You Never Know

29. The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

(Regular POV)
To say the date was a success for the young pair would be an understatement. The two were together more than ever both in public and private. Sidney had asked Nicole to be his girlfriend officially when they were at his house; letting the dogs play and just spending some quality time together on an off day.

Max had kept to himself when he found out; he was jealous but didn’t want to hurt the team. The rest of the team went about their business, only giving Sidney a little hell before moving on to chirping Neal again about his hair.

The media speculated about a possible romance rekindling; it had been several months since the initial photo’s had been published. The Pen’s organization took appropriate action, denying any romance, and redirected attention to the upcoming game against the Blackhawks.

The team was looking forward to the game, they wanted to redeem themselves after the loss to the Hawks, and they were excited about the surprise party the wives had planned for Nicole. Banshee was booked for the night and Nicole’s family was flying in that morning.

A mass group text was sent out by Duper to all the players, except for Nic.

EVERYONE>> Hey guys don’t send anything to Nic on her Birthday. If everyone gets to the rink early we can surprise her and she won’t suspect anything that night. Sid are you still taking her to dinner with her family?
THEREALDEAL>> I heard the media guys are going to do something special on the big screens for her.
CREATURE>> yes I am and yes they are. Pictures will be shown of her time with us and they are going to play the birthday song during her pregame interview.
THEREALDEAL>> you would know.
RUSSIANBEAR>> she will be embarrassed.
TANGER>> that’s the point.
FLOWER>> Sid, don’t let her see your phone or our cover will be blown.
CREATURE>> Wait, you aren’t going to prank her are you?
SUPERSTAR>> now would we do that?
CREATURE>> she’s going to have your asses for any pranks.
GRONK>> we are not afraid.
KUNI>> you should be.
SUPERDUPER>> Sid, does she suspect anything?
CREATURE>> she hasn’t said.
FLOWER>> everything is a go still.
RUSSIANBEAR>> is not COD.
GRONK>> roger that, a confirmed GO.
SUPERDUPER>> you guys are idiots.
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(Nicole’s POV)
Nicole woke up the day of her birthday refreshed and ready to go. She and the guys were playing the Blackhawks that night and Sidney had planned on taking her out for dinner after the game. She got up shortly after receiving a text, bundled up in some warm gear, hooked Rex onto his leash, and headed out. She didn’t make it far from her building when she ran into Max.

“Oh, good morning Maxime.”
“Good morning.”

Things were a little tense again now that she and Sidney were together, but Max had kept his distance off the ice and was professional on the ice so it was easy to move past the strained encounters.

“Where are you headed so early?” Max inquired after a noticeable silence.
“The café.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Um, sure,” she hesitated, she was supposed to meet someone but it wasn’t for another few hours.

The two walked in silence to the café. There was a sense of déjà vu as they rounded the corner. Max went in and ordered coffee for himself and a hot chocolate for Nicole and a pupechino for Rex. Instead of sitting on the terrace the trio made their way to the dog park; the same one they had visited after the drunken night of celebration months ago. Nicole let Rex off the leash. They watched him disappear over the hill, taking his normal running route.

“Is this as strange for you as it is for me?” Nicole asked, breaking the silence.
Max let out a surprised laugh, “yes, very much so. It is an eerie sense of déjà vu.”
“Thank God it’s not just me!” the two laughed effectively breaking the tense moment.
“Are you happy, Nicole?”
“Yes, I am,” she answered without hesitation.
“Good. Sidney is a good guy, you will be happy with him.”

Nicole looked at Max. In just a few months, the man next to her seemed to have aged ten years.

“I was happy before,” she surprised both of them by this admission.
“I’m sorry for ruining that, Nicole. It was not done on purpose.”

They sat in silence.

“Maybe…maybe it was for the best,” Nicole said.
“What do you mean?”

“Well, you weren’t ready for anything too serious or else you wouldn’t have cheated. I wanted something serious, something other than a great night,” she said blushing.
“So I was great, eh?” Max chirped.
“Is that all you heard?” Nicole said giving him a small shove.

“Sidney will be what you want, he is the best choice if serious is what you are looking for. You are both young still, so don’t rush anything.”
“Look at you, giving advice to your Ex about her relationship with you friend.”
“Don’t expect it too much,” Max smiled at Nicole. He was startled to see a concerned look on her face.

“What is it?”

“Am I a bad person for dating Sidney? I mean, he is one of your best friends.”

“Any problem that I might have would be between Sid and me, not you. I would not be pleased if it were anyone else, not that I have a choice. The heart wants what the heart wants. So don’t fret ma chère fille. We shall all be fine.”

Max and Nicole sat a while longer in the chilly Pittsburgh air. Rex had made his rounds and was sitting quietly at their feet when Nicole’s phone rang. She answered the caller quickly and hung up.

“I have to go. I forgot that I am meeting someone for lunch.”
“That is okay, Nic. I need to be going as well. I will see you at the rink.”
“Of course.”

Nicole reached out and gave Max a hug. It was the first contact between the two since their departure that day in the dressing room. It was friendly, comfortable and held promises of a friendship, not yet fixed, but well on its way to being whole.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Nicole’s POV)
Nicole rushed home to drop off Rex. She had lost track of time while she was out with Max and needed to change before heading out. She didn’t tell Max, but she was having lunch with Jonathan Toews. He knew about the new romance between Nicole and Sidney and was happy for his fellow Olympian. Nicole omitted the small bit of information; she didn’t want Max to tell Sidney and him get the wrong idea. She and Johnny had become fast friends after she firmly let the Hawk know his place.

Nicole arrived at Shooter’s, a steak house near the hotel the Hawks were staying at, five minutes late. She was directed by the host to a private room, Tazer had brought some friends. Nicole could see Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Brandon Bollig, Brent Seabrook, Bryan Bickell and the two rookies, Andrew Shaw and Brandon Saad, along with the Captain sitting at a table. Johnny saw her enter the room and stood up to greet her.

“Hey, Nic. I thought you had gotten lost,” he said giving her a hug.
“Not in my city, Toews. I see you brought some friends.”
“They decided to fallow me when Kaner spilled where I was going,” He said with an eye roll, the forward was well known for his big mouth.

“Not my fault. I’m Patrick Kane, by the way. This is Sharpie, Bollig, Seabs, Bicks, Mutt, and Man Child.”

“Wow, and I thought some of my guys nicknames were bad,” Nicole said smiling at the group.

The guys had saved her a seat between the two Patrick’s much to Tazer’s distaste. Nicole didn’t mind; she could hold her own in any group and wasn’t afraid of these guys. They were one of the less intimidating teams in the league.

“So Nicole,” Bollig started, “is your team prepared to lose again?”
“Yeah we don’t want to see any tears from you,” Shaw chirped; the kid was becoming known as a nuisance around the league for his constant chirping.

“The only tears to be shed are yours when we wipe the ice with you guys. My guys aren’t going to fail me tonight.”

“What makes you so sure?” Sharpie asks.
“It’s a secret,” Nicole stage whispered, “If I tell you then I’d have to kill ya.”
Tazer snorted, “You think you’re going to win because it’s your birthday right?”
“It’s your birthday?” the surrounding players asked.
“Yep.”

“Well, I hate to tell you but your birthday isn’t going to be a good one this year, you guys are going down,” Kaner said giving Nicole his megawatt smile.

“We’ll see about that,” Nicole challenged, staring down all the guys one by one.

The food came and the group ate. The guys were surprised to find that they liked the feisty female; on ice she had a calm seriousness that rivaled their Captain, off ice she was a super Nova, filling the room with light and energy that left her audience wanting more once she was gone. The seven men could easily see why their leader was drawn to her, if her outer beauty didn’t make you take notice then her tenacity certainly would.
They guys picked up the check when everyone was finiched much to Nicole’s protest; it would be against their gentlemanly upbringings if they let her pay. They each said goodbye after exchanging numbers with the small brunette’ leaving their Captain for last.

“It was good seeing you Nic.”
“Yeah. I’m glad you brought the guys. I like ‘em.”
“They grow on you. And it helps having the wing men there,” Johnny laughed at his own joke.
“I hope you understand….”

“I do. He’s a great guy. Just know, if anything ever happens, you have us in Chicago. The guys love you already and we can always use another saucy defensive player,” Johnny says giving Nic his signature smirk.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” Nicole says giving him a hug. The two separate.
“See you tonight Nic,” Johnny says as he turns to walk away.

Nicole turns to go to her car when she hears on of the guys shout.

“YOU’RE GOING DOWN GREEN!!!!!”

Nicole laughs as she gets in her car. This was going to be a fun game.