Ten:

I quickly pulled from his grasp and took a few steps back into my bedroom. “I-I… uh, thought you were Patrick…” I said while I slowly took a few more steps back, stumbling over my own two feet. He then took hold of my waist to keep me from falling. “Let go of me,” I whisper-shouted.

He held a finger to my lips, “shh, don’t wake Patrick up.” Still holding on to my waist, he guided us further into my bedroom and shut the door quietly behind him. I shook out of his grasp, walked over to my bed, and sat down. “What do you want from me?”

“The truth, Cole. I want the truth,” he said while positioning himself next to me.

“About what?”

“You know damn well what,” he replied.

“I already told you everything…” I reminded him quietly.

“I want to know what you want, not what Marie wants, or Patrick.”

“As much as I would love to do that, I cant.”

“Why?” he asked, frustration evident in his tone.

“You know how my brother feels about us, and Marie… I don’t even know what she would do if you broke up with her…” I trailed off.

“Forget them for a second, Cole.” He paused, “you can’t live your whole life trying to please people.”

I sat there for a minute thousands of thoughts rushing through my mind, “why do you want to be with me so badly, Jon?” I asked, irritation building up in my system.

He focused his attention to the floor… shaking his head slightly. “Are you really that naïve?”

“…I guess so.”

He stared at me in disbelief, “because… as cliché as this may sound, you honestly make me happy, you’re absolutely sexy, and God, don’t even get me started about the sex we have…” he trailed off smiling to himself. I opened my mouth to say something, but he quickly stopped me, “let me finish, and then you can say whatever you want…” he paused for another few moments, “and that must be saying a lot… because I’m going against my best friend to want to be with you,” he finished, nodding for me to respond with whatever I wanted.

“Jon…” I began, “that’s, that’s really sweet and all…”

“But you still don’t want to be with me,” he finished for me.

Swallowing loudly, I averted my gaze to the floor. “You know how I feel about you, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon, it’s just that things are complicated right now…” I then looked over in his direction and noticed that he had stood up from my bed and began making his way to the door.

“I’m sorry Jonathan, I really am…”

“Yep. I’m sure you are,” he replied sarcastically before opening my bedroom door, stepping into the hallway, and shutting it behind him.

I released a sigh and placed my head in my pillows. Guilt and regret flooding through my body. I pulled the covers up over my body and attempted to close my eyes and fall asleep, but the conversation I just encountered kept flashing through my mind. I quickly became restless, tossing and turning for a large number of hours; I gave up on the idea of sleep and turned on the TV. Shooting a glance out the window, I noticed that the sun had began to rise, I looked over at my alarm clock for the time… 6:55 AM. I then focused my attention back to the unimportant show that was displayed on the TV. As time ticked on, the conversation still remained fresh in my mind. I struggled to hold back the tears that were threatening their way out of the backs of my eyes. But kept the promise to myself of being done crying over Jon.

A few more hours went by before I headed downstairs, I headed straight into the direction of the kitchen where I heard a commotion going on. Peeking my head around the corner, I saw that Jon and Pat were in the middle of a heated conversation with their backs to me, so they didn’t notice that I was standing there.

“Why would you do that?!” Patrick whisper-shouted, placing a gallon of milk on the counter angrily.

“I just didn’t want to be with her anymore Patrick…” he replied innocently.

Patrick stood there for a minute, “…is it because of my sister?”

Jon was taken aback, “what? I, uh, no…”

“Don’t lie to me Toews,” he snapped.

I decided now was the best time to interrupt their conversation before it headed into an awkward direction. “Good morning Pat,” I greeted him, keeping my gaze away from Jon. I made my way over to the fridge and opened it, looking for a small breakfast.

“Morning,” he replied while walking over to me and wrapping me in a hug, “I’ve missed you. Did you have fun?”

“I missed you too, and yeah I did. I caught up with a lot of my old friends, which was nice.” I replied.

“Well that’s good,” he replied while handing me the gallon of milk to put in the refrigerator.
I placed it on the top shelf while I grabbed a yogurt and shut the refrigerator door, grabbed a spoon out of one of the drawers, and headed into the living room to watch some TV.

“Well, I guess I’m going to get going…” I heard Jon tell Patrick loudly from the kitchen.

I heard Patrick tell him that he would see him later before heading into the living room to join me on the couch. Once the front door shut and Jon’s car pulled out of the driveway, my phone vibrated in my lap signaling that I had a text message.

‘I’m gonna do whatever it takes to be with you’ it read. I didn’t even need to check whom it was from to know it was from Jon. I sighed, shut my phone, placed it in my lap, and focused my attention back to the TV.

Nine:

Sorry guy’s... this chapter is a kind of short.

“J-Jon?” I asked, barley above a whisper. I was completely stunned that he had built up enough nerve to even think about calling me. So many things were running through my mind, but the one thing that I couldn’t stop thinking about was how much I really missed him.

“Cole, listen to me… I miss you.”

I sat there for a minute, contemplating my response, “honestly, I don’t even know what to tell you. You fucked up everything we had.”

“Babe-”

“Don’t call me babe,” I snapped. “I came to Buffalo to get over you Jon… and you calling me isn’t exactly helping.”

The line was silent for a brief moment… he then spoke up, “to get over me?” he questioned exasperatedly.

“Yeah… maybe it’s better that I stay here for a while. You need to remember that you have a girlfriend that cares about you, and I have a brother that will kick your ass if we’re together… things between us are just not going to work, and you know it.” Saying those words to Jon completely broke me. As much as I wanted to just forgive him and take the first flight back to Chicago, I knew better. Jon and I’s relationship needed to end.

“Cole…”

“Jon, no. I really should get going. Sorry.” I then hung up and placed my phone down on the table. Tears began clouding my vision. I stood up and rushed into the bathroom. Once I shut the door behind me, I turned on the sink and threw some cold water on my face. I angrily turned off the water and assembled myself on the toilet seat, placing my head in my hands and letting the tears flow freely. A knock on the door a few minutes later caused me to jolt back to reality. “Cole are you okay in there?”

“Uh yeah Aaron, I’ll be out in a minute,” I choked out.

“Okay…” he replied unconvinced.

Standing up from the toilet seat, I walked over and stood in front of the mirror, glancing at myself, my makeup was now in watered streaks down my cheeks, my nose and eyes were a shade of vibrant red. I then remembered that I had my makeup bag stashed in one of the bathroom drawers. I pulled it out and applied a light layer of cover-up over my blotchy complexion after wiping the last of my tears away. I was more than done crying over Jonathan Toews. I opened the bathroom door and headed back into the living room to join Aaron who was still watching TV.

**

The next week or so went by faster that I would have enjoyed. The next thing I know, I was standing in the airport; getting ready to board the next flight back to Chicago. Wiping the tear or two I collected from saying goodbye to Aaron and Ryan, I collected myself together and reluctantly stepped into the plane, found my seat, and sat down. I was really not looking forward to going back and seeing Jonathan, even if it wouldn’t be in a day, or a week, I knew I would end up seeing him again.

Stepping off of the plane after a three-hour flight, I grabbed my small amount of luggage that I had collected from the time there, walked out of the airport and found my car in the almost deserted parking lot. Taking the Red Eye alone was probably not the best idea. Glancing down at my phone, the time read 3:47 AM. I quickly made my way over to my car, piling my bags in the backseat; I then hopped in the drivers seat and began driving home.

I pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later, grabbed my bags out of the backseat, walked up to the door, unlocked it, and stepped inside. I took my bags and myself upstairs into my bedroom. I shut my bedroom door and began changing into some pajamas when there was a quiet knocking on my door. I slid my tank top over my head before walking over to the doorway and opening the door. I immediately threw my arms around the neck of the silhouette of the person I assumed to be Patrick, standing in the darkened hallway.

I could tell that I took him off guard. He then slowly wrapped his hands around my waist, “wow, that’s not exactly the reaction I’d expect from someone who just told me a couple of days ago that they wanted to get over me…” he began.

Eight:

When we stepped through the door of the crowded café, we were soon ushered to a little booth toward the back. It was quite a relief not having to worry about a bunch of crazy fans drooling over the people you were with, like they did when I was with Pat or Jon. The waitress handed us our menus and I chose to get something simple. Burger and fries with a Coke. The waitress came back around and we placed our orders. She took our menus and said she would be right back with our drinks. While we were waiting, Aaron and I caught up since we hadn’t talked in a couple months. And Ryan just listened, adding his input every so often. The waitress handed us our drinks, and we continued to catch up until the food came. We were all silenced as we stuffed our faces with food, which was indeed amazing. We then paid, and headed back to Aaron’s.

We got out of the car and headed upstairs, I checked the phone for the time considering it was pretty dark out. 8:53 PM. Aaron unlocked the door and we all stepped inside. “Oh Cole, I need to show you where you’ll be sleeping.” He said. He then led me down the hallway and into a room that still had the black and red color scheme going on, with a queen-sized bed, a plasma TV plastered onto the wall, and a variety of various items all over the floor. “Voila,” he said.

“Is this your room?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Oh, so were sleeping together, eh?” I joked suggestively.

“Ohh yeah,” he joked back. “Wait, you don’t have anything with you… do you?”
“…No.”

“I guess I can loan you some clothes to sleep in…” he replied with a smile.

“Or I could just sleep naked,” I joked.

“Oh that’s a great idea,” he said while slyly wrapping his arm around me and placing his hand on my ass.

“Don’t worry, I plan on calling Callie and asking her if she wants to go shopping for some clothes tomorrow.”

“Oh damn it… I liked the idea of you sleeping naked the whole time you were staying here,” he joked.

I just smiled at him and walked back out into the living room to join Ryan on the couch, Aaron followed right behind me and we both sat down. “So how long are you staying here?” Ryan asked.

“Uh maybe a week or so… I’m not totally sure yet.”

“Oh okay,” He replied.

We finished off the night watching episode after episode of ‘That 70’s Show’, talking, and such. Ryan headed to bed around 2:00 AM and Aaron and I stayed up a little longer. I had my head rested on his shoulder because I could feel the exhaustion coming to me, and he had his arm wrapped around my waist. “You tired?” he asked me softly while softly rubbing my lower back.

“A little,” I replied.

“Let’s go to bed.” He said while turning off the TV, picking me up over his shoulder, and heading into his bedroom. He placed me onto his bed and disappeared into his closet, coming out a few seconds later with some clothes for me to wear. I changed in front of him; not caring in he saw me practically naked. I’m sure he didn’t mind anyway. He changed as well, and we pulled the covers over us and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to a vacant bed. I stepped out of Aaron’s room and walked down the hallway, Ryan was sitting on the couch putting his shoes on. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“Work,” he replied.

“Oh, I’m guessing that’s where Aaron is too?”

“Yep.”

“When does he get home?”

“Five.”

“Okay. And when do you get home?”

“Seven.”

“Alright. Wait what do you guys do?”

“He works as a salesman at a car company, and I work as a co-manager at my family owned restaurant.”

“Oh nice,” I replied.

“Yup. But I’ve gotta go, so I’ll talk to you a little later on.”

“Ok, bye.”

I then got in the shower and put on the same clothes I had on the day before… ew. And called Callie like I had planned to. She answered right away. “Cole! Oh my God, how are you?”

“I’m good, you?”

“I’m great. I haven’t talked to you in forever.”

“I know. And guess what?”

“What?” she asked.

“I’m in town, so did you want to go shopping today and catch up?”

“Sure! Where are you staying?”

“At Aaron Mason’s house.”

I then went on to give her directions to the best of my ability and she said she would be over in a few minutes. I waited down in the parking lot for her. She pulled up soon after in her red SUV. She had changed a lot since I had last seen her. She died her once long, platinum blonde hair, a light chestnut brown color, cut it off to shoulder length, and lost a few pounds. I had to admit she looked great.

On the way to the nearest mall, we caught up. I once again revealed the Jonathan story, and she gave me huge props for fucking a hockey player. Typical Callie. We pulled into the mall parking lot, and headed inside. I ended up buying a few pairs of jeans, three or four shirts, a pair of shoes, a couple pairs of pajamas, some underwear, and two necklaces. Considering that I was going to be here for at least a week or so, I decided to buy everything that I felt was necessary.

We then went out to a quick lunch and she dropped me off afterward. I walked back upstairs and knocked on the door, hoping that Aaron was home because I didn’t have a key. Thankfully he was. I stepped inside and showed him the items I had bought. “Damn, how about you model some of this for me. Preferably the underwear,” he joked.

“Oh shut up,” I said and shoved him playfully.

We then sat down and watched some TV while we waited for Ryan to get home.

A couple episodes into ‘Entourage’, Aaron’s phone, which was placed on the table, began ringing loudly. He picked it up off of the table, checked the caller-ID, and answered it. After a short conversation, he hung up and looked over at me, “it was Ryan. One of his friends from work is throwing a party, so he’s gonna be over there all night.”

“Oh, okay.” I paused, “well after walking around the mall all day, I need a shower. So I’m going to go do that.”

“Alright. I’m going to try to find something to cook for dinner.”

“Haha, okay.” I then got up, walked into the bathroom, turned on the warm water, and hopped in. Fifteen minutes later, I got out, wrapped myself in a towel and headed into Aaron’s room to change. I could smell whatever he had cooking in the kitchen, and let me tell you, it smelled amazing. While I was searching through my shopping bags for some of the pajamas I bought, I heard the door open behind me. I turned around and saw Aaron standing in the doorway. I stood up as he walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Finding some clothes to put on,” I replied.

“Hmm… but I like you much better without them.” I knew what he was hinting at, and honestly, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his lips, and when he leaned down and kissed me back, I began pulling his shirt off. I let him take his pants and boxers off. I then laid down on the bed, pulling him on top of me. He quickly unwrapped my towel, throwing it on the floor, and aggressively entered me.

After the deed was done and our breathing caught up with us, we threw our clothes back on and headed into the kitchen to eat the amazing Chicken Alfredo that he had prepared.

Later on that night, Aaron and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and talking. Our conversation was interrupted by my phone annoyingly vibrating on the table. I rolled my eyes and picked it up, not even thinking about checking the caller ID.
“Hello?” I sighed into the phone.

“Cole, we need to talk. Please don’t hang up,” the voice on the other end replied quickly.

Seven:

Patrick looked a little uneasy as Jon and I positioned ourselves on either side of him on the couch. He looked from me to Jon, and back at me again. We all sat there in silence for a few minutes, which felt like hours. Jon then spoke up, “Pat… look, please don’t get mad at me after I tell you this…”

“You were lying to me, weren’t you?” Patrick assumed.

“Just let me finish what I am going to say without interrupting me.” Patrick and I both sat in silence as Jon continued, “no, Cole did not throw herself at me. We both wanted,” he hesitated for a minute, “each other. And she wasn’t lying when she told you that we had sex ‘many times.” he said using air quotes. He then continued on, “I didn’t want to tell you because I know how protective you are over her, and how much you are going to be pissed at me after I am done talking…”

Patrick sat there for a minute, keeping his focus on the ground. “Jon… I don’t even know what to say, you just fucked up a lot of things.” He said, using extra emphasis on the words ‘a lot’. “You probably would have been better off telling me in the first place, you know that right? But anyways, how many times did you get your way with my sister?”

“Yeah I do know that...” He paused, “and three, or four… maybe five times… but don’t worry, I plan on making up with Marie and telling her everything so you won’t have to worry about your sister and I any longer.”

Patrick sat there, stunned for a brief moment, “good. Because I don’t ever want you touching my sister again anyway,” he replied. And that was the end of the conversation.

I was shocked at what Jon said, yes. But I was more hurt than anything. I sat on the couch, motionless, as Patrick stood up, “well I need to make sure that Bree is okay up there, since she hasn’t come downstairs yet.”

“Bree?” I questioned.

“This girl I met last night.”

I should have known. I just nodded and let him walk upstairs. Jon and I sat on the couch, silence overtaking the room, as Patrick entered his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

“Well it looks like you won the bet, so when do you want to go to dinner?”

“Save your money and take Marie out.” I stood up, walked toward the door, grabbed my coat, slid my feet into my shoes, opened the door, and stepped outside. I needed to get away from here. To go on vacation or something. I couldn’t deal with Jon’s bullshit anymore. Acting on impulse, I hopped in my car and headed to the airport. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and called the first person I could think of, Aaron.

“Would you mind if I came and stayed with you for a few days?” I asked.

“Oh no, of course I don’t mind. Is everything okay?”

“Not really. I’ll talk to you when I get there though.”

“Okay.”

I then hung up, and stuck my phone back into my coat pocket, whipped my credit card out of my pocket and paid for the earliest flight to Buffalo, which was in an hour. The lady who gave me my ticket looked a little shocked that I didn’t have any luggage with me. I just smiled, grabbed my ticket, walked over to the waiting area, sat down, and waited for my flight to be called.

A long hour went by, and my flight was finally called, I went through security and sat down. I had gotten the window seat, which was a relief. I placed my head against the window as the plane took off, and drifted off to sleep not too long after that.

I woke up just as the plane was landing, walked off the plane and into the Buffalo airport. I called Aaron and told him that I had landed and to come get me. I waited around for twenty minutes or so, until he called me and told me that he had pulled in. I walked out into the parking lot and immediately recognized his spiked black hair and muscular stature. He looked just as good as I remembered. I ran over to him and he immediately wrapped his arms around me. “God Cole, I’ve missed you,” he whispered into my ear, as he spun me around.

“I’ve missed you too,” I replied while giving him a quick kiss on the cheek as he set me back down on the ground. We then got into his car and began driving to his house. “Oh just so you know I kind of have a roommate, but he’s stoked to meet you, so it’s all good.”

I let out a slight chuckle, “alright. What’s his name?”

“Ryan.”

“Okay,” I replied.

Soon after, we pulled into his apartment complex and he guided me upstairs to his room. He slid the key into the doorknob and opened it, revealing a pretty decent sized apartment with a black and red color scheme. I noticed a guy sitting on the couch, who I assumed was Ryan. He was pretty cute. Dark brown hair, muscular, blue eyes, etc. He immediately stood up from the couch and walked over to me. “Oh you must be Cole?” he asked while offering a hand to shake.

I grabbed on to his hand and shook it, “Yep, and you’re Ryan?”

“Mhm. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh man, I can only imagine.” I joked.

He chuckled a little bit, “well make yourself at home.” He said.

“Thanks,” I replied with a smile.

Just then, my phone began to ring. I looked down at the caller ID and the name read Jon.

I clicked ‘ignore’. For now, I was going to forget about him and all of the shit he put me through. I decided to text Patrick and tell him that I was okay and not to worry about me because I didn’t want him calling the cops to have them looking for me.

He replied asking me where I was and I told him I was in Buffalo visiting some old friends from high school. I didn’t want to tell him who exactly because I didn’t know if he would approve of me staying with two guys. He texted back saying to be careful, that we would talk when I got back, and not to be gone for too long because he didn’t want to be lonely. I chuckled at this and replied okay. And that was the end of our conversation, even though I was still a little pissed off at him, I had to admit that he was always looking out for my best interest and I loved him for that. I then sat down on the couch in between Ryan and Aaron who were both watching some stupid reality show. “Who were you texting?” Aaron asked me.

“Well at first Jon called me, but I don’t want to talk to him, so I ignored his call and then I texted my brother and told him where I was.”

“You mean he didn’t know?” he asked worriedly. He knew how Patrick was, considering all of the years that we had been friends; Patrick was always all over him about everything we did together.

“No. Well he does now and doesn’t care, so we’re all good.”

“Oh okay.” He replied, “So… who’s Jon? Your boyfriend?

“Haha, not exactly. It’s a long story.”

“Well spill it Colezy.” He replied, using his childhood nickname for me.

I then went on to tell him and Ryan everything that had happened between Jon and I. To say they were shocked at the end of my little speech was an understatement. “Damn, so you got in on with Jonathan Toews? Hockey superstar?” Ryan half-joked.

“Haha yes,” I replied. My stomach growled, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I passed on plane food so I hadn’t eaten since way earlier this morning. “I’m hungry. What’s on the menu for dinner?”

“Well considering the fact that we don’t have food here, we can always go out somewhere...” Aaron suggested.

“Sounds good.” I replied.

We then walked out of his apartment, downstairs to the parking lot, got in his car, and began driving to some diner that Ryan swore was the best in town.

Six:

After Adam dropped me off, I reluctantly walked up my driveway and through my front door. I knew that Patrick was upstairs in his room, passed out, probably with a girl that he had met the previous night at the club. I walked into the living room and noticed that Jon was passed out on the couch …with a girl on his arm. Anger rushed through me. What a great time to, uh, mess with him a little bit, right?

I saw his phone on the table and picked it up. Scrolling through his contact list I came across the name of Marie. Hmm maybe I should send her a little text message.

‘Hey babe, I’m at Pat’s. Come over.’

I sat down on the floor next to the coffee table with his phone in my lap. Awaiting the next message. She quickly replied.

‘Okay! I’m on my way.’

I set his phone back down on the table, stood up, and made my way over to the door. This was gonna be great.

Ten minutes later, I heard her knocking on my door. I opened it up. “Oh hey Marie,” I greeted her excitedly.

“Hey,” she replied, “Do you know where Jon is?”

“I think that he’s in the living room.” I then pointed down the hall to where he was.

“Okay thanks,” she said with a smile.

“No problem.”

I went into the kitchen and a few brief moments later, I heard Marie bitching out Jon. I smiled to myself as I heard Patrick wandering down the stairs and into the living room while Marie was still going to town on Jon. I let out a slight chuckle, the bastard deserves it. I then decided that I was a little hungry. Hmm how about I make something easy and see if Jon and Marie would like some? I quickly whipped up some fruit and yogurt and headed into the living room. “Sorry to interrupt, but would anyone like some?” I asked kindly. “Oh Jon make sure you ask your little whore if she would like any,” I said with a smug smile. I then sat the tray with the items down on the table, and noticed that Marie was still fuming. My brother looked like he was completely confused, and Jon just sat there glaring at me.

“Marie, Cole set this up.” Jon said harshly.

She turned on her heel to look at me, “seriously?”

“Well, I thought you should know what your boyfriend was doing behind your back… that’s all.” I replied.

“Well, then I thank you, Cole.”

That honestly took me off guard, “no problem.” I replied with a smile.

“I think I should be going now, I don’t know how much longer I can stand to look at you,” she spat at Jon. She then looked at me. “Would you mind walking me to the door?”

“Oh, of course not,” I replied.

She then shot Jon a final look, and we then headed to the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob, hesitated for a minute, and then turned to me. “Honestly, thank you, Cole.”

“Really, it’s no problem,” I replied.

“I owe you,” she said, while taking me into a hug.

“No, really, it’s cool.” Thinking of all the times I fucked around with Jon behind her back, she didn’t owe me anything. She then released herself from the hug and turned back to the door, “I’ll see you later?” she asked.

“Sure,” I replied, shutting the door behind her. I then headed back into the living room, where Jon and Pat were shooting me looks of hatred. “Is there a problem?” I asked with an eye roll.

“There is now.” Patrick said.

“Two can play this game, bitch.” Jon added in.

“Hey, you started this shit, Jon.” I defended myself. “And besides, what the fuck does this have to do with you Patrick?”

“Jon is my best friend.”

“Well, by the way your acting, I’d have to say he’s a little more than that.”

“Fuck you, Cole.”

“I think Jon already did that,” I replied and paused for a second, “many times.”

They both just sat there, glaring at me. Patrick looked like he was about to say something until Jon’s ‘girl’ woke up. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Uh yeah,” I replied rudely, “so how about you leave?”

“I don’t have a ride though.”

“That’s what taxi’s are for.”

She then stood up, looked at me like I was the biggest bitch she had ever met, and headed out the front door.

“Can I talk to you alone Jon?” I asked. Before he could reply, I grabbed him by the arm and took him upstairs into my room.

“Why can’t you just tell Patrick the truth?”

“You know how pissed off he would be if I did?”

“No he wouldn’t.”

“Yes, he would.”

“How about we make a deal then?” I asked.

“Fine. If I tell him and he doesn’t get pissed, then I will take you out to dinner or whatever. And if I tell him and he gets pissed, then I get to take you home for a night…” He replied suggestively.

“Who said that I wanted to go out to dinner with you…?”

“Oh, you didn’t have to.” He replied smugly.

I rolled my eyes, “whatever.”

Just as I was about to open my bedroom door, he grabbed my hand and turned me around. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him. He leaned down to give me a kiss, but I turned my head. Denied. I’m guessing that he didn’t like that very much, because he grabbed me by the back of the thighs and picked me up. Walking me so my back was against the wall. “I’ve missed you, you know that right?”

“Yeah whatever,” I replied sarcastically.

“No, seriously.”

We just sat there staring at each other, I couldn’t deny it to myself anymore that I wanted him, and I wanted him badly. He leaned in once again, and this time I couldn’t help myself. We kissed, and I had to admit that I was craving this for a long time. He then gently placed my feet back on the floor and we headed downstairs.

“Patrick… we need to talk,” he began.

Five:

Stepping into my house for the first time in a good three or four days, I quickly and quietly made my way into my bedroom. I didn't know if Patrick was home, considering the fact that he had decided to side with Jonathan, I pretty much stopped talking to him since then. I set the bags that I had collected on the few days I stayed over at Adam's on the floor and immediately crawled into bed and fell asleep.

I was awoken a few hours later by my front door slamming shut. I jumped out of bed, walked out into the hallway, and peeked down the staircase to see that Patrick and Jonathan had just stepped through the door. I sighed loudly and began making my way back into my room. “Oh it's good to see that you finally decided to show up at home,” Patrick called up to me.

I rolled my eyes, “whatever Patrick.”

“Where were you anyway?”

“At Adam's.”

"Burish?"

“Yeah. Got a problem with that?”

“What, are you fucking him now?” He asked smartly.

Oh hell no he did NOT just say that to me. “Excuse me?” I asked, turning around and stomping my way down the stairs.

“Oh nothing,” he replied, faking innocence.

I walked straight up to him, “you know what? No, actually I'm not fucking Adam. We're just friends. It's not my fault that your little boyfriend over there,” I motioned over to Jon, “got all pissy when we got caught having sex and can't admit that he actually wanted to fuck me. I'm not a slut like you think I am, Patrick, you just decide to believe the asshole that tells you that I am.” I then turned on my heel and headed back up to my room without any further remarks.

The next few days were quite a blur. It was now Saturday and I was heading over to Adam's because he had convinced me to let him take me to the pre-game dinner get-together at Brent Seabrook's. I stepped through the door to see that Patrick Sharp was sitting on the couch and I heard Adam upstairs making some commotion in the bathroom. “Hey,” I called from the doorway. I then made my way over to Patrick and positioned myself next to him.

“Hey Cole. How are you?” He asked.

“I'm okay. You?”

“I'm good.”

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, waiting for Adam to finish readying himself for the party. “So... uh, where have you been the past couple of parties?”

I let out a slight chuckle, “at home.”

“Why?”

“Long story...”

“Oh babe, I've got all day,” he replied.

“Haha, maybe later.”

“Alright, alright.”

Just as our conversation came to an end, Adam made his way down the stairs, “you guys ready to go?” We both got up, put our shoes on, and piled into Adam's SUV.

After a quick fifteen-minute ride, we pulled up into Brent's driveway that was already loaded with cars. Patrick opened the car door for me and linked his arm with mine as Adam took my other. We then walked up Brent's driveway and up to his door. Stepping through the doorway, I immediately noticed my brother and Jon gawking in my direction from the table in the kitchen where they were sitting. I honestly had to hold in a chuckle, they were absolutely pathetic. Adam, Patrick, and I walked over to the table, and sat down.

Dinner went by pretty fast. Despite the many disgusted glances that were thrown in my direction by Patrick and Jon. Oh well.

We then all filed out of Brent's and to the United Center for the game against the Detroit Red Wings.

I hated to admit it, but the game started out terrible. At the end of the first, we were down 2-0. It was intermission and I decided to get up and get some popcorn and a pop. Considering I was alone, I was quite bored. Walking out onto the concourse, I immediately noticed that the popcorn line was pretty damn long. After finally purchasing my things, I headed back to my seat in time for the start of the second.

The last two periods were absolutely terrible. We had lost 5-1. If Adam wasn't my ride home I would have been out of there right after the game, but I had no choice but to head to the locker room. I very slowly and reluctantly walked down the long hallway, showed the Security Guard my pass, and stepped through the doorway. And to my surprise, the atmosphere of the locker room wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined. I let Adam finish up his media business, while I talked to Versteeg and Sopel. Twenty or so minutes later, he came over to me with Patrick Sharp and we headed out to his car.

I decided to just stay over at Adam's... again. I really didn't want to go home because my brother and Jon would probably end up going to the club and end up getting shitfaced, come home, and piss me off. Patrick decided to stay over at Adam's for a little bit, as well.

After a couple of drinks, I looked at the clock. Shocked to find that it was already three AM. Patrick decided that he needed to head home, so Adam and I walked him to the door and then headed upstairs to get ready for bed. He let me borrow some clothes to sleep in and we both slid under the covers in his bed and fell asleep.