The Hockey Life

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: GETTING CLOSER
After Valentine’s Day, things really took off, and in more ways than one. For one thing, the end of college was getting closer and closer, which meant I needed to get some hands-on experience with athletic and personal training. Not only was it part of my grade for a class, but it would help me get a job quicker and easier once I was done with school completely.
At first, I had planned on doing some work back home. I quickly found out that a lot of people didn’t want me working with them when I hadn’t officially graduated yet. Seeing it on paper that I had a degree was important. But back home, everyone knew me. They trusted me, and they would let me work with them. Of course, the traveling would be a pain, so it would mostly happen on weekends. Luckily, though, I didn’t have to resort to only working on weekends and traveling an hour there and back.
I was reading in my room a little over a week after Valentine’s Day when I got a phone call. The number on the screen was unfamiliar, but it seemed to be a Chicago number. I was always hesitant to answer calls from people who weren’t in my contacts, but I did anyways.
“Hello?”
“Hello Lena, this is Brad Stanford.” I was delighted to hear the familiar voice.
“Hi Brad! How are you?”
“I’m very well, Lena. I’m assuming you are too?”
“Yeah, I’m great.”
“That’s good. Well, I’m sure you’re wondering why on earth I called, so I’ll get right down to it. As I told you and Dylan, doing so profoundly well in the Blackhawks internship program has its perks. I told you that you’d be invited to work with us again and join us for events and I haven’t invited you to do anything like that yet. However, I hear that you’re searching for athletic and/or personal training experience, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is,” I answered. I had a good feeling about where the conversation was going.
“Well, I know you got a little experience during your time at the United Center, but of course, it wasn’t enough for someone who is serious about going into a career in the field. I’ve talked to our trainers and they have agreed to have you work with them. I’ve seen you in action before and I’ve heard about your progress in school so far, and it’s given me confidence that you’ll do well. Now, this isn’t a job offer, per say. There’s a technicality that you need a degree for that, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t work in an environment with certified trainers tutoring and helping you. I know you want and need the experience to be able to get a real job in the field in the future, so just think of it as an extension of your internship,” Brad said.
“Wow, Brad. That’s an amazing thing for you to do for me. Are you really sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure! You already know everyone here and they all know you. Plus, I’m sure Patrick won’t complain about getting to see you all the time again. He talks about you enough already,” Brad said. I blushed at his comment about Patrick. I was glad he couldn’t see it. “So, what do you say? Would you like to work with our trainers again?”
“I’d love to, Brad!”
“Great! I know you’re on a bit of a schedule with your classes and obviously we’re on a schedule here too, but I know we’ll be able to work something out. Just send me an email with your schedule and any preferences you have about times or days and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible with feedback.”
“Will do. Thank you so much, Brad. You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” I said sincerely, amazed at how many great opportunities the Chicago Blackhawks and more specifically, Brad, had given me already.
“It’s my pleasure. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the United Center again. Well, I’ll be speaking with you again soon. Goodbye, Lena.”
“Bye.” I hung up and immediately ran to Tess’ room to give her the news. I was almost as excited as I had been when I found out I had been chosen for the internship. She was really excited for me too, and of course, so was Patrick. Which led to the other thing that had really taken off after Valentine’s Day: our relationship.
Patrick and I still had busy lives, but Brad got back to me rather quickly with a schedule that worked for both of us, so that meant that Pat and I would see each other a lot more often. Neither of us could complain. Although, he seemed to think that both of us working in the same place again would mean that we’d get more personal time together, while I was convinced that it wasn’t possible. This was no real job, but I took it as seriously as if it was one. I didn’t want to screw anything up. It was just like the internship had been.
On my first day back at the United Center, I had to come in towards the end of a morning practice. I had gone straight there from an earlier class. The trainers weren’t necessarily needed during the practice, unless of course, something happened during it. That wasn’t a normal occurrence though, and there were no players with serious injuries already, so they dedicated their practice time to work with me. They mostly talked to me about what I had learned and done so far in school. We had done simulations in classes, and I had done fairly well in all of them, so I told them that. They seemed to have high hopes for me, but they didn’t let me do much on my first day. We mostly talked and planned activities for the next time we would meet. They made the session short and sweet so I could head out at the same time that Patrick did and we could get lunch together, so naturally, I headed to the locker room as soon as I was dismissed.
When I got inside, everyone was gone already. Pat had stalled on purpose to wait for me to get there, I assumed.
“Hey there. How was your first day?” he asked as he put his hands on my waist.
“Good. We pretty much just talked. I’ll start doing hands-on stuff next time,” I explained.
“That’s good. So…are they going to let you work with me at all, or…?”
“Possibly. Why?”
“Hands-on doesn’t sound too bad…”
“Gross. This is your job and it’s like a job for me. I really hope you don’t actually mean that the way I think you do,” I answered.
“I’m kidding, Lean. But we are both off the clock now,” he said. He pulled me in and kissed me, and I didn’t try to resist, not even when we had backed into the wall and he had pinned me against it. You could say we were in some sort of honeymoon phase. We wanted to be with each other all the time and when we did get to spend time together, we never just talked and cuddled. Somehow a cuddle session always turned into a makeout session. It honestly didn’t surprise me that he was always interested in things like that, but that was because I was biased and I viewed all guys as physical beings to some extent. I was a little surprised at myself though. I never seemed to want to say no to him. Except for maybe now that we were in the middle of the United Center and he was beginning to kiss my neck. He had only done that once before, and I was embarrassed to admit how much I liked it. Even though we were in our “honeymoon stage” minus the actual honeymoon part, we hadn’t gone too far with it. I was by no means ready for the s word yet, so I tried to avoid getting very close to it, which meant I really shouldn’t let him kiss my neck so much.
“Okay, we are in a public place you know,” I reminded him in an attempt to convince him to tone it down a little.
“A private part of a public place,” he answered.
“So there’s no chance at all that someone might walk in here?”
“We’re just kissing. It’s not like nobody’s seen that before.” Okay, good point. Score one for Patrick. My stomach began to growl after he said it though.
“Well, my stomach’s talking to me. We should really go get some lunch before I starve,” I said. Patrick placed one last kiss on my forehead.
“Alright, I guess we can leave, then. Let’s go get some food.” Score one for my stomach.
When I got home from the lunch date, Tess was excited to hear about my first day, but she was even more excited to hear that we were going to the game at seven p.m. We tried to go to home games whenever it was possible, and it usually worked out since I was well known at the United Center.
“Are we going to the locker room afterwards again?” Tess wondered.
“Yeah, probably. Don’t plan on having too many beers at the game, though, because I’m going home with Patrick, so you’ll have to drive yourself home. And by going home with him I mean we’re hanging out at his place for a little bit and then he’s bringing me back here.”
“Yeah, like I actually get beer when I go there. Funny joke. You know I prefer more girly drinks. So you haven’t had enough of your boy yet today?”
“It’s not all on me. I think it’s mostly that he hasn’t had enough of me. He’s the one who invited me over. I didn’t plan on hanging out with him afterwards. Of course, I also didn’t plan on so much PDA in the locker room…”
“You mean he was all over you there?” Tess wondered. She already knew about our honeymoon stage, since she was the one who had decided to call it that. It had started right after Valentine’s Day, or maybe even on Valentine’s Day…
“Not while I was working with the trainers or anything. It’s not like that. I met him in the locker room afterwards though so we could get together for lunch. Nobody was in there so yeah, we made out a little. He did that neck thing again. I didn’t object to any of it, but it’s not like I started it either,” I explained.
“Wow, and he wants you to come over after the game? Congrats, girl.” I laughed at Tess.
“Congrats for what?” I asked her.
“Congrats on the fact that Patrick Kane is so into you. Oh, not to mention the fact that if the Hawks win you’re totally getting victory se-” I cut her off there, because I knew exactly what she was going to say.
“DON’T even say it! That’s not happening and you know it!” I yelled.
“Why not?”
“I really don’t think I’m ready for that. I imagined myself waiting a lot longer before doing anything like that with him,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, I get that. But that can change at any time. Sometimes when you’re in a moment with someone, everything just changes. You could change your mind out of nowhere, just saying. I mean, yeah, it’s pretty soon, but you guys are great together. I could understand if it happened. I wouldn’t call you a whore any more than I normally do.” I rolled my eyes at her last comment. Girls know they’re best friends if calling each other names like that is a daily joke.
“Wow Tess, you’re so sweet,” I answered sarcastically. I played it cool, but deep down I actually took what she said into account. What if she was right? What if everything did change tonight? I definitely didn’t find myself very ready for such a big step in Patrick and I’s relationship, but as game time got closer, I found myself freaking out about it more and more. What if he expected me to be ready, and I just wasn’t? And then what if I felt bad and I did it anyways, without feeling sure about it? By the time 6pm came, I made sure to put on a little extra deodorant before leaving the apartment since it was sure to be a stressful night.

Notes

Well, this has been a...fun chapter, I guess! Lena and Patrick are indeed getting closer and they're moving pretty fast, too. However, I'm going to be mean and just leave it at this: you won't know just how fast until the next update!