Page 95 of Hockey Player Seeking Fan

“Okay.” She shrugs.

“I want to show it to you.”

“I don’t need to see an anatomical heart right now,” she says, laughing. “I’m sure it’s amazing.”

“No, you goof.”

I open the attachment and show it to her. She licks her lips nervously and blinks rapidly.

“But… this is me.”

“Exactly,” I say.

“It’s me, but where’s the heart?”

“You are the heart. You’re my heart.”

I look at her, steady and serious.

“I love you, Erica. You’ve inspired me. You make me happy. You make me realize that life isn’t just black or white. It’s not all good or evil, or marriage or sex, or one-night stands. It’s one big, lovely, complicated mess. And when you meet the one, you don’t need to put a label on things. You don’t need to be right. You just need to be with them.”

“You think I’m the one?” she says, grinning widely.

“I think you’re the one. Yes, I do.”

“So what, there is no anatomical heart painting?”

“No, you goof,” I say as I grab her head and kiss her heart. “You are the painting. You are my heart.”

“I’m your heart?”

“Yeah. And I love you.”

“You love me?”

"I love you.”

“I love you more than words can say. I love you so much that I’m going to be really mad if I don’t hear you say the word soon, seeing as Coach is about to kill me.”

“I love you, you stupid idiot,” she says, running her fingers across the side of my face. “I have loved you since?—"

“Don’t tell me since the day you met me. I won’t believe you.”

She giggles. “Maybe not since the day I met you… but when I saw you that first time, I did think you were hot. I’m not gonna lie.”

“I knew you had a thing for me.”

“No, you didn’t,” she says.

“Yeah, I did. Because I kinda had a thing for you.”

“If you tell me you threw that drink on me on purpose, it’s over.”

“I would never do such a thing to you, my darling. I love you. I love you so much, and now I better get on the ice before I have no love left to give.”

She stands up and runs her fingers across my lips.

“You play your heart out. And tomorrow, you win that game.”