“I’m not,” she exclaimed. “I just like to get things done right and on time. But I guess I did get that from my parents. My father was a district attorney lawyer, but he’s retired now. And my mother is a gynecologist, so needless to say, they had high expectations for me when they had me.”
“They expected you to be a doctor or a lawyer?”
“Yep, or as my father would say, ‘something that contributes to the world.’” Melanie snorted, thinking back on the times her father had told her that. “Imagine his surprise when I came back home and told him I wanted to be a psychologist.”
“What's wrong with that? With a doctorate, wouldn’t you be considered a doctor?”
“Explain that to my mother,” Melanie said, shaking her head. “Neither of them was happy with my choice. My mother has come to accept it, but my father is still a little touchy on the subject. So, sometimes, I try to avoid the holidays with them because it can be draining.”
Living up to her parents' expectations had always been a sore spot for Melanie because most of her life, she had been attempting to do so. And though she had completely diverged from a career path that her parents would find acceptable, the little girl inside of her still wanted her parents' approval. That’s how she knew that Noah wanted his father’s approval even if he hadn’t quite figured that out yet.
“I think you picked the right career,” Noah said, and Melanie smiled, glad that someone agreed with her choice besides Abi.
“Why is that?”
“If you were a lawyer or a doctor, how would we have met?” Noah said, and Melanie punched his shoulder. Noah laughed. “I’m serious. All the cards landed right. You were meant to teach psychology so you could meet me, your favorite student. You were meant to be here in my arms. And soon, everything is going to get better and better.”
“How so?” Melanie asked curiously as she glanced up at him.
“We’re going to the final four now,” he told her. “And I promise you this, Weston will win the championship. I already put my name in the draft last year around the holidays. When I get drafted, hopefully, the Aces will pick me.”
“What team is that?” Melanie asked, never having heard of it.
Noah gave her an incredulous look before pinching her.
“Ouch!”
“That’s for not knowing the team, Melanie. How could you not know? The Massachusetts Aces? Do you live under a rock?”
“Well, I know now,” Melanie said, defensively. “You know I don’t know anything about hockey.”
“You need to know,” Noah told her seriously. “Because you’re going to be right there next to me.”
Melanie stared at Noah, unsure of what his words meant. Next to him? What did he mean by that?
“I’m going to the NHL regardless of whether I win the championship or not, but I want to win the championship, and I’m going to win. And whatever team takes me, I want you to be right there next to me. I want you to be next to me when I get drafted. And I want us to move in together.”
It was too much to process all at once. Melanie was so overwhelmed that she removed herself from his arms, sitting up as she stared into the fire. Moving in together? That’s what Noah wanted with her?
“What’s wrong, Mel?” Noah asked her.
What was wrong? What was wrong was that it felt like her heart wanted to beat out of her chest. What was wrong was that she felt like a bomb had been dropped on her with this new information. With Noah being so young, it never occurred to her that he wanted these things. Their relationship had just started, and Melanie was still processing the fact that they were dating.
“You want us to have a place together?” Melanie asked him in disbelief. When Melanie looked back at him, Noah's blue eyes looked deep into her own, and Melanie shivered. That was all the answer she needed. He was serious. Noah wasn’t the type of person to say something just to say it. He meant it.
“Melanie,” Noah called, palming her cheek, turning her so she could face him directly. “I'm in love you.”
Melanie’s heart burst from Noah's confession. She wanted to deny it. She wanted to tell him that he was caught in the ‘honeymoon phase’ of their relationship, the part where you saw everything with rose-tinted glasses, and you loved everything about your partner, even the things you should hate.
But the truth was that Melanie loved Noah too. She had felt it for a while now, and she didn’t know when it quite started, but she knew she had never felt this way towards anyone else before.
But though Melanie loved him, Noah fit into none of her plans. Since she had been young, Melanie knew the rule of succeeding in life was setting goals to follow and then creating rules to achieve them. This applied to everything, even relationships. Most marriages failed because people married for love alone. They didn't think about anything else. But Melanie thought about all of these things. She didn't want to waste her time on relationships that would head nowhere, so she created a list so she would find the best person suited for her that she could create a long-lasting marriage with. But the problem with Noah was that he fit none of her requirements.
He was a college hockey player that would soon go pro. She was positive her parents wouldn’t like him. If they thought her job didn’t contribute to anything, they definitely wouldn't think Noah's hockey-playing did. He was younger than her, and his profession was a career that was risky and wasn't long-lasting. One wrong move on the ice and his career could be over before it even started.
“Noah, I—”
Noah kissed her deeply, and though Melanie knew he was doing it so she wouldn’t think, doing it because he wanted her to feel his emotions, Melanie kissed him back because she wanted the same thing.
