The Hockey Life

PART SEVENTY-THREE: DREAMER
As the summer went on, Patrick and I got busier, but in a good way. We wanted to stay occupied, so we made a lot of plans. His included hanging out with his sisters, some of his teammates, and me, of course, but that was just a given. My biggest plans were to get together with Brian as well as my intern friends that I hadn’t hung out with in a while: Melanie and Travis, the winners of the most recent internship, and of course, Dylan. As it turned out, I was able to make plans with my internship friends first, so I got together with them towards the end of June. We all went to the beach together, since the weather had gotten considerably hotter. It was close to ninety degrees when we arrived.
“Eighty-nine degrees? Are you sure your car’s right?” I questioned Dylan as I took my seatbelt off. Melanie, Travis, and I had decided to carpool with Dylan, who took his roomy white truck.
“It should be. My phone says the same thing,” he confirmed, checking his weather app as he took the keys out of the ignition.
“Well, it’s a good thing the water conditions are fine today. We’re going to be in it a lot,” Travis decided.
“Hot or not, I’m ready for some sun. Let’s go!” Melanie prompted us. We all got out of the car and grabbed towels and bags. When we had everything, Dylan locked his truck and we headed over to the sand. As soon as my feet made contact with it, they felt like they were getting third degree burns.
“Shit, that’s hot!” Travis complained. He began running across the burning sand, and Dylan just laughed.
“You know, running makes it worse. It’s better to walk on hot surfaces,” he told him.
“I don’t care what’s better, running is faster!” Travis called as he continued. He didn’t stop until he made it to the water, and he sighed in relief as his feet hit the cold lake. We all followed suit, and even though the water felt freezing cold at first, it was much better than the ground. Once our feet were cooled off, we found a spot to put down our stuff. We laid out our towels and put down our bags. We put on some sunscreen and then we didn’t hesitate to get into the water. It felt like it was only getting hotter as the sun rose in the sky.
Dylan’s P.O.V.
I had never been happier to be near water in my life, it seemed. I took my shirt off as everyone else put on sunscreen - I never got sunburned. Travis got done first, so he got rid of his shirt too and followed me into the water. It was chilly, but it wasn’t that bad. It felt good on my skin, so I went farther in to force my body to adjust to the temperature.
“Are you two coming, or what?” I hollered.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Melanie answered, and she and Lena began walking our way. Lena ran her hands through her long, dark hair and that was when I realized I was staring. I snapped out of it quickly. We hadn’t been around each other much, and that had helped a lot, honestly. Distance made me forget about her. It was when we hung out that the feelings came flooding back to the front of my mind. I didn’t want to be interested in her. I couldn’t be - she was engaged and planning her wedding that I was getting invited to. I should have gotten over her a long time ago, it just never happened. I hadn’t met very many girls lately, and the ones that I had met didn’t compare.
“You still like her?” Travis wondered. He must have noticed that I had been looking at Lena, and he brought me back to reality.
“No,” I fibbed, jerking my head a bit to get a lock of hair out of my eyes. It was getting too long for summer, but I hadn’t gotten around to getting it cut yet.
“It sure seems like you do, but whatever,” Travis said. He ducked underwater and came back up quickly, apparently just wanting to get completely cooled off.
We all spent a good amount of time in the water, once we were used to the feeling of it. We had brought a water ball as well as a Frisbee, both of which entertained us for a while. When we decided we had gotten enough water for a while, we went back to our towels. The girls laid out and Travis and I got hot dogs and drinks and stuffed our faces. Lena and Melanie ate shortly after we did, and that was when we decided to check out the dunes. We all started out together, but we ended up taking separate routes. Somehow Lena and I ended up alone while Travis and Melanie ventured out without us. I wasn’t too worried, though. I had dealt with my stupid feelings for this girl for a long time. It was just another day, another realization that I needed to move on. So, instead of focusing on her, I focused on the conversations we had sitting in the sand on top of a dune. I listened really well to everything she said and worded everything that I said well. We got caught up with each other’s lives. I listened to her talk about her wedding plans, and her feelings for Patrick. Except that I mostly zoned out when she got to the part about Patrick…I couldn’t help it. It hurt to listen to that part. It was easier to notice little details, like how bright her eyes were in the sunlight or how her hair danced through the warm breeze or how her lips moved when she spoke. Her lips…
“This is a lot of fun,” Lena said.
“Wait, what?” I asked, not entirely sure what she was talking about at that point.
“I don’t know, everything. This beach trip. Hanging out with you. No offense to the other two, it’s just that I know you better,” she clarified.
“Yeah, it is fun. We haven’t hung out in a really long time,” I realized.
“I know. I’ve missed this,” Lena realized, smiling at me. She sure wasn’t being shy, and I didn’t want to be shy either. Everything was so close to perfect. Just one thing would make it better. Just one kiss, the one I had wanted for the longest time. I found myself beginning to lean towards her without even thinking and then -
“Dylan, Lena! We’re going to go get ice cream. Do you guys want to tag along?” Melanie wondered, interrupting it all.
“Yeah, ice cream sounds amazing right now,” Lena answered. She got up and I did too. The interruption was probably for the best. I had almost just kissed her. That would have complicated a lot of things. I couldn’t let anything like that happen. I was actually beginning to wish it would rain, just so we’d have an excuse to go home. I didn’t want to be around Lena anymore, not if it made me act like an idiot.
We didn’t stay at the beach for that much longer, luckily. I had a good time, but I was close to having too good of a time. It would have to be a while before I was around Lena again, apparently. I just needed some space to smack some sense into myself. I spent the rest of my day playing NHL 10. It was a good distraction, honestly, and it helped pass the time. By ten P.M. I was exhausted, and I easily fell asleep in my extraordinarily comfortable bed.
********************************************************
Practice had never been so tiring. But, just because it was happening at the United Center didn’t mean Coach would go easy on us. A change of scenery meant nothing to him. As Ice Hogs, he wanted us to play the same game, no matter what. Of course, I couldn’t remember exactly why we were practicing at the UC, but it didn’t really matter anyways. I just followed my team off the ice and into the locker room, where we hit the showers.
I was the last one out. I was extra tired, and I was in no hurry to get out of there. I took my time getting dressed as well, so by the time I was completely dressed, nobody else was in the room. However, I heard footsteps as I zipped my bag, and when I looked up, I saw Lena. She was dressed in her trainer’s jacket, so she must have been working.
“Hey Dylan,” she greeted me warmly.
“Hi Lena,” I replied, smiling back.
“Your hair’s getting longer,” she noticed.
“Yeah, I know. I really need to get it cut,” I said.
“Don’t cut it, it looks good,” she told me, suddenly running her hands through my hair. “It’s…sexy.”
“Oh, really? You think so?” my heart was suddenly beating faster. She was most definitely hitting on me, but why? She was engaged, for crying out loud.
“Yeah, definitely.” Suddenly, her lips crashed onto mine and her arms were draped over my shoulders. I was kissing her back until I realized how wrong it all was.
“What the hell is up with you? You’re getting married to Patrick!” I reminded her, pushing her away.
“What are you talking about? Patrick and I are just friends!” Lena said. Wait, what?
“Just friends?”
“Yeah, just friends. He asked me out a while back but I turned him down, remember?”
“Oh, right, sorry,” I said. I didn’t actually remember, but I also couldn’t recall why practice had taken place at the United Center. Maybe I had a concussion or something.
“Do you know why I turned him down?” Lena asked me. I shook my head. “Because I’ve had my eye on you ever since I met you. It was difficult when you joined the Ice Hogs and I joined the Hawks as a trainer, since we’ve been so busy. But here we are,” she continued.
“You must be joking.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“No, why?”
“Because I’ve wanted you ever since the internship.” Lena smiled at this confession.
“Well, I’m right here. What are you waiting for?”
I didn’t hesitate. I pulled her close and kissed her hard, finally able to do so without feeling guilty about it. I gripped her waist tightly and she ran her hands through my hair again. She parted my lips with her tongue and we backed into a wall, too engrossed in each other to realize where we were. Soon I was unzipping her jacket and she was pulling my shirt off of me, and everything began to escalate quickly…
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. My eyes shot open as my alarm woke me up from my dream. It had felt so real that it took me a moment to realize that it hadn’t been. This whole thing with Lena was getting way out of hand…I knew I needed a distraction, so I texted one of my teammates. Luckily, he was awake and in the mood for hockey. I threw on some clothes, ate a bowl of cereal, grabbed my hockey bag and headed out the door. I would need a lot of time with my guy friends to forget about Lena and give myself a reality check. A few drinks might not hurt either. I knew I shouldn’t resort to alcohol, so for now I would stick to hockey. Hockey was always the answer.

Notes