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Excuse the mistakes

EXCITEMENT

Also, for some reason, this says rated R... it's not

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“Damn it!”

I resisted the urge to slam my stick against the pavement, and instead, I stood straight up and put one of my hands on my hip. I brushed my sweaty bangs out of my face and then leaned against my stick with a groan.

I’d lost track of how long I’d been standing outside shooting on the net in my driveway, but I was sure it had been more than an hour. I had yet to score this season, and I was determined to before it ended. I’d been working on my shot a lot in practice, but since today was a free day, I’d been forced to do it in my driveway. I preferred the ice to pavement, but as long as I had a net, I wasn’t complaining much.

I let out a deep breath, and after pulling all the hair that had fallen out of my ponytail back up, I walked over to the net and started pulling my street pucks out. Suddenly, I heard the sound of an engine, and I looked up just in time to see Dane’s car pass my house and then pull into his driveway.

Dane rolled down the passenger window, and I could hear Swedish House Mafia blasting through his speakers. I grinned, knowing that Dane had this thing for the group, and I waved as he leaned across the car and smiled at me from the passenger window.

“I’ll admit it, Kelsey,” he called, “I’m liking the outfit.”

I frowned for a moment before looking down, and I immediately blushed. I had gotten hot about fifteen minutes ago from working out, and since there was no one around, I’d shed my black Nike t-shirt. Now, I only had on a pair of sports shorts and a sports bra.

“Way to be a pervert!” I yelled back, and I quickly grabbed my t-shirt off of the top of the net and tugged it on.

Dane turned off his car and climbed out of the driver’s side, and I watched as he walked around the hood of his car. I crossed my arms over my chest as Dane cross the small stretch of grass to my driveway, and he came to a stop right in front of me.

He started to say something, but then he glanced to the side and frowned. “Hey,” Dane said, and he pointed at the hockey net, “isn’t that the net from my driveway?”

“Maybe,” I drawled with a shrug.

“And you stole it?” Dane asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Maybe,” I repeated, and I laughed. Dane grinned and shook his head, and he rested his hand on the plastic crossbar of the net. “What can I say?” I said with a shrug, “I don’t have a net, and yours was just out there, begging for me to take it and use it.”

“Well, I hope you had fun,” Dane replied with a sigh, and I nodded.

Dane checked the time on the watch wrapped around his wrist, and he frowned. “Like I said, Kels,” Dane said, gesturing at my clothes and changing the subject, “I like the outfit, but is that really what you want to wear to the team dinner?”

“Shit,” I groaned, deflating slightly, “I completely forgot.”

Tonight, because there was no practice, the team had decided to go to a local pasta place. We had a game tomorrow, so a pasta dinner was a good idea for the night before. Plus, it just gave us a chance to all hang out together, since not everyone went to the same school.

“You have twenty minutes before we have to get to the restaurant to meet everyone,” Dane stated, “you have plenty of time to get changed, unless you’re one of those girls who takes an hour to pick out a shirt. Then, you’re screwed.”

“Really Dane?” I asked, “Do I seem like the kind of girl that takes hours to get dressed?”

“Nope,” Dane replied, “Which is something I really like about you.”

“Yeah?” I said, trying in vain to keep from blushing at his compliment.

“Yes ma’am,” Dane said firmly, and he smiled and pointed at my house. “You should probably go get changed now.”

“Right,” I replied, nodding once, “I should go do that.” Dane chuckled, and I stuck my tongue out at him before turning and crossing my front lawn to my door. As I opened it, Dane called my name, and I glanced over my shoulder at him.

“I’m going to go put my net back,” he said, smirking at me, “and then I’ll come over and wait for you, okay?”

“You don’t have to,” I replied, “I mean, I could just meet you at your car.”

“It’s not a problem,” Dane stated, and then he grabbed his net and started over to his driveway without giving me a chance to protest further. I could help but smile at myself, and I stepped into my house and shut my door swiftly behind me.

I leaned my stick up against the wall, and then I hurried up the stairs two at a time, and I pushed into my room. The first thing I did after closing my bedroom door was strip out of my sweaty clothes and throw them in the ever growing dirty clothes pile. Then, because I’m not the kind of girl who has bottles of perfume, I reapplied some deodorant and misted myself with febreeze.

Don’t judge me. I didn’t have time to take a shower before dinner and I didn’t exactly smell like a delicate flower.

I pulled on a clean pair of dark wash jeans, and I tugged on a maroon t-shirt. I shrugged on my Ice Devils warm up jacket, and after shoving my feet into a pair of worn Nikes, I shoved my phone into one of the jacket pockets, along with my wallet.

I slipped quickly out of my bedroom and into the bathroom, and after flicking on the light, I groaned. Bits of my hair were sticking up while others were attempting to behave, but all in all, my hair looked jacked up and slightly sweaty. I wished again that I had time to take a shower, and I let my hair down before running a brush through the tangled locks. I pulled it into a tight knot at the top of my head, and I washed my face and brushed my teeth.

I took one look at myself in the mirror and frowned. “This is as good as it’s going to get,” I muttered to myself, and I walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the stairs. I was just about to go down them when I heard two distinct male voices.

Curious, I leaning over the banister quietly, and I could just see my standing with his back to me, and Dane was standing on the other side. I couldn’t make out what my dad was saying, but from the freaked out look on Dane’s face, it was probably one of those protective dad things. I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face, and I chuckled to myself as I stepped down the stairs.

“Alright,” I breathed, entering the living room where my dad and Dane were, “I’m ready.”

“Great,” Dane replied, nodding and giving me a pleading look, as if to say, get me the hell out of here, Kelsey!

I had to resist the urge to laugh, and I turned to look at my dad. “I’ll see you later, okay?” I said, and I could tell from the expression in his eyes that my dad was really amused at how uncomfortable he had managed to make Dane.

“Okay,” my dad said, he nodded at Dane, “I was just telling your boyfriend here that I expect you to be home before ten.”

“Boyfriend?” I echoed questioningly, and I glanced over at Dane.

“Yeah, boyfriend,” he confirmed, nodding.

“Okay,” I said slowly, and I nodded once before looking back at my dad. “Okay, we’re going to head out, Dad. I’ll be home before ten.”

I reached for Dane’s hand, and then I lead him out of the living room, down the front hall, and out the front door. As we started to walk across my lawn to Dane’s driveway and car, I glanced up at him to see that he was already looking at me.

“So,” I drawled, breaking the silence, “you’re my boyfriend now?”

“Is that not okay?” Dane replied, but instead of having a light tone to his voice, Dane actually sounded worried, like labeling our relationship was bad.

I mean, sure, we’d only gone on two official dates, but Dane and I started hanging out a lot before and after practices and during school. I loved the time we spent together, and I was really starting to develop feelings for Dane. Part of me thought that maybe this was happening to fast, but the bigger and louder part of me was asking why not?

“It’s completely okay,” I stated firmly, and Dane and I stopped in front of his truck.

“So,’ Dane said, his smirk returning. “Does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend when we’re not around the team?”

“Hmm, let me think,” I replied playfully, and Dane wrapped his arms around my waist. I boosted myself up on my tiptoes, since Dane was taller than me, and I locked eyes with him. “Yes, this means I’m your girlfriend.”

Then, I pressed my lips to his.

As our lips met, the world around us seemed to slow down. It wasn’t sloppy, and our tongues didn’t ferociously attack each other. The kiss was light, electric, and it made my heart race. I wrapped my arms around Dane’s neck, and his arms around my waist pulled me in closer to his chest.

“Dane,” I whispered hoarsely as I pulled away for a breath, “I think we’re late for the team dinner.”

“They can wait five minutes,” he replied, and as I touched my lips to his again, I couldn’t help but smile.

*

“Alright, who got the spinach ravioli?”

“I did!” I replied, raising my hand up so that the waitress could put a voice to a face. She sent me a thankful glance before walking over and setting a particularly delicious looking plate of pasta down in front of me.

I felt bad for our waitress tonight. She was young, maybe late teens into early twenties, and some of the guys had been shamelessly hitting on her. I mean, the entire time they were using cheesy pickup lines that weren’t at all overly sexual or offensive, but no one wanted to have to put up with that. Also, it didn’t help that we were a big group who wasn’t being especially quiet.

Tony was a large contributor to the rowdiness, and I’d had to nudge Dane a couple times so that he’d assume captain position and tell the guys to calm the hell down.

After a few minutes, everyone had their food, and I reached for my fork to start eating. My other hand was occupied with holding Dane’s underneath the table, but I wasn’t complaining. After our little encounter in Dane’s driveway, we’d been holding hands, and it sucked to have to let go of each other when we’d walked into the Italian restaurant.

Thankfully, since Dane and I had gotten there a few minutes after everyone else, we’d been seated at the end of the table. That meant we could hold hands underneath it, and unless someone shoved their head under the table and looked around, no one would know.

“So,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention from their newly acquired food, “Tell me about the Sharks. What’s their play? Are they fast or slow? Dirty or clean?”

“Oh, they are some dirty bastards,” Alec answered, groaning, “I mean, they’re a pretty fast team with substantial skills, but they are not opposed to throwing cheap shots.”

“Cheap shots?” Owen chimed in, and he snorted, “they take punches when the refs aren’t looking, and their coaches encourage it!”

Somehow, I’d managed to set off pretty much every single person on the team on a tangent. They were all trying to talk over each other and claim that they were the person who’d gotten the worst cheap shot from a Sharks’ player, and it was pretty entertaining to watch and listen to.

As I looked around the table with a grin on my face, I noticed that Tony was staring at Dane and I with a thoughtful look on his face.

“What are you looking at?” I asked with a light, playful tone.

“You know,” he replied loudly, “you two don’t need to hold hands underneath the table.”

“What?” I asked, and I could feel my face go white. Dane and I let go of each other as casually as we could, and I glanced at him to see that he was just as confused as me. “Tony, what are you talking about?”

“Dude, seriously?” Tony asked with a laugh, “I get that you guys were trying to be secretive about it, my guess is because of the team, but you’re not that great at hiding it. I’m pretty sure everyone on the team has known about it since your first date. At least, we knew Dane liked you since he asked if he could be the one to invite you to the haunted hayride.”

I glanced over at Dane to see that his face had gone red, and he looked pissed and embarrassed at the same time. “You asked if you could be the one to invite me?” I asked, and Dane clenched his jaw tightly and nodded.

Acting on impulse, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, inciting a round of whistles from the team.

“I’ll admit it,” Tony continued, putting his hand on his heart, “I’m a little offended you didn’t pick me, Kels, but I’ll heal.”

I laughed and looked back over at Dane, who was still tomato red. “You know what this means, right?” I asked, hoping to lighten his mood.

“What?” he replied, swallowing hard.

“We get to do this,” I stated, and I grabbed Dane’s hand in mine and rested them on the table. 

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kiss kiss kiss

Finally an update! I'm so sorry but I have been slammed lately. I've been doing a lot of school stuff, as well as stuff with my internship, so I haven't had time to sit down and complete this chapter. Plus, when I went to finish it today, the file wouldn't open, so I had to rewrite the first thousand words of the chapter.

I'm student directing the fall play for my school and I'm really excited because we had our first production meeting today! Auditions are Wednesday and callbacks are Thursday and I'm soooooo excited!

What do ya guys think?

ALSO STUPID CUPID IS ABOUT TO HIT THREE MILLION READS!

Song on the side is Acapella by Karmin. I love the song and cannot get it out of my head. 

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