#alex newhook imagine

[burkymakar]

Alex Newhook Imagine: gratitude

Summary: Your dad works as an equipment manager for the Avalanche, and invites players to stay for Thanksgiving dinner. With the games bookending the holiday, a lot more Avalanche players are attending.  At first annoyed, you can’t help but connect to one player, Alex Newhook. Maybe this holiday dinner will be fun after all.

Word Count: 4.5k

Note: Female OC. Inspired by Ted Lasso’s “Carol of the Bells”. In this, you are Donny White’s college-aged daughter so have fun with that lol. This was supposed to be released before Thanksgiving not before *checks watch* New Year’s. Oops.

Donate

Alex Newhook’s original plan was to spend American Thanksgiving with his girlfriend’s family in Boston, but when they broke up before the season, he didn’t really consider a replacement plan. He had fun Cup celebrations to experience, and then the season to prepare for. 

Suddenly, it was mid-November and he was about to spend Thanksgiving alone.

That worried his mom, even though they were Canadian. Paula would wring her hands on FaceTime calls and be abuzz with maternal panic about him being all alone with nothing in the Colorado cold. She tried to get him to fly to Newfoundland but he didn’t see the point in adding a three and a half hour excursion to his jetlag, even if he did miss his folks. Especially since they had to play the Canucks the day before Thanksgiving and then fly to Nashville the day after only to fly back to Colorado. 

The people in charge of NHL scheduling should be shot.

He and Bowen Byram were doing laps at their apartment complex pool since Denver was getting a random day of heat before the cold snap coming. After pushing out of the pool, Alex lamented to his buddy about this bullshit. 

“Oh dude, just go to Whitey’s thing,” he said, shaking out his hair like a golden retriever. “Don’t you remember? He invited everybody. Just text him.” 

“Are you going?” Alex toweled off before sitting with him on the lounge chairs. 

“Yeah, probably. Kails has to study for finals back in Van, and I didn’t want to fly out so I told Donny I’d go. You should come. Val said it’s fun.” 

“Val goes?”

“Yeah, I think he’s a regular, he takes his wife when she’s in town. EJ’s going for dessert,” Bo said. “Frankie takes his family, including Kauter, and Georgie said he wanted to stop by since his girlfriend is back in Finland.” 

“Okay, yeah, I’ll text Donny,” Alex said, and hopefully his mom would be assuaged.

+

You hated making pie crust, it was such a pain in the ass. Every ingredient had to be at the exact right temperature mixed the exact right way. 

But you heard from your dad that some Avalanche players could attend your family’s big Thanksgiving event, and that meant more effort. And gluten-free pie.

Back from college, you were kind of annoyed your family holiday was going to be overrun with sweaty hockey boys. Your dad even said more players than ever were going to be there this year. 

It was a typical experience for most of your childhood. Your dad, Donny White, had been working with the Avalanche organization your entire life. You spent so many nights growing up going to games and hanging out in the locker rooms and playing street hockey with the players or their kids. 

Now in your last year of college, it no longer had the same glamor it once did. They were just some guys.

You had bigger things to worry about, like your upcoming finals. And this damn pie.

“Gluten-free pie should be illegal,” You griped to your younger brother DJ, a senior in high school. 

He snickered, “We should make the good shit anyway, I bet they’d be thrilled.” “I heard that.” Your mother called from the living room, vacuuming off dog hair from the sofa. “These guys are your father’s coworkers, be respectful. No swearing tonight.” “They swear on the ice,” DJ whined. 

“And they don’t swear at the dinner table,” she said primly. 

You shared a wary look with your brother but kept your mouth shut. After the pie was done and you had showered, dinner was still two hours out. Your dad and DJ were picking up your grandfather from his retirement home. Your other brothers Jimmy and Freddy were playing Mario Kart, and you were trying to fix your hair. It was dry but not styled, and then the doorbell started ring.

“Y/N, you gotta get it!” Jimmy called to you. 

“You get it!”

“No, you get it I’m about to kill Freddy!” 

“Shit, fine,” You huff and run downstairs. Your hair is still a mess and you’re in your towel and bath robe that’s covered in cartoon pickles (a gag gift from DJ several birthdays ago) and you swing open the door, not sure who you expect to see on the other side. 

Whoever it was, you certainly didn’t expect Alex Newhook. 

He stood there politely, his eyes only flitting down briefly to see your outfit before locking eyes with you. He wore a nice outfit, a good sweater, jacket, and a black hat that wasn’t a baseball cap. He looked very dapper and cute. “Hey, uh, is Whitey, I mean Donny, here? I’m Alex.”

Your face burned with a blush but you stayed composed enough to tighten your pickle bath robe. 

“Uh, hi,” You greeted. “I’m Y/N, and no he went to pick up his dad. My grandfather, I guess.” Sentences seemed so much harder for some reason. It didn’t help that Alex Newhook was cute as hell, but it was probably just because you felt caught off guard.

“Oh, am I early?” He looked around. 

“Yeah a bit, we weren’t expecting people until 5ish,” You said.

“Shit, sorry, Bo told me 4, not 5,” he said, grabbing for his phone. He cleared his throat. “Um, I can leave-”

“You’re already here,” You pointed out needlessly. He was already here, no need to make him drive again. “And it’s kinda cold, so come in.”

He stepped inside and looked around as he shucked off his jacket. “Nice house.”

“Thanks,” You said, even though you had nothing to do with it. “My mom’s getting ready, and Dad’s out.” You did not want him to follow you upstairs. Wait, you could pawn him off on your brothers. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” 

You walked him to the living room where they were playing Mario Kart loudly.

“Hey, pause it,” You said. They ignored you, so you turned off the console.

They immediately burst into an uproar but you were used to that.

“This is Alex Newhook,” You introduced. “Alex, these are my brothers, Jimmy and Freddy.”

“Wait, you won the Stanley Cup!” Jimmy said, sitting up a bit. He was the one most interested in hockey in your family besides your dad. “Wow, that’s so cool.” 

“Thanks, man,” Alex sat down next to him. “Your dad was really helpful with the run.”

Freddy didn’t care. “Do you like Mario Kart?” “Heck yeah.”

Since he seemed to be fine, you quickly snuck back to your room. You didn’t want to be babysitting a hockey player anyway.

+

Alex Newhook was abandoned by the cute girl wearing pickles with two pre-teens. Well, he liked kids so he wasn’t too put off. 

“Who do you drive as?” One of the brothers, he didn’t really get a chance to differentiate them, asked.

“I usually do Yoshi. When I play with my sister, she’s always Peach.”

“Y/N is always Peach too,” the smaller brother said. “I’m always Toad, and Jimmy is Luigi. DJ is always Mario ‘cause he’s the oldest.”

“Makes sense,” Alex said, committing to memory that the small one was Freddy and the taller one was Jimmy. “Can I play?”

“Sure!” They gave him a controller and got him set up.

Some time later, he’d gotten his ass thoroughly beat in Mario Kart twice before Y/N came down again. Now, she was wearing a nice sweater with black jeans. Your legs were really long and he should not be staring at the daughter of an equipment manager’s legs like this.

“Y/N, come join us!”

“I told Mom I��d help with the mashed potatoes,” You said. “But it looks like you’re having fun with Alex.”

“He’s awful,” Freddy said.

Alex laughed as you turned to him, eyebrow raised. 

“You don’t have to let them win, you know.” 

“I’m not,” he admitted, and Y/N finally smiled. It was a really pretty smile.

“Well, then you guys should let Alex win.”

“He already won the Stanley Cup,” Freddy whined. 

Alex choked on a laugh, “Fair, totally fair.” 

+

You were about to head back to the kitchen when a new voice called.

“Are you two still playing Mario Kart-” Your mom came down the stairs while putting in an earring. She paused at the foot of the stairs and noticed the four of you. “Oh, hello Alex.”

He looked unnerved but still charming. “Hello, Mrs. White.”

“Alex got told the wrong time,” You interjected before your mom asked for answers. “So I had the boys keep him company.”

“Oh, good. Well I’m sorry Alex, but I’m glad you made it!” She continued. “I’m Carol, Donny’s wife. Do you need anything, water, food?”

“I’m all set, thank you, Mrs. White.” 

“Carol is fine,” she waved a hand to dismiss his formality. “This won’t be some crazy strict dinner. I’m just a bit thrown, we’ve never had so many people from the team attend! Y/N, can you please help with the mashed potatoes?”

“Yeah, of course.” You walked over to the kitchen and went to get started.

“Can I help at all? I’m not much of a cook but I’m good at chopping.”

You went to deflect but your mom interjected, “Oh, that would be so helpful! Why don’t you help Y/N peel the potatoes.”

“Are the boys not going to help at all?” You asked.

“DJ is in charge of the green beans,” your mom said. “But J and F would just make a mess and we can’t have that.” 

You rolled your eyes but you did agree. They were still pretty young to be given kitchen responsibilities, especially since your mom was clearly nervous about all the people attending. Apparently, the Captain Landeskog and the good defenseman Cale were coming after dinner, bringing their families. So was EJ, who always snuck you candy when you were growing up, and the two Czech players.

But for the dinner, there was the new goalie, Valeri Nichushkin, the other rookie, and the new guy. You only knew Val’s name because he’s attended the past two Thanksgivings. That’s a lot of important people your dad works with, so you wanted to help.

You didn’t really like having a sous chef, and was afraid Alex would be underfoot. But he was actually really helpful. You were able to chat. He was about your age and also went to college, but had dropped out of his sophomore year, but commiserated with you about the experience and finals, and asked about you instead of just talking about himself.

“Do you think you’ll go back to school at some point?” You asked as you started on the sweet potatoes. To accommodate the healthy, they were having both mashed regular potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes which meant so much peeling and two burners for boiling the taters. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m really happy doing hockey right now and it needs all my focus. But I liked college. My old teammate, Jack Johnson, went back to school and graduated this year. He’s, like, ancient so I might do that later on.”

“Always good to have the option,” You agreed and let the potatoes boil so they could soften. You started mixing half and half, butter, cream cheese and garlic in a large saucepan and put it on a low simmer.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s the mix I use thicken up the mashed potatoes and make them creamy,” You rolled your head side to side to relax your neck. “Better if it’s warm.” He nodded. “Thanks for the help.”

“Of course, thanks for having me,” he smiled and it was a really cute smile. 

Thankfully, before you could dwell on it, he went back to your kid brothers, and your dad and other brother came by with your grandfather. The last half hour before the party was a fervent rush to find seating, set up the candles, make sure there was no evidence of living in this house. 

Eventually, people started showing up. First was Evan Rodrigues, his wife Christina and his kids Grayson and Noah. They were younger than your youngest brother, but they got on immediately, giggling and laughing and running around in the backyard even with the slight chill in the air. 

Christina brought some gluten free rolls and really nice bottles of wine, and Evan and your dad immediately went off to the TV to watch the game, talking about their fantasy football teams. 

Alexandar Georgiev, the new goalie, arrived soon after. He also brought wine and a really nice bottle of vodka for “if we party.” You loved him already.

Then Bowen Byram came, bringing two store bought apple pies and flowers for your mom. Your dad had mentioned he was injured, but he looked fine walking around. But you weren’t an expert.

“You told me the wrong time, idiot,” Newy lightly elbowed him and you bit back a smile.

Bowen huffed. “My finger slipped, di-uhhhhhhh dude,” his friend avoided swearing even though all young ears were outside.

“Well, Alex was really helpful,” You offered as you potted the flowers for your mom since she was busy plating the food with Christine. 

“Was he now?” Bowen raised his eyebrows at Alex, so Alex elbowed him with more heft this time. 

“We wanna play Nerf!” Jimmy ran back in with the other kids trailing on his heels. “Y/N, can we play Nerf?”

“Ask mom, go away,” You said. “I have to finish the potatoes and make whipped cream.” Also this was a really cute outfit and you didn’t want it to get ruined.

“Please!” Freddy whined. “You’ve been in the kitchen for-evvvvvvveerrrrrrrr.” Impressive how many syllables he made that word. Alex and Bowen just snorted. 

“I gotta keep cooking because you’d find a way to burn the whipped cream.”

Apparently not too heartbroken, they immediately turned to Alex and Bowen. “Please, Newy and Bo, please!” 

The two young hockey players readily agreed. “But you guys better have weapons, I left mine back in Canada,” Alex said, and they ran upstairs, a stampede of boys.

“I guess what they say about hockey players just being tall boys is true,” You mused aloud as you head back to the kitchen. 

 Christine laughed as you “Oh trust me, if you’re lucky, that’s the case,” she said. “Also, Nerfs are fun, Grayson adores them.” 

Before you could reply, the stampede came back down again, this time armed with plastic toy weapons and cackling with gleeful laughter. 

“Take those downstairs, I don’t want any darts on the first floor!” Your mom called, and you were taken back to your childhood in a very sweet way as the four of you ran around playing and laughing.

Smiling to yourself, you finished your mashed potatoes and went to get started on the whipped cream, but the doorbell rang.

You went to grab it, because a football-obsessed cheer and groan reverberated from the living room. 

“Sorry for late. I stop by Russian bakery and grab Kartoshka,” Valeri held up a box. 

“All good,” You assured. “Come on in. Everyone’s watching football.”

He nodded and followed you into the kitchen where he greeted your mom. 

“Hello,” he greeted and set the box down. “I go watch football.”

“Sounds good,” You said and got the whipped cream put together. You made it the best in your entire family.

That should be the last of the interruptions. You went to go put out some more snacks in the living room but heard raucous laughter before getting hit with a dart on your shoulder blade.

You whipped around and saw Alex and Jimmy behind you, frozen in guilt but weapons still raised. The rest of the herd of boys stormed up after, promptly 

A Nerf dart laid at your feet. 

“Sorry, Y/N,” Alex said. It looked like he meant it but he was also about to laugh, the giggles pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“Can I borrow that?” You asked Jimmy.

Since Jimmy adored you, he handed you the Nerf gun.

You stepped back a bit since you weren’t a total bitch, and shot Alex Newhook dead center. 

+

Alex Newhook admired how Y/N just immediately gave it back instead of complaining, not moving as the dart hit him and bounced off his chest. Once it hit the floor, he dramatically grabbed at his heart and staggered backwards. “Ah, I’ve been hit! Write sonnets about my bravery!” Then he collapsed on a heap to the floor. 

He heard Y/N’s voice amongst the laughter of all the boys before Mrs. White called out, “Dinner’s ready! Everyone to the dining room.”

“C’mon, drama queen,” Bowen helped him up. “We’ll write songs to you later.”

There were all these little name cards set up. There were five seats at the kid’s table, including DJ who joined the Nerf battle late. 

But Alex was sitting next to you. 

There were a lot of people, so everyone was all scrunched up. His thigh often found itself resting against yours, but you never pulled away so he didn’t either. The conversations were lively, jumping around the Denver housing market and football and TV shows. Mrs. White nixed all talk of hockey, saying it was a holiday and therefore a vacation. But the conversation never dwindled. 

Val was on Y/N’s other side, and he watched as you made a concerted effort to include him and speak slowly enough he could understand. He joined those conversations when he could, but also talked to Erod about the culture shock of moving to Denver and going from college hockey to NHL hockey.

The food was delicious, but he made sure to not eat so much with the game the next day. But he did have some of the apple pie (it’s a FRUIT) with your whipped cream. Holy hell it was good.

Bo and Val didn’t have the worry of playing tomorrow, the injured bastards, and they had two servings of dessert. Once they were full-contact, he was going to hit them into the boards during their practices.

The kids table seemed like they were having fun. Once the food coma took over, all the kids piled into the living room as the others arrived. 

Gabe Landeskog gave Y/N a big hug, and you got to hug Luke and pinch his cheeks as Linnea practically climbed up his own leg. He had no idea how you knew everybody. 

EJ arrived a bit later, carrying three bottles of Screaming Eagle. Like the captain, he gave you a hug and joked about your height. Cale came by with his girlfriend shortly after. He loved talking to her, she was always kind. Cale was quiet and respectful, but he and Donny got into an in-depth discussion on which quarterback they should start for fantasy.

Frankie ended up texting they weren’t going to make it but he sends his best. 

The conversations continued and split and converged. More dessert was eaten. Some of the kids curled up in the guest bedroom to nap. Georgiev and Val spoke in Russian, but joined the others as well. Carol, Gabe, and DJ spoke about the latest episode of White Lotus. Mel, EJ, Christine, and Bo talked about the price differences of wine. 

You and Alex spoke mostly about crazy college courses you took, and weird essay topics you had to write. Cale jumped in at that point, discussing his own essays. 

It was fun to be involved in the convos, even though the topics seemed kind of distant. They spoke of dating and moving and trades, and the housing market (again?!). He was single and in the same apartment complex the team had provided for him. 

Just when Alex thought he should maybe get going and not overstay his welcome, you turned to him. “C’mon, we’ll go to the kids table and go to our next tradition.”

“What’s that?” He asked, the two of you breaking off from the conversation. 

“We play hide and seek,” You said. “It’s cutthroat. You may not survive.”

He grinned, sated and full but always down to compete. “Sounds fun.” He turned to Bo. “Wanna play?”

“Hell yeah.” 

Alex, Y/N, Bo, and DJ snuck off to see the kids watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. “C’mon, kiddos,” Y/N muted the show. “We’re gonna play Hide and Seek. Wanna play?”

The kids perked up. Linnea and Luke were already asleep, as was Noah, but Grayson was ready to play even though he was younger than 5.  

Y/N knelt down to their seated level. “Okay, we got some rules though. You all willing to play by the rules?” The kids nodded ever so seriously. Alex couldn’t help but grin. 

“You guys playing Hide and Seek again?” EJ came by. “I wanna play.”

“You don’t play by the rules,” Y/N said. 

EJ wrapped you in a bear hug and a weird, sudden stab of jealousy sliced at Alex that he immediately pushed down. That came out of nowhere. Besides, you were, like, ten years younger than the big defenseman.

“I’ll behave I swear.” 

“Doubt it,” Alex and Bo muttered at the same time before they all shared a laugh.

“Here are the rules,” Y/N began, your voice commanding but kind for all the kids. “You can hide anywhere in the house except a bedroom. If a room has a bed in it, you can’t hide there. No locking doors, you hide fair and square. No moving spots once the five minutes has passed. The seeker has to wait five minutes before taking off to find people. Once you’re found by the seeker, you join them in the search. If you’re found last or not found within an hour, you win and the winner gets ice cream.”

“Who’s the seeker?” Bo asked.

“EJ should do it, he’s the oldest,” DJ said. 

“Works for me, I’m too tall to fit where you kiddos can,” EJ said. 

“And you broke our cabinet last year,” Y/N added. Alex laughed in shock.

“Accidentally,” he clarified then paused. “Hey wait, as the seeker don’t I get ice cream?” “You can get ice cream,” You placated.

“We probably don’t need it,” Alex said. “Game tomorrow, bud.” 

EJ groaned. “Ugh fair, I’m taking mine to go.” He pulled out his phone and set up a five minute timer. “And... go!” 

And everyone took off. 

+

You booked it down to the basement, the smartest place to hide. You couldn’t hide in the guest bedroom as per rules, but you could hide in the large steam shower in the bathroom. With the lights off, you’d be nothing more than a shadow. And maybe people would dismiss it as being close to the bedroom. Most people went for cabinets and closets. Jimmy usually hid in the DVD and board game closet on the first floor. But you tried to change it up. Last year, you hid under a stack of blankets in the laundry room and were only found because your Duolingo notification happened when your dad was the seeker. 

To make sure you’d stay in the dark, you quickly undid the three light bulbs and hid them in the 

You put your phone on it’s darkest brightness and sat with your back against the wall with the door on it so you wouldn’t be seen. You knew from course reading that people looked for eyes in the darkness so you used that to your advantage. 

Just as you felt settled you found the perfect spot and that EJ would be too stupid to find you as the minutes counted down, the door burst open before shutting quickly. You closed your phone, and tried to quiet your breathing.

The lightswitch flicked on and off uselessly and the sauna door opened. 

Alex Newhook peeked his head in and went to make a sound. Acting on pure instinct, you slapped your hand over his mouth and pulled him into the steam shower. 

“Hi,” he said once you removed your hand. His smile was lazy and good-natured. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“Hide and Seek is serious,” You said, slightly sheepish. “You’ll have to hide with me, we’re almost out of time.”

“Works with me.” He sat across from you. There was less than three feet between you so the whisper carried. “Smart move to take out the bulbs, you’re ruthless.”

You smiled at him then realized he probably couldn’t see you. “Thanks.”

His low chuckle was bright in the darkness. 

“Do you think EJ is gonna cheat?” You found yourself asking.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Alex acknowledged. “He’s a competitive bastard. We all are.” 

“Probably best in your line of work,” You acknowledged back. In the distance, there was maniacal laughter and one of your brothers shouting “NO!” dejectedly. You went quiet, and so did Alex.

Once the noise quieted down, you pulled out your phone with the brightness still low and checked Instagram. Your college roommate sent you a ridiculous AITA post so you chuckled as you read it.

“What’s so funny?” 

“An ‘Am I The Asshole’ about this 100,000 dollar wedding dress getting destroyed for a TikTok.”

His laugh was shocked and quick. “Holy shit, can I see?”

You nodded and he moved over to sit next to you on the bench. He read over your shoulder, and you watched his reaction in the faint glow of your phone screen. 

He turned to you, “That was funny-” and then cut off as your faces bumped into each other. 

“It was,” You whispered, not just because of the game. 

Not exactly sure who made the first move, you both leaned forward and met in the middle. The kiss was sudden but deep and you quickly clutched onto his sweater as his hand cupped your jaw. His hand was big, sturdy and warm as it gently held you to him.

Your fingers tightened on his sweater and he pulled you closer. Without thinking, you climbed onto his lap and his other hand moved to your hip as a low groan rumbled from his throat.

The door to the steam shower slammed open, and you and Alex pulled apart.

Erik Johnson stared at the two of you as you froze in fear, and then he snorted. “Oh boy, you’re dead, Al.” His laugh followed him out of the room, shutting the door to the bathroom behind him.

“Well, we were found.” Alex pointed out slowly. “So I guess we lost. Which may not be the only thing I lose tonight if he’s right.” 

You tried not to laugh. EJ maybe had a point. Your dad could kill him for making out with his daughter at their Thanksgiving party, but he wasn’t one of those shotgun dads. He knew you were an adult, a woman with bodily autonomy. 

“I wasn’t that interested in playing the game anymore,” You said.

“Me neither,” he said and kissed you again.

Note: thank you for reading! masterlist here!

[withwritersblock]

~Masterlist~

Requests are open: ~But I hold the right to delete any request I do not feel comfortable writing! Also if it takes me more than three weeks to create the one shot/part to series it may not be published. Last Edited: 11/16/24

Fluff- ❤︎ Angst-★ Dad Fic- ✿ Spicy (Implied Smut or actual Smut)-✖︎

Luke Hughes Masterlist

Cale Makar

Say Isn't it Strange pt. 1 ❤︎ pt. 2 ★ Lover ❤︎ Dog Days are Over ❤︎ just like heaven ❤︎ Castles Crumbling ★✿ Coconut Perfume❤︎

Nathan Mackinnon

The Fall of Home ❤︎✖︎ I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) ❤︎ Colorado (For the First Time)★ ❤︎ Fix You ★ ❤︎ Blessed❤︎ Carry On, Carry On❤︎ Love You, Miss You, Mean It★ ❤︎ This is Home - a series Daylight ❤︎

Cole Caufield

5 foot 9 ❤︎ When He Sees Me ❤︎ Shadow in the Sun ★✖︎ Break up in the End ★ Half as Good as You ★ Until I Come Home ❤︎✖︎ Be My Forever✿❤︎ Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat❤︎ Halloween❤︎

Kirby Dach

Small Talk ❤︎ ✖︎ Your Needs, My Needs ★ Love You Goodbye ★✖︎ Say Love ❤︎ the boy is mine ❤︎ Please Please Please❤︎ Close to You❤︎

Alex Newhook

To Love Someone ❤︎ Heaven ❤︎ Hey ★✖︎

Nico Hischier

Isn't She Lovely ❤︎✿ because i liked a boy★ think later❤︎✖︎ Hard Sometimes❤︎✿ Oh Well, So What❤︎

Jack Hughes

Espresso ✖︎❤︎ F.Y.B.F pt. 1 ✖︎ pt. 2 ❤︎ Do I Wanna Know? ✖︎ Happier Than Ever ★ No Caller ID ❤︎★ Teenage Dirtbag❤︎

Ross Colton

Room for Two ❤︎

Quinn Hughes

Oh! Darling - a series Champagne Problems★ Meant To Be ★ Happily ★ What's It To You ❤︎ Feelslikeimfallinginlove ❤︎ Light my Love ★ Kiwi❤︎ Blowing Smoke❤︎

Ethan Edwards

If You Love Her❤︎

[ilyasorokinn]

you and i series

these pieces aren't published in any particular order, meaning they can be read in any order. they aren't published in chronological order. feel free to ask questions if you're confused.

the love story of matt boldy and his former teammate's sister, y/n newhook.

blurbs,

✷ just matt - alex finds out y/n, his younger sister, is going out with former teammate, matt boldy.

✷ byram vs. boldy - matt boldy, afte rpromises not to fight his girlfriend's brother, gets into a fight with her brother's teammate instead.

[ taglist ] [ au masterlist ]

[whatever-dude]

Oh Alex! That was so scary, I hope he'll be ok

[crow-talks-hockey]

something about how trades really do affect players. how it's not just us as fans being crazy or reading too much into it. it's real and it's painful. erik johnson has lacked the hutzpah he once had ever since leaving colorado, as if he could bear landeskog's injury but the second he was forced to leave it all came crashing down. sidney crosby has lost much of the joy he once carried and it's because he had the human, golden embodiment of that joy in jake guentzel torn away from him when he needed it most. dylan larkin shed genuine, heartfelt, distraught tears when tyler bertuzzi was traded away. the penguins still welcome marc-andre fleury to pittsburgh every time he plays there because, no matter where he is, that is his home. pk subban could never return to the same player he was after he was taken from price. trevor zegras is seemingly incomplete without drysdale at his side. brandon duhaime is lacking his connor dewar. bowen byram no longer has his alex newhook to lean on and laugh with. travis koneckny and nolan patrick may never even get the chance to play another game with or against one another. and who could imagine kuznetsov as anyone but a capital? do you really think of pavelski in the green of the stars or do you see him proud in teal beside thornton and marleau? did shea weber ever really stop being a nashville predator? and what about beauvillier, horvat, compher, dumolin, burakovsky, kadri, yamamoto, hornqvist, eberle, o'rielly, barrie, jost, gaudreau, karlsson, carter and richards, martin, and so many others? even wayne gretzky himself went to three teams post trade, searching for that spark he had in edmonton after they made him leave. jagr had eight after pittsburgh. you are not crazy for grieving, in some small way, a player you lost. and they aren't crazy for feeling distraught either. these teams are family. and family is everything, even if it gets ripped apart so easily.

[maillotnhlsellpas]

Alex Newhook entorse à la cheville

Alex Newhook est un jeune joueur, âgé de seulement 22 ans cette année. C'est une toute nouvelle étape de sa carrière. Cela le met également à un âge où il porte un Maillot NHL Pas Cher et a une imagination illimitée pour l’avenir. Par conséquent, chaque jeu est désormais crucial pour Alex Newhook, et l’exposition dans chaque jeu déterminera l’orientation future du développement. Cependant, Alex Newook a malheureusement été blessé.

Alex Newhook a marqué 13 points en 23 matchs cette saison, ce qui est très bien pour un jeune joueur. Et jeudi dernier, Alex Newhook a trouvé le chemin des filets au troisième quart contre les Panthers de la Floride. Il s'est blessé à la jambe gauche lorsqu'il a été aidé à quitter le terrain et a quitté le terrain. Les fans portant les Maillot Montreal Canadiens d'Alex Newhook s'inquiètent également de sa blessure. Selon les dernières nouvelles, Alex Newhook manquera les Canadiens de Montréal pour environ 10 à 12 semaines en raison d'une entorse importante à la cheville.

Les Canadiens de Montréal regorgent actuellement de joueurs blessés, et maintenant qu'Alex Newhook est à nouveau blessé, cela ne fera sans doute qu'empirer les choses.

[wyattjohnston]

“gently wiping something off of their face and noticing them smiling because you're just so cute and close” with newy please?

There’s so much confetti. Frankly you’re worried about the environmental impact but it’s too late and to do anything—not that you had access to the organisation of the parade anyway—so you go about your day. It’s a fine line between having fun and not getting dehydrated or sunburnt—you’ve mastered it, though, sitting on the float allocated to you—to Alex.

He looks back at you, just as he’s done throughout, almost as if you’re the thing keeping him grounded in reality, the thing that makes him know it isn’t a dream, and you’re struck down by laughter.

“Come here,” you shout to be heard over the crowd and the boys around you, and Alex does without hesitation. “You’ve got it all over you.”

You pick confetti off his face, drunk enough to not care that it’s sweat, alcohol and sunscreen holding it to his skin, and then start picking it off his jersey because you’re right there.

You meet his eyes, ready to tell him he’s good as gold, and the words get stuck in your throat. The softness in his eyes catches you off guard, the last thing you’d been expecting given his exuberance since winning the Cup.

He smiles, it takes over his face. “Thank you. Love you.”

[lukeevangelista]

life isn’t fair i guess - alex newhook

pretty boy alex… of course you should have expected this. it did get pretty long ngl

just because i felt like giving you guys something else before i go to bed

you’re welcome.

pairing: byram!reader x newy

warning: siblings arguing, suggestive content, and cussing

not edited

———————————————————————————-

“life isn’t fair!” you stated, not wanting to deal with he bullshit bo was bringing to your apartment today. he had found out about you and alex finally, after months of the two of you hiding it.

“i know life isn’t fair, but why him?” bo shouted at, “why alex?” he whispered, “why him? he’s my best friend!” 

“i don’t know!” you replied, not letting your voice raise or waiver, “i couldn’t help it and neither could he bo. i’m so sorry.”

“but you’re not or the thought wouldn’t have even crossed your mind y/n. dont tell me you’re sorry when we know you’re not. you’ve always did what you wanted, whether it hurt other or not.” he said as he walked out your front door, slamming it behind him.

“jesus christ.” you muttered to yourself as you tossed your phone down on the couch, tugging at your hair, “what the fuck do i do now?”

your phone started ringing minutes later, you picking it up, seeing alex’s name flash across your screen with a stupid picture you had taken of him.

“what?” you grumbled as you accepted the call.


“well hello to you too gorgeous.” he lightly laughed, “what’s wrong with you?”


“bo knows.”

“bo- what?”

“bowen byram, my brother, knows about you and i alex.” you stated.

“how?”

“i dont know.” you sighed, “he never said. he was just really mad at me.” you whispered as you teared up, “alex, i’ve never seem him that angry with me..” you started, “it honestly kind of scared me.”

“i’m sure whatever he said, he didn’t mean. this is bo were talking about, he loves you more than anything in the world.”

“yeah, but you didn’t see how he reacted to it all..”

———

“i want to know how long.” bo said as he walked up to alex, who was getting dressed for practice in his stall.

“hey. i’m good, how about you?” alex smugly smiled up at him.

“cut the jokes, newhook.” bo demanded, “i want to know how long you’ve been messing with my sister.”

“does it matter?” alex asked, “i think you should talk to her.” he offered, “she’s hurt by your reaction.”

“i dont care.” bo shrugged, “i think its selfish the two of you went behind my back.” bo said, his voice raising a few octaves, grabbing the attention of some of the boys who had filed into the locker room.

“woah- woah.” landeskog said as he walked over to the younger boys who were currently glaring daggers at each other, “what is going on here?”

“newhook is fucking my sister.”

“i’m not fucking her! oh my god!” alex laughed out loud, “god tell him he’s being dramatic. she and i just went on a couple of dates, with a few kisses involved.”

“that’s it.” bo growled as he went for alex, gabe grabbing him and holding him back.

“you need to chill out byram.”

“gabe, you cannot tell me you wouldn’t react the same if your sister was banging someone who was supposed to be your best friend.” 

“i can’t say i wouldn’t be upset, but i’d definitely talk it out and not try to murder my friend in our locker room.” gabe offered as a chuckle left his lips, “but you’ve also got to remember, they’re adults. what they do shouldn’t effect your friendship.”

bo just grumbled under his breath as he walked away, alex thanking his captain for saving his ass.

“hold it.” gabe raised his hand, stopping the dark headed boy, “you really thought you’d get away with this? this is your best friend and his sister you’re messing with. you should have thought this through.” he sighed.

“i know. trust me.” he stated as he ran his hand over his face, “but i do genuinely love her.” he admitted.

“okay.. that’s kinda cute.” he laughed, “but just watch out for blondie over there,, in here and on the ice,” he said nodding towards bo, “he might attack at any moment.”

“will do cap.”

gabe stood up, patting his shoulder as he let alex finish getting ready for practice, throwing on his jersey before making his way to the ice.

“well this ought to be fun.” he sighed as he watched bo enter from the zamboni entrance.

“watch your back and keep your head up newhook.” he hissed, “wouldn’t want anything bad to happen.”

and that’s exactly what happened. bo had hit alex when the two were working on a 3 on 3 drill and he hit him hard.

it had knocked alex to the ground, causing him to lay there for a couple of minutes before the trainer had ran out to check on him.

“i can’t breathe.” he gasped out, the air obviously being knocked out of his lungs.

“bo! you can’t do that!” bednar fussed, “locker room. now. practice is over for you.” he shouted at him, “get your head on straight before tomorrow.”

the trainer helped alex up, his vision being blurred and his head feeling light as he skated to the bench, sitting there for a couple of minutes.

“you good kid?” ej asked as he skated over to the young forward.

“no.” he admitted, “i’m not. and now i’m hurt.” he whined.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

“he did what?” you shouted from the kitchen as alex was laying on the couch, icing his shoulder with the peas you had thrown at him.

“exactly what i said, i dont need to repeat it.” alex replied, letting out a groan as he sat up on the couch, “they think he knocked my shoulder out of place.”

“are they still letting you play tomorrow?” you asked as you sat beside him, your hand resting on his thigh.

“yeah, as long as the pain is subsided and there isn’t any damage to the tissue, i’ll be good to go. they’re going to do another MRI on it today when i get to the rink.”

“i wish you would have told me yesterday when all this happened.” you sighed as you watched him wince in pain, “maybe you should take it easy the next couple of days..” you started, him cutting you off almost immediately.

“no.” alex denied, “i’m not- i’m playing.” he said as he stood up, walking out of your living room and into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, “besides, if i’m not cleared, then i won’t, but if i am, i’m going. not you, not bo, no one is stopping me.” 

“fine,” you shrugged, “but when you’re even more hurt than you already are, then don’t cry to me.” you finished as you turned on the tv, the sound echoing through your smaller apartment.

“have you heard from bo?” he asked as he sat down, placing the heating pad that he did grab while he was up around his shoulder.

“nope.” you replied, rolling your eyes, “and i won’t. when he gets this way, he’s practically impossible to talk to. you guys just haven’t witnessed it yet.”

“sounds like it’s not the first time you’ve dated his teammate..” he trailed off, “i still don’t understand how he found out.”

“fuck off newhook.” you grumbled as he laughed, pulling you into his side as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head, “honestly, I’m not even sure i should go tomorrow. he’s liable to kill us both,” you said as you placed your hand on his stomach, your thumb rubbing small circles, “i’m not sure either, but when i find out, someone is getting their ass handed to them.”

“i want you there.” he said as he looked down at you, “i don’t care about his wants,” he pressed another kiss to your head, “i just care about you and your happiness.”

“i literally don’t have a jersey to wear now, because i’ll be damned if i wear dumbasses.” you mumbled into his arm.

“i can fix that baby, don’t you worry.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————

“here.” alex grinned down at you as he slung the bag on your couch, “open it.”

you opened your eyes, alex disturbing the nap you were taking, “that’s rude. i was asleep.” you muttered as you leaned up, grabbing the bag from your ankles.

“be nice to me. I had to sweet talk to the store manager to let me take it.” he laughed as he jumped over the back of the couch, watching as you opened the Avalanche Merch Store bag. you slowly pulled out the blue and burgundy jersey, turning it around to see alex’s last name spread across the shoulders.

“wow.”

“its all yours.” he grinned, “now you can get rid of bo’s.”

“bo…” you whispered to yourself, “it feels so weird us being mad at each other.”

“have you tried talking to him?” he asked, rubbing your knee above the blanket.

“no.”

“maybe you should.”

“you don’t get it alex.” you tried, “i promise you, you don’t. i’ve never seen him that upset. i think if it wouldn’t have been you, he would have been more open to it,” you started, “but you’re his best friend. especially here in colorado. he has every right to be upset and until he makes the first move, i’m not opening any door just yet.”

“that’s completely up to you and i’ll stand by whatever decision you make,” he trailed off, “but keep in mind, whatever you decide effects me too. i miss my friend too.”

———

it was a couple of hours later, you and alex taking his pre-game nap, which he has now roped you into every home game day, saying you’re his good luck charm and now you have to do it every game because the first time it happened, he just happened to score that game.. and now he doesn’t give you a choice.

“wake up alex.” you muttered as you shoved him, “turn your fucking alarm off.” you hissed as you snuggled back into the blankets.

“no.” he grinned at you with his eyes still closed as he tried to pull you closer, “i don’t want to get up.”

“you have a game, stupid.” you laughed.

“me? stupid? you didn’t just say that.” he laughed along with you as he leaned up and over you, his hands pushing up the t-shirt of his that you were wearing, them finding your sides.

“s-stop!” you giggled, trying to grab his hands, him moving over to straddle you, putting your hands between his knees and the sides of your hips, locking them in place.

“take it back!” he stated, his face moving dangerously close to yours as his hands slowed down.

“no.” you smirked at him, “mama always taught me not to lie, so why start now?”

“that’s it.” he muttered as he started tickling you again, you bursting into laughter once more.

“truce!” you shouted, still trying to wiggle your hands free, “please.” you panted.

alex slowly stopped, his laughter dying down as he leaned up, looking down at you, “you look so beautiful.” he softly spoke as he ran his hand through your hair. it didn’t take much for you to blush, given your cheeks were already red from laughing so hard.

he leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips before he moved off of top of you, starting to get ready for the game.

you leaned against the headboard as you heard him get into the shower. you scrolled on your phone aimlessly, not sure how much time had passed before you saw alex walk out, just a towel around his waist.

“hubba hubba.” you whistled, watching his cheeks turn an extreme shade of red.

“stop.” he laughed as he grabbed his underwear from the drawer before walking into his closet, finding the suit he was going to wear.

“ya know, a sharp dressed man is the way to any woman heart..” you commented as you heard him bark out another laugh as he walked out of the closet, seeing him in his burgundy suit, him walking to the end of the bed, “and damn, are they right about that..” you trailed off as you crawled down to the edge of the bed, your hands tracing his broad shoulders, “are you sure you have to go?” you smiled.

“yeah, i’m sure.” he pouted as his hands found your waist, him pressing a kiss to your lips, “but don’t make plans tonight,” he whispered, “you’re all mine tonight.”

——————————

you walked into the arena with some of the other girls, alex’s name spread across your back. it shocked a couple of them, a couple others saying they knew it.

“wait, how did you know?” you asked eriks girlfriend.

“oh! erik told me.” she smiled, “i thought you knew he knew? isn’t that how bo found out?”

your smile dropped and hers did too as she quickly realized she had exposed her boyfriend to be the one that told your brother.

“i’m going to kill him.” you murmured as you pinched the bridge of your nose, “absolutely kill that fucking idiot.”

“don’t tell him i told you.” she yelped, “i thought you knew!”

“it’s not your fault.” you said as you gave her a soft smile.

you could hear a couple of them muttering about the situation that just occurred, a sigh leaving your lips.

it wasn’t long before you were down by the glass, alex skating over to you, a grin on his face as you turned around, showing him the jersey, the smile never leaving his face.

‘i love it.’ he mouthed to you.

‘i love you.’ you mouthed back, him doing the same before skating off. you could see bo towards the blue line, shooting a glare towards the two of you, his expression slightly softening when he saw you staring at him, but it harder back up when his eyes met alex’s.

the boys ended up playing a fantastic game, them winning 4-2 against the jets.

you found yourself not paying attention throughout the game, your mind wondering to your brother. you knew you needed to talk to him, but you just wasn’t sure how you wanted to approach the situation.

you sighed as you watched the boy celebrate, the arena slowly clearing out as the boys went off the ice and into their locker room. you and a couple of the girls had made your way down to the room slowly. the boys started filing out, your eyes scanning for the blonde boy.

“i’m gonna talk to him.” you mumbled to alex as he wrapped his arms around you, placing a kiss on your forehead, earning a couple of whistles from the other boys, mainly the toothless wonder, erik johnson.

“do whatever you need to do, i’ll be waiting outside for you.” he muttered as he let go, you seeing bo walk out seconds later.

“can we talk?” you asked, walking up to him.

he glared at you as your face fell, “we have nothing to talk about.”

“we do and you know it. i miss you bo.” you replied, “i miss you so fucking much. i’ll do anything, just for you to forgive me.”

“that’s the issues..” he trailed off, “i dont think you understand that i can’t just forgive you that easy..” bo sighed as his eyes raked over your face, you staring at the wall in front of you in the hallway next to the locker room, “you’re supposed to be the person i talk to about everything and you couldn’t even give me that decency?” he asked, “you wanna know how i know you’re in the wrong? you can’t even look at me. your brother.” he scoffed, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“i’m sorry.”

“sorry doesn’t cut it this time y/n.”

[kolsmikaelson]

dangerous with you - mafia leader!alex newhook x reader

( not my gif )

word count- 2.4k+| warnings- food mentions, picking at newys nails, two brief mentions of killing, a single curse word, not proofread | join taglist |

a/n: i don’t normally write things like this but i hope you all enjoy! this fic is based off this blurb request from @2manytabsopen

“Hello handsome.”

“Hey there baby.” he smiles seeing you dressed up for your dinner date, in his favorite outfit he’d bought you a while back. “Are you ready to head out y/n?” With a nod you turn to grab your keys and walk out of the door. The two of you begin to walk towards his car, a sleek black maserati. He opens the passenger side door letting you get situated before closing the door and walking to his side of the car.

Twenty minutes into the drive there is a break in the ongoing conversation making you ask him where he’s taking you, though you knew he would give you the same answer as always wanting to keep it a surprise for you. He looked your way, stopped at a red light, “Now love, you know I’m not gonna tell you that.” he smirks seeing the pout resting on your lips. He reaches over, laying a hand on your lower thigh, giving it a squeeze. “Stop that y/n, we’re almost there.” he said with a laugh putting his eyes back on the road before driving past the stoplight.

In the short time it takes to get to the restaurant you’d begun to think about all the memories you’d made with Alex. The two of you were coming up on eight months of dating and it was the best relationship either of you had ever been in. He was always so good to you, he had been since the day you met. You were walking out of your favorite coffee shop at the same time he was walking in, resulting in hot coffee spilling across Alex's white button up shirt, having shrugged his suit jacket off before walking to the building. He was stunned into silence when you started freaking out and spewing apologies. He actually found it quite cute, while you on the other hand haven't felt this embarrassed before.

“Love? You still with me?” Alexs voice snaps you out of your thoughts. Looking up you were met with the sign of your favorite restaurant, bringing a smile to your face. “Yeah- yeah I'm still here.” you laugh before grabbing your things. If you were with anyone else you’d already be out of the car and halfway to the front doors, but you knew Alex. He loved to be a gentleman and he would always rush to open the door for you. The first time you tried to get out on your own he had a pout on his face for the rest of the night.

He opens the door and holds a hand out to you. Grabbing his hand you step out of the car and begin walking towards the building. “It’s gonna be a good night, I can tell.” you smile looking at Alex, admiring his suit, tailored to fit him perfectly. He stiffened at your words, causing a confused look to settle on your face, which quickly leaves at his next words. “Yeah baby, I hope so. Now are you ready to have your favorite dinner?”

“Hello, welcome, would you like your regular table sir?” the hostess asked. Alex hums a yes, “Please.” She grabs two menus and turns to lead you two to the table. “Alright Mr.Newhook this way.” she nods and gestures towards the left, walking towards the lone table. Every time Alex brought you to this restaurant— or almost any restaurant, the two of you were sat at the same tables. This one was on the patio, there was a gorgeous view and it was one of the few seated outside.

There were tall glasses of water, lit candles and sliverware already waiting at the table when you got to the table. Alex pulls your chair out letting you sit down before he sits down in front of you. In the few short minutes before the waitress shows up to take your orders you and Alex sit in a quiet, comfortable, silence.

“Hello guys, my name’s Luna. I’ll be taking care of you tonight. What can I get you?” the girl smiles at you.

You and Alex both order fast, the same meals that you always order, wanting to get back to your conversation. Luna eyes your conjoined hands resting on the table, “Can i just say, you two are such a cute couple.” she says smiling.

“Thank you.” Alex says at the same time as you with a smile. You feel your cheeks heat at her compliment, excited to hear it. She turns and walks to put your orders in, allowing the conversation to continue to flow smoothly between Alex and you.

When dinner was over he leads you out of the restaurant towards his parked car laughing at some dumb joke you’d made. As always Alex opens the passenger side door letting you get seated.

“Baby?” he questions when he parks in front of your home, a serious look resting on his face. There was a change in the atmosphere and you could tell that something was wrong. “I have something to tell you, Is it okay if I come in for a few?” he fidgets with his fingers. Helping you come to the conclusion that he was nervous. Alex doesn’t normally get nervous, at least not in this way. The few times you had seen him get really nervous he would constantly fidget with his hands, picking at the skin around his nails.

“Of course you can baby, you don’t have to ask.” you smile, grabbing his hand to stop his picking. The two of you walk to your front door, greeting your pet cat on the way to the living area.

Alex sits beside you and holds your hands in his larger ones. “Okay baby, i’m gonna tell you something and it's going to sound absolutely insane but i need you to not freak out on me? Can we do that?” he asks, voice shaky. Your eyes widen at how tense he’s become in such a short time. “I can try.” you confirm, eyebrows furrowing.

“I’m…um I’m a part of the mafia.” he says, sounding more like a question rather than a fact. You sit before him with a shocked look etched on your face.

“Alex…what are you saying?” you ask, shaking your head. Knowing you must have heard him wrong, because there was no way he said what you think he did. “I know it's crazy, and I understand if you don’t wanna be with me, knowing my...affiliations with the mafia,” he clears his throat, cringing at how he sounds. “I just needed you to know, because I want this to go far baby, but I couldn't keep this from you anymore.”

“Can— can I just sleep on it? Just some time to process this, you know?” you stumble over your words. He nods quickly, “Take all the time you need. I know that it’s a lot to think about. I'll be here whenever you decide.” you open your arms, signaling a hug when he stands to leave. “Thank you, for telling me Alex.” you whisper in his ear when he rests his head in your neck, making him smile and press a soft kiss where your shoulder and neck meet.

He pulls back resting his forehead on yours, gazing into your eyes a sad look etched onto his features. It made your heart hurt but you knew this wasn’t something to just be okay with and pretend it didn’t happen. He runs his hands down your arms, putting his hands in yours. “Take your time okay? i’ll be fine, i just want you to be sure on if you would like to stay with me or not. I’ll wait for you for however long you need.” he says, lips just barely brushing against yours, before turning towards your front door and letting himself out.

You got almost no sleep after Alex left. Most of the night your mind was running rampant thinking of every possible outcome of whatever decision you were to make. His confession should have scared you, made you upset or angry but you weren’t. It was four thirty in the morning when you rolled over to grab your phone and send Alex a message.

you: I want to talk more about this in the morning. come over whenever?

What you didn’t expect however, was his almost immediate response.

sweet boy: Of course, my love. I’ll be there at noon. Please get some rest.

He was always so formal in texts and you never understood, but that somehow made more sense now. You still didn’t have your head fully wrapped around what he had told you. It was so crazy, Alex was always so gentle and sweet to you in every way possible. You thought he wasn’t even able to hurt a fly. Thinking about it now though, it all made sense. It was why he was always getting you such expensive gifts and taking you to such expensive restaurants. And when his phone would ring and the contact was a single letter rather than a name. There were so many clues and yet you missed them all.

»»————-—————-——-««

The next morning you woke up with a pounding headache from getting so little sleep the night before. It was a little bit before twelve when you heard a knock on your door, unconsciously bringing a smile to your lips. No matter what happened today the two of you would always love the other, the both of you knew that.

Opening the door you’re greeted by Alex in a plain red tee and a pair of blue jeans. It was one of your favorite looks on him, it’s such a simple thing but he makes it work so well.

“Hey Alex.” you mutter, getting closer to him before wrapping your arms around his waist. This act alone gives him hope. Hope that you didn’t hate him and that you would still want to be with him. “Hi my love.” he whispered into your hair. You reach for his hand when you pull away before walking him to the couch.

“Last night was awful.” you start. His eyes that have been fixated on his hands since you sat together look into yours while he nods in agreement. “I hated being without you y/n.”

“Me too Alex, me too.” you say sadly.

“I’m willing to try this out still. I love and adore you. You have been such a great man to me and I’m so thankful for that. I just have a load of questions though, ‘s that okay?”

He nods eagerly, “Of course baby, anything you wanna know, I’ll tell you.”

“Well it’s gonna be a long day then isn’t it?” you joke.

“Do you want me to make us some coffee or something else while we talk?”

“Yeah, but I’ll make it for us baby, you just sit with me and get your thoughts together yeah?”

Nodding you follow him into the kitchen, studying him as if now that you knew you would somehow be able to tell in the way that he makes coffee. It wasn’t any different than any of the hundreds of times he’s made coffee for you.

“I’m sure I already know the answer to this but— do you, y’know,” you drag your thumb across your throat. His face drops and it confirms your suspicions. “Nobody that’s innocent. No women or children either.” If you were honest, his statement made your chest feel lighter in a way, like an imaginary weight was lifted off of it. Mumbling a small ‘okay’ you think of another question.

“Are you…the leader or,” his head perks up from his coffee mug, “I am.” he says with a curt nod,placing the steaming mug back down onto the counter.

“When did that happen? How- um how long has it been?” He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “Just under two years that I've been in charge. About ten since I was made to join.”

“Made to join?”

His face scrunches, reliving the memory, “Sorry sorry you don’t have to tell me.”

“No. It’s just a very painful memory to think about.”

He clears his throat before beginning, “My father was in charge before I was. He was much worse than I am, more brutal. He made what seemed like thousands of enemies and one day it came back to bite him in the ass.”

“Alex, I’m so sorry.” you stumble over your words while reaching across the counter to hold his hand.

He shrugs “I always knew it would happen, I’ve accepted it now.”

»»————-—————-——-««

Hours later and Alex is finally done answering all of your questions. It went better than you’d expected. You had learned so many new things and some that you wished you didn’t. Overall you were happy with what had happened. It was crazy and you knew it, but for him it was worth it.

“Alex?” you murmur lifting your head off of his chest, looking up at him. “Yeah?” he hums without opening his eyes. You bring your face closer to his, lips just barely touching his. “I love you, you big bad mafia boss.” you joke making him throw his head back in laughter. “I love you too,” he says, pressing a kiss to your nose, “so much,” a kiss to your cheek.

“This is gonna be so weird,” you say, drawing little things across his bare skin with your fingertips. A small smile graces his face as he nods. “I know it will be love. But I've got you, I'll protect you.” he says puffing his chest out jokingly, but you know he wasn’t joking. He’d be there for you as long as you wanted him to be there with you.

The rest of the night was spent with you making as many jokes about his confession as possible. The night was full of laughs and Alex whispering sweet nothings to you and you knew this would be okay. It was dangerous being with him and you knew it but nothing happened in the first months you were together so you believed he’d be able to keep you safe.

When it got late the two of you moved from your couch to your bed for the night. Alex pulled you impossibly close to him and you almost immediately curled into his side, closing your eyes. Right as you were about to drift into a peaceful sleep you hear him say a soft ‘thank you.’ You weren’t completely sure what he was thanking you for but you didn’t care, all you knew was you were going to be happy with him for as long as possible.

taglist- @cale-makar @beauvertime @fiveminutesforfarabee @sebbyaho @tysonjost-taylorsversion @bords @stars-canucks @ilyasorokinn @ephemeral3

[comphyjost]

ask the avs: “a hippo yo those things are vicious”

[just-dino-maggie]

Could you please write about going to parties at BC with Boldy???

Thank you so much for the request! Matt is one of my favorite hockey guys, I hope you like it!

Matt is everything I could have wished for as a best friend. He's caring and thoughtful and he is always pushing me to be better. When we were kids we always dreamed of going to the same school. Luckily for the both of us Boston College is perfect. It has an amazing phycology program along with just being a beautiful campus full of history. Most importantly for Matt, it has a high end hockey program that he's been dreaming about sense he was a kid.

One thing I didn't realize I was going to deal with in college was the amount of parties I have to attend with Matt. When we were kids the only parties we went to were birthday parties. Then in high school we stayed close but he was at the development program. I was home doing school most nights, definitely no partying.

Now I've learned to enjoy parties. I've become friends with a lot of Matt's hockey friends so its not stressful like it used to be. I'll have a drink or two to let loose sometimes but I usually just stay by Matts side and listen to him talk.

I know that sounds odd but I love the way he interacts with people. He's so kind to everyone and he seems to know everyone. I decided that tonights party is going to be a little different. I'm going to talk to some people on my own.

I get to the party and look around for people that I know. I immediately spot Matt but that's just because he always pulls my attention. I give him a small wave but the I spot Maya, Alex Newhook's girlfriend. She's a pretty close friend of mine so I dart toward her. We chat for a while about school and clothes before Alex steals her away. 

I decide to sit on the back porch for a moment and look at the stars. After a while a hear the sliding door open behind me. I look back as Matt walks toward me and sits down next to me.

We sit in comfortable silence for a while when he says, “Why didn’t you come hang out with me tonight?”

“Oh I decided to give you space, maybe try to do a night out on my own.” I look up and him and smile. I’m pretty proud of myself for not freaking out without him.

He takes a breath before replying, “Well I like you so I want you around me at these things.”

“Well I’m happy you like me or it would be hard for us to be friends.” I chuckle a little.

He turns to face me. “Y/n, you know I like you more then that right?”

“Um no I didn’t know that.” My heart is racing, I can’t believe he just said that he likes me. Or maybe I was hallucinating.

He lightly grabs my chin, “God you’re cute when you blush.” Nearly on command I blush harder. “Can I kiss you?”

I simply shake my head yes because I’m too shocked to speak. His lips meet mine and I don’t think I’ll ever miss a party again.

[withwritersblock]

Heaven

~Heaven by Kane Brown~

Author's Note: blurb fluff for my boy Newy Summary: Alex and Y/N go to a wedding together Warnings: fluff Word Count: 577 Alex Newhook x fm!reader

It was a black and white wedding, all guests were supposed to dress to impress in all black. Alex was wearing a slick all black suit that brought out the light brown color of his eyes. 

She had a loose sweetheart neckline dress that had a slight that rested high on her thigh. Her sleeves were mesh as her hair was up high off of her neck.

Alex stepped into the bedroom, his eyes widened as he fought the smirk forming to his lips. She met his gaze through the mirror as she was adjusting the earring. “Looking handsome,” she muttered as she shimmed slightly. He bit his lip as he shook his head.

“Thank you, Darling, You look out of this world,” he expressed as he walked towards her resting his hand onto her hips. He pressed his lips against the side of her neck, she smirked as she tilted her head to the side allowing him more access. 

“Come on, Baby Girl, we’ve got to get going before we walk down the aisle after the bride,” he mumbled as he kept his hands on her hips guiding her out of the bedroom. 

“She would kill me,” Y/N mumbled, referencing her future sister-in-law.

The walk out of their shared apartment in Montreal towards the Uber waiting for them outside. He opened the car door for her letting her sit down inside the car. He took a hold of the end of the dress dangling outside of the car. She smiled towards him as he climbed in the backseat. 

“Where are you two heading in such lovely attire?” The Uber driver asked. Alex smirked as he rested his hand onto her thigh.

“Her brother’s wedding,”

“Some wedding,” The Uber driver let out while chuckling.

~~~

The ceremony went by fast as it was filled with a lot of dabbing her finger against her eyes to stop the tears getting ready to fall from her eyes. Her brother was her best friend, getting to see him happy was everything she ever wanted. 

Now it was time to celebrate. The reception was in full swing, Alex and Y/N had shared several glasses of cocktails as they were dancing together all over the dance floor. After breathing heavily and dancing like crazy animals, a slow country song started to play. 

All of the couples connected. Her hands excitedly rested at the base of his neck as his hands wrapped loosely around her waist. They swayed back and forth together as they wre smiling widely. 

“Usually, songs at weddings are horrible but I guess having the same music taste as the groom helps,” she explained as she slowly played with the ends of his hair as they continued swaying to the song. 

He pulled her closer to him as he looked down towards her lips, she pulled his head closer to her as he kissed her passionately. It was slow, and not flashy. “I am completely okay if this music plays at our wedding,” he mumbled before pulling away from her. 

“Our wedding, huh?” she asked teasingly. 

He nodded slowly while biting his lower lip, “Oh yeah. It’s going to be big and dramatic,”

“You can’t start planning our wedding until you ask me to marry you,” she teased as she moved her hands to the side of his neck. 

“I’ve got that already planned out, Baby, don’t you worry,”

She rolled her eyes playfully as she kissed him briefly.

[youngbeezer]

hi!! can I please request something?

going to a lake house, maybe friends to lovers with bowen byram?

thank you! 💗.

A/N: HI IM SO SORRY THIS LITERALLY TOOK 4 EVER!!! i was having such bad writer's block with also zero motivation, but i eventually put a little something together and i hope whoever requested this first off actually sees this bc seriously its been a good month of this sitting in my inbox but also i hope you like it :)

Word Count: 2940

Warning(s): kinda angsty in beginning, curse words, ends fluffy !!!

masterlist || join my taglist

These next few days is either going to turn out to be the best week of the summer, or the most awkward week of the summer...

I’m currently stuck in a car surrounded by couples on our way to a lake house in Colorado. Somehow I ended up being lumped into this chaotic group of professional hockey players and their drop-dead gorgeous significant others.

About a year ago at my local salon, I just so happened to be seated right next to a woman named Grace, who I immediately hit it off with. We became fast friends and are now basically inseparable at this point. Her boyfriend just so happens to play hockey for the Colorado Avalanche, Cale Makar. Now I have also grown quite close with Cale as well, since I am always at their shared apartment for Grace. At this point Cale is basically third wheeling us, instead of it being the other way around. Therefore I was also always invited to team parties and get-togethers, which prompted more friendships with most of the guys on the team and their respective partners.

Someone I have surprisingly grown super close with is Bowen Byram. As soon as Cale introduced us two, his blue eyes and raspy voice immediately drew me in. Straight away we bonded over common interests and that night we talked for almost three hours. After that, we were thick as thieves. So thick that recently I have come to the realization that I have caught major feelings for him along the way.

It has only been a few weeks since I have come to this realization and it has already started to affect our relationship. I definitely started to ignore Bowen a little bit when I first figured out my feelings because I was scared he would somehow find out or I would just end up blurting it out at some point. And the last thing I want is for my silly feelings to ruin such a great friendship.

Thus why this week can either turn out to be the best or the worst.

I’ve decided that at some point during this trip I need to confess my feelings for Bowen. He’s also seemed to notice the shift in my attitude towards him. I have become more closed off and not as touchy as we used to be. Bowen and I are both very touchy/feely types of people. So what seemed like just some harmless cuddling and play wrestling with each other, to me did very little to quell down my feelings.

For example, this morning when we were packing up the cars for the trip a group of us are taking to Tyson Jost’s lakehouse, Bowen went to wrap his arms around my middle from the back and I subconsciously flinched away at his touch. I know he definitely noticed my mood shift from the defiant pout that was resting on his face. After that I did what I do best, and ran away to the other car that was driving up and basically begged Nate to switch seats with me.

Which now leads to my current thoughts. The entire car ride up I have been contemplating on ways I could tell him, but each scenario just ended up with him telling me that he doesn’t feel the same, and our friendship essentially being over. Obviously I was just overthinking just a little, but I’ve never been stuck in a situation like this before-- and now we are going to be stuck in a lake house together for an entire week, so I am going to be forced to face this situation whether I want to or not.

“Yo. Earth to y/n?” Tyson draws, trying to gain my attention. I snap out of my thoughts as soon as I hear my name, and bring my gaze to the rearview mirror to meet Tyson’s questioning look. “We’re here.” He announces.

Susanna, Mikko’s girlfriend, adds on, “You alright? You seemed kind of out of it the entire car ride.”

I shake my head to try and clear my thoughts and notice that we are indeed here at the lake house we will be staying at for the next week. I clear my dried up throat before croaking out a weak, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just don’t like long car rides.”

Both of them nod, content with my answer and exit the car to join Mikko in unloading all of the luggage from the trunk. I take a few more moments to fully get my head together after dealing with all my jumbled thoughts throughout the entire three hour car ride.

Jumping out of the car, the first thing I see is Bowen letting out a yawn and stretching out. As his arms raise over his head, some of his shirt rises up with it and immediately my eyes are drawn to the small portion of skin and v-line that is in front of me. Bowen then notices my presence and makes eye contact with me, giving me one of his adorable little smiles. I advert my gaze as quickly as I can so my obvious ogling isn’t as obvious and go to finally retrieve my luggage.

Yeah this was gonna be a long week.

…

After everyone got pretty much all settled into their rooms, we all ended up coming back together to sit around the firepit to chat and enjoy some drinks. For this trip that Tyson orchestrated there are in total ten people staying in the house. Me, Tyson, obviously since it’s his house; Bowen, Cale, Grace, Alex Newhook, Mikko and his girlfriend Susanna, and lastly Nate and his supposed new girl who will be joining us later on in the week.

Apparently a group of the guys and their partners have been taking trips together at the end of the hockey season for a while now, and since growing closer with the team this year, I graciously got an invite.

Since it was getting later and a little bit more chilly, I grabbed a random sweatshirt that I saw already laying around in the living room before making my way outside to join everyone by the firepit. Getting closer I noticed that the only seat available just so happened to be next to Bowen.

Cale and Grace give each other a not so inconspicuous knowing look when they see me approaching. As soon as I sit down, a question is being thrown at me.

“Whose sweatshirt is that y/n?” Cale brings everyone's attention to me with a growing smirk on his face.

“I don’t know, I just found it in the living room.” I give Cale a questioning glare, trying to figure what his endgame is right now.

“It’s mine.” I hear that same raspy voice that I love and know so well. I feel my face start heating up at the idea of wearing Bowen’s sweatshirt. Am I wearing his name on my back right now, and I just didn’t even think to check earlier?

“Oh, uh. Sorry, I can give it back to you, if you want it.” I stumble out, now feeling awkward and a little embarrassed about how flustered I am getting over a simple sweatshirt.

Bowen gives me a little smile before replying back, “Nah, it’s fine. It looks better on you anyway.”

I clear my throat and stumble out an awkward ‘thanks’ at Bowen and then turn my attention to Grace right next to me so I don’t embarrass myself even more. What I don’t see though is the way Bowen's face immediately falls when I turn my back on him.

…

Around midnight is when everyone started to make their way back inside the house to start getting ready for bed. I was mindlessly scrolling through my social media, so I didn’t notice that mostly everyone had already gone inside.

“Y/n.” I look up at the mention of my name to notice that Bowen and I are the only ones left outside.

Also noticing the intense gaze I am receiving from Bowen, I quickly gather my things and stumble out, “Oh my gosh I didn’t notice everyone left already. I should head inside as well.”

Bowen is quicker though because he grabs ahold of my wrist, halting me in place before I make my very obvious escape.

“Hold on, please. Can you please talk to me?” Bowen pleads out.

“What do you mean? We’ve been talking all night.” I countered, trying one last time to get out of this conversation.

“We’ve been talking as a group all night yeah, but you couldn’t even make eye contact with me. You know what I mean. What’s been going on? Did I do something?” Bowen frowned.

At that moment I felt so guilty. I’ve been so focused on trying to ignore my feelings that I have developed that I ended up pushing my best friend away and hurting him in the process. I close my eyes and let out a deep breath. I knew I would eventually have to have this talk with Bowen during this week, but I just didn’t expect it to be on the very first night.

“Okay. Yeah, let’s talk.”

I lead the way down to the dock overlooking the lake and sit down to dangle my feet into the water. I know for a fact that Grace and Cale realized that we both haven’t come in behind them, so they are most likely snooping by the backdoor wondering what we are doing.

Bowen joins me, after slipping his shoes off and dangling his feet in as well.

“What’s been going on y/n?” Bowen asks again.

“I-I think I’m in love with you.” I blurt out. I can feel my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I await any type of response from Bowen. Taking a peek over at him, I see the pure shock on his face. Probably wasn’t the best idea to start off the conversation with that.

Taking his silence as a bad sign, I start spewing out whatever I can to try and calm the anxiety coursing through my veins. “I-I think I have known for a while and I just tried to ignore it, I guess. But then I realized that I was just pushing you away, an-and I never wanted to do that. Our friendship means that absolute world to me, and I would hate myself if anything I did, or-or my stupid feelings jeaporized that.” At some point during my little rant, a few tears escaped. I turn my head away as I try to hold back on a full on sob breaking loose.

“You think?” He eventually breaks the silence.

Confusedly, I turned my head back around and let out a strangled, “Huh?” I see the corners of Bowen’s mouth start curving up into a tiny smile, confusing me even more.

“You said, you think you’re in love with me.” He pointed out.

My eyebrows raise in question and I give him a little shrug, prompting him to elaborate more.

“Well… I’m pretty damn sure I’m in love with you.” Bowen softly declared.

My breath catches in my throat and my mouth turns as dry as the Sahara Desert. Those were definitely not the words I was expecting to come out of his mouth. He chuckles at my surprised face and scooches a little closer to my body to wipe a stray tear on my cheek.

“Are you serious?” I whisper out.

“Of course.” He whispered just as softly back to me as his head inched closer to mine.

My heart pounds in my chest as Bowen’s hand comes up to cradle my cheek. All of our pent up feelings and emotions that we both have been too afraid to admit all come crashing together as our lips finally meet. He kissed me gently, almost carefully, but after all this time gentleness was not what I wanted right now. Bowen let out a low groan as I pulled him flush against my body, my fists bunching up the collar of his shirt.

Before this could go any further, we both pull away breathlessly, basking in what truly just happened-- just now realizing how much our relationship is about to change.

“Fuck.” Bowen breathed out, running his hands over his face. “If I knew that was what it was like to kiss you I would’ve blurted out my feelings the day I met you.”

My ears perk up at his last few words and it seems like he also realizes what he just admitted, as his cheeks immediately turn a rosy color.

“You’ve liked me for that long?” I bashfully question.

Bowen runs his fingers through his hair and blows out a breath of air before answering, “Yeah, I-I mean… yeah I have.” He stumbles out, awkwardly letting out a laugh.

I lean my head on his shoulder and connect our hands, feeling super content and never wanting this moment to end. We take a moment to just sit on the dock-- with our feet hanging in the water, hands intertwined; and bask in the feeling of finally letting our feelings out into the open.

“You know everyone in that house is going to have a field day when they find out.” Bowen mumbles against my shoulder, before leaving a lingering kiss on the exposed skin.

“Oh I wouldn’t be surprised if they all had a bet going or something.” I chimed. I raise my head that had previously been resting on Bowen’s shoulder back up to look at him, and see that he is already smiling at me. “What?” I drawled, feeling my cheeks heating up under his gaze.

“You wanna sleep in my bed tonight?” He asked hesitantly.

My cheeks now feel on fire as I ponder on how I want to go about this. I raise my eyebrows up at him in question as I ponder out, “Do you want me in your bed tonight?”

Bowen gives me an almost incredulous look as he voiced, “Of course I want you in my bed.”

I just give him a simple nod and push my body up in a standing position, reaching out my hand to prompt Bowen to join me. “Okay, let’s go.”

Bowen immediately shoots up from his sitting position, clinging onto my hand as we make our way back up the yard to the sliding glass doors of the lake house. Just as I predicted earlier, Cale and Grace were totally snooping. Actually, the entire house was snooping. Everyone was gathered in the kitchen trying to act casual as we walked in, but as soon as they noticed our conjoined hands, all hell broke loose.

“I fucking knew it!”

“Aw you guys look so cute.”

“Bout time.”

“Ha! Nate, you owe me fifty bucks.”

I looked over at Bowen with an unimpressed look, “Told you they probably had a bet going on.” Meanwhile Bowen has an incredulous look coating his face watching his friends freak out over his newfound relationship. Instead of questioning our oddball friends, Bowen just simply shakes his head, letting out a little chuckle.

“Alright I’m heading up, I can’t deal with these idiots right now.” Bowen gives me a quick peck on the lips before announcing his departure for the night. Most of the others also start making their way up to their respective rooms for bed, the guys putting on a show of making kissy noises and making a few chirps as they follow Bowen up the stairs.

Grace joins me by the counter, making a show of wiggling her eyebrows at me. I’m smiling like an idiot as Cale also joins us, chuckling at my lovesick expression.

“You’re welcome.” Cale smirked.

I scrunch my face up in confusion as I question him back, “For what?”

“For introducing you two, duh.” Cale teased. Grace smacks him on the arm with a tut, making a show of rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. “Alright, seriously I am happy for you guys though.” He eventually relents.

My cheeks heat up from the attention but also from the thought of Bowen and I’s new relationship. Grace grabs me by the shoulders and starts pushing me in the direction of the staircase.

“Obviously I’m happy for you too. All I’ve wanted is the best for you and I think Bowen is just that. And with that being said, go get your mans!” She sends me off with a quick smack on my ass. I giggle the whole way up the stairs on the way into Bowen’s [now our] room feeling extremely giddy and content.

When I enter the room, all the lights except for the bathroom are already off, and it looks like Bowen is already settled into bed. So, I quickly do my night time routine and change into my pajamas before making my way over to the bed I will now be sharing for the week.

Bowen is awaiting me with his arms wide open, which I happily cuddle into the second I am under the covers. He buries his head into my neck, leaving featherlight kisses here and there.

“I love you.” Bowen mumbles into my neck. I card my fingers through his hair and kiss the top of his head as I mumble back those same words, in complete awe over how fast my life has changed in one night. We both knew that we would eventually be together, it just took a little time and a trip to Tyson Jost’s lakehouse for us to figure it out. This week will definitely be one for the books.

Taglist: @barzysandmarnersbitch @handwrittenheroes @hockeyplayerstories @barzy-xoxo @gnemgn @joelsfarabees

Tagging some mutuals as well so this doesnt flop,,,

@2manytabsopen @bb-nhlqueen7 @frederikanderson @simon-edvinsson @coltonndach @carepriceisgoodathockey @lovereadinghockeyy @pettypeteys @kentjohnsons @joekellys @mattybenierss

[ilyasorokinn]

i love that you’re doing an avs event so much!! can i request six ( hugging and gently holding the other’s head ) from the hugs prompt list with alex newhook? :))

CAN'T BEAT THIS

TAYLOR'S AVS NIGHT!

6. "hugging and gently holding the other's head" (from this prompt list)

you and alex had been doing long distance for about 2 years. it was hard but you were making it work.

so, you decided, as a surprise for your 4-year anniversary, that you would fly out to colorado to surprise him. with the help of a few other girls, your plan was set in motion.

you would fly in and drop your stuff off at his apartment while he was at the rink and would surprise him in the tunnel after the game. that was the plan.

sydney, jt's girlfriend, picked you up and drove you to the arena where all the other girls greeted you with lots of hugs.

it was nice to catch up with all the girls. you felt like you were home.

after the game, you were standing towards the end of the tunnel, talking to a few other girls with your back to the locker room entrance.

when the guys started piling out, that was when you turned around and faced the locker room entrance. a few girls stuck around to film the interaction.

he came out talking with landy but when he saw you, he quite literally froze in his spot. he blinked a few times to make sure you were really standing there and when he saw you were there, he ran over to you, picking you up and hugging you, cupping the back of your head with his hand.

"what're you doing here?" he asked, setting you on the ground.

"surprise." you smiled.

"said you weren't coming in till next week." he hugged you again.

"i wanted to give you a special gift for our anniversary."

"don't think i'm ever gonna beat this." he laughed.

[eightmakar]

empty cups | n.m. | 18+

Pairing: Nathan MacKinnon x Original Character

Word Count: 6.2k

Warnings: drinking, mentions of underage drinking, swearing, smut (fem. oral receiving, protected sex)

A/N: inspired by empty cups by charlie puth. basically all smut so you were warned

tagging: @harlowhockeystick @bitchinbarzal @matbaerzal @taking-shots @fallinallincurls @jostyriggslover96 @burkymakar @flashyfucker @capsvsducks @xsyntheticsensation @double-j @hockeylvr59

Despite being explicitly invited, Chase Bauer felt incredibly out of place at the house party. Should she really call it a house party? It felt like a house party, with all the people milling around, the loud music, the kegs of beer strewn about, but not a house party she’d ever been to. The beer wasn’t the cheapest shit college guys could manage to purchase, the people she partied with were nearly all millionaires, and they held their liquor much better than college guys. 

Gabriel Landeskog walked up to her in her little corner, a big grin on his face and a bottle of fancy beer in his hand. “Bauer, why’re you all alone over here?” he asked, patting her on the shoulder.

“I was waiting for EJ to pick some better music,” Chase replied. “Some songs from this century would be great.”

“It’s not for lack of trying on our part,” Gabe laughed. He pointed to her empty hands and continued, “You need a drink.”

“I don’t like beer.” Chase scrunched her nose. 

“We’ve got a lot more than just beer. C’mon.” Gabe turned around and began to walk into Erik Johnson’s kitchen, so Chase followed him, making herself smaller to maneuver through the large bodies in her way. 

The kitchen was brightly lit in comparison to the rest of the house with shining bottles of every kind of alcohol Chase could imagine. There were brands she’d never heard of peppered in with bottles of Grey Goose and other top-shelf liquor she vaguely recognized.

“What do you usually drink?” Gabe asked her.

“I like sweet drinks mostly,” Chase said. She reached for a familiar bottle of lemon vodka.

“I think EJ’s got something if you want a mixer to make it sweeter.” Gabe began rummaging through EJ’s cabinets as Chase looked around the party. 

Erik Johnson’s home was always the party house. He owned a huge, isolated home with the most gorgeous views imaginable, and more guest rooms than anyone could count, which worked well for the wild parties he threw throughout the year. He always invited the whole staff, all the coaches and equipment managers and Chase and her coworkers, the athletic trainers, but this was the first Chase had chosen to attend, to celebrate the Avalanche winning Western Conference Final and going to the Stanley Cup Final.

Chase cracked a small smile as she looked over at Josh Manson sitting on a couch against a wall, waving a glass of something dark around and loudly telling a story to an apathetic Sam Girard. Mikko Rantanen sat across from them, his girlfriend on top of him, straddling his legs as they passionately made out like no one else was in the vicinity. 

Small groups of wives and girlfriends littered the walls, holding delicate glasses of wine and champagne, though Chase knew they could put back as much alcohol as their significant others. Other groups of players were interspersed around, some chatting lowly, some loudly, and others barely at all. Alex Newhook and Logan O’Connor had started an enthusiastic game of beer pong in the middle of the wide living room.

“How the fuck does EJ only have Crystal Light packets in this huge fucking house?” Gabe said, returning to Chase’s side and making her turn around. 

“That strangely makes sense,” Chase laughed. Gabe handed her the small box of lemonade packets and she immediately took two out. She filled a Solo cup to the brim with lemon vodka and mixed the two packets in. Taking a sip, she gave Gabe a thumbs up. 

“If I see you back in your corner, I’ll drag you to the dance floor instead,” Gabe warned.

Chase took another long, burning sip of her drink. “Got it, Cap.”

Gabe rolled his eyes and wandered away, over to one of the pods of players, leaving Chase alone with her cup to gaze around the party again. EJ was dancing with his fiancée on the “dance floor,” which was just an area of the room that was wide open. The enormous Darcy Kuemper, his wife, Kurtis MacDermid, and his girlfriend all danced with them. Chase thought they all danced like dads.

“Looking for someone?” 

“Jesus!” Chase jerked around and found herself face to face with a serious looking Nathan MacKinnon. Beer in hand, he gazed at her, blue eyes a little icy.

“Shit, sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s all good, I was kinda zoned out,” Chase admitted. She drank her lemony drink again, trying her hardest to finish it soon. 

A drunken Mikko bumped into Chase before Nate could say anything, dragging his girlfriend behind him and giggling as they went upstairs, but earning a sharp glare from Nate. Nate protectively put an arm on Chase’s shoulder and pulled her out of the middle of the room, out of the way of his drunk friends and teammates. Her feet were beginning to ache in her heels, so she took the chance to sit down on a barstool. To her surprise, Nate joined her, pulling a barstool over for himself as well.

Chase was convinced Nathan MacKinnon hated her. She didn’t know what it was; maybe the serious passion he played with, maybe the intense specificity he demanded with his equipment and his body, maybe the high standards he held himself and everyone else to. If and when she had to treat him, like she did recently when he got in a fight with Dumba for Minnesota, his body tensed up and he pulled away from her touch, which made her job as an athletic trainer much more difficult. She thought it might’ve been the fact that she was a woman, but he fiercely protected her at games, practices, and really any time someone tried to make a comment about her gender. When she’d first been hired, he and the rest of the team had been asked numerous times how they felt about it, and his response made her feel the most welcome and the most at home: “She’s part of the team and we treat her that way. We really only care about getting our job done and making a run for the Cup and she’s going to help us.”

“I’m not gonna lie, Bauer, I was surprised to see you came,” Nate said, fiddling with the bottle in his hand. He looked up at her and anxiously scratched his beard. 

“You were?” Chase asked incredulously, puffing herself up a little bit.

Nate winced at her tone. “Good surprised,” he clarified, and she relaxed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at one of EJ’s parties.”

“I usually don’t come, but this one seemed special,” Chase shrugged.

“You didn’t come to the President’s Trophy party last year. God, that one was a mess,” he chuckled low in his throat and half-smiled at her.

“So I take it I missed a lot of fun?”

“Oh yeah,” Nate laughed again, the ice in his eyes beginning to melt a bit. Chase was pretty sure in the two years she’d worked for the Avs, she’d never spoken more than a couple words to him, but here they were having a conversation like old friends. 

“Who was the drunkest?” She asked, swigging her vodka and trying not to react to the burning in her mouth and throat.

“Honestly, a lot of guys were pretty close. Josty was so fucked up he fell outside on the porch, broke his nose, and ended up just sleeping there.”

“Jesus,” Chase breathed with a small laugh. “I’ve never been that drunk in my life and don’t wanna be.”

“I have,” Nate said, pressing his lips together to hide a smile. “In juniors and at World’s.”

“Wow, in juniors? Nathan MacKinnon, under age drinker?” Chase smirked. 

Nate rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna sit here and tell me you weren’t an under age drinker too?”

“Genuinely, I wasn’t. I had my first drink on my twenty-first birthday. I know, how painfully boring of me.” Chase had heard it all, every comment under the sun about her dislike of drinking. 

“That’s not boring,” Nate said immediately. “If you don’t like it, it’s not boring.” 

“I don’t like the taste, unfortunately. Plus my tolerance is sky high, so I’ve only really been drunk twice in my life.”

“Really? What are you drinking now?” 

Chase took a sip of her drink, almost to show Nate she wasn’t boring. “Don’t laugh, but it’s lemon vodka with lemonade packets. It’s surprisingly good.”

Nate cracked a smile. “That sounds ridiculous.”

“It is,” Chase conceded, “but I do wanna get drunk, so this is how I have to do it. Straight vodka.”

“Hold on.” Nate got up and retreated to the kitchen. While he looked through the bottles of liquor, Chase people-watched.

Cale Makar was drunkenly singing to the ABBA song playing over EJ’s sound system with his girlfriend, André Burakovsky had apparently decided to only speak in Swedish for the rest of the evening, and JT Compher stood with his chest against his girlfriend’s back while having a conversation with Darren Helm, tugging his girlfriend far too close to him. 

“Goddamn,” Nate said as he returned clutching a partial bottle of vodka with a bar-style top that allowed for better pouring. “Cale is wasted.”

“Good for him, he deserves it.”

“He does.” Nate offered Chase the bottle. “I snagged this. EJ’s got a whole distillery over there, so he won’t miss it.”

“Oh shit, thank you,” Chase said. “What about you?”

“This isn’t just for you,” Nate grinned, then threw his head back and poured vodka straight into his mouth. 

Chase tried not to drool as she watched him. She was starting to feel a bit fuzzy, and she could feel her reservations about Nate slipping away by the sip. There was no denying he was incredibly attractive, a fact she was painfully aware of every moment she spent close to him. 

“Now my turn,” Chase said. She surprised herself, but she tilted her head back and opened her mouth.

Nate’s grin widened as he began to pour vodka in her mouth. She always thought vodka tasted like hand sanitizer, and the burning taste engulfed her mouth and throat. She tugged away, mouth full, and Nate accidentally got a bit of vodka on her chin. She swallowed and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, watching Nate’s eyes glaze over as she did. Fuck, was he into that like she was?

Chase shoved the thoughts out of her mind and chugged the rest of her lemonade combo. The liquid burned all the way down to her stomach, but the heat continued down her body and between her thighs as she watched Nathan tip his head back and pour more vodka into his mouth.

The song over the speaker changed. Cale clearly didn’t know it, but he looked over at Nate and Chase and waved enthusiastically. He came over to join them, creating a triangle with a third stool.

“You don’t know this one too?” Chase chirped. 

“I’m too drunk,” Cale shrugged, holding his hand out to Nate and motioning for him to hand over the vodka bottle. Nate did, and Cale barely leaned his head back, just moving the bottle, not unlike the way he drank water on the bench during games. He paused, swallowed with a scrunched nose, then poured more vodka in his mouth. Swallowing again, he shook his head and handed the bottle back to Nate. 

Chase took it and drank from it again. She could feel the alcohol she’d already drank slowly lowering her inhibitions, slowly loosening her mind, and she knew she had to continue to drink if she wanted it to stay that way.

“I’m impressed you’re here, Bauer,” Cale said as Chase drank. 

Chase wiped her mouth again and handed the bottle back to Nate. “Thanks, me too. I’ve always been afraid to come to one of these things.”

Cale’s rosy face frowned in concern, his eyes trying to focus on her. “Afraid?” he asked sadly. Nate looked at Chase too, but the concern looked different on Nate’s face. Almost more protective? She couldn’t tell, and with how fuzzy her whole body was starting to feel, she was even more confused. 

“Well yeah,” Chase started, feeling her mouth run without a filter of any kind, just words spewing and spewing. “There’s a lot of men here and some of you I don’t trust to not do weird things to me while I’m drunk and I don’t trust myself to not do weird things and fuck, I’m drunk.”

“Weird things?” Nate asked. 

“Weird things like Mikko and Susanna do. Like right now, Nathan, I want to kiss you so so bad, but I know I can’t, because you hate me but I’d still kiss you.”

Fuck. What the fuck just came out of her mouth? She couldn’t stop it.

“But that would also be weird because I don’t just want to kiss you I wanna do so much more than kiss you but I’ve never had sex before so I’d be bad at it.” Chase sighed and gazed at Nate, who looked incredulous. His blue eyes were wide as he drank from the vodka bottle, finishing off what little was left in it. 

“I’m definitely too drunk for this,” Cale said, shaking his head. He got up and returned to his girlfriend. 

“Shit, Nate, I didn’t mean—fuck,” Chase said. Her body was floating and swimming and felt like static on an old television. 

“I don’t hate you,” Nate said softly. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, you never talk to me, you flinch away from me if I have to treat you during a game, you don’t want me to tape you up before practice, you don’t want me to put the dumb pressure leg things on you, you always glare at me when I smile at you, you don’t smile back at me.” Chase paused to take a deep breath. “So you hate me.”

“Bauer, I—,” Nate cut himself off with a chuckle. “Oh god, I did not imagine tonight being like this.”

“What do you mean? You didn’t imagine having to hang out with me because you hate me and I suck and I’m annoying?” Chase pouted.

“No, listen, I—,” Nate shook his head, “I don’t hate you, Chase, it’s the exact opposite, in fact.”

“You called me ‘Chase,’” she said, blinking in surprise. 

“I mean, that’s your name.”

“Wait.” Chase held a hand up, having processed what Nate said. “It’s the opposite? The opposite of hate is love and you definitely don’t love me.”

Nate shook his head again. “Never mind, Bauer. I’m going to get a drink.” Nate got up and stalked off to the kitchen, leaving Chase alone. 

The opposite of hating her? Nathan MacKinnon couldn’t possibly like her like that. He was much too, well, him. He liked teeny, blonde supermodel types, not loud former hockey players whose job it was to keep him healthy. No, not Nathan MacKinnon, who kept his specific regimens of health, kept his body in top tier condition, who demanded excellence from everyone, including her and her team.

Gabe appeared in front of her, clutching a new bottle of beer and a tall glass of clear liquid. “Can I join you?” He asked. Chase nodded, so he sat down where Nate had just been and handed her the glass. “Nate asked me to bring you water.”

“Because I’m drunk and told him I wanted to have sex with him but that he hates me?” Chase clarified.

“He didn’t give me specifics, but I’m sure that has something to do with it,” Gabe laughed. 

“Now he definitely hates me,” Chase mumbled. She sipped some water, but she didn’t feel any less fuzzy. In fact, she could feel the rest of the vodka starting to hit her and the idea of going over to Nate, who now stood chatting with Nazem Kadri, and kissing him was becoming more and more appealing.

“He acts like that to all of us. That’s just Nate. Whatever he told you is the truth,” Gabe explained.

Chase hummed. “Well, he didn’t say he wanted to kiss me and have sex with me too,” she said, her words beginning to slur together the tiniest bit, her brain working hard to put letters together. “He was stuck on the hating me part.”

“I can guarantee he doesn’t hate you.” 

“You can’t read his mind!”

“Neither can you. Look, Bauer, I’m guessing he said he had feelings for you, right? I can guarantee you he does. The amount of things I’ve heard him say about you matches what you’re saying.”

Chase looked at Gabe with wide eyes. “Nate wants to have sex with me too? Even though I’ll be bad at it because I’ve never had sex? He wants to—.”

“Bauer, go talk to him.” Gabe used his captain voice on her.

“I’m even drunker than I was before,” she commented. “Even with the water. And we can’t have sex when I’m this drunk. I’ll be even worse at it. What if I puke on his dick when I try to blow him? God, maybe then he’d hate me.”

“Okay, Bauer? Go talk to him.” Gabe got up and walked away before Chase could say anything else. 

Chase took a deep breath and stood up. Her legs felt like jelly and she could’ve sworn she was leaning to one side. She giggled at herself, at the fuzziness coursing through her veins, at the thoughts coming to the forefront of her mind. She made her way over to Nate, shoved herself in between him and Naz, grabbed his arms and looked up at him.

“Hi,” she said, realizing how close her face was to his face. 

Naz excused himself, and Nate looked down at her over his crooked nose. God, Chase wanted that nose in between her legs. 

“Hi,” she said again. 

“Hi,” he replied shortly. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. 

“I’m still drunk and I’m sorry I thought you hated me and that I said I wanted to have sex with you because I know we can’t have sex I’m drunk and you’re famous and we work together and you’re good at sex and I’m very bad at sex.” Chase squinted to try and focus on Nate’s face but it was very difficult. When did he have two faces? 

“I actually do want to have sex with you,” Nate said straightforwardly. “I think you’re smart and cool and hot and yeah, I like you. But I don’t think this is exactly the right time to do this.”

“That’s why you didn’t want me to treat you? Cause you liked me?” Chase put together.

“Yeah,” Nate laughed. “I tried to keep you away so I could focus, but having you around the past two seasons has not been a distraction at all, it’s helped me focus.”

“Oh,” Chase said, standing there. “Oh.”

“So we’ll have this conversation again when you’re sober,” Nate said. “I think I’m gonna leave anyway, actually.”

“Wait,” Chase frowned. “Don’t leave yet. We haven’t even gotten to dance. I don’t want you to leave. I’m drinking water now and it won’t take me too long to sober up. Please don’t leave.”

Nate sighed. “Okay, let’s go dance.”

Chase grinned, took his hand, and led him over to where Cale and his girlfriend had resumed their dancing and loud singing of random songs that came up. A rap song came on, definitely one Nate had introduced EJ to, because it was on their warm up playlist. 

Chase turned around, facing Nate, pressing her chest into his. Nate’s eyes glazed over again as he put his hands on her hips, dangerously close to her ass. Chase wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged his forehead down to touch hers, demanding his blue eyes meet hers. She ground her body into his, and relished in the small buck of his hips he responded with.

Nate let his hands slide down her body to grip her ass. His breathing was slowly quickening, his touch slowly tightening, as the song changed to another rap song and they continued their dance. 

Chase gasped when Nate pushed her away slightly and nudged his thigh between her legs for her to grind on. She immediately did, dragging the seam of her denim shorts along the length of his thigh. Feeling herself clench around nothing, she clutched harder to the back of his neck. 

“You like that?” he asked, eyes still drilled on her, a smirk dancing across his lips. 

“I’m drunk and you’re hot and I like everything you do,” Chase replied softly. “Please don’t leave yet.”

“When we’re dancing like this? Not a chance.”

She had no idea how long they danced, but by the time they stopped, she was sweaty and desperately craving more water. She and Nate separated and she hurried to the kitchen to chug water. Chase felt herself sobering up, the fuzziness beginning to fade, and with it, the confidence that had been flowing through her quickly dissipating. 

Nate came to join Chase in the kitchen to get water, too. He filled up a cup and drank long sips. Chase stared at his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. He put his cup down after he finished, his lips glistening from the water, and Chase made a split decision. 

Chase stalked over to him and kissed him. 

Her hands found his cheeks, tracing his playoff beard with her fingertips. His hands rested on her ass again, tugging her closer as she pinned him against the counter behind him. His lips were soft and wet and warm and tasted like beer. His tongue gently made its way into her mouth, softly dancing around hers.

Chase pulled back and looked up at his red, puffy lips. “Fuck,” she said.

“Mmhmm,” Nate replied, then pulled her in for more. Nate kissed her like she was his tether to the ground, like he was floating and the only thing that could keep him down was her lips. His fingertips dug into her ass, and she was sure she’d have bruises tomorrow, but she didn’t care. She traced his bottom lip with her tongue, then pulled away again, just enough to speak to him.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Chase whispered.

“You’re still drunk,” Nate whispered back.

“I’m sobering up.”

“The guys will have something to say. They’ll never let us live it down.”

“So? I don’t care what they think. They won’t even notice.”

“Chase…”

“We don’t need their permission. We’re both adults.”

“You’re still drunk.”

“And I’m still sobering up. Nathan, I’m good. I’m probably like, the equivalent of two shots drunk now.”

Nate bit his lip and looked over her head at his friends. Chase turned around too, and she was right. No one was paying attention to them. Everyone was in their own worlds. It was the perfect time to sneak away. 

“Fuck it,” Nate muttered. “C’mon.” 

Chase giggled as Nate clung to her hand and dragged her away, upstairs to one of EJ’s spare bedrooms. There were solo cups strewn everywhere, and Chase didn’t care to know whose they were. She fell onto the bed with more giggles as Nate turned on the T.V. hanging on the wall in front of the bed.

“Why the T.V.?” Chase asked.

“Well, not to brag, but I’m about to blow your mind, and I don’t want to get chirped for how loud I make you moan,” Nate said, his eyes darkening with lust.

Chase shivered, but said, “Well, the only competition you have is my vibrator, but I’ve learned to be pretty quiet.”

“Oh really?” Nate raised his eyebrows, then flopped on the bed next to her. He rolled on top of her, positioning himself in between her legs and said, “I take that as a challenge.”

Nate leaned down and kissed Chase sweetly, with none of the previous fervor from downstairs. He kissed his way down her clothed body, bunched her shirt up around her stomach, and kissed the soft skin as he unbuttoned her shorts and dragged them down her legs. She wore her only pair of sexy panties made of a comfy lace, and Nate dragged his thumb across the band.

“Nice,” he complimented. “Who’d you wear these for?”

Chase smirked. “Mikko.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Nate kissed her covered core and she jumped, making Nate chuckle.

“Nathan,” Chase said softly. “I’m nervous.”

Nate laid his head on her thigh, gazing up at her. “We can stop any time, you just say so.”

 Chase took a deep breath. “Just, uh, go slow?”

“Hang on.” Nate hopped up and left the room, returning a few moments later. He tossed an unopened box of condoms and a brand new bottle of lube on the bed next to Chase, then shut the door behind him. 

“Where did you get this?” Chase sat up and grabbed the lube, examining it. 

Nate shrugged, “I know where EJ keeps his shit. I’ll buy him more.”

Chase’s heart pounded as Nate repositioned himself between her legs. He wrapped his strong arms around her thighs, pulled her to the edge of the bed, then kissed her again through her panties, making Chase shiver. 

“You ready?” Nate asked. He kissed her again and looked up at her through his eyelashes. 

Chase took a deep breath and nodded, then Nate tugged her panties down in a swift motion, threw them on the ground behind him, and gently dragged his hands along her thighs. Chase watched him with bated breath, thinking he was going far too slow but also could go never fast enough. He ghosted kisses along her thighs, teasing her even more, and she pouted. 

“That’s some mind-blowing head you’re giving me,” she said, rather annoyed. 

Nate looked up at her, grinned, and rolled his eyes. He stuck his tongue out and traced it on the lips of her pussy, and she nearly leapt out of her skin. Nate chuckled, then let his tongue dip into her folds.

“Holy fuck,” Chase yelped. 

Nate swirled his tongue around near her entrance for a bit, clearly avoiding her clit, but Chase didn’t care. The simple gesture sent heat waves and ice through her entire body. Finally, Nate softly wrapped his lips around her clit. 

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Chase yelped again. Nate’s tongue massaging her clit felt incredible, in a way she’d always imagined but could never have imagined, in a way she had started to believe she’d never feel. He looked up at her through his eyelashes and gently sucked on her clit. Chase’s legs began to shake and she could already feel how fast her orgasm was racing toward her. 

“Use…use your fingers,” Chase gasped breathlessly. 

Nathan unlatched his mouth from Chase, then shoved his middle finger into his mouth. He slowly teased her with it, gathering up more of her wetness, and slid his thick finger inside her, lips returning to her clit. He curled his finger to massage her walls, keeping pace with his tongue. 

“Oh fuck,” Chase moaned, “oh fuck, I’m gonna come, oh fuck, fuck, Nate, fuck!”

Chase went sailing over the edge as her orgasm raked through her. Despite her legs shaking and her back arching, Nate kept his mouth on her as she fell apart for him. The constant stream of “fuck” that came from Chase’s mouth was so loud that she was grateful Nate turned on the T.V..

She finally came down, panting, and Nate slid his finger out of her and released his mouth from her. She grabbed his shirt and dragged him up to kiss him hotly, tongue immediately invading his mouth, tasting herself. Jesus Christ, he did what he said he would, and she was impressed. 

“Where the fuck did you learn that?” she breathed. 

Nate chuckled. “You did say earlier I was good at sex, if I remember correctly.”

“Jesus.” She was still trying to catch her breath when she realized Nate was still fully clothed, so she said, “You’re wearing clothes still. Let’s change that.”

Grinning, Nate stood up and pulled his shirt over his head. He unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them down his legs, along with his underwear, so he stood before her in all his glory. He was already semi-hard, and he clambered back onto the bed overtop of her.

“Do you want me to like, do anything for you?” Chase asked.

Nate quickly slid his arms under her and pushed her up on the bed, closer to the headboard. “Nope,” he said as he moved her. “I’m good. Are you good?”

Chase nodded nervously. “Y-yeah, I think so.”

Nate reached over for a condom and the bottle of lube. He stroked himself several times before he opened the condom wrapper, then slid the condom on. He grabbed the bottle of lube.

“Okay,” he said, opening the bottle. “If it hurts, tell me. If we use enough lube, we should be fine.”

“Yeah,” Chase agreed. “I’ll tell you.”

Licking his lips, Nate squirted lube on his dick, which he then spread around with his other hand. He squirted some onto Chase’s pussy, and she jumped.

“That’s cold, what the fuck?” Chase yelped.

Nate chuckled. “It’s not that cold.”

“Maybe through latex it’s not.”

“Alright, alright,” Nate conceded. “Do you want more lube or is that good for now?”

Chase brought her fingers to her pussy, spreading the lube around and inside her. “I think that’s good for now, but I’ll stop you if I need more.”

Nate leaned down and kissed her lips sweetly. “Please do. Are you ready?”

Chase nodded, biting her lip nervously. “Go slow, please.”

“I will.” 

Nate straightened up, then guided himself into Chase. Her mouth fell open as he stretched her, slowly inching deeper and deeper. She flailed her hand until it found his so she could tangle their fingers together. His pelvis bumped hers, and she knew he was all the way in.

“Oh fuck,” Chase muttered. “Just stay there for a second.”

Nate did as she said, patiently waiting, looking amused as Chase tried not to squirm. Having him inside her felt so intimate, so delicate, and she never wanted him to stop.

“Okay,” she said after a moment, “move.”

Nate readjusted his position on the bed so he was laying overtop of Chase. He rested on one elbow, keeping his hand intwined with hers, then rolled his hips back so he slid out of her, then rolled them forward to thrust into her.

“Oh my god,” Chase moaned. 

Nate established a slow, steady pace, thrusting in and out of her so she could feel every inch and ridge of him. She felt pressure, but not pain, and it was delicious, especially as Nate’s breathing became heavier and heavier on her neck and lips.

“Does it feel good?” he breathed, nipping at her earlobe.

“Fuck yes, it does,” she moaned back.

“Good,” Nate replied, straining a little. “Me too, it, oh, fuck, you feel so good.”

He kept the same pace and before long, they were both panting and sweating.

“Nate,” Chase gasped, “more, I need more.”

Nate obliged, attaching his lips to her collarbone and sucking hard as he increased the speed of his thrusts slightly and thrust harder into her. He released her hand and began to rub her clit. Chase’s free hand dug into his bicep, leaving tiny crescents on his skin.

Suddenly, Nate sat up, grabbed Chase’s legs, and pushed them out wider, stretching her hips, but also allowing himself to hit a different angle inside her. Chase’s mouth fell open and she couldn’t even moan; the pressure of Nate inside her felt so good it overwhelmed her senses and she couldn’t think clearly.

“Oh, fuck, Chase,” Nate grunted. “Oh fuck, I’m getting close.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll come,” admitted Chase, “but I don’t care.”

“I care. I’ll take care of you, okay?” Nate’s blue eyes were warm and lustful and genuine.

All Chase could do was nod in response. Her head lolled over as she scraped her nails from his bicep to his back, digging so hard she nearly made him bleed, and dragged her nails down his back as he fucked her. She swore she could feel him in her stomach, but then it began to hurt.

“Nate,” she breathed. “Nate, stop.”

Nate froze and brought his hands up to cup Chase’s face. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

“I think we need more lube. It’s starting to hurt a little. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Nate said, kissing her forehead. Chase watched, eyes hazy. He reached over to grab the bottle of lube again, squeezing some onto his fingers, which he then slid inside Chase. He spread the lube around and pulled his fingers back out of her. He squeezed more lube on his dick, stroked it to spread it across himself, then closed the bottle.

“I’m ready when you are,” Chase said and reached out to hold his forearm.

“Okay,” Nate replied. He spread her legs again, then gripped himself and guided his dick inside her. Chase’s back arched as he slid into her. She relished in the feeling of him, pressing her lips together. Nate leaned back over her and began to re-establish the rhythm he’d had.

“I’m sorry,” Chase breathed again. “I know you were close.”

“Shut up, Chase,” Nate breathed back, hungrily kissing her as he snapped his hips against hers. “I’m basically back where I was, oh, fuck.”

Chase placed her hand on the back of Nate’s neck. “You gonna come for me, Nathan?” she teased.

“Shit,” Nate said through clenched teeth. “Shit, I’m gonna come for you.”

Chase pulled Nate’s face close to hers and whispered, “Come for me.”

“Oh,” Nate moaned loudly, spilling into the condom, “oh, fuck, oh my god, fuck!”

Nate’s hips stuttered to a stop and he closed his eyes, panting. He kissed her sweetly as he pulled out of her, making her whimper from the loss of heat and contact. Without a word, he kissed his way back down her body to settle between her legs again. He licked Chase’s clit and she jumped.

“Shit,” Chase squeaked.

Nate slid his tongue down through her folds to her entrance, then pushed it into her. Chase moaned, hands grabbing at him until he offered her one of his hands. He moved his other hand to her clit, softly circling it, and within moments, he had her coming on his tongue, his name spilling out of her mouth.

“Oh fuck, Nate,” Chase breathed. Her body was exhausted and spent, and she didn’t know if she could move. 

“Are you good?” Nate asked, laying next to her and pushing her sweaty hair out of her face. “Can I get you anything?”

“Fuck, maybe a Gatorade?” Chase laughed.

Nate chuckled, “I bet I can do that. Let’s get cleaned up first, though. You know you should pee like, soon, right?”

Nodding, Chase said, “Yeah, but I don’t know if I have the energy to walk right now.”

“Need help?”

“I think so.” Chase was embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

“Quit apologizing,” Nate said sharply. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nate helped Chase sit up, then helped her to the bathroom. He pulled the condom off carefully and threw it in the trash, then took turns using the toilet and washing up. Nate went back into the bedroom and picked up Chase’s panties and his shirt. 

“Here,” Nate said, handing it to her. “You can sleep in my shirt.”

Chase’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sleep? Here?”

“I’d, uh, I’d like to wake up with you, but I think we’re both too tired to go home.” Nate smiled softly.

“Oh.” Chase looked up at Nate. He was dead serious. God, he really did like her, huh? 

“I mean, I can take you home if you want,” Nate added quickly.

“No no no. Let’s stay.” Chase stood on her tiptoes and kissed his nose. “But I definitely need that Gatorade.

Nate laughed, “I gotcha. Lemme get dressed.”

The two of them padded back into the bedroom, Chase pulling on her panties and Nate’s shirt, Nate pulling on only his boxers. Chase settled into the bed under the covers, grabbed her phone, and caught up on her notifications while Nate retreated downstairs for Gatorade. 

Nate returned with his arms full of Gatorade, snacks, and phone chargers. “I thought you might be hungry,” he explained as he dumped the contents onto the bed, “and I know my phone is dead, so I stole a couple chargers too.”

“Thank you, Nate,” Chase giggled. “You’re very thoughtful.”

“Don’t tell anyone else that,” Nate joked as he climbed in bed with her. He grabbed one of the Gatorades, cracked it open, and drained it. He grabbed another and handed it to Chase, who opened it and took a few gulps.

Exhaustion hit Chase. “Oh shit,” she mumbled. “I’m fucking tired.”

“Me too,” Nate yawned.

“Can I, uh, can we cuddle?” Chase asked.

Nate smiled at her. “I was hoping we would.”

Chase grinned, put her Gatorade down, and scooted into Nate’s body, laying her head on his chest. His soft heartbeat was like a lullaby, and she knew she would be asleep soon.

“Nate?” she said sleepily.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t let this be a one night thing.”

Chase felt Nate kiss her head. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Can I take you to breakfast in the morning?”

“Bold of you to assume I’ll be awake for breakfast.”

Nate chuckled. “Brunch? Lunch? Whatever meal we want when we get up?”

“That sounds perfect,” Chase giggled. “Goodnight, Nathan.”

“Goodnight.”

[oeldeservesthenorris]

‘A nice fresh start’ for Tyson Jost: After trade ‘whirlwind,’ the former Avalanche forward is settling in with the Wild - Peter Baugh, The Athletic

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tyson Jost wasn’t expecting a trade, but when he saw Joe Sakic’s name pop up on his phone March 15, he knew something was happening. Sure enough, the Avalanche general manager told him he was off to Minnesota, where he’d join the rival Wild.

“Kind of a whirlwind from there,” Jost said in an interview with The Athletic ahead of Sunday’s Colorado-Minnesota game.

Jost didn’t fully grasp the reality of his situation until another phone call, which came shortly after Sakic’s. Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, Jost’s captain since he debuted in March 2017, wanted to say goodbye.

“That was really tough; I was like, ‘Holy smokes,’” said Jost, who was traded for Nico Sturm. “That was where the emotions kind of hit. ‘Oh, this is going to suck.’”

But it hasn’t sucked. Jost has fit right in with Minnesota, and the Wild have won all six games of their games since his arrival. He didn’t have to go to a team out of the playoff contention — the Wild trail only Colorado and Calgary in the Western Conference standings — and the 24-year-old sees an opportunity to seize more of an offensive role than he had with the Avalanche. He called the move “a nice fresh start.”

Colorado picked Jost 10th overall in the 2016 Draft. He averaged more than a point per game in one season at North Dakota, then turned pro. Though he didn’t develop offensively in Denver the way both he and the Avalanche had hoped, the team could have done far worse with a high first-round pick. Jost ranks 15th in his draft class in scoring and 10th in games played (327), developing into a reliable bottom-six forward and penalty killer. He averaged a Game Score Value Added of 0.5 in the three seasons leading into 2021-22.

But Jost saw his role diminish this season. He averaged only 12:49 of ice time, lower than all but one of his previous seasons with the team (12:46 in 2019-20). In his final five games with the team, he averaged only 8:27.

“It is what it is, and that’s one of the reasons I’m happy to be here, too: I get some more opportunities to be able to play and showcase myself,” he said. “(Not playing much) wasn’t fun. There were hard nights where I was definitely down on myself and wasn’t feeling too happy.”

Jost doesn’t hold any hard feelings toward Sakic or coach Jared Bednar, saying he has “a lot of respect for both those guys.” It’s clear those feelings were mutual. Sakic made a point to thank Jost in his post-trade statement, and Bednar noted it was hard seeing him go, considering he was one of the players left from his first season as coach.

“I, like everyone else in our locker room and our organization, have a ton of respect for Josty,” Bednar said. “Never once in my whole time with Josty did I ever doubt his care or try. I think he’s a perfect teammate when it comes to that: He’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team, regardless of role.”

Added rookie Alex Newhook: “I don’t have enough good things to say about Josty. He was one of the most welcoming guys I could’ve imagined. He took me in, showed me the ropes. … He kind of went through the same path as me and was a guy I looked up to.”

Jost’s dedication showed to the very end, playing through a broken jaw for his final four games with the club. But Colorado is in a win-now window, and Sakic saw the opportunity to add size and faceoff ability in Sturm. Perhaps Jost has more long-term potential, especially if he finds his scoring touch and can move up the lineup — he started on the fourth line in Minnesota with “a chance in due time to elevate into a more offensive role” — but the 6-foot-3 Sturm is better equipped to play in a grinding fourth-line role, which is what the Avalanche wanted.

“(Leaving) was definitely emotional,” Jost said. “I was in Colorado for a long time, and a lot of my best friends are over there. … You don’t really get to realize what’s going on either. Everything is happening so quick. It’s the third or fourth day when it really hits you.”

In the meantime, there was the matter of moving to a new city and tying up loose ends in the old one.

“The new guys on the Avs are asking to rent my place,” Jost laughed. “I’m trying to figure that out. I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’m still trying to move furniture and stuff like that.”

Wild general manager Bill Guerin was the first person from Minnesota to reach out to Jost — “he’s serious, intense, cares about his players. I noticed that right away,” Jost said — and he felt instantly welcomed into the dressing room. Ahead of his first game, he read the lineup card, screaming each name in a contorted voice as his new teammates laughed and cheered.

If Jost needed time to feel at home, he didn’t show it.

Since arriving in Minnesota, he has been impressed with his new teammates. He’s excited to play with Marc-Andre Fleury, whom he calls a legend, and has been blown away watching Kirill Kaprizov on a daily basis.

“The stuff he does is just insane,” Jost said. “I knew he was really, really good, but he’s amazing. He’s such a high-end talent.

Jost didn’t get to see his Avalanche teammates after the trade until Sunday’s game. He had to rush out of Los Angeles, where the Avalanche were playing the night of the trade, and onto a Minnesota-bound flight. Goodbyes were contained to texts and phone calls. Jost couldn’t get dinner with his former teammates when they came to Minnesota, either, because the Wild played Columbus on Saturday and Colorado flew straight to Calgary after the game.

“We were texting, ‘What are the chances of that?’” he said.

He said he was excited to play the Avalanche, though, and he found himself involved in a key play late in the third period. As he skated toward the corner, Erik Johnson shoved him from behind, and the referee called a cross-checking penalty, much to the frustration of Colorado’s players and coaches. With Johnson in the box, the Wild started overtime on a power play, and Kevin Fiala won the game with a four-on-three goal.

After the game, a victorious Jost got to catch up with former teammates. There’s plenty of love still there, and that extends to Avalanche fans, too.

“One thing for sure is I had a pretty big bond with a lot of my fans, and everybody knows I’m a pretty personable person,” he said. “(They welcomed) me into Colorado when I was 18, 19 years old, making it feel like home. And it really was.”