The Graduation List

18 - Go To A Sporting Event

Anna

I hear a loud thump the next morning, "dude shut up, she's still sleeping" I hear Eli say to his roommate, I don't hear his reply but I snuggle further into the comforter trying to fall asleep again. Their door closes a few minutes later, "love you darling" Eli says before kissing my head softly, I smile keeping my eyes closed and I hear the door close again. My eyes open slowly taking in my surroundings, I sigh but stay laying in Eli's bed, my phone vibrates, I feel around the bed to try and find it, my eyes finally spot it on the nightstand. Once i've grabbed the device I unlock it to see a bunch of texts in the group chat I have with my friends,

Gwen: are you okay Anna?

Sierra: I'm going to injure those puck bunnies!

Emily: why do people suck so much?

I smile at their messages before typing a reply to answer all of their texts,

Anna: I'm okay, puck bunnies aren't worth it, I've been asking the same thing

Gwen: oh thank god I thought you were dead

Anna: I'm at Eli's dorm, sorry I didn't tell you guys

Sierra: it's okay we get it, plus that's probably the first place I would've checked

Emily: are we still going to the game tonight?

Anna: of course, those girls couldn't keep me from a hockey game

Gwen: the whole team is furious, Graham had to stop them from doing something rash

Anna: thank him for me, I don't want the team to get in trouble because of me and those stupid girls

Sierra: we're here for you A, we love you so much 

Emily: we'll always have your back 

Gwen: best friends forever

Anna: guys stop you're going to make me cry, I love you all so much ❤️❤️❤️

I place the phone back onto the nightstand and decide that I need a shower so I sit up and slide out of Eli's bed. I grab the extra towel in Eli dresser before taking one of his shirts and going to their shared bathroom to hop into the warm shower. A few minutes later i'm done, so I put my underwear back on before sliding on Eli's shirt as I tie my hair into a bun on top of my head. I feel better as I make my boyfriend's bed, sitting on it again as I grab my phone again, pulling up the current ebook I'm reading as I lay back. 

Half and hour later the door opens making me look up, Eli smiles at me as he drops his things, "good morning gorgeous" I blush at his words before putting my phone down, "morning" he laughs before jumping onto the bed making me giggle.  "Hey Cal" he smiles at me, "hey Anna, how are you doing?" I shrug, "i'm pretty good" he nods before flopping onto his bed. Eli brings his arms around me pulling me to lay with him, he buries his nose into my neck making me giggle, "are you sure that you're okay?" he asks as he presses light kisses into my shoulder, "yeah i'm positive" he tightens his hold on me, my hands coming to his forearms. "Why do you smell like me darling?" I bite my lip as he pulls away from me slightly a confused look on his face, "I took a shower, there was nothing else to use" he smiles and tugs me closer again, "I kind of like it on you" I smile, "good to know" he kisses my forehead before sitting up, "lets go get some lunch, i'm starving" I nod as I also sit up, grabbing my jeans as I stand, pulling them on before following the hockey player out of the dorm.

+

Once we finish eating Eli drops me off at my house, reminding me to come to the game later that night, I kiss his cheek before hopping out of the car. In the house I slide off my shoes with a sigh and flop onto the living room couch where Gwen is already sitting, "hey girl" I smile at her before focusing on what she has playing on the TV. "You doing okay after the whole Instagram thing?" I turn to her and shrug, "yeah I guess, Eli helped" she puts a hand on my arm, "those girls have no life and have nothing better to do, they don't matter, you've got us and literally the whole wisco hockey team on your side" I nod and we turn back to the TV, watching it until it's time to get ready for the hockey game. 

The two of us get to the rink right before puck drop, when we sit in our usual seats the players skate onto the ice. I grin as my eyes follow Eli around the rink before he gets back to the bench for national anthems. He looks over at me, smiling before winking, I bite my lip as I give him a wave. When the anthem is finished the lights turn on and the starting lineups square up, the puck dropping before the players skate down the ice. My eyes follow the action as I sit on the edge of my seat. I sit up when a Wisconsin player crashes into the boards followed by an opposing team player, I bite my lip as I wait to see who went down, "babe I think that was Eli" I don't process Gwen's words as I watch my boyfriend stand up, he winces a little but skates back to the bench without any problems. My eyes stay on him as the trainer talks to him, Eli nods a few times and says something that I can't understand from where we're sitting. I turn to Gwen with wide eyes, "Anna, i'm sure he's fine, he didn't look injured when he skated to the bench" I nod and she takes my hand squeezing it before letting it go to continue watching the game. 

A few shifts later Eli is back on the ice making me release the breath I didn't realize I was holding, "see he's fine" I smile at Gwen as I keep my eyes on him. Before I know it the final buzzer sounds with Wisconsin losing 2-1 to the away team, I frown knowing that Eli won't be in the best spirit when I see him later. The two of us take our time gathering our things knowing that we'll have to wait for our boyfriends anyways. When we get to our usual spot to wait Gwen links our arms, I smile at her, "isn't this all so crazy?" I shrug, "who would've guessed that we would have boyfriends, especially ones that play hockey" I laugh, "yeah I definitely didn't think this would ever happen, I was feeling kind of hopeless when senior year started" she grins before we turn to keep an eye out for the players. My smile widens when I see Eli, I let go of Gwen as he approaches us, he smiles slightly and immediately hugs me, his head dropping onto my jersey clad shoulder, he sags into me. My heart hurts at the action as I kiss his head softly, my fingers running through his damp hair. "You okay E?" he lifts his head making my fingers slip from his hair as he looks at me, "yeah, losing just sucks" I nod and give him a sad smile, "lets get out of here" he nods and I slip my hand into his as we walk out of the arena. 

+

When Eli parks his Jeep in the driveway of my house we get out of the car before going up the walkway. Once i've unlocked the door the two of us walk inside, where we slip off our shoes before going to my bedroom. Eli sits on the edge of the bed, I watch him shrug off his suit jacket, he cringes slightly making me worry as I sit next to him, "I saw that, what's wrong" he looks at me, "nothing, it's just a bruise" I nod leaving him to get undressed as I go to put on my pjs. I turn back to Eli when i'm ready, I gasp at the huge bruise covering his side, I rush over with wide eyes, "i'm okay darling, i've had worse" he reassures bringing me to straddle his lap, "are you sure? do you need ice?" he cradles my face in his hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks, "i'm positive" I look into his eyes to see if what he's saying is true, Eli leans in pressing his lips to mine making me forget about our conversation. 

My hands move to the back of his neck, my fingers weaving into his hair as he holds my hips, one of my hands moves down to his shoulder moving along his back as he pulls me flush against him. I pull away for air one of my hands still griping at his hair as he drops kisses down my neck making me sigh as I close my eyes melting into him. Goosebumps appear on my skin when Eli's fingers play with the waistband of my sleep shorts, my eyes open looking at the hockey player holding me, he must feel my gaze because he lifts his head to look at me. He moves his hands from my shorts looking worried, I shake my head, "don't stop" he hesitates for a second, but I grind down on him making him groan, which spurs him on as he continues down my body again. We explore each others bodies for the next hour forgetting about all of the bad things of the past few days only focusing on each other before we fall asleep, our limbs tangled together.