A Moment Like This

I smiled to myself as I got out of bed in the morning. I could tell it would be a good day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was a bright, happy looking day outside. I showered quickly and dressed in a tank top and a comfortable pair of jeans, throwing on my Osgood jersey and slipping my feet into flats. Grabbing my keys off the counter, I locked the apartment door behind me and got into my car. I stopped at Tim Horton’s, picking up five coffees and a hot chocolate before heading to Joe Louis Arena. I stepped inside the building and headed toward the locker room. I smiled at Coach Mike Babcock on my way in.

“Morning, Coach,” I said cheerfully, passing him a cup of coffee. He smiled at me, relieved.

“I can always count on you, Rachel,” He said. I smiled wider.

“Glad to be of service,” I said. I walked into the locker room and, sure enough, there sat
Henrik, Ville, Chris and Nicklas. “Morning, boys!” I said.

“Morning, Emily,” Ville said, grabbing a cup of coffee. Henrik grabbed his next and Chris did
too with a small smile. I plopped down next to Nick and he grabbed his coffee.

“Good morning, beautiful,” He said, planting a kiss on my cheek. I rested my head on his shoulder.

“Good morning, handsome,” I kissed him on the lips lightly. There were catcalls from the doorway and we turned to see Tomas standing there, grinning like an idiot. I shook my head and took a sip of my hot cocoa. “You’re an idiot, Tomas,” I said, shaking my head. Nick smiled at me and brought my mouth back to his.

“Mmm, tastes like hot chocolate with whipped cream,” He whispered softly against my lips. I smiled and captured his lips in another kiss.

“Okay, I do not need to see this!” Pavel said. I laughed and pulled away from Nick.

“We’re done, you can uncover your eyes now,” I said. He shook his head. I sighed and pulled his hands away from his eyes.

“Oh, okay! Morning guys!” He said. I shook my head and sat down next to Nick again. He laughed lightly as I sat back down.

“Rachel, you should go find your seat now so the guys can get ready for practice,” Mike advised. I nodded and headed out to my seat. There were some other fans there, mainly little kids, and then a girl about my age came walking down. She took the seat that was three down from where I was. When Nick came over to talk to me, she gawked at him the whole time.

“Good luck at practice today,” I said to him. He smiled and nodded.

“I’ll meet you outside afterward,” He said. I nodded and blew him a kiss. He smiled and skated away.

“You are so lucky!” The girl said excitedly. I turned to her with a small smile.

“I guess I am,” I said. “Anyone particular on the team you like?” I asked. She turned a little pink.

“Well…” She started. “I do like one guy…”

“Who is it? Maybe I can hook you up,” I offered. She smiled at me.

“Ville Leino?” She said hesitantly. I smiled at her.

“Sure thing! I think you’d have a good chance with him,” I said. “My name’s Rachel,” I added.

“I’m Emily. Nice to meet you, Rachel,” She said.

“Nice to meet you, too, Emily. We need to come up with a plan,” I decided. We spent most of the practice coming up with something. Nick knocked on the glass, letting me know that practice was over. I grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her with me to the locker room. I smiled as I went over to Nick’s locker.

“Hey babe,” I said, kissing his cheek lightly.

“You didn’t even watch,” He said, pouting a little. I smiled and shook my head.

“Nope! I was helping my new friend, Emily,” I said, pointing toward her. She had made her way to Ville’s locker and was trying to talk to him. I could tell she was embarrassed; her cheeks were red. I explained to Nick my plan for hooking them up.

“So, you’re inviting Emily to our after game party to hook her up with Ville?” He confirmed.

“Yup! Pretty good plan, eh?” I said. He shook his head with a smile.

“You come up with the strangest things sometimes, Rach,” He said.

“But you still love me,” I pointed out. He nodded.

“Of course,” He said, kissing me softly. After he was finished changing, we headed out with Emily.

“You should come to Nick’s house with me after the game tonight. He’s throwing a mid-season party,” I told Emily.

“Okay, sure!” She said.

“Come down to the locker room after the game, then,” He said.

|| FF: After the game… ||

Emily and I headed down to the locker room. About ten minutes later, Nick came out and we headed to his car to get to his house. When we got there, we went inside and waited for the others to show up. When they did, we started the music, got a mini-bar going in his kitchen and sat around his house doing whatever. Ville came and sat with us and he started talking to Emily. They really hit it off, I think, because the next thing I know, Emily was sitting in Ville’s lap and they were kissing. How sweet, I thought as I turned toward Nick.

|| FF: A few months later… ||

Ville and Emily are nearly inseparable now, all thanks to me inviting Em to the party that night. Nick and I are happily married now, and Emily and Ville are next on the list. I was glad to have helped out a girl I had just met once to meet the guy of her dreams, and now she was my best friend and getting married to my husband’s teammate. Life couldn’t be better for either of us.