The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Conflicts

Morning skate went well. The boys were still fired up from their win against Calgary, and that was good. The energy was high in Joe Louis Arena, and none of the fans were even there yet; this was going to be a fun game.

It felt unreal to be skating on the ice where all the games I had grown up watching were played. Joe Louis Arena wasn't Consol, but it still felt like home.

All throughout practice, I could feel Sidney's eyes on me. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who wanted to make our earlier encounter a regular thing. But I knew we couldn't. 'One last time,' he had said, and we had to stick by that.

After practice, I decided to change things a little bit, "Hey, Sidney, want to go get dressed first and then go eat? I know a place not far from here that has really good Italian food, but it's pretty fancy."

He studied me for a minute, "Alright, but I'll blame you if we lose tonight."

"Hey, Sidney?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't lose tonight," I smirked and led the way to my car, since his was back in Pittsburgh.

We went back to the hotel to get ready, doing our usual thing. I sat down on his bed and pretty much just twiddled my thumbs while he showered. Geno walked in a few moments later. "Happy birthday, Erin," he smiled.

"Thanks, Geno," I replied. I had been getting that all day from the guys. Every chance they had, they were wishing me a happy birthday.

"Sid did not go to breakfast when I ask you," it wasn't a question.

I felt the blood drain out of my face. "No," I whispered.

Geno looked at me, "Hey, no worry Erin. I promised I no tell anyone."

I sighed, "Thank you, Geno. It was the last time, I-"

"That what Sid say?" Geno interrupted.

"We agreed," I replied.

"Agree?" Geno seemed surprised, "I did not know you like Sid."

I blushed, "Yeah..."

"'Yeah,' what?" Sidney asked as he walked out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt. My lips tingled as I watched him do that, remembering what he had tasted like.

"Nothing," Geno said as he headed into the bathroom. I stood up and grabbed Sidney's tie and walked over to him. I wrapped the tie around his neck, tucking it under the collar of his shirt. We were close enough that I could feel his cool breath wash over me and smell the soap he had used in the shower. I bit my lip and tried to focus on the tie, rather than Sidney in front of me.

He lifted his hand to the side of my face and used his thumb to pull my bottom lip from between my teeth. "Don't do that," he whispered.

I met his gaze and I almost stopped breathing. His eyes were filled with longing as he stared at me. I took a step back and tried to leave the room, but he stepped into my path. He pushed a piece of hair out of my eyes, "You're so beautiful."

My eyes fluttered shut and my lips parted in response to his touch, "Sid," I whispered, not nearly as forceful as I would have liked.

"Erin," he whispered back.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we can't do this?" It hurt me to say it because I didn't want to tell him 'no', but we had jobs to do.

"One last time. Tell me, one last time and I'll stop. I'll let you go on and I won't bother you anymore. I don't want to, Erin, I really don't, but I will, for you. Just tell me, one last time."