The Love to Live For

I awake the next morning. Tiffany isn't in her bed snoring like she usually does. I look over and she isn't even there. She may be at Sid's taking care of him. He did get hit pretty hard yesterday. I hope he gets better soon. I get out of bed and stretch my arms and yawn. That was a good night's sleep. I look over and see a text on my phone.

We still going for coffee?

It was Olli. He's up early. Probably had morning skate or something.

Yes, of course! Just let me get ready :)

I am very excited to get coffee with my favroite hockey player. If Tiffany wasn't dating Sid, I wouldn't have met Olli. I'll thank Tiffany later. I need to figure out what the wear. It's just coffee, so I don't need to look great, but I want to look great for him. I don't really have any dressy clothes, but if Olli wants to go out again, I'm going to need to buy some. I take out a nice shirt and a pair of jeans and I get dressed. I grab my toothbrush and head down the hall to brush my teeth. I head back to my room and I slip on my shoes, grab my keys and I'm out the door. Olli is waiting in the parking lot. He's such a gentleman. He opens the passenger side door.

"After you," he says with a smile and we both just laugh at his dorkyness.

"Thank you," I say between laughs. He gets in the drivers seat and we head to the coffee shop.

"So, thanks for coming," he says. He looks nervous, but that's okay. I'm pretty sure this isn't a real date. I haven't been on one of those in such a long time. Every time my parents meet guys that I go out with, they always scare them away. Well, my dad does anyway. My mom just talks to him and gets to now him while my dad is judgemental. I get that, it's okay. He just wants me to date a nice guy that will treat me like a princess. Sheesh, Olli isn't even my boyfriend and he treats me like a queen.

"How's Sid?"

"Better. I talked to him this morning. He isn't in as much pain, but he won't be able to play for a couple weeks."

"I figured he wouldn't be able to play. He got hit hard last night. Tiffany was almost in tears."

"Tiffany is a great girl for him. I'm glad he found someone like her."

"They are cute together."

We arrive at the coffee shop. Olli opens my door and I step out of the car.

"Hey doesn't matter if I am just friends with a girl or dating her, I always treat her like a queen," says Olli and we both chuckle. That's what guys should do for girls. Treat them like a queen. A lot of guys that I have dated have been great guys, but they could be rude. Olli, he doesn't seem rude at all. He seems like he would be the perfect boyfriend. I hope he will eventually be more than just my friend.

"Yeah, a lot of guys that I have been with in the past have treated me like a queen, but my dad scared them off," I say but then I just realized what I said. I don't want to scare Olli away before he even meets my parents, if he ever does. I don't want them to meet anytime soon, that's for sure. Olli is just my friend anyways, for now.

"Really? Well, I guess dad's in general want what's best for their daughters."

Thank god he understood why my dad is the way he is. I love my dad to death but he needs to back off my life sometimes. He just gets too involved. We walk inside. I look over the menu. I love coffee to the point where I can't even decided what to get. Iced coffee sounds really good right now. Maybe I will get a pumpkin iced coffee. We walk up to the counter and place our order. I take out my wallet to that I can pay, but Olli just looks at me. He's giving me that "put your wallet away" look.

"I'll pay," he says taking out a few dollars. The barista hands us our coffees and we got sit down at a table next to a window, which is probably a bad idea considering people that walk by keep giving us looks. I think Olli saw that it was bothering me that people were staring because he told me not to worry about it. He's used to that kind of stuff, but I'm not. If I want to keep hanging out with him, then I need to get used to it.

"They are only jealous," he says looking me in the eyes.

"Yeah, I figured, but I'm not used to attention like that."

"It's okay. You will get used to it at some point, just give it time."

Olli really knows what to say. Probably because he went through the same thing. When he started his hockey career, people treated him the same way when he was out with the Penguins. Sounds like being famous can be stressful.

"Sounds stressful," I say looking into my cup of coffee.

"It's okay. Nothing that can't be ignored."

"I can try to ignore it. Tiffany must have felt the same way when she first met Sid."

"Only people gave her a whole lot of hell. Death threats and what not."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Sid is the best player in the world. Of course people are going to be jealous. People won't treat you like that. I'm not nearly as great as Sid is."

"You can score though, and yet you're a defensman!"

"That's what you call an offensive defenseman. I don't score a whole lot of goals, but I get a couple here and there. I just throw the puck at the net hoping that it either goes in or someone puts it in."

"Well, you're still a great player."

"Thanks. Hey, want to come to the game tonight? I got you a ticket."

"Yeah, I would love to go."

"It's glass seats. Right near the bench," says Olli as he hands me the ticket. He would make a really good boyfriend. He seems interested, but I can't tell for sure.

"Do you need me to pick you up?"

"Please. I need to get myself a car. My parents gave me money, so I was going to look tomorrow."

"Need helping findng something?"

"If you want to help, sure."

We just sit there in silence for a minute before we get up to leave. Like a gentleman, he takes my empty cup and throws it away.

"So I guess I will see you at the game?"

"Yeah, I will drop you off out front and then I will go to the lockerroom."

Without thinking, I pull Olli closer to me and I kiss him. I wrap my arms around his neck and he returns the kiss. I pull away and I must have looked shocked. Olli just looked at me. Not in disappointment, but it was an "are you okay" look.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry. I dont know..." Olli interrupted me by putting his finger to my lips to shush me.

"It's okay."

We leave the coffee shop and get in his car. I am still embarrassed by what happened. I can't believe I did that. He must think I am desperate.

"Are you okay? You look like you wanna puke."

"I'm embarrassed by what just happened."

"I told you that it's okay. Still come to the game tonight."

"Okay. I will be there to support you. Who are you playing?"

"The Criers"

"I'm guessing the Flyers. That is a pretty good nickname for them," I say chuckling a bit. Olli is funny and sweet.

"Thanks. Sid came up with it. Man does he hate the Flyers or what?"

Yeah, Sid hates the Flyers alright. Of course, that's a part of the rivalry. Going to a rival game should be entertaining. Of course I want Olli to be careful, but I want him to win too. All the Penguins hate the Flyers. We get back to campus and we just sit in the car for a second.

"I hope the team doesn't see anything of us. People were taking pictures. Then I won't ever hear the end of it," says Olli trying not to laugh. Yeah, usually teams pick on eachother, but that's how teams stay together.

"Yeah, what would they do?"

"Not sure actually. Probably just tease me and ask me who you are and stuff like that."

"Sounds like a lot of fun to deal with," I say sarcastically.

"Yeah, they did it to Sid and Tiffany when they first went out."

"Sounds...interesting. Teams do that to each other. It's like a tradition thingy."

"Yeah, exactly."

"Well, I'm going to get ready for the game. Pick me up later?"

"You know it."

I turn to get out of the car, but Olli turns me towards him and kisses me. Of course, I had to return the favor.

Notes

I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far :) I have some ideas for next chapter, but I am going to skip ahead to where he picks her up for the game. I am enjoying writing this story.