One of the Boys

Chapter 21

Delaney

Last night when Mason got home from hanging out with some guys from his team, he sat down on the couch and we talked and caught up after I was home from being on the road for a few weeks. I told him that Chris and I are dating and how he and I were going to hangout today. Mason was happy for me, that I've found someone but at the same time his big brother side took over. "If he ever hurts you, he's gonna have to speak to me." He had said.

It's not 10:15 am and Chris was knocking at the door. "Be nice!" I say sternly pointing a finger at my brother who raised both hands up in surrender. "Don't worry Laney. I like this guy, I'm not gonna go all big brother overload on his ass unless he does something to hurt you." Mason replies as I walk over to open the door.

"Hey, morning! Come on in!" I exclaim opening the door with a smile on my face. "Good morning to you too!" He replies stepping in and I close the door behind him. He exchanges greetings with my brother before we take a seat in the open concept living room.

Of course my brother has to make it known that he knows Chris and I are dating during their conversation. "Don't you have a morning skate to attend?" I ask as he gathers his stuff. "I'm going! I'm going!"

Once he's gone, I adjust myself comfortably on the couch next to Chris as we watch some sports highlights that Mason had turned on this morning. "So, what would my girl like to do today?" He asks looking down at me while the butterflies in my stomach flutter at his words.

"Well, I was thinking that if you were up for it tonight, we could go watch my brothers play against each other." I say with a small smile. "Mason got my family tickets and threw a couple extras in." I add as Chris sits there silently for a moment.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He replies smiling at me. Now to figure out what to do until then.

******

After brainstorming up some ideas of things we could do today, we decided to walk down to Harbourfront and go for a skate on the outdoor rink.

Now we were walking hand in hand down the streets of Toronto smiling and laughing. "You know Riley is the only other person that knows we're dating. When I told him I had feelings for you, he said he'd already known since day one." Chris says as we come to a stop at an intersection waiting to cross the street.

"Really? How'd he know?" I ask as the light changes and we're walking across the street. "He told me he sees the way I've been acting lately and how I've been sticking up for you on and off the ice." He replies.

"Well he is your best friend and most of the time, best friends know you have feelings for someone before you even know it yourself." I reply as we arrive at the harbourfront outdoor rink. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Have you told Jason yet? Does he know?" Chris asks as we sit down on a bench to put our skates on.

"He kinda figured it out that you might have feelings for me and I can't hide the truth from him so he knows that I was starting to fall for you. But I haven't told him yet, I'm waiting until I see him at the game tonight." I reply as I lace up my skates.

"Ready to skate?" Chris asks as he stands up from his seat next to me and extends his hand to help me up. "Off we go then." I smile as we step onto the i d and begin to skate around.

******

"So who you cheering for at the game tonight?" Chris asks as we slowly putter around the ice in small strides. "Well, I love both of my brothers. It's hard to chose when they play against each other but I did make a deal with them." I say looking up at Chris. "Oh yeah?" He asks. "Our deal was that when Matthew comes to play out in Toronto, I wear an Ottawa tee shirt hidden under my jersey to secretly support him while I support Mason in my #19 Mason Rose Leafs jersey. And whenever I go to a game in Ottawa to watch them face off, it's the opposite. I wear a Leafs shirt hidden under Matt's Sens jersey for Mason and cheer for Matt." I say as we come to a stop in front of the bench we left our stuff at.

"Interesting." He replies helping me step off the ice. As we sit down on the bench to take our skates off, Chris's phone starts to ring. "It's Riles, give me one second." He says clicking the accept button. I finish untying my skates and put them back inside the bag we carried them in.

"He says hi." Chris says looking over at me. "Hi Riley!" I say before whispering to Chris. "Ask him if he wants to come to the Leafs game with us tonight." He gives me a thumbs up before asking Riley on the phone.

"Alright, talk to you later man. Okay. Bye." He says before hanging up and putting his phone back in his pocket. "He says he'll meet us at my place around 4:45." Chris says as I nod in reply. I sit there watching him untie his skates as a shiver goes down my spine.

"Are you cold?" He asks noticing my teeth chattering together. "Just a little." I reply. "Why don't we stop in at that coffee shop for a warm drink?" He asks. "Okay but it's my treat this time!" I reply as we both get up from the bench and begin to walk a few blocks to the coffee shop just up the street.

******

When we got back to the apartment, I unlocked the door and put my skates down. It was 3pm now and we still had time to kill before going to the game. "I'm just gonna go get ready for the game. I'll be back out in a couple of minutes." I say as Chris nods.

As I'm walking down the hall past Mason's room, he looks over at me while holding up two suits. "Which one?" He asks. I examine the black one in his left hand before looking over at the navy blue one in his right.

"Navy blue one with your burgundy tie." I reply. Mason lays the navy blue suit down on his bed and thanks me before I go down the hall to my room to throw on my black Ottawa senators tee shirt and my Leafs jersey that had Mace's number 19 on the back along with our last name.

"Okay, I'm back!" I say a few minutes later appearing in the living room. "Want to play NHL back at my place while we wait for Riley to show up?" Chris says standing up and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Sure but just a heads up, you're going down!" I grin as we head over to the door. "See you after the game!" Mason says appearing from the hallway. "Yep, see you then and try not to hurt Matthew's feelings out on the ice tonight!" I reply as the two of us laugh. "No promises!" Mason replies before Chris and I are out the door.