Sweetness

moved from school to hockey to girls Drake liked at school to music. I learned that Emily was a country music gal, but that she liked pop and rock too. A lot of her favorite singers were “hot” as she said. Seeing her comfortable, laughing and talking, just set my attraction for her skyrocketing.

  Finally, we were at the RBC Center and, after parking, we followed the crowd into the building. We waited in the security line and passed through a few minutes later. We walked around until we found our section and then had our tickets checked by the woman guarding the entrance.

  She let us through and we went down the stairs until we reached our row. We were maybe ten rows back from the glass and we were behind one of the goals. We took our seats with it being Mike, Drake, Emily, and then me. The air was cool and it felt refreshing compared to Emily’s hand, which was hot in mine. The game was going to start in about fifteen minutes and Drake was beyond excited. He talked nonstop about how cool it was that he was here.

  Emily was bubbling with excitement as well. I guessed she was ready to see her man. She was wearing a Penguins t-shirt with Crosby’s name and number on the back. She was one of very few in the building not wearing red. Soon enough, the players came out and skated around the rink to warm up.

  Emily squeezed my hand when she caught sight of Crosby. “It feels so good to be back here again,” she told me. I smiled and thanked her for bringing us along.

  It didn’t take long before her attention was back on the ice and her eyes were following Crosby around the rink. Did Emily’s eyes follow me around when she came to watch me play? I hoped so. We stood as some girl came out to sing the national anthem. When she got to the “rockets red glare” part, everyone in the building screamed “RED!” as was Canes tradition.

  Then the game started. Emily didn’t seem to care if she drew attention to herself. When the Pens did something good or scored, she showed her support by yelling, cheering, or clapping. A few of the people around us sent a glare her way when she did.

  The score was 1-1 when the first period finished. Emily looked over at me and smiled. “Let’s make a bet,” she suggested.

  I leaned towards her. “What kind of bet?”

  She giggled and said, “Twenty bucks says the Pens will win.”

  “Twenty bucks says the Canes will win,” I countered. She held out the hand I wasn´t holding and we shook on it.

  “I’m going to be twenty dollars richer by the end of the night,” she told Drake and Mike.

  “You wish,” they told her.

  “Crosby won’t let me down,” she said looking me in the eye.

  “Neither will I,” I told her. Mike and Drake left to go buy drinks and I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

  “Jake?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I meant to tell you earlier, but I didn’t get the chance.”

  “What is it?”

  She locked her eyes with mine and put on a serious face. “Don’t ever tickle me again.”

  I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “Oh, c’mon Em. It was fun!”

  She shook her head and said, “For you and Drake!”

  “You can’t tell me, you didn’t like it at all.”

  She smiled and gave me a sexy look. “There was one part I liked.” She patted my leg.

  I didn’t get a chance to say anything because Mike and Drake returned with a Dr. Peppers for us.

  Emily returned her attention to the game once the second period started. The Canes scored twice and the Pens only once, making the score 3-2.

  During the second intermission, Emily talked with Drake who was having a blast.

  Twenty minutes later, the third and final period started. No one scored until the last five minutes when the Pens tied the score. Emily was trying to contain her excitement when they scored again with two minutes left.

  “The game isn’t over until the buzzer sounds,” I reminded her.

  “There’s no way the Canes will score.” It turned out she was right and boy did she tell me. “Told ya I would be twenty bucks richer, which means I was right!”

  I chuckled and we get up to leave. Emily was practically skipping to the car. She jumped onto my back and I toted her to the car. She kissed my neck and repeated that she won.

  “Okay, okay. I know you won.”

  She giggled and she hopped off since we were at the car. “Hey, Dad, why don’t you drive and Drake sit up front?” He hesitated for a moment, but Emily tossed him the keys and got in the back. I shrugged my shoulders and followed her. Drake, who was happy from going to an NHL game, was even happier to sit up front.

  When we get on the road, Emily moved to the middle, buckled up, and pulled my arm around her shoulders. She leaned on me and rested her hand on my thigh. “I’m so tired,” she yawned. In my arms, all of her excitement left and fatigue replaced it. Ten minutes down the road, she was asleep.

  “Thanks again, Mike,” I said.

  “No problem. It was worth it to see Emily like that.”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  Drake fell asleep soon after. The ride to Emily’s house was silent with the exception of the radio playing softly. I leaned my head against Emily’s and closed my eyes, enjoying her in my arms.

  The ride home ended too soon and I woke Emily up. She gave me a kiss good-bye and I carried Drake to my car.

  “Bye, guys,” I said as I headed to my car. Emily waved goodbye. I set Drake down in the passenger seat and we went home.

  The school day could not end fast enough. Drake was going to spend the night at a friend’s and I was picking Emily up at six thirty. I raced home after school and showered. I had to get Drake packed and to his friend’s house.

  “Jake! Quit rushing me. I’ve got time,” Drake complained.

  I let him be and went back to my room. While I waited for Drake to get ready, I cleaned up my room until it was spotless. “Jake! Let’s go!” I grabbed my wallet and keys and we were off.

  Having to walk Drake in and make small talk with the boy’s mother seemed to go on forever.

  Finally, I was on my way to see Emily. I pulled up and knocked on the door.

  Mike answered. “Hey, Jake. C’mon in. She’ll be out in a second.” I followed him into the living room and took a seat. “How’s your day been?” Mike asked.

  “Long,” I said with a smile.

  “Hey, Jake.” I looked up to see Emily. Instead of her usual loose fitting shirts, she was wearing a fitted pink shirt that outlined her figure and dark blue Capri’s.

  I stood and walked over to greet her. Her shoulder length hair framed her face and I saw that she was wearing eyeliner and mascara. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and softly breathed hello. I took her hand and asked her if she was ready.

  She nodded and I said goodbye to Mike. “Don’t stay out too late,” he called over his shoulder.

  “I won’t,” Emily assured him.

  I opened the car door for her and she slid in. I jogged around and got in. Cranking the car, I backed out and headed towards Wilmington.

  Once we reached the stop sign at the end of Emily’s road, I parked the car. “What are you doing?” She asked.

  I looked over at her, placed a hand behind her neck and brought her to me. I gave her a slow passionate kiss. When I released her, I told her, “You look beautiful, you know that?” A blush burned her cheeks and she mumbled a thanks. Taking the car out of park, I continued to our destination.

  “Are you going to tell me where we are going?” Emily asked after a few minutes of silence.

  “Wilmington.”

  “Well, I figured that.” She laughed.

  I grinned. “We are going to an undisclosed location. Where would the fun be if I just told you? Just know that we are going to have a fun, carefree night.” I reached over and took her hand.

  Her hand sat inside of mine. She felt fragile, but I knew that was far from the truth. Underneath the damage her mom had done to her, she was strong. Emily
lifted up my hand and brought it to her lips, placing a soft kiss there before returning our hands to her lap. After a few silent moments, I asked her about her day.

  “It was okay. I don’t have homework this weekend, so that’s great. I’ve been feeling a little off all day though.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked with concern.

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure. How about you? How was your day?”

  “Antagonizing. I’ve been waiting all day to have you to myself out in the open instead of in my bedroom.”

  She looked over at me with a sly look. “What’s so bad about hanging out in your bedroom?”

  “Nothing. Just that now we get to go out.”

  “Jake?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” She asked softly.

  “What? Us? Of course. Em, I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t want to be. I wouldn’t walk out in the cold in the middle of the night just so I could spend some time with you. You’ve got to believe me when I tell you that there is no other place I rather be right now.” I squeezed her hand and saw her smile at me.

  “Okay. It’s just that sometimes I don’t believe that you would want to be with me.”

  This time, I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it softly. “I do,” I told her. I glanced over at her and saw another smile. We sat in comfortable silence for about five minutes before Emily started asking for clues about where we were going. “Well, it’s a lot of fun.”

  She rolled her eyes and said, “Of course it will be! I’m going with you so that clue doesn’t count. Give me another one.”

  I chuckled and said, “Hmm. You have to wear a certain kind of shoes.”

  Emily thought for a second and then asked, “Are we going bowling?” I nodded and she continued, “So that’s what the pair of socks was for? Well, why did you tell me to wear flip flops?”

  “That is not going to be revealed until later.” She seemed content with that and found a station playing something she liked before turning the radio up a bit.

  Twenty minutes later, I parked my car at the bowling alley. I went around and opened the door for Emily. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to me as we headed inside. “I’ve got mad skills, you know,” I told her.

  She laughed and said, “I always play with gutter rails just so my score will be better.”

  “No gutter rails today. Oh! I almost forgot.” I reached in my pocket and handed over the twenty bucks I had lost to her in our bet last night.

  A smile took over her face and she stuffed it in her pocket. “Thank you.”

  I chuckled and shook my head before we headed to the counter. I bought two games and we got our shoes before heading to our lane. Emily pulled out a thin pair of socks from her pocket and removed her feet from her flip-flops. I slipped my shoes off and replaced them with the bowling shoes. I stood, entered in our names, and then we headed to the counters behind us to pick out our balls.

  “Ready?” I asked her once we returned to our seats. Emily nodded and I went first. The ball went a little to the left, but I still got a strike. “Yes,” I said, pumping my fist in the air as I turned to Emily. I stepped down from where the floor was elevated and gave her a quick kiss. “That is how you bowl.”

  She laughed and walked around me. She stood in concentration for a moment and then rolled the ball down the lane. It headed right and knocked down a few pins. When her ball returned, she went back and knocked down the rest of the pins. “Your turn,” she said with a smirk as she passed me.

  I got up and bowled a strike.

  On Emily’s next turn she bowled a gutter ball each time. I tried not to laugh, but a chuckle escaped. She playfully backhanded me in the stomach, making me laugh more.

  “Will you bowl already!” She exclaimed.

  I grabbed my ball and knocked down six pins. The next one was a gutter ball.

  On Emily’s turn, she did the thing I least expected. She granny-rolled the ball. It traveled slowly down the lane, but it knocked right into the first pin and sent the