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You were taking a gap year, still being indecisive on which school you were going to play for. You had received several scholarships from many colleges, but none of them were speaking to you. You needed some kind of push in order for you to make your decision, you thought seeing two of the colleges that offered you scholarships play would be the push you needed. Penn State was playing the University of Michigan near your hometown, which you thought would be the perfect opportunity to decide between some of your top schools. You were walking around the arena as soon as the doors opened and it was empty. You found your way to your seat by Michigan's tunnel. You looked at the row your seat was in and saw someone sitting there. He had headphones in and had his hands folded while his leg was shaking. You began to enter the row and headed for your seat, but it was the seat he was sitting in. You didn't know whether to say something to him or just wait for him to go on his own. He turned to look at you and you began to blush, he was really cute.
"Am I in your seat?" he asked.
"Yeah, but it's okay take your time, I know how important focus is before a game," you smiled. He took out his headphones and moved over one seat. He gestured for you to sit down next to him, you took your seat and put your ticket in your pocket.
"You play hockey?" he asked you.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure where, I'm hoping this game helps me make my decision on where to play," you explained. Could he have been the sign you were waiting for to play for Michigan?
"I'm Rutger by the way," he held out his hand.
"Y/N" you shook it.
"So you're thinking about Mich?" he asked.
"Yeah, of the schools that have offered me scholarships, Mich is in the top three."
"You must be good if that many schools are offering you scholarships," he chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess," you giggled. The two of you sat there looking at each other for a bit, blushing and smiling. He checked his phone and realized he had to get ready.
"I gotta go, hopefully, I see you at Mich," he stood up and put his headphones back in.
"Rutger wait," he turned back to face you, "can I get your number, or snap, or something, just so if I do go to Mich I will already know someone there," you tried to be subtle, but all you really wanted was to get to know him more.
"Oh yeah sure," he handed you his phone and you put your number in, he did the same with yours.
"Thanks, good luck,"
"Thank you," he smiled. He went back down to the tunnel where some of his team was standing. He began talking to them, then they all looked at you. You smiled and waved awkwardly, the group of boys waved back and then went into the locker room.
While you waited for the game to start you found yourself looking at the tunnel every so often. Were you crushing on Rutger? Maybe a little, but you just met. You began to daydream while you waited for the game to start. You thought of yourself at Michigan, then you thought about hockey, then Rutger, then playing hockey with Rutger. More and more ideas were flowing through your head when you were interrupted by cheering. You looked towards where the cheering was coming from. You saw the line of yellow jerseys standing in the tunnel. A player waved at you, you saw the number two on the jersey. You looked closer and realized it was Rutger. You smiled and waved back as he began to walk towards the ice.
The game started and it was really close. You got nervous after Penn State scored first. Michigan was playing really well, but Penn State's goalie was incredible. The game got tied and you were getting nervous as the end of the third period approached. You could feel the tension in the building. You got ready for overtime, for what you thought would be a long overtime period, but it ended in the first minute. You screamed and cheered and rushed towards the glass. You watched the team celebrate and saw the smiles on all of their faces, but Rutger's smile was brighter than the rest to you. As the players began to get off the ice you went towards the tunnel hoping to see Rutger. He came over to you immediately. You tried to get down to where he was standing, but security pushed you away.
"Hey, she's with me," he yelled at the guard. You walked through to where Rutger was waiting. He was out of breath from the game, and dripping in sweat, but you didn't care because you hugged him.
"That was amazing, I'm so happy for you"
"So did we help with your decision?" he grinned still having his arms around you.
"Yeah, I'm going to State," you laughed. He looked disappointed by your joke, he rolled his eyes and let go of you.
"Oh that's too bad Y/N," he smiled, "cause I was hoping I could take you out when you committed to Mich," his smile grew wider.
"I'd love to go out with you, you're cute Rut, and an amazing hockey player," you blushed. He stepped even closer to you, making your heart pound even faster than it was already.
"Great, because I think you're really cute too," he smirked. The two of you stood there gazing into each other's eyes smiling when your moment was interrupted by a voice shouting.
"Just kiss her already," one of his teammates yelled.
"May I?" he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, then rested his hand on your cheek. He pulled your face to his as you stood on your toes to reach his face. Your lips met and you felt like it was just the two of you in that arena. You both pulled away for air, smiling.
"I'll see you in Michigan Y/N," he smiled heading towards the locker room.
"I can't wait," you called back.
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I'm wishing I went up to Rutger now when he was sitting in an arena seat by where I was standing before warmups...
He said excuse me to get past us and people near us, his voice oml
