Chapter sixteen

OHMYGAWD. An update? Yes, so it would appear. Enjoy. :)

            “How’d you meet Sidney!?” one reporter screamed, shoving a microphone in my face. I wanted nothing more than to shove it up his ass, but I controlled myself and answered the question like a civilized human being.

            “Well,” I started, but Sidney cut me off. I looked at him with questioning eyes, but he just smiled.

            “By chance; we met by chance,” he said, kissing my forehead and pulling me even closer than I already was. I was never one for public displays of affection, and this was way more than I could handle. I took a step back, smile still plastered to my face, and quickly kissed his cheek, hoping to relay the message that I was uncomfortable. He seemed to understand, because the next thing I knew, he was whisking me back out into the hall and apologizing to the reporters profusely. Thankfully, none of them followed us.

            “I’ll go get dressed,” he said quickly as what seemed like half of his teammates filtered out through the doors behind them. I could still hear muffled yelling and cringed at the idea. For some reason, whenever I think about athletes with a ton of reporters crowded around them, it makes my heart ache.

            “Hurry back,” I said softly, letting my arms fall from his torso and sitting down on the bench we were standing in front of. I thought about what had just happened and suddenly remembered I had left Emma asleep in the stands. I hurried back out and saw she was just as I had left her: sprawled out and unconscious.

            I didn’t want to wake her up; I knew she’d be pissed and start screaming, so I let her go and walked back to my bench across from the locker room to continue my watch of the door.

            Letang, Talbot, and Staal all walked out and flashed me the thumbs up within five minutes of sitting on the bench. Kennedy was out next. I got up off my bench to talk to him for a minute.

            “Hey Tyler,” I said, taking a step towards him. I couldn’t help but think that Emma would die if she got to talk to him, but I didn’t go wake her up. If she continues to accompany me on these road trips, she’ll eventually get her chance.

            “Hey Avery,” he said, stopping his forward movement and taking a step back to be equal with me. He had a big grin on his face and I could only imagine he had been giving Sidney shit about me/us.

            “So, tell me truthfully,” I started, fiddling with a hangnail on my finger. He looked a little taken aback and his grin began to fade. He must know what I’m about to ask.

            “What are the reporters asking Sidney?”

            “It’s not about his game, that’s for sure… They just keep asking about you and how long you two have known each other and why you haven’t been at any of the games before this and it goes on and on…” he trailed off, his goofy smile spreading once again across his face. I forced a weak smile on my lips and grinned back.

            Too many people occupied with me at once made me anxious. I was always that girl in high school that kept to the shadows and never really stole the spotlight. I was inconspicuous and guys didn’t look twice at me. Now, to have a guy like Sidney proclaim his undying love for me in front of what seemed like a million reporters, half of whom had video cameras, I was a little overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed enough to run away, but overwhelmed enough to where I had to sit down on the bench I had just occupied.

            I put my face in my hands and took a deep breath to calm myself. I could handle this. It wasn’t a big deal. I kept telling myself this, as Tyler, who seemed to not know what to do, sat next to me. I watched as more people walked out of the locker room, reporters among them, but not Sidney. I was calm by now and had realized that this wasn’t as big of a deal as I was making it.

            It was just Sidney. I could be myself around him. He’d protect me from whatever happened. This, I felt confident of.

            “You think he’s still in there?” I asked Tyler after a few minutes had passed of silent thought.

            “Probably. He’s always the last one out. It’s safe to say you could go in there and get him. Everyone else is out,” he told me almost sympathetically, his eyebrows raising just a bit to go along with his sappy half-smile. He had no idea how happy I was and how much I just wanted to see Sidney, even if I was just, you know, a tad bit overwhelmed.

            “Thanks Tyler,” I said, patting him on the back quickly before making my way through the door and seeing Sidney standing with his back to me rummaging through his bag, a towel around his waist.

            I snuck up behind him and placed my cold hands just above the towel wrapped around his waist. He jumped what seemed like six inches in the air before turning around to look at me.

            “I didn’t expect you to come in here,” he said to me, a smile spreading across his bee-stung lips that I wanted so badly to kiss.

            “I was worried you got confused taking a shower, and thought that, I don’t know, maybe I could help?” I asked, batting my eyelashes and wrapping my arms around the back of his neck. I could see the internal struggle happening with the thought of us having it off in the locker room.

            “The hotel’s five minutes away,” he whispered in my ear, pulling my hands from around his neck and placing them by my side, where I proceeded to cross them almost angrily across my chest. I liked my plan much better.

            “What’ll we do with Emma?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t be in the same room as us. “And your roommate?” I asked again, now panicking, thinking this wasn’t such a good idea after all. I felt heat rush to my face and I began to freak.

            “Calm down,” he said, buttoning up a blue plaid dress shirt. “We’ll get Emma her own room. It won’t be hard, I am Sidney Crosby after all,” he said, placing a peck on my lips, instantly calming me. “And I’ll take care of Tanger. He can go stay with someone else. He’ll understand,” he said knowingly with a wink.

            “Okay…” I said, reluctance filling my voice. I wanted him so bad, and all this planning was just putting a damper on my mood. “I’ll go wake Emma up.”

            “I’ll be right out,” he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss on my neck, bringing the mood right back. “I love you.” Those three words seemed to be the sweetest words in the world.

I walked back out to where Emma was passed out. Drool was spilling from her mouth and she was crinkled up into an awkward position with her head at a 90-degree angle resting on her shoulder. I giggled a little to myself and nudged her shoulder. Her eyes sprung open and she sat up in her chair with a start.

            “What happened? Does he love you?” she slurred, wiping the drool off her chin with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. I couldn’t help but smile. She looked like a little kid.

            “Yes, he loves me,” I said, sitting down next to her.

            “So sitting in a car with me for however many painful hours was worth it?” she asked with a yawn, resting her head on my shoulder.

            “Yes, it was worth it. Thanks for forcing me to come,” I said with a laugh.

            “So where is he?” she asked closing her eyes again and snuggling into me.

            “Getting dressed. He said he’d meet me out here when he was done. We’re going back to the hotel,” I said, and before she could say anything, I continued. “We’ll get you your own room where you can pass out at awkward angles and drool however much you want.” I giggled a little, and she shook with laughter.

            Within minutes her breathing was steady and I could tell she’d fallen asleep again. For fear of getting drooled on, I eased myself out from under, letting her head fall on her shoulder. She didn’t seem to notice and went right on sleeping with her mouth gaping open.

            “Thank you Emma,” I said to her unconscious body. “I owe you.”

Chapter fifteen

“Avery, get out of the goddamn car,” Emma snapped at me after 5 hours of driving that day and 8 the day before. Needless to say, we were both a little sick of each other’s company.

Emma somehow talked me into getting into my little 5-speed Soul with her and driving 12, let me emphasize that, TWELVE hours with her over 2 days, just to get to Raleigh to see Sidney. I don’t know. She said something about finding myself and living in the moment.

            The first day of driving wasn’t too bad, driving through cute little towns like Berkeley Springs in West Virginia. All I could think about was Radiator Springs from Cars, one of the best movies ever made by Pixar, let alone made. We stopped in Winchester, Virginia for some Taco Bell and continued on down through the rest of the state to Richmond where we spent the night in some cheap little hotel with homeless people living on the sidewalk outside it. The day was mostly filled with off-key singing and riding with the windows down, one of my favorite things to do with Emma, no one else.

            The day we made the trek all the way to Raleigh, we didn’t leave until around noon. The morning was spent doing constructive things of course, like Emma flirting with the concierge to try and get us free things. Once we got into North Carolina, we were flying. We only had one little hang up with the beltway. The numbers went from 4 straight to 327, which confused us a bit. We got ourselves back on the right track and eventually ended up at an Applebee’s five minutes from the arena around 5:15, two hours and fifteen minutes away from seeing Sidney play.

            Now, I was being banished from the car to go find a scalper with two tickets. I always hated those guys. They gave me the creeps. I always thought that when I pulled out my wallet to pay them, they’d grab it and run away laughing. And I always wondered who would go to the game and willingly sell their tickets. It always seemed like such an incredibly silly concept to me.

            “Two tickets,” some guy, whom I assumed was a scalper, with no front teeth said to me as I walked by. If I was going to buy these stupid tickets I wanted to do it from someone with teeth. I felt like I was doing a drug deal or something. After walking by at least three more toothless men, I found a decent looking guy with decent seats.

            “One hundred twenty dollars,” he barked at me, making me jump a little. I grabbed my wallet out of my purse and pulled out the bills Emma and I had stuffed in there the night before. I handed him what he asked for, took my tickets and speed-walked back in the general direction of where I had come from. I pulled out my phone on the way and called Emma, trying to see where she ended up.

            “Did you get them?!” she shrieked into the phone without even saying hello. People were running everywhere and some guy had a Penguins flag he was running around the parking lots with. He ran up to me and gave me a high five upon seeing my Crosby jersey. “Avery!? Don’t ignore me!” she yelled. Every time we’re put into a stressful situation, she basically has a freak out and starts getting nervous.

            “Calm down,” I reasoned with her. “I just had to high five some guy, and yes, I got the tickets.”

            “But you didn’t high five me!?” she shrieked, on the verge of hysteria.

            I was not doing this now. “Emma, I’m talking to you on the phone. I can’t high five you. I’m going to go wait for you in front of the entrance,” and with that, I hung up on her before she could complain some more.

            I stood there with our tickets, waiting for Emma, being jostled around by Hurricane fans and getting booed by complete strangers when I finally wondered why I was standing here in unseasonably humid weather waiting for my psycho friend. Yeah I wanted to be here and I wanted to see this game, but really? I could have just waited for Sidney to get home and accept the fact that he has some crazy pregame ritual. Just as I was about to start off to find the car and leave, having wasted one hundred and twenty dollars on tickets, Emma grabbed my arm from behind.

            “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” she snapped at me before pulling me back in line to get inside. Just looking at her reminded me of why I was here. She hadn’t convinced me to come down here; I had done it out of my own free will. I wanted to see Sidney and I wanted him to accept that I was going to be with him the rest of the playoffs. I wanted him to know that what I was feeling for him was more than just a fling. I didn’t do flings in the first place, but if I had to pick anyone to have a fling with, it’d be him.

            “Thanks Em,” I said, turning around to face the arena with her. We kept each other in line. I kept her from doing stupid things and she kept me from being a prude. For that, I love her.

            “Now where are our seats?” she asked, still slightly hysterical.

            “Well, I think they’re up near the top. At least that’s what the scalper said,” I reiterated, glancing down at the tickets in my hand that each had a picture of Eric Staal on them. I’d much rather have ones with Sidney on them, but beggars can’t be choosers. I shifted the tickets in my hand and shuffled forward in line.

            There were some crazy metal detectors inside the doors. It was like going through airport security. Who would want to bomb a hockey game? It’s only Raleigh anyway. They made us do the whole thing where you take everything out of your pockets, stick it in bins and shove it through an X-ray machine. I’ve never quite known what those things were called.

            On the other side of the metal detectors, some guy was handing out free towels that said “Woooo!” on one side accompanied by a Hurricane’s logo. He half-heartedly extended his arm to me to wordlessly ask if I wanted a towel. I shook my head no and kept walking.

            “Are they free?” I heard Emma ask when I was two or three paces ahead of her. I turned around to see her looking excited at the prospect of getting something for free. I stared at her like she was crazy and turned around, not wanting to be associated.

            “Avery look! I got a free towel!” she called after me as I began walking around the arena looking for our section. “Wait, look!” she yelled, waving the towel at me when I turned around to look at her. I couldn’t help but smile at her cheap self.

            We once went to the movies and she ordered a small popcorn. The guy working the counter asked her is she wanted to make it a large. Her reply? If you do it for free. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a large popcorn for the price of a small. She wouldn’t let me have any of it.

            “I see it Emma, now let’s go find our seats,” I said, linking my arm through hers and guiding her around the curving arena. After walking up two more flights of stairs, we reached section 316, at the top of the arena, a little above the suites.

            “Let’s go down to the ice before all the players go back into the locker room,” Emma said, starting to walk away towards the stairs down. I grabbed her arm before she could get very far.

            “No, let’s stay here,” I said, sitting down and watching Sidney from afar.

            “But don’t you want to see the look on Sidney’s face when he knows you’re here?” she questioned, taking a step back towards me. I know she wanted to go down to the ice, and I was tempted to tell her to just go by herself.

            “I don’t want to freak him out and then have him do a shit job,” I stated, pulling her down into the chair next to mine. She seemed to understand, but sat there sulking until the game started, then it was a different story. She was standing and screaming and yelling at Carolina fans all before the Penguins even scored a goal.

The first goal of the game was scored by Matt Cullen of the Hurricanes, which shut Emma up pretty quickly, but only until Geno scored about two minutes later on a power play. She was up and screaming after that, and even got popcorn thrown on us at one point. Sure, I yelled when Geno scored, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never yelled louder in my life than when Sidney scored late in the first period to put them up 2-1.

            Pregame curse. Psh.

            The rest of the game seemed to crawl by. I just wanted it to be over and the Penguins to be 3-0 in the series, so I could go down and wait outside for like all the other creepy stalker people.

            The final horn sounded with a score of 6-2. I felt kind of bad for the Hurricanes, but not really. I wanted the Penguins to win the Stanley freaking Cup, and if barreling over the Hurricanes meant winning the cup, I was all for it. I looked at Emma who was red in the face and could barely talk. This is the definition of playoff hockey: driving 12 hours to see your favorite team pummel another, not being able to talk after said pummeling and waiting for the players after the game is over.

            “Let’s go Em,” I said, walking down the stairs towards the ice where Sidney was doing an interview with a blonde lady. I practically sprinted all the way down. If I could let him see me, maybe I wouldn’t have to stand in the heat and wait for him. Maybe he would pull me back into the locker room and give me a passionate kiss. I was just hoping I wouldn’t have to stand outside, and if he kissed me, that would just be a plus.

            I got all the way down there, just as he was finishing the interview. He glanced up at the people crowded around the entrance to the locker room to give them all high fives. When he got to Emma, who was panting, and myself, he paused for a second to try and take in the fact that I was standing there in front of him with my best friend. His eyes said it all. How are you here?

            “I’ll be right back,” he said only loud enough for me to hear before continuing on into the locker room.

            I looked after him and breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until that point, but just hearing him speak, and without an angry edge to his voice, made me relax. I stepped away from the railing and slouched down into the nearest chair to wait for him to come back.

            The kids that were crowded around began to disperse and Emma and I were left alone before long. None of the workers tried to clear us out; they just cleaned around us, and after what seemed like an eternity, Sidney emerged from the locker room without his pads and skates on.

            I didn’t get up. I was drained, emotionally and physically. Believe it or not, driving 5 hours, and screaming for your boyfriend who may or may not be mad at you is exhausting. He walked up the few stairs to me and pulled me out of my chair into a soft, sweaty hug before kissing me, like I was hoping for.

            “Pregame superstitions are dumb,” he said, resting his head on top of mine and wrapping his arms around my waist.

            I rested my head on his chest and breathed in the smell of dirt, sweat and water; not my favorite smell, but right then and there, it was. Everything felt so right. It felt like I was supposed to be there right then and there hugging him with Emma passed out asleep on the chair next to us. Everything was falling into place.

            “I love you,” I said softly, tightening my grip around his lean waist. He backed away for a second, and I thought he was going to run from the look in his eye, but instead, he surprised me and swept me off my feet, literally.

            “I’ve been waiting for you to say that for the longest time,” he said, looking at me with piercing eyes. I couldn’t help but look away and blush.

            “How long?” I asked breathlessly.

            “Since the day we went paint shopping,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Ever since I we went on that incline. Ever since we went to that coffee shop. You’ve always been what I want.”

            “Then why haven’t you said anything?” I asked, slightly ticked at him, even though he was holding me in the most romantic way possible.

            “If I said something first, you would have run. You would have been gone the next day and I wouldn’t have ever heard from you again. I needed to wait for you, and that’s what I did. Because I love you, Avery Jones,” he said kissing me. I reached up and pulled his head down closer to me. One hand around his neck keeping me from falling, and one in his sweaty hair. All I wanted was him at that moment. I wanted everything he had to offer, but he leaned back, forcing me out of the kiss, and leaving me wanting more.

            “And I also needed an interior designer,” he said, lowering me back towards the ground and lightly setting me on my feet. “If you had run, I’d have been left with an ugly house.”

            “Oh shut up,” I said, smacking him across the bicep.

            “Hurt your hand?” he asked me with a playful tone before leaning down to kiss me quickly. “I need to go. I told everyone I’d be back in five minutes. I’m pretty sure it’s been longer than that,” he stated, backing down the stairs towards the locker room. “I love you,” he said, a grin spreading across his boyish face. I was grinning myself. I couldn’t help it. I had a boyfriend I loved, and he loved me back. “On second thought,” he said, like he had just come up with it, “Come with me.”

            When I hesitated and looked back at Emma asleep in her chair, he came back up to me. “It’ll be quick. She’ll never know you’re gone.”

            “Okay, fine,” I said warmly, taking his warm hand in my cold one and walking down towards the locker room. “We’re going into the locker room?” I asked skeptically once we reached the door.

            “Yeah, don’t worry,” he breathed into my ear, making me melt, and putting me at his will. His breath on my ear had around the same effect as me having six drinks in an hour and a half. I was intoxicated.

            “Okay,” I managed before he opened the door for me and lead me through. Reporters were everywhere and once they saw I was holding hands with one Sidney Crosby, they were all around us.

            “Sidney! Sidney! Who is she!?” one reporter screamed at him, holding out a tape recorder.

            “Let me make a general announcement,” he began, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me towards him. I put my hand on his chest like those picture perfect couples do. “This girl, Avery Jones, is my girlfriend,” he said leaning down to kiss me softly. Flashbulbs went off all around me, but I couldn’t have cared less. Sidney was all that mattered to me at that moment; my world. He pulled away and looked at me with those hazel eyes. “I love you,” he breathed, intoxicating me again. That was the third time he’d said it in the last fifteen minutes, and every time, it was like the first time all over again. I was soaring, and miracle of all miracles, I loved him.

Chapter twelve

You know when you wake up, but you don't open your eyes because you have to pee or something like that, and you're willing yourself to just go back to sleep for five more minutes? That was the exact feeling I got when I woke up the next morning at Sidney's house, not because I had to pee, but because I couldn't believe that what happened yesterday, and last night, was tangible.

I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck and his arm was wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him. I turned over to look at his peaceful face. As I moved, he let out a small sigh and I snuggled even closer to him.

"Good morning," he mumbled into my hair which I'm sure was a sweaty mess. I brought my hand up to feel the frizziness that is my hair. I couldn't have looked decent, let alone smelled it. He smiled, probably at my facial expression when I thought about my personal hygiene. "You look fine," he said, reading my mind.

"I don't, but thanks," I said, smiling into his lips as he leaned in to kiss me. "We need to do something constructive today," I said, looking into those mesmerizing hazel eyes of his. "All we did yesterday was get a couch and then come back here..."

"What was wrong with that?" he asked, a little smile playing across his lips. "I liked what we did yesterday."

"I'm sure you did," I said sarcastically. “Now, when’s your practice?”

“Avery stop. I’m not telling you, because then you’ll plan everything around it and go back behind your walls. Just lay here with me for awhile.”

“But Sidney we-“ I managed to get out before he kissed me.

“Shut up Aves. You’re lying naked in a bed with me, so stop talking business for a second.” I closed my mouth, knowing I was going to lose the battle, and just snuggled into his chest.

-

Around noon, I got his lazy ass up and out of bed and to the hardware store with me. Turns out he didn’t even have practice that day; he was just trying to get me to stay in bed with him. We were wandering down the curtain/blinds aisle looking at all the different types of window coverings. My hand was intertwined in his and we were walking with a kind of drunken lilt, possibly love drunk, and he kept pressing kisses into my ear which made me giggle.

There was something happening to me and I could feel it. The more I opened myself up to Sidney, the happier I was and the more I seemed to laugh at anything that happened. Telling him about my dad and my past was surprisingly cleansing. Things I used to find stupid, like hockey, were now fun and exciting. I guess I could personally thank him for that one. He did drag me to practice all the time and a few games every once and a while.

“What about this for the bedroom?” I asked him, pointing at some white canvas Roman shades. “And you wouldn’t need any curtains or anything if you didn’t want them. They go fine by themselves.”

“I like them,” he said, stepping forward to feel them.

“Okay good, because you would have been getting them regardless,” I replied, grabbing three off the shelf for his room. “Now, onto the lighting!” The weirdest thing happened then. I skipped. I actually skipped off down the aisle with Sidney running after me calling my name. I couldn’t remember the last time I skipped. Probably sometime in high school, but who cares, skipping has an amazing feeling.

“Avery!” Sidney called with hid girly giggle mixed in. “Slow down!” I had broken into a run when he called my name and I was laughing uncontrollably. There’s this domino effect that always happens to me; once I get going, I can’t stop, but at the end of the aisle, I did stop. Only to catch my breath and lean against the display of neon signs, one of which was a Penguins logo. Sidney was a few seconds behind me, but when he reached me, an idea came to me.

“Look!” I yelled, pointing at the sign. “You need that for your house.” He gave me a skeptical look. “No really! I’m not kidding. Well, I kind of was, but you should get it.”

“Aves, are you alright?” he asked me, a smile dancing across his lips as he leaned down to wrap his arms around me and pick me up from my position leaning against the wall.

“Yeah,” I managed between giggles. “Carry me?” I asked like a little kid, wrapping my arms around his neck and making like I was going to jump into his arms. His eyes were dancing as he leaned down to sweep my feet out from underneath me and within seconds, my face was inches from his. I studied his features for a minute while I calmed myself down so I could breathe.

“Kiss me,” I whispered, once I had caught my breath. His eyes lit up and I could feel his heartbeat quicken as he closed the few inches between us with his lips and my breath was taken from me once again.

Chapter eleven

"Alright. We really need to come to a decision," I stated, looking at two couches sitting in front of us. I was getting impatient and he seemed oblivious.

"I can't decide..." he said, looking first at the beige leather couch, and then at the worn brown couch. Personally? I'd pick the brown one. It just looked so much more comfortable and homey.

"Get the brown," I snapped at him, shifting my weight from my left leg to my right leg. My feet were starting to hurt.

"Hmm..." was his only reply.

"Get the damn couch Sidney and stop being a jackass!" I whisper-screamed at him. "You know I get impatient, and yet you sit here and pretend to contemplate which couch to get. The girly one, or the manly bachelor pad one." He turned to me and flashed his melt-me-in-a-puddle-on-the-floor smile.

"You know I'm kidding."

"I know," I admitted, calmer now, all because of a smile.

"So stop worrying I'll get the one you hate, because we both know I'm going to get the brown one." I sighed in relief. I really actually, for a second, thought he was going to get the one I'd see in my mother's house. Not to say my mom doesn't have style, because that's where I got mine from, but her style is just... older.

"God, I feel like I'm buying furniture for a house we're buying together. You know? 'Honey, do you like this one?' That crap," I said, feeling a pillow as I walked by on our way to the beds. What I had just said didn't really register until it was already out of my mouth.

"So you want to buy a house with me?" he asked me with a grin on his face, while he looked at the price tag on a coffee table.

"No. That's not what I said," I stammered, still walking towards my destination.

"That's what it sounded like."

"It's not what I meant."

"So you'd never buy a house with me?" he asked, coming up beside me now and wrapping his arm around my waist. I wanted to wriggle free and say, 'Never in your dreams', but this boy? He's almost magical.

"Well, maybe if you could grow a beard."

"Ouch. That one stung," he whispered in my ear. "You'll pay for that one later."

"Should I be scared?" I asked, leaning into him only the slightest.

"Very," he stated, his lips on my ear. This was getting to be too much. I shrugged his arm off me and skipped over to a fluffy bed. When I turned back around, he looked like a little kid who just had candy taken away from him, head hung low, but when he brought his head back up, he was smiling, trying to disguise his disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I wanted him so badly, but there's always this... thing, holding me back whenever I meet a decent guy.

"Sorry..." I said, trailing off, fingering the edge of the down comforter in had between my hands.

"Why do you always do that Avery?" he asked, a hint of annoyance to his voice.

"I don't know," I lied.

"You know," he said, taking a step towards me, filling the gap. "You know perfectly well what's holding you back."

"It's not you," I said slowly, thinking about how I was going to say this.

"You wouldn't be standing here if it was me," he said, wrapping me up in a hug. "You'd have already run away if it was me."

"It's just, my dad was sort of not in the picture when I was growing up. He struggled with all sorts of addictions, was in and out of rehab, and was just not a very happy or nice person in general. I don't know. It's messed me up," I said. I could feel the tears leaking out of my eyes, staining his shirt.

"Avery, that was a long time ago. You're not there. He's not here."

"I know you're going to tell me that I need to get over it and move on with my life, but it's not that easy," I stammer, trying to pull away from him, but he keeps me where I am. I can't believe we're doing this in the middle of a furniture store where people are staring and scrutinizing Sidney's every move. Every time he touches me, I can almost hear a collective gasp coming from the staff.

"It'll always be a part of you," he said, kissing the top of my head. "How you handle it is the test."

"That's why I have Emma," I stated. "Most people think she's bad for me, but she's exactly what I need. She's my exact opposite," I paused to think about my next words. "And now I have you."

"Don't worry Aves, I'm not a drug addict, I promise," he said with a smile, as I leaned away to look at him. "Let me all the way in Avery. Let me be what you need."

"You're closer than you think," I whispered, feeling my walls crash down around me as he leaned in to kiss me.
----
I have a feeling that stupid brown couch will be used for nothing other than making out. Seriously, we got the dumb thing through the door, more like Sidney heaved it through and I watched and made sure nothing broke, and the second we sat down, we were going at it like high schoolers. After our little talk in the furniture store, I felt so much closer to him in every way possible, and apparently making out is a good way to show this.

"Sidney," I moaned, feeling his hand make its way up my back. My shirt was on the ground next to his on the wood floor. He was kneeling on the couch over me, using one hand to prop himself up.

"Mmm?" was his response.

"Should we be doing this here? On your brand new couch?" I managed between his lips. He pulled away for a second before answering.

"Just think of it as breaking it in," he said, reaching for my pants, and for once, I didn't stop him.

Chapter eight

My lips were still tingling the next day when I woke up. That was probably one of the most magical kisses I had ever experienced in my life. I want to relive that night over and over again. I knew I had to tell Emma eventually, but a part of me wanted to keep everything that happened all to myself. I shared practically everything with that girl. Is it a crime to want to be selfish every once in a while? No.
I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen where I started coffee. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the crossword that I remembered I was going to Sidney’s practice today. What time was that again? I couldn’t remember anything, which was very unlike me. I got up and trudged back to my bedroom and picked up my phone. 2 missed calls. One from Emma and one from Sidney. I figured I’d call Sidney now and then Emma later, at his practice, so when she asked me if I wanted to do anything, I could say no. Call me a bad person for avoiding my best friend, but I didn’t want her in my business just yet.

“Hello?” Sidney answered after a few rings.

“Hey,” I said, twirling my hair around a finger, something I hadn’t done in a long time. Every time I talked to him, I could just feel my stiff shell fall away.

“Hey,” he said back. I could almost hear his smile.

“What’d you need?” I asked, flopping myself down on my bed.

“Just to tell you I’m coming to get you at 10 to go to practice,” he said with a slight laugh.

“Okay,” I said softly, smiling to myself. “I’ll see you then.” I flipped my phone shut and realized I was still smiling. The effects this boy had on me.
-
Once again, he was right on time and I was still rushing around putting articles of clothing on, but this time he came all the way in and sat on my couch to wait instead of standing awkwardly in the hall.

“We need to work on your time management skills,” he said with a laugh as we walked out to his car.

“I know it’s terrible,” I replied, getting in his car and shutting the door. “I’m terrible.”

“You’re not terrible, just your internal clock,” he said with a laugh as he pulled away from my building and started towards the arena.

We arrived at the arena around 10:15, only about five minutes after when we left. I never realized how close it was. I guess I just never paid attention.

“I’d start mentally preparing yourself if I were you,” he told me as we walked into the arena, his hand on the small of my back, causing electricity to jump up and down my spine.

“Why’s that?”

“I’m going to introduce you to everyone. Just prepare yourself,” he said with a smile that made me want to melt into a puddle on the ground.

“Okay,” I answered a little timidly. He lead me down hallway after hallway and soon enough I was lost, and we were at the locker room entrance. “Can I go in there?” I asked, slightly scared, for what, I’m not sure.

“Yeah. No one should be changing right now,” he said, but as he opened the door he peeked around the corner, making sure his statement was correct. I had to smile at his attempts to impress me. And for the most part, they worked. He lead me through the door into a room that reeked of sweat and blood. The first thing I saw was the bare torso of one of his teammates. Emma would be in heaven right now, which made me feel slightly guilty that I haven’t called her, but that thought was moved to the back of my head as soon as this guy spoke.

“Yo, Sid, who’s the chick?” mystery man asked with a thick French accent.

“This is Avery,” he said to his teammate. “Avery, this is Kris Letang.”

“Hi Kris,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. I could feel my shell slowly creeping back up.

“How’d you get this girl to be seen in public with you man? Did you pay her?” he asked with a grin as he shook my hand. I couldn’t help but noticing how good looking he was.

“Good one. When was the last time you had a girl?” Sidney shot back.

“Dude, not funny. Let’s see if you get any help today in practice.”

“Whatever,” Sidney said as he lead me down another hallway to the stalls. “This, is my stall,” he said with a grand gesture at a plaque that had his name on it. Beneath it hung all his equipment including his jersey.

“Very nice,” I said, running my hand over the wood.

“I chose this wood too,” he said behind me.

I turned around to face him, a smile dancing on my lips. “Oh really, Mr. Big shot? Just like your house?”

“Just like my house,” he said, taking a step to close the gap between us. I wanted to say something witty about the type of wood it was or something like that, but then I realized that would only make me sound like a dumbass, so I let him kiss me instead. Our lips were dancing across each other until he slowly pulled back. “I’ve been wanting to do that again ever since last night,” he said his right hand on the small of my back, pulling me towards him.

“Me too,” I said, slightly breathless.

“Now, I have practice. Why don’t you sit in the stands and watch? I’ll meet you afterwards and you can meet some of the other guys,” he said with a grin.

“Alright,” I said, stiffness creeping back into my voice.

“Go through those doors and you’ll be in the arena,” he said, and thought about it for a second. “Well, the ice area. Whatever you want to call it. You’ll be in the stands. There.” I nodded, giggling at his search for the right word. I went where he directed me and found a nice seat with a good view of all the ice.

I thought about everything that happened for a moment, and decided that that was one of the most electric kisses I had ever experienced in my life. Damn him. I never feel like this. I never LET a guy make me feel like this. I also decided it was time to call Emma, and let her in on what has been happening with me and Sidney. I knew she wouldn’t be happy.

“YOU WHAT!?” she screamed at me after I told her about my date. “You fucking kissed Sidney Crosby!?” Once again, spaz.

“Yeah Em. On the incline,” I said slowly, trying to get her to calm down. Just like how she never applies common sense, she never curses. This was bad.

“You think that’s okay!? Kissing a hockey player!?” she yelled into the phone.

“Em, it was just a kiss. It’s not like I slept with the guy,” I said, slightly exasperated.

“It’s not okay!” she said, sounding defeated. “You’re going to leave me high and dry for your new and better boyfriend.”

“No I won’t Em,” I stated. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“You kissed him,” she snapped at me. Hypocrite much? How many guys has she kissed, even slept with, and then never bothered to call, or return their calls. More than I can name. The most memorable was Scott Clearwater, a football player for Pitt. A good-looking football player for Pitt. Emma met him at Diesel when she was wasted; surprise surprise. She literally spent the whole night with him. The next day she came to my place a hung-over mess, claiming she now hated him and he was stalking her. Turns out he was stalking her via text message and Facebook. Creeper.

“That means nothing,” I said, suddenly getting angry. “You should know all about that Em. Making out with people and never answering their calls. At least I’m still on speaking terms with Sidney.” There was a pause as she thought about what I said.

“I’m sorry Aves,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have overreacted. I guess I’m just so used to having you around all the time.” I heard a sniffle. Oh dear God, now she’s crying. Way to go Avery. Despite the fact that I know she’s just going for the sympathy card, I can’t help but feel bad.

“Don’t-don’t cry,” I said, feeling my face screw up in an attempt to find the right words. “I didn’t mean it!” I said quickly.

“YOU DID!” she wailed in my ear.

“No, no no,” I practically yelled. “How about Starbucks? I’ll meet you for Starbucks in a few hours!” I said frantically, trying to get her calm. I feel like I’m dealing with a 6 year old more than often. I heard a sniffle.

“Okay. Come get me at 3:00,” she said cheerily. “Bye Aves!”

“Bye, Em,” I said slowly, wondering what exactly just happened. Typical Emma. Sometimes I really think she’s bipolar.

Chapter seven

This one's long-ish to make up for the lack of postage the past few days. I had a basketball camp! :) Enjoy!


True to his words, Sidney showed up at 7 o’clock exactly, at my apartment building. I buzzed him up and he stood in my foyer while I put my dress on and finished my makeup. I’m always late. No surprise there. I walked back out to where he was standing when I had my dress on, and his eyes nearly popped out of their head.

“You look great,” he said, a little breathlessly, before embracing me in a warm hug. I have to admit, I thought I looked good. I had on a form-fitting navy blue, knee length dress, cream peep-toe shoes and a grey plaid blazer to keep warm. With the 3 inch heels, I was just barely his height. He didn’t look too bad himself, the hair even looked decent. “I like this dress… if you can call it a dress,” he said with a half grin as he pulled me out the door. “I’d call it an invitation.”

“Shut up!” I yelled, smacking him across the arm. “I happen to like this dress, thank you very much.”

“I never said I didn’t like it,” he said, pulling me closer to the point where the whole side of my body was pressed against his. I could smell his cologne and almost feel the blood rushing through his body. I’m sure he heard my heartbeat. How could he not? I felt like my heart would come crashing out of my chest at any second. His hand was resting on my hip and I thought it would burn through my dress, and then my flesh. “I think it’s very…nice,” he said eyeing me.

I gave him a look as the elevator doors opened and we got in. “I also like your apartment by the way,” he said, finally stepping away from me. I felt like I could breathe again without him right there. “It feels like you’re at a beach,” he said with a little half-grin that made me smile.

“I’m from California, so when we moved here, I was really depressed. I went out and made it as like California as possible,” I said, fiddling with the clasp on my little clutch I grabbed on the way out the door. For some reason, talking about California unnerved me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because that’s where my life is.

“You succeeded.” I looked up at him and smiled. His eyes were dancing as the elevator doors opened and we walked out to his car which was, in one word, amazing. It definitely trumped my little Kia. He had a big silver Range Rover with every possible add-on; seat warmers, moon roof, mp3 hookup, everything.

“I like your… car,” I said, and then remembered his little one-liner back in my apartment. “If you can call it a car,” I said with a smirk. I felt myself relaxing around him. I was able to be myself. Emma was the only other person I felt comfortable around and only because she herself was crazy, so I could kind of hide in her shadow. Even when people complimented me on my career, the one thing I was comfortable with, I felt myself blushing and folding inward.

“It is a bit much, eh?” he asked me with that adorable accent I just realized I loved.

“A bit,” I replied, gazing at everything in his car.

The rest of the car ride, which wasn’t long, was silent until we pulled up to a lavish looking restaurant not far from my apartment. It was called Pod. Whatever that means.

“What is this place?” I asked getting out of his “car” and walking with him to the front door.

“It’s a tapas restaurant,” he replied, wrapping his arm around my waist for the second time tonight. Any other guy would have been punched in the face, but for some reason, I let him touch me. When I looked at him with a confused stare he elaborated. “You know, where you order a ton of different things and then share them? Tapas,” he finished with an elaborate hand gesture, almost hitting the person standing behind us. They glared until they realized who he was. Then it turned to a stare. More stares and glares. Joy. Even the waitress who seated us was staring. A part of me wanted to slap her across the face, and another part of me told me to just sit down. As soon as we were seated, the questioning began.

“So,” Sidney began, getting settled in his seat. “What brought you to Pittsburgh?” California again. That topic everyone always seemed so interested in.

“My dad got a job out here when I was going into my senior year of high school. I was devastated. My friends were, and still are, out there. I had no one when I moved here, so I pretty much dedicated myself to going to a good school. I had no friends. I just studied.” When I finished my speech, I looked up to see him smiling. “It’s not funny!” I said defensively.

“It’s not. I just think it’s funny you take yourself so seriously,” he said with a shrug.

“What makes you think I take myself too seriously?”

“That tone,” he said with a smirk. “Always talking about paint colors, which, I might add, you’re doing very well with keeping to a minimum tonight.”

I just blushed. He had the strangest effects on me. Maybe Emma was right. Maybe I am smitten. “Well, tell me about your childhood,” I said, leaning forward on the table towards him. He imitated the movement and in seconds his face was 6 inches from mine.

“I grew up in Nova Scotia. Cole Harbor to be exact. I’ve literally been playing hockey my whole life.” He paused to think. “Can you believe I actually get paid to do something I love? Not everyone gets that.” A thoughtful silence fell as I thought about what he said. Yeah, I liked to paint and create things for people, but did I love it? No, I didn’t. It was a living. It’s my way to pay the bills and keep the phone on, and really, I was just realizing it. I had also just realized how modern this place was.

When you walked in, you went down a few steps, which put everything underground for the most part. There were windows high on the walls, near the ceiling where you could see people’s feet passing by. A little conveyor belt brought sushi around a bar, and everything was in the shape of a cube. Rad. Sidney brought me out of my trance.

“Come to practice with me tomorrow,” he said abruptly, putting his menu down and looking at me with those piercing hazel eyes.

“Can I do that?” I asked, surprised.

“If you’re with me, we can do anything,” he said with a grin. Cute, a double meaning.

“Alright,” I said, feeling a smile creep across my lips as I brought my eyes back down to the menu that was previously holding my attention.

The waitress came and took our orders: chicken and seafood spring rolls for me, and teriyaki salmon for him. 20 minutes of sharing our pasts later, and our food was there. It smelled delicious. We split both of them, him eating my spring rolls and I eating his salmon. Soon enough, we were done, he was paying the bill, and we were getting up to leave. We walked outside, and just as I was heading to his car, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction, towards him. I wobbled a bit on my heels, but managed to stay upright.

“Are we going to your car?” I asked, a bit bewildered by my sudden change in direction.

“Let’s walk,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders and steering me down the street.

“Where are we going?” I asked a bit breathlessly. He walked much faster than me, and in heels, I was going even slower.

“You’ll see,” he said, as we crossed a street and came to the bottom of one of the many mountains. He guided me into a run down old building where he purchased two tickets to something. A little car came down the mountain and to a stop a few feet in from of us.

“You want me to get in that?” I asked, a little scared. I’ve never been one with heights. We just don’t mix. It usually makes for me throwing up and then no one wins.

“Yeah, it’s safe,” he said, stepping inside, holding out his hand to me. The little man running the car looked annoyed, so I stepped through the doorway and sat down next to Sidney on the little bench. A little ways up the mountain, Sidney spoke. “Now stand up and look out there,” he said, motioning behind us. I shook my head no. This car did not feel stable. “Stand up,” he said, standing himself and taking my arm in his. I gave in to his touch and stood, keeping a low center of gravity in case the unthinkable happened. I turned around in an awkward little circle and looked where he was pointing.

Seeing what he wanted me to see made me forget about my squat, or the fact that I was terrified. I drew in a sharp breath, stood up fully and held onto the railing in front of me, getting as close to the glass as possible. I never thought Pittsburgh was beautiful until that moment. The whole city lit up, everything glowing, it was amazing.

“This is beautiful,” I said breathlessly.

“That’s not the only thing,” he said in my ear. I could feel his lips brush against my ear, provoking me to turn into him. I gave in. His lips were on mine as the skyline passed by outside our old little car.

Chapter six

My alarm the next day seemed like an atomic bomb going off on my head. With every beep of my alarm, my head throbbed with pain equivalent to that of ripping a ligament or breaking a bone. It didn’t help that my phone was beeping and vibrating incessantly on my side table. Just as I went to grab it, it fell off the table and onto the ground. I groaned inwardly and rolled out of bed and onto the floor where I laid, as I answered my phone with a slight moan.

“Hello?” I grumbled into the receiver. I hadn’t bothered, more like remembered, to look at the caller I.D.

“Hey,” I heard Sidney say. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, no,” I said, sitting up too quickly which caused my head to spin. “What’d you need?” I asked.

“Well, I painted all the colors where you said, and I’ve got to say, I really like all of them. I just can’t decide on what to paint the family room…” he trailed off. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. I couldn’t even see straight, so how was I going to deal with a client? “Maybe pink?” he tried, making me laugh.

“You want pink in your family room?” I asked playfully. “I think I could arrange that.” I finally picked myself up off the floor and made it to the door, but I had to stop and lean against it for support.

“Are you okay?” he suddenly asked. I guess my lack of suggestions and design ideas was a dead giveaway. I usually only talked about that.

“Yeah,” I said quickly, making my way out to my kitchen table. “Well, no. Emma convinced me that I needed to go to Diesel last night. I had too much to drink. I’m pulling out the aspirin right now.”

“Do you want to go get a coffee?” he asked as I was about to start the pot. Was he asking me out? Whatever, I’m sure Starbucks would be better than anything I make.

“Sure. I’ll meet you at Starbucks in thirty minutes,” I stated, dumping the water out of the pot. I was about to say I’d bring some more color choices, but he cut me off.

“We’re not going to Starbucks. Come by my house and we’ll go from there,” he said, somewhat mysteriously.

“Oh, is this a secret coffee shop?” I joked.

“Sort of,” he said with a laugh. “See you in a bit.” And with that, he hung up. I stood there and looked at my phone for a good five minutes before I actually realized what had happened. I ran back into my room, throwing a pillow at Emma, who was asleep on the couch, on the way.

“GET UP!” I shrieked at her like the world was about to end. “We’re going out!”

“Whaaa?” she managed from her spot, facedown on the couch.

“Get your ass up. We’re going out for coffee with your favorite hockey player,” I yelled back out at her from my room. I heard a thud and knew that she had fallen off the couch. Sure enough, when I peeked around the door frame, there she was, lying on the floor cursing. I pulled out a sweater and pulled a pair of jeans on. In the time it took to get myself looking decent, Emma had picked herself up off the floor. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her down to my car, telling her she needed to fix her hair and makeup along the way.
-
We made it to Sidney’s house a little over thirty minutes later. Emma still looked like a mess when we pulled up to his house. Once she realized we were there, she couldn’t stop looking. I seriously thought a waterfall of drool would start pouring out of her mouth any second.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said, getting out of the car and making my way up the front path, making sure to avoid the boulder. Emma didn’t. She walked right into it and proceeded to fall on the ground and scream. I was horrified. I just stood there like a statue, and I’m pretty sure that if his neighbors looked out their windows right at that second, they would have thought I shot her. That’s how big of a scene she was making. I turned on my heel and walked up his front steps and rang the bell.

“Hey,” he said when he opened the door. His face went from a smile to a frown in mere seconds when he noticed Emma on his lawn. “Who is that?” he asked me. I wanted to crawl under a rock from embarrassment. I should have just dropped her off back at her house. I shouldn’t have brought her.

“That, is my friend Emma. She was out drinking with me last night and I figured she could use the coffee,” I said before looking up at him. “Or, we could drop her off at home,” I added upon seeing his facial expression. “I’d just figured…” I trailed off. “She really likes you, as like, a hockey player?” I offered.

“We’ll drop her off,” he said. “I was hoping to go out with just you. I have to talk to you about some… colors,” he finished. I just shrugged and went to pick up Emma.

“Hey Em, I’m going to drop you off at your house on the way to the coffee shop,” I said as gently as possible. She just sort of looked at me with a confused look on her face.

“But Sidney Crosby?” she asked like a little kid who was told they couldn’t have desert. At that moment, Sidney came walking down the steps towards us. Emma was standing now and was gaping at him.

“Hi,” he said as nicely as possible. I know how hard it is to be nice to Emma sometimes, but so far he was doing a good job. “Avery’s told me you’re a fan?” Emma just nodded, speechless. She couldn’t even ask for her autograph and picture like she wanted. “Well, it’s nice to meet you then. So what do you say we get you home?” he asked, still being polite. She just nodded again. I’m pretty sure she didn’t know what she was agreeing to, but to her, anything Sidney said was like God speaking to her.
-
We finally made it to the coffees shop, which, I have to say, was extremely secret, after dropping Emma off. It was on this little back alley and when we walked in, no one made a big deal about seeing Sidney Crosby in their presence. We just walked straight up to the counter and placed our orders. No staring, no glaring.

“So how’d you find this place?” I asked him, curious, as we sat down with our coffees.

“I’m not really sure. But my first year here I would just drive around. I had nowhere to be and I didn’t really know anyone, so I’d just drive and explore,” he said, looking me directly in the eyes. I had to look away; I could feel myself blushing, so I began to talk about the only think I really know about.

“So for your family room,” I started as I rummaged through my bag for the paint colors I had picked out.

“Avery, can you stop talking about work for five minutes? I’ve literally known you for a week and that’s all you talk about,” Sidney said, slightly annoyed. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just wanted to go out for a coffee because I just like you?” No. That had really never crossed my mind. I just sat there staring at him. I had never had someone go out of their way to be nice to me. I had Emma, and that’s all I needed. I shook my head as these thoughts went through my mind. “Well I do like you, even if all you do is work. You need to have some fun, and I know I’m not the most fun person around, but when I’m more happy-go-lucky than someone, you know there’s a problem,” he said, now with a laugh. I cracked a smile at this. “So when I ask you to go to dinner with me, like I’m about to, please don’t talk about paint colors or what wallpaper I need, or how beautiful my granite countertops are. Okay?” I was actually smiling now, almost laughing at him. He grabbed my hand, all dramatic, and said, “Avery, would you like to go to dinner with me?” I was giggling by now.

“Of course,” I said with a slight laugh. He stood up and I never would have been able to predict what he was going to do next.

“SHE SAID YES!” he yelled to the whole shop, and naturally, they all thought he was talking about getting married. Everyone was clapping and cheering and I knew I was turning a bright fuchsia. “I’ll come get you at 7 tonight,” he said to me now, finally letting go of my hand. I could feel all the places his hand had been. “No paint colors.”

Chapter five

Sidney and I ended up buying absolutely no furniture for his house. Instead, every chance he got, he jumped on a couch or a bed and made me do the same. By the end of the day, I must have jumped on more beds than I ever had when I was little. Every person in the store was glaring at us instead of staring when we left, and I had to admit, it was oddly exhilarating to jump on all those beds with a guy I hardly know.

“So, we discussed where to paint everything. Do you remember?” I asked him as we walked to our cars in the quiet dusk.

“Yellow in the family room, gray almost everywhere else and blue in the dining room,” he repeated back to me.

“Very good!” I joked, for what seemed like the first time in a long time. I was actually having fun. Emma would be proud. “You’ve passed your first test. So just call me when you’ve got all the colors up, and I’ll come and look at them. Oh, and keep looking for furniture,” I said, backing towards my car as he still stood in the middle of parking lot, watching me go. He nodded once and waved before turning around and heading towards his Range Rover. I got in my little Kia, and turned it on, then headed in the direction of Emma’s parent’s house. She’ll want to know about this whole adventure.
-
“It was actually really fun,” I concluded to Emma over Ben & Jerry’s and hot chocolate back I my apartment. She just sat there, mouth gaping, staring at me. She moved her hands in front of her face a little and rearranged herself a bit. I’m going to get it now.

“Let me get this straight,” she started, closing her eyes to think about her attack. “You went paint shopping with Sidney Crosby.” I nodded once in agreement. “You went furniture shopping with Sidney Crosby.” Nod. “You even jumped on beds with Sidney Crosby,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed, not an Emma trait. “And, and…” she trailed off and looked around to find the right words. “And you’re not totally smitten!?” she finally shrieked at me.

“Well, I don’t know,” I stated with a shrug of my shoulders. “He is really good looking, but it’s not like I’m trying to sleep with the guy,” I said, taking another spoonful of the ice cream that was resting in my lap.

“Maybe you should,” she said with a slight smile. “Aves,” she started, putting on her cutesy Emma voice.

“Yes?” I asked, looking up at her.

“When’s the last time you’ve had sex?” she asked, putting a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

“Uh,” I replied, stuck for words. I couldn’t remember the last time I had sex. It was probably in college. Who knows. It’s not like I missed it until she mentioned it. It was never a big deal to me. “I can’t remember…” I said, bracing myself for her reaction. Her eyes grew wide and the dropped her spoon into the bucket of ice cream.

“Avery Jones! How could you let this happen!?” she yelled, jumping off the couch to pace around the apartment. I just sat there. I have to admit, I was slightly scared. “You work too much,” she said simply, and stopped her pacing.

“Well, no I don’t,” I said defensively. She just stared at me like that was the stupidest thing I had ever said.

“When’s the last time you’ve come out with me?” she asked accusingly, staring me down with eyes similar to the devil’s. I had to look away from her piercing glare. “Ha! Exactly,” she said, plopping back down on the couch, having won this battle.

“Maybe I do work too much…” I said, trailing off, swirling my ice cream around in its container.

“Let’s go out,” Emma suddenly said, hoping up off the couch and making her way to my bedroom, and then my closet. Have I mentioned she’s spontaneous? I knew if I argued it would only hurt my case, so I grudgingly pulled myself up off the couch and followed her into my closet where she began to throw clothes at my face.
-
We ended up at Diesel about an hour later, with Emma forcing me to drink. “You need to… relax,” she spluttered, already tipsy.

“Emma, I’m fine,” I said, setting down my drink and taking in her, I mean my, ruined shirt. She already spilled a martini down the front of her, but don’t worry, a cute guy was there to help her out while I watched from the sidelines. On second thought, maybe I would need a beer to get me through the night. None of this martini crap. “One Iron City please,” I asked a passing bartender with exasperation. If I’m going to be out with my drunk friend, I might as well dull the memory. He handed me an uncapped Iron City and I downed half of it in seconds. Better.

“Look Aves! A guy! He’s holding my hand!” Emma screeched at me from across the floor. I just nodded my head. She doesn’t care what I think anyway. She’s too preoccupied with her guy who’s holding her hand, and by the looks of it, trying to get in her pants. I always feel like a babysitter when she makes me go out. Maybe I should have more fun… I drank the rest of my beer and ordered another before heading out on the dance floor. Within seconds, a decent looking guy was behind me, dancing. On most nights, I’d shove him off, but something told me not to. “Yeah Aves!” Emma screamed drunkenly as her guy tried to kiss her while mine ran his hands down my thighs.

By this point, I didn’t really care about much. The alcohol had dulled my senses and I was just going through the motions. I let this guy, whatever his name was, take me over to a couch in the corner and kiss me. He kissed me for awhile, with little participation on my end. I even let him feel me up, but as soon as his hands went to my pants, I sat up, grabbed my purse and went to go find Emma. I heard him call out after me, but I kept walking. She was in the same situation as I just was, but she was much more drunk. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the guy’s grasp. He glared at me as I dragged Em out of the club and to my car, but by that time I realized neither of us could drive. What a night this turned out to be. I sat down on the curb, dejected and waited for a taxi to pass.

“Avery, why’d you do that? I liked him,” Emma slurred as she sat down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder.

“You didn’t like him Em. The alcohol liked him,” I replied, only a little clearer than her confused words. “What was his name?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted slowly. “I’m sorry I made you come out. I can tell you’re mad now. I would be too.” She just had to use her sweet voice on me.

“It’s alright Em,” I said as a taxi approached. I got up and hailed it. “But from now on, I get to pick what we do.”

Chapter four

Monday was just like any other day. Make my morning coffee run, pick up Emma, go shopping at the strip for awhile, check out the guys, and most importantly, deal with clients. But this particular day, I only had one client who was waiting for me in the paint aisle at Lowe’s, looking particularly delicious, even more so than my coffee. Sidney was staring at the Valspar paints, my favorites, with a confused look on his face.

“Hey,” I said as I approached. Sidney turned to look at me, a bright yellow paint chip in his hand. He held it up for me to see.

“Lemon Curd?” he asked me. I had to think about it for a minute, but it eventually dawned on me that he was referring to the paint color. “They name paint Lemon Curd? I don’t even know what that is,” he said with exasperation.

“Okay, I need you to calm down,” I said with a playful tone to my voice. “Just don’t look at the names. Tell me which ones you like,” I finished, taking the paint out of his hand and inspecting it myself. I actually liked the color, so I shoved it in my pocket in case I ever wanted to use it.

“I like the idea you said. Yellows and grays, and maybe some blues. I’m open to blue,” he said, sounding proud of himself.

“Okay. Well, we can do a light blue, that’ll go well with the yellow. Or maybe even a bright blue,” I said, holding the paint chips up next to each other.

“I think I want my room to be gray,” he said, picking up a swatch of light gray with a hint of blue. “Whispering Winds, how nice,” he said dryly.

“See this?” I asked, pulling the paint chip out of his hands. “See how it goes so well with the blue? That’s because there’s blue in the gray.”

“I never realized there were so many shades of gray…” he said almost wistfully.

“There are,” I said, slightly annoyed. “Now, let’s get down to business, actually picking the colors.”

We ended up with some yellows, grays, blues, and even a green or two, all in those miniature sample cans. We even bought Lemon Curd, just for the thrill. I had never had this much fun picking out paint colors before in my life, even when I was little and my mom and I would go to Lowe’s and just look at the Oops Paints, buying any we thought were pretty, then going home and finding a wall that needed a new coat of paint. I miss that, now that I think of it.

“Avery?” Sidney asked me, almost halfway out the door, while I stood, thinking, one hand in my purse searching for something that had now slipped my mind.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I said, hoisting my purse over my shoulder and running to catch up with him.

“What’s next on the agenda?” he asked once we were halfway across the parking lot and I had pulled my new Kia Soul’s keys out of their hiding spot. I glanced down at my watch and decided I had time to do something else.

“Do you want to go look at furniture?” I asked, pointing over at Bassett and Thomasville, side by side, staring back at us, inviting us to look inside.

“Sure,” he said with one of those heart-melting smiles. “Let me just put this in my car,” he said, referring to our many paint colors.

“Okay,” I said, mostly to myself. I stood there, watching him walk to his car, thinking about what I was doing. This? This feeling doesn’t happen to me. Guys don’t do this to me. A cute guy smiles at me and I glare at them. Why am I letting this happen? Something, maybe a voice in my head, was telling me that this, this thing, is good for me, so no matter how much I try, I can’t push this guy away.

We walked into the store, and we might as well been holding hands. So many people suddenly forgot their manners, if they ever had any, and were staring at us. “Does this always happen to you?” I hissed as an old lady looked at us with one of the creepiest expressions I had ever seen in my life.

“It happens a lot,” Sidney said with a snigger.

“Whatever,” I said, brushing it off. “So what sort of stuff do you like?” I asked, running my hand over a white leather couch I was currently eyeing until I picked up the price tag. $7,000 is a major turn-off.

“I’m not sure what I like. How about we just look around?” he suggested, making his way around the displays to a bed I really like. Every time I come in here, I always see it and I always want it. Oh dear, what is he doing? Sidney threw himself face first onto the bed, like a little kid who had too much cotton candy for dessert.

“Come on Avery, jump on the bed,” he said, from the depths of the mattress.

“I don’t think we should be jumping on a bed in a furniture store,” I said, looking around to make sure no one saw what he just did.

“Live a little,” he said, standing up on the bed with his shoes on and proceeding to bounce up and down. I really thought I’d have a heart attack. He could see I was mortified and did it all the more. “I won’t stop until you get up here with me.”

“Fine fine. I’ll jump on the bed. Sit down,” I said before I hurled myself onto the bed next to him. “See? I did it. Now get down.”

“Oh no. The stakes have just gone up. Now you have to actually jump up and down with me,” he said in between hops. I could feel my throat constricting as I got up, with my shoes also on, and jumped a little.

“Okay, I’m done,” I said flopping down on the bed and just lying there, trying to catch my breath. I felt the bed stop shaking and the next thing I knew, he was right next to me.

“That wasn’t too bad, now was it?” he asked me, and truth was, I actually thought it was really fun, but I was too proud to admit someone had proved me wrong.

“It was alright,” I said, trying to suppress a smile. The smile gave me away.

“You loved it,” he said, sounding pleased with himself as he rolled over on his back next to me. I had the dirtiest thoughts to go with that and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why make me do that though?” I asked, the giggles wearing off. He sat up and got off the now ruined bed with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You seem like you need to have some fun,” he said simply, looking down at me. “Now, back to furniture. I really like this bed. Very bouncy.”

Chapter three

I'm so happy everyone likes it! :)

Emma had been calling non-stop after I told her that I talked to Sidney Crosby. She’s a huge hockey fan and apparently he’s like, the best of the best. I had no idea. I don’t watch hockey. I don’t care. But more specifically, I don’t have time.

“Aves, you have to tell me what he’s like!” Em screeched at me before I left to go to his place this morning. She was over at my apartment and we were giggling like high-schoolers about another guy she managed to pick up.

“Em, calm down. I’m sure he’s just like any other person. I’m sure he puts his pants on one leg at a time,” I stated as I picked up my portfolio in one hand and my coffee in the other.

“I’m pretty sure he jumps into his pants. None of that one legged business,” she joked. “I think you should ask for an autograph and a picture,” she continued dreamily with a smile.

“No Em, that’s you. You should ask for an autograph and a picture. Me? I should ask what his style is and what color he wants to paint his dining room,” I snapped at her before walking out of my apartment and getting in my car.

Now I’m standing outside his house and I’m not too sure about the whole normal thing. His house is gargantuan. A ridiculous size for a single 21 year old guy, as Emma has told me. It’s brick and stone and has this… thing at the top of it. Almost like a lighthouse. What would you call that, a turret? Whatever it is, I like the house. I actually love the house. It doesn’t just have a flat front either. There are so many different dimensions to it, I can’t stop looking. As I’m still looking at it, walking up the front path, he opens the door. Oh God. Emma was right. He’s extremely good looking, except for the hair. I’m not too sure what’s going on with the hair. It looks like there’s roughly 5 pounds of hair gel caked on top of his head. Other than that, I can’t stop looking at him. I almost trip over a big decorative boulder in the middle of the walkway. How could I miss that? I finally make it to the steps and walk up to greet him. I have to tell myself over and over that he’s a client and to stop drooling.

“Hi, Mr. Crosby, I’m Avery,” I say, holding out my hand.

“Sidney,” he corrects me. “Nice to meet you Avery,” he says with a smile. “I hear you’re one of the best interior designers around.”

“Well, I try,” I say, blushing. “So, what do you need done?” I ask as I walk over the threshold, but before he answers, I hold up my hand. He has no furniture, no paint, and no style. This is an interior designer’s dream, to create something from scratch.

“I picked the floor out myself,” I hear him say behind me. I turn around to look at him in shock and disbelief.

“The floor is a start… But how long have you been living here?” I ask quizzically.

“I bought the house at the beginning of the season, so almost 6 months,” he says with a smile. I just stare at him. How could someone live in such a blank canvas of a house?

“This is going to need a lot of work…” I say, trailing off, wandering through an archway into the dining room that has a beautiful inlaid ceiling. “This,” I say, pointing at the high ceiling, “is beautiful. I can’t believe you haven’t done anything with any of this. You have a beautiful house.” He shrugged.

“I haven’t had time.”

“Well now that you have me, we’re making time,” I say, turning around to look at him. “We need to start with the basics. Paint colors. What are you thinking?” I ask, gazing around at the white walls.

“I’m not really sure what I like,” he says almost apologetically. “I grew up in a pretty dark house. Everything was a dark color, so I think I want to get away from that,” he says, staring at me with those mesmerizing hazel eyes. I had to rip my gaze away.

“Well, we can go for sort of a soft, almost beachy feel,” I state, waiting for his response.

“I think I need something, a little more, you know,” he says, gesturing around. I got it. Manly.

“You want something a little more manly?” I ask with a slight smile on my lips.

“Yes,” he says, dropping his eyes to the floor.

“I got it,” I say, understandingly. “What about gray? Like a warm homey gray. And what do you think about yellow? To liven this place up a bit,” I say with a laugh. “What does a 21 year old guy even do with a house this big?” I ask suddenly, taking a queue from Emma. He seems taken aback and takes a few minutes to answer.

“I don’t know. It’s my first really big purchase. I figured I’d go all out on it,” he says, blushing a bit, but he countered quickly. “Do you want to see the rest of the house?”

“I’m going to have to see it eventually if you want any help from me,” I say with a light tone.

“Right this way Avery,” he says, leading me through another open archway and into the kitchen, which is massive. The cabinets are a beautiful chestnut color and the counters a rich black. I run my hand over the counters, gazing at the many designs hidden within.

“It’s called Super Galaxy,” he says from somewhere behind me, I’m assuming, of the counters. “I picked that too.”

“It’s gorgeous,” I say enviously. “Good job.” A thought popped into my head. “This room is really dark,” I state, abruptly looking around and noticing he has no lights of any sort anywhere. I narrow my eyes a bit at him and he, once again, blushes.

“I haven’t had time?” he says it like a question.

“That excuse is no longer acceptable,” I say with a playful edge to my voice. This guy is so easy to be around, and more importantly, he seems like he’s going to be a good client. “When can you come out with me and look at paint colors?” I ask as I wander through to the blank living room.

“I don’t have a game on Monday. I can go after practice,” he says, coming up behind me. When I turn around, he’s inches from me, and I can smell his cologne. Oh God, what is he trying to do to me? Whatever it is, it’s working.

“Uhm,” I splutter, trying to create the words I need. “I can do Monday,” I say breathlessly.

“Well then, it’s a date,” he says, stepping away from me. I want to step with him, stay close. What is happening? I never get like this. This is Emma, this isn’t me. Now he’s smiling? I feel like melting into a puddle on the ground.

“A date,” I say playfully. “Well, I have to get going. So Monday, just meet me in the paint section at Lowe’s. Their paint is better,” I say, my business side coming back out.

“Okay,” he says, walking me to the door. His eyes seem to be sparkling, for what, I’m not sure. “I’ll see you then.”