Hockey Baby 🏒

••• ELEVEN •••

••• ELEVEN •••
Sophie

    My head was spinning. How could I have never realized that Ashton had a crush on me? My mind was replaying every encounter we ever had together and there were little hints here and there, but I just thought he was being friendly. I cursed at myself mentally for being so stupid and not realizing sooner. "What's going on inside that head of yours?" Ashton asked as he placed money on the table for the waitress to come by and collect our check.

  "I'm just mad at myself for never realizing how you felt about me." I admitted as I took a sip from my Coke.

  "Don't beat yourself up, Soph. I still feel that way about you, so what are you going to do about it now that you know?" He asked with a mischievous smirk, and I smiled as I shrugged.

  "You tell me, Maverick. You said you had a master plan where we can be together." I reminded him, and Ashton chuckled as he nodded.

  "Let's go get some dessert and I'll tell you all about my plan." He stood up from the booth and I followed after him. He held out his hand for me to take and I smiled as I placed my hand in his. I don't think I'll ever get used to holding his hand, but I liked how perfectly my hand fit in his.

    Twenty minutes later, we were sitting on the hood of his car and eating ice cream together. "Are you ready to tell me your plan?" I asked and Ashton chuckled as he shook his head.

  "You're so impatient, Lincoln!" He teased and I grinned as I rolled my eyes at him.

  "I've been waiting all night! You're lucky I haven't been asking every five minutes." I said as I licked my ice cream cone.

  "Alright, you ready?" He asked after a few moments of silence, and I shoved him lightly as he laughed. "Okay, okay! So, whenever we have free time I want to spend every moment with you before the hockey season starts."

  "And how do you plan to do that without Patrick finding out?"

  "We are going to change each other's contact names on our phones so that way in case he ever has to use ours we won't get caught."

  "Okay," I said as I slowly nodded. "That's not a terrible idea. But, what about spending time together?"

  "Well, you can always say you're hanging out with Katie and we'll have to go to places Patrick wouldn't usually go to like to see plays or something. Another thing we'll have to do is continue to act like nothing has changed between us, that we are and always will be just friends." I rolled my eyes as I smiled at his crazy plan.

  "Well, that's not too bad of a plan, but we can't do it forever." I reminded him gently and he nodded as he looked down at his feet with a conflicted look on his face.

  "I don't want us to be hidden forever, Soph," He whispered and then raised his gaze to meet mine. "I want to tell him eventually, I just need to find the right time to tell him." I blushed under his intense stare and felt my heart race as my insides melted like butter from hearing him say that he didn't want to keep us a secret.

  "But, what if this is just some quick fling? What if we tell him and then we break up a week later? This would've all been for nothing then." I whispered and Ashton quickly shook his head as he cupped my cheek.

  "This isn't nothing, Sophia. What I feel for you isn't nothing." He breathed out and I looked down at his lips as his thumb slowly stroked my cheek. I wanted to kiss him so badly in that moment, but I had to control myself and lay down some ground rules before I could go along with his plan.

  "I agree to your plan, but with one condition," I said quickly before I let myself get completely lost in the moment. "We don't tell Patrick until we're together for at least six months." Ashton chuckled as he grinned down at me.

  "That is such a specific amount of time, Lincoln, but I will do whatever you want as long as you say you'll go out me." I giggled and bit my lip as I studied his face. Was this going to be a huge mistake or will he be the best thing that's ever happened to me? I'll never know the answer unless I take the risk and say yes.

"I'll go out with you, Ashton." I whispered and a huge grin appeared on his face.

"Can I please kiss you now?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper and I took in a ragged breath as I slowly nodded my head.

    I'm not going to lie and pretend that the moment his lips touched mine, it didn't feel a little weird. I mean I grew up with this man! He's seen me through every phase of my life from pre-teen to awkward teenager. But, once the weirdness faded and I let myself enjoy the way his lips felt against mine, this kiss was nothing short of amazing.

    His fingers tangled in my hair as he pulled me closer and he stood between my legs as I dropped my ice cream cone on the ground. "God, I don't think I can ever stop kissing you." Ashton breathed out as he pulled back slightly so we could catch our breath and I giggled as I rolled my eyes at him.

  "You don't have to keep saying sweet things, Ashton. You got me to agree to go out with you already." I reminded him and he tilted my head back gently so he could stare deeply into my eyes.

  "Just because you agreed to go out with me, Soph, doesn't mean I'll stop saying sweet things to you. I'll be sweet to you for as long as you want me to." He said and I shook my head at him in disbelief. "What?" He asked in confusion and I stroked the back of his neck.

  "I'm just even more mad at myself for not telling you my feelings sooner." I admitted and he chuckled as he gave me a quick peck.

  "Then let's make up for lost time." He whispered with a mischievous smirk on his handsome face. I grinned as he pressed his lips against mine, and this time we didn't stop kissing or talking until the sun came up.