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.
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