Never Again

** PATRICK'S POV **

Man, this girl is keeping me on my toes. Usually with girls, I know what they're feeling, I know what they want, and I know how to act. With Lacey, I never know what to expect. I showed up at her door with my hands behind my back to surprise her with flowers and chocolate, complimented her on how great she looked and gave her a hug. Sort of. Not even five minutes into the date and I had already made Lacey cry. Fuck, I felt like a jerk. This girl doesn't deserve to cry. I might not know much about her, but based on the few hours I spent with her two nights ago, I know enough to be able to say that she's rare. There aren't many girls out there who are like Lacey, and I'm prepared to put any amount of money on that. I invited her over for an angry fuck and it ended in her completely relaxing my body and calming my temper by selflessly buying me a heated blanket and making my room smell like lavender. I'll never admit this to any of the guys, but I went out and stocked up on those lavender incense sticks. It might be a bit on the girly side but they work.

Even without the constant flow of conversation, I found myself constantly learning different things about Lacey, some good, and some bad. Through her little 'it's only a tank top' comment I learned that she might be a little self-conscious, but what girl isn't. I learned that she genuinely gains happiness from making other people smile because every single time that I smile around her, whether it's from something she said or something that I was thinking about; there was always a smile on her face immediately after. The saddest thing I learned about her though is that someone hurt her, and someone hurt her bad. I know I'm not the best example when it comes to treating girls with dignity and respect, but because of that lifestyle I learned that most girls are okay with a few insults thrown at them and they've adjusted to dealing with them. Not Lacey, though. Being unable to return her unexpected hug brought tears to her eyes, and that's not something that would make most girls cry. Someone must have done something horrible to her for her to react so strongly. I want to find out more, but I don't want to pry. I never want to be the reason for tears to fall down her pretty cheeks; she's too good for that.

Now here I am, pulling out a chair from the table to let her sit down, like a gentleman. I really have to thank Sharpie for pulling this off. He gave me the date idea, told me to get the flowers and chocolate and brought the food so it wouldn't be sitting in the middle of the field for awhile. His wife cooked it for us, which was really nice of her. The guys on the team know that I'm close with Sharpie, but this takes our relationship to a whole new level. He told me he was proud of me for making an attempt to change my ways and that he's willing to help in any way that he can, so I took advantage of his offer to make sure tonight went off without a hitch. It was a little weird though, to be honest. It was almost like Sharpie was a proud father talking to me, his son. Can you imagine us blood related? It would be chaotic.

Once Lacey sat down, I pushed her chair in for her and walked over to the other side of the table to join her. I was expecting the dinner to go on like most of the night: in comfortable silence, but I was mistaken. I could tell she was really making an effort to talk to me, and I added that to the list of things I now know about her: She's not big on talking, and she might be a little bit shy. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with girls who are shy. My mom raised me to believe that shy girls are usually deep in thought, which is a sign of intelligence. She also raised me and my sisters to believe that intelligence is one of the most important qualities that a person can have, and that if we find someone smart we shouldn't let them get away.

"So, Pat, tell me about yourself."

Her voice brought me out of my trance and I re-focused my attention on her.

"What do you want to know? I feel like you already know everything about me. I'm Patrick Kane and I play hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks. That's pretty much my life in a nutshell."

"No it's not! That's just your life now . Tell me about your past, and what you want for your future."

The past I could do, but the future? I haven't thought of a future much farther than hoisting the Stanley Cup above my head again. I used to think that all I wanted was to sleep around for the rest of my life, but now I'm really not sure. It's only our first date, this girl is challenging me, and I love it.
"Well, I was born and raised in Buffalo with three sisters-- Erica, Jessica, and Jackie. My mom's name is Donna and my dad's name is Patrick Sr."

"Ah, so that explains the soft side of you who gives me roses and heart shaped chocolate on our first date."

I smiled and laughed at the fact that my 'soft side' according to her came from Sharpie telling me that I couldn't show up empty-handed if I actually wanted to keep her around for awhile. "Yeah, as a kid I always wanted someone to play with but I didn't have any brothers so I had to make a deal with my sisters: I play dolls with them, they play hockey with me. I guess I got a bit of my soft side from them. I love all three of them to death, though. You have no idea how hard it is to keep the guys on the team away from them."

"Tell me about them."

"About who? My sisters?"

"No, the guys. What are they like?"

I breathed a little sigh of relief because I had successfully avoided having to tell Lacey that I basically have no plans for the future.

"They're great. We're more than just a team; we're like a big hockey family. We spend 90% of our time together and I've become really close with most of them, especially Sharpie and two toes."

She raised an eyebrow at me and looked at me like I was stupid. "What, did I say something funny?"
"I'm not sure, you might have. Who are Sharpie and two toes? Who names their child two toes?" she asked with a chuckle.

This took me by surprise. How does she not know about Sharpie and two toes? Everyone that knows anything about hockey knows about the guys and their nicknames.

Oh, shit. It looks like I just figured out something else about Lacey. She knows nothing about hockey. It explains why she didn't know why I invited her over, why she didn't know what a puck bunny was and it explains why she doesn't know about the guys. I was about to fill her in on everything that the guys and I used to do-- hit the bars, bring home girls, get wasted to celebrate a win and get wasted to forget a loss-- and how much fun it was, but then I realised that would involve her learning about my past, which I definitely didn't want happening. I might not know much about keeping a girl, but I'm not dumb enough to think that a girl will stay after you tell her that you've basically slept with half of the girls in the city of Chicago without ever calling them back.

I thought very carefully about my choice of words before I spoke. "Sharpie is Patrick Sharp, he's number 10 on the team. He's kind of the father figure of the group with his wife Abby and two kids, Madelyn and Sadie. He keeps us under control when our emotions run high after a big win or a loss."
Technically, this isn't a lie. Sharpie does keep us under control when our emotions run high. He does so by dragging our asses out of the bar and bringing us home.

"Two toes is our captain, Jonathan Toews. He's a man of many names: Jonny, Jon, Captain Serious, Two Toes, Tazer. You name it; we've probably called him it at some point in time. He's my best friend too, I guess. I spend 98% of my time with him both on and off the ice. He's an all around great guy."

♦ ♦ ♦

After another hour or so of sipping our glasses of wine and getting to know each other better, I noticed that Lacey was starting to get goosebumps on her skin. The sun had finally set and while the sunset was beautiful, it resulted in less heat being produced and I cursed myself for not telling her to dress warmly or to at least bring a sweater. I quickly stood up, shrugged off my jacket and gently placed it over her shoulders.

I instantly felt the chill of the evening breeze and I started to get cold myself, but it was worth it when she smiled up at me in gratitude. I couldn't help but notice how perfect Lacey's smile was. Her teeth were perfectly straight and completely white. The only thing wrong with it was a tiny gap between her two front teeth, but I personally think that made her smile better. It made it uniquely hers.

Shortly after I gave her my jacket we decided to head back home because it was getting dark and it was a bit of a drive back to the city. Halfway through the car ride, Lacey let out a heavy sigh while staring out the window. I reached over for her hand, intertwined our fingers, and made sure they stayed that way the entire way home.

♦ ♦ ♦

When we got to her apartment it was nearing 10 o' clock, but I really didn't want to say goodnight just yet. Throughout the course of the night I was finding myself to become more and more at ease in her presence and my usually very sexual thoughts were kept to a minimum. Although we've only known each other for two days, I feel like everything with Lacey is natural. Nothing I do is forced with her because the only motivation I need to act the way that I'm acting around her is her happiness expressed through a smile or a laugh.

I walked her back to her apartment keeping our fingers intertwined and only let go to let her unlock the front door. As soon as it was open, I reached down with both my hands to grab hers, having the need to feel the electricity running through our bodies for a little bit longer. I gently ran my thumbs over her knuckles, hoping to convey my message to her without having to physically say it: I like you. I like you a lot, which is weird, because I don't like girls. I only like their anatomy.

I was about to start on the speech that Sharpie told me to say about how I had a great time with her and that I'd like to see her again, but before I could she spoke up. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but do you want to come in and watch a movie with me? You can choose which one we watch, I have a ton."

I smiled. There was no way I was going to refuse her offer of a movie.

"Sure, but if you get too tired, let me know and I'll leave." I had caught sight of her yawning a few times throughout the night and she just blamed it on her busy schedule, but I didn't want to disrupt her sleep patterns regardless.

We walked into her apartment and I took in my new surroundings. The apartment wasn't very big, but it was very cozy. Her walls were covered in pictures of her family members and her childhood, and the place was well furnished for only one person living in it.

"The movies are over there, next to the tv," she said pointing to a cabinet a few feet away from me. "Pick whichever one you want and put it in, I'm going to put my shoes away."

I browsed her movie selection and frowned when I saw nothing but sappy love movies and chick flicks. I opted for the movie "Crazy, Stupid Love" because Emma Stone is in it, so even if the movie sucks it will still be kind of enjoyable. I put it in her DVD player and got comfortable on her couch waiting for her to come back.

When she came back from her room, I noticed that she had changed into a pair of black sweatpants with the word "Law" written on the back and a plain, red sweatshirt. Her hair was now pulled up into a curly pony-tail and she had a thick pair of black rimmed glasses on. I smiled at how cute she was- even in the bummiest of clothes, she still found a way to look beautiful.

It was a good thing that Lacey wasn't one of those girls who picked up on little details, because I had no idea what was going on in the movie whatsoever. I wanted to so badly reach out and put my arm around her, but I held myself back because I didn't want her to think that I wanted anything out of her. I spent most of the movie trying to rationalize that decision with the Old Patrick, when around halfway through I felt her hand fall on the inside of my thigh and her head lean on my shoulder. I took this as my opportunity and permission to put my arm around her, so I did exactly that and pulled her down so her head was resting on my thighs. I then placed my hand on her hips, tracing little circular patterns with my fingers.

Shortly after we got comfortable I heard a little snore coming from her mouth and I felt her breathing even out, so I knew she was asleep. I took this moment to pull her body a little closer to mine so I could feel her back against my chest, and I fell asleep shortly after with her laying against me.

♦ ♦ ♦

When I woke up again, the clock on my cell phone read 3:45 am. I contemplated not moving and just spending the night where I was, but I didn't want to impose in Lacey's house and make myself an uninvited guest. I very carefully shifted her body so that her back was on top my left arm and her knees were on top of my right arm. I picked her up bridal style and brought her to her room. As gently as I could, I put her down on her bed hoping to not disturb her from her slumber. I thought I had succeeded when I heard a quiet muffle coming from her direction.

"Pat."

"Hmm?"

"Stay with me."

At first I wasn't sure that I had heard her properly, but there's really nothing else that she could have possibly said. I debated leaving her, but not that much of the Old Patrick was gone just yet. I crawled into bed next to her, not even caring that I still had my shirt and jeans on. I put my arm around her waist and pulled her into my chest, pressing a soft kiss against her forehead and letting my lips linger there for awhile before moving them to the top of her head and pressing a kiss there too.
I saw a smile come across her face and immediately my face had the same smile mirrored on it.

"Goodnight, Pat."

"Night, Lace."

Notes

Okay so I just started this a few days ago on Mibba but decided to put it up on here, too! let me know what you think so far!