Chapter 5

Maddie followed behind Sid to the pool. She couldn’t help it, she had to get a decent look at him. PHWOAR, was all she could hear. He was all thick, ropy muscle, with broad shoulders tapering into a flat, hard waist. Maddie knew the guys always teased him, saying he had a huge ass. Maddie thought it looked fantastic, firmly moving beneath his black mesh swim trunks as he walked.

“Cherie,” said Marc-Andre, stepping up next to her. “Don’t be jealous of his curves.”

She rolled her eyes at her own inner monologue, which had gone from calm-ish to NC-17 in a heartbeat.
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Maddie came up for air, to the sound of Erin shrieking. She was upside down, Jordan holding her ankles and dunking her head into the water. She’d sputter and shout every time he lifted, so he’d dunk her again.

“Pffffft I’m going to…” dunk “…pants you…” dunk “…in front of…” dunk “…all these…” dunk.

“Well that didn’t take long,” Sid said, coming up next to her. He wiped his big hands across his face, then ran one back through his hair. It really was short, Maddie thought to herself, different from the curls she was used to seeing on TV.

“Hello?” He waved his hand in front of her face.

She blinked and laughed. “Sorry. I was thinking about your hair.” He blushed, and she realized she’d already said that. Oh, he's self-conscious now! He looked away and Maddie quickly covered. “I’m trying to imagine you with a mullet. Not one of those half-long Fedorov deals, but the whole thing. A Barry Melrose.”

“I’d have to start exaggerating my accent, then.” And together they both said, “OOOHHHffense” and laughed.

Jordan eventually dropped Erin, and commenced a splashing fight with Marc. Maddie joined in for a bit of girls vs. boys, then swam the length of the pool as best she could around all the people lounging. She remembered to finger-comb her hair, hoping that would make up for her workout an hour before.

Sidney motioned her over, to sit next to him on a low pool step. He had about 3 inches on her, so the tops of his shoulders were above the water. They talked for a few minutes about the people at the pool – which guys belonged on bad reality TV, which girls were hoping to marry an old rich guy. Sid laughed at Maddie’s assessment of a couple in full make-out mode, she guessed they’d be married by dinner and divorced by breakfast.

“Can I ask you something?” He looked down at the water, kicking his feet silently for a moment, then looked her in the eyes seriously. “Did you really come here for the NHL Awards?”

Maddie made a face. “Kind of.” She looked at her feet now. “Erin and I are big fans, and our friend Cynthia who you haven’t met. We thought it would be great to go, but the tickets are $300. So we decided to spend the money on a girls’ getaway, and figured maybe they’d have rush tickets, or need seat fillers or something.” She looked at Sid. “And if not, we’d still have an awesome trip. We don’t see each other that often.”

“And Deanne,” Sid nodded to where she, Marc and Jordan were trying to request a song from the poolside DJ, “she’s not into hockey?”

“She likes it, but doesn’t follow it. She has little to no idea who any of you are. We got her on the trip because it was Vegas, baby.” Maddie laughed. “She’s trouble, that one. Vegas is her kind of place.”

Sid brightened. “And what about you? Are you trouble?”

“Only the good kind.” And then Maddie jumped up and dunked him under the water.

He came up blowing a raspberry and laughing.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Shoot.”

“Did you really sleep with the Cup? I saw some pictures…”

Sid rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to answer. Then he thought better of it, scooped Maddie up off her step and tossed her a few feet away into the water.
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Sid was halfway through his turkey sandwich when Maddie, Erin and Jordan got back to the cabana. Maddie squeezed the water from her hair onto Sid’s back, making him jump. She leaned over and said, ““Payback.”