The Hockey Life

PART SIXTY-SEVEN: NEW HOMES
March went by quickly. I think it came and went so fast simply because I hadn’t wanted it to. I felt like I had no time to pack and prepare for the move, and I would have done anything to extend the lease just a few more weeks. But, instead, I procrastinated most of my packing until the very last minute and Tess helped me get the last of it done.
On the day of the move, Jonathan and Patrick came by to help us out. We didn’t have them do everything, but we definitely put them to work. With their help, it actually didn’t take all that long to get everything out of our old space and onto the moving truck. We were ahead of schedule, so we decided to take a break before heading over to the apartment Tess would be moving into with Jordan. The guys stayed outside by the truck while Tess and I headed back up to our little apartment, which was now empty. It hadn’t been that way since we had first moved in, and it was strange to see it like this. It looked bigger when there was nothing in it.
“Can you believe we’re moving out of this place?” Tess asked, pulling me away from my own thoughts.
“Barely. It’s crazy. I mean, we’ve been here for two years. Half of our college careers,” I realized.
“Yeah. I’m so used to the smallness of it and the weirdo neighbors and the shitty landlord. How will I ever be able to leave?” Tess joked. It was a good point, but I knew we both would probably miss it. If anything, we’d at least miss the memories that were made there, or maybe even just living with each other. We had been roommates for over four years, and we had lived minutes away from each other our whole lives. We’d still be in the same city after this move, of course, but we were further apart than we ever had been. When either of us wanted to watch chick flicks together or have a ton of junk food and gossip or if we were having a tough night and we needed to cry to someone about it, we had been a wall away. A few feet away when we were living in dorm rooms at college. Now, it would be different.
“Please don’t make me move in with Patrick!” I pleaded, jokingly of course.
“Yes, because it would be so mean of me to make you move in with your hockey player fiancé. My bad.”
“Yeah, and don’t even get me started on Jordan. I never realized how cruel I am for forcing you to live with her crazy ass,” I added.
“We’re terrible people,” Tess decided. After that remark, the apartment door opened and Patrick popped his head in.
“Are you guys ready to go?” I gave the place one more look, knowing I’d never be back there again. I shifted my gaze to Tess, who nodded.
“Yep, we’re all good.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Tess was taking most of the furniture with her to the apartment she and Jordan were sharing, so we went there first to empty out the truck a little. After all, she did have her own bedroom that needed a bed and other pieces whereas I already had a bed to sleep in at my new place. I was fine with most of the furniture Patrick already had, I would just need to work on the decorating (which there was very little of).
Jordan was already at the apartment complex when we got there. She had just finished moving her stuff in, but she was very willing to help Tess. Getting everything into the second floor apartment was definitely a team effort, but we got it done. When we did, we went out to lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We were all starving by the time we got there, so we savored every last bite that we had as if it was our last meal.
Once we were done eating, Tess and Jordan headed back to their new place to unpack the necessities while Jonathan helped Patrick and I move my things into his apartment. It didn’t take long at all, but it did make me realize just how much stuff I had (clothes, mostly).
“Alright, I think that’s it. I’ll take the truck back,” Jonathan announced when we had moved the last box.
“Thank you so much for the help today,” I told him, giving him a hug before he headed out.
“No problem. I’ll see you guys later,” he said.
“So I don’t get a thank you?” Patrick wondered.
“I was getting there!” I assured him. “Thank you for the help,” I continued, wrapping my arms around him.
“You’re welcome. I’m so glad you’re moving in,” he answered, planting a kiss on my forehead.
“Me too.”
The first night with Patrick felt no different than any other nights I had spent with him. The only difference was the unpacking. It was the next afternoon that felt strange. I was running on autopilot and I almost went home to my old apartment - Patrick had to remind me that I had just moved. It took about a week for me to fully adjust to the new changes. Tess and I had hung out since our moves, but she still texted me to check in after the first week had passed.
>Do you miss me yet? ;)
I smirked as I read her message and immediately texted back.

>I knew it! Seriously tho, how’s it been, living w/ Patty cake?

>Oh yeah? How fun?

>I like that answer J

>Pretty good. Jordo is just honored to have me as a roommate

>Hey! It’s true! Just ask her

>Well, I’ll leave you to your lover. I’m sure you two are very busy doing grown up things

>Well who knows what that could lead to! It is getting close to bedtime for you two, isn’t it?

>Have fun ;)

“Has Tess been bothering you?” Patrick asked when he finished his game that he was playing. It was an MLB game that I completely sucked at, but I liked watching him play.
“Yeah, she has. Don’t worry, though, she’s done for now,” I assured him.
“Good,” he decided, “because I want to bother you now. Will you play a game with me?”
“Not this game, no,” I turned him down.
“Please? It’s not as fun to play it alone.”
“Yeah, because when you play with me you win by a lot more!” I reminded him.
“That’s not why…” he answered, scratching his head guiltily and purposefully acting like he was lying.
“Jerk!” I accused him, grabbing the nearest decorative pillow and hitting him with it.
“Alright, I’m sorry! Seriously though, just one game,” he pleaded. When I shook my head, he moved closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me towards him. “It’ll only take a few minutes,” he told me as he began to suck on my neck. One of the worst things about the whole situation was that he had been with me long enough to know my biggest weaknesses, and he used that knowledge to his advantage all the time.
“Stop it, Pat. This isn’t even fair,” I complained.
“One game, Lean.” Even his voice was seductive.
“What you’re doing right now is making me want to play this baseball game even less…” I told him.
“Well, I guess if you’d rather do something else-” he was cut off by his phone dinging to let him know that he had a text. It appeared to be his sister Erica. When he noticed that, he ignored it.
“Aren’t you going to answer her?” I questioned him.
“Not if you want to do something other than playing this baseball game.”
“I never even specified anything, I just said I was wanting to play it less and less!” Ding. Now my phone had gotten a text from Erica, wondering if he was anywhere near his phone. “Answer your sister,” I commanded him. “I’m going to go take a shower.”
“Wait, I want to take a shower too!”
“Answer her!” He gave me the sad puppy dog face, but it didn’t work on me that time, so he picked up his phone to text her while I took a hot, relaxing shower with lavender products to relax me and induce sleep. Patrick apparently had a terrible habit of never going to sleep at a decent time, and it was rubbing off on me. I needed to fix that so he could have a good end to the regular season. He was up texting for a while, but I still managed to get him to go to bed at a decent time. I fell asleep before him, but I hoped that he copied me soon afterwards. That was all I really could do, anyways. I was too busy dreaming for anything else.

Notes