Netting Crow (Blackhawks Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 10

I arrived in Corey's neighborhood roughly an hour after I got off the phone with him.  I waited in my car for Corey to call.  I didn't have to wait long for my phone to ring.  Before I answered it, I turned my car off and walked to his door.  I decided to leave my overnight bag in the car; I didn't want to presume anything.

"Hello?" I said as I rang his doorbell.  I heard it through the phone.

"Hi. Hang on a second.  Someone's at the door."  Less than 10 seconds later, he opened the door and surprise crossed his face.

"Hi."  I said nervously still not sure that I made the right decision.  And before I could begin apologizing for just showing up, he pulled me into the foyer and into his arms.  It was the best hug I had ever received.  He let me go and looked at me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, you said you wanted to talk, and it turns out I don't have school tomorrow, so I thought why not? I can go if you aren't up for company."

"You aren't going anywhere.  Come in.  Take your coat off and I will show you around."

I took my coat and shoes off.  His house was really nice.  It was simple.  Nothing too extravagant or over the top.  It was cleaner than I expected for a guy, but he probably had a housekeeper.  He showed me around until we finally ended up back in the kitchen. 

"Can I get you something to eat or drink?"  He asked.

"No thanks.  I'm fine." I replied.  I was still so nervous.  I was in Corey Crawford's home.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I had never been in a situation like this before, and it was nerve raking to try to figure out how to handle myself.

"Let's move into the living room.  I'll start a fire, and we can talk or watch a movie.  Were you planning on going home tonight?"

"I didn't really plan any of this, so I can or I have a bag of things in the car."

"Stay.  I don't have anything to do tomorrow until 2:00 when we have practice, and then we leave for our road trip."

"Okay. I would love to stay."

"Give me your keys and I will grab your bag out of your car."

Corey grabbed my keys and ran outside to get my bag.  When he came back in, he started a fire, and we sat on the couch.  We spent the next few hours talking.  We talked through most of the game, including some of what he has been feeling mentally and physically since being back.  He feels himself struggling, and we talked about some things that maybe he could do differently.  I asked a lot of questions about what he did to prepare and practice.  I mentioned some things I noticed about his reactions, and I told him what some of the comments were from the announcers during the game.  He was appreciative of the feedback.  He also was very open about everything, and he didn't seem to mind answering my questions.

By the time there was a lull in the conversation, I was leaning against him and his arm was around my shoulder, and we were cuddled underneath a blanket.  I was tired, but I wasn't ready to go to bed.  I wasn't going to sleep with him, but I didn't want to be away from him yet.

"Do you want me to show you to one of the guest bedrooms?" he politely asked after I yawned.

"Would you be up for a movie first?"

"Sounds good."  He went through some of the movies on TV and Netflix.  We settled on one.  He grabbed a couple of pillows and a few more blankets and made a makeshift bed on the couch.  I laid down next to the cushions and he laid next me.  I put my head on his chest, and he put his arm around me.  I looked up at him to say something and he lifted my chin and kissed me.  It was soft and sweet, perfect actually.

"Thanks for showing up here tonight."

"I'm glad you didn't think it was weird or that I was some crazy stalker person."

He laughed and I felt his chest move. "I told you where I lived during one of our first conversations.  That's trust that you aren't crazy."

"Crazy comes later," I joked.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," was the last thing I remember.

When I woke up the next morning, Corey and I were cuddled together on the couch.  It was an absolutely perfect moment where it was only he and I in the world.  No one else existed.  My brain did this crazy thing were I was supremely happy, but also extremely anxious.  I had never done anything like this before, and granted we didn't do anything, but it wasn't like me to stay at someone's house, especially a relative stranger.  However, it felt right and nothing had felt right in a long, long time.  I was going to savor every moment of this reality because I couldn't know how long it would last.

I looked at the clock.  It was well past 10 a.m.  I can't remember the last time I slept past 10 a.m.  I'm not really sure what time we ended up going to sleep, but even sleeping on the couch I felt fully rested and satiated.  I laid there looking at Corey and realized how lucky I was.  How many people get to meet their crush and actually have something come from it.  Even if it didn't last past these first few encounters, this would be something that I would never forget.

 Corey started to stir, so I pulled my gaze away from him. I felt him move and stretch beneath me.

"Morning," he said in this sexy half asleep voice.

"Good morning."

"Sleep well?"

"Pretty well except for this gangly hockey player that hogged most of the couch."

"Well next time, we can sleep in the bed then." He said and I blushed profusely.  

"Can I offer to make you breakfast?" I asked avoiding his comment about sharing a bed.

"I am starving, but let's both make breakfast.  I make a mean piece of toast." He joked.

"My favorite!"

Corey got off the couch and helped me up.  We walked into the kitchen and he started pulling food from the fridge:  eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, juice, milk.

"Umm, you do realize that it's just the two of us, right?"

"Yea but if we don't eat this, it will be bad by Saturday when I get back."

We set to working on making breakfast.  I made scrambled eggs and sausage while he took care of the bacon, fruit, and toast.  We enjoyed a pretty slow-moving morning.  Breakfast was wonderful, and then I was off to shower and change.

We spent the remainder of the late morning, early afternoon talking.  I told him about my plans for Friday with my friends, and my spa plans for Saturday afternoon.  We decided that Saturday after my spa appointment I would head up to his house and get dressed for dinner here.  We hadn't decided what we were going to do, but we would talk more while he was on the road.  It was a quick road trip only two games:  Thursday and Friday.  They would be flying back late Friday night, so I wouldn't see him again until Saturday night.

As he was packing his bag, I was sitting in his room on his bed.  We were so at ease with each other.  I couldn't get over how easy it was to be with him.  And when I was with him, I forgot that he was Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks.  He was just Corey.  My Corey.

I couldn't wait to spend my birthday weekend with him.  Saturday seemed like such a long way away.  1:00 came upon us pretty quickly, and we had to say good-bye as he had to be at practice.

"I'll call you when we get to Minnesota." He promised.

"I look forward to it.  Good luck.  You are awesome.  Remember that, okay?"

"I'll try."

He helped me put my coat on, and then he pulled me close and kissed me.  Every time he kissed me, it gave me butterflies.  There was a spark that I hadn't felt since years before when I kissed my husband. It was overwhelming and comforting all at the same time.  Was Corey Crawford the one I had been waiting for all this time?  I couldn't wait to find out.