Discovering...Love?

"Shit, I'm going to be late!" I say looking over at the clock that reads 9:55. I try to get up, but Sid tightens his grip on my waist.

"Nuh, uh. stay with me, you can go later," he mumbles into my shoulder.

"Sid, I'd rather stay too, but I have to go. All the girlfriends and wives are expecting me," I groan.

Yesterday Sara and Laura informed me that all the girls were getting together to get ready for the big event this evening. Apparently, we were supposed to go to a spa where they would pamper us for most of the day, which I was up for. But then we were going to get our hair and makeup done, yuck. I hated when people did my make up. It always turned out cakey and unnatural.

"Fine. When will you be back?"he yawns allowing me to get up.

"Umm... I think around 4:30. Then I'll change real quick and we can be at the event at 5,"I reply throwing on a pair of jeans and an old University of Maryland t shirt, not bothering to do my make up or shower. I knew that all the girls would probably look fabulous, even if they were in sweats. But I didn't see the point in going to a spa with your makeup done,when they were just going to take it off anyway. This was suppose to be a relaxing time, and I resolved not to think to much about tonight or meeting the Lemieux's. I grabbed my bag that had my id, money, and a book in it after pulling my hair up into a quick pony tail.

"Okay, I'm out of here," I say going over to the bed to give Sid a quick kiss. I walked away toward the door.

"Now you be good, and have fun with the boys," I say quietly petting Bran and giving him a hug. He was set for his debut on the red carpet. I was a different story. I hated leaving him when we were in a different country, but I knew Sid would keep an eye on him.

"Babe, we're just watching movies and playing in the game room all day, I can't really get in that much trouble," I hear Sidney sigh from his place in bed.

"Not you, Bran. Remember you have to keep an eye on him today, or rather, he'll probably be keeping an eye on you," I laugh, knowing Bran is quiet capable of taking care of himself.

"Bye, boys. See you at 4:30," I wave as I grab my coat and walk out the door.

I look at my phone and realize it's already 10:03. I was suppose to meet them in the lobby 3 minutes ago. I run down the hotel steps, I hate elevators, and into the lobby where I find a mass of women waiting. I guess it wasn't just the Penguin ladies going to the spa day. Great! I was in a guys Barbie heaven. I looked around for someone I knew. All the ladies were in their best dress, or rather what would be my best attire. They probably just pulled something out of the closet. I felt extremely out of place in my beat up jeans and t shirt as I looked around at the women in skirts and heels. There were some in sweat pants, but they wore them as if they were designer sweat pants, which they probably were.

"Caitlin!" I heard Laura call from behind me.

I turn to see her waving to me standing next to the other ladies. A wave of relief washes over me as I see the familiar faces and run over to them.

"Alright ladies, we're all here. Let's get going," I hear Sara say to the group.

I slip on my bomber coat and follow the line of ladies to a spa. After determining what we want to do, I file off with Sara, Laura, and Alexis Malone to go to the mud baths. I think they all went for beauty reasons, they said it did wonders for the skin. But they didn't have to convince me, taking a bath in mud sounded like fun. After stripping off our clothes in a changing room, we settled down in the large tubs of mud.

"This is so sweet!" I laugh slipping into the warm mud, "This is like a little kids dream!"

"Mmmm... yeah... most definitely," I hear Alexis sigh.

They apparently weren't in here for the same reason I was. After multiple spa treatments, including some kind of hair therapy mask, and a massage, my body was as relaxed as its ever been; however, my mind was still in over drive. I think back to what Bran and Sid were doing. They were probably chilling with the guys, eating pizza and wings as they watched sports and did other guys stuff. I wished I was along with them. All the noise and sloppiness of being with the guys probably would have relaxed me more than this place. Not that I didn't like the spa, but the peace and quiet let my mind wander, which right now, wasn't a good thing. Plus, I was starving, all they gave us were some dinky salads with no dressing that wouldn't fill a chipmunk, and cucumber water. Just the thought of the pizza, wings, and beer, I was sure the guys were wolfing down, was making my mouth water.

Finally our day at the spa was over! I thought maybe I'd go back there after search and rescue operations, but seriously, I would have rather eaten today... God I was so damn hungry! However, I had no time to stop and eat as they pushed us into some beauty shop to get our hair and make up done. I first got my nails done, which took 30 minutes. 5 for filing and painting my nails a clear color, 5 for painting my toe nails a silvery, and the final 20 was spent convincing the lady that I did not need those bothersome acrylic nails!

I next went to hair. I sat in the chair and talked with the hairdresser.

"I don't want anything over the top. I want a natural look, that means no excessive hair spray!" I plead with the man.

"I understand," he smiles back at me.

He takes me over to the sink to wash my hair and then brings me back to the chair where he begins the process of combing and cutting my hair. I hadn't had a hair cut in a long while.

"You have beautiful hair, you take care of it very well," he says in a French Canadian accent.

"Thank you. But most of it's probably from that avocado mask thing I had at the spa today,"I sigh rolling my eyes.

"Didn't you have a good time?" he asks running a wide tooth comb through my thick hair.

"Well, yes, but I would have rather been with the guys. They didn't feed us much there, and I was ready to eat the cucumbers off my eyes I was so hungry," I smile, making him laugh.

"If you don't mind me saying, you are not like the other ladies."

"No. Sometimes I think I don't really belong with them,"I sigh. I don't know why, but I felt as though I could open up to this guy.

"Well, you have the beauty to fit if that's what you're worried about," he smiles. I was really beginning to like this guy.

"Thank you. But as you can see, my style of well... everything is not like them."

"That's good, it sets you apart. Your boyfriend, he is from the Penguins, oui?" he asks.

"Yeah," I smile thinking back to the guy who stole my heart from the start.

"Who is he, if you don't mind me asking."

"Sidney Crosby," I reply shyly.

"Wow! You are very different from his fiance, what was her name, Victoria."

"yeah, I know. That's what worries me sometimes. All these ladies wouldn't even know about this event if their boys didn't ask them. Me, I've been invited for the past 2 years."

"Why is that?"he says cutting off some of my hair, "look down please."

"I'm part of a Search and Rescue team, so every year I'm invited to their international event."

"That is a high honor, you must be very good at it."

"Oh, no not me. I would be nothing without my dogs."I continue to talk to my hair dresser and before I know it he tells me he's finished.

He spins me around in the chair and hands me a mirror, to see his handy work. He had done loose french braid on one side that wrapped around my head, then joined all my hair together in a semi messy bun at the side of my head. The style wasn't constricting and was actually very comfortable, it was very... well... me. It was natural looking and wasn't weighed down by hairspray. I had to hand it to this guy, he listened like a bartender and was the De Vinci of hair.

"It's perfect! It's exactly what I wanted, how did you know?" I say looking at him astounded.

"Why thank you. An artist always likes to hear that his work is appreciated. I just listened to what you were telling me and let my fingers do the work. Your style was actually quite easy. And when you take it down, which getting to know you this past hour I'm sure you will as soon as the party is over, you will find that I took about 2 inches off your hair and added in some long layers," he smiles at me.

"Caitlin, if you're done, it's time for makeup!"I hear Alexis Malone call.

"Well, thank you very much. And thank you for listening to my problems, you made me feel a lot better,"I say giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You are quite welcome, and good luck tonight. You will turn heads, I'm sure of it," he smiles before I walk away.

I get my makeup done and I'm pleased to see that it isn't in the least bit cakey. The make up artist puts on a small bit of bronzer on my cheeks, dark charcoal liner for my eyes along with a dark olive green eye shadow, she then tops it off with mascara and some highlighting powder. I had a smokey eye going and was surprised to see my reflection in the mirror when she was done. I actually look ...beautiful.

I don't wait for the other girls, they had brought their dresses or had them delivered there. Mine was still at the hotel.I enter the hotel room with less than 15 minutes before I had to enter the lobby again. I run up the first flight of stairs to the elevator. I had to take it this time, I didn't want to mess up my hair.

I rush into the room where Bran greets me.

"Sid! I'm back!" I call, but there is no answer.

I go into the bathroom where there is a note taped to the mirror.

Caitlin,
I went over to Colby's room, he was having trouble with his tie. Go figure. I'll meet you in the lobby at 5. Oh, and I took your coat down with me. I want to see how beautiful you are the moment I lay eyes on you.
Love, Sidney

I sigh, 'damn he was good.' I think before rushing to the closet to get my dress. I change out of the clothes I already have on, careful as I pull the t shirt over my head not to mess anything up. I slip on the cool green silk of the dress and pull on my strappy high heels. I walked over to the mirror. I look at myself in the mirror and my breath catches in my throat. I look like I was going to a high fashioned red carpet event, like I was, but I had managed, with the help of others to make the outfit fit my personality. The outfit wasn't over the top, it was simple but beautiful. It flowed perfectly over every curve. The hair was swept up not covering the neck line of the dress that showed off my shoulders and collar bone. The bronzer showed off my cheek bones and the shadow brought out the dark brown of my eyes.

I turn to walk away from the mirror when I spotted a small black box on the edge of the nightstand with a note attached with my name on it. I walk over to it and pull off the note.

The girls said this would complete your dress
Sidney

I open the box to reveal a breathtaking bracelet. Small diamonds were linked together to make up a thin chain. I look at the clock and realize I only had 5 minutes before we leave. I slip on the thin chain and find that it is actually carries some weight. I look in the mirror for the final time to find that it does complete my ensemble. I check the clock and find that it is time to leave.

I go to the door with Bran by my side.

"Are you ready? You'll be there the whole time right?"I ask him as I grasp the door nob.

He licks my hand in reply, as if to say, "let's go."

I take a deep breath and open the door. I walk through the deserted hall way and into the empty elevator. Taking deep breaths as it goes down, damn was I nervous.The door opens and I step out onto the carpet with Bran next to me. Taking a deep breath, yet again, I go to the edge of the stairs and look down to see that all the players are there waiting. Everyone seems to stop and look at me. I felt like Cinderella. My breath catches and I think, 'what if I can't do this.'

Bran seems to feel my anxiety and steps closer to me touching his wet nose to my arm. I look down and smile at him."Thank bud," I whisper provoking a tail wag.

I look back at me to see if I see Sid. I spy him holding my coat and looking up at me with a stunned expression, his mouth slightly ajar. I grin before descending down the steps to meet him, Bran never leaving my side.

Sid's POV

I couldn't believe it when she opened the door and revealed 8 hockey players listening at the door. How perverted could they get! I was furious and wanted to kill them on the spot. However, at that moment, I think she and Bran had it pretty well covered. I almost felt bad for those poor sons of bitches. I heard a few doors open and Max, Staalzy, Bugsy, Ruuts, Geno, and Whit came out to see what was going on.

"What's all this about?" Whit asks first.

"Caitlin and I were... well... we were…"I hesitate.

"Gotcha," Bugs said telling me that they knew what I meant.

"Yeah, well, we didn't get too far. She had everything she is wearing at the moment, and we were about to go a little further but she stopped me and went to the door. She opened it and these losers were on the other side listening to us. She called Bran out and that leads us to what you see here," I finish.

All the guys look like they are ready to kill the guys on the other side of the hallway. They advance but Caitlin turns around and holds up a hand. With that look on her face, nobody would dare move a step more. She finished yelling at them and then got really quite, which was even worse. The guys scampered away and she pushed past us into the room. She sits on the bed just staring at the wall with her fists clenching and unclenching. Her hair was hanging down in her eyes that were still blazing a reddish brown.

"Babe, are you ok?" I ask softly, the other guys were standing behind me looking at her the same way I was.

"Fine," she snaps, "This hotel has a pool right?"

"Umm... yeah, why?"

"I need to burn off some anger, " she muttered looking in her suit case. After taking a second to change in the bathroom she comes out wearing a Nike two piece.

"I'll be back later," she says slamming the door.

We all stood there quietly for at least 5 minutes before Bugsy spoke up,"I don't think I've ever seen her so mad before," he says quietly.

"I've only seen her that mad once before. And that was when we broke up at the beach," I replied.

"She gets really scary. First she just flipped out but what was even scarier was when she got really quiet and had that low voice," Staalzy shivers, "I mean I had never seen Bran like that, and that was scary. But she was a whole lot scarier than him."

"It's mostly her eyes, though," Max continued, "they turn like a red brown instead of the usually dark chocolate. I don't think I've ever seen that."

"We need her on the hockey team," Ruuts stated quietly, being dead serious.

"So what is she doing right now at the pool?" Geno asked.

"Probably pushing herself as hard as possible, doing lap after lap, before she just collapses." I sigh, "I'll give her another 5 minutes before I go get her."

"What I don't get, is how did she know that there was someone at the door?" Whit asked confused.

"I have no idea!" I sigh again, "She does some things and I don't know how she does them."

A few minutes later I go down to the pool area and see that she is underwater doing lap after lap. I spy Flower and Laura on one of the chairs next to the pool watching her bewildered.

"Hey, guys." I say walking over.

"What's up with Caitlin?" Laura asks. I sigh before giving them a run down on what happened.

"Oh my God! That's terrible! How could they do that, you two should have called the police," Laura gasps in horror.

"Yeah, well believe me. I don't think they will be going anywhere near her anytime soon," I frown, "How long has she been at this?"

"It's been a good 15-20 minutes not stop. I think she's just starting to slowdown," Marc says looking at his watch.

I groan and jump in the pool to get her. I swim over to her, making her stop and come up for air. She surfaces breathless.

"Caitlin, are you okay?" I ask as she takes the goggles off her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just pissed," she said breathlessly.

"You have every right to be."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry I left like that, I just needed to get some energy out."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I know exactly how you feel. You scared the shit out of those guys though, eh?" I smile.

"Yeah, well... they're lucky that's all I did," she smiles back.

"How did you know they were at the door though?" I ask, it had been bothering me.

"I dunno. Living with dogs you have to constantly be listening for little things, like a wrapper crinkling might clue you into that a dog is on the counter. So I have pretty good ears to hear the little things," she shrugs, "Although my mom would tell you I'm deaf to everything else."

"You amaze me sometimes," I laugh and reach out to pull her into a hug. But before I can reach her she dives into the water again, darting away from me.

"Oh it's going to be like that, eh?" I grin as she surfaces.

“Eh?” she grins making fun of my accent. She splashes water at me playfully as I come closer. I'm just about to reach her when she darts away again to the other side of the pool. After 10 minutes of chase I begin to get frustrated. Finally I have her backed up against the wall with no way out.

"You're trapped and you can't escape," I grin down at her pulling her into a tightly against me.

"Maybe I don't want to escape, maybe I want to stay right here," she grins up at me placing a kiss on my lips.

"Good," I murmur before bringing my lips to meet hers. I feel her smile into the kiss as her hands make their way around my neck to play with my hair. God I loved when she did that, it gave me chills. No other woman I had been with did that, or if they did, it didn’t make me feel the same way.

"Yeah, Siddo!" I hear some one shout along with a choir of whistles. I break away to see Army, Kris, and Max standing at the pool doors. I look down to see that Caitlin is smiling, her cheeks slightly pink.

I let her out of my arms and we both get out of the pool to find towels. She had on a sporty bikini and the water was rolling down her whole body making me go insane. I watched the water droplets slide down her neck and between her two round breasts, disappearing into her bathing suit. Then they started another downward fall across her tight abs into the bottom half of the bikini before falling down her smooth legs to form a puddle on the floor. She made me want to lay her down on the nearest flat surface and lick the rest of the water off of her.

She gathered her long hair in her hands and wrung the water out of it. She gathered it again, her hands going up the nape of her neck before twisting it skillfully into a bun. With her arms up you could see the toned muscles in her back, and of course you could see her muscular legs, she was still a little slimmer than she was before the avalanche. I looked over to the door to see the guys gawking at her too, their eyes wandering over her.

"Guys put you tongues back in your mouths!" I shout at them with a grin.

Caitlin turns innocently looking at the door. She lets out a loud laugh.
"You like what you see boys? I mean after all I'm just one of the guys, right?" she says sarcastically.

"If your a guy then I'm going gay," Max says smoothly with a wink, "Better be careful Sid, some one might try to steal her away.”

"Nope she's all mine," I say wrapping my arms around her.

"We were checking out Ace? I was checking out the stud next to her in the blue trunks," Colby says sarcastically winking at me. "Hello handsome!" he says in a girly voice causing everyone to erupt with laughter.

"What we came down here for was to ask if you to wanted to go to dinner with everyone else?" Kris asks.

"Sure if it's okay with Caitlin," I ask her.

"How bout it Ace? I'll show you the way around the city," Kris grins at her.

"Alright, I'm entrusting my life with you Tangers," she smiles, "Just let me go get changed."

"Awwww, you mean you aren't wearing that?" Max whines.

"Ha, ha very funny."



Caitlin's POV

After changing into my usual jeans and sweater, Sid and I say bye Bran going down stairs in the lobby to meet the others. Jordan spots me first, he grins and shouts,
“There is the man of the hour Way to show ‘em Ace!"

The rest of the guys look my way and begin to applaud me as I come down the steps.

"Believe me, Ace is no man under those clothes," I hear Colby shout. I look just in time to see Sara punch him in the arm for his comment. He looks at her an mouths "what?” prompting her to roll her eyes.

"No, no she's not," Sid whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek.

I reach the bottom of the steps and link my arm in Tanger’s.

"I believe you promised to show me the city, Mr. Letang," I grin up at him.

"That I did, Ace, that I did," he laughs.

"But what about me?" Sidney pouts.

"I'm sure you can find enough trouble to get in with you girlfreind,"I laugh as Colby latches onto
him for a hug.

"Come on Siddy Poo, you can walk with me," Army says trying to kiss him on the cheek. I see Sara roll her eyes and laugh at him as she talks to Laura.

"Ugh, Army quite!!!" Sid laughs trying to pull away from him.

Kris, Flower, and Max lead us all around the city, showing us places from their past, before we
finally settle down at a cozy restaurant not far from the hotel. After eating a delicious meal, the poor restaurant probably has no food left after we were there; Sidney takes my hand and leads me back to the hotel. I look out into the snow thinking about tomorrow.

"What's the matter?" he asks softly.

"Nothing," I respond.

"No, there's something up, now talk. This isn't about the incident earlier is it?" He asks his
features looking at me with worry.

"No. It's just... I don't know, I'm just nervous about tomorrow, I guess," I shrug.

"What! You’re going to be a knock out! I'm going to have to beat the other players away with a
stick. I'm sure of it!" he says in surprise.

"Sidney, you haven't even seen me in my dress yet," I smile weakly as his arm moves around my waist.

"I don't need to, I just know. Oh, and I have something to tell you," he says his eyes lighting up.

"What's that," I sigh leaning my head on his shoulder as we approach the hotel.

"Mario and Natalie are going to be there tomorrow and they want to meet you," he grins down
at me. That got my attention; I stop walking and snap my head up to look at him.

"They what!"

"Babe calm down, it's no big deal! They just want to see you; I mean they know about the beach
and everything now. And they know that I left Victoria because of you, which they are extremely happy about by the way, and they want to meet you."

"I know, I'm just nervous about tomorrow, and they are like family to you. And I haven't met any of your family yet. What if they don't like me?" I say, great more to be nervous about.

"They will like you, I guarantee it," he says stopping me again to kiss me sweetly on the lips before we head into the hotel.

'I sure hope so,' I think to myself. I give him a smile as we head into the hotel. Once there, I take out Bran once before returning in to find Sid already asleep on the bed.

'I'm never going to be able to sleep,' I think to myself as I slip into my pjs. I was really nervous for tomorrow, and now I was afraid the Lemieuxs' wouldn't like me. I crawl in bed next to Sid. I snuggle into his warmth, his arm automatically coming around me, pulling me into him.

"Night, Sidney. I love you." I whisper tilting my head up to kiss his jaw. But he's already fast asleep again. I sigh contently, breathing in his comforting scent. With the warmth of his body, his arm around me, and his scent filling my nose, I immediately cease my worrying and fall asleep.

Only 2 days left until the event. The whole team left today, while I was leaving tomorrow morning, I had a few sessions I was trying to get in so I could take the next few days off. I had decided to take Bran with me and the rest of the dogs were taking a vacation at a local dog spa, which was better than some of the hotels I had stayed in. Sam's owners had decided that they didn't want to put the work into the rehabilitation process of training him, so he was staying with me for now. I hoped that with a bit more training that he would be able to be adopted. It is 9:00 in the evening and I had just dropped the dogs off at their hotel. I was packing my suitcase in my room, Bran watching me contently from on the bed.

"Just like the old days, eh Bran? Just you and me,"I smiled as he watched me with those piercing blue eyes.

After I finished packing all my stuff and the things Bran would need, we ate a late dinner and watched a movie before turning in for the night.




I walked with Bran in the airport with all my luggage and looked for someone I knew. Sid said that someone would pick me up at the airport, but I had no idea who.

"ACE!!!" I heard someone yell. I turned around to see Ryan Malone, Max Talbot, and Evgeni Malkin running to catch up with me. The team, specifically Colby and Malone, had nicknamed me 'Ace' over the course of the last couple weeks because I always whipped them in poker and on the Wii. Yep, I was just one of the guys. I some how got pretty lucky with the nickname, however Colby has been calling me 'Caity' for the past few times I've seen him, I hated that nickname. I like the name Katie, but not for me.

"Hey guys. Sid have media stuff?"I smile as they approach me.

"Yeah, we're taking you back to the hotel, hey Bran!" Max says petting Bran and taking the leash from my hand along with a bag. Geno picked up my other bags and before I had a chance to say anything, I was lifted off my feet and over the shoulder of Ryan Malone.

"Bugs, come on put me down," I whine trying to squirm out of his grasp.

"Alright, guys I think we have everything let's go," he laughs and starts walking toward the door.

"Ryan put me down," I hiss in his ear, "People are staring."

"If you don't start squirming Ace I'm going to drop you and then you'll have to wear a cast with what ever pretty dress you got."

"Come on Malone. Let me down," I growl in his ear.

"Shut up and enjoy the view, Ace. I know I am," I hear him chuckle mischievously as he smacks my ass.

"I'm sure your wife would love to hear that one Bugs!" I snarled.

"Ok, fine," he said slipping me off his shoulder and letting me land with a gentle thump on the floor, "You just had to play the wife card."

"Thank you!" I grin getting up, "So how long had you guys planned on that little routine?"

"What are you talking about?! That was spur of the moment, pure wit," Max says looking to be hurt by my comment.

"Uh, hu, sure," I laugh rolling my eyes.

"It's ok, Ace, we won't tell Sid about you and Bugsy," Geno grinned at me,"Your secret is safe with us."

"Ha, ha very funny Geno!" I smiled at him throwing a soft punch into his shoulder.





Sid's POV

'Ugh, media. They were really annoying sometimes, they kept me for hours when all I wanted to do was go see Caitlin. Finally!' I thought making it to our room, 'I couldn't wait to see her, spend some time with her and...' I thought, my excitement to see her building. I walk in the room, the lights are turned out and there is a movie on. Pillows were everywhere with other guys all over the room.

'and the rest of the team.'I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Sid! You're just in time for Robin Hood Merry Men in Tights!" Army flashes a grin at me from his spot on the couch next to Max.

"Where is Caitlin?" I ask searching around for her with only the light at the TV.

"Over here Sid!" I hear her laugh. I fallow the voice to the bed where she is laying across the bottom of the bed. With Ruutu and Jordan occupying the space above along with Bran.


"Is everyone here?" I ask stepping over Tangers and Duups to get to her.

"Yep, just us guys," Whit replied from next to the TV.

"Hey!"

"Face it, Ace, you're one of the guys," I heard TK laugh from the window ledge.

"What I want to know is how all of you guys can manage to fit in one hotel room with my girl friend, but we have trouble on an airplane," I say sitting next to Caitlin.

"Sid shut up, I can't hear the movie," Sykie says hushing me. Causing Caitlin to laugh.

"I missed you," I continue kissing Caitlin quickly on the mouth.

"I missed you too," she smiles. I go in for another kiss but some one kicks me sharply in the side.

"Crosby, quit trying to make out with Ace. If we wanted to see that we would have ordered a romance movie," Ruuts hisses.





Caitlin's POV

"Finally, I have you all to myself!" Sid says tackling me on the bed landing on top of me.

"Mmmmm... I missed you," I say kissing his jaw and down his neck.

"Missed you too 'Ace,'" he moaned using my nickname. His hands reached down and brought my face back up to his. He kissed me slowly, taking his time. His tongue brushed my lower lip asking for entrance, but I made him wait. I felt him smile into the kiss, knowing that he was going to take this as a challenge. He pushed me into the mattress even more, his one hand coming to the small of my back pushing me into him. He began to nibble on my lower lip then swept his hot tongue over my lip, and then he repeated the same action. I couldn't hold back anymore and I opened my mouth to him with a moan. His tongue speared into my mouth and tangled with mine. We were both gasping for air as I broke the kiss to pull his t shirt over his head and he took it as a chance to pull off mine leaving me in only a sports bra. His kisses traveled down my neck and onto my collar bone before his mouth came up to meet mine again. I traced the muscles in his back and dug my finger nails slightly into his shoulders, making him groan into my mouth. His mouth moved south again and hit the magic spot on my neck,
"Sidney,"I moaned my hands tangling in his hair. His response was to push his hips into mine and I could feel him growing large in his jeans. I bit my lip to stifle another groan as his hands came to the button on my jeans. But I thought I heard something. He slowly unbuttoned them and went to pull the fly down, but I stopped his hands and put a finger to his lips to silence him. He gave me a confused look and I heard it again.
"Babe... what?" he whispered as I slipped from under him and tiptoed to the door. I put my ear against it and frowned. I walked back a little ways toward the bed again.
"Mmmmm... Sidney," I groaned. He looked at me in confusion as I quietly tiptoed back to the door to hear stifled laughter. I pulled Sid over to the couch and he looked at me bewildered. I went over to the door and made sure he was watching. He was.
I flung the door open to reveal at least 8 guys on the other side, listening at the door. They all looked like hockey players, one of them I knew to be Sean Avery. They all looked at me in shock.
"Hi boys. Whatcha doing?" I asked smoothly with my hands on my hips.
"Busted!"I heard one of them mutter, before they all ran full speed down the hall way.
"Bran!" I yelled into the bathroom where he had been hiding. Which made me feel really bad. He immediately ran out the door and after the guys. I knew he wouldn't hurt them unless I gave the signal, but I did know he would scare the shit out of them. He ran ahead of them and stopped them before they could go any further. He crouched snarling and baring his teeth like he was trained.
"Holy shit!" I heard one of them yell as they saw Bran.
They turned but soon found that they were trapped between me and Bran, and Sid was coming up behind me looking very pissed.
"What the hell guys?" I yelled at them, my temper flaring. They all looked around looking for escape but there was none. They just stood there looking at me, and then looking back at Bran. I looked over my shoulder to see that my yelling had prompted Max, Staalzy, Bugsy, Ruuts, Geno, and Whit out of their rooms and it looked like Sid was explaining what had happened. First their eyes opened wide in shock and then fist clenched and they started walking toward the other guys. I held up my hand and stopped them.
"I can't believe you people are so perverted! I mean I'm sorry that you can't get laid, but to come and listen at someone else's door, that's just sick!"I yell loud enough to shake the walls.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I knew I was scary when I yelled, but with dogs I learned that I was even more intimidating when I kept my cool instead of flipping out. Bran was still growling at them holding them in a tight little herd, like sheep. I whistled for him, and it was like someone had flipped a switch. He went from looking like a wolf ready to attack crouched down, ears back, teeth bared to a normal big dog running to his owners side. He sat down in front of me. I crossed my arms across my chest only to realize I was still in a sports bra. However, I kept a death stare on them, none of them were stupid enough to check me out when I was pissed.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I wouldn't come near this hall again, cause I don't think you find yourselves a very warm welcome." I say calmly using the low voice I did when a dog was misbehaving, "Right now, you all need to get out of my sight, Now!"
They all muttered sorry before slinking back to their rooms. I turned on my heels and went back into my own room brushing past the guys with Bran close behind. I sat down on the bed and just stared at the wall, my fists clenched at my sides.
"Babe, are you ok?" I heard Sid ask softly, the other guys were standing behind him, looking at me with pity.
"Fine," I bit out,"This hotel has a pool right?"
"Umm... yeah, why?"
"I need to burn off some anger, " I muttered going in my suitcase for my bathing suit. I found my sporty two piece and went into the bathroom to change. "I'll be back later," I said slamming the door behind me.

"Alright, tell me!" I say walking in the door. The dogs run passed me into the house as I hang up my coat and take off my boots. He looks back at me from his place on the couch with a smile.

"How was your day?" he asks.

"Fine. How was yours? That's good," I say not waiting for him to answer and sitting next to him, "Now will you ask me what you were going to ask me?"

"Actually, I'm kinda thirsty. I think I'll get a drink first," he says moving to get up. However, I swiftly push him back down. I straddle his legs and look him in the eye,

"Tell me. It's been killing me all day!"

"Babe, it's nothing big," he smiles.

"I don't care. I need to know!"

"Alright, fine. But don't say anything until I'm done. Just hear me out." he begins, " There is this charity event that I have to go to. It's a big dinner and everything, it's to help the victims of natural disasters. And I was wondering if you wanted to be my date?" He replies cautiously and brings his eyes up to look at me. I look at him for a moment, and think. I guess he sees the hesitation on my face and he quickly adds.


"The whole team, actually the whole NHL, is going to be there, so there will be people you know. It's in Montreal in 2 weeks, and I know you have been dieing to go there. And they welcome Search and Rescue dogs, so you can have the dogs with you too. Please! I would really like if you came with me, and it's for a good cause one I know that you are involved in. Please, Caitlin."

"Ok," I shrug.

"Ok?! That's it? I don't have to argue with you about?" he says looking taken back by my answer.

"Yeah, I'll go."

"But, you aren't going to freak out about not having a dress or it being to short notice?" he says obviously still baffled.

"Do you want me to?"

"No, I just thought I'd have to put up a good fight to get you there."

"Well, I already knew about it. They send all SARs an invitation. I've avoided it every year, but since you are going, and you asked, I guess I will. One thing though. You know if I go to this with you, the world will know that Sidney Crosby is off the market?"

"Oh, I know. And I want people to know that. I think people are need to know, that is if you're okay with it, I mean there will be girls that will want you head," he smiles kissing my lips sweetly.

"Ruff... Ruff, Ruff..." I hear Flash whisper from behind me.

First a little about the story. I've been reading your comments (which are much appreciated by the way) and been skimming past chapters, and have come to the realization that it's a little too perfect now. And I don't know about you, but I need a little spice every now and again, and I think this story is due for some spice. For the past week I have been tossing around ideas in my head when I have a free moment, so hopefully after Wednesday (anytime before is crazy and psychotic) I will start writing a new chapter and have it posted by Saturday, but no promises.

Again I love your comments, they are a real confidence booster, but don't hesitate to speak your mind and tell me what you really think or ideas of where it might be cool to see the story go. I'm tough I can take a little criticism. I've had to read some pretty depressing books for AP lately, and I think that it can kinda be seen here. Everything is just, I dunno 'too perfect' I guess, I'm kinda losing interest in my own story. I'm not saying my story sucks or anything, it's just getting like I said 'too perfect'. If you like it that way, I'll incorporate it more often. But seriously, feel free to speak your mind, I would like to improve this story, but I need your help to do so.

Okay, enough ranting about the story and on to the next thing. I don't know if you read the "Sorry not a story update" from October, but I did get 2 puppies, Echo and Fleury. And I did promise to post pictures of them so enjoy! My two dogs that passed away are on the side. Oh, and GO PENS!!!!

Echo is in the first two pictures, the first she has fallen asleep in my lap while I was watching a hockey game, the second, she just fell asleep upside down.

“Caitlin, there is a call for you on line 1,”Mary yells into my office.

"YES!!! Wooo, way to go Geno!!!!" I shout at the TV, as I watch Geno do his signature fist pump after his tie breaking goal with 30 seconds to go in the 3rd.

"An amazing goal by Evgeni Malkin, giving the Penguins a 5-4 victory over the Rangers. On behalf of Bob Errey and FSN, I'm Paul Steigerwald..." the TV Bellows.


"Alright, guys. Last outs," I say pushing Maggie off my lap before walking to the door.

Hey, so right now I'm procrastinating my huge speech that I have tomorrow, I've been working on it for like 5 hours straight so I need a little break. I just wanted to thank everyone for being so supportive of me when my girls passed. Your comments really meant a lot. I miss my girls horribly and would give just about anything to have them back, but I can't be depressed about it anymore. The fact is that I can't not have a dog in my life, and my grandparents dog really helped get me threw the day we buried Poohz.

So because you guys were so awesome and so supportive, I thought that I'd share the latest news with you. Last Saturday we went to one of the Animal Shelters with the intent to get a dog, because like I said before, I miss Pooh and Annie so much, but I need a dog in my life. Well, we ended up coming out with two puppies. They are doberman, pointer, lab, mixes (with a few other breeds thrown in there) and they are four months old. They are sisters from the same litter, so the transition for them has been really good. Right now we are going through obedience and housebreaking, which we have gone through twice before, but now we have two at once. We named one of them Echo and the other Fleury (yes as in Marc-Andre). I'll try to post pictures soon. I should be updating this weekend, I'd like to update right now, but I have to get through this hectic week first.

Again, thank you to everyone. You guys were awesome! : D

~Aeryn

A strong scent entered my nose; it was one of the most delicious smells ever to inhabit the planet. Coffee.

I watch from the door as Jordan pulls out of the driveway and onto the road, driving off into the distance. I sigh, thinking of what that kid must be going through, God that would be rough.