“Ohmygoodness,” I laughed and hugged him back. “Why are youhere?”
“I wanted to finish my ‘because’ from earlier. I couldn’t leave without finishing it.”
“Yeah?” I brushed my nails through his short hair and he nuzzled further into me, enjoying it like he was a happy puppy.
“I was going to say…” he looked at me with serious eyes. “It’s because I love you.”
“You love me?” I asked breathlessly, praying to God that I heard right.
A blush started creeping into his face then. “Is that okay?” he asked.
“It’s perfect. Because I love you too, Nick Johns,” I told himearnestly.
I think I’d been in love with him formonths.
We were teenagers in love, all alone in my bedroom– you’d think we would’ve gotten into a bit more trouble than we did… but that wasn’t us. If my parents would’ve opened my door, they would’ve found me and Nick in the middle of competing to see who could do the most handstand push-ups against the wall behind my bed, or whispering stories to each other, or debating over who we thought had the best chances in the NHL playoffs– I said Tampa, he said Toronto. Then we fell asleep cuddling– my butt pushed up against him, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist…
It was the very first time Nick snuck in through my window to spend the night cuddling with me, and it definitely wasn’t thelast…
16. Griff
By the end of the spring season, Nick had a bunch of offers lined up in front of him… But I hadn’t gotten one yet.
After a rough scrimmage against a visiting Chicago team, Coach called me into his office.
I cut my eyes to Nick’s. He made a fist and reached it out to me for a knuckle punch.
“You got it,” he encouraged with his signature lopsided smile. “It’ll all work out.”
I blew out a breath, hoping that what he said would be true.
As soon as I entered Coach’s office, he nodded at the chair across from him for me to take a seat… but I wanted to remain standing. I had too much nervous energy pent up inside me to sit.
“So, I want to talk about next year. I know you and Johns don’t have agents,” hestarted.
He was right. Agents cost money, which neither of us had. We were stuck trying to get on teams the old-fashioned way: hustling like crazy to make a name for ourselves in tournament games and actually showing up to tryouts. This would’ve been fine, if not for the fact that most of the college and higher-up teams were already selected before the tryouts even started. I was beginning to lose hope that I’d end up anywhere even half decent next year.
“Now, I’ve talked to Johns about what he wanted, and I’ve also talked to you… and it seems like the two of you want different things.”
I cringed hearing this aloud. It was true… I’d known for a while, but Nick seemed pretty in denial about the whole thing.
“So, it might be best if you and Johns start thinking about going separate ways for a bit,” he continued. “It’s rare that players can stick together on the same teams forever, kid. I’m honestly surprised the two of you have lasted thislong.”
I grimaced. He probably had no clue that Nick turned down a spot in the OHL last year in order to follow me here.
“I tried to help both of you guys out… But I also know that Johns will probably try to get on your team if he finds out where you’re going, regardless of what he actually wants. Do with that information what you will,” he paused, giving me a hard stare.
That was also true. The second Nick found out where I was asked to play, he’d make some calls and end up on that team too, even if that wasn’t what was best for him. Every team wanted him next year, so he had the power to do that.
“With that being said, there’s a couple division two and three colleges who’ve called about you guys… and Nick couldprobablyget into those schools too.”
I grimaced again. While school had always come easy to me, Nick struggled and didn’t really care. If he couldn’t understand something quick, his focus went out the window. That’s probably why he spent so much time in the rink- hockey came naturally easy to him, so he worked harder at it. After he almost failed pre-calc, I took a look at his notebook and saw that it was filled with all hockey plays– no mathwhatsoever.
The issue with division two or three though was that most of those colleges didn’t give full-ride scholarships for hockey… and some of them considered hockey a club sport, so you’d actually have to pay to play…
“Don’t look too upset.” He threw a folder on his desk toward me then. “Minnesota-Duluth wants you. They’re offering you a full-ride, kid.”
I felt my mouth drop open. Minnesota-Duluth was Division 1. I immediately grabbed up the folder, then paused when I saw the gparequirement…
