We Found Love

When I wake up the next morning, I don’t notice the strong arm draped around my middle at first, or the fact that I’m completely naked. I don’t even realize how much my body is glowing. All I notice is those eyes.

Those soft brown eyes staring at me like I am the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth. I feel warmth spread from my head to my toes, and I smile softly.

“Good morning,” he whispered, and I smiled even more broadly.

“Morning,” I mumble, still sleepy. He kissed the tip of my nose and I blush furiously as the events of last night come rushing back into my head. What started out as something lusty and dark turned into something soft and caring, and that softness hadn’t left with a few hours of sleep.

“We’ve got like twenty minutes before our wakeup call if you wanna get in the shower or anything,” Sidney muttered, and I laughed. He knew my schedule by heart. I kissed him gently before padding into the bathroom to shower once again. When I was finished I came out to see Sidney dressed and ready to go, so I quickly grabbed my own clothes and threw them on. When I was dressed, had dried my hair, and had put on some minimal makeup, I walked back out into the room and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

“Em?” Sidney asked.

“Mmm?” I replied, resting my head on his chest as I hugged him back.

“You know I uh…I don’t want you to think that last night was a uh…like a one night stand type of thing or anything. I uh…I care about you,” Sidney murmured, obviously struggling to choose the right words. I looked up at him, saw the nervousness in his big brown eyes, and melted.

“I didn’t think that for a second…I think we’ve kind of been growing to that point anyway…” I said in reply before reaching up and adjusting his slightly crooked tie. A hint of pink tinged his cheeks and he smiled at me sheepishly.

“I don’t know if we can really act like this in public though,” he mumbled, and I nodded in agreement, furrowing my brow.

“I don’t think that would be a really good idea…you know, for our reputations or whatever,” I sighed, running a hand through my loosely curled hair. Sidney shook his head, a trace of sadness crossing his features, and I stood on my tiptoes a bit so that I could kiss him gently…he was still taller than me even when I was in heels. He smiled against my lips and I smoothed a strand of his curly hair out of his face before pulling away from him and tossing a few loose items of clothing and my phone charger into my suitcase.

“You look beautiful by the way,” Sidney said, leaning against the wall. I blushed furiously and smiled. It wasn’t often that a guy told me that I was beautiful.

“Thank you,” I said, turning towards him once more with my suitcase in my hand.

“I really like this…did you buy it in Paris?” Sidney asked, toying with my necklace.

“Yeah,” I said.

“We should go sometime…together,” Sidney mumbled before kissing me gently. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and we stood like that for what could have been a hundred perfect years or twelve perfect seconds. A knock at our bedroom door startled both of us though, and Sidney raised his eyebrows, checking his watch before opening the door.

“Hey Jordan…what’s up man?” Sidney asked, but Jordan simply dragged him out of the room. Frowning, I stood in the foyer of the hotel room, trying not to listen to what sounded like a hushed argument developing outside.

“It’s none of your damn business Staal!” I finally heard Sidney snarl before he stormed back into the room. His eyes were dark with anger, and I bit my lip.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Jordan…Jordan heard some things last night,” Sidney sighed, and I felt the color drain from my face.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean that he wants to tell Dan…he thinks we shouldn’t be in the same room anymore, and he wants you out of my house,” Sidney explained as he began throwing things haphazardly into his own suitcase, not caring at all that he was slamming the drawers open and shut. I immediately turned around and headed into the hallway to see Jordan Staal heading towards Dan Bylsma’s room.

“Jordan,” I said, and he froze. He turned around and I was stunned by the look on his face.

“Did you really do it?” he whispered.

“Jordan, let’s talk somewhere else, alright?” I asked, and he nodded before following me. We eventually came to the empty conference room where we would be served breakfast, and I shut the door behind us.

“Now, what do you want to know?” I asked, and Jordan swallowed roughly.

“I heard some noises last night Emily…I’ve had enough sex to know that I heard sex happening,” Jordan said, a bit of anger glinting in his eyes. I sighed heavily.

“What does it matter to you if we did or didn’t have sex?” I asked.

“You can’t just go around fucking your teammates!” Jordan barked, and I flinched. He seemed so angry, so bitter, and I was shocked.

“Jordan, what I do off of the ice is none of your concern!” I retorted.

“It is when it could fuck our team up!” Jordan snarled, taking a step towards me.

“Jordan, nothing is going to fuck the team up,” I said.

“If you and Sidney hit rock bottom, what happens to our first line huh? Caput. Done. Finished. No chemistry, no goals scored, no winning games. You and Sidney are so fucking stupid, do you know that? Nothing good could possibly come from this and I have half a mind to go to Dan right now and get your ass shipped back to Princeton!” Jordan said, blowing up in a whispered rage. I felt tears sting at the corners of my eyes.

“You’d really do that to me? Get me kicked off of the team?” I squeaked.

“If it was for the good of the team, you bet your ass I would,” Jordan growled, and I felt the tears begin to roll down my cheeks. I felt so ashamed. Any of the positive feelings of the morning had been wiped out in an instant and replaced with shame, guilt, and regret. I had felt loved for the first time in my life, and then Jordan had made me feel like some sort of slut.

“It won’t happen again,” I whimpered before running out of the conference room.

“Wait, Emily!” I heard Jordan call, but I ignored him and kept running.

Jordan’s Point of View

When Emily finally came back to the conference room, it was almost twenty minutes after the team had been told to report to breakfast. She looked bedraggled, her eyes were puffy, and she sat off to the side, away from the rest of the team. A few of the guys looked in her direction but it was obvious that she wanted to be left alone. Sidney’s face was painful to look at, the way he seemed like he wanted nothing more than to hug her and punch me in the face. I picked at my eggs for a while before sighing heavily and pushing the plate away from me. I had let my emotions get the best of me, and it hadn’t benefited me or the team in any way. Instead, I had probably thrown our second best left winger off of her game, and had royally pissed off our captain.

I was an idiot.