Faster than the Night

Chapter 25

Hey y'all and welcome back to Faster than the Night! I hope everyone's doing well as we watch Elaine and Hunters love story unveil! Of course, not everything will be all sunshine and roses, but we love the moments that are. What will happen with the holidays coming up? Keep reading to find out! Also, please comment your thoughts on the chapter and what you would like to happen in the future!

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We were on the road for 10 minutes before I turned on the radio, cranking it up when I heard Luke Bryan's That's My Kinda Night come on. I rolled down my window, reaching my hand out of it to feel the cool winter air.

"Elaine it's freezing outside." Hunter laughed as I rolled my window back up.

It was definitely getting chillier, as we got closer to Christmas time. I hadn't spoken to Layla or Bella about our plans for Christmas, much less my family.

"What do you have planned for Christmas?" I asked Hunter.

"I'm working." He told me and I nodded.

I remembered how my dad used to work some Christmas's, especially before I was born and he had a wife. I didn't like the thought of Hunter working on Christmas either.

"You don't want to take off?" I asked looking back at him.

"Do I have a reason to take off?" He asked me sincerely, wanting to know if I wanted him to stay back home at the apartment.

"Do you want a reason?" I asked him, playing with the key chains on my wristlet.

We stopped at a red light as he took my chin in his hands, leaning over to kiss me across the console. I put my hand on his cheek and leaned over to make things more comfortable. He let me go, staring into my eyes.

"I want you." He told me. "I want you to be my girlfriend."

I was shocked by his words. We hadn't talked about what we were or what we were doing together, but I was glad he wanted more than a make out buddy.

"I want that too." I said before leaning over to kiss him myself.

We were interrupted by the sound of cars honking as we pulled apart, seeing that the light was now green. We let out a little laugh and I looked out the window, smiling as wide as humanly possible. Hunter was now my boyfriend.

After another driving for another 15 minutes, we pulled into a parking lot, leading to the Philips Arena, a hockey arena in Atlanta.

"We're going to watch a hockey game?" I asked him, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Oh no." he laughed. "I'm playing in it."

"What?!" I asked him, thinking he was some sort of undercover professional hockey player.

"Yea it's guns and hoses day, and I want you here to watch." he told me, getting out of the car and opening my door.

Guns and hoses was an annual competition between a local firehouse and police department. The most common sports played would be hockey, basketball, or football. My dad never did them because we played hockey back in Orlando as well, and he sucked at hockey. His brother however, my Uncle Stefan loved hockey and played in guns and hoses every year until he broke his back on the job. They had a huge ceremony for him at the arena and even hung his jersey on the wall. All the funds raised at the event would go to an injured first responder, or a fallen first responder's family.

"You play in guns and hoses?" I asked him putting my hands on my hips.

"Yea." he said as he laughed, grabbing a huge duffle bag from the back of his truck.

"I knew you liked hockey but I didn't think you were a star." I said looking up at him as he held my hands.

"Oh I'm not a star, but I'm not too bad." He said winking at me before leaning in to kiss me.

Things were about to get heated before I heard more whistling coming from behind us. We parted and looked back, seeing all the guys from Hunter's shift driving in in their trucks clapping as they drove by.

"I'm about to kick their sorry asses." I said seriously.

"Don't worry someone probably will on the ice." He said making me laugh as he held my hand, walking me inside.

Thank god I had a flannel because hockey arenas were always cold. When we walked through the doors, a gust of wind flew over us, making me shiver.

"Here." Hunter said, setting his bag down on a table and opening it.

He pulled out one of his hockey jerseys that had "Atlanta Fire" labeled on the front, with Brooks engraved on the back. It was a little big for me, but as Hunter said, I looked sexy in it. I didn't understand how skinny jeans, booties, and an oversized hockey jersey made me look sexy, but I didn't argue over it with him. Instead, I stepped up on my tippy toes and pulled him down to kiss me once more before walking inside.

"All of the other guys wife's and girlfriends are sitting over there if you want to go talk to them." Hunter said pointing to the group of women sitting in the bleachers overlooking the ice.

"Yea I'd like that." I smiled as he kissed me goodbye before walking back to the locker room with the guys.

As I walked near the bleachers, I saw Oldan's wife and daughters working the ticket table.

"Hey y'all!" I yelled walking over giving them all a hug.

"Elaine it's so good to see you again sweetheart!" Oldan's wife said.

"Yea y'all too!" I added just as happily.

All of Oldan's family was like my own. It had been so long since I'd seen them and I was so happy to be reunited.

"How've y'all been?" I asked. "Georgia's new." I laughed.

"We've been really good actually. Yea Matt got an offer to work up in Atlanta that paid a lot more, so we figured we'd make a move out of it." she added.

"That's great. How're you liking it?" I asked them.

"It's been harder to make friends at a new school." One of his daughters added. "But hey that's what's to be expected with college right?"

I nodded uncomfortably since I wasn't going to be attending college any time soon. To get out of the situation, I pulled a $20 out of my wallet and put it in the bucket.

"Oh Elaine tickets are $5." Oldan's wife said, going to take the 20 out of the bucket.

"Keep it." I said kindly. "It's for a good cause."

She nodded as I walked away towards the bleachers. I never had a problem with getting to know the guys at the firehouse, but getting to know their spouses might be different, since this was the first time I was dating a fireman. I hoped this would finally help me make some friends here in Atlanta.