She's in Love

Patrick rolled over in the bed to face Layna. Her eyes were shut, but he knew she was still awake. There was still a small smile on her face as she held the sheet up to cover her chest while her other hand rested on his chest. Patrick’s hand moved to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her hair. “Layna?” he whispered.

“Hm?” Her eyes stayed shut, but when he didn’t say anything, she opened them. He was looking down and she knew what this was about. Layna’s hand the rested on his chest moved up to his chin, the stubble still present from the past day, and moved it up so he was looking into her eyes. “Pat…”

“It’s today, right?” She slowly nodded her head. It was Patrick’s turn to close his eyes. He wanted to escape the inevitable. “When are you deciding?”

“I’ll call you tonight and let you know.”

He opened his eyes to see Layna moving around. When Pat saw her eyes start to water he grabbed her wrist to stop her, “Hey, hey it’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not. This shouldn’t have happened in the first place.” She saw his face fall and quickly retracted it, “Pat, I don’t regret anything that happened. It’s just… I wish I didn’t have to choose.”

Patrick sighed and got out of the bed. They both had obligations this morning. He had practice and she had to go to her job at the office downtown. He pulled on a pair of boxers before asking, “Eggs okay with you?”

“Pat!” She called out, but he didn’t stop. He went straight to the fridge and started to make breakfast. When she came out her hair was in a messy bun and she had put on one of his t-shirts. He stayed at the stove and moved the egg around with the spatula. Pat felt her arms snake around his stomach. “I don’t want to leave you, but you have to understand what I’m going through.”

He was careful to turn around with the frying pay and put the egg on a plate. He continued to stay silent. “Please say something, Pat. I don’t want this to be our last conversation.”

He dropped the pan in the sink with a clatter. “So you’re choosing him?” His voice was loud and filled with anger.

“I didn't say that! I just don't want us to end on a bad note if I do.”

When Patrick looked into her eyes, he could see how much she meant it. He dropped the spatula on the counter and cradled her face in his hands. When he pulled Layna in for a kiss he put as much emotion into it as he could. If she was going to choose him, he had to make sure she knew how much he cared.

Layna broke the kiss and placed her head against Pat’s chest. Her voice was quiet, “You know, I really do care about you Patty.” He continued to rub her back in a comforting circle as they stayed in each other’s arms.

“I know.” His response was just as quiet. When he looked back at the clock on the microwave he knew this moment was coming to an end sooner than either of them wanted. “I should get going.”

“Me too.” Patrick offered Layna the small plate of eggs while he went back to his room to change. Layna joined him a few minutes later. They worked silently around each other as they both got ready for their day. Getting dressed, brushing their teeth, and grabbing their phones, they reconnected near the door.

She looked back at him, “So you’ll wait a few minutes before coming down?”

“Of course.” They stood there in silence, both of them unsure of what to do next. But, Layna made the choice. She placed her left hand on his cheek and placed a light kiss on the other.

“See ya around Patty.” He watched as she walked a few feet to the door of his apartment and just walked out like she wasn't choosing between her boyfriend and the other guy today.

For Patrick, he knew he was going to need those few minutes after she left to gather himself before walking out of his building. He had girls leave before, but it never felt like this.

He stood by his door for five minutes. Patrick tried to think of what shots he wanted to work on in practice and the next prank he needed to pull on Sharpie soon. But memories of skating with Layna and working on her shot, which she failed miserably at, and how she had pranked her own boyfriend several times at their house kept coming to his mind.

Patrick shook his head. These thoughts weren't helping. He needed to focus on practice. Patrick left his condo and made the short drive to the United Center, parking in his designated spot.

Going into the locker room was just like any other day. Shaw and Bollig were messing around, Seabrook and Keith were sitting next to each other talking, and Jonny sat in his stall taping his stick for practice.

Patrick started to get undressed, but Jon nudged him with his stick, “You okay?”

He let out a rough, “Yeah,” and continued to get ready.

“If you say so,” Jon stood up, “Listen, Lindsey wanted me to see if you still wanted to go on that date with her friend.”

Date? Of course Jon didn’t know what had been going on with Layna, none of them did. It wasn’t smart to talk about her around this group, so no one on the team knew what was going on. Maybe a date was exactly what he needed to get over her.

“Uh, sure. Can I text you later on what day works?” If Layna did choose him, he knew he wouldn’t text Jon back about the date. But if she didn’t… he needed a distraction.

“Sounds good, buddy.” The two finished putting on their gear and headed out onto the ice with the rest of the team.

He did a few laps to warp up and joined the guys around Coach Q and the white board. He was able to focus for a few minutes at time before she kept entering his thoughts. They had met this exact place at the beginning of the season.

She was in the family room with the other wives and girlfriends taking with Abby Sharp. He had never seen her down there before. At the time, her golden hair was long and wavy and her brown eyes held excitement and what Patrick thought was also a little fear. Patrick walked up to Abby and reached for Madelyn who was excited to see him. “Hi there baby girl,” he said as he adjusted her in his arms.

Abby just smirked, “Patrick, this is Layna. She’s one of my friends and tonight was her first Hawks game.”

This gave Patrick some confidence, “First game! What did you think?”

“It was amazing. Crawford made some great saves, and your goal wasn't bad either.” Layna smiled back at him–

“Kaner!” Patrick whipped his head to where the sound had come from. Coach Q’s face was red from yelling, “Pay attention, this is important for the game tomorrow! I don’t want any distractions right now!”

Coach went over the rest of his game plan before splitting up the team. Patrick went over to the boards and was met by a friendly hip check from Sharpie. “So, Abby says you were talking with Layna the other night at the club?” Patrick knew he was talking about a few nights ago when the team had gone out to celebrate a win. Of course the wives and girlfriends had been there along with other friends of the players.

“Uh, yeah, just wondering if she had, uh, any friends she could set me up with. Abby doesn’t set me up anymore.” A whistle blew and both players moved around the ice. When the puck hit Patrick’s stick, he shot it harder than he had the lost couple days. Crawford made a quick move to make the save and Patrick could feel himself get a little angrier at the whole situation. The next shot he took hit the goalie square in the chest with just as much strength as before.

Patrick circled around and Sharpie was back at his side, “I’m sure Abby just doesn’t want to see your ugly face around anymore than she needs to. So, what did she say?”

“She, uh, thought she had someone that might be up for it, but we’re still working out the details.” Sharpie shoved him again.

“Good to hear kid. You looked kind of down this morning, maybe this’ll help.” Practice was a breeze after that. Patrick knew that this was the easy part of his day. How was he supposed to spend his afternoon waiting for a call that might ruin his life or make him happier than he’d ever been?

The locker room cleared out quickly after practice, many of the guys just wanting to go home and be with their families. Patrick pulled on a baseball cap and said a quick goodbye to the guys and headed out of the locker room. Corey was in the hall on his phone but hung up when he was Patrick.

“You headed out?” the goalie asked.

“Yeah, you?” Corey nodded and the two started the walk out of the arena. The two were quiet, neither knowing what to talk about until they made into the parking garage. Patrick was shocked to see Corey go towards a new truck, one Patrick hadn’t seen before. “You get a new car?”

“Yeah, picked it up yesterday,” Corey said with a smile. The sleek black Chevy pick-up wasn’t what Patrick had expected from the goalie, but after peeking into the car he could see why he bought it.

Patrick gave another nod and noticed the license plates still needed to be ordered because of the “Davis Auto” logo still on them. “It’s a cool ride.’

“Thanks, see ya later man.” Patrick moved out of the way and back to his own car as Corey drove off to enjoy the rest of his day.

He tried to stay busy around his condo. Patrick put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and put them away once they were clean. He organized his room and finally put his clothes were they belonged. He paid his bills and even took the time to balance his checkbook. By the time eight o’clock rolled around Patrick was bored out of his mind and done waiting to hear back from Layna. He grabbed his car keys and wallet and left his condo in search of answers.

Patrick got into his car and started the drive to her house. The drive that took him right by the night club Sharpie had been talking about at practice. Layna was on her way to the bathroom and Patrick was able to finally talk to her without having to worry about her boyfriend.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her around; his voice was covered up by the loud music. “Layna.” Her eyes went wide when she realized who had grabbed her.

“Pat, he’s here, he can see us.” He led her quickly around a corner out of sight of the group they were both with. “What do you want? I need to get back before he notices.”

“You told me you were going to end things with him last week.” His voice laced with desperation to hear that they could finally be together without having to sneak around.

Layna sighed and ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. Patrick liked her long hair, but the new cut suited her. “A lot of feelings came up the last week, Pat. I couldn’t do it.”

“But you’ll do it soon? I can’t keep waiting Layna, I need to know.”

“Soon.” Layna’s eyes widened as she saw Abby Sharp appear behind Patrick. “How does next Friday sound? I’ll make sure she gets a hold of you before then?”

“Friday? What are you- Oh, uh, hey Abby. What are you doing back here?”

Abby moved so she was next to both of them, “Just looking for Layna, thought she might’ve gotten lost. What are you two up to?”

“Oh, Patrick was hoping I could set him up with someone and I think this girl from my office would be perfect for him, right Pat?”

Patrick was not known to be a good liar, and he knew that. He tried to stay relaxed in front of Abby, “Yeah, so ask her if Friday works?”

“Can do, Patty. Come on Abby, I think I hear some shots calling our names.”

Patrick’s drive took almost 30 minutes with the traffic in Chicago on the Friday night. Layna’s house was just outside the city. He had been there before, but this time he wasn’t sure what was going to happen. When he pulled up across the street he could see a few lights on in her house. Patrick was glad to know she was home, so he got out of his car and started to walk towards the driveway.

He walked past her car and was ready to make the last steps to her door when he realized something. Patrick froze, before running back to his car. He pulled out his phone and dialed the familiar number.

“Lil Peek-a-boo! What’s up man?”

“What’s Corey doing tonight?” There was no beating around the bush. Patrick needed an answer and he needed it now.

“Why? You getting drunk tonight and need a ride? Cause, I want in.” Patrick groaned and Sharpie understood this was no time for jokes. “But seriously, you didn’t hear about it in the locker room today?”

Patrick sat up in his seat, “Hear what?”

“Kaner!” Sharpie yelled across the family room. “Give me my daughter.” Patrick reluctantly handed the child to her father. “And what are you doing with Layna?”

“Just introducing myself.” Patrick took a moment to look back at Layna and give hear a cocky smile. She turned to Abby and the two girls started their own conversation.

Sharpie pulled Patrick away from the group, “Dude, you know she has a boyfriend, right?”

Patrick had encountered girls in relationships before, “And that means…?” Sharpie nodded in the direction of his wife and her friend. Patrick almost couldn’t believe it. The guy standing next to her with his arm around her waist was not what he expected.

All of the color in Patrick’s face disappeared as he heard Sharpie say, “He’s proposing tonight.” He took on last look at the house and the black Chevy truck in the driveway with the “Davis Auto” license plates still on it. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had just finished dinner and he was down on one knee asking Layna right now.”

Patrick was quiet. There was nothing for him to say. Layna had obviously made her choice and it was time for him to move on in his life. Sharpie picked up on the silence, “Want me to meet you at the bar?”

He could only get out one word before he hung up, “Please.”