Falling for the Rivalry Team Player

I awoke and it was ten am. The first thing I did was looked at my phone and I noticed that at two thirty five am, Milan had text me telling me he arrived. I had butterflies in my stomach because I knew I was going to see him again today. I was going to take him around my hometown and I would hope that he’d enjoy himself. I had a rough idea of what I was going to do.

I called my best friend Katelynn yesterday and we talked for hours about everything. I told her how amazing Milan was and the connection we shared and how he was coming to Montreal and everything. She was gushing almost more than I was at some point, especially when I told her about being shirtless and the peck he gave me, she yelled so loud. I swear she could have woken up her entire block for how loud she yelled, any louder and she would have woken up my street too. I was given specific instructions from her that she needed to meet him and put in a special request if she could meet Patrice Bergeron. I’m pretty sure Milan would be okay with that and I’d love for her to meet him, I think they’d get along really well.

I decided to call Milan today, since he was in Montreal, it should be okay and I felt that he kept on calling me, it was only fair that I called him at least once. I also needed to tell him where to meet me and it would be a lot easier to explain and give him directions and I just wanted to hear his voice again. I couldn’t get enough of it and the fact that he was in Montreal, I was going to take major advantage of that.

I called and he answered right away.

“Hey, hey there,” he said

He always needed to be charming, there was no way he could just start with a simple hey. Nope that just didn’t seem like Milan’s style.

“So where are you?” I asked

“Oh that’s your concern, not asking me how I’m doing or how my flight was, thanks,” he said

“Will you shut it, and just answer my question,” I said

I knew that Milan was kidding around, but he met his match because there was no way I was going to back down.

“I’m staying at the Queen Elizabeth hotel,” he said.

“Oh okay, so you’re not too far, but not too close either,” I said.

“So where and what time?” he asked.

“Well I need to know what my mode of transportation is,” I told him

“Hmm, let me see, I’m in Montreal, have a car rented and everything, but you can take the bus to come and see me,” he said.

“Haha, real funny, I couldn’t assume you were coming to pick me up, that’s nonsense,” I said

“Candice, you’re nonsense,”

“Ouch, I’m offended, maybe I don’t want to see you after all,” I said.

He chuckled a little bit and I couldn’t help but laugh along with him. We both knew that we wanted to see each other and badly too.

“Okay so you can’t pick me up at home,” I said

“Why not?”

“Uhm, my parents don’t exactly know about you,” I said.

“Oh,”

“You see, my parents are Habs fans to the death and well they wouldn’t appreciate the fact that I’m seeing someone from the opposing team, especially Boston.” I said honestly

“That does make sense, but what would you suggest?”

I heard my mom call my name.

“Milan, hold on a sec,” I said

“All right,”

I walked down to the kitchen and asked my mom what she wanted. She told me that her and my dad were going to go visit my aunt in the South Shore and they were leaving in ten minutes.

“How come I wasn’t invited?”

Not that I wanted to go or anything.

“There’s a chance your birthday is going to be a topic, so we can’t risk you hearing anything,”

“Fair enough mom,” I said

“Yes so we’re leaving in ten minutes like I said, and we won’t be back until later on tonight, you’ll be okay right?” She asked.

“Of course, if anything I can head over to Katelynn’s house,” I said

“Very true, all right, no need to keep you here, go back to doing whatever it is you’re doing,” she said.

I rushed back up to my room, I really hoped Milan was on the other end still.

“Change of plans,” I said

“Really?” He asked

He sounded a little disappointed, but hey he waited for me.

“Yes, my parents are leaving in ten minutes, so maybe you could be here in about thirty minutes,” I suggested

“Can I get there in thirty minutes?” He asked

“You should be able to, but I’ll give you a bit of leeway?” I asked

“How sweet of you Candice, I’ll try to be there as fast as possible,” he said.

“I’ll be waiting,” I said

“What should I wear?” he asked

“Hmm I always thought that I’d be asking you that question and not the other way around,” I said.

“Candice, it’s not always on the girl you know?” He said.

“Not really, I don’t know. I haven’t been on many dates,” I said

“That’s a shame, but hey you said date,”

Shit, I did say that didn’t I?

“Well, I mean uh, if you want it to be,” I said

“It’s a date,” he said

“And to answer your question, wear something casual, we’re getting poutine,” I said

“Oh joy, a lot of greasy food,” he said

“You know it,” I said

With that I began to freak out and I felt that what I was wearing and I felt as though I didn’t look presentable enough for him. I needed to look amazing; I wanted to impress him.
I looked through my closet and tried to see if there was something I could wear. Right now I had a pink V-neck T-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans on. I felt too plain, I know I said casual, but casual didn’t have to mean boring. I really wanted to look good, it was our second date, I needed to impress him if I wanted there to be a third date.

I decided on wearing a pair of red skinny jeans and a black v-neck and a pair of gold flats. I hoped that I looked cute enough for him. I wanted to make my face look a little better, so I put my long crimson hair into a slick back pony tail. I put a little bit of blush on, a light purple eye shadow that had a little bit of shimmer and two coats of my mascara. I put on some grape scented lip gloss and I was ready. I made sure I had my purse and a little cardigan in case it happened to get chilly, depending on how long we were going to be staying out until. I made sure that my wallet and phone were in there.

I looked down at my watch and if Milan was on time, he’d be here in about five minutes. The butterflies erupted in my stomach and I couldn’t take it. I thought I was going to puke.

I kept on pacing back and forth in my hallway wondering what I’d say when I saw him. I kept on thinking about what if he didn’t show up and had a change of heart. Or maybe what if he realized I wasn’t pretty enough for him, or he didn’t like the way I was dressed. What if he saw me today and realized I just wasn’t his type after all. What was I going to do then?

I looked down at my watch again, and my heart sank. He should have been ten minutes ago. I felt a tear rush down my face and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I guess I was completely foolish for believing that he was actually going to show up. I mean why would he want to see me again? He could have any girl he wanted.

I just sat on my steps and was contemplating going back to my room. I really didn’t know what else to do.

I checked my phone to see if maybe Milan had text me to tell me he was running late, but nope there wasn’t a message.

Last message I got from him was after we got off the phone with each other and he told me he couldn’t wait to see me.

Guess he lied to me.

I was about to walk up the stairs when my door bell rang. Could it be that it was him? I mean there was no one else that was supposed to come over today.

I looked through the class and it really did look like him. I felt my heart want to leap out of my chest. I answered the door and there he was, tall and handsome at my doorstep.

I hugged him tightly and he smelt so freaking good.

“You smell nice,” I said rather dumbly.

“You do too,” he said

I pulled away from his hug and he had a smirk on his face.

“I’m late,” he said

“Yes, you really are, you made me worry,” I said

“Worry?” He asked.

“I thought you were going to stand me up,” I said

He kissed my forehead lightly and I blushed.

“What kind of fool would stand you up, there’s a reason why I’m late,” he said

“A reason? What reason?” I asked.

“Actually no, there are reasons, with an s,” he said

“What are they?” I said in a whine

“You’ll just have to wait and see now won’t you,” he said

“That isn’t fair,” I said

“I know, but you’ll love them I’m sure of it,” he said.

I smiled.

“Hey, give me a second, close your eyes okay.”

I did as he said, what could he possibly be doing?

“You can open,” he whispered softly in my ear

As I opened my eyes, he was holding a blue rose in his hands. He handed it to me and I smiled. He got me a rose and a blue one on top of that. Not that blue was my favorite color or anything, but a blue rose was a lot prettier than a red in my opinion. I loved it so much and I couldn’t take the smile off of my face.

“It’s beautiful,” I said

“Like its owner,”

Oh what a cheese ball he was and I loved it.

“Where are we off to?” He asked.

“I say poutine for lunch,” I said

“Do we have to?” He asked.

“Yes, yes we do, it’s poutine, or I am going back inside,” I said

“Fine,” he said

“Before we go, want to come in my house?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure what came over me, but I wanted him to see what my place was like. I also wanted to put my rose in my room, somewhere that my parents wouldn’t find it. I wasn’t in the mood for any kind of questioning.

I took him in my house and I gave him a pretty quick tour. He seemed to be fascinated most by the kitchen and when I asked him why, I noticed tear well up in his eyes.

“My mom and I, used to cook together all the time and it was some of the most fun I had when I was younger.” He said

“Why did you stop?” I asked.

“Started getting into sports, started not having time to cook anymore, she stopped asking for my help, hell we barely had time for home cooked meals anymore because we were always on the go,” he said

I smiled and nodded for him to keep going.

“Cooking kind of held me and my mom together and slowly but surely we drifted, I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually got to cook a meal,” he said

“Really?” I asked.

“Yea, I never get to really cook for myself, most of the time I have take out, or we go eat out, or it’s team meals or the coaches invite us over, never just me cooking,”

“What about when you go back home in the summer?” I asked.

“When I do go back home, I don’t cook anymore, feels like if I cook I’m intruding on a space. I feel fake if I cook, just there for the summer anywhere, my mom doesn’t ask, maybe I’ll peel potatoes but that’s how far it goes now,”

Hearing him say this brought tears to my eyes. It was really nice to hear him share his stories. I also couldn’t imagine not cooking, I loved to cook with my mom and she loved to cook with me. Most Sundays it was family cooking day and those days were always my favorite. It was nice to see this softer side of Milan.

I went over and hugged him tightly.

“You want to cook here?” I asked.

“We were going out for poutine,” he said.

“I know, but your story touched me and now I want to cook,” I said.

He smiled at me and pulled me closer to his body. I took in his scent and blushed. I knew that he and I needed to cook a meal together.

“How about we go pick up some groceries at some place and we come back here, make lunch and then go out and about in Montreal?” I suggested

“The perfect date, with the perfect girl,” he said

He pecked my lips again and we headed out to the grocery store.