We arrived early in Erie, P.A. The team had a free day. We weren’t playing until the Sunday. It gave the team time to rest and relax. Some of the guys went to the movies. I didn’t feel like going. I stayed in my room. It was after supper and there was nothing on the local television. I decided I would just take a bath and hit the hay early. Before I got the chance to run the water. Alex was at my door.
“Do you want to go for a walk Christine?” He asked. “Maybe grab a coffee?”
“Umm, sure just let me get my shoes on.” I said. He waited patiently.
When we were far enough from the hotel. He grabbed me in his arms and started kissing me. I wish things weren’t so complicated between us.
After a nice long walk, we headed back to the hotel. When we got there we noticed several girls running down the hallway. Great! These players were terrible. It was like they had a harem of women sex slaves in every city we went to. It was maddening to me. I felt that what they were doing with these guys reflected bad on all girls, not just them.
I invited Alex into my room. I really didn’t want him going back to his room. I knew the guy he was rooming with was a huge player with the ladies. He probably had several in his room with him. He had a girlfriend back home also.
As much as it bothered me to witness what the guys were doing, I always kept my mouth shut. I had no choice. They were my teammates. I had to back them up, whether I agreed with what they were doing or not. Only another player could understand the commitment and bond to each other we all had.
I decided to run my bath. While I was getting it ready I heard Alex’s cell phone ring. I listened at the door.
“On Wednesday?” I heard him say ”What happened? That’s brutal. See you then.” He hung up the phone. He knocked on the bathroom door. I knew what he was going to tell me before he even started to speak.
“You’re leaving again aren’t you?” I asked him sadly.
“Yes, I might be in Providence for a while this time Hun?” He lowered his head almost feeling guilty.
“Alex, this is a good thing, don’t be sad.” I told him. “I’ll miss you, but your career is the priority right now. This is good for you.” I teased him “You’re playing with the big boys now.”
He looked at the bath tub filling up and smirked. I suppose I was more ready now then I had been. This didn’t mean we had to have sex. I could share a bath with him. It might be romantic. Besides I didn’t know how long he would be gone. I didn’t want to waste a moment. I nodded my head. He was out of his clothes and into the tub before I even took off my t-shirt. I giggled.
“You’re such a loser!” I smiled, then finished undressing.
“Wow, you have the hottest body I have ever seen Christine.” He complimented, starring up at me from the bath tub. “I’m glad you cover it up. I wouldn’t want anyone else to notice how smoking hot you really are.”
I rolled my eyes and climbed into the tub with him. He scrubbed my back, it was nice. We laid in the tub holding each other for a while. We kissed tenderly. I told him I still wasn’t ready for anything else. He said he was fine with that. With me, he had the patience of a saint. I know that he had a bad reputation as a womanizer, but with me he was always gentle, kind and loving.
After our bath, he decided he wanted to brush my hair for me. It was different, but I liked it. He even tried to braid it. What a guy! I think he enjoyed playing with my hair. We cuddled in bed for a while, then I noticed the time. He had been breathing heavily into my ear. I knew he had been sleeping for a while.
“Alex, you better go back to your room. It’s 3:00 a.m.” I nudged him awake. I had laid awake my mind racing with so many thoughts.
“Give me another hour Chrissy, then I’ll sneak into my room.” He whispered. I stayed awake to make sure he would wake up in an hour. He needed the sleep, he was playing. I was only watching from the stands.
Once again it was my turn to be a healthy scratch. I played with his hair while he slept. I took in his wonderful, intoxicating smell. It was musky. I liked it. He rolled over onto his back and I traced his chest with my finger. I leaned my head closer to his chest and softly kissed him. He opened his eyes.
He flipped me over onto my back quickly, then he was suddenly on top of me. Kissing my lips, neck then moving down to my stomach. I felt tingly all over. Electricity flowed between us. It was the most intense make out session we ever had. He left me breathless.
He kissed my forehead “I love you.” He told me smiling as he was getting ready to leave.
“I love you more.” I blew him a kiss. He left my room and snuck back to his.
The game against Erie was brutal for me to watch from the stands. It was a chippy game. Lots of fights and lots of penalties called. I wanted to be out there on the ice with them. McAvoy did also. It was hard for him. He had been out since the start of the season. It looked as though he was almost ready to get back out there. Coach told him to see how practices went this week. If all was well, he would play the following weekend.
It would work out nicely, because Alex would be gone. We beat Erie in an overtime win. Joe got the game winner. Joe had impressed me lately. He seemed to be on a bit of a point spree. Good for him!
On the bus ride back to Toronto, I rotated seats between Moose, Coop and Wellie (Welsh). It was a long grueling ride. I couldn’t wait to get back and sleep in my own bed. Well.... it was the Peat’s bed but it was mine for the season.
People were talking about the up coming Christmas break and possible trades. I prayed Coach wouldn’t trade me. I would hate to have to go through getting to know another team. It was brutal the first time around and I went through a shitload to prove myself to these guys before they started to accept me.
There was a possibility that Alex would get traded. He had a no trade clause in his contract with Toronto, but he could always wave it. We had discussed it. I told him to do what was best for him and his career. Not to worry about me. I was tough and could survive a long distance relationship.
When Moose and I arrived home, the Peats greeted us with a huge breakfast. They were so sweet and thoughtful. Cathy and me discussed how the Saginaw game was and how nice it was to see my family. She asked me if I was going home for the week I had off for Christmas. I told her yes I was, and I was looking forward to it.
She told Moose and myself that her and Harry would be leaving the next day to go down east to visit her son and his family for a week but they would be back before we left for the Christmas break.
She was worried about leaving me there with Moose because of the stalker. I told her not to worry. He hadn’t been around and maybe the police being called had scared him off. I figured he was just a fan that didn’t like the fact a girl was playing in the league. Moose reassured them that he was capable of babysitting me. I smacked him for the comment. Everyone laughed.
Alex was leaving Wednesday for Providence. The Peats were leaving Tuesday morning. I asked Alex to spend the night. Moose was going to stay at his girlfriend’s place to give us some privacy. Before Moose left he gave me the birds and the bees lecture again. He was too funny. I had no intention of having sex yet. Making out sure, just not sex.
I decided to try and cook dinner for Alex on Tuesday night. I made a meatloaf. It turned out a little dry. He pretended to like it. It was adorable. It tasted terrible and I knew it. I decided to order a medium pizza. He was thankful for that. He told me I needed to practice cooking with Cathy, so I would know how to cook when we got married. I laughed at the thought of marriage. I was only sixteen. Although I looked and acted older, and was treated as an adult; the reality was I wouldn’t be seventeen for another week and a half.
We had a wonderful night together. I loved him very much. The chemistry the two of us had was undeniable. That night we talked about the future. He was hoping to be playing in the NHL the following year for Boston. He wanted to know how I would handle the situation. I told him not to worry about the future, to live in the present and take one d
ay at a time. I didn’t want to rush anything. He was the first and only boy I had ever been with. I needed time to adjust to it all.
Hunted like Prey
Wednesday morning, I didn’t want to say goodbye to Alex. I was going to seriously miss him.
“Just because you’re not going to be in my arms, doesn’t mean that you won’t be in my heart Christine,” he said sweetly.
“Wow, that’s all you got? Alex, that was really corny.” I laughed. He did also. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
I wished him luck, although I knew he would play great for Providence. Boston was lucky to have a talented all around player like Alex. It was hard to see him go, although it was best for both of us for the moment. We both had bright futures ahead of us. We needed to have this break and explore our talent.
I decided to take a shower. While I was getting dressed in my room, I noticed that my bedroom window had been broken somehow. It was cracked by the lock. I didn’t know how recently it had happened. Maybe it had always been cracked, and I just never noticed it before? I fidgeted with the lock for a minute, trying to figure out how it got broken. I mentioned it to Moose, and he didn’t know whether or not it had been previously broken. We sluffed it off. The Peats weren’t around to ask.
The day passed as like any other day. I had to ask Myles during practice if he overdosed on stupid this morning. He was completely out of it.
“Partied last night. Hung over, not my fault.” He snapped.
“Poor alcohol, it gets blamed for everything doesn’t it.” I teased and skated away.
I hung out with my new girlfriends from school after practice. We went out for dinner, then hung around the movie theater trying to agree on a movie to watch. I was enjoying myself. We decided on the new horror flick. I am not a big horror movie fan but went with the majority choice.
When I got home some of my teammates were still there playing Xbox. It was past curfew and Moose had been trying to shew them out. I laughed.
“Alright you guys, time to leave now.” I blurted out. I heard a few groans and moans, but they all left. Moose didn’t like kicking the guys out. I had no issues on that front. Some of them could be annoying.
I raced Moose to see who got the shower first. He won but like a gentleman he offered it up to me first. I was grateful. After we were both fresh and clean, we sat on the couch and talked for a while. It was almost 1:30 in the morning. I was starting to yawn. I excused myself and crawled into bed.
I was restless in my bed. I could have sworn I saw shadows on my wall. Sinister shadows. I thought maybe I was dreaming. I fell back asleep. I kept hearing weird sounds. Creaking and crackling. I got out of bed and wandered around the basement, but saw nothing out of place. I opened Moose’s door, he was sound asleep, snoring away. So it hadn’t been him. I figured I was paranoid from the scary movie I had gone to see with my girlfriends. I went back to sleep.
Something jolted me awake. Something terrifying. There was someone outside my bedroom window. I was sure of it. I panicked and reached for the light on my nightstand. I couldn’t find it. I knew it was there, I was fumbling to much to reach the switch. I felt in the dark around the floor of my bed. I needed something to use as a weapon. I found my voice and started screaming at the top of my lungs.
He was crawling through the window, and he had one foot on my bedroom floor. Moose came running into my room with a baseball bat. He started smacking the guy with it. He must have hit him in the head because something sprayed onto the wall. The guy wormed himself back out through the window and took off. Moose chased after him, but was unable to catch him. I was on the telephone with the 911 operator when he came back. I was still sitting in the dark on my cell phone when he flipped on the light.
“He got away, but I definitely hit him hard. Look on the wall there’s blood.” He pointed to the splatter.
When the police arrived they took both our statements. I already had a case file for my stalker. I gave them that case number. I didn’t want to wake the coach up, but Moose insisted on calling him. I didn’t want this to affect my spot on the team. I was pacing back and forth when coach arrived at the house. The police had a team searching in my room for clues, and a group of them were searching the streets. They figured if Moose had hit him hard enough to bleed like that, then he might not have gotten far.
I was more worried about my spot on the team. I didn’t want this to cause problems for me. I know I should have been more concerned for my life. However, hockey was my life. Ben assured me that the situation had no bearing on my team spot. It was something that happened from time to time. We would all deal with it the same way they had in the past. He told me the team and the staff were there for me. I need not worry.
I was a nervous wreck until the morning, when the police called us to tell us they had finally caught the guy. I was relieved.
Apparently, he was upset that I was playing in the OHL. He wanted to teach me a lesson. Make an example out of me, so no other girl would want to play in the OHL again. He was an obsessed hockey fan. When the police searched his apartment they found photographs of me that spanned the last few months. That proved he had been following me for a while. The guy was certifiably insane.
Coach had to report the incident to the league, and the team owner. There was a write up in the local newspaper about it. It also made the news. Not the best way to get known in the sports world. However, at least the situation was handled well.
Some people were making a big deal out if it because I was a girl. Of course the questions arose about whether it was politically correct for a girl to be playing in the OHL. I gave a few interviews on the subject. The public seemed to be split on the issue. The only thing they seemed to agree on was that I was definitely a good enough player to be playing in the league. I didn’t care about the rest as long as they felt that way about me I was alright with it.
My father and Alex were relieved to hear about the police catching the stalker. The judge sentenced the guy for break and enter and stalking. He got three and a half years. I wished he had gotten more. He actually wanted to have Moose charged for hitting him in the head with a bat. That wasn’t going to happen. He was placed in the mental ward so he could get some help.
The situation became a big joke in the locker room.
“Coop, has been stalking you Chrissy. He installed a camera into the vent in your room.” Wellie badgered me with repeated jokes.
It was all in good fun. It was just the way we all dealt with it. Moose wasn’t my hero, instead I praised his baseball bat. I even made it a red cape. I hung the bat on the wall above my bed. He found that terribly amusing.
It bothered me that Alex wouldn’t be in town to celebrate my 17th birthday with me. I would have liked that. I didn’t make a big deal out of the fact that it was my birthday to the guys, or to the Peats.
My birthday was on a Saturday and we didn’t have any games or practices this weekend. I figured, maybe I would just be having a nice quiet dinner with the Peat’s and Moose. That was enough for me.
On Friday, flowers and a gift arrived from my family. It was a new hockey book that I wanted to read. It was written by an ex-NHL player. Inside the card was $200.00. It was from my parents and my brothers. I thought that was nice of them. I knew money was still tight at home. It was unexpected to see that amount. I would have to call them and thank them.
Moose gave me a gift certificate to a really nice clothing store worth $50.00. I gave him a great big hug and kiss. The Peats also gave me a gift certificate to the mall. It was a $150.00 gift card, to be used at any store in the mall. I appreciated all the gifts. It was very nice of them.
The team and coaches all wished me happy birthday at practice on Friday afternoon. They had all signed a card for me.
I was looking forward to a nice dinner tonight. Mrs. Peat had made spaghetti for us, I really loved her sauce. She even got me a Boston cream cake. It was delicious.
After dinner Moose asked me to c
ome with him to the movie store to grab a movie. I agreed, it would be nice to just relax in front of the tube. He wanted to stop by his buddy’s place to pick up a new video game. I was planning on waiting in the car. He told me he might be a while, so I should come in with him.
When I walked into the house, the team was there and scared me half to death when they yelled surprise. That was completely unexpected, and I knew it was Moose who planned it all out. I gave him a big hug. It was heartwarming for him to do this for me.
Alex called me during the party to wish me a happy birthday. I missed him a lot. We shared something special.
We partied late into the night. I drank way too much. I knew I would feel it in the morning, but it was worth it. I had an amazing time.
On Tuesday, an unexpected gift arrived by courier from Providence. It was a birthday gift from Alex. It was a beautiful gold bangle. It must have cost him a fortune. It was a double woven bangle; with a white gold bow separator in the center, and a box clasp. I called him right away to thank him for it. It really was the best birthday I had ever had.
We won our next few games, which placed us in the top of our division in the OHL. Our Christmas break was going to be two weeks before Christmas, and we would have to be back in Toronto to play a game on Boxing day.
I was getting excited for the Christmas break. I missed my family, even my brothers. That was hard to admit. I bought them all a little something for Christmas. I didn’t have a lot of money so it wasn’t much.
Moose and I exchanged gifts before we left. I bought him a t-shirt with a drinking saying and he got me a gift certificate to a local sex shop. He fell to the floor laughing when I opened it. I could just imagine the expression that was on my face when I saw it. I would hide that in my drawer. I might find the courage to actually use it one day. Moose was too much. Such a great sense of humor. I loved that about him.