Ready to Live

Come six o'clock, I began getting ready for Brandon to pick me up.

"How do I look? Is this appropriate attire for a game?"

I simply wore a pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt.

"Yeah. However, I will come with you to get you some Penguin gear though, tomorrow."

I nodded.

"Ok."

Fifteen minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. With a smile, I answered the door with a smile and received a warm hug from him.

"You ready for some hockey?"

"Absolutely. Are you?"

"Absolutely."

I was so excited, I almost couldn't contain myself.

"You seem really excited."

"Of course I am. I get to watch hockey!"

He laughed. That's when Mason came out of the kitchen and hugged me.

"Hey Brandon."

"Hey Mason."

"You prepared for her? I have no idea how she's gonna be after tonight."

I simply shook my head.

"I'm always prepared for anything."

I laughed.

"Well, I can't wait for her to tell how the night went."

"I can't wait to see what she's gonna be like tonight."

I bit my lip and tried not to smile, but it didn't really work out that way. Less than a minute later, we were out the door and on the way to his house. The second we arrived and I was actually in his house, the excitement that was building up was ready to burst.

"When's the game start again?" I asked as I sat down.

"In 20 minutes."

"Who's playing?"

"The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens." he said with a smile.

"Good rivalry?"

"Great rivalry. There were six teams known as the Original Six for decades and those are just two of them. There weren't more teams until 1967 when they added six more teams."

"Well, I really can't wait to watch this game now."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Who are you rooting for?"

"The Rangers. Definitely."

"I guess I'll root for them, then."

After our pizza and wings arrived that he refused to let me pay for, the game was about to start and my foot was tapping on the carpeted floor. The second the puck dropped, the squeal that I was holding in finally came out and I hoped Brandon didn't think I was crazy.

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to. You must think I'm nuts." I said blushing.

"It's okay. I'd be kinda worried if you didn't have that type of reaction, especially during your first game." he said laughing.

"That's a relief."

"You know, I still can't believe this is your first time watching hockey. Luke never watched it?"

"Never and watching it with Mason was never even an option."

I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"Well, at least you get to now."

"Anytime I'd like."

He smiled and turned back to the game. Nothing much happened in the first, but a penalty with literally only a minute left in the period. The second however was definitely different; three goals were scored, but not by the team Brandon and I wanted to score. I was irritated, so naturally, I shook my head and let out an unpleasant sound; I growled.

"What was that?"

"I'm irritated. You know what that was." I said in a surprisingly not irritating tone.

"You sound like a disgruntled fan already. You're almost a full-fledged fan."

"If my team wins, then I'll be a full-fledged fan."

"Fantastic fan."

Turns out, all that happened is that I learned about the game and the other team won. Brandon took it better than I did, but I expected that. He's been playing hockey since he was a kid.

"Well, that game sucked." I said irritatedly this time.

"It's just one game though. Not like it's a playoff game."

"They're worse?"

"Definitely. Much more stressful."

"Good to know. I'll be prepared then. Mason'll be happy. I can't wait to watch games with him!"

I squealed again, not caring what he was gonna think.

"I can't wait to hear about it."

I couldn't stop smiling. I was so fucking happy. Having this feeling of happiness two days in a row was indescribable. I also was tempted to kiss Brandon on the cheek; I don't know why, but I was.

"Happy?" he asked with a smile.

Stop smiling. It's making it worse.

"Of course I am."

Feeling my phone vibrate, I looked at it and saw that Mason just texted me.

How it'd go? Did you have fun?

I'll tell you when I get home. :)

"Mason?"

"Yeah. He asked how everything went and if I had fun."

"Are you surprised he texted you that fast?"

"Not really. He's so excited about me, even more so now that Luke's out of my life."

"That's good to know."

"Yeah. Well, I hate to leave now, but I really wanna tell him about tonight."

"It's fine."

We quickly got shoes and hoodies on before walking out the door to his car. The trip back Mason's was too short, but I knew it'd be okay since I'd be seeing him again soon.

"Don't forget to tell me about what he said." he said when we arrived.

"Trust me. I won't." I said laughing.

He laughed as well.

"Ok. I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yep. Talk to you later."

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Brandon."

"Goodnight, Sasha."

And with that, I shut the door and walked to the door that was left unlocked. After entering, I heard Brandon leave and smiled as I closed the door.

I like him. I mean, really like him. Oh my God. This shit is crazy. I just broke up with Luke today! And he saw it as well. Does he like me? That's even crazier if he does.

"So, Sasha, how'd things go?" Mason asked walking into the living room.

I wanted to tell him about everything, but the one thing I wasn't expecting to say when I got home came out.

"I like him." I said quickly.

"You do?" he said, walking toward me.

"Yeah. I do. I really do."

I really couldn't contain my excitement.

"I knew it. I knew it! I could just sense it." he said, hugging me tightly.

"Do you think he likes me?" I said eagerly.

He looked down at the ground for a second before answering.

"There's no doubt. You do remember what he said about you when we talked to my mom on the phone today?"

I smiled and nodded. I definitely did.

"Hi Mrs. Morris. It's nice to meet you."

"Well, hi there. It's nice to meet you too. How'd you meet my Sasha?"

"She jumped my car after a performance."

"That was so sweet of her! You should know that I've never met a person as nice and kindhearted as her."

"I love that about her. I don't know her too well, but... I really do love it." he said smiling.

"If that doesn't say he likes you, I don't know what does."

"But Mason, I just broke it off with Luke..."

"I think that you should just go for it. I bet he's thinking this is crazy too. He was here when it happened."

"You're right. I should. I don't know when though. He is a hockey player after all. They travel a lot..."

"The very next time you see him. Oh, which is tomorrow. He has a game, so you can tell him afterward."

"Ok." I said with my heart racing.

"That's my girl. Now, I wanna hear all about tonight."

"Well..."

I went ahead and told him all about it, from the excitement to the anger to the immediate happiness and...

"I also kissed his cheek before I left the car. I don't know if he was blushing after that, but I couldn't hold in my happiness and realized how I felt about it him as I opened the door."

"I love this. I'll love this even more when tomorrow night happens."

"I don't have a ticket for tomorrow, though. He didn't say anything about it. Should I ask him about it?"

I was so anxious and I hated it.

"Talk to him tomorrow and it should come up."

"Yeah. I don't wanna seem too pushy. If it comes up, I hope he's gonna have a ticket for you."

"I'd love that."

"Anyway, how was your night?"

"Pretty good. I watched the same game and snacked on some yummy foods."

"Cool. Sounds like you had quite the night though. Better than mine."

I laughed.

"Yeah. It was pretty awesome."

"Let's hope you get to go tomorrow and have an even better night."

We talked for a few minutes before I decided I wanted to head to bed early. I couldn't even imagine what the next day would bring.