#Fireplace Installation Toronto

[spine-buster]

Lost in the Memory | Ryan O'Reilly | Volume I

gif credit @/mitchmarner

A/N: Well, here it is...the first instalment of a very inspired plot bunny that appeared the day that ROR became a Leaf! Hope you all enjoy what is basically porn without plot :)

TW: sibling death

“We have an MLSE-owned condo that you can both go to take a few moments before the game – get that nap in – before coming back here.”

Ryan let Noel take it. He made up something on the spot, that he already owned a condo somewhere near here as an investment, and it was sitting empty, so he’d just go to that to get his pre-game nap in. Nobody was the wiser. After Noel was handed the keys to the condo, Ryan ordered an Uber to take him to Summerhill.

As he approached the front door of the original Victorian semi, he admired the bay-and-gable architecture that reminded him so much of the house the Napier kids grew up in. It was why Whitney loved it so much in the first place, and why Ryan bought it for her without giving it a second thought. Original stained-glass windows. Hardwood floors and trim. Original wood-burning fireplaces, still working after being built in the 1890s. Old but cozy. Grand but homey. Four bedrooms, just like there was in her house growing up, one for each of the kids, and of course one for her parents. Ryan could still remember where all the kids’ bedrooms were on the second floor, for various reasons.

Owen was the eldest Napier child, born in 1986 just like Cal. He was the smartest of all the Napier and O’Reilly kids too, save for probably Tara, and his job as a surgeon out in Kelowna proved it. He and Cal played a lot of hockey together, but when Owen decided to get serious about science, he quit. He and Cal drifted apart slightly, but they were still good friends and still kept in touch a lot. Tara came next in 1988, and Ryan and Gareth followed three years later in 1991, within weeks of each other. The two boys were inseparable, whether they were riding their bikes, on their skateboards or rollerblades or scooters, zooming down hills on toboggans – not to mention on the ice. They were always playing together on the same teams, until Ryan left for Toronto and then the OHL. But even then, Gareth would get himself to any game Ryan was playing that was even remotely close to their hometown. Whitney was born four years later in 1995. Owen and Gareth weren’t too excited to get a baby sister – they would have obviously preferred a brother – but Ryan still remembered the day she was brought home from the hospital. Shannon came in 1997, and the group was complete.

When Ryan got drafted, the Napier family were there celebrating with his. Even all of his foster siblings – almost 50 of them – loved the Napier family. When he was drafted and moved to Colorado, they’d make a trip with his parents once a year to watch him play. When he moved to Buffalo, they would drive down multiple times a year to catch a game and support him, knowing what he was going through there. His house was their house. Their house was his house. Their joys were his joys, and their tragedies were his tragedies.

He heard the door unlock. When it opened, he saw Whitney standing on the other side in a pair of Lululemon tights and a crop top. She seemed surprised to see him, even though they’d texted before he got on the plane.

“I thought you’d be taking your pre-game nap,” she said.

Ryan stepped into the house. He didn’t want to waste time. “I’ve got two hours until I have to be back at the arena,” he said, closing the door behind him and locking it without even looking.

In one swift movement, he wrapped an arm around Whitney and pulled her against his body. She let a giggle out. “We can get up to a lot in two hours, can’t we,” she whispered, her voice husky as she looked up at him. It was only then she realized he was wearing a stereotypical Canadian tuxedo, and she wasn’t holding up her end of the bargain. “And look at me. I’m not even wearing what I promised for you.”

“You know I don’t care about that right now. I like you better like this anyway,” his voice was just as husky as hers. His hands travelled down over her ass and he picked her up, just as he had countless times before, and she wrapped her legs around his torso, just like she had countless times before. There was no hesitation on either end when their lips and tongues met hungrily, not bothering with pleasantries or soft beginning kisses. That was for those who were unsure or perhaps didn’t know what they were doing, and Ryan and Whitney had been doing this for over ten years.

Ryan was big and strong. He always had been, even as kids – when he’d pick her up and carry her to her room kicking and screaming so he and Gareth could play video games in peace without her annoying them as kids; when he’d push her on the swing in the park and she’d go higher than all the other kids, making them jealous; when she wasn’t so little anymore and she’d pair up with him in pool fights where he’d let her get on his shoulders and he was as solid as concrete foundation. Hockey had only made him bigger and stronger. All the training he did throughout the year, and in the summers with his dad, only meant that his body was always overpowering in its size and stature, but not in a bad way. The first time they’d done this he’d been so gentle with her, but it only took until the second time for Whitney to want to feel his entire body against hers, and for him to use it to his full advantage (and to hers, if she was being honest). They hadn’t looked back since.

Ryan wasted no time carrying Whitney up the stairs, climbing them like it was nothing and leading her to her bedroom. When he placed her down on the bed, their lips didn’t even leave each other’s until she began to grasp at his jean jacket. “Take this off,” she breathed out. “I want to feel your body, Snook.”

Whitney pushed the jacket off his shoulders, and he tugged at the sleeves and pulled it off, throwing it off the bed. She snuck her hands underneath his top, the firmness of his body beneath her fingertips once again. It didn’t matter how many times it happened; it invigorated her every time. There was no other body on this earth that felt like Ryan’s – she was sure of that. And it didn’t matter if they were in bed, in the backseat of his car, in a pool or hot tub, or anywhere else, the feeling of his physical body so close to hers reminded her constantly that Ryan’s body was made for her, and her body was made for Ryan.

Before she could take off his shirt, Ryan began leaving a trail of kisses down her body, dragging his lips and tongue along areas until he pushed her crop top up, exposing her bra. “Take this off, baby,” he mumbled against her skin. “I need to see you.”

Whitney leaned forward so Ryan’s giant hands could slip underneath the fabric and pull her top off, and she followed quickly in pulling her sports bra over her head, lying back down on the bed with her arms above her head. When she felt Ryan clasping his hands over hers, applying pressure to keep them from moving, she grinded her hips up against his. “Fuck,” he let out quickly, quietly, biting his bottom lip. He crashed his lips against Whitney’s, sticking his tongue down her throat and causing her to mewl in pleasure, her hips grinding against his once more.

He could already feel himself getting hard – it never took long with Whitney. He moved down to her breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it. Her little sighs and moans were what he got lost in; the same little sighs and moans he would think about when she was on the other side of the dinner table or deck in front of their friends or family and he couldn’t touch her like he could behind closed doors. The thought of them clouded his judgement so much sometimes that he’d tune out what everyone was saying around him and remember a time where he’d pinned her body under his and all they felt was ecstasy.

He began to place big, open-mouth kisses down her chest and stomach, getting achingly slow around her belly button. When he set her hands free, they immediately went to gathering the fabric of his shirt into her fists, pulling it off him quickly so they were both topless. His lips returned dangerously close to the waistband of her leggings. “Not now, Snook,” Whitney said. “Later. I want to feel you inside me. It’s been so long.”

Ryan could barely think straight. “Later?”

“Later,” she nodded, her hands moving down to the button and zipper of his jeans, unfastening them in record speed. “I need to feel you fill me up like you love to.”

She helped him wiggle out of his jeans, and he pulled her tights and underwear off. When he was back on top of her, he grabbed one of her thighs and hooked her leg around his torso. He squeezed at the flesh of her thighs, both their chests heaving up and down. “D’you still have your IUD?”

“Of course.”

The way Whitney closed her eyes as she felt Ryan enter her – every time – still got to Ryan – every time. The way her eyelashes fluttered, then closed shut, then the inhalation of breath. He could feel her nails digging into the skin on his shoulder blades. “Look at me,” he said, almost demanded. Whitney’s eyes fluttered open to do as she was told, even though he was still pushing himself inside her. “You look so beautiful under me like this,” he told her.

“You’re so good to me, Ry,” she called him the pet name only she was allowed. He was called Snook by his entire family. He was called Ryan by everybody else. But only Whitney could call him Ry. “God, you feel so good inside me.” By this point Ryan was fully inside her, basking in the feeling he knew all too well. With one of Whitney’s legs still hooked around his torso, he began moving in and out of her at a steady pace, making her eyes roll to the back of her head from the pleasure. She brought her hands around and cradled his face, her thumbs grazing over his lips. “You love having me like this, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Legs wide open, ready for you.”

“Yes.”

“Did you think about this when you were alone in St. Louis?”

She knew the answer to that question. She just wanted to hear him say how desperately he needed her. “Yes,” he huffed out, feeling her hips push into his again. “All the time.”

“Now that you’re in Toronto we can do this all the time,” she said. He watched as the slightest of smiles adorned her face, biting at her bottom lip. “You’ll be over a lot, won’t you Ry. Having me like this. Getting me on my hands and knees for you.”

The thought of it was heaven. If he could play hockey in Toronto and make love to Whitney in some sort of alternating schedule…well, that was his idea of paradise. “D’you need me like I need you?”

“Yes,” Whitney said without hesitation. “God Ry, you feel so good. Keep doing that. I want it to last as long as possible.”

Ryan grabbed her hands again, holding her wrists together above her head with just one hand. It was a while before he released them, and a while that they were back on his shoulder blades, digging deep into his skin. He couldn’t surmise how long they’d been going for, but he knew it had been a while, judging by the sweat on his body and how flushed red Whitney’s skin was, not to mention how puffy her lips were from all their kissing. He could feel himself getting close, and judging by the sighs and moans escaping Whitney, which he knew all too well, she was close too. “Look at me, Whit,” he said again, watching as she looked him in the eye.

“I want you to come inside me, Ry,” she breathed out. “Think about your cum in me while you win against the Habs.” He grunted at the thought. That would make him go crazy. “And when you get back home I’ll be waiting for you – waiting for you to fill me up again.”

Another loud grunt from him. She knew exactly what to say. “Fuckin’ love you, Whit.”

“Love you too Ry. Ever since we were kids.”

No more words were exchanged. Instead, laboured breaths, solid moans, and passionate cries filled the room until they came together, the feeling of Whitney tightening around his cock sending Ryan over the edge, and the feeling of Ryan coming inside of her, just as she wanted, sending Whitney over the edge too. He went for as long as he could, pumping in and out of her slowly as he felt her body shivering with pleasure, until even he was too tired. He collapsed onto her slowly, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his body, holding him close. They kissed for a while, slowly and passionately until they breathing returned to normal, with Ryan still inside her. Eventually, they lay together on their sides, holding each other.

Ryan’s eyes were getting droopy, and he was having a hard time staying awake. With the whirlwind 12 hours he’d just gone through, Whitney didn’t blame him. She began running her fingers through his hair, letting her nails massage his scalp. “Do you like how I redecorated the place?”

Ryan let out a tired smile. “Didn’t get to see it. But I bet it looks good. Not that my opinion matters.”

“Why not? You own the house.”

“I may have bought it but it’s your house,” he said. Her told her that all the time. He nestled his head into the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath in before exhaling. Whitney could feel his entire body relax in her arms, and she knew he was going to fall asleep any second. “I made a promise to your brother that I’d take care of you,” he continued, “and I’m not gonna break that promise.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d told Whitney that, either. “I know. I remember you saying that to Gareth as he lay in his casket.”

“I’ll always take care of you, Whit,” were Ryan’s last words before Whitney felt his breathing steady as he fell asleep.

Gareth passed away in the summer of 2013, when he was 22 years old. Whitney was just 18, about to move to Toronto and enter her first year of university at Ryerson to study communications. After hopping over to Russia, signing an offer sheet with Calgary, and then signing again with Colorado, Ryan was home early for the summer because the team hadn’t made the playoffs. Gareth, Ryan, and a bunch of their buddies had gone to the beaches near Goderich for a day of some fun and paddleboarding. One by one they had left, until Gareth was the only one. He was supposed to be back out again at 8 that night for a party, but he never showed up. That’s when everyone started to worry.

She remembered texting Ryan first, of course. They spoke every day.

did gareth go your house to get ready for that party?

i left the beach at 2 cuz i was getting sun stroke gareth was still there with jonesy, , john, ben, burnsy, and trent why?

he never came home he’s not answering his phone can you please come over ry

The specific details remained a blur to Whitney. She remembered little pockets of what happened, such as Ryan bursting through the front door. She remembered the kind police officer begging her and her parents to get some rest before the search resumed in the morning but being unable to, despite Ryan in her bedroom with her, holding her and rocking her back and forth, telling her that everything was going to be okay. She remembered not being able to stomach Bonnie O’Reilly’s broccoli chicken casserole even though it was one of her favourites. She remembered Ryan squeezing her hand under the table.

At some point, Whitney remembered hearing the worst news of her life: Gareth’s body had been found washed up on the shore of Lake Huron near Blue Water Beach and had been immediately transported to the hospital. So much water had gotten into his lungs that he’d developed an anoxic brain injury.

She remembered when she first stepped into his hospital room and felt physically sick by how many tubes he was hooked up to, including the ventilator. She remembered the doctors telling them that Gareth had drowned, that he was brain dead, and that they would have to make the choice as to when to remove the ventilator. They waited by his bedside for two days before Owen made it back from British Columbia.

On June 5th, at 3:30 in the afternoon, Gareth James Napier passed away.

Whitney doesn’t speak about his funeral.

***

When Ryan woke up an hour later, he and Whitney were still in the same position, nestled together in her bed. Her hand was still in his hair, their limbs entangled with one another’s. He groaned slightly, knowing that he had to leave but not exactly wanting to. He looked at his watch.

“You should take a shower before you leave,” he heard Whitney’s voice.

“Come with me.”

“Ryyyyyy,” she elongated his name, giggling slightly at the end. “You can’t have sex when you’re trying to wash the smell of sex off of you.”

“You said later, Whit,” his lips grazed against her skin. “It’s later.”

Whitney would never be able to forget how Ryan’s beard felt between her legs. After kissing and washing each other and Ryan eating her out within an inch of her life (seriously, he had to use his hands to hold her up because her legs turned into fucking jello and Ryan wasn’t about to let her fall in her own bathtub and get a concussion), they stood together at her front door, kissing, waiting for his Uber to arrive.

“We fly out to Chicago after the game, and then from there we fly to Buffalo,” he informed her in between kisses.

Whitney already knew. She’d looked up the schedule. “D’you want me to be in Buffalo, Snook?” she asked. He hesitated. “I can be there. I know it’s gonna feel…interesting for you.”

“I can let you know which hotel we’ll be in,” he acquiesced. “If—if you can even come that early. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Whit.”

“I don’t want you feeling alone in Buffalo. I know how much of a mindfuck it can be for you being there,” she wasn’t having any of it. “I can hang out with all the Leaf fans.”

He smiled. “I’m gonna have to get you a jersey.”

“Only if it has your name on the back,” she said, running her hands up and down his chest. “You can fuck me in it after.”

Ryan groaned, leaning his head down to kiss her. A car honked outside. “If you drive home fast enough that night, we’ll be able to. We won’t have to wait.”

Another kiss, this time more urgent. And another. And another. And another. “I’ll see you in Buffalo, Snook,” Whitney finally said her goodbye.

Another kiss. This time, Ryan bit her bottom lip between his teeth and pulled it along with him as he moved away. A soft mewl left Whitney’s lips. “See you in Buffalo.”

***

When Ryan played in Buffalo, Whitney would drive down to see him play. She wouldn’t tell anybody where she was going or what she was doing because it was their little secret. Sometimes she’d go just for a game and to be with Ryan afterwards, and she’d drive home the next morning to make it in time for her 10am class; sometimes if Ryan had a particularly long home stretch, she’d stay over longer and they would stay holed up in his house, making love in every room and on every surface imaginable. In between she would finish school work.

It wasn’t as frequent when Ryan first got to Buffalo. He’d signed a seven-year contract extension for an absurd amount of money – $52.5 million – and was putting up good numbers. But the team kept losing. And losing. And losing. It started to take a toll on him mentally. He’d call to talk with her and their conversations would last hours. Sometimes he’d get really emotional. Sometime he’d even cry, and her heart would break over the fact that he was feeling this way and she couldn’t be there to comfort him. He admitted to her long before he said it in the media that he’d felt like he lost the love of the game multiple times throughout the season. He didn’t need to say it in the media for her to know.

The most heartbreaking moment for Whitney came during a rainy night in Buffalo. It was her last night staying with Ryan until he had to leave for a whopping 14-day road trip with the team. He’d been grasping on to her the whole last day, as if she’d float away back to Toronto without saying goodbye. When they were cuddled in bed together, just kissing, she could feel fresh tears roll down his cheeks.

“What’s wrong, Snook?”

“What’s wrong with me, Whit? Why can’t I win? I—”

“Snook, you can’t put that pressure on yourself. The team doesn’t start and end with you—”

“First with Colorado, now with Buffalo…everywhere I go I feel like a cancer.”

Whitney remembered having a sick feeling in her stomach as Ryan said those words. She remembered wiping his tears away with her thumbs and with her kisses, begging him to realize he was worth so much more than what he thought. She remembered telling him over and over how much she loved him, hoping that it would calm him down, but it didn’t help much. He was too far into his own head. The next morning, as he showered and finished his packing, Whitney was scared to let go of him. She didn’t want him to leave. She didn’t want him to be away from her when he was so vulnerable. She made him promise to call her every day, even though they already spoke every day through text.

He kept his promise.

That summer, Ryan was traded to St. Louis. On the one hand, Whitney was sad because he wasn’t close anymore. There was no way she could just drive to see him so often now. On the other hand, she was happy he was traded out of a situation that made him lose his love of the game. She still visited him in St. Louis, but much less often. They still got up to their fun.

She parked in the same spot as she always did, and navigated the Keybank Centre like the back of her hand. She joined the legion of Leafs fans watching the warm-ups, getting as close to the glass as possible. She wasn’t wearing a Leafs jersey, so realistically, she’d stick out like a sore thumb. Despite her family being Leafs fans, she only ever wore Ryan’s jerseys.

Ryan saw her during warm up. Whitney knew he did because there was a cute little smile on his face for a few minutes, and there was a cute little smile on her face for a few minutes, watching him out there in a Leafs jersey shooting pucks and skating around. The days when her mother would haul her to arenas for Gareth and Ryan’s hockey games were long over, but the dream was alive for him: he was a Stanley Cup Champion. He was a Conn Smythe winner. And now he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. She only wished Gareth was here to see it all in person, even though she knew he was watching from above.

As she went to her seat after warm ups, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

You look beautiful.

She couldn’t help but smile.

Focus on the game you pervert.

She eventually took her seat, only about ten rows up from the ice. Barely four minutes into the game, she got her first gift: Ryan scored his first goal as a Toronto Maple Leaf. The only other time she thought she was as loud was when he won the Stanley Cup. A grand total of thirty-seven seconds later, he scored again.

Whitney knew she was going to be in for a hell of a game.

When he finished his hat trick at the end of the game, she cried a little. It was made all the more emotional by the fact they were in Buffalo – she had to admit that. But once the buzzer rang, and the Leafs won 6-3, she pulled out her phone instinctively, just as she had countless times before.

Leaving now. If you get home before me let yourself in. I’m so happy for you. And I’m so fucking excited for later.

It was when she got to her car that she received a reply. She thought he probably had to handle some post-game press which is why it took him so long.

That was for you. And you better be fucking excited.

***

At just before midnight, Whitney and Ryan’s lips crashed against one another’s in the privacy of her home. Their kisses were frantic, their hands, too. They almost knocked down the vase at the front entrance, and almost tripped going up the stairs to. But when they finally got to her bedroom, Whitney pushed Ryan to sit down on the edge of her bed. He watched as she dropped down to her knees in front of him.

She unbuttoned his pants and slid the zipper down expertly. She knew how to get into every pair of pants he wore. “You like what you see, Snook?”

“You know the answer to that,” he said, helping her wiggle his pants off of him. “You always look so pretty when you’re on your knees for me.” He brought his hands forward to cup her face, guiding her up slightly so he could place another sloppy kiss on her lips. “All that tonight was for you, baby,” he told her.

“You don’t have to butter me up Snook, I’m gonna suck your dick regardless.”

Ryan let out a chuckle. When he felt her hand over his growing length, he groaned slightly. He kissed her again. “You’re sweetness. That’s what you are, Whit. Sweetness.”

That was a nickname he had called her time and time again. And not just in bed. In the morning, when they would make coffee together; at dinner, when he was pouring her a glass of wine; when she was on the couch and he was in the kitchen as he would ask if she wanted more popcorn. The first time he called her that, they were still teens, and he was still using it to this day. Snook and Sweetness.

Whitney bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know if you should be calling me sweetness before what we’re going to do.” Ryan could feel his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he watched her free his dick from his underwear. She stroked him a few times before giving him one last look. “You wanna come down my throat?” she asked.

He nodded.

She licked the underside of his cock, causing him to hiss. She placed a few kisses along his head before she began sucking, only lightly, teasing him into oblivion. When she was satisfied with the number of curse words that left his mouth, without warning, she took more of his cock into her mouth. He leaned his head back in pleasure, and when he felt her take even more, a new string of expletives left his mouth. “God Whit, you’re so fucking good.”

She hummed in response, the vibration allowing for a new sensation. He could feel her swirl her tongue as he watched her bob her head up and down his shaft, taking more and more into his mouth with each passing moment. He pushed her hair out of her face and gathered it in his hands. He watched with eyes wide as she took all of him down her throat. He felt the back of her throat with the tip of his cock and grunted. She took him like that a few more times, with his help, his chest heaving up and down.

“Whit—”

“Hmmm?”

“Gimme your fingers.”

Whitney brought one of her hands up. Ryan grabbed it and brought it towards his mouth, sucking her index and middle fingers. He took them out of his mouth but kept them close, spitting on them before looking at her. “Touch yourself.”

Whitney whimpered at the command and did what she was told, sticking her hand down her underwear and placing them directly on her already wet pussy. She touched herself for a while as she kept taking Ryan’s cock down her throat again and again, even going so far as to spit on its head when she came back up once. Ryan couldn’t do anything else but curse, taking a while before he could finally formulate something else to say. “Look at me, Whit.”

She looked up at him with her beady eyes, popping his cock out of her mouth. “Yeah Ry?”

“You were fuckin’ made for me, you know that?” he huffed, bringing the hand that was in her hair around her face so he could wipe the spit off her lips with his thumb.

Whitney nodded quickly. “You were made for me too.”

“This pretty little mouth was made for me,” Ryan continued, “and your pretty little pussy too.”

“All for you,” Whitney agreed. “All for you.”

When Whitney continued sucking his dick, Ryan knew he was getting close. The moaning and sucking sounds definitely didn’t help, and he let Whitney know by saying it out loud. She took him all the way down to the back of her throat a few times more before Ryan bucked his hips and felt his hot cum release in her mouth and down her throat. He was gasping for air, his mouth wide open at the sensation; Whitney moaned in pleasure at the feeling and taste of him, as it had been so long since the last time. She continued to suck every last drop until she could feel his dick soften; only then did she finally stop.

Ryan pulled her up by gently tugging on her hair. His lips crashed on to hers and he pulled her body against his, falling onto the bed together. They wasted no time in removing each other of their clothes. When Whitney slid out of her underwear, Ryan got a look at how wet her pussy already was, covered in her own juices and his spit, and practically had a heart palpitation. “Come sit on my face, sweetness.”

She crawled over his body and sat on his face. He wrapped his arms around her thigs and pinned her down so she could barely move – just enough to grind if she wanted to, or if Ryan let her. It took no time at all for Ryan to start lapping at her pussy, starting with one long lick from bottom to top and sucking on her clit for good measure.

Whitney ran her hands through Ryan’s hair and gripped on to it. She knew she’d get beard burn, but she didn’t care – she wanted this to last as long as possible. Even though she was anticipating what would happen after this – all the positions they’d tangle themselves in, how many times he’d make her come, how much Ryan would leave her wanting more – the thought of Ryan between her thighs using only his tongue and lips to make her come was something she thought of way too often, especially on lonely nights when she was desperate to see him, or nights where they’d have phone sex and only her fingers could do. She had to have an active imagination because only the real thing – the real Ryan – could ever make her feel as good as he made her feel. Nothing was better than Ryan, because nothing or no-one loved her more than Ryan.

“Just like that, Ry,” she signed out, cupping her breasts in her hands and pinching at her nipples before having to grip the headboard.

“Tastes so fuckin’ sweet,” Ryan mumbled against the lips of her pussy, sucking at her clit right afterwards.

Her moans and mewls got louder. She knew her voice would be coarse tomorrow because of it – and he hadn’t even made her scream yet. That was still coming. She couldn’t help but tug on his hair and make him moan in the process. When she began grinding on his face slightly, she could feel his hands grip at her hips and help guide her – she knew she’d have marks there tomorrow, but she didn’t care.

After a while, when Whitney couldn’t hold it in any longer, she cried out his name over and over again as she came on his face, her entire body shaking on top of him. The only reason why she didn’t completely collapse was the headboard and Ryan’s strong hands. Eventually she shifted her body down, so she could see Ryan’s face, only to see that it was wet and covered in her juices.

“Holy fucking shit,” she blurted.

“I’m ready t—"

Ryan didn’t get to finish his sentence. Whitney acted fast, crashing her lips onto his so she could taste herself on his face. “Holy fuck,” she mumbled in between kisses.

“See how good you taste? How sweet?” Ryan mumbled in between kisses. “I could get drunk on you. I could eat you out all fucking night.”

“Tell me how you want me, Ry.”

“Get on your hands and knees.”

Whitney inhaled sharply. She did as she was told. She always did with Ryan. So did he. That’s what made everything so…nice. That’s what made everything so unbelievable. She faced away from him, but she could feel him watching her, getting a full look of how ready she was for him. When she felt him grab her hips again, she readied herself to feel his cock deep inside her pussy.

Instead, she felt Ryan’s body hover over hers. She closed her eyes, oblivious to what was going to happen next, until she could feel him placing light kisses at the back of her neck and across her shoulder blades. He was taking his time, being gentle, savouring the moment before they lost themselves into each other. “I love you, Whit,” he whispered into her ear.

“I love you too Snook,” she said.

“I’ve loved you forever.”

Whitney took another deep breath. He kissed along her ear. She turned her head so they could make eye contact. “It doesn’t feel like this with anyone else.”

“I know. It doesn’t.”

“I only ever feel like this with you, Ry. Nobody else can make me feel good like you do.”

“Same, Whit.”

There was a moment of silence between them, knowing what was about to happen. “Will you fuck me how you know I like it?” Whitney asked, her voice as sweet as how she tasted.

Ryan didn’t bother to answer. He continued his soft kisses down her spine instead, before placing a final kiss at the base of it and grabbing her hips. He could tell how giddy she was in anticipation. “Face down, ass up, sweetness.”

Whitney whimpered just at the command. In one swift movement she moved her body, and before she could say anything else, she felt Ryan’s cock teasing at her entrance. He was going to make her beg because she loved to beg, because she asked him to fuck her the way she liked it and this is how she liked to be fucked. She liked every way with him, but special moments like this deserved something special, and he was going to give it to her. When they made love, like the afternoon he arrived in Toronto…that was different. It was soft, and it was passionate, and it was the physical encapsulation of the conversation they’d just had, but what was about to happen next was anything but.

“Tell me how much you need me, sweetness.”

“I need your cock, Ry. Fill me up,” she begged.

“Beg. Beg.”

Whitney bit at her bottom lip. “Please Ry, pleeeease. I need to feel your cock inside me. I need you to fill me up. I need you so bad, Ry. I need what only you can give me.”

Ryan entered her in one swift movement, and her pussy was so slick that he slid right in and bottomed out. Whitney cried out in pleasure, and it didn’t take long for him to start pounding in and out of her, hearing her get louder and louder as he became rougher. Instinctively she would try to rise every so often, and Ryan would push her back down, making her cry out even louder for how he was controlling her pleasure. At some points, even her knees began to buckle and spread from under her, bringing her closer to the bed, and Ryan would have to pull her hips back up. He’d lost track at how many times he felt her walls tighten around his pulsating cock, lost track at how many times she cried out his name.

He pulled her hair so that her body was flush against his chest, bringing one hand around to tease her clit, and another to wrap itself at the base of her neck. He wasn’t choking her, because she didn’t like that, but this was their alternative. She brought her own hand up and placed it over his, trying as best as possible to intertwine their fingers.

“Fucking hell, Ry,” Whitney managed to get out. “Feels so fucking good.”

“D’you love it when I fuck you like this?”

“Yes. Fuck yes.”

“Tell me how good it feels. Use your words, sweetness.”

Whitney couldn’t believe him. She also couldn’t believe she would oblige. “You feel so fucking big,” she began, heavy breaths punctuating every thought. “You stretch me out, and my pussy…my pussy feels so full. I can’t wait until you come inside me. Can you feel how wet my pussy is?”

“How many times did you come?”

“I—I don’t know. I always lose count with you.”

Ryan leaned back and took Whitney with him, so she was lying down on top of him with one hand at the base of her neck and another on her pussy, his cock still buried deep in her. “Ry—”

“Take it Whit. Take it like the good girl you are for me.”

Though he couldn’t see it, Whitney’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as Ryan pumped in and out of her in this new position, hitting an angle that was sending her even quicker over the edge than before, which she didn’t think was possible. “Ry…Ry…fuck Ry…” her nails dug into the back of his hand. Her heartbeat was out of control.

She didn’t even know how much time had passed in that position – how could she? – before she heard Ryan utter the magic words. “I’m fucking close, Whit.”

“I wanna face you when you come, Ry. Can you—”

Before she knew what was happening, he slid out of her and got on top of her. Though she whimpered at the loss of his cock inside her, he spread her legs and hiked one around his torso and entered her again. Though it felt like she had been having just one continuous orgasm for the last several minutes, she was desperate to feel him come inside her, to feel one last wave of pleasure throughout her body. They looked each other in the eye; Whitney could see a fire in his that he reserved only for her.

“Tell me how much you need me, Whit,” he huffed.

“I need you more than anything, Snook,” she told him, because it was the truth.

“Am I the only one that gets to come inside of you?” he demanded.

“Yes,” she bit her bottom lip. “You’re the only one. The only one that gets to come in pussy, because it’s all yours, Ry. All yours.”

He buried his face into the crook of her neck, thrusting into her so forcefully that she cried out his name over and over. When she felt him come inside her, she grabbed the hair at the nape of his neck. Her finally orgasm rushed throughout her entire body like a title wave, hers and Ryan’s breathing the only thing to be heard in the bedroom. His breathing was so frantic it almost sounded high-pitched, almost like he was going through an asthma attack. His face was still buried in the crook of her neck as he collapsed on top of her. When he rolled over to the side, his cock left her pussy for the first time (for more than, like, five whole damn seconds) in what felt like hours. Whitney’s body was still shivering from her orgasms. Ryan was having a hard time catching his breath.

It was a few minutes before either of them felt even 0.0001% semblance of normalcy. Ryan was the first to look over at Whitney, who was still staring up at the ceiling. “Are you okay, Whit?” he asked.

“I’m better than okay,” she whispered – it was the loudest her voice could get.

Ryan couldn’t help but smile. “Ready for round two?”

Whitney whipped her head to the side to look at him, only to see him smirking and giggling like a little school girl. “I don’t think I’ll have a voice tomorrow. I don’t even think I’m going to be able to walk tomorrow,” she chastised.

“C’mere,” he mumbled, outstretching his arm so she could roll into his body. When she was tucked into him, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you for being in Buffalo tonight.”

“It was nothing,” she said. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

“I love you, Whit.”

“I love you too, Snook.”

***

There was a long road trip coming up to the west coast. Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and then to New Jersey, before finally coming home again to face Edmonton during a Hockey Night in Canada. This meant that Friday was a good a time as ever for Ryan’s parents and Whitney’s parents to drive to Toronto to watch the game against Minnesota. Ryan had secured them tickets and access to the family room – as family members, of course. Whitney would have to be on her best behaviour.

They all had lunch earlier that day, before Ryan usually went down for his pre-game nap. Whitney met up with the parents at their hotel before the game, getting her friends and family pass from her mom before she walked with them to the arena. After giving their names and passes to a man named Omar, they were led to the family lounge, where there was at least half of the women Whitney assumed to be the partners of the men on the team. There weren’t any parents around, though, which Whitney thought would make them stick out like a sore thumb.

They weren’t there long before Whitney noticed a woman balancing a toddler on her hip approaching them with a big smile.

“Hello! You must be the O’Reilly family?” she asked.

“That’s us! And friends!” Brian said.

“It’s very nice to meet you. Welcome to the Toronto Maple Leafs!” she extended her free hand to shake everyone’s. “I’m Aryne Tavares, John’s wife, and this is my son Axton.”

Bonnie waved at him and he waved back. “We’re the O’Reillys,” she pointed at herself and her husband, “and these are our friends and neighbours, James and Alice Napier and their daughter Whitney. Whitney and Ryan grew up together.”

“Come take a seat, please – Ryan mentioned to John that you were all coming tonight. Can we get you any food? Whitney, follow me, you can meet some of the partners…”

It was a bit of a blur for Whitney, if only because she was meeting so many people associated with the players on the team that it was hard to keep track of them all. She met Bee McTavish, who was getting married to Morgan Rielly this summer; Aberdeen Bloom, who was with William Nylander (Whitney had read her book and had loved it); and Lusine, who was with Rasmus Sandin (Whitney didn’t think there’d be anyone younger than her present, but lo and behold). This sort of situation had happened before in Colorado and Buffalo, where things went normally, and in St. Louis, where things went a bit…differently, but Whitney was glad to say this was normal. They were all very nice, very welcoming, very talkative.

St. Louis hadn’t been like this. The first time she’d met the team, it was much less formally – at one of the guys’ raucous birthday parties she just happened to be in town for. Most of the guys were nice, albeit buzzed, but they were manageable. Jordan Binnington and his hands definitely weren’t, and he had a hard time taking no for an answer until Ryan had to step in. While that was long in the past, whenever it was brought up or remembered, Ryan still got angry about it. The anger didn’t come from a place where he though he owned Whitney or that she was his and no-one else’s – it was because Jordan was just downright disrespectful, from his words to his intentions to his actions. Ryan had been nothing but respectful to everyone his entire life, and he couldn’t fathom acting like Jordan towards anyone.

It was when Whitney emerged from the washroom during the intermission between first and second period that things got interesting. Everybody had been so nice, and then she saw Bee McTavish waving to get her attention. “Is everything okay?” Whitney asked.

“Aryne said Bonnie told her you and Ryan grew up together?” she wanted to clarify.

“Yeah,” Whitney nodded. “He’s known me since I was a baby.”

Bee looked around, over both shoulders, before she lowered her voice. “It’s Aberdeen’s birthday tomorrow, but since the boys are leaving for Seattle, we’re having her birthday party tonight,” Bee explained. “Lusine and I spent an hour decorating her place for a surprise birthday before we got here. You and Ryan should come! Get you away from your parents if you want.”

Whitney didn’t know what to say. It was the first time she was meeting everyone and they were already inviting her out? This was probably the nicest group of women she’d ever met. “Oh my God, that’s so – that’s so kind of you, but please, if this is a friends thing, please don’t feel obligated—”

“Oh my gosh, don’t even start,” Bee cut her off. “It’s nothing serious, and we would love to have you. I’m sure Ryan will love to get to know the boys even better in an informal setting, away from hockey.”

Whitney couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face. “I’ll ask him when we see them, but I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes…if only to get away from having to entertain his parents on a Friday night,” she winked.

“Boomers in the big bad city,” Bee joked.

“Nah – Brian and Bonnie are actually from Toronto. They’ll be fine. They may actually know a bar to go to.”

***

It was almost one in the morning before Ryan and Whitney called it a night at Aberdeen’s surprise “Quarter Century” birthday party. While they could have stayed longer, they promised their parents brunch at 11 the next morning before Ryan had to leave for the airport. They weren’t in for a long drive up to Summerhill, thankfully, because the second that they were in the elevator, away from the condo, Ryan grabbed Whitney’s hand.

“You know what I remembered tonight?” Whitney asked as they emerged from the parking garage.

“What’s that?”

“Remember when Binner was flirting with me?”

Ryan rolled his eyes, but not in an annoyed way – in an angry way, which – if Whitney was being honest – was the exact reason she brought it up. She wanted a little bit of heat to fester while they were in the car. “What about it?”

“Just how bad the flirting was,” she cracked a joke. “He wasn’t even being subtle about it.”

“Whit—”

“Remember how you had to talk to him and got angry with him?”

“He deserved it,” Ryan said simply. “I never got over it, by the way. I’m still angry with him about it.”

“He helped you win a Stanley Cup,” she deadpanned.

“Doesn’t matter. He disrespected you and made you feel uncomfortable. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness for making you feel that way.”

There was a moment of silence between them, with only the sound of the rubber tires moving along the road filling the void. Whitney’s hand snuck across the dash and landed on Ryan’s thigh, squeezing it gently. “You never told me what you said to him, you know.”

He moved his hand to grip her thigh. “Come on, Whit.”

“Come on, Snook,” she countered, raising her hand higher on his thigh, dangerously close to his member.

She watched as Ryan bit his tongue, and it had nothing to do with how high her hand was. She knew he was having one of his small internal battles. “I just told him to knock it off. That I didn’t like how he was treating you. You clearly weren’t interested and what bothered me was that he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He told me he bet you were used to it and that’s when I kind of lost it on him. Told him that you weren’t, and that if he was gonna keep doing that, I’d knock his teeth down his throat.”

Whitney couldn’t help but smile. “Was that before or after he put his hands on me and pulled me in to sit on his lap?”

Okay, now Ryan was getting angry. Remembering the thought of seeing Jordan’s hands on Whitney, in places where Ryan knew only his hands had been, sent him spiralling. Pulling her onto his lap, like some kind of dog – Ryan had steam coming out of his ears that night. “I fuckin—I can’t—I think it was after,” he honestly couldn’t remember. The anger clouded his memory. “All I remember is wanting to give him a black eye. Dad always said no violence and I’ve never wanted to punch a guy until then.”

Whitney didn’t know why, but she loved hearing all of this. She loved hearing about how upset Ryan got, what he said to Jordan, everything. It wasn’t that it made her feel wanted or valued – she always did with Ryan, so that wasn’t an issue. And it wasn’t because she generally disliked Jordan – although that was a perk. But she felt herself getting hotter with each passing second. “You hated it because I belong to you, right?” she prompted, her voice low and not suggestive at all. She saw Ryan hesitate to go down this road, and more than a few moments of silence passed between them. She squeezed his thigh softly. “You can say it Ry. It’s okay.”

“I don’t think…” he hesitated again. “You don’t belong to anyone, Whitney. I don’t like that.”

“Okay,” Whitney nodded slightly, her voice sober. So she struck out on that one – that was fine. “Sorry, Snook.”

“You don’t have to apologize, sweetness.”

Another few moments of silence. Whitney noticed some recognizable shops, so she knew they were close to home. She removed her hand from his thigh and placed it over his, which was still resting comfortable in her lap. She made sure their fingers intertwined before moving it up. “Remember when we were kids and we used to getaway in your car for hours?”

Did he. Ryan could still vividly remember the first time they hooked up in his car. For years there had been such charged energy between them that Ryan didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, this was his best friend’s younger sister. On the other hand, he quite literally couldn’t keep himself away from her. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that they literally grew up together. It began with instances like Whitney sitting beside him on an old porch swing one night, where Ryan felt like his body was on fire. It continued to other instances, like when they were playfighting in the pool one night and Ryan couldn’t get out at the same time because…he had something to hide. Then, later that summer, Whitney and Ryan shared their first kiss. It almost didn’t happen, because Ryan was convinced Gareth would be lurking in a bush ready to kick his ass, but they were safe. From the moment he felt Whitney’s lips on his, he was a goner. He knew that there would be nothing else like it. They kissed more than a few times after that, and each one was their little secret. It progressed to Whitney and Ryan texting each other in secret. Nobody knew about the kisses. Nobody knew about the pictures she was sending him, either. Not nudes, but suggestive enough.

When Ryan came back the following summer, things were cranked up to 1000. Gareth wasn’t around as often because of his summer courses (though he was still around quite a bit), and Owen had already moved to British Columbia, which meant that unless Ryan and Gareth’s friends were around, when they were alone, Ryan and Whitney got into a lot of trouble. Kisses turned to makeout sessions – on couches, in his bed, on her bed. Then makeout sessions on couches or beds turned into makeout sessions in Ryan’s car, when they’d drive to Goderich together to watch the sunset over the lake but end up not seeing the sunset at all. Kisses and makeout sessions turned into touching, too. Lots of touching. Whitney could still remember what it felt like the first time Ryan’s hand snuck underneath her sundress and in between her legs. Ryan could still remember what it felt like the first time Whitney zipped down his pants and snuck her hand beneath his underwear.

They were supposed to be watching the sunset one night when Whitney made the suggestion that they have sex. Ryan was against it at first, coming up with any excuse he could. “You’re my best friend’s younger sister” was the obvious one. “You’re barely seventeen” was his other, more plausible excuse. Whitney didn’t care; she didn’t care that he was older and she didn’t care about his excuses. He was the safest, most natural, most responsible, most loving choice. All the boys at school were gross little perverts, and here was Ryan, who had always looked after her, who was always asking if he could stick his hand down her pants, always asking if he could grope her boobs. Most of all, she wanted it because she knew he loved her. There was no way it could be with anyone else. She wanted him so badly that it was driving her insane. But then there was a moment when Ryan looked into Whitney’s eyes and everything changed. They weren’t desperate – far from it. They weren’t even pleading. Instead, what he saw in her eyes was everything he loved about her, all the memories they shared growing up together, all the times they had each other’s back when they broke a vase or had some unexplained bruise or fed their vegetables to the Napier’s dog, Cinnamon.

And so, as the sun set over Lake Huron, in Ryan’s car, they had sex.

And they hadn’t stopped since.

“Of course I remember,” Ryan said. He made a right-hand turn onto the street. Whitney knew it would only be a minute or so until he pulled into her small driveway. “I—I always remember those times. Those were some of my favourites.”

Whitney squeezed his hand again. She was wearing pants, but when she guided Ryan’s hand between her thighs, he could feel her core. “They’re some of my favourites, too.”

“Why are they for you?” Ryan asked.

Whitney took a moment to collect her thoughts. “I—it’s gonna sound weird, Snook.”

He gave her a look from the driver’s seat. “I spit in your hand the other night and told you to touch yourself. We’re past the point of weird, sweetness.”

Whitney couldn’t help but snort. He was right, that was for damn sure. “I’ve always thought you were attractive. Like, once I hit puberty, I found myself only being attracted to you, or, like, trying to find guys that looked like you so it wasn’t you because I thought it was wrong at first. And so when we started hooking up, for me, it was a lot about the emotions, sure, but more so about, like…the physical. Like…your body, Snook. Just…your entire body is just so big and strong, and when you’d hover over me or I’d get to run my hands along your back or your chest, I just couldn’t get enough of your body. There’s always been something so visceral about your body to me. So remembering back to the first time I got to touch it…God, I could make myself come right now just thinking about it.”

Ryan stayed silent for a few moments, taking in everything Whitney had to say. “For me,” he began slowly, “it’s some of my favourite memories because I—you—you were always just a ray of light. Like so many people got moody and pretentious, but you didn’t. You matured and whatever, but you still experienced joy. Every day wasn’t the end of the world for you. You saw every day as a chance to experience joy.”

Whitney was smiling. “I talk about you like a hot piece of ass, and you talk about me in the most beautiful way.”

“You were always a handsy kid,” Ryan joked. He finally turned into her driveway, parking the car and turning it off. “But your body was just as enticing, sweetness. I still remember the first time I touched you too. How your body responded immediately. Just like now,” his voice was getting lower and lower, his eyes focusing on his hand between her thighs.

Whitney leaned over the centre console first, kissing Ryan sweetly. Their lips couldn’t leave one another’s, and eventually, Whitney began climbing over to get into Ryan’s lap. He pushed his seat all the way back so they would be more comfortable. His hands immediately went underneath her top as they continued kissing, and everything felt back like it did in Goderich, on the coast of Lake Huron. From the kissing to the touching to the windows fogging up.

With Ryan’s hands over her breasts, Whitney felt overwhelmed – but in the best way. “Make love to me here, Snook. Just like we used to,” she breathed out.

“Yeah? You want it?” Ryan asked.

She nodded. “I want it. I want you, Ry.”

Somehow, Ryan helped Whitney out of her pants. Then, somehow, she pushed his down too, sticking her hand down his underwear to free his cock. His hand travelled down between her legs, teasing at her lips and causing her to moan. “You remember the first time I touched you like this?” Ryan asked. Whitney nodded her head. “You remember how you were squirming in my lap?”

“I was trying to get your fingers deeper.”

Ryan giggled. “Your entire body was shaking when I touched you.”

“Because I couldn’t believe you were,” she said. “Things I had dreamed about for so long were happening.”

Ryan pushed a finger ever-so-slightly into Whitney’s pussy, causing her to catch her breath. “What else did you dream about?”

“It—it started with you kissing me. Then I would dream about your hand or your mouth on my pussy,” she explained as they looked each other in the eye. “The first time I dreamt of us having sex, I woke up in the middle of it and I was touching myself.”

“Fuck Whit, you never told me that before.”

“Did you ever dream about me, Snook?”

“All the time,” he nodded. “Still do, sweetness.”

“What do you dream about?”

“Most of the time it’s burying my face in your sweet pussy,” he began, pushing his finger further into her. “Can I tell you a secret, sweetness?”

“Yeah?”

“Sometimes, when it’s been long since we’ve seen each other, I dream about something as simple as holding your hand.”

Whitney couldn’t help but smile. He called her sweetness, but he was sweetness personified. He said things like that all the time, and it didn’t matter what it was, but Whitney would fall for it every time. He was so sentimental. “Make love to me Snook.”

He guided his cock to her entrance and she lowered herself on top of him, gasping at the angle that he was entering her, especially since they were so close physically. It took her a few moments to get used to the feeling. This wasn’t the first time they had hooked up in a car since they were horny teenagers, but it had definitely been a while. “You feel so good, Whit,” Ryan huffed, gripping at her hips.

“Can you do me a favour?” she asked, opening her eyes and finally focusing back on him.

“What’s that?”

“Can you kiss me here?” she asked sweetly, moving her hair out of the way and pointing to her jawline.

Ryan smiled. “Of course,” he mumbled, already moving forward to place kisses exactly where she wanted them. She grabbed onto the backrest right by his shoulders.

“And here,” she pointed to her neck, causing Ryan to move down.

She began moving in his lap, slowly, running a hand through the hair at the nape of Ryan’s neck. He moved back up to her lips and they kissed for a while, Ryan’s tongue down her throat and hands squeezing her hips. She didn’t want this to end quickly, so she didn’t move quickly, either. There was something so intimate about the moment, despite them being in the front seat of a car. Reminiscing on their memories right before this must have been the kicker. Ryan was just as gentle then as he was being now, except now they both knew what they were doing.

“Ry?” she pulled away so they could look each other in the eye.

“Hmm?”

“D’you love me?”

“Of course I love you,” he said, kissing her right afterwards. “D’you love me?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s only ever been you, Ry.”

He hummed in happiness. “It’s always about you for me.”

Whitney leaned forward, giving him small, light kisses along his jawline and neck before moving up to his ear. “Tell me I’m yours, Ry.”

“You’re mine, sweetness,” he huffed into her ear. “All mine.”

“All yours,” she repeated. She didn’t belong to him – that he made clear – but she was his, and he was hers. “Look at me, Ry.”

He did. His eyes were so blue, Whitney thought that the oceans were captured in his eyes. They were always like that, but when he grew the dark beard, they somehow became even more prominent. “You’re so beautiful, sweetness,” he said. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful girl in my life.”

Whitney couldn’t help but smile. While fucking Ryan was out of this world, making love to Ryan was the best. While fucking felt so good, and so satisfying, and always left them wanting more, making love brought an emotional fulfillment neither could get from anyone else. “Your girl.”

“My girl,” he kissed her passionately. The windows had fogged up so much, but their pair continued kissing anyway, Whitney’s grinding in his lap giving them more and more pleasure slowly but surely.

Whitney moved to kisses along his jaw when she felt herself getting close. “I want to feel you come inside me, Ry. Will you do that for me?” she whispered.

“Anything for you, sweetness,” he tightened his grip on her hips.

She didn’t move any faster, but she could feel Ryan guiding her back and forth. They were looking into each other’s eyes the entire time as they got closer and closer to their release. It seemed as if even their breaths were in sync, huffing out laboured breaths until Whitney became louder and louder. When he came inside her, Ryan could feel her legs shake in his lap, the moans escaping her as she nestled into the crook of his neck. “Oh fuck Ry…” she didn’t know what else to say, couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Was that what you wanted, sweetness?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “It was just like when we used to sneak away to Bluewater Beach.”

Ryan smiled again, and he knew Whitney was smiling too. He slipped out of her, but they stayed embraced for a while longer before they began to feel the cold permeate the car. “Let’s go to bed, Whit.”

She sighed, knowing she’d have to get off his lap. She looked him in the eye one last time before resolving to climb off him and back into the passenger’s seat. “Will you hold me?”

“I’ll do anything you want me to,” Ryan promised.

They redressed and rushed inside, desperate not to feel the cold night air for too long. Whitney washed off her makeup and Ryan got ready for bed, lying in bed in his boxers with the blanket open until Whitney slipped in. He made sure to set his alarm for 9:30 before outstretching his arms and having Whitney cuddle in to him. Just like he promised, he held her as they fell asleep.

“I love you, Snook,” Ryan heard Whitney say, barely above a whisper, right before she fell asleep.

“I love you too, Whit,” he responded, placing a small kiss on her shoulder.

***

“She was very nice,” Bee said to Aberdeen as she helped load the dishwasher of all the glasses used for the surprise party. “She was mentioning how she and Ryan grew up together in Seaforth. She’s got two older brothers, and Ryan’s got three other siblings, and they’re all best friends.”

“That’s so nice,” Aberdeen said, slightly buzzed, trying to hide from Bee that she was going to lose her balance any minute. She gripped on to the counter top for dear life. “Did you watch them at all? See anything fishy?”

Bee furrowed her brows. “Uh…no? Why? Did you?”

Aberdeen shrugged her shoulders, a playful grin playing on her face. “I don’t know what’s going on, but they’re not just friends.”

[maxspacestonework]

Transform Your Home with MaxSpace Stone Works’ Chic Marble Fireplaces

Looking to elevate your home’s beauty with a marble fireplace? Visit MaxSpace Stone Works in person to choose from a wide range of full marble slabs instead of just viewing product samples. These include highly-valued marbles like Bianco Carrara, Calacatta, Equator, Emperador Dark, Statuario, and many more. As one of Toronto’s leading fabricators, we craft and install your desired marble fireplace to the highest professional standards. With 1000+ slabs in stock, we can offer lower prices without compromising the quality. Our skilled staff members, who have over a century of combined expertise between them, are dedicated to fulfilling the needs of each customer. From marble selection to manufacturing and installation, we are by your side every step of the way. To upgrade your home with a world-class marble fireplace, contact MaxSpace Stone Works today.

[stonefireplaceideas]

Stone for fireplace toronto

When was the last time you came upon interior stone for fireplace walls installation and didn't say how nice it was? It's true that fireplace stone walls.

[yorkmasonrygtablog]

Understanding Chimney Damage: Varieties and Appropriate Repair Solutions

Chimneys stand as vital structural elements within many residences, facilitating ventilation for fireplaces, stoves, and heating systems. Nevertheless, the passage of time, coupled with usage and structural imperfections, often subjects them to a spectrum of damages. Timely identification and resolution of these issues are imperative for upholding the safety and functionality of chimneys. This article delves into prevalent forms of chimney damage and corresponding chimney repair Toronto remedies.

Cracked Mortar Joints

Among the most prevalent afflictions affecting chimneys are cracked mortar joints. These fissures may manifest due to thermal expansion and contraction, water incursion, or the natural aging process. The deterioration of mortar joints undermines the stability of the chimney structure and heightens the likelihood of water ingress. Rectifying cracked mortar joints typically entails repointing, wherein compromised mortar is meticulously replaced with fresh mortar to reinstate structural integrity.

Spalling Bricks

Spalling, denoting the flaking or chipping of bricks on the chimney's exterior, often ensues from water infiltration. Moisture infiltrating brick surfaces freezes and expands, inducing cracking and disintegration. Remediation of spalling bricks necessitates the removal of damaged units followed by replacement with new ones. Additionally, the application of a waterproof sealant serves to mitigate further water-related deterioration and prolong the chimney's longevity.

Chimney Leaks

Chimney leaks, stemming from diverse factors such as damaged flashing, cracked chimney crowns, or degraded chimney liners, pose consequential challenges. These leaks precipitate internal water damage, encompassing stained walls and ceilings, mold proliferation, and structural compromise. Ameliorating chimney leaks mandates the identification and subsequent remediation of their sources, be it through flash chimney repair Toronto, chimney crown sealing, or chimney liner replacement.

Creosote Buildup

A byproduct of burning wood or other fuels, creosote poses a significant fire hazard as it accumulates within chimneys. Over time, creosote buildup restricts airflow, augments the risk of chimney fires, and emits unpleasant odors. Mitigating creosote buildup necessitates professional chimney cleaning services. Furthermore, the installation of a chimney cap serves to preclude debris and fauna ingress, thereby mitigating the risk of creosote accumulation.

Structural Damage

Structural impairments to chimneys may arise from an array of factors, encompassing foundation settling, seismic activity, or suboptimal construction methodologies. Indications of structural compromise include leaning chimneys, cracked masonry, and eroded mortar joints. Rectifying structural damage may encompass the reinforcement of chimneys with steel braces, rebuilding of damaged sections, or stabilization of foundations.

Conclusion

Vigilant inspection and maintenance constitute quintessential practices for upholding the integrity and safety of chimneys. By acquainting themselves with common types of chimney damage and employing appropriate repair measures, homeowners can avert exorbitant repairs and fortify their residences against potential hazards. Whether it involves rectifying cracked mortar joints, replacing spalling bricks, addressing chimney leaks, eliminating creosote buildup, or resolving structural deficiencies, timely intervention can extend the operational lifespan of chimneys and furnish homeowners with tranquility for years to come. It bears emphasizing that proactive measures in chimney repair Toronto maintenance are indispensable for safeguarding homes and inhabitants alike.

[thefireplacestorethatcomestoyour]

Upgrading Your Wood-Burning Fireplace to Natural Gas Fireplace Installation

Wood-burning fireplaces have been a popular addition to homes, offering warmth and ambience during cold winter evenings. But, using wood for burning is not without the associated issues, including the requirement for continuous combustion, cleaning of ash and concerns over the quality of air. If you're looking to improve your experience with your fireplace as well as make it more comfortable by switching to natural gas fireplaces could be the answer you've been looking for.

This blog will discuss the main factors and steps involved in making your wood-burning fireplace Natural Gas Fireplace Installation ones.

Safety First

Before beginning the process of conversion, the safety of your family and friends should be your most important concern. Talk to a certified technician or a Gas Fireplace Installation specialist to evaluate the health of your current fire place and chimney. Make sure they are in good condition and are in compliance with the local safety regulations.

Understanding the Benefits

A natural gas fireplace has several pros over wood burning fireplaces: • Convenience: • Cleanliness: • Efficiency: • Environmental Considerations:

Budgeting and Costs

Converting to a natural-gas fireplace will require some upfront costs, like purchasing a fireplace kit or insert along with installation charges and any required chimney modifications. Although it might appear to be a significant purchase at first, you'll be able to save money over time because of the lower cost of natural gas.

Maintenance and Care

After your natural gas fireplace has been installed, routine maintenance is essential to keep it functioning safely and effectively. Make sure to schedule annual inspections and cleans by a certified technician to identify any problems or issues, as well as remove the logs of gas and ensure that the fireplace is burning properly.

The Bottom Line!!

The upgrade of your fireplace from wood to a natural Gas Fireplace Installation in Toronto could change the way you heat your home providing convenience efficiency, energy savings, and a greener alternative. But, it's important to do this with cautious planning, security in mind and the experience of experts who can guarantee the smooth transition.

By following the right guidelines If you follow the right steps, you will be able to enjoy the warmth and beauty of natural gas fireplaces for many years to be.

[stuccostar]

Expert Thin Brick Veneer in Toronto: The Ultimate Guide to Enhance Your Space with Stuccostar

When it comes to enhancing the aesthetics of your Toronto property, thin brick veneers provide a versatile and cost-effective solution. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the importance, common uses, benefits of hiring professionals, services offered by Stuccostar, qualities to look for in a thin brick veneer expert, how to choose the right provider, steps involved in the installation process, the cost of thin brick veneers, best offers available, frequently asked questions, and conclude with why Stuccostar is the top choice for all your thin brick veneer needs.

Importance of Expert Thin Brick Veneer Toronto:

Expert thin brick veneer installation in Toronto holds immense importance for homeowners and businesses alike. These high-quality veneers not only enhance the visual appeal of any structure but also provide durability, insulation, and protection against harsh weather conditions. They offer a timeless charm that adds value to your property and creates a lasting impression on visitors.

Common Uses of Thin Brick Veneers:

Thin brick veneers have become increasingly popular due to their versatility. They can be used in various applications, including exterior facades, accent walls, fireplaces, and interior feature walls. With their ability to mimic the appearance of traditional brickwork while being lighter and easier to install, they offer endless design possibilities for both residential and commercial projects.

Benefits of Hiring Professionals for Thin Brick Veneer Installation:

While some individuals may attempt a DIY thin brick veneer installation, it's highly recommended to hire professionals like Stuccostar to ensure a flawless and long-lasting result. Here are a few key benefits of entrusting the job to experts:

Expertise and Experience: Professional installers possess extensive knowledge and experience in handling thin brick veneers, ensuring precise installation techniques and superior craftsmanship.

Time and Cost Efficiency: Hiring professionals saves you time, as they efficiently complete the installation process, minimizing any disruptions to your daily routine. Moreover, their expertise reduces the chances of costly mistakes or rework.

Quality Assurance: Professionals utilize high-quality materials and follow industry best practices to ensure a durable and visually appealing thin brick veneer that stands the test of time.

Services Offered by Stuccostar:

Stuccostar offers an array of services to cater to all your thin brick veneer requirements in Toronto:

Consultation and Design: Their experts provide personalized consultations and assist in designing the perfect thin brick veneer solution that aligns with your vision and architectural style.

Material Selection: Stuccostar offers a wide selection of premium thin brick veneer materials, including various colors, textures, and finishes, allowing you to choose the one that best suits your project needs.

Professional Installation: Their skilled craftsmen execute precise installation techniques, ensuring seamless integration of thin brick veneers into your space.

Maintenance and Repairs: Stuccostar provides maintenance and repair services to keep your thin brick veneers looking pristine and extend their lifespan.

Qualities to Look for in a Thin Brick Veneer Expert:

When selecting a thin brick veneer expert, it's essential to consider the following qualities:

Experience and Expertise: Look for professionals with a proven track record in thin brick veneer installations. Their experience demonstrates their ability to handle diverse projects and deliver exceptional results.

Attention to Detail: A reliable expert pays attention to even the smallest details, ensuring precise installation and a flawless finish.

Excellent Communication: Effective communication throughout the project ensures that your expectations are met, and any concerns or queries are promptly addressed.

How to Choose the Right Thin Brick Veneer Provider:

To select the ideal thin brick veneer provider for your project, consider these factors:

Reputation and Reviews: Research the reputation of different providers by checking online reviews, testimonials, and portfolios of their previous work to gauge their expertise.

Quality of Materials: Ensure that the provider offers high-quality thin brick veneer materials that are durable and visually appealing.

Customization Options: Look for a provider that offers customization options to meet your specific design requirements.

Steps Involved in the Thin Brick Veneer Installation Process:

The installation process typically involves the following steps:

Surface Preparation: The existing surface is thoroughly cleaned, repaired if necessary, and prepared to ensure proper adhesion of the thin brick veneers.

Application of Mortar or Adhesive: A layer of mortar or adhesive is applied to the surface, providing a secure bonding surface for the installation of thin brick veneers.

Placement of Thin Brick Veneers: The thin brick veneers are carefully placed onto the prepared surface, ensuring precise alignment and spacing.

Grouting and Finishing: After the thin brick veneers are installed, the gaps between them are filled with grout, and any excess material is cleaned off. This step gives a finished look to the installation.

Cost of Thin Brick Veneer Installation and Best Offers:

The cost of thin brick veneer installation depends on various factors such as the size of the project, the complexity of the design, and the chosen materials. To get an accurate estimate, it's advisable to request a quote from Stuccostar, who can provide you with competitive pricing and the best offers available.

Frequently Asked Questions about Thin Brick Veneers:

What are thin brick veneers?

How do thin brick veneers differ from traditional bricks?

Are thin brick veneers suitable for both interior and exterior applications?

What maintenance is required for thin brick veneers?

Can thin brick veneers be customized to match existing brickwork?

Conclusion:

Enhancing your Toronto property with expert thin brick veneer installation is a wise investment that provides aesthetic appeal, durability, and protection. By choosing Stuccostar as your trusted partner, you can expect exceptional services, superior craftsmanship, and a wide range of design options tailored to your specific needs. Transform your space into a stunning masterpiece with Stuccostar's expertise in thin brick veneers.

Company Name: Stuccostar - Your Ultimate Thin Brick Veneer Experts

[vaughanair-blog]

Vaughan Air provides reliable AC, Water Heater, Furnace, Fireplace Installation services in Toronto. All our technicians are highly skilled, licensed, experienced & committed to delivering high-quality services. We are always ready 24/7 to serve our customers. For more information, Call today at 647-887-6418 & schedule a routine maintenance service.

[promptbuilders-blog]

[alpheating]

undefined

Cost of Gas Fireplace Installation in Toronto  | ALP Heating Ltd.

See More at https://alpheating.cacost-of-gas-fireplace-installation-in-toronto

Air Conditioning Repair & Installation - https://alpheating.ca/air-conditioning/

Furnace Repair & Installation - https://alpheating.ca/furnace/

Humidifiers  - https://alpheating.ca/humidifiers/

Ductwork Installation - https://alpheating.ca/duct-work/

New Gas Line Installation for BBQ - https://alpheating.ca/gas-lines/

Water Heater Repair & Installation - https://alpheating.ca/water-heater/

Phone: +1-647-972-8714

Email: contact@alpheating.ca

#AirConditioningRepair  #AirConditioningRepair Installation

[installmartgtatoronto]

We provide here Gas services Toronto. Gas Pipe Installation makes the life of people easier by equipping their lives with different gas services and adorning their houses with many different gas appliances. Installmart is the best service provider in town with the most reliable Gas Service in Toronto.

[aeroheatingcooling]

Is your air conditioner blowing hot air? If so, then it might be time for some air conditioning repair. Most of us don’t know-how or skills to repair air conditioners ourselves. That's why it's crucial to choose the right repairman to complete the task for you.

[thefireplacestorethatcomestoyour]

6 Tips by Expert Fireplace Maintenance in Winnipeg to Keep Your Fireplace Running

Fireplace maintenance is a professional service offered to ensure the safety and effective operation of fireplaces, chimneys, and related heating appliances. Natural Gas Fireplace Installation and regular maintenance is essential for the life of the fireplace, as well as the safety of the inhabitants of implicit hazards like chimney stack fires or carbon monoxide leaks.

There are some crucial aspects of fireplace maintenance service like:

Chimney sweeping

Broad One of the primary tasks in fireplace maintenance is sweeping chimney stacks. Over time, soot, creosote, and debris can accumulate inside the chimney stack, circumscribing tailwinds and increasing the threat of fires. A professional chimney stack reach will clean the stack thoroughly, removing any figure-up and icing proper ventilation.

Inspection

A comprehensive examination of the fireplace and chimney stack is conducted to identify any implicit issues or damage. This examination may include checking for cracks, loose bricks or mortar, chimney stackliner condition, and the integrity of the stovepipe system. It helps identify problems beforehand and prevents them from raising into more significant issues.

Repairs

The Fireplace Repair in Toronto will offer adroit services if any damage or issues are discovered during the examination. This can include repairing cracks, replacing damaged bricks, fixing chimney stack liners, or addressing any other necessary repairs to ensure the fireplace's safe and effective operation.

Creosote Removals

Creosote is a largely ignitable substance that can accumulate inside the chimney stack. A fireplace maintenance service will remove any creosote figure-up to reduce the threat of chimney stack fires.

Clearing Blockages

Birds' nests, leaves, or debris can obstruct the chimney stack or stovepipe, impeding proper ventilation and adding the threat of bank or carbon monoxide entering the living space. The maintenance service will remove blockages to ensure an appropriate tailwind and help hazards.

Safety Checks

Fireplace maintenance services frequently conduct safety checks to ensure that all factors of the fireplace, including the mute, bank sensors, and carbon monoxide sensors, are performing rightly. This helps ensure the safety of the inhabitants and early discovery of any implicit problems.

Final Thought!

It's essential to hire the best Fireplace Maintenance in Winnipeg to ensure the work is done duly and over to safety standards. Regular maintenance, generally recommended at least formerly a time, helps keep fireplaces in optimal condition and minimizes the threat of accidents or inefficiency.

[rostica]

Rostica Construction Stucco Company Toronto

Rostica Construction is a locally owned stucco & home renovation contractor serving the Great Toronto area and its surrounding which includes the counties of Etobicoke, York, North York, West End, Downtown, Midtown, East York, East End and Scarborough. We are proud to call ourselves veritable stucco experts in Toronto. Our In-house stucco professionals are all specialized in acrylic stucco. Our team expresses high quality workmanship and a results-oriented approach that has earned us a well-earned reputation as one of the Toronto Ontario's premier stucco and plastering contractors! We provide estimates with consideration and can also offer ideas, suggestions and provide examples of alternate products to assist you in finding the most appropriate finish for your project.

Stucco Services

Stucco service is used for more than just exterior wall construction. When you call Stucco Specialists, you’re getting access to a complete range of stucco installation  and stucco repair services that include Chimney repair, outside BBQ area with stucco, outside kitchen with stucco, pool deck border stucco repair service, water damage repairs and more.

We offer complete commercial and residential stucco services. Our local stucco company offers great service with the experience you are looking for from an exterior stucco contractor. We are experienced stucco contractors that provide everything from small stucco repairs, new construction, patches, repairs or complete stucco replacement to full commercial stucco and residential stucco services including Plastering, Fireproofing, EIFs, and Lath.

Stucco installation can last years if it’s professionally maintained. Regular stucco maintenance helps prevent significant damage and costly repairs down the road. When it comes to Stucco repair in Concord, Stucco repair in Etobicoke, Stucco repair in York, Stucco repair in North York, Stucco repair in West End, Stucco repair in Downtown, Stucco repair in Midtown, Stucco repair in Uptown, Stucco repair in East York, Stucco repair in East End and Stucco repair in Scarborough, Rostica Stucco Construction Service is your top choice. We visit your home or building and give you a detailed line-itemed estimate that fully explains your issues.

Stucco Services Expertise

Isolated cracking and staining are an indication that there is a problem. The simple act of covering the cracks with new stucco finish or paint will not fix the problem. These stucco patches are only a temporary cosmetic solution that covers up the problem and the extra stucco coating actually keeps the wall from drying out and accelerates the dry rotting of the wood framing and plywood sheathing. Random cracking is a cosmetic problem, which can be fixed only by using the proper techniques to control the movement, painting or refinishing the stucco without reinforcing the cracks will allow the cracks to telegraph through the paint or new stucco finish.

Rostica Construction Service has handled many stucco and other services over the past 5 years. We know how hard it is to find a reputable stucco service contractor to come out and handle the small repairs as well as large ones. Our goal is to work closely with our clients in order to meet their home decorating and design needs with an attention to detail that will transform their property in line with expectations.

Stucco Contractors in Toronto

When people think of plaster service or stucco service, they think of a hard-shell exterior paint that provides insulation for their home or business but did you know that stucco has many different uses? Additional Professional Stucco installation can be used for New Home Construction, New Commercial Building Project, Residential

Chimney Construction, Pool Decking Surfaces, Borders Outdoor Cooking Areas and Exterior BBQ Kitchens

Residential Property Services & Coverage

The exterior of your home is largely responsible for the first impression that a guest sees when they visit your property. By enlisting the local stucco & plastering expertise at Rostica, you can ensure that your property's stucco will be professionally installed. The first step towards making your home the "talk of the block" is getting the current exterior acrylic stucco finish a retexture stucco look.

Commercial Stucco Service

The look of your commercial property is very important. If the stucco on your commercial property is cracked or missing pieces, people might hesitate before choosing to do business with your company. Crumbling stucco walls on the outside of the building is never a good impression for a business. We helped many commercial buildings by fixing their commercial stucco issues, Business owners and commercial builders in the local area love our work! They trust us with all of their stucco, plaster, EIFs and Fireproofing service needs.

Stucco can be used in the residential and commercial market. We offer new construction stucco installation and stucco repair work. Traditionally people think of stucco as an exterior finish only. However, you can add texture and visual interest to other areas of your home or building including fireplaces, pool rooms, accent walls and more. With the variations of stucco finishes that are available today, the design possibilities are endless.

This durable finish will give your home a fresh style while simplifying the maintenance needs. You can rely on Rostica for quality finishes and durable results. We have convenient appointments available to assess your home and discuss your needs. We are an experienced team ready to handle projects of all sizes. We take pride in our work; we finish projects on time and within budget.

Stucco Problems

We will thoroughly examine your commercial stucco or residential stucco problem to determine exactly what is going on with your property. As the best local stucco contractor, plaster contractor and EIFs service contractor in Toronto Canada, we will diagnose your  situation. Once we have determined exactly what the issue is we will devise a plan of action for stucco repair.

The Benefits of Stucco

Stucco is an energy efficient & versatile facing material that can be applied to almost any surface. Whether your needs are for commercial or residential use, stucco colors and finishes can be combined and manipulated to match or accent an existing structure. Stucco is a durable product, impact-resistant, fire-resistant, breathable and moisture resistant, it’s able to be used in all climates.

Stucco gives limitless potential to any project; some examples are window box styles and decorative pillar shaping; your project truly becomes one of a kind. In addition to the many finish textures and color options, stucco can be used to achieve any creative vision.

Stucco & concrete wall repair

Proper waterproofing and repair of your concrete and stucco walls is critical for the integrity and long life of your building. Both original improper construction or building movement can create cracks that can allow water to penetrate a building wall. Rostica is a contractor who provides comprehensive stucco and concrete wall waterproofing and repair. We install rubber sealant at all movement joints and a complete elastomeric wall waterproofing system to create a complete waterproof seal.

Stucco Texture

There are many different types of stucco texture, if a stucco contractor isn't experienced, your home could come out looking completely different than the other homes in the neighborhood. We are an experienced stucco company that can match the stucco style and texture that you want.

You may have seen a commonly used textured finish on vacation homes, this texture is a great choice for these homes as it can be applied faster than how it is usually applied when a smoother texture is desired. This type of texture is easy to maintain and easy to repair that's why it's the first choice on these types of commercial stucco and Regular residential properties and high-end stucco construction usually opt for smooth finish stucco. Smooth texture stucco is not easy to do and should be left to experienced stucco companies like Rostica Construction.

Stucco Installation

We provide an impressive stucco installation. Our stucco contractor has mastered the different techniques, from mixing to applying, for a smooth and clean finish. Our pros also consider the type of surface that we need to coat. Hence, if you work with us, we’ll deal with minimal errors for your convenience and satisfaction. Also, since we are budget friendly, our stucco service won’t hurt your pocket!

What We Do

Having a proper installation of EIFs, Installation of plaster or Installation of stucco requires using a failsafe method of three-layer application to ensure that your commercial or residential stucco application is done correctly, it provides superior performance due to the three coats of stucco. The three-layer application also requires less maintenance over the lifetime of the stucco. We offer our customers the best local stucco options, and we consider  ourselves the best local stucco company in Toronto Ontario.

Rostica stucco service will install, repair and/or retexture your stucco surface correctly in your place, you can rely on us to keep your business or home property safe from water damage and moisture issues. When your commercial stucco or residential stucco is properly maintained it keeps your place energy efficient and weatherproof. If your place needs stucco repair, texture stucco restoration or smooth stucco restoration, choose Rostica Construction for your stucco repair and installation needs. We offer many different stucco services, if you need residential or commercial stucco application, stucco repair or plaster repair in Toronto city, look no further! you've found the best stucco company in Toronto Ontario.

How We Can Help

We are experts on everything stucco! Rostica Construction lives up to its name by providing quality work and excellent customer service to anyone in need of stucco work, our quality workmanship has earned us a reputation that made us grow as a best stucco and plastering contractors in Toronto Ontario, much of our business is repeat or referral business from satisfied customers. If you are tired of contractors who provide bad work and poor service at inflated prices, consider choosing us to handle your next project.

Our Mission

We are dedicated to assisting our clients by providing quality drywall, plastering service and quality stucco finish at a lower cost. We always ensure to maintain safe and legal practices for clients and our employees. We look forward to helping you with the home renovation or repairs you need to build yourself the dream home you've always wanted!

Qualification

Rostica Construction Inc, is a licensed, bonded, and insured business, we have years of experience planning, managing, and executing construction projects for drywall, stucco, and plastering. All aspects of your home project will be taken care of by our professional team. We have provided high-quality home renovation and repairs to many clients, which include million-dollar homes and commercial businesses too.

Why Choose Us

Rostica Construction is one of the most respected finishing and stucco contractors in Toronto city. We operate with a commitment to build business relationships one project at a time through personal integrity and open communication. We strive to maintain the highest level of professionalism, honesty and fairness in our relationship with our suppliers, subcontractors, professional associates and customers.

Rostica Construction is dedicated to provide superior quality work at fair and market competitive prices. We strive to achieve customer satisfaction in all areas including timeliness, attention to detail, and service-minded attitudes. We feel this will ensure the longevity of our company through repeat and referral business. We pride ourselves in being knowledgeable and highly skilled in our trades, we offer a wide range of services and innovative stucco materials and techniques.

From interior to exterior, large commercial to residential, we bring our clients a large selection of colors and texture options, and treat each project with the same professional integrity that our name and reputation has been built upon. We ask and encourage you to contact us and see for yourself, the difference in the services we have to offer for your home or business.

Rostica Construction Service Cost

We offer the most comprehensive Plastering & Stucco Services at the most competitive price in the Toronto area. If you are looking for the most reliable Stucco repairs, stucco installation in the Etobicoke, stucco installation in York, stucco installation in North York, stucco installation in West End, stucco installation in Downtown, stucco installation in Midtown, stucco installation in Uptown, stucco installation in East York, stucco installation in East End or stucco installation in Scarborough, look no further than Rostica Construction. Hiring us to handle your stucco work for your home is cost efficient. Professional stucco service saves you money down the  line by catching problems before they become major obstacles. We offer a full guarantee on all the work we do. And we don’t waste your valuable time. We show up on time, start work right away and work until the job is right. Call Rostica today to inquire about our professional stucco services.

[bhandarimarblekishangarh]

Granite That Mesmerize your home

Each and every year, stone and tile trends change constantly in the architectural and design communities and can be difficult to keep up with. We at Contemporary Stone & Tile Design magazine wanted to get opinions from different architects and designers around the country to find out what they are seeing, and what they expect to see. Before getting into the trends they are seeing, let’s spend a little time getting to know those who are about to answer:

Lori Wiles— “I’m a true Midwesterner, born and raised in Missouri, now living in Iowa. Growing up, I spent lots of time in the working barns and classic farm houses in my rural area. My capable and creative mom gave me ample opportunity to draw, paint, sew and build things for fun. That led to a degree in interior design and a long career in the field. I’ve always been especially interested in interior architecture and how it impacts the people who use the spaces. My interior design firm specializes in planning new construction and re-modelling with the end user experience in mind.”

Ryan Thewes— “I grew up in Southern Indiana and graduated from Ball State University. After graduation, I was fortunate to get a job in Chicago, IL, working for a former Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice –

Don Erickson. The incredible experience of working for Don introduced me to the theories of Wright’s organic architecture which, amon

g many other things, focused on the use of natural materials and the creation of space. I expanded on my education of organic

architecture by also working for Robert Green, a former Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice in Atlanta, GA, and eventually an apprenticeship with Bart Prince in Albuquerque, NM. I am currently practicing out of Nashville, TN.”

Maxim Nasab— “I am the principal and founder of Apexx Architecture, a firm specializing in bridge architecture and recreational piers. Our firm is located in Tallahassee, FL. I am originally from Montréal, Canada. I got into architecture because it allowed me to pursue my love of science and technology, but also allowed my creativity to flourish. Architecture has the power to change cities for the better for generations. It is a profession that can truly make the world a better place and architects have the responsibility to ensure this through their designs.

I believe in designing for the people and the greater good rather than fame or recognition. I believe that great architecture is derived from honesty and transparency. Using local natural materials and allowing the structural system to express itself by integrating it within the design. Whenever I walked in buildings, and even today, I always tried to guess the materials that buildings were structurally supported by. It always made me a little sad when materials were not honest or true, or the structure was not evident. This is one reason why I went into bridge architecture. It is very hard to hide the structure of a bridge, and instead I always try to enhance its visibility, express its beauty and make it clear to the user as to how it is supported. Anyone should be able to walk in.”

Charmaine Wynter— “I am Jamaican Canadian, and an international multi-awarded interior designer with projects spanning the residential and hospitality sector. My natural design talent began to make its emergence in 1981, surprising family and friends, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that I took it seriously and enrolled in an interior design program at a recognized college. I founded my design firm in Toronto, Canada in 1996; and later transitioned to the Dallas, TX, location in 2016, where it is now headquartered. Now many decades post-graduation, as principle designer, I jet back and forth to work projects of interest on both sides of the Canadian and U.S. boarders — infusing each with my signature distinctive luxurious living design aesthetics.”

Dawn D. Totty— “I started 25 years ago and it was fast and furious in New York. When I transitioned from there to the south, I was 1,000 miles away. I had to start from scratch. I had to reinvent myself. That was challenging.”

Trends with stone

One of the first things I discussed with each of our participants were the trends they were seeing with stone in particular. Over the years, the popularity of engineered stone has fluctuated, while natural stone seems to be extremely popular with some people rather than others. According to Wiles, she is seeing more people interested in using stone in their homes and offices than even a few years ago. “From my perspective, it’s become easier than ever to find the perfect material for any project with all of the stones available,” she said. “I particularly like the uniformly colored stones at the extremes of light and dark palettes. These make a great statement and give some confidence that a color palette can change through the years without having to change the large areas of stone.”

Wiles isn’t the only one that sees the popularity in natural stone. Thewes, Nasab and Wynter all agree with her. “What I have been seeing is a lot of natural materials, natural colors and natural tones,” said Nasab. “Limestone is really popular along with granites that have that limestone look. Minimalism and honesty in materials is coming back strong and will be here to stay for a while. Clients and users are craving that real feeling when they touch materials, which is why a lot of the companies are working hard to mimic that look and feel. Some of them are getting really close, too.”

Thewes is seeing a lot more requests for stone as the popularity of “Mid-Century Modern” design continues to rise. “I think part of this is because people still want modern design, but are turned off by the cold sterile nature of some of it,” he said. “The use of natural materials like wood and stone help soften the design yet allow us to keep a strong modern aesthetic. Linear stacked stone complements these types of projects perfectly by emphasizing the horizontal line and providing a defined texture that works well in opposition to smooth surfaces like wood, glass and drywall. Depending on the budget, we have had some pretty good success with engineered stone. However, for the more discerning client, it is tough to beat natural stone. While the wide range of colors are still often used and will never go out of style, we are seeing more of a request for darker colors. Almost black in some cases.”

Wynter is seeing popularity with quartz surfacing because of its look and durability. “Quartz is extremely popular with clients seeking a marble look, but the durability only provided by engineered stones,” said Wynter. “Stone is such a luxe material with its many faceted sheens and textures that there are trends within a trend. However, in general, I’m using more cool-toned hues with larger veining and fissure movement within the stone than a few years ago.”

Totty sees it not only with natural stone but also with quartz, because of how they look. “Patterns, movement and more color is making its way into the realm of interior design with the usage of quartz and marble being the forerunners,” said Totty. “Stone pigments that are currently trending are soft greens, grays and neutrals that are a wonderful complement to today’s interior design trends.”

When it comes to application of stone, according to Wynter, it is being more of the norm with her clients. “What’s great is that as the use of luxury stones are becoming more the norm, my clients are relaxing and spaces are more often taking on a casual luxe style,” said Wynter. “I’m using stone on the flooring, countertops and backsplashes, fireplace facades, accent walls and in outdoor living rooms.”

“While fireplaces continue to be the place that people think of using stone first, I like to incorporate stone in lots of areas in a home like kitchens and bathroom,” said Wiles. “In commercial settings, a stone wall or columns are a fairly easily constructed feature that suggests stability and permanence.  I’ll consider using it in any area that I think needs a great visual weight to help balance out the space.”

For Thewes, he is seeing the most common use for stone is in accent walls for both residential and commercial projects. “The ability to light the walls really accentuates the texture and draws attention to the feature,” said Thewes. “This is very effective in commercial projects where traditionally, more sterile and simple materials are used. The stone offers a good break from these materials while also providing a durable and maintenance-free surface.”

For Nasab, he is seeing stone used primarily for exterior paving, stairs and plazas. “It really enhances the site and gives it that extra touch of beauty, especially when it’s a natural stone,” he said.

Totty is utilizing marble and granite in big ways, such as installing it onto kitchen walls for a bold and elegant statement. “Kitchen larders, countertops, backsplashes and even floors are some of my favorite uses for granite, quartz and marble,” said Totty. “Both commercial and residential projects are now implementing stone surfaces to create a regal look with the benefit of durability.”

Tile Design Trends

When it comes to designing with tile, it seems that the material is a lot like stone, especially for Totty. “Floor-to-ceiling tiled walls in kitchens and bathrooms, and even laundry rooms, are very popular,” she said. “In many cases, the tile is the dominating focal point to a room’s decor.”

According to Nasab, whose area of expertise is not tile, he has noticed that tiles have continued to evolve and currently they are still hitting strong with mimicking the look of natural stone.

One thing that stands out to Thewes with tiles are the extremes they go to with size. “Tile size trends have continued to swing away from the standard 12- x 12-inch tile to either extreme,” said Thewes. “Either very small or very large, depending on the application. For our projects, we still focus on the more earthy and muted colors that are more simple and less busy. Black and white are timeless and can be adapted to any style or aesthetic so they are always popular.

“There has been a pretty significant rise in the popularly of the wood plank tiles that gives the look of a wood floor, but the durability of tile,” Thewes went onto say. “I tend to shy away from materials that pretend to be something they are not, but I have seen a quite a few of these fake wood products that are very well done.”

Wiles has also noticed the different types and feels of tile that are currently on the market. “I continue to be amazed at how many tile designs there are and excited about the tactile finishes they have now,” said Wiles. “We’re seeing our client’s willingness to use a variety of shapes like hexagons, octagons and circles increase. They’re now open to shapes that would have been unheard of just a few years ago. It also seems that tile manufacturers have become really in tune with current color palettes and color palette projections, which helps designers use their products more easily.”

“Tiles are dimensional and showing up in large formats,” said Wynter. “Pattern is back after a long rest so we are embracing lace, ethnic and graphic print on wall and floor tile. Keep your eyes peeled for hues of green and coral — especially this year.”

As far as applications go, according to Wiles, “Beautifully tiled bathrooms are the number one request from homeowners so we’re designing fully tiled showers, tub surrounds and backsplashes. The development of the really large-scaled and textural tiles that mimic other materials makes feature walls a big hit as well.”

Wynter said that tile will always be the strongest in commercial applications due to its durability and resilient nature, but it is making strong headway into the residential arena as the popularity for outdoor backyard oasis’ increase. Totty agrees with Wynter in the outdoor use of tile. “Outdoor kitchens are now showcasing tiled areas for durability, as well as aesthetics,” said Totty. “Tile is still the first choice for most home and commercial installations, in particular, shower walls and floors, laundry and mud rooms, as well as entryways for low maintenance and easy clean-up.”

“For tile, floors are still the main use,” said Thewes. “Occasionally, we will see an accent wall or something similar executed, but mainly floors and shower surrounds are most popular.”

Trends moving forward

Finally, we asked these architects and designers about the trends moving forward for both stone and tile.

Totty– “Tile with graphic, bold patterns and colors are quite favorable and are being used as statement makers in powder rooms, kitchen floors and laundry rooms to create that ‘wow’ factor in interior design. Granite and marble with movement are now used as art. Matching up patterned seams and placed vertically on walls in high-end hotel lobbies creates an amazing show stopping affect to any wall.”

Wynter— “Green is coming on strong as a trend color that has made it to classic status, so I predict we will see green marbles, green granites in all hues from glass to jade, as of green slates.”

Nasab— “I believe that natural colors will stay for a while, especially in stone. It is hard to beat natural stone, especially now that it has become much more affordable. What I am seeing in tile is black and whites coming back. That modern minimalistic design is coming back strong. There is no better material than stone in terms of natural beauty and bang for the buck. I would encourage designers and clients to find local quarries and start from there rather than hit the foreign stones right off the bat. It really is a beautiful thing to use materials that are locally sourced and they truly make the projects feel as if they belong in the site they are built on.”

Thewes— “Looking into the future, I don’t really see much of a change for tile other than possibly an increase in use due to its durability. It’s a battle between what the client desires more, warmth or durability. However, I do think that the use of stone will continue to rise as it provides both warmth and durability. As the quality of engineered stone improves, costs should go down and using stone in projects will no longer be a major drain on budgets. Durability and low maintenance are always important client requests and this material fits right in with that while also providing a major increase in quality and design. The addition of stone to any project increases its value and the perception of cost.”

Wiles— “I think we will continue to see natural and natural-looking hard surface materials in demand. These will be used in larger areas and combined with other materials that have more of an artisan vibe to create really durable, tactile and friendly environments. Tile and stone are really designer’s friend. Once you know how to best use them and have great craftspeople to install them, they can transform any space.”

Added by expert and export team of Bhandari Marble World…………………..