Chapter 23

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my cell phone going off. I was so stunned that I didn't check the caller i.d or the time.

"Hello?" I answered still half asleep.
"Oh I'm so sorry, did I wake you?" Max asked through the phone sounding kind of pleased.
"Yes you did. What time is it?" I asked.
"It's seven, I figured I would call before we went to morning skate." He answered while I heard a chorus of laughter in the background.
"Why the hell would you do that?"
"Well you have school tomorrow so I figured I would help you get back into the routine since you've had a little while off."
"Is this supposed to be funny? Who else is with you right now?"
"Just Staalzy, Tangers, TK, Flower, Sid, and myself."
"Oh I hate you all."

I didn't even wait for him to respond before I hung up. 'Stupid, immature hockey players.' I mumbled to myself while I put my phone back on the table next to my bed.

About four hours later I dragged myself out of bed and jumped in the shower to wake myself up. When I got out and got dressed I heard dishes downstairs so I went down to join Logan for breakfast.

"I hate the team." I stated as soon as I walked into the kitchen.
"Why?" Logan asked looking confused.
"The morons figured that since they had to get up at seven then I should have to get up too."
"What did they do?" Logan asked with a huge smile on his face.
"Stupid Max called me," I started causing Logan to blow out laughing, "It was seven in the morning. I'm glad you find it funny because I will get them back for that."
"Was your boyfriend involved?"
"Of course he was."
"That makes it even funnier."
"Well I"m glad everyone thought that was so funny."

Then we sat down and ate some breakfast. Right after breakfast my phone went off and when I looked it showed one new text message.

Having pre-game nap. I'll call you after the game.
-Sid

Then Logan and I cleaned up the dishes and watched some tv until the game came on.

By the time the guys got home they were up in the series 3-1. They had lost one and won one while in Philadelphia. Logan and I were both doing quite well in school and he was spending more and more time with Laura.

Wednesday when the guys got home Sid called to make some plans for us. When Logan found out he wanted the four of us to hang out so I could get to know Laura better. We all went out for something to eat and then back to our place to watch a movie. After the movie Laura said that she should head home.

"Brooke can you give her a ride home?" Logan asked me while she went upstairs to use her cell.
"Of course. I'll run upstairs and put pants on since it's too cold for shorts outside. You going to stay here for a bit or go home Sid?"
"I'm going to hang for a bit."
"Ok well tell Laura I won't be long when she comes back down." I said as I headed upstairs to my room.

When I walked past Logan's room I heard Laura talking about him and figured I would stop and listen for a minute to see what she would say about him. I mean there's no harm in making sure she wasn't using him somehow.

"Oh my God Kristy he's so sweet." I heard her say. "And he has an amazing friend I can set you up with."

I was satisfied with what I heard so I started walking away until I heard what came out of her mouth next.

"His name is Sidney Crosby." "Yes the professional hockey player." "Well yeah he has a girlfriend now but I think I can change that." "Well it's Logan's cousin so I'll get closer to Sidney like that and turn him off of her and on to you." "I know I'm excited too." "Alright I'll see you tomorrow, bye."

I heard her phone click shut and I took off to my room so she wouldn't know I had heard anything. As I was changing my pants I was fuming. I couldn't believe that little bitch thought that she could set my man up with someone else. I decided to keep my mouth shut until I figured out what to do.

"Ready to go Laura?" I asked when I got downstairs.
"Yes I am." She answered. She then gave Logan a quick kiss and turned to Sid. "It was nice to meet you Sid, I'm sure I'll see you again soon."
"Yeah I'll see you later." He responded as I slied my eyes and headed out to wait for her in the car.

A couple minutes later she hopped in and we were on our way. We rode in complete silence except for when she was directing me to her house.

"Thanks so much for the ride." She said as we pulled into her driveway.
"It's no problem." I muttered.
"I'll see you later." She said as she got out of the car and shut the door.

I put the car in reverse, instead of what I wanted to do which was to run her over, and backed out of her driveway. On the drive home all I could think about was what I had overheard and what I should do about it. By the time I pulled into the driveway I had my mind made up that I wasn't going to mention what I had heard to either Logan or Sid.

"There she is." Logan stated as I walked through the door.
"Yeah here she is." I replied as I plopped down next to Sid on the love seat.
"So I wanted to wait until you got back to start this. What did you guys think of her." Logan asked with a hopeful look on his face.

'Great' I thought to myself, just what I had wanted to avoid. I was hoping that they had already discussed her and I wouldn't have to.

"Man she seems great", Sid started, "And funny too. I can definitely see why you like her."
"Thanks Sid. So what about you Brooke?"
"She seems to really like you." I stated simply, not wanting to say too much and give away the fact that I was contemplating a hitman for her.
"I hope so because I am really starting to like her." Logan said. "I should head upstairs, she wanted me to call her before we went to bed tonight. I'll see you guys tomorrow and we should plan something else for the four of us."
"We will for sure. See you tomorrow Logan." Sid replied.

Logan bounded up the stairs leaving Sid and I alone downstairs.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sid asked with a worried look on his face.
"Nothing." I replied simply.
"Brooke I know that you're lying, just tell me the truth. You know you can talk to me."
"I know that. It's nothing important I just don't really like Laura."
"What are you talking about? She was great."
"I just have a feeling about her."
"I think you're being paranoid. She was nothing but nice all night."
"You know what Sid, I can't help that I don't like her. But I'm not going to sit here and listen to how great you think some other girl is."

With that I walked upstairs and into my bedroom slamming my bedroom door shut behind me. I don't even know why it made me so mad what he said but it felt like it struck a nerve. A few minutes later I heard Sid and Logan talking at the top of the stairs.

"What the hell happened?" I heard Logan ask.
"I wish I could tell you." Sid answered.
"Could be that time of month, she gets pretty moody then." Logan stated causing them both to laugh.
"I guess I'll go see what's wrong. That was weird I think something's going on."
"Man if it's anything serious tell her to talk to me and if not you better tell me."
"I will Logan, don't worry. See you later."
"See ya man, good luck."

Then I heard Logan's door close and a light knock on my door. Sid slowly opened the door and looked in.

"Can I come in?" He asked with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah." I answered with a small smile.
"Brooke what's going on?" He asked as he closed the door and came to sit next to me on the bed, and grabbed my hand.
"It's nothing Sid I don't even know why I got mad at you. I just really have a bad feeling about her." I said while I leaned my head against his shoulder.
"It's fine baby and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed it knowing how you felt."
"Let's just forget about it."
"Sounds good. I'm going to head home so you can head to bed. Want to hang out tomorrow night, just the two of us?"
"Of course I do. I'll call you after school."
"Perfect." He said with a smile and then kissed me on the forehead.

We headed downstairs so I could see him off. Before he left he leaned in and started kissing me. It got sort of intense as he pushed me up against the wall and pressed his body against mine. I could feel my cheeks go hot and I wrapped my arms around my neck and running my hands through his curly, black hair. After a few minutes he pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"I should go." He said hoarsely.
"OK." I said simply not knowing if my legs could support me.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow baby."
"See you tomorrow Sid."

He gave me another quick kiss and then left. I locked the door behind him and headed up the stairs. I got ready for bed and crawled in with my phone. I called the only person I knew I could count on in Pittsburgh.

"Hello?" His french accent rang through the phone.
"Hey Max, I kind of need a favour."
"What might that be my love?"
"I have a break from twelve to one thirty tomorrow and I was hoping maybe we could do lunch? I really have to talk to you about something."
"I would love to have lunch. Is everything OK though Brooke?"
"Oh yeah, it's nothing serious."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Max everything is fine."
"OK well I'll pick you up at the main entrance of your school at twelve."
"Thanks Max."
"Anything for you."

We hung up the phone and I turned in and tried to get to sleep hoping that Max might come up with a solution to my problem.