Alive : Hockey Fan Fiction

Chapter 22 : Trip to New Jersey

After my drunken night of texting and being a bad friend I decide it would be best to spend some time away for a few days. The finals are starting off in New Jersey so I get tickets to the first 2 games and spend some time in New Jersey. I arrive 2 days before the series starts so I can relax for a bit. If I were a smart person I probably would have chosen anywhere else in the world to spend some time away other than the one place I shouldn't be but I never said I was smart. Nobody knows where I am going to be. I just told a few people I was going to be "going away to clear my head." I knew if I told them where I was going they would not approve.

I've started to become more and more out of control. I'm drinking more often. It's not just casual drinking either. It's drink until I can't remember how I got home kind of drinking. It's the kind of drinking where I don't remember if I had sex with some random person at the bar or if that was a dream or a memory from long ago. It doesn't feel real so I can't tell if it is or not. I thought getting away would force me to be different but here I am in a bar on my third Jack and Coke and I don't plan on stopping.

I lean my elbow on the bar top and hold my head in my hand as I look towards the other end of the bar. There are a few guys sitting at the other end of the bar talking and laughing with each other. I watch them for a few minutes before one of them notices me staring. I look down but I know I've been caught. I look back up and see that he's still looking over at me. I smile and he smiles back. I continue to drink my drink and watch the guys at the other end of the bar. The more I look at them the more they start to look familiar. I continue to stare at them as I try to figure out why I should know these guys. Something on the TV catches my eye and I look up at it. There is something about the Devils and the Stanley Cup finals and it clicks. Those guys are on the Devils. Of course I would be staring at hockey players. Nothing ever changes.

Adam Larsson, the one who I have been staring at, waves me over to them. I know I shouldn't go over there. I'm buzzed and it's been 16 days since I've had sex. I stand up, grab my drink from the bar, and walk over to where Adam and the other guys are. "Hi," I say as I sit at the bar stool next to him.

"Hi," he replies.

"I'm Amy," I say as I lift my glass to him.

"Adam." He clinks his beer bottle against my glass. "You were staring at me."

"You were staring back."

He bashfully smiles. "I was."

"You called me over here. Why?" I ask after finishing what was left in my glass.

"You looked lonely," he replies.

"I should warn you that I don't have the best track record when it comes to alcohol and hockey players."

"Oh good."

"Good? Wow, someone is a naughty boy."

He smiles and sits back. "I think we are looking for the same thing."

"I'm staying in a hotel nearby," I say as I put my hand on his. I lean in and kiss him and slowly pull away just as he begins to kiss me back.

"Let's go," he says as he takes a step off his bar stool.

"Are you serious right now?" I ask, a little surprised he is being so bold. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would just go for it.

"Yeah. Come on," he says as he takes my hand and begins to walk away. I almost fall off of the stool trying to catch up. "I'll drive."

I tell Adam the hotel I am staying at and he drives us there. The ride there is quiet. It's not an awkward silence, just silence. I tap my hand on my knee as the anticipation starts to get to me on the way to the hotel. Adam parks once we get to the hotel and follows me in as we walk through the lobby and to the elevators. While we are on the elevator I look up at him and run my fingers through his hair. I just had to touch him. He puts his hand on my waist and leans in for a kiss. We are interrupted by the opening of the elevator doors once we hit my floor. We step out of the elevator and walk to my room. I get the key out of my wallet and open the door and we walk inside. I put the do not disturb sign on the doorknob and close the door behind me.