Chapter Thirteen

Once again, I opened my eyes, but this time found the sunlight streaming through the window. I looked to my left and found Max still asleep. His breathing was even and he muttered a little. I gently nudged him until he woke up.

“Whoa, what are you doing here?” Max asked startled. He blinked his eyes in the bright sun.

“Waking up,” I replied easily.

“When did you come in here?” Max questioned. He was staring intently at me.

“Oh, last night, around three in the morning,” I answered. My nonchalant attitude caught him off guard.

“Um, why?” he asked.

“I don’t know, I was bored,” I laughed.

“Damn, I can’t believe I missed sleeping with you!” he buried his face in his pillow. I laughed again and laid back down.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to come in here. Sometimes it’s easier to sleep if you have someone next to you.” He pondered this as his cell phone rang. He answered it and put it on speaker phone.

“Where the fuck are you dude?!” Jordan’s voice was frantic on the other end.

“At home, in bed,” Max answered, “Dude, calm down.”

“You need to get your ass to practice right now,” Jordan spoke quickly.

“Oh shit,” Max said. “I forgot about that. Ugh I’m coming.”

“Hurry up! The coach is gonna kick your ass, this practice is mandatory!” Jordan said before hanging up. Max rolled over and out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and fifteen minutes later Max emerged, wearing only a towel. He shook his head and water sprayed all over me.

“Thanks for that,” I said sarcastically.

“Anytime babe,” he replied going over to his closet and pulling out some gym clothes. He brought them back into the bathroom, dressed, and headed downstairs. I followed him, right on his heels.

“I’m not going to practice today,” I said watching him in the kitchen.

“Don’t wanna see Ryan?” he asked while rifling through the pantry.

“Not at all,” I said as he tossed me a granola bar. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I wish I had time to make you something better. Sorry about that,” Max answered apologetically.

“This is fine with me,” I said while unwrapping the granola bar. I bit into it and only then did I realize how hungry I actually was. “Is this the first time that you had a girl sleep over and you didn’t hook up with her?”

“Actually, yeah it is,” he answered. He smiled at me, grabbed his bag and headed for the door. I grabbed my bag and followed. I opened my car, then threw the bag into the back. “You’re coming to the game tonight right?”

“Yup, I love a good hockey game,” I answered. “We’re season ticket holders.”

“Oh really?” he asked pleasantly surprised.

“First row,” I answered, “but I haven’t been to a game in such a long time.”

“Nice, where at?” Max questioned.

“Right next to the penalty box,” I replied. Max thought about this for a moment.

“I’ll make sure I look for you,” he said.

“Alright,” I laughed, “see ya tonight.” I hopped into my car and drove off.

When I arrived home, the flowers and gifts were still all over my steps and walkway. I pulled into the driveway and hacked a path to my house. I opened the front door and left the flowers outside. I checked the answering machine and it flashed with 53 messages. I didn’t even bother listening to them. I just pressed “delete all” and headed upstairs to go lay down. When I awoke a few hours later, I needed a nice hot one to relax myself. After my shower, I came out and dressed. I didn’t have jersey so I figured I’d just buy one once I was at the arena. I ran downstairs, out the door, and hopped into my car. Once I was on the road, I decided that I actually did have time to stop at a sports store and pick up a jersey for a price that wasn’t a rip off. I pulled into the parking lot and eased into a spot. I got out and made my way inside. A friendly looking man who looked to be in his mid-forties stood behind the counter.

“Hi there,” he said with a pleasant smile, “can I help you?”

“Um, yes,” I replied, “I’m looking for an Evgeni Malkin jersey.”

“Oh, those sell out so fast,” the man said, “but let me check in the back, I might have one left. What size?”

“Well, if you have women’s then medium, but if you have men’s, small,” I said. The man nodded and headed to the back of the store. He disappeared behind a heavy metal door.

“Um, excuse me?” I heard a woman’s voice behind me. I turned and instantly recognized her. She was the woman from the Russian restaurant I went to with Geno the other night.

“Yes?” I said as she approached me.

“You asked for an Evgeni Malkin jersey right?” she asked.

“Yes, I did,” I said.

“Well, didn’t I see you with him the other night?” she questioned. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

“Um, yes you did,” I laughed. The woman smiled at me. She was older. Maybe late forties, early fifties.

“Are you…together?” she asked gently. Her voice was soft and she waited eagerly for my reply. I contemplated her question. I had never discussed with Geno whether we would make this public or not.

“Um, Geno doesn’t like to discuss his personal life,” I said as evenly as I could. The woman continued smiling at me.

“I’ve been around quite a bit and I can see from the way you talk about him that you are together,” she answered. “Don’t worry, darling. You’re secret’s safe with me.” She winked, took her bags, and left. I turned back to the counter and thought about the odd encounter. A moment later, the man came back out of the storage room.

“We’ve got a small men’s in black,” he said.

“I’ll take it,” I answered. I paid the man and took the bag out to my car. I cut the tags off and slipped it over my head. It was so cute. Then I wondered how Geno would react if I called his jersey cute. I laughed to myself and got in the car and made my way to the arena. I parked in the lot and walked towards the arena. I caught up to the throngs of people headed in the same direction. The man checked my ticket and I made my way inside. I walked through the fans and past the little kids staring around in wonder. It made me remember my first game. Ryan’s dad took us. We sat right up in the front row and when Ryan saw Mario Lemieux skate by, he almost had a heart attack. That was such a good day. I walked down to the glass and stood there. The players were getting ready to come out for their little pre-game skate. I waited patiently, took out my phone and texted a little bit, then turned my attention back to the ice. The players came out with a roar from the crowd. Max came out first. I caught his eye and he winked at me. A girl to my left squealed, assuming he was winking at her and I laughed to myself. She looked to be about fourteen and she was with another girl her age and her father. It was a cute scene that reminded me of my own childhood. Max picked up a puck and threw it over the glass right at me. It caught me off guard and I almost dropped my phone as I tried to catch it.

“You’re an idiot,” I mouthed at him as he laughed.

“You love it,” he mouthed back and skated away. I heard the girl to my left gasp.

“You know him?!” she asked in amazement. I turned and smiled at her.

“Yeah I do,” I said as she continued to gaze at me. “I’ll tell you what, you take this puck. I don’t need it.” I handed her the puck and she looked close to tears.

“Thank you so much!” She said and she turned to her friend and the two of them talked excitedly. A few minutes later I caught Geno’s eye and he smiled at me. However, unlike the moron before him, he knew better than to come over to me and risk causing a scene. I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled in acknowledgement. Then, he too skated away. They all looked so cute warming up. I got even closer to the glass just staring. It was mesmerizing. I loved watching them skate and I would definitely be seated here more often. Just as I was starting to relax, I saw Ryan. He was talking to Sid about something. When we made eye contact, I quickly looked away and I could feel him trying to catch my attention. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. I would not look at him. He didn’t deserve it. Looking at him would be like accepting his apology and I was nowhere near ready to do that. That is, if I even accepted it at all. After a few more minutes, the guys eventually went back to the locker rooms and the game was about to begin.