Faceoff

Chapter 11-Partayyy

"I believe when life give you lemons, you should make lemonade... and try to find someone whose life gave them vodka, and have a party." -Ron White

Jonathan's P.O.V

I woke up the next morning, a huge smile covering my face. Today was gonna be a good day. We had a game, Nat's party and hopefully I would have a girlfriend by the end of the night. As for Mark, he was a pretty cool guy. Hammer had agreed to meet him before the game since he was Mark's favorite player. Patrick came running into my room, jumping on my bed. Seems like he was in a good mood too.

"Can I get Nat to make us pancakes?" I glanced at the clock, it read 8:43.

"What? No it's way too early." I rolled back over, pulling the covers over my head. Pat didn't leave like I hoped, instead he plopped down next to me, poking me every second.

"Can we at least ask her out to breakfast? I'm starving." He whined, pulling me out of bed. I agreed, mostly to shut him up, and changed quickly. I ended up in gray sweats and a Blackhawks tee shirt. Pat had called her and she said she would be ready in 10. Nat came a few minutes later, her hair straight and glasses framing her face. She was wearing joggers, a white tee shirt and no makeup. For the first time this May, it had hit 80.

We drove to a cafe that Natalie swore served the best pancakes in the city. It couldn't be accurate since she's only lived here less than 2 months. When we did manage to get them I saw where she was coming from. Mine were topped with every berry imaginable and whipped cream. It probably wasn't the best pregame meal, but man it was good. Sadly, Pat and I had morning skate so we had to say goodbye fairly early. Pat was already back at the house while I walked Nat home.

"Thanks for breakfast. You've got to stop buying me things though." She laughed, pushing her hair off her shoulder.

"Hey, it's really no big deal. In case you didn't notice I sorta like you."

"Really? I didn't pick up on that." She brushed her lips against mine. I connected them because frankly I was in a hurry and just wanted to kiss her. "Bye Jonny, I'll see you tonight." She smiled, closing her front door as I pretty much ran home. I was probably gonna be late, but at this point I didn't really care.

*****

I stepped on the ice for warmups and immediately looked behind the Wild bench to find Natalie. Her and Mark had their eyes on me and gave quick waves, which I returned. She was wearing a jersey, but I couldn't figure out whose it was for the life of me. The game started shortly after with Patrick's line. None of us could produce anything on either ends so we went to the locker room pretty defeated. Q wasn't even mad, but instead just drew up a couple plays for us.

The second period was different. We'd gotten a lot of looks and I almost put on in the back of the net. About 12 minutes in, Parise received a pass that he couldn't settle down and Hossa stole it away. I flew down the center calling for the pass. He did and I shot it top shelf causing the arena to erupt in cheers. The second period was winding down with only my goal on the scoreboard. With about 20 seconds left, Keith somehow managed to send a pass through two defenders and had it land directly in Kaner's possession. He fired and Chelsea Dagger roared through the speakers. Rozsival drew a penalty with 2 seconds left meaning we were going to have to start the 3rd with a penalty. But at least we were up 2-0.

As soon as the period started Dumba scored, decreasing our lead to one. None of us were that worried, and were even calmer when Sharpie scored four minutes later. We were pretty confident we had this win too. With seven minutes left, Crow got nailed in the face. He was stumbling around for a while, but thankfully regained his senses. With two minutes left, the Wild pulled their goalie. Sharpie dove to get the puck in his possession and hit it towards Kaner. He flew up the wing, somehow faking out 3 D-men and getting an empty net goal.

We all walked to the locker room cheering. Pat was snatched away by reporters since he was the star of the game, although Corey probably deserved it more. A lot of the young guys were talking about Nat's party when she walked in. She made a beeline for me and pulled me in for a hug.

"Nice goal, Jonny!" She exclaimed, giving me a peck and then pulled away, remembering we were in public. The only ones that really knew about us was Patrick, Brandon, Corey and Andrew probably did, but he was pretty dumb so we couldn't tell. We weren't necessarily trying to hide it, but I didn't want the boys thinking she was just a fling since we weren't technically dating.

"Thanks, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I told Corey I would take him so I'll just see you back at my place." She kissed me again, quickly, but it was a kiss at least. Her, Mark and Corey left promptly, but I still had to wait for Patrick. I found him in the back chatting with Rundblad and Trevor.

"Ready to go?" I asked. He nodded and said a quick goodbye since we were gonna see them in less than half an hour. "We've got to stop a the liquor store, I forgot to get some beer."

"Just hurry up." He groaned pulling out his phone. I ran inside and grabbed 2 cases of beer and we were off again. We'd changed in the locker room so I was currently wearing black jeans and a denim button up. Pat had on jeans and blue and gray flannel. His curls were tucked away in a gray beenie also. When I returned, a frown was deep set on his face. "Amanda bailed to hang out with friends."

"Who cares, it's probably better. She doesn't even like drinking." He nodded, still upset, but trying to cover it more. We got to Nat's house a little passed 10:30 and there was already car's lined down the road.

"Welcome to the party." Hammer shouted, pulling me in for a hug and handing Patrick and I beers. I thanked him and made my way around the boys in search of Natalie. I found her in an intense game of Flip Cup with Brandon, Andrew, Mark, Corey and Teuvo. Natalie's team, which was Teuvo, Brandon and her, were loosing miserably. Corey chugged the last bit of beer and landed the cup on the first try, causing her team to loose. She let out of string of profanities and took another swig of her drink.

"When are Seabs and Bicks coming?" Corey yelled. He was clearly already buzzed. Chaunette and Nat were in a deep conversation when I broke it up. Chaunette made her way to Andrew and Corey who were taking shots.

"Hey, when'd you get here?"

"Just in time to see you choke in flip cup."

"Shut up! Rundblad and Trevor wanna play us in beer pong since we're the dream team."

"Wait before you get them can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Well you know I like you and I'm pretty sure you like me so do you wanna maybe go out with me?"

"Sure, I guess." She smirked, taking another swig of her drink. I wrapped my arm around her, gathering the group for the the beer pong. The game went a lot like the last one except I was slightly better. David and TVR were still young so they weren't as good as Nat who was the only one here to actually go all 4 years to college. We won by 2 cups, but I was very buzzed now.

"Who all is staying here?" I slurred, pulling Nat onto my lap.

"I think everyone except Hammer, Bicks, Seabs and Patrick."

"You can stay at my house if you want."

"Can we go now? I'm exhausted." As on cue, she let out a huge yawn. We walked down the street toward my house, our hands tangled together and swinging back and forth. When we finally got there, she walked straight to my bedroom. I handed her boxers and a tee shirt. She changed while I was in the bathroom. We cuddled up in bed and fell asleep almost instantly, our bodies tangled together.

Worst ending ever wow. Sorry I haven't updated in a while I was actually busy for once. I'm going to a Cubs game tomorrow WOOT. They've lost all 3 I've went to so far this year so I'm hoping to break the streak. I don't have much to say here oops.

Q:Least Favorite NHL teams

A:Penguins, Bruins, Red Wings and Panthers (Don't hate me)