The Hockey Lie

Chapter 4

EASTON

September 5

I hadn't seen Ty since move-in day, and I thought I was going to go crazy. My friends thought I was going crazy, too.

"Dude, just go visit her in her dorm or something. You're starting to scare all of us," said Zucker.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Well, either you're moping around all day or you pace a lot. It's just freaky. It's like you're paranoid or something," he explained.

"I'm sorry. I just miss her is all," I stated.

"Then go visit her. Dude, she's like ten minutes away. It's not like she moved to Illinois or Iowa or something," said Charlie.

"I guess you're right. I'll go visit her later today," I decided.

"Go now. This is getting insane," emphasized Jason.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," I assured them, grabbing my car keys from my kitchen table. "Oh, and while I'm away, don't break anything, please. And feed Gretzky if I'm not back by six."

"Oh, what are you planning on doing?" Charlie said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

I just rolled my eyes before leaving my apartment. Within minutes, I was on my way to the University of Minnesota. I pulled into one of the guest parking lots on campus and prayed that I didn't need to get a parking permit. I was too close to seeing Ty to waste time on getting a permit.

Thankfully, I had parked close to Centennial Hall so I didn't have to trek across the whole campus. I entered the housing building and made my way up to the third floor, Ty's floor. I walked down the hall, searching for room 355. When I finally found the room, I saw that the door was open.

Good, she must be in there, I thought to myself. I made my way to the entrance of the dorm room and knocked on the open door. There were four girls in the room, making the dorm feel extra small.

When the other girls and Ty looked over to see who was knocking, Ty's face lit up. "Easton, you're here!" she cried.

"I came to visit my favorite girl," I replied smoothly as she got up and gave me a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here. I was beginning to miss you," she joked.

"I missed you, too," I replied, giving her another squeeze.

She stepped away from me to introduce the other girls that were in her dorm. "Easton, these are my new friends. That's Steph," she said, pointing at the tall, slim blond. "She's my roommate. That's Mic. She's in my psychology class. She hates it as much as I do," Ty said, looking at the girl in the middle with dark brown hair.

"Our professor is an i***t," Mic emphasized. "Like seriously, we have no idea how he managed to land a college teaching job. He acts so uneducated."

"Yeah, I'll have to tell you all about that later," Ty agreed. Then Ty pointed at the girl to the far right with light brown hair. "This is Raeann, Mic's roommate."

"It's nice to meet you all," I said genuinely, giving the girls a small wave.

"Yeah, it's nice to finally meet the guy that Tyra won't stop talking about," Mic smirked, looking me over.

"Hey, he's mine," Ty teased, lightly slapping Mic's arm.

"I know, I know. You already promised that you're gonna help me get a guy this year, remember?" Mic questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember," huffed Ty. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Bye, Tyra," the girls called as Ty began leaving the room with me.

"They seem nice," I commented.

"Yeah, they're great. Steph and I hit it off right away, and Mic and Rae followed up," she replied.

"So they all call you Tyra?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's how I introduced myself. Who knows, they all shorten their names, so maybe after a while my name will shorten for them, too. I just hope I don't get caught, you know?"

"You won't, don't worry. As long as the people that do know keep their mouths shut, you'll be good," I assured her.

"So, I was kidding about what I said back there. I've actually really, really missed you," Ty told me.

"I've missed you a lot, too. The guys basically kicked me out of my own apartment I was becoming so unbearable," I laughed.

"I believe it," Ty laughed with me. "Your teammates can be pretty pushy sometimes."

"Sometimes?" I said doubtfully, and we both laughed at that.

"So, where are we going?" Ty asked.

"I don't know. I didn't really plan that far ahead. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't really care, I guess. I'm kinda hungry."

"I'm a little hungry, too. What are you in the mood for? Chinese, pizza, fast food," I listed off.

"I could really go for a burger right now," Ty chimed in.

"Cool. I know a really neat diner around here. Their burgers and milkshakes are to die for," I stated.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the little diner that I knew of. It was a little old-timey, but the food was amazing.

"How can I help you guys?" our waitress asked us, setting some menus in front of us.

"I'll have a chocolate milkshake," I told her.

"I'll have the same," added Ty.

"All right, two chocolate milkshakes coming right up!" chirped the waitress.

"I like this place. It's cute," Ty commented.

"My parents and I used to come here after church on Sundays," I replied, smiling at the memories.

"Speaking of which, when will I get to meet your parents?" Ty asked.

"Oh, yeah you still have to do that, don't you?" I laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah. I don't mean to sound pushy, but I guess I'm just curious. I really want to meet them, and you've met my parents loads of times. I think it's only fair that I meet your parents soon."

"I'm sorry about that. I guess we've just been so busy that it slipped my mine. How would you like to join us for Thanksgiving? I know that's a while away, but it's probably the only time we'll both have a slight break."

"Thanksgiving works for me," Ty smiled. "I just hope I don't embarrass myself too much in front of them. I like to eat a lot."

"You won't embarrass yourself, Ty. They've only heard good things about you," I assured her.

"Well, I would hope so," she said seriously, shooting me a look.

"Hey, hey, I'm a nice guy," I defended myself.

"Sure, when you're not being an egotistical ass," she snapped jokingly.

"Touché," I replied. The waitress returned at that point to give us our milkshakes. Ty and I both ordered double cheeseburgers with fries.

"So how are all of your classes?" I asked my girlfriend.

"Pretty good, for the most part. I'm absolutely loving Biology. My professor is so chill and he's great at teaching. The only class I absolutely hate is psychology."

"Oh yeah, that's what you were talking about back in the dorm," I commented.

"Yeah, my professor is an i***t. The first day of class he started going off about how certain people act a certain way just because they do something," Ty ranted.

"What?" I asked, confused. "That was really vague."

"Okay, so he was going off about how all athletes are just selfish and arrogant and how they only care about themselves. He acted like every single athlete was like that. Sorry, Professor Robinson, but not all athletes are disrespectful and arrogant. Even if they are, they are capable of change. I've seen that firsthand."

"So did you say anything to him?" I asked.

"Yeah, I went off on him the first day. I defended athletes and he just said that he was the professor so only he got to share his opinions or something like that. It's a stupid class. We aren't even learning useful stuff. I'm just glad I met Mic so I'm not completely bored out of my mind," Ty huffed.

"Have you said anything to the professor since?"

"No, I've kept my mouth shut. I think if I just lay low I'll be able to pass the class."

"Yeah, whatever you do don't fail that class. Then you'll just have to take it over again and spend more money."

"Ugh, don't even say that. I barely even want to go to the class now let alone take it again!"

"All right, enough with the college talk. Let's just talk about fun stuff," I suggested.

"Like hockey?" Ty suggested with a smile.

"Exactly. When do you guys meet for the first time?" I asked.

"We have our first meeting with Lucia on the tenth. That's when we get to pick our jersey numbers and Lucia tells us all the basic stuff like practice times and his expectations."

"Sounds like fun," I smiled. "I just can't wait until season starts. All the guys and I are just anxious to get back out on the ice."

"Same here, except I haven't formally met all of my teammates except the few I met at the one practice I went to during my college visit. It's going to be weird not knowing all of my teammates at the beginning of the season. I've never really had to deal with that," Ty said worriedly.

"Don't worry, babe. You'll all get really close pretty quickly. It just happens naturally within a team," I assured her.

"Thanks, Easton. You always know what to say to calm me down," Ty smiled.

"No problem," I replied. "That's what I'm here for." The waitress came with our food, and Ty and I continued to chat as we ate.

"This food is so good," Ty groaned with her mouth full.

"See? I'm not as stupid as I look," I replied with a smirk.

"You don't look stupid," Ty laughed.

"Thanks," I said with a laugh.

"Seriously? How do you make a burger this good?" Ty exclaimed, amazed. "I just don't understand."

"Maybe it's a good think you didn't choose to go to culinary school," I joked.

"Hey, I can cook!" Ty protested.

"Sure, whatever you say..." I prodded.

"Jerk," Ty muttered.

"Oh, come one, you love me," I chided.

"Sure, if that's what you call this pure feeling of loathing," Ty said sarcastically.

"Loathing? You loathe me?" I said doubtfully.

"Yes, I loathe you," she confirmed.

"You're gonna pay for that when we get back to the car. I won't punish you in public," I smirked.

"Oh, you're going to punish me? I highly doubt that," Ty scoffed.

"You'll regret it later."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Are you done eating?" I asked Ty as she finished the last of her milkshake.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go," she replied.

We headed out of the diner and back to my car. I opened the passenger door for Ty and closed it behind her before heading to my side. I started the car and looked over at Ty. She was smirking.

"What's that look for?" I asked her.

"Oh, nothing. I just proved that I was right," she replied.

"Oh, that. Don't worry. You'll regret making fun of me soon," I said to her, my eyes glinting. I headed out of the parking lot of the diner and onto the main road. I saw a deserted parking lot and turned into it, parking in the farthest corner away.

"Easton, what are we doing here?" Ty asked.

Before she could protest, I put my lips on hers. I kissed her hungrily, and she opened her mouth a bit to let my tongue slide in. I had missed kissing her like this.

We pulled back to take a breath, and Ty said, "And this is punishment how?" She leaned back in to kiss me, but I pulled back. "Hey!" she protested, and tried to kiss me again.

"That's your punishment," I smirked.

"Easton, this is just cruel. It's been how long since we kissed? I know you want to kiss me back, don't deny it," she said, starting to get angry.

"You're cute when you're mad," I smiled, reaching my hand up to cup her face.

"You're just rude," Ty harrumphed.

"I know. That was my goal. Maybe you'll think twice before making fun of me," I smirked in triumph. Ty took that opportunity to catch me off guard. She linked her hands behind my neck and pulled me tightly to her. Ty climbed out of her seat and onto my lap so she was straddling me.

"Never," she whispered. I smiled and kissed her with ferocity. My hands found her waist and pulled her closer to me, though I don't know how that was possible. My body was on fire. Ty was so close to me if felt as if we were one. I never wanted to stop, but sadly, we were both human so we needed to breath.

As we were gasping for air, I breathed, "What have you done to me?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she smirked in reply before resting her head on my shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you, too, more than you can imagine," I replied.

"Oh, I think I can," she smiled before kissing me again lightly.

"Promise me that this'll never change, you and me," I said.

"I promise. I don't want to lose you, ever. I couldn't handle it," she replied seriously.

"I've never felt like this before," I admitted, stroking her hair. "This is all new to me."

"It's new to me, too. We'll figure it all out, together."

"Together," I repeated, leaning in to kiss her once more.