Chapter 49 Zane
ZANE
The Colter Bay Grill didn’t have a dress code. It was mostly casual, but I must’ve stood out wearing a full suit. Normally, the only time you ever see guys wearing ties in there was the after-work-beer crowd that showed up just after five o’clock.
Jakob was just going to wear a hoodie and jeans, can you believe that? I told him if I was going to get all dolled up for him then I expected the same courtesy. Jakob hadn’t gotten out of the house much since his injury. In fact, he’d done exactly nothing fun since before the championship game.
You know, the one in which the Remington Riptides won the championship, and left the Larkin Lions licking their wounds?
Yeah, that one.
Any-hoo, we went to the Colter Bay where it all began, and wouldn’t you know it? Jakob started running his mouth the moment we breezed through the door.
“Hey, look over there.” He pointed to the far end of the bar. “That’s the exact spot where I launched you to the moon off of a knuckle sandwich!”
I rolled my eyes.
“That’s not how I remember it, Jakob.”
“Oh, right, I forgot your motto about being delusional and damned proud of it.”
I snorted. Even on a special date like this one, my boyfriend could get carried away with the wisecracks.
Jeez, I called him my boyfriend. I guess I could call him that again. He’d said we could consider ourselves back together, but we needed to make it official with this date.
Seriously, he shouldn’t have taken the insults too far. I had an enormous surprise for him and waited for exactly the right moment to drop it.
We sat at a booth in the dining area. A server came and I asked for a beer. Jakob ordered Pepsi. We both asked for more Buffalo wings than the server believed we could eat. We told him that he’d obviously never seen my appetite in the past and that I wouldn’t leave a trace of meat on the bones.
“You know, it really was great of you to help take care of me all this time,” Jakob said. “Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, wiping my ass.”
“Come on, Jakob, you know I didn’t really do that.”
“But you would’ve if I’d asked you, right? Right?”
I closed my eyes and suppressed a laugh.
“I guess I’m never going to change you, am I?” I asked.
“Not as long as you remain the baffling, high-riding asshole I fell in love with.”
“Fair enough, I guess.”
The server returned with a plate of wings and we chowed down.
True to form, my face was a mess within seconds. Thank God I’d covered my shirt and tie with a napkin and lay another one down on my lap.
“Jesus, man, you’re going to need to be hosed down at the end of this.”
I shook my head, knowing that I would be putting up with this for the rest of my life. Most would probably urge me to make sure I really loved the guy.
After we finished eating, I wiped my mouth, and even used those little wet wipes to ensure my boyfriend couldn’t make any more comments about wing sauce on my face or anywhere else.
“I’ve got good news,” Jakob said.
“So do I.”
“Seriously?”
“Uh huh. You go first, okay?”
“The doctor says I’ll be able to play hockey again in three months.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded.
“That’s pretty good, considering the injury you had.”
“And who gave it to me.”
I felt my fingernails dig into my leg. No way would I let him ruin a really nice night with smart remarks.
“That means you’ll be able to go back to the team and really raise hell,” I said.
“And make your life miserable.”
I stopped myself from recoiling. My own news was connected to that in a way, and I didn’t want to spoil that.
“It’ll take some time, though,” he said. “First, I need to keep doing PT so I don’t regress. Then I’ll need to get into playing shape. I’m just worried I’ve fallen so far behind that I won’t be able to keep up with the other guys.”
“Dude, that’s totally not true.”
I reached across the table and cupped my hands over Jakob’s. For the first time, I didn’t give a shit whether those around us saw the telltale signs of coupledom.
“I don’t think it’s possible to fall behind a group of misfits like the Larkin Lions,” I said.
Jakob’s brows furrowed and nose wrinkled like he could’ve believe I’d scored a burn over him.
“See,” I said, “two can play at that game.”
“That’s really great, jackass.”
I didn’t mind his insults. I sort of liked them in a weird way. Don’t ever tell Jakob I said that, though. I don’t want him thinking he’d earned a free pass to be a dick.
“Seriously, though, I know you’ll make a big comeback and you’ll be amazing,” I said.
“That means a lot to me, coming from you. My getting back on the ice means that we’re going to be competing against each other again. We’re gonna have to discuss how to handle that.”
I shifted back in my seat. Jakob’s eyes fixed on me and I read a lot more in them than he was saying.
“We are going to square off on the ice against one another again, aren’t we?” he asked.
I glanced about the room, whistling a nonsense tune, hoping futilely for the subject to disappear.
Fat chance, right?
“What’s going on, Zane?” he asked. “What are you up to?”
I breathed deep and released a sigh.
“Okay, you got me,” I said. “I do have some pretty big news.”
“Hockey-related or …?”
“Hockey-related.”
I paused, unsure how to drop the news on him. Once I did, he would see that we wouldn’t be rivals anymore, something I considered bittersweet.
“I’m going pro.”
His eyebrows arched. Honestly, I expected him to jump up from the table in excitement, even if he was nursing an injury.
“Seriously?” he asked. “How long have you been holding onto this? And why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Just a couple of days. And I wanted to wait until just the right moment to tell you. A special moment.”
“You wanted to wait until I was full and not on an empty stomach, you mean?”
“Sure, if that’ll shut you up long enough for me to tell you the rest of my story.”
He made a fake-angry face, which meant I never had to worry about him taking that too seriously.
“Okay,” he said, “tell me the rest of your story. Which team? Whose entire program is going to go to shit once you’re on the roster?”
“The St. Louis Blues. Obviously, nothing is set in stone. They told me I should enter the draft. Given their position in the draft, they think they’ll be able to pick me up no problem.”
“Think they will?”
“It’s all but a guarantee. I know that technically nothing’s ever guaranteed in life, but I doubt they would’ve spent all that time talking to me for nothing.”
Jakob paused. Judging by his eyes, I knew he must’ve been thinking about something.
“But you’ve been spending so much time with me,” he said. “When did you have a chance to talk to the Blues?”
“Trust me, I still had more than a few moments to spare, despite it all. Anyway, I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. I’ll have to start at the very bottom of the minors. Maybe I’ll never see the big-time NHL ice.”
“But you’ll be a pro. That’s all that matters. Hasn’t that been the goal for both of us right along?”
“Of course.”
He didn’t answer. He folded his arms and looked away.
Oh shit, I thought. If he doesn’t have a smartass remark at the ready, something must be seriously wrong.
I could guess that it was probably the fact that I would be going pro and he would be stuck in college. It could become a point of contention between us. I wasn’t stupid. Maybe getting drafted didn’t specifically break up couples, but I was smart enough to recognize the danger.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“If you’ve got something on your mind, you might as well come right out and say it.”
“It’s just that… if you’re in the pros, how are we going to make this work?”
I cupped both of my hands over Jakob’s, again not giving a shit if people at the other tables saw it.
“Everything’s going to work out just fine,” I said. “You might worry I’m going to be all successful now and leave you behind. I give you my solemn oath that it won’t happen.”
“When the hell has something that you said meant anything?”
“Trust me, there’s a first time for everything.”
After dinner, we went to Delaware Park. It was cold out, but I told Jakob that the fresh air would do him good. For once, I wanted to do something romantic.
We strolled down a hill and glanced across Hoyt Lake at Shakespeare Hill, where outdoor Shakespeare plays are performed each summer. The sky was clear, making way for the biggest collection of stars I’d ever seen in the city.
When I paused, Jakob kept walking for a few paces and then a few more before he finally realized that he’d left me behind. Then he hurried back.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
“Pay attention, would you?”
I wanted to score as many digs on him while I still could.
“You told me earlier that you were worried about how we were going to make things work if I’m in the pros and you’re still stuck in college like a hopeless amateur.”
“That’s not what I said, and you know it.”
I smiled hugely, reminding him once more that I could give as well as get. Knowing Jakob, he would twist that into a sexual innuendo.
“Okay, all right, I just want to get down to business here,” I said. “Think you can handle that?”
“Business? Zane, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, Jakob, you didn’t really think I brought you here for no reason, did you?”
He didn’t answer. I would take that over the umpteenth smart remark.
I dug into my pocket without letting him see what I had in my hand. I opened my hand so he could see a ring box.
And then I fell to one knee.
His eyes widened, and I just know he wanted to crack wise, but he stopped himself.
“Jakob,” I said, taking his hand. “I know our history has been a little rocky, but something inside keeps telling me it’s all been for a reason. It’s because we’re supposed to be together.”
“Oh my God…” Laughter sputtered out of my boyfriend’s mouth.
“Things could’ve ended between us, and I have no idea what I would’ve done if the bad things had stayed that way. I know I can’t live without you, so the only thing I can do to make sure that doesn’t happen is this.”
I paused. My mouth felt dry, but I wouldn’t let it ruin the moment.
“I love you, Jakob. Will you marry me?”
He cupped his free hand over his mouth like he felt embarrassed, but in a good way.
“Well?” I asked.
“Oh, I guess so.”
I rose to my feet, took him in my arms, and kissed him deeply. I didn’t even mind the way he answered.
After the time I’d spent with Jakob, I wouldn’t have expected anything less.