"Three weddings in one year?" Dean asked as Sydney nodded. "Wow. How are you still sane?"
Sydney shrugged as she sipped on her mojito. "I have no idea. I'm just a good friend, I guess."
"You're insane!" Dean laughed. "Why did you agree to go to all of them?"
"Like I've said, I'm a good friend." Sydney replied. "Plus, the maids of honor weren't anything to boast or brag about. I stepped in and that's it."
"Three times?"
"Three times." She pursed her lips. "Maybe I'm a little insane."
"Just a little," His eyes glittered and Sydney sheepishly smiled.
"So why are you stuck here?" She asked. "Visiting friends and family?"
"Family and a few friends." His eyes became sad and he let out a deep breath. "Um, funeral."
"I'm so sorry," Sydney replied. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"It's okay," Dean replied. "He was a good man. The best man I ever knew."
Sydney felt weird prying into such a private and sensitive topic but she felt compelled to know. "Someone you personally knew?"
Dean took a gulp of beer and stared straight ahead. "My dad." He paused again. "He battled cancer for the past several years and we all knew this was going to be his final year so we made the most of it."
"I'm so sorry." She grabbed his arm and rubbed it. "I'm sorry if I intruded."
"Nah, nah." He brushed it off. "It's all over the media so it's not a secret."
"All over the media?" Sydney asked. "Was he famous?"
"No, no, he wasn't famous." Dean replied. He paused for a moment and looked over at Sydney. "I hate saying this line but do you know who I am?"
"Not a single clue," she shook her head. "Am I supposed to know?"
"No." He smiled. It was refreshing that Sydney wasn't a groupie or a golddigger. After several years in the league, it was easy to spot both groups. "I'm glad you don't."
"So now that you kinda told me who you are, what is it that you do?" She asked.
"I'm a hockey player." Dean replied. "I play for the Kings."
"Oh, that's cool."
"Do you follow hockey?"
"I was watching a fight once but a game kept getting in the way." She winked.
Dean noticed the sparkle in Sydney's brown eyes when she smiled. It seemingly made her more beautiful. "We do fight but it's good for both teams. A lot of aggression and pent-up frustration. We need to do something with it."
"You always have been a hockey player?" She inquired.
"It's all I know. I can't imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life." He shrugged. "So until I can't play anymore, this is it for life."
"That is so cool that you're passionate about something. That sounds a lot more fun than what I do for a living." She said. "I work in retail."
"That doesn't sound too bad. I like to go shopping." Dean said and Sydney shot him a disbelieving look. "Okay, online shopping."
"That's what I thought." Sydney smiled. She then glanced at her cell phone and noticed she needed to get back to the airport. She needed to find a comfy spot before they were all taken. "Well, I need to go." She finished her drink. "I have a long night ahead of me."
"Where are you headed?" He asked.
"Back to the airport. I can't afford to stay here tonight so I'm going to camp out at the airport until I can leave." She stated.
"You know you could stay with me," he offered, "I have a suite I can share."
"That's so kind but I'm not in the business of spending the night with a complete stranger…" Sydney remembered her past dalliances. "…anymore."
"A reformed bad girl, I like that." He nodded and quickly darted his lips with his tongue. "But I'm not propositioning you. I have a two-bedroom suite all to myself and I would feel awful if you slept at the airport when you could be in a nice warm bed at a hotel."
"I wouldn't be able to pay you back, Dean." She replied.
"I don't expect you to. Besides, you don't know when your flight is going to leave. You might be stuck here for a couple of days. I don't want you to sleep on the airport floor and risk getting your space and your stuff stolen."
Sydney gently bit her lip. The offer was too good to be true and that was the problem with it. "I don't know, Dean. I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"I think you know it's a good idea." He countered back. "I'm just waiting for you to accept it."
Sydney slightly gasped. "And what makes you say that? That's pretty bold and presumptuous."
"Your hand?"
"What about my hand?"
Dean glanced down at his arm where Sydney's hand was. "It hasn't left my arm since you touched it."