was on a breakaway, and Roloson shifted to block the shot. Jack weaved to the left before cutting quickly across the front of the net and dumping the puck in over Roloson’s shoulder. I screamed in excitement as Jack pumped his fist into the air once in celebration. He skated by, and I high fived him as he did so, and I could see the joy on his face. It was his first NHL goal, and it was something to be proud of.

Sidney’s Point of View

We left the Times Forum in high spirits, coming off of a 3-1 win against the Lightning. Tanger began to play Party Rock Anthem as soon as we walked into the locker room, and I laughed. The team had taken to playing the song every time we won, and the shuffle was slowly becoming the official dance of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Only Emily and Kris had mastered shuffling in their skates, but the other guys joined in once they pulled their skates off. I attempted to shuffle, but I often found myself tripping over my feet.

“No, you’re doing it wrong!” Emily cried, running over as I tripped once more. She slowed down and showed me how to do it, and by the time the song was over I was able to shuffle very slowly.

“You’ll get it,” she laughed, punching me in the arm before returning to her locker stall.

“I think you’re making progress,” Flower whispered as I bent over to tie my shoe.

“You think so?” I asked, standing up and straightening my tie.

“Yeah. She keeps looking at you,” Flower smiled before straightening his own tie.

“Cheers,” I muttered, bumping his fist with my own before grabbing my bag and heading towards the bus.

Emily’s Point of View

I struggled not to drool over Sidney as we headed back towards the hotel. He was in a great mood, and his eyes were speckled with green, crinkling at the edges every time he smiled. His dress shirt and tie gave him a clean, dashing look, and I resorted to taking deep breaths and talking to Jack about how great his goal was the entire bus ride. I felt doomed as we approached the hotel however, because I knew that I would be trapped in a room for the next three nights with a guy who made me want to rip my hair out (in a good way). So, as soon as we were able to, I dashed to the room and immediately hopped in the shower. The icy water made me shiver, and I slowly but surely regained my composure as I washed my hair. I pulled on my pajamas, towel dried my hair, and then made my way back into the room. Sidney was lounging on his bed reading a book, and he looked up as I walked over to my bed.

“How you feeling? First game back and all,” he asked, closing the book.

“Exhausted,” I lied, flopping into my bed and rolling over so that I had to stare at the wall. I began counting the bumps on the wall, trying to forget the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“You seemed pretty high energy a few minutes ago…are you sure that your head is feeling okay?” he asked, and the genuine concern in his voice forced me to roll back over.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just distracted is all,” I said.

“By what?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I lied, and I immediately regretted the decision.

“Emily Vance, there is something you aren’t telling me and I swear, if it’s something to do with your concussion coming back I will kill you,” Sidney said, standing up.

“It’s not coming back Sidney!” I said firmly, and he crossed over to my side of the room, pulling me into a sitting position.

“Touch my finger, and then your nose,” he demanded, and I did the common coordination exercise with a little bit of annoyance. Sidney followed my eyes the entire time, and afterwards he nodded.

“What’s really bothering you?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said.

“Did someone call you a slut again?” he asked bluntly. I cringed and shook my head.

“No,” I said. The question made me a little irritated, but I knew he meant no harm by it.

“Please, tell me what’s bothering you,” he asked, taking a step closer to me.

“Right now you are,” I squeaked as he got even closer. He looked at me for a second, and the dark look that had been on his face this morning returned. I suddenly realized what the look was, because I felt the look forming on my own face; desire. Wordlessly, he leaned over and captured my lips in his. The kiss was soft, but incredibly longing and I felt my body grow weak. I kissed him back with equal fervor, but a knock on the door broke us apart just in time for Kris and Geno to come barging into the room. Sidney’s face was red, and a panicked look formed on his face as he looked at his two teammates. Kris looked oblivious, but Geno looked slightly suspicious.

“Hey guys, do my pupils look the same size to you? I kind of have a headache and Sidney is a moron and can’t tell,” I said, jumping up. Geno’s look of suspicion immediately faded and he grabbed my cheeks before checking my eyes.

“No, look all fine to me,” he said, and Kris followed suit. They left a few minutes later, having barged in to tell Sidney that they had just broken 1,000,000 points on Temple Run.

“Holy shit that was close,” Sidney breathed out as soon as the door shut.

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

“So uh…bed sounds good. Goodnight,” Sidney said quickly, flicking the light off before I could say another word. I stared at the ceiling in the dark, wondering what the fuck had just happened. I was torn between the fact that I liked it way too much for my own good, and the fact that Sidney and I were teammates and it should have never happened.

“Fuck my life,” I sighed, rolling over and going to sleep.