The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

Rough Around the Edges

Sidney's Point of View

I sat with the guys in the locker room, waiting for Erin and Johnston to come give us a pre-game pep talk. It wasn't long before they turned up. Robert went right up to Erin as she walked in, and they did their little high-five thing. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous, even though we were just friends. I knew that Robert liked her. I liked her too, but we had decided that it was best if we stayed friends; well, she had decided that.

Beau asked her, as usual, if they should chest bump or whatever, and she shook her head and laughed. I loved the sound of her laugh. "Alright, gang," Johnston said. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; he was always trying to come up with a new catch phrase, and they were always terrible. "We need to play our game tonight: fast and-"

"Furious?" Sutter joked.

Johnston sighed, "Yeah, sure. Fast and furious. I'm assuming you guys want to win?" We nodded. "Well, good, because Erin and I want to win, too. This is the home opener, not that you need to be reminded, and this is the start of our regular season. This is the first step in our journey on the road to the cup. We need to make it a good first step! Erin?"

"The first step is always the hardest, but you have your teammates and us to back you up. We've been practicing for a reason, so let's go out there and show them whose house this is! Your house, your family! Now get out there, I want to see you all beat James Neal and his team into the ice!" She shouted. The other guys and I cheered at this. We were kind of surprised that she had mentioned him after being so sick of hearing about him earlier.

I let the guys file out onto the ice, staying behind to talk to Erin before heading out myself. "Nervous?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Aww, don't be. You'll do great," I smiled at her.

"That's what I should be saying to you; you're the one who's actually playing!" She laughed, "Are you nervous?"

"Yes," I didn't like to think about it, because it made it worse, but I was nervous. I shouldn't be; this wasn't my first time, no where close to it, but every time I stepped onto the ice and heard the roar of the fans, I wanted to do a good job and impress everyone. That's probably how I'm supposed to feel.

"You will do great. You always do," she said.

I snorted, "No, I don't!"

"You have every time I've watched you. But just in case, just for luck," she stood on her tip toes and kissed me on the cheek.

I could feel myself blushing as I leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, "Good luck, Erin." 'I love you,' I thought. The thought surprised me as I stepped out of the locker room and into the bench. Did I love her? I guess I did. Maybe I had for a long time now and I just didn't want to admit it. How could it work? How could she love me back when I had hurt her not so long ago? Yes, she had said that she had forgiven me... and then we had kissed... but did she love me? No. I wasn't good enough for her, and Geno was right, she deserved better than me. I wouldn't stop loving her, but I wanted her to find someone who actually deserved her, someone who could treat her better than I could. And when she found him, I would be happy... for her.

We skated around the ice, stretching, firing shots in the goal, and psyching ourselves up for the game. Consol was already loud with music and the spectators. The air itself was alive with the energy of the game. I was ready to play.

"Do you see him over there, skating around like he owns the place?" Letang asked me, gesturing at Neal.

"Yeah, I see him. He's got a lot of nerve to be acting like that," I replied.