Status: Updated 4/26/17.

Ready to Live

Chapter 6

I woke up so refreshed; it had gotten some of the best sleep I've ever had. I couldn't help but think about him. That smile, his laugh, the way he instantly changed my mood after that game... it was so wonderful. Thinking about him though, made me anxious again. I was gonna tell him tonight and that's so many hours away. It's nine o'clock right now, so it'll be at least twelve hours till those words that I'm still trying to figure out will come when I speak to him. Just as I was about to jump into the shower, my phone rang; I immediately assumed it was Brandon and turns out, I was right.

"Hello?"

"Hey. What's up?"

"Not much. I was just about to get into the shower. You?"

"Eating breakfast. About to head to practice. You know I hate practicing on game days?"

"You do?"

"It sucks, but hey, I get to play hockey for a living, so who am I to complain?"

"Exactly. I'm excited about tonight. I'll know what's going on."

He laughed before speaking again.

"Speaking of tonight, I have two tickets for you and Mason that I forgot to give you. I'll drop them off on the way home from practice. Sound good?"

It sounds way more than good, Brandon.

"It sounds great. Thanks for getting us tickets. It means a lot. I can't wait to tell Mase. He's gonna be so fucking happy."

"I'm glad to hear it. I can't wait for you guys to be here, especially you since it's your first game."

Especially you.

Hold in the squeal and keep the smile on your face. I was thankful he couldn't see me.

"Well, we'll be there. Can't wait to see you."

"Can't wait to see you either."

Keep it in.

When I hung up, I let out the squeal that I had been keeping in. I then heard Mason call out my name as I assumed he was worried.

"Are you okay?" he said outside my door.

"I'm fantastic, Mase!"

"Did you talk to Brandon?"

"Yeah. He's leaving tickets in our mailbox when he's on his way home from practice."

"That's fantastic! Can I come in and talk to you?"

"After I shower. I'm naked as a jaybird."

He laughed.

"Ok. I'll talk to you then, hun."

After I showered, I quickly got dressed and dried my hair as I really wanted to tell Mase about the phone call. I dashed into the kitchen where I found him making breakfast.

"Hi!!"

"Hi. So, what else did Loverboy say?"

I laughed before I answered.

"He said that he couldn't wait for us to be there, especially me since it's my first game and then...he said he couldn't wait to see me and I said the same thing."

"Even more proof that he's crushing on you."

"Tonight can't come any faster."

Come noon, I heard the mailbox open and shut, so as soon as I heard him leave, I opened up the door to find a bag on his rug before I even got the tickets out. Carrying the bag and tickets into the apartment, I had no idea why there was something other than what he told me he was dropping me off. I immediately sat the tickets down on the counter and proceeded to open the bag to see what was inside. Once I saw what it was, I smiled big and began jumping up and down.

A jersey. He got me a jersey. His jersey.

"What's going on, you weirdo?" Mason asked as he walked into the living room.

I showed him.

"OMG. He just keeps getting better."

After he said that, he noticed something else in the bag.

"Looks like you got a note too." he said, handing it to me.

I read it and melted, in addition to laughter.

Hope you'll love this! I know how expensive jerseys can be, so I gave you the jersey of my favorite player on the team. P.S. Can't wait to see you tonight!

"What's it say?"

I just handed it to him, not able to wipe the smile off my face. Mase gradually had a smile appear and hugged me.

"Loverboy." he said.

I laughed again and took back the note, taking it to my room and saved it by putting into my wallet. The day passed so slowly that it drove me crazy, but when it came to getting ready, I was pumped.

"How do I look?" I said, spinning as Mason walked into my room.

"Beautiful. I love you in his jersey."

"What's he gonna think?"

He gave me a look.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't ask me that."

This time, I gave him a look of my own.

"Just answer me. Please."

"He's gonna think that you are perfect, beautiful and absolutely gorgeous. Duh."

Turns out he got us seats right behind their bench, which got my heart racing... especially when he sat down right in front of me at the beginning of the game. I immediately shook Mason's shoulder.

"What?"

"He's right in front of me! OMG!" I said, giggling.

I was honestly hoping he couldn't hear us, but he probably couldn't... it is loud in here after all.

"I hope he looks behind him."

"I'm gonna die if he does."

Not even five seconds when he looked at me and smiled. I smiled as well as him. When he looked away, I looked at my best friend before I buried my face into his shoulder.

"You were right. You died." he said , wrapping an arm around my waist.

That game turned out to be an amazing one. The boys won 5-3 over the Lightning and I was ecstatic and ready to go see him.

"He's gonna text me right?"

"Yeah. Whenever we're free to go down there, he'll text you."

Roughly fifteen minutes later, I got a text.

You and Mason are free to come down.

"We can go."

We managed to find the locker room and were allowed in immediately. Once Brandon caught sight of us, he waved us over and hugged Mason and then me. What was the difference, you ask? My hug lasted just a little bit longer and I really enjoyed it.

"That was a great game! I loved it!" I exclaimed.

"I'm glad you did. And you understood everything?"

"Just about."

"That's amazing."

"Tell me about it."

"I was proud of her for knowing her stuff. Thanks, Brandon." Mason said shaking his hand.

"No problem. I was more than glad to do it."

I could feel myself blushing.

"You're too sweet. You know that?" I said, smiling.

This time, he was the one blushing. Mase immediately nudged me in the shoulder.

"No. Um... thank you."

"My pleasure."

"Ok. There was something I was gonna say. Now, what was it? Oh, we're heading out to Diesel if you'd like to join us."

I had an outfit ready to wear if I ended up going out with Brandon. It was so sexy, but not to the point wear I could be dubbed a slut; that was exactly the opposite thing I needed.

"We'd love to. There's no way that we wouldn't come."

"That's fantastic."

Minutes later, I was in my other clothes and ready for Brandon to see me.

"So, when are you gonna tell him?" Mason asked as we walked into the club.

"Oh God, I have no idea. My heart's racing so much right now. I want to just tell him now, but I'm not seeing him yet."

"I can't wait to see his face. He's gonna-"

And in that moment, he walked in and was just seconds away from me as Mason and were sitting at the bar. He was so speechless when he saw me which confirmed everything for me.

"You look amazing." he said after greeting us.

"Look who's talking."

The flirting's starting already.

"Ready for a drink yet?" he asked the both of us.

I really wanted him to ask me if I was ready for one, but I knew how rude it'd be.

"I'd love a drink." I said with a smile.

"I'm gonna have a drink later. You two go on without me. I'm gonna go look for somebody to dance with." Mason said kissing my cheek.

"You have fun."

"I will. I'll talk to you later, hun. Talk to you later, Brandon."

"Talk to you soon, man."

"To tell you the truth, I felt just like talking to you."

"Really?"

"Really. Why?"

"Yeah. There's something I wanna tell you..."

Come on... I know what it is. But before he could say anything, a girl put a hand on his leg. She was a few inches taller than me, bustier than me and had gorgeous long blond hair; so basically, she looked like the opposite of what I look like.

"Hi."

"Hi." he asked confusedly.

"Wanna come dance?"

"Don't you see that I'm talking to somebody?"

I smirked and tried not to laugh.

"You're talking to her? Look at her! Do you see how hard she's trying? She can't pull that off. She looks too sweet and innocent for someone like you."

My hands balled up into fists.

"How do you know what kind of person she is, person I am?!"

"Well, if you actually like her, then, kiss her, but I really don't think you will."

Kiss me. Please.

"You know what? I will."

That's when he pulled me close and kissed me with as much as passion as I've ever had in my life. I kissed back with the same amount of passion as him. It was so wonderful that I wrapped my arms around his neck. The second we pulled apart, I heard scoffing and clapping at the same time. The lone clapping made me think it was Mason.

"Bye, bitch!" I said, waving as she turned around and walked away.

Brandon laughed just like I did.

I turned around myself to see the person who clapped. It was my bestie.

"Hi, Mase. How much of that did you see?"

"From when that bitch started saying shit about you. I couldn't believe that it even happened."

"I can't either. Some people are so fucking stupid that it isn't even funny." Brandon said.

"Did you see how I was ready to punch her in the face?" I asked the both of them.

"I did. It was awesome. I've never seen you with that much anger that you were ready to punch somebody."

"You were? That's awesome. I would've loved to see that." Brandon said.

"But you kissing me was a much better result."

"You can say that again."

"Well, I'll leave you two here again. That bitch got me distracted from what I was doing. I'll see you two later."

"Bye." I said.

"Bye Mason."

I turned back to Brandon and was ready to talk about us.

"So, you like me?" I asked turning into that 'shy' girl.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have. You do know what happened yesterday, after all."

"You're right. I was gonna tell you tonight. I realized how much I liked you after I walked in the door last night. When did you?"

"Last night during the game. Seeing you so exuberant and emotional made me realize how I felt about you.'"

I blushed.

"I don't know what to say, so I'll just kiss you."

I moved closer and placed my lips on his and he responded with another passionate kiss.

"That was nice. So, we're a couple now?" I asked.

"We're a couple."

"Perfect."

"What do you wanna do now?" he asked smiling.

"How about that drink you were talking about?" I said grinning from ear to ear.

"Absolutely. What kind?"

"Long Island Iced Tea."

"She'll have a Long Island Iced Tea and I'll have a Yuengling, please." he said to the nearest bartender.

Less than a minute later, we had our drinks and were content.

"Thanks for the drink."

"Anytime." he said leaning in for a kiss.

It was certainly a kiss that I returned.

"You two make such a cute couple." a girl said walking by us.

"Thank you." I said, not knowing what else to say.

I buried my face in his shoulder after she was on the other side of the club.

"I totally wasn't expecting that."

"That was so nice to hear, though."

"Yeah. You can say that again."

Two hours and three drinks later, I wasn't fit to drive as was Mason who had four, so we all know who's driving us home. When he pulled up in front of Mase's apartment, my bestie decided to get to the door first. I don't know how he got up there without falling, but thankfully he did. I knew the reason why he got out first; he wanted me to have a moment with Brandon before he went home.

"I had a great time tonight." I said as we were outside the door.

Mason had already gone inside and I was pretty sure he was looking out the front window like the nosy dork I know and love.

"It was. Wasn't it? I wish it didn't have to end."

"Well, I'm sure we're gonna have more nights like this."

"And days. Can't forget days."

"No. You definitely can't."

"Goodnight, Brandon."

"Goodnight, Sasha."

He leaned in and kissed me as I kissed back.

"I'll see you soon, then." I said.

"Absolutely. Bye."

We hugged for a second before I walked inside and he walked back to his car. As soon as I was inside, I heard him drive away. Mason was sitting on the couch while biting his lip; this meant he wanted to talk.

"What is it, Mason?" I said, shaking my head.

"You two are too fucking cute! It's unreal. It shows that chivalry is definitely not dead."

"Well, thank you! He just makes me so happy ever since that night when we all went out to eat."

"My pleasure, hun. He couldn't have found a sweeter girl than you. I don't know what Luke was thinking when he began abusing you, verbally and physically!"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

He gave me a hug and when we parted, I was more than ready to head to bed as happy as I've ever been.
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The Club