Thin Ice (Corey Crawford)

The Real Deal

Samantha

"Are you sure you want to do this" I ask Corey as he climbs on my bike and sits behind me. He had on Shawn's helmet and he takes the visor off so I could look him in his eyes.

"Hell yeah. If I could I would drive it myself but I've never been on a bike before. So this is going to have to do for now" he claims.

"Alright... just tell me if you want to stop or slow down" I tell him and I see him smile behind the helmet. It reminded me a lot of him smiling behind his helmet the first time our eyes ever met at that hockey game that seems like forever ago and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

He puts his shades back down and I start up the bike. I make sure everything is as I like it before kicking up the kickstand. We jolt a little as I take off and I feel Corey's grip on me get tighter. I laugh as he grips me hard as we take off into the city.

But by the time we get to lake shore drive he had relaxed and was enjoying the ride. We cruise along the road as for once it was pretty calm out here. So I take a peak in my mirror and can see Corey looking around and smiling. He had been begging me to take him on a ride around town on the bike since we first started dating and I finally took him on a ride. But the look in his eyes tell me that he's going to buy a bike of his own and learn how to ride it himself some day if he had it his way.

Eventually we get a little outside of town and I pull off into a little parking lot to take a break before turning back around. I take off my helmet and set the bike up so it will cool off a little.

"Alright. This is the coolest thing ever" he claims as he walks next to me and I laugh.

"It's pretty great" I agree.

"What do I need to be able to get one of these? Because I want one" he assures me.

"Do you think the Blackhawks would really let you get a motorcycle" I question and he nods.

"Alright. Maybe I can just learn to ride yours" he admits.

"It's not that bad. It's just like riding a bike" I smirk.

"Ha Ha, very funny" he scoffs and I laugh.

"I thought it was pretty funny" I tease.

"You are pretty funny" Corey admits as he wraps his arms around me.

We watch as the sun starts to set over the horizon and let out a long sigh. This city was so beautiful, simply amazing. I'm so lucky to be able to grow up here and have the opportunities I've had. I know it hurts right now but I'll be okay one day. And I have a feelings that's going to have a lot to do with the man who's arms I'm in right now.

"You know I'm about to leave for a while" he starts.

"Two weeks" I sigh.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really don't want to leave here. To leave you" he claims as I turn around in his arms.

"That just makes me more sad that you're going" I insist.

"Well I'll be back before you know it and we can train and go to a bar and get drunk. We'll have fun" he promises.

"And what am I supposed to do in the mean time" I question.

"Well you're a nurse and you have a pretty cool little brother so that should keep you busy" he assures me.

"Speaking of, we should probably head back to make sure he didn't need anything after practice" I admit and he nods. He drove himself there but he sometimes forgets to come back. He was such a rink rat, but I can't say too much because he gets it from me.

"Okay. But I want to drive" he claims reaching for my keys and I raise a eyebrow at him.

"You want to learn how to drive this thing in the middle of Chicago" I question. Not exactly the safest practice area.

"Alright... I want to drive it back to the city" he claims and I laugh.

"That I can live with" I admit.

I explain to him in the simplest way possible how to ride a motorcycle. And although him driving was illegal he was actually pretty good at it. He had great balance and he didn't lay into the gas, I quite enjoyed watching the sun set over the water as a passenger for once. Once we get back into the city we switch and I drive the rest of the way to Johnnys Ice House. Once we get there we wait for Shawn inside the building. We mess around in the commons area and talk about our favorite memories in there.

Eventually everyone comes out of practice and I don't see my brother. I see one of his friends and stop them to see what's going on.

"Hey Tommy. Where's Shawn" I wonder.

"Still on the ice. You know him, never gets off until you drag him off" he laughs.

"I know how that goes" I agree.

We go out to the ice and low and behold my brother was stirring there in his net. There was a coach out there taking shots and I watch for a second.

"Man... he's really really good" Corey admits.

"He's the number one ranked prospect goalie in the country right now. He had offers from 30 different colleges with full ride scholarships and he's had 7 professional teams already looking at him. He's hoping to do world juniors come December" I explain.

"Damn. So being a really talented goal tender runs in your family huh" he asks and I shrug.

"My dad knew what he was talking about" I say.

"Do you think he's going to make it in the NHL" he wonders and I smile.

"Absolutely. He wants the college experience because he's just 17 right now, he has so much of his life to go through. He wants to figure some stuff out and have somewhat of a normal childhood. But he's going to be in the NHL one day. Some team is going to be lucky enough to have the hardest working guy on their team" I say.

"Who knows? Maybe by then I'll be done and he'll be in my net" Corey says and I smile.

"If you tell him that he won't get off that ice until he goes off to college" I admit and he laughs.

"I have no problem telling him that. I've done my research, been to his games. He's the real deal" he admits.

"He's something" I agree.