A Shot in the Dark

“You’re the best Matthew!” I said as I hugged him then began to follow the security guard to the locker room. I knew Pat was going to act different when he saw Matthew with me. He’s always been slightly afraid of Matthew and that was before he broke my heart. Now he’s just completely terrified.
As we entered the locker room hallway, I was greeted with the distinct odor of hockey pads right after a game. I remembered the smell from when I would see Pat after his games in high school.
“The boys probably aren’t decent yet, but I’ll inform Patrick that you both are waiting for him here.” the security guard said before entering the locker room.
Before the door closed I could hear the guard inform Patrick that ‘the girl and her brother’ are waiting outside.
“HER BROTHER?” was the last thing I heard before the door shut.
“Doesn’t sounds like pretty boy wants to see me.” Matthew laughed.
“Yeah well can you blame him? You have threatened him multiple times.”
“He had it coming!” Mat defended.
Before I could reply the same guard returned. “Patrick said it would be smarter to have you two come inside. Something about having witnesses just in case.”
“Wow. What a baby. Still don’t know what you saw in him, or what you see in him now.” Matthew said.
“Come on,” I said, “Duncan Keith is on the other side of that door.” With that he followed me into the locker room.
“THERE’S MY GIRL!” Pat yelled, “I told you you’re my good luck charm.” he said as he came to hug me. I don’t know if it’s because he hates Patrick or because Pat happened to not have a shirt on, but Matthew stood in front of me before Pat could get to me.
“Matt! Buddy, long time no see. Where have you been man?” I knew Pat wasn’t helping himself, but this might be the highlight of my night.
“Patrick. Can we talk in private?” Matt asked but I knew he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Um in p-private? We can talk here.” Pat stuttered. I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew Matthew wasn’t going to do anything to Patrick. He might threaten him, but he wasn’t going to physically hurt him.
“Kane. Outside. Now.” Matthew said as he walked away. He never looked back because he knew Patrick wouldn’t dare to not follow him.
As they made their way to the hallway, I realized I was left in a locker room with a ton of shirtless boys that I did not know.
Lucky for me Jon realized the situation I was in and came to my rescue. “Boys this is Taylor. Yes the one that Patrick won’t shut up about. She just moved her so we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of her.
There were a few boys he said ‘hey Taylor’ but for the most part they all went back to packing their things up clearly wanting to get home as soon as possible.
Just as I was about to turn and talk to Jon again Andrew Shaw walked up to me.
“So you’re the famous Taylor Palmeri?” he asked.
“Famous? I wouldn’t say that.”
“Oh well you’re famous around here. Kaner doesn’t shut up about you.” he said, “Since the captain over here is a terrible host, I’ll introduce you to the boys.”
“Oh you don’t have to do that.” I said.
“Trust me, you want me to. If Pat introduces you to us he plans on keeping you around for awhile, so you might as well get comfortable around us.”
I just simply nodded and followed him around the locker room.
All of the boys were extremely nice and welcoming. I could tell they were all exhausted and wanted to return home to their families, so I tried to keep the introductions brief.
“Alright well that’s pretty much the whole team. I’m sure they all loved you which is rare because we don’t like anybody.” he said with a smile.
“Wow Shawzy forgetting me once again. I thought we were past this.” somebody said in a deep accent that I couldn’t quite pick out.
“Ah and here’s the shyest person on the entire team, but every once and awhile he gets pretty sassy. This is-” but the boy cut him off before he could finish.
“I’m Teuvo. Teuvo Teravainen.” he said offering me is hand to shake.
“Taylor Palmeri.” I said with a smile. I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t cute. His dirty blond hair and chubby cheeks really complimented his blue eye. He also has some of the straightest teeth I’ve ever seen.
“I’ve heard so much about you from Pat. You and Amanda are all he talks about. You are definitely living up to all his talk about you.” He said.
I probably turned very red when he said that. I couldn’t lie, Teuvo was really cute.
“Would you want to hang out sometime? I would really like to get to know you.” He said with a smile.
“I would love that! Here is my number, just call me when you’re free. I’m sure Pat will want to go too.” I said, handing him my number.
He gave me a huge smile, and said goodbye as he walked out of the locker room. Ya, I was definitely going to spend more time with him.

Patrick’s POV

The minute Matthew asked me to talk to him outside, I froze in fear. Even when Taylor and I were dating, Matthew was very protective of her. Since the breakup, he has despised me. When we made it out of the locker room, he turned around looking angry.
“Honestly Patrick I thought I told you to stay away from her. After everything you did to her you have the nerve to just walk back into her life? Really?” His voice was rising.
“Matthew I know I made the biggest mistake of my life when I hurt her like that. The feeling between us aren’t romantic anymore, I just want her back in my life as my best friend, which she is. We both talked it out and she has forgiven me for all of the crap I did. Can’t you do the same?” I said, afraid of his response.
He just looked at me for a second, thinking over what I had said. I could tell he was still not a fan of me, but he was starting to come around.
“You know what Pat, just for Taylor, I’ll give you one more chance. Just one. And if you hurt her again, I will hurt you so bad you will never see a hockey rink again.” He said, with a hint of a smirk on his face.
We shook hands and went back into the locker room. I went in to find Taylor and Teuvo talking. After they finished, Taylor told me we were going to hang with Teuvo later this week. I knew they would like each other. This was going to be interesting.

Notes