The Girl Next Door Chapter 65

That night, they all had dinner together, and afterwards, Sidney took Kate to see the sunset over the bay. It was one of the prettiest things Kate had ever seen; it was just an amazing sight. After that, Sidney took her to the house he had recently bought for himself. There was no furniture yet, but that was something he was going to work on before he went back to Pittsburgh.
They went back home, and played hockey with Taylor outside until after eleven, when they decided to stop, because Sidney had to be up early for training.
Kate decided to go to bed then too, and she woke up the next morning around nine, long after Sidney had left.
“Morning, Taylor,” Kate greeted as she walked into the kitchen.
“Morning, Kate. You know Sidney left awhile ago right?”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Morning, Kate!” Trina called as she walked into the kitchen.
“Morning, Trina.”
“Help yourself to some breakfast. I’ll take you over to the rink around ten-thirty for the little pick-up game.”
“Thanks,” Kate replied, as Trina handed her a bowl and spoon.
“So, you still like it here? Not bored yet?” Trina asked.
“I love it here,” Kate replied with a smile on her face. “I could definitely come back here again and again, it’s so pretty.”
“Glad to hear it. Maybe next summer you can stay a little longer.”
Kate, up until that very moment, had never thought about her life with Sidney that far into the future. It caught her a little off guard, but suddenly she realized that she wanted to be with Sidney the next summer, and for years after that. She realized right then and there that at eighteen, she had found the person that she was meant to be with for the rest of her life.
Kate thought about this during breakfast, as she and Taylor and Trina talked. After breakfast, Kate helped to clean up the kitchen, and then she got ready to go to the rink. At ten-thirty, Trina and Taylor took Kate over to the rink, gear in tow, and dropped her off. She found Sidney in the midst of his on-ice workouts, and he waved at her during one of his drills. Kate put her skates and gloves on, grabbed her stick (well, one of Sidney’s sticks), and waited for him to finish up. He finished up a little before eleven, and motioned for Kate to come onto the ice, and he introduced Kate to his trainer. His trainer left and the two of them were alone on the ice.
“Hey,” Kate said, giving him a kiss. It lasted for a minute, and then they broke apart as they heard a voice call out.
“Um, so are you two going to get a room, or are we going to play hockey?” Tim called out, Mike and Sam walking with him.
“Definitely play,” Kate said. She grabbed her stick from the ice and skated down ice with a puck, and shot it on the empty net, a wrist shot that went top shelf.
They played for about forty-five minutes, and Kate had more fun than she had had in a long time. Tim, Mike, and Sam had all played on the Dartmouth Subways, and Mike had played half a season of junior before getting injured and quitting, so the skill level that was out on the ice with Kate was a million times higher than what she was used to, but she held her own and did a pretty good job.
After their game, Sidney’s friends had to leave, so they said their good-byes and left Kate and Sidney on the ice by themselves.
“Have fun?” Sidney asked.
“That was a blast,” Kate replied, smiling from ear to ear. “I’ve never played with anyone that good, it was definitely the most fun I’ve had in awhile.”
“Good, I’m glad,” he replied, leaning in to kiss Kate.
“Um, ew,” Kate replied, laughing. “You’re ridiculously sweaty. I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, well, you’re sweaty too,” he replied, laughing. “Well, we have to go; the Zamboni needs to clean the ice.”
They picked up their sticks and the puck, and left the ice. They grabbed their things, and headed out to Sidney’s car to go home.
*****
That night, as it turns out, Trina and Troy had invited a bunch of their relatives over to meet Kate. It was pretty hectic, even more so than Sidney’s experience meeting Kate’s family, but it went well. Sidney stood there with Kate the whole time to make sure that she didn’t get too overwhelmed. Kate really liked his family, and everyone liked her, so that was good.
“So, you didn’t die tonight,” Troy said to Kate after everyone had left. “It’s shocking, really.”
Kate laughed, and responded: “I liked everyone, they were really nice.”
“Well, they definitely liked you too,” Trina said. “They’re tough to please.”
They cleaned up the kitchen, and then Sidney and Kate sat down and watched TV by themselves, as everyone else had gone to bed. They fell asleep there, under a blanket and Kate wrapped up in Sidney’s arms.