Training Miller

I woke up at four, wondering where I was. I sat up to leave but Pat grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him before mumbling, "Please don't leave, Drewbear."
I had every intention of leaving before he woke up but I can't stand the thought of him waking up to an empty bed. I've hurt enough people today. I can make this sacrifice. Who doesn't love a walk of shame through downtown Pittsburgh anyway?
I fell back asleep next to his warm, shirtless body and woke up to an empty bed. I guess they had to get back to Chicago a little earlier than I thought. I grabbed my phone to check the time and it only said 9:24. I sat up and noticed the piece of paper that was underneath it.
Drew,
I'm sorry for everything that happened last night. I didn't expect to have to leave this early but happy birthday babe. I'll try to call you later. Have a great day.
-Patrick
Underneath the note he had left were two tickets to The Maine and Bruno Mars when they came to town. He had left a sweatshirt for me to wear back home on the chair my clothes ended up on. I didn't really know what to think of what happened last night. I was pissed at everyone. I don't know why either. I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess and my neck was covered in bruises. Guess I'll be wearing a scarf to dinner.
I decided to just walk home. It wasn't horribly cold out, but I grabbed some coffee from Starbucks anyway. I'm glad the little makeup I wore last night didn't run and was easily removed this morning. This walk of shame was bad enough already.
I got to my apartment and my feet were really happy to get out of those heels. I turned up the music, not caring if I upset my neighbors. It was my birthday and my day off. I was going to be as lazy and loud as I wanted to, starting with a shower.
After throwing on a pair of sweats and a sports bra, I decided to make myself something to eat. I grabbed the bowl shaped like an oversized coffee mug and filled it with cereal. I was dancing around to some Katy Perry when there was a knock at the door, "It's open. Come in!"
Jayson walked in with a big, wrapped box. I looked behind him to see if anyone else was with him.
"Don't worry. He's not with me. He's in his room pouting." I couldn't help but smile. It made me feel a little better about my birthday, knowing that he was miserable. "Here's your present though.
"Oh wow." I started ripping the paper off this massive box I got. It was filled with packing peanuts. Something tells me he was an ass when he decided to wrap it. I tipped it over, spilling half of the white stuff onto the floor. There were a few wrapped presents and something taped to the bottom. I unwrapped the smaller presents and somehow managed to get the gift card untapped. "Thanks Jay. This is great. You do know you're going to have to do Zumba with me now."
"Rob was going to come but he thought he should stay with Beau. Make sure he doesn't do any more stupid stuff.. It looks like you had fun last night." He smirked, looking at my neck,
"I wouldn't exactly say my night was 'fun' but I'm sore.. So I guess that was kind of fun." My best friend looked horrified at first but then accepted it. "What time did he get home last night?"
"He didn't come home." That hurt more than it should have. I wasn't sure how to take it. I did stay at Patrick's hotel last night. "He stayed at Neal's house. I called him to make sure Beau wouldn't go home with some random girl. I guess he blacked out when Nealer picked him up."
"Beau didn't start out drinking." I think that was the part that hurt the most. He was sober when he got to the bar. He was sober when he decided to dance with that girl. He was sober when he started kissing her.
"He regrets what he did."
"You don't have to make excuses for him. We aren't dating. There's nothing wrong with what he did." I could feel my eyes well with tears. This is why I don't get attached to guys. They usually end up hurting you.
"Don't cry over Beau. He's not worth it. Cry over someone like Sid. He's worth crying over. Me? I'm worth crying over." That's why I decided Jayson would be my best friend. He was funny and he was really upset when he thought he made me cry. "Just kidding. Sid is the only person you should cry over. Maybe you should have picked him. I think I would cry over Geno too. Maybe Nealer. He'd come crawling back though. Needs someone to cook for him."
"Yeah because he was the one who let me sleep on his lap." Honestly, I would choose Beau over Sid or any other Penguin. He was a good kid and a great player. He just did some stupid things last night.
"Well I better go. Let me know if you feel like going out tonight."
I thought about his offer for a little while. "You know what? Yeah. I'd love to go out. You just have to deal with my white girl wasted ass all night. I'm going to dinner at Dan's house so I'll call you after that. Thank you for the presents though. Feel free to knock some sense into Beau for me." He gave me a hug and I didn't want to let go.
"I'll see you later."
"Bye." I shut the door behind him and took a deep breath. I was going to have fun on my birthday. I put on a baggy sweater and a scarf to cover up my neck. I looked like a mess but oh well. I didn't need to look good until later tonight. I grabbed the gift card Jayson gave me and walked to Barnes and Noble. Living this close to a bookstore was dangerous. It's good I didn't have enough time to go there.
While I was on my way there, I got calls from pretty much my whole family. It was nice talking to everyone, but a bit overwhelming at the same time. Everyone was treating me like I was a little girl. I'm turning 23 and I've lived on my own in a big city for over a year now. I think I'm doing okay.
I found a book and a comfy chair and just read for a while. I got a call from a few of the players which was nice. Until Sutter called me.
"Where are you?"
"Barnes and Noble. Why?"
"I have a present for you."
"Sutter baby, I'll be back in like 10 minutes. I just have to get a couple books."
"Drew, I've been to your apartment. You don't need any more books but I'll be waiting outside your apartment." I grabbed a couple of novels I thought about getting and went to the register. It didn't take me as long to get home. I figured Brandon would appreciate me not leaving him in my hall for a long time.
"Finally. I started feeling like a creep sitting out here by myself." He said, getting up. I just laughed.
"That's because you are a creep, Sutts." I unlocked the door and let him in. I grabbed two waters from the fridge and sat down at the island with him.
"I heard about your night." He pushed the wrapped boxes toward me. "Hockey players are clueless when it comes to girls. That's why most of them aren't married until they're 26. They get the partying and what not out of their systems and then they settle down. It's just how it goes."
"Right well I'm not waiting that long." I pulled the presents closer to me, playing with the wrapping paper. "I'm not exactly looking to marry the kid, but I do want to have a relationship." After waiting a few seconds, I decided to unwrap the boxes in front of me. The first one held a pair of grey cheetah print Nike's and the second had stress relieving candles in it. "Thanks Brand. I'm sure those will be helpful over the next few weeks."
He stayed for a while to talk about what had happened last night. I guess being the little sister had its perks.
"So I know you have plans with Bylsma but you're coming skating with some if the guys tonight."
"Awesome. I just can't skate," I made Brandon laugh. I think the whole team knew about the times I almost took Jayson down with me the first time we met.
"That's what we're here for."
"Well, I should probably get going to Dan's house. I'll call you when we're done."
I traded my sweats for a pair of leggings and was out the door. I had no idea what my aunt was making for me, but I was excited. Her food always made me feel better. I still wasn't sure how to feel about last night. I was upset with Beau, but I knew that what I had done after wasn't exactly alright. I should have gone home. What was I supposed to tell him? Yeah, you starting kissing some stranger so I went and slept with my best friend who has feelings for me. That'll go over great.
"So do you get to spend your birthday with all the Penguins?" My sister's annoying voice came through the speaker. There was a reason we weren't very close and it wasn't exactly the age difference either.
"Oh thanks. I'm glad you can make time out of your busy day to call me."
"Mom told me to."
"Yeah well, I talked to our brother for over an hour yesterday since he knew he wouldn't have time today. He's a college athlete with amazing grades. You don't exactly have an excuse to not call me. And you could start with Happy Birthday and then ask about my personal life, you know."
"Well sorry we all can't live these glamorous lives like you."
"Glamorous? Really? Have you been around hockey players? They're a bunch of pigs." I waved at my family members as I sat down at the island, "I get like 6 hours of sleep a night and work horrible hours. I love my job but it's far from glamorous."
"Sister?" Dan asked, I nodded. "Tell her I say hi."
"You get to work with hot players every day," She was not believing me. She was going to think that if she had a job like this, she'd get to hook up with all the players and it would be wonderful because of the hot guys. I wish I could tell her about the awkward times I've had to deal with. "Don't even try to say you weren't doing anything with Patrick Kane."
"Danny says hi and Pat is my best friend. Nothing more."
"You still get to work with amazing players like Crosby. It's not really fair."
"I get to work with Dan so that's pretty cool too.. I gotta go. It was wonderful talking to you. We should do this again sometime." She said goodbye and I finally got to hang up the phone. "Please tell me you aren't having a family gathering at one of the games again. I can't handle that."
"Dinner's ready."
We all sat around the table, talking about my plans for the night. Brandon saw one of the bruises on my neck but didn't say anything. Just gave one of those, 'I know exactly what you did last night' looks. His suspicions were confirmed when my face twisted while I tried to stand up.
"Did you workout yesterday?"
"Yeah, I biked 8 miles. It was rough." I lied to my cousin. He was trying to get me in trouble on my birthday and I wasn't going to let it happen.
"Well, we got you a present." My aunt set down a box in front of me before taking my dishes. I started tearing the paper, opening the box it was in. She had folded it so that the back of the jersey was showing. It had Miller and my soccer number on the back.
All the best players wore number ten. Pele, Messi, Maradona, Zidane. I was never the best on the field, but I felt like I deserved to have the number on my jersey.
"Wow, thank you. This is great. Thank you so much."
"Do you have any plans tonight?"
"Why do you want to go drinking again?"
"I don't think I would be able to keep up."
"Yeah I've built up a tolerance and it's pretty great. Brandon told me a few of the guys wanted to see my great skating skills and then Jayson wants to go out clubbing tonight."
"Just don't have a repeat of last time. I'm actually surprised you and Beau don't have plans."
"We're fighting," I muttered, not wanting to think about what happened last night. "But I should probably head home. Thank you so much for dinner and the jersey."

Notes