The Fear Is Paralyzing

Quinn sat in Noah and Claire’s living room, talking to Claire while Riley was in her room, taking a nap. Quinn had just told her that she was getting lessons about the game of hockey, and Claire was now trying to get every single detail out of Quinn that she could. “Who are you getting these lessons from?” Claire asked, assuming that Quinn had some hockey-loving boyfriend that she had yet to reveal to her family.
 
“One of the players,” Quinn admitted. “His name is Kris Letang.”

“Which one was he?” Claire asked. “Wait, just hold that thought,” she said, getting up and going into another room. Quinn wondered what she was doing when she was gone for a minute, but she quickly got her answer when Claire came back, carrying her computer in her arm. “Quinn! He’s cute!” she said, turning the computer around, showing Quinn a picture of Kris that Claire had looked up online.
 
Quinn rolled her eyes at her. “I’m not dating him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s just helping me out,” she shrugged her shoulders. She still wasn’t entirely sure why Kris was helping her out other than that he was just a good guy in general. She knew his teammates still didn’t like her, and she was surprised he hadn’t sided with them.
 
“So, what you’re saying is that this guy is hot and a nice guy?” Claire asked, a smile on her face. “But, you’re not dating him?” Quinn shook her head to answer her question. “Well, maybe you should reconsider that,” Claire concluded, winking at Quinn.
 
“All I want right now is to get through life and this whole being the owner of a professional hockey team thing that’s kind of taking over my life right now. After I figure all that out, then maybe I’ll consider my dating life. Though, it probably won’t have anything to do with hockey players. They’re consuming the rest of my life, they don’t need to consume my dating life, as well,” Quinn explained.
 
Claire laughed at her. “Okay, I understand,” she told her.
 
They continued talking a little while longer until Quinn left to go home and make some dinner. She was happy that she didn’t have to go into the arena today, having the day off. The team had practice, but there were no meetings or anything, and she didn’t think she needed to go in just to watch their practice. Mario had already told her that Mitchell never came in when he wasn’t needed in a meeting, and she could do the same if she wanted to. She decided she might go in occasionally when she wasn’t needed, but today, she was going to stay away and try to just have a day about herself.
 
She had finished her dinner and was laying on her couch, flipping through channels, trying to find something to watch. She stopped when she saw a hockey game was being shown. Surprising herself, she decided to keep it on it, thinking that the more hockey she was able to watch, the faster she would be able to pick up on the sport. She looked at the time on the screen to see the first period just started, and she got herself settled in for the night. She heard her cell phone beep, indicating a text, and she reluctantly got up to see who it was. She was surprised when she saw it was from Kris.
 
What are you up to?
 
She quickly typed a response back. Watching the Kings game
 
Not even a minute later she was receiving another text from him. Kings? As in LA Kings? As in hockey?
 
She rolled her eyes at his sarcastic text before responding. Yes, the Kings. Don’t sound so surprised!
 
Again, less than a minute later, he was already texting her back. Need some help understanding the game?
 
She wasn’t exactly sure what he had in mind, but she figured she’d answer honestly. Yes, I’m still completely lost :(
 
The text he sent her back surprised her, however. Why don’t you come over to my place and watch the game? I can help you make sense of it
 
She stared at the text for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to say to him. Sure, he was simply offering to help her learn more about the sport, but he was also inviting her over to his place. She wasn’t sure if that was the best idea since she was the new owner and he was a player on the team, but she quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind. He was just asking her over to help her with the game, nothing more, and there was nothing wrong with that.

She finally texted him back. Sure :)
 
He texted her his address, and a few minutes later, she was on her way over there. As she parked her car in the parking lot, she walked up to the lobby, being allowed in by the doorman. Kris had told her to tell him who she was there to see, and he would buzz her up. She did as told and a few moments later, she found herself in the elevator up to his apartment. He opened the door and welcomed her inside.
 
She looked around as she walked in, seeing that the place was moderately decorated. It was evident that a man lived here, but it was cleaner than she would expect for a male athlete’s place. He motioned for her to sit on the couch, and she did so, with him sitting next to her. “First period just finished,” he told her, and she nodded her head. “You know, I was surprised you told me that you were watching the game,” he admitted.
 
“I just know I need to figure this sport out, and I figured watching the game may help. But, it doesn’t really help when you don’t understand the sport to begin with,” she said, a frown on her face as the screen showed the ice as the second period was about to start.
 
“And, that’s why you’ve got me,” Kris said, turning his attention from Quinn to the television.
 
Quinn stared at the game in confusion as a benches-clearing fight had just taken place, and she wasn’t understanding why certain people were going to the locker room, others going to the penalty box, and even other players just going back to the bench, all of them screaming at each other. “Wait, why is he leaving?” she asked, pointing to the television to the Kings player that was leaving the game.

“He got a game misconduct penalty,” Kris tried explaining.

“Game misconduct penalty?” she asked, confused.
 
“He’s getting kicked out of the game because he left the bench to fight .”
 
Quinn crinkled her nose. “So, everyone that left the bench gets kicked out of the game?” she asked.
 
Kris laughed. “No,” he shook his head. “If that was the case, there'd be nobody left in the game. Only certain things a player does counts as a game misconduct penalty, and not everyone who leaves the bench to fight gets kicked out. Only the first and second person does. Unless they do something else that would be considered a game misconduct. Like that guy right there he's staying on the ice to fight even though the ref just gave him a major, so he should be heading to the dressing room,” Kris spoke freely, not thinking that this was all confusing to Quinn.

However, when he looked over at Quinn and saw the expression on her face, one that was mixed between being overwhelmed and utterly baffled, he knew he needed to stop talking, and try to break things down even further for her. He was talking in advanced terms for Quinn, and she was just not following, something that was frustrating her to no end. “Ughhh,” she groaned, her body falling over on the couch, her head landing against Kris’s sculpted chest.
 
Kris chuckled at her being overdramatic, causing Quinn’s head to bounce with the movement of his chest, but she didn’t move from her place, continuing to bury her head, wanting to escape all of the hockey. Kris wrapped one of his arms around her, placing his hand on her back and rubbing gently, trying to console her. “Quinn, it’s going to be alright,” he told her. “You’re just beginning to learn, you’ll catch on soon enough.”
 
“I wish I would have started learning sooner,” she mumbled into his chest, but it was muffled, making it difficult for Kris to understand what she was saying.
 
“Huh?” he asked her, and she lifted her head off of him, looking at him.
 
“I wish I would have started learning sooner,” she repeated.
 
“Why didn’t you?” Kris asked. “I mean, your dad owned a hockey team, but you know nothing about the sport.”
 
Quinn stared at him for a moment, not knowing if she really wanted to talk about her father to him, but she figured she could at least give him some sort of explanation as to why he was the one that had to teach her everything about the sport. “I didn’t know my dad growing up,” she admitted, and by the look on Kris’s face, it was clear that he didn’t know that. While the team didn’t know that Mitchell had a daughter, they just assumed he liked to either keep her out of the spotlight or simply away from the players who were around her age. None of them would have guessed that she didn’t know him.
 
“Oh,” Kris said, not really knowing what else to say.
 
“He abandoned me and my mom when I was seven,” she revealed, and Kris stayed quiet this time, waiting to see if she was going to tell him anything else about her relationship with her father. “I actually stayed away from hockey because of him. I knew things about him, but I didn’t actually know him. He didn’t see the need to get to know me, so I figured there was no reason to seek him out to try to get to know him,” she told him, resituating herself on the couch so she was now sitting cross-legged facing him.

The hockey game was still going on in the background, but neither of them were paying attention to it any longer. “But, he gave you the team,” Kris spoke.
 
Quinn nodded her head. “Trust me, I was as shocked as you when I found out. I didn’t expect to get anything out of him, especially not a freaking hockey team! So to say I was caught a little off guard when they told me that I was the new owner is an understatement.”
 
“And, now it all makes sense why you don’t know anything about hockey,” Kris said, a hint of empathy towards her in his voice.
 
She looked over at him. “Don’t feel sympathetic towards me,” she told him, sternly, surprising Kris. “I don’t need you to feel sorry for me that I didn’t know my dad. I have a family, one that doesn’t involve him, one that I love. I have a step-dad that treats me like his own kids. I have two step-brothers, one who I love and one, well, I could live without talking to him. And, my mom is still in my life,” she explained to him. “I never needed Mitchell. I had a great life without him.”
 
“Okay, I understand,” Kris told her. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, though he wasn’t really sure what exactly he was apologizing for. But, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time when she was getting so defensive.
 
Quinn seemed to shake out of it, looking at the television, seeing there was still about two minutes left in the game, which was now tied. “Overtime is five minutes, right?” she asked him, wanting to focus back in on her lesson once again. That was the reason she had come over to his place after all.
 
“Right,” he smiled at her, realizing she had remembered what he had said about overtime from their lesson in the coffee shop. “And, do you remember what happens if no one scores in that time?” he quizzed her a little bit.
 
Quinn got a big grin on her face, one that caused Kris to smile back at her. “I do,” she said excitedly. “If no one scores, then it goes to a shootout, and each teams gets three players to shoot against the other goalie. And, if it’s still tied after that, then it goes one round at a time until one teams scores and the other doesn’t,” she spoke proudly. It was an easy concept for any hockey fan to understand, but for Quinn it was a great accomplishment for her to understand that little bit.
 
“Nice job, Quinn!” Kris congratulated her. “See, you’re picking things up quickly. Before long, you’ll be an expert!”

Quinn laughed at him. “I’ll never be an expert,” she assured him. “But, maybe I’ll be able to watch the game and actually understand what’s going on,” she said hopefully as the two of them sat back to watch the end of the game.