31 Days of December

Bonus Chapter: Meeting Sam

Sam came to visit me for a weekend to get away. Her roommate was driving her insane about the littlest of things which caused them to butt heads. So Sam drove three hours to spend a weekend with me to get away and cool down. So poor Ethan wasn't going to see me until she left. Or at least that was what I thought.

Sam and I spent the day in a city that wasn't super far from campus. We walked around, did a little shopping, had lunch, had cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and other fun stuff like that. We were driving back to my apartment around dinner time.

I was scrolling through Facebook and said, "There is a hockey game tonight, and they are allowing doggos to come. Do you want to go?"

"Will Ethan be there?" Sam asked, teasing me.

"Well, yeah. He is on the hockey team. Do you want to meet him?"

"Wait, seriously?"

"I mean, why not? If everyone, but me, had their way, Ethan would meet the family. Since you are here and there is a hockey game, why wait? Plus, we can see all the doggos."

"If you're sure, then I'm good with going to the hockey game," Sam said. She seemed shocked that I had ever thought about letting her meet Ethan. I mean, if Ethan had stayed around, they would have to have met at some point. This was just to get it over with.

I smiled and said, "I'm going to invite Alice along since she is alone at the apartment." Sam just nodded, and I sent the text to Alice. It took a minute to convince Alice to come since she didn't want to intrude on sister bonding. Once I convinced her that it was alright, she was all for going to the hockey game and seeing the doggos.

We got back to the apartment so we could change into warmer clothes and to pick up Alice. I slide on Ethan's hockey sweatshirt, my black leggings, and my winter boots. The sweatshirt had the school's name on the front and Ethan's last name and his number, 52, on the back. My winter boots were ankle-high, which was not a good idea for the Midwest. They were black, and the inside was fuzzy. They had the functionality of normal winter boots but the warmth of Uggs. Best of both worlds when you don't get snow in them.

"Awe, are you wearing your boyfriend's hoodie?" Sam teased. I heard Alice snicker at the comment. Those two would do anything to embarrass me. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

I shrugged, "He isn't my boyfriend. If he was, I would have gotten his other jersey instead of his hoodie."

"Someone is bitter," Same said. I rolled my eyes. I love Sam, but she always pisses me off at some point. "I bet if you asked, he would give you his other jersey."

"I don't even want the jersey."

"Then why is it such a big deal?"

"You'll see later, I said as we walked out of the apartment. Neither one would have understood until they saw. Then again, they would have thought I was overreacting. It was just a jersey, so it shouldn't have been a big deal.

When we got to the arena, there were so many dogs. We got to pet many of them as we waited to pay for our tickets and were on our way to our seats. This was the best part of the game. Doggos trumped sports any day. It didn't help that I had no idea what was happening in hockey.

Once we claimed our seats, Alice and I went to the concession stand while Sam guarded our spots. We were getting snacks before the game started since none of us had dinner. Altogether we got three pretzels with cheese, hot chocolates for Sam and Alice, and a Mountain Dew for me. I have a problem, I know. We don't talk about it.

We returned to our seats, and I handed Sam her pretzel and drink before sitting down. It wasn't much longer before the fame started. I could spot Liam, Isaac, and Jackson right away, but I didn't see Ethan anywhere for whatever reason. I shrugged it off because I knew he was around the arena somewhere.