Chapter 22 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Later that night, after the dishes were done, and after we’d gone for ice cream with Sidney’s family, Eric and Mark conveniently found someone else to be (probably with girls), Sidney’s parents decided to take Taylor to go see a movie. Sidney looked at his parents oddly as they announced that decision. “Are you guys sure?” He said. “I mean, Mom you don’t mind leaving Nickie and I here alone?”

I elbowed him in the side. “Don’t make them change their minds.” I hissed.

He raised his eyebrows. “But if they haven’t thought about it now and they do later, then we’re in shit.”

I sighed. “I suppose.”

Mr. Crosby eyed this exchange with amusement, Mrs. Crosby with interest. “Yes we’re sure Sidney. You Dad and I have talked about it all day… we have to trust you with the decisions you make. There’s no way we can’t, not with you living so far away.”

“Thanks Mom.” Sid said kissing her cheek.

“Yeah, thanks Mrs. Crosby.” I echoed.

“Just behave yourselves.” She said as a final warning.

Mr. Crosby rolled his eyes and then winked at Sidney. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do son.” He said as he escorted his wife and daughter out the door.

I giggled and Sidney laughed. We both knew that his Dad would do EXACTLY what Sidney was planning on doing. We’d been holding hands the whole time and I took his hand and pulled him into the living room after me. “Sportscentre or a movie?” I asked, looking up at him, adoring him with my gaze.

He leaned down and kissed me softly. “That was definitely not what I was thinking about doing since we have the house all to ourselves.”

I giggled. “You are never thinking about anything but THAT phenom.”

“True.” He said with a grin. “But with a girlfriend as dead sexy as you are, who can blame me?”
I giggled again. “Well clearly Tobin and Neilsen don’t.”

Sidney grinned and did the yawn wrap and arm around the shoulder’s kind of thing. “Well what can I say? I’ve got great friends.”

“And a better girlfriend.” I replied.

“Well she’s definitely hot.” He said leaning over to kiss me.

“I love you phenom.” I murmured into his mouth.

“I love you more brat.” He said, his lips working their way down my neck. I giggled, realizing just how silly this situation truly was. I mean, just this morning his mother thought I was like, a dirty whore, sent to corrupt her precious baby boy. “What’s so funny?” Sidney asked, stopping what he was doing and looking up at me.

“Me, you, your parents, this.” I said in a fit of giggles.

“What’s so funny about it?” He asked, sitting up on the couch where we’d been laying and pulling me into his arms as he did so.

“Think about it for a second Sid.” I replied, still giggling.

He kissed me softly on the forehead and murmured into my hair. “I’m only thinking about one thing right now brat.” He whispered. “And while you and I are involved in what I am thinking about, my parents most definitely are not.”

I giggled again. “That’s part of what’s so funny.” I told him. “Especially when you think about the, ah, circumstances of my first meeting with your Mom.”

Sidney lay me back down on the couch and started kissing me again. “I don’t want to talk about my Mom.” He said as he kissed his way down my neck. “I don’t want to talk about my parents. I don’t want to talk about the game tomorrow. I don’t want to talk about anything except you and me and what we’re doing right now.”

I wrapped my arms around him tightly and licked his neck. I couldn’t help myself… he knew how to make me want him. And at that moment, I wanted him so badly I didn’t care anymore about what was funny. All I cared about were the arms that were wrapped around me tightly, the lips that were kissing me insistently, and the feel of his skin on my skin.

An hour later, Sidney and I lay together on the floor of the living room, his arms wrapped tightly around me, his lips resting on my hair, my hand playing with the little bit of chest hair he had. “Thank you.” He whispered.

“For what?” I replied, still fiddling with his chest hair.

“For making me forget that I’m the phenom for an hour or two a day.” He whispered into my hair.

I stretched up and kissed him gently. “No problem phenom.”

He laughed and stroked my hair gently. “You know you are the only person I would ever let get away with calling me that.”

“Well you’re the only person who I would ever let call me brat.” I informed him, as if he hadn’t already known that. “So I guess we’re even.”

“Well still.” He said, looking down at me, his gorgeous eyes serious. “You make me forget the pressure of being Sidney Crosby when I’m with you.”

I looked up at him seriously. “You know that I would still love you if you never scored another goal right?” I asked, slightly concerned.

“Of course.” He said, not really looking that convinced.

I sat up, wrapping the blanket that had been covering us, around me as I did so. “Sidney I may have chased after you because you were the phenom, and a big deal in this town, but that has nothing to do with why I am still with you.”

“Nothing?” He replied eyebrows raised.

“Absolutely nothing.” I said seriously, my eyes locked on his. “When Mark first got to know me he figured I’d chew up and spit out a few guys on the team… you included. Then he, like everyone else in this bloody town, watched us clash and watched us fall in love.”

“I know you’re in love with me Nickie… I don’t question that at all. I don’t question how much you want to be with me. “ He said softly, pulling me back down next to him and placing his head on my chest.

I stroked his hair gently. “And you always say that it amazes you how I lack self-esteem.” I said teasingly. “Sidney it is possible for a girl to just want YOU, and not care about hockey.” I informed him. “And if you were to quit tomorrow I would be there by your side holding your hand.”

“But you know that I’ll never do it.” He said softly. “You know that I love the game too much to do that.”

I kissed his forehead softly. “And so long as you still love it, and me, I’ll be there. But if you stop loving the game, and still love me, I’ll be here.”

He hugged me tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” I replied softly, my hand still stroking his hair. He has the softest hair with a slight curl.

He kissed my neck softly, clearly thinking about other things now that his worries about my sincerity were reassured. “Hmmm Sidney.” I said, looking at the time. “We need to get dressed honey.”

“But I like you so much better when you’re naked.” He replied teasingly.

I shook my head. “While I share that sentiment in regards to you phenom, you’re parents and your little sister are NOT going to be gone forever and I would really HATE to have a repeat of this morning with your Mom.”

Sidney made a face. “I suppose you have a point.”

“Of course I do.” I said, reaching for my clothing. “So get dressed.”

“Fine.” He said with a slight pout. “But I don’t wanna.”

“Well at least this way you can’t complain that you didn’t get your cuddle tonight.” I replied.

“But I want more.” He replied.

“You always want more.” I said rolling my eyes.

“True.” Sidney replied with a grin, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his lap on the couch. “But so do you.” He added, nuzzling my neck.

“Goof.” I said hitting him lightly on the shoulder. “Let me go, so we can both finished getting dressed or else we’ll end up naked on the floor again, and your Mom and Dad won’t like that at all.”

Sid snorted. “My Dad will only pretend to be outraged to make Mom happy.” He informed me bluntly. “He knows full well what we’ve been doing and what I’ve been doing the whole time I’ve been away from home. He’s proud of me.”

I giggled. “For what?” I asked. “Being a man whore?”

“I prefer the term stud.” He replied teasing me.

I kissed him. “Whatever you say stud.” I said. “So long as you’re a one woman stud now, I’ll be happy.”

“Why on earth would I want anyone else when I’ve got you?” He replied.

“I have no idea.” I said with a laugh. “But while I do boast a superior level knowledge of the functioning of the male brain then the average teenage female I do not claim to understand the inner workings.”

Sidney laughed. “I even love it when you talk like a teacher.” He said. “If that’s not true love Nickie, then I don’t know what is baby.” I yawned. I was actually exhausted. The trauma of the day, along with the lack of sleep from the night before had me complete wiped. Sidney pulled me into his arms. “Come lay down.” He said into my hair, his lips pressing soft kisses along my brow.
We lay together on the couch cuddled in each other’s arms, half-watching, half listening to the TV. I let the beating of Sidney’s heart gently lull me to into a peaceful half-sleep. I heard the front door open and rolled over to cuddle closer to Sidney. He dropped a soft kiss on my forehead and carefully untangled himself from me. I stayed where I was, warm and comfortable on the couch, even though I knew that I should probably get up and go home.

“Shh…” I could hear Sid’s Dad saying.

“You too.” I heard Sid whisper.

I could hear the movement of people in the house, Sidney’s Dad was probably putting Taylor to bed. “Why do we have to shh?” His Mom asked.

“Because Nickie’s asleep on the couch.” Sidney replied.

“Get her up and take her home.” His Mom said.

I knew Sidney was feeling a little exasperated. “Mom I am not going to wake her up.” He said. “Just let her sleep, she’s exhausted. She doesn’t sleep very well most of the time, and when she does fall asleep I hate to have to wake her. She’s not hurting anyone.”

“Why doesn’t she sleep well?” His Dad asked.

I could almost see Sidney shrug. “Her family’s problems keep her up at night a lot.”

“And you know this because you’re with her at night a lot?” His Mom asked, tense.

“I know this because I can call her at one, two, three in the morning, whenever we get back from road trips and she’s wide awake.” He told his mother scathingly. “I know because she’ll text me when I’m on the road at whatever time she can’t sleep. And I know because the only time she really is able to sleep is if I’m there.”

I could see Mrs. Crosby’s lips pursed in disapproval. I knew she wasn’t going to like the last part of what Sid had to say the minutes the words were out of his mouth. “Sidney….” She said warningly.

“No Mom, Nickie’s right.” He said, taking a deep breath. “Its time that you know the truth. I don’t know if you’ll be able to accept it, but I have to tell you anyway.”

“Tell me what?” She asked.

I knew Sidney was rolling his eyes again. “Mom, Dad already knows what I’ve spent the last few years doing.... I mean, I’ve had girls throwing themselves at me ever since I started scoring at Shattuck’s. And I’ve more then taken advantage. There is no way on earth that Nickie could possibly corrupt me. A very gorgeous University sophomore took care of that when I first starting scoring down in the US. She was just the first Mom. You know that girl Bianca? The one who calls you to give you updates on my life?”

“Yes.” His Mom said, uncertainly. “She seems like a very nice girl.”

I could have snorted, but I was pretending to be asleep, so Sid took care of it for me. “I went on two dates with Bianca at the beginning of the year. She’s a friend of Tobin’s ex, Catrine, and Mark thought it would be a good idea if I got myself a girlfriend who would put up with me having some extracurricular fun on the road. Catrine never complained when Mark cheated, and she knew full well that he did. He said Bianca would be the same. But she was too clingy and I couldn’t handle it. But I didn’t stop having sex with her. Then I met Nickie, and things changed. I would never even think of cheating on her.”

“So what you’re saying is she’s been a good influence on you?”

“Yeah.” Sidney said simply. “She is. And I love her Mom. I’ve been with enough girls to know that what Nickie and I have is special. Please stop making her feel like the bad guy.”

The next thing I knew, Sidney was back on the couch, his arms wrapped around me protectively, kissing the top of my head, my forehead and my neck. “I love you brat.” He whispered softly. “Don’t you ever leave me.”