PART SIXTEEN

I woke up Sunday morning with excitement brewing in the pit of my stomach. Sidney was coming home today! I quickly took a shower and hurried to the house that Marc and Sylvie shared, where Sylvie and I had agreed to meet before we went shopping.

"I'm in such a good mood. I'm definitely going to make a dent in my bank account today," Sylvie said as she slipped on her shoes.

"Do you think we'll be able to convince the guys to take us out to dinner tonight?" I asked, checking my makeup in a mirror.

"Maybe. They'll be in good moods because of the wins. But they'll probably want to go to Colby's," Sylvie replied with a roll of her eyes.

"It can't hurt to try," I replied as we climbed into my red Focus. I drove to the Waterfront in Homestead, where Sylvie and I shopped until one in the afternoon. Sylvie and I had spent most of the weekend together, without Lauren. She was a really cool, down to earth girl and we were quickly becoming best friends.

Around one o'clock, we left the Waterfront and drove to the airport to pick up the Sid and Marc. "We're a little early," I said as I put the car into park.

Sylvie shrugged. "Maybe the flight will be early."

I laughed. "Not a chance in hell. It doesn't matter, we can wait." We walked into the waiting area and sat in the uncomfortable chairs. Shortly after, Lauren came in and joined us.

"Hi, girls," she greeted us with a sugary smile. "Karine, I never got to tell you, but thanks for letting me crash at your place Friday night."

Not like I had a choice, I thought. "No problem," I replied, flashing an obnoxiously fake grin. "I was a mess," Lauren said with a dramatic sigh as she sat beside me. "Oh well, no harm done, right?" Sylvie and I glanced at each other, then muttered in agreement. "Colby never has to know," she added cautiously, looking at us to make sure we were on the same page.

"Nope, never," Sylvie replied happily. I stared at my feet and didn't reply. I had already decided I was going to talk to Sidney about Lauren. I thought Colby deserved to know what his girlfriend did while he was away. "Hey, their plane's coming in," Sylvie said, pointing to the board.

We stood up and walked to the gate area to meet the boys. Sidney was the first person off the plane. He smiled widely as soon as he saw me, and a familiar feeling of giddiness charged through my body.

"Hi," he said, wrapping me in a bear hug.

"Hi," I replied, my voice shaking because I was so happy to see him. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too," he replied, burying his face in my hair. "I brought you a present." He disentangled himself and dug through his carryon, eventually producing a rectangular black velvet box.

"Sid, you shouldn't have," I said as he handed it to me. He just smiled and motioned for me to open the box. I gasped when I saw a beautiful journey pendant sparkling up at me. "It's amazing."

"I couldn't resist. I saw it and thought of you."

"Thank you so much!" I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "You spoil me, Crosby."

"You deserve it," he replied quietly.

"Ahem," Sylvie cleared her throat loudly.

I rolled my eyes. "We're coming." I intertwined my fingers with Sid's and we walked to my car. "We're giving Sylvie and Marc a ride home," I said to Sidney.

"Oh, did you and Sylvie ride here together?"

"Yeah, we went shopping earlier."

"Of course you did," he teased. "I bought you some stuff. Here, look," I said as I pulled a few shopping bags out of my car. I had bought Sidney new dress shirts and a few ties, plus a few nice casual cloths sans Reebok or Pens logos.

"Purple?" Sid wrinkled his nose as he pulled out a lilac button down shirt.

"It will look nice with your eyes and hair," I replied. "Look, I bought a tie to match!"

"Yay," Sid replied sarcastically. "Why can't I just wear white shirts?"

I sighed and slid into the driver's seat. "You're so boring. Trust me, you'll look amazing in these colors."

"I guess I can trust you. I mean, you don't look too bad most of the time."

I raised my eyebrows and playfully punched him in the arm. "Don't start."

"I'm just saying, if you wore more Pens jerseys you would really be a knockout," Sid replied in a mock-serious voice.

We eventually pulled into the driveway of Marc's huge house. Sid helped Marc with his luggage and Sylvie's shopping bags, and I followed Sylvie inside.

"So, boys, we were thinking…" Sylvie started.

"Oh no," Marc interrupted. "That's never good."

"Shut up," Sylvie shot back playfully. "Karine and I were thinking that maybe you two would want to take us out to dinner tonight."

"We were gonna go to Colby's," Sid replied.

"Told you," Sylvie muttered to me.

I chuckled. "We can go to Colby's after dinner. Pleaseeeee," I whined.

"How can I say no to a face like that," Sid said, pinching my cheeks jokingly. I gave him a small kiss and looked at Marc. "Well?"

He sighed. "I can't say no now. I'll look like the bad boyfriend."

Sylvie laughed and wrapped her arm around his waist. "I love getting what we want," she said to me.

"I'm not sure if I like you two being friends," Sid said with a smile.

"Yeah, this could get dangerous," Marc added.

***

Sylvie and I managed to get Marc-André and Sid dressed up (Sid even wore his new purple shirt and matching tie) and we went to a stylish restaurant downtown.

"Can we go to Colby's now?" Sidney asked impatiently as we walked to the parking lot.

"I swear to God, you two have to be dating," I teased. "Of course we can go to Colby's. I wouldn't dare to think of keeping you away from your boyfriend."

"You're so mean to me," Sidney pouted.

"I'm sorry, babe. You know I'm only kidding." I gave him a peck on the cheek and climbed into his Range Rover. Marc and Sylvie got into his black SUV and followed us to Colby's apartment.

"Sid, there's something I need to talk to you about," I said hesitantly as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"What? Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding slightly panicked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. But, uh, remember I told you I was going out with Sylvie and Lauren?" Sid nodded. "Well, Lauren got kind of drunk…"

"Yeah, you told me," Sid interrupted with a laugh. "That girl definitely knows how to party."

"You could say that. Have you ever seen her without Colby?"

"No. Why?"

"She's really different."

"Different how?"

"Well, she kept saying things that make me think she's only dating Colby because he's a hockey player and he makes a lot of money. And she was all over this guy. I'm sure she would have left with him if Sylvie and I hadn't dragged her out of the bar."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Sid, I think Colby needs to know this."

Sid shook his head. "Look, even if this is true…"

"Wait, you think I'm lying?" I interrupted angrily.

"No, but I've never seen Lauren like that. She's always been so loyal to Colby. She's a really good girlfriend."

"Yeah, she's a good girlfriend when he's around!"

"Karine, look, its okay if you two don't get along. I don't expect you to be friends with her. You just have to tolerate her. Colby is my best friend and I want him to be happy."

"He's happy because he's oblivious!" I practically shouted. I was getting frustrated and angry; Sid really didn't believe that Lauren was a different person when she wasn't with Colby.

"Did she actually cheat on Colby?" Sidney asked.

"Depends on your definition of cheating."

"Well, she left with you, so obviously she didn't sleep with the guy. Maybe it's best to just let her slide on this one."

"So, wait, you're saying its okay that she was flirting with a random guy, kissing him, and dancing with him? You don't think that's cheating?"

"All I'm saying is, I think you're overreacting a little. I don't want to cause trouble between Colby and Lauren."

"I'm not trying to cause trouble," I replied testily. "But I think you should care if your best friend's girlfriend is cheating on him with who knows how many people."

"You don't know that for sure," Sid replied quietly.

A tense silence began to settle in the car. "Look, Sid, you didn't see how Lauren was dancing with that guy…"

"Wait a minute," Sid interrupted, his anger rising. "Let's go back to, oh, about two weeks ago. Remember the Saturday we shut out Atlanta? Remember how I went to Tré afterwards to celebrate with the guys? Remember how I saw you grinding with that asshole you work with?" He was yelling now. I flinched at every word that came out of his mouth. "According to you, that's cheating."

"Sidney, stop. Don't bring that up. We're past that. This isn't about us—besides, we weren't speaking when I went to Tré with Brad. This is totally different. Colby thinks he is ready to spend the rest of his life with Lauren, and Lauren is out screwing everything that moves when he's on the road. We can't just let this happen." Sid wasn't looking at me—he was staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched tight. I could tell he was absolutely livid. "Just forget I said anything," I resigned softly. Maybe Sylvie was right—maybe this wasn't any of our business. As much as it hurt, I would have to watch Lauren lead Colby on and not say a word about it.

"That's a good idea," Sid shot back. He pulled into the parking lot of Colby's apartment and we walked inside, a chilling silence resting in the air between us.