The Hockey Life

PART SEVENTY-TWO: SEVEN MONTHS
The end of hockey season wasn’t easy to adjust to. I had always known this; I had always experienced it. However, this time it also meant the end of my job for the most part, at least until September. I was used to being with the Hawks almost every day, and now I would have to make plans with players to be around them. Even when I did decide to spend time with them, it wouldn’t be spent near the ice. It was strange to not have to go somewhere everyday, and I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. I had learned to let go a little when it came to the wedding. Patrick and I had accomplished a lot and apart from getting attire for the wedding party to wear, we didn’t really have anything that needed to be done really soon. We were spending our time however we wanted to spend it. For us that mostly meant sleeping in and staying up as late as we wanted, as if we were students who had just been released for summer vacation. Naturally, a couple days after our engagement photos were taken, Patrick and I didn’t get up until ten. I let him have the bathroom first so he could shower, and I ate a light breakfast while he did so. When he was done, I stole the bathroom from him.
Even though I had gotten plenty of sleep, I was still tired until I stepped into the shower and let the water and soap cleanse me. I didn’t think I could ever be one of those people that took showers at night on a regular basis. If I didn’t shower in the morning, I never really felt like I had completely woken up. I left the water feeling completely refreshed on this beautiful June day, though, and I wrapped myself up in a towel. I used a separate towel to dry my hair off a bit, and then hung the towel back up. I would leave my hair down and let it air dry for a while. I opened the bathroom door and walked out, completely startled by what I saw when I got into the hallway.
Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars stood outside the door, and I actually jumped a little at the sight of him. Then I realized how completely naked I was except for the towel I had wrapped around my body, and I immediately grabbed it so there would be no chance of it falling.
“Hi. I take it you weren’t expecting me?” Tyler laughed. It seemed like he was trying to be a good boy and not look at anything except my eyes, but I did catch him glancing down at one point.
“I was, it’s just that my genius fiancé failed to mention that you’d be here this early. It’s nice to see you, though, Tyler. I’ll hug you when I’m wearing something other than a towel,” I said, hurrying into the bedroom.
Patrick’s P.O.V.
Lena was right, I HAD forgotten to tell her when Tyler was going to arrive. My bad. Even so, I went up to Tyler and smacked his arm hard when Lena disappeared into our bedroom to get dressed.
“What the hell was that for?” he asked, rubbing his tattoo covered arm.
“I saw you looking. I just thought I’d remind you that I’m marrying her in a few months,” I clarified.
“I know. Sorry, man,” he apologized.
“It’s alright. So, what first?”
“Guitar Hero is calling my name.”
A few minutes later, Lena joined us, wearing more than a towel this time, and she took a few turns playing. After a while we switched to Mario Kart, and then we decided to get out of the apartment once we were tired of that. It was close to dinnertime by then, so we agreed on getting dinner at a restaurant. I told Lena that she could invite Tess if she wanted, so she texted her and sure enough, Tess said she’d meet us there.
When we got to Buffalo Wild Wings, a place none of us had been to in a while, we found a table and sat down. Tess arrived a couple minutes after we did. She had never met Tyler, but she seemed comfortable enough with him being there.
Lena’s P.O.V.
As soon as Tess arrived, she shook hands with Tyler and I laughed at the huge smile on her face. She definitely still had a crush on him. I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing that Jonathan wasn’t there or a bad thing. On one hand, he might remind her that she already had an amazing boyfriend and he would pull her attention away from Tyler. On the other hand, he might notice her little crush and get jealous.
After we had been there for a few minutes and we were finished with our appetizers, I texted Tess, despite the fact that she was sitting right next to me.

As soon as she saw the message, she gave me a death glare and then responded via text.
>Oh, shut up! It’s not my fault that he’s attractive

>I haven’t forgotten about him! Quit worrying about me! I only like the looks of Sequin. I don’t love him

>And besides, Tyler isn’t nearly as bootylicious as John. It would never work out!
Tess and I exchanged looks with each other and actually laughed out loud at that comment. Patrick and Tyler were suspicious after that, once they realized we had been texting each other at the table.
“What are you guys texting each other about?” Pat wondered, his eyebrows raised at us.
“Oh, nothing,” I lied.
“It’s just girl stuff, you wouldn’t be interested,” Tess contributed, winking at me. The guys still seemed a little intrigued and highly confused, but they let it go.
The rest of dinner was fun, and all of us were stuffed by the time we were done eating. We all went home afterwards, except for Tyler, of course. He met up with some of his other buddies in the area instead. He didn’t have any more plans with Patrick and I, not during this Chicago visit, anyways. However, with the tension between him and Pat from the previous hockey season gone, I had a feeling the two of them would be around each other a lot more that summer.
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A few days later, the Kane sisters, Brian, and my mother were back in town. It was time to pick out attire for the wedding party. Our big group of all the Kane sisters, Tess, Carly, Jonathan, Sharpy, Shawzy, Saader, Brian, and my mom joined Patrick and I at the bridal shop that I got my dress at. The guys went over to the tux and suit section of the store. Patrick and I had already looked online at some ideas for them. We had selected a few combinations that we both agreed on, so the guys just needed to look at and try on some of their options and decide. Meanwhile, us girls went to the bridal party dresses. I had some ideas in my head, but I was pretty open-minded. My only requests were for the bridesmaid dresses to be long and red, and for my mom’s dress to be long and silver. All the girls were okay with this, so with all that in mind, we began shopping. Every girl picked out one dress that they liked and I picked out two. They tried them on and I approved of four out of the seven, which made things complicated. Luckily, there were only two dresses that every girl agreed on, so that narrowed things down. Unfortunately, I was indecisive, and I didn’t know which dress to choose. I really wanted the bridal party to be happy, since they were a huge, important part of the wedding to me. Because of that, I ended up having them vote on which dress they liked more. With five people, there was going to be a winner, even if it only won by one vote.
As it turned out, the majority chose a long, red, strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline and pleated details that went horizontal on the bodice and vertical on the skirt. The bodice was split down the middle by crystal detailing. I was happy with the choice, so I turned my attention to my mother. I liked all the dresses she picked out, but the last dress she tried on stood out to me. It had thick straps and a v neck, with a crystal brooch at the waist. The bodice was pleated diagonally and the bottom was pleated vertically. Not only did it look great on my mom, but it went very well with the bridesmaid dress choice. My mom agreed with me that it was the best option.
When us girls were all done, we met up with the guys. By then they all had made a choice and they were finished getting fitted. Patrick was going to wear a black tux with a white pleated shirt underneath, a silver vest, a black bow tie, and a red pocket square. In order to make Patrick stand out from the others, the groomsmen decided to go with the same look as Patrick except that their suits would be charcoal gray instead of black. I was actually very impressed with them - they all had a better fashion sense than I thought.
After everything had been decided, Patrick tried to mess with me. He went around the store, picking random wedding dresses and asking me if they were mine. I told him no every time, and finally I reminded him that there was no way he would know what my dress looked like until the ceremony started.
“I know, I know. I’m just curious! You can’t blame me,” he said.
“No, I guess I can’t. You’ll just have to be patient,” I answered.
“Yeah. As hard it’ll be to wait until January, I’m actually kind of glad that the dress is going to be a surprise to me. That’ll only make the moment that much more special,” Patrick realized. That was true. Neither of us would know exactly how the other person would look until the big day, and it would only make us appreciate it even more. I went through the mental calendar in my head as I thought that over. Seven months. Seven more months and some odd days and Patrick and I would be married. How crazy was that?

Notes