Chapter 10 - Wait for You

“STTRRRIIIIIIKKKKKEEEE TTTTTTTHHHHRRRREEEEEEE!”

OH. MY. GOD.

I pumped my fist, and Arie came running and jumped into my arms. The next thing I knew I was at the bottom of a dog pile.

WE HAD WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

As the dog pile broke up, I sat on the mound and buried my face in my hands and lost it. Literally, lost it. I was crying so hard, our media relations guy Brian looks down next to me and says, “Come on, Kate. You’re going to start hyperventilating.” He helped me up and I calmed down before doing a television interview. When I finished, I went and shook hands with Washington. I did all of this really quickly because there was one thing I wanted to do more than anything.

I ran. I ran out of the gate, up the stairs and into the stands and went straight to my parents. They embraced me, and I cried so hard. It was so special for me to have them here for this moment. My moment. OUR moment.

“Honey, I’m so proud of you,” I heard my mom say between the tears.

My dad held on tight and kissed my cheek before letting go. He didn’t have to say a thing because he was crying as hard as I was. I hugged Jen, and she started bawling. We had spent the last four years sharing every moment of our lives, and I don’t think it would have been the same without her here. I got hugs from Colby and Sidney, and I thanked both of them for being there.

It took me a minute to fight back through the crowd with people stopping to offer their congratulations. When I got back down there, I hugged each of my teammates and my coaches and got handed a t-shirt and cap from Tonya. I put both of them on as an NCAA representative got on the microphone and asked for everyone’s attention.

I stood there, taking all of this in realizing that my name would be left on history. No one could take this away from me. We had worked so hard, and now, we were just minutes from physically having the one thing we had wanted for so long.

Between the flashbulbs and the cheers, we were presented with the national championship trophy. Our coaches accepted it and held it up for all to see and then our head coach passed it to me. Wow. It was heavy, but this piece of wood with gold plating was the single most important award I had ever had a hand in winning. To make sure I left my mark on the trophy, I kissed it before passing it off to Arie.

Twenty minutes later I was sitting at a table facing about 30 reporters. I was tired, overwhelmed, excited and completely running off adrenaline. I couldn’t finish my interviews fast enough. You know that feeling when you’re too tired to sleep? I was too tired to sleep. As we made our way back to the bus, I finally calmed down, but the magic of what had taken place was still in the air and the smoke smell from the fireworks show.

The ride back to the hotel was joyful. We were excited and talkative. It took half the ride back for me to realize my collegiate career was over. It took four years of hard work, but we had gotten what we wanted. We had tomorrow to spend at will before heading back to Tuscaloosa Thursday morning. I had tomorrow to spend with my parents, Jen, Colby and Sidney before going back to Tuscaloosa only to pack and head to California on Friday.

Sidney. I sighed as I thought of him. There was something about him. Maybe it was the deepness in his eyes, the unruliness of his hair, perhaps that smile or even the edginess in his voice when he wanted to rile me up. Whatever it was, it made me melt. He made me melt. But, it would never work. It couldn’t. He was Sidney Crosby, hockey superstar. And me, well, I just wanted to be another face in the crowd.

We arrived back at the hotel to our fans waiting in the lobby. Most of them were little old ladies who treated us like their granddaughters. I took lots of pictures and signed a lot of autographs. About 30 minutes later, I retreated to my room only to find Sidney sitting outside my door.

“How long have you been here?” I asked while pulling out my room key.

“I dunno. Probably 45 minutes or so.”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have stayed downstairs if…”

By this point he had gotten up and placed his index finger over my mouth.

“It’s quite okay, dear. You can take all the time you want.”

I was tempted to take his finger in my mouth and tease him, but if I did that I wouldn’t be able to say no. I wasn’t going to box myself up against a wall.

Instead I kissed it and stepped away to open the door. He followed me in and sat in the chair by the window. CHICKEN.

“Mind if I jump in the shower real quick?”

“Not at all,” he said with a smirky grin on his face. I can only imagine what’s going through his mind. “I’ll just watch some TV. You go ahead.”

I grabbed my pajamas and locked myself in the bathroom. I emerged 20 minutes later to find him laying on my bed watching ESPN.

“Anything good on?”

“Just highlights from a few games.”

“Did Boston win tonight?” I asked taking a seat on the bed.

“Yeah, beat Atlanta 13-3. Why?”

“Love the Red Sox.”

“But you’re from Georgia?”

“Yeah, but my dad is from Boston. He grew up there. My grandparents still live there.”

“Ah. Does that mean you’re a Bruins fan, too?”

“I don’t think so. I watch hockey every now and again, but I don’t have a favorite.”

“Maybe I can change that.”

“Maybe you can.”

And then, he leaned up and kissed me.

“Katie…”

I didn’t say a word. I just responded by deepening the kiss. It was soft, sensual and passionate. He had sat up and took his hands and held my face, and I allowed my hands to find his neck. He let his lips leave mine and found my neck, and oh my goodness.

I moaned his name as I tilted my head back.

“Katie, I want you.”

“I know you do, Sidney. I know you do.”

Moments later, we broke the kiss and just stared at each other. His eyes were so dark and passionate and his lips pink and bruised.

“Where do we go from here, Sidney?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I…I…I don’t know. We just met. We haven’t really had time to get to know each other. We haven’t had time to get past this physical attraction, and I don’t know that we will. We live two separate lives, Sid.”

He sighed. It was almost as if he was accepting defeat. “Katie, I like you. I like who I am with you. I like how real you are. I know we come from two different backgrounds and are heading two different directions, but now that you’re in my life, I don’t want to let you go.”

“Sidney, I don’t want either of us to get our hopes up. I’m not going to set myself up to be hurt.”

“I’m not asking you to. Can we just stay in touch? I know you’re all over the place this summer, but let’s stay in touch and if we’re missing each other like crazy come August, we can figure out what to do then.”

I lowered my head and sighed. He wasn’t asking for much. “I’ll e-mail when I have time. I really have to focus this summer. Olympic team tryouts are coming up.”

“I understand. I have a lot happening, too – starting next week in fact. I’ll be busy but something tells me I’m not going to be able to shake you from my system.”

I laughed. “You’re going to go back home and meet someone and forget all about me, Crosby.”

“Nah uh. I know all the girls in Cole Harbor and Halifax. They don’t have anything on you, darling.”

With that, I laid down on my side and propped my head up with my hand. I just looked at him. You could tell he was getting older. His face was filling out. His jawline was becoming more defined. He was getting sexier and more irresistible.

“I’ll give you the summer and if I can’t get you out of my system by then, we’ll meet somewhere and talk.”

“Good,” he said leaning in to lightly kiss me on the lips.

I just smiled. He made me happy. He made me feel sexy.

“Shall we meet tomorrow after lunch?” I asked.

“Sure, how about here? I want to celebrate with you.” He looked at me from head to toe and said, “I’d do it tonight if you’d let me.”

“Don’t push your luck,” I said leaning in to capture his lips one more time.

“I’ll be good, I promise.”

We broke a minute later. He was a great kisser. His pouty lips were so soft and felt so good against mine. He was anything but a boy. He was a man. All of him and he had control over me.