when the ice melts // jack hughes

chapter sixteen

"don't get my hopes up for nothing,"

Was I getting Cameron Koehler's hopes up for nothing? If he felt crazy feelings and butterflies and was drawn to it, he wasn't the only one feeling that was feeling that way. But was I ready to commit to something that was allegedly not going to work out?
Cam and I were exiting the cafe after finishing up, I got into my car and started the engine. "That, was delicious. Also, you really didn't have to pay. I won't let you forget it." Cameron shot me a fake angry look as he got into my car. "I invited you, why on earth would I make you pay?" I laughed, reversing out of the spot we had parked. "Ever heard of chivalry?" Cam shook his head, slipping his phone into his pocket after responding to his mom's text wondering his whereabouts. I had only talked to his mom twice after that one night, it was once when Cam and I were together after his practice and I drove him home and when she came to the cafe to come talk to my mom. She's still been friendly, she hasn't said much to me. I don't know how much she knows. I wasn't done with our day yet, I had some more things planned. Lucky for me, Medina was extremely close to Stanley Park. "So, where now boss?" Cameron plugged his phone into the aux cord for my car. "Ready to get some fresh air?" I smiled, turning onto the road going straight to the park. "I am," Cam let himself relax into my seat. I remembered a conversation we had about the NHL draft coming up, suddenly I was talking. "So do you think you'll make it?" I asked Cam, "To like the draft." He looked like he was thinking. "I've been playing my hardest and best lately, the Giants haven't been doing too bad. I hope I do," Who was he kidding, everything Cameron Koehler did was done in the best way he could. Whether it was helping me at our cafe or playing on the ice, he worked hard. "I know," We were almost at the park. "I really do."

-

"I don't come here nearly as often as I should," Cameron and I were walking on a path in the park, making our way around. It was so beautiful, I was glad to have thought about coming here. "I know, I should come out here more often."I sighed, Cam's hand brushed mine accidentally. I wanted to grab his hand, who knows if I could ever get that chance again a month from now. It was going to be November soon, meaning I'd met Cam less than four months ago. Jeez, it felt like four years ago. "I'm gonna miss the cafe when I go to Alberta," He looked at me with his beautiful eyes, I couldn't help but miss him even though he was right in front of me. I was fooling myself to think I could get over him, I couldn't let him go. I was still thinking about my official decision about my feelings. Maybe we could try it out, maybe- "Cam, I-" I was interrupted by two girls who were about to pass us on the trail, they had stopped and started talking amongst themselves while looking directly at Cameron. "Oh my gosh, it's-" One of the two girls left her friend and approached Cam, she looked nervous. "Hi um are you Cameron Koehler?" She giggled and motioned her friend to come over to where she was, inches away from the guy I was helplessly falling for. I had forgotten for a split moment about his fans. "Yes, I am." Cam put on his effortlessly charming smile. The girl continued to giggle, that's when I recognized the girl she was with. "Well," she pointed over to the other girl, she had brown, long curly hair. She was a little taller than me, she looked as if she were trying to hide her face. "That's my friend Kelsey, she says she works at the Giants' arena and you two are friends. I don't watch hockey but apparently you're hot..." Kelsey looked as if she'd seen a ghost, I knew for a fact that her and Cameron weren't friends, this was going to be amazing. I chuckled quietly to myself, Kelsey glared at me. "Um, thank you?" Cam looked uncomfortable, "Can I get a photo with you?" She threw her phone to Kelsey, who struggled to open the camera app. Before Cam could say a thing, the giggling girl was posing next to him and then took her phone back. "You and Kelsey can probably catch up later, thanks!" She blew a kiss to him before dragging Kelsey off down the rest of the path. "That was an interesting interaction," Cameron was standing there, he hadn't yet moved. "You don't know Kelsey, do you?" I laughed, Cam shook his head. "Nope," We continued on the trail, I couldn't help but feel jealous of how pretty Kelsey was. I didn't take it into notice when I met her at the merchandise store. I shrugged it off, still wishing ai could've just treated him like he was my boyfriend. More than anything, I wanted him to be mine. I wanted to go out on real dates with him, (as if what we did wasn't close, like come on. we were constantly together anyways.) I wanted to hold him when he was sad, kiss him when he was his happiest, surprise him at his games, (already did that, but I just wished I could announce it to people that we were dating.) I realized that this was all in fact, exactly what I wanted. Even if I had to deal with long distance, airplane rides, hotel rooms, and heartache. Would it be worth it? Cameron noticed I was deep in thought, he looked like he was debating if he should say anything or not. "It's almost 4, are you ready to head back?" I blurted out, stopped in my tracks. We'd talked about pretty much everything and I was ready to get home, Cam had to be at the gym at 5. "Y-yeah, I'm ready," Cameron just followed me to our car. we'd made around the park, it took two and a half hours but we did it. We had made plenty of conversation along the way. "Thank you for taking me out today," Cam thanked me as we got into my car, I just smiled. "I enjoyed it," I started the car, Cameron smiled back, "me too."