The Girl Next Door Chapter 15

The next couple of weeks went by quickly. The Pens won a few, but lost a few too, including a 0-5 loss to Atlanta. But, the next night, Sid scored the winning goal in a shootout against his favorite team growing up, the Montreal Canadiens. That really pumped him up, and his dad had been there too, so it was a special moment for them. Kate only talked to him for a minute after the game, because it was such a big moment for him and Troy.
*****
Exactly two weeks later, it was Thanksgiving in the US, and Kate’s dad was out hunting in northern Minnesota hunting, so Mario and Nathalie invited Sarah, Neal, and Kate over for dinner. They were about to go on a two-game road trip, and they were leaving later that night to go, so they had dinner in the afternoon. While Kate was in the kitchen helping Nathalie and her mom out, and the kids were in the basement with Mario, Neal and Sidney were in the family room watching a little television.
“So, Sidney,” Neal said, “you and my sister have been hanging out a lot.”
“Ya,” he said, “I really like her Neal. Is everything okay? Is there a problem?”
“No, no problem,” Neal told her. “But, as my role as the big brother, I’ve gotta protect my sister.””What?” Sidney asked him.
“You’ll be doing this for your sister someday, trust me,” Neal told him. “My sister really likes you, Sid, I can tell by the way she talks about you and the way she looks at you.”
“I care about her Neal,” Sidney said. “So what’s the issue?”
“Sid, let me put it simply,” Neal said. “If you hurt my sister, I’ll have to kick your ass.”
Sidney just stared at him, and then replied.
“I wouldn’t hurt your sister,” he said. “I care about her.”
“You don’t seem like the type, but you never know,” Neal said. “But has Kate ever told you about her ex-boyfriend Alex?”
“No,” Sidney said, wondering what had happened.
“It was the summer before her junior year,” Neal said, “and Alex, who went to Quaker Valley, was the first guy she had actually really dated. She had gone out on a couple of dates, and went on a couple her junior year, but never seriously. Well, she had started dating Alex towards the end of May at the end of her sophomore year.”
“Okay,” Sidney said, wondering where this was going.
“They dated throughout the summer,” Neal continued, “and then in August, about two weeks before school started, Kate caught him cheating on her. They had been going out for over three months, and they were a couple. She caught him with one of her friends that went to Quaker Valley, they were making out at a restaurant. He still assumed that she was at hockey camp, but she had gotten back a few hours early. I had given Alex the same warning I just gave you, and I’m not ashamed to say that I followed through with it.”
“What happened?” Sidney asked.
“Well, Kate was really, really upset,” Neal told him. “She came back, and Kate’s not one to get emotional, but she was really upset. Alex didn’t know that Kate had seen him, and she called him and told him to come over. She broke up with him, a big fight. He claimed it hadn’t meant anything, but Kate wasn’t convinced, and she called him a few names. So, on his way out, I went up to him, and needless to say, I scared the shit out of him. He was always kinda scared of me, so it was kinda funny. I didn’t punch him or anything, but I threatened a lot of stuff against him. So, Kate has some trust issues, which is why she was shy around you at first.”
“That explains a lot now,” Sidney said. “Thanks for telling me. And I won’t hurt your sister, I promise.”
“I trust you Sid,” Neal told him. “But I’m just trying to protect my little sister, that’s all.”
At that moment, Kate walked in and told them dinner was ready. The two guys nodded at each other, and Sidney took Kate’s hand and they went into the dining room to eat.