Spellbound

*Epilogue

My eyes can't seem to leave Christian's a he skates into position. He plays as a center, so it's not hard to focus on him anyway.

The referee blows his whistle, and the players immediately spring into action. Christian gets a hold of the puck to start with, making it glide easily along the ice. He passes it off to one of his other teammates, who gets it through the defenders before shooting it into the net. The crowd erupts again, and the team piles onto Christian and his teammate. I cheer along, seeing Christian's happy face through his helmet.

Once the cheering dies down, the players return to their positions on the ice. The whistle is blown again, and the ice turns to magic again. The puck in being shot in each direction, and people zip around on their skates, looking for an opportunity to assist. It's fascinating to see them all skating on the ice like they were taking a leisurely walk, like it was no big deal what they were doing. Although, it was harder than I thought it would be to follow Christian's fast movements.

Because, look, I'm no expert at ice hockey. Sure, I've been to many games because of my brother and Christian, and I've been skating a few times myself, but I'm not really invested in sports generally. So no, I don't really 'get' all the rules and terminology. It doesn't make it any less entertaining, just... perplexing sometimes.

The games in its second period when things really start to get going. Christian's cradling the puck yet again, weaving his way effortlessly to his goal.

"Shoot... Shoot!" I scream, as I see a defenders from the other team nearing him. Almost as if he can hear my calls, he shoots, just as the defenders pushes him onto the ice. The puck sails through the goalie, hitting the back of the net. The crowd goes wild again as Christian's soon crushed by the swarm of his team. I stand from my seat and begin to clap as Christian eventually stands from the ice. He skates a lap of the rink, taking in the audience. He skates over to my section, and I don't even try to hide my being there. I smile widely at him as he takes in the faces.

I feel his eyes on me, which only makes me smile wider. His grin falters as he does a double take, his mouth shaped in a wide 'o' shape. He stops skating, instead getting as close to the glass as he possibly could. Overwhelmed by sudden emotion, I quickly skip down the ailes, reaching the glass in no time. His expression is still shocked, and I find myself laughing. For once, I've been able to surprise him, it's liberating. He places a large, gloved hand to the glass, as I do the same. Even through the thick layer, I still feel a connection to him, like his soul is somehow attached directly to mine.

Although, our moment does have to come to an end, as sadly, sports games seem to turn out more about sports than sharing a moment with my boyfriend. Weird that.

Christian peels his hand slowly from the glass, sending me a signature wink before skating off that sends my heart beat into overdrive. I walk back up the stairs slowly, settling back into my seat. I look back out into the middle of the ice, to see Christian's eyes trained on me. He touches his heart, before motioning to me. I pretend to catch his message, before blowing him my own kiss. I can see his wide smile albeit the distance, his attention flicking back to ice.

...

The rest of the game passed smoothly, with Boston taking out the win, 7-3. Boston's always been pretty good at hockey, so the win wasn't unexpected. Christian texted me as soon as he got off the ice, telling me to meet him right outside of the arena, which is where I'm now standing. Knowing him, he'll have a 2 second shower and be out a minute later. I don't know if I should be happy or nauseated on the senses that he's skipping a proper shower just to be with me. Probably a bit of both.

I squeal loudly as I feel strong arms wrap around my waist and lift me into the air.

"Christian! Put me down!" I scream, attempting to squirm out of his hold.