He Shoots, She Scores

“I don’t care what you say I swear I saw him looking up here, I’m not losing my mind. Right after he scored that goal he looked right up at you with that smug grin of his. He is probably in an interview right now basking in his own glory.” Lacey argued her point to Carrie who rolled her eyes in disbelief. It was Friday night and the Sabres had just won their game against the Boston Bruins in a shootout, Derek Roy scoring the winning goal.

“No Lacey he didn’t okay and this whole stupid rivalry is over I made sure of it. I’m just worried about how Nate is taking this.” Carrie looked around the arena which was almost empty now. She had so many things on her mind that Lacey’s allegations were in the back of her mind.

“Well they won and that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah I know but Nate missing that goal must have upset him.”

“Maybe, but Derek is the only one who can make it worse. I can only imagine what goes on behind those locker room doors.”

“LACEY SHUT UP!” Carrie spun around to look Lacey in the eyes. Lacey just stood there in shock not moving an inch. “Like I said it’s over. I made sure that stupid feud was over and done with. I’m sick of hearing about it so stop bringing it up please.”
Carrie got up out of her seat and started her way down to the locker rooms. She stopped when she realized that Lacey was still sitting in her chair and had not moved since Carrie yelled at her. She walked back over to Lacey and slightly shook her. “Hey I’m sorry I didn’t mean to yell I am just so stressed out and the last thing I want to think about is this stupid Derek thing.”

“Stressed, over what?” Lacey looked up at Carrie in confusion. “I thought everything was good between you and Nate and I know you haven’t worked in a few days but I thought you would enjoy the freedom.”

“No Nate and I are great and, I am honestly loving this not having a job thing all though I do miss working. Wow I can’t believe I just said that please slap me silly.” Carrie and Lacey laughed together, they both talked about quitting their jobs one day and going on the longest vacation together but they could never do it, back then it was just a silly dream. “The truth is I am nervous and a little anxious about Nate leaving for New York, I know he will be back for a few days after but then he will be gone again soon after and I am going to be in that big house all by myself.”

“Carrie you should have just said something to me. How about this for the weekend I will come over and keep you company I am off this weekend anyways and could use the mini vacation.”

“That sounds great Lace thank you so much. Now let’s go before we miss our boys.” Lacey and Carrie got up from their seats and made their way down to the locker rooms. When they reached the locker room Carrie and Lacey saw some of the guys were coming out but Nate and Tyler were still inside. The locker room door swung open again and out of the corner of her eye Carrie saw Derek walk out. She dropped her head down to stare at her feet like her shoes were so interesting. Just as she thought the coast was clear she looked up and over to Lacey but saw only Derek’s face. She jumped when she saw him and her heart was beating so fast she thought it might just burst out of her chest. “Derek! You scared the crap out of me why would you do that.”

“Sorry I just wanted to say something.”

“Oh yeah what’s that?”

“That goal was all for you. I hope you enjoyed it.” With that said he stood up and smiled his cocky grin and walked away. Carrie just sat there with her mouth wide open. She couldn’t believe it Lacey was right and now she felt bad for ever yelling at her. Derek wasn’t going to let this go and it was going to be harder than she thought to make it go away. She flirted with the guy once and not even whole heartedly. The whole time she was glancing at Nate, it was all about revenge to her and now it was back firing on her.

“What was that all about?” Lacey’s voice broke through the fog surrounding Carries brain.

“I apologize for being so rude to you early and everything you said was right.” The words flew out of Carries mouth and even saying them out loud still didn’t make her mind believe that it had actually happened.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait what!”
Lacey’s mouth dropped open and she zoned out as she re-played the words, Carrie had just told her, in her mind. The both sat in the hallway in silence. Words were not an option for either of them at the moment. The locker room door swung open, this time Nate and Tyler walked out in all their post-game glory. They looked over to the girls who sat in silence just staring at the wall.

“Oh no Enzo looks like a case of superfantitus. Our awesomeness has finally gotten to their heads what are we going to do now.”

“Well I say we just leave them here we can’t risk ourselves we still have the rest of the season to play. Plus superfantitus sounds extremely contagious.”

Lacey snapped her eyes up to the guys from her spot next to Carrie on the floor. She forced a smile at the guys and nudged Carrie.

"We do not have superfantitus we used to, but then we actually met you guys and found out that you aren't really that cool" Lacey says with a smile.

"You know Tyler sometimes I don’t like her, what is it you see in her again?" Nate joked around with Lacey, who pushed Nate with all her might.

"Hey watch yourself just remember I’m almost bigger than you."

"Speaking of what I see in Lacey, Carrie is really starting to scare me she looks like a statue." Tyler bent down in front of Carrie who snapped out of her trance. She looked at Tyler as if he appeared out of thin air.

"When did you get here?" Carried said the confusion evident on her face.

Tyler looked between Lacey and Nate and Carrie on the floor. "Carrie what happened to you?' Tyler asks helping her off the floor

"Nothing I’m fine I’m just really tired, ya know school and then these hockey games can take a lot out of a girl" she says with a smile. Lacey looks at her in disbelief then narrows her eyes at her friend silently asking why she isn't going to say anything.

"Well if you girls want to go it’s ok we aren’t leaving for a little while and it’s not like we won’t be back by Sunday" Nate says concern full in his voice.

"No its ok we'll stay, I’ll be fine Nate I promise" Carrie says stepping closer to Nate and wrapping him in a hug

"Ok if you're sure" out of the corner of her eye Carrie could see Derek an agitated look plastered on his face, Carrie shivered uncomfortable at his stare

"Are you cold babe?" Nate asks and Carrie nods taking off his hoodie he gives it to her.

"Carrie" Lacey says and Carrie looks towards her friend motioning for her to come closer "Are you really not going to tell him what happened?"

"I’m really not going to tell him Lacey I can't it’s just going to create a problem I can't do that!"

"You can't lie to him either!"

"I'm not lying, he didn't ask so I have nothing to tell"

"So what are you going to do then?"

"It’s simple I’m going to ignore Derek, and go be a clingy girlfriend for the moment because I’m actually cold and tired, and I feel like acting like I’m 5" Carrie says and Lacey sighs heavily. Shaking her head at her friend she walks back over to Tyler wrapping him a hug

"Keep an eye on someone for me?"

"Sure, who Gerbs?"

"No, Derek I can't exactly tell you why I have a feeling Carrie would kill me"

Tyler nods almost knowingly. Lacey looks at Carrie and Nate sitting on the floor Carrie curled up quietly into Nate’s side and smiles at them before turning her gaze to Derek narrowing her eyes at him giving him a warning. Her stare is interrupted by Lindy's voice

"Alright guys bus is waiting lets go, grab your stuff. Pommers do you have your pants we don't want a repeat of Nashville" Lindy teases and the team laughs.
Lacey and Tyler say one last goodbye and Tyler hands her the keys to his house asking her to stop by to let out Max. Lacey turns towards Carrie smiling from ear to ear like she had just thought of the funniest thing in the world and of course Carrie had to follow suit and ask her what it was.

“Go ahead spill it.” Carrie said as she waited to hear what was going on inside of Lacey’s head this was usually quiet enjoyable but Carrie honestly could bring herself to smile.

“So this might sound strange but I am very interested in Pommers pants situation, I wouldn’t mind him losing his pants more often.” Lacey looked back to see if anyone had heard her, and then burst out laughing. “I mean come on he is just so hot!”

Carrie couldn’t help but laugh this time. She shook her head at Lacey and started towards the exit of the arena. “Come on you crazy girl. Oh and wipe that drool off your face.” Carrie and Lacey left the arena and headed towards their cars.

“Hey I will meet you there I just want to stop by Tyler’s and take Max out he’s been in the house since about five.” Lacey called from her car.

“Or I could go with you. I have wanted to see this little guy. Plus I miss my dogs so much.”

“Okay it’s not too far. Just follow me.”

They both hopped into their cars and started towards Tyler’s house. They were there five minutes later. Lacey pulled up to the gates and swiped Tyler’s keycard opening up the large gates. She could only imagine the thoughts going through Carries head. She remembers thinking how expensive everything looked her first time going to Tyler’s house and knew Carrie was thinking the exact same thing. Lacey pulled into the driveway turned off the car and got out. As she was closing her door she heard Carrie from behind her.

“Wow and I thought Nate’s house was big this is crazy. I mean I can’t imagine living here alone.”

“That’s what I said and that’s why he has Max. Come on let’s go in and make sure Max didn’t damage anything.”

The girls walked up to the door as Lacey unlocked the doors she heard Max’s claws hitting the hardwood floor as he flew towards the door. Lacey grabbed him before he could run out the door and walked towards the backyard with him. Max ran around a bit before finding a place to do his “business”. When Max was finished the girls went back into the house and made sure everything was clean before leaving the house. The girls left the house and headed towards Carrie’s. Since they both had a long day they decided to go to bed as soon as they walked into the door.
The weekend seemed to fly by and Lacey and Carrie kept themselves busy only thinking about the boys when they watched their late night games. Watching them on TV was so much different than it was before because of the time they had spent together. The girls could sense their emotions and how they were reacting to what was going on around them. Lacey watched as they interview Tyler and how he would be talking and then a slight smile would show on his face causing Lacey to light up. She knew that he would be home soon but it felt so far away.
The boys were scheduled to come home that following Monday but plans changed which meant that they would be on the road until Tuesday the next week. Lacey and Carrie couldn’t hide the fact that they weren’t very happy but they understood that when it came to dating professional hockey players they would be gone sometimes. The girls sucked it up and settled for phone calls from the guys. It wasn’t the same but it was better than nothing.
It was Thursday night and the Sabres were playing in San Jose it was a late game for the girls since they were four hours ahead of the guys but they stayed up to watch. Carrie curled up on the couch as Lacey sat in the big love seat.

“Where did you get that shirt from I have never seen it?” Lacey asked Carrie, with a puzzled look on her face.

“Well you see, it’s um, well its Nate’s okay. I miss him so much and this shirt smells like him. I am not enjoying this whole “on the road” thing it’s not fun at all.”

“Okay I will be honest with you I caved the night we found out they weren’t coming home. I went over to Tyler’s to let Max out and Tyler called me to see how everything was and I lied and said it was great when really it wasn’t. I spent the night there curled up in his bed. I have been a mess.”

“Oh I’m so glad I’m not the only crazy one here. I swear Nate has been gone for years or at least it seems that way. I hate not hearing him wake up early for practice and opening up my door to see me sleeping, when I honestly wasn’t. My mornings have been so quiet and I don’t do quiet to well in this big ole house.”

“Well we only have five more days without them hopefully we can make it.”

“Yeah probably not, I see a padded room in my future.”

“Mind if we share?”

The girls laughed together and watched the game while simultaneously swooning over the boys.
“There’s just something about a man in hockey equipment that drives me crazy.” Carrie said as Nate skated down the ice with the puck.

“Especially when they have blond hair, and those piercing eyes, are so hot.”

“Not if he has funny teeth.”

“Hey now watch yourself Tyler’s teeth are fine. Do you wanna get personal here?”

“Yeah bring it Lacey.”

“Ok but only because you made me go there, Nate grows the most ridiculous facial hair ever.”

“Yeah well at least Nate can grow facial hair.”

“Tyler has a baby face facial hair wouldn’t look good anyways. And at least Tyler is taller than me I can almost step on Nate.”

“Well he’s taller than me and that’s all that matters.”

“Oh who are we kidding look at them they are both tiny.” The girls broke out into laughter and continued to pick on the guys but in the most loving way possible.

“I love our boys they might not be perfect but they are to us and that’s all that matters.” Lacey says as she calms down her laughter.

“Agreed, but Nate is a little more perfect that Enzo.”

“Ha yeah we can go with that.” The sarcasm was extremely evident in Lacey’s voice. She picked up the pillow from underneath her and tossed it towards her but completely missing her.

“Nice try you have about as much accuracy as Enzo does.”

“You are going to pay for all this just you wait and see.”

“Yeah sure, good luck with that.”
After the game ended, the Sabres winning of course, the girls made their way to Carries room and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. When the girls woke up the next morning, well afternoon, Lacey got here things together and left to let Max out before she headed to work. Carrie curled up on the couch and turned the TV on. Seeing Nate on TV last night had made her miss him even more and she was just wondering what he might be doing right now so she picked up her phone sitting on the end table and text him a simple hello. After waiting a few minutes and getting no response she figured she should do something to keep her mind busy. She got up from her place on the couch and went into the kitchen. There were a few dishes in the sink so she decided to wash them which lead to doing laundry then to vacuuming the whole house which inevitably made Carrie hungry so she decided to make one thing that she knew would make her feel better. Her famous chicken noodle soup which was also Lacey’s favorite. As she threw all of the ingredients together she heard her phone buzz in the living room. She went into the living room and grabbed her phone when she turned on the screen she saw Nate’s name glowing on the screen and smiled but as she read the text her smile faded, Nate told her that he was sorry but he was a little busy and couldn’t talk at the moment because they had practice but he would call her later that night. Carrie missed Nate and it was making it even harder to be in different time zones. When Carrie was waking up Nate was still sleeping and when Nate was finally free after practice and press conferences Carrie was sleeping. They never seemed to be able to catch each other at a good time lately. Carrie simply text him back that she would talk to him later and went back to her cooking, Tuesday couldn’t be here fast enough.

After a long day of cooking and cleaning, Carrie was taking a nap on the couch when her phone buzzed and made her jump. She looked at her screen and saw Nate’s name and picture light up the screen. Without hesitation she pressed the answer key and brought the phone up to her ear.
“Yellow” she said groggily into the phone
“Carrie did I wake you up? What time is it there?”
“Will you just pick a color?”
“Really?”
“Yes really”
“Fine blue”
“Such a Sabres fan”
“Good call now what time is it there?”
“Um 7 I think. I fell asleep on the couch after cooking and cleaning all day. This house is boring without you”
“I’m sorry you’re bored maybe one of these road trips you can come. What did you cook good that I missed”
“Soup. Don’t tell Lacey, she will attack the house with a spoon”
Nate’s laugh made Carrie laugh and suddenly Tuesday didn’t seem so far away
“I miss you” she said with a yawn and she could hear Nate groan on the other end of the phone
“Don’t do that, Lindy will not be happy if I randomly fly back to Buffalo”
“I’m sorry, but I do! I know I have to get used to these road trips but did they have to schedule one so soon! We’re just getting used to each other, it sucks”
“Don’t pout you’re not 5”
“How did you know I was pouting?”
“You’re predictable, and don’t call me a butt head either”
“Wow you’re good” he chuckled and the smile etched on her face spread
“Carrie, I’m so sorry I have to go. The guys want to go out for dinner; although I’m too mad I missed your famous soup. I’ll text you, or call you later I’ll try not to make it too late. I’m sorry sweetie”
“It’s okay Nate go have fun! Say hi to Pommers, Enzo, Pat and whoever else is within ear shot for me. I’ll see you when you get home, I’ll even make you soup”
“Ok, don’t tell Lacey about that pot of soup either I want that one all to myself. Well I’ll share with you, Bye Carrie”
“Bye Nate”
She hung up her phone with a sigh just talking to him made her feel so much better about the day and the rest of this road trip but hanging up that phone when she just wanted to listen to him talk about anything even if it was talking about the color of the grass this was going to drive her insane.
With Lacey
“Things are ok I guess.”

“Just OK?”

“Yeah well I’m not with so things can’t be great.”

“Aw well aren’t you a sweetie.”

“I try.”

“And you succeed.”

“So only a few more days until I am home and I was thinking that we should do something fun. Maybe the four of us can do something together.”

“I like the sound of that what did you have in mind?”

“Well I would tell you but I think you will just have to wait and be surprised.”

“Wait…. I don’t think I can do that.”

“I believe that you can do it.”

“Well as long as you believe in me I guess it’s possible.”

“I really hate to stop talking to you but the guys want to go out to eat so I have to get going.”

“OK have fun, but not too much.”

“Bye, see you Tuesday.”

“Bye.” With that Lacey hung up her phone and set it on the counter. Just like clockwork she heard Max barking by the back door and went to let him in. She filled his food dish and changed his water then headed home.
To say the last couple of days the guys were gone flew by for Carrie and Lacey would be the worst lie ever told in history. It seemed like when they could talk to Tyler or Nate their arrival seemed so close but to hang up that phone made it seem light years away. It was finally Tuesday and the guys would be home in about an hour and Carrie and Lacey were frantically looking through the massive amount of Carrie's and Lacey's clothes spread out over Carries room trying to find the perfect outfits not wanting to seem to formal they both tossed their dress clothes aside, not wanting to seem to casual they eliminated half the clothes in front of them. After 20 more minutes the girls switched spots Carrie picking out Lacey's outfit and Lacey picking out Carrie's.
"PERFECT" they both yelled at the same time just as they heard the front door open
"Carrie.... Lacey? You girls ready"
"Carrie..... They’re finally back!" Lacey said practically jumping as she headed towards the stairs Carrie not far behind her
Lacey spotted Tyler from behind Nate and without hesitation pushed him out of the way and jumped into Tyler’s arms.

“Oh did I miss you.” Lacey wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long awaited kiss.

“Well I have had enough of this love fest.” Carrie said making Lacey and Tyler pull apart and smile at her.

“So you wouldn’t enjoy if I did the same to you?” Nate said smiling at Carrie

“See that is completely different.”
Carrie walked over to Nate and pulled him into a hug which seemed to last forever but Carrie didn’t mind. When she finally pulled away Nate pulled her back in this time his lips brushed lightly against hers and with that small kiss all the anxiety that she had over the past few days seemed to fade away.

The boys had the whole day planned out and it started with a game of putt putt which Nate won, Tyler was determined to prove that he cheated somehow. After the bickering between the guys they headed out to a restaurant where they had a nice quiet dinner and the guys promised to drop their putt putt debate. After they were done eating they all headed over to Tyler’s house where they watched a movie to end their day together. They girls were finally happy again and enjoyed every minute they had with the boys. Since the boys had a game the next day they decided to call it a night and all headed home. This one day with the boys was exactly what the girls had needed and they enjoyed every minute of it. Even if the guys were to go on a road trip like this again they would be prepared.