032

Sidney stayed in bed the next day, as well as the rest of the week. I felt like there was nothing I could do to cheer him up, so I would just leave him there sulking when I would go to the brewery. Luckily Riley was smart enough to keep his distance, but I felt bad for Colby spending time with me and not his brother. The grand opening was five days away and the brewery was ready to roll. I headed home just hoping that Sidney at least made it to the living room today, and a big smile came over my face when I saw him dressed sitting on the couch. "Feeling better today?" I asked leaning down to give him a kiss. "Yeah I guess, when do your parents land?" "They don't get in til about ten tonight so dad said we will go to breakfast tomorrow morning," I smiled plopping down on the couch next to him. He sat there slouched over watching Fraggle Rock, he still looked terrible but this was an improvement. The last week had been hell for him, he unplugged the TV, threw out all the newspapers before I even had a chance to look at them. He had his phone shut off, he made me get the mail, and all he wanted was the bills. So for him to be watching TV was a huge improvement. "I think we need to get out of the house tonight, maybe grab some dinner or something," I suggested hoping he would agree. "Can we order in?" "No Crosby, you've been in here for a week now you need to get out, get some fresh air." He scooted away from me on the couch and laid down resting his head on my lap, I ran my fingers through his curly hair and he let out a big sigh. "Can we go to that Chinese buffet? All you can eat for 9.99." "You'll put the place out of business," I laughed as I rubbed his ear. I could feel him smile as his ear raised up a little bit. "Was that a smile Crosby? Did you just smile?" I wrapped my hands around his head and turned it so he was looking up at me with a smile on his face. "I love you," he whispered before I bent down and gave him a kiss. "Chinese buffet it is, let's go."

He got outside but it didn't last very long. We parked in the restaurant parking lot and he didn't budge. "Aren't you hungry?" I asked him with my leg hanging out the door. "What if someone sees me, what if they start asking questions?" He was panicking and it was very unlike him. I didn't want to argue with him, I just crawled back in his car and we went and ordered take out. Back at the house he engulfed his food. "Sid you're not a bear, you can't hibernate," I said to him piling more food on my plate. "Just give me another day or so and then I will go to your opening and it will be amazing, I promise." How could anyone argue with those eyes. "Okay Crosby but this isn't healthy for you." We watched TV for a couple of hours before my phone rang, "Hi mom," I smiled answering the phone. "Avery we made it, just calling to let you know. We will meet for breakfast in the morning, I hope that cute boyfriend of yours can make it," she laughed. "He's sitting right here, let me ask him real quick, hold on," I explained to her taking the phone away from my ear. "Cute boyfriend, my mom wants you to come to breakfast with us in the morning, I know I said I would give you one more day, but it's at my mom's request," I smiled trying to get a smile out of him too. "She called me cute? I know you don't call me cute, you use other words," he raised an eyebrow at me. "Yeah I will go, just warn them that, well you know," he half smiled. "Mom, he'll come with but I have to warn you he's not exactly himself right now, so if he's not full of life in the morning don't poke at him asking what's wrong okay?" "Okay darling, I will call you in the morning." I shut my phone and looked over at Sidney who was staring at the TV. I hope he's breathing. "Hey Sid," I said grinning ear to ear. "Yeah babe," he replied not peeling his eyes off the TV. "All that Chinese food is doing something to me. I just got really horny, do you think you can help me out with that?" His eyes shot over to me and a smile came over his face. "Yeah, I think I can." This will get him out of his funk.

With Sidney in the garage working out, I took the opportunity to play some Fleetwood Mac as loud as my old stereo would allow it. I needed something to hype me up for breakfast with my parents, and sadly last night wanted me to stay in bed with Sidney all day. "Listen to the wind blow, watch the sunrise, running in the shadows. Dame your love, damn your lies. And if you don't love me now, you will never love me again. I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain," I sang at the top of my lungs only to be interrupted by a very sweaty Sidney. He wrapped his arms around me, and I squirmed as I felt his sweat all over me now. "I love how you sing," he smiled giving me a kiss on my neck. "Sid, I just showered. Gross." He spun me around in his arms, "well you'll just have to take another one, want to join me?" I followed him into the bathroom with a huge smile on my face. "It's nice to see you in a better mood, that's one less thing I can stress about now." Damn, look at the ass. He was such an easy distraction.

My mother pulled me into a tight hug and I was pretty sure she was checking Sidney out over my shoulder. I pulled apart and pulled my dad into a hug. "How was the flight?" I asked as we sat down for breakfast. "It was alright, nothing spectacular, we did run into, um, oh hun, what was his name?" My mom asked looking to my dad. "Oh crap, he played for Everett with Riley, Russian or something," my dad explained to me and my eyes grew wide. "Ivan?!" I asked a little excited. "Yes, Ivan, he was on his way to LA for a few days, we gave him your number, I hope that's okay," my mom explained. "That's fine, I always wondered what happened to him, how did he look, is he healthy, where is he playing?" Sidney gave me an odd look and I just shrugged. "He looks good, he's really a man now, looked healthy. He said he signed on to play in Russia this upcoming season. He played one game with the Rangers last season, but he wants to be closer to home." We were interrupted by the waitress offering us coffee which I quickly accepted. After breakfast Sidney and I took my parents to the brewery and I was very, very nervous. This would be the first time my dad has seen it finished. I hope I don't let him down.

Not a single word came out of my father's mouth as he walked throughout the whole brewery. As we were upstairs in the private bar, a first for Red Hook, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out and didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyways. "Avery? Is that you?" "Ivan!" I yelled nearly falling down the stairs. Sidney looked over at me with raised eyebrows. "Your father tells me you are opening a Red Hook in Pittsburgh, when is the opening?" I couldn't help but laugh his English was still terrible. "It's in four days, are you thinking about coming?" "Will I be able to get on the guest list? If I can get on it, I will fly out in two days." "I can get you on the list, no problem," a huge smile came over my face, I was very curious to see what the Slovak now looked like. Five years ago he was the sexiest thing in all of Washington, was he still drop dead gorgeous? Don't think that! "Very well, I can't wait to see you." With that I hung up the phone and rejoined Sidney and my parents. "So Ivan is flying out here for the opening," I smiled and saw my mom smile as well. She always enjoyed seeing him, nice eye candy. "Well Avery," my dad started looking over the railing to the main level. "You went above and beyond all of my expectations. I'm very proud of you." He pulled me into a hug and I began to cry. This was unlike my father.

The ride home felt very uncomfortable for some reason. "You okay?" I asked him as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Who's Ivan?" "Ivan Baranka, he played with Riley back in Everett, he would hang out at my place a lot because he felt out of place in America, and I allowed him to just zone out, we became friends but not really close." Does Sid feel threatened? "And he's flying out here to see you?" "He spent a lot of time at the brewery in Washington, so he's coming out here for this brewery, why are you so pissed off?" "I'm not pissed off, I've just never heard about him until now." "Sid you know I don't have a lot of friends, I don't need a lot of friends. Ivan and I were only friends because of Riley. I didn't bring him up because he's not significant in my life, everyone that means something to me you know about." He reached over and grabbed onto my hand gently kissing it. I managed to convince him to stay out of the house a little bit longer and go shopping with me. I desperately needed something fantastic to wear for the opening.

Sidney sure was a trooper, going from one store to the next watching me try on almost every dress in town. We finally made our way into a boutique with hundreds of awesome dresses hanging everywhere. The owner recognized Sidney and quickly walked us to the back room where he asked me what I was looking for. "I want to be sexy, but still have to look like a respectful business woman," I explained to him and then Sidney chimed it, "it has to be sexy, she has to be the best dressed lady there." I looked over at him and he winked at me. "I have a few pieces in mind, do you want any coffee or water while I go collect them?" "Oh no thank you," Sidney and I both said at the same time. The owner, Markus, walked back in a few minutes later with a very large stack of dresses. There were a few that I would never wear anywhere, some that were so-so and others that I fell in love with hanging right there on the hanger. We divided the dresses into those three categories and I began trying them on. I went from one dress to next, not really finding anything that was stunning. I had put one dress aside because I wasn't too sure about, it was white, but I went ahead and slipped it on. The minute I looked at myself in the mirror I was sold, I was getting this dress. The boat scoop neckline rested on my collar bone and a very thin belt wrapped around me right below my bust. The bottom of the dress was draped with white feathers that ended mid-thigh. I turned around to look at the back, that was the selling point. The only piece of the dress touching my back was the small belt. There was only about two inches of fabric above my butt before the feathers started in the back. It was very classic looking in the front and then very, very sexy in the back. I stepped outside to get Sidney's opinion and as I spun around I got the reaction I was looking for. "Holy crap."

When we got home I went through the guest list one more time, adding Ivan to it. As I looked at it, I sent a text message to Colby, "let Riley know he is still invited on Saturday, Ivan will be coming." A few minutes later Colby texted me back, "are you sure you want him there? I can't control what he will do." I took a deep breath and looked over at Sidney on the couch. "Do you think I'm making a mistake by still inviting Riley to the opening?" He looked up at me with a bit of anger in his face. "You can do what you want with him, but if he is there and he tries to start shit, I'm not going to tolerate it, I will not let him ruin this for you." Man he really is an asshole if just his name gets Sid all wired up. I sent Colby another text, "yeah I am sure I want him there, but he's not allowed upstairs, which is where I will be for a majority of the night." It was settled at that. He could come if he wanted, if not great, I could care less either way. I looked down at the list and at the very bottom of the second page written in was Robert Winters. That's not Sid's writing, or my dad's. How did mom get ahold of this? "Babe, come sit with me," Sidney said looking up at me. How did? What? I was so confused. "Avery, hey horn bag!" I shot a glare at Sidney. "Horn bag? You're calling me the horn bag?" I laughed as I snuggled in next to him on the couch. "I wish I could stay in your arms like this until Saturday," I smiled leaning up to give him a kiss. "You could you know. Everything at the brewery is up and running, you have excellent staff, why can't the head honcho take a few days off before the grand revealing?" I gave him another kiss and quickly felt my eyes become heavy. "Maybe I will," I whispered before I closed my eyes resting my head on his shoulder.