HOCKEY IMAGINES [ UNEDITED ]

#177 - Zach Werenski - #8 Columbus Blue Jackets

I had met Zach in our first year of university when he came into the small campus coffee shop I worked at. It wasn't love at first sight like most people have when they make eye contact with the person that they'll marry one day, not that I am assuming that Zach and I will marry one day. No, it wasn't like that at all for us. Zach came into the shop one cold September morning, asked for a black coffee with a shot of espresso and left when he got his order. He was a regular customer in the store since it was the closest to his classes, he was always the first one to buy a coffee in the morning and the last one to leave before the cafe closed for the night.

It took me about six weeks to pluck up the courage to talk to him while I made his order, I always worked in silence but stole glances at him when I wasn't doing anything that required my attention. I did find Zach extremely attractive when I first served him his drink, but knew I was most definitely not his type of girl. A further ten weeks after finally talking to him and we exchanged phone numbers, he was the one to ask for my number. Another two months later and Zach asked me on a date, I was shocked when he asked out but was even more shocked when he took me to a food store and we watched fish and lobster swim about the tank for our date. It was an amazing date, I got to know him better and he got to know me. On our third date he kissed me and asked if we could be together and I said yes. And here we are almost a two and a half years later and we're still together.

Being girlfriend to an attractive hockey player has its ups and downs. A good thing about dating Zach is his determination, when he sets his mind to something he will always see it through no matter how long it will take him. When I am sad he makes it his job to make me happy and won't stop until he sees me crack a smile, when he isn't playing his greatest he sets his mind to play better and won't stop until he does. But one of the problems about dating Zach is his attractiveness. He is handsome and beautiful, and well I could look much better than I do.

Because Zach is on national television in most countries across the world, other people get to watch him play his hockey and thanks to the internet they also get to see the attractive man who has my heart. It makes me feel self-conscious when I see beautiful girls commenting on his Instagram posts or his twitter. I know I shouldn't be jealous of these girls because Zach doesn't know them and the fact that I have been his girlfriend for over two years, but I can't help it when prettier girls interact with my boyfriend over social media. It is silly, I know. But my fear of losing Zach to someone who is more beautiful than me haunts my thoughts every day. What if he leaves me for a prettier girl? What do I do then?

I stare at the girls Instagram account and another sigh leaves my lips, she's really pretty. My jealously got the better of me when I was scrolling through the comments on Zach's recent photo, once again pretty girls are commenting on it and the self-worry and doubt creeps into my thoughts. It's not like I don't trust Zach, of course I trust him, I wouldn't have agreed to date him if I didn't. But it's the distance and living in two different states that doesn't help my worry and fear.

When Zach was drafted to Columbus in 2015 I was so happy for him, we had been dating only a couple of months when it happened and it was an exciting time for us both. But when he was called to play in their AHL team, that's when my self-consciousness got worse. He had to move to a different state, leaving behind his university team and me back in Michigan. Zach did ask for me to come with him to Columbus but I declined at his offer, I had my university degree to get and I wasn't going to drop out after the hard work I did to grab a spot at Michigan. Despite it all Zach and I have remained together, we spend our summers together making up for the lost time when he is playing hockey and I am at university. He could have dropped everything when he had to go play hockey away from me, but instead he was adamant about keeping our relationship going. I never understood why but said nothing and keep the relationship alive, and I am glad every day that I never ended things with him.