Eighteen | All Summer Long
TW: Alcohol, Mentions of Binge Drinking
Chapter Song: Wonder - Shawn Mendes
≫ Everly - Monday, June 13, 2016 ≪
We were miserable. We were walking a very fine line between still drunk and hungover. Luckily, it wasn't just us, everyone gathered in the lobby waiting for the buses to take us to the airport looked to be in the same shape as Sid and I. Well, almost everyone.
"So," Beau began loudly, seemingly popping up out of nowhere. "What time should we be around tonight?" He asked, looking between Sidney and me.
I looked up to Sidney who wore dark sunglasses over his eyes, even as we stood in the hotel lobby. "I don't know, we won't even be back in Pittsburgh until," He looked down to the watch on his wrist. "after two o'clock."
Beau looked to me, clearly not happy with Sidney's inability to answer his question. "What tim-"
"Are you always this loud?" I asked, interrupting him. Beau's girlfriend, Georgeann, who looked to be as miserable as the rest of us, and Sidney both stifled their laughter. "How are you not miserably hungover like everyone else, anyway?"
Beau's head lulled to the side, looking at me as if I was an idiot for asking him such a question. "Olli, Justin, and I did shots when we got up this morning,"
Genius. I looked up to Sidney. "Why did we not think of that?"
He chuckled, shaking his head. "We didn't have anything left to drink,"
"Lack of planning," Beau noted, pointing finger guns at us. "So, what time?"
I groaned. Since the beginning of the playoffs, I have been planning a massive pool party for the team and their partners to celebrate the cup win. Luckily, I did all of the planning, shopping, cleaning, and decorating before I left for San Jose, but right now, the last thing I want to do is throw a party. I haven't been this hungover since Sochi. "Um, let's just say 5:30. That'll give everyone to get home, relax for a while, and then come 'round for supper."
"You say relax, I say pregame,"
I tilted my head. "Beau, are you going to drink all day?"
"Evergreen," He began, calling me by one of his many nicknames for me. "I'm going to drink all summer."
Sidney and I flew separately, as did the rest of the team and their families. Of the two planes the Penguins chartered for the family of the team, I was fortunate enough to be on one with an abundance of alcohol. Maureen, Kuni's wife, popped open three bottles of champagne which we passed around the plane to those old enough to drink, not even worrying about individual glasses. When we touched down in Pittsburgh, nearly everyone on the jet was tipsy enough to have to hold onto both handrails of the jet's airstairs as we deplaned. However, it seemed as the passengers on the other jet enjoyed their time in the air as much as we did. Hell, even the coaches seemed to teeter off of the team's plane.
The team's jet was the last to arrive and deplane, leaving Sidney's family and me to wait for him on the tarmac. The concrete beneath us was quickly heating up and began to mix with the heat from the alcohol coursing through my body, causing me to begin to sweat. I smiled, the long, hot days of summer are only a few days away and today's temperature is a clear reminder of that. I was ready to celebrate this win all summer long.
"Ow! Ow!" I exclaimed as Sidney drew closer. Trina, Troy, and Taylor all began to clap and cheer loudly, causing Sidney to blush and the others around us to start laughing. "That's my MVP!"
He shook his head as he came to a stop in front of us. He hugged his parents and then his sister. "You're a mess," He spoke, teasingly, before leaning down to place a kiss on my lips.
I nodded, agreeing with him. I grabbed for the dress bag he had in his fingers, taking it from him and slinging it over my shoulder. "Ready?"
He nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow for dinner?" Sidney asked, looking to his parents for an answer.
"We'll be there!" Trina sang, pulling him in for one last hug. "Have fun tonight, you two,"
I hugged the three of them before we went our separate ways, them to their rental car to stay at my condo for the evening, and Sid and I to his car, to head back to his home in Sewickley.
The car ride felt exceptionally long, traffic from the airport was terrible, and we were itching to get home and get out of our airplane clothes and into our swimsuits to enjoy the evening by the pool with the team. Once we were finally home, we all but raced up the stairs to the same shower.
"Care to join?" Sidney asked, dropping his pants onto the floor, his belt clattering against the cool tile.
I laughed at him but began to strip down to nothing as well. I stepped in behind him, not hesitating to wrap my arms around his waist. He relaxed into me, his shoulders dropping the tension he had been carrying around since December.
"I've missed you," I mumbled into his damp skin.
He sighed contently. "I've missed you, Everly Grace,"
"It feels like I haven't seen you since May,"
Sidney spun around, now taking me into his arms. "I'm sorry, Ev. I just get tunnel vision during playoffs, you know? I just get so wrapped up in the need to win that I forget about what matters the most," He paused to grab my face in his wet hands, directing my eyes up to his. "You."
I swatted his hands away from my face so that I could wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him into me. "Hey," I began softly. "Don't apologize for the schedule that you had no control over. You're here now and you're a two time Stanley Cup champion. That's what's matters. All of that work paid off, you have something to show for it."
He smiled before leaning down to kiss me. "Wouldn't have been possible without you,"
I laughed, pulling away from him and stepping into the warm water, grabbing my loofah from it's resting place. "Me?"
"Yeah, you,"
I hesitated, watching Sidney as he grabbed the pink loofah from my hand and began to run it down my arms and then across my chest. "What did I do?" I questioned, closing my eyes and relaxing into his touch. He seemed to be washing away the stress that I had been unknowingly carrying around, likely as long as he had.
"You were in my corner," He spoke softly.
"Hmm," I hummed. "It's the least I can do,"
"You took care of the house, entertained my family while I was out of town or busy, all while working on stuff for the foundation, and still carrying on with your own life. You've taken a lot off of my plate and put it on your own, no questions asked." I tilted my head back, soaking my hair.
"As I said, it's the leas-"
"Thank you," I opened my eyes to reach for my bottle of shampoo.
"I'll always be in your corner, Sid," I assured him after a few moments of silence.
"That's why I'm marrying you,"
"Still trying to figure out my motive," I teased, before gazing down. "Nevermind, I figured it out."
He threw his head back, laughing loudly as he jokingly attempted to cover himself. "Quit objectifying me!" He teased, pushing the bottle of conditioner into my hand. "And finish washing your hair before the water runs cold,"
I watched as he scrambled out of the shower, laughing when he nearly fell. "Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave, Sid!"
"Don't start anything. I'm still tired from last night," He replied, speaking loudly to be heard over the running water and the rustles of him dropping his towel and pulling on his underwear.
I washed the conditioner out of my hair and turned the water off before stepping out of the shower and taking the white towel from Sidney's outstretched hand. "You were on your game last night,"
"I know," He boasted. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Settle down," I teased, walking out of the bathroom to get dressed, leaving him to shave away his playoff beard that I had come to love. "You know, I don't hate the beard," I confessed as I shimmied into my bathing suit, threw a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on, and walked back into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
"You could have told me that before I shaved half my face,"
I giggled. "Sorry, bub,"
I finished brushing my teeth and collected both of our discarded towels from the bathroom floor, depositing them into the laundry basket hidden in Sidney's closet. I popped my head back into the bathroom to see Sidney still messing with his hair, having yet to put his swimming trunks on.
"C'mon, pretty boy," I began, using the nickname that my sister and Mel had given him, one that both Sidney and I had only recently come to learn about, causing Sidney to roll his eyes. "Olli will be here any minute with the ice and we still have to get all of this food on the grill,"
Sidney groaned loudly as he ran his hands through his hair, spiking it up in about 14 different directions. "This is as good as it's gonna get, I'm afraid." He laughed, flicking the bathroom light off and walking toward the dresser to retrieve his swimming trunks.
"You look handsome as ever," I complimented mindlessly before heading toward the bedroom door to head downstairs to begin preparing dinner.
"Ev?" Sid called out to me, stopping me in the doorframe. I turned to look at him. He had the top drawer of the dresser open, one hand hidden in the pile of socks, and a look I hadn't seen before written across his flushed face.
"They're not in that drawer, they're in the bottom draw-"
"I know where my trunks are," He interjected, turning now to face me directly. However, as he pulled his hand from the sock drawer, a blue object that not previously been in his hand caught my eye.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the blue box in his hand.
Without answering my question, he stepped toward me, clad only in his boxer-briefs, and grabbed my left hand in his right. "Everly Grace,"
I gasped, throwing my right hand over my mouth, now catching onto what he was doing. Tears sprung to my eyes almost immediately. And as I looked into his eyes, I noticed that his eyes looked a bit glassy too.
"When I met you, I knew I had met my match. You've challenged me, and encouraged me, and lit a fire within me, one that I hadn't known existed. You are the strongest, smartest, funniest, most beautiful, most caring, most loving woman I have ever met, and even that is the tip of the iceberg." I giggled lightly, squeezing his hand tightly in my own. "I know, in my heart, even after this short time together, that you are the person I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I've known since day one. So," Without ever letting go of my hand, Sidney bent down onto one knee and with his other hand, he held the box out to me, flicking it open with his fingers with ease, as if he had been practicing the action for weeks. "Everly Grace Cassius, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Breathlessly, I answered. "Yes, of course! A thousand times, yes," Without once looking at the ring in his hand, I tackled Sidney in a hug, causing both of us to fall onto the carpeted floor.
"Ow!"
"I love you," I beamed, taking his face into my hands before kissing him.
Sidney laughed as we kissed, causing our teeth to clank against one another's. "I love you more, Evy,"
I shook my head, hitting him in the face with the hair that had fallen loose from my bun when I tackled him. "Impossible,"
"Where do you want these?" Olli asked, shuffling across the threshold with three bags of ice in his arms.
I stepped out of his way, leading the way to the kitchen. "Just set them down on the counter," I replied, taking one bag of ice from him and setting it down on the marble. "Thank you for getting the ice, Ols, it totally slipped my mind,"
Olli shook his head as he set the other bags down. "Don't worry about it,"
"Olli!" Sidney cheered, standing up from where he was squatting on the floor, filling up the empty coolers with beer. They embraced in a quick hug, patting each other on the back. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," He replied, cooly, as he reached up to his face to take off his sunglasses and set them on top of his head. "Are you guys okay?"
I eyed him oddly. "Of course, what are you on about?"
"You look like you've been crying. The both of you," He spoke, matter-of-factly, catching me off guard. While Olli was very observant, he was not confrontational by any stretch of the imagination, he was the type of person to notice something was off, but to wait to pull you aside by yourself to ask you about it.
"Oh," I replied, blushing. "It's nothing, no worries!"
Olli scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the counter. "C'mon, did someone die?"
I looked at Sid, who only smiled knowingly back at me. "I have to tell him, he thinks someone died!"
"We haven't told our families yet," Sidney reminded, keeping his voice low, but still wearing a smile on his face.
I grinned. "Olli is family," I replied, quickly, setting a hand onto Olli's arm. "He won't tell anyone, right?" I asked, looking up to Olli who glanced between Sidney and me, completely lost. His eyebrows a clear indicator of his confusion.
"Right?" He squeaked out, barely loud enough for me to hear him.
Sidney laughed and then threw his hands into the air as if to say 'What the hell, why not?'. "Go on, then,"
Without saying anything else, I reached down into the front pocket of my jean shorts and pulled out the diamond ring that Sidney had presented to me only ten minutes prior, and slid it onto my left ring finger. "We're getting married!" I squealed, shoving my hand into Olli's face, all the while dancing.
Olli gasped before pulling Sidney and me into a hug. "Congratulations!"
"But," I remarked, stepping out of the hug. "You can't tell anyone! Our families don't know yet,"
Olli shook his head profusely, his expensive sunglasses nearly going flying as he did. "Your secret is safe with me,"
"Good," I turned on my heel, grabbing two plates stacked with raw hamburgers ready to be grilled, and then spun back around to hand them to Olli. "Now you two get to cookin'," Sidney grabbed the pan full of hotdogs from the island and made his way out to the back patio where he had already lit the grill with Olli hot on his heels.
Before I could do anything else, I glanced down at the Tiffany ring on my left hand. It wasn't absurdly large. Sidney wasn't a flashy man nor was I a flashy woman. But, it was beautiful, nonetheless, too beautiful to have to hide for the evening, but too important to tell the team about before we told our families. It was also too beautiful to separate myself from completely, hence the reason I was hiding it in my pocket as opposed to the iconic blue box that set empty on top of Sidney's dresser. It was too new, too electrifying to simply place back into the box etched with my soon-to-be-initials across the top.
Carefully, I slipped the ring from my finger and returned it to its temporary hiding place in my short's tiny pocket. The weight of the ring against my thigh brought me an odd sense of comfort. Symbolically, of course, the ring tied Sidney and me together forever, but the weight of the ring felt as though it physically tethered us together too. I couldn't wait to bear the weight of the ring on my finger for longer than ten minutes. I couldn't wait to wear it forever. To spend forever connected to the man who I knew was my husband the day I met him.
I turned to the ice on the counter in front of me, noticing that the bags had begun to sweat and drip onto the hardwood floor of the kitchen. I sighed before picking a bag up to dump into the cooler full of warm beer. I proceeded to empty the other bags into the multiple coolers lining Sidney's kitchen, hoping that we had bought enough alcohol to hold the team and their others over for the night.
I began to open bags of chips and dump them into bowls when I heard the front door open and subsequently fall shut.
"Hello? Sid?" A heavy Russian accent rolled through the house.
I popped my head out of the kitchen to see Geno, Anna, Flower, and Vero standing in the entry-way, lingering awkwardly.
"Hi!" I stepped out of the kitchen fully now, making myself know. "Come in, come in,"
Anna smiled, coming toward me quickly. She wrapped me into a hug, holding onto me tightly with one arm, keeping the platter in her opposite hand between the two of us.
"Didn't want you hosting without sweets," She spoke softly, placing the plate full of brownies into my hands now.
"You didn't have to do that, thank you," She smiled softly and then stepped aside, allowing Vero to hug me quickly.
"Where's the cup?" Flower asked, pulling me into his side for a hug as soon as his wife let go of me.
"Uh," I began, turning back toward the kitchen to set Anna's brownies down and finish what I was doing before they all walked in the door. "I think Coach Sullivan has it, he's the last person I saw with it at the jet port." I dumped another bag of chips into a bowl and set it on the island among the other bowls and various plates of burger and hot dog toppings. "Okay," I dusted my hands off before setting them on my hips. "Drinks are in these coolers, there's bottled water, soda, beer, wine coolers," I listed off on my fingers. "Um, there's liquor outside at the bar by the pool, serve yourself,"
Without saying a word, Geno and Flower shared a quick look before darting toward the back door and disappearing outside, on the hunt for a stiff drink.
"What do you need help with, Everly? You look overwhelmed," Vero asked, running a comforting hand up and down my arm.
"This is just a much bigger affair than I had anticipated," I admitted sheepishly, turning away from the women in front of me to the fridge to pull the fruit out to cut it up and toss it all together to make a fruit salad.
Anna took the plastic containers from my hands and started over to a small section of empty counter space. I handed her a cutting board and knife and thanked her profusely as she began slicing.
"You're going to be just fine, Ev! As long as you have food and drinks, everyone will be happy," Vero glanced around the kitchen. "And by the looks of it, you have more than enough to get us through the night,"
"I just want to make a good impression on everyone, you know?"
"You already have,"
I smiled softly at her. She had been a great friend to me throughout the season, all the girls had, but Vero went the extra mile. She was always the first to reach out to me to invite me to a girl's night or to come over to watch The Bachelor or to call just to catch up. She was my rock this season, becoming my uncertified therapist to help me cope with the loneliness of Sid being away and the helplessness I felt from not being able to skate.
"Thank you, Vero," I offered sincerely.
"Anything for you, Ev. Now, get yourself a drink, you've earne-" The doorbell rang loudly startling the three of us. "Get a drink and then get the door, I've got the rest from here,"
Ignoring the coolers, I scrambled to the front door before whoever was on the other side could ring the bell again. I swung the door open, to see Mario, Coach Sullivan, their respective wives, and the keeper of the cup, Philip, whom I had yet to officially meet, but knew by name. His presence meant one thing: the Stanley Cup was in the Crosby house tonight.
"Everly! Good to see you again!" Mario chimed, leading the group into the house. He paused to kick his shoes off at the front door and then pulled me into a hug. Mario and Nathalie lived only a few streets over and were frequent fliers around here. Mario and Sidney often sat on the couch for hours on end, watching hockey games, and discussing anything and everything while Nathalie brought over homemade desserts, winning her way into my heart almost immediately.
"Ev," Nathalie spoke, hugging me with one arm over my shoulders. I hugged her back tightly. "I brought a cake, I hope you don't mind,"
I laughed. "Of course not! I will never complain about you bringing food over," She smiled warmly and then headed in the direction of the kitchen with Mario on his heels.
Coach Sullivan stepped farther into the house, discarding his shoes at the door just as Mario and Nathalie and his wife did before him. It was odd, to see him dressed down, I mean. On the few occasions that I had been around Coach Sullivan, he was always dressed to the nines, as if he was perpetually ready for a business meeting to occur at any given time.
"Everly, lovely to see you," Coach Sullivan pulled me into a side-hug and then released me quickly, but not without a squeeze to the shoulder. "This is my wife, Kate, I don't know that you two have met,"
I nearly went to offer a hand out to her, but instead just pulled her into a quick hug, surprising her. "Everly Cassius," I introduced, stepping back from her now. "I'm, uh, Sidney's fi-," I stopped myself quickly. "Girlfriend,"
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Everly."
"You as well, Kate," I gushed before giving the married couple the details on when dinner would be ready, where to find drinks, the bathroom, and Sidney, and then watched as they headed in completely different directions.
I turned to the blonde man still standing in the foyer, a small smile on his face. "Philip, right?" He nodded, letting go of the handle of the large black case behind him and offering a hand out to me. I introduced myself to him and him to me, insisting that I call him Phil. "Well, Phil, I'm glad that you're here," I told him, beginning to lead him toward the back door, watching as he towed the beat-up black trunk behind him and navigated it with ease through the house and out onto the patio.
"I'm just here to drop this beauty off," I looked at him in surprise as he put on his white gloves and popped open the black case.
"You don't have to stay with the cup?" I asked, watching as he lifted the cup with ease and set it on one of the tables I set up outside.
He chuckled. "Nope, I can just drop it off and leave it, as long as I know where it is, of course."
I hummed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I just always assumed you have to stay with it," He shook his head as he turned away from the cup and toward me. "Well, do you want to? Stay, I mean,"
He hesitated for a minute, pulling his white gloves off by the fingers. "I, uh, wel-"
"You don't have to say yes, I ju-"
"I'd love to stay, if that's okay with you and Sidney, of course,"
I grinned, before turning to Sidney who still stood over the grill with Olli at his side. "Sid," I called out to him, catching his attention. "You don't mind if Phil stays, right?"
Sidney smiled and shook his head. "Of course not! Get him a drink, Ev,"
I laughed before looking back to Phil. "What's your poison?" I asked, causing a grin to break out across his face.
I got Phil a beer at his request and then gave him the same spiel that I gave to everyone who came in before him; telling him where to locate drinks and the bathroom, to make himself at home, and to find Sid or me if he needed anything at all. He graciously thanked me and then wandered around to the opposite side of the pool and sat in one of the chairs facing the house. I watched on as he relaxed into the chair and twisted the top off of his beer bottle and took a long pull from the bottle.
"Careful, that big heart of yours is on your sleeve," Sidney whispered in my ear, startling me with his sudden presence.
I smiled softly at him, only to see that he was looking at Phil across the pool. "Didn't feel right for him to come to drop the cup by and then have to leave, likely to go back to an empty hotel room with shitty room service, when he knew we were having this big party. We have plenty of food, plenty to drink, what's one more?" I explained, looking back to Phil who now sat with Mario next to him, the two of them chatting away.
Sidney smiled before dipping his head down to press a kiss to my temple. "Good woman,"
"Hmm?"
"Just another reason I'm marrying you,"
As the night hours winded into the late night, everyone began to grow rowdier. Sid's backyard was beginning to look like a frat party at The University of Alabama on homecoming weekend. Even Coach Sullivan, or Sully, as he insisted I call him in his drunken stupor, was beginning to slur his words. Though people were drinking almost as soon as they hit the door, the drinks really began to flow after dinner was finished and plates were cleared. In the blink of an eye, the Stanley Cup was filled to the brim with Dom Pérignon and was being lifted to the lips of anyone who merely looked in the direction of the coveted trophy.
"Who hasn't had a sip?" Sidney called out, catching mostly everyone's attention, including mine. I glanced over to him, shamelessly checking him out as he stood in the pool next to Geno with the cup sitting on the ground between the two of them. However, I was still very much engaged in the conversation I was having with a few of the girls, even though I took my eyes off of them for a few seconds. But before I could even turn my head back around to return my gaze to them, Maureen Kunitz, who I had come to learn was a blast in a glass, was pulling me up from my seat, and pushing me toward Sid.
"Everly hasn't! In fact, I haven't seen her have a drink since I got here. She needs to loosen up,"
My eyes grew wide. "Maureen!" I exclaimed laughing, now noticing that everyone's attention was on me as she all but pushed me across the pool deck.
"Everly Grace!" Sidney taunted loudly, causing me to blush. "I can't believe you managed to fly under my radar,"
"Sidney," I whined playfully, dragging out the last syllable of his name.
"Oh no, don't Sidney me, baby. It's tradition, c'mon," He patted the concrete of the pool deck in front of him.
I shook my head, laughing, but walked toward him and squatted down in front of him, facing the cup, just as everyone before me had. Slowly, he and Geno lifted the cup and I wrapped my hands around the bowl to help them steady it and took a long sip of the warm champagne. I pulled away and wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand, catching the alcohol before it had the opportunity to run down my chin. Sidney and Geno set the cup back down on the concrete carefully, all the while laughing.
"How do you feel?" Sidney asked, looking up at me.
I laughed, nodding my head. "Like I just had a once-in-a-lifetime experience,"
He shook his head with a bright smile on his face. "Hopefully not," His hand reached out and wrapped around the back of my neck and pulled me to him, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. Sidney was not a man too keen on PDA, but I suppose with the amount of alcohol coursing through his system, he couldn't have cared less who saw the two of us.
"Get a room," Beau chirped from behind Sidney in the pool.
"I have the whole house, asshole," Sidney replied quickly, causing everyone within earshot to laugh.
The night went on, everyone getting more and more drunk as the sky above us shifted from blue to pitch black. The pool was full of people to where the bottom of the pool couldn't even be seen from the pool deck. At one point, Mario jumped in the pool fully clothed, causing everyone to cheer loudly, surely annoying the neighbors, who hopefully understood. Not long after Mario jumped in, the cup was thrown in and began to crowd surf among the team. It was a quarter past midnight and the party was far from over.
Maureen was right, however, I did need to loosen up. Wanting to throw a great party and making a good impression on everyone had me tense. After taking a drink from the cup, I headed over to the bar, where Kris has taken it upon himself to bartend and asked him to make me something, anything, with vodka in it. Three sweet concoctions later, I began to feel a little more than a buzz.
In the middle of my fourth drink, I felt someone wrap a warm, wet, arm around my waist, soaking my shirt in the process, and pull me into their chest.
"Sid," I spoke, never looking over my shoulder to confirm that's who had a hold of me. I knew already.
"Ev," I turned to face him now, drink still in hand. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my drink glass still in hand. "You just dumped that down my back, you know?"
I gasped, lifting my glass to see that it was indeed, empty. I laughed, hiding my face in his bare chest. "Sorry, Sid. Little tipsy,"
Sidney laughed, tossing his head back. The back of his head hit the lip of the glass in my hand, subsequently knocking it out of my hand and to the ground, where it shattered against the concrete. "Little drunk," He corrected with a laugh. He stepped forward, pushing me back into the granite bar.
"Okay, maybe a little drunk," I agreed with him. He smiled before dropping his lips down to mine and kissing me sweetly.
"I just want to do a toast and then we can start winding down for the night,"
I untangled myself from him, and he reached out for my hand, pulling me behind him toward the waterfall at the opposite end of the pool. He stepped up onto the concrete wall and pulled me up with him, tucking me into his side and throwing his arm around my shoulders. I watched as he placed two fingers from his opposite hand in his mouth and whistled loudly, capturing everyone's attention and drawing their eyes to us.
"All right everyone, I'm going to keep it short and sweet. First, thank you all for coming tonight. Second, I just want to tell you all that your hard work and sacrifices have not gone unnoticed this season. They are not lost on me. That goes for the wives and girlfriends too." Sidney squeezed my shoulder as he said this. "Everyone dedicated themselves to winning this season and now we have this beautiful cup to show for it," The crowd cheered loudly, causing me to laugh. "Okay, okay! That's all really, I just wanted to say thank you before we started losing more people," Sidney nodded his head in the direction of the lawn chairs, where Justin Schultz was passed out, one leg hanging off of the chair. "If you can't drive, please feel free to crash here. Everly's sister was kind enough to come over this morning and blow up a bunch of air mattresses. All four guest rooms have four or five, there are two in the office by the front door, and the couches are open too. There are blankets and pillows in every room, but if you need more there are some in the hall closet, right across from the bathroom."
"Thank you, guys!" I added once Sidney was finished speaking.
Before Sidney and I could step down from the concrete base of the waterfall, Olli's voice boomed over the group loudly, causing everyone to look at him as he stood on the opposite side of the pool.
"And a special thank you to the future Mr. and Mrs. Crosby for hosting us this evening!" Olli raised his drink in the air as if he was making a toast, however, no one else followed suit. Instead, everyone turned their attention back to Sidney and me, wide smiles on all of their faces.
"What is he talking about?"
"Yeah! Are you guys getting married?"
"Olli!" Sidney and I hissed in unison, though I slapped my hand against my forehead in disbelief at his admission.
"It slipped!"
A loud gasp emitted from the crowd as they realized that what Olli just let slip was in fact, true. They began cheering loudly, louder than they have all night.
"Congratulations!"
"This is so exciting!"
"When's the wedding?"
Sidney and I laughed at the variety of comments and congratulations and took a minute to soak it all in. Sidney cleared his throat before speaking over the group again. "Okay, alright! Yes, I asked Everly to marry me and she said yes!" Sidney pumped one fist in the air, earning hoops and hollers from the boys and awes from the girls. "But, we have to keep it a secret, at least until tomorrow,"
I nodded. "We haven't told our families yet! We only told Olli because he caught us with red crying eyes and he thought someone died, and I couldn't let him think someone had!" The group laughed and I watched as Patric Hornqvist elbowed Olli in the ribs.
"We'll keep it a secret if you show us the ring!" A voice shouted out from next to me.
"Yeah! Show us the ring!"
Without a second hesitation, I pulled the ring out of my front pocket and placed it on my finger, and then threw my hand out to my left. The girls squealed, all attempting to get a closer look at the diamond, however, in their excitement, they accidentally pushed Sidney and me from the waterfall, into the pool.
Sidney and I were both laughing when we resurfaced. I grabbed onto him first, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. I kissed him, tasting chlorine more than anything else. But, in my opinion, it was the best kiss we had shared yet.
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