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starshine-hockey-girl · 16 hours ago

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I adore everything about this. Their vibe is chill but you can feel the tension (mainly on Kevin's part). Can't wait to see where it goes!

The Rabbit versus Kevin Fiala

(part 2 - New Beginnings)

Continuation of the Kevin Fiala series for @ladylooch Click here to read from the beginning A/N - this is just a little piece outlining their connection and growing attraction to one another, with hints of their backstories.

Thank you B and @misshoneyimhome for your kind and uplifting notes of encouragement with the first part; thank you to anyone who stopped by to give it a little read as well.

Warnings - swearing, alcohol (understanding everyone has different thresholds when it comes to any type of substance, I wanted to ensure it was clear there is no impairment at all with any consumption of alcohol in this part)

Word count 3.6k

As the mercury outside the mall reached a hellish 107 degrees, the former strangers slowly strolled along the gleaming walkways of the expansive shopping centre, talking as if they had known each other for years.

Before they had broached the topics of their respective careers, a group of teen boys spotted Kevin and called out to him.

When Mariana heard his full name from the group of boys calling out to him, she wracked her brain wondering why the name Kevin Fiala rang a bell.

The boys asked for a photo with Kevin and then after he obliged, the teens proceeded to size up Mariana afterward as she stood nearby.

Kevin watched the boys visually ogle Mariana as she minded her own business and avoided looking in their direction.

Coolly, Kevin snickered at the boys, patted one of them on his shoulder and said to the group “Never in a million years, my friends,” as he sauntered over to rejoin Mariana.

Mariana looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“OK, Rico….spill it, why do I recognize your actual name?”

“Are you gonna call me Rico all day?” Kevin pretended to sound annoyed, but truthfully, he found it kind of endearing.

“Well….if the shoe fits,” Mariana quipped. “But I’ll stop if it’s really bothering you,” she said amicably.

“I’ll let you know,” Kevin flashed a smile and nudged Mariana’s elbow. “Apart from being a part-time Latin ladies man, even though I'm Swiss, I play hockey for the LA Kings,” Kevin explained.

Mariana stopped mid-step and cocked her head to the side. “Wait, - the Kings? Ooof - you're the ones that have to wear those chrome domes, right?” she smirked. “They're…uh, pretty fancy,” Mariana ribbed.

“Hey, well, it pays the bills….and then some; I'm not complaining,” Kevin grinned as the two continued to walk.

“Well, hey….I realised that I had heard your name before…so you must be a pretty decent hockey player if I’ve even heard of you,” Mariana said with a wink and a smile.

“So, are you not a fan of the Kings or just not a hockey fan period?” Kevin asked.

“I just never got around to watching a game. I guess you now just made me a fan of your team…so I’m gonna want to see you….whatever it is - score, I guess…a lot,” Mariana teased.

The pair resumed walking at a leisurely pace, occasionally entering a store that piqued their interests.

They wandered into the ‘Lids’ store and Kevin spotted a cap that was of interest. Mariana and Kevin mutually veered off to browse the available merchandise for different sports leagues.

It wasn’t long before Mariana spotted a white adjustable LA Kings cap. She had an impressive stash of caps at home but it was time to purge the ones that brought up memories that she much rather forget. Whether she and Kevin ever spoke again after that day or not, the cap represented the first day of her new life which she would treasure always.

As Kevin meandered through the racks and wall displays, he glanced over towards where Mariana was eyeing some Kings merchandise. He smiled to himself - she had no idea who he even was 30 minutes ago, and now she’s eyeing caps and jerseys donning his team’s emblem and colours.

He had been so interested in their conversations once they departed the theatre that Kevin hadn’t fully “seen” Mariana in actual daylight. She was dressed so simply in a black tank top and cuffed cargo pants that were clean but definitely worn. Her tanned skin was a deep golden tone, and her rich brown hair had flecks of copper, which remained in a braid pulled through the back of her hat.

Kevin remained on the opposite side of the store as he continued to steal glances at Mariana. He still had not seen her without her cap which shrouded her face, but Kevin was about to get his first full glimpse of the woman that was really beginning to entice him in such a short period of time.

Kevin swallowed hard when he saw her reflection in the store’s mirror as she removed her hat.

Mariana fixed wisps of her illustrious dark hair and held the white cap up near her head to get an idea if she would like it.

Kevin was not prepared to see one of the most gorgeous faces he had ever laid eyes on.

Her tanned complexion glowed naturally and her eyes were almost caramel coloured, so rare and spellbinding, even under the harsh store lights.

Kevin watched as a muscle-bound and cocky looking male store-clerk approached Mariana; he smiled at the clerk’s obvious and immediate infatuation with her as Kevin overheard him rambling to Mariana about choosing a better team to support.

Mariana was unfazed by the clerk’s attention in that she didn’t encourage any of his flirtatious behaviour; she remained pleasant and polite and transactional. She wanted to buy the LA Kings hat and the clerk was going to take her money, end of story.

Kevin selected a random hat off the shelf and joined Mariana at the cashier’s counter.

“You like the Kings?” Kevin, pretending to be a stranger, asked Mariana as he leaned in to view the hat.

Mariana smiled towards Kevin, her eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief.

“Mmm-hmm - it's my favourite team, but Anthony here basically said they weren’t worth even the price of the hat,” Mariana said, feigning disappointment as she played along with Kevin.

The clerk looked long and hard at Kevin's face; it’s not that he or the Kings weren’t popular in LA; it was the fact this was LA…the super handsome, athletic male types were everywhere and they sort of blended together. The clerk was clearly struggling to put a name to Kevin’s face.

Mariana did a double-take at Kevin as she gently nudged his forearm. “Wait a second, aren’t you Kevin Fiala?” Mariana asked with a slightly exaggerated tone.

The clerk figured out reasonably quickly, based on their mannerisms, that they - at the very least - knew each other and this whole exchange was a bad acting routine.

The clerk bit his tongue as he moved on to serve Kevin.

Mariana stepped aside taking the tag and stickers off of her new merchandise, threw out her old hat and placed the new cap on her head in the same fashion as before. Kevin let out a light chuckle as she beamed with pride over her new purchase. Kevin followed suit, adjusted his cap and slid it on backwards.

As the two exited the store, Mariana whooped “Go Kings!!” followed by a cheer by Kevin - neither of them bothered to look back at the clerk.

Feeling peckish, Kevin spotted a small bistro and asked if Mariana wanted to stop for a quick bite to eat.

Kevin had a brilliant idea when he spotted a sweet cream cold brew coffee on the menu, and he offered to order one for Mariana as well. Alongside the cold brews, he ordered some beautifully crafted French and Italian pastries. The two sat at a small table off in the corner and admired what lay before them.

“Hey…where’s that flask?” Kevin said under his breath as he flashed a grin.

“Why….are you looking to spike my coffee so you can have your way with me, Rico?” Mariana quietly said, feigning an indignant tone.

“You keep calling me that and I'm gonna have to do something,” Kevin replied with a smirk. “Pass it here,” he said.

Mariana slipped the flask out of her side pant pocket and discreetly handed it to Kevin. The bistro was humming with patrons so Kevin easily added a splash of Tequila to each cup without anyone around being the wiser.

He returned the flask to Mariana and they tapped each other's cups to make a toast.

“To new beginnings…” Kevin said, smiling warmly at Mariana.

“To new beginnings…but fair warning Rico, if you get me drunk…you might have your hands full,” Mariana chuckled.

Kevin pondered that might be the exact cure for what’s been ailing him. He said nothing, and took a bite of his pistachio-lemon tart.

Mariana giggled as the green-ish filling, as delicious as it must have been, looked like his moustache was encrusted with a layer of nose nuggets.

“Quite the flavour-saver you've got here,” Mariana said as she leaned over with a napkin and gently wiped his upper lip.

“In my past experiences, some flavours are better than others,” Kevin said wryly, wiggling his eyebrows.

It took a second but Mariana clued in that Kevin was alluding to a women's distinct “taste” between her legs.

“Well aren’t you a dirty little birdy,” Mariana said, as though she was offended instead of being amused. “I guess that's somewhat unsurprising there, Rico,” she deadpanned.

Kevin snickered as he tossed the last of the tart in his mouth, washing it down with a healthy gulp of his cold brew.

“So, we haven't gotten to the part where you explain to me what you do for a living?” Kevin asked.

“Did for a living…I'm not sure if I'm going to continue in the same line of work. Our firm handled renovations, restorations, and well, I guess custom builds…but I was more involved with the first two,” Mariana explained.

“Wait - so like you know how to build things…like with your hands - ah shit, you know what I mean….” Kevin said half-chuckling while shaking his head trying to get the right words out. He found himself a little tongue-tied with being completely in awe of the woman in front of him.

“I’m usually armed with the appropriate power tools, but yeah, you’ve got the right idea”, Mariana laughed. “My partner and I were like those typical home reno television couples, only he was the realtor and I was out in the field managing and taking part in the renovation projects. If we fell behind with the projected schedule, I’d be the one working after hours with the trade guys to keep everything on track,” Mariana explained.

“We hit the ground running, picked up some really high profile Clients and pretty soon, our name was out there. Soon there were five of us; a designer, an engineer, an architect and my partner and I. After that, we just kept growing,” Mariana continued.

Kevin listened intently, completely enthralled with Mariana while she spoke about the company she helped start.

“Things with the business were flourishing, and I thought it was natural that certain things might start to get a bit bumpy in our relationship. One of the main stresses was that my partner and our designer hated each other. She did phenomenal work and I didn’t want to risk losing her, so I always stepped in to diffuse the arguments. Eventually, I agreed to relinquish a small percentage of my ownership rights to her in order to keep her as part of the firm,” Mariana said, swirling her cold brew around in her cup.

She paused, biting and pursing her lips as she maintained her composure.

“The long and short of it was that while I pushed to maintain our initial goal of restoring instead of rebuilding, more and more, my partner and the designer would veto my recommendations and we’d end up demolishing some really beautiful buildings since I now had less control in the final decisions. I was stupid and relinquished part of my ownership rights to keep another person happy,” Mariana said, full of regret.

“I eventually found them together in our bed at home, and after that whole confrontation ended, my partner said he never loved me - to him, I just made good business sense,” she said quietly.

Mariana paused for another moment as she ended with “Shit, sorry Rico - I didn’t mean to unpack all of that.”

Kevin gripped his cup as he listened to Mariana and watched as her gorgeous face now appeared sullen.

What a motherfucking prick…. Kevin thought to himself.

He lightly placed his hand on hers. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Kevin said as his eyebrows furrowed. “So that’s how you were bought out - fuck, that’s…that’s really fucking brutal,” Kevin quietly added.

Although it didn’t feel awkward, a silence hung in the air between the two as they finished their drinks.

“Did you like that little bit of Tequila in that?” Kevin eventually asked with a smile.

“It was on the way to being a decent Mexican coffee - but I think I might just be enjoying the bottle straight up tonight. I’m giving myself 24 hours to allow myself to feel bad and get it out of my system before I figure out my next step,” Mariana winked.

Mariana looked at her watch and realised her and Kevin had spent the entire afternoon together. After unloading some of her emotional baggage throughout their conversation, a level of tiredness had settled behind her eyes.

Mariana glanced at Kevin and smiled; she felt beyond grateful she met him, especially today of all days.

“Welp Rico, I think my battery is sort of winding down and I’ve taken up your whole afternoon…I should probably be on my way home,” Mariana grinned as she nudged Kevin’s knee with hers. “I have to tell you, you really made my day,” she said to him affectionately.

“Are you ok to drive?” Kevin asked. Although the pair had not indulged with the contents of Mariana’s flask too much and neither were impaired in the least, Kevin wanted to ensure she got home safely.

“Rico - I started the day armed with a flask of tequila….I’m Ubering it today,” Mariana said with a hint of sarcasm, followed by a smirk.

Kevin chuckled. “Well, I can drive you home - if you can stand me for a little while longer,” Kevin asked, not caring if his tone sounded hopeful.

“Even if I live two hours away?” Mariana asked, as she raised an eyebrow.

“Do you?” Kevin asked, slightly surprised.

“Not yet, but it’s something I have been considering. Would I not be worth the time and gas if I did?” Mariana jokingly asked.

“At this point, I’d drive you up to Canada if that’s where you wanted to go,” Kevin replied, flashing his typical beautiful smile.

Mariana’s eyes fell to Kevin’s mouth. She had been transfixed by it since they met, and that one smile alone had ignited a strong sensation between her thighs.

“I appreciate that - but yeah, I’m in Laguna Beach for now,” Mariana said. “Are you sure that’s not too far out of your way?” she asked.

“Actually, I’m not exactly sure…I’m not entirely familiar with parts of this area. I’m in a temporary place right now in Manhattan Beach,” Kevin explained.

“Hmm - before you commit to taking a girl home, first it might be best to find out where she lives there, Suavé,” Mariana quipped, giving him an extra nudge. “Seriously though, I can get a ride…my place is about an hour from here - so with rush hour traffic, tack on an extra 30 minutes. I don’t want to put you through all of that,” she said.

“Nah, let’s go - I’ve got a nice car and you’ve stood my company for this long…you might as well let me take you,” Kevin said, as he slid his hands in his pocket and motioned towards the door with his head.

Mariana shrugged as she started walking towards the exit.

“Wait,should I Google you real quick and make sure you’re not on the FBI’s most wanted list?” she said with a smirk as glanced at Kevin.

Kevin turned to face Mariana while he walked backwards, smiling widely at her. “Maybe I’m the one in danger and you’re the murderer,” he joked.

“Maybe I am. I murdered my last relationship it seems - you might very well be next, Suavé,” Mariana countered.

Kevin swivelled back around to walk alongside Mariana. He knew she was being facetious but he sincerely hoped she didn’t actually believe her words.

“Well, if you are, I’ll at least die at the hands of the hottest murderer in history,” Kevin said with a wry grin.

Mariana lightly scoffed and rolled her eyes at Kevin. He seemed serious when he mentioned her as “hot’ and suddenly, she felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

The pair walked out to Kevin’s car in relative silence. The heat had continued to climb throughout the afternoon reaching temperatures that were simply oppressive; it wasn’t the environment for a leisurely stroll and a chat through the parking lot.

Kevin’s SUV was parked in the furthest reaches of the property and although Mariana never uttered a complaint, Kevin apologised for the distance they had to walk in the heat.

“I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to work in these temperatures; working on a roof in heat like this would be too much for Satan himself, but I’ve had to do it a handful of times.

“That’s fucking insane; I’m definitely not going to complain to you then,” Kevin said, shaking his head in disbelief.

They approached the passenger side of Kevin’s Porsche and he sped up to reach the door first, opening it for Mariana. She thanked him and flashed a smile, waving her hand by her face to circulate the thick, stagnant air in the oven-like vehicle.

Kevin rounded the front of the vehicle and as he opened the driver’s side door, another wave of heat poured out. Kevin stuck out his tongue to mimic panting followed by a low groan punctuated by a low “fuuuuuck”.

Kevin started the car and immediately set the air conditioning to high. He pulled up the GPS on the console and Mariana entered her address; the voice of the GPS confirmed that there was a 28 minute delay on highway 405, and Mariana looked at Kevin with a slight smirk.

“See? I told you…tack on an extra 30 minutes for traffic,” Mariana said, satisfied that she had called it almost perfectly earlier.

Kevin jokingly mumbled something about Mariana being a “smart-ass” as he drove towards the exit.

Traffic was as nightmarish as expected but Kevin and Mariana made the most of the additional time to get to know one another.

No subject really seemed to be off the table, and Mariana attentively listened to Kevin talk about his childhood, his hockey career, his family and friends both in the US and in Europe.

In turn, Mariana spoke of her beloved parents and being an only child. The deep sorrow she felt since their passing a few years ago was palpable and Kevin apologised for bringing up the topic. Seeing the warmth in Kevin’s expression, she gave his hand a squeeze and explained she’ll take any opportunity to talk about them to whomever will listen.

As the traffic congestion eased, Kevin glanced at the time remaining before reaching Mariana’s house. He found himself disappointed that time appeared to be slipping away faster than he anticipated. He looked towards Mariana as they shared a comfortable silence while she looked out the window, seemingly deep in thought. Not wanting to interrupt her, he allowed his own thoughts to consume him as he kept with the flow of traffic heading south towards Laguna Beach.

Almost 90 minutes from the time they had departed the mall, Kevin reached Mariana’s small driveway. He glanced upward at her two story home, admiring all the elegant details of the exterior, from the landscaping to the ornate second floor balcony railings.

Mariana considered inviting Kevin inside, but she held back; she had some personal business that needed her attention and it was not the ideal time for a visitor.

The two made small talk and although there were slightly awkward moments with exchanging numbers and making potential plans, the two smiled widely and giggled over their “meet cute”.

Mariana stepped out of the frigid air-conditioned vehicle back into the heat of the evening, which seemed to be mercifully cooling off as the dinner hour approached.

Walking around the front of the SUV towards the driver’s side, Kevin put down his window and grinned at Mariana’s smiling face.

“I don’t want to get all sentimental and emotional, but sweet Rico, you were my saviour today. Thank you so much for such a wonderful time,” Mariana said as she leaned in to gently kiss Kevin’s cheek. “And thank you for driving me home - you really didn’t have to but I appreciate it all the same.”

Kevin was not often at a loss for words, but looking at Mariana, with her new gleaming white LA Kings hat which contrasted her golden brown complexion, he was completely mesmerised.

All he could muster was a “you're welcome,” while trying to subdue his beaming smile.

“Will you shoot me a message when you get home? Oh, and Rico - don't pick up any hotties on the way….I want to keep the title of hottest murderer in history. I'm actually letting you live so you can spread the word about me,” Mariana smiled as she slowly stepped back from the SUV.

Without a smarmy or even remotely amusing response coming to mind, Kevin just chuckled and saluted Mariana, flashing yet another dazzling Kevin Fiala smile. “I’ll call you later,” Kevin hollered through the open window on the passenger side as he inched his vehicle away from Mariana’s driveway.

“Drive safe, Rico,” she called back in his direction. She gazed affectionately at Kevin and waved to him as he drove away.

Mariana inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as she approached her front entrance. There was a simple brown cardboard package leaning up against the door, and she smiled to herself, knowing full well what the contents were inside.

#kevin fiala #kevin x mariana #nhl players #nhl fanfiction #hockey romance #hockey fic #nhl fic

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