Gongshow

Sonny watched everyone carefully through the entire practice. He was waiting for the slightest mention of Holiday so he could pounce on that person for taking his girl. He watched Holiday just as much. If he saw her give one of the guys even the tiniest glance, or vice versa, he was over there in a second. So far, it didn't seem obvious yet. It was eating him away that he didn't know.

Practice ended and Sonny sat quietly as he undressed. He listened to every conversation carefully. No one was talking about Holiday. He gave up on that and changed quickly so he could get out of there. As he walked out the change room door, the girls were standing there. He tensed up. Holiday waved and smiled at him. He nodded then called her over. She did as asked.

"What's up?" She sang.

"Who are you into?" He asked. She exhaled. "I've been trying to forget about it but I can't, it's driving me crazy not knowing."

"Sonny, it d,"

"It matters. It matters a lot. I get that you're not into me, but I just need to know who you like that is so much better than I am." He growled.

"It doesn't matter because it doesn't change the fact that I don't like you." She explained. "I tried and I just don't feel anything like that for you. Don't let yourself think it's because you aren't good enough for me."

He nodded his head once. "Okay, Holiday."

He stomped away after that. Holiday shrugged at the girls and walked back over. Sonny wasn't done. He still wanted to know who it was. He knew exactly how to figure it out too. He got home, showered, and got ready to take a nap. He had a lot of running around to do later on.

Audrey was first. He figured she was the weakest link and he should ask her about Holiday's mystery boy first. He knocked on her door. There was hollering and some banging, followed by children laughing. The door opened and his Coach was standing there. He tensed up before he remembered he was doing nothing wrong. He smiled at Dustin.

"Hi, is Audrey home?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah, but she's grounded." Dustin crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe.

"I just need to ask her one question." Sonny told him.

"Alright, sure." Dustin nodded. "Audrey! Door!"

Audrey came hopping down the stairs. "Frank?" She said, confused as she walked to the door.

Sonny rolled his eyes. "I need to ask you something important."

"Okay." She furrowed her eyebrows, stepping outside and pulling the door shut. "What's up?"

"Who is Holiday into?" He blabbed.

"Not you." She smirked, crossing her arms and standing like her father. "Did you really come all the way out here to find out from me? Because I won't be telling you."

"Audrey, please!" He whined.

A car honked as it drove by. It was Sam and his parents. Audrey shot up straight, smiling and waving like a madwoman to them. Sonny watched her before he turned and waved. This was perfect. He had something to hold against her.

"You like Sam." Sonny grinned.

"What? No. I don't mess with guys." She covered up.

"Tell me who Holiday likes and I'll keep your little crush to myself." He bargained.

She sighed. "She used to have a thing for Andre." She shrugged.

"The Swede? There's no way." He argued.

"You're right. It's probably someone new that she hasn't told us about yet." She explained.

"Thanks for the help, Auds. Your secret's safe with me." He winked before walking off.

She rolled her eyes and walked into her house. Her parents were getting ready to go out for the night. She furrowed her brows and started to shake her head while she maneuvered around her siblings. Her mom was making dinner while her dad was sitting at the island. He looked up at his angry daughter.

"You cannot leave me with these demons, not tonight. I have to study for a test tomorrow and finish two projects." She whined.

"Don't worry, it's covered." Dustin waved her off.

"You hired a babysitter?" Nicole asked, turning to her husband.

"Yeah. I knew Audrey had work to do." He said as he read the newspaper.

Audrey walked over and hugged him. He wrapped and arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She walked out of the room and upstairs. She had to get decent marks for her dad to let her stay enrolled in public school. She laid out everything on her bed, plugged her phone into her dock, and let the music play as she began to work. She waved when her mom came in to tell her they were leaving. She had to stay focused and finish.

Two hours in, she had a cramped up hand and a growling stomach. She decided a break was okay. She picked up her phone to see a bunch of missed texts. Most were from her group chat with Holday, Taylor, and Danielle, and the rest were from her group chat with friends from her old school. Her last old school. Luckily, Audrey was barely forced to switch schools, but this move was too far for them to stay.

She walked down the stairs, texting away. Her hair and make up were still fine from earlier, but she had changed into tights and a giant Kings sweater. It was a practice sweater, with a little 23 on the shoulder. She had stolen most of her dad's old Kings stuff. It was comfortable. She went into the kitchen and stood in the fridge, picking at everything. She heard Mackenzie screech before she started to laugh. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"You know who's really ticklish?" Cooper sang from the living room, intentionally loud enough for Audrey to hear. "Audrey is."

"Cooper, I swear to god." She yelled.

She heard mumbling. She huffed, slamming the fridge shut. She stomped into the living room. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw Sam smirking at her. Mason looked from Sam to Audrey with an evil grin. She frowned.

"Attack!" Mason hollered.

Sam stepped forward and Audrey took off. All four children, plus Sam, chased Audrey around the house. She was so ticklish, it was ridiculous. She round a corner and collided with Sam. He grabbed her and started tickling her sides. Jake ran over and joined in. The other three laughed.

"Get behind her knees! That makes her cry!" Jake exclaimed as he tickled her armpits.

Sam grabbed her legs and started tickling behind her knees. She was indeed crying while she laughed. She started flailing and that's when Cooper called off the hit. She sat up and glared before she wiped her eyes. Sam winked at her before he rounded up the kids to put them to bed. Audrey rolled her eyes, grabbing her phone and walking upstairs. She glared as she walked past him in Mackenzie's room.

She grabbed the last of her homework and walked back downstairs. He came back down and tidied up as Audrey did her work. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He went into the kitchen and heard him loading up the dishwasher. There was no way her parents wouldn't make him the new babysitter. He came into the living room and dropped down beside her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, leaning over to look at her work. "Isn't this math we did weeks ago?"

"Yes but it's hard." She stated. "I know how to do it, I just,"

"You don't do it so you have to do extra?" He suggested and she nodded.

"But I'm done so I guess I've done all I can." She shrugged, closing her notebook.

"You could try doing your work in class. I always hear you talking." He smirked.

She glared. "You don't know my life, Samson." She spat, tossing her notebook on her table.

"So tell me about it." He challenged.

She felt her heart start pounding. "I don't know. I don't have an exciting one." She frowned.

"You're the daughter of an ex NHL star, that's a lie." Sam scoffed.

"You're the son of one." She argued.

"But my dad didn't win twelve Stanley cups." He nudged her.

"He didn't win twelve." She shook her head. "But that's about all there is. Daughter of the captain of the Los Angeles Kings. Raised between LA and New York."

"The last part makes you sound like a brat." He told her. She scrunched her nose at him. "I'm just a good Canadian boy with a love for hockey."

Her phone buzzed between them. They both looked down and saw Nathan's name on the screen. She rolled her eyes, locking her phone.

"My dad always warned me about Canadian boys." She teased.

"Is that why you're avoiding Nathan?" He taunted.

She took a deep breath. "No, I'm avoiding Nathan because he doesn't get that I'm not interested. He makes me feel bad because I don't like him." She confessed.

"Don't ever feel bad because you don't have feelings towards someone, Auds." Sam reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She was convinced she was about to pass out. She nodded before she stood up. She made some excuse about how she needed to get to sleep and he was fine to leave now. He wished her a good night. She watched him leave and then locked the door. She went upstairs to her room. His bedroom light flicked on. She growled at herself before dropping onto her bed.

This wasn't the plan. She wasn't supposed to be interested in anyone ever. Her last boyfriend was a total crazy and that's why her dad had the rule of no guys from his teams. Her last boyfriend was nothing like Sam. Brendan was controlling and always making her go to outings that she had no want of attending. Sam was a gentleman. He was nice to her and that was something totally knew to her. She really hoped she wasn't just interested in him for being everything Brendan wasn't.

Notes