Chapter 28

Sorry guys! This is necessary filler that will hopefully help you guys better understand what's going on. I know that people are confused why Sid is playing hot and cold with Emma but these two are complicated characters and this is important to where they are going.

Don't worry, it's about to get fun when Emma starts to mess with him :)


Emma's POV:

The flight home from Nova Scotia was so uneventful that even days later, I still didn't have much to say even though both Eliza and Vero were pressing me for details.

"Seriously, even Max wants to know what happened over Christmas! He said Sid's been even more terrible than usual and then I have to listen to him bitch about it" Eliza stated taking a sip of her drink.

Since I had nothing really to say about those three days in Nova Scotia, besides the fact that his family had been great, I had been avoiding everyone just so that I didn't have to talk about it. Until now, because somehow Vero had convinced me that we needed a girl's night out instead of watching the Pens game like we usually did.

"Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. I think we were finally coming to an agreement and getting somewhere and then all of the sudden he acts like it never happened and now we're back here." I was trying to play it off like it was no big deal. Maybe if I lied enough to everyone else then I could trick myself into believing the shit I was actually saying.

"Wait, wait, wait" Eliza said holding up her hand to stop me. "What do you mean that 'you were getting somewhere?" she questioned looking decidedly happy. "Did you guys finally get around to having sex?!"

I winced in embarrassment from how loud she had said the last part and shrunk down in my chair. Not everyone in the bar needed to hear that I may or may not have having sex.

"No, we didn't" I hissed trying to knock the smug looks off of their faces. Just because they were both having amazing sex with men that loved them didn't mean that we had to talk about how I wasn't. God, when was the last time that I had had sex anyway?

The thought was disturbing.

"We were close at one point but we didn't have sex" I confessed.

"Well, who stopped it from going too far?" Vero questioned.

Wait, who had stopped it? I didn't actually remember anymore even though it was just a couple of days ago. Was it mutual? Hadn't we both put the brakes on?

"I don't actually remember" I confessed staring back at the looks of disbelief on their faces. Once again, it was obvious that they just weren't going to understand. Did they even remember how awkward and difficult it was at the beginning of a new relationship? "That's not the important part. The important part is that afterwards we talked and agreed to see where the relationship would blossom. Then we go to sleep, wake up, have a great day together and then wham. All of the sudden he doesn't even want to talk or look at me."

"So it just happened like that? Without anything that would have triggered a fight?"

Believe me Vero, I'm just as confused as you are.

"Yes! We didn't talk the entire way back, grabbed our bags at the baggage claim, said 'see you later' and went off on our separate ways. I still have no idea what happened to make him change his mind so suddenly and maybe it's better that I don't know."

We all sat in silence for a moment and I wanted another drink. Maybe some grain alcohol would do the trick. Even Sidney Crosby wasn't infallible in the face of grain alcohol.

"I hate to say it but I think that this is a classic case of Sidney being Sidney" Eliza stated. Vero nodded along wisely but I had no idea what she was talking about. Was 'Sidney' it's own defined word now and I was supposed to understand exactly what that meant?

"What?"

"Okay, we all agree that Sidney is pretty much the most noble guy that we all know, correct?" Eliza verified. "Well I think that this is a classic case of Sidney trying to be Sidney and protect you or something like that."

"What?" I asked blinking at her in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. What could he possibly be protecting me from? It's not like I don't know who and what he is. We've been friends for years!"

"Well Sidney wouldn't think of it like that- he would think that he's protecting you" Vero stated.

"But from what? What could he possibly be protecting me from? I already know that he thinks about hockey 99 percent of the time and that he travels all of the time too. What else is there that would really be a deal breaker for me?"

"Well for most other women, those would be big deal breakers sweetie. Maybe Sid just doesn't know that those aren't dealbreakers for you."

What she said made sense but it didn't make it any less hurtful or any less stupid. If what she said was true, then who was he to decide what was best for me? I would have thought that he would recognize by now that only I made decisions about my life- no one else, especially not him.

"What an asshole!" I exclaimed drinking back the contents of my margarita. Jose Cuervo was becoming one of my good friends tonight. "How can he just decide this without even talking to me first! We agreed to talk!"

"Honey, I know you're mad and everything but-" I cut Eliza off with a glare.

"Don't 'but' me or try to defend him. He's an asshole." I was completely furious with him for just brushing me aside like this and with myself for actually getting my hopes up and believing that something good could come from being with Sidney. He would never LET anything good happen between us.

"Just talk to him" Vero suggested. "We're all going to the Guerin's for New Years Eve and I don't want you two being awkward or fighting the whole time."

Great, New Years. I had almost forgotten all about that and now, regardless of what Eliza and Vero wanted, it would be awkward between Sidney and I and I would be ringing in the New Year alone, once again.

"Can I bring a date with me?" I asked suddenly getting an idea and running with it. Did I really have to be alone this year? Even getting to know someone new would be more fun than sulking in a corner or pretending that I really didn't care about him all night. Wouldn't someone else be the perfect distraction for me?

"Em, I'm not sure that that's the best idea right now" Eliza said hesitantly glancing to Vero for support. "I mean, you two still need to sit down and talk and-"

"Em, you'd only be dragging someone else in between you and Sid but that doesn't actually fix anything" Vero added obviously trying to drum some reason into me.

"No, actually it does fix things. It will show him once and for all that he can't just drag me around and expect that I'll be grateful to him for 'protecting' me."

In fact, this might just be the best idea that I've had in a long time.


Sid's POV:

"What the fuck happened to you over Christmas?" Staalsy questioned whipping his wet towel into my face. "Even you're not normally this uptight."

"Fuck off" I told him pulling my practice jersey up over my head. I was trying not to keep track of the number of times that I had snarled at someone in the past two days but it was getting harder and harder not to notice that that was becoming my primary form of communication.

"No seriously, you're a mess" Talbot commented sitting down in his stall next to mine. "Did something happen with your Dad?"

"No, just drop it" I asked him, hoping to get out of there early today and spend the rest of the day cooling off and not thinking about Emma.

"Well then cut the attitude" Max advised looking around at the rest of the guys changing in the locker room. "It's bad enough that we've lost two games in a row, we don't need our captain biting our heads off on top of that."

He had a point. I was so distracted by everything going on in my own life that for one of the first times in a long time, my personal life was affecting my professional life and I had zero patience for those around me. Selfishness wasn't exactly a good trait for a captain to have.

"You need to get laid" Staalsy stated pulling his t-shirt over his head. Of course it was that simple for him. He was a great player and member of the team but he was never hounded by the media or forced to hold press conferences like I was. He could have the professional life and the personal life and do both without huge complications- I couldn't.

It was also a problem that the only woman I wanted to be with right now was the same woman I was pushing away. Just picturing her again laughing with my family or talking to Taylor in the kitchen, warm eyes sparkling and sunny smile, set me on edge all over again leaving me back at square one.

I still wanted her and I couldn't have her. Though I hadn't seen her in a couple of days, I was positive that she hated me for how I had left everything.

"Take your own advice and leave the Kid alone" Talbo said stepping in and flicking Jordan with his own towel. Once it was relatively clear around us, Max spoke up.

"So let me guess. You did something to piss Emma off and now she won't talk to you?" For once in his life, Max knew when to keep his voice level down and I had to give it up to Eliza for having such a good influence on him these past few years.

"In a nutshell, yes. There's more to it than that but yeah, pretty much."

"Well what are you going to do about it?" he asked. "We're all tired of you acting like a little bitch just because you screwed things up. Go talk to her" he pressed.

The last thing I wanted to do was piss her off more but I knew I wasn't helping matters by not talking to her either. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was close to lunch time. If I could catch her on her lunch break or get her to have dinner with me tonight, we could clear the air a little bit and get things back to the way they were.

Max grinned and announced to the rest of the guys in the room that he had fixed the problem and left me alone to get dressed. Maybe it wasn't fixed but it was definitely on its way to getting better.

Hopefully.