Chapter One

"I heard Max is having a BBQ… are you going?"

"Yeah probably, it's hard to avoid his parties. If I don't go, I'll just be up all night complaining about the noise. I might as well partake in the noise."

"You are too funny. The only girl in the world that would pass up an opportunity to hang out with professional hockey players!"

"I work with professional hockey players… believe me, that kills any illusion! The crude jokes, the BO, the smelly equipment…"

"Their abs, their butts, their perfectly shaped pecs…"

"Did I mention their smelly equipment? Oh my god, there isn't even words to describe the smelly equipment! Nope, there is definitely nothing appealing about hockey players… except the big cheques they sign me every week."

"You work mostly with teenagers, we are talking NHL guys here…"

"Right, sorry but a hockey player is a hockey player. They all smell. "

"Whatever Amber, all I am saying, is that not all of us see only bad in the world. Some of us are willing to sacrifice our nose hairs for just a minute between the sheets with one of those boys. So can I come to the party? I heard Staal is coming up… if not, there is always Tanger again… it wasn't SO bad last time…"

"That's not what you said the morning after… and fine, you can come but you are NOT sleeping at my place! Even with my parents away, I need to get some sleep before heading to the cottage tomorrow or I am bound to drive off the road."

"Fine! Jeez, you're so picky! It might do you some good to pick yourself up your own hockey player… how longs it been?"

"That is NONE of your business!"

"I am just sayin, I doubt Max would ever say no…"

"No, isn't even a word in Max's limited vocabulary… and I am certainly not interested! That boy has been with half of Montreal and I am sure more then half of Pittsburgh. Thanks but I will pass!"

"You are going to have to get over it eventually…You know he loves you…"

"Max loves himself and sleeping with a different woman every night, that's what Max loves. I swore Max off years ago, he's a bad drug and I kicked the habit. We are better as friends then anything else."

"There is just something romantic about marrying the boy next door… who just happened to make it big."

"Romantic is not a word for that hairy beast, let me tell ya! No it's not happening and we both know it."

"I don't think he knows it…"

"Amy that's enough! I am going to hang up now."

"Fine, fine, fine… I will see you tonight! I will be by around 7."

"K, see you then and you better be on your best behaviour!"

"Yeah, right! Ciao"

And with that Amber hung up the phone and leaned back against her bed. Amy had been her friend since junior high but sometimes she just didn't get it. Her and Max were done, a disaster of epic proportions that she didn't have the energy to re visit. It was fine when they were in high school, annoying when she was in college and Max was playing in the AHL but now she had a real job and wanted desperately to be taken seriously, as one of the only females at Hockey Canada. The last thing she needed was some dumb ass move by Max getting around the locker rooms. Hockey players gossiped like high school girls and she was not going to blow her future with some stupid mistake. At least not another one.

-.-

"Ah mon amie! Beinevenue au Montreal!"

"Come on man, how many times have we been to Montreal?"

"Oh, not like this man! Not like this! We are always in rush… this time you here to relax, see the city, see the girls… you can't find better girls then in Montreal, eh!"

"That's not why I am here Max. I am here to relax, take 5 minutes off of my life and just hang out. Besides you owe me some fishing and I am going to tip YOUR boat."

"Dat was an accident! And we will head out to lake tomorrow, but tonight, we are having a BBQ at my parents. We can play hockey in my basement. I kick you ass here. Some of the guys are coming in, it will be fun! Relax and have a beer and talk to some girls."

Sid rolled his eyes at his team mate and loaded his suitcase into the back of Max's truck. He doubted Max ever thought of anything except his next lay. But it would be good to see some of the guys before the season started. He hadn't had much time to see many of them, maybe one or two, here and there, but not just to hang out and have a drink. Max of course could always be counted on to show up at everyone's house during the summer, so he had seen quite a bit of him. He had seen Dupes at the Winter Classic Presser but he had been scheduled for a half dozen events that day, so he barely got a chance to chat. His plan to go to Russia and see Geno had been foiled with a commercial shoot that went over time.

And he had seen Flower at the Olympic celebration in Edmonton which was an event he needed to get out of his mind, as soon as possible. Maybe flirting with some of Max's girls would help shake the images out of his head. Somehow he doubted it. Every time he closed his eyes he imagined her. Her body, her lips, her touch, her laugh. He hadn't even been able to think about another girl since Vancouver. Then seeing her again in Edmonton was just another reminder of how messed up he was. Any other guy would just pat himself on the back and shake it off. Any other guy would be relieved when they woke up in the morning and the girl had slipped out already. No awkward, 'I'll call you' moment. Any other guy would have moved on the next girl and forgotten all about previous one… even if it was the best sex, which it was, with the perfect woman, which she was. She made him feel normal, like a regular guy. She didn't treat him differently and she understood him, not just from googling him, but really understood what he had to deal with. Even with all the craziness in Vancouver, she somehow made it seem like it was just them, there, enjoying an everyday moment. It was FAR from an everyday moment. It was a perfect moment.

And it will be a perfect memory and that's all, Sid thought as he shook his head and climbed into the passenger seat.