Over Christmas Break

At the end of my five mile run, I looked over to see David starring at me, not even walking. His treadmill was off and he just stared.

“Yes?”

“How do you do it? I’m a hockey player and I couldn’t even make it past two miles. How do you do five miles at that speed?” he questioned.

“What you forget, Sir Hockey, is that you do mostly sprinting on skates. Skating doesn’t use the same muscles as running, so therefore, I can run for longer while you can skate for longer.”

“Well, I guess I’ll stick to the skating then.”

“Sounds like a plan, now I need to stretch than shower and we can go. Is there anything else you have to do?”

“Stretching sounds like a plan.”

“Don’t forget the shower, I ran more but you stink more,” I playfully pushed him and we shared a few laughs.

After thoroughly stretching out our hamstrings and quads, we headed to our respective locker rooms to shower. I slowly wiped away the sweat and grime before ending the showed to blow dry my hair. Once it was dry, I dressed in my yoga pants, which just happened to be the best invention ever, and a Blackhawks t-shirt. I exited the locker room to find him already waiting for me.

“I knew girls took longer.”

“I had to blow dry my hair so I wouldn’t get sick! Otherwise I would have been first!” I defended myself against him. He just laughed and shook it off.

“Where to first, dinner or the store?” was his next comment once in the car.

“Dinner, I’m starving!”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Please tell me you’ve been to Red Robin,” I requested.

“No, they have burgers, don’t they?”

“Yes, how have you lived with my family since August and not gone to Red Robin’s?”

“I don’t know? Your mom always talks about it, but I’ve never gone out to eat with them.”

“Never?”

“Nope, they always invite me, but I just think I’d be intruding on family time or something.”

“Well than, we are going to Red Robin. It’s over by Gordman’s anyways!” he shrugged and brought the car towards our destination. When we arrived, no one recognized him as David Toews or even Jonathan’s younger brother, I’m sure he was relieved. “So, when did you start playing hockey?” I asked after the hostess brought us to a table in the back.

“When I was three, my dad taught both me and Jon how to skate. Jon learned a lot faster than I did because he was bigger, but I always had fun.”

“That’s cute.”

“I guess, it was just life, by the time I turned seven, I had the best hockey ability of my entire pee-wee team.”

“That’s cool; I was never all that good at sports. I spend more time injured than playing.”

“How so?” he asked before taking a sip of water.

“Seventh grade, I dislocated a knee. Freshman year, tore a meniscus, sophomore year, it was the ACL. I was pretty much done after that. I played here and there, but I was never good.”

“I’m sure you were good,” he made sure to say.

“If I was any good, I would’ve been on varsity, but I played once for varsity, that’s it.”

“Varsity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Like the NHL, not exactly the best lifestyle. You get jumped every time you leave your house or in your hotel, there’s always a puck bunny around. It’s horrible.”

“Yeah, but those are minor things. I’m sure there are just as many good things if not more.”

“Let me list another few that Jon complains about constantly, always being in the public eye, never having a private life, having no friends besides teammates, and never seeing family except in offseason.”

“But the perks!” I interjected.

“They are good for a little while.”

“Then why try to get moved up? If it’s so bad, why go up?”

“There’s no where to go but up,” he logically replied.

“You could go down; to a level that no one knows your name. You could be a nobody. Would you rather be a nobody or a somebody?”

“I guess when you put it that way; I want to be a somebody.”

“That’s why the NHL is the way to go.”

“Can I take your order?” a waiter asked, breaking our conversation.

“I’ll take the Bruchetta burger, everything on it,” he absent mindedly ordered.

“Bacon burger, just cheese and ketchup, oh, and garlic fries please.”

“Anything to drink?” the waiter requested to know.

“Water, for both of us,” David replied. The waiter took our menus and was gone.

“How did you know I’d want water?”

“Well, after working out, you shouldn’t drink carbonated drinks, and I’m so used to ordering what after a game or something that I didn’t even think about it. Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just not used to being ordered for, that’s all.”

“Okay. So, what do you study at school?”

“I’m actually double majoring and minoring. My majors are pre-law and history while my minors are sports management and business.”

“That sounds like a heavy class load.”

“They only allow so many classes per semester to get the most out of your education.”

“That must be nice.”

“I guess, but it’s also a pain in the ass. I have to go an extra year to get the right amount of credits to graduate.”

“Can’t you take summer classes or something?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. Believe me; the thought has crossed my mind a few times.” I took a sip of my water that had been placed in front of me. “What did you study? When you go pro, you never hear what they studied in college before they go pro.”

“I majored in sports management.”

“What kind of position were you looking for if you didn’t go pro?”

“I wanted to be a coach, little league in my hometown of Winnipeg.”

“That’s really cute.”

“Thanks, my ex and I actually planned on buying this little place not to far from the local ice rink just so we could both work there. She was going into the business side of things.”

“When did you break up?”

“About the time I got drafted to the Islanders.”

“A distance thing?” I asked before our food came to the table. He just nodded. He dug into his burger and didn’t talk much after that. I decided to do the same. I let him try my fries since I requested the garlic ones they only made if requested for and he shared a piece of his burger so I could try it.

Overall, the meal was pretty delicious and we headed to Gordman’s after dinner. I went straight for the sweaters and found a few that I liked, picked them up, and grabbed a sparkly top and a plain black v-neck and was ready to go.

“You are a quick shopper,” he commented as we headed for the registers. I opened my wallet, but he put his hand over it. “I’ve got it.”

“But you paid for dinner. And besides, I was the one who forgot this kind of stuff in my dorm.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it,” he pulled out a credit card and paid the fifty dollars for all my stuff. I shrugged it off and made a mental note to leave him fifty dollars when I left.

“Well, thanks for taking me everywhere tonight. It was fun,” I said as we walked into the house.

“You’re welcome. Say, want to go to the game tomorrow night? I can get you glass seats, for free.”

“Really?” was my response.

“Well, yeah. Right behind the bench, I get two every game. Your brother and sisters seem to take them most of the time.”

“Sure, but I don’t know who to bring!”

“Anyone, but you can catch a ride with me. Meet some of the other guys before the game, and go out with us if we win after the game.”

“You sure there’s no one else you want to ask?”

“Nope, let me know in the morning, good night.” He waved as he entered my old room and I went in the one next to it. I just curled up and fell asleep listening to the radio, deciding if I would go to the game and attempt to get even closer to the hottest male specimen I had ever seen.