𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐣. 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬

𝟏𝟒 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞

The Devils and the Canucks start heading down their respective tunnels once warm-ups are done. Jack's eyes found mine whenever he could since the moment he spotted me sitting beside his parents. Looking onto the ice, I see Jack skating next to Luke heading to their tunnel. Jack glances up at me with a big stupid smile and manages to trip, with Luke catching him by the arm before he can hit the ground. I giggle, a blush coating my cheeks, and once he stands up straight, he takes a quick second to throw a thumbs up my way to show that he's okay.

Ellen looks over at me and places a hand on my arm, "Sweetie he must be very smitten with you. I've never seen that boy trip like that anywhere that wasn't on the ice. He's been talking our ear off about you recently." I start messing with the charms on my bracelet, trying hard not to blush, seeming to forget how to speak in response to Ellen's words. What has he told her? God, I hope nothing bad. Seeming to notice my silence, Ellen's next set of words calmed me, "Don't worry it's been all good things. Luke, Quinn, and I make sure he never knows peace when you're the topic of conversation. Jim is usually the one begging us to leave Jack alone." Ellen and I laugh at the fact that the family teases Jack at any chance they get.

Waiting for puck drop to start, Ellen tells me all about what it was like raising her boys. Jack has already told me about all the times they would play together as a family and how competitive they always were, but thankfully Ellen let me in on all the funny or embarrassing moments that all her boys experienced growing up. I made sure to make a mental note of everything just in case. "There was always hope that they'd get a chance to play hockey when they were older, even if it was only up until college. It's unbelievable to see my three boys on the ice doing something they've loved for so long." I could see Ellen's eyes fill with pride talking about her boys. 

"I can't even imagine what seeing the three of them out there together must be like for you and Jim. You guys must be proud of them." My heart warms at the thought of a smaller Jack, Luke, and Quinn in their little skates with sticks in hand playing with Jim and Ellen. "Trust me, we're elated to see our boys out there." Before we know it the game starts and we're all intently watching. Anytime one of her boys would be close to scoring, Ellen would grab my hand and squeeze, nervous to see which one of her boys would score first. I couldn't blame her since I was practically on the edge of my seat.

Earlier

When we arrived at the arena earlier, I was beyond nervous to meet Jim and Ellen and to see Jack's reaction to me surprising him. He's told me a lot about his parents and how lovely they are, but I still feel like it's natural to feel nervous meeting the parents of a guy I like. Gabi and Emilie talked me down to calm my nerves and once we got to our seats, I saw Jim and Ellen. Gabi and Em push me into the row to sit next to Ellen. "Go sit next to your future mother-in-law girl!" I put both hands up in surrender as a response to Gabi's comment, with Em laughing. Ellen, hearing Em's laugh, turns her head with a warm smile on her face. She stands up from her seat and lightly hits Jim on the shoulder so he also gets up.

"Hi honey, you must be Charlotte. I'm Ellen and this is my husband Jim. It's so nice to meet you." I go in to shake both their hands, but Ellen pulls me into a hug instead and I hug back. "It's so nice to meet you both too. Jack talks about you both all the time." We all take our seats and I introduce Jack's parents to Em since they've already met Gabi before.

As the teams are finishing their warm-ups, two photographers bring the Hughes brothers together to get a few shots of them together before the game. Jack hasn't noticed me yet, so I'm curious to see how long it'll take him to notice that I'm here. Once the photographers were finished, my eyes were on Jack. He must have felt my eyes on him as he looked around before his eyes landed on me. His ocean-blue eyes met my hazel ones causing my stomach to flutter. I feel a smile forming on my face and I wave at him. His eyes grow wide, surprised to see me here, and simultaneously, his smile grows as he waves back at me. I can't wait to hug him after this game.

Present Time

The game was currently 2-1 Devils and none of the brothers have yet to score. Seventeen minutes into the first period, the teams are facing off near the Canucks net, and Jack manages to get the puck and in a smooth sequence he hits the puck and gets it to the back of the net, giving the Devils another goal. Devils fans in the arena clap and cheer, excited for another goal. By the end of the first period, the score is 4-2 Devils.

The rest of the game goes by quickly, with Luke being the only one to score in the second period. The final score for the game is 6-5 Devils, with Devils fans cheering at the team's first win of their road trip. Our little group heads to the family and friends area to wait for the guys to finish their post-game interviews. "Would you ladies like to join us for dinner?" Em and I gladly accepted the invite, while Gabi declined since she and Nico had their own dinner plans for the night.

The guys make their way over to us and Jack has a huge smile going from ear to ear as he comes to hug me first. He wraps his arms around my waist and whispers, "I miss you so much you don't understand. I can't believe you're here. How are you here? How did you get here?" I hug back, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You should thank your brothers for that since they're the ones that got me here." We pull away from each other and Jack turns to his brothers giving them a big hug.

"I love you boys, thank you so much! This is what you wouldn't tell me?" Luke and Quinn laugh nodding their heads. We all continue to talk for a while before heading out to a restaurant nearby for dinner. Throughout the dinner, Jim and Ellen ask me questions about what I do, and how Jack and I met. Quinn and Luke couldn't stop bugging Jack the whole time and would even kick him under the table to tease him for only looking at me as I talked to his parents. It was like having dinner with three little kids who couldn't sit still. Em and Luke would talk once the boys stopped messing with Jack.

After dinner, Quinn dropped Jack, Luke, Emilie, and I at our hotel. Luke and Emilie headed off leaving just Jack and I alone to talk. He held my hand in his, our fingers interlaced, and led us to a little sitting area near the back of the lobby. Taking a seat, we both seem to be intent on talking about the kiss in New York. Talking over each other, we stop at the same time only to try again but fail. "You can go first." I laugh, deciding that Jack was eager to talk first about the kiss.

"Lotte I missed you so much. I've wanted to talk about the kiss for so long, but you know how busy I've been with practice and games. I still can't believe Luke and Quinn got you here to surprise me since I thought I wouldn't be able to see you until I got back home." Nodding my head, I squeezed his hand, waiting for him to continue. "The kiss that night was more special than anything I could've ever imagined in my wildest dreams. We haven't known each other for too long, but when I'm around you I think I'm the best version of myself.  It's almost impossible to think about a time before I knew you." Jack's eyes are looking into mine, similar to how they did in New York.

"The kiss was special to me too. I have been waiting for it since the first day we went out after the game. Spending time with you is greater than anything else in this world. You're so easy to talk to and that says a lot since I have a hard time opening up to just anyone, especially after meeting them." We laugh at the thought of the first time we met in person. "So what I'm hearing is that you liked the kiss too?" Jack's face looks hopeful as I nod my head with heat rising to my cheeks, the same happening to Jack.

Leaning in, Jack's hands meet my cheeks, holding my face in his hands as we both lean in and our lips meet. The kiss is slow and we both get lost in the presence of each other. After what feels like ages, we pull away as our foreheads and noses touch. My eyes close for a second and once I open them, those ocean-blue eyes I love are already staring back at me. "Charlotte, will you be my girlfriend?" He whispers so his words only stay between us. My heart beats rapidly and butterflies run rampant in my stomach. Jack wants me to be his girlfriend? Oh, my god!

"Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend," I whisper back and a smile breaks out on his face and I follow along. He leans in again and we share our first kiss as boyfriend and girlfriend. The rest of our night is spent with us catching up with kisses being stolen every once in a while.

Edited: 11/29/24