New chapter up!

Chapter 2 of A Different Breed is now up on my 'Short Stories' blog!
Enjoy!!!!

-M

Pittsburgh Excursion, and moments with sexy hockey players*

Alright, so Erin and Amanda and I drove to Pittsburgh last Wednesday for the hockey game! Now, since non of us had to work, we spent the night at Amanda’s on Tuesday and then got an early start the next morning. We hopped on the turnpike and took it all the way* Good times!

We arrived at the arena hoping to see the guys after they came out from the morning skate, but we weren’t sure when that would be. So, umbrellas in tow (it had been iffy all morning) we went down and waited with a group of people for the players. The only person who stopped was Sid, and we all have his signature on things I believe.

Decided on the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, DELISH! And then we waddled (yeah, the Factory will do that to ya*) to the book store there on the South Side shopping area. Found a couple magazines about hockey for Erin, and Amanda and I both picked up a new romance novel with the main guy being a hockey player. We’re a bit obsessed recently, but it’s not our fault* It’s theirs!!

One the way back to Mellon Arena we drove by Diesel (famed nightclub) and Max’s house. What… it’s right there, don’t judge!

Got back to the arena and changed into our game outfits! Then it was down to the gate to wait for them to come in. then we would yell good luck or something after they parked. Well, I guess I should mention that we gave a Christmas card to the one sign-in lady, in hopes that she could get Godsy to sign it for Miriya! Anyways…

Max comes driving in, and my sign for the game was about him. It said ‘I just wanna GOBBLE Max up!’ Well, he gets out of the car and when he’s almost below us we yelled good luck to him. He looks up, sees the sign, and goes “Gobble Gobble,” with a head jiggle and everything! I didn’t know whether to laugh or just stand there with my mouth open. Pretty sure I did both… LOL
Amanda had her sign up for Dupes and Addsy. One side said ‘Super Duper’ and the other simply said ‘Yeah Craig Adams.’ They were both very appreciative of the fact that they had a fan* LOL
We joked that Adams probably ran into the locker room all excited about his blonde girl with a sign, and then Duper would burst his bubble with a “Oh yeah, well, I have a sign too. And mine was a blonde girl! So ha!” (This comes into play later, I swear!)

Oh, and, when Godard came in, he DID sign the card (he and Mir have this connection, it’s pretty awesome!), and he even wrote a personalized note! How freaking sweet is that?!

Lord, how could I forget about this… Amanda is in lust with Brooks Orpik ok? But she can never get up the nerve to tell him good luck or anything like that. Well, when he went walking by to go into the arena, I nudged her and she finally spoke to him. With a murmured ‘Good Luck tonight Brooks’ he finally acknowledged her. But instead of a thanks, it was just a piercing stare. And she just about passed out onto the walk way! I’m pretty sure we could’ve lost the game and she wouldn’t have cared*


Well, onto the arena adventure*

As soon as our tickets were scanned we booked it down to the glass so that we could be there when the guys came out for warm-ups! I had my sign pressed against the glass, and after Max came out he glanced over, saw the sign again and laughed. It was a pretty good sign if I do say so myself*

We were taking pictures, and Amanda kept turning her sign so that Duper and Adams got an equal amount of love* And then I stopped watching them and focused on Sid. I can’t help it, it’s natural*

So, here I am, not paying any attention, minding my own business, etcetera etcetera; when all of a sudden the pane of glass is shaking and there’s a body flung up against it. I see a rush of jersey, a giant 25, and I shrieked! I couldn’t help myself, it was pretty shocking!! Seriously scared the bejesus out of me, and I had to kind of crouch down to try and get my breath back. Jumped-up Frenchman… LOL

He and Cookie seemed to get a big kick out of it, I did not. I think he scared 10 years off of my life! But the fact that he loved the sign so much, yeah, I guess that was worth it*
We won the game, didn’t get on the jumbo-tron, but it was a good game anyway*


And now the final part*

We like to wait for the guys to come out after the games as well. We yell congratulations for the ones who scored goals. Maybe someone who landed a really nice hit, things like that. And that night was no different.

When Max came out, I think I freaked out a little* haha! I yelled MAX and waited until he turned to hold up my sign one more time. He smiled (HUGE SMILE!!!), gave me a thumbs up, and ‘gobbled’ me once more. So I had to tell him good luck in New York, and he let out an excited “Whooo!” noise that was surprisingly high-pitched*

And Brooks was the final guy out, and Amanda was standing above his car. So, we kind of forced her to talk to him again. And she told him good game, which he responded to with a thank you. And then she wished him a Happy Thanksgiving and he did the same. I think she died a little that night* HAHAHA! We were walking back to the car and she let out a squeal of pure excitement*


There were other parts to the night, and there’s funny things that happened the night we played Boston and won in overtime… but I can’t focus enough right now to write them*

Middle School Hell...

Sorry I haven't been updating my stories as much as I'd like to... I have an actual job now and I haven't been able to figure out how to balance... I'm working on it tohugh! I promise!! Today though... man, today just made me so happy that it's the weekend!

Never teach middle school... never sub for middle school... if you can help it, never GO NEAR a middle school!

I told myself on Tuesday when I filled in throughout the day as teachers went to their IEP meetings that I would NEVER return to be a substitute here. I don't even know why, but to me, I'd rather take on those scary teenagers of the high school! It's weird, but it's like there's less discipine... I know that sounds crazy! But AHHHH!!

So today I'm woken up at 7 o'clock in the morning and asked if I'll fill in for an 8th grade math teacher... and for some unholy reason I agreed! I think I must be masochistic... that's the only thing I can say to explain why I said yes.

1st period wasn't bad. They were the more gifted children and there were only 8 kids there, compared to the 24 that should've been! Some field trip. This made me a little giddy because I was thinking to myself, 'maybe all my classes will be like this.' Oh how mistaken I was... sort of...

2nd period there were 5 kids! FIVE!!! They were pretty good too, and I'm starting to feel really good about myself and the situation.

3rd period was my prep time... and since I had nothing better to do I went downstairs to visit a friend who was also filling in and had the same prep period! We shared horror stories of previous assignments and laughed at the stupidity of some children.

4th period was lunch. It's split into 3 sections, 6th, 7th, and 8th. For some reason, unknown to me, I had lunch duty and then lunch and then lunch duty. Why not just put my lunch at the beginning or end instead of fucking me over like that?? Makes no sense to me! But I had 'bricks and blood' and that made my day almost calm. For those who I've never explained this to, that's code for grilled cheese and tomato soup! It was one of my favorite lunches while I was in school, and after being out of the system for 5 years.... it's still as good as ever!! I was in the teacher's lounge, using the bathroom and grabbing a drink, and some of the teachers were like, 'good luck next period.' This didn't make me happy, but I was still in my post-blood and no student-filled classes. oh how naive...

5th period was complete hell!!! Almost all 27 of the students were there, and they were loud because they had just come up from lunch and didn't want to quiet down yet... I'm generally a nice, easy-going person. Ask any of my friends... I'm 'Little Miss Bubbly' and I don't think I cracked a smile for most of that hour of class. I had to yell at them to be quiet so many times that I finally just gave up and when one of them started getting out of line I wrote them a pass to the office to get reamed out. I just didn't care. And that made me feel horrible. But I couldn't take it. I've never been so disrespected before, and I didn't like it. After the fifth kid walked to the office the principal just came down to see whta could be done. If I tohught I was loud... man, he is one scary som'bitch! I just didn't want to deal with any more demons, so when the bell rang I almost hitmy head off the desk a few times...

But then something amazing happened. Someone must be looking out for me, and not want me to hurt myself... because when the bell rang for class to start I had 3 people sitting at the desks. And then I found out that even though there are a bunch of names on the page of his grade book, he only has 4 people in his final class of the day!! I was so happy I almost wept, or jumped for joy... We were supposed to work in the computer lab, but couldn't so we were to use the computers in the room to do this lame assignment. Well, the computers wouldn't work. So they asked if we could go to the gym. I sent one of the boys down to see if it was alright with the gym teacher. He came back and said that yes, after 3 we could join them. Deciding to cover all the bases, I sent the second boy down to the office to make sure it was ok with the principal... damn that man...He sends the boy back says that the computer lab was open so we could go down there. They didn't like the idea, but trudged behind me, down the hall. We go into the room and every chair is taken... WTF! So I talk to the teacher who is in there with his class, and ask him if he thinks we could just go to the gym then,. He agrees with me, so that we aren't just sitting in that room doing nothing. We walk down toward the gym and they're all excited to play kickball, or dodgeball, or whatever it is that's going on. And in the doorway to the gym is the principal. He gives me a questioning look and I explain everything to him, starting with what we were originally supposed to do, and ending with that my colleague had suggested. And he gives me this patronizing look and tells me that he would rather they just went back to their room to do work... THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO!!!So for the final 30 minutes of my day we were all boredo ut of our minds. The janitor came in because she thought we'd left and they ended up helping her clean the room, wash the chalkboards, and even sweep the hallways. They had a blast so I was happy for them... but seriously, why couldn't those ppoor kids just play with their peers?! UGH!!

NEVER subbing for middle school again...

We just passed junction 87! It's a good sign for tonight!

Best photo from my phone! From practice the day after the preseason opener!

Chapter Six is up on the other blog!

Chapter 6 of A Lucky Shot is finally up! And I have another blog with the stories that come to mind while I have writer's block for the Sid story! Check it out here at Hockey Short Stories. I'm just going to put the things there that come to me when Sid is giving me a headache* lol

Sort of like the 'free writing' that McGee from NCIS does!

I hope that you all will stick with me, because I honestly have ides for the A Lucky Shot, I just don't always have my laptop around when they hit! But I'm going to continue it! So stick with me!! Pretty please* lol

New SpringWidget

Get this widget!

New Chapter will be up soon*

I promise!
And if you haven't done so already, please CLICK HERE to get to the new blog where the story is* I hope that all of you will contue to follow it on there! I just felt that since it was becoming a longer story, it deserved its own page, instead of being lumped into my personal blog*

Like I said, chapter 6 will be up soon!

G'nite ladies!! (And gents if any read this story*)

This story is moving!

Yay!
I've come up with a name with a little bit o' help from a fellow writer(Thanx M.*), and so I felt like with an actual name, the story needed it's own site!

So, from now on, all posts for 'A Lucky Shot' will show up HERE:

I hope you all make the jump over to the new site, but I'll post the next couple chapters on both with a reminder in case you only read my blogs that start with the word Chapter* lol

Oh, and Chapter 6 will be up soon. I took a little break and wrote a side story for a challenge on Hockey Fan Fiction. It's a great group on Yahoo! with tons of stories and stuff* You should join if you aren't already a member!

Chapter 5: Well, That Was Weird

CHAPTER 5

The girls made it to Robinson in record time, which really shouldn’t have been surprising since Erin was driving! And on the way there Melany had explained why they actually needed to stop at the mall. If she was going to be having dinner with her dream guy, she wanted sexy lingerie under her Penguins tee and well-worn jeans. She didn’t want to change her look, that wasn't her, but with the slight chance that she could get him in a dark hallway… well, new undies couldn’t hurt!

“I just think that it’s a smart idea.”

“But Mel, what if he doesn’t see what’s underneath your clothes??”

“Well, then I’ve got a reason to see him again!”

Erin just shook her head and laughed at Mel’s optimism. She thought about finding something too, but would that seem over the top? As they pulled into the mall’s parking lot she asked for her friend’s opinion; mainly to get the courage to buy something since she was pretty sure she already knew Mel’s response.

“So, do you think I should get something too?”

“Duh!”

“Well, I want to… but… it’s just… I don’t expect anything to come from tonight other than dinner. I know that he broke it off with you-know-who recently. I’m not a rebound girl!”

“Listen… we’re going into the stores and we’re both going to find the sexiest, frilly underwear we can! Then we’re going to run and get the groceries, and then it’s off to Geno’s… GOT IT?”

Erin nodded and Melany grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the doors. Thirty minutes later they each had a bag holding their old unmentionables.

“Alright. Next stop is at the store to get the few things Geno didn’t already have. What exactly does that mean we have to get?

“Well, we couldn’t really get it figured out… so, we’re gonna grab it all… including bake ware.”

Mel lifted an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Don’t look at me like that! He’s a little difficult to communicate with you know.”

“Haha, that’s true. Let’s get goin’ then sister! I haven’t decided on dessert yet. You think they’ll actually eat dessert?”

They both laughed as they pulled out and drove over to Wal-Mart. Mel was just getting out of the car when her phone rang. All that came up was Unknown Caller. Oh god, it’s him! He’s probably calling to back out. Well, you won’t know unless you answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“We’ve done all the ‘cleaning’ so if you’re done you can come over now.” Phew.

“We just got to the grocery store. But it won’t take us long to get everything.”

“Ok… Melany?”

“Yes?”

“I… see you soon.”

“Ok… oh, do you eat apples?”

“Apples, yeah. Why?”

“Curiosity. Bye Crosby.”

“Bye.”

Mel turned to Erin who was looking at her rather expectantly and gave her a confused look.

“Well, that was weird.”

“What?”

“That guy is one tough nut to crack.”

“I’m sure you’ll try your hardest to figure him out though. C’mon, let’s get everything and get going! I wanna see Geno… Uh, Geno’s house…”

“Yeah, just the house… right!”

After splitting up to cover more ground, the girls met in the middle of the store to check out. They paid, packed everything into the back of Erin’s vehicle and looked at one another.

“Ready to go hit on some hockey players Mel?”

“Nope! I’m ready to go get hit on by a certain hockey player! I hope they like this combination for a meal!”

*************************

Sid hung up the phone. What were you going to tell her? I’m glad I hit you with a puck? Oh that would go over so well! God Crosby, you’re an idiot. He jumped when Geno appeared beside him. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard the guy walk up to him.

“Sid! You call?”

“Yeah Geno. I called them. They were just getting to the store. Did you and Erin decide on the menu for tonight?”

“Huh? Oh, no. She say that they bring everything. And that we like what they make.”

“So you don’t know what we’re going to be eating?”

“No. But I’m sure taste good. Melany say anything?”

“She asked me about apples.”

“Apples? Pie?”

“Maybe. Everything put away? Is the kitchen clean?”

“Sid, calm down little buddy. Everything perfect. Come. We go relax with TV and wait.”

He smiled at Geno and nodded, laughing when the Russian flipped over the back of the couch and landed with his legs crossed against it. Obviously he’d perfected that move a while ago.

They’d been flipping through the channels when an episode of NCIS popped up. He’s watched it a few times, and Geno seemed content to keep the station. Then the bad guys came into view and started speaking in some foreign language. Geno smiled and he realized that they must be speaking Russian.

“Did they say anything funny?”

“No. Just talk about killing. Why we always bad in TV?” He said the last with a smile so Sid didn’t worry that he was offended. They watched the rest of the episode in silence and another episode was coming on when there was a knock at the door. He shot out of the lounger and laughed when Geno hauled himself over the couch in a backwards movement similar to the one he’d used to get onto it. They both raced for the door but Geno got the first. He opened it with a smile on his face.

“Hey Geno. Let us through the door. This is a little heavy to carry. Sid, what a surprise. What are you doing here?”

Sid watched the smile on Geno’s face dim a little and as he saw Erin and Melany pull into the driveway one thought passed through his head.

Shit.

**********************

Melany looked up as they pulled in and noticed there were too many cars for just Sid and Geno to be there. Oh no. What if Oksana showed up or something? She was pretty sure that they were done, but she had no way of calling to see if they were walking into a war zone. I should’ve just said we could exchange numbers. Crap.

“Who do you think is there?” Erin asked, turning to Mel as she put the car in park. “I don’t recognize the car.”

“Dunno. But Sid didn’t call me, so I guess it’s not anything that we sho--,” she was cut off by the ring of her cell. Unknown. Shit.

“Hello?”

“Houston, we have a problem.” Double shit.

“Is it Oksana?”

“What? No. Nothing like that. Max and Tanger just showed up with beer and want to order pizza.”

“Is anyone else supposed to show up?”

“Not that I know of… HOLD ON!” She snickered as she heard one of the guys yelling for Sid to get his giant ass in the living room. “Do you want to reschedule?”

“Do you want to?”

“Well, I was kind of excited to have a home-cooked meal. But I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“Hold on, let me ask Erin.” She clicked the mute button on her phone and looked at Erin. “It’s Tanger and Max. You still wanna do this?”

“We bought enough to make two pans of dinner and dessert on the off chance some of the guys showed up. I say we do this. Besides, this underwear wasn’t cheap!” They both laughed and Melany hit her mute button again.

“Sid?”

“Yes?” She smiled at the hopefulness in his voice.

“Come to the door and let us in. We’ll be there in a jiff.”

They jumped out of the car and went to the back to get everything out. With both their hands full of bags they wandered up to the front door. Melany hit the doorbell. Both girls turned to look at one another when they heard voices, a scuffle, a couple curses and what sounded like someone or something being pushed into a wall. Then the door flew open.

“Well, what do we have here? You don’t look like pizza delivery boys.”

Mel glanced past the smiling Frenchman and noticed Sid was standing, well, leaning against the staircase trying to look nonchalant, and Geno had Tanger shoved into the wall of the foyer. She laughed and Erin looked past Max and let out a laugh as well. Max turned to see what they’d found so amusing as Geno finally let go of Tanger and pulled him from the wall.

Erin looked to her friend and then to Max who was smiling at them once again. “May we come in, this stuff is kinda heavy.”

“Oh, let me grab some of that for you. We had no idea that Geno was having company or we would NEVER have come over.”

Melany chuckled, not believing a word of it. “Well, this was supposed to be a private dinner. So if you’re SO sorry you could just help yourselves out the door.”

Max laughed as he handed Erin’s bags to Tanger and took the others out of Melany hands. “But it looks like you have plenty to go around. And I haven’t had a great home-cooked meal in a long time.”

“You really are a charmer, aren’t you Mr. Talbot?”

“Please, call me Max. Or Superstar. Or just plain Amazing.” He turned and started walking away. The girls looked at one another and just shrugged, following him and walking past the two guys they’d actually came to see. Sid grabbed Melany’s hand and stopped her.

“How’s your head?”

“I’m ok. It doesn’t hurt. But I think there may be a bit of a bruise.” She turned to show him the proof of the puck. “Is it too bad?”

She watched as he slowly lifted his hand to touch the side of her face and they both jumped back when there was literally a jolt of electricity.

***********************

“I can explain that! When we were running to the door… I mean… It was the whole socks on carpet thing and static… you know what I’m trying to say right?” He said the last part quietly, not wanting the others to hear him make a fool of himself.

“Yep. You were trying to save us from the crazy Frenchmen, and in the process tried to electrocute me. Makes total sense.”

Sid’s jaw dropped when she made fun of him but then he saw the smile on her face. He couldn’t say anything though because Max had come back into the foyer. He looked around and noticed that they’d been the only two there.

“Your presence is required in the kitchen. Your friend would like you to come help her.” Sid watched as Max slid his hand to the small of her back, turning her away as he continued to talk. “It’s Melany right? You’re the one Sid hit today. How is it that you are here to make dinner? Shouldn’t he being doing something nice for you?” He snaked his hand around her waist and started leading her toward the kitchen.

“Well,” he heard her start while they walked away from him and he followed, wanting to hear her answer. “I was so surprised when he agreed to my joke of dinner. And then I thought that it would be different if instead of us going to a restaurant where there would be crowds and fans galore, we had a quiet dinner. And unbeknownst to me, Geno had asked my friend to go out. So the two of us conspired together to do something for the two of them.”

They had all managed to wander into the kitchen where Sid saw Erin putting two pans of water onto the stove. Ok, pasta of some sort. And there’s the apples. Along with oats and flour. What the hell is that going to be? He looked and noticed that Max still had his arm around Melany. And he didn’t like it one bit.

“But Cherie, it was my idea for him to show off for you. Don’t we deserve dinner too?”

“ ‘Ey! I told him to do something to get her attention!” Tanger exclaimed, not about to let Max take all the credit. “You just agreed with what I said.”

The two of them started to bicker in French and Sid watched as Melany took the opportunity to escape from Max’s clutches. She moved over to where Geno and Erin were sort of staring at one another and not really saying anything. She asked Erin something and she just pointed toward a bag on the counter without looking at her friend.

Melany just laughed and grabbed the bag, pulling out a very large, very shiny knife. Good lord, she could kill us all with that thing. I really hope she isn’t a psycho. Or we’re doomed. Then he laughed at his own thoughts. He stopped when he saw her looking up at him with confusion. He pointed to the knife and made a “Psycho” reference and she laughed out loud.

“Don’t worry Crosby, the only thing I’ll be cutting with this are apples.”

“What exactly are you making with those apples.”

“It’s a surprise. You’ve probably noticed all of the items. You aren’t allergic to anything here are you?”

He scanned all of the items on the counter island once more and shook his head.

“Good.” She looked around. “Why don’t the four of you go watch something on TV while Erin and I make dinner. I don’t know about her, but I work a lot better when there aren’t tons of people in my work space.”

“I don’t actually have to do anything until the water boils,” Erin said, finally taking her gaze off of Geno. “So… Geno’s going to give me a tour of the house, right?” Geno nodded his head enthusiastically. Sid bit the side of his mouth to keep from smiling.

“Ok. Then how ‘bout the two Frenchies leave so I can concentrate without listening to an argument I can’t understand.” She smiled at the two of them while she said it and Sid couldn’t help himself that time. He let a small chuckle out. She turned to him, the point of the knife in his direction. “You too Crosby. If Erin’s going, you all have to go.”

He sighed but walked out behind Max and Tanger who were complaining about something and still arguing. He didn’t know why it was such a big deal that no one watch her chop fruit. At the doorway to the kitchen he turned around but she just shooed him from her spot at the island. He shook his head, confused, but did as she asked. In the dining room he stopped and took a seat, wondering what her deal was. And then he heard something. He got up and stood against the wall by the doorway.

He strained to hear what she was saying. Is she talking to herself? Or worse… is she talking to the fruit? He stopped talking to himself and listened again. Then he realized what she was doing. She sings in the kitchen. How cute is that? He smiled and let out a small laugh. She stopped and he held his breath.

“CROSBY?”

He jumped when her heard her voice right in his ear. He turned and blushed, realizing he’d been caught.

“Man, you are really sneaky!” He looked down at her face and noticed she was giving him one of those what-did-I-tell-you looks. “Sorry. Curiosity got the best of me.”

His breath caught when she beamed a huge smile at him. “Go watch TV with the others. Please?”

He nodded but couldn’t make himself move. He just kept staring at her, mainly at her lips. He moved his gaze back up to her eyes and he watched them widen. “You don’t still have the knife in your hands do you?” She quirked an eyebrow and shook her head no.

“Good.”

He grabbed her arms and pulled her closer.

“I didn’t want to get stabbed on accident when I did this.” As the last syllable escaped his mouth he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. She tasted like apples, and he decided right then and there that he would never eat another apple without thinking of this girl, this moment.

“Hey Kid, did you have anyth--” Tanger stopped in mid sentence and Sid let out a curse against her lips. “Sorry man. I’ll just let you get back to what you were doing.”

“No, he was just going to join you.” He looked at those smiling eyes and couldn’t help but laugh at her determination to keep him out of the kitchen.

“Fine. I’ll go watch the damn television. We’ll continue this conversation later though Melany.”

“Oh, I look forward to that Crosby.” Then she winked and turned to go into the kitchen again.

Sid let out a sigh and Tanger put his arm around his shoulders. “Oh man, she’s never going to be dull is she?”

“I hope not. And I hope that I have the chance to see just how interesting she can be.” He smiled at Tanger as they started toward the living room. And his smile grew when he heard the faint hum of her voice. I don’t know about dinner, but dessert is going to be delicious.

*~*~*~*

Hope you all liked it* Let me know!!

Chapter 4: A Double Date?

CHAPTER 4

Mel jumped at the sound of Erin’s voice and Sid looked away quickly.

“Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“No,” Sid replied, looking up from his skates. “I’ll just give you two a moment alone. I’m going to go change and then I’ll come check on you. Ok?”

Melany nodded and watched him cross over to the door, looking back once more before he slid out.

Erin rushed over and launched herself beside her injured friend.

“So, I need to ask you a question Melany. And it’s a very serious question that should require a lot of thought.”

“I need to ask you someth--”

“And I hope that you won’t get upset with me. Maybe we can work something out.”

“Well, Sid wanted me to ask you if y--”

“Now, you know how we had plans tonight? Well, sort of plans… I need to know if you would be terribly upset if I wanted to move our plans to ano--”

“ERIN!”

“What?”

“Shut up for a minute! Sid asked me to dinner. And I mentioned you and he said that you could come and he’d see if Geno wanted to hang out. Now, was what you wanted to ask me more important than that?”

Erin just sat there staring at her with a blank look on her face. Mel was waiting for her to respond. To jump up and down. Anything. Finally, a smile broke out onto Erin’s face.

“That’s funny. Because when I was on my way down here to see you he stopped me and mumbled something about food in broken English. I didn’t really understand him; but he made a couple gestures and I realized that he meant dinner. So I told him I’d need to talk to you first and he figured Sid was in here asking you out.”

“So, we both were asked to dinner by the hockey players of our dreams… that’s just weird!” Mel said as she let out a laugh. But the sudden noise made her head hurt and she lifted the ice pack back up. “Owww….I bet they’re talking together right now. So what do you wanna do?”

“No idea. You got anything in that head of yours? Or did he knock what little sense you had out the window?”

“Funny. Very funny. Make fun of the wounded girl here… But I do have an idea. We just need to run to the grocery store and sweet talk Geno into using his house.” She smiled at Erin who lifted an eyebrow. “It’s a good idea. Here, we’ll start making a list on my phone of what we’d need.”

**********************

“Geno! Where are you?” Sid yelled as he sat in his stall unlacing his skates. He was hoping that he could talk the Russian into doing something tonight. He and Oksana had split recently and it had been ugly. Sid didn’t want to push a new girl at him, but he remembered Geno giving Erin the once over at the game, and he was really looking forward to a possible dinner date. So he’s do anything he could to talk Geno into it.

“Hey Sid. You talk to girl?”

“Yeah. And I nee--”

“Good. You take her out?”

“Well, I want to. That’s why I needed to talk to you. Would you be up for coming out with us?”

“I have plan.” Sid felt hurt. But he shouldn’t have expected Geno to just be moping around. “I go with redhead.”

Sid stopped with his pads half on his shoulders. “You’re going out with Erin tonight?”

“Da. Erin.”

“But Melany said they had plans already. Why would she lie?”

“Not lie. Erin go talk to your girl to change plan.”

“Well, that’s great! Do you guys want to go with us?”

“Where you go?”

Sid looked at him blankly. He hadn’t gotten an answer from Melany when Erin had stepped in. He had no idea what she’d like. Would she be in the mood for a fancy place? Or maybe just something simple. He didn’t do fast food that much in the summer, and rarely during the season. Maybe he should’ve asked a couple more questions instead of sitting there like a 13-year-old with his first crush.

“Sid?”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t know where we’ll go. I didn’t get that far because Erin came in. What are you guys going to do?”

“Don’t know. Wait and see what she likes.”

“Well, I’m gonna grab a quick shower and change. Wait for me and we’ll go talk to them together. Ok?”

“Da.” He slipped his ear buds back in and hit his iPod.

Sid smiled and shook his head as he wandered into the showers. He wondered what the guy was always listening to. Those things were in his ears practically 24/7.

*************************

Ten minutes later the two of them walked toward the training room. Sid knocked and opened the door. Both girls looked up from Melany’s phone and had very guilty looks on their faces. He tensed.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked as Jordy’s comment about a puck bunny flashed through
his head.

Melany looked at Erin and then blushed. With a small smile she looked down before answering him.

“We were watching videos of you guys on YouTube…”

He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and a loud burst of laughter followed. Mel’s head shot up and she sent him a glare.

“You know, it’s not nice to laugh at people who like you! I mean… as a player… because of your talent… not that I don’t like you… Oh my god I’m just going to stop talking now…” Melany bit her lip and looked at the ground again. Sid decided she was positively adorable when she rambled.

Geno cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. He glanced at all three before realizing that they thought he was going to say something.

“Uh… we go tonight?” He kept his eyes on Erin and pointed his hand back and forth between the two of them.

“Well,” Erin looked at Mel, then Sid and back to Geno. “Mel has an idea… if you two are up for a little double date.” Both of the guys smiled, but she could tell that Geno was a little confused. “Ummm, the four of us,” she pointed at everyone and then clasped her hands as one, “together.” He smiled again and nodded in understanding.

“Great,” Mel chimed in. “Give us directions to Geno’s and two hours.”

Sid tilted his head to the side and wondered aloud. “Why do you need Geno’s address and what could you possibly need two hours for??”

“We need to get ingredients, and any stuff that Geno doesn’t already have. And then we’re going to cook dinner for the two of you.”

“But why do you need two hours??”

“Well, we need to stop at Robinson. I need to pick something up, and I don’t know how long it’ll take. So two hours should give us plenty of time to get everything and drive over to his place. It’ll also give you both time to clean up any mess that he has at the house!”

Geno laughed and Sid was glad to see that he was able to follow along with more conversations nowadays. He was really coming into his own this season. If, no… when we make the run for the Cup again this year, Geno is going to be one of the reasons we win. He smiled to himself and looked up to see Melany staring at him intently.

“Excited that someone is going to cook for you Crosby?”

“Are you any good?”

She feigned shock and grabbed Erin’s arm. “I think he just insulted me! Maybe we shouldn’t invite him and just make the food for Geno.” She hopped off the table and walked over toward the Russian with a smile. “What do you think Geno? Just you, me and Erin? Why don’t we tell Sid he can’t come?”

He looked at her for a moment and Sid could tell he was processing everything she’d said. Then he broke out into a big grin and nodded. Turning to Sid he beamed. “Sid. Sorry. I have plan tonight. You come tomorrow. Yes?”

Sid’s jaw dropped.

“No!”

Then he started to laugh, knowing she’d been joking with him.

“Ok. Two hours. Anymore than that and I’m going to think you’re ditching me.”

“Deal,” Erin said, finally entering into the conversation. She hopped off the table as well and walked over to get info from Geno. Melany sauntered over to him and leaned against another table.

“So Crosby, is there anything you don’t like?”

“Losing.”

“I meant food-wise. Goodness, you really do have a one-track mind don’t you?”

Erin and Geno came over to join them, having sorted everything out.

“Alright. I’ve got the address and we have the list. Let’s get going. Sidney, did you give her your number so that she can call you if we need anything?”

“ERIN!” Melany gasped and nudged her. He chuckled at her embarrassment.

“What? You don’t want my number?”

“No! I mean, yes… ugh! You don’t have to is what I’m trying to say. With your status and everything, I don’t want you to think that I’m just fishing for a way to stalk you or something.”

“Then, you give me yours. And if I need to call you, I’ll make it private so you don’t have my number,” he said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. He really had no idea how to handle her.

“OK. That works.” Once he pulled his phone out she rattled off the number. “And when you program it, please spell my name correctly. M-E-L-A-N-Y. See you in a couple hours.” And with that, she snatched Erin’s arm and headed toward the door. After the girls were gone he turned to his teammate.

“Well Geno… let’s go get ready for our dates!”

Geno slapped a hand on Sid’s shoulder and just smiled as they walked out of the room and down the hall leading to the back lot. If they left now there wouldn’t be as many fans and they could get back to Geno’s with plenty of time.



*~*~*
I apologize for the length of time between posts. I want to try and get into the writing process more! Any comments are helpful, good or bad* Let me know what you're thinking out there in reader world! Knowing that you all enjoy this gives me the "omph" to get off my butt and type away*

Max Talbot is a HEARTBREAKER*

So, I have two friends who love the Pens like I do, perhaps more, and we like to call ourselves the Triple Threat* WE're lame and we have code names and stuff too! It's rather hilarious when we get together, because the talk is ALL HOCKEY, ALL THE TIME!

Well, we were having a belated birthdayparty for Sid and Geno Friday night*

There were cupcakes and baked spaghetti, and cheesy potatoes.... mmmmm

But there was also this video* Made by yours truly*
Have a little look-see and let me know what you think of it!!!

Chapter 4 coming soon!!!!

p.s. If you can't see it here, go to this link and watch it on YouTube*

Chapter 3: Third Time's a Charm

Ok, for some reason this took me forever to get together. The thoughts were all there, but putting it down correctly wasn't happening. Hopefully it sounds right*

CHAPTER 3

She slid the room key into the slot and giggled as she pressed him against the door, his bottom lip caught between her teeth in a gentle nibble. She jerked the handle and he gasped as he almost fell through the opening.

They walked through into the hotel room and before it could click shut he grabbed the Do Not Disturb sign to hang over the outside knob. He made sure both locks were in place and then he turned toward her, a mischievous little glint in his eye.

“What are you thinking?” she asked him.

He just smiled in return.

Before she could blink he was standing next to her. His arm snaked around her waist, bringing her flush against him. With such a fast movement she felt a little topsy-turvy and she wound one arm around his neck to steady herself. After looking up into his eyes she smiled, loving the look of desire that was shining in them. His head came down and took possession of her lips in a kiss that fueled the flames already burning deep inside her.

Then she let out a small screech as he lifted her, twirled her around, and tossed her onto the bed. She didn’t get a chance to move though because he followed right after, his body covering hers, his hands roaming up and down, exploring, memorizing.

In no time at all their clothes were off, thrown about the room like a tornado had swept through. And then they started a ritual as old as time, their two bodies moving together in a dance that was based more on instinct than anything else. Her legs wrapped around him and her fingers dug into his shoulders as he pushed her closer and closer to that little death that they both wanted so badly to reach.

She peaked first, with him following not long after, and then they lay there, still entwined and foreheads pressed together, trying to get their breathing back under control.

After a few moments he slid off of her, falling to his back, his right arm coming over his face. She turned onto her side and stared at him.

“Well, I think we need to do that again,” she stated with a Cheshire cat grin on her lips. He let out a chuckle and drew his hand away. He looked at her for a moment, just studying her features.

“I think you’re right!”

*******************

Melany came to, curled up against something that was firm yet yielding. As the sunlight came through the curtains she sleepily glanced down at the form that she was sprawled over top of. She couldn’t tell what it was, but something seemed odd about him.

“Sid, why are you so red?”

When he didn’t answer her she blinked a couple times, coming more awake every time she re-opened her eyes. She stared down at the man she’d been holding. No eyes stared back up at her; no sweet nothings were said from those gorgeous, pouty lips. She grabbed her glasses off the night table and stared down at, not Sid, but her pillow.

With that realization she collapsed, shoving her face deep into the fluffy form, and let out a strangled moan.

“What the hell was that?!”

She lifted her head again and looked to her left. There on the other bed was Erin, staring none-too-nicely at her. Melany was half-tempted to just flip her off and groan into the pillow again, but that wouldn’t really make her feel any better.

“I had wonderful, amazing, stupendous sex with Sidney last night… then I woke up and realized that the warm naked body I was curled up to wasn’t Sid but my pillow, and that it was all a dream! I was just letting out my frustrations.”

“Mel, I love you dearly… but you really need some help.” Erin let out a laugh, and then pulled herself from the bed, walking slowly to the bathroom. “I call dibs on the shower!”

*****************

After getting ready, packing their overnight bags, and chowing down on the array of goodies from the free breakfast, the two hopped in the car and set the GPS for Southpointe! The boys were having an open practice today and neither of them could wait! Sure, it wasn’t a real game, but Erin promised that they would be able to sit almost where they had the night before, and that there wouldn’t be as many people.

When they exited the highway Melany couldn’t help but laugh at the number. Erin must’ve had the same idea because she turned to Mel at the end of the ramp.

“Do you think TK sees the exit and says ‘Hey, my number!’ every time he gets off here?”

“I was wondering the same thing!”

*******************

Ten minutes later they were getting ready to pull into the parking lot of the Iceoplex. Had Erin not turned the wrong way, it would’ve been sooner. Then again, if Melany had been paying attention, she wouldn’t have told Erin to turn left off the highway! Either way, they were waiting on the main road to turn in when some twit in a red Alero decided she couldn’t drive. Erin yelled, “Are you going to turn in or not?”… Like the woman could hear her.

“Oooo, Erin look at that car!”

“C’mon lady…”

“Holy crap that’s Fleury’s Lamborghini!!!”

“Seriously, you have the right of way!”

“Hmmm, that doesn’t look like Flower… and someone’s riding shotgun!”

Erin finally took her eyes off of the annoying driver and glanced to the left, eyeing the car for the first time. She turned back and looked at Mel.

“Looks like Brooksie to me.”

Melany kept staring at the car. She finally realized what looked off.

“OH MY GOD THAT’S NOT FLOWER… IT’S GEENNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

The last word was uttered in such a high-pitched and long, drawn out scream that Erin was positive the guys heard it through two windows and whatever music they were sure to be playing. She finally turned in front of the idiot driver in the other lane; and she couldn’t help but laugh as Mel continued to stare at the guys as they passed them and headed into the lot. Once she had pulled in, she turned toward her friend.

“I don’t need to chain you to the car and leave the windows cracked do I?”

“No!! I mean… No, I’ve gotten it out of my system now. I won’t be freaking out anymore.”

Erin gave her a look, but Mel just beamed a smile at her. They checked in the mirrors to make sure there wasn’t anything stuck in their teeth or in their hair. Sure, they didn’t plan on seeing anyone, but one must look their best when sitting near sexy hockey players!

*****************

The air in the arena was colder than the Igloo, but Melany felt like she was on fire! She was so excited, almost more excited than she’d been for the game itself. Perhaps it was because as she glanced around she noticed more men than women. Or that although she was just in a Crosby jersey and jeans, she thought that she looked pretty hot. Either way, as tempted as she was to sit by the glass, sitting up higher would give them a better view of the entire rink!

With that in her thoughts, she motioned for Erin to slide down to the middle of a row that was closer to one end, but above most of the people who were already there. The guys hadn’t come out yet and Mel was getting antsy. What if he doesn’t come to these things? Oh that’s just dumb, he’s captain and married to his sport, of course he’ll be here! But he doesn’t know you’ll be here. Not that he probably even notices who’s here! Oh god, stop rambling in your head!

“I need something to distract me Erin! Now!”

It was like the Hockey Gods heard her and chose to show her some love. The door across the ice opened. Then a guy dressed in an athletic suit stepped out. He opened the door to the ice and Mel held her breath.

The first door opened again and she knew, without seeing a number anywhere on his uniform, that it was Sid. She watched, completely mesmerized, as he, and those who came out after him, skated around the ice. No, it was more of a gliding movement. Like they were almost flying.

“Earth to Mel. Trying to have a conversation with you over here!”

“Wh-what?”

“Lover boy knows you’re here…”

“WHAT?!”

She may have said that a little louder than necessary because a few of the other fans around them turned back to look at them. She noticed and her cheeks turned slightly pink. She brought her eyes up and looked towards the ice. Two of the guys were standing together and they were both looking her way. She blushed even more and dipped her chin towards her chest, her hand up to cover her face.

“Erin… please tell me that’s not who I think it is staring at us.”

“Ok, Sid isn’t standing there with Garon and staring at you.”

“You’re lying aren’t you?”

“Ummm…”

“Oh geez… why do I keep making a fool of myself?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re totally classy when he’s not around either.”

Mel finally pulled her face up, trying to keep her eyes from straying to the one guy on the ice that she wanted to watch. Her gaze roamed around, falling on Erin’s heartthrob.

“Looks like your man isn’t practicing today.”

She nodded her head in Geno’s direction.

He stood against the glass near the door that everyone had come out of. Must’ve been the locker room. Erin put her feet on the bleacher in front of them, her arms on her knees, her chin in her hands, and let out a sigh.

“I wonder why he isn’t practicing. Maybe he got hurt last night and I didn’t realize it. I should have noticed if he was hurt though…”

“Seriously! With the way you eyed him all three periods!”

Erin started make a smartass reply but it looked like the practice was going to be underway.

*********************

Oh man. She’s here.

Sidney felt it almost as soon as he stepped onto the ice. He could feel someone looking at him. After skating around a few times he slid over to the net to speak with Garon. And while he did his eyes scanned the crowd. Then he spotted her.

Well, he saw Red and then his eyes fixed on the figure sitting beside her. Garon was talking about something but Sid just kept staring. He watched her turn her body toward Red. And then he watched as she got a panicked look on her face, glanced his way, and then hid her face with her hand. He let out a small laugh and Red laughed back. She knew what was going on too.

“Dude, why are you laughing at me? I’m serious! I sometimes feel like I won’t get to play because I can do half the moves Flower does. He’s like jell-o or something…”

“What?”

Mat glared at Sid and refused to go through his entire explanation again.

“I’m sorry. I got distracted. I’m sure you’ll be fine. We’ll shoot enough things at you to keep you on your toes!”

They both laughed and then Sid skated over to the coach and practice started.

The guys taking part in the open skate were all limbered up and ready to go. Practices like this were always helpful. Sure, they didn’t do a ton of work, but sometimes you had to have fun more than anything else.

After some drills they started a small scrimmage of three-on-three. Coach decided that just using half the ice would be easier since Flower wasn’t out there. Sid was on a line with Tanger and Max. They were standing together, planning an attack against TK, Brooks and Boucher when Max brought up Melany.

“So, did your mystery girl show up? Is she here today?”

“Yeah, she’s sitting up towards the top. Second set, by the red head in the gray sweater.”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Her name’s Melany, she wears my number and she seems to have a sense of humor.”

Tanger put his two cents in.

“Well, do something to get her attention. You know, a sick goal or something.”

“Yeah,” Max chimed in. “Show some of that skill that put that C on your chest!”

Sid gave a nod and they planned out a sweet play that had him shooting a hard slapper at an angle and hopefully into the back of the net. They cycled the puck a couple times and Tanger slid it over to Sid. He checked his aim and prepared to shoot. Brooksie was bearing down on him though and at the last minute he arced a little too much. He watched as it flew wide of the net, slid around the boards and up over the glass. No friggin’ way! He heard someone yell a “head’s up” and he cringed.

The rest of the guys on the ice were staring into the stands as well.

There, up from the glass, someone was holding the side of their head. He knew who it was, and just couldn’t believe it… I guess the third time is a charm.

Tanger skated by him as Sid stood there, riveted to the ice. They both watched as one of the trainers ran over and took her down to the training room. “Ummm, that wasn’t exactly what I meant Sid. But look at it this way… You can go talk to her now! ”

Sid took one more look up to where Melany had been sitting. Red was staring at him with a hand over her mouth and he was pretty sure she was trying not to laugh. He gave her his best apologizing look and finally skated away, heading toward the door the trainer had gone though. After pulling off his gloves and helmet he turned the door and opened it a little.

“Everyone in here decent?” he joked.

“Well,” a voice from inside floated out. “This guy checking out my head told me that if I felt like I was gonna faint to wait until you came in so that you could loosen my clothes once I pass out.”

Sid couldn’t help but laugh as he opened the door wide. There on one of the tables sat the girl who’d been on his mind for almost the 24 hours. The trainer was touching her left cheek and Sid could see the welt already forming. His smile died.

“I’m so sorry!”

The guy tending to her face must’ve finished because he handed her an ice pack and left the room.

“It’s ok. I should’ve ducked a little faster. No harm done.”

“No harm done?? You face is swollen and red and… and it’s all my fault!”

“Calm down there Crosby. Yelling isn’t going to solve anything, and it’s definitely not going to help this headache that’s forming right now.”

“What do you need? Do you want to lie down? How about something to drink?”

Melany stared at him as he paced around. “Crosby.” He looked up. “Stop moving. Just sit down.”

He hopped onto the table across from her. They just stared at one another for a moment.

“What can I do to make this up to you?”

Melany laughed and batted her eyelashes. “You can take me to dinner,” she said jokingly.

“Ok, what time?”

“What??”

“I said ok. What time would you like to go? Anything special that you’re craving?”

“Well, I can’t tonight… I have… Uh… I have plans already.” Did I just say that? I don’t have any plans! Good grief… She watched a look of sadness cross his face. “I mean… they aren’t definite plans. I’m sure that Erin wouldn’t mind if I couldn’t hang out.”

“Is that Red’s name?”

“Red? Oh, yeah. The hair right? Oh, and my name’s Melany. What’s yours again? I don’t think I caught it.”

They both laughed until she tucked her hair behind her ear. He stopped laughing right away.

“So, where would you like to go for dinner? I mean, if you think you could go.”

“Well, like I said, I didn’t have serious plans with Erin so if you wa—“

“She could come too! Ummm… Geno loves to hang out so it could be the four of us.”

“I’d need to make sure she’s ok with it.”

The door opened and Erin popped her head in. “Ok with what?”

I hope that the meeting flowed. And I know that the reason behind it was a little far-fetched* But it is fiction* And I thought it was a unique way for it to happen* Let me know what you think guys!