Thin Ice

by Settimo, Niki

  The game starts and my brother takes the faceoff. He pulls the same move he did on Anderson during their scrimmage and takes the puck across ice, easily putting it in the back of the net. By the end of the game, we’re up by four goals and there’s a tiny celebration when the buzzer signifies the end of the game. Winning this means they advanced to the final round, which is the Championship game. The game that determines who they’re going to play is starting as soon as they clean the ice, and before Dom gets changed, he asks us if we want to stay and watch it with him. I look at Dylan for an answer, and he says as long as I want to.

  So we stay, and Dylan talks to the boys the entire game, showing them what to look out for from both teams. What moves they can score with, and where their weak points are.

  He’s such a natural. My brother doesn’t take to people easily, and to see him interact with Dylan after only two days is mind blowing. The entire time Dylan is holding my hand. He includes me in the conversation and it’s something I’m not used too. I don't miss my dad giving us looks from where he's standing around the boards with the rest of the dads. The moms went back to the hotel to order pizza for everyone when the game is over.

  When the third period ends and the boys know who their opponent is, we leave the rink and plan to come back tomorrow for the championship game.

  * * *

  Tegan and Anderson join us at the rink, and just like that, a cheering section is formed. After an intense three periods, the game goes into double overtime. Dom wins the faceoff, and passes it to Shane who charges the goal. After multiple shots on net, they finally get it through the five hole, winning the game. Everybody goes on the ice to celebrate with the boys and camera flashes are going off from every angle. When it’s Dom’s turn to hold the trophy, Dylan and Anderson jump in and grab some pretty humorous selfies.

  This is the last day my family is here, and although I’m going to miss them, I know I’m building my own life here. My surgery is in a few weeks, and when my mom comes down, my brother is going to come with her. Dylan’s going to get him on the ice as much as possible.

  After a lot of goodbyes, the team is off, the families are on their flights and now I can breathe a little easier.

  “Thanks Dylan.”

  “For what?”

  “For getting along with everyone. Well minus my dad but that was expected.”

  “I loved meeting your family. It helped me to better understand you. You’re dad is interesting to say the least, and Julie is a trip. But I’m an only child, so I’d be lying if i didn't say I used your brother for my own selfish reasons.”

  “That's totally ok with me. Having 2 sisters definitely can't be easy on him, so I’m sure he used you too. I loved seeing how easily you guys got a long.”

  “Well it was easy, because anyone who loves you like that is easy to get along with. Except of course if it’s another guy. Then we have a problem.”

  “Believe me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

  “On the contrary, you don't see the way guys look at you, but I sure as hell do.”

  “Yea I doubt that, but seriously Dylan. I’m all yours. It scares me, but I wouldn't want it any other way.”

  He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me. "Don't let it scare you, cause I feel the exact same way."

  CHAPTER 23

  Dylan

  “Bull Shit!”

  “Take em’!”

  “Ughhh Dylan! I thought I had you on that one!

  “Don’t let his eyes fool you dear. He plays dirty!”

  Seeing Elli with my parents is definitely a sight to see. It’s like they’ve known eachother for their entire lives. They instantly loved her, like I knew they would. She even ate in front of them without a single look of worry coating her face. My dad and I BBQ’d while her and my mom prepared salads inside.

  “She’s very pretty son. Be careful with her. She’s a keeper.”

  “Oh I know dad. Knew it from the first time I saw her.”

  “How’d her brother do in his tournament?

  “Came in first. Got him talking with coach a little. Said he’ll keep a look out for him.”

  “That’s good. I like her. A lot. And obviously your mother loves her like a daughter already.”

  That had me smiling more than it probably should. But why not? If it didn’t make me this happy, then it wouldn’t be right.

  “Two sevens,” Elli says with a smirk on her face. She looks into my eyes and I stare right back. “Go ahead. Call it. I dare you.”

  “Bull Shit.”

  “You just wait Dylan. I’m going to make a comeback. Cause now I have almost the whole deck and can tell when you’re lying.”

  That has the table cracking up. Card games are a must at my house, and Elli seems to be enjoying it, judging by the smile that hasn’t left her face. I’m sure I have one to match, and I don’t miss the looks my mom is giving us. My parents ran out of cards and now it’s down to me and Elli.

  “You two are adorable.”

  “Mom stop trying to distract us. This is war.”

  After a few more rounds, I have one card left, and it happens to be exactly the card I need. “One Jack.”

  “Well, I lose either way, so what the hell? Bull Shit.”

  I stand up, take a bow, and walk to the other side of the table where Elli is sitting. I grab her hand, kiss it and congratulate her on making it so far. “Wonderful game m'lady.”

  She looks at my parents with a smirk on her face. “Your son likes to show boat.”

  “Ever since he was little Elli. There was one time..”

  “Okay! No need to reminisce, mom!”

  She mouths towards Elli “I’ll tell you later,” and adds a wink.

  My dad suggests a bonfire and soon enough we’re all sitting around the fire pit. Elli and I on the swing, and my parents in an outdoor loveseat. Then my mom decides to bring out marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate.

  “I’m sure you know Dylan is obsessed with these. I keep the house stocked.” my mom says. I feel Elli tense up around my waist and I hold her a little tighter.

  “Hey. It’s ok. You don’t have to have one,” I whisper to her.

  She relaxes a little next to me, and after a few minutes, she surprises me and starts to toast two marshmallows. After she gets them perfectly brown, she picks the first marshmallow off the stick and offers me the other. I take the stick and we eat them together. My parents don’t realize how huge this is, but I couldn’t be more proud of my girlfriend.

  After my parents head off to bed, we stay out by the fire and just swing. We listen to the crackling wood while we watch the glowing embers. Our breathing is synced, her head is resting on my chest and I have my arm wrapped around her shoulder. I want this night to last forever.

  “This was fun Dylan. Thank you.”

  “I think my parents like you better than me.”

  Her laugh vibrates through me and I pull her a little closer. “I think your mom likes having a girl around. You and your dad are quite the pair.”

  “I think you’re right on that one.” A few moments pass before I add “I’m really proud of you”.

  “Proud of what?”

  “You. Everything you’ve accomplished, everything you’re working on. You’re amazing.”

  “Oh, stop. You’re the amazing one Mr. Hockey. I wouldn’t be where I am right now without you.”

  “It’s what you do when you love someone.”

  That came out of my mouth so easily, I didn’t even think twice. I want to be able to tell her everyday, and I don’t want to wait any longer. She finally turns to look up at me with a smile on her face. I look into her large brown eyes, and the breath I was holding releases itself from my lungs before I finish my thought.

  “Ever since that night when I met you at the rink, I just knew. And I hope this doesn’t scare you off, but I can’t wait any longer, and I want to be able to tell you every day. I love you Elli. All of you. You make
me want more out of life, and see joy in the little things. You make me want to be better, and make something of myself. Seeing you fight so hard for what you want is inspiring. I want nothing more than to be apart of your life, because the only time I feel whole is when I’m with you.

  Before she says anything, I wipe a single tear from her cheek and kiss her. She doesn’t back away, she doesn’t hesitate, she embraces it completely. The amount of love pouring out of us is breathtaking. I never thought I would feel this way about anyone, but here she is, in my arms, kissing me with as much force as I am her. When we finally pull apart, she smiles. I never want that smile to leave her face.

  “I love you too Dylan. I think I have for a while, I was just too scared to admit it. I want all the things you want. And I wouldn’t want them with anyone else but the man who showed me they’re possible.”

  Now I’m smiling like an idiot. A big, lovesick, idiot.

  CHAPTER 24

  Elli

  My surgery is in four days.

  This month has been extremely stressful between classes and work. This break is much needed because I haven’t had one single day off. My schedule is so all over the place and I can count on one hand the amount of hours I’ve slept this month. I know because it’s also the same amount of hours I’ve seen Dylan. I miss him, a lot. We constantly text, but every time he has a game, I have class and every time I have work, he has class or practice.

  Thankfully this craziness is almost over and I’m walking over to my last shift in the lab for the month when my phone goes off. A smile creeps on my face when I see Dylan’s picture light up my screen. I answer and don’t even say hello because my statement is more important.

  “I get to see you tonight!”

  Laughing he answers “I don’t think I can wait that long.”

  Before I know it, I’m being attacked from behind as Dylan locks me in his arms. I let out a screech and a laugh at the surprise of him showing up. I turn around so I can see his face and throw my hands around his neck while I cover his lips with mine.

  “I missed you!”

  “It’s your fault for taking the advanced course miss smarty pants. But I forgive you. We have a whole two weeks to make up for it.”

  “Yea and I’m going to be strung out on painkillers almost the entire time.”

  “That just means we can catch up on all our shows and binge watch Netflix.”

  “Have I mentioned I love you?”

  “Hmm, I don’t think you have.”

  “Well I do. Quite a lot actually.”

  “That’s funny, cause I love you quite a lot too.”

  We kiss again and he walks me to my lab as we talk about our Christmas plans. I’m spending Christmas with him and his family since he spent Thanksgiving with mine. Christmas Eve his parents throw a party at their house and Christmas day is just for the family. The next day my mom and brother will fly in and then my surgery is scheduled for 7am the day after.

  “How’d your final project go?”

  “I got an A. That was that hardest class I’ve ever taken. I can’t believe I’m still alive.”

  “Well that calls for celebration then! Tegan and Anderson want to know if we want to meet them at the Ale House after your shift, but I said only if you didn’t want to sleep.”

  “I’m exhausted but I think it’d be a good idea before they leave for break and I’m on house arrest for 2 weeks.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yea. I’ll be fine.”

  My phone goes off with a text from my dad telling me to call him when I can, and my heart speeds up a little bit. I haven’t talked to him in a few weeks because I was always in class, so I know I shouldn’t put it off any longer. I show Dylan the text and he asks what I think he wants.

  “Probably to talk about how my final class went.” And if I went to the gym today I mentally add.

  “Do you want to call him now?”

  “Might as well get it over with.”

  He takes my hand and gives me a reassuring look. I press call and my dad answers on the third ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi dad.”

  “What’s up kid? How was your last class?”

  “Got an A.”

  “Good keep it up. Been working out?”

  “Yes sir.” A little lie won’t hurt him.

  “Hitting the weights?”

  “Yes dad.”

  I see Dylan shaking his head out of the corner of my eye, obviously unamused.

  “So when is your flight home?”

  I let out a sigh and Dylan’s grip tightens on my hand. “I told you I was staying here remember?”

  “So you’re not coming home? What are you doing for Christmas then? You should be home for the holidays.”

  “I’m going to Dylan’s.”

  “Is that ok with him? You don’t want to be a bother.”

  Before I can answer, Dylan takes the phone out of my hand and answers for me. “Hey Vito it’s Dylan. Elli is coming to my house for Christmas and my parents and I are extremely excited to have her.” He hands the phone back to me and my dad is still talking on the other line.

  “Dad, I have to go I have work. I’ll talk to you later. Yes, ok I will. Bye.”

  I take a deep breath and I don’t realize I’m looking down until Dylan takes my face in his hands and tilts it to look up at him. Even with the phone call from my dad, it’s impossible to let it get to me when Dylan is with me, constantly reminding me that it’s ok. But he doesn’t have to say it. Just him being here means that I’ll be ok.

  * * *

  This is the first Christmas I’m not spending with my family. It’s a little weird, but I'm okay. Especially since it’s with Dylan.

  Yesterday, I did last minute gift shopping while Dylan was at practice, and I'm pretty proud of what I got for everyone. I mailed home a package with presents for my family. I bought my sister a necklace she’s been eyeing and a Starbucks giftcard to fuel her obsession. I gave my parents a combined gift; a GPS for all the traveling they do. And lastly, Dylan helped me pick out some hockey gear for Dom when I met him at the rink after his practice.

  Tegan and I decided to get into the Christmas spirit and have Dylan and Anderson over to make gingerbread men, trade presents and watch Christmas movies. I chose The Grinch and Tegan picked Elf.

  We bake and decorate cookies while we watch Will Ferrell take on the streets of New York trying to find his dad. I make a few dozen extra so that we can bring them to Dylan’s parents tomorrow. After we cleaned up a destroyed kitchen and our faces that were completely covered in flour, it’s present time.

  Since I’m spending the entire holiday with Dylan, we decide to wait to give each other our presents until Christmas morning. So I give Tegan her present first. A complete spa day at the salon she’s been wanting to go to. I wrapped it up with a new robe, slippers and a bunch of lotions she loves from Bath & Body Works. I added a few little gag gifts like a ‘cute guys holding puppies calendar’ and a book on ‘how to control your shoe obsession’. I got Anderson one too, and Dylan nearly doubled over laughing when I gave it to him.

  Then Tegan and I bring out our combined present to the guys. We wrapped a giant box, stuffed it with a ton of tissue paper and when they finally unwrapped it and got to the bottom, there we’re two tickets to a Lightning vs. Rangers hockey game. I would have loved to go, but I want Dylan to have some guy time. Anderson is freaking out and rushes over to kiss me on the cheek, and then Tegan full on the lips. I don’t know if that means they’re dating yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s a strong indication. I’ll have to talk to Tegan when she gets back from break. I feel like we haven’t had too much time together recently, even though we’re in the same class and live together. A definite girls night is in order.

  Tegan then hands me a box and says it’s from her and Anderson. Even though I told her I didn’t want anything, she told me to shut up and open the worst wrapped present I’ve ever seen. However, she m
anaged to put a bow on it. When I start to open the gift, it says ‘To Elli and Dylan’ on the tag, so I make Dylan open it with me. Inside the box is a ‘Witch’ and a ‘Wizard’ mug, a stuffed animal of Hedwig, a framed picture of me and Dylan from when we went paint balling, and two tickets to the Harry Potter park in Universal. I literally jumped over the table and tackled my best friend out of pure excitement.

  Dylan then brings out two boxes. One for Tegan and one for Anderson, that curiously looks like a shoe box. Tegan opens hers first and cheers as she holds up the new Mario Kart game with a controller shaped like a wheel. Then Anderson opens his and a look of death comes across his face. He looks up and says “you are never going to let me live this down are you?” And then I look in the box. It’s a pair of hot pink stilettos and Tegan looks like she’s about to steal them for herself.

  “Not a chance bro.” Dylan replies.

  When it’s Anderson’s turn to give Tegan her present, he hands her a box that was shaped oddly enough like a shoe box. What is it with these guys? When she opens the lid a smile takes over her face and she drops the box and rushes to Anderson as she attacks him in a vice grip.

  “So I’m guessing that’s a yes?”

  “Duhh!”

  Dylan and I wear matching looks of confusion, so I look over at the box and surprisingly there aren’t any shoes in it. However, on the lid is written ‘will you be my girlfriend?’ and a stuffed Mario plush is holding a rose where shoes should be. Well, whatever questions I had about them dating have just been completely washed away.