A Beautiful Mistake

My alarm went off the next morning right at 6 am, just like usual, but I hit the snooze button. Next thing I know, I woke up to my phone ringing. I was half asleep, but I still answered it. “Hello?”

“Dude, where are you at? It’s 9:30. Practice starts in thirty minutes. McClellan will have a shit fit if you’re late,” Seto yelled into my phone.

“Shit. Sorry. Just calm down, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Tell McClellan!” I hung up on him, threw on a shirt and shorts, and my bag of gear. I was out the door in less than 5 minutes. I never understood why it takes women so long to get ready...

I walked into the tank ten minutes later, ran into the locker room, and threw on my gear. I was out on the ice with the rest of the team at 9:55. Seto and McGinn came up to me.
 
"Dude what's up with you this week? You're like never late to practice," Ginner said.
 
"I'm not late. I'm here right now and it's not even 10 am yet, am I right? I said.
 
"Whatever. What are you doing so late at night causing you to sleep in?" Seto questioned me.
 
"What does it matter to you, dude? Mind ya business."
 
"I bet you he was getting some, Seto," Ginner joked. Just at that moment, Ryane skated up.
 
"What's that I hear? Logan having sexy time? Haha, what a concept!" Clowe said, nudging me with his elbow.
 
"Oh, shut up. You're just jealous that you didn't think to steal Carrie Underwood from Fisher when they flew in last night."
 
"Oh yeah, totally jealous that I'm not a homewrecker. No really man, what did you do last night?" Jamie always got up into my business.
 
"I went to Christmas in the Park last night with someone, if that's alright with you guys."
 
"Ooh, who? Do I know her? Will I meet her? Are you two a thing yet?" Seto asked, always acting like the thirteen year old.
 
"No, you don't know her. I don't know if you'll meet her. No, we're not a 'thing'. I met her on Sunday when we were at that club."
 
Just then, McClellan walked out. "Okay, all you children, get going," he bellowed. We did the usual shooting practice on Niitty and Nemo, some various other drills, and even a mini scrimmage.  We were playing the Predators tonight, and they were on a five game winning streak. We had to be sure to break it, and be sure to continue ours.
 
After practice, Jamie came up to me in the locker room.
 
"Hey bro, I'm happy for you," he said.
 
"I haven't even known her for a week though. Am I rushing things?"
 
"Eh, maybe. I don't know. It depends. You should definitely give it a shot though."
 
"Last night with her was so much fun. She so adorable and funny."
 
"Why don't you get her some tickets for tonight's game?"
 
"I don't know, she might already have some. She's been a Sharks fan forever, plus she's a sports reporter for the Mercury News."
 
"Dude, just ask her. It won't hurt one bit. But this definitely will!" He took his shirt he had in his hand and snapped me with it.
 
"Ow, that hurt, you asshole." I laughed. "Get out of here."
 
"Fine, I'll leave you to handle your sensitive white boy problems on your own..."
 
xxxx
 
I was sitting in my office at work, working on an article when I got a call. "Hello?" I answered quickly.
 
"Hey Rachel, it's Logan. Is this a bad time?"
 
"No, it's okay." I beamed. His voice totally made my day better. "I'm just at work, writing. Don't worry, nothing big."
 
"Ohh, I see. Something about the Sharks, perhaps?" he laughed. I knew he had that trademark smirk on his face.
 
"As a matter of fact, yes. It's on how I think the team will do on the second half of this season, based on the first."
 
"Oh really? And how do you think we'll do?"
 
"You guys will suddenly suck and have all your hockey skills taken away from you by weird midget aliens. You'll have to go into a cartoon alternate universe and win a game against them to get your skills back. Oh, and you'll win the Stanley Cup."
 
"Nice 'Space Jam' reference there, miss." He chuckled. "No really though, how do you think we'll do? I'm curious to hear your opinion.
 
"You've all been playing really solid and strong, especially the d-men. I think you'll play the same. Mostly wins, a handful of losses, but lots of overtimes and shootouts. I think this team has a serious shot at bringing the cup back to San Jose this year."
 
"Sweet. I think we have a pretty decent shot, too. We just have to keep playing the same. We'll have to see, of course. Anyways, I was wondering if you were coming to the game tonight."
 
"I'm actually not, the paper is sending someone else to cover tonight."
 
"Well that's good, now you don't have to sit in the dingy press box. Would you like a pair of seats behind the team's bench?"
 
"Oh my god, of course I would! Thank you, Logan." I paused. "But who do I bring with me?" I wanted to sit with him, of course, but, duhh. He'd be playing in the game.
 
"Bring one of your friends or something. It doesn't matter. I'd pick you up but I have to be there early. I hope you don't mind. I'll have your tickets at will call."
 
"I don't mind one bit," I told him. He was such a gentleman, and I loved it. "Thanks again Logan. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Rachel." I hung up the phone and just smiled. Just then, my boss walked by.

"Hi Rachel, hot date tonight?" she joked. I liked Connie. She was pretty cool, not every uptight.

"You could say that," I responded.

"Have fun, just make sure your article is done before you leave today, okay?" She walked off.

"Yes, of course." I turned back to my computer screen and tapped away at the keyboard until my article was finished. I looked at the clock. 4pm already. I dialed Katie to see if she would come with me to the came, and of course she said yes. I left the office and hightailed it to my studio to get changed. I put on my comfortable jeans and Converse sneakers, and grabbed my Patrick Marleau jersey. I wished I had one of Logan's, but this would have to do. Marleau was probably the greatest Sharks player ever, so it was okay. I threw my hair up into a ponytail and put on some teal eyeliner. Perfect, and ready for the Sharks game.

I picked up Katie on the way to the tank and she looked pretty much the same as me, except with a Torrey Mitchell jersey. He was her all time favorite. When we got to the tank, we picked up our tickets at will call and headed inside to our seats.

"Whoa, we have seats right behind the player bench? No way! How'd you get them?" Katie exclaimed when we reached our seats.

"I have my ways..." I smiled.

"Logan, huh?" I just nodded back, still with a grin on my face.

Eventually the game got started. The players came skating out of the locker room through the giant shark head, and I was cheering for them at the top of my lungs. The rest of the players filed onto the bench as the national anthem began, while Logan and the first line remained on the ice. He was one of the starting players this game. The ref dropped the puck, and the game began.

After a few minutes, the lines changed, and Logan came back to the bench. I caught his eye and smiled at him, giving him a little wave. He gave me the smile that made my heart jump a bit.

The game overall was a rather boring game, honestly. It stayed 0-0 pretty much the entire game, as both teams and the goalies were playing really solid. There were few power plays as well, and both teams were great with the penalty kill. That is until the third period.

With 5 minutes left, Thornton was in the faceoff circle and won it, and passed it to Logan, and then he got the breakaway. He was skating up towards Pekka Rinne with Mike Fisher and Steve Sullivan trailing right behind him, when he flicked it right into the net, right behind Rinne. He immediately turned around as the goal horn went off and made eye contact with me, and smiled. That then I knew the goal was for me.

They continued to dominate in faceoffs for the last few minutes, keeping it in Nashville's zone. They didn't score again, as Rinne tightened his defense, but they manged to hold off the Preds from scoring, so they won.

Logan got 1st star of the game that night, followed by Niemi and Thornton. As the crowd filed out of the tank, Katie and I hung back in our seats for a bit, since I knew that Logan would want me to meet him in the locker room. He texted me saying he'd tell me when it was pretty much cleared out.

Katie and I waited right outside of it until I heard from him. It was weird being there not as a reporter, just as a normal fan and person. My phone buzzed.

"Hey Rachel, come on in. The press is out of here. But just you, have Katie go home..." he texted me. Katie wasn't too thrilled with that, but she finally agreed and said she'd take my car home. I handed her the keys and then tiptoed into the locker room.

"Hello? Logan, are you here?" Mostly everyone had gone except for a few staff members and players.

"Tsk tsk, a Patrick Marleau jersey..." he said as he came out from around the corner, dressed in his jeans, sandals, and a t-shirt, with a towel hanging around his neck. "I really need to get you one of mine."

"Hi," I said, rather breathlessly. He still looked slightly sweaty, and I had to admit it was really hot. "Great game you played there."

"I don't mean to be a show off, but I've played better," he chuckled. "That was nothing. Though Pekka Rinne was one tough goalie to figure out. He walked over to his locker, and I followed him. He pulled out his jersey and handed it to me.

"What? For me?" I was sort of shocked.

"Of course. Marleau's a great player and a great guy, but you really need one with the number 39 on it. I'd just suggest washing it first, I wore it tonight. It kinda stinks."

"You're so sweet. Thank you so much, Logan. I love it." I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then right away I felt my face turn red. He just smiled, yet again. I loved his smile.

"Do you need a ride home?" he asked.

"Well I didn't before, but you told my ride to leave, Mr. Couture."

"Oh I did, didn't I? Well then, looks like I'm stuck taking you home." He took my hand as we left the locker room. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything to you this time. I'm just being a gentleman, m'dear."

I just smiled and laughed. Logan was really growing on me, and I didn't mind one bit.