The Road to the Cup ~ Wattys 2015

The Gary Bettman

I woke up a few hours later, feeling safe in Sidney's arms. I knew that despite whatever might come from this meeting with Gary Bettman, we would be okay. I turned to face Sidney. He was still sleeping and I smiled, he did not look anywhere near as worried as he had a few hours ago. I kissed him lightly on the nose and his lips twitched up into a smile. He stretched and groaned before opening his brown eyes to meet mine. "Morning," he said groggily.

"Morning, Sid," I giggled.

"That was adorable," he said.

"What?"

"That little laugh, it was so cute," he was laughing now.

"Thanks," I kissed him again.

"We have to get up, Johnston and the team are expecting us," I started to sit up, but Sidney pulled me back down.

"Maybe if we stay here all day, the Bettman meeting won't happen."

"I would love to stay in bed with you all day," I smirked, "but we have jobs to do."

"We should play hooky," he slid his fingers under the hem of my t-shirt.

"I'm starting to think you aren't a morning person," I teased, pulling him out of bed with me.

"Maybe just not a morning practice person," he said.

"Come on," I pulled him up with me, "We both need a shower."

"I'm awake now," he replied, leaping out of bed and opening the bathroom door for me.

"Mhm, I thought so."

We were in there long enough to steam up the whole room; I guess our wet, laugh-filled kisses took up more time than we thought. We got ready to go, Sidney in sweats and a t-shirt because he'd change at the rink and me a little fancier than usual, in dress pants and a blouse, because I had a serious meeting afterwards. We grabbed breakfast, picked up Sidney's gear from his house and were on our way to Consol. We drove in our own cars, just in case practice ran later than I had predicted.

We walked into practice hand in hand and I laced up my skates as Sidney got dressed. The rest of the guys met us on the ice a few minutes later and we started practice. "Why so fancy? Is it your guys' anniversary?" Beau asked.

"No, I've got a meeting after practice," I replied.

"With who?" Sutter asked, skating up, stopping quickly, and throwing snow all over my pants.

"Thanks, Suttsy," I brushed it off.

"Who are you meeting?" He asked again.

"Gary Bettman," Sidney answered.

"The Gary Bettman?" Sutter's mouth hung open. The rest of the guys skated up to see what the fuss was about.

"Yes, the Gary Bettman," I replied irritably.

"Why?" Cole was puzzled.

"I think you guys were right; we weren't as sneaky as we thought we were," I said.

"You think he knows about you two?" Flower asked.

"Great job, Sid," Geno said.

"It's not his fault," I said, knowing Geno would listen to me. He shook his head and muttered in Russian, but didn't push the matter.

"When is it?" Beau asked.

"Three. Hopefully we'll get out of here on time," I bit my lip nervously.

"You're a coach, practice ends when you want it to," Perron said.

"True," I nodded.

"Where are we meeting?" Beau asked, ready to come along to back me up.