Hockey Imagines

Next Thing You Know | Luke Hughes

#43, Defenseman for the New Jersey Devils
Word Count: 2.5 K

"You swear you're staying single, next thing you know
You meet a girl in a bar and next thing you know
You get her laughin', it's 2AM"
- "Next Thing You Know," Jordan Davis

"That girl over there keeps looking at you." My brother nudges me in the ribs with a grin.

"Whatever, man. I haven't dated for over six months. I'm focusing on hockey, remember?"

Jack sighs. "Just give it a chance, will you? Not all relationships end up shitty and almost ruin your hockey career. Look at me. Happily engaged and still just as focused on hockey as ever."

"Not every girl is like Brooke, though. She's made for you."

"And this girl could be too. Just give it a chance, give her a chance."

I glance over my shoulder and make eye contact with the girl Jack mentioned. She blushes and looks away, nudging one of her friends and whispering to her as she takes occasional glances at me through her lashes.

"Go talk to her." Jack hisses at me and grabs my arm, pulling me up from my seat. "Go." He shoves me in her direction. I glare at him over my shoulder before making my way over to her table. Her friend leaves as I approach, winking at me and gesturing to her friend with her chin. Good luck, she mouthes and I laugh.

"Hi. Can I sit here?" I ask and she quickly nods, so I take a seat across from her.

"I'm Y/N."

"Luke." I suddenly feel extremely awkward. She's gorgeous, and I've never really talked to a girl as pretty as her. It's a little nerve-wracking and I don't know how to handle it.

Yup, it's a first. A guy who's (somehow) talented enough to make it into the NHL is nervous to talk to a girl.

"You okay?" Y/N breaks me out of my thoughts.

I clear my throat. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm gonna be honest, I'm just a little nervous. You're really pretty and I don't know how to handle that." My cheeks heat in embarrassment.

Y/N smiles at me. "There's nothing to be nervous about, Luke. But thank you for the compliment." She leans forward to hear me better. "Now, tell me about yourself."

- - - - -

"You're tellin' your buddies, three months in
That she ain't movin' in, the next thing you know
There's a U-Haul trailer, the next thing you know
Your old apartment, is y'all's new place
There goes the carpet but the deer head stays"

"Dude, there's no way. We're not gonna move that fast. We'd be crazy to move in together this early."

Of course, I knew when I told Nico that, that it was a bunch of bullshit. Of course Y/N and I were moving that fast. We clicked instantly, and we're attached at the hip. It's torture leaving town for games, but we make it work.

"One more box, baby." Y/N tells me now with a kiss on the cheek.

I smile down at her. "I've got it. We can go ahead and start unpacking or we can wait, whatever you wanna do."

She sighs and sets down the couple of boxes and leans against the counter. "Can we go get some food first?"

"Of course. Let me grab that last box and we can go." I assure her with a big smile.

Everyone thinks we're insane for moving in together after dating for three months. They also thought we were insane for getting together the day after we met, but neither of us care. We're happy and that's what matters. Fuck what everyone else thinks.