One of the Boys

Chapter 45

Delaney

"Hey there she is! Our rockstar of a little sister!" Mason exclaims as he wraps me in a hug. "Congrats on the big win little sis!" Matthew says as I give him a hug. "I thought you couldn't make it?" I ask as he grins. "Surprise!" He says laughing as I give him a small shove. "Nice hat trick by the way!" Mason says. "Thanks." I smile in reply.

I hug my parents and we fake some photos before they talk to Chris's family. "You made history today. Did you know that?" Mason asks me as I watch my parents laugh with Chris's parents. "Yeah, I know I did." I smile. I look past my parents and over to the stands where the little girl I had tossed the puck to was still standing there and watching in awe.

"What are you staring at?" Matt asked. "You see that little girl over there with her dad and two brothers?" I ask. "Yeah, what about them?" Mason asks. "Well I tossed a puck over the glass to her at the end of warmups and she reminds me of myself when I was that age. You know, going to games with you guys and dad, wearing my favourite player's jersey and cheering as loud as we could." I reply. "And this little girl just so happens to be wearing my jersey." I add.

"Well did you take a pic with her?" Matt asked. "No I didn't, I had to go down to the room." I reply. "Well then why don't the three of us go over there and take a picture with them?" Mason suggested. "Okay but one second." I say before skating over to grab Chris and Jace since her brothers were wearing their jerseys.

"Where are we going?" Jason asked as I dragged him and Chris over to the glass where the family was standing. "To take a picture with our biggest fans." I reply with a huge smile on my face. I signal to the dad to take a photo of his three kids with my brothers, Chris, Jace and I standing behind them. After he took the pic, we fist bumped them and skated away.

******

"Delaney, they want to interview you out in the hall." Mike says coming over to me in the locker room where the team continued to celebrate our huge victory. "Alright, I'll be back." I say as I weave my way in and out of the crowded locker room and into the hall.

"Hi Delaney, thanks for meeting with us." The interviewer said. "Yeah, not a problem." I reply. "We won't take up much of your time but we've got a few questions to ask you." He says. "Okay." I reply before he tells me we have to wait for his signal.

The camera man gives the reporter a thumbs up before he begins speaking. "Thanks guys. Delaney, first off I'd like to congratulate you on your big Calder Memorial Cup win with the Toronto Marlies and on that hat trick you scored here in tonight's game." He says. "Thank You." I reply before he starts to ask me questions. "What does it feel like to have scored your hat trick goal that won your team the game? And what does it feel like to be the first and only ever female hockey player to win the Calder Memorial Cup?" He asks.

"Well you know, scoring a hat trick in tonight's game was not what I was expecting but it felt great. I mean, having my entire family here tonight to watch the game and see me score a hatty was a great feeling to have too. You know, just being able to have them here to celebrate with us means a whole lot to me and to be the first and only female hockey player to ever win a Calder Cup , that's huge for me. And I really hope that I've inspired the next generation of female athletes to work hard and chase after their dreams you know. Because you can do anything you set your mind to." I reply.

"Now Delaney, we saw you have a moment earlier tonight at the end of warmups ahead of tonight's game. As we show this clip, tell us what was going through your mind during this moment?" The interviewer asked as I look at the screen in front of me and smile. "You know, I saw this little girl with the biggest smile on her face and she reminded me so much of myself when I was younger and would go to hockey games with my dad and two brothers. And seeing her wearing a jersey with my name and number on the back really shows how my work and what I'm doing can inspire the next generation of athletes and kids everywhere to follow their dreams." I answer honestly.

"And before we let you get back to celebrating with the team, we just want to again say thank you for your time and congratulations once again in the Calder Cup win here tonight." The reporter says as I thank him them walk back into the dressing room.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Chris asks when I get back to my cubby in the dressing room. "I just finished up an interview for tv." I reply untying my skates and taking them off. "Well the team's going to that fancy Italian restaurant for a victory dinner. So let's get going." He says sitting at his own cubby next to mine. "Are we really?" I ask. "Nah, I'm just kidding! We're all going to Jack's  place to party." He grins. "Families were invited too if they wanted to join." He adds. "So I'm guessing my brothers already know about this?" I ask. "Because those two never pass up on a party." I add.

"Yeah, they know." Casey says walking by with his gear over his shoulder. "Jack told them on the ice earlier when you guys were taking pictures." He says. "Good to know." I say packing my gear away in my bag.

"I think we're going to stop at home real quick before the party." Chris says. "Ain't no way I'm playing beer pong in a suit!" He exclaims. "Alright, I guess we'll see you there then." Riley says zipping up his bag.

I quickly change and zip my bag up. "Okay, let's go." Chris says as he holds his hand out for me to grab. "See you guys over at Jack's place!" He says as we leave the room hand in hand.

******
After we got home from Jack's party, I took off my shirt and threw it into the laundry hamper in the closet before pulling my jeans off and tossing them in to the hamper too. Feeling too tired to search for a fresh pair of pjs, I take a pair of Chris's sweats off the shelf and put them on before turning off the light and walking out into the room and over to our bed.

"Woah! No pjs tonight? Just a sports bra and my sweats?" Chris asks walking into the room shirtless. "Too lazy to look for pjs so I just grabbed the first pair of pants I saw. And that just so happened to be your sweats." I reply as the bed dips next toe and Chris sits down.

He looks at me with his chocolate brown eyes before his tongue swipes over his lips and his gaze moves to my own. Chris moves in and begins to pepper me with kisses as I laugh. "Why are you laughing?" He asks before he moves towards my lips with with his own. "Chris you know I go into random laughing outburst when I'm tired." I exclaim.

He doesn't reply but instead places his soft lips on my own as we both move in sync. He wraps both arms around me as I loop my own around his neck and bring my head down gently to his cheek.

Things begin to heat up pretty quickly as our lips move in sync in a make out session. "Dels." Chris says letting out a breath as he moves his lips off of my own to speak. "I want you." He whispers as our foreheads touch. "I want you too." I whisper back before we jump right back into our heated make out session.

Suddenly I wasn't feeling very tired after a long night of partying with the team after winning the Calder Cup and I don't think Chris was as tired either because he just jumped right into it.