You and I

“Fucking hell!” I scream at my car radio. Patrick Kane just scored in overtime resulting in the third consecutive loss for the Pens. With that loss the series is tied 3-3. This morning I got a frantic call from my mom and had to leave Chicago before the game. Luckily my Dad is stable, but I missed the game. Part of me is glad that I didn’t miss seeing Sid win the Cup, but I know he’s probably beating himself up right now.

They won the first three games easily and then the team just fell apart. I don’t know what’s going on or why they can’t seem to win a game anymore. It’s been hard on Sidney of course and I’ve been struggling as to what to say. I don’t know what I’m afraid of more Sidney losing the Cup or having to comfort him if he does.

In my empty apartment I finally decide to try to call Sidney, he doesn’t answer. Instead I decide to flip on the television and sure enough they are playing a post-game interview. As always he gives his one-word answers that somehow skirt around providing any true information or insight. It’s frustrating, even for me. He looks pissed and somewhere deep in his eyes I can see the fear. I sigh and change into something comfortable. An hour later I still haven’t heard anything and I’m starting to go crazy, if I can’t get a hold of Sidney at least I can try the next best thing. “Brooklyn?”

“Hey Vero, how’s it going?”

There is some commotion on the other line. “Well, the guys are taking it pretty hard. Most of them haven’t said a word since they left the locker room. It’s not pretty.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” I bite my lip, debating on whether or not to go farther. “How’s Sidney holding up?”

“I figured you would know that already.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sid’s parents are here and he’s been on the phone for the last hour or so. I assumed he was talking to you.” Her words shouldn’t scare me, but for some reason they do. I mean he could be talking to anyone, he is a popular guy, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. “You still there?”

“You’re right.” I cough. “We talked, but I wanted to see how he actually is holding up. You know, our guys can hide a lot of things over the phone. I mean to ask, how does he look?”

“Um, a little tired honestly, but that’s to be expected.”

“Right, well I’ll let you go. We can grab coffee tomorrow or something.”

Her voice is hesitant. “Alright. Talk to you later.”

I hang up and pause, thinking. Logically, I know that Sidney was just probably talking to an old coach or a colleague, but the other part of me runs wild with speculation. I fall asleep restlessly until a knocking at the door wakes me up. Panicked, I sit up and check my phone hoping to catch the time and notice that I have five missed calls from Sidney. I guess I know who’s knocking now. When I check the peek hole I see that my assumptions are right. Opening the door I prepare myself for the worst.

And apparently everything is fine. “Brooklyn!” His voice is loud and his cheeks are flushed. Great, he’s drunk.

“Sid, why don’t you come in before you wake my neighbors?” He stumbles in and a thought occurs to me. “How did you get here?”

Sid’s strong arms wrap around my waist as his lips find my neck. “A few of the guys shared a cab.” He mumbles into my neck.

“Did you pay said cab?” No answer. “Wait here.” Sid plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Hurry back.”

I grab my wallet and head outside where a cab is waiting half full of professional athletes. “Great.”

Approaching the cab the door slides open and six foot plus of Russian stumbles out. “Brooklyn!”

I barely acknowledge him and walk over to the drier. “Get the rest of them wherever they need to go and keep it quiet.”

“Going to cost you.”

I shove all my cash at the drier. “This should cover it.”

He grunts an, but nods and I return to the other side. “Brooklyn!”

I turn to face Geno and find him much closer than I thought. “What?”

”Sidney is lucky so lucky to have you.” His eyes are foggy but his hands steady themselves on my shoulder. And his face gets closer and closer to mine

“You’re beautiful.”

I pull away, but Geno pulls me closer and then suddenly his lips are on mine. It takes a second maybe two and then I shove him away. “Geno, you’re drunk.”

His eyes are unfocused as he bursts into laughter along with his other teammates and I take the moment to push him back into the cab. I shut the door and then finally notice the teammate sitting in the front seat. “Real nice.”

“Get over yourself James.” I walk away suddenly pissed off and head back inside. “Sidney?”

“Kitchen!” His response is followed by the clattering of something and I can’t help but wince.

Entering my kitchen I find Sidney pouring shots, sloppily humming along to a song that I’m assuming is playing in his head. It’s too freaking adorable and I can’t suppress a smile. “Hey you, thanks for pouring me a shot.”

“Oh these are both for me.” He sends me a crooked smile and I rush over trying to grab one out of his hands. “Nah uh.” He holds both of them way above his head.

“Not fair.”

He shrugs and then takes both in quick succession. My eyes widen and I know I should discuss what happened in the game. Sid notices of course and gently rubs my forehead. “Stop thinking so hard.”

“Do you want to talk?” He doesn’t answer; he just pushes me against the counter. “Sidney...”

“Shhhh. I’m concentrating.” His hand traces my jaw slowly and I can’t help but lean into his palm. “You’re gorgeous, you know that right?” I feel his lush lips replace his hands and I helplessly tilt up my chin in hopes of capturing his lips against mine. When we meet I sigh and his big body closes the space between us. My hands find their natural spot on his shoulders and tighten.

Our lips and tongue collide fighting for closeness fighting for intimacy. His fingers dig into my sides and then his hand slips knocking over the bottle of vodka on the counter. The shatter breaks us apart and Sidney’s head rests against my chest. “Fuck, I’m so drunk.”

Chuckling, I run my fingers through his hair. “Let’s go to bed babe.”

He merely nods and I lead him to my bedroom where he immediately collapses on my bed. I crawl in next to him after I sweep up some of the glass. Hopefully, tomorrow he won’t feel too much like shit.

*****


A loud blaring noise jars me awake. My hand instantly goes to stop the noise and it hits a soft body instead. I know it’s Brooklyn of course because I would recognize those cures anywhere. She shifts and silences my phone before turning to me. She looks a little tired, but damn she does look beautiful. “How are you feeling?”

“Please tell me that noise wasn’t my alarm.”

“No such luck captain. It looks like you left yourself a reminder: practice at 11.”

I groan. “How much did I drink last night?”

“I honestly don’t know, by the time you made it back here you were already gone.”

The last thing I remember is drinking at Flower’s house with a few of the guys and then a cab and then everything gets blurry. “I wasn’t too much of a hassle was I?”

“Believe it or not you were actually cheerful, considering.” I can tell Brooklyn didn’t mean to say it but it’s slipped out. And now I’ve started to run through every mistake and misstep from the last game. “Sid, if you want to talk…”

“I don’t.” And now I feel like an ass. I reach towards Brooklyn and she for some reason curls into my side. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”

“I want to help, Sidney I do, but I don’t know how.”

My heart breaks and I can tell that she’s upset. I place a light kiss to her forehead. “Just being here is perfect.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” I slowly and carefully get out of her bed. “When I’m back from practice I’ll treat you to lunch. I love you.”

“Love you too.””

I borrow Brooklyn’s car to get me home and I sluggishly get ready for practice. Going through the motions and attempting to keep the contents of my stomach down keeps my mind off of last night. In the locker room we all keep to ourselves, naturally. The few guys I make eye contact with I can tell were with me at one point last night. Thank God we have two days off. James comes over to my stall, “What’s up man?”

“I need to talk to you about something.” He shifts uncomfortably.

Immediately I’m concerned but before I can answer coach calls us to hit the ice. “Can this wait a minute?”

“I guess.”

“Thanks man.”

Notes