Amazing Grace (Jonathan Toews)

You Never Know Until You Try

Jonny

As the season continues on the team is still doing really good. We were a young team, there's no denying it. But there was a good feeling around the room. We all had skill and talent and we had each other. You could go far with that.

And as the days past I find myself falling harder and harder for a girl I should have never fallen for. But there's no stopping it now, it was well into motion and headed towards a promised doom I'm sure.

But there was something so exciting about dating her. Maybe it's because her dad hates us being together. Maybe it's the fact that she is defying him just to be with me. Or maybe it's just because she makes even the simplest of things so meaningful. I'm not sure what it is, it's probably a combination of those things. But regardless of what it is, this feeling is so strong.

After a while we started to hang out at my place. She would get dropped off then would mess around with me and Patrick until I had to get her back home. Most nights she begged me to stay but all I needed was her dad with the cops knocking on the door. That'll make a real nice headline in the newspaper.

As for today Gracie brought over the new karate kid movie for us to watch and we relax on the couch and snack on popcorn. She sat in my lap as we watch the movie and laugh when we were supposed to. I subconsciously play with her long black hair as we just relax for a little.

"I'm bored" Patrick claims and I roll my eyes.

"Go do something then" I suggest.

"I'm too lazy" he claims.

"So let me get this straight: you want to do something but you don't want to do something about it" I ask.

"Precisely" he admits.

"Why don't we try to make dinner" Gracie suggests.

"Because we won't get a deposit back on the apartment if we burn this place down" I say and she laughs.

"Come on, it can't be too hard" she insists.

"Have you ever cooked before" I ask.

"Well... no. But there's a first time for everything" she insists.

"She's not wrong" Patrick agrees.

"Then what are we going to make" I wonder.

"What are you in the mood for" Gracie questions.

"I could go for a steak" I admit.

"Okay. Let's try some steak and potatoes" she says.

She goes to Patrick's laptop and finds very specific and very long instructions for grilling a steak and making baked potatoes. She pulls out everything she needed before turning to me.

"We don't have any drinks" she claims.

"We're out of beer" Patrick gasps going to the fridge like he's chasing after a child.

"No silly. You don't drink beer with a meal that's full of protein and carbs. If you want a alcoholic drink you need red wine" she explains.

"You don't know how to cook, but you know all of this" I ask.

"I listen" she shrugs.

"Alright. Well I'm going to go get us some red wine... and wine glasses. We don't have those" Patrick says as he grabs his keys and his wallet off the table.

"Don't do something I wouldn't do" I tease as he walks out the door.

"Not likely" he winks before the door shuts behind him.

Gracie and I start to cook by following the recipe. If you ask me we were doing pretty good. She does the steak and I do the potatoes in the oven. After she marinades the steak she cooks it on the burner and the apartment started to smell really good.

"Are you sure you never cooked before" I ask her.

"I never had to. I always had someone cook for me" she shrugs.

"Well you're pretty good at it. It smells like when my mom used to cook for me" I admit.

"You never know if you like something until you try it. I have to admit that I like cooking, but it might just be because I'm cooking with you" she smirks.

"What else is there that you want to try to do but haven't been able to" I wonder.

"So many things. I want to go swimming in a lake, somewhere where you can't see the bottom of the floor. I want to go to a sporting event in Chicago and not sit in the boxes, I want to wear a jersey and not a dress and sit with the other fans like me. I want to get a dog, and not one that you see in dog shows. I want a mutt, like me. A dog that will play in the mud then try to cuddle with you afterwards.

Basically, I want to do things that most people don't even think twice about. Just to be a 21 year old for once and experience these things for myself instead of my dad telling me it's no good for me. Because maybe I like those things but I'll never know until I try" she explains.

"I can give you those things. I can give you that and so much more" I say sounding really desperate.

"I know baby. I never doubted for a second that you couldn't. I always knew that you were someone who could be a somebody to me. And you are" she assures me.

I suddenly press my lips to hers and push her back against the island. She kisses me back meeting my aggression as her fingers slip into my hair. I pick her up and set her on the island, our lips never separating for a fraction of a second. I insert myself between her legs as she pulls my body against hers. We stay like that until she breaks apart.

"We should probably flip that steak" she says breathlessly.

"Why" I ask.

"Because it smells like it's burning" she admits and my eyes go big.

I turn around and see that it was getting dark so I run over and flip it over. It wasn't burned but it was pretty well done. Nothing a little steak sauce can't handle.

After I salvage the steak I turn back to Gracie who was sitting on the counter with her arms down by her side. I walk over and start to rub her legs and she smiles down at me.

"Thank you for taking the time to get to know me" I start. "You know, the real me. And thank you for accepting my flaws and never giving up on me. I'm not sure if you noticed, but Patrick is my best friend and he's not exactly great with communication. It's really nice to have someone like you that's so... amazing" I say.

"Are you setting yourself up for a amazing Grace joke? Because I've heard them all" she insists and I laugh.

"No. Just know that you are simply amazing, grace" I smirk and she lightly pushes my chest.

"You're the worst" she giggles.

We finish up dinner and eventually Patrick comes back with red wine, wine glasses, and a few more things we didn't need but got simply because we could afford it. We all make our plates and sit down in the living room to eat. It took us a while to eat because we were laughing so much but eventually we finished our food.

"We're pretty good cooks" I mention to Gracie.

"I think so" she smiles.

"I don't know. One side of my stake was a little well done" Patrick claims and Gracie and I start to giggle.

"Sorry, we were a bit... distracted" Gracie claims.

"Did you guys have sex on my food" Patrick asks.

"No. Because some of us have common decency Patrick" I remind him.

"Hey. I wasn't going to judge, we all have our kinks" he insists.