Chapter 23

“Where are we going?” I asked when Sidney picked me up.

He hadn’t told me and he said it was going to be a surprise. He just laughed and held open the car door for me. I got in and he shut it. He’d told me to dress comfortably and wear socks. I had to admit, I was a little nervous. He didn’t say a word the entire car ride. It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking lot that I started to figure it out.

“You’re taking me ice skating?” I got out of the car and we walked into the Penguins practice facility.

“Sort of. You can skate, right?” I looked at him like he was stupid.

“Do you remember who my father is?” He laughed in response.

“Well, I thought I’d see how well he taught you hockey.”

We walked inside and the place was empty except for a few of the staff. Sidney explained that there was an open skate there for the public in an hour but until then the place was closed and they’d let him come in. We put on skates and he grabbed a couple of sticks, some gloves, and a puck and we went out onto the ice. He dropped the puck at center ice and backed up.

“So, what exactly do you expect me to do?” I asked him.

“How about a little one-on-one?” he responded.

“Oh yeah, that’s fair.”

He skated into what he made his defensive zone and left me standing at center ice with the puck. I skated a few circles before picking up the puck. I decided to keep it simple and see how seriously he was going to take me. I skated right at him and only made a slight move to attempt to get around him. He easily poked the puck off my stick and then gave me a disappointed look.

“If that’s the best you got, he didn’t teach you very well.”

“Keep in mind he was a defenseman. I always appreciated the defensive side of the game more than the offensive.” I brought the puck back to center ice. Sidney set up and I couldn’t help but laugh at how serious he looked.

“What?” he asked throwing his hands up.

“You look so cute with that serious look on your face.”

He rolled his eyes and set up again. I picked up the puck and this time skated out wide to Sidney’s right. He followed keeping himself between me and the net. As I got close to him I did a 180 on one foot and headed in the other direction leaving him behind. I easily put the puck in the net and lifted my hands in celebration.

“Where the hell did that come from?” he asked in shock.

“My mom insisted I learn how to figure skate since I was a girl. My dad taught me the game. The result was me figure skating in hockey skates.” He laughed and set the puck up at center ice for himself.

“You claim to be so defensive minded so let’s see how good you are at it.”

I skated back giving him some room. He took a minute and then skated at me. He immediately tried to start showing off his stick handling ability. Instead of skating back and letting him get closer I went right at him and poked the puck off his stick. I chased it down, skated into the offensive zone and put it in the net.

“That would be 2-0 girlfriend over superstar,” I chirped at him skating back.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going easy on you,” he responded.

“Don’t.”

I put the puck back on the faceoff dot and skated back into my defensive zone. We did this again and again until the score was 9-9. It was my turn with the puck. I looked down trying to figure out what I was going to do. Then I began to skate at him. I tried to make a move around him but he knocked the puck off my stick. He gained control and skated down the other way. I turned and skated after him as hard as I could. He held onto the puck just a second too long and I lifted his stick just as he was about to shoot and picked it back up. I sprinted down towards the other end and just after crossing the red line I shot the puck into the net.

“I win!” I shouted down at Sidney who had finally caught up.

“No way, you’ve gotta win by two!” he argued.

“No, you said first to 10 goals. There was nothing about needing to win by two when we started.”

“You always have to win by two in everything!”

“You’re just bitter because you lost to a girl and you’re supposed to be ‘the next one,’” I said joking around. The smirk on his face told me that he knew it. He threw his gloves down on the ice.

“Alright, let’s go.” I laughed at him as he put his fists up. He didn’t move.

“Fine.” I dropped my stick and took off my first glove, throwing it to the ice. Then I took off the second one. Instead of dropping it to the ice I threw it at him and hit him in the face, catching him off guard. “You’re a sore loser, Crosby.”

I began skating away and too late I heard him coming up behind me. I felt his arms wrap around me and my feet leave the ice. I squealed with laughter and struggled to get out of his grasp. He spun me around when he put me down and proceeded to try to knock me to the ice. I managed to get out of his grasp and skate away. He began to come at me again and I lowered a shoulder knocking him back but he grabbed onto me and pulled me down with him. We were both laughing as he got up and then turned to help me.

“You hit like a girl,” he said between laughs. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“You realize that I am a girl, right?” He wrapped his arms around me.

“And a beautiful one at that.”

I smiled at him and we began to kiss. Suddenly we heard clapping and cheering coming from the other end of the ice. We turned to look and saw about a dozen people standing there with kids. When I looked up at the clock I saw that the public skate was minutes from starting. We both covered our faces in embarrassment and laughed again. We skated off the ice where he good-naturedly signed autographs for the early arrivers. We put back the equipment and got back into his car deciding to stop at our favorite Italian place for dinner. We laughed about what had just happened over pasta and a glass of wine.

“So, is there anything else you’ve been keeping from me that you want to get out now? Have you been married? Did you used to be a man?” Sid asked kidding around.

“Well, I did get breast implants,” I told him. His eyes opened wide in shock.

“What?!” I laughed at him.

“Oh please. Don’t you think if I’d actually done that they’d be a lot bigger?”

“I think they’re perfect,” he responded relaxing back into his chair.

“Thank you,” I said laughing. We finished up dinner and began to drive home.

“So, you’re place or mine?” he asked looking over at me.

“What makes you think we’re going to the same place?”

“Lor, I have to see if you were lying about the breast implant thing,” he said as seriously as he could. I laughed at him again.

“Your place,” I said.





I rushed home from work the next day afraid that I was going to be late to the game. I called for a cab as I changed my clothes. There was no time for a shower so instead I did the best I could with my hair after having it pulled back all day. I had just finished my makeup when I heard the car horn. I grabbed my purse and the ticket off the table and rushed out the door. On the way I realized I didn’t even know who the Pens were playing tonight. I pulled out my ticket and checked.

My heart practically stopped when I saw that they were playing the Buffalo Sabres. I should have paid more attention. I had been hoping for a chance to talk to Sidney before I went to a game between the two teams. Sidney knew that there had been a Thomas, but not that it was Thomas Vanek. Maybe it would be okay. Thomas didn’t know about Sidney and me so there shouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t like I had talked to Thomas since I’d found out he was still with Ashley. I felt better keeping that in mind.





It was a hard fought game. There was lingering bad blood between the Sabres and the Penguins from the previous season’s playoff matchup. It had been a physical game since the start and emotions were running high. The game was tied 1-1 in the second period and Sidney was fighting through a sore shoulder from a hit he’d taken in the first from Paul Gaustad. He knew it wasn’t serious, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.

His line was up and he jumped out on the ice for his shift. They collected the puck behind their net and started the breakout. Sidney skated into the zone and positioned himself near the net. A shot came from the point and he got his stick on it, deflecting it up high. Ryan Miller got a piece of it, but the rebound dropped to the ice in front of him. Sidney took a whack at it along with a few other sticks belonging to both Pens and Sabres. Soon there was a pile of players on the ice with Sidney right in the middle. The whistle blew, but players were still shoving each other around.

“You like having my seconds, Crosby?” he heard come from behind him as he got up. He turned and saw Thomas Vanek standing there sneering at him.

“What are you talking about?” he asked getting in Vanek’s face.

“Loralei. You like fucking my seconds?” Sidney was shocked. He couldn’t even think of anything to say. What was he talking about? “Yeah, she used to love me. Couldn’t get enough of it, ya know? The little slut kept coming back for more. She flew up to Buffalo once a month last season for it. In fact she came back even through the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up at my hotel room tonight for another good fuck.”

Instead of responding Sidney threw a punch that landed square on Vanek’s nose. Vanek dropped to the ice grabbing at his face. The linesmen skated over getting between them, but that didn’t stop Sidney. He threw another couple of punches before he was pulled off. Vanek got up with a bloody nose, but he was laughing.

“Keep an eye on your girl, Crosby. You might want to make sure you know where she is tonight,” he called skating towards the bench. Sidney was steaming as he was escorted to the penalty box after yelling out a “Fuck you” to Vanek. They gave him two for roughing and two for unsportsmanlike conduct.

He had a lot of time to sit there and think about what Vanek said. He was the Thomas she’d mentioned that day in the park? Once a month she flew up to Buffalo to sleep with him last season? She’d been sleeping with Vanek through the summer? Things suddenly made sense. No wonder she freaked on him when he kissed her last year. It was because she was sleeping with Vanek, the asshole that had already cheated on her. She chose that asshole over him? What the hell happened to being too afraid to date a hockey player because of what her father used to tell her? He’d had just about enough of her lies.





The game started to get rough. The hits were picking up and battles for the puck were intensifying. I could tell Sidney’s shoulder was bothering him. I’d seen him wince after the hit Gaustad had put on him in the first period. I’d have to make sure to take care of him tonight. Sid came out for a shift and had a great chance on a deflection. The rebound was there and there was a scramble with players falling to the ice in the crease. I always got nervous when that happened hoping that he’d get up and be okay. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding when he got up to skate back to the bench.

That’s when I saw him stop and turn around skating up into someone’s face. Then I realized that that someone was Thomas. Thomas said a few things and next thing I knew Sidney had suckered him, knocking Thomas to the ice. Before the linesman could stop him Sidney had jumped over him and thrown a few more punches. Thomas was still yelling at him as the refs pulled Sidney to the box giving him four minutes. My heart sank. Sidney didn’t react like that on the ice very often. I became very worried about what Thomas had been saying.

The Pens lost the game in overtime 2-1. I was almost afraid to go downstairs and wait for Sidney. I kept telling myself there was no way Thomas knew about Sidney and I, but after what I saw I wasn’t so sure. They’d gone at each other a couple more times in the third period and I was very worried. I was waiting in the wives’ room when I got a phone call. I walked out into the hallway and answered Nancy’s call. She told me that one of the cats that had come in that we were keeping overnight for observation had died. I hung up and was about to go back in the room when I heard my name.

“Loralei! Hey, hold on a minute!” I turned slowly recognizing the voice. This was not what I needed right now.

“Thomas, hi.”

“How have you been?” he asked. I instinctively took a step back from him.

“Fine. You?” I asked, trying to be polite.

“Great. Look, I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you.” Yeah, you look sorry, I thought.

“It was only the second time. I should have known better.”

“Yeah, I know. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. Oh, I saw you and Crosby at the practice facility yesterday. I was working on some new sticks.” My heart started pounding when I heard that he knew.

“You what?”

“I feel like I should apologize to you about something else. I said some things to him on the ice tonight trying to get under his skin. I probably shouldn’t have said them but I got overemotional and was just trying to provoke him into taking a penalty. He has a hell of a punch, by the way.” That was exactly what I was hoping not to hear.

“What did you say to him?” I asked panicked. Sidney was going to hate me.

“There’s no reason to get into it again.” I saw him look past me and nod his head. “Hey, I’ve got to get going. Hopefully you’ll have forgiven me enough to talk to me again soon.”

Before I knew what was happening he had his arms around me, giving me a hug. Before he let go he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then he turned and walked out. I stared after him for a moment holding back tears. I took a deep breath and turned to go back into the wives’ room to wait for Sidney. Before I even took a step I saw Sidney standing there glaring at me. He must have seen the hug and the kiss. That combined with whatever Thomas had said to him on the ice had upset him.

“Are you ready to go?” he snapped at me. Without waiting for a response he turned and began walking to his car. I practically had to run to keep up with him.

“Sid, wait. Please, slow down. Stop!” I yelled finally catching up and grabbing his arm. He stopped and turned to look at me.

“I have nothing to say to you right now. The only reason I’m even bringing you home is because I’d feel bad stranding you here.” With that he turned and continued walking. I followed him in silence. He unlocked the car and I got in. He didn’t even stop to give autographs to the fans waiting outside. He just tore out of the parking lot and headed home.

“Sid, I can explain things if you’ll just let me,” I finally said as we were pulling into the neighborhood. He turned up the radio in response and pulled into my driveway. I opened the door and got out, but turned to look at him before I shut the door. “Oh, yeah, that’s mature. Fine, don’t let me explain. You never give me a chance to explain anything before you get angry at me. This is just like last time. I guess I’ll go inside and lie awake crying all night like last time. I’m sure when I go to talk to you in the morning another slut will be answering your door too, just like before.”

I slammed the door and walked into my house. The last comment was uncalled for, but I had feelings too. I heard his car back out and drive away. I walked straight upstairs to my room to get ready for bed. I wasn’t going to cry this time. I wasn’t going to cry. I walked over to my closet door and opened it up. I was about to hit the light switch when I heard a voice.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a man’s voice said from behind me. I spun around to see a guy in a ski mask standing behind me. He was holding a gun in my face. “Bad timing. I only came here to steal your stuff while you were gone. I guess my plans are changing now.”