bound to happen

Chapter 8

2pm. Same day.

I'm in my dorm writing some emails to my brand deals and catching up on online school when I hear a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I say from my desk.

"Hey!" Dylan's says, coming in and shutting the door behind her.

"Hey! What's up?" I say, turning in my seat to face her.

"I was just wondering what time you were gonna head over to the game? Lily and I were thinking of going at like 2:30 to get good seats." She says.

"Ok yea. What time is puck drop?" I ask.

"3. The stands fill way up though. Everyone in Michigan is a fan of the hockey NTDP. Trust." Dylan says.

"Ok, sounds good, just text me when you're leaving" I say.

"Will do!" She says, walking out the door and closing it.
—
2:45pm. Same day.

Dylan, lily and I walked over at 2:30, decked out in USA merch. I was wearing Jack's USA hockey sweatshirt, with the number 86 on it. I didn't realize it had his number on it until I got to the rink.

Dylan whispered in my ear, "no way your wearing #86's hoodie right now."

"Stop omg. I didn't realize it had his number on it." I say, looking at the sleeve.

"Jacks gonna be thrilled when he come to the bench after they are done warming up." she says.

Dylan, Lilly and I got to the rink and sat down right behind the bench. This is my idea, of course, after I made the deal with Jack. We walked in, and they were still doing warm-ups. Music is blasting, the other team looks good, and overall the energy is great.

Fast forward 15 minutes and the coach brings everyone in from warmups. Jack is one of the last ones on the ice after collecting the pucks. He skates in with his head down and then picks it up at the last second and we make eye contact. He smiles and notices my hoodie.

"Nice hoodie" he mouths while tugging on his own jersey.

"Shut up" i mouthed back, smiling.

He went all the way over to the huddle and while they were talking he took off his helmet and flipped his hair. He then used his hand to pull it back and secure it while he put the helmet back on with the other one. I literally just stared. Drooling.

The starting line up goes out for the national anthem and there he goes. The 17 year old on the U18 boys team. They sing and the puck drops. The team is so good. They win easily and the crowd goes wild. Jack had two assists and a goal, and could've had more. He's actually really good. As everyone's clearing out, Dylan takes me downstairs, to where the locker rooms are.

"I know a secret way. Where the players exit!" She says.

We go down a staircase towards the back of the stands and then go to the hallway with the locker rooms. It took us a while to get there after saying bye to all of our friends and pushing through the crowd so by the time we were downstairs, the players were leaving. We say hey to a few and then jack and Trev come out.

"Hey guys! Congrats!!" I say as I see them.

"Thanks!" Trevor says.

"Thanks for coming guys!" Jack says, smiling.

They are both in their suits and jack has on a baseball cap. Dylan and Trevor walk ahead of us laughing about something stupid I assume. Jack and I are left together.

"You looked great out there. How many points again?" I ask, jokingly.

"Yea yea. 3 points but no big deal..." he says, obviously nervous.

I shove his shoulder. "C'mon! Take come credit. You literally started!" I said. At this point, Trevor and Dylan and gone and it's just Jack and I in the hallway.

"Haha yea, I wasn't really expecting that." He trails off. "Don't think I didn't notice your sweatshirt." He says, dusting off the shoulder. "Don't get it dirty."

"Shut up. Thanks for lending it to me though. I think it definitely helped you win, you know, having it in a close proximity with you." I say, sarcastically.

"No, for sure." He says, "wait, I wanna show you something."

Then he takes my hand and drags me through a door.