Love is Blindness

Chapter 13; More Shrimp

I woke up suddenly to Elevation by U2 blasting out of my phone. It made both Chris and I jump. I quickly grabbed my phone and pressed end so Elevation quit playing. It was silent in the apartment for a minute.

I yawned and he did the same. We sat up and looked at each other. I smiled at his tired expression on his face.

"What?" he asked, yawning again.

"You're so cute!" I replied.

He smiled, revealing his beautiful teeth. I wrapped my arms around his body and gave him a tight hug. He placed his arms around me and hugged me.

We got up and he gathered his things. I waited for him in the kitchen while I got out a bowl of cereal.

"I'm gonna head back to my house and get ready. Do you want me to pick you up or do you want to meet me at the Joe?"

I decided that I'd need a little more time to get ready. "I'll meet you there. I don't wanna hold you back."

"Alright, text me when you're on your way." He leaned down and kissed me. I felt like I was flying as he waved and blew me a kiss as he closed the door. I then realized how quiet it was without him here. I hadn't had the apartment alone for over a day.

I got in the shower, making sure I was spotless.

When I got out I ran to the closet to put on some clothes. I pulled out my white skinny jeans and mixed them with my black pumps and a red V-neck. I also wore the necklace my dad gave me for Christmas last week. I went back to the bathroom and decided to let my hair dry naturally. I scrunched it in my fists to bring out my natural curls and waves.

I walked into the living room and grabbed the black jacket I usually wear out on dates- It emphasized my curves nicely. I grabbed the keys off the counter and walked out the door, down the stairs, and to my BMW. I loved that car. It was one of the larger models and it was a metallic- light blue color. I'd wanted one since I was a little kid and for my 18th birthday, my parents bought me this.

I pulled into the player parking lot at the Joe and found a place right next to Homer's car. I stepped out and slammed the door, the noise echoed through the lot. I began walking, listening to the clicks of my pumps and checking the time on my phone. Practice didn't start for another 20 minutes. I looked up to see Chris leaning against the back of his Lincoln Navigator, hands in his pockets, staring right back at me. I saw him smile as I got closer.

"Hey you! I missed you!" Chris said to me as I walked into his open arms.

"I missed you too. Shouldn't you be suiting up? Practice is like in 15 minutes."

"I can change really fast. Besides, I wanted to wait for you!" He squeezed me even tighter as he said this. I smiled and closed my eyes as I rested my head on his chest. I noticed that I was about his height now with the shoes on and I wasn't sure I liked it very much.

We walked hand in hand into the locker room then I let him go so he could get suited up.

Chris came back with me after practice. He wasn't playing in net tonight so he didn't mind lazing around a bit. We didn't have much time though.

Before we left for the game, I changed into my black flats. I decided that I liked being shorter than Chris rather than being the same height. I grabbed my dad's jersey and told Chris that we'd better get going. He got up from the couch and walked over to me while I was taking the jacket off the hook. He helped me put it on then grabbed the keys for me.

We walked to my car and he hopped into the passenger seat. I revved up the car and drove to the arena. He held my hand the entire ride there.

I talked to Chris as he got suited up for the game. He told me that on the way home we needed to pick up some more shrimp. Turns out more people liked shrimp than we thought.

"Bye, hun," Chris said to me as him and the team took the ice for the game.

The girls and I took our normal seats behind the bench. This time the Brothen girls came with us. The six of us didn't have an excellent night though. Dom had let in 2 goals by St. Louis. We lost that game 2-0. I tried to not let it get to me but I couldn't help from thinking that if we'd put Chris in net, we would have won, or at least not get shutout.

"So we'll see you tonight?" I asked the Brothens.

"Yep, wouldn't miss it!" Lauren replied.

"I'm so excited! See you guys tonight!" Lindsay said as they walked in the opposite direction of the locker room.

We split up again in the locker room, like routine. Beka went to find Meechy, Julz went to find Val, Sam left for Helmer, and I looked for Chris.

"Hey..." I said slowly, not sure what Chris was feeling right now. He looked up at me and at first looked sad but when he saw who I was he lit up like firefly.

"Hey! I need you!" He said and pulled me into his lap. He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"What's up? You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah I just want you to be with me since we lost. You keep me happy no matter what," he replied. My face lit up as well.

"Well I'm always gonna be here for you. We'll win the next one. For now we should just focus on tonight."

"Right! Well I'll get dressed then we'll run to the store to get those shrimps. The boys will be gettin' to your apartment very soon." He took the last of his pads off then threw a t-shirt on over his under armor. He pulled on his jeans, slipped his sneakers on the grabbed his equipment bag, my hand and ran out of the locker room. We ignored every single reporter who attempted to cross paths with us.

We ran into the parking lot to find some fans who sneaked past security. Thankfully there was only five of them so he signed their stuff and took pictures with each of them.

"Thank you, Mr. Osgood!" The youngest girl said. She looked maybe 13 or 14. By the look on her face, Chris had just made it into her highlight reel of her life. She had a smile that stretched ear to ear. I could see her shaking with excitement, and her and the older girl were giggling at the pictures they'd taken, looking up at Chris every 10 seconds.

"You're very welcome, girls. Happy New Year!" Chris replied, smiling at the youngest.

He threw his equipment in the trunk of his Navigator the pulled out a back pack and began walking to my car.

"What about you car?" I asked, confused.

"Annika said she'd drive it home for me," Chris said. Annika is Nick Lidstrom's wife. I shrugged then hopped into the driver's seat.

I drove to a near by Meijers and Chris jumped out. Less then 5 minutes later he came out with 3 bags of shrimp.

"Go, go go!" he said. I drove back to the apartment as fast as I could without getting caught by the cops.

We got back and I began setting all the food out. I had cooked everything yesterday and today when we got back from practice. While I did this Chris was decorating so it would look somewhat like a party.

I didn't bother changing and neither did he. It wasn't supposed to be a formal party.

When we finished everything, Chris plopped down on the couch and I sat on his lap, leaning against his chest. We at least got a few minutes of quiet and peace before it got loud and most likely obnoxious.