All I'll Ever Need

I felt as though my legs stopped working as I stood there, unable to see through the array of tears that covered my eyes. Matty was crying, too, as a huge smile pulled across his lips.

To be honest, as I looked around, I didn’t see a single person that wasn’t at least a little teary eyed.

“How . . . when . . . ?” I couldn’t even form coherent sentences.

Matty let out a breath of a laugh. “The man you’ve fallen in love with? The one you almost let get away? He showed me that it was all in my head. I was too scared to let myself walk again, but I’m not scared anymore.” He stole a very brief glance at someone behind me—someone that wasn’t Sidney—before looking back to me. “And maybe I’m not worthless either. I gripe on you for feeling that way, but the reality is, we all feel that way sometimes.”

“But you’re not,” I breathed. “You’re the best big brother a girl could ask for.”

His arms opened up, and I was in that embrace before he could even blink. For a minute, I didn’t even know what to say or do, how to react. It reminded me of those videos, where the solider comes home and surprises their family. This wasn’t the same, but I had a feeling the emotions were the same.

And somehow, things were only gonna get better.

Matty and I were wrapped up in each other, crying like little babies, but we stood tall. We stood strong.

Matty stood . . . .

He let me go and wiped some of the tears from his eyes. “Fuck, Mika, I hate how you can make me cry.”

“She can make any man cry,” Beau said from somewhere in the crowd, and I heard him sniffle.

Sidney let out a laugh. “No kidding.”

I was still clinging to Matty as I looked back at Sidney, and sure enough, there were already red streaks forming down his cheeks from where the man had shed some tears. That didn’t really help me to calm down any because when I saw it on his face, I just cried some more into Matty’s chest.

His harder than usual chest . . . .

“It took me way too long to realize you’re in hockey gear,” I breathed, and my eyes widened as I looked up to him. “Holy shit, Matty. Why are you in hockey gear?”

He laughed. “I’m dropping the puck at the start of the game.”

I turned sharply to face Sidney, my eyes wide as a hockey puck. “How-wha-I-but-he-you . . . you got him on the ice again?”

A coy smile pulled across Sid’s face, and he nodded his head. “Uh, yeah. I convinced him not to let that guy win.”

“I could kiss you right now!” The words came out before I thought about it, but I didn’t regret them once they did. It was true, and a part of me wondered if he might let me, especially when that radiant smile of his pulled across his lips.

Though I could tell they wanted to stick around, the guys started heading out to line up. I didn’t know why they weren’t staying, but I didn’t really mind. As a matter of fact, the idea that I was alone with Sidney was . . . exciting.

Was he gonna let me kiss him? I certainly hoped so.

“Well, not right now,” he said, and my racing heart slowed down to an . . . almost normal rate. “How about I give you a chance to do that tomorrow? What are you doing tomorrow night?”

Holy shit. He’s asking me out.

I didn’t know why a devious smile pulled across my lips because I was damn happy, so fucking psyched that I was surprised I wasn’t squealing and dancing around like a much younger girl.

That would have to wait until he left the locker room.

“I don’t know. What am I doing tomorrow night, Sidney?”

“You’re doing Sid!” the unmistakable voice of Kris Letang yelled from the crowd of guys standing just outside the locker room door.

As Sidney turned the deepest shade of red, the idea played through in my mind. I couldn’t really find words to say, though, so I began to blush myself. Sidney and I . . . intimately together . . . it was something to look forward to, no matter how long we waited.

“NO!” Matty’s voice yelled out, and that brought a little bit of the heat from my face. “I don’t wanna know about this. I’m not gonna be home tomorrow!”

Suzie laughed from somewhere behind me, and I was reminded that Sidney and I weren’t so alone after all. It made the moment a little more embarrassing again, but it didn’t really matter. The moment I had been waiting for was happening.

Sidney was asking me out.

“How about I take you out tomorrow night?” he asked, as the cries of my brother declaring my innocence continued to ring out from wherever the guys were waiting for their captain, and though he knew the answer already, he sounded hopeful, like someone who didn’t already know.

I had to hold myself back from kissing him, yet again, but the idea that I would get to in less than twenty-four hours . . . or exactly twenty-four hours . . . I could barely stand it.

“I thought you’d never ask.”