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.