This Love
chapter ten;
My heart is pounding in my chest as my dad finally gets close enough to see who is standing in front of him. His eyes widen and I can tell he’s trying to put on his military serious face, but he’s secretly fangirling on the inside. They stare at each other for a few seconds before Sidney extends his hand to shake my fathers. My dad returns the favour, but you can tell he has a thousand questions burning in his head. First impressions were everything for my father. Thank god Sidney was a bit of a gentlemen.
“Dad, I’m sure you know who’s standing in front of you; but, long story short, he just happens to be my boyfriend as well.”
I spat out the last part quickly so I could go back to looking down at my shoes. There was silence for a second. I was praying for someone to do something.
“It’s really nice to meet you, Sidney.”
“It’s very nice to meet you too, Mr. Reid.”
“Please, call me Mike.”
I sighed a deep relief as I looked over at them. I knew I would have to explain this one; I had no idea how to explain it to my father. Our situation was hard to explain since it was still so new to us as well. I mean, who could actually explain to their father that they were dating a huge hockey superstar? It wasn’t the easiest. He wasn't just a boy from school. He was ...special.
“Dad, I know this is coming as a major surprise to you, but I promise I can explain.”
“Mike, if I can explain this actually. I just surprised your daughter; she had no idea I was going to be here. So I’d really get to know you. Abby and I can explain how we got together over dinner, if you'd like.”
My dad still didn’t look that convinced, but he was good at giving people chances. Sidney was putting on a good show too; he could charm his way into any given situation to be honest.
“I’d like that, Sidney. We are staying at the Georgian court hotel. There’s a nice restaurant in the hotel. Meet us there in an hour. Abby I’ll meet you at the car.”
My dad walks away and I couldn’t tell if I was in deep shit or not. That was the one downside to being the daughter of a Military man. He’s used to yelling at people Sidney’s age to give him 50 pushups. Whatever. I wasn’t going to let my dad ruin the fact that Sidney was here.
“Your Dad is definitely very … professional.”
“He can’t help it. He’s been like this with boys ever since I started liking them.”
Sidney just laughs before pulling me into a hug. His cologne catches me off guard and my heart starts to race. He was here. I can’t believe he actually did this for me. I could feel myself falling for him, harder than I did last summer. It was probably too soon, but he made it impossible not to.
“I should probably go. Do you need a ride?” I asked him as he laced my fingers with his.
“No, I got a rental. You two are flying back to Ottawa tonight?”
“Yeah, I think our flight is around 9.”
“I’m flying back with you tonight then.”
My breath got caught, “What?”
“I don’t have to go back to Pittsburgh. You know we’re playing the Sens on Sunday. I can meet up with the guys for practice when they get there.”
I just wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him eagerly. He was putting in so much effort to make this work; it was impossible not to get so attached to him again. We walked back out to the parking lot and I left with my dad. I knew I would have to explain this the second I sat down. My dad didn’t say a word; he just turned the car on and began driving. Here was my cue.
“Dad, this is really easy to explain. So can you just please put your Military crap aside for a minute and let me talk? He’s not just some kid fresh out of high school you can scream at till he gets tough enough to work with you. He’s important.”
He let out a little chuckle, “Ok. How did you meet?”
“I met him last summer in Nova Scotia, when I was visiting Aunt Patricia. We bumped into each other at the same coffee shop every morning. One day he came and sat down with me and it went from there.”
“And you’ve been together all this time?”
“No,” I paused, I wasn’t going to mention the part where Sid broke my heart, “we knew long distance would be hard on both of us. I was stuck out in here and it would've been hard for him to visit me and he understood that I needed to focus on my schooling. So we broke it off. Mutually. We just got so busy, we lost contact.”
“So when did you get back together?”
“Last week. When the Penguins were playing here, we met up and just took it from there. Dad, I’m sorry to keep it from you, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to amount to anything. But this time it feels different. Just please, let me figure this out for myself.”
My dad reaches over and grabs my hand, “Ok, it’s just, he’s Sidney Crosby! He’s a damn good hockey player, it's a shock to find out my little girl is dating him. Plus, he could maybe, one day, be my son in law.”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” I reply as I rolled my eyes.
“If he hurts you though, I’m sending him to basic training.”
“Dad!”
We both laugh as I felt a wash of relief over my body. I was beyond happy he was going to give Sidney a chance. Sidney could read my father like a book, which is quite hard to do. We get out of the car and took all my things back up to our hotel room. I quickly fixed my hair and reapplied my lipstick before heading to the elevator. As the doors opened, those butterflies hit my stomach again. Sidney was already waiting for us in the lobby. He met me with those dark eyes of his and I couldn't fight back my smile. You know, I never thought feelings like this really existed, they were just something you read about. But it was real. This was going to take a while to get used to.
“Dad, I’m sure you know who’s standing in front of you; but, long story short, he just happens to be my boyfriend as well.”
I spat out the last part quickly so I could go back to looking down at my shoes. There was silence for a second. I was praying for someone to do something.
“It’s really nice to meet you, Sidney.”
“It’s very nice to meet you too, Mr. Reid.”
“Please, call me Mike.”
I sighed a deep relief as I looked over at them. I knew I would have to explain this one; I had no idea how to explain it to my father. Our situation was hard to explain since it was still so new to us as well. I mean, who could actually explain to their father that they were dating a huge hockey superstar? It wasn’t the easiest. He wasn't just a boy from school. He was ...special.
“Dad, I know this is coming as a major surprise to you, but I promise I can explain.”
“Mike, if I can explain this actually. I just surprised your daughter; she had no idea I was going to be here. So I’d really get to know you. Abby and I can explain how we got together over dinner, if you'd like.”
My dad still didn’t look that convinced, but he was good at giving people chances. Sidney was putting on a good show too; he could charm his way into any given situation to be honest.
“I’d like that, Sidney. We are staying at the Georgian court hotel. There’s a nice restaurant in the hotel. Meet us there in an hour. Abby I’ll meet you at the car.”
My dad walks away and I couldn’t tell if I was in deep shit or not. That was the one downside to being the daughter of a Military man. He’s used to yelling at people Sidney’s age to give him 50 pushups. Whatever. I wasn’t going to let my dad ruin the fact that Sidney was here.
“Your Dad is definitely very … professional.”
“He can’t help it. He’s been like this with boys ever since I started liking them.”
Sidney just laughs before pulling me into a hug. His cologne catches me off guard and my heart starts to race. He was here. I can’t believe he actually did this for me. I could feel myself falling for him, harder than I did last summer. It was probably too soon, but he made it impossible not to.
“I should probably go. Do you need a ride?” I asked him as he laced my fingers with his.
“No, I got a rental. You two are flying back to Ottawa tonight?”
“Yeah, I think our flight is around 9.”
“I’m flying back with you tonight then.”
My breath got caught, “What?”
“I don’t have to go back to Pittsburgh. You know we’re playing the Sens on Sunday. I can meet up with the guys for practice when they get there.”
I just wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him eagerly. He was putting in so much effort to make this work; it was impossible not to get so attached to him again. We walked back out to the parking lot and I left with my dad. I knew I would have to explain this the second I sat down. My dad didn’t say a word; he just turned the car on and began driving. Here was my cue.
“Dad, this is really easy to explain. So can you just please put your Military crap aside for a minute and let me talk? He’s not just some kid fresh out of high school you can scream at till he gets tough enough to work with you. He’s important.”
He let out a little chuckle, “Ok. How did you meet?”
“I met him last summer in Nova Scotia, when I was visiting Aunt Patricia. We bumped into each other at the same coffee shop every morning. One day he came and sat down with me and it went from there.”
“And you’ve been together all this time?”
“No,” I paused, I wasn’t going to mention the part where Sid broke my heart, “we knew long distance would be hard on both of us. I was stuck out in here and it would've been hard for him to visit me and he understood that I needed to focus on my schooling. So we broke it off. Mutually. We just got so busy, we lost contact.”
“So when did you get back together?”
“Last week. When the Penguins were playing here, we met up and just took it from there. Dad, I’m sorry to keep it from you, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to amount to anything. But this time it feels different. Just please, let me figure this out for myself.”
My dad reaches over and grabs my hand, “Ok, it’s just, he’s Sidney Crosby! He’s a damn good hockey player, it's a shock to find out my little girl is dating him. Plus, he could maybe, one day, be my son in law.”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” I reply as I rolled my eyes.
“If he hurts you though, I’m sending him to basic training.”
“Dad!”
We both laugh as I felt a wash of relief over my body. I was beyond happy he was going to give Sidney a chance. Sidney could read my father like a book, which is quite hard to do. We get out of the car and took all my things back up to our hotel room. I quickly fixed my hair and reapplied my lipstick before heading to the elevator. As the doors opened, those butterflies hit my stomach again. Sidney was already waiting for us in the lobby. He met me with those dark eyes of his and I couldn't fight back my smile. You know, I never thought feelings like this really existed, they were just something you read about. But it was real. This was going to take a while to get used to.