Trading Places

Chapter Twelve

On Monday morning, Amanda decided that she was going to surprise Patrick at practice. She got on a pair of jeans and a white tank top with a red, short-sleeved flannel shirt over, buttoning it halfway up. She slid her gray vans on and went to her car, driving to the arena. When she pulled up, she sent a text to Andrew to let her know that she was there.

'Don't tell Patrick! I'm here to surprise him, can you come let me in?' she sent and waited.

After about ten minutes, Andrew replied. 'I'm on my way. We're on break now.'

Amanda smiled and got out of her car, walking over to the door. The door opened and Andrew stood there in his practice gear and smiled at her, holding his arms open.

"There's a toll." He joked.

Amanda smiled and hugged him. "How's practice going?" she asked him.

"It's going great." Andrew smiled and let her inside. "I think Sharpy's still out on the ice." He said, walking her down the hallway.

"Okay, I'll go out there and find him." She smiled. "Thanks for sneaking me in."

"No problem." He smiled and headed into the dressing room.

Amanda walked down the hall and out by the player's benches. Sure enough, Patrick was skating a few laps around the ice, and hadn't seen her yet. He had a few pucks out on the ice and did a few different things to make the goals. When he was all finished, he took his helmet off and pushed his hair back, looking at the net.

"I hope you save some of that for the game tonight." Amanda smiled, standing by the wall in front of the bench.

Patrick looked over at her and smiled, skating over to her. "Hey." He said excitedly. He came through the small door and hugged her tightly. "I didn't know you were coming here."

Amanda hugged back and smiled. "That's why they call it a surprise." She teased. "I just wanted to come say hi and maybe get some lunch with you." she said.

"That would be great." He smiled. "After practice we can go get something to eat." He said.

"Great. I'll wait for you out here." She smiled and sat down on the bench while the other players started to come back out from their breaks.

Patrick smiled at her and went back out onto the ice to practice. After another hour, the team was dismissed and Amanda waited in the hallway for Patrick to shower and change. When he came out, she walked him to her car and drove to Lou Malnati's. They walked in and got a booth, each sliding in to sit.

"Any particular reason you picked this place?" Patrick smirked.

"Well, it's the first place we hung out, so I thought maybe the good memories would bring you some extra good luck." Amanda smiled.

Patrick smiled and nodded. "You are such a sweetheart, you know that?" he said, leaning back.

"I try." She teased. "Are you excited for tonight?" she asked.

"Excited and nervous at the same time." He smirked. "It'll be good though because you'll be there and we win when you're there."

"You win without me too." Amanda smiled, blushing.

"But it's not as good of a win." Patrick teased.

"If you say so." She smiled and ordered her lunch with him.