We had settled in Les Suites, downtown Ottawa for a bit. It had changed since we had last been there, it made me a little disappointed.

We all got ready to leave. the Mayers had gone earlier than us to unpack.

But, we were heading to our house today, after we got our room at the hotel and got our stuff.

My dad grabbed our car keys, and Cole was ready to wheel the trolley down.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah sure." Hana replied, grumbling slightly.

She has been moody lately, because of some lady issues. If you know what I mean...

We all walked out the door, me with my backpack and duffle bag.

Everyone else has suitcases or backpacks. My dog was going crazy, while my cat sat quietly in her kennel, as I was holding it.

To be honest, I just wanted to get to the house and settle in.

Luckily, half of the stuff had been unpacked yesterday while we were there.

So there wasn't much work to be done, and we could just get the rest of the boxes in and unpack.

As we went down the elevator, I watched the levels go down slowly.

8...
7....
6....

I got annoyed after the sixth one, so I pulled out my phone, only to see Brayden had texted me.

Brayden: 'You guys coming yet? I'm excited to see you :)'

Brayden: 'and also Gray is so bored... He won't stop complaining. '

I smiled at his cute text, and replied:

Me: 'I can't wait to see you either :) and tell Gray to go play hockey. Maybe you two should play until we get there?¿'

Seconds later when we walked out of the elevator, he answered.

Brayden: We will go do that thanks lol :)

Me: No problem ;)

Brayden and I don't usually have long conversations over text, because he prefers talking in person.

Then, he wont shut his mouth. I thought to myself, laughing a little.

We walked out the doors of the hotel, and it was a beautiful day.

Perfect weather, and if I recall, Brayden set out our hockey net for us.

I was so happy, and excited to see my new house.

My dad came outside to join us. "Alright, let's go to our house!" He jingled the car keys, and I smiled widely.

I was so excited, mainly to go play hockey. When I was fourteen, I decided to start playing actually. It worked out well, I was one of the best on my team! But now, I don't know if the girls down here are really good or not. Not that they were any good in Texas.

We got into the car, and drove through the downtown, trying to avoid as much traffic as possible.

After about 20 minutes of driving, we arrived in Orleans. It is a small town in Ottawa, where we used to live. It's such a great place, and I love it to bits.

We pulled into our new neighbourhood, Dovehaven Circle.

Wait, hold on. I thought, racking my brain for memories.

Oh my God! This is Vera's street! I gasped when I remembered, and shot up straight in my seat.

My mom laughed. "We moved into Vera's neighbourhood. Did you remember?"

"Yes! I can't believe this!" I cried, smiling widely.

Vera and I were very close friends in seventh grade, and talked until the time came for me to finally come back to Canada.

I was so excited. I texted her right away.

Me: VER! Guess what!!

Vera:What?

Me: I MOVED INTO YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD!

Vera: NO WAY!!!

Me: COME OUTSIDE!

We pulled up into the driveway of our new house, right in front of Vera's, the Mayer's house right next to our neighbour's.

I saw a medium height Chinese girl walk out the door, and a huge smile creeped onto my face.

I opened my door and ran outside, and hugged Vera as hard as I could.

"It's been so long." I laughed, and she let go.

"Yeah, it has. It's about time you came back." She replied, laughing a little.

"We should catch up. I'll text you okay? I gotta go unpack." I answered, sadly having to end the conversation.

"Okay. Bye!" She laughed, running back into her house.

I walked over to my house and into my new room. It was wide, and roomy. I loved it!

I began to unpack, and then I heard a knock on my door.

I ran downstairs and to the front door. I opened it, and there stood Gray and Brayden.

"Hey guys." I looked at them, surprised.

"Is Cole here?" They both asked.

"Yeah, let me go get him." I answered, leaving the door open and running upstairs.

"Cole!" I yelled.

"What?!" He replied, annoyed.

"Gray is here!"

"Okay, tell him I'll be down in a second!" He yelled back, and I heard something crash in his room.

"Crap!" He exclaimed.

I laughed under my breath, and turned around only to be face to face with Brayden.

"Uh... Hey." I laughed, and he smiled.

"Hey." He answered.

"I didn't know you guys came inside. Where'd Gray go?" I asked, as if on cue, Gray ran upstairs and burst into Cole's room.

"Let's go play hockey, you loser!" He cried, and then practically dragged Cole out the door.

I laughed a little, and so did Brayden.

"What do you think?" He asked, looking at my eyes.

"I don't know yet. It's pretty nice, I guess." I answered, smiling.

"I agree. It's great to be home." He looked around my house, and then turned to me.

"Wanna come play hockey with us? You can be left wing." Brayden raised his eyebrows, and I smiled.

"I think I'll train up a little on my own. But maybe later, though." I regret turning down his offer, but I needed to work on my wrist shot.

"Okay. I'll see you later then." He replied, smiling at me, then going down the stairs quickly and running outside.

I sighed, and walked down the stairs and it side myself, shutting the door behind me.

Out in our driveway was our hockey net, and my stick. Also all my dad's, and Cole's old ones.

I grabbed mine, and our ball.

I was so excited to put some work in on my own before the season would start.

I took the ball and gently placed it down in front of my stick. I began to stickhandle, then I ran with the ball up the small driveway, and slap shotted it into the top left corner.

I smiled, impressed with myself.

I did that once again, this time getting a bar down.

I stopped after a few more shots, because I felt like someone was watching me.

I looked around, and to the left of me was our neighbours' house.

A boy, about my age, stood in his driveway with a hockey stick, with a totally baffled expression on his face.

"Nice shot."

He was attractive as hell. He had perfectly cut brown hair, a light tan, and he was about six feet tall. He had these dazzling green eyes, and looked very fit. He also had a definitive jawline, and perfect eyebrows.

He was absolutely stunning.

He must have noticed I was staring, because he came over to where I was.

"Hey, umm... You play hockey?" He asked, with a warm smile.

His voice. Oh my God, it was deep. But not too deep, but deep enough to be attractive.

"I do, actually. I would guess you play, too." I smiled back, and gestured to his Sheerwood hockey stick.

"Yeah. It's the best, isn't it?" He asked, staring intensely at me.

"It really is." I answered, smiling widely.

"What's your name?" He asked, with a quizzical look on his face.

"My name is Allison Sage. It's nice to meet you." I looked kindly at him, extending my hand for him to shake.

He gladly shook it, his large warm hand embracing mine.

"Vincent Calligan. It's nice to meet you too." He smiled, his perfect white teeth showing.

"Your pretty good at hockey." He laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "Want to come and play?"

"Sure." I answered, walking with him over to his driveway.

His net was a bright, crisp red, and said "Hockey Canada" on the bar.

"How long have you been playing?" I asked him, and he ran out from his garage with his stick.

"About... Ten years now?" He replied, looking slightly confused. "What about you?"

"Believe it or not, I've only been playing for less than two years." I laughed, and his jaw dropped.

"Your good for less than two years!" He answered, laughing a bit.

"Thank you." I answered, still laughing.

"Wanna play now?" Vincent asked, smiling.

"Yeah, let's go." I replied, getting in position to counter him.

He stood in front of me, and dropped the puck.

I reached out for it, stealing it almost instantly from under his nose.

But that didn't last for long. After I raced halfway up the driveway, stick handling the puck, he slyly snaked the puck from my grip, and took a wrist shot on the net.

Okay. He is pretty good.

We played for a bit longer, a totally two sided match, and ended up tying the game.

It was only seconds before I tried to take the puck from his grasp, when he tripped over his stick and fell right on top of me.

His breathing was hard, and his green eyes bore into mine. He blushed, and immediately got off after we had stared at each other for a second or two.

"I-I'm sorry." Vincent stuttered, blushing a little more.

"It's okay. It's not like it was intentional." I replied, trying to give him the best 'it's-totally fine-I-don't-care' smile.

He picked up his stick from the black asphalt driveway, and for a second, I could have sworn he was checking me out.

"Hey...Could I get your number? Maybe you want to... Hang out or something?" Vincent asked nervously, staring at his black Nike shoes.

"Yeah. Here you go. I'm free tomorrow, so if you want to come over and get me whenever, you can." I answered, entering my phone number into his phone.

"Okay. I'll see you around, Allison." He answered, smiling, and waved goodbye to me before disappearing into his garage.

I turned around, and was face to face with Brayden yet again.

"Uhh... Hi?" I looked at him, feeling weirded out that we kept meeting like this.

"Who was that guy?" He asked, pointing to the black garage where Vincent disappeared into.

"That's Vincent. I met him today." I replied, and Brayden just narrowed his eyes, and a flicker of jealousy shone in his hazel eyes.

"Seems like a cool guy." He replied, trying not to sound angry.

"He is. Oh, you have no idea." I laughed, thinking about the handsome, somewhat shy boy I met today.

"You're right I don't." He replied, almost rudely.

What has gotten into Brayden??

This chapter sucked omg 😂 But be sure to vote for this book and tell me what you think! Also tell me what you think of Vincent. Is he cool? Is he a good man for Allison?? Or is there someone else you prefer? 😏

That's all for now!

-Alyssa 💗