Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Part 14 - Nobody's Perfect

Sidney left me not long after that. Apparently threatening to cut off his dick meant that he really wanted to get to the rink and practice off some of that sexual energy. Because at this moment, the time zone rule totally applied. If he so much as looked at another girl the wrong way over the next few days I was well within my rights to pull out every crazy girlfriend move that I knew.

Fortunately for me, he wasn’t stupid, and he knew full well that I had more crazy girlfriend moves then any of the babies he’d played with before he met me. The next night, I was back in the John Labatt Centre to watch the Nics, this time as they took on the Ottawa 67’s.

Unlike the Knights and Rockets, who’d gotten a lot of attention coming into the tournament, I didn’t know very much about the 67’s, except that they’d lost in 4 straight to the Knights in the OHL finals, and were only in the tournament because the Knights were hosting. I was sure that Sidney and the guys knew more about them then I did, but it was still nerve wracking, sitting next to Dion in the stands, as the first period began.

“Relax Drew.” D said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a game.”

“It is NOT just a game.” I snapped. “Not after losing last night its not. And if you were the one out there on the ice you damned well wouldn’t want me to be relaxed right about now.”

Infuriatingly, Dion just laughed. “I know.” He said, chuckling. “I just wanted to see the look of righteous indignation on your face when I told you to relax.” He paused, and grinned. “I know, I know, Drew, I’m an asshole.”

“You said it, I didn’t.” I grumbled, taking a very long swig of my beer.

“Don’t drink too much.” D said warningly, as he watched me down nearly half of my beer.

“Why not?” I grumbled. “It’s not like I’m actually going to get to see Sidney until we’re back at the hotel anyway.”

“True.” D said, taking a long swig of his own beer. “But you don’t want to pass out before he can actually make it up to your room.” He pointed out, and then he grumbled looking down at the ice. “That wasn’t a penalty.”

I rolled my eyes. The 67’s Elgin Reid, a D-man, had just taken an interference penalty, less then a minute into the game. “You’re only saying that because you’re a defenseman too.” I pointed out.

The Nics weren’t able to put anything together on the power play or on their next one, though they did manage to kill off a couple of penalties, when Eric headed to the box for cross-checking and then Michal Sersen took an interference penalty. Finally, in the middle of the first, with Reid back in the box, this time for roughing, Sidney scored from MAP and Patrick to give the Nics a 1-0 lead.

As the puck went in the net, I literally jumped on Dion, hugging him. “Ooof Drew.” D managed as he caught me, spilling most of his beer all over both of us as he did so. “You know it would be really helpful if you warned me that you were going to do that.”

I shrugged laughing. “It’s our game now honey.” I told him, kissing him on the cheek excitedly.
Less then 3 minutes later, they were able to add to that lead when Dany Roussin scored from Patrick and Mario. I jumped up again, and this time, D was ready to catch me. “There’s still a lot of hockey left to be played Drew.” He warned me.

“Don’t fucking jinx it Phaneuf.” I grumbled. “They’re off to a great start.”

“Yes, they are.” D admitted. “Just don’t count your chickens before they hatch is all I’m saying Drew.”

Unfortunately, Dion seemed to have a small point. Dany took an interference penalty before the end of the first period, and the 67’s Lukas Kaspar was able to score, unassisted to make the score 2-1 as the boys headed into the dressing room.

Needless to say I was not pleased, but like the other Nics fans in the stands, I tried to think positive. At least we still had the lead, and if the boys could come out of the gate as strongly in the second period as they had in the first, we might be able to get some insurance.

D knew better then to talk to me at this point. He let me stew and visited with fans and friends, signing a few autographs and, eventually, heading up to get us another round of beer for the next period. “Thanks D.” I muttered, as I took a beer from him, my eyes anxiously watching Sidney.

Fortunately, it seemed to help. Less then a minute into the period, Sid passed the puck to Patrick on the point, he let the shot rip and then MAP was able to put away the rebound. The Nics now had a 3-1 lead.

I jumped up and cheered, this time leaving my beer safely in the cup holder. “Told you so D.” I said to Dion, sticking my tongue out at him.

Dion laughed, still sitting, as he took a sip of his beer. While I was completely emotionally invested in the Ocèanics, Dion was a Dub boy, and part of him wanted a Dub team to come out on top… if only to prove the Dub is the toughest league in the CHL, so while he wanted Sidney to do well, and he would be thrilled if they beat the Knights or the 67’s, he wanted the Rockets to come out on top.

Even with a 3-1 lead, that wasn’t the end of my anxious moments. Not by a long shot. Less then three minutes in, a rookie, Graham Bona, took a penalty for interference. The Nics had barely killed that one off when Cèdrick managed to take a delay of game penalty which of course, had to be served by someone else who was on the ice at the time.

Just over a minute after the penalty to Cèdrick had expired, Eric Tremblay took a high-sticking penalty that sent the Nics down again. “Is Rimouski the only team on the ice capable of committing a penalty?” I grumbled angrily as Tremblay went into the box. “They aren’t going to be able to kill them off forever.”

It seemed however, that I was wrong for a change. The Nics did manage to kill off the penalty to Tremblay, and didn’t take another one in the second. Unfortunately, they also weren’t able to capitalize on two power play chances of their own as the second drew to a close.

“Twenty more minutes.” I muttered under my breath as the boys skated off the ice. “Just twenty more minutes guys.”

“They have to be aggressive though.” Dion cautioned, his eyes following the players as they made their way onto the ice.

I knew, just because I knew Dion that he was watching each player, evaluating their talent and comparing their abilities to his own. I also knew by the self-satisfied grin on his face that, as far as D was concerned there wasn’t a defenseman in this tournament who could out skate or out hit him.

Unfortunately, the boys on the Nics definitely hadn’t heard Dion’s comment about staying aggressive. Less then a minute into the period one of the 67’s scored to make it a 3-2 game.
I won’t go into great detail about the words that came out of my mouth when the puck went in the net, but suffice it to say, it was probably a very, very good thing that Taylor was sitting with her parents and couldn’t hear what I was muttering.

“Damnit.” I snapped, glaring at Dion.

Dion just laughed. “You cannot blame me for the fact that they came out flat.” He pointed out. “I just pointed out that it was a possibility.”

“And you know how that works Phaneuf.” I grumbled, cranky. “It went straight from your mouth to God’s ears.”

D just shrugged infuriatingly. “Still can’t lay the blame for this on me Drew.”

I glared at him again before turning my attention back to the ice. “Sure I can.” I grumbled. “I didn’t say it was your fault or anything. Just that I was going to fucking blame you.”

“Well I just said that you can’t blame me, so deal with it.” D said with a grin.

“Fuck you’re an ass.” I muttered.

“That line is so tired Drew.” D said, rolling his eyes. “Can you not come up with something new to call me?”

I just glared at him. He was being an ass for no apparent reason. “I’ll come up with something new only when you stop being an ass.” I replied.

Dion laughed and stuck his tongue out at me. “No way babe. I love you Drew, but I’m not going to change for any girl. Even one that I love.”

It was my turn to laugh. “You so will some day.” I told him firmly. “Some day some girl is going to come along, and you’re going to fall head over heels in love, and then you’ll do exactly as she pleases.”

D shook his head, his smile suddenly a little sad. “Drew do you really think that I’m going to be as lucky as Sidney has been?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling confused.

“Drew, everyone knows who I am.” D said, his tone so close to condescending that I barely managed to keep from smacking him. “As soon as I start playing for the Flames, girls are going to be all over me. I’m going to be making money, and I’m a star. I’m not going to find a girl who loves me for me.”

Immediately, I reached over and grabbed his hand. “You deserve someone who loves you as much as I love Sidney D.” I told him firmly, squeezing his hand in mine. “And you’d better not settle for anything less.”

D laughed. “I know Drew, because if I even try to settle for less then you’ll bite.”

I giggled. “I don’t bite.”

“At least not unless he asks you to.” D quipped with a wicked grin and a matching gleam in his eyes.

“Only Sidney honey.” I laughed. “I’ve changed my promiscuous ways for the phenom.” I paused and grinned, looking down at the ice. “And who can blame me?”

Dion rolled his eyes and snorted. “Baby girl, I am a promiscuous. You’re just horny.”

I burst out laughing. D always managed to make me laugh. The truth of the matter is that when you hear that you’re a slut all the time, eventually you start to believe it, regardless of whether or not it’s true. D has always known this about me, and has always used his sexual exploits to make me feel less guilty about mine.

Girls are forced in our society to feel guilty about having sex. Apparently being sexually active and female is wrong. If, on the other hand, you’re a prominent hockey star and you kick a chick out of your car in the middle of nowhere because you’re drunk and she won’t give you a blow job, that’s perfectly acceptable. I mean, I love D, but after that incident he got shit from me for driving drunk AND for being an asshole to some poor girl who got into a car with her idol, only to discover he was some sex crazed jackass.

Deep down, I hate the way our society idolizes sports stars. They don’t deserve it when they can’t treat girls decently, and as far as I’m concerned that applies to every guy I know, regardless of how much I love them. There was no way in hell I was going to let Sidney get a piece of ass and then drift away from me. If nothing else, I could relax knowing that if he became an asshole, I had my D-fense to punish him, and I couldn’t help but be grateful that I had that…

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