My Number Twenty

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight
He pulled me over to number eight, Nick Leddy. "Hey, Ledpipe!" Brandon greeted him. Nick turned around quickly to see Brandon and I.
"Hey there Sadder!" His face was in a huge grin. He then turned his attention to me. "Your name is Sarah, right?"
"Uh, yeah." I was a little nervous.
"Brandon cannot stop talking about you!" Brandon nudged him hard in the arm and his face was the shade of red I've seen before.
"Well I like to hear that!" I smiled and hooked my arm around Brandon's. "Nice job out there on the ice." I complemented Leddy.
"Thank you."
"Any plans for the rest of the night?" I asked Nick.
"Hanging around. I actually live in the same building as Brandon; just a couple of units down."
"Wow! He never told me that."
"What do you have planned?" Asked Nick.
"Just hanging with my ManChild." I pulled Brandon closer to me.
"You two ARE cute together!" Leddy exclaimed.
"Ev-" Brandon and I both started to speak and we both stopped. I motioned Brandon to keep speaking.
"Uh, everyone has been saying we are a cute couple." He looked down to me, a little nervous.
"That's funny," I started. "People have been saying that to me, too."
I was going to say something about what Chaunette and I were talking about how I did love him and all that. I stopped myself because I didn't want to ruin anything.
It turned quiet for a couple seconds, so I asked,
"How did you guys get to be good friends?" Leddy took the lead.
"Well, we got to be better friends just during this whole season. Like during the Super Bowl Party the team had and the Olympic break trip."
We then saw several reporters come over and Brandon lead me away. Brandon rolled his eyes and obviously didn't want to get caught up with them.
"Sorry Leddy! Got to go!" Brandon hollered out to him teammate.
"All good!" Leddy responded as he got swarmed by the media.

"I think you'd like to meet this next guy." Brandon stepped behind me and cupped his hands over my eyes. He then guided me to the right and forward. "Here he is!" He slowly removed him hands and Antti Raanta was in front of me.
"Hi!" I greeted excitedly. I put out my hand and Raanta took it and pulled me in for a hug. He then released me and had a smile across his face.
"Hey! Brandon said many things about you, all good!" I looked over to Brandon again and he had a little smile. "He said that you're a goalie, too! Also, he said that you'd love to meet Crawford and I."
I then saw Corey's body go up behind Raanta and he came over.
"I heard my name."
"This is Sarah! She's a goalie, but for futbol!" Corey then seemed to be relieved.
"It's nice to meet you! I'm pretty sure I heard your name before. But it came for the ManChild's mouth." He then wrapped his arm around Brandon's shoulders. Brandon shrugged his shoulders under Corey's weight.
"I've heard he's been talking about me."
"So, where do you play?" Corey asked me.
"Northwestern. I'm a senior but a year younger in age. I stuffed my sophomore year so I'd finish earlier." I explained.
"Oh nice! Big question though: are you American, Canadian, or other?" Corey had a serious look, I waited a minute to build up suspense.
"I'm 100%...American!" Corey was disappointed, Raanta just smiled, Brandon and I laughed. Brandon wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer in.
"Yep! She's my American gal!" He kissed me on the cheek.
He then pulled out his wrist to check the time.
"Well, we better get goin. You good with that?" Brandon asked.
I nodded my head. We said our goodbyes to Raanta and Crawford, and headed towards the exit. Brandon snuck around to get past the media. The two of us then made it to the half-full parking lot for the team's players, staff, and family.
The snow got stronger and I couldn't tell the difference between the street and the sidewalk even from a distance.
We got into the car and the heat started up. Brandon put the car into gear and grabbed my hand.
As he was pulling out of the parking lot he asked, "Do you wanna go back to my place?"
"I'd love to." I quietly said.
The drive back took twice as long but at least I was with someone I loved.
We finally arrived back at Brandon's place, where we rushed back inside. We made our way to the elevator and I pushed the "32nd" floor button. The elevator again went straight up.
When it reached the designated floor, we slowly walked to his apartment.
He grabbed his keys when we got there and unlocked the door.
We both kicked off our shoes and took off our coats.
"Mind if I go change?" He asked.
"No problem."
Brandon rushed to his room and I heard the door close but I didn't hear the lock click.
I walked down to the couch and jumped onto the furniture. I grabbed the remote, turned on the tv, then surfed through the channels.
Then I heard the door open again. I looked back to Brandon in long, plaid, pj bottoms and I red Blackhawks shirt.
He came over and sat down in the corner of the sectional. Brandon then beckoned me to lie with him. I crawled over and took the same position as I did the first time I came.
I then looked down to see Brandon's sweater still on me.
"Do you want this back?" I pulled on the sweater.
"Nah. Just keep it." My eyes widen.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's a spare from last season. I don't need it." I turned myself onto my stomach and put my hands on the couch next to Brandon's shoulder. I bent my arm like I was doing a push-up and kissed him. When I pulled back, I looked into his eyes.
"Thank you." I gave a smile. I saw him smile back.
His arms then pulled me back down, closer to his chest.
I returned to my sideways position and my hands onto Brandon's chest to cushion my head. Brandon's hands remained on my lower back, near my hips.
I moved my head so my face would tilt towards the television. Brandon carefully removed one of his hands and reached for the remote. He then turned on the Big Bang Theory.
We watched three episodes until the clock read 11:30.
Brandon then looked down to me the best he could.
"Do you want me to drop you of at your place?"
"Uh..sure. If you can." Brandon got up and gently let my body go to the couch.
He got over to the window and came back over, maneuvering himself back to where he was.
"We're not going anywhere. The parking lot is completely snowed in." He explained. "Mind staying here for the night?"
"Sure!"
Brandon then got the remote and changed it to The Weather Channel. The meteorologist was talking about how Chicago was suppose to get several inches of snow and freezing temperatures.
I then pulled out my phone from my back pocket and saw a text from a school buddy that was sent hours ago.
"You have practice tomorrow?" I asked.
"No. Why?"
"No school for me. Northwestern cancelled all classes because of the weather."
"How about the kids and teachers who live on campus?"
"I don't know. Maybe they just would rather have kids snowed in their own rooms instead of a classroom if it came to that."
"Either way, it means that I get to spend more time with you." I turned my entire body so I was lying on my stomach again. I saw Brandon with a smile. My lips curved up.
He pulled me up closer to him and my hands went straight to his cheeks.
His hands then went to my shoulder blades and he gently pushed me closer to his face. I kissed him again and again.