Stay a Little Longer

The next morning I woke up sprawled out across Patrick’s bed. I looked over to his side and saw that he was still sleeping, so I slipped out of the bed and over to his closet, rummaged around and found some shorts and a t-shirt to slip on over my naked body. After I had clothes on, I went into the kitchen to make breakfast and coffee.

“Smells good,” a groggy Pat came tumbling out of his bedroom. He came up behind me to look at what I was making. “What is that?” he pointed at the pan full of eggs and other ingredients.

“Frittata. Its got eggs, tomato, basil, spinach, cheese, and red pepper in it. I hope you don’t mind me taking over in here,” I put the pan back in the oven.

“Not at all. I’ll put the coffee on,” he walked over to the Keurig and popped in a K-Cup. “So, I do have morning skate today, and I kind of need you to drive to me get my car.”

“What time do we need to leave?” I looked at the clock, it was only 8:15am, so we should have enough time to get ourselves together.

“We should probably leave around 10:40 or so, so you can get a change of clothes, not that I mind you in my clothes, but I think you’d rather see everyone in your own clothes,” he smirked, eyeing what I was wearing.

“Good point.”

“I’m going to hop in the shower, how much time till breakfast is done?”

“About fifteen minutes, maybe a little less,” I looked through the oven’s window.

“You know, that means we have enough time to shower together,” he raised an eyebrow.

“As tempting as that sounds, I don’t want this to burn. Go take a shower!”

“You’re missing out.”

“Believe me, I know,” I giggled. With that, he walked back into his bedroom and turned the shower on. As soon as I thought I was in the clear and he wouldn’t hear me, I picked up my phone and called Lindsey V. “OH MY GOD,” was all I said.

“You slept with him didn’t you?” I could hear a smirk in her voice.

“Does that make me a whore?”

“Hardly. You guys went on a date, and I’m going to assume that it went fantastic because you ended up in bed with him.”

“Yeah, Linds, he’s amazing. He asked me questions that I normally wouldn’t have even though of, he was super nice, and he listened to what I was saying all night.”

“Where did you guys go?”

“Nel Cielo, he must have rented out the whole space because we were the only ones there. He’s perfect. But, it almost seems too good to be true,” I sighed.

“What makes you say that?” she questioned.

“Well, for starters, how we met was a little strange. Jon saw me at the bar and urged Patrick to talk to me, then Patrick was crazy about me, and I don’t know. I think it’s just a little fast and strange. I mean, he’s Patrick Kane, there’s no way that he’s 100% over his crazy party stage. I’m just wondering how this will continue and what the future will look like if I decide to go on date number two with him.”

“He asked you out again? That’s a step in the right direction! Right?”

“I guess, but still, even though I feel like I’ve known him forever, something is off, and I cant put my finger on it.”

“With Patrick, it’s all or nothing. He’s the kind of guy to fall hard in a short period of time, and I guess I can see how that could be problematic, but it could also be a good thing.”

“See, that’s what I’m worried about, too fast too quickly. I don’t want to rush things, and I keep thinking back to how Tyler and I started dating, and him and Pat are very similar in that sense, then I think about what happened with that relationship and I worry about Patrick’s intentions. I get that he’s an all or nothing guy, but it’s fast, a little too fast for my liking. I remember how fast I went with Tyler, and I don’t ever want to do that again.”

“You should tell him that. He’ll understand, and if he doesn’t, then I have no idea why I talk to the guy!” Lindsey laughed.

“Lindsey, I’m serious!”

“Me too! I’ve known him longer than you have, I saw him after the 2013-cup and the 2015-cup and now the race to this year’s cup, and he’s matured. Yeah he still goes out a lot, but not nearly as much as he used to, just talk to him about your expectations. Stop worrying so much.”

“Easy for you to say, you and Jon are perfect,” I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see that.

“We aren’t perfect, we have our moments you know.”

“I know, but still.”

“Nichole. Talk to him. I promise it won’t kill you.”

“Fine. I’ll talk to him about it later, right now I gotta go, he just got out of the shower,” my head turned in the direction of the bedroom.

“Okay, shopping later?”

“Yeah, text me a game plan, xo”

“Xo,” she replied, ending our conversation. I thought about what she said, and I just have to figure out the best time for me to bring it up, maybe on our next date? Yeah, that will probably be best, or before it.

“Food ready yet?” Patrick asked, walking into the kitchen in just shorts and his hair dripping wet. This boy is going to kill me, he’s so hot.

“Yeah, hand me your plate,” I motioned over to the plates I had set out on the island. He obliged and handed me the plate, waiting for me to fill his plate. I spooned some food onto his plate, and handed it back to him with a smile. I watched as he took a fork to it and scarfed the food down, groaning in happiness as he swallowed his bite.

“That. Was. So. Good.” Patrick’s face had a look of satisfaction on his face. “So, I was thinking, we still have some time before we have to go to the rink, there’s some time to, you know,” he smirked.

Okay, well, I guess I’ll have to have this talk now then rather than later. “About that, can we talk about something?” I asked.

“Ugh,” he groaned, “why does this sound like a relationship talk?”

“Because I want to make sure that we are for sure on the same page,” I returned his sigh. We both walked over to the couch and sat down, me taking his hands in mine. “So I know that we both like each other and you are an amazing person, and I may have gotten caught up in the moment last night, but I don’t want to rush things. I want them to happen naturally and not try to force something. I know you want to change your image and I love that and am all up for it, but I just think that in order to do that, we should just be ourselves and go from there. Don’t get me wrong, you are amazing, and I’m glad we met, but…”I rambled on.

“But something feels off?” Patrick read my mind.

“Yeah, something like that,” I sighed.

“Well, what do you think is off?”

“That’s the thing, I’m not sure. I think part of it is still me thinking that you could just as quickly snap back into your old reputation, forgetting about me, and I know for a fact how that feels.”

“Is that why you and Tyler broke up?” he asked with a concerned face.

“Part of it. I guess I’m just a little worried about our future looks like, not trying to freak you out or anything.”

“I see where you are coming from, but I promise I will do everything in my power to prove to you that I deserve you and that I am changing into a more mature man. Not even a week into knowing you and you already make me a better person, there is no way I am planning on ruining that any time soon.” He was so sincere when he said that, I almost started crying. Why the fuck am I getting so emotional over this guy? Get it together girl.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” his face was now looking at me in concern.

“Yes. Okay. I want you to show me who you can be. I promise to try and be patient with you, but just keep in mind, I don’t trust easily, so one wrong move, and I’m out,” I looked into his eyes.

“You are amazing.”

“I know, now lets go get ready,” I laughed.

Notes

im so sorry this one is so short! it's kind of a filler chapter. i've been so busy with school lately, but that is almost over, so i will be updating more often come may! i'll try to get a better chapter out within the next week or so!