The Hockey Lie

Chapter 11

TY

October 23

"See you later, Ty. Good practice," Seth called after me as I walked towards my locker room.

"Thanks, you too!" I called back.

"Happy Birthday, by the way, and don't party too hard!" he joked.

"Don't worry, I won't," I laughed in reply. It was my 19th birthday, and I had fairly calm plans for the evening. Easton and I had talked on the phone the day before. He really wanted to do something special for me, but he had a game. It was a home game, so we decided that I would head over to his place after I was done with practice. I was just going to chill out and do homework while I watched the game. He and I would hang out once he got home.

I headed into my locker room and quickly changed into sweats. I was going to stop at my dorm quickly before heading over to Easton's. I decided that I was going to just shower there since it was probably more sanitary than the locker room's showers.

I made it back to my dorm within a few minutes. Steph wasn't in there, thank goodness, so I was able to shove my practice clothes in the back of my wardrobe without being questioned. I had to be careful of when I came back to the dorm after practice. I was able to leave my pads and stuff in the locker room at the arena, but I had to wash my practice clothes. So far, Steph hadn't caught me with my smelly clothes yet, but I knew that day was eventually going to come up. I had to think of a cover story soon.

I grabbed a pair of leggings and a Gopher Hockey crewneck to change into after I showered. I threw the clothes into a Nike backpack, along with my homework, and grabbed my keys. I left Steph a note saying that I would probably be staying with Easton tonight.

I headed out to the parking lot where my truck was parked. I hadn't used it much so far this year since I was usually either at campus or got picked up by Easton. It was nice to be driving again.

I made it to Easton's apartment without any problems. When I reached his apartment, I pulled out my keys and used the spare key that he had given me. When I opened the door, I was quickly greeted by Gretzky.

"Hey, girl," I cooed, squatting down to pet her. "You ready to watch some hockey?" Gretzky barked in reply. Easton had trained her well.

It was only 6:30, so I had about 45 minutes before the game started. I grabbed my clothes and went to take a shower. Despite living in an apartment, Easton's bathroom was spacious. His shower was especially huge.

I quickly showered and changed into my crewneck and leggings. I pulled my hair into a high bun and headed out to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. I rummaged through Easton's cupboards and settled on grabbing a bag of cool ranch Doritos.

I got comfy on Easton's couch, cuddling with Gretzky. I got settled down just in time to see Koivu take the face-off against the Dallas Stars' center. Koivu won the draw and passed the puck out to Suter, who took the puck down the ice to start the offense.

The game was pretty mellow as far as goal-scoring went for the first two periods, but both teams' tempers were rising. Parise had almost scored a goal in the last minute of the second period, but he missed and continued to jab at the puck. Tyler Seguin of the Stars didn't like that, so he took a shove at Parise. Before a huge fight could break out, the refs pulled the two players apart.

Before the third period even began, I knew that a fight was going to break out sometime. I just didn't know who was going to be the one to start it.

Halfway through the third I got my answer.

Easton and Alex Goligoski were battling for a puck in the corner, and Easton managed to get it over to Parise. Goligoski got frustrated and took a hit at Easton. After that, all hell broke loose.

Easton ripped off his gloves and ripped off Goligoski's helmet. Goligoski ripped his own gloves off and attempted to take Easton's helmet off, but in the process he took a hit to the nose from Easton. The refs let Easton bring Goligoski down to the ice before they finally broke things up. The Xcel Energy Center was cheering, and so was I. Easton had taken a hit to the eye, but Goligoski looked much worse. He had to be taken back to the locker room to get his nose checked out. The refs brought Easton over to the penalty box, and he took his seat in there proudly.

With only five minutes left in the game, the score was still 0-0. The Wild needed a goal, and fast. Easton and his line consisting of himself, Parise, and Pominville was on the ice. Yeo had continued to switch lines around throughout the preseason, but it was beginning to look like those three would be on a line together all season.

Suter and Spurgeon were on the ice as the defensemen, and Spurgeon was bringing the puck down the ice. Once he made it past the blue line, the other four guys quickly skated into the zone. Spurgeon passed the puck over to Suter, who looked around for some openings. Seeing none, he gestured for Easton to come up to the point and get the puck. Easton did what was asked of him, and he received the puck from Suter. Easton must've seen an opening for a split second, because he let off a slap shot directly at the net. The Stars' goalie tried to stop the puck, but he was too slow. The damage already had been done.

"That's my boy!" I cried as Gretzky began barking and spinning in circles.

Easton and the others gathered together on the ice in a hockey hug. They skated off of the ice. Easton glanced at the Jumbotron to watch the replay of the goal. Once the replay was over, he leaned over to say, "Nice pass," to Suter.

Despite a last chance effort by the Stars, the Wild ended up winning the game 1-0, and my boyfriend had scored the winning goal. That was about the best birthday present I could've asked for.

I knew that it would be at least an hour before Easton showed up, so I switched the TV to the Hallmark channel. There was about an hour left in the movie, which I had seen eighteen times, but I decided to finish it anyways.

Once the movie was done, Easton still wasn't back, so I decided to wander around the apartment a while. I headed into the kitchen first to put the chips back. As I was putting the chips away, I noticed that Gretzky had settled into her dog bed in the corner of the apartment. All that hockey must've worn the poor dog out. Once I was done in the kitchen, I headed into Easton's room.

His room was decorated simply with different shades of blue. His king-sized bed was covered in a soft navy blue comforter, and the walls were painted a lighter shade of blue. There was one window in the room that had a great view of Minneapolis's lights.

I sighed as I looked out the window. Minneapolis was beautiful at night. There was no denying that.

I wandered over to Easton's large closet to take a look. I needed some ideas for Christmas presents, and I figured taking a look over his wardrobe wouldn't hurt.

I glanced at all of Easton's dress clothes, which were mostly for gamedays when the team had to dress nicely. I found a dress shirt in a gorgeous shade of aqua. I decided that definitely wanted to see Easton in that at some point in time. That shade of aqua would make his eyes pop.

I finally made it past the dress clothes and on to the sweatshirts. Most of the sweatshirts Easton owned were Wild ones, and I assumed it was because he got those sweatshirts free. I kept shuffling through the sweatshirts until I came to one that looked like it was older. It was a maroon Gopher Men's Hockey sweatshirt. I took it off the hanger and tossed it onto the bed talking to myself, "I'll take that one back with me."

I continued looking through Easton's clothes when I suddenly felt someone's warm breath on my neck. I jumped in fear as the person said, "You know, it's not nice to snoop through other people's clothes."

I turned around and saw Easton standing behind me. I punched him in the gut. "You scared me to death!" I scolded.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," he laughed. "Happy Birthday, babe."

"Thanks, Easton," I said, leaning in to kiss him.

Before the kiss could intensify, Easton pulled away from me. I was about to protest, but Easton said, "We've got all night for that. I've got a surprise for you," Easton smirked mysteriously, leading me back into the kitchen.

When I saw what Easton had laid out, I gasped. There were a dozen red roses in a vase beside a cake just big enough for two people. The cake read, 'Happy Birthday, Ty!' and was covered in thick chocolate ganache.

"I know it's kind of simple, but I was hoping..." Easton started, but I cut him off.

"It's perfect," I smiled. "I love it."

"Well that's a relief!" Easton laughed. "Now let's dig into this cake." He pulled two forks out of a drawer and we sat down on the barstools next to the counter.

"So I'm guessing this is what took you so long to get home?" I guessed, glancing at the clock.

"Yeah, I had to pick the roses and cake up after the game. My buddy at the store was nice enough to wait for the game to get done," Easton explained. "I'm guessing you got pretty bored here if you resorted to looking at my clothes.

"Yeah. I wasn't bored for too long, though. Gretzky is pretty good company," I commented, looking at the sleeping Pomeranian.

"She's the best, isn't she?" Easton grinned. He really was a dog lover.

"She is," I confirmed. Within minutes, we had finished the cake.

"Give two hockey players a cake and we'll have it gone within five minutes," Easton joked.

"True that," I agreed, using my fork to get the last bit of ganache off of the plate.

"So, it's your birthday. Do you want to open your present?" Easton asked mysteriously.

"I thought your game-winning goal was my gift," I said with a smile.

Easton laughed. "That was just a happy coincidence, but I suppose you could look at it that way."

"Well, it was the perfect present, so you didn't really need to get me anything else," I pointed out, turning to face him.

"So you're saying you don't want your present?" Easton questioned.

"No, of course I want my present!" I exclaimed, and Easton held out a small, pink gift bag with white tissue paper sticking out of the top.

I opened the gift and pulled out... a lacy, black thong. When Easton saw the look on my face, he burst out laughing.

"Easton, what is this?" I said in disgust.

"Oh come on, it's funny, right? I had to get you a gag gift."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny," I said sarcastically.

"You know, most girls would be happy their boyfriend bought them underwear," Easton said pointedly. I just rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't wear thongs."

"Of course I wear thongs! I just... wasn't expecting you to buy me one," I said, trailing off.

"Well, surprise. Okay, that wasn't your actual gift. Your actual gift is in my room, under my bed. I'm glad you weren't snooping around too much or else you would've found your present," Easton smiled. "I'll be right back."

While Easton retreated to his room, I decided I'd get him back for the gag gift he'd given me. Sure, I could actually wear the underwear, but what would be the fun in that? I swiftly got up and shoved the underwear in the crack between cushions on Easton's black leather couch. Since the couch was black, the underwear wasn't really noticeable. I was guessing it'd be a while before they'd get found. Satisfied with my work, I sat back down on my barstool just as Easton was returning from his room.

"Here's your present," Easton said, holding out a green gift bag. "I promise it's legit this time."

"Thank you, boyfriend," I smiled opening the present.

"You know, I'll never get tired of hearing that," Easton grinned.

"You're such a dweeb," I laughed. I pulled an orange Nike box out of the gift bag and raised my eyebrows at Easton. I opened the box to see a pair of black and white Nike Rosches. "Easton, these are great!"

"Your other Nikes were looking a little rough, so I figured a new pair of shoes wouldn't hurt," he explained, beaming when he saw how happy I was.

"These are perfect, just like everything else you've done for me tonight," I said, pulling him into a hug.

"Even the panties?" he asked.

"Even the panties," I confirmed, cringing at the word.

"Good," he smiled, hugging me tighter.

"Ew, you smell. Go take a shower," I wrinkled my nose, pushing him away.

"Whatever you say, birthday girl," he laughed, heading towards the shower. I shook my head to myself after he was gone. I couldn't believe he had actually bought me a thong. The nerve of that little rascal.

I glanced at the clock again and saw that it was already after midnight. I headed into Easton's room and rummaged around for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to wear as pajamas. His clothes were pretty big on me, but they were comfortable.

Just as I was about to leave Easton's room, he walked in wearing nothing but a towel. "Oh, hey there," he laughed, water dripping down from his hair.

"Hey there, yourself," I replied, quickly glancing at his chiseled chest.

"I see you're checking me out. I would've thought you would be used to my handsomeness by now, but I guess not. Then again, I don't think you've ever seen me dripping wet in just a towel."

"Stop," I ordered, laughing. "Your ego is getting out of hand."

"Admit it, you'd like it if I took this towel off right now," he challenged.

"I'm not playing this game," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Suit yourself. You're the one that's missing out," Easton said, pointing at me.

"Go put some clothes on," I said, walking out of his room and back into the living room.

"You're really missing out!" he called after me, but I ignored him, shaking my head to myself. A few minutes later, he returned to the living room, only wearing a pair of basketball shorts.

"Easton, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm going to sit down and watch a movie with my girlfriend. Is there a problem with that?" he asked innocently.

"Nope, no problem," I replied. He settled himself behind me on the couch, and I could feel his bare chest on my back through his shirt.

The TV was still on the Hallmark channel, and Easton groaned. "Oh no, this isn't one of those sappy, predictable Hallmark movies, is it?"

"Yes it is, and you're going to sit here and watch it with your girlfriend because it's her birthday," I replied sassily.

"Well, technically it's not your birthday anymore, you know, since it's after midnight..."

"Shut up," I cut him off.

"Why do you like these movies? I can already tell you what's going to happen," Easton said when there was about fifteen minutes of the movie left. "The guy's going to get the girl after they have a huge fight. I could've told you that at the beginning of the movie! All of these movies are the same, and they all end the same way."

"That's the point!" I exclaimed. "They all end happily! They're the best and I love them, so quit complaining."

"Anything for you, dear," Easton muttered.

"That's the spirit," I complimented, patting his shoulder. During the last few minutes of the movie, Easton began running his fingers through my hair and stroking his fingers down my arm, relaxing me. I was almost asleep by the time the movie ended.

"Well, time for bed," Easton chirped, jumping up once the movie was done. "I'll take the couch, if you want."

"No, that's okay. I'll just share your bed with you tonight, if that's all right," I replied nonchalantly.

Easton seemed surprised by my answer, but he said, "That's perfectly fine by me."

"Good," I said simply, walking into Easton's bathroom to brush my teeth. When I entered Easton's room, he was already in the king-sized bed, on the left side. I crawled in next to him, and he threw an arm around me. "Do you always sleep without a shirt?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"No, I was just trying to seduce you," he replied, perfectly serious. He began placing kisses down my neck. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed.

"Well, two can play at this game," I said, sitting up.

"Ty, what're you..." Easton started as I pulled off my shirt, leaving me in his shorts and a sports bra.

"Good night, Easton," I smirked, laying back down.

"G-good night, Ty," he replied, seeming shocked at my boldness. I snuggled up against him again, and he hesitantly placed his arm back over me. After a minute, he seemed to relax again.

I turned around to face him again and kissed him gently on the lips. "Thanks, Easton," I whispered, placing a kiss on his chest.

"For what?" he asked in reply as I turned back around.

"For everything. I love you." He pulled me tighter to him as I said this.

"I love you, too," he whispered, placing one last kiss on my head.