Drunk On Someone Else's Birthday

I had moved to Boston the day after Valentine’s Day 2014. I had been given a great opportunity to work in the PR and marketing division for a new cancer foundation. Life was beginning to go well and I thought the icing on the cake was moving into a beautiful apartment in the North End. It got even better when I found out my neighbors cross the hall were Dougie Hamilton and Adam McQuaid of the Boston Bruins. It was the Olympic break so I ran into them a lot. Dougie was the first one to strike up a conversation. We ended up having a good amount in common and took joy out of making fun of fellow tenants’ actions in the elevator.It took a bit longer for Adam to warm up to me, but soon enough we were friends too. He and I had even more in common than I did with Dougie.

I guess you could say I am the age bridge between them; Dougie being three years younger than me and Adam being three years older. There is, however, a significant difference in the relationship I have with these hockey players.Dougie is the younger brother I had always wanted. He quickly became one of my best friends. We have been able to come to each other with a lot of our problems. I have girlfriends, of course, but it’s nice having a guy’s perspective on issues. With Adam, though, it definitely hasn’t a completely platonic relationship, at least not on my end. He was my hockey crush before moving to Boston so when I first met him it was a bit nerve wracking.I managed to push through it without fangirling too much, and now he is a very good friend. A very good friend I may or may not have dreams about frequently, but I hadn’t planned on making those realities so I thought I was good. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wouldn’t turn away if Adam made the first move, but that guy is harder to read than a brick wall. I’ve been content on being friends despite the mewling I get from my girls, Steph and Jen.

Whatever was going on had been working out, though. I flourished at my new job. It’s a great feeling to know you’re helping get money to those who cannot do it themselves. The foundation brought me on because I had an idea of developing a fund to specifically help cancer patients and survivors pay for groceries and bills because the government either took too long or didn’t help at all. Hopefully by the end of 2014 we would have it running smoothly and fool proof. My social life was busy, but fun and I dated a few guys. I was young and in a new city. I wasn’t necessarily thinking of settling down right away, though my friends would say I was purposefully dating the wrong ones. Clearly I wasn’t putting much thought into it. Dougie and Adam were doing their thing when the season picked back up. We hung out when we had the time. I tried to go to as many games as I could to cheer them on. The guys even introduced me to some of their teammates. It was a pretty exciting thing for a Bruins fan! As the season went on, Dougie was proving his worth as a rookie, and Adam was kicking some serious ass.I was proud of them and glad to call them friends. There were a few awkward moments with Adam. I did my best to move on quickly from them.

One day in April, the guys had some free time before the playoffs started. While Dougie was out on a date with this girl, Claire, I had a Godzilla marathon with Adam.I should have known then that it was fate being friends with someone around my age that enjoyed Godzilla just as much as I did. Adam and I had also wanted to wait for Dougie to get home from his date so we could squeeze information out of him. This was maybe the seventh date he was going on with Claire so it was time to know who are little Dougie was cavorting with. At some point, we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until Dougie took a picture. My head had ended up on Adam’s shoulder so I separated myself as smoothly as possible. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Adam so I attacked a hysterically laughing Dougie instead.

I probably should have looked at Adam after waking up rather than avoiding the whole situation. I would have seen him looking at me the same way I look at him when he wasn’t paying attention. It’s just been so hard to consider Adam may have feelings for me too. Maybe if I hadn’t denied it so vehemently, then I wouldn’t be freaking out about a more serious situation like I am right now. Maybe if I had tried to accept the possibility, then I wouldn’t be feeling like such a horrible friend after sleeping with Adam last night. I keep hoping it was just one of my dreams, but I’m not so lucky.

Notes