Mr. Crosby

This one goes out to all the Troy Lovers.

“How much hairspray did you use?” I asked Peyton as we stared at the luggage carrier, waiting to see her suitcase. “I can taste it. I think my taste buds are fixed in place.”

“I hardly used any,” Peyton argued. “You’re in an airport, you’re probably inhaling someone’s leftover sneeze.”

I made a face. “Oh, that makes me feel much better.”

“I see my bag,” Peyton yelped, leaping forward to hop over the suitcase someone had set down in front of her so she could grab the handle of her own suitcase, tugging it off of the belt with a great deal of struggle before she dragged it back over to me.

“You see, this is why I only bring carry on luggage. If you had done the same, we could have already found whoever it is that’s picking us up,” I told her, watching as she straightened out her jacket, as it had twisted in her struggle with the suitcase.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re so superior in travelling. But I will look fantastic for the three days we’re here,” She pointed out with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. “Are you ready now?” I didn’t wait for a response as I slung the straps of my duffle bag over my shoulder and headed off down the airport, coming around a corner and spotting a row of people holding up signs. I let my eyes read all of them before spotting the one that read “HANNA AND TRAFFIC VIOLATION”.

“Really, that’s what they made it say?” Peyton whined. “I liked it better when I was just referred to as ‘friend’.”

I let out a small laugh. “What did you expect, really?”

“Well, I thought Sidney was arranging the ride, so I assumed he would be more considerate.”

I shrugged, “I guess he has a side to him we didn’t see in the two days we knew him,” I joked, walking over to the man with the sign and introducing myself.

“I guess he must,” Peyton mumbled, eyeing the sign before she looked up at the man holding it. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”

The man grinned and let out a small laugh, a laugh that caught both Peyton and I off guard and caused me to take a step back and look him over, only earning another chuckle from him. He stuck out a hand, letting the sign fall to his side. “I’m Troy.”

I grinned, “Oh, you’re Sidney’s dad! That explains the grin.”
Peyton was still making a face. “I’m still unimpressed by the sign.”

“Yes, that’s what the boys figured,” Troy said, reaching out to tug my duffle bag off of my shoulder and slinging it over his own shoulder. “Can I take you suitcase?”

Peyton eyed him for a second before shrugging and handing it off to him. “So, you’re our driver?”

Troy laughed, “Well, not really. I mean, I’m driving you to your hotel, but that’s about it. I think the guys have the rest of your time here covered.”

“I’m so excited,” I began, following Troy as he lead Peyton and I through the airport and in the direction of the doors. “The only time I’ve ventured outside of Canada was to go to Disneyland when I was eight.”

“Well, that sounds like it was a pretty good trip,” Troy told me. “Sidney’s mom and I took his sister, Taylor, down to Disneyland a few years ago, but Sidney’s never been.”

Peyton and I both exchanged a surprised expression as Troy pointed out his white SUV for Peyton and I to see. “He’s never been to Disneyland?”

Troy let out a small laugh. “No, Sidney was always busy with hockey, there was no time for him to be a normal kid, I guess.” He put Peyton and I’s luggage into the back of the vehicle before seeing the look on my face. “Oh, don’t worry. I can promise you that if you had asked six year old Sidney if he’d give up a week of hockey to go on some rides, he would have said no. Hockey has been that boy’s life since he was two. There was no room for anything else.”

I nodded, thanking him as he unlocked the doors for Peyton and I and we hopped in, Peyton taking the front and me taking a seat in the middle row. Peyton and Troy immediately fell into conversation, Peyton asking about different sights and also the occasional hockey question, and Troy answering as well as throwing in the occasional old man joke.

I just stared out the window, slightly bothered still by that sentence Troy had told me earlier; “There was no time for him to be a normal kid.” For some reason, that sentence was weighing down on me a lot more than I thought it would.
-----------------------

“Dude, you could fit a football team in here,” Peyton observed as she pushed open the door to the hotel that had been booked for us.

“Don’t you mean hockey team?” I corrected, tugging both my bag and Peyton’s suitcase into the room before looking up and feeling my eyes widen. “Wow, you weren’t kidding.”

“We have a kitchen!” Peyton yelled, clapping her hands together in approval. “Now, if only I could cook.”

“Why would you cook on vacation? We have room service,” I reminded her.

Peyton shrugged. “I can’t believe they went through all this trouble.” She ran her hand along the back of the unnecessary white couch in the room before turning to look at me. “I guess we made quite the impression.”

I rolled my eyes, peering around the many corners of the large room, relieved to see two bedrooms door far apart from each other. “I’m sure the guys just wanted to make sure we were comfortable. I can guarantee that everyone else who comes to visit them gets the same treatment.”

Peyton muttered something under her breath as she headed off towards where the bedrooms were. “Do you care about having a window in your room?”

I looked up at her with a shrug, walking over to where my duffle bag was sitting by the door still. “I’d prefer no window. I can’t sleep with light in the room.”

Peyton grinned, placing her hand on the doorknob to one of the rooms. “Great. I’m, assuming this one has a giant window since the whole side of this room is basically a window.”

I nodded, looking behind me where the other room was and heading over to it, turning back around briefly to see Peyton was still standing outside of the room. “You aren’t going to go into the room and make sure it’s the one you want?”

“No, I think we should both go in the room at the same time. You know, then we can both be surprised,” She explained.

I raised my eyebrows up at her. “Okay. That seems very lame to me, but if it will keep you from crying, then I’ll do it.”

Peyton nodded, a grin appearing on her face. “Aright,” She paused, clearing her voice and then continuing, only much louder, “Count of three. One-”

I frowned, placing my hand on the doorknob to my room. “Why are you yelling?”

Peyton ignored me, “Two, Three, open the door!”

I pushed my door open, turning to look at and just about falling backwards when Max, Jordan and Sidney all jumped at me screaming, making me stumble backwards before I burst into a fit of laughter. “I hate all of you!”

Peyton ran over, laughing already. “Max texted me while we were on the plane and said to make sure you took that room,” She explained, pointing at the door.

I wiped my eyes free of the tears of laughter that were filling them and shook my head, looking up at the three laughing boys. “You are so lucky I have great bladder control, or this would be a very awkward situation for you.”

Max grinned, “There is no such thing as awkward when a typical day for you involves naked men walking around.”

Jordan made a face, turning to look at Max. “Where do you work? Puerto Rico?”

“Why would Puerto Rico be full of naked men?” Peyton asked.

“Because it’s hot there. Obviously.” He replied, making a scoffing sound and pointing to her as he looked at Sidney.

Sidney only shook his head, turning to look at me. “So, how was my dad? Did he tell you a lot of really embarrassing stories about me?”

“No, he was really nice,” I assured Sidney. “He only had great things to say about you. As do most people, I’ve noticed.”

Sidney gave a tiny smile, his cheeks flushing for a brief moment. “Yeah,” he said, reaching his hand up to scratch the top of his head, “Apparently I’ve got a rep as a nice guy. I’ll have to swear on TV or something, try to break it.”

I laughed, “I think it would take more than that. Maybe we could find some kids and you could spit on one of them or something.”

“That could work. Or I could steal their bicycle. Something classy,” He joked.

I laughed, causing Sidney to let out a small chuckle as well, before I noticed that Max, Jordan and Peyton were all staring at me with this bemused look on their faces. I raised an eyebrow, “Yes?”

Jordan shrugged, still smirking. “Nothing. We’re just glad to see,” He said, reaching out to pat my shoulder. “Are you guys good to grab some food, or do you want to change first?”

“I have to fix my hair,” Peyton said, reaching up to feel her hair with one of her hands. “I think it went kind of flat on the plane.”

“Just don’t use hairspray,” Max pleaded. “I think I’ve inhaled enough of it to stop my lungs from expanding. I might suffocate.”
“I hardly used any hairspray,” She argued, heading off towards her bag.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m good to go, I think. I’m way too lazy to dig through my bag and try to find my makeup anyways.”

“And that is why we like you more,” Jordan said. “Well…we like you more right now. When the rest of the guys are here and you dedicate your time to Cookie, we might like you less.”

“Oh man, Matt Cooke!” I yelled, startling poor Sidney who was standing next to me. “Now I need to put on some makeup.”

“He’s married,” Sidney reminded me with a laugh.

I looked up at him, already crouching down next to my bag. “How does that make him less attractive?”

Sidney shrugged, letting out another chuckle as I finally found my makeup bag and skipped off towards the bathroom.