The Minnesota Miracle [kirill kaprizov]

Chapter Eight

"Get in the car!" I told Kirill as I tried pushing him out of the door.

He looked at me in confusion, though he had an obvious and contagious smile plastered on his face. I couldn't resist smiling at him because his smile was too pure.

He softly chuckled as we finally got out of the door and headed towards my car. "You're being dramatic," he says. "Calm down,"

I rolled my eyes. "I want to beat the traffic, so don't tell me to 'calm down'," I told him as we got into my car. We buckled up and immediately we were off to my parents' house in Saint Cloud.

The ride up wasn't really bad, though the Minneapolis traffic was horrible per usual. Otherwise, the drive up on Interstate 94 was better, and we made it up to Saint Cloud in what felt like no time.

"Are you excited?" I asked Kirill as I let my foot off of the gas to slow down to thirty-five.

He shrugged. "Eh, nervous, that's all," he responded with a smile on his face.

I chuckled. "I bet they'll like you. Who wouldn't like you when you have your beautiful smile and bubbly personality?" I said as I turned onto Melody Street.

His smile faded. "Because I'm Russian," he says.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "Who cares? As Story said, 'love who you want to love'—no matter their ethnicity," I responded. "Turns out I love a Russian man," I said.

He softly chuckled. "Turns out I love American woman," he says as I stopped at the four-way stop sign. I glanced both ways before slowly accelerating across the intersection.

Before I pulled into the driveway to my parents' house, I had stopped at a gas station so we could have a full tank of gas before heading back to Minneapolis.

Once I parked the car in my parent's driveway, Kirill and I got out and I led him up the sidewalk and to the front door.

I knocked on the door, then a few seconds later my older sister answered the door. She was currently a senior attending Purdue University for a degree in automotive science and restoration, and her and I looked very similar.

"What's up, Kenzie? I missed you!" She exclaims as the two of us hugged.

I smiled. "Ah, nothing much. I missed you too!" I answered.

She giggled as she let Kirill and I into the house.

"Who's this?" She asks as we slipped off our shoes and placed them neatly on the rack.

Kirill and I glanced at each other before I nodded my head to look back at my sister. "This is my, uh," I stammered as I felt my face get hot.

She smirked as we walked up the stairs to see my mom cooking and my dad reading something on his phone.

My dad glanced up and an immediate smile widened across his face. "You're back!" He exclaimed.

I chuckled. "Hooray," I responded as we hugged.

"Who's—wait," my dad said as we broke away from our hug to examine Kirill standing on my right side. "You're that one Wild player. Kaprizov, right?" He asks him.

Kirill smiled and started to chuckle. "I think so," he responded.

My dad's eyes shot back towards me, then to Kirill, then back to me, then back to Kirill. "Are you guys together or," my dad asked the two of us.

Kirill and I glanced at each other before I spoke again. "We've been dating for the last couple weeks," I said.

My dad's eyes widened. "No way! You handle the puck so well on the ice, it's phenomenal." He said. "I'm Preston, Kenzie's father," he introduced as Kirill and him shook hands.