Hall of Fame

I sat down on Tyler’s couch, cup of hot chocolate in hand and I smiled to myself as I looked at the huge green Christmas tree in the corner of the room and the stocking hung over the fireplace, one for Marshall and one for Cash. I just sat my mug on the coffee table in front of me when I huge box wrapped with shiny black paper was set on my lap.
“Tyler,” I groaned, “you didn’t have to get me anything.” I told him as I traced the shape of the box with my fingers.
“Don’t ‘Tyler’ me,” he shook his head as he draped his arm across the back of the couch. “I saw the green bag you had when you walked in.”
“Yea and how do you know that was for you?” I turned to him with a questioning smile.
“Who else would it be for?” He scoffed.
“Marshall and Cash,” I shrugged as I leaned over the box in my lap to retrieve my cup of hot chocolate.
“You want me to believe that you bought something for my dogs but nothing for me, your boyfriend?” His bottom lip came out in a pout as he looked at me with sad brown eyes.
“Yea, because I like them better,” I shrugged as Tyler sulked. “Fine,” I gave in with a sigh as I leaned over the arm of the couch to retrieve the green bag I put there. “Here you go you big baby.” A huge grin slid across his face as I place the bag in his lap.
“I knew you loved me,” he taunted.
“Just open it already.”
Not needing to be told twice Tyler wasted no time lifting the tissue paper from the bag before pulling out a green and silver painted jar. He lifted it up and out of the bag as he pushed the bag off his lap.
“It’s a motivational jar,” I told him as he turned the jar in his hands.
He turned his head towards me, one dark eyebrow raised, “a motivational jar?”
“Yea,” I confirmed. “Open it.”
He nodded as he slowly twisted the black top off the jar and a few little slips of paper stuck out the top.
“Each slip of paper has a quote,” I explained and picked one out of the jar as if to prove it I handed it to him. “That way when I’m not here and you need a little cheering up you can just read one of the slips.”
With a tilt of his head he grabbed the slip from my fingers and read, “winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit.” Once he finished he looked at me with a smile. “You know if you just stayed here you wouldn’t have to worry about cheering me up when you’re not here.”
“But then you wouldn’t have anything to bitch and complain about.” I countered with a devilish smile, receiving a head shake and an eye roll in return.
“Just open your present Brittany.”
“As you wish,” I smiled as I slowly slid my finger under the paper, knowing that it would drive Tyler crazy. He like me could be very impatient at times and as he sat next to me now I could feel his patients dissolving. As I finally ripped off the paper to a cream colored box I could hear every breath he took. With one last glance in his direction I flipped off the lid of the box to reveal a green sweater with the Stars’ logo folded in the box.
“Really Tyler,” I shook my head with a laugh as I pulled the sweater out of the box and examined the Seguin 91 stitched on the back. Of course Tyler’s present was more for him then it was for me.
“Hey, you’re my girlfriend now I figured it was time you had something with my name on it.”
“Of course you did,” I took a deep breath as I folded the sweater back up and was about to place it back in the box when Tyler’s hand reached out to stop me.
“There’s more,” he said and I turned to him with a questioning smile as I laid the sweater between us.
I removed the rest of the paper from the box and sure enough at the bottom of the box was a 6 framed photo collage. It was silent as I studied the pictures of Tyler and me.
“Tyler this is…” I couldn’t think of what to say anything to say.
“Do you like it,” he asked as he rubbed a hand through his dark hair.
“I love it Tyler,” I beamed as I traced my fingers around the picture of Tyler and I at Thanksgiving. It was a candid picture of Tyler and me sitting next to each other at the table. I knew Jamie had to have taken the picture because whoever took it was sitting across from us.
“Good,” Tyler took a deep breath, “because truthfully I wasn’t sure what to get you. I mean I wanted to give you the sweater, but I knew you deserved something more than just my sweater for putting up with me for the past like 3 months.”
“You didn’t know what to get me?” I asked, because I never had someone put so much thought into my present. Usually I was told I was the easiest person to shop for because I like just about anything.
“Yea,” he shook his head. “I didn’t know what to get my girlfriend for Christmas.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize I was so special.”
“You are,” he bit his lip at his confession.
“Ty,” I shook my head, as I felt the water collecting in my eyes, because for the first time I actually believed him. It’s not that he’s never confessed how much he liked me before but I always just thought we were just joking around. I mean can you really like someone after only knowing them for about 4 months, but I got my answer as I turned to face Tyler.
My heart pounded in my chest as he studied me, his brown eyes a mixture of confusion and something I couldn’t identify, admiration maybe. I swallowed as I studied his face now, noticing a tiny scratch a little to the left of his right eye before I my eyes trailed to the scruff on his cheeks, it was a little longer then he’s had it in a while. And finally I settled on his lips, lips that looked rough and chapped but I knew for a fact they were actually warm and soft, oh so soft.
“What are you thinking Brittany?” Tyler asked pulling me out of my thoughts as I as he wiped a tear from my cheek, a tear I didn’t even realize escaped.
“I’m thinking that I don’t want to leave you tonight.” I admitted as Tyler’s hand trailed down my neck, over my shoulder to my bicep coming to a rest on my waist.
“As in you want to spend the night?”
“Yea,” I whispered, my heart pounding in my chest as Tyler leaned in.
He was so close I could feel his breath hit my cheek as he spoke, “I won’t object to that.”
I took a deep breath in though my nose as I closed my eyes and a moment later I felt Tyler’s lips on mine.

Notes