Queen II Barzal

Chapter Twenty-Six: Tyler

 When I got back to Seattle, I went straight home. I took a nap to try to get used to Seattle's time, but of course, I was still jet-lagged. Going to practice the next day was tough. I was out of it, but I wasn't the worst one on the ice.

"Barzal," Coach called me after practice. "Are you okay?"

"Just a little tired, Coach," I said. "I'll be better by game time tomorrow,"

"Good," He said. "We need you out there,"

When I went back to school, I told Chris about my trip to New York.

"It was awesome," I said. "My dad took me to the Yankees game and we hung out just the two of us,"

"Did you tell him about Chapel?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "He told me that he supports me with whatever I choose,"

Chris was with me when I opened the letter from Chapel Hill. I was too nervous to do it alone, even though I didn't think that I would be going.

"You're hella smart and you would make good money with what you plan on doing," Chris said.

"Chris, I don't think I'm going," I told him.

"Not going?" He asked with slight shock. "Ty, I support you, but how'd you decide this so quickly?"

"Hockey is my life, I can't let that go," I said. "I have a career in the sport that I love for fucks sake,"

"I knew you would make the right decision," Chris said.

"How do you know this is the right one?" I asked.

"Because Buffalo is looking for you in their draft," Chris told me.

"Buffalo?" I asked. "Like the Sabres?"

"You could lead the team to the cup," Chris said.

"Not even Jack Eichel or Taylor Hall could do that," I told him.

"You're not Eichel or Hall," Chris said.

I smiled.

"You're right," I said. "But how do you know that this is legit?"

"It's rumored on Instagram that Buffalo is looking at you," Chris said.

"I've barely been in Seattle for two years and they're already looking at me?" I asked.

"You have the same skills as your dad," Chris said. "Maybe even better,"

"I don't know about that," I said.

"C'mon, you're eighteen years old and you've practiced with Mat Barzal, Ethan Thomas, Andrei Svechnikov, and Sebastian Aho," Chris told me. "Plus you're in the juniors with talented members of the team such as myself,"

Chris raised his eyebrows once and smiled.

"Is there any team looking at you?" I asked Chris.

"Actually, it's rumored that Toronto is looking at me," Chris told me. "The blue jersey would match my eyes so well,"

"Uh-huh," I laughed.

I basically decided that I wasn't going to go to college, but now I have a reason to. The fucking NHL wants me! The Sabres definitely aren't the best, but it would be amazing to actually be in the NHL. Of course I have fans now, but NHL fans, man, that's something else. Dad says that he loves the fans and it is seriously so fucking cool. I didn't take it completely seriously until I was invited to the draft.

When I found out, I was already at my apartment with Nick. I already told him about how I didn't want to go to college and he figured out that the Sabres had an eye for me.

"Holy fucking hell," I said.

"What is it, baby?" Nick asked. "Are you okay?"

"Better than okay," I said. "I was invited to the draft,"

"For the NHL?" He looked shocked, yet happy.

I nodded.

He buried me in a deep kiss, holding his hands on my waist.

"I'm so fucking proud of you," He smiled.

I put down my phone before he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he put his hands on my thighs to keep me up. He kept kissing me as he carried me to my bedroom. He threw me on the bed and I giggled as he hovered over me to kiss me again.

"You're so fucking amazing," He said, kissing my neck. "I'm so proud of you,"

I blushed, running my hands through his thick hair.

He took off his shirt as I took off mine. He asked if I was ready and I nodded my head.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I trust you," I smiled.

I never thought about what it was going to feel like, but I didn't know that it would feel that good. I wasn't pressured, which was a good thing. I'm glad that he asked, it only made me trust him more. It happened and I'm not sure why I was so nervous. Nick ended up staying the night but leaving unexpectedly in the morning.

I saw him at practice the next day and we kept giving each other awkward smiles. Chris noticed. He still doesn't know that we're together, I think I hid that pretty well from him.

"Why does Nick keep looking at you?" Chris asked.

"Nothing," I said. "I mean, I don't know,"

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"All good, man," I said.

"Okay..." He put his helmet back on and skated around.

Nick and I went on a few "formal" dates, unlike the ones that we usually have after a game. He took me to some nice restaurants and we even dressed up pretty fancy. Of course, we didn't want to get caught on a date, so we usually stuck to the more casual dates at one of our places.