This Ain't a Fairytale

Sidney

“So Sidney, who’s the new girl?” Kris asked me at practice just two days later. I’d spent all of my free time helping Leigh look for an apartment, and so far they were either too expensive for her or too sketchy for me, so we weren’t really getting anywhere. I told her she could just live with me, and ‘pay rent’ if she really felt like she had to, but so far she wasn’t biting on that idea. Leigh had always been one to take care of herself; she hated having to depend on others for anything.

“Who, Leigh? We’re not together, we’ve been best friends since we were like, four years old,” I answered, seeing the few looks of disbelief.

“I’m serious; we met in Pre-K, and she loved hockey as much as I did so we became best friends. She played serious competitive hockey right until she graduated university too,” I explained, and Neal’s eyes widened.

“Serious? What’d she play?” he asked.

“Forward – right wing, but she could play left or center too,” I answered, seeing him nod, obviously impressed.

“Where did she go to University?” Tanger asked, getting interested in this conversation too.

“Harvard,” I proudly told them. Leigh’s determination had always been something I’d looked up to, and the fact that she absolutely worked her ass off to get good marks and scholarships for her grades as well as her hockey was amazing.

“Wow, that’s hot,” TK chimed in from somewhere behind me, making me roll my eyes. If any of them thought they were getting anywhere near her I’d beat the shit out of them.

“Don’t even try it TK,” I warned him, getting a few laughs from the older guys. They understood the protectiveness, but the guys my age thought it was funny.

Once the ribbing and teasing had quit and most of the guys had left, I realized Jordan was taking his time at his stall, something uncharacteristic for him.

“Hey Jord, what’s up?”

“N-nothing,” he stuttered, refusing to make eye contact with me. I realized then that it probably had to do with Leigh.

“Jord you don’t even know her, you can’t like her already,” I sighed. Little known fact; the rough-and-tumble forward was the biggest romantic I’ve ever met in my life. Unfortunately that made him rather prone to getting his heart broken. And whenever that happened the aftermath included a lot of alcohol and usually a few random women.

“She’s… I don’t know Sid, it’s just something about her… she seems like a really cool girl,” he mumbled, his face already a bright shade of red.

“She is, but still Jord, please don’t get all worked up about this. She’s here to start working, and she’s never dated a hockey player before, and I somehow doubt she ever will,” I tried to gently break it to him, but winced when I knew I’d done a bad job.

“It’s okay Sid, I’ll be fine,” he rolled his eyes at me, and I immediately felt like a shitty friend.

“I’m sorry man, but… she’s like my sister, you know?” I offered, and he nodded.

“Like I said, I’ll be fine,” he managed a smile for me before leaving the locker room. I knew he’d start to perk up again once he got over Christina; they’d been together for almost a year before he’d caught her cheating on him. He’d been a little mopey and a little sappier ever since that had happened, understandably. I let out a groan, running a hand through my hair and feeling awful at how I handled that situation, so I grabbed my bag and my hat and went after him.

“Jord, wait up,” he stopped and turned, his face still tinged with pink. We fell into step beside each other as we headed towards the player’s lot.

“I’m sorry – I was kind of a douche there,” I apologized, making him chuckle. “It’s just… Leigh’s been around hockey player’s all her life, and I know she’s heard the rumors and stuff, she’s just never been interested in anybody who plays hockey, you know? I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, I’m just saying there’s not a big chance of it, and I don’t want to see one of my best friend’s get hurt,” I explained, and with a long breath he nodded.

“I know what you mean Sid, I understand. I means it when I said I’ll be fine, it’s just… it’d be nice to find a girl who isn’t full of drama and have a relationship that means something, you know? I’m sick of all the drama and the insecurities, I’m just ready for the real thing,” he sighed. I nodded, even though I wasn’t quite sure. I knew I wanted all of that, I just knew that I wasn’t in the right place of my life for it. I had lots of time, so I wasn’t worried.

“You’ll find the right girl Gronk, don’t worry. Maybe just be happy single for a while, you know, be happy in your life before you worry about sharing it? Is that how the saying goes?” he laughed again at my attempt to be cheery.

“Something like that,” he allowed, before turning to go to his SUV while I kept walking to my Range Rover.

“You going to Chris’s tomorrow night?” he asked, and I shrugged.

“Maybe – I’ll see if Leigh’s doing anything, maybe I’ll bring her. She’s got to be introduced properly to you lot sooner or later,” I told him, and he nodded.

“Sounds good – see you then,”

“See ya!” I called with a half-wave as I unlocked my own vehicle and got in.