Chapter 80

Chapter 80

The next morning, Sidney headed to the rink for the morning skate and his dad tagged along too. Lauren took Trina and Taylor to a café in Sewickley for lunch and they did a little shopping.

Pretty soon, it was time to head to the game. Sidney had already gone to the rink so Lauren rode with his family and Mario. Some of the Lemieux children had plans so Nathalie was staying home to taxi them around. Lauren’s family was meeting them there.

They arrived at the rink and got on the elevator. Lauren usually preferred sitting down with the other girlfriends and wives, but with such a large group, and because they had come with Mario, they sat up in his box. Lauren sent a quick text to Sidney, knowing he would be sitting in his stall, probably lacing up his skates.

Love you. Kick some Philly ass tonight. See you after the game, gorgeous.

A moment later, her phone beeped, signaling a new message.

Thanks. Can’t wait till I get to see you. Have fun with everyone. Love you more.

She smiled as she settled into her seat and the waitress brought her a glass of sprite. Lauren and Taylor chatted with Leanna until the players came out to warm-up. They turned their attention towards the ice and giggled to themselves as they watched Sidney complete his carefully choreographed warm-up routine. It was another thing he didn’t think anyone noticed. And most people probably didn’t – but if you knew him well enough and were paying attention, as Lauren and Taylor were, you could tell that each circle around the ice was meticulously counted, each shot taken on net was part of a sequence, and even the teammates he chose to converse with were pre-selected. All his other teammates knew enough about Sidney’s superstitions to just leave him be, but Flower and Max usually got a kick out of ribbing him about it.

At the end of the first period, the Pens were losing 1-0. Lauren knew it was still early in the game, and that a lot could happen in the remaining two periods, but she was already nervous about the outcome. She knew how upset Sidney would be if they lost tonight, especially with their families there watching. He always wanted to play extra hard when his or Lauren’s family was in attendance, especially Taylor. If they lost tonight, Lauren knew that Sidney wouldn’t want to be around anyone. Lauren was hoping for a win more than usual because she knew their families were all planning on heading back to the Lemieux’s after the game.

The Pens took the lead in the second period but the Flyers were able to tie it up with 20 seconds left. Both teams remained scoreless in the third period and through overtime period. The first five shooters were held denied points and Sidney scored the game winner. The child-like grin on his face was matched by everyone in the owner’s box and Lauren and Taylor cheered as loudly as they could, watching Sidney celebrate with his teammates.

They waited in the box while the crowd slowly thinned out. They took the elevator downstairs and made their way to the family lounge. Lauren noticed that everyone seemed particularly anxious and kept looking at their watches and towards the door to the dressing room, but she figured they were just excited to see Sidney and congratulate him, just like she was. She vaguely noticed Troy asking every person that came out of the dressing room if Sidney was almost done.

Finally, after about an hour of waiting, Sidney emerged through the dressing room. Everyone stood up to greet him and his family and Lauren’s family showered him with hugs and words of congratulations. Lauren smiled at all of them and waited patiently.

“My turn.” Lauren joked as she closed the gap between her and Sidney.

“Looks like I saved the best for last.” Sidney grinned as he kissed her.

“Great game, rockstar.” Lauren said when their lips broke apart a moment later.

“Thanks. I was just doing what I was told.” He replied, recalling the text message he had received earlier.

“Hmm…if you’re gonna go and play like that then maybe I should tell you what to do more often.” Lauren grinned as Sidney kissed the tip of her nose.

Taylor started bombarding Sidney with questions about the game, and the rest of Sidney’s family and Lauren’s family joined in too. Lauren stood back and watched Sidney and their families laughing and joking together.

“Hey babe?” Sidney asked, flashing her a million-dollar grin. “I think I left my phone in my stall. Would you be able to go get it for me? Please?”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.” Lauren kissed Sidney’s cheek and as she turned to go, Lauren’s eyes caught Trina’s and she could’ve sworn she saw them welling up with tears, but Trina gave her a warm smile so Lauren shrugged it off.

Lauren found the dressing room empty – the staff had already been through to pick up all the dirty laundry, so Lauren was surprised to see Sidney’s jersey lying in his stall. Sidney never left his clothes laying around like this in the dressing room – he was always one of the first guys to put his stuff directly into the laundry bins.

She reached down to pick up the jersey when she noticed the writing on the sleeves. Lauren sank down onto the bench when she read the little gold words that had been embroidered on to the edge of the sleeve. Reading those words suddenly sent Lauren’s head spinning. She grasped the bench next to her, trying to steady herself, but everything suddenly seemed very fuzzy and surreal.