Chapter 22

I must have fallen asleep during the movie. The last thing I remember seeing was Jennifer Lawrence's bare ass on a desk before passing out. When I woke up, my chest was pressed against Finn's bare chest and my face buried in his neck. Somehow his arm had ended up around my waist, pulling us together and one of my legs had found its way on top of his hips.





Finn's skin was warm and comforting against mine, but I couldn't stay like this for long. The more I thought about it, the weirder I felt. I had no idea what was going on with us. 24 hours ago, we were ignoring each other, then we were friends, then I'm pretty sure we almost kissed, then we were friends again.



I've never denied that I though Finn was hot. The man could be a model, that wasn't up for debate. My excuse had always been that he was an asshole but now I wasn't so sure. I hoped he stayed true to our friendship now that he apologized, but part of me knew it would be more complicated to sort my feelings now. I didn't like Finn. I wasn't at that stage yet, but I definitely wanted to at least jump his bones.



Regardless, we were friends and I didn't want to complicate things further, so I carefully unhooked my leg from around his waist. The move seemed to disturb Finn's sleep because he shifted slightly. I though he might be waking up, so I kept my eyes closed and face buried in his neck. My breathing was low and shallow despite my pounding heart.



He stopped moving and I was about to get up when his phone started to buzz. That however, woke him up. I stayed motionless, pretending to sleep like a dead man because I was not about to make this awkward when we both wake up and realize the position we're in. Instead, I'll let him think I was asleep and walk away on his own.



He must have opened his eyes because I felt his body freeze. He sucked in a quiet breath, probably trying to figure out how to get away without waking me. Eventually, Finn slowly removed his arm from around my waist and the other from my lower hip. Finn carefully slid away from me, so my face gently laid on the pillow instead of his neck. I would have laughed at how careful he was and I would have payed to see his face, but I continued to fake my state of rest.



The bed shifted as he got up and grabbed his phone off the bedside table.



Needless to say, the almost kiss and that morning were not mentioned after it happened.



The next two weeks seemed to be normal, or as normal as could be. Finn and I had returned to being friends and we no longer glared at each other during lunch. We weren't as friendly at practice though because we played different sections, not because we still resented each other. Sam's brother ended up being okay. He just needed a cast for a few weeks. My father came back the next day and unlocked the house. I played it off cool like I had never forgotten my keys and just decided to say at a friends house.



For some reason, he believed me.



My nerves were growing as the days passed and by Wednesday, two weeks later, I was at peak anxiety. Finn and I were leaving today to participate in the Olympic trials. There was going to be 37 players trying out and only 15 would make it. Only nine of those would be starters with one goalie, and four subs.



I had done the math and since I played defense there was about a ten percent chance that I make it on the team, period. An eight percent chance I made starter and a two percent chance that I got center defense. Finn had much better odds because he played midfielder. So basically, if the Olympic team wanted him too, he could play any position except goalie. Besides, there are more midfielders and two of the four subs will most likely be for the midis.



Sam had dropped both Finn and I off at the airport at 10 am. I think he just wanted to skip school, but I wasn't complaining. Now we didn't have to pay parking. It ended up being an hour drive to Hartford. Somehow Bradley International was our best option but I wasn't going to ask questions. Better then a two or three hour drive to LaGuardia. God, that's a nightmare on a Wednesday morning.



Either way, we had to check our clothes and our sticks (we each brought three just incase. Extra I know, but it's the Olympics). Our carry ons were our gear bags. They fit in an overhead bin perfectly. We each brought a small backpack for under the seat with basics like our computers and all that boring junk.



As promised by coach, we were wearing our Groton Whales windbreakers and Finn was wearing the shorts. I didn't wear my lacrosse shorts casually like the guys, since they were not flattering on me in the slightest. After all, they were built for men. Security went by easily after we got a few odd looks for trying to check four separate items each. Needless to say, it cost a lot extra.



Bradley was a smaller airport with only two sections for gates. There was probably only about twenty gates in the entire airport compared to the hundreds in the Atlanta one.



My right knee was bouncing up and down rapidly while I listened to music and started at the floor, waiting for our flight to board. Finn was sitting next to me, but he looked like he was about to fall asleep. We had both been up and at my house at four in the morning. We were checking each others bags to make sure we had all our shit. I swear we looked through each others stuff seven different times, making check lists. If that didn't show how nervous we both were, than nothing would.



Sam picked us up at eight, claiming it was Connecticut and we needed two hours minimum to get to a destination that was an hour away. He wasn't wrong. Living here makes me regret ever complaining about LA traffic. I would take that over this in a heart beat.



"Nervous flyer?" Finn asked without opening an eye. His head was tipped back in the black airport seats and his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His hair was somewhat messy, but somehow still looked like he was trying a little (even though he undoubtably wasn't. You should have seen him when he showed up at my house). It worked surprisingly well on him.



I stopped bouncing my knee, realizing that he could probably feel it moving through the seat. "No. I used to fly all the time." I answered truthfully. I had a feeling he would want more of an answer, so I kept going. "I'm just nervous about the trials. I think it's finally setting in how important this is."



He kept his eyes closed and his hands folded on his stomach. "Have you looked at the roster for try outs? I'm assuming you haven't, because if you had, then you would realize that only two of the defensemen from the national team are trying out. The others are retiring. That means you're up against three Iroquois, two professionals, and the rest are college kids that you'll be playing with next year anyway." I knew that made my chances better, but still. There were only four defense spots.



"Why were you researching defense?" I asked, looking at his eyes even though they were closed.



"Because I knew you'd be an anxious mess. Thank me later."



I rolled my eyes and sank back into my seat. Was I that obvious?



Yes.



They called out seat numbers to start boarding. The two of us stayed where we were, seeing that the school defiantly didn't splurge on our seats. I wouldn't complain though, it was a free flight for us. Finn had fallen asleep by the time our row was being called and I elbowed him to wake him up. He was a heavy sleeper (another thing I learned that fateful morning).



"Come on. We're boarding." I said plainly. He huffed but got up, nonetheless. I threw my bag over my shoulder and fished our boarding passes out of my backpack. I handed Finn his when we got to the podium. The woman smiled and scanned our passes before letting us board.聽 Finn and I had ended up snagging seats next to each other towards the back of the plane. At least I didn't have to sit next to a complete stranger. That was Finn's problem. I'm not sure how I managed to win the argument about getting the isle seat, but I did.



The plane was full of business men and women and old people. Connecticut to Atlanta must not be a very popular route for vacation in mid November. Again, not very surprising. I think Finn and I got the most looks out of everyone. It was probably because there were only two of us dressed like a sports team instead of twenty immature jocks.



The flight was just under three hours and I had no issue with watching the news. Finn was watching Deadliest Catch but I'm ninety percent sure that he fell sleep within the first fifteen minutes. I have no idea what that boy was doing last night, but he was tired. Finn would never admit it, but he was probably up all night stressing about the try outs.



That, or he was hooking up with one of his many booty calls.



Damn, that's a good idea. I should have done that.



I wouldn't blame him if he was up all night stressing. I did the same thing. This could possibly be the biggest moments in our sports careers and we'd be damned not to worry about it.



In an attempt to push those thoughts from my mind, I turned my headphones up and settled into my seat even more. On second thought, this might be the longest three hours of my life.