Emerson lay in her hotel bed staring up at the boring white ceiling. They had lost to the Washington Capitals 7-1.. even though both her and Fleury played, it counted as a lose on her side. She always hated how this felt, and for her it felt worst since it was their first loss where she had played. Of course Emerson knew how to handle losing, it's apart of the game, but it's never easy to accept.
It was strange how lately it felt like her whole life revolved around sitting in a hotel room with damp hair after a shower. She always found herself laying in an old large shirt and shorts. But Emerson really couldn't complain. She had the room to herself, could watch whatever on TV and had a lot more downtime than people would expect.
Making her perk straight up was the sudden knocking on the door. She swore if this was Marc coming back to check on her she wasn't opening it.
Looking through the peep hole she saw Sidney standing there, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. She knew a few of the guys went out for drinks but she wondered why he hadn't changed if they were back.
Right away she opened the door, "Hey Cap."
"Ems. Care if I come in?" Emerson learned pretty quickly to stay away from certain people after a loss. Sid wasn't necessarily one of them, but she stayed away nonetheless. Thinking about making him upset or him being upset towards her would practically be a nightmare.
"Oh of course not."
Emerson sat down on the edge of her bed as he took a seat on the couch. She could tell he definitely wasn't in the mood he had been in back in the lockeroom. Her eyes were glued to his form, the way his black long sleeve stuck to his form showing his muscles. The young girl shifted on the white covers trying not to stare at the older attractive man.
"How are you feeling?" he stared into her eyes, "you didn't cry did you..?"
"No! Oh this is old mascara that takes a while to come off so it's just immensely smudged. Losing sucks yah, but I'm fine. Besides, Flower was in here keeping me captive for what felt like ever, making me basically talk about my feelings." she chuckled thinking about how over the top he was being.
"Alright good. And that doesn't surprise me coming from him. He thinks very highly of you."
"Well I think highly of you all anyways so I hope that's reciprocated." she sighed leaning back onto her forearms.
"Trust me it is."
"Are the guys still out?" Emerson wasn't sure what else to talk about in this moment so she brought that up, "It's a bit early seeming.."
"Yeah they are. Never fun losing to Ovi's team honestly. But I just felt like coming back to the hotel and figured you were still up."
"Yah I don't sleep much obviusly."
"You should be more wary of that..."
"Says you." she cocked an eyebrow at him, "you sleep much less than I do."
"True. I'm older than you though.." Sid folded his arms, which was a usual thing for him to do Emerson noticed. She couldn't complain though, his arms were nice. But right now she definitely had to prove him wrong.
"That has nothing to do with it!!"
"I personally think it-"
She then cut him off saying very jokingly, "Don't elderly people need more sleep?"
"Now that's just rude." he teased right back.
"Not rude if it's true."
Emerson suddenly stood up and walked over to the window which peered out over the city of Washington. The lights of the buildings and cars passing by were actually something she enjoyed. Cities always drew her in. Sidney watched her curiously as she stood staring out, "do you get used to this? I mean, never being home and practically living in hotels."
Sidney sighed immediately, "Yeah. For me it's not bad though. I do love it.. besides, a lot of these guys have their wives or families they are always focused on trying to see. I'm not saying that's a stresser, but it's something I'm glad I don't have to worry about. But ask any hockey player that doesn't have anything tying him down back home... it's how it is and I personally wouldn't want it any other way."
"I do like it... I mean, I miss my friends all the time but we all basically live in other states so it's not like we'd be seeing each other a ton anyways. Like my friend Kelsey, she's coming to our game against the Rangers next week. I haven't seen her since July."
"Don't worry you'll figure things out after this season on how to make time for people. Summers when you're signed with a team is nice because you can basically do whatever you want to unlike how your last one probably went."
"Yeah.. It's funny right now. A few of my friends are already trying to make plans with me for around April, May... but I like to think we'll be in the playoffs."
"We will be."
"You seem confident in that." Emerson turned around with a sly smile on her lips. The way her hair flipped had Sid's voice stuck in his throat. He couldn't help but stare at her body which wasn't completely covered.
"G-botta be."
"Hmm I guess so. Seems hard sometimes. But I've always had the luxury of being on these teams that take us to finals and such so.. I hope we do."
"God, a two-peat would be amazing." Sid crossed one leg over another carefully watching Emerson move back over to the bed. She threw herself right down, leaning back onto her forearms once again. But this time, this time her shirt had slightly ridden up, her shorts as well. Sidney gulped immediately beginning to heat up as he realized she was completely innocent of realizing what she was doing. Emerson didn't seem like the type of girl to notice this stuff, especially around teammates where she had always been like a sister to them.
"I mean, it would be pretty lit winning a Stanley Cup in my first season in the nhl. Totally out doing you."
"I can see the headlines now, Emerson Rousseau, topping Sidney Crosby since day one."
"Obviously." Emerson scoffed, "I mean I'm sure I could hold my own against you."
"I'd love to see that." he smirked.
"Well I used to be one hell of a winger back in the day. Nine years old was probably my prime."
From what she said to how she said it, Sidney burst out in a laugh. He couldn't quite understand why he found her statement so entertaining but he did, "I'm sure those skills will come rushing back. One day I'll have to 1 v 1 you for the hell of it, eh?"
"Well prepare to lose."
Sidney's breath hitched as she stretched, head dropping back making his eyes glue to somewhere they shouldn't have. He knew he was already overdoing his stay now that he was having these thoughts. From what he understood from Flower, Emerson had always been the mother/sister/best friend figure on all her past teams. No boys had ever over stepped boundaries and she was the definition of "one of the boys". She probably never worried about how she looked around them, or if something came across as... this. Yet here he was at 29 years old and couldn't control entirely how he felt.
He wasn't blind to what was going on. He was almost 30, he wasn't stupid. Every chance he got he wanted to be around Emerson. The two had shared so much about one another now that they were slowly getting closest out of a lot of other teammates. Yet he only reminded himself that she was almost eight years younger than him and was hurt in her last relationship. Of course he didn't know the extent of it, but that was just something else that made him feel protective over her. But going for such a younger girl... that was foreign.
"You okay Sid?" Emerson noticed that he had gone quiet, and she also noticed where his gaze was- on her. She felt intimidated.
"Yeah sorry," he shook his head slightly. He tried to give her a smile, "I should be going. Let you sleep and all."
"Alright yah. I am tired."
"I'll see you tomorrow. Remember we're all meeting in the lobby at 9."
"See you then." Emerson held open the door as he left. She watched his large form head over to his room, and she watched him go in without a look back.
She closed the door and did the extra lock. She had her back to the door and let out a sigh. Emerson already missed his presence, the strong smell of his intoxicating cologne, and his voice. She loved the way he pronounced words because of his Canadian accent, and loved how soothing it was to her.
"Fuck..." Emerson muttered under her breath as she went to climb into bed. She clicked the light off as well leaving her in utter darkness, the clocks light being the only thing. The only sounds that kept the silence away was the city outside. It was background noise she enjoyed.
Emerson starting to become scared that she had been developing feelings for the Sidney Crosby for awhile now. For a week or so she brushed them off as admiration for an amazing athlete, that was much older. Someone that she remembered being only 11 years old when he was drafted first overall at 18 but about to turn 19.
Though would a relationship with him even work? It sounded far fetched to her that he'd ever feel that way towards her; but damn would it be difficult if he did. Forget that he was older, she knew he'd treat her better than Gio had when things took off between them.. Emerson wanted to stop thinking about him in this way, she had to keep reminding herself it would be too complicated.
But if one things for sure, the moment anyone starts to admit they're crushing or see a potential relationship with someone... there's no going back.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE: god I hope this is realistic seeming with the two realizing they like eachother.. feedback??? I'm starting to realize I'm always writing watching Southpark between 1-2 am, rip me