Chapter 18

Karen had gotten home about 3pm, there was an accident on I279 and she was able to bypass it and take a few side streets. When she got home, she noticed the front door was open which was odd to her. Karen got out of her car with the bags and quietly walked into the house. As she put the bags down in the hallway and looked into the living room, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist scaring her.

Karen whipped around to see the person behind her "Crosby! What the hell? You scared me to death doing that."

Sidney held on to her and pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry baby, I wanted to surprise you."

"Well you scared the shit out of me, not surprised me. I thought someone broke in with the door opened and.....wait a minute, how did you get in here? I locked the door when I left on Sunday night."

"You did, but I saw where you keep the extra key in the kitchen and snatched it so I could come in and wait for you if you weren't here yet. Can I keep it?"

"No because that is my only extra set" she said seeing the sadness reach Sidney's eyes "but if you want we could make a copy of it for you to have."

Sidney smiled and then kissed her. "Mmm, I have missed kissing these lips."

"I hope these are the only lips you are kissing."

"They are baby, they are. So, do we play now or after dinner?"

"Aren't you tired after your work out? I know I need a nap more than anything right now."

Sidney tried to hide his dejected look. He grabbed Karen's hand and went upstairs to her room. Karen kicked off her shoes and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top to be more comfortable when she laid down. Sidney took off his shoes as well and climbed in beside her, pulling Karen to him. Karen leaned up to offer her lips to him, Sidney happily took them as they began to kiss. They both poured every ounce of their feelings for each other into the kiss. Sidney's hand began to roam and made its way under Karen's tank top. She knew better than to roam her hands because she knew if she set him off, she wouldn't be able to stop where this passion train was heading. Karen played it safe and put her hands under his shirt and on his muscular back. They continued to kiss until Sidney broke it and made his way to her neck. After a few minutes, Karen didn't feel any movement from him and she smiled realizing he fell asleep. She closed her eyes and joined him in a peaceful nap.

Karen woke up 2 hours later and looked at Sidney still asleep. She got out of his grip only to be pulled back by him. She told him she had to go to the bathroom and would be right back. He reluctantly let her go and fell back asleep. Karen came back a few minutes later and stood by the bed watching Sidney sleep. He was beautiful in a manly way, but still beautiful to her. She couldn't believe out of so many hot, young girls that he could have chosen, he chose to be with her. Karen secretly wondered how long she'd be with him before he would want someone closer to his own age. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Sidney literally pulled her back down on the bed and on top of him.

"What were you thinking about? You didn't respond to me when I called your name."

"Sorry, I was just going over some stuff in my head."

"Like what?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Why don't we call for some take out Chinese for dinner?"

"Sounds good, but I still want to know what you were thinking about." Sidney puts a fallen strand of hair behind her ear "You were too deep in thought to not be bothered by something."

Karen got off of Sidney and off the bed "It doesn't matter right now. I'm going to go to the kitchen and get the menus to see what we want. I'll meet you downstairs."

Sidney told her ok and watched her walk out of the bedroom. He got up and went to the bathroom before meeting up with her downstairs. They settled on where and what they wanted to eat, but before Karen could call in the order, there was a knock at the door. She left the menu with Sidney and was shocked to see who was at the door.

"Mr. Crosby, would you like to come in?"

"Thanks, and please call me Troy. Mario said that Sid was here and I wanted to come down and get both of you for dinner."

Sidney came out of the kitchen when he heard his dad's voice. "We were actually going to get some Chinese and eat in."

"Would you like to join us? We haven't called yet, so we can order another dinner." Karen surprised herself when she blurted out the dinner invitation to Sidney's dad, but the look coming from Sidney told her he was just as surprised.

"How about instead of calling, Sid, why don't you go order it and wait for it? Give Karen and I a chance to talk."

"Yeah, ok."

Karen wrote down what all to order and gave it to Sidney. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he left the house.

"Would you like to sit down? Something to drink perhaps?"

"I'm fine." Troy and Karen sat down in the living room and she waited for the questions he was going to ask her. "My son seems to be really taken with you. Besides playing hockey, I don't think I have ever seen him this happy."

"Well it goes both ways. There's something about his demeanor that makes him caring towards others. Like its genuine."

"His mom and I tried to raise him to be like that, glad to see all our hard work paid off."

"You guys did a great job with him." After a few minutes of awkward silence, Karen finally spoke up. "I know you have either something to say to me or a lot of questions to ask, so before Sid comes back, why don't you just say what you need to say."

"Alright but first I need to apologize for how I was Sunday after the game. I had no right to be that coy with you not knowing about you. I almost need to be that way until I know people's intentions with my son."

"You have every right to be suspicous, but you also need to ask questions first, not jump to conclusions."

"You're right, I do. So, without sounding to fatherly, what are your intentions with my son?"

"If you're already suspicous of me, I guess its a little late saying to use him for his money and star status." Seeing Troy not really amused "my intentions with Sidney was first and foremost to be friends. But apparently he had other ideas before I did."

"What do you mean?"

"It was more like he was pursuing me and not the other way around. From what Mario had said, when we played 4 on 4 and I scored on him, he was awed by me and what I did. I guess after that he wanted to know more about me. I only knew of him from the newspapers, the internet, and what I saw on TV but after finally meeting him, I knew he was different than other hockey players."

"How do you know that from just meeting him?"

"I dated a hockey player about 16 years ago. After that, any other one that I meet, it doesn't impress me anymore by what they do. I like Sidney because of how he acted like a normal person like hockey was just a game he likes to play, not that it was his job. It's hard to explain, he's just special and he actually makes me feel special. I don't know how I can keep explaining it without saying the same thing over and over."

"I get what you're saying. What do you do for a job? Sid said you work in Wheeling?"

"I do inventory for an outdoor store there, Cabela's. Not sure if you've heard of it but they sell products for hunting, fishing, and camping, but also clothing and gifts with an outdoor flare to it. I have been with the company for 4 years and I love my job. I have my own money and I own this house from my parents. I don't really depend on anybody but myself."

"So your parents moved and gave you the house?"

"Actually, my parents died 6 years ago and as their only daughter, the house went to me. My dad had it paid off and I do have an inheritance sitting in the bank earning interest. So, Sid's money is not of any interest of mine."

"Sid told me that you used to play hockey."

"Yeah. In 1996 I was in LA and had seen advertisements for a try out to be a part of Team USA for the women's hockey team. I had played a little with the boys in the neighborhood for fun so I tried out and made the team. I played with them for a couple of years and we went to the Olympics in 1998 and won the gold medal. After that, I came back home because they have an age limit for Team USA and by the next Olympics I wouldn't have been eligible to play so I didn't go back to try out for the following year."

"Then what did you do for 6 years for work?"

"Day care. I worked for a company that had a pre-school and a before/afterschool program in one of the schools. That was how I got reacquainted with Mario and Nathalie after all those years. I had Lauren in there and she took a liking to me, so Mario asked me if I did any outside babysitting and I watched Lauren every now and then. Technically, my dad always told me I didn't have to work but there is something satisfying about earning your own money."

"You do have some fantasic morals about working and money, I will give you that."

"But..."

"Don't get me wrong here Karen. You seem to be a wonderful person, but I still have to wonder if this is wrong for Sid."

"Because of my age, right?" All Troy had to do was nod "I know I am older than Sidney and that was one thing that made me do a double take about this relationship with him. But he doesn't care how old I am. He sees what he wants to see and that is a woman that is independent, has a great job and her own money and has played the game to know what pressures he is under every day just so he can play the game he loves. I've been there and I've seen it, to me he's Sidney Crosby that's it. I don't care what he does or how much he makes. He makes me happy and from what I can tell, I make him happy. But at least you now know what my intentions are. If you'd rather have Sidney date someone his own age that only cares about him playing for the Penguins and the bragging rights of dating Sidney Crosby 'the next big thing in hockey', there are plenty of those girls at every game waiting for that chance. But if I am the one Sidney chooses to be with, I am not giving up a chance to be happy if he is just as happy being with me."

"I do appreciate your honestly Karen. You could have sat there and told me anything and I would have believed it, but you were honest. I trust Sid to do what's right for him I just don't want to see him get hurt."

"But if he gets hurt, don't you think I'll get hurt too? I haven't been in a relationship since 1996, not because I haven't wanted to be in one, I just haven't found anybody worth my love....until now. If you don't want to give me a chance then hopefully we can act civil in front of Sidney to keep him happy." Karen said getting up from the couch.

Just then they heard a car door slam and Sidney had walked in a minute later. Karen had wiped a stray tear from her cheek hoping that Sidney didn't see her, but he did. He walked over and wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing her temple.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Let me have the food and I will get it set up in the kitchen." Karen took the bag from Sidney and went to the kitchen.

"Do I want to know what happened here dad? I thought you only wanted to talk to her to get to know her."

"We did talk and I did find out a lot about her."

"Then why is she upset?"

"Karen is a wonderful person but I just don't see this ending well once you go public with this."

Sidney couldn't find an answer to what his dad said and he left the living room to go to the kitchen to eat. A minute later his dad followed and sat down with them for dinner. Sidney made small talk with his dad about news from home and Karen just stayed quiet and ate her dinner. An hour later, Troy had left and went back to Mario's leaving Sidney with Karen. She was cleaning up from dinner and was still quiet, to quiet for Sidney's liking.

Sidney walked over to Karen by the sink and wrapped his arms around her "talk to me."

"There's nothing really to say. He got to know me, he still doesn't like me, nor does he still want me to be with you. That was pretty much the highlight while you were gone. Makes me want to meet your mother tomorrow and just get shot down all at once that I am not the one for you."

"Do you want to be with me?"

"Yes"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes"

Turning her around in his arms, "good because I love you and want to be with you. Let's just make this about us like you said. If this is what we want, then it doesn't matter what everybody else wants."

"Any other guy probably would have ran out that door than deal with a situation like this."

"Well, I am not like any other guy."

Sidney kissed Karen before pulling her into the living room and cuddling on the couch to watch TV. A couple hours later, Karen was tired and told Sidney she was ready to go to bed. He turned off the TV and the lights while Karen locked the door. They headed upstairs and went to her room. Sidney stripped down to his boxers and Karen went into the bathroom, coming out in a different tank top and short set. It was a little more skimpy but perfect to sleep in, but Sidney had a different idea. Karen crawled into bed beside him and before she could get comfortable, Sidney had climbed on top of her.

"You don't waste any time do you?"

"Not when it's to get what I want."

"Then what do you want?" Karen asked with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"I want you."

Sidney kissed her while his hands move down to the bottom of her top and released her lips to pull the tank off her body. He crawled down her body to remove her shorts and just sat there and stared at her. Karen felt his eyes on her and felt a little nervous.

"Why are you just staring at me like that?"

"Because you're beautiful and I wanted to take in all your beauty."

"Did you stop off for a drink before coming back here?"

"No" he said with a light laugh "you're beautiful and I wanted you to know it."

Sidney leaned down and started kissing her leg, moving up towards her thigh. The higher he got, the more turned on Karen got. Sidney reached her mound and blew air over her. Karen closed her eyes and let him do whatever he wanted to. He picked up her leg and put it on his shoulder as he kissed all around her. Karen sucked in a sharp breath when she felt him lick her, only to go deeper. She felt him inside her and grabbed a handful of sheets as the feelings stirred inside her body. Soon, Sidney inserted his fingers inside of her and began to pump them in and out. Karen couldn't hold out any more and her orgasm came hard and fast. She moaned out for Sidney who continued to move his fingers until he got every last drop from her. He crawled back up her body, and kissed her until she calmed down.

A few minutes later, Karen had regain a sense of where she was and rolled Sidney on to his back. She crawled down hs body, leaving a kissing trail from his neck to the top of his boxers. Karen stopped and lighty played with the 'happy trail' under his belly button. She could feel Sidney move under her and she just smiled knowing he was enjoying it. Karen pulled down his boxers and off his legs, throwing them to the floor. She saw his beautiful erection getting harder by the minute. Karen leaned down and took him into her mouth, humming to make a vibrating feeling on him. She would change from deep throating him to licking him like a lollipop. Karen knew from how turned on he was that Sidney wouldn't last any longer. She enveloped him into her mouth and bobbed her head, drawing the orgasm out of him. Sidney moved his hands to her head and gripped her hair, helping with her movement on him. A few minutes later, Sidney came hard and Karen took all he had to offer. When he was done, Karen cleaned him up and moved back up beside him. Sidney rolled over to his side and brought her with him. He kissed her, each tasting each other from their escapades.

"Damn baby, where did you learn to be that good?"

"Do you really want to pull at that thread? I could ask you the same thing, you know."

"Yeah, we may not want to know the answer to those questions. But I do have a question for you."

"What?"

"Ready for round 2?"

"Bring it Crosby." Karen said as she caressed his cheek.

Sidney reached into the nightstand and pulled out a condom. Karen just smiled at him because he was worried about forgetting to use one on Sunday. He put in on and lifted Karen's leg to wrap around his hip, sliding up to her entrance. He plunged into her in one swift move, grabbing her ass to help him go as deep as he could. Sidney began to move in and out of her, starting out slow. He kept this pace up for as long as he could handle it. But Karen had other plans as she started to moan for Sidney to move faster, then harder. Sidney had rolled them over and onto Karen's back. She instinctively opened her legs wider and wrapped them around his body to give him better access. He propped himself up on his hands and pounded into her as hard as he could. The last thrust Sidney did brought both of them over the edge at the same time. He continued pumpng into her until he was done, lying back down on top of her. A few minutes later, Sidney got off of Karen and went to the bathroom. Karen pulled the covers up over her and waited for him to come back to join her. When he did, Karen nestled into his nook and fell asleep with Sidney's arms tightly around her.