Here I Am

I was sitting in the seats in the UC, fiddling with the box I had just bought. I was deep in thought and didn’t even hear the footsteps behind me.

“What’s that?” Tazer snatched the box from me. He opened it and raised an eyebrow. “Well, well, well. How long have you two been dating?” he asked.

“Like four months now,” I admitted.

He tossed the box back to me. “It’s about time,” he said and walked away, hands in his pockets whistling a tune.

I sighed, and shook my head, trying to organize my thoughts. Finally, I stood up and almost fell down due to the fact that my legs were numb.

I walked into the locker room where I found some of the earlier arriving guys doing their pre-game traditions.

“You ready Crow?” Coach walked past me. “Kick those damn Coyotes out of the UC!”

I nodded, not really paying attention. I stuck the box under my hat in my stall and started getting ready a slower pace.

“Hey!” Delia walked in and I paled. I hoped I had covered it well enough. She couldn’t know about it.

“Hi,” I smiled, hoping it was big enough.

She gave me a look. “You okay there goalie-man?” she pecked me on the cheek and shook her head. “The Coyotes suck and you will dominate the pipes. So can you please stop looking like you’re going into a haunted house.”

I snapped out of it. “I’m not scared of haunted houses,” I stated.

“You should have seen him at Halloween,” Kaner muttered, slipping on his gear a few stalls over. “He screams like a girl.”

“I think you’re confusing him with yourself,” Kruger rolled his eyes. “You were the one screaming for your mommy.”

Delia stifled her laughter and turned back to me. “All right. I’m going to go find our seats. I left Riles with Viktor. I think he’s giving him beauty tips,” she shook her head and kissed me again, except on the lips. “I’ll see you after the game,” she smiled and walked out.

I played horribly. But I wasn’t the only one as everyone else sucked just as bad as I did.

But something happened in the third period. I looked up during a break and I saw Delia and Riley smiling and shooting me the thumbs up. They didn’t care that I’ve let three goals past or that I wasn’t playing up to par.

I skated over to the bench where the rest of the guys were sitting there defeated. “We fucking suck!” I told them. “Jesus, their mascot is a damn coyote. Let’s fucking crush them!” instead of shaking my fist, I shook my goal stick and they all rallied with me.

And we pulled it out in the end. We won 4-3 in a shootout, but it didn’t matter because we fucking won.

I wasn’t even paying attention in the locker room. I was too happy and celebrating with Delia. I should have been paying attention though.

“Corey what’s this?” Riley held out the box. “It fell down.”

My eyes widened and I tried to snatch it, but he was seven years old and thought that everything was a game. “No, don’t!” I shouted, but it was too late. He ran it over to Delia and handed it to her.

“What’s this buddy?”

“It fell out of Corey’s stall. I think it’s important,” he told her.

She looked confused, examining the box and opened it up before I could even think about moving my feet. She looked shocked by the content and stared at it for a few minutes, while I stared at her, unable to move.

“Corey,” she finally asked, looking up. “What is this?”

I couldn’t answer. She didn’t look pleased. She didn’t look happy. She looked scared and slightly angry.

“It’s a ring Delia! Duh!” Riley answered for me.

“Are you asking me to marry you?”