[ Practice Makes Perfect ] --» Chapter Six

The next morning I woke up in a cold sweat. My blankets were scattered in every which way across my bed, and I was disheveled in the center of it all with a mind blowing headache. I hadn't woke up with pain like this in weeks, and not just from the headache. More from the guilt that slept on top of me all night after realizing what a horrible thing I'd done. Basically, I was a mess.






I bought my feet over the edge of my bed and pushed a piece of my cool dark brown hair behind my ear. I sighed heavily, knowing that the next few days could quite possibly be the hardest I've ever had to experience, and I was scared shitless. Still searching for enough strength to push myself off my bed, I bought my hands up to my face and buried it inside of them. Without thinking, I let out a piercing scream hoping that my hands could somewhat mute the noise. So much for that. A few seconds after, Cami slowly walked into my room still looking as pissed off as she did last night. She folded her arms and stared sternly down at me, as I sat there pathetically slouching over the edge of my bed.






"Good to see you had a good night's sleep." Sarcasm and disgust reeked over all her words, which made me feel that much worse. But in all honesty, I need this. I need Cam to be hard on me until I can figure out a way to make this right.






I bought my eyes up to meet hers, and before I could even get words out, tears overcame me and I broke down. I slid off the edge of my bed and fell to the floor with my back resting against the side of my bed. My hair clouded around my face, making my puffy reddened features nearly invisible from Cami's view. My mind was in a tornado of thoughts and all I could think to do was shake my head behind my curtain of hair. I clenched my hands into a tight fist and slammed it against the side of my nightstand. I screamed at the initial contact which caused Cami to come rushing to my side. She sat next to me and pulled me close against her side, and I continued to cry into her shoulder.






"How could I do something so fucking stupid Cam? I didn't want to do that?!" I sounded helpless mumbling into her sweatshirt. "How am I ever gonna face Sid knowing I did this? I can't Cam, I just can't. It'll hurt him so bad...and that's the last thing I ever want to do to him."






I could feel Cami nodding from above me. She took her hand to the side of my head and lightly stroked the side of my head to get me to calm down. I lifted my head up slightly to see her eyes that were now entering comfort mode instead of angry best friend mode.







"I know Leigh. I know you didn't want anything that happened to happen last night. I know how much you like Sidney, and I know how the last thing you want to do is hurt him. But you have to tell him. You can't just keep it a secret, because you and I both know how you get when you feel guilty. I think what you need to do is go out with Sid somewhere where you can just talk this through with him. He's a nice guy, he'll understand. Things obviously won't be--"






She was interrupted by my phone ringing. I snatched it off the top of my night stand and my whole body froze at the sight of Sidney's name coming up on the screen. Still flustered by the situation, Cami took the phone out of my hands and flipped it open.






"Sidney? Hi it's Cami...Leigh's roommate. Yeah, I don't know if she's up for going out right now. Maybe you should just come here for a little and talk to her. Ten minutes? Okay, okay yeah that sounds fine. I'll be sure to let her know, bye."






She turned to me, and my eyes widened at the thought of Sidney seeing me like this, and of all the things I was going to have to tell him. "Why would you tell him to come here?!" I squealed collapsing my face into my hands again.







Cami was quick to rip my face from my hands. "Now you listen me. You have to do this. It's better if we just nip this in the butt now so it doesn't get any worse. When he gets here, just remember that he loves you and you love him too. That more than anything else should make this work between you two. I'm going to get some coffee with Tess."







My eyes bulged at the sound of being in the house with Sidney with no back up whatsoever from my friends. Cami grabbed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile, "You can do this Leigh. Just be strong. I'm sure he'll understand."






With that Cami got up from the floor and walked out of my room and out the door with Tessa. I sat on the floor of my room thinking of every possible outcome of my soon conversation with Sidney and the bad ones seemed to stick in my head the most. I finally mustered up enough strength to make my way across the hall to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and take a look at my less than pleasing reflection. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath as the sound of the doorbell filled my ears. I opened my eyelids slowly and continued to think of what to say as I walked to the door.





I reached for the top lock and still had nothing conjured up to say inside my head. I turned the lock slowly and pulled the door towards me, only to unveil a slightly snow covered Sidney in a black sweatshirt, gray sweats, sneakers, and that little gray hat he always wore.







He smiled down at me as he took a step inside. I put on my best forced smile and led him over to the couch in the living room after he took of his shoes. With his fingers laced perfectly within the spaces of mine, I grew more nervous by the second. We had been basically silent except for me barely whispering "Hey" to him when he came in. He was first to sit down, and as I sat Indian style on the ottoman to the side of him.






"So..." He said breaking the silence, "What'd you do all weekend while I was gone?"







Great. Let's just start off with the one question I was dreading to answer. I played with my fingers nervously as my mind ran a marathon over what to say to him. I knew no matter what I said, I couldn't lie. Not to Sidney, never. I couldn't he's been too good to me. I decided I'd ease into it, but not before my gut reaction took over for me.







"I kissed another guy Sid, and I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, because I probably wasn't because I was so drunk. But I don't want to make excuses for myself. What I did was stupid and I've beaten myself up for it so bad ever since then, and it just goes back to what I said to you that day in the coffee shop. You deserve someone so much better than me. Like look at me! Do you really want someone who's been pretty much an emotional wreck this past week? I understand if you don't want to talk to me ever again. But I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you, and I--"







"Woah, woah, woah...Calm down Leigh, and please don't cry I can't stand seeing you cry, it rips me up inside." Sidney leaned forward and pulled me up onto his lap. I couldn't help, but continue to cry as his arms coiled around my center. I couldn't understand why he was doing this, why he was still being so nice after I'd been unfaithful to him.







"Shhh, Leigh calm down...it's okay. We're gonna be okay." I quickly bought my head up to meet my eyes with his after he said that. I gazed deep into his hazel eyes and saw the initial hurt from everything I had told him. But as I kept searching, I saw something else, something forgiving and compassionate. My mouth was still agape trying my best to formulate some kind of thank you. But I was cut off by the feeling of his warm smile against my skin. My lips on instinct curled to respond and he let out a small laugh causing chills to run up my spine.







I buried my face into his chest shaking my head lightly, still questioning why this was all working out 200 times better than expected. "Why are you so good to me? You should be hating me right now," I mumbled into his sweatshirt unknowingly letting out another smile into him.








His hand lightly stroked the side of my hair and he gently kissed the top of my head. "First off I could never hate you, because I love you way too much. Second, I can't lie I am kinda mad, but I can't blame you entirely for doing what you did. I haven't been home for a week and I can't expect you to just sit at home and be perfectly fine with me not being around. But I want you to know, that I forgive you. I know this is all new and really hard for you to get used to. And don't you ever think for a second that you don't deserve what you have. You're an amazing girl Leigh, more than you realize. I want you to know that. And I want to just put this behind us. We all make mistakes right? Let's just not let this happen again."






I leaned off his chest and sat up on his lap so I was about eye level with him. I bought my hand to my cheek to push away the last couple of tears that were resting on my cheek and with a little help from Sid they were all gone. His hand stayed on the side of my cheek cupping in gently inside of his palm. Another smile emerged from both us practically simultaneously and we both let out a small laugh.







Sidney took this as his cue to eliminate the space between us with one of the most powerful kisses I've ever experienced. Both his hands cupped my face my lips curled on instinct into a smile against his. He leaned down so that his back was flat against the couch and I lay perfectly on top of him, not once breaking the forgiving kiss that we were sharing. His lips carefully caressed mine and I was responding with every ounce of thankfulness that my body possessed.





This kiss was more than just a kiss. It was a confirmation. It was a confirmation that Sidney and I were not easily broken or faltered. It was a sign of forgiveness of Sidney for me and me for my drunken decisions. But more than anything, it was the affirmation that our love was going to last.

[ CHAPTER FIVE ] --» Practice Makes Perfect

About a week had gone by since that night with Sidney, and I'm slowly beginning to think that it has changed my life. Tessa hasn't talked to me, like full on comfortable conversation, for awhile now but I know she'll come around. Cami, on the other hand, is more than happy for me. She was right, as usual, when she said that Sidney was good for me. He gave me everything, but more importantly, he loved me. And I loved him back just as much.



I twirled a piece of my dark brown hair around my finger as I stared at the screen of my laptop like a friggen zombie. The last thing on my mind right now was this stupid paper. The only thing I've been thinking about was how much I miss Sidney. The team's on a 4 game road trip and to say I'm having trouble dealing is a huge understatement.




I've never had to deal with boyfriends before. So I clearly do know what it's like to miss one, and my rookie dating experience was really starting to show. I sighed into my hands and let out a frustrated grunt hoping that something good would come from it. Instead, I got nothing.



Grumbling things under my breath, I got up off the couch and walked drowsily over to the kitchen to grab something to eat. I finally decided on a delicious looking tub of ice cream and smiled brightly at my discovery. Making my way back to the couch, I caught Tessa out of the corner of my eye. She gave me a quick look and turned away, but then she did something she hadn't done in over a week.



"Hey...I know I've been kinda sketchy lately, but do you wanna like do something tonight? Y'know, just like old times." She sat down on the opposite side of the couch from me, and my mind began running in dizzy circle.



Tessa was my friend. Even through all the stupid fights about Sidney, she was always going to be that one friend I knew I could always count on. So I gave in. "Yeah that sounds good actually. I can't focus enough to even attempt to write this paper. So where do you wanna go?"



"Well, there's this new sports bar a few blocks up the street. I figured we could check that out for a while, sound good?"



I let out a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, I'll probably be ready in like an hour or so."



"Great, I missed you Leigh...let's not fight anymore alright?" She leaned forward and lightly tapped my arm.



I bought my eyes up to meet with hers and smiled, "Yeah, I missed my partner in crime, let's just go crazy tonight alright?"


She let out a small squeal and wrapped her arms around my shoulders for a tight hug. I released my arms and hopped up off the couch. We both scurried off to our rooms to get ready and Cami popped her head out of her room to see what all the excitement was about. She walked over to my room and lightly tapped on the door.


"Where are you going Leigh? I thought you were working on that paper?"



I turned around from my vanity to face her. "Nope," I said with a small laugh and bobby pins sticking out from my teeth, "Change of plans. Me and Tess are gonna check out that new sports bar, you should come."



"You know what, I think I will. I could use a day off from all this damn homework," She answered smiling back at me.



"Ahhh! This is gonna be great! Do you know how long it's been since all three of us have gone out together?! I'm so excited! Did you here that Tess?" I screamed across the hall to Tessa causing her to run across the hallway to my room.



"Hell yeah I did! Get ready girls cause tonight's gonna be crazy!" We all let out an excited squeal and returned to our rooms to get ready.



***



After about an hour of getting ready, we were all finally done and ready to go. I decided on my favorite pair of ripped bullhead jeans, my all white vans, a black halter top, and a black and white flannel shirt from rvca. I pulled my medium length dark brown hair to a loose ponytail on the side and let my bangs fall wherever they desired. I linked arms with my two best friends and we made our way outside to my car. After we all piled into my Jeep, we were off. I hadn't been this excited to go out in a long time, and it was clearly showing.




As soon as we arrived and made our way inside, I made a b-line to the bar to get myself a drink. With Tessa and Cami by my side, I felt indestructible. The three of us together was a great and deadly combination at the same time. But tonight, I didn't care. With school work piling on, and missing the crap out of Sidney, ever single shot placed in front of me was downed within seconds.




I held tightly onto the wooden frame of the bar counter and let one last intoxicating drop of strong Russian alcohol burn down my pipes. I closed my eyes tightly as it slowly made its way down and received a round of hugs from Cami, Tessa, and the group of guys that now surrounded us. One guy was blatantly all over Tessa, and she loved every second of it. Cami was talking with another guy, still clearly keeping her distance because she had a boyfriend. And then it hit me.



Shouldn't I be doing that?



I turned to walk out of the circle when I walked right into a strong chest. I was startled a bit, with my reactions not exactly being cat-like from all I had drank. I bought my eyes up and was captivated by the bright blue pair that glared down at me.



"Where do you think you're going?" he asked in a husky voice.



I couldn't remember where exactly I was going to be honest. So I put on my best smile and simply said, "I was looking for you, silly!"



He smiled and took a seat right in front of me at the bar. Grabbing my hands he pulled me towards him, and I instinctively placed my hands on his thigh. Gazing up into his eyes made me forget that there were a good number of people surrounding me.


"What's your name?" He asked leaning down towards my ear.



"Leigh, what's yours?" I asked leaning up on my tip toes to reach his ear. He smiled down at me and grabbed my other hand with his.




Something in the back of my head was telling me to jerk my hand away and leave, but I was too clouded by my drunken haze to listen to it. "I'm Sean, and I think you are one gorgeous girl Leigh."



My cheeks flushed red, if that was even possible to tell with how much I had drank. Regardless, I smiled back at him as he let go of one of my hands and bought it to the side of my cheek. He leaned down towards me and I surprisingly turned away. Leaving his lips merely centimeters away from my neck.


"What...do you have a boyfriend or something?" He asked somewhat annoyed.



I searched through his bright blue eyes, and came to the conclusion that I had to do this. Sean was 10 times better than gorgeous and I couldn't let this chance slip by me. "Yeah," I answered turning my head back to his, "but he doesn't have to know."



I could feel Sean's smile against my blistering hot skin as he quickly closed the gap between us. Instinctively my hands wound their way around his neck as he continued aggressively attacking my lips with his. I could feel him nibbling on my bottom lip and I graciously let him enter. His hands made their way to the small of my back behind my flannel shirt. I let out a small laugh against his lips and he returned it with a smile into mine. Our lips continued to battle back and forth until I heard my name being screamed from the side of me. Before I could react, I was being pulled off Sean and dragged over to a corner or the bar where no one could really see me.



"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Cami spat at me tightly holding onto my arm.



I slid on my back down to the cool wooden floor and did exactly what any drunk girl would do after she realizes she cheated on her boyfriend. I cried. And everyone knows how girls get when they are drunk, and they cry. To say my face was a waterworks factory was an understatement. And to make it worse, I was too friggen drunk to even get words out.



Fed up with me, Cami pulled me up and walked over to the bar to tell Tessa we were leaving. She gave Cami a small nod and she walked with me out to my car, which she decided was best for her to drive home.



The whole ride home was pathetic. Cami drove and shook her head at me the whole time, and I drowned myself in drunken stupidity as I leaned against the cold glass window.



"I'm...so stupid," I finally managed to say through my heavy tears.



"Yup, you are. And you should feel like a complete idiot Leigh. How could you do that? You know have something good right now with Sidney and this is just going to making every good thing you had with him a whole lot worse. I hope you know that."



God, why did she always have to be fucking right?


"I know Cam, I know! But...what can I do now?! It's not like I can go back there and change it!" I spat back as she parked in front of our apartment.



"Well maybe you should've started with, 'oh hey random guy at the bar I don't even know, my name's Leigh. I think you're really cute and all, but I can't hook up with you tonight, or any other night because I'M DATING FUCKING SIDNEY CROSBY!' Seriously Leigh, how could you be so stupid. This is just going to complicate things with you and him so much, and don't look for me to help and bail you out on this one. I should've known better than to think that you really changed. Some people never will. C'mon, let's go inside."


I nodded and followed sheepishly behind her, like a little kid that just got in trouble with their mom in public. Once we got inside, I made a b-line to my room. I changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and crawled into my bed, with a few tears still trickling down my cheek. I reached across to my nightstand to turn off my light when my hand knocked against my now vibrating phone. I had a voicemail and deliriously put the phone to my ear to listen who it was. I rolled my eyes at the automated voice as I punched in my password, but what I heard after made my blood run cold.


First voice message: Hey Leigh it's me, we're in the airport in Phoenix right now and should probably be home tomorrow morning. I miss you and can't wait to see you tomorrow. Love you.


End of message.

to anyone who reads this!

hey guys,


it's been a few days since i've updated, and i was just wondering if you read the story if you could drop a couple comments to let me know how i'm doing. it's very encouraging. thanks !

Practice Makes Perfect [ SIDNEY CROSBY ] --» Chapter 4

My warm tears continued to fog up the cool glass window. Still heavily sobbing, I wiped the side of my face with my jacket sleeve to try and stop these incessant tears. I never knew that loving someone could hurt so much. And I could have never known that Sidney Crosby would be the one person to make me realize it.






I buried my head into my jacket as I heard the driver's side door open. Sidney climbed up into his seat, blatantly staring at me, and probably confused out of his mind since I was still clearly upset by everything.






"Leigh...Leigh don't cry. Please don't cry," he said softly nudging my side to try and get me to look at him. "Please, I'm sorry...I know I was kind of a dick in there before, and I'm sorry. Please, can you at least look at me?"





Slowly, I bought my head up from behind the walls of my jacket collar. My eyes were red and puffy and my makeup had run tracks down the side of my cheeks. I looked horrible to put it somewhat nicely, but right now that was the least of my problems.




Sid reached across the center console and grabbed my hand with his, "I'm sorry Leigh, I really am...don't you believe me? I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I know I was sorta being an ass in--"





"Sort of?!" I snapped, snatching my hand out of his grip. "You have no idea how much that one little 'snap' hurt me Sid. I really, really liked you, more than you'll probably ever know. I should've known better, you're just like every guy I've ever dated. They always find a way to hurt me. I knew I should've never gone through with this..."





"With what? What are you saying Leigh? Was this some kind of bet or something? Am I some kind of game to you?" He said clearly offended by my last sentence.





"No...You're not...I was just...You're not part of a bet, at least not anymore. The night I met you at that club, I was with one of my best friends and we always have these stupid bets to see who can hook up with the better guy. When you called me up to go talk to you, I took that as my perfect opportunity. I never expected any of this to happen afterwards. I'm not the kind of girl to go out with her boyfriend every night. I'm more like the complete opposite. But ever since I met you, everything about me is changing. There's just something about you that makes me want to be different. And when I see you my heart starts beating like so fast to the point where I can barely even think straight. Everything about you brings out those stupid clichés in me, and I think it's because...because...because I love you Sid. There happy now?! I said it."







I ran a hand through my hair and nervously looked out of my window trying my hardest not to make eye contact with him. I had never said those three words to anyone, and meant them as much as I do now. My breath began to condensate on the window as I continued to stare out into the dark Pittsburgh night awaiting some kind of response from Sidney.





I quickly turned my head around as I saw him get out of the car. My heart sank to its all time low. I knew right then and there I had messed everything up between us for good, and that my whole let's spill my guts tactic had failed me. My face was met with a cold gust of air against my already slightly red cheek. I noticed that my door was open, and Sid was waiting outside the car with his arms wide open.






My heart fluttered beneath my chest seeing his big green eyes, and his smile as I climbed out of my seat and jumped into his arms. I buried my face into his jacket and felt a couple tears slide down my cheek. Sidney leaned down and gently kissed the top of my head making me realize that no matter what my mind was telling me, something in my heart let me know that this was right. I lifted my head off of his chest and gazed up into his perfect green eyes.






For the first time in my entire life, I was in love and vulnerable. But even scarier, was the fact that I was perfectly okay with it with Sid's arms tightly wrapped around me. I had never felt this way about someone, EVER, and to tell you the truth it was pretty scary how much I liked him. The feeling of his warm smile against my skin made every doubt erase from my mind.





He placed his index finger beneath my chin and lifted it up so my lips could softly meet with his. I could feel my knees grow weaker with every touch of his cool lips against mine, and the tip of my fingers were sparking with some kind of tingling. He tilted his head down and continued to gently caress my lips with his, leaving me even more mesmerized than before by his amazing kissing abilities. We pulled away simultaneously for the first time feeling satisfied by each others presence. He leaned his forehead down against mine and his toothy smile radiated against my cool skin. I placed my hand lightly onto the side of his rapidly reddening cheek which caused him to flinch back a bit from the touch of my frozen fingers. I smiled back at him and almost as if on cue, he said the only thing I'd been dying to hear from him all night.








"I love you too Leigh," he said creating a white cloud of condensed air in between us. I smiled through it and my lips found their way onto his for another quick kiss. He curled his lips into a smile against mine as he pulled away and ran around to the driver's side of the car. I let out a small laugh at his sudden jolt of excitement and got back into the car.






"Where's the fire?" I asked sarcastically as he clipped in his seatbelt and pulled out of the parking lot.




"You'll see," he said sending a devilish smile in my direction.




I nodded and kept quiet for the rest of the ride. We pulled into the driveway of an unfamiliar home, at least for me but before I could even think about where we were, Sid was opening up my door and pulling up the front steps.






"Sid," I said slightly laughing as he opened the door and pulled me down the hallway, "whose house is this?"





As soon as I finished asking him he closed a dark wooden door behind me and flicked on the light. His hands found the side of my hips and pulled me in closer. I smiled up at him as he leaned his head down closer to mine.






"It's my house...just got it this year...you like?" He smiled down at me leaning in even closer, with his lips barely centimeters away from mine.





"Yeah, yeah I do," I whispered back, "But I like you a lot more." I smiled one last time before closing the gap between us.






He aggressively began to respond, while he mumbled "Good" into my lips, only making me laugh a little more. His lips were passionately attacking mine as he began to push me forward towards his bed. My legs hit the side of his bed first and he gently knocked me down onto the sea of covers, not once breaking the lock of his lips from mine. I curled my lips into a smile against his as I felt the weight from his body on top of me. Our lips continued to battle back and forth for some kind of dominance until the need for air overcame the both of us.






He rolled off of me and leaned his back against the head of the bed. I smiled up at him and crawled my way back up to his side, nuzzling my face into his dress shirt. I could feel his smile radiating from above me and my heartbeat sped up with each passing second. But by now, that was starting to become my natural feeling whenever I was around Sidney.






He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of my head. "Stay here with me tonight?"






I shot my head up to look at him as soon as those five words left his mouth. I had a feeling I knew why he wanted me to stay, and I surprisingly didn't want it to be that way.I knew if I did stay, I'ddo something to mess this all up, and wasn't about to mess up the best thing that's happened to me in, forever."I-I dunno Sid, if the only reason you want me to stay here is because you want to--"





"Who said I wanted to do that?" He interrupted tightening his grip on my center. "Maybe I just need some company. The house does tend to get kind of lonely. We don't have to do anything. We can just cuddle up here and watch a movie or something. Sound good? Please Leigh, I really want you to stay."






I slowly blinked and sighed. He really knew how to convince a girl to stay. "Fine, but I need something to sleep in cause I refuse to sleep in my jeans."






He let out a small laugh and released me as he got up off the bed and walked over to his drawer. He pulled out one of sections and quickly threw a shirt and pair of his boxers, landing them perfectly in front of me.






"Don't worry," he said walking towards me, "I've got you covered." And with that he leaned in and gave me another short but fiery kiss.

Practice Makes Perfect [ SIDNEY CROSBY ] --» Chapter 3

It was true. I was falling for him, and at a scarily fast pace.



I sat silently in the center of my bed with my head lying in the center of my palms. I let out a frustrated grunt and flipped my head forward only to see Cam standing in the center of my doorway, with Tessa lingering behind her.



"Leigh, what's wrong did something happen on your date this morning?" Cam asked taking a step into my room.




"Date?! What the?! You never told me you went on a date this morning! What's gotten into you?!" Tessa asked clearly confused grabbing onto my doorframe with both hands.





I reluctantly bought my eyes to meet with Tessa's piercing green ones. “I-I-I told you yesterday Tess on the way home from the club remember? I told you I met Sidney Crosby and he--"




"You went out on a date with him?! I thought...I didn't think that...Wow. I can't believe you Leigh, I thought you were in with me on this one. Hook up for one night, and NOTHING ELSE. I can't believe you let some stupid hockey player do this to you!"





"How could you say that Tess? If anything you should be happy for your friend," Cam said sitting down next to me on the bed and putting her arm around my shoulder. "Now tell me Leigh, did something go wrong this morning with Sid? Is that why you're freaking out?"





I bought my eyes to Cam's, and I could see the true sincerity drip off of her with every blink over her soft brown eyes. I slowly pushed a piece of my hair behind my eyes and lightly shook my head.




"No...No Cam, it's actually the exact opposite. He's so nice, and sweet, and everything he does is just so nice and I know this sounds completely retarded, but I'm scared. I'm scared that this is like too good to be true or something. It's all happening so fast, and I feel like it's my fault. I went after him initially but I didn't think that it was going to turn out like this. The way he was looking at me today, and the things he was saying he's clearly looking for something serious and I don't know if I can do that. I don't know how to be a girlfriend! Let alone a good one. I just know if I let this happen, I'll end up doing something completely horrible and end up hurting him. And I don't want to hurt him Cam, he's so amazing and he deserves someone that's so much better than me..."






I pushed a lingering tear off the side of my cheek as Cam pulled me in closer against her side. I could here Tessa stomp out of the room still obviously frustrated by my change of heart. Still upset by the whole situation, I leaned my head on top of Cam's shoulder.




"You know what I think?" She said softly letting go of me.




I readjusted myself on the bed and bought my head back up, "What?" I said breathily.




"I think you like him...a lot, don't you?"



I smiled helplessly. She always read me like an open book. "Do I really make it that obvious? But that's the thing though, I'm afraid I'm gonna mess all this up and--"





"Okay first off, all of this "I’m scared, I’m afraid" bull crap is gonna stop now. It is more than obvious that you like this guy, and he clearly likes you too Leigh so just go with it. You never know what could happen. It could be something absolutely amazing."




"Yeah..Yeah you're right Cam. I'm gonna do it, he asked me to go to his game tonight. He's supposed to be picking me up around 5ish I think. He's gonna text me and let me know for sure though."





Cam smiled back at me as she got up off the bed. "Don't let Tessa tell you any different okay? She'll come around eventually, don't stress it Leigh. You're doing the right thing here."




"Thanks Cam," I answered smiling back at her from my bed. Just then my phone began to vibrate on top of my nightstand and I quickly rolled across my bed to reach it. I flipped open my phone and smiled down at it as I saw Sidney's name appear on the screen.



hey i'll come get you around 4:45ish, sound good?


yeah that sounds awesome, can't wait :)




I let one last smile escape my lips as I flipped my phone shut and glanced at bright red numbers on my alarm clock only a few inches away from me. 3:40?!




"Holy shit where does time go in this house?" I said frantically getting off my bed and heading across the hall for a quick shower. Once I got out and changed I began to mess around with my hair trying to find a good look for it, or something that I knew Sid would like.




I decided to put some loose curls into my hair and pull it into a low side ponytail. I searched through my closet for something to wear and finally settled on a pair of dark wash bullhead jeans and a pens shirt that I borrowed from Camilla. I grabbed my black northface jacket and my purse and took another glance at the clock, 4:43. Just on time, I thought.




Just then my phone began to ring and I quickly answered once I saw Sid's name pop up on the screen.




"Hey I'm ready," I said smiling into my phone.




"Good, because I'm outside," He answered with a small laugh.




I quickly hung up and made my way outside, but not before shouting goodbye to Cam and Tessa. I made a mad dash to his car disregarding any kind of barriers in my way. I reached the bottom of the concrete stairs and smiled at him through the tinted windows of his silver Range Rover. I sped up and suddenly felt my feet fly out from underneath me. Before I could react my ass was slammed against the freezing cold concrete and Sidney was above me trying his hardest to hold back laughter.





"Are...you...okay?" He asked clearly fighting back the urge to laugh.




"Yeah, I'm fine just some black ice I guess. Feel free to laugh now," I said as he held his hand down to help me up.




He pulled me into his chest for a warm hug, and I smiled into his shirt as the sound of his laugh echoed from above me. "I'm sorry Leigh, I really shouldn't be laughing at you. You are okay right?" Sid said with a playful smile still curled on the corners of his lips.





"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go," I said smiling up at him, and he nodded in agreement. He opened the door for me and I was greeted with a blast of heat, but it felt good.




Sid hopped in on the driver's side and began driving off towards the arena. I glanced over and couldn't help but smile at him in his suit and his little winter hat.




"What?" He asked as we approached a red light.




I shook my head bashfully and turned away from him. "No, it's nothing. You do look cute in that suit though."




A laugh escaped his lips as I turned my head up again to look at him. "Thanks Leigh, you don't look half bad yourself. Did you do something different with your hair? I like it."




His warm smile radiated against my skin. I let out a small laugh and, began to feel my cheeks redden by the second. "Thanks, and yeah I didn't really do too much to it. Just curled it a little, that's all."





"Well I like it," he said softly smiling over at me as he reached over to grab my hand. I smiled back at him while he continued to drive to the arena, and within another 20 minutes he was pulling into the parking lot. By then it was about 5:15 and Sid said he'd introduce me to some people on the team before he had to change and get ready for the game.





He quickly hopped around to the other side of the car to let me out and that same playful smile emerged from the corners of his lips.




"What?" I asked slowly getting out of his car.



"I forgot to give you something," He said calmly closing the distance between us, with my back against the door.






I smiled back at him and pulled on the collar of his jacket. "And what might that be?" I asked with his lips barely centimeters away from mine.





He let out a small laugh and his warm breath radiated against my skin as his lips crashed down onto mine. His soft lips gently caressed mine as I pulled him down closer to me. He pulled away first, as usual driving me even more crazy than the last time he kissed me. He reached out his hand and I graciously took it.





His fingers were perfectly laced in between mine as we walked into the arena and into the Penguins locker room. Sid was greeted with a series of waves followed by raised eyebrows once they all saw me walk in behind him. I nervously followed closer behind him as he made his way over to his stall. Once we reached his locker he released my hand for a second to put away his bag and take off his jacket. I stood awkwardly in front of him watching him nonchalantly put away his things while I felt like a million pairs of eyes were staring at me. I nervously began to fiddle with my fingers making it seem like I was doing something. Finally Sidney turned around.




"Ready?" he said smiling down at me and grabbing onto my hand.




I nodded and he led me over to the side of the locker room where a bunch of guys from the team were standing. "Guys this is my friend Leigh. Leigh, this is Jordan, that's Geno, and right next to you is Max," he said pointing out each of them to me.




I smiled and gave the group a collective nod. I suddenly felt a nervous tension come between the five of us and I didn't have a clue what to say. But suddenly I felt a shoulder bump up against mine and send me awkwardly stumbling to the side and bumping into Sid.





"Lighten up girl we don't bite. At least I don't...I can't make any promises about Staalsy though," Max said with a toothy smile nudging my side again trying to get me to loosen up.




I smiled as I began to feel a little calmer around these guys. "Alright guys, I'm gonna go show Leigh around the rest of the place. I'll be back soon," Sid said pulling me towards the door.
I followed closely behind him but turned around to give all the guys one last wave before we walked out. He showed me around the rest of the arena, at least all the places worth seeing and once the time came around for him to get ready, he gave me the ticket for my seat.
I walked back to the locker room with him and we paused right as we reached the front of the door.





"Well, I have to go get changed. Meet me down here after the game okay?"





"Yup, good luck Sid," I answered smiling up into his big green eyes. I leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his cool pink lips. I was first to pull away this time and I could tell he was beginning to feel like I did, wanting just a little more. I gave him one last quick kiss on the cheek before letting go of his hand and walking down the hallway to try and find my seat.





About an hour and a half later, the game was in full swing and I was surprisingly getting really into it. The Pens were losing, however, to the Sabres and time was running out for the Pens to break even and tie. I hung over my seat anxiously watching Sidney and the boys glide across the now dull white sheet of ice in front of me. I turned my head to the clock in the center of the arena and noticed that there was only 30 seconds left, and they were losing by 1.






The Pens had a face off in their own end and Sid was taking it. He lost it, and right away I could tell he was pissed chasing after the puck deep into their own zone. Buffalo ended up getting a take away with 5 seconds left and shooting in an empty net goal and Sid angrily slapped his stick down on the ice as a silence fell through the whole arena. The horn sounded and I slowly collected my things to go back down to the locker room.





My feet slowly carried me downstairs and I sat down on a bench near the locker room with some other girlfriends of guys on the team and some more media people. The team finally started to trickle out one by one about 30 minutes later. Sid still hadn't come out yet and I started to get kind of worried. I got up off the bench and knocked on the door, not wanting to barge in on anything too serious. Jordan popped his head out the side of the door and gave me a dismal look.




"I don't know if you want to come in here right now. Sid's not exactly in the best mood..."





I persisted and pushed my way around him and into the locker room. I made a B-line for Sid's stall where he sat with his head in his hands staring down at the floor. I gently placed my hand on his back when I reached his stall but he quickly chopped it down. I nervously stepped back from him as he continued to sit there and sulk.




"It's just one game Sid...you'll beat them next time, trust me. You played--"




"Can you please just be quiet Leigh, I really don't want to hear it right now. Just give me a second and I'll drive you home," He said coldly and I took that as my cue to walk away. I made my way towards the door and tried my hardest to fight back the tears that were welling up behind my eyes. I stormed out towards the parking lot and rushed over to his car.







I viciously pulled open the door, and sat inside now taking my turn to sulk. Then I did the only thing I knew how to do when I was in this situation, I called Cam. Frantically I pounded her phone number into my keypad and thank god she quickly answered.






"Hello?" she said curiously from the other side.




"How could I have been so stupid...I should've seen this coming Cam. He doesn't like me like that, I'm just some kind of show toy or something. I go to see him after the game tonight and he doesn't even want to talk to me. I should've known!"




Before Cam could answer, I slammed my phone shut and let the tears rapidly begin to fall down my face. I leaned over against the cool window trying desperately to stop these stupid tears from falling. But it was no use. I had never felt like this about anyone in my entire life, and now that he turned the tables and hurt me even in the tiniest, most insignificant way, I felt it. And it hurt. And that's when I realized it.






I was in love with someone for the first time. And for the first time I was on the other side feeling the painful side of it. And it's all thanks to the one person I can honestly say I've fallen in love with. And that was Sidney Crosby.

Practice Makes Perfect [ SIDNeY CROSBY ] --» Chapter 2

The next morning was the first in about a week that I hadn’t woken up with a blazing hangover. Instead my head was running in circles about what had just happened the night before with me and Sidney Crosby. It still completely dumbfounded me that he asked me out. How does that even work? I don't go out on...dates? NO. I don't date, that's my number one rule. But since I made it up does that mean I'm also allowed to break it? Damnit. I don't know.

I rolled out of my bed and walked drowsily across the hall and into the bathroom. I carefully studied over my face and to say the least, I looked completely lost. My hair was in a messy side ponytail on the side of my head, and I had no makeup on. Enough said. I quickly splashed some cold water onto my face trying to wake myself up and snap out of this, but to no avail. I heard a knock on the door and turned around sharply to see Cam standing there in the doorframe studying my worried appearance.

"What's eating at you Leigh? You look like you just got smacked by a hurricane or something."
I sighed heavily and sat up on the sink and faced her.

"I'm fine...just didn't have a great night of sleep last night. That's all," I lied scratching the side of my head.

"Okay...now do you wanna tell me what really happened now?" she persisted.

Damnit. How did she do that? How did she always know when I was trying to cover something up?! She must be a psychic or something. Or maybe just my best friend.

"Well as ridiculous as it sounds. I got asked out on a date last night," I muttered half heartedly.

"What?! Leigh that's awesome what's his name?!"

"Sidney Crosby..." I mumbled underneath my breath.

"WHAT?! Whoa, wait...So you mean to tell me that last night Sidney Crosby asked you out on a date and instead of being ridiculously excited you're freaking out?! What the hell is wrong with you?! I know you don't like to date but whatever, SCREW THAT IDEA! It's friggen Sidney Crosby! Leigh you have to go on this date, you never know you might actually like it. Or even him. Just do it, please?"

"Fine," I huffed hopping off the sink, "I'm doing it for you. Not because I want to. I just can't jump into this whole 'dating' thing just yet Cam. I'm not exactly the greatest girlfriend material."

"Relax," she said grabbing onto my shoulders, "It's gonna be fine. And I bet you're gonna have so much fun. From all the stuff I see about him on TV, he looks like he's a nice guy. Just go tonight and have a good time. Okay?"

I nodded slightly and gave Cam a small smile and a hug. "Why do you always have to be right?" I said mumbling behind her ear.

"Cause I'm your best friend Leigh, that's why. It's basically my job," She replied matter-of-factly.

We both laughed a little and she walked out of the bathroom and back into her room. I looked myself over in the mirror again when I heard my phone vibrating back in my room. I scurried over to my nightstand and lifted my phone to see a text from Sidney. My heart skipped a beat as I debated opening the text or not.

I pushed my thumb up the center of my phone and slid it up to see his text.

Hey if you aren't doing anything right now, do you want to grab some coffee? I just got out of morning skate

My bangs fell in front of my face as my eyes remained concentrated on the words that lay in front of me. About a minute passed and I still hadn't sent a reply. So I panicked.

"CAAAAMMM!" I shouted and within seconds Camilla was running into my room with three bobby pins sticking out of her teeth.

"What?!" She mumbled in between the pins.

"Sid just texted me and asked me if I want to go get coffee with him. What do I say?!"

"Yes or no Leigh. This isn't the hard part," She replied sarcastically pulling the three bobby pins out from in between her lips.

"Ha ha, very funny. You're not helping! I need help!"

"Okay," she said taking a seat on my bed, "Well do you want to go?"

I lifted my head up and my bangs flew over my face, "That's the thing Cam, I don't know! I don't know what I want to do!"

She got up off my bed and walked towards my door, "Well you better figure it out soon Leigh. Because there are plenty of girls in this city that would die to be you right now. Just think about it. I'm sure you'll make the right choice."

With that she walked out of my room and left me there still searching for an answer even though I'm pretty sure I knew what I was going to say. I grabbed my phone again and replied a quick, Yeah definitely, to Sidney.

He quickly responded and told me to meet him at a coffee shop that wasn't to far from my apartment. The anticipation flooded through me as I ran back into the bathroom to take a quick shower. I got out and proceed across the hall to my room to try and find something decent to wear. I pulled open my closet and found my favorite pair of bullhead jeans. I put an old white shirt while I dried off my long, dark brown hair. After running my blow dryer through my hair and straightening it for a couple minutes, I figured my hair looked decent enough for me to go out. I grabbed my RMU hockey shirt and threw that on and pulled on my winter jacket. I didn’t even bother to put on make up. Thinking that maybe he’d be turned off by it. After aimlessly walking around my room for a couple minutes, from what it looked like, I was ready for a...date?
I walked down the hall and poked my head into Cam's room. "I'm leaving now. I'll be back soon, I hope...”

"Aww, I knew you'd go Leigh!" she said sitting on the center of her bed taking a break from typing on her laptop.

"I'll see you later Cam," and I swiftly turned on my heel and walked towards the door. My face was attacked by the cool winter air and my eyes narrowed from the piercing wind against my face. I made a mad dash for my car and quickly cranked up the heat. Slowly I pulled my white Jeep Grand Cherokee out of the parking lot and drove down the street towards the coffee shop. About 5 minutes later I pulled in the parking lot and quickly hopped out of the car tightly slamming the car door behind me.

I pulled my hood tightly over my head and pulled down on the strings to protect my face from the vicious winter cold that surrounded me. I opened up the door and was greeted with a huge heater blasting down right above me. My whole body felt relieved by the heat but I was snapped out of my warm trance when I heard Sidney call my name.

I looked up and saw him walking over to me from a seat about a couple feet away from me. I smiled as he walked towards me and pulled me into a huge hug.

"Cold?" He asked smiling down at me.

"Just a little, but I'm a lot warmer now," I smiled back searching his big green eyes.

"Well I'm glad. Let's go sit over there," He said leading me to a booth in the back corner of the shop. It was away from the windows so not too many people could see him so we wouldn't be bothered. I think he liked it that way.

"So what'd you do last night after I left?" I asked sitting down.

"Oh nothing really, just sat around and talked with the guys. No other girls though, if that's what you're asking."

I let out a small laugh, "No that wasn't what I was asking, but that's good to know. I didn't do anything either when I got home. I just crashed in bed right away."

"Sounds like an exciting night," He said extending a smile in my direction, "I'm not gonna lie though. After we kissed last night Leigh I couldn't stop thinking about you."

My face blushed 30 shades of red, "Aww, Sid that's so sweet. I'm not gonna lie, I did a lot of a...thinking, about you too last night. In a good way of course."

"Well that's reassuring," He said letting out a small laugh. Right then the waitress came over to our booth and asked us what we'd like to get. I got cinnamon white hot chocolate, and Sid just ordered some Irish Cream coffee. The waitress hovered over the table, incessantly asking if that's all that we wanted, but really only looking at Sid. I felt a sudden urge to punch her rise from my stomach and my eyes narrowed a glare at her, trying to get her to leave. Finally after some coaxing from Sid, she left but not without me shooting one last glare in her direction.

"Well that's an attractive face Leigh," he said sarcastically.

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, "Are you kidding me?! Did you see her she was so eyeing you up that whole time, and I'm sitting right here! Does she think I'm blind or retarded or something?! Ughh, that's so annoying. Like, I'm obviously here with you and she just butts on in trying to--"

"Leigh, calm down," He said reaching across the table, "I'm here with you, not her. Right now to me, you're all that matters. And did I mention how ridiculously beautiful you look today?"
His hand grasped onto mine and sparks of electricity flew through my entire body. His warm smile sent chills up my spine, and I quickly returned it.

"Thanks," I said smiling down at our intertwined fingers, "I don't even have any make up on so I can't look that good."

"Exactly," he answered quickly, "You look even better, you're beautiful. I mean that Leigh, you're gorgeous. With or without make up."

I lifted my head up and my eyes were met with his soft green ones. "You don't have to say that...I honestly don't deserve to hear things like that at all I--"

"What are you talking about Leigh? Of course you do. You're a really cool girl, and I kinda have the feeling you don't hear things like that enough. You do deserve it. Don't let anyone tell you anything different."

He squeezed tightly down on my hand as the waitress came back with my hot chocolate and his coffee. Sid turned and gave her a look and she quickly scurried away. I let out a small laugh.

"You didn't have to do that. I think my death glares would've eventually gotten her away," We both shared another laugh, and Sid stroked the top of my hand with his thumb. We fell silent for a while as we both gingerly sipped on our drinks. His eyes fell on mine and I lifted my eyes up from behind my giant mug.

"Yeah but, I just figured I'd get it over with quickly you know. But back to what I was saying before. I really like you Leigh, and I was wondering if you wanted to go to my game tonight? It's at home, and I can get you good tickets."

"Are you bribing me with good hockey tickets? I don't know if I can be bribed that easily," I said jokingly.

"Well maybe this will help," he said leaning forward. I smiled and my lips were soon captured with his in a senses numbing kiss. His warm hand stroked the side of my cheek as his strong lips continued to carefully caress mine. He pulled away a moment later and left me leaning on the table, eyes shut, still wanting more. But the scary part was, I liked it.

When I opened my eyes and saw him smiling at me, my heart pounded against the walls of my chest. Something about him was different. There was just something about him that drew me towards him. He had me under his spell, and I was uncharacteristically fine with all of it.

"Let's go," He said getting out of the booth.

I nodded slightly and grabbed my jacket and got out of the seat. I walked over to his side and he carefully laced his fingers again in between mine. Hand in hand, we walked out the door towards the parking lot. He walked me over to my car and stood in front of me with my back leaning against the driver's side door.

"So I'll come pick you up and take you to the game alright. I'll show you some of the arena, sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," I answered smiling up at his reddening face.

He leaned down and gave me one last quick lingering kiss, which once again left me wanting a little more. "Bye Leigh, I'll text you when I'm on my way tonight."

"Alright Bye Sid," I said and leaned up and snuck in one last kiss before he walked back to his car. Once his silhouette was out of my view, I hopped into my car and quickly started it up. I turned up my music as the engine began to warm up, and that's when it hit me.

Crap, I'm falling for Sidney Crosby.

Practice Makes Perfect [ SIDNEY CROSBY ] --» Chapter 1

I leaned my small five foot four inch frame towards my mirror in the bathroom of my apartment, which I shared with my two best friends. I carefully appliead a sufficient amount of make up and continued to play around with my pin straight dark brown hair. I studied every feature of my face down to the pore trying to make myself look as perfect as possible. I needed to if I wanted to get what I wanted tonight. And that was a hot guy to bring back with me.

My whole life I guess, no actually I know, I have always been considered a slut, or some type of tease. But what was even more suprising about this, was that I was totally comofortable in this role. I thrived off the attention that guys gave me, and the evil glares that I got from girls surrounding me. I didn't care, as long as I had my two best friends my life, as I saw it, was perfect.

I walked out of the bathroom and into my room across the hall. I glanced over at my friend Camilla, Cam for short, who was swooning on the phone with her boyfriend of forever. I rolled my eyes and continued to get ready to go out tonight. I was never one to go steady and have a boyfriend. I didn't see the point, when there were so many guys out there to get your hands on. Why be committed to just one? I ruffled my hand through my long hair and searched through my closet for something to wear. Standing there in merely a pair of black boy shorts and a white tank top, my eyes ran all over my closet trying to find something that would suit my needs for tonight. Finally I decided on a pair of dark wash bullhead jeans with a few rips in them here and there, a light grew halter top, and of course my favorite pair of all white vans that I wore pretty much every where. I walked over to the mirror against my wall and gave myself another look over up and down.

"Perfect," I whispered quietly to myself, "Cam, Tess let's go!"I swung open my door and walked into my other friend Tessa's room.

"Let's go Tess, many boys await us," I said leaning against her dresser.

"Yeah, I'm ready let's go. Cam's not coming tonight, I think Trey is coming to visit or something," She answered walking out of the door slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Whatever, she doesn't know what she's missing!" I linked my arm with Tess's and we were out the door and down the walking down the street within seconds.

"Leigh, I'll bet you ten bucks that I get a better guy tonight," Tessa said turning towards me as we waited in line to get in.

"You're on. I hope you enjoy defeat."

She rolled her eyes and I let a small laugh escape from my lips. Just then my eyes were caught with a group of guys al piling out of a big black car. I ran my hand through my hair nervously and continued to inspect them all as best as I could through the crowd. I leaned up on my tip toes to try and see, but it really was no use. I bent back down, and watched what I thought was the last of the guys walk into the club. I realized that scoring one of them would definetely put me on top of Tessa for our little bet, and I smiled devilishly at my new found prey. We had reached the front of the line and I showed the bouncer my (fake) ID, without a question he nodded and I threw him a little smile as I walked in.

In the center of the doorway I stood to wait for Tessa. She took a step towards the door, but was cut off by a somewhat tall man briskfully walking past her side. Without even noticing he bumped into my shoulder as he quickly walked through the doorway. I was taken back a bit by the hit, and I turned back to see if I could get a good look at who that could've been. When I turned around my eyes met with his for more than just a second. My electric blue eyes intially shot him glares, but soon softened when I saw a rediciously goregeous pair of hazel green eyes looking back at me. I turned away quickly, almost instantly, when I noticed them and could feel my cheeks growing redder by the minute.

I never do that, what the hell was going on? Whatever, just forget about it and go find one of those guys from before, I thought. I grabbed Tessa's hand and we put our stuff down in a small room in the front and headed over to the bar. "You ready Tess?" I said loudly over the ear blasting music coming from all directions.

"Oh it's on Leigh. Hey, can we get 2 shots each of Barcardi lemon?" She said flashing the bartender a small smile."Surely," he answered tossing a small wink at her which caused us both to laugh.

He returned quickly with our shots and we wasted no time knocking both of them back. I was about to order a couple more for us when I felt a strong hand wrap around my arm.

"Excuse m'am, but I was told to escort you up to the VIP lounge, there's someone up there who wants to meet you!" The huge man said leaning down closely to my ear so he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

Hesitantly, I looked at Tessa hoping for a good response from her. But she just gave her hand a small shooing wave for me to go. She obviously wanted to talk to that bartender . I sighed and let the huge body guard lead me around the main dancing area and up a flight of stairs to a VIP lounge. I was escorted over to a small booth where a guy with medium length clean cut dark brown hair was sitting. I flipped my hair over my shoulder as the body guard let go of my arm and I kneeled down into the seat of the booth.

"Hi, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for bumping into you before. It was really rude of me. Oh, and my name's Sidney by the way," He said calmly reaching across the table to shake my hand.

A small smile began to curl up on the side of my lips as I bought my hand from underneath the table. "It's no problem really. And it's totally not rude, trust me I've experienced much worse. But let's not get into that, I'm Leigh."

The feeling of his hand against mine gave me a rediculous set of chills. My mind went to a blank sheet as I marveled at his hazel green eyes. He pulled his hand back and I was a bit suprised since I was still in somewhat of a daze.

"So how old are you Leigh?" He asked folding his arms in front of him on the table.

"I'm 20 right now, I'll be 21 on New Year's Day. What about you?"

"Just turned 21 in August. It's nothing special really, except for the fact that now I'm 100% legal."I let out a small laugh and tilted my head to the side still concentrating my gaze on his.

"So do you wanna go dance or something?" I asked trying to spice up the conversation.

"I don't really dance, but how about we go over there in the back room. I like talking to you, I wanna get to know you a little better," He replied turning one side of his lips into a smile.

This was it, I thought. This will definetly bring me 20,000 miles over Tessa, she should know better than to challange me at anything. He got up out of the booth and stuck out his hand to help me up. I could feel his hand loosening its grip underneath me, so I gave it a small squeeze to let him know I wanted it there. He laughed a little as we walked in silence to a back room with a couch and a table full of drinks. He sat down and I sat about a foot away from him, Indian style on the couch.

"So are you from Pittsburgh?" He asked taking a small sip of his drink, which I was pretty sure was Jack Daniels.

"Yup, born and raised. I go to RMU now for college, it's alright I guess. What about you, where are you from?"

"Originally from Canada, Nova Scotia actually. But I've been in Pittsburgh for almost 4 years now since I got drafted. I like it down here though, it's nice."

"Wait," I said turning my head in confusion, "Got drafted? What are you some kind of athlete superstar or something?"

He smiled back a bit reluctantly and stretched his arms back behind him. "Well...yeah. I play hockey for the Penguins."

"Oh my god! You're Sidney Crosby! No way! I can't believe I didn't even realize! I'm such a ditz sometimes, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I--"

"No, no it's alright," he interrupted, "It's actually better that way. You wouldn't believe how many girl just throw themselves on me because of who I am. It's flattering I guess, but that's not what I want."I raised an eyebrow and began to move in on the attack.

"Oh, I see. So what exactly do you want?" I said inching a little closer towards him.I could see the nervousness building up inside of him as he noticed the distance narrowing between us.

"I don't know...I just want a cool girl, who'll accept me for who I am but not think anything of it you know? I just want someone...normal."

"I have my normal moments," I said inching even closer to him. This time he responded pulling me onto his lap and I let out a small playful laugh.

This was it. It's now or never Leigh.

I bought my left leg over both of his and was comfortably straddling him. I smiled at his reddening cheeks and ran one of my hands through the side of his hair. He smiled up at me in response, which cause a couple hundred butterflies to erupt in my stomach. I leaned in closer to him and moved my lips slowly to the side of his ear. I was always such a tease, and I loved every second of it.

"I want to be that girl," I whispered seductively into his ear, and he reacted quickly turning my head slightly towards him and bringing his lips up to mine. I curled my lips into a smile against his as his soft lips gently carressed mine. He wrapped his hands around my back as he pushed his lips a little harder against mine sending shocks of electricity up my spine. His hands began to roam up and down my sides and I released a small giggle into his swollen pink lips. I began to nibble on his bottom lip pleading for entrance, but he pulled away with a reluctant look plastered all over his face.

"Sid, what's wrong? Did I do something--"

"No! Yes! I-I...I don't know!" He answered frantically, "I barely even know you Leigh, I never do stuff like this. EVER. But I really like you, don't get me wrong. I guess it's just a little sudden for me, that's all. I'm sorry."

"Aww, it's okay," I said leaning back into him, but he quickly pushed me back lightly.

"No Leigh, why don't we just slow down. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. I really like you a lot, and I feel like the back room of a club is not the place where I wanted to kiss you. I personally think you deserve a little better than that."

I rolled off his lap and sat slouched down next to him. I turned my head up to look at him, as he apologetically gazed down at me.

"Well I don't know about that. I'm not exactly--"

"Let me take you out tomorrow," He insisted grabbing onto my hand. "It'll be fun, and we can get to know each other better. You're a cool girl Leigh, I wanna get to know you."

"Yeah that sounds like fun. It's a date," I said hesitantly. DATE?! I NEVER go on dates! What am I saying?!

"Awesome, here's my number I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah sounds great," I muttered half heartedly. He may of noticed, but thankfully Tessa had sent a text to distract me.I flipped it open running a hand through my hair and leaning forward on my knees nervously biting down on my bottom lip. I ran my eyes quickly over Tess's text which read:

let's go, NOW

I turned to Sidney who was patiently rolling his thumbs over each other waiting for me to finish. "I have to go Sid. It was really nice meeting you, I'll be waiting for your call tomorrow," I said lightly shaking my hand on top of his knee.

"Alright, do you want me to walk you back downstairs?" He asked leaning up off the couch. Always the nice guy, that's what he was. And I couldn't believe I agreed to go on a date with him. But there's just something about him that just--whatever. I need to get out of here.

"No that's alright, I'll be fine. Thanks anyway though. I'll see you tomorrow, bye Sidney." I got up off the couch and crashed my face into his chest for a quick hug. I smiled into his shirt as I took in his intoxicating scent. A few seconds later I pulled away, and gave him one last wave before walking back downstairs.

After a few moments of searching, I finally found Tessa standing by the door with my things. "So spill right now. I didn't see you all night since that huge body guard guy dragged you off. Where'd did you go? Did you hook up with someone?!" She asked frantically as we walked out of the door into the cool night air.

"Well that's a lot of questions for me to answer, but tomorrow I'm going out with Sidney Crosby."