One of the Boys

Chapter 10

Christopher

"Dude, I'm telling you it was so awkward! I came home last night after the game and I was unlocking the door to my apartment when she came up to me." I said to Riley who had found his way over to my place. "And how is that awkward?" He asked.

"Because after she told me she lives in the same building as me, her brother came back with pizza in his hand, she introduced us and the next thing you know, I'm sitting on the couch in their apartment having pizza and a beer with them!" I exclaim as Riley sat there staring at me while more words began to spill from my mouth.

"Then Mason left the room to take a call so I was left sitting there alone with her across from me sitting in silence! Then out of nowhere I asked her if everything was okay cause she looked nervous about something." I said. "And what did she say to you?" Riley asked.

"She started out hesitant the poured her heart out to me about how scared she was to start over on a new team." I finished as Riley sat there silently before replying. "Then what happened?" He asked.

"We sat in an awkward silence and I kept thinking to myself that I should apologize for being a dick. And I did!" I said as Riley nodded , following my words. "Then I told her that I'm doing and trying my best to adjust to the change. She told me that I'm not alone in adjusting to the change because she was too and is still adjusting herself."

"And she's right about that. I can see it everyday." Riley replied. "You know, there was one more thing... She told me to picture her like she's one of us. Just like one of the boys." I said.

"Well, she's not wrong there." He replied.

******
At practice, coach was making us work on our long passes and 2 vs 1. Two forwards against one defence then we would alternate to a defensive 2 on 1. "Alright, grab some water!" Coach shouted to end the drill.

"Alright, line up into two lines at centre ice. We're going to work on shoutouts before we end practice for the day!" Mike shouts as the team skates away from the bench and towards centre ice.

"Where you aiming for today Case?" I ask balancing from one skate to the other. "I think I'm gonna go for top left." He replied before coach blows the whistle and Casey's flying down the ice.

******

After practice, I stayed out on the ice for a few extra minutes taking some slap shots on net to help me clear my mind. "Hey man, I'm heading out! So if you need a ride get your ass off the ice and hurry up!" Riley yelled from the bench. "All good man! Drove myself over today!" I replied skating over to the bench.

"But I guess I better get off now anyways. The Zamboni guy keeps watching me with an annoyed look today." I said as Riley opened the door and I stepped off the ice. "Alright, see you lather then Eh?" Riley asked. "Yeah, I'll catch you later man." I replied before he disappeared down the tunnel and out of sight.

I grabbed my water and the pucks I had put on the ice before scanning the area to see if I forgot anything. "Aaah shower time!" I said to myself.

When I got to the locker room, the place was almost completely cleared out. I went over to my stall and began to take my gear off when Delaney walked in.

"Oh hey... Didn't know you were still here." She said with a smile. I looked at her for a few minutes confused as to why she was still wearing her gear. "Oh yeah I um- I stayed a few extra minutes on the ice to clear my mind." I replied snapping out of my trance as she looked at me with toddy cheeks and a small smile.

Shit, she caught me staring!

"How about you? What kept you here?" I asked as she sat down in her stall, Riley's empty one being the space between us. "Oh, I um - I had to get pictures taken for the social media accounts and my ID card." She replied as I nodded.

"Jason get his done too?" I ask while I began to untie my skates. "Yeah, he had his done an hour before practice started." Delaney said throwing her shoulder pads into her bag.

Once I finished taking the rest of my gear off, I had a quick shower and threw my sweats and Marlies hoodie on before packing up and heading out the door.

As I'm walking out the doors of the arena, I notice that Delaney's pacing back and forth while checking her phone. I slowly approach her as she looks up again and jumps back a little when she sees me.

"Oh my god, you scared me!" She exclaims putting a hand up to her chest. "Sorry, didn't mean to do that." I reply before she checks her phone again.

" is everything alright?" I asked as she looked back up at me. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just my brother's suppose to be picking me up on his way home from the grocery store and he just texted me that he's going to be longer than expected. There was an accident at one of the intersections so he's stuck in traffic." She replied.

I stood silent for a moment and observed the cold and cloudy sky. "You didn't drive today?" I asked. Come in Chris, don't play dumb like that! The girl just told you she's waiting for her brother!

"No, Jason picked me up this morning." She replied. "Oh well the um... The sky's not looking too pretty and looks like it's going to rain. If you want I can um... I can give you a ride. " I said as she looked at me with her roses cheeks for the second time today.

"Um, yeah. Yeah sure. That would be great, thanks." She replied nervously as I began to walk in front of her to lead her to my parked car.

As we began walking in silence to the car, it began to rain lightly but quickly picked up. "Ahh!" Delaney squealed from behind me. I turned to see her throwing her hood over her head as her long dark brown hair hung off her shoulder in a ponytail.

"Here, this is us!" I exclaim opening the trunk and throwing both our bags in the back. "It's unlocked. Go get in the car and out of the rain." I said before she ran off to the side of the car, pulling her hood off and getting in.

Could I be falling for this girl?