Chapter 2

Wow, I can't believe all the comments I received! I'll do my best to accommodate all the requests for appearances by players. Thanks everyone!










“I’m sorry, what?” my friend Paige said to me the following Monday morning before school started. I nodded and sat down at one of the desks in her classroom.

“I’m not even kidding. The poor guy looked like a deer in headlights when Nathan yelled over at him.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You do way too much for that kid,” she told me. She pulled out her lesson plans for the day and started rearranging things on her desk.

“He just needs someone to care about him.” She stopped what she was doing and gave me an annoyed look.

“Gabby, don’t play the savior card with me. I know you have some sort of soft spot for troubled kids, but Nathan is past the point of no return. He’s trouble and I can’t believe that you not only tried to keep him out of jail, but you’re doing something with him outside of school. Does Isaiah know about this?” she lectured. I groaned.

“I don’t know why I talk to you about anything,” I said to her as I stood up. She smiled and laughed.

“Okay, forget about Nathan. Tell me about the hockey player.” I shrugged.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Um, hello? Was he hot?” It was my turn to laugh.

“Patrick was the tall, dark, and handsome type. He has a bit of a rugged bad boy look to him until he smiles. Then he just looks like the sweet open doors for you kind of guy,” I explained. Paige gave a dramatic swooning sigh.

“The best of both worlds. Who doesn’t want a sweet bad boy?”

“Someone who’s not looking for a boy of any kind,” I replied.

I looked up at the clock and saw that students would be arriving any time now. I headed for the door to get to my office but Paige stepped in front of me. She was giving me her disapproving look. I knew what that look meant. I didn’t have time for that look this morning.

“Why do you always do that?” she questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Why do I always do what?” I returned.

“Run away when the mere mention of a possible date comes up?”

“I don’t run away. And there’s no date. He was just trying to be nice and gave Nathan and I tickets to a game. It’s not like I’ll be able to talk to him. He’ll be on the ice, I’ll be in the stands. Not exactly date night material.”

“You’re getting defensive,” she accused. I threw up my hands in exasperation.

“I’m not defensive! I spent three seconds talking to the guy. Three seconds does not a relationship make,” I defended myself.

“You’re running.”

“I have to go,” I told her, desperate to get out of there right now. It was too early on a Monday morning to be having this conversation.

“Gabrielle!” she called to my back.

“Miss Carone?” a girl asked walking into the classroom, thankfully interuppting our conversation.

“Bye,” I said to Paige as I walked out of the room and to my office.

I sat down at my desk and thought about what she’d said. I didn’t run away, I just didn’t jump in either. Guys and relationships were just not high on my to-do list. At one point in my life guys had been priority #1 and that had only gotten me into a lot of trouble. I tried to avoid trouble these days.

I made it through a pretty uneventful day, thankfully without having to deal with any major issues. I went home, went for a run with Loxley and settled into the couch for a quiet and relaxing night at home. The next day I was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately that wasn’t to be.

“You’re insane!” Paige practically shouted as she burst through the door of my office. I gave her a strange look.

“Uh, pardon?”

“I looked up Patrick Sharp. I just had to see what he looked like. Your ‘tall, dark and handsome’ description doesn’t do him justice. How could you not want to date him?” I covered my face in my hands and groaned.

“This again?”

“Dammit, Gabrielle, he’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, Paige, I noticed. Still doesn’t change the fact that he’s never asked me out,” I told her. She got a smile on her face.

“So if he asked you out, you’d go?” Yeah, I’d really set myself up for that one.

“I don’t know. I know nothing about the guy.”

“That’s what dates are for.” And now we’ve come full circle.

“Look, I’m going to the game on Saturday. If by some tiny chance I maybe have any semblance of a conversation with him, I’ll let you know and we can debate the possibility of whether I’d say yes to a date if he asked me.”

“That’s a lot of uncertainties.”

“You’re just now noticing that?”

Thankfully Paige did what I asked and let it go. The rest of the week went by like most others. Gia didn’t show up for another one of her appointments with me and I was at wits end with her. I just didn’t know what to do. Nathan ran into my office on Friday bubbling over with excitement for the following night. I was almost positive he’d never been to a game.

I met Nathan at the school Saturday evening. He hopped in with a big smile on his face and it was hard not to return the smile. I parked the car when we got there and went up to will call. I opened the envelope that was handed to me and pulled out two tickets, two passes, and a note.

Just thought you two might want to come down after the game for a few autographs. Find an usher and show them the pass. They’ll tell you where to go. Hope to see you after the game. –Patrick

“That’s awesome!” Nathan exclaimed, reading the note over my shoulder.

We made our way to our seats and to Nathan’s delight we were in the lower bowl at center ice. When the game started Nathan began to cheer and I found myself searching out Patrick. I spotted him wearing the number 10 and saw that he had an “A” on his jersey. I may not be a huge hockey fan, but I wasn’t dense. The guy was an alternate captain?

The game was exciting with goals being scored left and right. It was a 5-5 tie after regulation. It ended up having to go into a shootout. Patrick was one of the shooters, but he didn’t score, much to Nathan’s dismay. The Blackhawks ended up losing in the shootout and I wondered if going downstairs after a blown lead that ended in a loss was such a good idea.

“Can we go down now?” Nathan asked eagerly as fans began to file out of the arena.

“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. They just lost a tough game.”

He looked completely disappointed, but nodded before dropping his gaze to the floor and kicking an empty soda cup. I weighed my options and decided that I cared more about Nathan’s feelings than any of those players. His emotional state was probably more fragile and I was going to do whatever it took to help him out. If that meant annoying some professional athletes in the process, then so be it.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where we can go with these?” I asked the usher of our section.

She smiled and called over a security guard. The man that walked over took our passes and told us to follow him. He led us to an elevator that was off limits to the general public. He told us to get on the elevator, go to the bottom floor and then show the passes to the security guard down there.

There were a few other people waiting for the elevator when he walked away and I saw that it was a group of dressed up, attractive women. Must be the wives. They talked amongst themselves, hardly giving Nathan and I a glance. The elevator arrived and we all filed on. Once we’d reached our destination the women walked off and I stopped to show the passes to security.

“You can wait over there if you’d like. Feel free to go in the room and grab something to eat or drink if you’d like,” the man told me.

I looked over and saw the door the women had walked through. A few of them had stopped outside and were talking. There were kids in Blackhawk jerseys playing floor hockey a little further down the hallway. I decided not to go in the room, and instead found an open area for Nathan and I to stand and wait for Patrick to come out.

I started to see a few guys in suits start coming around a corner and walking out. Nathan explained that they were from Detroit’s team. I let him chat away about the game and the guys walking past us while we waited. An idea had started to form in my head about how to try to reach Nathan.

“Gabrielle?” I heard someone say. I turned to see Patrick walking over to us with a smile on his face. Yep, he was still hot, only now he was wearing a suit, and who didn’t look better in a suit?

“Hi! Thanks so much for the tickets and the passes. We’ve had a great time,” I thanked him.

“I’m glad. Sorry we couldn’t win for you, Nathan,” he said turning his attention to him and shaking his hand.

“Hey, I’m just glad I finally got to see a game. Really, thanks for the tickets.” I was almost surprised at Nathan’s gratitude. I’d never heard him thank anyone before.

“Was this your first?” Patrick asked him. Nathan nodded, the smile ever growing.

“Hey, Sharpie, here’s the stick you wanted,” another guy in a suit said walking over.

“Gabrielle, Nathan, this is Adam Burish,” Patrick introduced us. He shook both of our hands.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Adam greeted us.

“And this is for you. I used it tonight,” Patrick said, handing the stick to Nathan. Nathan’s eyes widened in shock as he took the stick out of Patrick’s hands. I noticed that there were signatures spanning the length of the stick.

“Thank you so much!” Nathan exclaimed.

“So, our next home game is next Friday. I know that it’s Halloween and all, but if you both wanted to come I’d be happy to give you tickets for it,” Patrick offered. Nathan looked at me eagerly.

“That’s a very generous offer. We’ll think it over. You have my number. Call me in a few days and I’ll let you know.” He smiled over at me and nodded.

“Sounds good.”

“Well, I have to get Nathan home. Thanks again for the tickets.” Patrick gave us both a smile and a small wave as we turned and walked out of the arena.