On Thin Ice

24

I hadn't felt this much excitement in a long time. The last time I felt this way was last year when my team won the state championship. Since then, nothing had been worthy of this feeling until now.

I stood in front of my mirror, pulling my Bruins jersey down. This would be my first Bruins game. My mother had never let me go, despite me telling her it was all I wanted for Christmas or my birthday. She didn't want me going into the city without her and there was no way she was going to sit through a game that I wasn't playing in.

A commotion downstairs let me know that the guys had arrived. I quickly grabbed my phone and wallet before heading downstairs where Dad, Mindy, and Ava sat in the living room and the guys, including Josh, stood in front of them.

Fox immediately spotted me and sent me one of his heart stopping smiles.

"Ready to go?" he asked me, causing the rest of the guys to notice me as well.

I enthusiastically nodded, walking over to the group.

"Hey, man," Ryan greeted me, slapping his hand down on my shoulder. "Happy birthday."

Due to the excitement of my first Bruins game, I nearly forgot that today was my actual birthday.

Dad stood up from the couch and buried me in his arms, causing the guys to poke fun at me.

"Happy birthday," Dad said, kissing the top of my head. "I can't believe my baby boy is eighteen now."

"Okay Dad," I said, trying to pull away from him.

Fox chuckled at my expense and walked over to me, tossing his arm around my shoulder. His touch was electric, like it had been for the last few days. Part of me felt like I should pull away, but the stronger part wanted to stay right under his arm.

"You ready to get going?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You boys be careful," Dad instructed, looking toward all of us.

"Let us know when you get there," Mindy added, nodding in agreement.

With that, the eight of us headed out to the cars, me getting in the passenger's seat of Fox's while Alex and Ian sat in the back. Josh took his car with Ryan, Jude, and Liam.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as Fox pulled away from the curb and drove out of the neighborhood, Josh following closely behind.

"You excited?" Fox asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Is it that obvious?"

"You're practically bouncing in your seat," Fox pointed out.

I let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I guess you could say I'm excited."

Fox's lips quirked up into a small smile and my eyes rested on the side of his face. I couldn't get over his smile.

"So you've never been to a B's game?" Alex suddenly asked, poking his head between Fox and me from the backseat.

My eyes averted from Fox and to Alex before I cleared my throat.

"No, I haven't," I said, causing Alex to give me a strange look.