Over Christmas Break

As I walked into my childhood home, I had memories of the past waltz into my brain. It was hard not to remember the many years I had spent in this particular home. What I didn’t expect was to find a 5’11” hockey player sitting on my bed in my old bedroom.

“Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t realize you were here,” I said after a quick jump into the air as I thought I was the only one home, or rather, in this room.

“It’s not a problem; you must be Harper, yes?” he stood from his spot on the bed and took a step towards me, hand extended.

“Mmmh,” I replied, trying not to stare at the perfection of a human being that is David Toews while shaking his hand. I realized when shaking hands with him that my hands were not even half the size of his, but they fit nicely around mine, not awkwardly.

“I’m David Toews; your parents host me during the season.” I chuckled softly at the simplicity of this situation. Why would I not know who David is? If I didn’t know who he was, wouldn’t I have flipped out about a stranger being in my house, and my room?

“So I’ve heard. It’s nice to meet you. Do you know where my mom is?” I asked as I headed back out into the little hall at the top of our stairs where my bedroom was located. He followed me, making me realize just how small of a hallway this was as his scent filled the entire space.

“She didn’t tell you? She and Jim took a trip with your siblings to Florida with your grandparents.”

“So they left me, great. I try to come to surprise them and they leave me. How perfect,” I complained to no one in particular while spinning in circles with my arms in the air.

“Did they know you were coming?” he slowly leaned back against the white wall that was between my bedroom and the bathroom, arms crossed over his chest. It just made this wall of a man look even sexier if you asked me.

“No, I was supposed to go see my cousin’s in Hawaii, but plans fall through and I got snowed in at the Dubuque airport. So I thought I’d come home for a few weeks instead because they can’t get me on another flight until that week of Christmas because they had to cancel all outgoing flights to Hawaii.” I sighed as I explained and looked into his sparkly eyes. They were charming enough, not too bright, and not too dull, but the perfect shade of blue.

“I see. Well, they told me that they wouldn’t be back until after New Year’s. So you are stuck with me until then.” I smiled lightly. “This used to be your room, right?” he pointed to the room on his left and where we had exited to stand in the carpeted hall.

“Yeah, before I left for college and Mom and Jim got married.” It was my turn to cross my arms over my chest, of course, I didn’t look so sophisticated when I did it because I am not a particularly flat chested woman, but not overly outdone either.

“Jim’s not your biological dad?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. In my head I was applauding him for being such a showoff without even trying to be one.

“Nope, he’s only Jessica's and Jordan's. They are my step-sisters. And I honestly can’t tell you if I like or dislike them because I’ve never had to spend more than a few hours with them.” I shrugged and headed down the stairs to head into the kitchen. Again, David followed.

“So Jason’s your biological brother?” he asked as I opened the pantry just to close it again as it was practically empty.

“Yes. I’ve been told many a times that we look a like. I don’t ever see it, but I can’t be rude. Well, I’m going to set my stuff in his room and change to go for a run. Do you know what’s in the fridge or freezer that I could make for dinner?” I asked heading back towards the stairway. He blocked my path though.

“Go to the gym with me, we can grab dinner on the way back.” He blurted it out and than realized what he had said and looked almost sickly. I didn’t really respond to how he looked after realizing what he said, just his statement.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think I should get to know my host family’s oldest daughter.” He recovered smoothly. I again was giving him mental kudos for being able to strike a quick response to an awkward question with ease.

“Alright, let me pack a small gym bag. Will there be a girl’s locker room?” I asked the hockey player thinking that we’d be going to their training facilities for the Rockford Ice Hogs.

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll drive and meet you here in the kitchen,” and he was gone up the stairs. I braced myself against the wall that lead to the family room and fell to the ground slowly. That man is so damn fine. I can’t believe it will just be him and I in this house that I grew up in for the next month.