Chapter 10

Patrick drove home from the rink after practice relieved to see that there seemed to be no hard feelings between him and Kaner. He figured now that they’d come to a mutual understanding on where the line should be drawn as far as the pranks went there wouldn't be any more problems. He and Tazer wouldn’t screw with Gabrielle, and he in turn wouldn’t screw with their families.

Now that he was thinking about the situation, he was thinking about Gabby. He should see if she wanted to have dinner with him this week. Probably Thursday with the way their schedule was. He made a mental note to call her later when he knew she’d be home from school.

He got home and started up a game of fetch with Dudley. Like usual, after only a few throws, Dudley tired of the game and flopped down next to Patrick on the floor. What a lazy dog. He rubbed Dudley’s stomach and wondered if Gabrielle liked dogs. Somehow he felt like she would. For all he knew, she had a dog herself. He just hoped she wasn’t a cat person. He wasn’t a big fan of cats.

Dudley rested his head on Patrick’s lap and let his eyes close for a nap. Patrick decided that seemed like a good idea and got up to take one himself. He let Dudley jump up on the bed next to him and curl up near his feet. He wondered if that would have bothered Gabrielle. Once again he figured she wasn’t that uptight.

Then he realized something. He was suddenly wondering how many of his habits would annoy Gabrielle. He’d never done that before. He could have cared less with every other girl he had dated. To him, they’d have to get used to it and if they couldn’t, then see ya. This time he found himself caring. He may not know her all that well, but there was just something about Gabrielle.

He fell asleep wondering if that was a good or a bad thing. When he woke up it was dark out and he shut the drapes and turned on some lights. He checked his almost bare cupboards and refrigerator for something to eat and saw that he had nothing. Like he usually did he picked up the phone and hit the speed dial to his favorite restaurant.

When Patrick was done eating he cleaned up and sat down on the couch. He glanced at the clock and decided that now was as good a time as any to call Gabrielle. He paused and went over in his head what he wanted to say. The other two times that they’d had dinner she’d kind of left it open for him to do so. He hadn’t called with the sole purpose of asking her out like he was this time. When he was satisfied with what he’d come up with he called her.

“Hey, can you hold on a minute?” Gabrielle answered, breathless.

“Yeah, sure.” He waited and listened as Gabrielle yelled at someone.

“Are you kidding me right now? Why the hell would you do that?” she screamed. He wondered what was going on.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“What? Yeah, it’s just a bad…..Loxley, stop! Don’t move! I’m dropping the phone for a minute. Hold on.”

Patrick listened to the phone clatter onto something, probably a table. He could hear Gabrielle uttering a string of curses in the background. He wondered who Loxley was. Did she have a guy over? A student? It was kind of a strange name, but the way people were naming kids these days, you never knew. A few minutes passed and he wondered if she’d forgotten about him, but then she picked up the phone again.

“I am so sorry about that,” she apologized.

“What was going on?” Patrick asked curiously.

“Oh, my dog knocked over some paint and managed to walk through it. He then decided to go on a tear through my entire apartment. I now have a tie-dye floor in one room and multi-colored paw prints through the rest of it. This is going to be a bitch to clean,” she explained. Loxley was her dog, he realized with relief. Then he smiled, glad to know he was right in assuming she was a dog person.

“Oh man, I’m sorry,” he told her.

“It’s okay. Not your fault.”

“What kind of dog do you have?” he asked.

“A mutt. I have no idea,” she told him with a laugh. “So what’s up?” He suddenly remembered why he’d called and realized that he completely forgot what he wanted to say. Just get to it, he decided.

“I wanted to know if you were free to have dinner on Thursday.” She didn’t respond right away and he wondered if that was bad.

“Patrick, I have to be straightforward about this. Are you asking me on a date or just a friendly dinner?”

He was caught off guard by the question. It was his turn to pause. He had two options. He could say as a friend and see what her reaction was or he could say on a date and see what her reaction was. She’d either be happy or bummed out by either one. He liked 50% of the options. He would have preferred a higher percentage.

“Neither and both I guess. I just want to get to know you better.” He tried to stay neutral and see what she said. He knew what he was hoping to hear.

“Okay, yeah, I can do dinner.” He smiled taking that as a good sign. Then his smile faded. “I should warn you though that I’m not exactly up for dating, so if that’s your intention then maybe it’s not a good idea.” She’s not up for dating? What did that mean?

“No, that’s not my intention. Like I said I just want to get to know you.” He lied. Just a little.

“Okay, then dinner it is.”

They made plans and then hung up. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed and confused. He still couldn’t figure out what not being up for dating meant. Had she just gotten out of a relationship that had ended badly? He figured that must have to be it, because he couldn’t figure out what else it could be. He knew he’d picked up on the vibe that she liked him too, unless he’d been wrong about that. Was that it? Had he read her wrong?










I hung up the phone and sighed. Why did I do this to myself? I liked him, I know I did, but now that I was positive he had an interest in me too, I was panicking. Then without thinking about it, I’d done what I always did. I tried to push him away. I groaned and got up to start attempting to clean the mess that Loxley had created.

Less than 10 minutes into the project I was upset, frustrated, and confused. Before Patrick I had never had a problem keeping people an arms length away from me, but this time it was tough. I barely knew the guy and yet there was something about him that was getting to me.

All I knew was that he deserved better than me. A guy like him didn’t deserve to carry around my baggage. Usually that’s what I said about everyone I met, but this time it was even more necessary to keep him away from it. He was one of the leaders of the city’s hockey team, and a public figure here. If people found out about my past they’d look down on him. I couldn’t let him go through that.

I fell back on the floor and leaned against the wall. This was bad. Really bad. It had been so easy every other time to just walk away. I didn’t know why I was feeling so stressed about this time. What was Patrick doing to me? I needed someone to talk to, and there was only one person in the world I would trust to have this conversation with.

“Hello?” the woman’s voice answered after just two rings.

“Olivia? It’s Gabrielle,” I told her. Olivia had been my school counselor. She’d taken me in when I’d lost everything and had saved my life, literally.

“Gabrielle! It’s great to hear from you. How are you?” she asked. I could feel her smile through the phone and hearing her voice calmed me immensely.

“Not good,” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she asked. I felt a tear slip down my cheek and wiped it away.

“There’s this guy, Patrick, and I really like him,” I started.

“Gabrielle, come on. Tell me what’s going on,” she prompted.

“I don’t know what to do, Olivia. I don’t know him that well, but he’s so different than anyone I’ve ever met. We’ve gone out a couple times, but I just can’t anymore.”

“Why not?”

“He doesn’t deserve everything I’d do to him.” She sighed.

“What do you like about him?” she asked. I closed my eyes and thought about it.

“He’s funny. I’ve never met anyone who can make me laugh the way he does. He’s sweet and caring and compassionate. He’s intelligent and interesting and-"

“Okay, you like him,” Olivia joked, cutting me off. I laughed too.

“That was never the issue,” I told her.

“You said that you’ve only been out a couple of times?” she prodded.

“Right.”

“You’re freaking out over nothing, sweetheart.”

“How can you say it’s nothing? If he even knew about my past I just know he’d look at me differently. I’m damaged goods, Olivia. I’m scarred.” I felt more tears start to fall when I said that.

“Scars are just testaments to the tough things we’ve had happen and have persevered through. They give people character and make them who they are. Without those scars you’d never be the person you are today,” she said.

“Even so, it’s not fair to him.”

“Listen to me, Gabrielle. That’s completely up to him to decide. At the same time, you’re rushing yourself. You said you’ve only been out with him a few times. No one else has to divulge their entire background in a few dates, so neither should you. First thing is first. If you like him then you owe it to yourself to see how things go. If down the road you decide that you really care for him, then and only then do you have to decide what to tell him. Until that moment comes just enjoy yourself.”

Olivia was right. She was always right. I was panicking way too early. Maybe things wouldn’t work out with Patrick down the road and he’d never have to know about my past. Or maybe I wasn’t panicking too early. There was another problem.

“There’s one more thing,” I began.

“What is it?” Olivia asked.

“He’s a public figure. If someone figured out who I was and told him about me before I did…..” I trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence up to Olivia to figure out.

“What kind of public figure?”

“He’s a professional hockey player.” I heard her laughing and a smile broke out onto my face. I began to laugh too. Go figure, me dating a hockey player.

“If he’s not going into politics then no one’s going to care what your past is. If they truly like him, then they’ll respect who he chooses to spend his time with, and that includes you.” I released a deep breath, and smiled again.

“You never fail to make me feel better, Olivia,” I told her. She laughed.

“Now that we have all that straightened out, indulge on old lady. First tell me what this Patrick looks like and then tell me about the dates you’ve already had.” I laughed again. Olivia was and will always be my savior.

Chapter 9

Okay, so two things before the chapter. The first is that I forgot to mention that this is taking place at the beginning of last season. Not a super important detail, but the schedule fits around last season so I wanted to make sure everyone knew. The second is that I know this has started a little slowly, but I promise there are some cliffhangers coming. I've thrown in a few small random hints throughout so far, but the big one is coming up. Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting so far! I hope you all continue to enjoy this.










Eventually Patrick and Burish got sick of sitting around watching TV at Tazer’s with the two of them tied up and whining constantly. Of course that was a few hours later. They’d untied them and watched as Kaner practically flew out of Tazer’s to get home and try and beat his parents there. Patrick had a good laugh at that.

He dropped Burs off at his place before heading home. Feeling a little better he ordered some food to be delivered and sat down on his couch with his Basset Hound, Dudley. He flipped through channels aimlessly as he scratched Dudley’s ears until his doorbell sounded signaling dinner was here.

He ate in front of the TV because really, who eats at a dining room table all by themselves in silence? He fed Dudley when he was done, throwing what he hadn’t finished into his bowl as an extra little treat. Then he remembered he’d told Gabrielle he’d call her back later.

His nervousness came back. She hadn’t sounded like she was upset when they’d talked earlier, but he’d basically hung up on her as soon as he’d figured out what had happened. Revenge had been coursing through his veins at that time and he hadn’t thought about finding out how Gabrielle felt about the whole situation. He took a deep breath and hoped that she wasn’t upset and that she’d answer his call.

“Hey!” she greeted cheerfully when she picked up her end of the call. He felt relief at her tone. She wouldn’t have sounded like that if she was mad, right?

“Hey, sorry it took so long to call back. I was taking care of some things,” he told her.

“It’s fine, really. Did you get what you needed to do done?” she asked.

“Mostly,” he responded without going into detail. She didn’t need to know what he’d done to his teammates. And that Tazer was still going to get his.

“Good.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry about what happened. I don’t know what possessed those kids to send you those messages,” he apologized. He was going to continue to grovel, but she cut him off.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault,” she assured him. She sounded sincere and not the least bit upset. He couldn’t even begin to express how much that meant.

“Okay, I won’t. Thanks for being so understanding. A lot of people wouldn’t have been.” He heard her laugh.

“I’m not like most people.” He could completely agree with her there. Deciding to change the subject he brought up the game the next night.

“So I know you told me that on Sundays you were only going to come to afternoon games, but I wasn’t sure about tomorrow. The game’s at 6 so it’s earlier than normal, but I didn’t know if it was still too late for you and Nathan to come.”

“Right, there’s a game tomorrow,” she started. He noticed her voice became visibly more strained. “Nathan got into some trouble this weekend and won’t be able to go to the next couple of games.” He’d remembered her explaining that she’d take games away from Nathan if he got into trouble. Upon hearing the news he was disappointed. He’d wanted to see her again.

“You could still come if you wanted,” he offered. He really wanted to see her again.

“What?” she asked sounding surprised.

“If you want you could still come and just bring someone else.” There was a pause on her end of the line. He waited impatiently for her answer, hoping that it would be a yes.

“I guess I could call a friend to see if she’d want to come if you really don’t mind.” A grin spread over his face.

“I don’t mind at all,” he assured her.

“Okay, well then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After he hung up the phone he smiled to himself. Could Gabrielle be any more perfect? Sure, she was hot, and when he said hot, he meant smoking. At the same time, there was so much more to her. She was intelligent, funny, sweet, compassionate, and caring.

Not to mention she blew off that whole text message fiasco like it wasn’t a problem. He really didn’t know too many women who wouldn’t have gotten angry. Most of them would have told him to fuck off as soon as it happened, but she’d given him the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions.

With the exception of her job, which she couldn’t help by the nature of it, there seemed to be no drama in her life at all. That’s what he wanted and needed in someone. He hadn’t been looking for anyone to date, but he was pretty sure he’d found her.

He walked into the rink the next day for morning skate, still smiling. He ignored the looks he was getting from his teammates as he made his way to his stall. As he was getting ready to get on the ice he heard a shout. He turned to see Kaner storming his way over to him.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” he shouted. Patrick was only confused for a moment before remembering the day before.

“Something bothering you, Kaner?” he asked with a smirk.

“How could you cover my entire house with pictures of midget porn?! I walk in and it’s plastered everywhere! On the walls upstairs and down, on my coffee table, in my refrigerator door! Even my laptop’s screensaver, you asshole!” Patrick tried to hold back the laugh as he remembered what Kane’s house had looked like when he and Burish had left it. They’d done a real bang up job, pun intended.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as the entire locker room turned to look at them. More than a few were laughing. He was shocked when Kane grabbed him by the shirt collar and shoved him into a wall. The laughing stopped at that point and his smile faded.

“You fucking knew my parents were coming in and you kept me at Tazer’s until it was too late for me to beat them there. You let them find that shit! You went too far. Don’t fuck with my parents!” he yelled. Patrick shoved Kaner off of him, anger swelling up in him.

“I went too far?! What about your texts to Gabrielle?! I’ve barely had time to get to know her and you’re fucking with her! You’re god damn lucky she understood what was going on and didn’t tell me to fuck off or things would have been much worse. Stay out of my fucking relationship or I’ll get you back 10 times worse!” Kaner still looked pissed, but he’d backed down a little.

“Hey, guys, are we good here?” Brian Campbell asked, stepping between them. Patrick looked over at Kaner.

“We’re good,” Kaner replied before turning to walk away. He felt himself settle down a bit. They’d be fine in a few hours.










I walked into the arena at 5:45 with Paige on my heels. I led her to our seats and we sat down to wait for the game to start. She started talking about how great the seats were before taking in the arena. She’d never been to a hockey game before and couldn’t believe the amount of people in the place.

“Okay, so now that I have my bearings, tell me what number Patrick is,” she demanded. I laughed.

“He’s number 10,” I told her.

When the team skated out onto the ice I could see her straining to see where he was. I would have rolled my eyes at her if I wasn’t doing the same thing. I found him at the same time that Paige did. I could tell that she had when she gave me a small shove and laughed.

“What?” I asked.

“He looks better in person,” she replied. I really did roll my eyes at her this time.

“There’s no way you can tell that from here,” I argued. She just shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s a dog person, so you’ll love him even if he was unattractive.” I looked at her strangely.

“How do you know he’s a dog person?” I asked.

“He has a basset hound named Dudley,” she said nonchalantly as the puck dropped. Paige had her eyes on the game, but I had turned to look at her.

“How do you know?” I questioned. She turned to look at me.

“It’s in his bio on the team’s website. Also says his father’s Scottish. So hot.” I covered my face in my hands and shook my head. My best friend was a psycho.

The game ended with the Blackhawks beating Calgary 6-1. Paige had cheered right along with the crowd while I stayed in my seat. The jumping up and down screaming thing was not my style. When the crowd had cleared out a bit I got up and led her downstairs where we waited for Patrick to come out. She kept rubbing her hands together evilly and talking about how excited she was to finally meet him.

“There he is,” I whispered when I saw him turn the corner from the hallway leading to the locker room. I heard her gasp.

“Jesus he’s beautiful,” she whispered back. I held back a laugh and simply smiled. I couldn’t argue with her there.

“Hey, Gabby,” he greeted walking over.

“Nice game,” I told him. He flashed me that smile of his.

“Thanks.”

“Patrick, this is my friend Paige. Paige, this is Patrick,” I introduced them. They shook hands.

“So you’re the one who sent me that text about coffee,” Patrick joked. Paige laughed.

“Yes, that was me. I can’t seem to keep out of Gabby’s business.” We continued to chat for a few more minutes when I saw two younger guys in suits make their way over to us.

“Hi, are you Gabrielle?” the taller one asked. I smiled and nodded. “I’m Jonathan Toews and this is Patrick Kane.” I shook both of their hands.

“We just wanted to apologize about the texts we sent yesterday. We were just messing with Sharpie here. It didn’t occur to us until later how offensive it could have been,” the one with the curly hair, the other Patrick, said.

“It’s okay, really. I figured it out pretty quickly. Patrick had told me about the pranks you play on each other,” I explained.

“Good, we just wanted to make sure everything was okay and apologize anyway,” Jonathan told me.

“Everything’s okay,” I assured them.

“Well, it was nice to meet you. I guess we’ll be seeing you around,” Kane said. I watched them walk away before turning back to Patrick and Paige, who had been filled in earlier.

“That was really sweet of them,” I told the two of them.

"You have no idea,” Patrick replied, turning back to look at them again.

Paige and I stuck around a little bit longer to continue talking with Patrick before we had to get going. He walked us out of the rink and told me he’d call me later. We said our goodbyes and Paige and I headed home. She gave me a glowing review of Patrick on the way home. As grateful as I was that she approved, it made me nervous. I knew I liked him, but I wasn’t sure how things would work out. There were just things in my life that made me hesitant to start anything with anybody.

Chapter 8

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