Heartlines

5: Something I Need

I meet him at the arena for our first official date. It made no sense for him to drive back to my house after he left to pick me up. Our plan was to meet at the arena and decide our plans after the game.

After I park my car, I walk towards the entrance of the arena. 500 feet away, I spot him near the door, towering over most of the people walking past him. He is over 6'5" tall and gorgeous.

His face covers with a grin when I make my way closer to him. My long blonde hair is pulled back into a braided pigtails, and my makeup is all sparkles and glitters. I wear my favorite faded blue jeans, and my favorite hockey jersey. I'm a Minnesota girl after all - I have a couple jerseys in my closet. I'm a giant hockey fan, but no one really knows that. 

When I'm in front of him, I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him to me. I give him a big hug because I've been sad ever since he left my house. Grinning, he leans down and offers me his lips. I close my eyes and enjoy the moment to the fullest. 

The sadness vanishes as my pulse surges with joy. I promise myself that I will never grow sick of this feeling. Ben brings out emotions I never thought I would feel again. 

"I missed you." I say looking up at him.

He nods. "I think I understand that feeling. I had no idea that my little Harvard liked hockey, let alone have her own jersey." He smiles studying my Thornton game sweater. 

Laughing, I grin back at him. "Yeah, well you don't know a lot about me. I'm more than just a pretty face, Bartender Ben." 

"UGH! I missed you too until you called me that." He teases grabbing my hand.

The two of us walk into the arena and give the doorman our two tickets. Security pats us down and looks into my purse. Ben knows the gentleman checking me and they share a few jabs, mostly about the man removing his hands from his lady. 

His Lady! I have been waiting months to hear those words from his gorgeous lips. Now that it was publicly known, I couldn't stop smiling. 

Ben laces our fingers together and pulls me through the concourse towards his favorite concession stand. I take a minute to study the menu before ordering. 

"I'll have a hot dog and beer." I tell the woman behind the counter. Ben gives a little laugh and shakes his head. "And mini doughnuts." I add quickly. 

I look at Ben and motion for him to order, I will be paying for this date. "What? No vodka cranberry?" He asks me. 

Looking at him with a disgusted grin, I shake my head. "Benny, you can't drink vodka at a hockey game. Beer is the only acceptable drink." 

"You never stop surprising me."

"I don't want to become predictable because that gets boring. I never want to bore you, Ben." 

He grabs his chicken strip basket and beer. I juggle my handful of food before he takes it and adds it to his basket. I let him lead us to our seats, which are 15 rows from the glass in the corner. The seats are amazing. 

Sitting down, I turn to him to gather my food. Neither one of us is shy as we stuff our face with the goods. There is something so good about an arena hot dog, I finish it in four bites. I share my mini doughnuts with Ben, he shares his fries. 

The seats around us fill quickly, and we make a couple new friends. Ben laughs at me when I jump out of my seat to yell at the refs for missing an obvious slash. I'm the first person to jump to my feet and high five the people around us when Boston scores in the bottom of the first period, giving them the first goal of the game. By the end of the period, I know Ben is totally smitten with me.