••• EIGHT •••
Ashton

    "Maverick, focus!" Coach yelled, causing me to tear my eyes away from Sophie and skate over to Patrick. Patrick stared at me questioningly as I approached him and I knew he caught me staring.

  "Why were you looking at Sophie like that?" He asked, and my eyes widened slightly as I shook my head.

  "I-I wasn't! I was looking at the girl next to Soph, she's really pretty." I lied quickly and cursed at myself for getting caught. Patrick's face lit up like a Christmas tree when I mentioned that girl, and I knew instantly that he liked her.

  "Dude, right? I hope Soph gave her my number because she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!" Patrick exclaimed. I chuckled as I snuck a peek back up to the girls. Sophie was smiling at something the other girl had said, and I wished more than anything for her to smile at me like that for the rest of my life.

  "Yeah," I sighed and looked back at Patrick. "She is really beautiful." Patrick grinned as he elbowed me playfully.

  "Alright, let's focus so we don't get benched our first game." I nodded and skated after him toward our Coach.

    As we approached the rest of our teammates, Justin appeared next to Coach, and my jaw clenched as I watched him smile up at Sophia. I looked over at Sophie to see her giving him a small smile, but her eyes suddenly met mine, and I winked at her. Her cheeks instantly turned red as she bit her lip to hide her grin, and she quickly looked away. I chuckled softly to myself and then looked back over at Justin to see him staring back at me angrily.

    Coach Sullivan clapped his hands together, and I raised an eyebrow at Justin challengingly, but he just shook his head. "Alright, before we move on to the next drill, I just wanna introduce our new members on the team," He smiled at Patrick and me. "Over the weekend, we acquired Patrick Lincoln and Ashton Maverick from the Bruins. I hope everyone on this team can welcome them and show them the ropes around here."

  "Don't worry, Coach," Justin smirked at me, and I clenched my jaw to keep myself from smacking that stupid smile off his face. "We'll make them feel right at home." He skated off with the rest of our teammates following after him, and Patrick whistled.

  "Why do I get the feeling he doesn't like us very much?" Patrick chuckled, and I shook my head.

  "I saw him flirting with Sophie outside, so I pretended that I was her boyfriend, and he did not like that." I informed him, and Patrick sighed.

  "Damn, well I hope he gets over it because I'd hate to have to kick his ass." I chuckled as I shook my head at him. Patrick had always been protective of Sophie, and Justin Thorne had a terrible reputation for sleeping with any girl he could get, so I knew Patrick was going to do anything he could to keep him away from her. "Thanks for protecting Soph. Justin is the last guy I'd want my sister to date."

    At that moment, I wished more than anything that I had the balls to tell him how I felt about Sophie. But, I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere.

  "Let's go!" Justin yelled out to us. Patrick scoffed as he fixed his gloves and then smacked his hockey stick against mine.

  "What do you say we show this asshole how to play hockey, huh?" Patrick grinned mischievously at me, and I smiled widely back at him.

  "Let's do it." We skated off towards them, and for the remainder of practice we showed Justin that even though he may not like us, we are a couple of damn good hockey players.

    Coach Sullivan blew his whistle signaling practice was over, and we skated over towards him breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Coach smiled proudly at Patrick and me as he nodded his head approvingly. "Let's hope you guys keep that same energy I saw out there today at our home opener in a couple of weeks." We nodded as I bumped my knuckles against Patricks, and he grinned widely at me.

  "Who's the cocky one now?" He teased as we watched Justin skate away angrily, and I laughed. I was grateful to have a best friend like Patrick. He could always make light of any situation.

    After showering and changing back into my sweatshirt and jeans, Patrick sat next to me on the bench in the locker room as I tied my shoelaces. "Hurry up, dude. I need to meet the girl Sophie was talking to." Patrick huffed, and I chuckled as I stood up.

  "You can go talk to her by yourself, you know?" I reminded him, and he rolled his eyes as he picked up his duffel bag.

  "Whatever, let's go." He started walking towards the exit, and I shook my head as I closed my locker and followed after him.

    When we exited the locker room, Sophie was standing outside with the mystery girl and she blushed the second her eyes met mine. I tried to hide my smile since I was standing next to Patrick, but I loved how she blushed the second she saw me. "Hey, Soph, who's your friend?" Patrick smiled widely at them and the girl next to Sophie broke out into a huge grin as she stared at Patrick.

  "Hey guys, this is Christina," Patrick held out his hand toward her and Christina placed her hand in his. "She's Justin's little sister." I coughed, suddenly choking on air as my eyes widened, and I noticed Patrick's smile falter a little as he shook her hand.

  "It's really nice to meet you." Patrick admitted, and Christina giggled as she nodded.

  "Yeah, same to you. You guys were amazing out there." Patrick blushed at her compliment, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing at him. I had never seen Patrick so smitten by a girl before, but I was happy for him.

    Even though she was Justin's little sister, I knew it wasn't going to stop Patrick from wanting to be with her. I looked over at Sophie as Patrick got to know Christina, and she was smiling at them. I walked over to her and she looked up at me surprised. "Hi," I smiled down at her, and she gave me a shy smile. "You're playing matchmaker now?" I teased, and she rolled her eyes.

  "I just want to see my brother happy." She said innocently, and I nodded in agreement as I looked back over at them. Christina was staring up at Patrick, enchanted by whatever he was saying, and Patrick couldn't stop smiling at her.

  "That's all I want too. They make a cute couple," I admitted, and Sophie grinned as she watched them. "Are you free later?" I asked suddenly and her eyes snapped back over toward me.

  "Didn't we just agree that we want Patrick to be happy?" She asked incredulously, and I nodded.

  "Yes, but I figured out a way to keep Patrick happy and not torture ourselves by not exploring whatever is going on between us." She raised an eyebrow at me questioningly as she folded her arms against her chest.

  "Are you sure you're not going to reject me again?" She asked, and I shook my head quickly.

  "I wasn't rejecting you earlier, Soph. Hell, I don't think I could reject you if I tried." I chuckled, and Sophie bit her lip to try and hide her smile. "I was just pointing out that your brother wouldn't let us be together."

  "So, what's your plan then?" She asked, and I smirked down at her.

  "Be ready by seven tonight. I'll pick you up at the end of your block, and I'll tell you my plan." I whispered just as Patrick jogged over towards us with a victorious smile plastered on his face.

  "I am in love." He sighed dreamily, and Soph looked at me in disbelief. We both stared at each other in shock for a second before bursting into laughter. "I'm serious you guys!" Patrick exclaimed over our laughter. "I think I found my soulmate." I grinned widely at him as our laughter died down and patted him on the shoulder.

  "I'll give you a ride home, and you can tell me all about it, dude." Patrick grinned as he gave Sophie a quick hug.

  "Thanks, man. I gotta go say bye to Mom. I'll see you at the house later." He said to Sophie, and she nodded then he took off to find their Mom.

  "So, will I see you later?" I asked once Patrick was far enough away that he couldn't hear us. Sophie bit her lip nervously as she stared up at me, and I tried my best to give her a reassuring smile. I had never prayed harder than I had in that moment for her to say yes.

  "Ashton, come on!" Patrick called out to me, and I nodded as I took a step back from Sophie.

  "Well?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow. My heart was hammering in my chest, and as another second passed without her saying anything, I was starting to think she didn't want to find out my plan.

  "Okay." She breathed out, and my face exploded in a huge grin that made my cheeks hurt.

  "Don't be late." I whispered as I turned on my heel and jogged over to Patrick. He was talking to his Mom about Christina, and I was grateful he didn't question me about what I was talking to Sophie about. I tried to hide my excitement as I tried to focus on what Patrick was saying, but my mind kept wandering to where I was going to take Sophie tonight.