I get up and pick a movie from the DVD stand. “Let’s watch a movie.” Maybe it will relax her to know that we’re going to do something other than kiss and feel each other up. When I’m done setting it up, she’s relaxed into the couch once more and she gives me a brief smile.
“What are we watching?”
“The Santa Clause.”
“Oh, I love this movie!”
She leans into me when I wrap an arm around her shoulders and we’re sitting just like that, watching the movie, when Dad comes home from work. He shakes his head at us. When I initially told him about how I invited Sydney up here, he didn’t seem all that happy about it. He thought it was crazy for her to come all this way to essentially see me and to lie to her folks about it. It doesn’t make sense to me because I know he liked her when she was last here. He thinks we talk too much, so maybe that’s why. He says hello to her like everything is all good and lets us know he’s going to cook dinner.
“Do you think we should help him?” Sydney asks.
“The movie isn’t over yet. He’ll be fine. Besides, you’re here to see me.”
“Well, my dad thinks I’m here to see him, so you’ll have to share me.”
“Sharing you is not my favorite thing to do,” I admit quietly. It probably makes me a dick, but I’ll tell her when I go out with girls. My thinking was that she’d tell me when she goes out with guys. Well, she did. I don’t like hearing about it, but it almost seems like she needs permission or that she feels like she shouldn’t go, and she should. Just because there’s a good possibility that I’m crazy about her doesn’t mean that anything is happening between us.
We’re in different states.
Soon, we’ll be in different parts of our lives because she’ll still be in high school while I’ll be in college.
After that, I’ll hopefully be playing hockey professionally and who knows where she’ll be.
I don’t know if we’ll ever work out, so there’s no need to be holding out for one another now. But that absolutely doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy our friendship and enjoy what time we do spend together.
Nothing more is said until the movie ends. It’s nice to be able to simply sit and hold her—a luxury we don’t otherwise have. During dinner, Dad asks Sydney enough questions that she spends the entire time talking. I don’t always have time to call her between homework and playing hockey, so we text more than anything, but I do try to call her every so often. It’s been heaven pretending to be her dad and talking to her more to convince her mom to let her come.
“What are you guys doing for the rest of the evening?”
“I’m taking Sydney to the rink if she wants to go.” Turning to look at her, I say, “A bunch of guys want to play and I thought maybe you’d want to watch?”
“Sure, sounds fun.”
“Awesome. She has to be home by eleven, so—”
“You’ll be home shortly after that,” Dad finishes, causing Sydney to laugh.
“Exactly.” He knows I’m not taking her home a minute before she has to be there. We only have this week together and I have to share her with her dad. I’m taking advantage of all the time I get.
Saying goodbye, we head for the rink.
“You can sit with Bruce’s girlfriend and the other girls if you want.”
“I’ll sit by myself. Logan and Carey both want me to call them, so I can do that while I watch.”
I get her situated in a seat before joining the rest of the guys to put my gear on.
“Holy shit,” Bruce says when he spots Sydney. She’s not on the phone like I thought she would be; instead, she’s surrounded by Bruce’s girlfriend and her friends. “She’s hotter than she was last time.”
“Yeah, I know. You have a girlfriend; keep your eyes on her instead.”
“Or, I can break up with my girlfriend and see if Sydney will give me the time of day.”
I laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“Let’s fucking play,” another friend of ours says.
We start playing and every so often, my eyes flick to where Sydney is. Something doesn’t seem right, but I don’t know what it is. There’s something about the look on her face that is raising a red flag. What are they talking about?