The Girl Next Door Chapter 44

Kate didn’t wake up until eleven the next morning, since her parents told her she didn’t have to go to school that day. She woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing.
“Hello?” Kate asked, half-awake.
“Did I wake you up?” a voice asked.
“Yeah, but it’s okay,” she said, more awake now. “What time’d you get to Toronto last night?”
“Very late,” he said. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” she laughed. “It was time to get up anyway. I didn’t have the chance to even try to sleep until one.”
“I slept on the plane a little bit, but not much. I was too excited.”
“Hmm, now why would that be?” Kate laughed.
At this point, she got out of bed, and headed downstairs, still talking to Sidney. She picked up the sports page and smiled.
“Nice picture of you on the front page of the sports section,” she told him.
“Save a copy for me?” he asked.
“Sure, not a problem,” she told him. “So, you may not have a place to stay when you get back tomorrow,” she seriously told him.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because, I saw Nathalie last night, and she said that if you break Mario’s record, all your stuff’s going to be out on the front lawn by the time you get back,” she began seriously, but then just ended up laughing.
“Very funny, Katie,” he laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised though. Hey, we’re back at the hotel. I’ll talk to you after the game, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed. “Once again, congrats.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.”*****
The Penguins had lost their last game to Toronto, and had flown back the next day. Immediately, some of them packed their bags and went to Wilkes-Barre to play in the playoffs. Both of Kate’s parents left on Thursday, but Sidney had just come over then and couldn’t stay late because Kate had school the next day. So, on Friday, after eleven-thirty, Kate left school (she only had four classes this semester, because she had gotten all of her requirements in for graduation, her school let seniors leave early if they finished up their classes, and most just went to work, which Kate did on most days), and went home and packed her bag. She made sure she had everything she needed, then grabbed a snack bag for the trip, and walked out of the house and locked the door. She walked over to the Lemieuxs, and rang the doorbell. Sidney opened the door, gently pulled her inside, and closed the door. Kate put her things down on the floor, and Sidney put her hand on her lower back, brought her closer, and kissed her. She kissed him back, and they didn’t stop. Finally though, they heard a car pull up, and they broke apart.
“Nice to see you too!” Kate said to Sidney.
“Sorry,” he said, blushing.
“I don’t mind. So, you excited for the trip?”
“Very excited,” he excitedly said, adding a wink.
“Me too.” Then after a pause she added, “It’ll be fun to see everyone!”
Just then, Nathalie walked in, grocery bags in her hands.
“Hi, you two!” Nathalie said, smiling.
“Let us help you with those,” Sidney said, both him and Kate reaching and taking a few of the many bags she had in her hands.
“Thanks so much,” Nathalie said, walking with them towards the kitchen.
As they put the bags down in the kitchen, they asked if there were any more.
“No, that’s it. You two go have fun in Wilkes-Barre!”
So, they said their good-byes to Nathalie, grabbed their bags, put everything in the car, and headed off to Wilkes-Barre.
*****
The drive to Wilkes-Barre took a little less than five hours, so they were in Wilkes-Barre before six. Sidney checked into the hotel and took their bags in with him while Kate waited in the car, since it wouldn’t take long. Then, they headed over to Maxime’s apartment.
“Sidney! Kate!” Maxime greeted them at the door of his apartment.
“Hey Max!” they both enthusiastically said back, giving him hugs.
“Come on in!” he gestured them into his apartment.
The three of them caught up with each other, all of them excited for the weekend. After a couple hours of just sitting around the apartment, they headed out to grab dinner with the team, where Kate and Sidney saw all of their friends who were down in the minors, like Erik Christensen, along with some Penguins who went down to play in the playoffs, like Fleury and Whitney. All of them ate dinner, then went out to a bar. Around midnight, the crowd started to thin out, since the guys had an early morning skate. After most of the team had left, Sidney and Kate left too, and headed back to the hotel.