A New Leaf

The first week of my spring "break" was spent working in the clinic, which I seemed to be getting much better at, and texting back and forth with Tyler, mostly because of Erin. He seemed to actually be a pretty nice guy, and I could tell he was really into me. The only problem was that I was afraid to get into a relationship, afraid to break someone like I broke Jonathan.

It was Friday afternoon and I had just gotten home from a shift at the clinic. Erin was in bed, watching tv, the position she had assumed for the past week. It was actually kind of sad, so I decided that we needed to do something. I whipped her jacket at her and stood in the doorway.

"You look like shit. Let's go to Starbucks." I crossed my arms and attempted to look intimidating.

"I'm in." Erin shot out of bed, and ran to the door. The girl would do anything for Starbucks.

We decided to walk, and as we passed by the little shops in downtown Toronto, Erin and I were quiet, but it was nice. When we got to Starbucks, we ordered our favourite drink, Chai Tea Lattes. As we were about to sit down, and I was hanging my leather jacket on the chair, Erin, as expected started pestering me about how texting with Tyler was going.

"So has he made any moves." Erin said, taking a sip and waggling her eyebrows

. "No, and you know I'm not in the mood for a relationship, Erin." I stated.

"Oh come on, nobody texts a guy for a week and isn't even remotely interested in him." She said.

"Maybe we're just friends." I retorted.

"No one is just friends with a hot NHL player, Mila. I bet you he'll be asking you on a date any second." Erin said matter of factly.

As if almost on cue, my iphone screen lit up with a text from Tyler.

"Told ya." Erin smirked.

"He's just asking me what I'm doing. Calm down." I tucked a piece of hair behind my hair, something I did when I was feeling a little insecure.

"BETCHA HE'S GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING TONIGHT." People in the Starbucks cafe were now staring at us. I genuinely feel bad for people when they experience Erin in public, but I still loved her to death.

"Fuck." I read the text in front of me, which was in fact, asking me if I was free tonight.

"I can read guys." Erin said as she peered over my phone, "If you don't say yes I'm never talking to you again."

"Fine." I said, pretending to sound annoyed, but maybe a night out with a guy who actually liked me was a new start that I needed.

Tyler and I made plans and I actually began to look forward to tonight.

M: Yeah I'm free, why?
T: Do you maybe wanna do something tonight?
M: Sure! What do you have in mind?
T: How about its a surprise... Just text me your address.

I texted him the address to my dorm, and he said he would meet me at 6:00, which gave me two hours to get ready. As soon as Erin heard this she basically flew out of Starbucks.

"YOU HAVE TO GET READY. THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT FOR YOU." She dragged me out onto the street, and we basically sprinted back to the dorms.

---
After Erin finished with me, I had to admit, I looked pretty good. She put my hair up in a classic sock bun. I wore a pair of black skinny jeans, with a cute flannel and some ankle boots. Tyler assured me that it was casual dress, which was good because I was not about to let Erin dress me up in another short dress.

When 6:00 came around, as expected I heard a knock at my door. "I'll get it!" Erin yelled, as she almost tripped over everything in the room on her way to the door. She opened the door, and I could see Tyler from where I was positioned on my bed. He was wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs hoodie and jeans, which I was relieved to see, because I was a bit worried about being under dressed. Erin's face went white, as she realized who was standing in front of her. I laughed and walked to the door, pushing her out of the way.

"Sorry about that. She's a bit of a fan you could say." Erin scowled at my remark.

"No worries." Tyler let out a laugh, which made Erin embarrassed, and disappear into the kitchenette.

"Should we go?" We left the dorms, and I followed Tyler to his black SUV. It was awkward at first, but I was relieved when I found out how open he was to talking. The car ride was filled with him and I sharing things about our lives.

"So yeah, I moved out from Regina to Denver for school, and I was never drafted to the NHL, but I ended up making it I guess through University scouts." He said, after telling me about his family.

When I talked about my life, I opted to leave out the last 5 or so years, which included my alcoholic stint and sleeping around. Instead I told him about how I was an only child, who also grew up in Regina, how my parents died and then what got me to medical school.

"Well, we're here!" Tyler said excitedly as he got out of the car at Nathan Phillips Square. "I didn't tell you to bring skates, but it would kind of ruin the surprise, so I guessed your size."

He handed me a pair of size 7 skates, which was actually perfect. I hadn't been skating in years, so I was kind of nervous, but I did play hockey in high school, so I was praying that this went well.

Tyler and I both laced up our skates, and he held onto me as we walked onto the outdoor skating rink. It was beautiful, barely anyone was here and we were skating under the stars.

"Very romantic, Mr. Bozak." I said with a grin.

"Good. I usually mess up dates where we go to restaurants, so I thought that this would work." He laughed, holding my hand as we skated. I smiled slightly at the word date.

Normally I wouldn't be this comfortable, but there was something about him that seemed so genuine. We skated around and I was actually surprised by my abilities.

"You know, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't be able to skate, so we could do that cute thing where the guy skates backwards and the girl gets dragged along." He said trying to sound disappointed.

"I'm no duster." I said, which caused Tyler to laugh. "But I am cold, so you could do that cute thing where the girl gets the guys sweater."

Tyler quickly took off his sweater and I put it on. It was definitely warm, and smelled like his cologne. However, as I was forcing my right arm through the sleeve, I lost my balance and fell right on my ass, bringing Tyler down on top of me. We laughed, but then his face turned serious, and it he was leaning in to kiss me. I almost kissed him too, but flashbacks of my last relationship came back to me, and I turned my head away.

"Tyler I can't..." I said hesitantly.

"No I get it. That was stupid. Sorry." He said awkwardly, getting up and then helping me up.

We skated for a while more, and then at the end of the night he dropped me off at my dorm.

"Thanks for a great night," I said, "we should do something like this again."

"It was my pleasure, beautiful. I'm up for anything as long as I can hang out with you." He said, instantly blushing. I was just about to open the car door when I realized I still had his sweater on.

"Oh crap here, your sweater." I began to take it off.

"Nah, you keep it. It looks better on you anyways." He grinned.

I walked into my dorm room with the dumbest smile on my face. There was just something special about being called beautiful, after so many guys treated me like shit these past few years. Maybe I could give him a chance, as much as I swore off dating, Tyler seemed like a good guy. I got into bed, still in his sweater, and fell asleep, without any nightmares for once.

Notes

If anyone's actually reading this, please comment what you think so far! Tyler will be making more appearances in the next few chapters!