#tito beauvillier imagine | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ohmyeyesmyeyes · 1 year

Text

communication skills

anthony beauvillier x f!reader; platonic!mat barzal x f!reader

warnings: swearing, throwing up, based slightly on 'hits different' by taylor swift, i wrote a good 80% of this drunk so i apologise for everything

word count: 8.7k

The water was warm – not too hot that it burned your skin, but warm enough to encourage you to stand in front of the mirror – refusing to look at your own reflection – and keep your hands held under the steady stream. There was something relaxing about it, watching it cascade off your skin, fragmenting the light.

It was a twisty tap, and after a long period of you washing off the feeling of his last words, desperate to scrub any and all traces of him off your skin, even despite the pathetic futility of such a feat – another hand reached out from behind you, twisting it off and handing you a small pile of paper towels.

Much like your own reflection, you refused to look at the man on your right, keeping your head down and eyes entirely focused on the task at hand. If you even so much as caught a pitying or equally heartbroken gleam in his face, you’d be done for; that unwanted well of emotion would shatter, and Mat would be left to pick up the pieces in a bathroom of a club you’d only been to once before.

The last thing you wanted to do was talk about it, but when you chucked the scrap towels in the bin, the frustration had gotten the better of you, and your words spewed out of your mouth seamlessly. Mat was leant against a wall, nodding along to almost everything you were saying, and you could tell from the grave expression on his face that he was just as affected by the matter, too.

How could he not?

He’d known Beau since they were kids, and because of the inhumane system surrounding transfers, they’d be separated from each other for the first time in years.

“And what are you gonna do about it?” He asked, leaning back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, a stern yet altogether curious look about him.

You froze, knitting your brows together in slight bewilderment, “What am I gonna do about him getting transferred?” You checked, puzzled as to his query.

There wasn’t much you could do about anything; transfers were legally bound contacts as far as you knew, and you wouldn’t be able to hammer even the slightest dent in that framework – not that you’d even thought about doing that anyway.

It wasn’t your career, he wasn’t your boyfriend, and you weren’t going to mess with something set in stone. Still, that harsh truth didn’t exactly do anything to numb the stinging hurt prickling at your chest. Your throat tightened, and you pressed your lips together, trying to suppress the mounting build of sadness climbing up your throat.

You hated the helplessness of it all; you couldn’t control a single aspect of anything that had occurred within the last fifteen minutes and it petrified you. It sent goosebumps trailing down your skin, and a spike of adrenaline through your system.

“No,” Mat frowned, blinking at you, “What are you gonna do about Tito moving to Vancouver?”

You swallowed, trying to maintain the knot slowly building, “I don’t follow.”

You weren’t going to do anything. He was the one that had ended it. You were, however, going to go home and watch New Girl to cheer yourself up. Maybe call your parents; the time difference would mean they’d still be awake – and long term? Probably mope.

You weren’t sure you could quite stomach the thought of someone else at that moment – which was a shocker to you.

Moving on was always easy for you to do – it tended to be a benefit of never truly giving yourself to anyone. Yet, somehow, Anthony Beauvillier had worked his way under your defences and you’d given yourself to him in ways you never pictured yourself ever doing.

“I mean,” Mat rolled his eyes, “Are you going to let him break things off and jet across to the other side of North America?” He asked it like it was obvious, his shoulders shrugging as he watched you carefully.

He thought you were taking the entire situation rather well. You had since Anthony had panicked and dumped everything on you – how he’d literally just shouted in your ear ‘I’ve been traded to Vancouver and I’m leaving within the week’ – and how the only reaction you had was a poor ‘oh’ after you’d ingested his words. Other than that, you’d been in a sort of reverie, floating around the rest of the night, a haunted look on your face as you watched him leave.

He’d broken up with you, and Mat was almost certain that you didn’t know why.

Mat knew, of course he did. After Tito had told him, the first thing he’d worried about was you.

“I don’t want her to leave New York for me. She deserves better than that.”

And no matter how many times Mat had tried to persuade Tito that, no, you deserved each other wholeheartedly, Tito was insistent on the fact that the only way to solve that issue of his was to break up with you.

Obviously, he’d neglected to confide exactly why he’d broken up with you, to you.

And that left Mat in this current predicament: you in shock hiding in the bathroom, and Tito, no doubt, packing his suitcase and mourning your entire relationship.

Honestly, Mat was sick of you both. You were too blind to realise that you guys were made for each other – you were just too stubborn to connect the dots and allow yourselves to be happy – with each other.

Your reactions just seemed to lack emotion; it was as if someone had snuffed out your ability to feel – you looked subdued, an empty vacancy hidden behind your eyes.

And when he’d asked you if you were going to go with Anthony to Vancouver, you’d just stared, looking mildly unwell at the prospect.

“What else am I supposed to do?” You asked, placing a hand on your stomach as though to ease the rising sickness. Where had it come from? “He told me he was moving to Vancouver and that he didn’t want me to go with him. In fact, his exact words were ‘I don’t want you to come to Vancouver with me’ and ‘I want to break up’.”

Mat blanched, frustration fisting an angry hand in his chest, slowly pushing its way through his sternum.

He swore you two would be the death of him.

He didn’t say anything, but took your silence as an answer. You’d been throwing hopeful glances at the door, and he’d elected to ignore it in wanting to try to get you to see sense, but it seemed Tito had left that job even more difficult to follow through on with his harsh words.

Reluctant words. Words that Mat knew absolutely killed him to say to you.

He’d seen the way his friend had looked at you, and to know that he was moving to Vancouver – away from him and New York, a feat that he’d be doing alone – and leaving you behind was something that broke even Mat’s heart, and in that, he knew that it destroyed both yours and Tito’s.

If Mat hadn't known that Tito only broke up with you because he didn’t want you to drop everything for him, he would have assumed the guy was running from something.

In a sense, he was running away from you – but in doing so, he was running away from quite possibly the best thing he’d ever had in his life, and Mat wasn’t about to let either you or Tito make that mistake.

He didn’t voice any of that, however, just moved aside and let you through the door, making sure to keep a steady hand on your back in reassurance as you both made it out of the club, past the millions of couples devouring each other – who only served as a sour reminder of the night’s events – and outside.

It was chilly, and the frosty air nipped at your exposed skin.

You’d barely had time to string together a coherent thought before hands were tugging you in all directions; cold and clammy as you were pulled back and forth, concerned touches on your elbows, shoulders, and chin. You barely even registered exactly who you were looking at.

“Are you okay?”

“There’s a cute guy inside that’s been checking you out all night–”

“I can’t believe he just broke up with you.”

“Why isn’t she looking at us?”

Questions were fired left, right and centre, and you were numb to it all; their voices trickling in through one ear and flowing out of the other seamlessly. They sounded like they were underwater, and you felt Mat’s comforting hand on your back once more, gently guiding you away from your friends.

You heard him say something, it must have been something about getting you home because they all let out a chorus of disappointed ‘ohs’ and patted you sympathetically on your arm.

For some reason, hearing the truth of what actually happened barely half an hour ago seemed to set it into stone; it felt different keeping the breakup in the bathroom just between you and Mat – it felt more private somehow, like you could walk out of the room and pretend Anthony hadn’t left you in that club, heart shattered into oblivion and mind stuck on his words and the way he looked like he might break if you so much as even stepped towards him or touched him or whispered even a word of protest.

But you’d wandered outside in the hope of clearing your head, only to be bombarded and heralded and overwhelmed when you were busy trying to deal.

Why did he break up with you? You would have gone with him - you knew you would.

Did he get bored of you? He couldn’t have; he’d just told you he was wildly in love with you three weeks ago.

Had he met someone else? Was he in love with someone else?

And that was when you saw it; although they were further down the street, Mat pushing you into a walk as you both strolled down the sidewalk, you could just make it out in the hazy darkness.

They must have been illuminated by the light from the inside of the bar, because each time a door opened, their section of the sidewalk practically glowed, highlighting them.

You couldn’t see who the girl was, she seemed to be hidden from view by the man, but it was him who’d caught your attention. If it weren’t for Mat coaxing you along, you’d have frozen in place, eyes fixated watching them with the slow drip drip of dread pounding your body.

You were entranced by the way he brought his hands up to the side of her face, throwing his head backwards in a laugh – a real one, unbridled with joy – and then leant forwards, peppering kisses all over her face as she giggled sweetly at his attentions and affections. It wasn’t the PDA that had you stalling.

That man was Anthony. You could only see the back of his head, and he was further down than you, but he was around the same height and you could see the curls in his hair. He was even wearing a typical Anthony outfit.

It was simple, and you were sure almost every guy in the vicinity was wearing some variation of it, but what caught your eye was he was wearing the same grey t-shirt Beau had just left in.

It could have been any grey t-shirt.

But Anthony had just left wearing it and it was logical that he’d broken up with you because he was in love with that girl.

Mat seemed to sense your hesitation, and he slowed to a stop, brows furrowing at the intensity with which you were watching the young couple in front of you. His eyes drifted from you, his hand now gently grazing your forearm as though he was afraid you’d peel and leave him, to the couple.

He didn’t understand what was so compelling about them that had you completely fascinated. Granted, you looked horrified, and your eye twitched, a flash of pain appearing and then disappearing almost as soon as it had made its presence. If he thought you looked ill before, you looked like you were about to throw up–

He’d barely managed to steer you against a wall and wind your hair up before you’d thrown up on the side of the road.

You quickly pulled yourself up, hating that your eyes instantly drifted back over to the couple.

You frowned. The man wasn’t Anthony.

Then you hurled again, and Mat’s level of concern skyrocketed.

“How much did you have to drink?” He asked, helping you to stand back up, a slight grimace to his face as he made sure there were no splashes coating his jeans.

You briefly shut your eyes, stomach turning, feeling your heart break in real time as the emotions you’d bottled started to manifest itself in physical symptoms – completely against your will. Your eyes pricked with hot tears and the lump in your throat was back as your chin wobbled. You tried to hide behind your hand, but Mat had caught the momentary vulnerability before you could turn away.

He sighed, letting your hair fall back down and automatically pulling you into his chest.

“I didn’t have anything to drink.” You admitted.

His chest rumbled, and you didn’t know if it was the comfort he brought, because no one else seemed to understand what you were feeling at that moment, or if you simply craved a human touch from someone you trusted, but you felt your demeanour shatter, the tears tracking down your cheeks before you could catch them and reel them back in.

“I didn’t have anything to drink.” You repeated, shaking your head.

All you’d done was picture Anthony Beauvillier with other girls in love, and then promptly thrown up on the street.

Yeah, you were pretty fucked.

___

Yet, despite the fact that Anthony had moved to Vancouver, there was a temporary feeling about it – as though you didn’t believe the breakup had actually happened, or you didn’t believe it was really…a breakup?

It definitely had something to do with the fact that Mat was currently in your apartment, a rental, pre-furnished – one that rather conveniently, you hadn’t had the time to move into properly yet, and he was helping you box your belongings, taping the edges together and piling them up in the corner.

You were sorting out your clothes, placing them into a suitcase, and he was in the living room, going through your kitchen.

It hadn’t happened quickly. It took Mat a week to plant the seed in your mind, and it took you another three to decide to move out. Honestly, after Mat had pointed out that, in fact, your ‘friends’ weren’t really your friends; your job had previously offered you a different position in Surrey, not too far out from where you’d just rented another apartment – and it was a career move. That was what you kept telling yourself; technically the job move was a promotion – your salary had been upped and it was more of what you actually wanted to do job-wise.

Plus, your parents lived in Vancouver. You grew up there, went to school there, your friends still lived there. The only reason you stayed in New York was because you’d managed to snag a job straight out of college and you’d established a sort of life for yourself. Albeit, completely apart from your family, but you’d gotten used to the loneliness in college.

If anything, the only reason you’d stayed in New York and hesitated to accept that job offer in the first place – one that you’d gotten even before Anthony had dumped that bomb on you – was because of Mat.

You guys were pretty close, and it felt like a betrayal leaving him (especially after Anthony had just done the same thing, though it was out of his control) for the person he’d introduced to you.

And to say he was eager to send you back to Vancouver – ‘for your job opportunity’ – would be a bit of an understatement, if his volunteering to help you pack had anything to do with it.

It almost felt like someone had taken the knife already living in your chest and twisted it when you heard the song playing through the speakers. The song.

The melody was instantly familiar, even more so the croning of the voice, and it sent a pang of nostalgia ricocheting off the inside of your skull.

There were people everywhere; though it could have had something to do with the fact the venue was only one room – a large one at that, with tall ceilings and rather gorgeous curtains. The back wall was made up entirely of windows and the view overlooking the city was gorgeous from where you were standing. You swore you could see stars when you looked up.

Not that you looked very hard; your eyes were indefinitely locked onto Anthony as he leant back against the glass.

You were both sitting on the floor, him with his back to the glass, and you perpendicular. Somehow you’d both managed to find a quiet corner – literally – and sit down, because after you’d gone to get drinks, your chairs were occupied by some unfamiliar faces, and it was the perfect excuse to get him alone, at least to some extent.

You weren’t entirely isolated from the celebrations, but you made it work.

Your legs were stretched out along the floor, and because of the limitations of you being able to wear a dress in public, Anthony had elected to place his legs over the top of yours like some sort of criss-cross pattern. You were pressed together, him almost sitting on your lap, and you could tell he was comfy.

He’d shrugged his blazer off and a few extra buttons had come undone somewhere along the lines. Your hand stroked delicate motions on the material of his suit trousers, and although his head was resting against the glass, his eyes were watching your fingers.

There was a glass of champagne on either side of you both, yours empty, his only half.

Perhaps that was the reasoning behind your exaggerated reaction when you heard ‘Crazy in Love’ begin to play over the speakers.

You smiled to yourself, unaware of the soft look of mild amusement he was giving you. You’d noticed a pattern recently, and even through your high state of mind you’d somewhat remembered it.

“What?” His voice had your attention snapping back over to him, the motion of your hand on his leg never stopping. You could tell he was trying not to laugh, and you rolled your eyes.

“You haven’t noticed?” You ducked your head, disbelieving of his obliviousness. You threw your free hand in the direction of the music, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Clearly not.” He breathed a laugh, eyes lighting up at the mock offence you’d managed to implicate on your face.

“Everytime we go somewhere together, ‘Crazy in Love’ plays. Yesterday, at the restaurant; Mat even played it when he hosted dinner the other day…it’s just something I’ve noticed.”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it…” He trailed off, a cheeky smile donning his face as his cheeks turned a rosy pink.

“Now that I’ve mentioned it? How convenient–” You started, but were promptly cut off when he leant forwards, reducing the short distance already between you both, and kissed you.

It was an effective silencing method, one that he’d used on you many times before and one that you’d used on him before. You were at that stage where little displays of affection, no matter how intensely they made those butterflies swarm, didn’t swerve or particularly hinder the one-sided conversation anymore. In other words, they’d lost their effectiveness, and even after this realisation, it didn’t seem to stop either one of you giving or accepting such attentions.

“I was thinking,” he muttered, pulling away whilst you kept a hand on his wrist, preventing him from moving too far.

Usually you would have teased him, warned him to be careful in doing such a thing, and it seemed he was expecting some sort of comment, because he paused, brows furrowing when he was met with silence. You nodded, however, unable to hide the fact that you were completely enthralled by his existence – you were sure he could see it on your face; you could even feel your cheeks heat up for no apparent reason at all other than the magnetic pull you felt towards the man sitting in front of you – and urged him to continue.

“Maybe it should be our song?” He asked, lifting the hand in your grasp up to your face, momentarily brushing a strand of hair from your face with his thumb.

He wasn’t nervous about the suggestion, that much you could tell. He was comfortable, eagerly anticipating your answer.

You smiled, tilting your head and you felt your eyes widen slightly. It didn’t seem like a silly idea.

“Why?” You asked, unable to help the quick glance at his mouth.

“I think it’s fitting to us.” He shrugged.

You nodded, not entirely surprised by the implication. You hadn’t said the words yet, but you knew how you felt. Rather shockingly, however, it didn’t fill you with a sense of dread or unease.

So you replied, “I think it is too.”

Despite the complexity of love, it seemed remarkably simple with Anthony.

It certainly didn’t feel that way when you walked into your living room, seeing Mat half attempt to dance along with the music as he placed various cups and mugs into a box on the kitchen counter.

It felt irrevocably wrong to hear it without Anthony there, and that mere fact was what spurred you on to lean over the phone on the coffee table and hastily press the skip button.

You ignored Mat’s groan of disapproval as you wordlessly made your way back to the bedroom.

“What are your neighbours like?” It was Mat on the phone, his face in the frame on FaceTime as he virtually kept you company as emptied the last couple of boxes.

You’d officially moved back to Vancouver a month ago, your parents offering your childhood room back for the first few weeks until you moved in properly. You didn’t exactly have the heart to say no to them, but their coddling (however attentive it was) had begun to get a little overbearing, so you’d taken every opportunity to sneak over to your new apartment and empty as much as you could.

It was fairly livable now: your main priority had been the kitchen and bedroom, and you’d emptied nearly everything to the point you were comfortable actually moving in. In reality, you knew if your parents hadn’t been there you’d have easily put up with living in a skeletal apartment – so for that, you were grateful.

All the nighttime sneaking out of your parent’s house and into your apartment had meant that you’d neglected to actually talk and meet your neighbours. All you knew was there was an elderly couple living two doors down, who’d only smiled at you in passing, and there had been a card posted under your door from your neighbour on your right, but you didn’t know what they looked like.

So when Mat asked you that question, you sighed, “I don’t actually know.”

He didn’t seem too shocked, and nodded in understanding.

“I probably need to, to be honest, I got something posted under my door the other day.”

At this, his interest peaked, and you saw him look up from his plate, raising an eyebrow, “Who was it from?”

You frowned, his rather exaggerated interest raising your suspicions, and froze from where you were unwrapping a glass, “Why?”

He shrugged, playing it off, “Because I think it’s important to know who you’re living around. What if something happens and you need help? Forget your key?”

You returned to your previous task, mulling his words over. You knew he was right because you’d had that exact same reasoning drilled into you since you’d left home in college, but your why hadn’t really been directed at meeting your neighbours, more, “Why were you so interested in who it was when you asked?”

He swallowed, shrugging once more, “Just am. No reason.”

You didn’t believe him, and he could clearly sense it, because he rolled his eyes, not saying anything else.

“It was from ‘Number Twenty-Three’.” You answered, watching him carefully, still not entirely trusting him.

He just nodded, ensuring to keep his facial expressions impassive as he shovelled another spoonful of rice into his mouth, not caring when a few grains fell back onto his plate.

There was a few more minutes of general chatter, and you found yourself sitting back against the sofa, pensieve as you took in your new living quarters.

“Do you think I was silly moving here?” You asked Mat, not looking at him as he pondered the question.

“No.” Was all he said, and you turned your eyes back to him.

The thought was something that had been majorly playing on your mind since you first agreed to move back to Vancouver. There was a part of you that knew you wouldn’t have even considered moving back if Tito hadn’t gone – and it freaked you out. You were aware putting Tito above all else was risky, especially considering the fact you hadn’t messaged him since you’d broken up; you didn’t know where he was or if he’d even want you anymore, if he had a girlfriend. It had been months, and you knew he was a desirable guy. You wouldn’t blame him if he’d moved on.

But there was always that nagging thing that had you feeling like you’d moved only because of Anthony, and you hated it so much. It made you want to curl up and teleport back to your old life in New York, but even the thought of that made your stomach turn because you knew he wouldn’t be there.

It just kept coming back to him.

You didn’t know what would happen if he saw you – that was assuming you ever gained the courage to actually face him again.

A part of you felt almost sheepish at the mere idea of seeing him. Sure, your heart rate picked up and your hands trembled against your will, mouth going dry as you remembered the night he broke up with you.

And the only reason you knew you could confide in Mat was because he had both sides of it; although he didn’t talk about it much – presumably for your own fragile heart – you knew he talked to him as much as he could, if not, everyday. You felt like you were using him as a bridge, and even then his words of encouragement fell on deaf ears, your own insecurities drowning them out with fears of rejection.

You wouldn’t have even moved to Vancouver if it hadn't been for Mat’s support and help.

He sighed, and you could tell he’d sussed you and your doubts out.

“He told me he’s not been able to even look at another woman without feeling like he’s gonna hurl.” He started, pausing to gauge your reaction. You swallowed, feeling a little guilty at the relief you’d felt upon his confession, “He asks about you everyday, and he’s not doing too well. I don’t even know if he’s sleeping properly.”

You remained silent, instead choosing to reach a hand into the box next to you.

Fuck.

One of Anthony’s Islander’s caps.

Almost instantaneously you felt your eyes begin to water, both at the hat and everything Mat had just told you.

It was a lot, all of this new change, in one go.

“I think I’m gonna go.” You said quietly, trying to hide the way your voice cracked a little at the end. You refrained from sniffling, not wanting to raise Mat’s concern.

“Okay,” he muttered, his voice soft, “Look after yourself. Call me if you need anything.”

You nodded, pressing your lips together, not trusting yourself to speak.

“Maybe think about replying to number twenty-three? Look at making a few new friends, yeah?”

You laughed, though it was watery – the kind that had you questioning if you wanted to cry or not, “‘S not one of your worst ideas, actually.”

“Hey.” He mocked, faking offence, “But, really, I think you should.”

“I think I might.” You admitted.

You missed the way he sagged.

“Good.” There was a brief pause, “Anyway, love you, miss you, have fun unpacking.” He waved at the camera, flashing you a charming smile, which you didn’t hesitate to reciprocate.

“Miss you too, Barzy. Try not to hurt yourself before I next see you.” It was a low blow, and you saw the hurt flick over his face momentarily.

Then you promptly ended the call, unable to stop yourself laughing a little.

___

Tito had just finished washing up when a piece of paper slipped under his door.

He’d stopped what he was doing, midway to the living room. The paper had slipped under his door coincidentally at the exact moment he was walking past it, and he’d frozen, creeped out at the timing. It was almost as if the person on the other side had known he was walking past the door and chosen that specific moment in time to post the letter through with the purposeful intent of freaking him the fuck out.

Nevertheless, he’d put his coffee mug down on the counter, reaching to inspect the piece of paper.

He almost dropped it when he saw the writing.

His face drained of blood, and before he’d even opened it, he’d thrown the door open, hastily checking the hallway.

It was empty.

Disappointment clawed at his chest, but he remained somewhat hopeful, his fingers working quickly to unfold it, his foot holding the door open in case they decided to make another appearance.

Why did he spend so long looking at it? He could have caught her, for fuck’s sake.

It was a stretch, in hindsight. There had to be at least a million people who flicked their ‘f’ like that, and there had to be even more who wrote at an angle like that, with their letters remaining round.

It had to be common.

Thank you for the welcome, 23.

Then when his eyes tracked down to the sign-off, he swore someone was playing tricks on him.

Obviously, his immediate reaction – completely bypassing the excitement and blinding fear of her having moved on from him bubbling in his stomach – and shut the door behind him, scrambling for his phone.

Mat picked up almost instantly.

“You fucking prick–”

Needless to say, the injured Islander knew exactly what he was talking about.

___

He’d not wanted to scare you, truly.

Since Mat had admitted to everything – from the reason you’d moved to his helping hand in finding you a place to live temporarily – he’d taken measures to ensure you didn’t run into him without any semblance of warning, but he’d found it much harder to put into practice.

He’d almost run into you three times in the past week, and every time he had to leave or enter his apartment, he’d take a cautious look down the hall and run – not wanting to startle you too much.

He just didn’t want to catch you off guard was all.

He knew you’d probably want to see him under your own control, and he was all for waiting for you. From what he’d been told, you weren’t doing much better than him.

But he’d known his luck was bound to run out at some point.

Which was how he’d found himself in this exact predicament.

___

You’d been weirdly wanting to go downstairs. You didn’t know why you’d had the sudden urge, but all you did know was that there was a lounge and a bar, and you were in desperate need of some socialising. It had been a gruelling week – and incredibly dull – unpacking your things and overthinking your first day at work, and you needed to escape from it all.

Each and every time you’d left your apartment, you’d cast a curious glance at your neighbour’s door. Number twenty-three.

They were a perfect neighbour: very rarely did they disturb you, and when they did it was only the quiet hum of some music that you guessed must have been played in their bathroom, because when you pressed your ear against the wall it felt as though you were standing right next to a speaker.

The only issue you’d had with them was that you hadn’t seen them; whenever you’d heard their door shut, you’d immediately gone to look through your peephole, only to be met with an empty corridor.

It had frustrated you to no end, but you’d coped, helplessly wondering when you could thank them. They’d been the first person to welcome you and you hadn’t even seen them yet – there had been a nagging in the back of your mind that perhaps they’d been dodging you, but there was no way it could have possibly been intentional. You’d barely been at work a full two weeks, which hardly gave them time to actually deduce your timetable or hours.

You’d been watching the Canucks, unable to help yourself from consuming every piece of media Anthony was part of, and then you’d switched off the TV a few hours later, completely alone and needing to get out of the confines of your apartment – desperately and immediately.

That was how you’d come to be locking your door from the outside – ever-weary – and frozen, nerves tingling and heart pounding with nerves as you heard a pair of footsteps coming down the hallway. They were slow, and you could vaguely make out the sound of their trudging, so you’d stalled, secretly hoping that they’d be Number 23.

You’d pretended to fiddle with your keys as you waited for the footsteps to round the corner only when they did, you heard them stop short of you, a quiet “Putain” whispered under their breath.

You frowned, not yet looking up at the person. There was something familiar about their whisper, something you couldn’t quite place immediately.

It was a different story when you looked up.

You could immediately tell from the soft echo of sorrow on his face and abundant lack of shock at your appearance that he wasn’t entirely surprised at your presence. His hand was firmly holding the end of his duffel bag that was slung over his shoulder, and he was wearing the usual suit, his cheeks still a little flushed from the match you’d only been watching a while ago.

You couldn’t help thinking that the TV screen did him no justice, because even though he wasn’t smiling or expressing any semblance of excitement at your presence, he was stunningly breathtaking in your opinion. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was parted – he hadn’t wanted to see you at that moment, that much was obvious from the expression stagnant on his face.

You, on the other hand, found yourself quite unable to draw oxygen into your lungs at his sudden appearance. You were completely frozen, unable to do anything other than stare dumbly, your jaw half-dropped in sheer shock.

Your heart was thunderous, practically clashing against your ribcage so hard you were sure you could feel the pain of it, and your mouth had dried, eyes watering. You weren’t on the verge of tears, by any means. In fact, you felt rather numb to any sort of emotion, because you’d prepared yourself for this moment for months, and now that he was standing in front of you, looking almost sheepish at your lack of understanding, you were unable to string even a coherent thought together.

There was a moment when you had thought he’d arrived in your hallway purely to see you, but that had quickly dissipated when he regained his composure, seemingly on the verge of saying something, and slowly walked past you, unable to tear his eyes away.

You let out a shaky breath when he reached the door branded ‘23’, and furrowed your brows.

He’d been in front of you this entire time–fucking Mat.

He’d orchestrated this car crash. He was the one who’d suggested you speak to your boss whilst he’d look at possible apartment rentals for you, and you’d naively agreed, assuming he had no ulterior motives in his uncharacteristic generosity considering he’d been nothing but helpful with your entire move, but right now you hated his guts.

Anthonylooked away, briefly, considering something for a second, before looking straight back towards you, a hand smoothing his hair back unconsciously. Neither of you said anything as he blindly unlocked his door, taking one last look at you, before stepping through.

It was only when his door slammed shut that you were able to take a breath.

The hand that had been fiddling with your keys dropped to your side, and you were hardly able to realise what you were doing before you’d unlocked your door, flinging it open and making a direct beeline for the box you’d purposefully avoided since your unfortunate FaceTime call with Mat. Your hand immediately sought out the cap, and operating purely on adrenaline and the mindset of ‘what-the-fuck-I-have-nothing-to-lose’, you’d made your way back out of the door, plans to head downstairs completely forgotten.

You wouldn’t have done it if you hadn't had the confidence instilled in you from Mat, that Tito had been miserable since he’d left New York, even despite the efforts of his new teammates to introduce him to Vancouver society.

Your brain must have been running a mile a minute, because when you clashed into a suit-clad chest, not entirely taken aback by his sudden appearance, you were pushing the cap at him.

“You made me cry over a fucking hat, did you know that?” You asked, the Islander’s cap hanging between you.

Tito blanched, unable to speak.

You waited in anticipation, pursing your lips harshly to stop yourself from speaking.

You wanted him to say something to alleviate the doubts you’d had.

He gave you nothing.

“Say something.” You implored, hand dropping.

He took a breath, relaxing as his shoulders slumped forwards, “I’m sorry I made you cry over my hat.”

Your jaw clenched, fighting the burning in your eyes. You absolutely refused to cry until he confirmed what Mat had been telling you – only then would you let yourself break. You also had to be inside an apartment; you weren’t about to let yourself cry in the hallway for all your new neighbours to see.

“I’m sorry I broke up with you.”

It was quiet, so much so you would have had to strain your ears to hear him. His voice sounded broken and weak, and when you looked up at him his eyes were pooling with regret, lips turned down in what you could only place as sadness. It was plain and bare, and so hopelessly effortless than you felt yourself soften, even despite the bitterness you still held against him.

“Why?” You asked, not reaching for him. You were determined to keep him in the balance, refusing to give him even a snippet of what you were feeling. It may have been a harsh play on your behalf, but you weren’t about to forgive him too easily for unnecessary heartache.

He hesitated, fingers tapping his thigh uneasily, “Because we’d only been dating a few months and I didn’t want to ask you to uproot your entire life to Vancouver just for me.”

His honesty was startling, and you took a sharp step backwards.

It seemed too good to be true, yet you hated the doubt and mistrust placed in him to the point you felt like you were betraying him.

“I uprooted my entire life to move from Vancouver to New York in the first place, you know that.” You replied, somewhat coldly, turning around and entering your apartment.

There was that prickling feeling as though you were being watched through peepholes, and you desperately needed space to breathe.

You heard Anthony follow you, the door clicking shut behind you with ease, and you threw yourself onto the sofa, dreading and anticipating the late conversation.

“I do.” He admitted, hands in his pocket as he seated himself on the coffee table in front of you, “But I also know that you don’t enjoy change and I felt guilty even—”

“You didn’t even ask.” You interrupted, irritation flaring up.

He sighed through his nose, and you could tell he was almost as fired up as you were. This argument had been a long time coming, the reasons and excuses simmering beneath your skin for far too long, and now you were facing each other with no particular time constraint considering the fact you now shared a wall — something you couldn’t quite decide if it was a blessing or a curse.

“If I had asked, would you have come?”

“I guess we’ll never know,” you snapped back, looking at him as he rolled his eyes, “You really fucking made sure of that, didn’t you?”

“Well I apologise for trying to protect you from making a decision that could have ruined your career–”

“I don’t need protection, Beauvillier,” he winced, the surname jab stinging, “I can make my own decisions perfectly well.”

“Let me rephrase: I didn’t want to make you feel like you had to come with me because I wanted you to.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, jaw clenching.

“I would have wanted to go with you, dipshit.” You fired back.

“Would have?” He repeated, tilting his head, that wild element of determination flashing through his eyes. He was clearly referring to the past tense you’d used.

“Yes.” You breathed, “I would have, because I’d gotten a promotion located in Vancouver, and the only reason I would have said no, as much as I’m ashamed to admit it, was because of you and your stupid hockey team. I thought you’d stay an Islander so I held off–”

He spluttered, “And you didn’t think to tell me?” His voice raised in pitch, hands flying in front of him as he tried to convey his exasperation.

“No!” You raised your voice incredulously, unable to hide your appall from him, “You left before I could even argue against the breakup and I haven’t seen you since.”

“Ah,” he held up a finger, dodging your lame attempt to swat it away, “But when did you get the offer, huh?”

You paused, feeling your cheeks flush with colour, “You don’t have to patronise me, Tito.”

“Tell me when, and I won’t have to.” He explained, eyes wide as he waited for your answer.

“I got it a couple of days before you broke up with me.” You admitted, voice now a few notches lower.

“And why didn’t you say anything before?” His voice tipped with an edge of regret as he spoke, desperation coating his words as he finished his question.

You were both breathing heavily, adamant to portray your points and frustrations. Neither of you seemed to be thinking much of anything but about the other – much less of what or who you’d been doing since your departure – Mat’s words to both of you seemed to have eased that question, allowing you to freely have at one another without any holding back or worrying about the other’s antics.

You were both clearly still hung up on each other, and that knowledge had you feeling both euphoric and hopeful – a dangerous concoction you’d acknowledged amidst partially yelling at each other. Despite that, it was obvious you’d both been holding back – voices strained for the sake of not wanting to disturb your neighbours, even if you were closer to the wall you shared with Tito than your other neighbour.

“Because I didn’t want to be that girlfriend who says ‘oh, by the way, if those crazy rumours of you getting transferred to the other side of the continent were true, you totally wouldn’t have to worry about our relationship because I’d most definitely go with you anyway’, and then before I could tell you that you ran out of the club. Then when I tried to ring you literally a day later, you’d blocked me on everything!” You rolled your eyes, groaning when he took his blazer off, his hands on his hips after loosening his tie.

You didn’t know if he was doing it on purpose to gain an upper hand in the argument, but it had you losing your train of thought briefly.

“Oh, so now it’s all my fault?” He frowned, a crease forming between his brows.

You laughed bitterly, “Dude, of course it’s your fault. You didn’t let me not allow you to break up with me.”

“But you didn’t tell me about the job offer – which, by the way, is amazing, so congratulations, I’m incredibly proud of you,” he sidetracked, his voice becoming gentler and allowing himself to express a little sincerity within his facial expressions, before returning to its previous sternness, “But you telling me about that job offer would have quietened any doubts I ever had about dragging you here.”

“Well, it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?” You muttered sarcastically.

“You’re telling me? I just didn’t want you to be unhappy for the sake of my own happiness, okay?” He held up his hands in surrender, waiting for you to respond.

You shrugged, still not quite believing where he was coming from, “Why were you doubting it, I’m literally in love with you. I told you that.”

“Well, I’m in love with you, too. But I guess my guilt overpowered that. I wanted you to come to Vancouver because you wanted to, not because you felt like you had to.”

“You didn’t even ask me, though. You took that right away from me.” You said.

You’d both softened, voices dropping a few octaves and flailing limbs reducing as your frustrations slowly poured out of you.

“And what would you have said if I’d have asked?” He echoed from before, slightly breathless as his chest heaved.

He was looking straight at you, curiosity and a destructive hope practically radiating from his face. He wanted you to say no, to reassure him he’d made the right decision.

“I would have said yes.”

His face collapsed, and his hands immediately went to cover his eyes for a few seconds. You stayed rooted to your spot, watching him mutter to himself and shake his head. You couldn't hear what he was saying – some complex French mutterings, your ears may have picked up a string of profanities.

Then, just as you were beginning to submit to the gravitational pull towards him, he lifted himself back up, eyes watering and rimmed red – it had you wondering if this was how he’d spent your days and nights apart; torturing himself with what could have been if only he’d had the courage to ask you the question. You knew you were in no position whatsoever to criticise his lack of action, however. It was just the only thing you could stomach to blame.

At least this way you knew the fate of your misery the past few months had been out of your control, even if that small voice in the back of your mind screamed against that.

“Of course you would have.” He nodded, foot tapping against your floor. He still had a lot of pent up agitation begging to be relieved.

He’d just played a match and he still had energy to burn.

Instead, you did the thing you weren’t entirely expecting, and you could tell from his face that he wasn’t expecting you to pull such a move, either.

What you really wanted to do was launch yourself at him – there was no doubt in your mind he’d catch you, he always did – and not let him go, but you held back, both for your own sanity and his, as well as the fact that you knew you were both going to have to spend the night in your own beds, absorbing and mulling over every single thing that had come to light.

“We’re both idiots that should probably work on our communication skills a little more.”

The trace of a small smile worked its way onto his face, an idea flashing through his mind, “What was that?”

You didn’t even think before you’d picked up a cushion from the sofa and launched it in his direction. It felt like you’d been anticipating such a trashy joke because your aim was spot on; the cushion smacked him squarely in the face, eliciting a shout of surprise.

After he’d let it fall to the floor you both stood in your half-made-up living room, both your hands on your hips and considering each other carefully.

You didn’t know how you were going to go from here, but you knew what you wanted to get out of it, and what you wanted was the man standing in front of you, bravely looking as confused as you felt.

“You played really well tonight.” You said, desperately wanting to break the tense silence.

You could tell what he wanted to do, and you couldn’t exactly deny that you also felt that same desire begin to burn you from the inside, but you knew you had to make him work for it.

“Thank you.” He replied earnestly, not entirely shocked by your revelation. Since he’d found out you were his neighbour, he’d been keeping an ear out for your TV patterns.

On more than one occasion he’d been able to hear the NHL channel blast through the walls.

“No problem.”

“I think I should go.” He made no move to do such a thing.

“I think you should.” This time, he took a few steps towards your door, his hand hovering over the handle as though expecting you to change your mind, before throwing it open and leaving as quickly as he could.

Your head was a mess and your chest was surely about to implode.

You let yourself think it over for about five minutes, hands pressed together and resting against your mouth as your eyes darted across the room. You caught sight of the Islander’s hat on the sofa – when had you even let go of it? – and picked it up, leaving your apartment to knock on his door.

He must have been standing behind it waiting for you because it swung open only on the second knock and you barely had time to breathe before you were tugged roughly against his chest, your hands not wasting any time in burrowing themselves in his hair, and moving your mouth against his, tongues intertwined and breathing just as heavy as it had been when you were arguing.

It was short, possibly about ten seconds of unadulterated desire and lust and love, before you were shoving him away, attempting to maintain some seriousness. It failed drastically, your eyes working to keep up the act, but your mouth giving you away hilariously as you still felt the remnants of his kiss on you, leaving you able to do nothing but smile dumbly at him.

“I’m giving you this back.” You shoved his hand against his chest, but he made no move to take it off you.

“I don’t want it.”

“Neither do I.”

“It looks better on you.” He argued, taking it from your hand and placing it on your head.

You pulled a face, and swiped it off, “I’ve always been more of a Nucks fan than an Islanders, so, no thank you.” You let it drop between you, before failing to resist pressing another hot kiss to his mouth, dodging out of his needy hold and leaving. You hear the vague protest of “I’m telling Mat you said that!” and you spun on your heel, inappropriately shouting, “Fucking go ahead!” Before you shut your door, unable to process anything until you collapsed onto your bed face-first, cursing Mat Barzal’s wicked plotting.

#tito beauvillier x reader #anthony beauvillier x reader #anthony beauvillier imagine #anthony beauvillier oneshot #tito beauvillier imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 · 2 years

Text

Life As We Know It | Part 20

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Tagging: @thirteenisles @matbaerzal @mcmo-anon @texanstarslove @matbarzyy @hockeywocs @ggggmoneyyyy @tysonjost-taylorsversion @toplinetommy @fiveholegoal @itrocksmysocks @joelsfarabee @barzysreputation @iangiemae @stlbluesbrat @c-tangerine @canadianheaters @jeylia-haj @roopehintz @dreamsndior @beauvibaby @2manytabsopen @nazdaddy @sorryjustafangirl @fallinallincurls @pastelpapermoons @hockeybabe87 @kayt-marie @heatherawoowoo @islesnucks @whoeverineedtobe @ohpuckyeah @tpwkstiles @mf-mightyducks @day-dreamerr @ficsilove10 @notaccurateornice @rapidfever @hoodpankow @oopsiedoopsie23 @haylie-mcc @jostyriggslover96 @newlibrary @honestreputation @the-philthepill13 @justanotherfansblog @simpgirl-lat @hockeypuckspost @great-puck-work @yzas-stuff @sidscrosbyy @teenagekook @svechnikolan @lovethepreds @strong134 @dylancozzys @gravyoverall @lena306 @caelum-the-part-time-acosmist @taiter-tots @canesjedi31 @kq9003 [let me know if you want to be added!]

Word Count: 9k

Warnings: Alcohol. Sexual references?

Comments: I know this took a million years and I’m so sorry!!! I hope it’s worth the wait!!! I’ll now be devoting all my time to my fic exchange fic but after that’s done, Tess and Beau will be back (and I already have more than 3k written up for Part 21)!!! xx

In hindsight, Anthony should have known this would happen.

It had been …a while since he had gotten any action and Tess was really fucking attractive and her ass was pressed right up against his hips and whether she meant to or not, he woke up to her trying to wiggle closer to him.

He didn’t realize it at first, sleep still clouding his thoughts and he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her closer, burying his face into her mess of curls and took a deep breath. It was only when Tess tensed that Anthony opened his eyes and shook the fog of sleep from his mind that he felt it too.

He was hard against her ass.

“Oh fuck,” he said and quickly pulled back from her, a deep flush creeping up his chest as he stared at the ceiling with his hand clutching the blanket over him. “I’m sorry,” he told her.

“It’s okay,” she replied just as quickly and rolled over to lay on her back. It wasn’t the first time she felt a man hard, it had just been …a while. And it was Anthony.

“It’ll go down,” he told her after a long moment but he could still feel her body against his and her ass against him and it really was not helping his little problem.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied and kept her eyes on the ceiling. A moment passed. And then another. “Better?” She asked and looked over at him.

“No,” he sighed and tossed the blankets back. “I’m going to shower,” he said as he made his way toward his ensuite. Tess flushed all over again as her eyes dropped to the tented front of his sleep pants and she had to take a deep breath when he closed the door behind him and she heard the water turn on. She pushed the blankets back herself and got up to head to her own bathroom where she splashed some water on her face before going to check on Sorel.

And if Anthony’s shower took longer than normal and his cheeks were a little more flushed, she didn’t say anything.

“Hey,” he said and reached out to touch Tess’s hip when she wouldn’t look at him. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she told him against as she finally met his eyes. “It’s normal. It happens. I’m not upset or anything.” She had just been surprised.

“You’re not?” He asked and Tess shook her head before she wrapped her arms around his neck and Anthony’s hands found her hips.

“Just wasn’t expecting it,” she told him before she leaned up to kiss him, surprising both of them when she pressed her chest flush to his, letting him feel her just like she felt him not an hour before. Anthony hesitated for half a moment before pulling her close. Tess let him deepen the kiss for a moment before she pulled back. “What time is your flight again?” Tess asked.

“Four,” Anthony replied. “So I gotta be out of here by two at the latest.”

Tess hummed and kissed him again, “I’m going to miss you. We both will.”

“And I’m going to miss you both,” he sighed and pulled Tess back in for another kiss. Of course, Sorel still hadn’t accepted her dad stealing her mom from her, so she called for Tess and Tess pulled back from Anthony to tend to her.

If he was being honest, Anthony could still feel her body against him and he dropped his eyes to Tess’s ass and bit his lip before quickly shaking his head and starting on making breakfast.

He was never going to get enough of her.

Anthony was a bit surprised when Mat sat down next to him on the plane, but he didn’t say anything. It was only once they were in the air that Mat said, “I need to tell you something.”

Anthony immediately looked up from his phone, “you didn’t knock Connor up, did you?”

“Oh fuck no,” Mat replied quickly. “I just actually care about telling my friends what’s going on in my life instead of leaving them to find out on their own.”

Anthony took a deep breath as he rolled his eyes, “it was two times.”

“Two times too many! And not like small things either. You had a baby and didn’t tell me. And then you get with the girl I have been trying to get your head out of your ass about for literal years!” Mat told him, his voice raising, earning a not so subtle glare from Clutter.

Anthony scoffed, “I was a little busy, you know, with a newborn, and it wasn’t like I was expecting you to come over that day. And Tess and I decided to keep things between us for a bit, I just jumped the gun a bit. I would have told you. But whatever, what’s going on with you? What did you want to talk about?”

It was Mat’s turn to roll his eyes but he dropped it and moved on. “Connor’s moving in with me,” he told Anthony and Anthony immediately looked over at him with wide eyes.

“Isn’t that a little fast? Has it even been six months?”

“Like you’re one to talk having Tess move in with you right after having a baby with another woman,” Mat shot back and Anthony opened and closed his mouth for a moment.

“That was different,” Anthony tried. “And I’m just worried about you. I don’t want you to get taken advantage of or end up hurt.”

“I won’t,” Mat said firmly. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and, like, I get that it’s maybe fast in the traditional sense but,” Mat smiled as he shook his head. “She’s over all the time and I hate being away from her and she hates being away from me. Connor… Connor makes me so happy I don’t have words to describe it. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I know we’ve only been together a few months but, fuck, Beau, I… I just have this feeling that I’m going to marry her one day.”

Anthony was quiet for a moment before he said, “you’re really serious about her.” He’s known Mat a long time, but in all the time he had known him, he had never seen Mat like this.

“I am,” Mat told him softly.

Anthony nodded and reached over to give Mat’s thigh a pat, “she’s good for you.”

“She is,” Mat agreed with a small laugh.

Anthony nodded, “if you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

“I am. Really fucking happy,” Mat smiled.

Anthony felt the same way about Tess and, if he was being honest, he couldn’t imagine her not living with him and getting to see her basically all the time he was home so he knew exactly where Mat was coming from, even if he thought it was a little early for them to be moving in. But everyone moved at their own pace and he wanted to be supportive the way Mat was with Sorel, and Connor was actually super amazing and Anthony really liked her, liked her with Mat. And he liked that she was able to reel him in when he needed to be. “Okay, good,” Anthony nodded.

“Well, now that that is out in the open, how’s you and Tess?” Mat asked and gave his eyebrows a little wiggle.

The corner of Anthony’s lip twitched up. “We’re good, really good,” he replied. “I know it’s been like two weeks, but she’s the best thing to happen to me.”

Mat scrunched his nose up, “pfft, who would have thought?”

Anthony rolled his eyes as his smile widened and he gave Mat’s shoulder a shove, “shut up.”

“No fucking way, bro. I’ve waited for this since you met her,” Mat told him with a cackle of a laugh that had Anthony shaking his head.

“But seriously, we’re good. I mean… I won’t lie, things got a little awkward this morning when I woke up with morning wood against her ass, but besides that, yeah, we’re good.”

“She didn’t suck you off?” Mat asked without a second thought. Connor always either sucked him off or rode him if he woke up with morning wood.

“No,” Anthony answered with a tight laugh. “We’re not there yet.”

“Not there yet? Bro, it’s been two weeks.”

Anthony shrugged Mat off, “we’re taking things slow.”

Mat immediately twisted his face up. “I could never,” he said, thinking back to all the ways Connor ruined him in those first two weeks.

Anthony shrugged him off again, “we’re good, we’re happy. We’ll get there when we do.”

“Of course,” Mat nodded. “And remember to wrap it before you tap it.”

“Trust me, I’ll never forget again,” Anthony told him and took a deep breath. “I should probably get on that and buy some condoms though…”

“I’d offer you some, but Connor and I are way passed condoms. And they’d be too big for you,” Mat teased.

“Too small more like,” Anthony replied making Mat laugh.

“That’s just not true,” he said like he hadn’t seen Anthony naked several times.

“We’ll have to let the girls decide then,” Anthony hummed.

“We’ll have to,” Mat agreed.

Their flight to Columbus wasn’t long and soon enough they were landing and as soon as the wheels touched the ground, Anthony did his best to switch his focus to the next game. They may have been second in the Metro, but every point counted in the home stretch.

It was only a three game road trip, Columbus, Carolina, and Washington, but it still pulled at Tess and Anthony more than they thought it would.

For Tess, it meant sleeping in her room again. Alone. And cold. For Anthony, it meant being miles away from his girls, and the first time having to sleep away from Tess after knowing how perfect she fit in his arms and he struggled more than he thought he would. Sure, he had left her and Sorel dozens of times over the last year, but this was different.

So, once they had handed and got checked in, Anthony got comfortable in bed and FaceTimed Tess. It only rang twice before the call connected and Tess’s bright smile filled his screen. Anthony instantly smiled when he saw her and—

“Are we feeling red or white?”

Anthony’s brow furrowed. That sounds like—

Connor stepped into the frame with a bottle of wine in each hand and her smile widened when she saw Anthony on the call. “Oh, hey Beau. Don’t worry, I’m taking good care of your girl,” she winked.

“Hi Connor?” He asked, a little confused.

“Uh, yeah, we’re having a girls’ night,” Tess told him before look over at Connor. “Red to start. Pinot—“

“Noir, I know,” Connor nodded and walked back into the kitchen to open the bottle.

“So you’re having a good time?” He asked and Tess’s smile softened as she nodded.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice. I still miss you though.”

“I miss you, too,” he said softly. “But you deserve a girls’ night. It’s been a while.”

Tess laughed as she nodded. It really had been. “You’re going to regret saying that. She said she’s been dying to talk about you boys.”

Before Anthony could reply, Connor sat down next to Tess and leaned into the frame and handed Tess her glass of wine. “I want all the deets on my favourite couple. Both the PG and the 18+ versions,” she winked again.

Anthony had to fight off a blush as he leaned back against the headboard. “Alright, I will take that as my cue to go… I’m glad you’re having fun, babe. And if I don’t talk to you again because I know how you get with red wine… I hope you have a good night and sleep well.”

Tess rolled her eyes but ducked her head to hide her blush. “It was one time… But yeah, okay. I hope you have a good night, too. I love you.”

“I love you more,” Anthony replied without a second thought and Tess struggled to restrain her smile before she blew a kiss to the camera and of course Anthony caught it.

“Goodnight, Anthony,” she told him again before ending the call and when she looked over, Connor had a shit eating grin on her face.

“That was disgustingly cute. I love it,” she told Tess and Tess rolled her eyes before taking a big sip of her wine.

If Connor was being honest, she had never really had a girls’ night before, so she didn’t know how they typically went and it made her nervous because she wanted—needed—it to go well because she didn’t want to fuck things up with Tess. She really liked Tess and she was the mother of her boyfriend’s best friend’s baby. She needed Tess to like her. She wanted what Sydney had with Kristy and Meg with Tess.

But she was nervous.

And when Connor got nervous, she talked. A lot.

She couldn’t stop talking about Mat and his laugh and all the cute, dorky, funny, and embarrassing things he had done recently, including him getting hard in the gym parking lot because she kissed him and how they had to sit in the car until it went down. “But the thing is, and I’m sure you know this, Mathew is a horndog. Once he’s hard, he’s hard until he cums, so I had to blow him in the parking lot just so we could go workout,” Connor shook her head and Tess poured herself a second glass of wine, having finished her first throughout that story and she was glad Sorel was focused on her toys.

But, of course, Tess put the wine bottle down a little too hard making a clanking sound that drew Sorel’s attention and she used the coffee table to pull herself up and walk over to her mom, who pulled her up onto her lap.

“But I feel like I’ve been talking a lot. What about you and Beau? Have you guys…?” Connor gave Tess a suggestive look that make Tess blush harder and look down at Sorel on her lap.

“There is a child present,” Tess tried, but Connor waved her hand dismissively.

“Please, she’s one, she has no idea what we’re talking about and she won’t remember. So, what are we talking? Second base? Third? I want to know everything.”

Tess blushed harder and was quiet for a long moment. “There’s not much to tell,” she said quietly.

“Wait… You guys still haven’t done it?” Connor asked and Tess shook her head as Connor put her glass down to cup her chest. “Not even a little?” Connor added.

“I told you, we’re taking it slow.”

“I know but wow. I could never. I railed the fuck out Mathew on our first date,” she said and picked her wine back up to take a sip.

“Language!” Tess hissed and put her hands over Sorel’s ears making Connor roll her eyes.

“Relax, she doesn’t care. Look, she’s completely focused on your bracelet.” Tess looked down and Connor really wasn’t wrong. It was the bracelet Anthony had gotten her for her birthday last year and Sorel really seemed interested in the charms, making Tess sigh before dropping her hands and reaching for her wine.

“Well… There was this one time…” Tess started and Connor perked up immediately.

“Tell me immediately.”

Tess shrugged, “well, this morning I woke up and he was…hard, you know, against my…behind.”

“Ass, Tess. You can say ass,” Connor deadpanned before leaning toward her. “But how did it feel? Did you like it? Is he big?”

“Again, language,” Tess said before she kissed Sorel’s head and Sorel looked up at her with a giggle.

“Fine,” Connor sighed. “Is it her bedtime yet so I can get literally any crumb of details from you? It’s like pulling teeth.”

Sorel had been quiet for a while now and it was a bit passed her soft bedtime… “Yeah, okay, I can put her down,” Tess nodded and got up to carry Sorel to bed.

By the time she came back to the couch, Connor had a wicked smile on her lips and both their glasses of wine had been topped off. Tess was thankful and took a big sip when she sat down. She could really start to feel the wine, but it left her feeling warm and it made it easier for her to open up.

“So, spill,” Connor said.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. It felt like a dick against my ass,” she laughed and Connor laughed with her.

“And did you like it?” Connor pushed, grinning like the cheshire cat.

Tess scrunched her nose up as she closed her eyes. “I think I did,” she said after a moment.

Connor made a muffled sound of victory, “bet it’ll feel even better when he’s finally inside you. You know, I’d be happy to watch the little one if you and Beau need some alone time.”

Tess flushed a dark red and drank the entirely of her glass of wine before clearing her throat. “Uh, thanks, Con. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

“No problem,” Connor smiled and filled her glass again. “Are you ready to take the next step? Do you have any cute panties he can tear off you with his teeth?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I do. And do I want to take the next step? Obviously. But I don’t want to rush into it and have things be awkward. We’ve been friends for years and what if it’s bad?”

“It’s not going to be bad,” Connor told her. “Maybe awkward, probably not great, at least not the first time. But you’re super fucking hot. He won’t be able to get enough of you and once you guys figure out what you like, it’ll be great, I promise.”

Tess was quiet. The wine made her feel fuzzy and she leaned back against the couch with a sigh. “He’s really fucking hot.”

“He is,” Connor agreed. “We have hot boyfriends.”

It made Tess laugh. “We do,” she agreed before she looked over at Connor. Her long, strong legs were tucked beneath her and her t-shirt left nothing to the imagination of how strong she was. Connor was all hard work and determination. “You’re good for him,” Tess said after a long moment. “I’ve known Barzy a long time now and I’ve never seen him like this before.”

It was Connor’s turn to get quiet and she seemed to fold in on herself, all her confident melting away. “Really?” She asked softly.

“Yeah,” Tess nodded and reached for the bottle only to find it empty. “Hold on, I’ll get another.” It only took a moment for Tess to grab another bottle and open it but by the time she came back, Connor had a distant look on her face. “You okay? Want another drink?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah sure,” Connor nodded and held her glass up so Tess could fill it but she was still uncharacteristically quiet. Tess was about to ask if something was wrong, but Connor spoke up. “Did you really mean it?” She asked softly.

Tess furrowed her brows as she sat down on the couch, “that you’re good for him? Yeah, of course.”

The corner of Connor’s lips twitched up as she looked down at her lap. “No one has ever said that about me before,” she whispered. “I’ve always been the bad influence, the annoyance, the one that needs to be fixed.”

“What?” Tess asked and Connor put her glass down on the coffee table before leaning back. The wine was more than hitting, both of feeling more comfortable than they would normally to open up.

“My whole life…I’ve just been a nuisance. My dad… he wanted an heir, my mom never wanted kids but agreed to having one. A boy. I was supposed to be a boy and I’ve been a disappointment ever since I wasn’t,” she said softly.

It was all incomprehensible to Tess who furrowed her brows as she focused on Connor. When she first met Connor, she joked about her parents expecting a boy, but she never could have guessed that it weighted on her like that. If she was sober, she probably would have known what to say, but she settled for reaching over and gripping her hand.

Connor gave her a small smile as she squeezed her hand back. “If it was up to my dad, they would have kept trying till they had a boy, but my mother… She never wanted kids so she put her foot down. God knows they could have afforded as many kids as they wanted…”

Tess couldn’t imagine growing up alone. Her family was everything to her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Connor shrugged her off and reached for her wine and took a big sip. “It is what it is. It’s not like I’ve spoken to them since I was 17.”

Tess may have been way more than tipsy, but she could do the math and she knew that meant that Connor had been on her own for a decade and she couldn’t imagine. Her mom always had her back and maybe she fought with her siblings, but they were still her family and she loved them. “That’s a long time,” she whispered.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I saw much of them when I was with them,” Connor scoffed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like—” Tess started but Connor cut her off.

“No, I know, it’s okay. I just meant… My dad’s the CEO of a tech company and my mother’s a senator in Connecticut so I never saw much of them growing up. Probably would have seen more of them if I had a penis but here we are.”

“What?” Tess said without thinking.

“A lot of money,” Connor confirmed as she nodded. “Not a lot of caring.” She took another sip of her wine to swallow back her feelings. “Not a lot of caring at all,” she repeated before she shook her head. “Sorry for going off like that, what were we talking about before?”

“Don’t apologize,” Tess replied immediately. “Thank you for sharing, I know it must be hard.” She paused, “and I mean it. You and Mat, you’re good together.”

“Even after all that?” Connor asked softly and Tess nodded.

“Doesn’t change how I see you, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Connor nodded and finished her glass before yawning, the alcohol and emotions hitting her like a truck.

“Are you tired?” Tess asked, the mom in her coming out.

“What? Me?” Connor replied but she yawned again. “Okay, maybe it’s a little passed my bedtime, but I’m okay.” She had never had a girls’ night before and she didn’t want her first one to end early because of her.

“It’s okay, we can call it a night,” Tess told her but Connor shook her head.

“I’m okay. The wine just makes me sleepy. Gin gives me a headache and tequila makes me horny,” she replied. “But enough about me. Talk about you and Beau.”

“I don’t know—” Tess started but the look Connor gave her told her not to argue so she sighed and leaned back against the couch. “I really love him,” she said softly. “I want a family with him.”

“You and Ellie?” Connor asked softly and Tess nodded.

“And any others we may be lucky with,” she whispered making Connor’s eyes light back up.

“You want more babies?” She asked.

Tess smiled as she looked down at her stomach. “I want a big family, you know, if I’m lucky enough.”

“You will,” Connor said without a second thought. “You’re such a great mom, Ellie is so lucky. And Beau will definitely want more babies with you. I hear it’s a very enjoyable process making them.” Tess blushed as she shook her head with a sigh but she still wrapped her arm around her stomach. It had to be the wine, but she couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to carry their baby.

She did her best to push those thoughts aside as they continued to talk as they finished the second bottle of wine, and Tess was more than happy to tell Connor about some of the embarrassing things Mat had gotten up to over the years, which made Connor cackle.

By the time it was finally done, they were both more than ready for bed. Connor couldn’t stop yawning as she stretched out. “I’ll just sleep on the couch,” Connor said before fluffing up a throw pillow but Tess shook her head.

“That’s dumb. There’s two beds, you can take my room and I’ll sleep in Anthony’s like I have been,” she replied, and, well, Connor wasn’t about to turn down a bed for a couch.

“You sure?” She asked and Tess nodded.

“I’ve probably only slept in there once since washing the sheets, so it’s clean. And I really don’t want you sleeping on the couch.”

“Washing the sheets is such a pain,” Connor groaned. “Especially when you have to do it like three times a week.”

Tess’s eyes bugged, “three times a week?”

“Well, yeah,” Connor shrugged her off. “When you’re having that much sex you gotta change the sheets often.”

Tess’s lips tightened into a line before she nodded. She wouldn’t be surprised if Connor had more sex in a week than she had had in her whole life. “Okay, well, I’ll just grab my toothbrush from the bathroom and it’ll be all yours,” she said before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

She was almost to Anthony’s room when Connor spoke up. “Thank you, Tess,” she said softly. “Tonight was great.”

“Thank you for coming over,” Tess replied. “We’ll have to do it again.”

“We will,” Connor agreed with a smile and Tess nodded before heading into Anthony’s room and closed the door behind her. Despite the warm fuzziness of the wine, she made her way into the ensuite and brushed her teeth and braided her hair. It felt weird being in there, especially without Anthony, but it also felt oddly comfortable, like she could feel herself doing this in the future.

Anthony’s bed felt bigger without him. Colder. Just like Tess’s bed felt smaller and firmer than Mat’s for Connor. But they made it work.

Connor stayed over much of the next day, too, and she and Tess made grilled chicken salad for dinner before she got ready to leave, but Tess couldn’t help herself. “Do you have any plans tomorrow?” She asked.

“Not really, why?” Connor replied and Tess shrugged.

“But of our boyfriends are on a roadie so we’ll both be alone until they get back to New York, me obviously with Ellie, but… We could spend that time together? You know, if you want.”

“Yeah?” Connor asked, perking right up, and Tess nodded. “I mean… I can’t say no to that,” she smiled.

The Isles trip wasn’t all that long, but Connor still spent it all with Tess and Tess loved having her. She hated the way her, Darcy and Cass had drifted apart after she took on the mom role, but she could never turn on Sorel. For so long it had been about her friends and what they wanted to do that she put herself in the backseat. But after Sorel…

Tess had always wanted to be a mom and she prioritized Sorel and what she wanted and what made her happy and they just couldn’t understand. But Connor could.

Her and Connor… They couldn’t be more different, but they worked.

And so, Connor stayed over for the roadie and only left the morning the guys were coming home.

Tuesday morning, while Tess was pouring herself a glass of orange juice, Anthony wrapped his arms around her and hooked his chin on her shoulder, pulling a soft laugh from her as she leaned back against him.

“I want to take you out,” he said before she could say anything and she turned around to look at him.

“You do?” She asked and he hummed.

“Barzy and Connor said they’d watch Ellie so we don’t have to tell our families--”

“Which we really need to do,” she cut him off.

“I know,” he sighed and nuzzled at her neck. “But I love how things are now and I definitely want to take you out first. So, what do you say? Thursday?”

Her smile softened and she nodded, “sounds perfect, I can’t wait.”

Anthony’s smile widened and he kissed her. “It’s a date then,” he told her, giving her butterflies.

The Islanders played Wednesday at home against the Ducks and after Anthony went to the rink, Tess tried on every dress she had in her closet to figure out what to wear for her date. She had been dreaming of it for so long she just wanted everything to be perfect.

She tried a floral dress, a wrap dress, her sweater dress, her red dress, a floor length blush dress, and two black dresses, but no matter how many times she turned in front of her mirror, she didn’t know what to go with. So, she did the only thing she could think: she took pictures in all of them to show Connor at game. If there was one thing she could count on Connor for, it was being honest.

And, naturally, she spent too long trying everything on that she was late to the game and the first period had already started when she got there with Sorel on her hip.

“I’d assume you’re late because you were fucking but I’ve been watching your boyfriend this whole time,” Connor said as soon as Tess sat down next to her.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Tess rushed out and put the diaper bag at her feet before settling Sorel on her lap. “Anthony and I are going on our first date tomorrow and I was trying to figure out what to wear.”

Connor lit up, “tell me everything.”

“There’s not much to say,” Tess laughed. “He said he had everything under control and that it’ll be perfect but I have absolutely no idea what to wear.”

“Okay, describe your sexiest dress to me,” Connor replied and Tess immediately pulled her phone out.

“Way ahead of you,” she said and pulled up the pictures on her phone before handing it over to Connor.

“You really are,” she smiled and started flipping through the pictures. “That’s cute, maybe, no, oh definitely not, maybe,” she said as she looked through the pictures. “You’re hot, Tess. You need to show— There we go,” she cut herself off when she got to the last dress.

It was black and while it had a high neck rather than the deep V Connor preferred, it fit Tess’s body well. It wasn’t overly tight but it was snug and it carved out Tess’s waist and hips and the slit on the skirt came up to mid-thigh.

“This one,” Connor told her and turned the screen to her. “Beau will lose his mind seeing you in this dress.”

Tess ducked her head, “you don’t think it’s too much for a first date? What if I over dress?”

“Then he’ll undress you,” Connor replied without missing a beat.

Like always, Tess blushed but nodded. “Okay, what about shoes?”

“Do you have heeled boots?” Connor asked and when Tess nodded, Connor nodded back. “Then those.”

“And hair? Down? Up? Or I could straighten it?”

Connor hummed as she studied Tess and reached over to bunch Tess’s hair up. “Definitely don’t straighten it. Up could be cute, but your hair is so nice. I think you should leave it down.”

“Okay, thanks,” Tess smiled. “And for the record, your hair is nice, too.”

Connor laughed. “My messy brown hair? Yeah, okay, it definitely compares to your beautiful blonde locks of yours,” Connor replied and gave one of Tess’s curls a tug.

“You haven’t seen me in humidity. Or when it’s frizzy,” Tess laughed and looked down at Sorel. Anthony may have had some curl to his hair, but her hair was straight and dark, even darker than Anthony’s. Tess carded her fingers through Sorel’s hair before she cleared her throat. “But anyway.”

Connor’s eyes dropped to Tess’s hand in Sorel’s hair before she looked back to the ice in time to see Anthony lay a hit in the corner. “Your boy is throwing his weight around,” she said.

Tess laughed. “He does that, doesn’t he? He’s conned more than a few shoulder massages out of me over the years because of it.”

“I know what you mean. Mathew may talk a lot of trash, but let me tell you, he’s a huge baby when he’s hurt. I have to rub his shoulders and back and God forbid it’s his wrist because he will whine all day about it.” And as if to prove her point, Mat went down easy after a tug on his hip and he started barking at the ref, making Connor and Tess burst out in laughter.

“He’s certainly one of a kind,” Tess replied once she stopped laughing and Connor got a faraway look in her eyes as she watched him on the ice.

“Yeah,” she sighed with a smile. “But he’s my one of a kind.”

Tess could see the genuine love in her eyes and it made her smile. “Maybe you’ll knock some sense into him,” she commented.

“Believe me, I try. Every day. His skull is just so dense,” Connor laughed.

“God, I know. What would they do without us, huh?”

“Crash and burn?” Connor suggested and looked over at Tess.

“Something like that,” Tess agreed before turning her attention back to the ice.

With the All-Star Game in the rearview window, it was the home stretch of the season and they needed every win and point they could get. Every division in the league was hard, but the Metro was especially, and they wanted to be in the best position they could for the playoffs.

And the two points they picked up from the Ducks that night certainly helped.

When it came time for the date the next day, Tess followed Connor’s instructions. She wore the black dress with the heeled boots and a light jacket, and she left her hair down with a darker smoky make up than she normally did.

Once she was done, she gave herself more than a once over, trying to get as many angles as she could and even she had to admit she looked good. Tess smiled to herself as she fluffed her hair up before she opened the door and stepped into the living room.

“I texted Barzy and they said they’re on their way over about five minutes ago so they should be—” Anthony started as he looked at his phone but as soon as he looked up, his words died on the tip of his tongue.

Anthony had seen Tess through a lot, since her second year of college when they were both teenagers. The first time they met at Starbucks, her hair had been tossed up in a messy bun and she was wearing an oversized NYU sweater. Since then he had seen he dressed to the 9s for graduation, for team events, trips, and he had seen her hugging the toilet bowl groaning and crying, hungover on a Sunday morning.

Tess had taken his breath away a lot over the years. The trip to Quebec, wearing his jersey, wearing his jacket, the team Christmas party, New Year’s Eve, but he completely short circuited looking at her now.

The dress clung to her body, showing off her every curve, the synch of her waist, the softness of her hips and breasts, and the smooth skin of her thigh peaked out of the slit. Anthony’s lips parted as he ran his eyes over her body and he couldn’t believe she was his.

Only his.

His reaction had Tess squaring her shoulders and she popped one of her hips with a new found confidence. “Is this okay? You know, considering I don’t know here we’re going?” She asked.

She snapped him out of his thoughts and he mumbled some French curses before he met her eyes. “More than okay,” he told her and tossed his phone onto the couch before standing up and letting his hands rest on her hips.

Tess immediately leaned into him and lopped her arms around his shoulders, “yeah?”

Anthony let his eyes wander down her body again as he nodded. “Trust me, if this wasn’t our first date, we wouldn’t be making it out of this apartment.”

Most of Tess’s blush was hidden by her make up, but Anthony could still see it, so he added, “but it is our first date so nothing will be happening, but you look really fucking good, Tessa.”

“You look really good, too, Anthony,” Tess told him and pulled back enough to fix his collar, even if it didn’t need to be fixed. He was dressed in slacks and a blue button down with the first couple buttons undone and his matching jacket was hung over the back of his couch. He looked like a five course meal to her.

“Not half as good as you, trust me,” he replied and pulled her in for a kiss before she could argue.

Tess immediately melted into the kiss and pressed herself flush against him. “So, where are you taking me?” She asked when she pulled back. Anthony opened his mouth to reply but before he could get the words out, there was a knock at the door and Anthony bit his lip to restrain his smile.

“Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” he told her before he pulled back to get the door.

To no surprise, it was Connor and Mat on the other side and Anthony stepped aside to let them in. As soon as Connor saw Tess, her smile widened. “Damn! You look amazing,” she told her and Tess laughed as she shrugged Connor off.

“Thank you,” Tess told Connor before walking over to the island to pick up the piece of paper and she immediately went into mom mode. “So you obviously have our numbers, but this has all the emergency numbers if you can’t reach us, her schedule, what she eats, what she doesn’t like, her favourite toys, how to settle her, etcetera,” Tess explained as she handed the paper over to Connor.

“Right, got it,” Connor nodded as she looked it over. As usual, Tess didn’t miss a detail. “We got this, though, okay? Go have fun, enjoy each other.”

“We will,” Anthony replied for her.

“You sure you don’t have questions for us or anything?” Tess had to ask but Connor shook her head.

“Absolutely positive,” Connor told her and not so subtle ushered her toward the door.

“Okay, okay,” Tess sighed and let Anthony hand her coat to her. He helped her put it on, but Tess still kept looking over at Connor and Mat as Anthony guided her toward the door. She loved them both in their own way, but unlike her sister, she had never seen either of them with a baby for longer than a few minutes and it made her nervous. But, with his wallet and keys, Anthony was able to get Tess out the door.

“Thanks again for this guys,” Anthony said as he went to close the door, but Mat quickly stepped forward before Anthony could close the door to give Anthony a bro shake.

“Have some fun tonight, yeah?” Mat said intentionally and Anthony gave him a levelled look in return when he felt the foil package in his hand. Still, Anthony took the package as Mat pulled back and Anthony immediately put it in his pants pocket with a sigh.

“We won’t be out late,” Anthony told him but that only made Mat and Connor’s smirks widen so Anthony rolled his eyes. “Text or call if anything happens. Now goodbye.” He didn’t wait for a response as he closed the door.

“All good? Tess asked and Anthony nodded before he smiled and held his hand out to her.

“All good, let’s go, mon amour,” he told her as she took his hand and they headed down to the garage.

Anthony ended up taking her to a quaint French restaurant on the Island and while Tess wasn’t sure where they were going, she wasn’t surprised in the slightest and there was nowhere she’d rather be for their first date. “Reservation for Beauvillier,” Anthony told the hostess who gave him a smile as she nodded.

“Of course, right this way,” she replied and picked up two menus before leading them to a table.

Anthony helped Tess take her jacket off and hung it on the nearby coat rack before he tucked her into the table. “This is a lot nicer than I was expecting,” she told him with a smile as he sat down across from her.

“You deserve the best,” he told her and opened the menu. “Get anything you want, okay? I was actually thinking we’d start with an appetizer and maybe some pinot noir? Though… Maybe sauvignon blanc will better pair with dinner.”

Tess had a soft look on her face as she looked at him. She was so in love with him and she still couldn’t believe this was really happening. That she was this lucky. “That sounds great,” she replied and Anthony returned her smile and watched as she looked back at the menu.

And, well, if she asked him what a couple menu items were just to hear him speak French, sue her. Her boyfriend was French and he sounded damn good when he spoke in his mother tongue.

At Tess’s request, Anthony ordered for both of them. They had shrimp for an appetizer, Tess had the seared snapper with red wine peppercorn sauce while Anthony had the filet mignon with port wine sauce and they paired it with sauvignon blanc, a better match for the fish, along with a glass of water.

It didn’t take them long to get their drinks and then they were left alone for the first real time since becoming a couple.

“So…” Anthony started.

“We’re on a date,” Tess replied with a small laugh.

“We are,” he laughed with her before he raised his glass to clink hers. “To our first date.”

“To us,” Tess smiled before taking a sip of the wine.

They hadn’t really been alone, just the two of them, in the past year. They always had Sorel or they were out with the team or family. They were so used to having someone else around that they didn’t know how to be alone.

Anthony hated how awkward it was. Tess was the most amazing woman in the world to him and he just wanted everything to be perfect, he expected everything to be perfect, and it wasn’t. And he didn’t know how to handle that. He thought they’d smile and laugh over dinner and split a desert and go home and cuddle on the couch, maybe steal a few kisses.

But Anthony was tense. They both were.

As much as it was a first time, it also wasn’t. They knew everything about each other, they had been friends for years, so that didn’t leave much to talk about. So they were both thankful when their meals arrived, giving them something to do and talk about.

“Oh my god, this is amazing,” Tess said after her first bite and it made Anthony’s chest a little less tight.

“Yeah? I’m glad,” he smiled.

“You should try some,” Tess told him and Anthony opened his mouth to say it was okay, but he closed it to smile and nod and he stole a bite and Tess was right, it was amazing.

“Want a bite of mine?” He asked and let Tess steal a piece.

“Wow,” Tess nodded. “This place is amazing.”

“Not as amazing as you,” Anthony replied cheekily, but it made Tess smile.

They both seemed to relax with dinner and the conversation flowed easier with the glasses of wine and every time Tess smiled, Anthony fell in love with her a little more.

“Do you want desert?” Anthony asked as they finished up dinner.

As great as dinner and the restaurant was, it just wasn’t them. Tess fell in love with Anthony, not what his money could buy. Sure, the fancy restaurant was nice, really nice, but she felt out of place. She wanted to spend time with Anthony, her Anthony, but that was hard to do when they were both playing at part at a restaurant.

“I think I’d rather have desert at home, you know, just the two of us, she told him and he gave her a soft smile as he nodded.

“I like the sound of that.”

So once they boxed up their left overs and he paid the bill, he helped her put her coat on and they made their way out to the car, Anthony’s hand on Tess’s lower back as he guided her. Once they made it to the car, Anthony opened the door for her and it only made her heart flutter a little. And, of course, while the drive back to the apartment wasn’t long, Anthony kept his hand on her thigh the whole time.

The elevator ride up to the apartment was quiet but Tess rested her head on his shoulder and he traced soft circles on her hip until they reached their floor and they walked handed in hand to the door. As soon as the door opened, Connor was on her feet and Mat held her wrist from his spot on the couch. “You’re back earlier than anticipated…” Connor said, looking at her watch. “Everything okay?”

Anthony helped Tess take her coat off. “It was good,” he told Connor and hung their coats up before they took their shoes off.

“He took me to a really nice French restaurant and he ordered for us so I could hear his French,” Tess smiled and Mat not so subtly let his other hand rest on the back of the couch to fist bump Anthony as he walked to the kitchen. “We’d thought we’d come home for desert, though,” Tess continued and Mat tightened his grip on Connor’s wrist.

“Then we’d hate to get in your way, so we’ll get going. Ellie was great. She pulled my hair and threw her blocks at me and wouldn’t stop crying but she was great,” Mat said as he stood up and guided Connor toward the door. Tess furrowed her brows as she watched them put their shoes on and Mat was about to open the door when he turned back to Anthony. “And as lovely as Ellie is, please use the condom I gave you and wrap it before you tap it, okay?” He said and Connor smacked him on the back of his head before getting him out the door.

“He’s right, though. And we’ll talk soon,” Connor smiled before following Mat out and closing the door behind her and Tess looked over at Anthony with flushed cheeks.

Anthony was quiet for a long moment before he got done two glasses and pour them some wine. “They’re not wrong,” he said eventually and walked over to the couch with the glasses. “But just ignore them. Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen,” he told her and once he was settled on the couch, he rolled his sleeves up.

It had to be the two glasses of wine talking but Tess let her eyes wander up Anthony’s arms and for a moment she thought back to how he felt against her and wondered what he would really feel like and her blush darkened before she made her way over the couch and took a big sip of her wine. “I know,” she told him and leaned into him. “I’m not thinking about them anyway. I’m thinking about you.”

Anthony wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, momentarily pressing his nose into her hair before he reached for his wine. “What about me?” He asked.

Tess took another big drink of her wine before she replied, “just you.”

He let his hand trail down to her side, “but what about me?”

Tess’s nose scrunched up in the cutest way. Before she would have played him off but they were together now and the wine was definitely hitting. “How hot you are,” she told him softly.

“You think I’m hot?” He replied like it was somehow a surprise.

Tess put her wine down on the coffee table to kiss him. “Of course I do,” she said and bit her lip as she ran her hand up his arm. “I mean… You can tell you’re a pro-athlete.”

Anthony’s cheeks and ears heated up and he pulled her closer. “You’re really hot, too. This dress… Your hair… You drive me so fucking crazy,” he told her softly before she caught his lips in a kiss and when she pulled back, Anthony chased her lips for another, softer, kiss.

“I love you,” Tess told him and he smiled.

“I’m so in love with you,” he whispered. “I’m so lucky to have you, Tessa.”

His words pulled at her and gave her butterflies and she had to kiss him again and he was gentle as he ran his hands down her back. For the first time, Tess thought about taking things further, but she knew in the back of her mind that it was the wine talking, so she pulled back and tucked herself into his side and once they finished the bottle of pinot noir, Anthony opened a bottle of merlot.

The date and the restaurant were nice but there was just something about being cuddled up with him, talking and laughing and his hand trailed up the slit of her dress to rest high on her thigh but she didn’t care. She liked it. She liked his touch and how it made her feel.

Anthony wasn’t surprised when Tess fell asleep on him. Wine always made her sleepy, but a bottle of red seemed to do her in. He took a moment to look at her, her make up was smeared and her hair was frizzy but she was the most beautiful woman in the world to him and he didn’t know what he had done to deserve her.

He was careful as he pulled back and scooped her up in his arms just like he had done countless times before. Tess woke, but just for a moment as he carried her to bed and set her down gently. Her hair laid on the pillow like a golden halo and for a moment he thought about taking her dress off she she’d be more comfortable, but he didn’t want to cross any boundaries so he pulled the covered up over her before kissing her temple and getting ready for bed himself.

He brushed his teeth before stripping down to his underwear and slipped into bed. Tess stirred a little as he made himself comfortable but she didn’t wake as he pulled her closer.

If his legs were a little slower at practice the next morning, well, Mat could think what he wanted because he knew he had his girls waiting for him at home.

When Anthony got back from practice, Tess was wiping down the kitchen counters while Sorel played in the living room. Even if she had just seen him a few hours ago, Tess still dropped what she was doing to go greet him, looping her arms around his neck as she smiled. “I missed you,” Tess said and Anthony gently rubbed her back.

“I missed you, too,” he replied. “Barzy was following me around looking like the chesire cat all practice it was throwing me off all morning.”

“Oh, baby,” Tess said softly and Anthony scrunched his nose up before he kissed her softly. Tess completely melted into the kiss making Anthony sigh contently and when she pulled back from the kiss, he chased her lips.

“Better,” he whispered when he finally pulled back. Tess blushed softly but pulled him in for another, deeper kiss before walking back to the kitchen so he could say hello to Sorel, but Anthony couldn’t help but bite his lip as his eyes drop to her ass.

Finally, he was able to pull his eyes from Tess and toes his shoes off before going to say hello to Sorel. She smiled at him and lifted her arms so he could pick her up, which of course he did. “Hey babygirl, how are you?” He asked and Sorel laughed softly. He was expecting a ‘good’ or ‘dada’ maybe ‘papa’ or ‘hi,’ but instead Sorel said,

“Ass.”

Anthony did a double take and Tess whipped her head up. “Excuse me?” Anthony asked his daughter but Sorel only laughed harder.

“Ass! Ass!”

Anthony’s eyes widened as he looked over at Tess who flared her nostrils. “Fucking Connor…” she grumbled, making Anthony burst out in laughter.

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offside-the-lines · 3 months

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tell me who i run to (if not you) | anthony beauvillier

"The first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy." - Jack Kerouac

Summary In July of 2023, Evie looked at a list of cities in North America and rolled a die. Just like that, she packed up her life and moved to Chicago, a fresh start. The 2023-24 NHL season started well for Tito; he did not expect the call on November 28th telling him that he was being traded. To the worst team in the league. And just like that. 10 months after being ripped from his home, he had to pack up and move again. To an unfamiliar city, and to unfamiliar faces. Which is why, when Tito and Evie ran into each other, quite literally, on Christmas morning, they both latched on to a familiar face. Over the next few months, they became close friends. They didn’t talk about the nights shared in Chicago clubs. They didn’t need to. Because they're just friends. Right?

This is a completed fic split into episodes for easier reading. It was written for @bqstqnbruin as part of the Winter Fic Exchange 2k24 hosted by @wyattjohnston.

Episode 1. Blue Christmas (4.9k) Episode 2. I. Winter (4.4k) Episode 3. Pal-entine's Day (4.8k) Episode 4. Four-leaf Clover (5.5k) Episode 5. Evie's Birthday 🌶️ (5.6k) Episode 6. II. Spring (4.8k) Episode 7. Not Goodbye 🌶️🌶️ (5.4k) Episode 8. III. Summer (4.8k) Episode 9. Tito's Birthday (4.2k)

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Under the cut: author's notes, tropes, warnings & disclaimer, fun tidbits, chapter summaries

Author's Notes: This fic was written for @bqstqnbruin as part of the Winter Fic Exchange 2k24 hosted by @wyattjohnston. It got so out of control long so quickly. I genuinely had so much fun writing this, it's basically my magnum opus; if you look closely, I think you can probably see my soul in there somewhere. I would like to thank @devilssacrament, @wyattjohnston, and @forgottenflowers for being my editors, holding my hand and keeping me sane in this. Also, thanks to @swissboyhisch, and @imperatorrrrr for being a sounding board for ideas . All of your help and support has meant so much to me. You are all just the fucking best, I am sorry this has been my entire personality for the past month, I will probably return to normal soon. Probably...

Tropes: a gut-wrenching mix of angst and fluff with a happy ending, slow burn friends to lover (tbh, idiots to lovers let's be real), alternating POVs

Warnings: alcohol (one instance of alcohol poisoning by side character), mature content bordering on smut (mostly occurring in clubs/public), references to a toxic past relationship. Disclaimer: This series is set in Chicago but does not mention the name of the team based there. Only other Chicago players mentioned by name are: Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson and Connor Bedard. Other notes: NHL players featured Mat Barzal (a heavily featured supporting character/bestie) and brief mentions of Zach Hyman and Matt Martin. Assume that Tito and Evie are always speaking in French with each other.

Face claim for Evie (if you want one, but you can imagine whoever you like): Adeline Rudolph

Fun Tidbits: Original Character (she/her) called Genevieve Gignac or Evie (pronounced eh-vee) is the oldest sibling of Tito's juniors teammate and friend Brandon Gignac. Along with their other sibling Wiliam, they grew up in Montreal. Evie had been living in Toronto for six years, before moving to Chicago in the summer before the fic starts. I did way too much research so a lot of the little facts are true. Nicknames: (ma) chouette (shoo-wet): owl (mon) chou/chouchou (shoo): in practice, honey, sugar, baby, sweetheart // by definition, my cabbage or my profiterole/cream puff (depends who you ask) Solours (soul-oars): the Québécois name for the yellow Care Bear with the smiling sun on its belly Solou’ (soul-oo): a diminutive Evie decides to use

Cook, Cook, drink your tea, But save some in the pot for me. We'll watch the tea leaves in our cup When our drink is all sipped up. Happiness or fortune great, What will our future be? -- "Afternoon Tea at Pittock Mansion" by R.Z. Berry

Episode Synopses:

Blue Christmas Evie and Tito are both starting life anew in Chicago. It's an unfamiliar city with unfamiliar faces. They're both alone on Christmas. Maybe it's fate that brings them together. Jason and Alandra Dickinson are already smelling smoke from this fire.

I. Winter Tito injures his wrist in the first game of 2024, he’s out for 6-8 weeks and then his car breaks down. He thinks maybe he’s cursed. Evie becomes a shoulder to lean on. Barzy gets suspicious.

Pal-entine’s Day Tito returns her kindness by being a shoulder Evie can lean on when she is having a hard time after all-star break. She tells him it’s anxiety about work. He brings her a box of pastries and they cuddle on the couch all day; he doesn’t realize it’s Valentine’s Day. Later, a hook-up goes very wrong.

Four-leaf Clover Tito’s been playing again, and during his first stretch of away games begins to miss home. Well, Evie’s home anyway. When he sees her in the bar, he can’t help but show it. Barzy calls him out on his lies.

Evie’s Birthday Sometimes the music moves you. Sometimes the bass pounding in your chest makes you do things you wouldn’t do. Fuck it, it’s your birthday. That’s what Evie tells herself anyway. There are gifts given, but there are also secrets kept.

II. Spring Tito tries to tell her— he does— It’s just he needs to find the right time, and something keeps coming up. Evie’s honest with herself. But does that even matter? Mat decides maybe it is his time to intervene.

Not Goodbye Evie realizes that her time is running out. To do what? She doesn’t know. But she has one last night to find out. That is until— Well. It’s too late now. Tito flies home and wonders if that will be the worst mistake of his life.

III. Summer They try to get on with their summers as if nothing is wrong, convincing no one. How long will it take them to realize they can’t keep pretending like everything’s fine? And who will finally take the leap of faith?

Tito’s Birthday Tito receives the best birthday present he has ever gotten: the girl he loves standing at his parent’s front door. It was never destiny or fate; it can only be by choice. And they’ll choose each other every time. Eventually, anyway.

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sc0tters · 7 months

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Out of It | Mat Barzal

summary: as your relationship with Tito finally hits a breaking point, what happens when Mat is there to pick up your pieces?

request: yes/no

warnings: cheating, failed relationship, drinking, allusions to sex, swearing.

word count: 3.2k

authors note: Kei said I could use the chaotic ending so I did, probably means we’re gonna have to have a part 2 (let me know if you want it). Request said something sad for Tito but happy for Mat and this is what my mind came up with. I actually enjoyed writing this one a lot so I hope you all enjoy reading it! But also don’t cheat on your partners, that’s very fucked up!

part two | part three

Things hadn’t been good for months.

When Anthony was first traded to the Canucks your boyfriend of three years always just assumed that you would join him. But you didn’t, your entire working career was spent in New York building up the your name and you weren’t ready to leave it for some city in Vancouver without the guarantee of a job waiting for you.

That seemed to be the first sign that things were changing as the boy took it as you not loving him.

Tito slammed his hands against your kitchen counter “do you ever support me in this move?” The man groaned in frustration making you taken aback by his outburst.

The accusation hurt you “of course I do.” You yelled back making his irritated tone “the fact that you think I’m gonna pack my life up at the drop of a hat makes me question how you feel about me though.” You crossed your arms sending him a glare.

This argument had gone on for the last fifteen minutes and there was still no clear sign of the end of this argument “look I can’t live in Vancouver but I can split my time between the two cities.” You offered growing tired of the way this was continuing to drag on.

But Anthony didn’t like that offer, in fact that almost felt worse than you just staying in New York “don’t bother.” He sighed pushing past you.

The hockey player moved towards the door “where are you going?” You croaked feeling your throat grow tight “I’ll spend the night with Mat.” Anthony sighed grabbing his shoes from the rack.

Your feet pulled you to the door “we don’t go to bed angry,” you reminded him “you promise.” Tears began rolling down your cheeks as you felt like you were loosing the love of your life “I’ll be back in the morning.” The boy mumbled kissing your forehead.

His lips left their print on your skin before he walked out of the apartment leaving you alone.

You two never actually spoke about that argument again, instead just choosing to ignore the fact that for the first time since you two moved in together Anthony didn’t sleep at home when he was in New York.

It felt like it was meant to be the one anomaly in your relationship or at least until February hit. Valentine’s Day you were meant to be in Vancouver with flights booked and everything but when a last minute meeting came up you had to pull out. Much to the annoyance of Anthony though.

Thinking you were doing the right thing you told him to go enjoy the dinner reservations he made. But after your long day of work when you came home the last thing you expected to see was the rumour mill that twitter made talking about how Anthony had a new girlfriend.

She was taller than you and looked like a blonde supermodel. Through frustration you grumbled something to yourself before you dialled in your boyfriends number “hey y/n!” Anthony was always good about picking up on the first or second ring “yeah I’ll be done in a sec,” he added clearly talking to someone on his side of the call.

You never liked admitting that you felt insecure in your relationship, but how could you not when you were with some hotshot hockey player? It also wasn’t helped by the fact that he lived 3 hours behind you and in a different country “don’t tell me she’s there,” you choked on the words as tears formed in your eyes.

Anthony clicked his tongue hearing the soft whimper you let out “who baby?” His nickname always had you melting into his hand but now you felt repulsed by it “that girl-“ your eyebrows knitted together as you thought the boy was playing tricks on you acting all oblivious.

The hockey player cut you off “told you that Twitter isn’t good for you.” His reminder felt condescending as you sat down feeing like you were having his lecture in person “why are they all talking about it?” Your voice was soft as you wiped your cheek with the back of your hand to clean the tears away from you.

He almost forgot he was on the phone to you as he stared at the girl who was on his couch pointing at her watch to signal that they were late “when she realised that we both had no plans tonight I said she should come with me.” Tito explained leaving you silent as he wasn’t denying that he spent the night with this bombshell of a girl “she’s just a friend though baby you got nothing to worry about.” Somehow his attempt to comfort you only made your nerves stick out more.

You tried to formulate a coherent sentence as you felt stupid for getting all upset “look I’ve got a few days off next week, why don’t I come see you?” He proposed causing that stupid love drunk smile to form on your face “I’d like that a lot.” You nodded missing your boyfriend now more than ever.

From the moment he arrived in New York you two could feel that something was different. As you invited some of his favourite old teammates over for dinner you felt relieved that you weren’t having to spend the night alone with him.

But of course that sense of peace had to be disturbed “baby why don’t you leave those for the morning?” You asked seeing Anthony’s back towards you as you entered the kitchen.

If there was one thing that usually fixed your problems it was sex. Sure that sounded stupid and like you were both teenagers, but as a couple your favourite way to end even the smallest of fights as with sex.

Which is why you thought it was the fix this problem needed “I want to wake up to a clean kitchen.” The Canadian always felt this rewarding feeling whenever he got to see an empty set of sinks in the morning.

You decided to try a little harder as you walked over to him “think I’ve got something a little more fun for you to do before that though.” You mumbled letting your hands slide up the front of his shirt.

That only seemed to piss him off “Jesus y/n let me finish the fucking-” the moment he began lashing out you stepped back keeping your lips shut until he spun around to look at you.

It didn’t take his eyes long to make their way down your body as you tied the string around your robe up clearly deciding that it wasn’t right for tonight “oh,” Anthony’s voice was soft as he realised that you were wearing his favourite lingerie.

The set was something you bought when he was on a long road trip once and you sent him pictures of each set you tried on in the store and when he picked the blue set you went to the airport to pick him up in a coat with nothing on underneath besides for that new set “forget it.” You rolled your eyes now feeling embarrassed as you turned around heading back to your bedroom where you sat on your bed for fifteen minutes waiting for him to come after you.

But he never did and you felt like an idiot.

April came around and you were now onto month four of feeling like something was wrong but you never felt confident enough to talk to Anthony about it so instead you let your relationship get to the worst it had ever been. Excuses were made each time one of you was meant to see the other and as the time between phone calls grew, the amount of fight you put up to see the other person decreased.

Tonight you were going out with some of the guys from the Islanders team. Mat invited you along as they were celebrating their place in the playoff “I know they are your friends.” You rolled your eyes at the phone call as Anthony couldn’t understand how his best friend invited you along.

It was somewhat amusing because Mat was the one who introduced you to your boyfriend “I’m going to support the boys okay?” You heard a knock at the door making you open it.

A smile formed on your face seeing older Canadian as you ushered him inside motioning to him to keep quiet as you were on the phone “yes I’ll let you know when I’m home.” It sounded like you were talking to a parent rather than your boyfriend.

Mat made himself comfortable on your couch as his spread his legs leaning into the soft fabric “I’m going to go now.” And with that you hung up. It irritated you how the first time he called you in over a month was because one of his old teammates mentioned that he was seeing you tonight “you okay kid?” Mat asked furrowing his eyebrows.

Despite the fact that there was only a two year age gap between you both when he met you, you were a freshman in college in your Maple Leafs jersey as you willingly spent your morning in a cafe arguing with the Islander player about how the Canadian team was better. Mat would never admit this to you or Anthony but he thought you were hot, that’s why he invited you to the game when the Maple Leafs came to visit. Why he scored a goal and pointed right up to the box where you sat, but even more so why he scored three goals. But no matter how hard Mat tried to impress you, it was no match against Anthony’s soft smile that he sent you making you weak in the knees.

You sighed sitting next to him “Tito is mad at me again.” You mumbled fiddling with the bracelet that the older boy gave you for your twenty first, the piece of jewellery that you now never take off.

Mat slipped his hand onto your knee giving it a squeeze “don’t worry about him.” The Canadian wanted to act like his crush on you had diminished over the years but when you called him in tears because you realised that you were drowning your sorrows in too much Chinese food for one person to ear during Anthony’s first night in Vancouver. The speed Mat drove across the city going through each red light told him otherwise.

Having him around always comforted you “think I just need to let loose tonight.” You mumbled running your hand through your hair pushing it back unintentionally revealing your collar bones that were highlighted by the low cut of your dress “finally give you a reason to keep up with me.” Mat always drank faster than you as you wrote it down to his lack of a college career where he never got the chance to grow out of it.

You rolled your eyes letting out a laugh “think you’ll be keeping up with me tonight.” You mumbled looking down at your phone to see the time “we’re late,” you groaned quickly getting up. Mat followed your actions with a smile “only means we have to make up for the lost time.” He pointed out making you laugh.

Oh how pretty that sound was.

The bar was packed full of players and their partners with you being the only plus one without a romantic connection to the team. You had practically drunk your way through the bar as the wags believed that you were making up for lost time after you turned down each of their offers to join them on girls night since Anthony left. It was stupid sure, but you always felt out of place when you were with them, so you thought that you’d feel worse without your boyfriend there.

But instead you surprisingly felt like you fitted in as Mat’s arm snaked around your waist “you want another one?” He asked motioning to your empty glass.

The girls had smirks on their faces as they watched your cheeks turn pink feeling his breath on your neck “I’ll come!” You blurted out making them bite the inside of their cheeks to hold in the giggles.

Whilst everyone thought you would marry Anthony, it made all of the girls happy to see you smile and until you or Mat did anything that crossed a line. They didn’t see the point in telling Anthony that his friend was taking care of his girlfriend.

Because to them everything that Mat and you did was friendly, the touches, the smiles, the looks. But what none of them knew was how each of your heart rates increased at the mere thought of the other. Mat locked his hand into yours as he pulled you through the crowd “two refills please.” He asked the bartender with his signature smile.

When the hockey player turned to you he realised you had been staring “what are you thinking about kid?” Mat’s voice was soft as he sat you in the barstool in front of him “how bad would it be if we left?” You cocked your head staring at his Hazel orbs that seemed to be locked into your soul.

Your question made Mat laugh “you had enough?” He frowned wanting to have more of your company for longer. You were quick to shake your head “no of course not,” your cheeks turned pink as you panicked “I just want ice cream and some vodka right now.” The pairing was weird but it seemed to be the only thing going through your mind “well it’s a good thing that I have both of those in my apartment then isn’t it?” His comment made your eyes light up with excitement.

Without thinking he held his hand out to you “they’re all so drunk I don’t think they’ll notice us leave.” Mat mumbled causing you to nod as he pulled you out of the bar somehow without anyone noticing.

During the drive back to his you remained fairly quiet as the Uber driver continued to talk to Mat about what it was like being a hockey player “I’m telling you I think he loves you.” You got the words out between your fit of giggles.

Mat groaned shaking his head “was nervous to have such a pretty girl in his car.” The boy shot back shoving his spoon back into the Häagen-Dazs ice cream container as he ignored the workout he was going to have to do tomorrow.

His compliment made your stomach do flips “think he’d be more affected by you,” you shook your head taking a sip of the expensive vodka that he had given you to drink “if he was gay-“ before you could swallow you let out a laugh resulting in a cough from you.

The hockey player grew alarmed watching your face turn red “you okay?” All you could do was nod until your throat calmed down “you care about me.” You teased rubbing your elbow with his as you smiled.

As much as Mat tried to ignore how he felt about you it was no longer working “of course I do.” The Canadian wanted to scoff that you would ever even consider to think that he didn’t.

But what he didn’t expect as your eyes locked with his was that you would lean forward to kiss him. At first Mat melted into the kiss as this was something he always wanted but as you moved to his lap he was reminded of the fact that you weren’t his “what about Tito?” Mat gasped forcing himself to feel guilty about the situation. Your lips formed a frown “he doesn’t love me anymore Mat,” you shook your head as tears formed in your eyes “and I don’t love him.” It was the first time you had ever actually said that out loud.

Yet it was all true, the fire that was once burning underneath your relationship turned to an occasional spark that had gone into hiding for the last few months. Mat stared at your soft facial expression “why don’t you leave him?” He asked furrowing his brows “don’t want to be alone.” Your confession made you seem week.

Truthfully though you had grown used to Anthony’s company and you were scared to see if you could survive without a boyfriend in your life “you aren’t alone.” Mat sighed tracing his finger along your jaw letting his thumb settle on your lip.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking but if he showed you that he was here for you then maybe you’d leave Anthony for good “prove it to me then baby.” You pushed your lips back into his as the boy walked the two of you to his room letting your body hit his mattress.

Mat was finally going to have his way with you.

The next morning.

You let out a groan as you heard a loud knock at the door “baby go get it,” you grumbled wanting to go back to sleep “fine.” Hearing Mats voice from beside you had the events of last night quickly falling back into your head.

Somehow though the boy seemed calmer about it all as he sent you a smile “could get used to this.” You were wearing one of his old Islanders shirts, the first time you were wearing a piece of merch from the team that wasn’t from Anthony.

It reminded you of the fact that you still had a boyfriend but here you were in his best friends bed covered in hickies whilst he was covered in scratches “you should answer the door.” You pushed your hair out of your face as you began to feel sick. You weren’t upset about last night, you loved the reminder of feeling what it was like to be loved.

To put it simply you felt bad that you had done it to a guy like Anthony, your mother raised you better than that “I’ll send them on their way and then we can talk about last night.” Mat wasn’t an idiot, he could see that you weren’t thinking about Anthony by the way you stared at the promise ring on your finger that he gave you when he came back in February.

It only took you two months to go ahead and fuck that one up “okay,” you nodded biting the inside of your cheek as you struggled to comprehend how you would talk to Anthony after this.

Your stomach did flips as you stared at yourself in Mats bedroom mirror. In that moment you felt like a horrible person and there was honestly no denying that you were one. Your precious Anthony would never cross a line like the one that you had and you only hoped that you had enough time to fix it before everything was thrown back in your face “what took you so long dude?”

That voice sent a chill down your spine as your eyes went wide with any desire of wanting extra sleep quickly being thrown out of the window.

What the fuck was Anthony doing at Mat’s door?

#mat barzal oneshot #mat barzal x oc #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal imagine #tito beauvillier #oneshots #imagines #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #hockey oneshot

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holy-puckslibrary · 1 month

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sid to a furry friend's rescue!

florist!reader gets flustered during sid's calendar shoot

parents mentors for the day

chief crosby's got a date... and its not with florist!reader

... was in a bit of a silly goofy mood, forgive me (and be sure to read the endnotes!)

gif from @littlemessyjessi

This is the last thing Sidney Crosby imagined he'd come home to: another man settled in his chair.

His cat is curled in the intruder's lap, and said intruder's hand is curled over your knee. And Sidney's soup—homemade and hand-delivered—split in bowls between you.

"Thought you didn't need a babysitter?"

Sidney watches the gleeful expression wilt on your pretty face—color drained like his bank account succeeding the egregious bid he matched to make bail—with equal measures of self-satisfaction and self-contempt.

"I-I didn't, I just—"

"Settle down, Chief," the ranger laughs. "I knew our little lady here was feeling under the weather, so I thought I'd stop by after my patrol shift and keep her company while you were indisposed."

Sidney glares into the bright cerulean eyes of one Anthony Beauvillier, a park ranger in the Atlantic Coast Uplands region.

If memory serves, he was recently transferred from Waverley to Blue Mountain but resides in Peggy's Cove. This is a 50-minute detour.

In the opposite direction.

The Fire Chief's jaw is painfully tight, his blood scalding. If it were't for his, albeit dwindling, sense of self preservation, Sidney would've marched up those two steps—recently refurbished at his hand, might he add—to forcefully remove the park narc's grubby paw from your body.

Mercifully—for all involved parties, you do so shortly and of your own volition before joining Sid in your driveway.

Guilt smeared over your sickly features, your mouth parts, an explanation hot on your tongue, but all that comes is a grizzly cough that stings Sid's chest just hearing it. Despite his vexation, he's patient with you; he owes it to you both to wait it out. He hopes this is just one big misunderstanding somehow.

But, before you're able, the absolute last person Sidney wants to hear from pipes up.

"Resting, ma biche. You're meant to be resting," Tito attempts to coax you back onto the porch—back to his side—with an outstretched, up-turned hand.

(my doe / my darling — reminder: see end for important notes!)

Not as quick with his French as he'd like to be, he growls at the perceived insult. However, rather than running his fist through the opposition's teeth in your honor, Sidney defiles it.

The park ranger, and everyone else who happens to be out and about tonight, are treated to an unexpected eyeful of their Fire Chief's innermost feelings rushing to the surface. They pour into your mouth with reckless abandon, unconcerned with his public image or the utter lack of privacy; this kiss could be broadcast on the Nightly News for all he cares.

All that matters to Sidney Crosby is making his intentions known, and crystal fucking clear. Staking his claim is just a bonus.

"Well, it looks like my work here is done."

At your dazed expression and Sid's bewilderment, Tito stands from the rocking chair with a genuine smile fixed on his face. As he deposits evergreen Stetson atop his wind-swept hair, he pauses.

"Y'all have a nice night," he winks with a tip of the brim, bidding you farewell before slipping into his government-issued Ram.

As gravel crunches under the vehicle's wheels, gears click into place behind Sidney's burnt umber eyes, now gleaming with clarity.

"Nate and Emmy." — Statement, not a question.

"Please, don't be angry. They just wanted to help because... because I didn't believe that... y'know." You gesture to the sliver of space that still separates you, a bashful little smile pushing up your feverish cheeks.

He couldn't find it in himself to be ticked off about your best friends' not-so-harebrained scheme—which, honestly, deserved more credit than he would ever be willing to give it—if he wanted to. Not while standing so close he can smell the PEI tulips you've been elbow-deep in all month, and definitely not having tasted the whisper of herbal tea lingering on your tongue.

Smirking, he closes the gap with a gentle tug.

"Oh, I know." Voice dropping to a thick hush, his lips hovering a lick above your skin, "D'you believe it now?"

The pinkish skin crinkles around his warm eyes as you pretend to think.

"I could do with a little more... convincing," you ultimately quip. "But, only if you're up for the t—"

The remainder of your cajoling is overtaken by a fit of giggles as he corrals you up and across the porch. The front door slams shut with a satisfying air of finality. Though, not before little Ember slips in with you.

Chief Crosby was thorough by nature, and he'd be damned if he didn't dedicate the evening to dispelling any and all doubts threatening to take root. Feigned, or not.

—

gotcha! teehee 😋 sid really said sick germs?? no match for my LOVE!!! ALSO! tito anon, this ones for you bbyyyyy 💓💓💓💓

***** 'ma biche' was chosen because its typically humorous and rarely intended seriously, + can be considered majorly outdated (even by 60s sitcom standards)—and its not always romantic! ... it also sounds a lot like an english insult, hence sid's reaction lol (at least, according to my french-canadian grandmother who remains very confused by my random call for a french lesson on infrequently used terms of endearment lol) *****

as always, i would really appreciate if you reblogged my work, left a comment or dropped by my inbox w some feedback :) fandom runs on engagement, and so do writers!! thx a mil in advance!

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bordysbae · 1 year

Note

hi can you 55. “he won’t stop talking about you” with mat barzal?

“meeting the team”

mathew barzal x reader

ps: let’s imagine that tito is still on the isles in this!! also not proof read so sorry if there’s mistakes

moving to new york was easily the best decision you’ve ever made. within two weeks of living here you met your boyfriend mat, whom you’ve been dating for a little over a month, at small coffee shop around the corner from your apartment, which is on the opposite corner of his apartment. mat is a professional hockey player, which came as a shock to your parents when you first told them about him.

“mat, why have i never met your teammates yet?” you ask him, as you stretch out your legs across his, which are laying horizontally to you.

“oh, honestly i haven’t even really thought about that, the season only started a month ago. would you like to meet them?” he asks you, looking away from the tv to face towards you.

“of course i would! i’ve heard so much about all of them, especially tito. i’d love to meet him.”

“well, i can make that happen! i know you’ve only met two of the wives but i’ve heard they’re all dying to meet you. at practice tomorrow i’ll bring up having a team get together with the girlfriends and wives, how does that sound?” he smiles at you, making your heart swell.

“thank you mat, seriously. you’re the best,” you smile, sitting up and kissing his lips. you slide your legs off of mat’s, and rise off of the couch. you get yourself ready for bed, mat joining you in your bed shortly after.

“when you wake up i’ll be gone, but i think you already kind of new that” mat chuckles as you both get comfortable in the cold sheets. “yeah that’s what i expected, goodnight babe,” you yawn.

—

you’re at work when mat calls you, which is concerning since he knows your work hours. luckily you have your own large cubicle off to the farther end of the office, so answering your phone isn’t a major issue. “hello? everything okay?” you ask mat through the phone.

“hi babe, sorry for calling during work hours but we just got out of practice. i talked to the guys and i think we’re all going to dinner tonight, you down?” mat says. you hear in the background the sound of an elevator, meaning he’s back at his apartment.

“of course! i get off work in two-ish hours so i’ll go straight to my apartment and get ready.” you say, checking the time on the upper left corner of your phone. “sounds like a plan! i’ll pick you up at 7, love you babe!” he says before ending the call.

—

as you finish putting in your gold hoop earrings, you receive a text from mat letting you know he’s outside. you scurry out of your apartment, checking your lipstick in the mirror on the way out. once outside at ground level, you spot mathew’s silver bmw. as you open the door you get a whiff of his cologne, making you smile at the familiar scent you’re always craving.

“holy, y/n woah, you look amazing. trying to impress someone?” he jokes as he begins driving away from the building.

“oh stop it. i didn’t know if i was dressed to casual or not, am i?” you say gesturing to your black jeans, white turtle neck with a black leather jacket atop.

“no not at all, you’re dressed perfectly. i promise you have absolutely nothing to worry about, they’re gonna love you.” he takes his hand off of the wheel and interlaces his fingers with yours. you guys arrive at the restaurant not too long after, and get taken to a large table with majority of the team and their wives or girlfriends.

“hi guys! everyone meet my girlfriend y/n!” mat smiles, pulling out the chair for you to sit in. you chuckle at his manners, and greet those at the table around you. across from you and mat is who you’ve been introduced to as anthony.

“anthony it’s nice meet you, mat literally never stops talking about you. it’s always ‘tito did this’ or ‘me and tito are going golfing today’ blah blah blah, no offense but it gets a little annoying. it feels like you’re a third in our relationship!” you chuckle, making anthony laugh as well.

“oh i could say the same for you, he won’t stop talking about you. oh god you should’ve heard him before you guys were dating, he was so nervous to ask you out it was like talking to an insecure teenager,” anthony laughs, making mat roll his eyes.

“oh be quiet. y/n don’t listen to him, he’s dragging this out.” mat groans. “me be quiet? you’re the one who never stops talking about y/n!” anthony grins at his own comment, making both you and mat chuckle.

“look what you did y/n, you made my best friend expose my secrets!” mat exclaims. “but mat, i thought you said that anthony was ‘dragging out’ how much you talk about me?” you smirk.

“okay well, maybe he wasn’t lying,” mat blushes, scratching the back of his neck shyly.

“yeah, exactly my point,” anthony says, rolling his eyes jokingly. the rest of the night is tons of fun, getting to know the other wags, and even the other teammates. needless to say, you love mats teammates and will definitely be attending more ‘team bonding’ events.

#mathew barzal imagine #mathew barzal #mathew barzal fluff #mathew barzal x reader #mat barzal #mat barzal fluff #mat barzal imagine #hockey blurb #hockey imagine #anthony beauvillier #tito beauvillier

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fallinallincurls · 1 year

Text

OT Winners & Baby Kisses

a fic?? from me?? it’s been a little bit but this little blurb finally got finished and i couldn’t wait to share it! the whole idea was inspired by a gif set thanks to @tonyspep and it was the cutest thing to write! also yes, beau is an islander here so we’re ignoring the trade lol.

hope you enjoy!! feedback is always appreciated! xx

word count: 1.4k

~~~~~

It might be the prettiest goal of his career. Not that Anthony cares. All that matters is the Isles won the game against Toronto in overtime thanks to his top shelf beauty that found the back of the net. His teammates surrounded him in one big hug almost instantly and he got endless helmet taps from everyone for what he did.

But when the celebration is over on the ice and he’s heading back to the locker room for an interview with Shannon, his thoughts are focused on something not even closely related to hockey or the big win.

The love of his life and his little boy.

“Beau! Thanks so much for taking a couple minutes to chat.” Shannon greets him with that same warm smile she always has whenever she catches the boys for interviews. Anthony says it’s no problem and that he’s happy to do it, especially because the fans love these little videos too. “I won’t keep you long. I know there’s a few others who want to congratulate you on the big win.” She continues and Beau nods in agreement.

After going over the questions and trying to think of good responses, Anthony puts all his attention on Shannon and the short interview. The faster it gets done, the quicker he gets to see you and his son.

“I’m here with Anthony Beauvillier, who scored the gorgeous OT winner to give the Isles yet another victory. Beau, can you walk us through the play and how the goal came to be?”

Anthony answers, words leaving his lips in a coherent way and he can’t help but smile thinking back on the goal that doesn’t seem like it just happened. He lucked out in terms of getting great teammates and he loves every second of playing with these guys.

He’s so zeroed in on the camera and his statements about the game, that he almost completely misses the soft murmuring that distinguishingly belongs to a toddler. But he listens to Shannon and tries to tell himself it’s not who he thinks it is.

“We heard your family was here tonight, and if they were, how did that impact your game?”

At that very moment, when Anthony’s breath is stolen away just at the mention of the two most important people in my life, he hears an unmistakable “dada!” followed by toddling footsteps that are heading in his direction. When his blue eyes shift, he spots his sweet little boy running towards him with his arms wide open.

“Frankie!” Anthony immediately mirrors the excited tone of his son as he kneels down to scoop him up in his arms. The happiest giggle escapes past Frankie’s lips and it’s a moment Beau wants to remember forever. He knows that you can’t be far behind and sure enough, he spots you in no time.

Just behind the crew and others passing through the hallway, Beau finds you with a look of adoration and panic on your face. When his gaze meets yours, you mouth a simple “sorry!” even if you both know nothing would’ve stopped Frankie from getting to his father the second he recognized him.

“Sorry, Shannon. Looks like we have a special guest joining us.” Anthony chuckles, adjusting Frankie against his hip. The little boy waved enthusiastically at the woman before settling against his dad’s shoulder.

“Dada win game!” Frankie exclaims, placing a hand against Beau’s cheek while flashing the biggest grin possible. “Win!”

“That’s right, we did win. Good job!” Anthony replies before kissing the top of Frankie’s head and turning back to Shannon. With one silent look, he gave her the okay to ask his son a question which is something he knows will be too cute to pass up.

“Frankie, how cool was it to see your dad score tonight?”

“This much!” Frankie says, holding his hands as far apart as he can. “I yell for Dada when he got goal.”

“I heard you on the ice, buddy. You and Mama.”

The little boy giggles, the sound filling Anthony’s heart with so much love he swears it might burst, before he nuzzles his face into the crook of his dad’s neck. It’s the telltale sign that Frankie has gotten a little shy which only seems to make the moment even sweeter.

“Thanks so much for your time, Beau. Enjoy the rest of the night with your family. Back to you guys!” Shannon finishes the interview, giving him and Frankie a quick goodbye before the broadcast crew leaves.

Before he can even adjust Frankie’s little Islanders beanie so the one floppy piece of hair on his forehead gets tucked back underneath, you’re walking right up to them. The smile on your face can only be compared to the sun and Anthony swears he has never known a love like this.

“Hey, bub.” You say softly, pressing a sweet kiss to his lips that immediately makes Frankie giggle. “You killed it out there tonight. We’re so proud of you.” Anthony can’t stop the swelling in his chest at the compliment. He usually hates any kind of attention surrounding his play, but from you and Frankie, he would take it anyday.

“Thank you, mon amor.” Anthony murmurs, the French rolling off his tongue so smoothly. “What a surprise this one was! Surprising me in an interview.” He continues, bouncing Frankie on his hip for a moment and the little boy laughs before burying his face against Beau’s.

“I happy for goal!” Frankie exclaims with a laugh before squishing a big, dramatic kiss against his father’s cheek. A giggle slips past your lips at the sight. You’ve never known this kind of happiness before and you don’t ever want it to disappear.

“Well, I’m just as happy to see you.” Anthony says, booping Frankie’s nose to get an adorable smile in response, “And you.” He finishes and pulls you in for a soft kiss that’s full of love.

When the two reluctantly pull away, everything in the world feels just right then. Frankie is fisting Anthony’s blue jersey in his tiny hand as he snuggles into his dad and the adrenaline of the game is still rushing through each one of you although your son seems to be getting sleepy. If this is what the rest of your life will be, will feel like, because of Anthony and your little boy, there’s nothing else in the world you want.

“C’mon bubs, Daddy needs to get changed so we can go home and you’re getting tired.” You prompt, reaching over to transfer the toddler to your arms. But before Frankie can respond or Anthony can hand him over, you hear someone yelling as they turn the corner towards where you’re standing.

“Beau! Dude, where have you been?” Barzy calls out before he takes in the scene. “Hey, Y/N! And Frankie! What’s up, little guy?” Mat says with excitement, holding out a fist for Frankie to fist bump.

“Unca Maty!” Your son almost squeals and Anthony has no choice but to put him down so he can toddle over to his best friend on the team.

“I didn’t know you two would be here.” Mat continues with a smile as kneels down to Frankie’s level before picking him up. “Dad scored a goal just for you, Frankie, huh?”

“Yeah! You score too!” Frankie replies, beaming while gently patting Mat’s cheeks. You can’t help but laugh at the scene and you lean into Anthony for a moment, just watching the little boy who you both love so much interact with one of your closest friends.

“Wanna go say hi to the boys? They would be thrilled to see you.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Frankie cheers in response to Mat’s question and you only shake your head before Mat promises he’ll be back with him soon.

“I should go supervise. Make sure nothing crazy happens.” Anthony says quietly, hands finding your hips and his gaze never breaks away from you. It’s almost as if the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

“That would be a good idea. Plus the faster we get home, the faster Frankie goes down for bed and the faster we celebrate, yeah?” Anthony’s eyes go wide as you keep talking and your voice begins getting softer and softer. OT winner or not, you still would’ve wanted to celebrate him but you already had the perfect thing in mind.

“I’ll make sure Mat doesn’t hog him for too long.” Beau smirks, kissing you deeply before heading towards the locker room. And as you’re standing there shaking your head as he runs away with a dopey smile on his face, you know you couldn’t be any happier.

#anthony beauvillier #tito beauvillier #anthony beauvillier fics #anthony beauvillier imagine #anthony beauvillier x reader #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine #new york islanders #vancouver canucks #anthony beauvillier fluff

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doc-pickles · 6 months

Text

emergency contact | anthony beauvillier

summary: you’re sick and all tito wants is for you to take care of yourself

warnings: mentions of being sick, hospital, a few swears

a/n: this idea popped into my head and I knew it was the perfect thing to write tito into!

enjoy!

xoxo nina

Tito always warned you about taking care of yourself. You had a tendency to get lost in your work and skip meals or leave your water bottle at home and go the whole day without even thinking about taking a sip of water. But when you’d come down with a cold, Beau’s insistence that you take care of yourself grew tenfold.

“Did you take DayQuil?”

“Yes.”

“And ate breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“And you-“

“Anthony,” you cut him off as he stared at you from his place at the door. You never used his full name so he knew you were serious. “I’m fine. I will survive going to work for the day while you do tape review. Okay?”

Tito groaned before nodding and pressing a kiss to your hair, “I’m just worried about you baby. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

You nodded, leaning into Tito slightly before he left for the day. After he shut the door you heaved a sigh before gathering your work things and heading into the office for the day.

It’s only took 45 minutes of being at work before your migraine cropped back up. You pushed it aside as you worked on the document in front of you.

But the pain became worse, to the point where you could barely see your screen. You groaned and shut your laptop, deciding that you needed a snack and a break from your work.

As soon as you stood up your head began to swim, your fingers reaching for the edge of your desk to try and balance yourself. The attempt was futile as your knees buckled and your vision went black.

Tito was sitting across from Petey and Brock, the trio spread out across Brock’s living room reviewing film. Just as Elias paused the tape Tito’s phone rang.

“Lemme grab this real quick,” Anthony stood from the couch, Elias throwing a pillow at him.

“Bring back more beer!”

Tito laughed as he answered the call, walking into the kitchen, “Hello?”

“Hi Im calling from Vancouver General Hospital. Is this Anthony Beauvillier?”

“Yeah that’s me. Is uh- is everything okay?”

“I have Y/N Y/L/N in the ER and you’re listed as her emergency contact.”

Tito’s heart dropped as he set the beers in his hands down and went to slip his shoes on. Petey and Brock stared at him but he couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge them as he tried to locate his keys.

“Is she okay? What happened?” Tito tried to keep the panic out of his voice but it was hard when the woman across the line wasn’t telling him anything.

“I can’t release medical information on the phone,” the woman said in a dull monotone. “Would you be able to come down to our emergency department?”

Anthony finally located his keys and made his way toward the front door, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

As he hung up his phone Anthony finally looked to Brock and Petey who both looked concerned, “Y/N is in the ER. I gotta go.”

The boys barely got out a few reassuring words to Tito before he was out the door and driving to the hospital, worry lacing his body as he raced to where you were.

“She should be fine, she was extremely dehydrated when she was brought in so we started her on an IV. And I’m assuming the cough and cold have been going on for awhile?”

“About a week.”

“Sounds about right. She’s developed acute bronchitis but it’s very mild so we’ve already started her on a course of NSAID’s to help with the the inflammation. She’ll need plenty of rest the next few days.”

“Okay, thank you so much.”

Although you couldn’t tell who the other person talking was, you quickly determined it was a doctor talking to Tito.

Fuck…

That meant you were in the hospital, right after Tito tried to warn you about taking care of yourself. You heard the door shut and slowly peaked your eyes open, watching at Tito settled into the chair at your side and hung his head. His hands ran through his hair before he took a deep breath, eyes locked on the floor.

“Baby…,” you whispered, Tito’s head popping up at the sound. “Hi. I’m sorry.”

Before you could move a muscle Anthony hopped out of the chair, fingers running across your forehead as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head, “You scared the shit out of me.”

You sighed at Tito’s words, leaning closer to him, “I’m sorry. I thought I’d be okay at work. I should’ve listened to you.”

“Don’t apologize, I’m just glad you’re okay,” Tito leaned down to meet your eyes. “You are okay, right?”

“Yeah I got a migraine and went to stand up and…,” you sighed, squeezing your eyes shut to try and keep out the panic that clawed at your chest. “And then I woke up here. So I have no idea what happened.”

Anthony sensed your panic as he pulled you into a tight embrace, his hands skating over your back slowly in a comforting manner. Just his touch on your skin had your breathing slowing, body relaxed in his hold.

“The doctor will be back in an hour to make sure you’re okay then I’m taking you home and you’re not leaving bed for the next two days.”

“What if I have to pee?”

“I’ll carry you to the bathroom.”

“And when you have your game tomorrow night?”

Tito fixed you with a look that had you grinning instantly, knowing you were pushing his buttons, “You’re killing me here.”

“I know, but you love me right?”

“Yes baby,” Tito leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips. “I love you so much.”

#anthony beauvillier #tito beauvillier #anthony beauvillier fic #anthony beauvillier imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nina writes

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heavenlyhischier · 25 days

Text

he was your older brother’s best friend, of course you had a crush on him. you pined after him for years knowing that nothing would ever happen, but then it did. a one night stand left your heart shattered and your mind lost, but you forced yourself to move on from him. you told yourself he was a bad idea, that he was no better than the hockey players you’d been warned about. what happens when he’s traded to the very city you live in and your brother offers up your spare room as a place for him to stay? will sparks fly, or will the catch your heart on fire for the second time?

note: this is going to be an interactive au and a mini series in one so feel free to send me any ideas, thoughts, questions you have about anything!

i. part one: how it all began

#sparks fly master post #anthony beauvillier #tito beauvillier #anthony beauvillier imagine #anthony beauvillier x reader #tito beauvillier imagine #tito beauvillier x reader #nhl imagine #hockey imagine

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youunravelme · 7 months

Note

Hello! Congratulations!!! I love your writing so much!

Maybe laughing into the kiss with beauvillier?? I kinda imagine maybe dancing to a song you both like (idk what song) and being awful dancers and laughing and being in love and stuff.

Again, congratulations!!!

this is such a cute PROMPT! thank you for requesting it (and your kind words)! now when you read this, play your favorite love song, because i sure did when i wrote this lil piece.

you couldn't believe you were here. couldn't believe the two of you had survived as much as you did. the long distance, the trade, even more distance, arguments, all of it could've ended the relationship.

"what're you thinking about?" anthony asked. he was so close, you almost went cross eyed trying to look at him. his hand was in yours, his other arm around your waist while yours was around his neck.

"how we made it this far," you said. "white dress, a tux, a million eyes on us."

"don't worry about them," he said before he pressed a kiss to your forehead. "it's just me and you right now."

"i mean i know that, but we've gone through so much, if it was any other relationship, i don't think we would've made it."

anthony shook his head but smiled. "please. like i was gonna let you get away from me. not a chance in hell." the two of you swayed from side to side. "i can't remember if i told you this already, but you look beautiful."

"you tell me that every day, beauvillier."

"but not as my wife, mrs. beauvillier."

you laughed at the reality of your situation. you were married to the love of your life, dancing in a beautiful venue in front of all your closest friends and family.

"thinking about mat tripping down the aisle?" anthony asked.

and if you weren't already laughing, you were now. "oh my god, that was fucking hilarious."

neither of you had seen it happen, but turned around as you were walking down the aisle after finally getting married to see the tail end of mat nearly face planting after getting caught in a bridesmaid's dress.

anthony kissed you, though with all the smiling the two of you were doing, it was more teeth than anything. but for reasons that were pretty obvious, neither of you minded very much.

"i can't believe you're finally mine," he said quiet enough no one could hear but you.

"i've always been yours, baby. we just have the same last name now."

anthony twirled you around, but never let you get too far away before he was bringing you back. it was clumsy at best. somehow, the both of you stepped on the other's toes. but you were laughing and smiling anyway.

you couldn't believe you were here.

but you couldn't imagine being here with anyone else.

#anthony beauvillier imagine #anthony beauvillier #nhl blurb #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #tito beauvillier #tito beauvillier imagine #1k celebration

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domesticmail · 11 months

Text

nhl masterlist

i no longer write for the nhl, but i used to write a LOT for them, so i would like to keep all my writing accessible! enjoy <3

fics

the one where you become parents | 2.3k

Mat Barzal x Reader

Your eyes brimmed with tears, hands shaking. The test quivered between your fingers, the sole focus of your attention, the cause of the anger and disappointment writhing in knots in your stomach. Your expression turned bitter as you looked away, biting your lips to keep the tears back, refusing to acknowledge the single blue line glaring back at you.

someone to you | 2k

Mat Barzal x Reader

Watching you was like watching the sun set over a beautiful horizon. As the sky darkens, the city glitters with light, alive and awake and moving. You are the lights of the cars, gliding through darkness with the floating quality of clouds, not quite fully present in the moment but still so alive, so full of energy and brightness and feeling. You are the stars in the night sky, shining, each one a planet so far yet so close, he wants to reach to the sky and pull you down to him, keep you close and safe and happy and free.

am i worthy? | Brock Boeser x Reader

part 1 | part 2

You slide your hand down his bare chest, fingertips tapping a light beat on his skin, the rhythm unknown to him but subtly familiar. There’s a softness in the ghost of your hand trailing down that spreads goosebumps across his sternum and causes a quiet shuddering breath to escape his lips. His hand finds its way into your hair, burying his fingers into a fistful of the strands and resting there. His thumb caresses the crown of your head gently.

one of them girls

Brock Boeser x Reader

A fic loosely based on the song "One of Them Girls" by Lee Brice.

blurbs

yoga | pierre luc dubois

waking him up | pierre luc dubois

waking you up | pierre luc dubois

why he loves you | pierre luc dubois

dancing after dinner | pierre luc dubois

meeting your family | pierre luc dubois

feeling like you don't deserve him | pierre luc dubois

pet names | pierre luc dubois

pillow | mat barzal

street fighter | mat barzal

mornings | mat barzal

baby's first nhl game | mat barzal

breakfast | mat barzal

parenting | matthew tkachuk

domestic bliss | matthew tkachuk

backlash | tito beauvillier

#nhl imagines #nhl fics #nhl masterlist updated #zoes writing #mat barzal x reader #brock boeser x reader #pierre luc dubois x reader #matthew tkachuk x reader #tito beauvillier x reader

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idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 · 2 years

Text

Life As We Know It | Part 19

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Tagging: @thirteenisles @matbaerzal @mcmo-anon @texanstarslove @matbarzyy @hockeywocs @ggggmoneyyyy @tysonjost-taylorsversion @toplinetommy @fiveholegoal @itrocksmysocks @joelsfarabee @barzysreputation @iangiemae @stlbluesbrat @c-tangerine @canadianheaters @jeylia-haj @roopehintz @dreamsndior @beauvibaby @2manytabsopen @nazdaddy @sorryjustafangirl @fallinallincurls @pastelpapermoons @hockeybabe87 @kayt-marie @heatherawoowoo @islesnucks @whoeverineedtobe @ohpuckyeah @tpwkstiles @mf-mightyducks @day-dreamerr @ficsilove10 @notaccurateornice @rapidfever @hoodpankow @oopsiedoopsie23 @haylie-mcc @jostyriggslover96 @newlibrary @honestreputation @the-philthepill13 @justanotherfansblog @simpgirl-lat @great-puck-work @yzas-stuff @sidscrosbyy @teenagekook @svechnikolan @lovethepreds @strong134 @dylancozzys @gravyoverall @lena306 @caelum-the-part-time-acosmist @taiter-tots @canesjedi31 @kq9003 [let me know if you want to be added!]

Word Count: 9.5k

Warnings: None.

Comments: I’m so sorry this took longer than I wanted to get up! I’ve been so busy with school and work but I really hope you like this one!!! I can’t wait to explore more of Tess and Beau as a couple!!! xx

Anthony was the first to wake the next morning. For a split second he thought he had dreamt the night before, that when he opened his eyes his bed would be empty. The blackout curtains hadn’t been closed perfectly the night before so some sunlight snuck through, lighting his room in a soft glow and when he opened his eyes, he found Tess asleep next to him.

Her hair was thrown around her and slightly frizzy and her lips were slightly chapped from him kissing her chapstick off the night before, but she looked absolutely perfect to him.

He didn’t know how long he laid there looking her, watching the rise and fall of her chest and just taking in her every feature, but he couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the morning. Tess truly was the most beautiful woman in the world to him and he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she loved him back.

She loved him back.

Anthony brought his fingers to his lips where he could still feel her lips and it made him smile. He wanted to kiss her again, to talk and make things official, pull her to his chest and just soak in the feeling of her, but she was asleep. Out cold, really. And she deserved to sleep in. He’s wanted this for months, surely he could wait a little while longer. So, Anthony was careful as he peeled the blankets back and slipped out of bed. In the kitchen, he started brewing coffee before he went to check on Sorel. He was a little surprised she was still asleep when she was usually such an early riser, but he knew wake up times were supposed to stay as consistent as possible, so he gently woke her up, changed her, and brought her into the kitchen where he could make them all breakfast.

For Tess, it was easily the best sleep she had had in a long time. She crashed and slept right through the night with no tossing and turning like she had been. She woke up well rested, even if the lack of Anthony’s warm body against her was what pulled her from her slumber.

She kept her eyes closed at first as she moved back in search of him, but when she didn’t find him, she peaked her eyes open and rolled over to find the bed empty. Her heart dropped for a moment, wanting to spend the morning snuggling, but the more she woke up, the more she heard him in the kitchen with Ellie and it made her smile knowing he let her sleep in on his day off.

Slowly, Tess pulled herself from his bed and headed into the kitchen. Anthony smiled as he saw her and he put a cover over the bacon as he stepped toward her but Tess held her finger up. “Gotta pee first,” she told him before quickly slipping into the hall bathroom. While she was in the bathroom, she also brushed her teeth, fluffed her hair, and put deodorant on. “Sorry,” she said as she came out. “Just really had to pee.”

“You can use my ensuite, you know,” Anthony told her as he put the bacon onto a plate before cracking a few eggs into the pan.

Tess took her cup of coffee before sitting down next to Sorel. “That’s your bathroom,” she shrugged. If there was one thing she valued from having siblings, it was privacy and it was his apartment, so she would never invade his privacy like that.

“It’s just a bathroom, Tessa,” he told her. “If you’re in my room, just use the ensuite.”

In the whole year of living in his apartment, Tess had probably been in his ensuite only once or twice, so it felt really weird, but she took a sip of her coffee before nodding, “okay. Thanks.”

“Of course,” he smiled and tossed a couple pieces of bread into the toaster before finishing the eggs and plating everything. “Breakfast is served,” he said with a smile as he put plates down in front of Tess and Ellie before bringing his own over to the island.

“Thank you,” Tess smiled and if she hadn’t woken up in his bed, she would have wondered if the night before had really happened, or if she was dreaming.

“This was really good,” Tess told him toward her last bites.

“Thank you,” he laughed. “A basic breakfast is one of the few things I’d like to think I’ve mastered.”

His words made Tess laugh with him, “it was really good though.”

“Thank you,” he smiled and restrained his urge to kiss her. Sure they had kissed the night before and said those three little words, but that was then and he didn’t want to overstep.

Sorel took longer with her breakfast and Tess had to help her with the little bits of egg left, but once she was done, they started to clean up, and it was only once the breakfast dishes were in the dishwasher and Sorel was set down on her playmat that Anthony turned to Tess. “We should talk?” He didn’t mean for it to come out like a question, but it did.

“We should,” Tess agreed and took a deep breath. The playmat was well in view from the island so they both sat down there. Despite spending the night in each other’s arms, it was awkward and neither of them knew where to start. “So…” Tess whispered, hoping Anthony would take the lead like he did the night before.

“So, we kissed,” he said softly.

“We did,” Tess replied with a small smile and she surprised both of them when she leaned in to kiss him again. It was soft and quick, but Anthony melted into it.

“And I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” she smiled.

“So… We’re together then? Like a couple?” He asked with a hopeful smile.

Tess wished it was that simple because she wanted that more than anything, she had wanted it for years, but it was about more than them now. “I want nothing more,” she told him as she looked over at Sorel. “But we need to talk about what that means.”

Anthony followed her gaze and his smile softened as he watched Sorel play with her alphabet blocks, which had become her new favourite toy. He knew exactly what Tess meant and he nodded before looking back at her, “every word I said last night, I meant.”

Tess’s smile softened and she reached out to take his hand. “Anthony…” she started and the corner of her lip twitched up. “I’ve kinda been in love with you for years.” Her words made his stomach twist. Mat had told him the same thing but he never thought he was telling the truth. “I’ve loved you for years and I never thought you could love me back,” Tess continued, saying the words she tried to the night before.

“I—” He started and looked down at their hands before meeting her eyes again. “I’m not going to lie to you, Tessa. I didn’t—I didn’t realize I was in love with you until a few months ago; I still don’t even really know how long I’ve loved you because you feel like home to me, you always have. But I know now that I’m helplessly in love with you and I want to be with you. You’ve been—” He shook his head as he glanced over at Sorel before back to Tess. “You have been the best mom either of us could ever ask for and I don’t ever want to risk that, but I want you. I need you. We both do.”

“I want that, too,” Tess told him and squeezed his hand, doing her best to ignore how her heart twisted. She was right, she had loved him longer than he loved her, but she pushed past it. He loved her now and that was all that mattered. “But...”

“But?” Anthony whispered, his heart sinking.

“But what about Ellie?” She asked and looked over at her. “We’ve been raising her together. I don’t want us to not work and it cost her,” cost her me. Tess didn’t have to say it for Anthony to know.

Anthony squeezed her hand. “Hey,” he said softly. “I know we aren’t together yet, but I’m serious when I say I haven’t felt this way about anyone. But regardless of what happens between us, Ellie… I want you there for Ellie.” He meant every word. “I know Nikki is her mother biologically, but you’re her mom and I never want to interfere with that.”

His words pulled at her heart and she looked down at their hands as she took a breath and willed her throat to not be so tight. “So, if we don’t work out, we’ll still be friends?” She asked. She couldn’t handle losing Ellie or Anthony. Before Ellie, Tess’s biggest fear when it came to getting together with Anthony was that if it didn’t work out, she’d lose him and that was something she couldn’t handle.

“Of course,” he whispered and squeezes her hand again. “I love you, and I mean that in every sense of the word. I want us to be together, but if, for whatever reason, that doesn’t work out, I want us to still be best friends because I love you and I don’t want to imagine my life without you.”

“I don’t want to imagine my life without you either,” Tess whispered with a small smile.

Her words made him smile softly and he nodded. “So, I love you and you love me and we promise to be friends regardless, so…?”

Tess took a deep breath and let her smile widen a little more. “So, we’re doing this?” She asked with a hopeful smile.

“We’re doing this,” Anthony smiled back. “You’re my girlfriend.”

Tess blushed at his words and ducked her head, “and you’re my boyfriend.” Anthony gave her a bright smile and pulled her in for a kiss. Tess blushed but she melted into the kiss. “I have a few …stipulations, though,” she said when she broke the kiss.

“Stipulations?” Anthony asked and Tess’s blush darkened.

“I just… I want to take things slow,” she told him.

“Take it—Oh,” it was his turn to blush and he nodded.

“I don’t want to rush into anything and I just want us to feel things out.”

Anthony nodded, “I don’t want to rush anything either.”

Tess smiled and let out a relieved breath as she leaned into him. Anthony wrapped his arm around her and pulled as close at their two chairs would allow before Tess found her voice again. “I mean, like, physically,” she whispered, her skin burning. “I want us to be comfortable and not rush anything, regardless of how long that takes.”

“I know,” he whispered with a small laugh. “I want you, Tessa, not sex. So however long any of it takes, it’s okay.” Tess nodded but still pressed her face into his chest at his mention of sex, her heart racing at the thought of it. Anthony laughed a little harder as he held her and a moment later he added, “I also think we should keep us between us for a bit. You know, until we figure it out because I know for a fact Barzy and Connor will never leave us alone.”

“I completely agree,” Tess nodded and pulled back to look at him. “Connor has been pestering me for weeks.”

“Barzy has been pestering me for years,” he confessed. “Though he’s gotten completely out of control since I told him I’m in love with you. And then he told Connor and they really have no chill.”

“I know,” Tess sighed. “I think keeping us between us while we figure it out and get through any awkward phase is a great idea.”

“Okay,” Anthony nodded with a smile.

Tess opened and closed her mouth before she paused. “I also,” she started. “I mean, I’m sure it’ll change with time, but even after we tell our families and the guys, I don’t think I want to be like public public.”

The corner of Anthony’s lip twitched down as he furrowed his brow, “public public?”

“Like on your Instagram,” she explained. “I know how the fans reacted to Connor and what some of them had to say about me after that Halloween picture leaked and I—” she shook her head.

“I understand,” he nodded and squeezed her hand. “I won’t post anything unless you give me the okay to, I promise.” Of course he wanted to post about her and share his love for her, but he knew exactly where she was coming from and he more than respected her wanting to keep things publicly quiet.

It felt like a weight was lifted from Tess’s shoulders and she let out a deep breath. “Okay,” she nodded.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“Don’t try running your fingers through my hair or playing with it,” she told him without missing a beat making him laugh. “I’m serious! It’ll get frizzy so please don’t!”

“Okay,” he nodded and held his free hand up. “Note to self, don’t play with my girlfriend’s incredibly cute and sexy hair.”

“Stop,” she gave him a playful shove as she blushed. “I’ll turn into Monica in Barbados.”

Anthony tilted his head back as he laughed hard at the image. “Okay, okay, I’ll try my best to remember that.”

“Thank you,” she shook her head at him.

“Anything else?” He asked and Tess thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

“I’m sure I’ll think of something later, but no, nothing else pressing,” she replied with a smile. “Do you have anything?”

“Of course you’ll think of something,” he smiled and leaned in to press a quick peck to her lips. “That’s one of the many things I love about you. But no, I don’t think I have anything else. Take it slow, keep us between us, no posting pictures of my hot girlfriend, and no playing with her sexy hair.”

Tess shook her head but she couldn’t restrain her smile, “we can figure everything else out later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed. There was always a feeling it out part to every relationship and he knew this one would be no different, but he also knew that they’d figure it out because it was them.

Tess looked at him for a long moment, studying his features before she whispered,

“Je t’aime, Anthony. And I’m in this for the long haul.”

Anthony’s smile widened. “Je t’aime, aussi,” he replied in his strong French accent that gave Tess shivers. “And I’m in this for the long haul, too.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek before capturing her lips in another kiss. He was never going to get tired of kissing her.

The rest of the day was quiet, neither one of them wanting to pop the perfect bubble they found themselves in and risk waking up to find it was all a dream. But it wasn’t. It was real.

By the time dinner rolled around, they could have ordered in. Pizza and Chinese were two favourites they could have had, but Anthony wanted their first dinner together as a couple to be at least a little special. If they were just them, he would have taken her out to somewhere nice, an upscale Italian place maybe. He knew he could probably get Emma to watch Sorel, but that would mean telling her they were together and they weren’t ready to anyone, not yet.

So, he settled for chicken breasts, asparagus, and buns warmed in the oven with some butter. Of course, he insisted on cooking everything himself and he wouldn’t let her help.

“Can I at least kiss the chef?” She asked with a light blush. She wasn’t used to being this bold, but she really couldn’t get enough of him.

Anthony stopped pulling all the ingredients out as he smiled. “That, I’ll never say no to,” he replied and kissed her softly. Her lips were soft and tasted vaguely like strawberries, the chapstick he had seen her use the last few weeks. “Now go sit down and let me cook my beautiful girlfriend a nice dinner, okay?”

Tess scrunched her nose up before she nodded, “fine, fine, but if you need anything, I’m right here.”

“I know, babe,” he told her with a smile before shooing her out of the kitchen and Tess shook her head as she walked back to the living room to play with Sorel and her blocks.

She kept an eye on Anthony and it took everything in her to not ask to help again. He wanted to do this for her and as much as hockey players were only good at hockey, she let him have it. And… It wasn’t awful. Actually, it was really good. But maybe she was so happy and in love with him that anything would have tasted amazing.

“This is really good,” she told him with a smile.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” he laughed. “I’m actually a pretty decent cook.” His words made her laugh before her smile softened.

“You’re pretty decent at a lot of things, Anthony,” she told him.

“Is that what I am now?” He asked. “Anthony?”

Tess titled her head as she looked over at him, “that’s your name last time I checked.”

“No, I know, but for as long as I can remember I’ve been Beau to you, maybe Tito, especially when you’re drinking, but never really Anthony,” he replied.

Tess was quiet for a moment as she thought about it. “Would you prefer Beau or Tito?” She asked and he shook his head.

“No, I like it. It’s just… Different.”

Tess smiled as she reached out to cover his hand, “different can be good.”

“It is good,” he confirmed. “And I know this is far from the perfect first date, but I hope one day soon I can take you out for a proper first date.”

Tess squeezed his hand before she looked over to check on Sorel and her bites of shredded chicken and looked back at him. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” she told him honestly.

Anthony smiled as he nodded before he turned back to his dinner. “So, if I’m Anthony now, should I call you Tessa?” He asked softly, but Tess scrunched her nose up.

“That sounds so formal.”

“Sounds beautiful just like you,” he replied. “But I’m okay with Anthony and Tess with the occasional Beau and Tessa, if you are.”

Tess immediately smiled, “deal.” Anthony returned her smile as he nodded, and they kept smiling throughout dinner. Once they and Sorel were done, Tess did the dishes, even if Anthony protested.

Tess wanted nothing more than to stay wrapped up in the perfect bubble of them, but she had to hit pause to bath Sorel after dinner. But after Sorel was squeaky clean and ready for bed, Tess was free to be with Anthony.

“Is this real?” She asked as she curled up on his chest on the couch.

“Very,” he laughed softly as he wrapped his arm around her and Tess smiled as she snuggled closer. She didn’t know what the future held for either of them or how this was going to turn out, but neither did he. All that mattered was they were together. They could figure out the rest.

Anthony was glad that they got together over bye-week so they could have those first few days to themselves.

It was so nice to get to wake up in the same bed, spend the day together as a couple, exchange those kisses, and go to bed together. It was what they had both dreamed of for so long and now they finally got had it.

And it was crazy how while everything changed, nothing really changed at all. Sure, they were together and they kissed and snuggled and slept in the same bed wrapped in each other’s arms, but everything else was the same. They were still best friends who joked with each other and raised Ellie together. Neither of them could have predicted it would be so easy to transition from friends to more, but they couldn’t be happier. They were together and that was what they were meant to be.

Anthony had always been good at taking quick showers, the years of hockey made sure he mastered the most efficient shower. But, since getting with Tess, his showers got a little longer as he took his time, wanting to look and smell his best for her.

When Anthony stepped out of the shower, he grabbed his towel and dried his hair before wiping down his chest and wrapping the towel around his waist. The mirror was a little foggy, but not enough he couldn’t see himself. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to smooth it back before shaving. It was bye week so he didn’t have to, but he wanted to look his best for Tess and he wouldn’t subject her to kissing his stubble this early on. He had gotten enough comments from his exes to subject the woman he was head over heels in love with to it this early.

After shaving, he put in some aftershave before he stepped out into his bedroom to change. Anthony didn’t bother putting a shirt on, sticking to just boxers and some sweats before he made his way into the kitchen, and he had Tess’s full attention as soon as she laid eyes on him. She could hear Sorel’s blocks, but she watched as he walked into the kitchen with his grey sweats low on his hips, his hair damp and messy from the shower, and his skin flushed from the hot water. For the first time, she was allowed to look at him and she couldn’t pull her eyes away from him.

Even if she was supposed to be doing the dishes.

“You okay?” Anthony asked, snapping her out of her trance and she blushed knowing she was caught.

“Yeah, yeah, just dreaming, I guess,” she replied and quickly finished rinsing out Sorel’s bottles and put them in the dishwasher before drying her hands.

Anthony titled his head as he looked at her before he stepped closer and rested his hip against the counter. He watched as Tess’s eyes dipped from his to his chest making him square his shoulders as he smirked.

Tess couldn’t help herself, she just reached out and touch his chest right under the black ink of his tattoo. She knew he was in shape and she knew he was firm, but feeling how firm he was took her off guard and she blushed hard as she quickly pulled her hand back. Anthony watched her carefully, his eyes darting to her hand and his smirk grew.

“I’m so sorry,” Tess rushed out, struggling to meet his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Anthony laughed. “I’m your boyfriend. You’re allowed to touch me, Tessa.”

“Still,” she squeaked. “That was uncalled for.”

“I’m your boyfriend,” Anthony repeated. “You’re allowed to touch me. In fact…” he trailed off as he gently took her hand in his and brought it back up to his chest, letting her actually feel him. “I want you to touch me.”

Tess took a sharp breath in, her eyes widening as she looked up at him. His chest was so firm under her hand and she could feel his heart beating and his hand dwarfed hers and her own heart was racing and his skin was still warm from the hot water and she could feel his breath get swallower. Her lips parted as she slowly moved her hand up from his chest to his shoulder before Sorel knocked her blocks over, making both of them jump as they were pulled out of their bubble and Tess pulled her hand back with a dark blush.

A flush dusted Anthony’s skin too as he swallowed and Tess cleared her throat. “Uh, right then,” she said and met his eyes for half a moment before she walked to the living room to check on Sorel. She had to take a deep breath, but even as she flexed her hand, she could still feel Anthony and it didn’t help to rid her of those stupid butterflies he always seemed to give her.

Or the flush she felt from her cheeks to her toes.

She glanced back at Anthony once she sat down next to Sorel and he did his best to give her a reassuring smile, but he could still feel her hand on his chest and, fuck, did he like it. He had to take a deep breath too before he slipped back into the bedroom to put a shirt on.

They had been together for less than a handful of days and she wanted to take things slow and that was definitely not slow. His gut twisted with guilt but he shook it off and told himself it wouldn’t happen again.

He wanted to be the best boyfriend she ever had and as much as he really liked the way her hand felt against his chest and the look in her eyes when she ran her hand up to his shoulder, he wouldn’t cross that line until she was ready.

He didn’t say anything as he came back out of his room, but neither did Tess. Sorel yelled “dada!” in her adorably cute voice that immediately made him soften and he made his way into the living room and sat down next to her on her play mat, the moment before almost forgotten.

Almost.

And later that night when Tess was curled up on his chest, if her wandered over his chest a little more than it had in the previous nights… Well, he didn’t say anything.

They had agreed to keep things between them so he knew he couldn’t tell the guys why, but he headed into the first practice post All-Star Game in a very good mood.

A lot of the guys were happy to be back, the older guys were happy for the break they got with their families, and some of the younger guys were still a little hungover from the weeklong partying. But Anthony was clearly in the best mood, even better than Casey, which was damn near impossible, so everyone picked up on it.

“Sex?” Marty asked. “Finally get some post-baby?”

Anthony choked and Barzy replied for him before he could even open his mouth. “No, can’t be sex unless—Oh my God, did you and Tessa…?”

“What?! No!” He replied quickly, his voice going a little higher as he tried to control his blush. “I just finally got multiple nights of good sleep and I feel good and I’m ready to take on the second half of the season. Is that so wrong?”

“No, of course not,” Casey told him.

“You sure, though? You really do seem post-sex happy,” Marty tried again and Anthony gave him a leveled look.

“Why would I lie about not getting some?” He replied, which, fair.

“We really need to hook you up with someone. How long has it been?” Marty asked, looking over at him seriously.

“Since before Sorel was born,” Barzy again replied for him and Anthony shot him a glare. “But the only person he’s allowed to be with is Tessa.”

“Okay!” He said firmly. “Can we please talk about literally anything but my lack of sex life?”

“I don’t know, I think it’s kinda funny that you’re one of the guys girls thirst over the most who’s also single and you’re not getting any,” Wally pipped in, making Anthony glare at him before he balled up a piece of sock tape and threw it at him, which only made the room crack up more.

But, Anthony got the last laugh because Trotz wanted to run through everything and he even had a grin on his face as he bag skated them to help them find their legs after a week off and Anthony was more than able to handle everything thrown at him. His muscles ached in a good way by the end of practice, but he still had his legs and a smile on his face and Trotz gave him a pat of recognition on his way back to the locker room.

The first game was in two days but it couldn’t come fast enough for Anthony. Being with Tess… It filled him with a new kind of energy and drive and he couldn’t put into words how happy and excited he was and he was probably crazy, but he just had a really good feeling about the season. It felt different. Special.

But maybe that was just him.

Anthony woke up game day morning feeling like it would be a good day. Tess was still asleep next to him with her hair thrown around her like a messy halo and he did his best to slip out without waking her and made them both coffee and breakfast.

When it came to getting ready later that afternoon, he picked his striped suit because he knew it was one of Tess’s favourites and he took his time getting ready, wanting to look his best for Tess, but she still needed to fix his collar and tie.

Anthony watched her with careful eyes as she fixed his collar and straightened his tie before she smoothed her hands down his suit jacket. “Better?” He asked softly.

“Better,” Tess confirmed and stepped back to admire him. “I like this suit on you.”

“I know,” he smiled. Tess ducked her head at his words but it only made her smile widen and he wrapped his arms around her waist. “So, do I get a kiss for good luck?” Tess didn’t say anything, she just pushed herself up onto her tippy toes and kissed him softly. Anthony melted into the kiss and when she pulled back, he chased her lips for a second. “Extra luck never hurt anyone,” he whispered when he finally pulled back.

Tess shook her head with a small laugh and patted his chest when Sorel wrapped her little arms around Tess’s calf. She really had been walking more and more, which totally didn’t make parenting so much harder. “I think you better kiss your daughter good luck, too,” she told him with a laugh.

“I think you might be right,” he agreed and crouched down to pick Sorel up and kiss her cheek, but it only made her fussy as she reached for Tess. “Or not,” he laughed as he looked to Tess. Sorel always calmed down for her dad, so it was weird that she didn’t want him, but Tess took her from Anthony and Sorel happily tucked herself into her mom. “Okay then,” he shrugged it off with a light laugh before checking his watch. “I need to go but—”

“We’ll be there, don’t worry,” Tess cut him off.

“In the jacket?” He asked, lightly biting his lower lip. He really loved that jacket and now she was really his girlfriend and he wanted to see her in it.

“In the jacket,” she confirmed with a smile and Anthony returned it.

“Kiss goodbye then?” He asked and when Tess nodded, he leaned in to kiss her softly, but Sorel used her little hand to push at his cheek. “Did you just push daddy?” He asked, more surprised than anything else, and not that Sorel had anything to say to him beyond her favourite word, ‘mama.’

“Did she just?” Tess laughed. “Maybe she’s jealous?”

“Maybe,” he sighed and tried to kiss her cheek again. This time she didn’t pull away from him, so he called it a win. Even if it was weird. “Alright,” he sighed and stepped back to grab his phone, wallet, and keys. “I’ll see you later then.”

“You’ll be great,” Tess told him.

“Thank you,” Anthony smiled before he slipped out the front door and headed down to the garage, and Tess turned to Sorel.

“Why’d you push daddy?” She asked softly, but Sorel didn’t say anything, just gripping the front of Tess’s shirt, making her sigh. “Pushing daddy isn’t nice. Daddy loves you very much.”

“Mama,” Sorel replied softly, pulling at Tess’s heart just as much as the first time she said it, and Tess kissed her cheek before making their way toward the couch.

Tess waited until Sorel went down for her nap to shower, with the baby monitor on the bathroom vanity of course. Her shower took longer than normal since she shaved her legs, but she quickly checked on Sorel after showering and she was still fast asleep, so she continued with her post-shower routine. She used a hydrating coconut scented cream and took her time combing, diffusing, and styling her hair so it actually looked nice for once.

By the time she was done with her hair, Sorel was ready to get up, so Tess fixed both of them some early dinner before doing her make up. It wasn’t much, just an earthy eye with some eyeliner, mascara, blush, and nude lip, but she felt beautiful and she smiled as she looked in the mirror.

She dressed Sorel into some blue leggings, a sweater, her jean jacket, and an orange hair bow that made her smile before Tess changed into her best pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt that was a little lower cut than she’d usually wear. Paired with the pushup bra she chose, she took a moment to admire herself in the mirror. She looked damn good if she could say so.

Tess ran ger hand down her stomach to smooth her shirt down and she couldn’t restrain her smile as she got butterflies.

She sighed happily before she grabbed the jacket out of the back of her closer and put it on. Before the jacket felt like a weight on her shoulders, but how it left her feeling warm and fuzzy.

Tess made sure everything was all packed up in Sorel’s diaper bag before she and Sorel made their way down to Tess’s car to head to the game, and, for the first time, once they got to the arena and headed up to the suite, Tess didn’t feel out of place or like an imposter.

She felt like she belonged because she did. She wasn’t just Anthony’s best friend anymore, she was his girlfriend.

But, once she stepped into the suite, it took all of 30 seconds for Connor to figure it out. She knew the moment Tess stepped into the suite with unmessy hair and perfect make up while wearing the jacket.

Connor had to fight tooth and nail to get Tess to put that jacket on when she first gave it to her and now Tess was just wearing it? With her hair and make up that perfect? When was Tess’s hair ever perfect?

Connor studied her carefully as Tess settled in the suite and when Tess caught her gaze and tucked her hair behind her ear while she ducked, Connor knew.

“Oh my God!” Connor basically shouted as she made her way over to Tess. “You fucked Anthony, didn’t you?!”

“Shhh!” Tess shouted back, her eyes wide as a dark blush settled on her cheeks.

“Oh my God! You did!” Connor said just as loud, her smile widening.

“Connor!” Tess hissed and tried her best to cover Connor’s mouth. “I did not have sex with Anthony.”

“But you—” Connor tried. Tess never called him Anthony. It was alwaysBeau.

Tess glanced over her shoulder to see if any of the girls overheard their exchange or were paying attention to them, but thankfully none of them were. “You can’t tell anyone,” Tess said when she turned back to Connor and Connor’s smile grew as she nodded quickly. Tess blushed again as she tucked her hair back and bit her lip to suppress her smile, “we did not have …sex. But we are kinda together now.”

“Oh my God!” Connor basically screeched, something Tess didn’t even know she was capable of, and pulled Tess into the tightest hug she could with the arm rest between them and Sorel on her knee. “Fucking finally!”

They had decided to keep the relationship between themselves while they navigated going from friends to more, but Tess had wanted this for so long and she was so happy and in love that she was happy Connor figured it out because she wanted to talk to Connor about it.

“Just don’t tell anyone, okay?” Tess said when she pulled back from the hug. “Even Mat.”

“It’s a secret?” Connor asked, furrowing her brow.

Tess titled her head, “not a secret, but we… I mean, we’ve been friends for years and are co-parenting Ellie. We just want to keep it between us while we figure it out, you know?”

Connor nodded. “That makes sense. But oh my God!” She whisper shouted. “Finally!”

“Shh!” Tess shushed her again, quickly glancing back over her shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry,” Connor said quickly, holding her hands up before reaching over to touch her thigh. “Tell me everything.”

Tess smiled as she nodded and she took a deep breath before starting, “well, after the All-Star Game we watched FRIENDS like we always do, right? I got up to grab a drink and he followed me and when I turned around, I ran into his chest and he just kissed me. He said he didn’t want to pretend anymore. We, uh, snuggled all night, I woke up in his arms, and we talked about everything in the morning.”

“That’s disgustingly cute,” Connor deadpanned. “Is he a good kisser? I mean, it’s been a minute, but those lips…”

Tess’s blush darkened but she nodded, “yeah… Yeah he is.”

Connor’s smile grew and she gave Tess’s thigh a squeeze, “God, you have no idea how happy I am for you! You two are meant to be.”

“Thank you,” Tess replied, her smile softening. “I’m really happy. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s real, that he’s mine.”

“I mean, he’s had heart eyes for you for as long as I’ve known him,” Connor told her with a smile and Tess blush a little. When Tess didn’t say anything else, she continued, “as much as I want to, I’m going to save the ‘I told you so’s because I’m literally so happy right now, but how does it feel to be, like, Mrs Beauvillier?”

“I’m not Mrs Beauvillier,” Tess replied quickly, shooting Connor a glare as she blushed again. “But it feels really good to be his. Like I said, I’m really happy.”

Connor scrunched her nose up as she smiled and leaned in to rest her head on her shoulder. “We so have to double date now,” she told Tess.

Tess laughed and rested her head against Connor’s, “you know that’s an awful idea, right? Anthony and Mat are trouble when they’re together. They’d spend the whole time bickering like an old married couple.”

“But it’ll be fun,” Connor told her.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Tess agreed. “We’ll go on a double date eventually.”

“Yay!” Connor said and did a not so small arm pump of victory. Tess laughed, but she didn’t say anything else and the pre-game started not too long after.

To no surprise, Casey, Marty, and Clutter started the game, but from the moment he hit the ice on his first shift, Anthony had a jump to his step and an edge to his game. He skated harder than every other player, won every puck battle, wasn’t afraid to lay the body whenever he could, and he had four shots on goal by the end of the first period. Maybe the Islanders and Rangers were tied 0-0 by first intermission, but it wasn’t for Antony’s lack of trying.

Tess was on the edge of her seat or on her feet practically the whole game. She always loved watching him play and the strength and grace he moved with on the ice and the happiness that flowed off him with every game. She loved how free and authentic Anthony was every time he was on the ice. For years she felt like an imposter as she watched him play from the suite, often alongside his girlfriend of the time, but now she was the girlfriend.

His girlfriend.

Tess felt a new kind of freedom and authentic watching him play. And Anthony… He played with so much pride and happiness and love. He played for his family.

It was leaps and bounds his best game of the season. Even if he didn’t score it would have been his best game, but the puck kept finding him and with the number of shots and good looks he was getting, he was bound to put one in the back of the net.

Tess just didn’t think he’d put three in the back of the net.

She’s been pumped from his games before, including every playoff game the Islanders won over the last couple of years, but this was different and she couldn’t describe the high she was riding as the girls made their way down to the room.

Like always, Sorel was in Tess’s arms and Tess missed the knowing look in Sydney’s eyes as she looked between Tess and the locker room door before she asked to see Ellie. “What? Oh, yeah, yeah, of course,” Tess nodded and handed Sorel to her, even if she felt a little exposed without her in her arms.

Sydney smile as she said hello to Sorel before she looked up at Tess. “I don’t think I’ve had the chance to tell you how good you look in that jacket,” she winked.

Tess blushed but she couldn’t find her voice before the guys started coming out of the room. Usually Anthony and Mat liked to take their time after games so they’d be some of the last ones out of the locker room, but not this game. Anthony couldn’t get out of the locker room fast enough, he needed to see Tess so badly.

His hair was damp and he had stuffed his tie into his pocket and he hadn’t bother doing up all the buttons on his shirt before heading out of the room after Marty. As soon as he saw Tess, his beautiful Tess, his smile widened and he just couldn’t stop himself he was so in love with her. As soon as he could, he cupped Tess’s cheeks and crashed his lips to hers, not caring that the team was watching.

The hollering of the team sounded far away to Anthony as he deepened the kiss before letting her pull back a moment later and he rested his forehead against hers as he smiled. Sure getting a hatty felt good, but kissing her felt so much better.

“What the actual fuck?!” Mat yelled, his eyes wide at the sight. He had to be dreaming. There’s no way Anthony, love sick Anthony, just kissed Tess like that in front of everyone unless they were— “You—” He continued to shout as he turned to Connor but she shushed him and quickly covered his mouth.

“Shh, let them enjoy the moment,” Connor told him, her eyes sparkling and a bright smile on her face as she watched Tess and Anthony.

It had Mat’s wide eyes moving between Anthony and Tess to Connor and back again and he pushed her hand away from his mouth. “You knew?!” He whispered shouted, betrayed she didn’t tell him.

Connor shrugged, “I just figured it out. Tess was glowing and wearing the jacket willingly and she called him Anthony. It wasn’t hard to put it together.”

“And you didn’t tell me?!”

“Mathew!” She hissed and tried to cover his mouth again as she focused on the happy couple.

Tess blushed and pressed her face into Anthony’s chest and she could feel his chuckle which only made her blush darken before he kissed the top of her head and guided her over to Mat so he’d stop shouting and hopefully not disturb any of the sleepy or sleeping children.

“When the fuck did this happen and why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Mat asked giving Anthony a hard look.

Anthony breathed a light laugh before he winced, “night of the All-Star Game.”

“Seriously?!” Mat’s face dropped before he shook his head. “I’m seriously never going to another All-Star Game again. Sunrise and I come back to you having a literally baby, and now I go to Vegas and you get married… I thought I was the one that was supposed to be getting married in Vegas.”’

“We didn’t get married,” Anthony replied quickly but a blush still creeped up his neck.

“Well at this rate you will be by next year!” He cried and a few of the other guys laughed, but Connor did her best to calm him down. “I seriously can’t believe you two finally got your headed out of your asses.”

Tess missed the way Anthony looked at her. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I can’t really believe it either.”

Connor’s smile softened as she looked at them. Back in October when she first met Tess, she knew that there was something between her and Anthony and she was so glad they finally got to experience the happy Mat made her. They deserved it.

Mat calmed down a little as he took in the way Anthony looked at Tess, the same lovesick puppy way he had for months, and it made him smile. “Okay, bring it in,” Mat said and he clapped Anthony on the shoulder.

“What?” Anthony laughed.

“You have been literally insufferable being hung up on Tessa,” Mat said before looking over to Tess. “You have no idea how many times I tried to knock some sense into him. But now you’re finally together like fuck, so yeah, bring it in.”

Tess shook her head but couldn’t hide her smile and she met Anthony’s gaze with a smile before nodding and letting Mat pull them into a tight embrace. They were all quiet for a moment before they pulled back from the hug and the rest of the guys congratulated them and told them how happy they were for them. Anthony and Tess… Everyone on the team could see they were a long time coming, but they were finally able to figure it out for themselves.

“We, uh, we should get going? Get Ellie home and all,” Anthony said after things started to calm down and Tess nodded. “And no,” he added quickly before looking over at Mat. “Nothing will be happening, so don’t try.” Tess’s blush darkened as she pressed herself closer to Anthony.

Mat held his hand up in surrender but he still couldn’t believe they were actually together. “You never know,” he said with a smirk. “You did have a wicked game and were named first star…”

When Tess tensed, Connor elbowed Mat in the ribs. “That’s enough,” she told him. Maybe she hadn’t known Tess all that long, but she was still the bestest friend she had ever had outside of Mat and she knew that …intimacy could make Tess uncomfortable. “Of course,” Connor smiled. “We hope you have a good night, and we really are so happy that you’re together, even if Mathew has a funny way of showing it.”

“Funny way of showing it? You’re the one who keeps saying they just need to fu—” Mat started and Connor cut him off with another elbow.

Tess winced and couldn’t look up at Anthony, so Connor said, “well, uh, good game, Beau, and good night then.”

“Thank you. You too,” Anthony nodded and pulled Tess a little closer to him before he guided her over to Sydney to take Sorel and Tess grabbed the diaper bag before they started making their way to the garage.

Anthony held Sorel on his hip and he wrapped his other arm around Tess’s waist before he whispered, “I know we said just between us, and I… I kinda blew it. I just—I saw you and I couldn’t stop myself.”

“It’s okay,” Tess looked up at him. “Connor kinda figured it out as soon as I stepped into the suite and she wouldn’t have told Barzy anyway. Syd figured it out too. And I liked it.”

The corner of Anthony’s lip twitched up, “you did, eh?”

“I did,” she nodded. “I like being your girlfriend.”

Her words made his heart flutter and he paused in his step to look at her. She opened her mouth to ask ‘what,’ but he kissed her before she could get the word out. “And I like being your boyfriend,” he told her. “Love it actually.”

Tess softened and whispered, “I love you, too,” before kissing him again. “Now let’s get home. Ellie is going to throw a fit if she doesn’t go to bed like now.”

Anthony laughed and kissed her again quickly before nodding, “you’re right. Let’s go home.”

Tess drove her and Sorel home in her car while Anthony drove himself home and Tess only hated it a lot. She hated being away from him.

Tess got home before Anthony, so she headed up with Sorel and started getting her ready for bed. Anthony got home not long after and he was happy to take over and put Sorel down for the night. Game nights were always long nights so Sorel was all but out the moment she was put in her crib.

Anthony took a moment to just stand there and watch her and for a split second he could have sworn he saw Tess in her before his heart twisted and he shook his head and slipped out of the room. He closed the door behind him and the corner of his lip twitched up when he saw Tess.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the chance to tell you how amazing you look tonight,” he said as he stepped over to her and gripped her hips.

Tess blushed but leaned into him, “I don’t think you have either.”

“Well, you look amazing,” he told her and let his eyes run down her body. “And your hair…” he reached out to touch the end of a curl but restrained himself from actually giving it a tug. “I love your hair so much.”

Tess laughed and knocked his hand back, “it took a long time to get it like this so don’t mess it up.”

“Sorry,” he smiled and Tess hummed before she reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

“I like your hair, too, especially after you wash it and it’s soft and fluffy and a little wavy.”

“I will try to remember that,” he said like he could ever forget anything she said.

“Good,” she smiled and leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth but he quickly captured her lips in a proper kiss. “I am going to change though,” she told him when she pulled back. “I’m a little over these jeans.”

Anthony laughed but nodded and let her step back from him, his eyes dropping to her ass as she walked back to her room, but no one had to know. He bit his lip as he watched her and once she closed the door behind her, he headed to his room to change too. He changed out of his suit into a t-shirt and some sweats, and Tess was curled up on the couch by the time he was done, so he smiled as he sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“You did have a really good game,” Tess told him as she leaned into him.

“Thanks,” he laughed before he kissed the top of her head. “I had my lucky charm watching me.”

“You say that like we’re not at every home game,” she laughed and wrapped her arm around his middle.

She could feel the way he laughed. “It’s different,” he told her. “We’re different now.”

“Are we?” She laughed. “I didn’t realize.”

“No?” He teased before kissing her. “What about now?”

Tess softened as she looked at him and she wondered what she had done to be this lucky. “I love you,” she whispered after a moment.

“I love you, too,” he replied and kissed her again. “But I guess the cat is kinda out of the bag.”

“Yeah,” Tess laughed. “Guess it is. We’ll have to tell our parents before they find out from someone else. That would be… Bad.”

He knew she was right, but the thought of telling his mother… He wasn’t looking forward to the ‘I told yous.’ “She tried to get us together in the summer,” he told Tess with a wince.

“Everyone tried to get us together and we were too stubborn, huh?” Tess said after a moment and Anthony shook his head.

“Something like that,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t matter because we’re together now and that’s all that matters.”

Tess was quiet for a moment before she nodded, “yeah, that’s what matters.”

They were both quiet for a few moment as they stayed wrapped up in each other’s arms before Anthony yawned. “I know it’s not overly late, but that game kinda took it out of me, so I think it’s time for bed.”

“Right, yeah, of course,” Tess nodded and pulled back. She wasn’t really tired, but she could go to bed, even if she kinda hated the idea of going to bed alone now that she got to go to bed with him. She felt cold without him against her, but she ignored it as she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“Good night,” she said when she came out of the bathroom and started toward her room.

“Where are you going?” Anthony asked immediately.

“To bed?” She replied confused.

“But my room is over there,” he said as he gestured in the other direction.

“Really?” She laughed and Anthony nodded.

“I’m serious. You can’t just abandon me.”

“I’m not abandoning you, Anthony. I’m not even leaving the apartment,” she shook her head but he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her from behind and hooked his chin over her shoulder.

“But I don’t want to be away from you. And plus, we’re back out on the road in a few days and that’s gonna suck, so you can’t leave me now. Especially after the super incredible game I had,” he all but whined.

Tess melted back against him as she smiled. She couldn’t say no to him. Especially when she adored being in his arms. “Okay,” she sighed. “Let’s go to bed then.”

Anthony smiled and kissed her cheek before turning her in his arms to kiss her properly. “Let’s go to bed,” he echoed when he pulled back. He kept his arm around her as he guided them to his room and he pulled his shirt off as Tess settled into bed before he did the same. The smile Tess gave him made his stomach flip and he returned it before moving closer and pulling the covers over them.

“Je t’aime,” he whispered and Tess’s smile grew.

“I love you, too, Anthony.”

He was never going to get tired of hearing her say those words and he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her again. The kiss was soft and Anthony smiled into it before he pulled back, keeping his eyes closed for a moment to soak it in and when he opened them, Tess was already looking back at him. Anthony’s gaze softened as Tess gently cupped his cheek and he knew he was the luckiest guy in the world.

“Goodnight, Anthony,” Tess whispered before she reached over and turned the bedside light off before getting comfortable on her side. Anthony wrapped his arm around her middle and pressed his chest against her back as he snuggled closer.

Tess’s tanktop had ridden up, exposing her stomach and Anthony’s brain short circuited the exposed skin under his touch but he didn’t pull away and neither did she. His touch gave her butterflies and she smiled into her pillow and covered his hand with hers.

Yeah, she could get used to this.

#anthony beauvillier #anthony beauvillier story #anthony beauvillier x oc #anthony beauvillier imagine #baby bear story #islanders imagine #ny islanders #new york islanders #mat barzal #tito beauvillier #tito beauvillier x oc #tito beauvillier imagine #tito beauvillier story #hockey #hockey rpf #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #nhl

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starshine-hockey-girl · 6 months

Text

The Invisible String

Summary - Rocky is from Texas, looking to make it big as a tattoo artist in NY. What happens when Rocky meets NY Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier and two people so unalike discover that they have more in common than they think. Will their invisible string lead to love or friendship?

This is my very late entry to the summer fic exchange. Yes, I am aware that it is the middle of October. The "No results and a story" excuse is that I got a huge case of writer's block followed by an ass-whooping of self doubt. However, I powered through it, and then the story just grew into this massively long piece. (17.2K- yikes)

This is written for @jarmorie who requested a reader insert or OC (she/her preferred). fluff, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers pls I would die with Anthony Beauvillier. Jarmorie is also a big Taylor Swift fan so I tried to incorporate as much Swift content as I could.

Acknowledgements and thank yous-

@laurenairay, I can't thank you enough for pinch hitting for me when I missed the deadline. I am incredibly thankful for your endless encouragement. I hope you enjoy your brief, but pivotal cameo

@cellythefloshie - Thank you for the encouragement and embracing my verbose nature.

@dreamofstarlight and @fallinallincurls for sharing their Swiftie knowledge. I hope that I do that I did Queen Taylor justice.

@wyattjohnston - one for organizing these fic exchanges. It's a tiring and thankless task. Thank you for understanding my struggle and not shaming me.

@jarmorie I am sorry that the story was so delayed. I really wanted to write something that give you everything that you wanted.

@pattiemac1 and @penstxgal1968 for being the best support system ever. Seriously, they both deserve writing credit for all of their ideas.

Gorgeous

Inked On Ice Tattoo Shop - Long Island, NY

“Inked on Ice, how may I help you?” Daisy yawned as the shop’s computer fired up and she settled into her chair.

“Uh yeah,” the deep voice on the line answered, “My buddy and I want to get some ink today. Do you have anyone available?” Daisy glanced at the artist's calendars.

“Well, it’s going to depend on size, subject and budget. What do you have in mind?” she answered quickly. After a brief discussion, Daisy honed in on available artists. “Do you want to do back to back appointments or get inked at the same time?” she asked.

She could hear a discussion on the other end. The bland voice in a spirited discussion with another voice with a slight French accent. “Barzy,” the second said with authority, “I do not need you to hold my hand while I get a tattoo. We can get inked at the same time.”

Daisy’s ears perked up at the name Barzy. “Can I get your names?” she asked as casually as possible as New York Islanders Mat Barzal gave his name along with Anthony Beauvillier. The tattoo shop was owned by Cameron Davies, a former New York Islander. Daisy knew that Cameron would want the pair treated with kid gloves. She examined the schedule again and made an executive decision. She would schedule the more complicated tattoo, Anthony, with JD Porter, master tattoo artist, who just had a last minute cancellation. She would schedule the simpler design, Mat Barzal, with Rocky, JD’s apprentice. .

“So Tito is with JD and I am with Rocky? Sounds good,” the NHL upstart stated as they confirmed details, “See you at 6 PM.”

In the cozy one bedroom apartment, Rocky picked up the phone and quickly read the text from Daisy. “Yes….” Rocky whispered to no one in particular. As a tattoo apprentice, paying customers were difficult to come by. The last minute addition would give her just enough to pay her share of the rent. Given that most of her time at the shop was unpaid, Rocky’s contribution to the rent was more symbolic than practical. Kelly made enough to cover their expenses and then some, but Rocky insisted on contributing, even if it was essentially meaningless.

“Rocky!” Kelly screamed, “Are you even listening to me? We need to leave in fifteen minutes if we are going to be on time.”

“Of course, I’m listening.” Rocky replied, “Listen- don’t be mad, but I can’t go with you. I gotta to work tonight. I scored a last minute tattoo.”

“An actual tattoo?” Kelly mocked, “or will it be another night of cleaning and wiping up after the professionals?”

“Ouch,” Rocky replied, “You know that is part of apprenticeship. I have to pay my dues.”

Rocky’s tattoo apprenticeship was a source of contention in their relationship. The couple had moved to Long Island from Dallas as a stepping stone in Kelly’s financial services career. Together since high school, Kelly disapproved of Rocky’s fascination with all things tattoo. The financial analyst with the fast-rising career wanted a partner that would fit into the corporate world. Rocky decidedly did not fit that mold even if Kelly couldn't admit it. The apprenticeship highlighted their vastly different career paths and their relationship bore small fissures as a result.

“Listen,” Rocky pleaded in an attempt to head off another fight about the apprenticeship. Kelly was convinced it was going nowhere. “It’s an actual tattoo so I will get paid,” Rocky explained, “Also apparently these two guys are some sort of VIPs. The fact that Daisy and Cameron are giving one of them to me to ink is a good sign. I can’t turn it down.”

Kelly stood in disbelief and tried to summon anger at Rocky and none came. Honestly, it was a relief to put off introducing Rocky to conservative co-workers a little longer. “Fine,” Kelly said bitterly, “I’ll see you when you get home.”

Two hours later at the shop, Rocky waited patiently to the side as JD inspected the set-up of her station tucked away in the smallest room in the shop. As a mentor, JD held Rocky to a high standard. An Apprenticeship endorsed by him would carry weight within the tattoo community and JD wanted Rocky to be prepared. He gave a nod and Rocky let out a sigh of relief. Together they walked out to the lobby.

Cameron stood talking to the two athletes about his glory days with the Islanders. Rocky could tell right away that both had passed from polite attention to “oh my god, get us out here” by the tone of their voices. After the third “that’s crazy,’ uttered by Barzal, Cameron noticed JD and Rocky standing there. When he waved them over, Barzal and Beauvillier turned to look over their shoulders. Barzal blinked and gulped while Beauvillier offered a shy smile before looking down at the floor.

Rocky approached Barzal and extended her hand to him, “Hi, I’m Rocky. I think that you are with me tonight.”

“You’re…..You’re….. “ Barzal stammered, “a woman.” Rocky took a step back and dropped her hand in disappointment. JD and Rocky exchanged a glance before Rocky let out a sigh. Usually any pushback she received came from men much older than Barzal so she was honestly a little shocked. Mat looked stunned. “Wait, I am getting tattooed by a woman?” he asked out loud.

“Is there a problem?” JD asked as he looked Barzal in the eye.

“Look, I don’t want to sound sexist here, but…..” he started to say, “I just was expecting a man. I am pretty sure the girl who made the appointment said "man.”

“I did not,” Daisy interjected, “I know for a fact I said no such thing.” When Rocky began as the first female tattoo artist in the shop’s history, Cameron and crew did not anticipate the push-back from their largely male clientele. Most guys came in because of the hockey/Islanders connection and well, their views on gender roles were not exactly progressive. The shop had adopted the policy of referring to all of the artists as gender-neutral as possible. Daisy, Cameron’s wife and partner, was especially intentional about it. Other than a few clients shocked to be facing a petite, brunette pixie of an artist, there had been no issues.

Rocky looked to Cameron and back to Barzal. She knew that Cameron would want to keep Barzal as a client but also did not want to face the wrath of Daisy for caving in. She was about to speak when Tito Beauvillier spoke up. “She can do my tattoo,” he spoke softly at first to everyone’s surprise. Rocky turned to face the blonde and studied his face. He gave a gentle smile and spoke louder, “Yeah, I think I want her to do my tattoo.”

“I have to let you know that she is still in her apprenticeship. Just so that you are aware, she may not be able to give you the tattoo that you want,” JD explained. A pained look flashed in Rocky’s eyes and Tito took notice. Rocky hated the implication that just because she was still in an apprenticeship that she was less talented. She sucked in a deep breath that she hoped went unnoticed. She was mostly successful with the exception of Tito. He recognized the frustration of being underestimated.

Then JD turned to Barzy, “It also means that you are going to pay more for my time. It’s up to you.”

Barzal began to hem and haw. His mouth had gotten the better of him and he had stuck his foot so far into it that he didn’t think it would be possible to retrieve. Even if he changed his mind and selected Rocky, the damage was done. Finally Tito spoke again firmly, “No way Barzy. You had your shot at her and you blew it. I want her now.” His eyes fell onto Rocky’s face and he gave a slight nod.

Rocky laughed out loud, “Well then, let’s get to work.”

The tiny brunette led Tito to her small section of the studio. She pointed to the table and chairs in the corner. He sat down as she picked up a notebook to take notes. “I have a few questions,” Rocky began as the scent of his cologne wafted into her nostrils. She inhaled and let out a small moan before she realized it. Tito cleared his throat and Rocky blushed in response. “The notes say that this is your first tattoo. Is that correct?” she asked in earnest, “What made you decide to do it today?”

Tito blinked slowly and thought. He hadn’t anticipated the question and was stumped for an answer. Finally he spoke, “I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but never got around to it. When Barzy said he was coming, I decided that I would go ahead and do it.” Rocky nodded her head as she listened.

“So do you have a design or an idea in mind?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I found this on the internet and thought it would be cool,” he answered as he fished his phone out of his pocket. Rocky waited patiently as he scrolled this phone. Finally he found the picture and held his phone out to her. She took the phone and looked at the picture.

Rocky blinked slowly and zoomed in on the picture. Internally, her mind raced with thought “No fucking way”, but her reasoning kicked in. Technically, it would be a challenge which pleased her, but something just didn’t sit well with her.

She looked up to see him looking at her with hopeful eyes. “Do you like it?” he asked. Rocky flashed a smile similar to a mother gave a child when presented with a treasured piece of artwork.

“You don’t like it?” he questioned.

“I didn’t say that,” she replied quickly.

“You didn’t say it out loud, but it’s what you were thinking,” he countered.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” she responded, “You are a paying client. If you want that design, then that’s what we will do.” Rocky bit her lip and paused before speaking again, “Let me talk to JD and get his thoughts. I want to be sure about some of the technical aspects.” She was trying to buy time to think of ways to politely talk Tito out of his design idea. Rocky walked over to JD’s station just as he was placing the stencil on Barzal’s arm.

“Hey, before you get started,” Rocky started, “Can we go over his design?” They walked away and began an animated conversation.

Tito looked down the hall at Rocky and watched intently. Her hands gestured wildly as she spoke with passion. He couldn’t make out the words, but whatever she said, it was said with conviction. Barzal nudged Tito with his arm, “So she is…… uhhhh…. different.” Tito continued to stare without answering. “Beau!” Barzal said loud enough to draw the attention of JD and Rocky.

Tito was caught staring at Rocky before he quickly turned around to face Barzal with a scowl. “Did you have to yell?” he spoke softly.

“You weren’t answering me,” his friend replied with a laugh, “I don’t like to be ignored.”

Tito looked back over his shoulder quickly before he answered, “Technically, it wasn't a question, but a statement. Yes, I agree. She is quite unique. By the way, what was up with your attitude earlier? You think she can't tattoo because she is a woman?"

"No, that’s not it,” Barzal shot back, “I had a big, burly guy named Rocky in my head so when the pixie queen of tattoos came out, I was surprised. I put my foot in my mouth.”

Tito began to respond but noticed the duo of tattoo artists were walking back to them.

Rocky gave what could be best described as her “customer service” smile and gestured to Tito to go back into her section. He gave a shrug to Barzal and followed her. Then he turned around to Barzal who watched, “You know what you need to do.” Barzal nodded and followed JD back to the table.

The sound of Barzal’s soft yelp and the buzz of JD’s tattoo needle floated into Rocky’s section as they sat down again.

“Soooooo…” Tito smiled.

“So now that I had the technical questions I had about the design answered. I can certainly do it for you,” she smiled.

“Why do I feel like there is a ‘but’ hanging in the air?” Tito smiled.

“There is no but, you want the design then I will give you the correct one,” she replied coolly.

“Rocky, tell me the truth,” Tito urged her to answer.

“How does he know I am lying?” she questioned herself. She looked into his eyes and saw his genuine concern. She paused and thought about her answer. For some people tattoos were just not that deep, but she got the sense that Tito wasn’t one of those people. She decided to flip the script. “What is it about the design that you like?” she asked.

“Well, I like the black and gray,” he began. When she nodded in understanding, he continued, “I liked the logo because I play for the Islanders” When her nose scrunched ever so slightly, he asked, ”What do you not like about the design?”

“This is a design for every wannabe hockey bro that wasn’t good enough to make it to the NHL,” she blurted out, “Why do you want to look like every other Goomba out there? This design tells me nothing about you as a person. It’s bland and generic and that’s not you. You’re not bland and generic.”

Tito laughed, “Tell me how you really feel.”

Rocky’s eyes flashed up and held his gaze, “Look, maybe I should take the easy money and give the tattoo you want, but that’s not the kind of artist I want to be,” she answered with passion, “I want my work to mean something, both to my client and to me. It’s probably not going to make me “successful”, but that’s really not my goal anyway.” She sighed dramatically, “And that’s not even the most obvious objection to it.”

“And what’s the most obvious objection to it?” Tito questioned as he studied the design again.

“When is your contract up? Do you have some sort of non-trade clause?” she asked plainly. He blinked slowly. She continued, “Seriously? When is your contract up?”

“2024,” he said softly as he began to process what she was saying, “I have another season and a half.”

“And you’re sure that they are going to re-sign you?” she prodded, “I don’t know too much about hockey so I don’t know if you are good or not. I do know that tattooing your team name on your body seems like the hockey equivalent to tattooing your girlfriend or wife’s name on your body. It’s a lovely gesture at the moment, but what do you do when things go south?”

Tito gulped and spit out, “I see your heart and soul is as black as your jet black hair.”

Rocky sat up straight, “Would you rather me not say anything?”

“No, you’re right,” he laughed, “You’re totally right. It looks like I am not getting a tattoo, at least tonight.” They sat silently and looked at each other. Both of them sizing the other up. Finally Tito spoke, “So if you think this design is trash, what design do you think I should get.”

“Something unique, something that tells a story about you,” Rocky pondered out loud.

“Unique? What’s unique about me? I am just a guy who plays hockey,” Tito challenged.

“Nah, you are so much more than that,” Rocky answered a little too quickly.

“How can you tell?” he quizzed.

“That twinkle in your eye,” Rocky smiled, “There is a whole world hidden behind the twinkles in your eyes.”

Tito leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “I could say the same about you.”

Rocky blushed momentarily before the vibration on her phone drew her attention. It was a text from Kelly letting her know that he would be home late. His department decided on dinner after drinks. Rocky shook her head and silently admonished herself. She wouldn’t exactly call her behavior flirting, but it definitely wasn’t strictly professional. Rocky looked up into Tito’s soft blue eyes again. She was right. There was a whole world hidden in there. A world that she wanted to know more about.

“I could design something for you,” she blurted out before she processed the thought.

“I would be honored,” he answered quickly, surprising himself.

“So tell me about yourself, Mr. Beauvillier,” she leaned forward and put her chin into her hand while her elbow rested on the table.

“Well, I was born in Quebec….” he began.

She held up a finger and grabbed a pen and paper to write notes and sketch ideas. She motioned for him to continue and he did. Every once in a while he would lean forward to sneak a peek at what she wrote down or doodled. She pushed him away with a playful shove and smile

An hour later Rocky jumped at the sound of JD’s loud knocks. “Hey,” he said with a frown on his face, “We’re done in here.” Tito looked up with a smile. JD. grunted and turned around.

“What’s his problem?” Tito nodded his head at the door.

Rocky shrugged her shoulders, “He’s probably pissed that he is going to miss his cut of my fee.” Tito tilted his head in question. “Since he is my mentor, he gets a cut of my fee along with the shop,” she explained, “No tattoo, no fee.”

“If it’s about the money, I am happy to pay,” Tito offered

Rocky neatly piled up her things. “He’s probably pissed too since he told me just to do the damn design.” she added. They walked out together and waited as Daisy cashed Barzal out.

“Beau,” Barzal popped off, “What? Did you wimp out?”

“Nah,” Tito answered, “I convinced her to work with me on a custom design. I am thinking of a half sleeve to start that we can add onto later down the road.” JD’s eyebrows raised and Rocky shrugged her shoulders. Barzal turned to them, “What do you think? Pretty badass, huh?”

Rocky suppressed a giggle, “Oh, totally. You’re like the Lion King. Should I call you Simba?” Tito guffawed until Barzal shot him a look.

“Hurry up so I can pay, Simba,” Tito joked. Barzal casually flipped him off and turned to pay.

“Pay for what? You didn’t get a tattoo?” Rocky said in a stunned voice.

“Yes, I do need to pay. We were in a consultation. JD, what’s the price per hour for consultations?” Tito looked over to ask Rocky’s mentor.

“One fifty,” he answered tersely. Rocky bit her lip. He quoted a rate that was double her normal rate and Tito hadn’t blinked an eye. Of course, she knew that JD’s reasons were not altruistic at all. A higher rate meant a higher cut for him and the shop. It also meant that he could now charge Barzal double his normal rate for the basic tattoo he did. Rocky admired his hustle, even if she felt guilty about Tito paying more than necessary for it.

After Barzal paid, Tito cleared his throat loudly and nodded to Rocky. Barzal shot him a look of confusion. Tito muttered under his breath, “apologize”. Rocky’s head shot up and she looked at Tito who shrugged his shoulders. Barzal nodded in understanding.

“Uhhhh, Rocky?” Barzal started, “I apologize for earlier. I really wasn’t trying to knock you as an artist. I really was just expecting a big, burly guy based on the name. No offense meant.” Rocky smiled and looked down as she contemplated how long to make the hockey phenom squirm. “Seriously, I am not really a sexist pig,” he continued, “I have much respect for women.”

“Sure you do,” Rocky laughed.

“I swear I do,” Barzal squeaked, “Tell her Beau.”

Tito paused to allow him to sit in his discomfort, “I can attest that Barzy is a great admirer of women who happened to stick his foot so far into his mouth that he is choking on it. I am not sure if it's because of the nasty toe jam or God-awful odor.” Barzal’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Rocky giggled, “It’s okay, Simba. I am just busting your balls out of amusement. A little bit of friendly fire, I suppose.”

Barzal shot Tito a glare. “Thanks. It looks like I may need new friends these days,” he smiled as the group walked toward the exit. Rocky and Tito exchanged numbers, which did not go unnoticed by Barzal. When he questioned Tito in the car afterwards, Tito dismissed his comment. “It will be easier to set up time to go over ideas directly with her.”

“Whatever you say,” Barzal retorted, “I am sure it has nothing to do with the puppy dog eyes you make when looking at her. No, not at all.”

Inside the tattoo parlor, Cameron buzzed about the potential exposure the shop would receive if Barzal posted his new tattoo on social media. JD looked like a deer caught in headlights. While a master tattoo artist, JD was woefully behind the times on social media, considering it an unnecessary evil. Rocky shook her head, “I’ll take care of it.”

Kelly was sitting on the couch when Rocky arrived back at their apartment. She walked over and kissed the top of his head as he watched Squawk Box on CNBC. “How did the dinner go?” she asked softly. She began stripping as he watched the television.

“Huh?” he answered as he glanced over at her bare torso as she stripped off her leggings.

“I said how did the dinner go? Were you able to talk to Ross about your idea?” she asked as she walked into the bedroom to grab one of his large t-shirts to sleep.

“Oh yeah,” he answered, “We just need the go ahead from Grant and we will be good to go. Hey, I brought you dessert from the restaurant.”

Rocky walked back out and smiled, “That’s great. We both got good news tonight.” Kelly had turned his attention back to the television. She sighed and walked into the kitchen, opened the take out bag and stared at the cheesecake in the container. It was covered in strawberry syrup. She looked at Kelly in disbelief and then shook her head. Rocky’s favorite was, indeed, cheesecake, but she was allergic to strawberries. She had been since childhood. Kelly knew this, or at least had been told at least a dozen times. He probably scanned the menu, saw the cheesecake and ordered it in hurry. It was the little details that he ignored that drove her crazy. When he was in his "work zone", he lost all focus on anything else.

She placed the cheesecake into the refrigerator. She mumbled something about going to bed. She glanced at her phone and saw the text notifications.

Rocky looked at her phone and her eyes widened. She had almost 1,000 new followers including Tito, Barzal and a half a dozen other Islanders.

Thursday- Inked on Ice- Long Island

JD did a double take when Rocky passed him on her way to her station. Rocky’s de facto uniform for work days was a vintage concert or slogan t-shirt with distressed jeans. Today, however, she wore form-fitting black leather pants paired with a crisp white button down shirt. The shirt unbuttoned just enough to reveal a hot pink spaghetti strap camisole. Her hair had also been artfully piled atop her head with a hot pink bandana in the “Rosie the Riveter” look. Most of the staff had a similar reaction.

“What?” she questioned when Daisy let out a low whistle, "I just felt like dressing up."

“I hope you are comfortable because you are now officially booked solid," Daisy smiled.

Rocky blinked and swallowed deep. She was finally coming into her own as a tattoo artist. She was still doing smaller and less intricate designs but her technique improved with each one. She took her schedule and got ready for her first appointment.

Seven hours later, Tito walked into the shop. Daisy immediately greeted him, "Rocky is wrapping up a tattoo. It should be a few minutes." Tito took notice of Rocky's neatly labeled portfolio. The contents mainly consisted of small tattoos that she had done in a variety of styles. The mix was split evenly between color and gray. In the back were larger, more intricate designs.

He was lost in thought when Rocky approached from behind. "See anything you are interested in?

"They are all great," he said after he collected himself, "I like these landscape ones. That one reminds me of my days playing on an outdoor rink."

Rocky leaned forward to confirm which drawing he meant. Her breath felt warm against his neck and he inhaled her perfume. "Oh, that one? Let's go talk in my section," she said softly, oblivious to his reaction. She turned around and walked back to her small room. Tito gulped and turned to follow. His eyes involuntarily swept over her body as she walked in front of him.

She was already sitting down when he entered. He stopped at the door and observed her as she pulled out her sketch pad and pencils. "Either come inside or go get me coffee," she joked.

"Coffee?" he asked, "What's your order?"

"Unsweet iced coffee with an extra shot and skim milk, 2 pumps of sugar free vanilla syrup, 2 Splenda and light caramel drizzle," she answered without looking up.

"You know I have zero shot of getting that right," he smiled.

"Beauregard, if you can remember the draft line-up of your draft in order, then you can remember this," she looked up and flashed a smile. He laughed softly. "Or you could just tell them Rocky's usual," she smiled wider, "Whatever is easier."

"You’re a regular over there?" he asked as he began to leave.

"Yes, and I tip very well. Don't ruin my rep, Beauregard," she warned, "Go and let me work. I am inspired."

"Beauregard?" He stopped, "You can't call me Tito or Beau like everyone else?"

"Do I look like a woman who does what everyone else does?' she retorted.

"Silly me," he sighed, "and to think I am paying to go be your coffee bitch." He waited for a response but she had focused on her paper again.

When he returned with her iced coffee, music was playing. She expertly added shading to the drawing while she sang. https://open.spotify.com/track/1ZY1PqizIl78geGM4xWlEA?si=eebcaf1014c24c38

But if you're single that's honestly worse

'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts

(Honey, it hurts)

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine

I feel like I might sink and drown and die

You're so gorgeous

I can't say anything to your face (to your face)

'Cause look at your face (look at your face)

And I'm so furious

At you for making me feel this way (this way)

But what can I say?

You're gorgeous

He watched her for a moment before he involuntarily started singing as well.

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah

There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have

You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad (mmh)

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah

There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have and

Guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats (yeugh)

Alone, unless you wanna come along (oh)

Rocky looked up when she heard his voice and smiled. Tito gallantly presented her with her complex coffee order. He glanced over at the picture before teasing, “So you’re a Swiftie? That’s surprising.”

“Why?” she asked.

He made a hand gesture up and down. “The hair, the tattoos, piercings all scream metal goth girl, but here you are jamming away to basic white girl music while drinking basic white girl coffee. Color me confused.”

“That’s what you get when you judge a book by its cover. You miss the complexity of most humans,” she said philosophically. “By the way, I did notice you jamming along. Are there a lot of Swifties in the NHL?”

“Nah, my ex, Tiffany, was one," he answered, "I became one by osmosis."

"Really?" She replied, "My boyfriend just mocks me."

“Ahhhhh,” Tito, “He doesn’t know what he is missing. Taylor Swift is a musical genius.”

"Well, well, well," Rocky whistled, "Look who is the basic white girl now.”

“Shut up and show me the sketch that you have been so focused on,” he answered as he rolled his eyes.

She slid the sketch pad over to him and looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “I tried to incorporate everything that we talked about last time,” she said quietly. Rocky wasn’t sure as she was filled with apprehension suddenly. Her art was one of the few areas of her life that she was sure about these days.

Tito gingerly touched the sketch pad and took in each detail of the illustration. He was surprised by the lack of color, but it was so effective that he couldn’t imagine the piece in anything but simple black and gray. It was the embodiment of everything that they had discussed.

“What do you think?” she asked.

Tito swallowed hard, suddenly aware of the tears filling his eyes. “I think,” he started before pausing to steady his voice, “I think it’s perfect.”

“Really?” she smiled tentatively, “You really like it?”

He looked up at her and stared for a moment. Underneath the heavy make-up and tough exterior, he saw her sweet spirit. She was more complex and multi-dimensioned than anyone he had ever met despite practically being a stranger. She had put her heart and soul into this drawing and the magnitude of that action was not lost on him.

“Yes,” he smiled, “I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

MIDNIGHT RAIN

The next few weeks were a blur to Rocky. Her days were filled with appointments and consultations. Word of mouth began to spread as client after client posted their ink on social media. Glowing reviews accompanied each post, and Rocky’s reputation began to grow in the tattoo community. Pretty soon, some pretty big name artists began following her, including Catarina Vandewahl, who was a pioneer female tattoo artist.

With her growing popularity came sacrifices and hardships. Rocky worked hard to capitalize on the buzz around her work and kept herself booked solid. It meant less and less time at home with Kelly. They became like ships passing in the night. He was going to bed as she got home from a long day at the shop and left before she woke up for the day. On the rare occasion they were together, they both struggled to find the connection that had bonded them in their youth. Kelly worked feverishly on his work project while Rocky sat on the couch and watched hockey.

The texts between Tito and Rocky began as strictly business. Short and brief texts to schedule time to work on his tattoo. It was a task that was becoming more and more difficult to complete due to their hectic schedules. However, somewhere along the line, the tone changed from professional to borderline flirtation.

They scheduled his six hour session two days after Taylor Swift’s Midnights album release. It was a rare day off for Tito and Mondays were usually light for Rocky so she was able to make adjustments to her calendar. The plan was for the duo to experience the album together so they swore to each other to remain as “spoiler free” as possible.

In the meantime, Rocky began to follow the Islanders closely. Growing up in Dallas, she was a casual fan of the Stars. She knew the basics of hockey, but not the finer details. She grew frustrated trying to watch Tito play. Eventually, they developed a routine of Tito picking a game on his “off” nights, and they would text back and forth throughout the game. Of course, it was all in the name of teaching Rocky about hockey. However, the subject quickly opened up to broader discussions that almost touched on the philosophical.

Tito kept her updated about life on the road and humorous stories of adventures with teammates. Rocky threw in stories from the tattoo shop. From there, the subject of relationships bubbled up. Tito was shocked to find himself revealing his frustrations in finding a woman that was willing to put up with his unusual schedule while maintaining her own identity. Most women seemed more than ready to give up their own “careers” to make themselves available to NHL players. Tito found it tedious and boring.

Eventually Rocky found herself venting to Tito about how Kelly and her were on almost completely opposite schedules and how isolated she felt from him. Almost immediately, she regretted it and walked back her statements. Internally she scolded herself for crossing some imaginary line. For his part, Tito avoided the subject and redirected back to the game they were supposed to be watching. He couldn’t even think of a reason why he felt the need to change the subject. They were both venting about essentially the same subject. Still he felt a sting as he listened to her vent and he pictured her domestic life with her boyfriend. The sting was especially strong as he looked around his nondescript hotel room and remembered that there would be no one waiting for him when he returned home at the end of the road trip.

The cracks in Rocky and Kelly’s relationship began to deepen the weekend before Tito’s appointment. With his big work project complete, Kelly looked to reconnect with his long-time love. He made a reservation at a romantic restaurant and booked a suite at the Plaza. It was the sort of restaurant that demanded a level of elegance and style that was out of Rocky’s comfort zone.

“Quit fidgeting,” Kelly smiled as they followed the hostess to their table at the back of the restaurant. His hand was on the small of her back as she smoothed her hair down. She had just dyed her hair a vibrant red that morning and spent an inordinate amount of time curling it to achieve the perfect vintage fifties vibe she was going for.

“People are staring at me,” she said quietly.

“Please,” he joked, “You don’t dye your hair that color while wearing that dress if you don’t want attention.” Rocky flinched internally at his words. After they sat down, she quickly picked up the menu to study it. The fact it also shielded the tears that welled up in her eyes was an added bonus.

“Hey,” Kelly said softly, “Let me see your face.”

“I’m deciding what to eat,” she said as she willed her voice to remain steady.

“Rox,” he whispered, “Let me see your face.” She bit her lip. He only called her Rox when he was being sweet and kind to her. While she couldn’t say that he had been unkind recently, there had been a dearth of sweetness over the past couple of months. Slowly, she lowered the menu to let him see her face. “Rox,” he sighed.

“Do you think I dress the way I do for attention?” she murmured, “Do you think I am that kind of person?”

Kelly reached for her hand and grabbed it before she withdrew it. “I think that you can’t dye your hair fire engine red and cover yourself in tattoos and then be shocked when you get attention from normal people.”

“Normal people?” she questioned as she raised her menu again, “I am not a normal person? Since when?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he said flatly, “I don’t want to argue. I like the hair and the dress. You look beautiful and unique. You should rock the hell out of it while you can.”

“While I can?” she asked after the server took their order, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Rox,” he said, “Don’t overthink it. I just want to have a romantic night with my girl.”

Something inside of her bristled at the comment “his girl”. She tried to focus on his intent or at least what she believed to be his intent. Kelly wasn’t a malicious person. He was actually quite thoughtful and caring. In fact, it was one of her favorite qualities about him. She looked at him and smiled. "So do you want to hear about my week?" He nodded in affirmation and she began telling a funny story about a misspelled tattoo.

Back in their hotel suite later, they had exhausted all subjects of conversation. Rocky pulled out her phone as a distraction and saw the notification from Tito.

Rocky quickly typed out a reply.

Rocky- Hey…. Quit cheating

Tito- Who? Me?

Rocky- Yes, you - Beauregard

Tito- #sorrynotsorry. I am bored in the hotel room. Staying spoiler free is hard.

Rocky- Quit being a spoiler whore and go to sleep. You will need your energy for Monday.

Tito- That's right- you're going to pop my cherry. Be gentle with me.

Rocky stared at the screen. She knew full well that he was referring to his first tattoo experience. However, suddenly, a very graphic image of her sliding down onto him filled her mind. She could almost hear him whisper in his light accent, "Be gentle with me." Rocky dropped her phone which drew Kelly's attention. He gave a funny face and she scrambled to grab the phone to prevent Kelly from seeing the content. Then she remembered that it had only been a figment of her imagination and not anything that could be read

Tito- Rocky?

Rocky- Sorry, dropped phone. Yes, I will be gentle with you. I gotta go. We’re headed to bed. TTYL.

Tito stared at the screen. "Headed to bed?" he thought. A vision of Rocky riding him while throwing her head back filled his mind. He tried to imagine just how much of her upper body was decorated with ink. He stared at the screen, then put the phone down. He turned on the TV and willed himself to not look at the phone. “Fuck it,” he groaned as he picked up his phone again. Without thinking, he found himself on her Instagram page scrolling through pictures. “Don’t hit like, don’t fucking hit the like button,” he reminded himself as he stalked. It was mainly tattoo photos with an occasional selfie. He scrolled back up and stopped. “Damn,” he whispered to himself, “Damn.”

Before he could stop himself, he responded with a flirty reply. He saw Kelly’s response and exhaled in disgust before clicking on his profile. His posts consisted of mainly “bro” activities - hanging out with friends, tailgating at Jets games, trips to the shore, etc. Tito noticed that they were only rare pictures of Rocky, at least recently.

Pretty soon, he had spent an hour down the rabbit hole of Kelly’s profile. He had pieced together a rough timeline of Rocky’s relationship with Kelly. It started off strong in high school with nearly constant photos. Things definitely cooled in college as Kelly morphed from slightly emo/goth boy to total finance bro . There was a direct correlation between their individual transformations and their relationship-at least based on what you could see on social media. Tito would bet that Rocky's tattoos and fashion style were an issue. The more she got, the less he posted her picture. A couple of years after graduation, other than holiday and anniversary posts, she was non-existent on his timeline. It wasn't as if Kelly was necessarily hiding his relationship with Rocky on social media, but he wasn't exactly shouting it from the rooftops either. He did a similar deep dive onto Rocky’s page and reached the same conclusion.

He scrolled back to her post from that night. How could the things that he found so fascinating about Rocky be an issue for this Kelly dude? He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand it all. Tito gently touched the screen with his thumb. Her smile made him feel things. Her eyes, he thought to himself, her eyes were bright on the surface, but underneath there was a world that he wanted to know. He wanted to know what made her happy and what made her sad. He wanted to know what she thought about the new Taylor Swift album. He wanted to know her thoughts about everything.

Back at the Plaza, Rocky sighed heavily as she tried to get comfortable in the oversized hotel bed. As much as she appreciated the thought and effort that Kelly had put into making the night special, something had fallen flat. Even their lovemaking had been lackluster with them both going through the motions without any true passion between them. Muscle memory elicited perfunctory orgasms for each of them before both they rolled in opposite directions to sleep. Rocky tried "fluffing" her pillow before grabbing her phone.

She glanced at Instagram and smiled at Tito's comment. "Can't sleep?" Kelly said sleepily.

"No, maybe it was the espresso martini at dinner?" She replied.

"Rox, you mainline coffee all day long. How can an espresso martini affect you like this?" he challenged. She shrugged her shoulders. "Come here," he held out his arm to her, "I'll try the head thing." Rocky rolled over and snuggled into his chest. They laid in silence for a minute. Kelly's fingertips ran up and down arm gently in slow, methodical fashion. He could feel the tension oozing out of her pores. "Rox, talk to me," he finally asked, "I know that something set you off tonight."

"Well, first you said I wasn't normal," she started meekly.

"Normal wasn't the right word," he interjected, "Average is more accurate. It wasn't meant as an insult, Rox. You should know that you stand out in a crowd. You are special and unique….."

"Why do I sense that there is a but hanging in the air?" She questioned.

"There is no but hanging in the air…." He snapped back.

"What did you mean when you said I should rock the hell out of my look while I can?" she lifted her head and stared into his eyes.

"There it is. That is what you have been stewing over since dinner," he sighed, "What I meant was that eventually you will need to dress more appropriately. Wait, appropriate is not the right word. Hmmmm, maybe I should say….ummmm, subdued."

"Subdued? Why do I need to be subdued?" She shot back.

He sighed, "because eventually I will need you to be a partner. I can't become a CEO without a good partner."

"CEO?" she balked, "Since when do you want to become a CEO? What happened to the 'work as hard as we can fo the next ten years so we can retire and travel the world" plan? When did that change?"

Kelly blinked, "When I started and discovered that I actually liked it. I am good at my job and I can go further than I thought I could. I know it doesn't mean shit to you but I love it. If you gave it a chance, you might like it too."

Rocky searched into his eyes to gauge his seriousness. Her gaze was met with an expression of such earnestness that she felt actual pain in her heart. "Tell me more about this plan," she said softly before she laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her to pull her close. She listened as he explained his fifteen year long route to CEO. It included getting married within two years and having their first child two years after that. Everything was mapped out in such detail that Rocky was beginning to wonder when exactly the original plan changed and when he was planning on telling her.

"You're being awfully quiet, Rox," he said at the end as he wrapped up.

"It's a lot to take in," she whispered, "It's a lot to take in."

"You'll at least consider it? Will you at least consider it for me?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes, I will think about it," she sighed.

Kelly kissed the top of her head, "You're the best. I love you."

"Love you too," she yawned, "let's get some sleep."

TWO DAYS LATER- INKED ON ICE Tattoo Shop

Tito winced and gritted his teeth as Rocky worked on the outline of the complex tattoo design they had settled on. “How are you doing there, Beauregard?” Rocky asked cheerfully. Tito had been sitting stoically for almost three hours. The session started out strong. They started with listening to Taylor Swift’s Midnights, but after two times they grew restless. When Rocky suggested switching to Speak Now, he readily agreed.

He groaned, “Why on earth would you willingly do this multiple times?”

Rocky smiled, “I don’t know. The art is worth the pain, I suppose. Of course, it could also be that I am tougher than you and can take the pain. I would have thought a hockey player would be tougher but then again Barzal cried like a little bitch too.”

“Hey,” he whined, “Would you like me to tell you all of the injuries that I have played with?”

“Will it make you quit whining?” she countered, “If so, then by all means, tell me how tough you are.” Rocky knew that it would draw his focus away from the tattoo and therefore the pain. Sure enough, the conversation bought Rocky about forty five minutes of productive work time. When he began to lose focus again, Rocky tapped his leg. “Hey, we are at a good stopping point for a break. You rest and I will go grab us some lunch from next door. The lasagna is top notch.” Tito breathed a sigh of relief. Within minutes, Rocky had prepared his arm enough to move freely. “Stretch, move around and relax,” she instructed, “We have about another four hours to finish it. Think you can handle it?” She looked at him with concern. It was his first tattoo and she wanted to be sure that he didn’t tap out before she finished. Also, she wouldn’t admit to anyone, but part of her wondered if she could take another four hours on trying to focus on tattooing while she ignored the intrusive thoughts in her head.

When she returned with the food, he was casually scrolling through his phone. He graciously accepted the lasagna and bottle water. “What do I owe you?” he asked.

“You don’t need to pay me back,” she insisted.

“I am not used to women buying me food,” he blushed.

Rocky blinked, “Beauregard….. What kind of women are you dating? They don’t even do the courtesy to reach for their wallet? Where are you finding them? Puckbunnies.com?”

“Hey,” Tito cautioned, “Tap the brakes there.”

Rocky immediately hung her head, “I am sorry, Beau. Truly, I am. I am just dealing with a personal thing and it’s got me extra “fight the patriarchy” right now.

Tito’s face immediately softened, “Something personal? With your boyfriend? What’s his name again- Kelly?”

Rocky sighed, “Yeah, something with him. Hey, how did you know his name?”

Tito blinked. He didn’t want to admit to the stalking of Instagram. “Ummm, didn’t he comment on the picture the other day?” he answered casually.

“Oh yeah,” Rocky smiled, “I forgot about that.”

They sat in silence for a moment. The unanswered question hung in the air. Finally Tito asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rocky fought the impulse to open to him. “He’s a client,” she told herself before she took another bit of lasagna. She looked out of the corner of her eye to find Tito staring, waiting on an answer. “Beauregard, I appreciate the offer. It’s nothing earth shattering or dramatic," she offered as an answer. When his eyes didn't move from her face, "Stop staring at me. You're being weird,"

Tito looked down and thought, "Was he being weird?" Then he shook his head and looked at her. Her eyes held a silent plea to drop the subject. He waffled between pushing for an answer, absolutely hoping for any news that the relationship had cracks that could be exploited and letting her tell him without pressure. He grimaced at his mind that jumped at the opportunity to "exploit" any weaknesses in her relationship. No, if they had a future together in their destinies, it would happen without manipulation or pressure. He smiled and deflected, "So, ummmm, where did Rocky come from? Did your dad just really want a boy?"

She was thankful for the deflection. She wasn't ready to put her emotions into words yet. Rocky grinned widely, "It's short for Raquelle. My younger brother, Gabriel, could only say Raq and not Raquelle. Alexander turned it into Rocky after I beat him up." Tito's eyes widened. "Well, he deserved it. He stole my Nintendo DS," she explained.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Raquelle," Tito smiled.

There was something about the way that he said her name made her heart leap with joy. She felt blush overcome her cheeks and she looked away. Tito thought she never looked more beautiful. "Yep, I am going to call you Raquelle from now on," he teased casually.

"Whatever you say, Anthony " she countered. Both of them scrunched their noses immediately. "Nope, Beauregard is better," she declared. She glanced at the clock. "Now eat up, Beauregard," she ordered, "We are going to start in ten minutes and keep going until we are done."

"Yes, Raqueĺle," he cooed, exaggerating each syllable in his slight French accent. Rocky bit her lip and took a bite of lasagna. "I will let you torture me again in ten minutes." he laughed.

Rocky's plan to carb load Tito worked. When they began again, he got into the zone. He sat back in the chair and closed his eyes. His body entered into a trance like state and they powered through together. They were reaching the finish line when "Midnight Rain" started. https://youtu.be/Odh9ddPUkEY?si=IRMd5VC86a0xnQ77. Taylor's voice filled the room

Rain, he wanted it comfortable

I wanted that pain

He wanted a bride

I was making my own name

Chasing that fame

He stayed the same

All of me changed like midnight

Rocky's head popped and listened to the song that seemed to encapsulate the current state of her relationship. When the words "Cause he was sunshine, I was midnight rain,.He wanted it comfortable,I wanted that pain" floated across the room, her eyes filled with tears. Unable to see, she lifted the needle from Tito's skin. The lack of sensation reached into his brain but did not penetrate. It was the tear that splashed down on his forearm that got his attention. He looked at the wet mark and then lifted his eyes to look at her face

Tears streamed down as she stared into space. "Rocky? Are you okay?" He sat straight up in the chair. She glanced at him and cried harder. "Rocky, what happened?" He questioned. "Mon ami, what happened? Did you make a mistake?" She shook her head vigorously.

"He is sunshine and I am midnight rain. He wants comfortable and I want pain," she said out loud to no one in particular.

"Who?" His hand went to her cheek, "Kelly?" She nodded her head. "What happened, Mon Ami? You were fine," he soothed.

"The song," she choked out.

He listened as the song ended. "Which song?" He asked.

"Midnight Rains," she whispered.

"The breakup song?" He asked in the tenderest voice.

Rocky wiped her tears, "He has a fifteen year plan now. He wants to be a CEO and he wants me to be the good little corporate wife." Tito's mind raced. "Can you imagine?" She whined, "Can you imagine me at the country club."

"No, no I can't." He answered honestly. "How do you feel about that?"

"Terrified," she blurted out, "What if I can't do it? What if I lose myself in the process?

"Do you even want to do it? He asked sincerely, "Is that the life you want?"

She stared at him like he had three heads. Of course, it was Kelly. He was her future. He had been her future since she can remember. She hadn't considered what she wanted.

He wiped her tears that still flowed." It is just a song," he whispered, "It doesn't have to mean a break up." Internally he screamed at himself to shut up, but he couldn't stop himself. No, if she was going to end things, she would do it without his interference. It was clear that she wasn't ready to let go. "Rocky…." He continued as she stared into space, "Raquelle…." Her head snapped in direction. "It's just a song," he explained, "You get to decide your future. You can have any future you want."

Rocky inhaled deeply, "You think?"

"I know," he smiled back.

"Thank you Beauregard," she smiled, "You're a good friend to me." Her breath hitched as the word came out of her mouth.

"It is my pleasure," he smiled, "It's.honor and a pleasure to be your friend. However, if you don't finish this ink soon, I am going to come to my senses soon and I will never let you near me with a needle again."

Rocky glared, "No way you are tapping out now. Buckle up Beauregard.".He sat back and closed his eyes. "Alexa, play Shake It Off."

Thirty minutes later, Tito stood and admired the design. "It's perfect," he praised, "I can't wait to post it."

Two weeks later - USB Arena

Kelly held the ticket stub in his hand as they walked around the concourse of the USB arena. “Rox,” he said suddenly, “These are lower bowl seats. I think these seats are pretty close to the glass. Where did you get them again?”

“I told you,” she said sweetly, “A client gave them to me as a thank you.” Kelly led them down the stairs to the seats which were right next to the Islanders penalty box. Rocky took the seat nearest the box. Kelly had a thing about having an easy exit out of crowded places and would have felt boxed in. The music in the arena was loud and pulsating. Rocky looked around and absorbed the vibe. She was lost in thought when a loud horn sounded. She looked up to see the Islander team taking the ice. She hadn’t even noticed that she held her breath until she saw Tito step out onto the ice following Barzal. She smiled and exhaled as her eyes stayed glued to him.

She couldn’t help but notice the difference in him. His face was devoid of expression and his eyes focused on the ice in front of him as the group began to make laps around their end of the ice. Gone was the friendly, but somewhat introverted Beauregard that she knew. In place was a determined and focused warrior. Rocky was tempted to bang on the glass when Barzal took a position in front of her seats to begin his stretches. She decided against creating a potential awkward moment. Instead she searched for Tito, she found him on the opposite side of the ice, stretching as well.

A high pitched squeal of "Barzy" penetrated the air and he leisurely looked over his shoulder to find the source. A gaggle of college girls stood behind Rocky holding a sign that said "Barzy- You can go 5 hole on us." He smirked and shook his head before noticing Rocky, who very obviously focused on something that had her complete attention. He had a hunch on the object of her focus. It was confirmed when he followed her sight line that went straight to Tito.

He almost shouted across the ice, but thought better of it. Instead he waited, they stood next to each other for a drill. "Hey Tito, why didn't you say anything about Rocky being here tonight," Barzal remarked casually, "Those are better seats than we normally get to give away. Did you ask for extra nice ones for her?"

Tito's head spun around in surprise, "What? Where?"

Barzal pointed to Rocky's location. Tito looked and saw her staring in his direction. He felt his stomach flip while a smile spread across his face. He waved shyly and Rocky felt her face flush.

"Did that player just wave at you?" Kelly asked. He turned to Rocky who waved back to Tito before she turned to face him.

“Yeah, I know him from the shop,” she answered evasively. Immediately she felt a pang of guilt hit. Between her earlier fascination and not completely honest answer, she walked the boundary of both her relationship with Kelly AND Tito. She added, “I actually did a tattoo for him a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh,” Kelly turned to assess the hockey player, “So that’s why your schedule has blown up recently. You are tattooing ‘celebrities’ these days. Good for you.”

Rocky turned to Kelly with her arms folded. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Did I say that it was a bad thing?” Kelly questioned incredulously.

The couple stood and stared at each other.. The stare down lasted long enough to attract Tito’s attention. His eyes widened slightly when Rocky’s angry expression registered. He started skating before his brain engaged. A guttural instinct took over. Someone had upset his Raquelle and that- it was just unacceptable. He hit the boards immediately in front of Kelly with enough force to knock Kelly’s beer off the ledge he had left it sitting on. The beer splashed Kelly’s jeans while the sound of the hit reverberated through the area. Kelly looked down at his pants, then to Tito who stared him down on the other side of the glass. “Hey!” Kelly yelled as Tito looked at Rocky who stood with her jaw dropped.

Her mind raced to imagine a justification for Tito’s actions and she could find none. Her look of confusion felt like a stab in the heart to Tito. Rocky turned to Kelly who burst out laughing. The reaction of the crowd in the section was the rousing cheer of approval and amusement. Tito winked at Rocky before he skated off to the bench. “Hey Jake,” Tito called the equipment manager, “You have any money?”

“Why?” the assistant equipment yelled back.

“I knocked that guy’s beer over. I need to buy him another one,” Tito explained.. “Come on, you know I am good for it,” Tito cajoled. Jack turned to delegate the task to one of the team interns when Tito yelled again.

As he made his request, Jake looked on incredulously. “You owe me, Beau- you owe me,” he laughed as he walked away.

In the brief time between end of warm-up and puck drop, a hapless team intern came bounding down the steps toward Kelly and Rocky. He stood at the end of the row and yelled down to them. “Hey, Tito bought you a beer to replace the one he knocked over,” the intern said cheerfully as he passed the cup of beer down the row. Then he passed down the large coffee cup and added, “This is for Rocky?” Kelly eyed her suspiciously as Rocky waited for the cup. When she received it, she glanced to get confirmation. It was her ridiculously complicated drink. Tito made someone go to Starbucks and return with a coffee specifically made for her.

“Can you tell him thank you?” she smiled at the intern.

“You can tell him yourself,” the intern responded, “He wants me to bring you down to the locker room after the game. Wait here and I will come get you after the third period.”

“Wow,” Kelly quipped, “That must have been one hell of a tattoo you did for him. You’re getting VIP treatment.”

Later, toward the end of the second period, Rocky leaned forward and intently watched the faceoff taking place in front of her. Kelly had made an early exit to beat the line at the concession stand. The Islanders were in a tight, chippy game against the Dallas Stars- the score tied up at one. Tito lined up against Jamie Benn who acknowledged him with a head nod. Tito looked back over his shoulder and glanced at Rocky but then returned his focus to the task at hand. Benn laughed, “Is that your girl? She looks like fun.”

Tito responded with a shove to Benn’s chest, “Shut up.” Benn retaliated with a stick poke and a smile- content with the knowledge that he had found a way to get under Tito’s skin. Both resumed position again but began jostling sticks back and forth. When the puck dropped, he used his stick to upend Tito.

The move drew the ire of the Islander crowd and Rocky stood up and yelled, “Hey, you can’t do that.” Benn smiled even bigger as Tito got up and launched a shove into his opponent’s chest. The captain grabbed a hold of the stick and they jostled for a few moments before Tito dropped his gloves and reached to pull Benn down into a headlock before he started swinging. He landed several punches before the bigger man was able to pull him down to the ground. Refs separated them. Tito ripped off his helmet as he got back to his feet and shook his head. .

Benn smiled, sure that he had instigated Tito into a penalty. During a tie game, drawing a penalty was crucial. His smile soon disappeared when he realized that it was he that was getting the extra penalty for his trip. Tito gave him a smile, “Thanks for the power play. It will come in handy.”

He entered the penalty box casually, sitting down on the bench and placing his helmet beside him. He wiped his face with the towel as Benn yelled from his box. Tito looked over lazily as he caught his breath. “Lucky you,” the captain yelled and pointed. Tito turned around to see Rocky staring intently at him, her brow furrowed slightly. She quickly smiled as he turned around.

Tito scooted on the bench so that he was closer to her. Suddenly, he forgot where he was and focused on her smile. “Fancy meeting you here, Mon Ami,” he greeted her.

“Beauregard…..” she spoke in an exaggerated drawl, “I’m not a hockey expert, but I do believe that you are supposed to stay OUT of the penalty box.”

“Raquelle…..” he began with a little more accent than necessary. Rocky felt her cheeks begin to flush. Tito stared at her face, “If I stayed OUT of the box, then we wouldn’t have this chance to chat. You know that chatting with you is my favorite thing in the world.” Rocky leaned forward and grinned.

Somewhere in the TV control room, a producer proclaimed, “Are you guys seeing this?” The director looked up as the producer shared the camera view into the Islander penalty box onto the large screen. There, in the picture, were Tito and Rocky shamelessly flirting. Within seconds, the shot was on live TV with the Islanders TV announcers commenting on it.

“Butch,” Brendan Burke chuckled, “It seems like we have a bit of an off-ice situation happening here.”

Back in their bubble, Rocky joked, “I knew you were trouble when you walked in…”

Tito retorted, “It’s me. Hi, I’m the problem it’s me.”

“At tea time, everybody agrees,” she finished.

Back in the control room, one of the female interns shouted out, “Holy shit, they are quoting Taylor Swift to each other.”

The director yelled, “No fucking way!” He suddenly had visions of a viral moment. The information was relayed to the announcers.

Tito moved on to another song, “Best believe I’m still bejeweled, When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer.”

Rocky picked up, “And when I meet the band, They ask “Do you have a man?” I can still say, ‘I don’t remember’”

Inside the control room, the announcer's booth and the entire Islanders liveblog tag on Tumblr, people watching were losing their collective minds. Comments flew back and forth- “Do you think he even knows that there is a game still going on? The moment was interrupted by the penalty box attendant who tapped Tito on the shoulder, “Fifteen seconds, dude.”

Tito’s head spun around and he remembered where he was. He quickly gathered his equipment and stood by the door. He turned to Rocky and smiled. She started “I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you.”

The door opened and Tito skated onto the ice. He glanced back and saw Kelly returning to his seat. He handed Rocky a bottle of water and she looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. The voice inside Tito's head finished the lyric, “Please don’t be in love with someone else. Please don’t have somebody waiting on you.” He felt the sharp pain in his abdomen like a punch to a gut. It pulled him out of dream-like state and back into the reality of the game. “Use this,” he said to himself, “Use the pain as motivation.”

His eyes returned to the play and he saw his opening as he gained speed. He knocked Miro Heiskanen off the puck and took it onto his stick. He weaved his way through the two defensemen and circled the net. He passed the puck to Barzal who shot it at the net. Jake Oettinger coughed up a juicy rebound that landed on Tito’s stick. He lifted the puck up and over Oettinger’s shoulder into the net. It took a second for Tito to realize what had just happened. He was swarmed by his teammates as the arena erupted in cheers.

He looked over to see Kelly pick Rocky into his arms and swing her around. He quickly turned to accept congratulatory pats on the head from his teammates. Rocky’s head spun while in Kelly’s arm to find Tito. When she found him on the bench, she swallowed hard. The focused expression on his face had returned and he stared directly in front of him. It was Rocky’s turn to feel the gnawing ache in her stomach. The period ended and she watched him walk to the tunnel without looking back.

The Islander locker room buzzed with excitement of the new lead. Round of "Thatta boy, Beau, spread around the room. Tito didn't respond. Instead he replayed his time in the penalty box -the ease of talking to Rocky, the way she pulled him out of the game, the butterflies he felt when he looked into her eyes. He could have stayed lost in that moment for the rest of his life.

His thoughts were interrupted by Anders Lee's voice. "Sooooo who is the girl and can we buy her a beer?" he joked.

"Please don’t be in love with someone else. Please don’t have somebody waiting on you," ran through his head. The memory of her hug with Kelly flashed in his brain. Tito gritted his teeth and shook his head. "She's nobody- just the woman who did my tat," he spit out, 'She's nobody." With that, he got up to find the intern from earlier. Barzal watched in silence before getting up and following him. The rest of the team looked at each other in confusion.

Barzal caught up as Tito finished his conversation. "Are you sure" the intern asked. Tito nodded his head.

"Sure about what?" Barzal questioned.

"Sure that I don't want her to come down after the game," Tito answered emphatically.

"Why?" Barzal questioned as they walked back to the room.

"Because I said so dumbass," Tito muttered as he put on his gear.

Upstairs,the intern made his way to Rocky's seats. Kelly looked confused when the intern gently explained, "Tito is not going to be able to see you after the game after all. There is a mandatory team meeting that he can't miss."

Rocky blinked. She knew it was a lie but didn't want to argue or appear too eager to see Tito.. "Oh okay- well, tell him that I will see him around I guess.” She tried to hide the disappointment on her face, but Kelly knew her well enough to spot the fake smile. They rode in uncomfortable silence back to their apartment.

Later in bed, they faced opposite walls with their backs to each other. “So that’s who you've been texting recently?” Kelly asked quietly.

“Yeah,” she said softly, “He has been teaching me about hockey.”

"Clearly it worked. You were really focused on the game. I am glad you had a good time. You deserved it." Kelly yawned "Good night Rox. Love you."

"Ditto, Kels," she replied softly. Rocky's phone began to buzz. She picked it up.

Daisy: Girl…

Rocky: What?

Daisy: You're viral.

Rocky: What? How?

Daisy sent her the link to SportCenter and the segment about Tito's time in the penalty box. Rocky watched in a combination of sweet memory and horror. She thought back to what she felt in the moment. The feeling had been so pure and she struggled to name it. It finally dawned on her- joy.

"What's the problem with joy?" She asked herself as the dread and horror spread around her body. It had been so long since she had experienced true joy. She couldn't remember when the last time was. One thing she knew that it wasn't with Kelly- the person who she should share joy with.

She looked back at Kelly with a wistful look. "I have to be better," she said to herself, "He deserves better." She rolled over and watched the clip again. The feeling of joy returned as she watched Tito's face and a thought popped into her head, "Don't you deserve better?" She pursed her lips and turned off her phone.

Barzal/Beauvillier condo- Long Island

"Fuck you, I would have made that shot,," Tito yelled out to no one in particular as the NHL22 game played. Barzal gave him a side eye and continued playing the video game.

After Tito added "motherfucker," Barzal paused the game. Tito protested meekly before Barzal cut him off, “What in the hell is your problem dude?”

“I don’t have a problem,” Tito countered.

“Don’t lie to me Beau. It insults my intelligence,” Barzal challenged. Tito began a pithy response, but stopped when he saw his roommate’s expression. The concern was apparent and completely out of character for Barzal. “Does it have something to do with Rocky?” Barzal asked quietly. Tito leaned back and let out an exaggerated sigh. “I am going to take that as a yes,” Barzal continued, “Want to talk about it?”

“There is nothing to talk about. I misread her signals,” Tito spit out, “I thought there might be something there, but clearly I am wrong.”

“I am not so sure about that dude,” Barzal sighed. The brunette turned and studied his roommate's face. He pondered his next words carefully. "Look, I was going to wait and let you find out tomorrow, but there is something that you need to see." He pulled out his phone and started the video of Tito and Rocky from the penalty box.

Tito smiled involuntarily at Rocky as his finger went caress her face on the phone screen. He wanted to push the feeling down but it swept over him like a tidal wave. Barzal chuckled, "Dude, you have it bad. You are so into her."

"Too bad she isn't into me," Tito whined.

"Look, she may have a boyfriend, but she is into you," Barzal countered. Tito began to shake his head but Barzal interjected, "Look at her face when she looks at you. She desn't look at her boyfriend that way. I watched her during the game. Trust me there is something there, Beau. It wasn’t just during your penalty. Her eyes were on you the entire game.."

"So what should I do? She has a boyfriend," Tito asked.

"Be patient until she figures it out," Barzal suggested, “I don’t know much but I know that she doesn’t look at him the way she looks at you.”

"So business as usual?" Tito asked. Barzal nodded his head. "One Sec," Tito held up his hand. He reached for his phone and typed a quick text to Rocky,

Tito: Hey sorry we couldn't connect after the game, but it was great to see you.

Rocky: I thought you were mad at me.

Tito: Never mon ami

Rocky: You sure?

Tito: 100% sure

Rocky: You wouldn't lie to me, would you Beaugard?

Tito: Raquelle, you wound me

Rocky: Sweet dreams. Great game by the way

Tito: Thanks- good night

Three days later-INKED ON ICE Tattoo Shop

Rocky tidied her work station and eyed the door. She had received a terse text from Kelly during her last appointment that simply said "We need to talk. I am working at Starbucks. Let me know when you can chat.” She responded with an equally terse "It will be fifteen minutes as I finish up. It can't wait until tonight?"

"No- I don't want to have this conversation after midnight," was the response.

Precisely fifteen minutes later, Rocky looked up when she sensed his presence and their eyes locked. Her soft smile was met with pursed lips. "Hey," she said as she kissed his cheek before he settled into his seat. His hands held a to-go coffee cup that she was certain contained her order to perfection. "What's up?" she asked casually.

Kelly studied her next design before he sat down. His eyes looked at her askance. His mouth opened and shut several times. With each time, Rocky felt a knot in her stomach develop. "Rocky….." he began, "...... you know I love you. I have loved you since kindergarten when you walked up to me, the new kid, and announced that we were going to be best friends." Rocky smiled at the memory. He continued, "You were the girl, Rocky. You were the girl I was going to love forever. You were my past, you were my present, and you were going to be my future."

Rocky gulped, "Were?"

Kelly swallowed hard, "Yes, were. You have to know that we haven't been working for a while. We lead completely different lives with completely different goals. I don't think it's fixable, Rox. I don't think we can make it work now.

"Kelly, I love you. You know that. There is no one I love more than you," Rocky gasped.

"I know, Rox. I love you too. You are my favorite person but somewhere along the way, we fell out of love with each other. It doesn't make you the bad guy and it doesn't make me the bad guy. We are just two best friends whose lives are on separate tracks," he spoke in a hushed tone. "I tried to ignore it but I can't anymore. I deserve to be in love and you deserve to be in love.” Rocky stared at the ground as his words sunk into her soul. Her head popped up when he said, “Honestly, I think you are in love."

Rocky stood up, "What are you talking about? There isn't anyone but you. You think I am cheating on you?"

"Tito," he stared into her eyes, "I saw it when I saw the video."

"We were just goofing off and being silly," she exclaimed.

“During a game? A game that he is passionate about?” Kelly countered, "And when was the last time we goofed off like that?" Kelly sighed, “I can’t ignore the evidence. I mean it went viral.”

"I didn’t mean for it to go viral," she countered weakly, “We’re friends I swear. Nothing else. He just gets me. Kelly- he and I are just friends.”

"I believe that you think that," he stood up to walk to her, "I believe that you are doing everything in your power to honor your commitment to me. You are denying what your heart is telling you."

"And what do you think it's telling me?” she whispered.

"That you are not in love with me anymore and if I were out of the picture, you would fall in love with him," he reached for her hand. "Look, I could tell at the game. It's there and I would be a fool to try to deny it."

"I don't want to hurt you," she cried, "I don't want to break your heart."

Kelly intertwined his fingers into hers. "It would break my heart to settle for less than we deserve. You deserve to be in love. You deserve someone who wants the crazy lives you two lead." He stopped and inhaled, "And I deserve someone who wants the white picket fence, the PTA and the ordinary life I crave. I deserve someone in love with me."

Tears streamed down Rocky's face, "I'm sorry."

Kelly wiped her tears with his thumbs, "Don't be. Don't be sorry for being you. I love you. I love you enough to set us free."

"I love you, Kelly," she leaned her forehead into his chest, "I'll always love you."

"I know, but now it's time to love each other from a distance," he kissed the top of her head, "One day we can be best friends again."

"I would like that," she looked up at him, "So we're over? We're really over?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "at least as lovers."

Out in the lobby, Tito held his finger up to his lips as he entered the shop to keep Daisy from announcing his arrival. In his hand, he held a large coffee and protein box. He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks. Kelly stood with his arms wrapped around Rocky’s back. Her face was nuzzled into his neck. Tito’s body lurched like he had been punched in the stomach. “I love you Rox,” Kelly smiled as he set her down and kissed the top of her head. He then turned around to walk past Tito. He glanced at Tito, who stood frozen, and smiled. Rocky watched the exchange in numb silence. Tito watched Kelly leave the shop and then turned his head to look at Rocky. She gave him a soft smile. Internally, Tito’s mind raced. He didn’t have an agenda when he decided to drop by and see Rocky, but he certainly didn’t expect to witness such a tender moment. “Snap out of it, Beauvillier,” he told himself, “You got the wrong idea. She has a boyfriend- one that she loves even if you can't make it make sense to your brain.”

“Hey Beauregard,” she stepped toward, “To what do I owe this surprise?” She fought to keep the tears out of her eyes and her voice smooth and steady. They exchanged a look and Rocky watched as Tito’s expression hardened before her.

“I, uhhhhh, was in the neighborhood, “ he began. He couldn’t think of a singular good reason why he would be here that didn’t involve a fervent desire to kiss her. So like all good men when forced to face an uncomfortable emotion, he lied. “I wanted to be sure that you were still eating,” he stammered, “You need to eat so you can keep doing good tattoos. I vouched for you and uhhhhhh, I don’t want anyone who listened to me to be disappointed by a sucky tattoo because your blood sugar level dropped.”

He thrust the coffee and food into her hands. Before she could protest, he was half-way to an escape. “Thanks for the coffee, Beauregard,” she called out to him. She could see his body flinch but he kept moving. Rocky watched in despair as he made his retreat.

What had happened? After their post-game chat, Tito had been reserved but still friendly. Now he was running away because of why she did not know. Rocky replayed Kelly’s words in her brain. “If I were out of the picture, you would fall in love with him,” he had said. She sighed bitterly and added, “Yeah, but Kels, clearly he will not fall in love with me.”

She turned to walk back into her section and looked around. She had two consultations and three appointments scheduled. She went to her table and sat down. She started the music but quickly turned it off when the starting notes of “Lover” began. Impulsively, she picked up her sketchbook and threw it across the room. Loose papers and notes tucked into it scattered on the floor. “Whoa,” JD whistled as he entered her section, “What happened here?”

Rocky got down on her hands and knees to gather the papers to her chest. She placed her hand on a blank piece of paper and flipped it over. It was Tito’s tattoo design. Tears filled her eyes and she sat back on her heels. JD looked at the paper and then back at Rocky. Her face dissolved into tears. “Rocky?” he questioned, “What happened?”

"Kelly broke up with me," she cried.

"What? Why?" JD resigned himself to getting down on the floor and sat next to her.

Rocky wiped her nose with her arm. "He wants sunshine and I am midnight rain," she explained to JD as if he would understand. The words brought Tito to her mind and she started sobbing again. "Beauregard would understand," she thought to herself.

JD sat patiently and waited for a break in the sobs. He had not been sure when Rocky had shown up at the shop, boldly asking for an apprenticeship. He found himself unable to say no despite the fact that had never mentored anyone before her, something he had taken great pride in. However in the almost year later, they had formed a unique friendship despite their age difference.

"I am going to assume that was some sort of Taylor Swift reference," he said drolly, "Care to explain it to the non-Swiftie?"

"He was this whole corporate life with the house in the suburbs and PTA wife," she sighed. "I was going to try to make it work," she continued, "but things changed and he didn't want to try anymore."

"You mean he didn't want to try to force a relationship with a woman clearly in love with another man?" he asked gently. Her jaw dropped and she started to protest. "I saw Beauvillier leave," he added.

"Yeah, you saw him leave. He couldn't get out of here fast enough," she cried, "Clearly he isn't interested."

"I think the evidence points to the contrary," JD countered, "but his loss if that's true." They sat in silence for a few minutes. "You know, I think you are ready to end the apprenticeship."

Her head shot up, "Getting dumped twice in one day. That has to be a record."

"I am not DUMPING you. I am telling you that you have freedom to choose your next path," he explained. "You are ready, Rocky," he nudged her shoulder.

"You think I am ready to go solo, really?" Rocky asked in earnest, "What if I fail?"

"I have a feeling that you are going to fly," he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"What should I do about Tito?" She asked.

"I think that you shouldn't go from one man to another. If you are going to go solo, then go solo," JD spoke, "but potentially? Yeah, I saw you on Sportscenter and ship it. That's the right word, right?"

"You're learning, old man," Rocky joked.

Daisy poked her head in the room, "Ummmm, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I overheard about Kelly." Rocky looked up at her. "I canceled the rest of your day and tomorrow," Daisy added, "Pack up your stuff. I am taking you home and we're having a meeting of the 'Boys are stupid and they suck' committee. No arguments, Rocky. We are going to laugh and we are going to cry until you don't need to anymore." Rocky's eyes filled with tears. "See, you've already started."

Hours later, Rocky stood in the guest bathroom of Cameron and Daisy's large home. She looked at her face. Her eyes were puffy from tears but she felt a wave of peace wash over her body. Daisy and she had discussed her future and what she wanted. As much as she felt a pull toward Tito, she could not shake the feeling that she needed time. JD was right. She couldn't jump from one man to another man. Rocky had spent her entire adult life committed to Kelly. It was time to spread her wings and fly. She felt confident that even if she crashed and burned that she was strong enough to make it on her own.

She took a deep breath and picked up her phone. She noticed two things- no communication from Tito and a text from Kelly. She opened the text and smiled, "Rox, I miss you already but know that our destiny lies as best friends. I will be here waiting to see where your destiny takes you. You are capable of greatness. I'll love you forever."

She typed out her response to Kelly. Then she hit the dial button.

"Hey Rocky,” the voice on the other end answered.

"Is that job offer still good?" Rocky asked.

"Yes, are you considering it?" The voice asked.

"If you still want me," Rocky responded.

"Pack your bags. I have a guest house you can use until you get settled. Can you be here in a week?" Cat smiled.

"See you then," Rocky smiled.

STATE OF GRACE

A WEEK LATER- ISLANDERS PRACTICE FACILITY

"Hey Tito," Kelly called to him as he exited the ice after practice.

Tito stopped and stared, "What the fuck does he want?" He thought to himself.

Kelly held out a cardboard tube and Tito, "It's from Rocky."

"A delivery? From Rocky?" He called back, "Why didn't she deliver it herself?"

"I think you know why," Kelly replied dryly. Tito thought about the multiple texts and calls from her that he had ignored. "Just read the card," Kelly added before he turned to walk away.

Tito ripped the card open and read it quickly.

Beauregard-

I hope this note finds you well. This is not the way I wanted to tell you but I am moving.

Tito's eyes snapped up, "You two are moving?"

"No, just her," Kelly explained. Tito tilted his head in question. "We broke up last week. In fact, the day I saw you at the shop, " Kelly added.

Tito thought back to the day. He had been so quick to jump to the wrong conclusion. "You idiot," he told himself, "You fucking idiot." He continued to read.

I tried texting and calling several times, but those have not been returned. I have decided to make a fresh start in a new city. All of my adult life has been bending myself and sacrificing my dream to allow Kelly to pursue his dream. I am going to some place brand new and testing my wings to see if I can fly on my own.

Tito smiled to himself, "Oh mon ami, Raquelle, you can fly. Oh how high you will fly."

I am sad to leave you and our friendship. I didn't want to leave without saying two things. First, I am thankful that fate brought us together as friends. Your friendship reminded me who I am, the part of me that I had hidden away to fit into the mold of what Kelly wanted and needed. I am Midnight Rain and that's okay. Thank you for accepting me and all my quirks. Not only did you accept them- you embraced them which helped me embrace them too.

Second- I am thankful for the joy that you brought back to me. It had been so long since I felt the joy that I felt with you. I love you, Beauregard. I don't believe that our journey is over. In fact I think that you are just at the beginning of a wonderful life full of adventure and more importantly, love. You will bring so much joy to the life of the woman who you love and she will be so lucky. So long for now. In the words of our Queen Taylor- "And when you find everything you looked for, I hope your life leads you back to my door. Goodbye, Mon Ami."

He pulled out the sketch of his tattoo out of the cardboard tube. She had written- "Never forget the joy of hockey. Keep it in your heart forever just like I will keep the joy of you in my heart forever."

"Goodbye Mon Amour," Tito whispered as he placed the drawing back into the cardboard tube, "No, not goodbye-see ya later."

THREE MONTHS LATER- BEAN AROUND THE WORLD COFFEE SHOP-VANCOUVER

The coffee shop was crowded with the morning rush. The barista greeted Rocky with a smile. In the three months since she had moved to Vancouver, she had become a regular so there was no need to give her order.

"So what's your day look like?" Lauren, the barista from England, asked cheerfully.

"I have an easy day today. Only two appointments and a consultation," Rocky answered with a grin.

"Ahhhh," Lauren winked as she rolled her sleeve so her new tattoo was prominently on display, "I'll advertise for walk-ins." Since getting inked by Rocky, Lauren had fed a steady stream or referrals over to the tattoo shop. The large black and gray realistic wolf was a showstopper and customers complimented her on it daily.

"Keep that up and I'll have to give you a discount on that sleeve we discussed," Rocky quipped.

"Don't tempt me," the Brit joked. Rocky moved down to the pick up counter to wait for her drink. She faced away from the crowd and studied her phone.

Further down the line, Elias Pettersson stood with his new linemate. They had just completed a practice and workout. "So you are set in your airBNB?" The Swedish superstar asked, “No issues?”

Tito looked up as they moved up to the counter, "Yeah, I'm all set." Tito had been traded to Vancouver earlier in the week in a trade that the hockey media dubbed "The Bo for Beau exchange". His first game was the next night, "I really like the area. It's got a cool vibe." Canucks players segregated themselves - the married players sought the comforts of the suburbs while the single guys stayed close to the active nightlife by the arena.

"What can I get you, Petey?" Lauren asked the Swede. After he gave his simple order, she turned to Tito, "and you?"

Tito rattled off his order, "Unsweet iced coffee with an extra shot with skim milk, 2 pumps of sugar free vanilla syrup, 2 Splenda and light caramel drizzle."

Lauren looked up in disbelief. What were the odds that TWO people would have that same, very specific coffee order? "Can you repeat that?" she asked. Just then the other barista that made the coffees called, "Order for Rocky."

Tito shook his head in disbelief. Surely he had misheard. They hadn't said Rocky and if they did, it couldn't be HIS Rocky. He turned to see the petite pixie walking toward the door. Her hair was now a pastel pink but there was no mistaking that it was indeed HIS Rocky. He immediately chastised himself, "You have no claim on her, especially with the way she had left." Undeterred, he started weaving his way through the crowded shop while his mind raced. She was here in Vancouver. He was here in Vancouver. His path was blocked at every step. He stopped and yelled "Raquelle!"

She stopped and turned. It sounded like Tito but it made no sense. Why would he be in Vancouver? "No," she told herself as searched the sea of faces unsuccessfully, "You're imagining things." She turned back around and headed down the crowded street.

Tito felt the air leave his lungs when she turned at the sound of his voice. She was here. It felt like a dream so he gave chase. Petersson called after him, "Beau!!" The call landed on deaf ears as Tito made it out to the street.

Fifteen minutes later, a dejected Tito entered the coffee shop. He found Petey sitting at a small table with a bemused smile on his face. "Where did you take off to?" The platinum blonde asked as he handed Tito his coffee.

"A girl," Tito spoke breathlessly, "A girl I knew from Long Island."

"Let me guess. Her name is Rocky?" The Swede said although he had pieced together some info.

Tito took the coffee and sat down, “Yeah. I can’t believe she is here. What are the odds that we would be here at the same time?”

“So this girl- is she an ex or something?” Petersson.

Tito paused before answering, “It’s complicated.”

Petersson raised a single eyebrow, “Men and women are not that complicated unless you make it complicated.”

“She’s the one that got away,” Tito sighed.

“So go after her,” the Swede replied.

“You saw me try. She vanished. I searched, but if I didn’t know better, I would think she was a figment of my imagination.

Now that the rush had subsided, Lauren walked through the shop- straightening tables and greeting customers. “Who is a figment of your imagination?” the beautiful brunette asked with a smile.

Petersson answered, “The elusive Rocky who apparently is the owner of Beau’s heart.”

“You know Rocky?” she replied in her delightful accent, “it makes sense now.”

“Wait, what makes sense?” Tito questioned.

“It makes sense you know each other. You have the same coffee order,” Lauren pondered, “You are the only two people with that order.”

“You KNOW Rocky?” Tito practically jumped out of his seat, “So she is a regular here? She LIVES here in Vancouver?”

“She moved here a few months back. She’s been a regular since starting at the tattoo shop- Pink Ink,” she answered, “She did my wolf.” She held out her arm for Tito to examine.

Tito looked down and studied the tattoo. It was Rocky’s work all right. There was no mistaking her technique. He could tell immediately it was her design and work. He head spun with this newfound information. Electricity ran through his body. Rocky- his Raquelle- was here. She was so close he could feel her pull him to her like a magnet pulling a piece of metal.

Lauren studied him quietly but the realization hit her. “Wait a minute! You’re the guy from that video. The hockey one with the penalty box. Bloody hell, that’s you?….. And she’s the gal, right?” she exclaimed. Tito smiled and nodded his head yes.

“But that doesn’t mean anything now,” Tito said, suddenly filled with apprehension. They hadn’t ended on good terms. Well, more specifically he had acted like an idiot. What if she had moved on already? What if she had sworn off men altogether? Did he still have a chance?

When Tito looked up, she saw the questions in his eyes. “She said she had unfinished business in Long Island with a guy. I didn’t recognize her with the new hair. By the looks of it, her unfinished business must be you.” Tito’s jaw dropped when she continued, “Don’t just stand there. This is True Love. You think this happens every day?”

“Princess Bride!” Petersson exclaimed- proud that he caught the pop culture reference. Tito glared at him. “What? I am a man of many layers,” the Swede continued.

“Where is that shop?” Tito interrupted as he stood up and started walking towards the door. “What’s the name of it?” He heard her answer, Pink Ink, and Googled as he walked. He smiled when he realized how close the shop was and hit the call button on his phone.

Rocky puttered around her station, getting ready for the day. She overheard Emily, the receptionist, answer the phone. “Pink Ink where we specialize in sarcasm, good tattoos and fighting the patriarchy. How can I help you?”

“Hi….uhhhh,” Tito stammered, “I’d like to get a tattoo. I have heard good things about a Rocky?”

“Oh yeah, Rocky? She’s one of the best,” Emily answered, “When did you want to come in??” Rocky stopped in her tracks to listen to the conversation.

“Now?” Tito hesitated.

“Sure, I’ll let her know that she has someone coming in,” the receptionist responded. “Can I get a name? Okay, great- see you soon.” Emily got up and walked to Rocky’s room. “Hey you have basically a last minute tattoo.” Rocky nodded her head in understanding as she finished lighting her candles and started her playlist. “Yeah, some guy named Beauregard,” Emily called as she headed back to the front.

Rocky spun around and walked out to the hallway, “I’m sorry. What did you say the name was….” Her head turned as the front door chimed and the door opened. “Did you say Beauregard?” Rocky questioned. Tito walked in and Rocky’s jaw dropped.

“Raquelle!” he exclaimed as he walked in, “Fancy meeting you here.”

Rocky stood frozen in disbelief. She willed her mouth to say something. She willed her body to move. “Do something!” her mind screamed, “Do something.” She watched him walk towards in what felt like slow motion. Suddenly the message hit the message center of the neurons that controlled her body and her body launched into motion. She sprinted to him and threw herself into his waiting arms.

“Beauregard,” she cried out, “What are you doing here?”’ Her brain raced for answers. “Do you have a game here? How did you find me?” she quizzed, “I don’t care. I don’t care. You’re here.”

“Well, you did say you hope my life leads me back to your door. So here I am,” he laughed as he swung her around. When he stopped to keep from getting dizzy, they stared at each other. Breathless, they stayed glued to each other- their lips nearly touching.

Rocky’s eyes scanned his face. His bright blue eyes sparkled as she searched for any clue as to his thoughts or feelings. Internally, she questioned “What if he doesn’t feel the same? What if he is just glad to see his friend?” The doubtful thought was immediately met with the equally loud thought, “Take the chance, Rocky- take the chance.” She brought lips to his lips in a tentative kiss. The electricity jolted through their bodies and together, they deepened the kiss.

“Mon Amour,” he moaned, “Raquelle, mon amour.” They kissed in the hallway, oblivious to their surroundings.

Finally, Rocky broke the kiss and he set her down gently. She took his hand to guide him to her room. When they stepped inside, she turned to him and asked, “Wait, did you say Mon Amour?”

“Yes, I did,” he pulled her to him, “Rocky, I love you. I have loved you from the moment you shot me down and told me that you saw a whole world hidden behind my eyes.”

“But I live here now, Beauregard,” she protested.

“So do I,” he kissed her, “So do I.”

“Wait, what?” she questioned, “You live here? In Vancouver?”

“Oui, I was traded earlier this week. Life literally brought me to your door, or coffee shop, to be exact.” he answered. When she looked confused, he told her the story about their almost meeting at the coffee shop.

It was Rocky’s turn to kiss him, “Remind me that I owe Lauren that sleeve.”

“I owe her everything,” he smiled.

“Did you really want a tattoo or was that a ploy?” she smiled as she studied his face.

“I definitely want a tattoo,” he laughed.

“Oh?” she took a step back.

He pulled up his shirt and pointed to his chest. “I am thinking of getting Raquelle right above my heart in a fancy script. Think you can do that?”

“I mean it’s the kiss of death for relationships. How long have you been with this Raquelle?” she mocked.

“For about sixty seconds, but I have a good feeling about her,” he teased.

“Maybe you should at least wait until after your first date,” she poked his chest before inhaling sharply as she caught sight of his abs.

“That’s a good idea. I have an idea for the perfect first date,” he quipped as they fell into the easy rhythm of their banter.

“What’s that?” she quipped back.

“Have you ever heard of Taylor Swift?” he laughed, “She has a concert this summer near here. You might like her.”

Rocky laughed, “You are going to make me wait until July for our first date? So rude.”

“Fine,” he kissed her before he continued, “How about hockey? I know a guy who can get you into the Canucks game tonight.”

“Perfect first date,” she returned his kiss. Suddenly the words of JD rang in her head- Don’t jump from one man to another. Rocky pushed off of his chest and took several steps back.

“Raquelle?” he questioned, “Did something happen?”

Rocky studied him for a moment, trying to verbalize her thoughts. "Beauregard, I like my life. I have a good job. I have good friends. I worked hard to create a life that makes me happy, and I am absolutely not changing it to fit into yours no matter how much I adore you."

"Raquelle, I don't want you to change anything for me. You're perfect exactly the way you are. Don't change a thing."

"I mean it Beau. I am not giving up my passion for you," she says as he inched toward her.

"I would be disappointed if you did," he said and took another step.

"You're really here in Vancouver?" she said, “Like for real?”

"Yes, I am," he said.

“And you want to be with me?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, I do. I want it more than anything I have ever wanted before,” he continued. He placed his hand on her cheek as she smiled, "It looks like all along there was some invisible string tying you to me."

"You think quoting her majesty Queen Taylor will help your case?" she whispered as he stood inches from her mouth.

"I would call on the hockey gods if I thought it would help me," he smiled.

"Shut up and kiss me," she started to quip back.

"Yes, Raquelle, yes Mon Amour" he cooed before he kissed her.

#tito beauvillier fic #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #the summer fic exchange 2k23 #anthony beauvillier fic #ny islander imagine

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