Chapter 12

I woke up the next morning to the sound of voices downstairs. When I looked at the clock I saw that it was 1p.m so I got out of bed to go downstairs and see who's voices it was that I heard. As soon as I walked into the living room I saw Max, Logan, and Jordan sitting around watching t.v.

"What are you guys doing here already today?" I asked.
"We wanted to come by and apologize for acting the way we did last night." Max answered.
"You guys so don't have to apologize for that."
"But we do feel guilty over making you think that you aren't good enough for a relationship. It's really the other way around. You're too good to be picked up by some drunk guy in a bar." Jordan said.
"Actuallly I was going to apologize to you guys because I know that's not what you meant to make me feel and I know I overreacted. I actually love the fact that I have three amazing guys looking out for me, makes me feel safe. I guess the thing with Mitchell is still on my mind and I was trying to convince myself of those things." I said with a smile as I sat on the couch next to Max.
"Oh come here sweetie." He said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I rested my head on his shoulder and we all started watching t.v.

After an episode of 'Pimp My Ride' Max's phone rang and he excused himself into the kitchen to answer it. About five minutes later he came back into the living room.

"Jordan you ready to go?" He asked on his way back into the living room.
"Where are we going?"
"We gotta go get ready. That was Sid. He said Mario's having a little get together for the team as a congratulations for making the playoffs again."
"Oh that's cool, how much time we got to get ready?"
"The get together is going to start at 6 so we should head out."
"Yeah you're right."
"You two better start getting ready too, Sid said you guys were invited." He said as he looked at Logan and me.
"Why would we be invited?" Logan asked.
"Apparently Mario has heard us talking about these two Newfie stragglers that we likes hanging out with and he wants to meet you guys." Max chuckled.
"Holy shit!" Logan yelled. "Mario Lemieux wants to meet us. Brooke do you understand? This is a big deal here."
"Yeah I can tell. But what kind of event is this? Like fancy or casual? I hate this I don't know what to wear. Not even to mention the fact that Sid don't even talk to me anymore because of what happened before so this is going to be really awkward. Maybe I shouldn't go." I said getting a little flustered. During my time in Pittsburgh I learned how big the Penguins and Mario were and could not believe these were the people Logan and I had become good friends with.
"Don't worry." Jordan answered. "Sid's not one of those guys to cause trouble he's going to talk to you and it won't be awkward at all. And it's just the team and girlfriends so it's nothing too fancy but I can't really help you on what to wear, I am a dude afterall."
"Yeah I know that Jordan." I said with a giggle. "I'm going to text Vero and see what she's wearing tonight."
"Good idea she always looks great." Max said. "Do you want me to come and pick you guys up on my way?"
"I would love that so we don't have to go alone." I answered. "Plus I don't know where Mario lives."
"O.K. well it's 2:45 now so I'll be back around 5 to pick the two of you up."
"Sounds good to me and thanks Max." Logan responded.
"It's no problem at all."

Then we all said bye and I ran up to my bedroom to get ready. I texted Vero and asked her what she was wearing and jumped in the shower while I waited for her response. I got out of the shower about ten minutes later and checked my phone.

'I think a little sundress. You?'
-Vero

'I have no idea. I have 1 dress maybe that.'
-Brooke

'You should that's what we're all wearing.'
-Vero

'O.K. I will. Thanks Vero.'
-Brooke

'No prob hun, see you soon.'
-Vero

'See you.'
-Brooke

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:15 which gave me plenty of time to get ready. I walked into my bathroom and plugged in the curling iron while I blow dried my hair. Then I put my dress on. The dress came down to my knees in a v-shape and the bottom was flowy with layers. It had spaghetti straps with a v-shaped neckline and was a light shade of purple. I found a gorgeous pair of heels that matched the dress perfectly. Then I went into the bathroom and put loose curls in my hair and pinned half of it up. Just as I was finishing my make up Logan sang out to let me know that Max was here to pick us up.

I made my way downstairs and saw Logan and Max standing in the porch waiting for me. They both had dark jeans on with dress shirts. Logan's shirt was blue and Max's was a deep shade of purple.

"Well don't you look beautiful." Max stated as he opened the door and we all walked out, Logan locking the door behind him.
"Well thanks Max you're not looking too shabby yourself." I replied with a smile. "And Logan who knew you could be made to look presentable."
"Oh you're such a bitch." Logan responded with a smile. "You can sit in the front."
"O.K. if you don't mind." I responded as Max opened the door for me and let me in. Then he jumped in the car and we were on the way to Mario's.

I was beginning to feel nervous about meeting such a famous, popular, and important person. I was also thinking that Logan and I better make a good impression so he won't mind the guys hanging out with us.

"Almost there." Max said which gave me butterflies in my stomach. Every minute that went past I got more nervous thinking about the night that lay ahead of Logan and myself.

Chapter 11

"Partyyyyyyy!" Max yelled as soon as he got out of the cab. This was followed by a bunch of hoots and hollers from the rest of the guys which made Vero and I laugh since we were the only sober ones out of the bunch.
None of us had any problems getting into the club but I'm sure that's because these guys are celebrities around here. We even got to go hang out in the V.I.P. section which was great because it was just us so it wasn't very crowded.

"Let's go get ourselves drunk so we can fit in with the rest of these clowns." Vero yelled to me as she grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the bar. When I looked behind me Mel and Abby were right behind us and the guys were all sitting on the couches drinking their beer. Holly of course was sitting on Sid's lap and wouldn't have a drink. There was no trouble to tell she didn't want to be here with us and wishes that Sid would just say they can leave.
After about four or five White Russians (which for those of you who don't know is milk mixed with a shot of vodka and a shot of kahlua) and a couple shots of tequila we were all feeling pretty good. When we looked we saw Max, Bugsy, Colby, and Marc out dancing so we decided to go out and join them. We all looked like total fools when the song Don't Trust Me came on but we didn't care we danced anyway and sang on the top of our lungs and were having a blast. When that song got over another one came on that none of us really liked so we all went to the bar to order another drink and headed back to the V.I.P. section with the rest of the guys. We were there for about five minutes when Vero came up to me.

"You got to pee?" She yelled. "I got to pee."
"Sure I could go for a bathroom break right about now." I yelled back to her.
Then we were bound towards the bathroom with our arms looped. We made our way down through a hallway where it was quiet enough we could talk normally instead of yelling at each other.

"So you having fun?" Vero asked as we went into two stalls that were side by side.
"Yeah starting to have more fun now after getting a few drinks in me." I answered.
"It's more fun this way." She replied while we washed our hands and then left the bathroom.
As soon as we got outside the door there were two good looking guys stood there staring at us.

"Well you have got to be the two most beautiful women I have ever seen." One of them said with a beautiful bright smile. "My name is Ethan by the way and this is my buddy John."

Ethan was very tall with jet black hair and was pretty tanned. He reminded me of Eric Delko on CSI: Miami which wasn't a bad thing. John was slightly shorter with blonde hair. He was pretty good looking too but there was just something about Ethan that kept drawing my eyes to him.

"Well thanks for the compliment Ethan. I'm Brooke and this is my friend Vero."
"So how about you pretty ladies let us buy you a drink?"
"Thanks but I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate that." Vero said with a smile.
"Well that's disappointing." John said with a smile as he walked away.
"Umm I'm going to get back and see what the boys are doing, you coming?" Vero asked me.
"Oh come on I'm not going to hurt her I just want to talk to her." Ethan said.
"Well how about you come back and hang out with us and then you can talk to her while all of her friends make sure you behave?" Vero asked with that sweet smile she has.
"If that's the only way I'm allowed then I would be more than hapy to." Ethan answered as he put his arm around my shoulder and we followed Vero back to the V.I.P. section where all the guys, Holly, Mel, and Abby were. Logan wasted no time coming over to us with Max close behind.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Logan asked while staring at Ethan.
"I'm Ethan." He answered giving me a quizical look.
"This is my cousin Logan and our friend Max." I stated giving Logan the evil eye. "Could you guys go over there and let us talk?"
"Yes we can." Max answered. Then he turned to Ethan and said "we're watching you so you better be on your best behaviour."
"Watching you." Was all Logan said as they walked over to where the guys were, leaving Ethan and me alone.
"Sorry about that." I said as we sat down on a couch that was there.
"No it's O.K. it's nice to see your friends think a lot of you."
"Yeah well Logan and I basically grew up together and we came here from Canada just the two of us so we kind of have to look out for each other."
"Wow what made you guys move here from Canada alone?"
"This was the Veterinary school that I got accepted to and Logan was having some trouble at home so he managed to convince his parents to let him move here with me."
"That's an interesting story."
"Well how about you tell me something about you now?"
"O.K. well I'm 24 years old and I'm a car salesman. It's not the most glamerous job but I do enjoy it. I love the city, I've lived here all my life and don't think I would ever be able to leave."

We continued talking and I noticed that Sid would keep glancing over at us but whenever I looked at him he would hurry and look away. I didn't think anything of it because all of the guys were being very protective of me tonight. About twenty minutes later Jordan stumbled over to tell me that we were all leaving.

"O.K. Brooke time's up." He said sounding very drunk.
"Time's up for what?" I asked with a little laugh.
"Time's up getting to know your little friend. We're all going home and we're not leaving here without you so wrap it up so I can get some sleep." With that he walked back over to everyone else as they were all standing just waiting for me to join them.

"I really don't think your friends like me." Ethan said.
"It's not you it's the alcohol. I'm sure they would've been much friendlier if they were sober."
"I can understand where they're coming from. I mean you seem like an amazing girl and you're absolutely beautiful so they must see guys hitting on you all the time which I couldn't blame them for not liking."
"Oh you are just too much." I said with a huge smile on my face. "I guess I should go though I don't want to keep them waiting."
"Well can I have your number so maybe we can get together some time?"
"Yeah sure that would be great."

We then exchanged numbers and I walked over to the crowd. We all went outside then to call our cabs and just waited around outside for them.

"I cannot believe how rude you guys were!" I basically screamed when we got outside the bar.
"Whoa where is this coming from?" Kris asked caught off guard.
"Oh not you sweetie you're great it's the three muskateers overs there that I'm pissed at." I said glaring at them which caused the smiles to quickly fade off of their faces.
"What did we do?" Max asked acting all innocent.
"Hmm let me see. Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that I was trying to get to know a great guy tonight and you guys did whatever you could to try and chase him away?"
"We were just trying to keep you from getting hurt. You don't even know the guy." Jordan said.
"And neither do you so how do you know he would hurt me? Or do you just assume that I'm going to get hurt because every other guy screws me over. Is that what you think that all guys are going to eventually hurt me because that's not fair I am capable of finding a guy who wants to be with me."
"That's not it at all we're just trying to look out for you." Logan said sounding like he felt guilty for making me feel like this.
"And I appreciate that but there's a line and you have to know when to stop. I don't need you guys trying to keep every guy away from me I'm capable of looking out for myself."
"Sorry." They all muttered just as our cabs pulled in to pick us up. I was thankful that the rest of the guys and the girls kind of walked away from us so they didn't really listen to what was going on between the four of us.

When we got in through the door I felt emotionally drained. I couldn't help but think about the guys automatically thinking that I was going to get hurt. It kind of pissed me off that they didn't think maybe Ethan and I could be good together they automatically went to the breakup that I guess they saw coming before we even got together.
"Goodnight Brooke." Logan said before he went to bed. I was still kind of mad but also embarrassed because I knew that I had overreacted over tonight but of course my stubbornness wouldn't let me admit that. I closed my door and crawled in bed with the events of the night playing over in my mind. I enjyed meeting Ethan and getting to know him but he just didn't give me the butterflies that I felt every time I caught Sid staring at me.
'Oh well' I thought. 'Might as well forget about that since he has a girlfriend that he seems happy with and give Ethan a shot.'
Then I turned inside and went to sleep hoping I wasn't going to have a hangover in the morning since I knew I was going to have to deal with the three guys and apologize to them for acting so stupid.

Chapter 10

About half an hour later I got out of the shower and realized I didn’t know how I was supposed to dress for this little outing.

“Logan,” I yelled from my bathroom as I wrapped a towel around myself.
“What Brooke?” He yelled back sounding kind of annoyed which I chose to ignore.
“How am I supposed to dress? I mean is this a nice place where I should wear a dress or something casual so I can just wear jeans?”
“Well I just got off the phone with Max and their regular season wrapped up two days ago with a win so they’re kind of in the mood to go out and celebrate so I would wear a clubbing outfit.”
“Oh I don’t know if I’m up for the whole drinking thing tonight it’s been a long couple of months.”
“Well that’s too bad for you because the guys are stoked that you’re finally going to go out with us. Vero and Mel too said they can’t wait to see you because it seems like you abandoned them forever.”
“Fine I’m going for a bit but if any drama starts like last time I’m gone”
“Deal.” He said with a little laugh.

Then I found a nice pair of dark denim jeans that fit me quite snug and a nice black halter top. I decided to just straighten my hair and threw on a pair of high heels and I was ready. I went downstairs with Logan to wait for Max to come by and pick us up.

About half an hour later Max showed up and had Jordan with him. As soon as I walked out through the door they both jumped out of the car and came running and screaming at me.

“Brooke it’s been way too long!” Max yelled as he wrapped his arms around me, picked me up, and spun me around.
“Come on Max don’t hog here we all missed her as much as you did.” Jordan laughed while he came and wrapped his arms around me as well.
“Alright you guys I missed you too.” I laughed as we all broke apart and got into the car.

While we were on the way to the restaurant we all made small talk about the hockey season, playoffs, work, and school. It was about a 45 minute drive and when we arrived we saw that everyone else were already there. The guys that came besides the four of us were Ryan, Abby, Colby, Mel, Geno, Kris, Tyler, Sid, and his date. When we walked in through the door Marc, Vero, and Colby all came over and gave me a hug. Then we were all seated. I was next to Vero with Marc and Logan across from us. After we ordered and were waiting for our food Vero decided to strike up a conversation since the guys weren’t really paying attention to us.

“So it’s been a while since you’ve been around.” She stated with something clearly on her mind.
“Yeah school got pretty busy there for a while and then I got a job and started a work term. Plus we went home for about three weeks so I haven’t really had much time.” I replied.
“Yeah Logan kept telling everyone that you were busy but we all really wanted to hang out with you.”
“Yeah I know but I’m going to have more time now because my work term is done.”
Well I’m glad to hear that but Brooke you missed out.” She said with a quick glance at Sid who was also looking back at her.
“What do you mean by that? What did I miss out on?”
“I know that you and Sid had a spark and you guys could’ve started something I just don’t understand why you turned him down.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t even ask me out. Well maybe he kind of did but it was kind of a misunderstanding.”
“Well he came by the house after he dropped you off and he was clearly disappointed. Then he told us he thought you would have said yes because he thought you liked him.”
“I did Vero you don’t even understand…”

That was all I got out before the waiter came with all of our food. Everybody started talking more and Vero joined in which meant I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was going to say to her.

I found out that Sid’s new girlfriend’s name was Holly and she seemed very quiet and wouldn’t talk to anybody who was there. I couldn’t stop thinking about my conversation with Vero and that made me lose my appetite so I wasn’t able to enjoy my meal. After dinner we all paid for our food and left to go to Marc and Vero’s before we headed out to the club.

“Brooke is you O.K.? You didn’t eat much tonight.” Logan asked while we were driving with Max and Jordan.
“Yeah I’m fine just a little tired I guess.”
“Are you sure?” Max asked. “You really didn’t seem like yourself at the restaurant.”
“Yeah I’m sure guys, I’m fine.”

They dropped it then and about ten minutes later we got to Marc and Vero’s. Once again we were the last ones to arrive since we had to stop to pick up some beer. When we went inside everyone was sitting around and talking about how excited they were about next week, which is when the playoffs start.

“I’m nervous and excited at the same time.” Tyler said.
“Yeah me too but we’re going to do fine.” Sid responded.
“Wouldn’t it be something if it cam down to us and Detroit again.” Marc suggested.
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Max said with a smile, “but I bet we’ll be fine either way.”

Vero came up behind me at this point.
“Brooke, can you come with me? I want to talk to you”
“Sure.” I answered.
With that she led me upstairs and into her bedroom where she closed the door behind us.

“I just wanted to finish our conversation because you got cut off and I just felt bad about that.” She started.
“I’m actually glad because there are things that I think needs to be cleared up.”
“O.K. well you don’t have to explain yourself to me I was just curious as to what happened.”
“No it’s fine I really just want to let you know like what really happened.”
“O.K. then well yeah he came back here and said that he should have waited because maybe he was pushing or something.”
“It’s not the fact that it was too early it’s just that I didn’t realize that was his way of asking me out until he stopped talking to me and then I didn’t know how to go about telling him I misunderstood.”
“So if he had bluntly asked you would you have said yes?”
“Of course I would have. I know that we haven’t known each other for long but I do really like him. Plus he is so good looking.”
“Oh I wish you guys would’ve dated, I don’t even like Holly and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t like us either.”
“Yeah I noticed that about her too. But I guess I was too stupid and he’s with her now so none of this even matters.”

We stayed in the room and talked for a bit and didn’t realize we had passed two hours until there was a knock on the door.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Marc asked when he came in clearly a little buzzed. “Doesn’t matter we just called a few cabs so get your sexy asses downstairs.”

Vero and I laughed but did what he said. When we walked downstairs the cabs were there waiting and the first thing I saw was Sid and Holly making out while they waited for everyone else to get ready. I felt as though someone had punched me in the stomach. Vero put her arm around me knowing I was bothered by this and led me to a different cab than Sid and Holly got in. I didn’t want to go to the bar but I knew this was something I was going to have to deal with. So I went and while we were in the cab on the way to the bar I couldn’t help but feel that this was going to be a bad night for me.

Chapter 9

The next morning when I woke up I rubbed my eyes like I always do. As soon as my knuckles touched my right eye a pain shot through it jogging my memory of the little scuffle I had gotten into the night before. I forced myself to get out of bed surprised to be feeling pretty good, and discovered that it was 11a.m. I made my way to the bathroom and saw that I had a pretty nice shiner on my right eye. Then I wandered downstairs to see who was up. As I walked into the living room I saw they were all up but Marc wasn't with them.

"Hey guys", I said as I sat beside Sid on the love seat, "Where's Marc?"
"Right here my love." He said as he handed me a cup of coffee.
"Oh thanks Marc."
"Wow that's a nice shiner you have there." Vero said.
"Yeah the first one I've ever had too." I replied with a small smile.
"Does it hurt," Vero asked, "do you want some aspirin or ice or anything?"
"No it actually doesn't feel too bad, thanks though."
"Well I just have to put this out there," Jordan said with a huge smile, "I think you're rocking that black eye."
"Yeah it makes you look badass." Logan said.
"Umm thanks guys." I said as we all laughed.

We changed the subject and began talking about school, work, and hockey. Hockey dominated for the most part while Vero and I were laughing about how excited the guys got while talking about it. About half an hour later we all decided to go to a cafe just up the street for some breakfast. Logan and I jumped in with Jordan, Sid took his vehicle, and Marc and Vero took one of theirs. We all met up at the cafe and were seated in a booth in the back, which we called in advance and requested. We all ordered and I could not believe how the waitress gave Sid so much special attention and yet I was the only one who seemed to notice. I couldn't help but smile at how clueless everyone seemed to be and at how frustrated the waitress seemed to be getting due to the lack of interest Sid was showing her.

"Hey Brooke, want to run to the bathroom with me?" Vero asked when we were all finished with our food.
"Yeah sure." I answered as I pulled money out of my pocket to pay for my brunch.
"Put your money away I got this."Sid said.
"No I can't make you pay for mine too Sid." I argued.
"Come on it's like 6 bucks I think I can handle that." He insisted with a little chuckle.
"Fine but next time it's on me." I replied while Vero dragged me by the arm and pulled me into the bathroom.

"He's totally into you." She basically yelled as soon as the bathroom door was closed
"Who, Sid," I asked kind of surprised, "I think you're crazy."
"No my dear it is quite clear that he's interested in you. Everything that happened last night he was with you through it all and now he's paying for breakfast."
"So what, he's just being nice."
"Honey you are so clueless, they boy has it bad for you, you'll see."
With that we met up with the guys who were already outside waiting for us.

"O.K. Brooke here's the plan," Logan began, "Jordan and I are going to go back to Marc's and play some more Rockband but we know you have to study. So Sid has some thing with Mario so he said he would give you a ride home. Is that O.K. with you?"
"Yeah if Sid don't care it's fine with me."
"It's no problem at all." Sid replied as he smiled at me.

So we all climbed into our separate vehicles and headed in our own directions. Sid and I made a lot of small talk on the way until he brought up what was said at breakfast.
"So it's on you next time, remember that." He said with a grin.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not remembering our little debate at breakfast.
"You said that the next time it's on you, so does that mean that we're going to be going out again?"
"Well I just figured since Logan has become like your mascot basically we'd be seeing a lot more of each other." At this point I was a pale shade of pink.
"Oh. Well yeah I guess you're right."

I almost thought that I could sense disappointment in his voice but I didn't think Sidney Crosby would be disappointed over me so I just shrugged it off. I was thankful when he dropped me off and we said our byes because the rest of the ride was filled with an awkward silence.

"So how was the ride home?" Logan asked when he walked in through the door.
"Awkward." I answered.
"Yeah Sid called and told us all about it, I thought you guys were hitting it off."
"I know I guess it just kind of caught me by surprise. I mean if a guy from home thinks I'm not good enough what's the chances that I'm good enough for someone like Sid. I don't know I'm just going to bed I'm too tired for this right now."

Finally Christmas holidays came and we were both able to fly home for three weeks. I hadn't hung out with the guys since the night Sid gave me a ride home and Logan eventually stopped keeping on for me to go with them.

When we got back in January I got to be very busy. I started a part time job at a clothing store in the mall and I had to do a work term so between those two things I still didn't have a chance to hang out with Logan and the guys.

"I can't take this anymore Brooke!" Logan basically yelled at me.
"Can't take what?" I asked taken completely off guard.
"It's April and it's your birthday. The guys wants to hang out with us and I told them we would go out for dinner with them. You've been blowing them off for months but it stops now."
"Logan....." I started but he quickly interrupted me.
"No you're going, it's been too long so go get ready and we're meeting them in an hour for dinner."
"Fine but only because I don't have school until next Monday and I don't have work tomorrow."
"Yeah and you'll meet Sid's new girlfriend so it shouldn't feel awkward for you now."

As soon as he mentioned that Sid had a girlfriend I felt sick to my stomach. I knew that I had screwed it up myself but I couldn't help but wonder what if.

Chapter 8

We both quickly stormed outside and were arguing and shoving each other when she finally brought her hand up and slapped me across the face. I was a little stunned because I honestly didn’t see it going this far. She used this to her advantage and punched me which caused me to stumble backwards but at this point I was pissed so I shoved her with all of my power and sent her falling on her ass. I could hear people yelling but I was so caught up in what was going on which made it seem like they were a million miles away. She quickly picked herself up but before anything else could happen Max had jumped in the middle of us.

“What the hell is wrong with you Brianne?” He yelled at her which surprised me because I thought that he would have been mad at me not his girlfriend.
“Are you serious?” She stammered clearly as surprised as I was.
“Yeah I mean you basically attacked her for no good reason as far as I’m concerned.”
“No good reason! She has been all over our boyfriends all night and we should just sit back and watch it happen.”
“She wasn’t all over us she was trying to enjoy herself and she had to do it with us since most of you girls are acting like bitches and ignoring her.”
This led to more people jumping in which I’m sure caused a huge scene out on Marc and Vero’s lawn. It ended minutes later with all of the girls except Vero, Mel, and Abby leaving saying they would never speak to any of us again and the guys responding by saying they didn’t care. I was left feeling extremely guilty over everything that had just happened.
After the majority of the girls left everyone went back inside to finish the party. I wasn’t really in the mood because I felt like everything was my fault and I figured everyone was going to hate me. Then I decided that I would sit on the picnic table in the lawn and stay there until Logan was ready to go home. After a few minutes of staring up at the stars I heard footsteps behind me. When I turned around I saw Vero standing there.

“I am so sorry I ruined your party.” I said to her with tears filling my eyes.
“Oh honey, don’t cry its fine. Everyone was drunk and this will be forgotten by tomorrow.”
“It’s not going to be that simple. I mean I just caused half of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their girlfriends to break up.”
“Well honestly I love the guys to death but those guys weren’t serious about those girls. Trust me they’ve broken up many times but always find their way back together for some reason.”
“I just hope the guys don’t hold it against me because I really like hanging out with them.”
“Believe me I know these guys and there is no way in hell are you going to be held responsible. But I just wanted to make sure you were O.K. so when you regroup come back inside and we’ll finish this party.”
“I will, thanks for the chat Vero.”
She just smiled at me and walked back inside. I could hear her whispering to someone before I heard the door close. I turned my head to see Sid walking towards me.

“Hey, you’re staying out here all alone when there’s a party going on inside?” He asked with a small smile.
“I don’t want to face into everyone after basically ruining the party.” I was still crying a little. Apparently drinking and drama makes me a little emotional.
“There’s no way that was your fault though you were clearly just picking up for yourself.” He said while sitting down next to me on the picnic table.
“I bet the guys hate me don’t they?”
“There’s no way that would ever happen. Honestly those guys weren’t serious about those girls and they’re always on again-off again, that sort of thing.”
“I’m sorry I know you’re trying but I still feel really guilty.”
“I can see you feel guilty but just so you know the guys are not going to treat you any different especially since they all speak so highly of you.”
“Thanks Sid that actually means a lot knowing that.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” He said causing us both to laugh a bit. We both just stopped talking and began staring up at the stars. We sat there in silence for a while until a cold chill went over me.

“Cold?” He asked with a smile on his face.
“Yeah I guess I am.” I replied back with a smile.
“Well do you want to go back inside?”
“Actually I’m kind of enjoying just sitting here in silence; I can deal with the cold.” As soon as I said that he took his zip up sweater off and put it over my shoulders.
“Better?” He asked.
“Yes, much,” I answered, “thanks Sid. But you really don’t have to stay out here with me.”
“I’m actually really enjoying the company.” This line made me smile and sent butterflies off in my stomach. We were outside for another fifteen minutes until we heard someone coming. We both turned around and saw Logan, Max, and Jordan coming.

“Are you O.K.?” Max asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” I answered, “I am really sorry for that though.”
“Dude all is forgotten.”
“That’s not why we’re here though.” Logan stated.
“So why are you here?” Sid asked.
“Well captain Crosby that is a good question,” Jordan said, “We just realized that everyone is still here in the tournament so let’s go.”
Sid and I smiled at each other and followed the guys inside as I gave him back his sweater. We quickly started the tournament. Team four was the first eliminated followed by team one. We lost against team three in the finals but overall we enjoyed it. Everyone was starting to mellow out and Colby, Mel, Bugsy, Abby, Ryan, Geno, Tyler, Max, and Kris all left to walk home or called cabs. This left Marc, Vero, Jordan, Logan, Sid, and me.

“You guys should just crash here.” Marc suggested.
“Oh my God that would be so much fun,” Vero said, “And I totally have some pajamas you can wear Brooke.” With that she was bound upstairs.
“So where are we going to sleep?” Jordan asked.
“Well we have two spare bedrooms upstairs and two pull out couches here. So Brooke you take a bedroom and you three can fight for the other one.” Marc answered as Vero walked in and handed me a pair of pajamas and a spare toothbrush.
“Oh thanks Vero you’re a life saver.” I said as she hugged me as we all said good-night.

As I came out of the bathroom I was met by Sid outside waiting to get in.
“So let me guess, you’re allowed to have the bedroom?” I asked.
“Yeah they wanted to play video games for a while so I got the bedroom.”
“Well isn’t that lucky for you,” I said while yawning, “Well good-night Sid.”
Before I knew it he had me pulled into a hug. “Good-night Brooke.”

Then we broke away and went our separate ways. As I curled up in bed I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about Sid. I eventually fell asleep wondering if it was the liquor making me feel so connected and comfortable with him tonight.

Chapter 7

Before we knew it we had been in school for almost three months. We hadn’t heard from the guys for a while because the hockey season had started again and Logan and I were both busy with school and work. Logan was still working at Starbucks while I got hired working at a women’s clothing store in a mall. We had both made the time to watch as many of their games as we could and after tonight’s game they had a record of 14-6-3 after winning 4-1 at home against the Devils. A couple hours after the game Logan’s cell phone rang. He excused himself and went into the kitchen to answer. About ten minutes later he came back in the living room.

“Hey Brooke, go make yourself pretty.” He laughed.
“And why would I have to do that?”
“Well that was Max, a bunch of the team and girlfriend’s are going to Marc and Vero’s to celebrate the win since they have a few days off and they decided to ask us since it was Saturday so we don’t have school tomorrow, so naturally I told them we would.”
“Listen, I’ll drop you off but there is no way I am going to stay.”
“And why not?” He asked clearly irritated.
“I really like the guys and you obviously fit in just fine with them, but I’m stuck having to hang with the girls, half of which hate me.”
“They don’t hate you they just really stick together. Max always says they’re hesitant to let outsiders in.”
“Yeah and that’s exactly what I am to them.”
“Well you can hang out with me and the guys.”
“Then they’re going to hate me more for spending all my time with their boyfriends.”
“But I really want to go.”
“I already said I would drop you off.”
“I can’t go and leave you here by yourself all night Brooke.”
“It’s fine Logan I’ll just do some studying or watch a movie or something.”
“Yeah fine.”

With that Logan was bound over the stairs. About twenty minutes later he came back downstairs and was all ready.

“You don’t have to take me, Jordan is near by so he’s going to swing by and pick me up.”
“Oh O.K. that’s fine you can call me when you’re ready and I’ll come get you.”

Then there came a knock on the door and Jordan walked in.

“What’s this I hear about you not wanting to hang out with us tonight?” He said to me as soon as he walked in through the door.
“Yeah she said she feels out of place.” Logan answered.
“O.K first I can speak for myself thank you very much, and second you have to know the girls aren’t welcoming.”
“Well Heather’s not going to be there which means Logan, Sid, and I will be flying solo so just hang out with us.”
“I don’t know it’s…” Was all I managed to say before they both screamed “Just go get ready!” at me. I decided to listen to them instead of arguing and went upstairs to change. I decided on a dark denim pair of jeans and a deep red halter top with a cute pair of pointy toed high heeled shoes. I straightened my hair and was all set to go.

“Oh the girls are definitely going to hate you.” Jordan said with a smile on his face.
“Why, am I not wearing expensive enough clothes or something”, I said getting kind of nervous, “I mean I don’t really like shopping so I usually just buy the first thing that I like.”
At this point Jordan was laughing and Logan and I were looking at each other very confused.
“No I just meant they are going to hate you because you didn’t even try and you still look more beautiful than most of those girls after trying for hours. Red is a good color on you by the way.”

I could feel my cheeks go a shade of pink when Logan responded.
“That’s enough she’s like my big sister and I don’t want to hear about guys liking her or thinking she’s hot so let’s just go.”
“You should be used to it by now.” Jordan chuckled as we were on our way out through the door.

“On the way to Marc and Vero’s we stopped in a liquor store. Jordan had called Max to meet us there since he lived close and we weren’t old enough to buy it on our own. Jordan and Logan each bought a case of beer and a flask of run. I bought a half case of beer and a flask of Sour Puss, the raspberry kind of course. We had decided to get some liquor to shoot when we ran out of beer. We parted ways with Max who said he would meet us there when Brianne got ready and we went on our way. When we arrived at Marc’s I was surprised to see only Marc’s car was there.

“Gee I expected us to be like the last group of people to show up.” I said while getting out of the car.
“Well I guess the rest of the guys have to wait for their girlfriend’s to get ready like Max does.” Logan replied.

We went to the door and knocked. Vero showed up at the door with a huge smile on her face. “You guys don’t have to knock here”, she said before looking at me, “wow you look great, I didn’t think you were going to come.”
“Thanks, you look great too”, I replied with a smile, “and those two kind of forced me to get ready to come.” I said as I realized the boys had already made their way to the fridge.
“Well either way I’m glad you came, I like meeting new people, besides the boys are always talking about how much fun you are.”
“Well what can I say, I try.” We both giggled as we walked into the living room where Marc, Max, and Logan were waiting for the party to start.

We sat down and started talking about the most random things and laughing like crazy until we heard a knock and the door open. When we looked we saw Sid standing there with his bottle of Jack Daniels.
“Come in, have a seat.” Marc directed and Sid listened to him. He came and plopped down on the love seat next to me, where I had been sitting alone.
“You played awesome tonight.” I said to him as the others started talking about more random things.
“I didn’t think you were a hockey fan.” He replied with a smile on his face.
“Well Logan likes watching it and he’s bigger than me so I can’t really fight him for the remote.”
“Well thanks either way.” He laughed.
“And you’re welcome captain.”
“You look amazing tonight by the way.” He said getting serious.
“Thanks.” I replied as I felt my cheeks turning pink again and my stomach did back flips.
Then we joined in the conversation with the others while we waited for everyone else to show up.

About an hour later everyone had shown up and like I thought I was stuck in the kitchen with the girls feeling uncomfortable while Logan was in the living room with the guys playing Rock Band and having a good time. Eventually as the night went on we all ended up in the living room which made me feel more comfortable to be around the guys, although I did really like Vero and Mel. The guys wanted to have a Rock Band tournament and of course I was the only girl who wanted to play.

“So how are we going to pick teams?” Kris asked while everyone looked at him puzzled.
“I can get a pen, paper, and a bag and you guys can draw three names at a time to decide teams.” Vero suggested.
“That’s an awesome idea babe”, Marc said, “that’s some good thinking right there.”
Everyone laughed at this while Vero pecked him on the cheek and went off to find what we needed.

When she came back we all wrote our names down, probably not the best since we were all pretty buzzed at this point, and put them in the bag. Vero volunteered to pull the names out and announce the teams.

“O.K. everyone pay attention”, Vero yelled as we all fell silent, “team one consists of Sid, Army, and Bugsy. Team two is Brooke, Max, and Jordan. Team three is Logan, Marc, and Kris which leaves Ryan, Tyler, and Geno as team four.”
“So how should we go about doing this?” Logan asked.
“I guess we’ll do it elimination style”, Marc answered, “we’ll all play the same song and the team that does the worse will get eliminated.”
“Yeah and we’ll repeat that three times until there’s only one winner.” Colby said.
“Alright peeps let’s get started!” Max yelled as he came and stood next to me and put his arm around me.
“Hey, don’t hog our gorgeous teammate.” Jordan said as he came and stood on the other side of me and wrapped his arm around me too.
I could hear whispering going on behind us but I wrapped my arms around their waists and we started making fun of the other teams. We all took a couple shots of liquor before starting and I was feeling pretty drunk.
“Alright team one let’s get this party started.” Bugsy yelled. Team one went with Sid on guitar, Colby on drums, and Ryan singing. Then it was our turn. We had decided that Max would sing, Jordan would play guitar, and I would play the drums.

“Come on beautiful you hit those drums.” Max yelled.
“Yeah you show them sexy.” Jordan screamed.
All I could do was laugh until I felt something hit the back of my head.

“What the hell?” I yelled as I turned around to see a purse on the floor.
“I’m sorry it slipped.” Brianne said with a smug look on her face. Everyone fell silent watching us like they couldn’t believe it was happening.
“Oh yeah I’m sure it was.” I snapped back.
“Well I hope you don’t think you can walk in here and flirt with our boyfriends and expect us to do nothing about it. Especially since Heather is not even here to see what’s going on and you’re doing it with my boyfriend right in front of my face.”
“Wow, we were just carrying on there’s nothing more than that and I’m sorry but if you really think that was flirting than you’re crazier than I thought you were.”
“How about you say that out by the door?”
“Gladly.” I said as we both slammed down our drinks and headed for the door. I had never gotten in a fight before but this girl pushed my buttons like nobody else ever has. I guess we were going to see if I could handle myself.

Chapter 6

I found myself to be tossing and turning and not being able to fall asleep. I had just settled down in a comfortable position when I heard my phone beep signaling that I had just received a text message. When I looked at my alarm clock it read 4:13am. A feeling of panic washed over me. ‘Who could be texting me at this time in the morning?’ I thought to myself. I hurried out of bed and grabbed my phone off of the night stand. I felt cold when I saw that the text was from Chelsea. The text read:

‘Hey get on MSN tomorrow when you wake. Amber said she told you so I just want to explain myself, OK?’

I texted her back a quick ‘fine’ and crawled back in bed. I knew that this was going to be a very sleepless night. I managed to fall asleep at around 7am and when I woke up my clock read 2:47pm. ‘Oh I cannot believe it’s so late’ I groaned to myself as I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. After getting out of the shower I put my hair in a messy bun and ran downstairs to see what my online conversation had in store for me.

“It’s about time you crawled out of bed.” Logan said.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I replied.
“You’re not seriously going to let that asshole and you’re so called friend get to you like this are you?” he asked.
“Well it’s not that easy to just forget about,” I said while warming up some of the leftover Chinese food, “besides I got a text message from her at like quarter after 4 last night saying she knows Amber told me and she wants to explain herself to me, so that had me thinking for a while.”
“I can understand that but you’re better off anyway, I never did like him. And you do know that I’m here if you want to talk.”
“I know you are, thanks Logan.”

With that I signed online and sure enough Chelsea was online waiting for me.

Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Hey there I was starting to think you weren’t going to get online.
BrookeC: I slept in.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: So you were talking to Amber I hear.
BrookeC: Yeah she called me yesterday.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Brooke I never meant for you to get hurt but I’ve always had a thing for Mitchell.
BrookeC: Is that supposed to make it OK?
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: I don’t see why not, you knew I liked him when you started dating him.
BrookeC: That is such a lie. If I knew I wouldn’t have done it. Besides we were all like 14, nobody was serious about it back then.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: But still, I really had a crush on him then and it never went away. And I had to see you guys together all the time.
BrookeC: It didn’t seem to bother you since you always had boyfriends too.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: You know what, I only came on here to apologize to you because I felt bad.
BrookeC: I don’t need your guilt, sorry.
Chelsea~N~Mitchell: Brooke I do still think of you as a best friend and Mitchell do still care about you.
BrookeC: Clearly. I have to go I have school to get ready for tomorrow. Hope you and Mitchell are happy together.

Then I signed off and noticed that Logan was sitting behind me and reading the entire thing.

“Did I go too hard on her?” I asked.
“Are you serious?” he replied, “I was expecting it to be worse than that.”
“Well there was no point in being too hard on her; I mean there’s nothing I could have said to change the way things happened.”
“You’re right but if it was me I would’ve been a lot meaner to her.”
“I just want to forget any of this ever happened.”
“I think that would be a good idea. Now do you want to hear what Sidney Crosby had to say about you?”
“Is it good or bad?” I asked beginning to feel a little nervous.
“Well it would be good for you but bad for me.”
“Why would it be bad for you?”
“Because you’re like my big sister and I don’t want to know that guys are thinking about you like that.”
“Oh, well now I’m starting to feel embarrassed already, but go ahead anyway.”
“OK well at first he didn’t really say much besides agreeing with the guys when they said you were hot”, he said with a grin on his face, “Then when the crowd left and it was just me with him, Jordan, and Max he started asking more questions about you.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Just simple questions like wanting to know where you were from, how old you were, what you were doing in Pittsburgh, and if you had a boyfriend. So after he asked about a boyfriend and I told him no he smiled and said that it was cool. Well after that Max and Jordan gave him a hard time and made fun of him up until we walked in through the door and saw how upset you were.”
“Well that’s not really too exciting, he was just asking to try to get to know me better.”
“I’m not done yet.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“After you came back we all noticed that he was staring at you basically all night, which is why Max winked at him when he said that Pittsburgh guys were better. Then after you went to bed they started teasing him some more. Max even said he should have went upstairs to ‘comfort’ you which thankfully Sid said he wouldn’t be able to do. So then he started going on and on about how you had to be the prettiest girl he’s ever seen and how funny and cool you seemed and he was hoping that he could get to know you better.”
“Well I don’t really know what to say about that.”
“Yeah and I thought they were great so I’m probably going to be hanging out with them a lot so they all said you should come along with us when we hang out too.”
“I think I would enjoy that, they seem like they’re a fun bunch of guys.”
“Yeah that’s what I’m thinking too. Just try not to act funny around Sid because I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of the stuff they were saying about you.”
“I promise I will not let them know you mentioned anything about it to me.”
“OK that’s good. I was kind of worried at first. Anyway I’m starving let’s get something to eat.”

We both got off our couches and cooked supper although it was 8 in the night. We then watched some T.V. and went to bed. We were both nervous because school started the next day and neither one of us knew what to expect.