I'm Just a Kid That Tried Too Hard

Two nights later I am working a Bruins game. Everyone notices my particularly happy mood. My co-worker Kate keeps trying to get me to spill but I shrug her off. I get off at 8:45 so I get to catch the end of the game. The moment I walk through the arch I can tell that the Bruins are winning. It’s just the atmosphere.

I immediately see Patrice Bergeron’s # 37 jersey. Upon closer inspection, the whole line is out there. Marchand and Seguin are passing back and forth in front of the net. Brad is finally close enough to get the puck in goal. He shoots and the goalie deflects, but he catches the rebound and pops the puck in anyways.

I cheer with the rest of the Bruins fans in the place. Brad skates towards his teammates with this big grin and his arms outspread. They embrace him fondly and they are all beaming. Hell, I am beaming too. So is everyone around me. It’s so nice to see everyone so proud of my boyfri—

He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t know what we are. I can’t believe I almost called him that, even if it was only in my mind. I look around at the people standing and cheering. Some of them have Marchand jerseys on. Others have those “Nose Face Killah” shirts on. All of them focusing on the group of hugging guys on the ice.

I back up a few steps. The game would be over in a few minutes and then Brad would come looking for me because he wants to take me to dinner.

I had always had social anxiety when it came to things like this. I am continuously surprised with myself at how comfortable I am around Brad. It freaks me out. I close my eyes and try to calm myself down. When I was younger I used to have panic attacks a lot at school. I hadn’t had one in a long time. That is what I’m starting to feel. I feel like there’s not enough oxygen.
I manage to calm myself down after I take a swig of water from the bottle I brought with me. I quickly made my way from the exit way as people would soon be flowing out. I head to the bathroom and change into a nice cocktail dress. As I head back down, I flash an usher my workers pass and I go down to the bruin’s bench where he said he would meet me.

He comes out in a crisp white shirt and nice pants. He comes over to me and wastes no time giving me a swift kiss. I must still look a bit pale from the near panic attack because he looks at me funny, “Are you alright?” I nod and take his hand. He doesn’t move forward but instead gestures his head to the locker room, “Want to meet the guys…officially?” I swallow nervously but nod anyways.

I had met a couple of them at the bar that night but had never actually been introduced. To me, this seems important. This team is like another family to him and the fact that he’s introducing me means a lot.

He leads me back through the tunnel and into the locker room by my hand. “Boys!” Everyone simultaneously looks up at Brad and they start cheering. I am absolutely confused. What are they doing? I look up at Brad for some sort of answer. He shrugs down at me helplessly. Once they quieted down, Brad smiles proudly, “This is Devin. She’s my girl. I want you all to be nice to her if you see her around. Got it?” A few nod and others go back to be getting dressed.

He led me over to Tyler and Patrice. “Hey Devin!” Tyler says excitedly and bumps his hip against mine. I giggle. This boy is too much. Patrice smiles warmly down at me, “Hey there.” I smile at him, “How are you?” He sits down on the bench and looks at me, “I’m good. I’m really good.” I nod, “Lovely. I, uh.” I pause and look around to see Brad talking to Campbell a few people down.

“I wanted to thank you for picking me up that night and introducing me to Brad.” Patrice stands back up and gives me a friendly hug, “No problem Devin. I’m glad it’s working out for you. Do you have your phone on you? Let me give you my number if you ever need anything; anything at all.” I hand him over my phone and he quickly types his number in.

Brad comes back over as I finish up my conversation with Patrice. “Let’s go meet some of the other guys.” He clasps my hand in his again and drags me over to Thornton, Campbell, and McQuaid. Inside I’m fan-girling. Last year I had gone through a phase where I was obsessed with Gregory Campbell. He is still stunning standing in front of me. “Hi” I manage to stutter out stupidly.

Brad laughs, “Don’t even say anything Soupy. You could probably steal steal her away.” Campbell and I shrug at each other and smile sheepishly joking. Thornton and McQuaid laugh as Brad’s jaw drops. I stand on my toes and give him a quick kiss on the cheek, which seems to settle him down. “Devin, this is Shawn and Adam.” I nod at them and shake their hands.

“So you’re the girlfriend that Brad keeps mumbling on about. Nice to meet you.” Shawn greats me.

Well, I guess he is my boyfriend if I’m being introduced as his girlfriend. That solves that one. I guess I was all freaked out over nothing. Can you blame me though? It’s not like the two of us had ever mentioned it before.

Shawn stretches out his hand and I shake it gingerly. I have every right to be careful. I’ve seen him fight. He laughs, as if my face shows my thoughts. I smile at Adam who smiles back.

Brad moves me along and I meet the rest of the team. All of the guys were such gentlemen. I am proud to say that Brad is on such a nice team. They all seemed really friendly and funny. Milan Lucic even hugged me in greeting. I was caught off guard but returned the gesture. I think he approved.

I fidget in Brad’s car as we drive to the restaurant he had in mind. He looks over at me, “Devin, are you alright?”I really need to get a grip. I nod and pull the sleeves of the cardigan I have over my dress over my fingers. I do this when I’m nervous. He seems to pick up on my nerves. “Hey, it’s no big deal. Can’t a guy just take his pretty girl to dinner?” I laugh and nod again, “No big deal. Hakuna Matata.”

It’s obviously a mistake to say that because Brad starts singing at the top of his lungs. His voice is really just painful. He’s smiling and laughing though, so I don’t have the heart to tell him. Instead I join in until neither of us are able to remember any more of the words.

Dinner is lovely. He has me laughing almost the entire dinner, telling me stories about him and his teammates. I tell him about school and how I want to be an artist or get involved in some form of advertisement. I haven’t picked my major yet so I can still be open to ideas. He listens with this intense concentration that I saw on his face when he was on the ice.

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Soon enough he’s parked outside my apartment. As I was walking up the steps of my place, I hear his car door shut letting me know he got out. I turn around and he comes up to me. He leans in and kisses me gently. We stand there for a few moments, just making out. I pull away reluctantly, “I have to go. I have class things I need to finish for wicked early tomorrow.” He smiles and kisses my temple. “Alright. Goodnight Dev.” I mumble back a goodnight into his chest when he pulls me in for a hug. He hops into his car and drives off.

It’s not even an hour later when my phone rings. It’s Brad. “Hey there!” I say cheerfully. I managed to crank out a paper for English and was really happy with everything. We speak for awhile before admitting he has to go to bed because of an early practice and also didn’t want to keep me up any longer. I bid him goodnight but even after getting off the phone I’m still not tired. I text Ariel and invite her over.

We spend the next few hours giggling about the date. She has tears streaming down her face after I tell her about Brad’s singing. After she composes herself she looks at me, “You know, I met Patrick Kane once. We even went out to eat.” I choke on my chocolate chip cookie. I knew she grew up in Chicago but how could she hold out that juicy bit of information!?

She smiles, “I should’ve called him back…” I nod at her like she’s stupid. She smiles even wider, “I wonder if he’s at the same number. Maybe I will sometime.”