𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐞 | 𝐧. 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫

𝟔 | 𝐠𝐚𝐛𝐢

Once we make it to Mo's, Nico takes the lead while I follow after him and the rest of the guys trail behind me. Walking through the door, the guys are met with cheers and applause from any Devils fans who notice them coming in. Feeling a hand latch onto mine lightly, I look down and see it's Nico's hand holding mine. Heat floods my cheeks but thankfully no one is focused enough to notice. Nico leads me through the small crowd forming around us and the guys, trying not to lose me.

Making it to their usual booth, everyone slips into a seat leaving me to sit between Jack and Nico. Stephanie walks over to our table, everyone ordering their drink of choice, while Jack orders a Coke. We all break out into small talk and while Nico talks to Jesper and Kevin across the table, I turn to talk to Jack. "Hey Jack, so how long have you been on the team?" I have to move in a little to talk and hear Jack. "I've been on the team for a little over a year now." Jack and I continue talking and I find out that he has two brothers, one plays up in Vancouver and the other is close to going to UMich to play hockey there.

Sometime during our conversation, Stephanie came back with a tray of the drinks we'd ordered. Thanking her, she congratulates the guys before walking off. "To a great game!" Raising our drinks, we all cheered, and anyone around us who heard joined in. Taking a sip, a slight burning sensation moved down my throat causing me to make a weird face. Nico must've been watching me and he laughs at the face I just made. I hit his arm, only causing him to laugh more "Nico don't laugh." A few of the guys across from me must've noticed our interaction and they joined in on the laughter.

A few drinks and laughs later, we started to settle down as the larger groups that were here before us started leaving. "So Gabi, are you from Jersey?" The question was coming from Nate and they all simultaneously looked over at me. I feel a little awkward at all their eyes looking at me, but Nico places a hand on my lap, causing me to relax. "No, I'm actually from Connecticut. I moved here a little over two years ago." They all seem to become more interested, "That's cool. What brought you to Jersey?" Taking a few seconds to think of what to say, "After I graduated High School I just wanted a little bit of a change. I thought Jersey would be the perfect place for it." Nico seemed unsure of my answer, but he didn't question it in front of the guys.

I've never told anyone the real reason I came over to Jersey and I'm not sure I ever will. My life in Connecticut is behind me now. Being here I've been much happier than I think I'd ever been in my whole life. Everything my parents denounced as "bad" or as a "waste of time" while I was growing up is exactly what I've been enjoying. The life I'd been living with them before wasn't a life at all. They controlled it from the day I was born and now I was finally able to live it how I wanted to.

We spend another hour talking and enjoying each other's company before deciding it's time to call it a night. Walking out we all stand in front of Mo's, a slight chill moving through causing me to move my hands into the sleeves of my jersey. Nico notices this and asks the guys who would be riding with him. "We decided to just go all together with Jesper to the parking garage so we could all get our cars and head home. Go take Gabi home 'cause it's getting a little chilly out." Before Nico could reply to Jonas, the guys all speed walk towards Jesper's car leaving Nico and I watching them. "Those guys are such clowns. I'm sorry about them." He shakes his head apologizing for their weird behavior but I laugh at how ridiculous they look.

Nico's car isn't too far and once again he holds the door open for me to get in before closing it and jogging over to his side. The ride is mostly a comfortable silence, with music lightly playing from the speakers. "Gabi, I just wanted to thank you again for coming to the game and for coming with us to Mo's." His eyes glance over at me as we stop at a red light getting closer to my building. "It's no problem, I had a great time! The guys are a lot funnier than I thought they'd be." Nico goes on to tell me a few of the pranks and antics the guys get up to before games and in the off-season.

Minutes later Nico's car stops right in front of my building. The street lights illuminate the sidewalks with very few people still out and about this late. "Thank you for inviting me to the game and for the jersey. This was probably the most fun night I've had in a long time." Turning to face him I see that he's already looking over at me. The street light outside of my side of the car illuminates his brown eyes as he looks at me. For what feels like the third or fourth time today, heat rushes to my face and it's a miracle he can't see it because I'm facing away from the street light. Time only seems to stop as we keep our eyes on each other and we fail to notice how our faces are getting closer to each other. He looks down at my lips for a split second, causing me to do the same. Right when I could almost feel his lips brush mine, a phone rang.

We snap out of our trance-like state, moving away from each other trying to see which one of our phones broke whatever moment we almost just shared. Nico takes his phone out of his phone, finding Jack's name on the screen before it stops ringing. Clearing our throats, essentially at the same time, "Well I better get going. Thanks again Nico and goodnight." I smile over at him before getting out of the car and jogging towards my building, trying to avoid the cold air coming in. I take one last look back at Nico's car and watch as he drives off once I get inside. Oh, would Celine have a field day if she found out what almost just happened.

~
𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞

Hey lovely people, here's another update! Thank you for over 800 reads on this little story of mine! I appreciate every single comment and vote, it means the absolute world.

Have a great day or night wherever you are! Love y'all ♡