Cole's small moving truck shows up today with his furniture, and he has the rest of his stuff in his room here at the condo. Each of us have our own room here because my parents want that, but the three of us kids all know that Cole and I will pretty much sleep in the same room every night.
"Where do you want this box of......Wild jerseys?" Noah calls from Cole's open window, looking out into the street.
As Cole and I each grab a box from his Dad's truck, he yells back to Noah through the window. "Just put it next to the closet".
"Why do you have so many sports jerseys?" I ask, looking at the box I'm carrying, Wilds jerseys.
"I like my jerseys, what do you want from me?" Cole laughs as we walk back into the house and up the stairs.
We finish unloading the boxes from the truck, and just get to talking. After a while, we hear a knock on the door. Cole heads down stairs with Noah and I walk back into my room for a moment to check my phone. Addison has been texting me nonstop about college. Both her and Aiden got into Chicago University. She got the letter late because the post office lost it temporarily and then they found it, and delivered it to her. It was too late to send in the final notice, so she has to drive there and talk to the admissions officer, and he somehow got her in even though she was late, and everyone knows that college doesn't like things being late.
Shuffling soon erupts downstairs. The movers are here. They move Cole's bed, dresser, and a giant chair into his room. They set everything up quickly and leave within half an hour. Cole's room is setup just like his old room was. When you walk in, his bed is on the back wall, the closet is just to your left, and his dresser is right in front of you. But, this room has more windows than his old room, so it's brighter, plus the walls aren't painted dark green.
Noah and I help Cole unpack all of his boxes. He takes out his 15 hockey jerseys, all Wild except for one, which is Jonathan's jersey, all of which seem to be different players through out the years. I hang them neatly on metal hangers and arrange them by the number on the jersey.
I think for a second, then turn to the guys, who are fake fighting about something. I have to interrupt this before it gets ugly. "So, Noah was telling me this little story a few months ago. He said he has only had one girlfriend. Who was she?"
Cole and Noah turn to each other, then both burst out laughing. They calm down after a moment, then Noah turns to me. "Her name was Elizabeth Winchester. She asked me out in my freshman year. She was in eighth grade. We dated for about a month or two. We were at her older brothers football game, who just happens to be your quarterback this year at Township. Ryan, I think his name was?", Noah thinks for a moment. "So, we were there and..... I forget what actually happened to embarrass her, but it happened, and she literally changed schools and I haven't seen her since. So, if you think about, we've been dating for almost five years, since we didn't break up".
"Ah, Noah. That's horrible", I try not to laugh.
"But it's the truth. It's not my fault", Noah laughs again. He thinks again for a moment. "Let's go play hockey in the back yard. I call the blue stick".
Noah runs out of Cole's room and down the stairs. Cole soon rushes after him. I listen to them run through the house and out the back door. I run into my room and out onto the balcony. Cole grabs the nets from the side of the house and pulls them onto the basketball court we have for the neighborhood. Not many people use it, so we just use it for hockey. Noah grabs the sticks and the bright pink ball and they start at center court.
They look at me, as if to ask when to start. "Go", I yell.
Noah and Cole fight each other for the ball. I watch them play for awhile, and soon, the sun goes down. Perfect photo opportunity. I get Noah and Cole at the bottom of the shot, the sun behind them.
They call it game after almost four hours of playing. Noah and Cole pick up the nets and the ball and head inside for showers. I stay on the balcony and lean against the railing. The sun sets all the way, and everything goes dark. The stars shine, and the moon doesn't make everything so hard to see.
I hear slow footsteps behind me, then a pair of arms wrap around me. His chin rests on my shoulder, his breath tickles the side of my face.
"Hi there", I whisper.
"Hi, Cutie", Cole whispers back before he turns his face towards mine and plants quick kisses all over the side of my face. I start to laugh, because it kind of tickles.
"Okay, stop", I keep giggling.
"How many times do I have to tell you, you are so difficult sometimes", he says into my ear, sending more kisses down my neck. He spins me around quickly, lacing our hands together at our sides.
"Isn't that how we started in the first place? I was difficult", Cole laughs again.
We stare at each other for a moment, before we lean in and our lips touch. They glide across each other. I lean away after a few seconds. I stare at him again.
"Do you know how perfect you are?" Cole asks me. I blush.
"No, but this is perfect. Just me and you. Forever".
YOU ARE READING
One More Day (Counting on Hockey #2)
Romance*book two of the Counting On Hockey series. Read Just Another Goal prior to this book* Meredith and Cole are going into their Senior year of high school. They are inseparable together. Now both playing hockey, and being together for now more than a...
