We Found Love

"So uh...Nealer knows," I said, cringing and waiting for Emily to explode.

"What did you just say?" she hissed, and I swallowed roughly before emerging from the kitchen, a beer in either hand.

"Nealer knows. He put two and two together and uh...well, yeah," I said, and her eyes narrowed so much that it looked like they were closed.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" Emily sighed.

"No, I'm not," I said, handing her the beer. She just about chugged half of it down in one gulp before looking at me again.

"If he lets it slip-" she began.

"He won't," I quickly interrupted.

"How do you know?" Emily asked.

"He told me he wouldn't. He actually asked because he doesn't want either of us getting in trouble. He told me to play it cool," I said quietly, staring out the window. Emily sighed heavily before slipping her arms around my waist. She burrowed her head into the back of my neck and took a deep breath.

"Sidney, I think that we're going to have to tell everyone sooner than later," Emily said meekly.

"I think so too," I mumbled, a frown creasing my forehead as I stared at my reflection in the window. Just then Emily's phone began to buzz, and she looked puzzled.

"Who is it?" I asked curiously.

"My agent...but it's only November," Emily said slowly before answering her phone.

"Hello?" she asked. I continued to sip my beer as Emily talked, and all of a sudden she let out a gasp.

"Are you serious?" she squeaked. A few minutes later she was brimming over with excitement, and I raised an eyebrow.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"I've just been asked to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics Sid," she squealed, and I felt my jaw drop before I pulled her into a tight hug and whirled her around.

"That's amazing!" I beamed, remembering my last time at the Olympics fondly. I had been invited for the summer training camp, so there was on question I would be on the roster this year. Emily, however, had no clue that this was coming.

"I know!" she squealed, happy tears filling her eyes. I kissed her gently and held her an arms length away from me, staring at her intently for a few moments before I got a crazy idea.

"Emily, I just realized something," I said slowly.

"What?" she asked.

"I...I uh...I never asked you out, did I?" I stammered in embarrassment. Emily's cheeks flared brightly and she shook her bangs into her face before muttering a weak "no".

"Well then, Emily Vance, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked quietly. She looked up at me, her cheeks fire engine red, and then nodded before flinging herself into my arms. I simply hugged her tightly and allowed the happiness to spread throughout my body.

“Damn Sid, another good night huh?” Asham teased as I got ready for the morning skate. This time, I smiled broadly and nodded.

“You have no idea,” I said, and this got Flower laughing. Nealer glanced at Emily, who looked like she was on top of the world too, and shook his head.

“You’re too much,” Nealer whispered, and I raised my eyebrows.

“What?” I hissed in reply.

“You two are crazy…but I can tell there’s something special there Sid. She’s really happy,” Nealer replied, keeping his voice down. I could tell that nobody had heard him.

“Emily, holy God your shoulders are mangled. Are you sleeping with a vampire?” TK asked, poking at her skin. She flinched, and I frowned guiltily. I didn’t mean to hurt her.

“No, he’s just the kind of guy who wants to hide the fact that he’s having a really great time by biting me to keep quiet,” Emily smirked, and I ducked down to tie my skates so that nobody could see my cheeks flush. She was way too right on that one.

“Alright, spill it. Who are you two sleeping with? Because it’s getting pretty obvious that you both know something about each other that nobody else knows,” Tanger demanded from his stall. I stood up so quickly I slammed my head against the seat of my stall and Emily knocked over her bag in shock.

“Why would you say that?” Emily stammered.

“Because the two of you start blushing like little school kids every time we bring up something about the other person’s sex wounds,” Tanger replied, wrapping his stick with stick tape casually. Emily shot me a look that clearly said help me and I raised my shoulders in an “I don’t know!” fashion.

“What was that, just then?” TK asked, pointing between the two of us.

“What are you talking about?” I croaked, my mouth suddenly feeling like sandpaper.

“You and Emily. You like…talked without talking. Holy shit…you and Em…no way dude. No freakin’ way,” TK explained, realization dawning on his face. I could feel my heart hammering in my throat, and Emily looked like she was about to pass out.

“You can’t be serious…you two are sleeping…with each other?!” Tanger cried, and Emily immediately shushed him. By then, everyone in the locker room was looking at us, except for Flower and Gronk, who were rolling with silent laughter over by Flower’s stall.

“Je deteste les gens vous (I hate you people),” Emily muttered, throwing on her jersey.

“Sid…you are one lucky son-of-a-bitch!” Tanger said after a while, and TK nodded in agreement. Emily’s face turned bright red, and she shook her head.

“Yeah…I guess so. But honestly, we’re not just sleeping with each other. It’s more than that,” I admitted, and Tanger raised an eyebrow.

“What else could it be?” he asked.

“A relationship,” Emily sighed from her stall. I could tell that she was annoyed about our secret being out, but she wasn’t mad. Just annoyed.

“You’re dating? Like seriously?” TK asked, and I nodded.

“Yep,” I said.

“Since when!?” Tanger asked.

“Well, we’ve kind of had a thing since last year, but officially dating? Yesterday,” Emily explained.

“Does Coach know?” TK whispered.

“Yep. He figured us out weeks ago…the upper management is okay with it though,” Emily said. The guys all shook their heads and began to chuckle.

“Sid, you finally found your dream girl, eh?” Tanger asked, slapping me on the back.

“Yeah, something like that,” I smiled, looking directly at Emily this time.

That night we destroyed the Islanders 8-2. The whole team was in high spirits, and Tanger decided to throw a party at his place. We all filed into his large apartment and the booze began to flow immediately. However, Emily and I didn’t drink like crazy this time, opting to sit off to the side and watch everyone else get trashed. Tanger “awed” when he caught us kissing, but a well aimed solo cup was all it took to chase him off. A few of the other guys tried to convince Emily that they’d be much better for her, but she brushed them off casually and laughed at their attempts.

I had never been happier. Sitting in Tanger’s apartment with all of the guys, with my dream girl next to me was better than I could imagine. Emily was hilarious, and she seemed to relax as the night wound on, so I knew that by the next morning she wouldn’t be irritated at all about the guys finding out. In fact, Emily seemed happier herself. We suddenly realized why Jack’s play had escalated right after he came out; it was so much easier to concentrate on the game when you weren’t worrying about your secret getting out. Of course, we had to be careful in public still because we didn’t question the fact that if the public found out Emily and I were together there would be consequences, and probably not the good kind. Despite her phenomenal play, Emily still had a bad rep with some groups of fans, and she was determined to shake that off before we went public.

"Hey guys, I forgot to tell you all because of the excitement and everything," Emily said, leaping up from her chair. A few guys looked at her warily, but she took a deep breath before continuing.

"I just got a call from my agent last night...I'm going to the Olympics!" she beamed.

"HOLY SHIT YEAH!" Tanger screamed, picking her up and whirling her around much like I had. Flower was the next guy to ambush her, and pretty soon the party had picked up again.

"This is the best team ever," Emily sighed happily as she rested her head against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and nodded, a lazy smile forming on my face.

"Yeah, it really is," I grinned.