S C O T T
(this is the last chapter oH MY GOD I LOVE YOU ALL ((but btw there's an epilogue too))
"Wilson?" I frowned and looked down at my phone, blocking out the voice calling my name, "Scott! What have I told you about texting my daughter five minutes before a damn game?"
My head shot up, eyes wide as Coach Monroe glared at me. The whole team shouted out a chorus of, "don't text her!" and my cheeks flamed in embarrassment. I shoved my phone down on the bench, prepared to listen in on the conversation, but Jay's voice cut everyone off.
"What about sexting?" Jay asked and grinned, and my eyes widened in horror, "As far as I know, you never said that was off limits."
I was two seconds from murdering Jay, "Shut the fuck up."
"That's not a very captain-like response, Scotty," Jay replied, pointing a finger at the white C on my jersey.
In the past few months, so much had changed. One major thing being that Coach Monroe had made me team captain. And, well, truthfully, not that much had changed. Connor had (finally) told Kelly he loved her, and things were still going smoothly with Elle. And we were ten minutes from playing our last game of the season.
Things changed, but they were also still amazing.
"Before Jay says another idiotic thing," Monroe said, sending a pointed glare at a grinning Jay, "Let's get one thing straight. You boys did amazing this season, and I'm proud to call you my team. Through almost losing a tooth," Monroe grinned at Edi, referring back to a incident where Edi blocked the puck with his face, "to Grant almost breaking his stick on the ice, it's been an amazing season!"
We all cheered an agreement, and an incredibly wide smile broke out on my face. Edi drummed his stick on the ground, and our cheers only intensified, pretty damn close to matching the ones out in the audience. As ecstatic as they felt, I was sure my excitement topped theirs.
It was insane to think that I was about to play my last game of the season for the Marlies, as team captain. It was insane and amazing to think back throughout the season; I could still remember my first game, with Kelly, Connor, and Elle in the benches, cheering louder than anyone else. It was absolutely insane to think that it had only been a few months back.
The most insane thing, though, was to think that, only a few months ago, Elle had been offering me help that I quickly shot down. It was insane to think that our relationship had progressed so far; I had gone from ducking behind restaurant menus to avoid her, to sending her goodmorning and goodnight texts. That was insane to think about.
I could feel my phone vibrating under me - probably all with texts from Connor, Elle, and Kelly - but I just sat there, the same ridiculous grin on my face. Monroe was running through plays and advice, and hyping everyone up for the game.
When the timer went off, we all got up, walking out of the locker room in pairs of two. Edi slid up next to me, a wide grin on his face and I just grinned back. I was practically shaking with nerves, but I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. It didn't matter how nervous I was before a game, the excitement always overrode it.
We skated across the ice a few times, and I couldn't help but laugh every time Elle and Connor blew kisses my way. Miraculously, Elle, Connor, and Kelly had already gotten seats right in the front, and they were using that to their advantage. Kelly and Elle were holding up a sign as high as they could, and Connor was practically half-way over the bench barriers.
We all filed into the bench, as Monroe continued to say how we could easily bet them (Rockford Icehogs) and that we would win and make it into the championship.
"Definitely!" Connor shouted, leaning as far over the barrier as he could. Connor clapped and I ducked my head, "You guys are gonna fucking win!"
"Fuck yeah!" Edi agreed, going as close to the barrier as he could to high-five Connor.
Kelly and Elle grabbed Connor and tugged him back over, and I just laughed, shaking my head at my best friend. Connor had a reputation at hockey games - especially important ones - and that only added to my nerves. (And excitement).
"Scott, you're center forward," Monroe said, and I nodded, chewing on the edge of my mouthpiece, "Jay, left forward, and Grant you're right forward." Monroe put Ryan and Derek on defense, and, of course, Edi as our starting goalie.
I turned back to Elle and grinned, mouthing an 'I love you'. Of course Connor laughed and mouthed it back, but I was only paying attention when Elle mouthed it back and smiled at me.
I skated out onto the ice, Jay and Edi right by my sides. The Rockford Icehogs were all getting into position, and Jay slapped a hand onto my shoulder. Even through his visor, I could still see the ridiculously wide grin on his face.
"Remember: with great power, comes great responsibility," Jay said, mimicking the same words he said every game," if possible, Jay's grin widened and he cleared his throat, "Because, you're the hero The Marlies deserve - "
"They're not even from the same movie," I said, at the same time Edi shook his head and slapped the side of Jay's helmet.
"Remember: with Jay comes a montage of superhero quotes - "
"Inspiring superhero quotes!" Jay defended himself, effectively cutting Edi off. The buzzer went off, and we all grinned at each other before skating into position.
The ref skated up to us, and I shook out before bending down, slapping sticks with him. It was on instinct when I slapped the puck, the audiences' cheers going even louder when Jay got ahold of it and started skating forward. I was shocked at how easily that went, before clenching down on the mouthpiece and skating after him.
I skated in the center, calling Jay's name when I saw he was about to get cornered. Jay shot the puck to me and I skated forward, taking my chance to slap-shot the puck right into the goal.
The audience broke out into cheers, and Connor stood up, screaming his lungs out. Kelly was cheering and Elle stood up, flashing me a thumbs-up. I just grinned cheekily and made a messy heart to her, cheeks flushing when she made one back.
The game went smoothly. Kind of.
Connor had ended up almost getting himself kicked out when he started calling insults to one of the Icehogs' bigger players. When Connor threatened that he'd, 'meet the guy behind the rink', the player was about two seconds from snapping Connor in half. Really, the only reason Connor didn't get kicked out was because he was sitting right next to Elle Monroe.
None of that mattered, though, when the last buzzer went off the score showed that we had won our last game of the season.
I was still practically shaking with happiness as we all stumbled back into the locker rooms. My skates were long off, and I was sure I was gonna slam my stick into someone's head because I kept shaking it, but that didn't matter because we won.
I filed into the rink, quickly tossing all my gear into my locker. I fell onto the bench and grinned, ruffling up my hair. Nothing could beat the feeling of winning our final game, and knowing we would make it into the final championship. Nothing beat that feeling or complete and utter, total euphoria.
Monroe clapped and I plopped down to Edi before turning my attention to him, "All right, listen up," he called, whistling to grab everyone's attention, "There was something important about today's game that I didn't tell anyone about."
My stomach twisted at that, and I turned to Edi, one eyebrow quirked. Edi was slouched against the locker, eyes barely opened. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Monroe, focusing on what he was about to say. Truthfully, I was nervous. I couldn't think of anything that he wouldn't have told us before the game.
"I didn't want to make anyone nervous, but," Monroe drawled out the words, and Grant drummed his fingers on the bench, "There was scouts from the Leafs here tonight to watch you guys play."
My jaw practically fucking dropped at that. I couldn't believe that there was scouts from the Leafs at our game, watching us play. Scouts from the team I one day prayed to be playing on had been watching me play. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that scouts from the Toronto Maple Leafs had been watching me play.
"As far as I know, there isn't going to be a draft soon," Monroe continued, but I was still trying to wrap my head around the whole Leafs-scouts thing, "They wanted to check out the team and make notes for possible drafts soon."
Edi turned to me, light blue eyes wide, "Holy fucking shit," he muttered, ruffling up his messy blond hair, "There were scouts from the Leafs here tonight, and I fell when walking off the ice."
I grinned and ruffled Edi's hair, unable to stop smiling. We had won our last game, and scouts from the Leafs had been watching us play. I had my three best friends sitting front row at my game, and my other two best friends sitting in the locker room with me. It was perfect.
I sat up a little straighter, only to see Connor walking into the locker room. My eyes widened in shock, but no one else seemed to notice as Con, Kelly, and Elle all started filing in. I knew Elle was allowed back in the locker rooms, but they were usually kept locked to keep people like Connor from getting in.
Half-way to making their way over to Jay, Edi, and I, Monroe asked how the hell Connor got in here. Con grinned and pointed to Elle, before grabbing Kelly's hand and slipping onto the bench next to me. Kelly sat next to Jay, and Connor practically sat on Edi's lap.
"Connor, get the fuck off my lap," Edi said, pinching the bridge of his nose and leaning back against the lockers.
Connor frowned and winked at Kelly, before turning back awkwardly and looking down at Edi, "But I'm comfy."
Edi started trying to push Connor off his lap, which, of course, prompted Jay to hop onto Connor's lap. Only then did Connor start complaining and telling Jay to get off him, and then it kind of turned into all of them pushing each other awkwardly, and, eventually, landing all of them sprawled out on the floor.
I grinned and turned away from them, grin widening when Elle took the empty space next to me. I laced our fingers together and pulled her closer to me, wrapping one arm around her waist. I didn't say anything; just held onto her, and kept smiling because, really, I wouldn't have been able to stop even if I wanted to.
"I have to tell you something," I said over to the loudness in the locker room. I stood up and tugged Elle with me, "C'mon."
Jay, Edi, and Connor were sprawled out over the floor. Connor was trying to get Kelly to come down on the floor with him, so it was pretty easy to slip past them unnoticed. I knew we wouldn't have been able to walk out of the locker room - not with Monroe standing by the door - so I just opened the closest door and pulled Elle in with me.
"A supply closet," Elle said, grinning up at me, "Really romantic, Scott."
"I'm kind of known for being romantic," I teased, wrapping my arms around Elle's waist and pulling her towards me, "Trust me, it's good news," Elle quirked an eyebrow, and I pressed my forehead against hers, "There was scouts from the Leafs here tonight."
There was a moment of silence, before Elle practically squealed. She threw her arms around me, effectively knocking down a broom in the meantime. I laughed and held her tightly, and Elle just held onto me tightly, saying how she knew I was going to be scouted soon. I just grinned and held her, laughing more when someone knocked on the door and asked if everything was okay.
"I'm so happy for you," Elle said, a ridiuclously huge smile on her face, "Even if they're waiting for a draft, they saw you play. And they saw how amazing you did tonight because you scored more than half our goals, Scott! That's amazing, babe!"
I bent down and pulled Elle towards me, before kissing her. The supply closet was tight (the fallen broom was pressed against my back), and it smelled of old gear, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was that I was holding Elle, and kissing her was kind of one of the best things to do in the world.
Elle pulled back and I pressed my forehead against hers, the same goofy grin on her face. Neither of us made a signal to move; we just stood there in the supply closet, holding each other, wide smiles on our faces from the insanely amazing news I had gotten tonight.
"Scott?" Elle whispered, and I hummed out a response, "It stinks in here."
I grinned and pulled Elle closer to me, "Elle?" I whispered that time, and she looked up at me, "You kind of stink, too."