This Love
chapter six;
“Well you haven’t missed a beat.”
Sidney looked up from the bed and smiled at me. I just got out of the shower and began to put my hair in a low braid. Sidney gave me a shirt to sleep in and I threw my clothes onto a chair before returning to the bed. I haven’t been laid since last summer and it’s safe to say he just gave me 7 months worth.
I curled up beside Sidney as he watched videos from his game on his iPad that his coach sent him. He still criticizes himself to this day no matter what. I had to admire him a little bit for that. At least he didn’t think he was perfect. Even though in my eyes, he was perfect.
“Shit, I gotta pay more attention when I’m playing with Kessel.”
“How so?”
He wrinkled his nose as he watched another replay, “He’s just really quick with the puck. I should be passing it to him as much as I can.”
“Well I thought you played great tonight. Well, you always do.”
He runs his fingers through my hair and I can feel myself drifting off to sleep. Sidney puts his iPad down and we get more comfortable in bed. My head rested on his chest as he pulled me closer to him. This night couldn’t have been more perfect. Sidney was back in my life and he wanted me in his life. Maybe we were going to get our second chance after all.
The next morning came quick and I rolled over in bed and noticed Sidney wasn’t there. I’m sure he’s probably doing some press or meeting up with the team. I checked my phone and it was full of missed calls and texts. The girls asking me where I was and asking if the team was out at any of the clubs. To be fair, I completely forgot about them.
There was a knock on the door and it caused me to jump a little bit. I got up and checked through the peep hole, it wasn’t one of Sid’s teammates so I opened up.
“Good morning, I have your room service”
“I didn’t order any?”
“Mr. Crosby did. He also told us to let you know he’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, thank you” I reply, still confused as the server brought my tray in.
As she left, Sidney walked in. He was already dressed up and probably ready to go soon. I didn’t want him to go. I missed him already. He comes over and kisses my cheek as I lift the lid off my food. Chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, my favourite.
“Oh my god, you remembered.”
“Of course I did.” He says as he grabs his tray of toast, eggs, and bacon.
We ate in peace as we watched the morning news in bed with our food. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I know he was only here for a short time, but still. If I wanted this to really work, I’d have to get used to him being gone. No time like the present, I guess.
“You ok?” He asks as he put our dishes back on the tray.
“Yeah, just kinda sucks to see you leave.”
He comes back over and kisses my forehead, “I know, I can promise you it will get easier the more we do it.”
I just nod cause I could feel my throat tightening up which meant tears were not far behind. I got up off the bed and began to get dressed in the bathroom incase I started to cry. It was taking everything I had not to go with him and just move to Pittsburgh. But that would be delusional right now.
“So did you want to say goodbye now, or when I actually have to leave?”
“How about both?” I managed to get out before a tear escaped.
“Ab’s don’t cry.” He says before pulling me into a hug, “You’ll be back in Ottawa next week, and I’ll come up and see you.”
“I know, I know. I don’t know why I’m being like this.” I reply as I sniff back more tears, “I just need to get through graduation and I’ll be fine.”
“Exactly. Plus you can call, text or Facetime me whenever you want, ok?”
I just nod and he presses his lips to mine. Kissing him wasn’t helping the situation at all, but I savored every moment of it. We went down to the lobby and met up with the rest of his team. I froze since it took me a second to process that the entire Penguins team was right in front of me. My wondering eyes went over to Kris Letang for a second. Couldn’t help myself, he was such a babe. He catches my eye and I drop my eyes down to my shoes, hoping I wasn’t being obvious.
“Hi.”
Crap.
“Hey, I’m sorry for staring.”
“No it’s fine,” I notice his accent and it was pretty appealing, “I was staring at you too. How do you know Sid?”
“It’s a long story.” I was stuttering my words, why do hockey players have to be so attractive? “We met in Nova Scotia last summer when I was visiting family, and I’m out here for school so we met up last night.”
“Ohhhh, you’re the girl he wouldn’t shut up about. Abby, right?”
I raise my eyebrow at him, “Yeah...what do you mean though?”
“He talked about a girl a lot. We were trying to figure out why he was so bummed out and not really playing that great for a while there. He never went out with us to meet girls or anything. Then he told me why, so it’s nice to put a name to a face.”
I could feel my heart beating really fast, it was nice to know he did miss me and wasn’t messing around with anyone else. Still, why did he give me so much space?
“Well thanks. I’m not letting go of him this time.”
“Don’t. You guys look great together.”
Kris left me so he could put his stuff on the bus. It was really good to know that I wasn’t the only one pouting over this situation for the last 7 months. I wanted to be mad at Sidney for not contacting me at all, but then again, I wasn’t any better.
“I see you met Kris.” Sidney says as he walks back over to me. He wraps his arm around me and I press myself closer to him.
“Yeah, he seems nice.” I replied, “He told me you talked about me lots.”
“That little shit,” Sid mutters. “I guess you could say I missed you, and he finally caught on.”
“Why didn’t you call me then?”
He sighs. I know now wasn’t a good time to get into it, but I needed to know.
“I just figured you probably hated me cause I broke it off, so I left you alone. I did have times where I wanted to reach you, but I know you were so focused on school and I didn’t want to distract you.”
“I can appreciate that.” I say as he pulls me closer. “But please call me when you get back to Pittsburgh.”
“Of course.”
The team got called to leave and my stomach dropped again. Sidney planted a soft kiss on my lips and he was on his way. I felt more comfortable watching him go, cause we’d be seeing each other next week. He sent me a final wave before the bus left. I watched the bus leave and as soon as it was out of my sight, I made my way to the closest sky train station.
One week. I can do this.
Sidney looked up from the bed and smiled at me. I just got out of the shower and began to put my hair in a low braid. Sidney gave me a shirt to sleep in and I threw my clothes onto a chair before returning to the bed. I haven’t been laid since last summer and it’s safe to say he just gave me 7 months worth.
I curled up beside Sidney as he watched videos from his game on his iPad that his coach sent him. He still criticizes himself to this day no matter what. I had to admire him a little bit for that. At least he didn’t think he was perfect. Even though in my eyes, he was perfect.
“Shit, I gotta pay more attention when I’m playing with Kessel.”
“How so?”
He wrinkled his nose as he watched another replay, “He’s just really quick with the puck. I should be passing it to him as much as I can.”
“Well I thought you played great tonight. Well, you always do.”
He runs his fingers through my hair and I can feel myself drifting off to sleep. Sidney puts his iPad down and we get more comfortable in bed. My head rested on his chest as he pulled me closer to him. This night couldn’t have been more perfect. Sidney was back in my life and he wanted me in his life. Maybe we were going to get our second chance after all.
The next morning came quick and I rolled over in bed and noticed Sidney wasn’t there. I’m sure he’s probably doing some press or meeting up with the team. I checked my phone and it was full of missed calls and texts. The girls asking me where I was and asking if the team was out at any of the clubs. To be fair, I completely forgot about them.
There was a knock on the door and it caused me to jump a little bit. I got up and checked through the peep hole, it wasn’t one of Sid’s teammates so I opened up.
“Good morning, I have your room service”
“I didn’t order any?”
“Mr. Crosby did. He also told us to let you know he’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, thank you” I reply, still confused as the server brought my tray in.
As she left, Sidney walked in. He was already dressed up and probably ready to go soon. I didn’t want him to go. I missed him already. He comes over and kisses my cheek as I lift the lid off my food. Chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, my favourite.
“Oh my god, you remembered.”
“Of course I did.” He says as he grabs his tray of toast, eggs, and bacon.
We ate in peace as we watched the morning news in bed with our food. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I know he was only here for a short time, but still. If I wanted this to really work, I’d have to get used to him being gone. No time like the present, I guess.
“You ok?” He asks as he put our dishes back on the tray.
“Yeah, just kinda sucks to see you leave.”
He comes back over and kisses my forehead, “I know, I can promise you it will get easier the more we do it.”
I just nod cause I could feel my throat tightening up which meant tears were not far behind. I got up off the bed and began to get dressed in the bathroom incase I started to cry. It was taking everything I had not to go with him and just move to Pittsburgh. But that would be delusional right now.
“So did you want to say goodbye now, or when I actually have to leave?”
“How about both?” I managed to get out before a tear escaped.
“Ab’s don’t cry.” He says before pulling me into a hug, “You’ll be back in Ottawa next week, and I’ll come up and see you.”
“I know, I know. I don’t know why I’m being like this.” I reply as I sniff back more tears, “I just need to get through graduation and I’ll be fine.”
“Exactly. Plus you can call, text or Facetime me whenever you want, ok?”
I just nod and he presses his lips to mine. Kissing him wasn’t helping the situation at all, but I savored every moment of it. We went down to the lobby and met up with the rest of his team. I froze since it took me a second to process that the entire Penguins team was right in front of me. My wondering eyes went over to Kris Letang for a second. Couldn’t help myself, he was such a babe. He catches my eye and I drop my eyes down to my shoes, hoping I wasn’t being obvious.
“Hi.”
Crap.
“Hey, I’m sorry for staring.”
“No it’s fine,” I notice his accent and it was pretty appealing, “I was staring at you too. How do you know Sid?”
“It’s a long story.” I was stuttering my words, why do hockey players have to be so attractive? “We met in Nova Scotia last summer when I was visiting family, and I’m out here for school so we met up last night.”
“Ohhhh, you’re the girl he wouldn’t shut up about. Abby, right?”
I raise my eyebrow at him, “Yeah...what do you mean though?”
“He talked about a girl a lot. We were trying to figure out why he was so bummed out and not really playing that great for a while there. He never went out with us to meet girls or anything. Then he told me why, so it’s nice to put a name to a face.”
I could feel my heart beating really fast, it was nice to know he did miss me and wasn’t messing around with anyone else. Still, why did he give me so much space?
“Well thanks. I’m not letting go of him this time.”
“Don’t. You guys look great together.”
Kris left me so he could put his stuff on the bus. It was really good to know that I wasn’t the only one pouting over this situation for the last 7 months. I wanted to be mad at Sidney for not contacting me at all, but then again, I wasn’t any better.
“I see you met Kris.” Sidney says as he walks back over to me. He wraps his arm around me and I press myself closer to him.
“Yeah, he seems nice.” I replied, “He told me you talked about me lots.”
“That little shit,” Sid mutters. “I guess you could say I missed you, and he finally caught on.”
“Why didn’t you call me then?”
He sighs. I know now wasn’t a good time to get into it, but I needed to know.
“I just figured you probably hated me cause I broke it off, so I left you alone. I did have times where I wanted to reach you, but I know you were so focused on school and I didn’t want to distract you.”
“I can appreciate that.” I say as he pulls me closer. “But please call me when you get back to Pittsburgh.”
“Of course.”
The team got called to leave and my stomach dropped again. Sidney planted a soft kiss on my lips and he was on his way. I felt more comfortable watching him go, cause we’d be seeing each other next week. He sent me a final wave before the bus left. I watched the bus leave and as soon as it was out of my sight, I made my way to the closest sky train station.
One week. I can do this.