Dream On (Jonathan Toews)

Chapter Eight| Make It Official

Jonathan

"You excited" Mary Kate asks from beside me as I lace up my skates. First practice of this shortened season was today and it was great seeing everyone out full force at the United Center. "You could say that" I laugh standing up before helping her up. "Damn you're giant" she says looking up at me with those big eyes anyone could get lost in. "I'm actually normal sized for a hockey player" I inform her. "Okay, then what's Patrick's excuse" she asks pointing to him as he flips her off. Those two keep me on my toes, that's for sure. "Alright, well good luck. I'll be watching from the bench" she says trying her best to give me a hug.

I was determined to ask her out today and had it all planned out. Of course Sharpie helped because I can't be trusted with these things. That phrase "stick to hockey" reigns true on my part. I take the ice for the first time in what feels like forever. As I pick up speed and feel the wind mold to the shape of my body I take a deep breath. It felt like I was ripped away from my natural habitat and was just released back into the wild. "Feels good, doesn't it" Hammer asks skating up to me. "Feels great. Nice to see you again Nik, I've missed you" I say running my shoulder into him. We get practice underway and I never realized how bad I missed it until I was out on the ice once again. The first game was soon so I was just hoping everyone meshes well straight off the bat.

"Good practice today guys" I say taking off my pads and head to the showers. "Hey Jon, we're heading out for celebratory beers. You in" Crow asks from across the lockeroom. "No can do. I've got something that I should have done a long time ago" I admit. "Oh that's right, you're finally asking out the pretty lady" he remembers and I nod. "Good luck to you. See you tomorrow" he says waving and I wave back. I quickly hop in the shower and change into a nice outfit then go in search of Mary Kate.

"Ms. Fletcher, may I have a word with you" I ask as she talks to Stan and Q. "Yes Mr. Towes, how may I be of service to you" she asks and I give a nod. Q and Stan were to keep her late for me to skate on the ice after practice so I could finally ask her out. I don't say anything but put my arm out and she quickly gets the memo as her arm latches around mine. I lead her to the locker room where there were two pairs of skates and a pair of sticks set out for us. "What's this" she asks pointing to the equipment on the bench. "I wanted to be with you when you skate onto NHL ice for the first time" I say with a smile and she lights up. "Really" she asks and I nod. She quickly gets her skates on and I follow her lead. We gets to the end of the tunnel and she looks around. She looked unsure at first but she eventually lets out a long breath and steps into the ice. "Wow... this is insane" she whispers looking around. "After you" I say helping her into the center of the ice.

She was a little shaky at first but quickly got comfortable. It didn't take long before she looked as if she never missed a game in her life. She was still being very careful, not doing anything to hurt her back. "Let's do some face offs. Old fashion street hockey style" she says handing me a stick and placing a puck in the middle of the right wing dot. "Is someone getting cocky" I tease circling around her. "Never cocky, sometimes confident" she corrects me. We get set for the faceoff and tap our sticks together, but before I even head towards the puck it is taken and she passes it between my legs then back to herself. "Oh come on, you gotta try harder than that" she teases skating backwards before dropping the puck back at the dot. Okay, she was freaky good. We set up again and again the puck is gone before I have time to react as she heads to the net and between the leg top shelfs it. "Okay you lied to me, you weren't pretty good. You're really fucking good" I laugh as she finishes her celebration in front of my face. "I don't believe in being good because your can always get better. Isn't that right Mr. Toews" she says with a English accent. I watch her with wide eyes as she glides easily across the ice. "You're an odd ball, you know that" I ask as she gets closer to me. "Whoever had fun doing what's expected" she asks and I shrug, she had a point. "Come here" I say grabbing her wrist so she would stop circling me and she falls against my chest. I look down into her eyes as she looked up in mine. I move a piece of loose hair out of her face as her fingers spread against my chest. My hands find the small of her back as I scoot her even closer to my body. "Hi" I say and she rolls her eyes. "Hi" she eventually responds and I forget everything I had planned out. There, in that moment, none of it seemed good enough for her. She makes me forget how to do the simplest things like stand or breathe, I was clueless around her. But I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in this world. Before I had a chance to explain myself she puts herself as tall as she could go and presses her lips to mine. I melt into her kiss and let myself enjoy the moment. Like everything else with her everything seemed to fit perfectly. Her lips move in sync with mine and I become accustomed to the taste of her lips. But far too soon the kiss ends and a sit there with my eyes closed. "Hi" I say again I feel her hand hit my arm before we fall into a fit of laughter. I feel a blush form because I've said hi to her about a hundred times because I don't know what else to say. Just hi. "Listen, I'm not good with my emotions. Ask just about anyone on the team. And from the moment I laid eyes on you I've been so confused about my feelings. You seemed too good to be true, just a well rounded girl and so full of life. I can't put my finger on it, but the way you carry yourself is addicting" I ramble on. "I like you too" she says suddenly cutting me off before I make a bigger fool of myself. I study her face to see if this was real life or not, but before I can form a coherent thought my mouth starts moving and I just word vomit. "Will you be my girlfriend" I blurt out then immediately cover my mouth. "That sounded so desperate, dear god" I whisper and she shakes her head. "I think it was cute. And yes, I would love to be your girlfriend" she says skating closer. That got me to relax a little. She gets to right in front of me with that amazing smile on her face, when I lean in for another kiss she takes her stick and dangles a puck around me before doing a toe drag and placing a wrist shot top shelf yet again. "Hell yeah" she chants jumping up and down while doing a little dance. Someone's back must be feeling better. I stick out my bottom lip and she skates back to me. "Awh poor baby. How can I make it better" she says in a baby voice. I point to my lips and she raises her eyebrows. That's all she needed to put her lips to mine once more and I feel like everything is alright again.