#oc x jamie oleksiak

[laurenairay]

don't forget, don't forget about me - J. Oleksiak

This is my entry for The Eras Tour Fic Challenge, organised by the wonderful @comphy-and-cozy and @wyattjohnston! My song was Superman - I enjoyed the challenge of writing it so I hope you all have a lot of fun reading it! Thank you Demi for being my sounding board to get me started on this. I’ve missed all the Big Rig love on my dash so this is my contribution to this beautiful man.

Summary: Elena Garcia relives the memories of the man who never loved her, Jamie Oleksiak.

Words: 3.3k

Warnings: unrequited love, oblivious Jamie, pining, some bad language.

I watch superman fly away, Come back, I’ll be with you someday, I’ll be right here on the ground, When you come back down.

~

2024

“Thanks, keep the change.”

The cashier smiled at Elena, nodding her thanks, and Elena smiled back tiredly as she wandered down the length of the counter to wait for her coffee. She ran a hand through her long dark waves, quickly moving that hand to cover her mouth as she yawned so widely her jaw clicked. Elena didn’t need to look in the reflection of the glass casing to know that her tanned skin wasn’t hiding the dark circles under her eyes and that she was in desperate need of a sheet mask to hydrate her dry face. The long hours she’d been pulling this week were what were making this early coffee run necessary, although hopefully once she’d gotten into the groove of things with her promotion, she’d be back to having regular 8 hours sleep a night.

Hopefully.

This coffee shop in downtown Dallas had become a staple for her over the 12 years she’d lived here, having moved for college when she was 18 and never leaving, and it held a lot of fond memories. A lot of stressful memories too, alongside bittersweet and embarrassing ones, but fond memories nonetheless. It was somewhere she’d studied, somewhere she’d always spent time with her best friends – who’d she’d also be meeting here for lunch later in the week – and somewhere she used to meet up with one of her favourite people.

Used to, being the operative word.

He no longer lived in Dallas. According to her friends, that was a good thing. After all this time, she supposed they were right. But that didn’t stop her hoping one day that she’d see him walk in once more, big smile on his face, and sweep her off her feet. It felt a little ridiculous after all this time, but Jamie Oleksiak still held a special place in her heart, even if she knew deep down that she would never have the same hold over him.

Still, a girl could hope.

There was a backlog in coffee orders this morning, making her glad she left the house early as she waited behind another three people for her coffee, and by the sound of the bell above the door chiming and the chatter sounding, even more people were about to join her.

She didn’t bother turning around fully at the sight of a tall broad-shouldered man out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t him. It was never him.

“Elena?”

Oh. Oh.

~

I watch superman fly away, You've got a busy day today, Go save the world, I'll be around.

~

2014

“He’s not going to reply to you, querida,” Mila said.

Her friend’s sudden words broke Elena out of her thoughts, making her flinch slightly but tear her gaze away from her phone.

“What?” Elena said, confused.

“Jamie. Your giant tattooed neighbour. The one you’re crazy about who took 3 months to remember your name,” Mila said, rolling her eyes.

Elena swallowed heavily, mouth feeling dry. Was she really that obvious? No, she was exaggerating.

“He’s not that bad,” Elena said, shaking her head.

“He’s exactly that bad. Hockey players are awful. Especially hockey players who look as good as he does who know they look as good as he does. You know the bad reputation. And any guy who has you waiting by the phone like this is no good,” Mila shot back.

“Mila has a point, you know. I can’t remember any other guy who’s had you hooked on a string like this, especially when we’re meant to be studying,” Jessie said, smiling wryly.

She didn’t need to hear this. Nothing they would say would make her stop being friends with Jamie. Nothing they would say would stop her wanting him in her life. He was sweet, and kind, and his smile made her stomach fill with butterflies every time. Sure, she was just a 20-year-old architecture student, but that didn’t mean he ever made her feel lesser, not once. They’d only met 6 months ago when he’d moved into her apartment building after being called up from the Texas Stars for the first time, but she already knew he was one of the rare genuine good guys.

And yes, he was giant, tattooed, and extremely hot. Was that so bad?

“You’ve latched on to him and he doesn’t give you the time of day,” Mila added.

“That’s not true. We talk all the time, by text and in person. He’s literally my neighbour,” Elena frowned.

“How many of those conversations were initiated by him? Or is it always you?” Jessie said dryly.

Well.

No, that wasn’t the point.

And that wasn’t nice.

“That’s not fair,” Elena said quietly.

“I’m not trying to be mean, Elena. And neither is Mila. But he never makes time for you. I’m sure Jamie is a great guy, but he’s happy for you to trail around after him and you’re never a priority,” Jessie pointed out.

“Jamie is literally a professional hockey player – of course I’m not a priority,” Elena said simply.

“Elena, babygirl, come on,” Jessie groaned.

“He’s like superman, okay? He might fly away, but he always comes back down to the ground,” Elena said firmly.

“I wish I had your positive attitude,” Jessie sighed.

“More like delusion,” Mila snorted.

“Hey!” Elena pouted.

She knew he was out of her league but that didn’t change the way she felt about him. She didn’t want to change the way she felt about him. Jamie was special, and there was no-one else that could measure up to him. How could they?

“I don’t want you to get hurt, querida. But I don’t like my gut feeling here,” Mila said.

“Well until your gut feeling is proven, can you cut me some slack? Cut him some slack?” Elena pleaded.

Mila sighed but nodded, Jessie just smiling sadly.

“I will. But please be careful,” Mila said softly.

“I always am,” Elena said firmly.

She didn’t need to watch the way her friends glanced at each other in concern to know that her words weren’t true.

~

Something in his deep brown eyes has me sayin', He's not all bad like his reputation, And I can't hear one single word they say.

~

2017

“Fuck. Fuck,” Jamie said shakily, walking back out of her kitchen.

He’d excused himself from where they’d been watching a film on the sofa after dinner with wide eyes and a scared smile, and she didn’t like the way he was acting.

“What’s wrong?” Elena frowned.

“That was my agent. I’ve been traded.”

No.

No.

This couldn’t be true. This wasn’t fair.

“Where to?” she managed to choke out.

“Pittsburgh. They’ve booked me a ticket to fly out there tomorrow,”

No.

No.

“Tomorrow?”

Jamie just nodded, swallowing heavily. “They want me there. ASAP. That’s a good thing, right?”

As much as she didn’t want to reassure him, as much as she wanted him to stay, how could she deny him when he needed her support? Even it was only a couple of weeks before Christmas. No, his whole world had been shaken, she needed to be strong.

“Of course it is. They are lucky to have you,” she nodded, blinking away the tears that stung at her eyes.

“Fuck. I need to call my parents. My sister. And send the Stars chat a message. Fuck.”

She knew he wasn’t really talking to her at this point, just talking to himself, and it was all she could do not to let the grief of his impending departure consume her. Elena knew it was selfish to feel this way, but how could she not? Jamie wasn’t going to be here. Jamie was leaving, and leaving Dallas meant leaving her behind, and the moment that happened she knew she would become a distant memory. If a memory at all.

And that tore her heart into shreds.

“Don’t forget. Don’t forget about me,” she blurted.

She hated how her begging seemed to be the thing that made him crack a smile.

“How could I forget you, eh?” Jamie mused, “You’re the one that’s going to become a famous designer and jet set around the world.”

Architect. Not designer.

But that was okay.

How could he be expected to remember little details like that? Even if it was something that she had spoken about regularly for three years.

“Text messages are a thing. And you’re not that far away,” Elena said firmly.

“You got it,” he grinned, clearly still amused.

“Don’t meet some other friendly neighbour girl, hey?” she found herself adding, internally cringing the moment the words left her lips.

“There’s only one Elena Garcia,” Jamie said, shaking his head, “The best neighbour I could ever have.”

The best neighbour.

That’s all she was, she knew that.

Why couldn’t she be more?

“You’ve been a reasonably good neighbour yourself,” she said, trying to tease, the execution not its best.

His smile made her chest ache. She wouldn’t realise it was heartbreak for a long time.

“Do you want me to help you pack?” she offered.

The more time she could spend with him, now that she knew that time was limited, the better. Right?

“You already cooked me dinner, you don’t need to,” Jamie said, shrugging.

“I want to,” she said, shaking her head.

“Alright then. How can I say no to that?”

~

And I watch superman fly away, Come back, I'll be with you someday, I'll be right here on the ground, When you come back down.

~

2019

It took just over a year for Elena to see Jamie again. 14 months. December 2017 to January 2019. Not that she was counting. She was minding her own business, grocery shopping thanks to running out of milk and eggs, and she was reaching for a carton of orange juice when another hand reached out for the same bottle. Elena glanced to the person and let her eyes trail up the familiar body looming over her. No way. What the hell?

“Jamie?”

“Hey you!” he said, grinning.

What?

How could he be so nonchalant?

Elena took a moment to catch her breath, noticing his shopping cart. He wasn’t just visiting, was he? Had he really moved back to Dallas? He hadn’t let her know. Not that he needed to let her know – but they had been friends, right? Neighbours who hung out and texted before he left in 2017?

Why hadn’t he let her know he was back?

“I didn’t realise you were back in Dallas,” she said, smiling shakily.

“Ah yeah, I meant to text you. Got traded back, you know how last-minute these things can be,” Jamie said simply?

He meant to text her? Did that mean something?

Sure, she had been far away, but she never let him go.

And she knew he’d been in the city at least a few times since he was traded to Pittsburgh, but not once had he asked her to meet with him. Not once. And yes Elena could have texted him herself, but the potential rejection would’ve crushed her more than the indifference had crushed her, she could admit that much.

But now he was back?

“Yeah, of course. It’s nice to see you back here in Dallas,” Elena said as smoothly as she could.

Her mind was racing.

Jamie was back.

Jamie was back.

Jamie was back.

“Hopefully I can make it stick this time,” he said, the slight bitterness in his voice surprising her.

“I know you can,” she said firmly.

Jamie smiled down at her, the tension leaving his face just a little. “Well if I’ve got you in my corner, Elena, who else do I need, eh?”

In his corner? Was that all he saw?

She’d loved him from the very first day.

She missed him like it was the very first night.

“And don’t you forget it,” she joked back, trying to keep her voice light.

Jamie just laughed, shaking his head fondly, that familiar ache spreading through her chest.

“I’d better get going, I have practice soon. I’ll see you soon though? We’ll catch up over dinner?” he suggested, “You have the same number still, right?”

“Sounds good. Yeah, I do. I’ll be waiting for that call,” she said happily.

The hope that filled her chest felt dangerous.

~

I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him, I hang on every word you say, And you smile and say, "How are you?” I say, "Just fine".

~

2021

July 2021 was a month Elena had been dreading. The lead up to it had been gut-wrenching, the alerts on her phone making her feel more and more sick to her stomach, despite all the support and distraction Mila and Jessie tried to give her. The Seattle Kraken expansion draft would be happening today and all she could do was watching on a live stream as Jamie was taken away from her once more.

“These players will forever be known as the original Seattle Kraken. Your Seattle Kraken.”

“The Seattle Kraken pick…Jamie Oleksiak.”

“How we doing Seattle? Wow, yeah, alright! I’m loving the energy. You know it’s, uh, I’m excited to get the season going. I’m sure the building’s gonna be rocking.”

She’d called him later that night, and for once, he’d answered on the first attempt. He was busy – of course he was – and that fact that he even answered her call at all warmed her slowly shattering heart in a way that she knew couldn’t be fixed with Mila’s good tequila.

But she didn’t care. And she certainly didn’t stop Jamie’s happy rambling.

She curled up in her armchair as he recounted the day so far, all the announcements, the early team building he’d already been doing. And he sounded so happy, the spark back in his voice in a way it hadn’t been back in 2017 when Dallas had traded him. It was different this time. It was completely and utterly different, and it left her in a state of hopelessness that she didn’t know how to deal with, especially from the other end of a phone.

“Don’t forget. Don’t forget about me,” Elena said, knowing her voice was filled with desperation.

“I told you last time, how could I forget you?”

Last time he told her in person, because he’d had the trade call right there in her home. Last time he hadn’t messaged her at all in the year he was away. This time all he’d known – and she’d known – was that Dallas hadn’t protected him ahead of the expansion draft, and it was a high possibility that Seattle would take him. And just like that, her worst fears had come to life once more. She’d only had another two years of Jamie in her life, in Dallas, since he came back and now he would be gone again.

“It feels different,” Elena murmured, “Does it feel different to you?”

“I’m excited for this, El. Seattle has a great buzz and the fans are already electric. We’re even having a food tour later, and the views of the Puget Sound are amazing.”

He loved it.

Of course he loved it.

Why shouldn’t he?

“Sounds like a great place,” she said sadly, not bothering to smile when he couldn’t even see her.

“Yeah I’m feeling good about this. The Kraken are going to be a good team for me, I just know it.”

She wanted to be happy, wanted to be overjoyed for him, but there was a sinking oily slick feeling that she couldn’t shake. She’d asked him not to forget her, and he promised again that he wouldn’t. Just like last time, when he’d promised.

But it was different this time. She could feel it, down deep in her bones. Jamie being chosen by the Kraken, rather than traded to the Penguins, was different. And she didn’t know if she would survive it this time round.

How could she?

~

Tall, dark and beautiful, He's complicated, he's irrational, But I hope someday you'll take me away and save the day.

~

2024

“Elena?”

Oh. Oh.

Ten years’ worth of memories rushed over her, overwhelming her body entirely. Her breath hitched in her throat, freezing at that oh-so-familiar baritone, before she plastered a smile to her shaky lips to hide her nerves as she turned to face him properly. Fuck, she may be 30 years old now, but the simple sight of Jamie looming over her took her back to the 20-year-old who fell in love with him the first day they met.

“Jamie, hi!”

He grinned at her, missing tooth so endearing. “Fuck, it is you! It’s been years! How are you?”

Missing him profoundly.

Better now she saw him again.

Why did he even remember her?

She cleared her throat. “Oh you know, same old me. Got promoted to Senior Architect at my firm the other month.”

Jamie laughed, nodding his head.

“You always were the reliable steady one,” he mused, “Glad you’re doing well.”

Reliable?

Did he even remember she was an architect?

No, that didn’t matter.

“How are you?” she asked.

She hated how easy it was to fall into desperation around him, never wanting the conversation to end, for him to have an excuse to leave.

“I’m good, yeah. Season’s going well so far. Thank you,” he said, smiling.

“I’m glad,” she said, trying not to let her smile dim.

“I’m sorry I haven’t replied to your texts. Life is crazy, you know?” he said, a little sheepish, “I know I’ve missed a few birthdays. But I always appreciated your messages, I swear.”

It’s been years.

She always wished the birthday flowers, the birthday cards, the phone calls were from him.

But they never were.

“Don’t worry about it. I know you’re busy – Seattle seems good for you,” Elena said simply, offering a smile.

His beaming smile in return made her heart ache in a way it hadn’t ached in years. Fuck.

Did he even realise how much she missed him?

“Yeah, it’s amazing. Seattle is such a great fit – the team is so good. I finally feel like I have a place that I belong,” he said happily.

He belonged here.

In Dallas.

How could he say that?

“That’s great! I’m so happy for you!” she managed to breathe out.

Jamie nodded, smiling as he reached forward to finally pick up his coffee order, moments before her own name was called, the contentment in his face so clear in a way she’d never seen before as she reached for her own coffee. Seattle really was his home now, wasn’t it? Not Dallas, not with her.

“Hey Rig! We’re late! We gotta go!”

Elena flinched at the boisterous call from across the coffee shop, Jamie just looking over his shoulder and raising a hand in acknowledgement before he looked back at her.

“I’d better…”

He trailed off, jerking his head in his teammates’ direction, but she just nodded.

“Go on, go save the hockey world, I’ll be around,” she teased.

She could only hope the tone of her voice hid how her heart was breaking in two all over again.

“You’re the best, Elena. Don’t ever change,” he grinned, “see you around?”

“You know it,” she nodded, knowing her smile was failing but not finding the strength to bolster it.

Jamie squeezed her shoulder, face full of a warmth that she knew he didn’t mean in the way she needed it, and headed across the store towards his friends.

“I always forget to tell you, I love you,” Elena whispered, watching him walk away.

~

Tagging a few people: @starshine-hockey-girl @misshoneyimhome @senditcolton @fallinallincurls @tippedbykreider

[starshine-hockey-girl]

Cold As Ice - The Interview

Here my fic for the May AU event for the HRPF fandom. As usual I am late getting it done. Apparently, I am physically incapable of writing a short blurb.

This a mafia AU. @pattiemac1 and I have created this AU together over the last two/three years. We add to it then take things away constantly. She graciously allowed me to insert my characters of Lex and Teddy (from Journey to the Emerald City) into the world.

This is a little glimpse into the world of a Sidney Crosby led mafia family and Teddy/Lex became a part of it. I don't think it needs much warning other than language and some implied violence. As usual fluff abounds between my two little cupcakes.

I will put a link at the bottom for anyone interested about Teddy/Lex in their world.

Word count - 7.1K words

@hrpffandomeventblog @cellythefloshie @fallinallincurls @penstxgal1968

SUMMER 2021 - DALLAS, TEXAS

Jamie “Lex” Oleksiak yawned as drove down the expressway toward home. It had been a rough night at the club. Three guys had called off and so he was forced to work at the front door. Between the oppressive heat and steady wave of SMU sorority girls shooting their shot with him, he was more than ready to get home. He mentally pictured the refrigerator and recalled at least two bottles of cold beer that he would be drinking soon. 

His cell phone rang and he glanced at the notification on his console screen. “Of course Seggy would call at 3 AM,” he thought to himself. He answered the call at the last moment. “Hey Seggy,” he said, “What’s up?”

Tyler Seguin held his cell phone to his ear and unbuttoned his shirt. “You are a tough guy to track down, Big Rig,” the brunette laughed, “I had to call three different guys to get your number. It’s like you dropped off the face of the planet.You still in Dallas?” 

“Yeah, still in here in Big D,” he muttered, feeling stung by the word still. It was not his plan to still be in Dallas. No, he had planned to return to Toronto with this tail tucked between his legs years ago. But life got in the way and his career began in security. He had almost saved enough to make the move back with a little dignity when he was struck by a thunderbolt. A thunderbolt named Theodora “Teddy” Baxter. 

Ironically, they met the last time that he had been forced to work the front door at the club. The moment she looked up with those bright blue eyes and megawatt smile as she handed over her ID, he was hooked. For reasons still unknown to him, she had agreed later that night to go on date with him. They had been inseparable ever since and any plans to move back to Toronto went out the window. His heart was firmly planted in Dallas. Well, anywhere she was. 

“What’s keeping you there?” Seggy questioned, “I thought you would have moved onto greener pastures by now. I know I did.” 

“It’s complicated,” Lex answered vaguely.

Seggy got quiet for  a moment and debated whether to push the issue. Big Rig was not known to be an open book and he needed him to have an open mind. “I got ya. Life’s like that sometimes,” he commented casually, “Listen, you still doing security work? That’s the word on the street.”

“Depends on who is asking,” Lex answered coolly. Other than his parents, he had not admitted to any of his Toronto friends that his professional hockey career had been a bust. 

“It’s me asking - it’s me,” Seggy answered. He had picked up on the tone in Big Rig’s voice. They shared in a desire to not let word of their career failure reach Canada. They had that much in common. 

“And why are you asking?” Lex asked warily. 

“Because I have a lead on a job and I think that you would be a good fit.” he said bluntly. Tyler tried to mask the desperation in his voice. 

The last guy that was brought into the crew turned out to be an utter disaster. Claude Giroux had been recommended to the crew by Flower and didn’t take long to discover that he wasn’t going to last long. His gruff demeanor ruffled the sensitive egos of the rag tag crew. The last straw was when he openly defied The Boss. It was so bad that HE delivered the permanent pink slip to the back of Giroux’s head himself. 

“Tell me more,” Lex asked. 

Tyler explained that the job would be head of security for the CEO for Maritime Industries. When Lex didn't respond immediately, Tyler read from his phone. “Planning and implementing comprehensive security strategies, controlling the security operations budget, monitoring expenses,” he rattled on.

“Seggy, are you reading that off your phone?” Lex interrupted.

“Ummmm, no” Seggy stammered.

“Don't bullshit me. What's the job?” Lex asked.

“It’s a crew in Pittsburgh- mainly strip clubs and a few night clubs,” Seggy sighed, “and a few extracurricular activities.” Tyler tried to downplay the extent of the organization until he got a sense of how comfortable Lex would be with the ethically gray area. 

“Seggy…..we are not 21 any more,” Lex asserted, “I’m too old to go back to that petty ass shit.” 

“Big Rig, would you believe me if I told you that Sid is planning on going legit?” Tyler pleaded, “We really need a guy like you.” 

“Sid?” Lex questioned, “Like Sid Crosby? That guy runs all of Pennsylvania and half of NYC. Holy shit - Seggy how did you end up on that crew.”

“Long story, but let’s just say that my hockey skills finally paid off,” Tyler smiled, “Seriously, he is going legit soon. The pay is good and there are bennys.” 

“How good is the pay?” Lex quizzed.

“Let’s just say that my family isn’t questioning my “hockey” career anymore,” he replied. 

“Shit - that good?” Lex muttered as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building. He looked up and saw the light on his living room. Teddy was waiting for him. Teddy who had never gotten so much as a parking ticket, much less arrested. “No,” he thought to himself, “I can’t bring her into that life.” He sighed, “Sorry, Seggy. I can’t.”

“Why?” Tyler whined. Sid wasn’t too happy that he was having to handle the day to day security operations and you know what they say, that shit ran down hill to Tyler. He needed to get someone to replace Giroux. He needed that someone right now. 

“Sorry, Segs - I gotta girl now. I don’t want to mess it up,” Lex said softly. 

“You’re turning down this dream job over a girl? Are you crazy?” Tyler scoffed.

“Yeah, I am crazy,” Lex sighed, “I just can’t risk losing her.” 

“I gotta meet this girl,” Tyler pushed before he decided that a softer touch was required, “I get it. Not really, but I get it. Why don’t you take a night and think about it. I can hold off Sid for that long.”

“I doubt I will change my mind, Seggy,” Lex countered, “She is the real deal.”

Lex hung up the phone and walked up to his apartment. He set his things down as he walked past the cramped kitchen. It was really just a glorified studio, but Teddy had done her best to make it homey. She had even started a new series on her YouTube channel - DIY Dollar Tree home decor. 

As if by unknown force, Teddy began to rouse when she felt Lex’s presence in the room. She had fallen asleep with her laptop open while editing videos. “Lex?” she yawned as she stirred, “Is it that time?” 

He walked over to her and moved her laptop to the table before scooping her into his lap. “Yeah,” he kissed her cheek as she curled her body into his chest. “How was work?” he questioned. 

Since the “Great Escape”, Teddy had taken two jobs to replace the income from her father’s real estate firm. Even with that, the duo struggled to make ends meet.  She had grown up with every luxury known to man and gave it all up two months ago to be with him after her father had issued the ultimatum. She had to pick between her family and her love. She made the choice in an instant and never looked back. Now she was waitressing at the best steakhouse in town at night and nannying for Stars goalie Ben Bishop during the day. She operated on fumes but never once complained. 

“Work was good. I had a private party so the tip was great, even the company was horrible,” she smiled. Lex furrowed his brow while she continued  “Paige came in and was well, you know, Paige,” she sighed, “Thank God for automatic gratuity. She might have stiffed me otherwise.” Lex studied her face and could see her desperately trying to keep the facade up but he could see the pain behind her eyes. Paige had been her childhood best friend but had turned her back on Teddy when she chose him after her family’s ultimatum. 

“Foz,” he said gently as he caressed her face. She smiled at the nickname he had given on their first date. It had started out as “Fozzy Wozzy Bear had red hair”, but had shortened over time to just Foz.

She shook her head to protest and shake the negative thoughts that were beginning to swirl in her brain. “No, Lex - it’s fine,” she lied, “She’s not important and I am glad that I could see her true colors finally.” She had seen the true colors of most of her childhood friends as one by one they dropped her. “It’s funny,” she thought to herself, “None of them had anything to say as they ignored the obvious signs that Chaz was beating me. But let me fall in love with a good, decent man who works hard and all of a sudden they are all concerned about my well-being.” The bitterness rose up inside of her. 

Her mind raced for a distraction. “I have a surprise for you!’ she jumped up and his eyes followed her. She came back with a to-go bag from the restaurant. He pulled out the box and opened it. Inside was a huge tomahawk steak with all the trimmings. He looked up to see her beaming smile, “They said it was overcooked because they wanted it super rare, but it’s cooked just like you like it, so I snagged it.” 

She moved to the side of him as he ate off of his lap. They enjoyed the moment in quiet contentment as Lex’s mind raced. “How long?” he asked himself, “How long can I ask her to make these sacrifices? How long before she runs back to the easy life. The life I can’t give her.”

His thoughts were interrupted with her voice, “Spill it, Jamieson.” She only used his full name when she was completely serious. 

“An old friend called with a job offer,” he started. Her face lit up immediately. “But it’s in Pittsburgh,” he interjected, expecting her face to drop. It did not. “And it’s not necessarily completely above board.” Again, he expected her expression to change, but it was bright and hopeful. “I told them no,” he said finally. “Why?” she questioned.

“I can’t leave you,” he answered. 

“Then take me,” she replied as if it was the obvious answer. 

“You would go? You would go to Pittsburgh? But Dallas is your home,” he said in disbelief.

“My home is with you, Love,” she kissed his cheek.

“And it doesn't bother you that there may be some shady shit?” he prodded.

“There is shady shit going on everywhere, even the corporate world. There is a reason my father has a security detail. You don’t become a billionaire without doing some shady shit and making a few enemies along the way. What's the difference? The real question is would you take the job if I weren’t a factor?”

“I would at least go have the conversation,” he answered,

“Then go have the conversation,” she kissed his cheek.

Lex picked up the phone and dialed Seguin. He only spoke three words when Tyler answered, “Set it up.” Then he hung and focused on Teddy, “Tell me about Paige. What did she do this time? Do I need to go pay her a visit”  He tickled her sides and nipped at her neck. “I can be your enforcer, Foz. Just say the word.” 

TWO DAYS LATER 

“Foz” Lex asked as she adjusted his tie on the private plane Crosby had sent for them, “Where did you find this suit? I am not buying the Goodwill story.” The odds have her randomly finding a tailored suit that fit his almost six eight frame was slim to none.

“I acquired it. That's all you need to know,” she grinned. 

Lex opened the suit jacket and saw the label with the words “Custom made for RTB”. He looked up at her in surprise. “Is this your dad's suit? Did you steal a suit from your dad?” Their height was about the only thing he had in common with the stubborn, prideful man. 

“Steal is such a harsh word,” she answered as she brushed imaginary lint off of his chest. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised,”it's an old suit. It was languishing in the back of his closet. I am pretty sure he wore it to my confirmation. We are giving it new life.”

“You stole it, Foz,” he teased.

“Well, think of me as modern day Robin Hood,” she teased as she pulled on his tie to kiss him, “And you can be me Maid Marian.”

His eyebrows furrowed in sign of disapproval. “What? You would look good as Maid Marian,” she protested before continuing, “I simply tested the supposedly top notch security system at my parent's house. I was doing them a service actually. They should be thanking me that I only took a suit as payment. It could have been worse.”

“Put it back once we get home,” he chided. 

“Fine, but Lex, I don’t think you are going to be up for the level of shady shit working for Sid Crosby is going to require if you can’t accept one re-acquisitioned suit from my father,” she playfully pouted. 

“I am the only criminal in this relationship. You are the virtuous one with the heart of gold, got it?” he said. He cracked a smile, but the message was clear - leave the shady shit to him. 

“Got it,” as she adjusted his tie, “Now let’s go knock him dead.”

Maritime Manor - Sidney Crosby Compound - Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania

Lex stood at the large picture window for a moment. He examined what he could see of the extensive  grounds. The lawn was well manicured with each of the smaller cottages on the compound sharing a large common area. Just beyond the cottages was a wooded area that extended to what looked like a river or creek bed. He mentally checked for sight lines and frowned at the results.

He turned around and examined the large office that had been created from two small guest rooms. At the far end, a large conference table sat covered with stacks of money. From what he could quickly estimate, it was easily $20K in stacks with a pile left to be sorted. He walked closer to the table. The pile was probably another 50K left to be sorted from collected protection money from the weekend. 

Outside the office, he heard the jovial sounds of the crew chirping each other. Suddenly they got quiet. He turned to face the door. The chatter had turned seriously and he heard the sound of the front door open. He then heard the sound of Sid’s distinct Nova Scotian accent, “Who is she?”

Then he heard the accented voice of Andre Burakovsky, “She’s with the big guy. He’s waiting for you in the office.” Lex’s body tensed up and he faced the door. 

Seggy piped in, “You left him in the office? Alone?”

“That’s not good?” the Swede questioned Seggy as they walked past him. Sid’s silence sent the resounding message that it was indeed, no good. Lex heard footsteps that approached the door. He resumed his position by the picture window, but turned when Sid and Seggy walked in the room. 

Sid did a quick visual assessment as he walked in. His lips pursed when he saw the stacks of money in the open. When his eyes landed on the gun left out in the open, he shook his head, “Burky, Burky, Burky.”

After a quick one shoulder hug and pat on the back, Tyler moved to make the introductions. “Sid, this is Jamie Oleksiak aka Big Rig,” he began, “We go back a long way. Big Rig, this is Sid Crosby. He runs this crew.”

“I am sure that he knows who I am, Seggy,” Sid interjected as he shook hands with Lex, “You can leave us alone now.” Tyler’s head went back and forth as the two stood in an extended handshake. 

“Sure, Sid,” Tyler said through the tension that radiated off of the two men sizing each other up. “I’m just going to go head over to the clubs and deal with that bouncer issue.” 

Lex noted the hand strength in the shorter man as Tyler left. He also noted the slight flair in his nostrils and tense jaw. On the surface, Sid appeared calm and neutral.  He crossed in front of Lex to walk to his desk. He made a quick turn while pulling out his gun. He was met by a gun pointed between his temple as Lex quickly removed his gun from his hand. Time stood still as the two men stared each other down. The beating of each other’s heart pounded in their ears. It was then that Sid noticed the gun pointed at his head was one of his own. His eyes shifted and he saw the hidden gun safe ajar. 

Sid said neutrally, “So what’s your plan of action here, Big Rig?”

“Well, I would say my plan of action is to find out if you are as big of an idiot as your crew,” Lex said equally as cool, “Also I would say that we are in the process of sizing each other up. I think I have the upper hand literally and figuratively.” 

“I think that you have proven your point,” Sid took a step back without breaking eye contact, “You have found some vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. Care to sit down and discuss the job now like professionals?”  Lex nodded and Sid carefully walked behind his desk. 

“Hands on the desk,” Lex ordered as he kept the gun pointed at Sid. 

“Come on, Big Rig,” Sid smiled, “I said like professionals. Besides, do you think I am going to kill you with your girl sitting in the next room?” 

Lex’s eyes squinted slightly but his expression did not change. He shrugged and said, “It’s a possibility, but that’s assuming that you get me before I get you, which is not going to happen.” 

“Fair enough,” Sid conceded, “You got the job by the way if you want it. Want to hear the details?” Lex nodded his head yes. Impressed with Sid’s direct approach. “Then put the damn gun down,” Sid instructed. Lex lowered his weapon, but kept the gun in his hand. “First, tell me the other vulnerabilities you saw.”

“I don’t work for free,” Lex replied, “Tell me about the job and compensation. I will discuss it with Teddy. Then I will give you a breakdown of your slip-shod security.” 

Sid sat back and smiled, “You don’t bullshit. I like that.”

“I find that it makes life simpler,” Lex responded. 

“Alright, here is a breakdown of the job. You are head of security for all business locations as well as the compound. You have complete discretion in terms of staffing and resources that you need. My only non-negotiables are Seggy and Burky. They may need some fine tuning, but I trust them,” Sid explained, “Compensation includes salary, housing and benefits.” 

“What’s the salary?” Lex quizzed.

“Name your price,” Sid answered without hesitation. Lex balked and Sid continued, “Look, I have a good gut instinct about you. You have already proven that you will stand your ground and you are not a yes man. That’s what I need.”

“I gotta talk it over with my lady,” Lex answered slowly, “Tell me about the crew.”

Outside in the great room, Teddy’s legs bounced up and down on the gray leather sofa as she  played with the bracelet on her wrist. She moved her fingers from stone to stone. Burky watched from the side of the room and ran his fingers through his hair before bringing his thumb to his mouth. He slowly chewed his fingernail while contemplating his next move. He knew had screwed up letting the Big Bird or whatever his name was into the office. He had been distracted by the red head when she entered the room wearing a navy blue sheath dress that hugged her curves. Women had always been his weakness.

Sid would come down hard on his stupidity if he didnt come with a plan to make up for it. “What were you thinking, dumbass?” he chastised himself. Suddenly he saw a glint that caught his eye. He focused on the origin of it and smiled widely. He knew what he needed to do. 

“Excuse me” he asked brightly and exaggerated his Swedish accent slightly,  “What did you say your name was?

Teddy looked over at him warily, “Teddy.” She wasn’t in the mood to make small talk. She was a bundle of nerves as the reality of the situation sank in. This could be her future - a future outside of Texas. It was a move that would hammer the final nail in the coffin of her relationship with her parents.

“Ahhh, Teddy is a man's name, correct?” he questioned “Your parents wanted a boy and not a girl?”

“Wow,” she said as her eyebrow raised slightly, “You get right to the point…..”

“Andre,” he grinned, “They call me Burky.” He studied her body language as he decided on his approach. “You look thirsty. We can go get a drink in the kitchen.” he said sweetly.

She studied his face for a moment. He seemed friendly enough, much friendlier than she thought a part of Sid Crosby’s crew should be. It couldn’t hurt to make conversation and learn a little bit more about the job from his perspective, she told herself. 

“Do you have coffee?” she smiled back, “I would love some.” She willingly followed along as he led them  into the spacious kitchen. They made small talk as they made their coffees. They reached over each other as they put their cream and sweeteners in their mugs. He spoke of his move from Sweden to the states to pursue a hockey career. Like Lex and Seggy, his professional career had been a bust. In his case, multiple injuries stymied his playing time and eventually earned him the label of “fragile”. Teddy remained tight lipped when Burky pressed her information about Lex and his history.

It was only after they returned to the living room that Teddy felt like something was off. She dismissed the feeling as she looked at the closed door. “So Sid?” Teddy asked casually, “He's a good boss?”

Burky's head popped up, “Oh, he's great. He took me in off the street.” 

Suddenly, Teddy realized what was wrong. Her right wrist was bare. The wrist that normally held  a diamond tennis bracelet. It had been a sweet sixteen gift from her dead sister, Frankie. She looked down in the chair to see if it had slipped off there. It was nowhere to be seen. She distinctly remembered touching it earlier. She retraced her steps mentally and then kicked herself figuratively.

“So Andy?” she asked pointedly.

“Andre,” he corrected.

“Andre,” she smiled, “What do you do for Sid? I assume that you have some sort of specific role.”

Burky blinked slowly, unsure where the conversation was leading. He didn't want to bring any attention to his skill set. “Oh, I do all kinds of things.” he answered casually.

“Things like stealing bracelets from house guests?” Teddy leveled her gaze at the Swede.

“Bracelet?” he smiled, “What bracelet?”

“The one you took,” she answered calmly. 

“I didn't take a bracelet,” he replied in the same manner.

“We're going this route?” Teddy got up and walked toward him with a sense of purpose, “Give me the bracelet- no harm, no foul.”

“There is no harm, no foul because I don't have the bracelet. I don’t know what you are talking about,” he stood his ground.”

“Come on Burky, this could get really ugly or you can simply hand it back to me,” Teddy attempted to speak as sweetly as possible. When he didn’t respond, she felt the anger rise up in her. “Look, you have three seconds before I scream,” her voice rose slightly, “What do you think HE is going to do when he hears it? Do you think he is going to stop to ask you questions? If you are lucky, I will be able to explain the situation before he assumes something far worse. No, when I tell him that you took the bracelet, he will just turn you upside down and shake you down. Have you ever been shaken down by a Big Rig?  I would just give it back to me and save yourself the pain, but you do you booboo”.

In the office, Sid was mid-story when Lex held up his hand. Sid stopped talking and they listened.

“Let's be reasonable,” Burky cajoled.

She stepped closer and yelled, “Give it back.”

“or you will tell your giant, badass big bird of a boyfriend,” he scoffed, “For the last time, I didn’t take your damn….”

He was interrupted as Teddy grabbed his hand and twisted his arm behind his back. Then she pushed her foot to the back of his knee, bringing him down to his knees. “Give it back to me,” she screamed as she twisted his arm tighter. 

“Foz, everything okay out there,” Lex called  as he rose to his feet. 

“Yeah sure,” Teddy answered breezily as she pressed harder.

Burky heard the movement and assessed the situation. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he thought to himself as the pain began to shoot up his arm. He began to realize that his initial plan of stealing the bracelet to get back in Sid’s good graces had not been thought through to completion. One, he thought she wouldn’t notice, or at least until they left. Two, he forgot about the big guy. Three, it was a stupid ass plan altogether. 

“Alright, alright, alright,” he whined, “You have to get off of me.” She stood up slowly and adjusted her dress. Burky placed his forehead on the floor and took a deep breath in an effort to compose himself. Then he jumped up and smiled brightly. “Congratulations, Teddy,” he said with false bravado. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the five carat tennis bracelet. He placed it into his palm and presented it to her with great flourish. 

It was that moment that the door opened and duo walked into the room. 

“What’s going on?” Lex asked bruskly. 

Teddy tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

“We heard a ruckus,” Sid answered. 

Teddy and Burky exchanged a look. Teddy studied his face. His eyes implored her silently. She considered his misdeed. He tried to pull a fast one on her and failed. It was unlikely he would try it again. She tried to summon anger but he bat his puppy dog eyes at her and she smiled.

“A ruckus?” Burky repeated, “I didn’t hear a ruckus. Did you hear a ruckus, Teddy?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything, Andy,” she responded. She turned to the duo. “Can you describe the ruckus?” she added. 

Sid stifled his laughter. He wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, but he knew two things - Burky had screwed up again and Teddy was covering up for him. The Swede was the equivalent of a labrador puppy on his crew. He was simultaneously entertaining and endearing with his antics. However, he frequently left messes all over that required someone to clean it up.

 Lex pressed the issue slightly, “I am pretty sure I heard your voice, Teddy.“

Teddy smiled, “Oh that! My bracelet fell off. Andy here helped me find it. Didn’t you Andy?” 

Andre bit his tongue. He wanted to correct her but she was doing him a solid so he let it slide. “Yes, that must have been what you heard. Poor Teddy was quite flummoxed. You should really get that clasp checked. It’s very weak in my opinion.

Lex looked back and forth between the two. He was sure of one thing- something happened and Teddy would not tell him in front of Sid. Since she seemed to have the “situation” under control, he let it slide. 

“Are you almost done with your chat?” Teddy asked, desperate to end the stand-off. 

Sid smiled, “We’re just about done. Burky, take Teddy down to see the River cottage.” She tilted her head in confusion and he continued, “The job does come with either a housing allowance and/or use of one of the cottages on the compound. Why don’t you go take a look at it and see it will fit your needs?”

“Oh, that sounds like a fabulous idea,” she smiled. 

She held out her arm to signal Burky to lead the way. They were about ten yards outside the house before he spoke. “Why did you cover for me?” he asked. 

“Snitches get stitches,” she answered quickly.

“Not here,” he retorted immediately. She gave him a side eye. “Sid has very few rules, but rule number one is that there is no violence towards women or children. They're off limits.”

Teddy nodded her head in understanding, “So why did you steal my bracelet then?”

“Temporary insanity?” he laughed. When she did not return the laugh, he added, “I wanted to remind Sid that he needs me around for my special set of skills.” 

“Didn’t think that one one through, huh?” Teddy paused 

“Yeah,”  he sighed, “I am not the brains of the crew obviously..”

Teddy elbowed him, “Don’t worry Big Rig is smart enough for the both of you.” They stepped inside of the cozy three bedroom cottage. Teddy walked around from room to room and tried to keep her composure. It was a far cry from their cramped studio apartment. Mentally she started decorating it with their existing furniture. When she found the back door that led to a deck overlooking the Alleghany river, she was sold. 

Outside the cottage, Sid approached Burky with Lex. “Where’s Teddy?” Lex asked. Burky nodded his head to indicate that she was inside. They walked in and found her peacefully enjoying the view. She turned as she sensed their presence even though her eyes were closed. Sid’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. 

“Are you all done?” she asked brightly. 

Sid smiled, “I think that I may have him convinced to join the crew. I think that my only obstacle is you. Will the cottage work?” He was smart enough to know who the real decision maker would be.

Teddy glanced at her boyfriend then back to the river. She folded her arms across her chest. Then she replied with a smile, “The cottage is more than adequate.” Then she turned to Lex and asked, “Can you give Mr. Crosby and me a moment? I do have some questions for him.” 

His eyebrows shot up and he tilted his head, “Teddy, are you sure you want me to leave?”

‘Yes, it won’t take long. You should check out the shower to make sure that you fit,” she suggested. When he left, Sid and Teddy stood in silence for a moment. 

“Mr. Crosby,” she began, “Are there any of the other guys on the crew that have a wife or girlfriend?”

“No, you are the first,” he answered, “Truthfully, I thought you were going to be a dealbreaker for me when I saw you in the living room. Turns out that I was wrong.”

“How so?” she inquired. 

“You are much tougher than you appear,” he answered, “How hard did you take down Burky?”

Teddy’s mouth dropped before she smiled, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Come on, you can tell me,” he encouraged, “What did he do?”

“Promise me that he won’t be punished?” she asked point blank. Sid held up his fingers in a “Scouts Honor” gesture. She nodded in understanding. 

“Apparently in a fit of desperation, he lifted my bracelet from my wrist,” she answered. Sid immediately frowned and his jaw tensed. “Hey, he is part of your crew. You can’t be surprised.” Teddy walked towards the edge of the deck before turning back to face him. “Seriously, he didn’t think it through but there was no harm and no foul,” she said as she held out her bracelet. 

“Back to my question,” he quizzed.

“I took him down hard enough to get my message through,” she stared at him defiantly, “he won’t try it again - at least not with me.” 

Sid smiled, “You way tougher than I thought you were.”

“I used to not be tough, but Lex taught me,” she said out loud, “He turned me from a sheltered rich girl into someone with street smarts.”

“I’d love to hear how that happened,” he replied. 

“Story for another time,” she sighed. She steeled herself. Then she blurted out, “Mr. Crosby, what kind of business is this? I am not naive enough to believe that this is a completely legitimate operation, but I need to know just how far across the line will this job take Jamie?” She was careful to use his proper name. 

“Wow, you've got nerves of steel to ask me that,” Sid balked. 

For a moment, Teddy doubted herself but she pushed through it, “Lex,” she stopped herself, “I mean Jamie is more than capable to do whatever this job requires. I know that he has had to make ethically gray choices in the past.” She paused and considered shutting up but her protective nature spurred her on. “But he is a man of honor. He is not mean or malicious. I don’t want him to be  in a position where he would have to compromise his principles and character.” She took a deep breath, “I don't want to lose the man I love to a world of darkness.” 

Sid studied her for a moment. If there had been any doubt left about Oleksiak, she had removed it. Anyone who could inspire such gumption and loyalty was a person he wanted on his crew. Finally Sid spoke, “I won’t ask him to do that. I will not lie. We break the law on occasion.” She gave him a side eye. “Okay, we break the law a lot, but we do have a code that we follow.”

“Will he have to hurt people?” she asked brazenly.

“Yes, but nobody gets hurt that doesn’t deserve to be hurt,” he countered. 

“And women and children are off limits?” she asked to get confirmation of Burky’s remark.

“They are off limits and anyone who breaks that rule gets hurt,” Sid answered. 

“Well, then I think you have answered my questions,” she stated. 

“Good,” he smiled, “I’ll send Big Rig in so you can make your decision.”

Once Sid and Burky had left the cottage, Lex came back out to the deck. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to place his chin on her shoulder. “What are you thinking, Foz?” he asked quietly. 

“I am thinking that I want to know how the interview went. Do you like him? Does he like you? What does the job entail?” she leaned her body weight back and turned her head to face him. He took her hand and led her to the chaise lounge. He removed his jacket and got comfortable. Then he pulled her on top of his massive body. 

“Well, after the guns were put away, it went well,” he started. 

“Guns? What the hell, Lex!” she shouted. 

He smiled, “We sized each other up so to speak”

“And?” she asked. 

“And there is a reason that he is Sidney Fucking Crosby and runs all of Pennsylvania and half of NYC. He’s smart, shrewd and has balls of steel,” he answered. She rested her head on his chest as he went on to explain the job. She could hear the excitement in his voice. She could also hear how he was trying to tamper it down. He knew that she would allow his excitement to cloud her judgment and she knew that he knew it. 

“So did he offer you the job?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he tried to answer casually. 

“What’s the hold up then?” she joked. 

“The money,” he answered. He continued when she squinted in confusion, “He said that I can name my price. Foz, I have no idea on what to ask for. This job is so far out of my league. I just don’t know.” His voice trailed off. 

“Hey,” she interjected, “This is not out of your league. He basically offered you a job on the spot for a reason. Don’t doubt yourself, Jamieson.” 

“Okay boss,” he tickled her side. 

Suddenly an idea hit and she dug out her phone. She started texting Steve, the former Secret Service agent, who headed her father’s security team. 

Teddy gulped when she read the last line. 

“What?” Lex asked as his eyes filled with tears. 

She handed the phone to Lex who read over the messages. “Daddio never changed the code,” she whispered, “so I could go back if I needed to.” 

“Foz,” he whispered, “If you want to stay in Dallas, we can stay in Dallas. I’ll find a way to make more money.” 

Her eyes flashed up at him, “You know I don’t give a shit about the money. It’s never been about the money.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “Listen to me Jamieson Oleksiak. I chose you. I chose you and I will choose you over and over again,” she spoke urgently. “This is a fresh start for us and we’re not going to throw it away for a possibility,” she said firmly, “They made their choice and nothing in those texts changes that.” 

“But Foz, they’re your family,” he countered.

“No, you are my family. They threw me away when they couldn’t control me” she protested, “Would you throw me away?

He recoiled in horror, “Never.

 “It’s you and me forever.” she began reciting the familiar words. 

“No matter what” he joined in reciting their motto.

“Whatever it takes,” she finished. 

“So we have a decision made?” he smiled.

“Let’s move to Pittsburgh,” she answered. 

“Foz, I didn’t even ask about the cottage,” he realized, “Do you like it?”

“It needs a little TLC, but I like it,” she assured him, “Factor in redecorating in your salary request.” 

They spent a few more minutes in silence before he nudged them up. After a few minutes to take measurements, they strolled hand in hand back to the main house. Teddy started to find a seat in the living room as Lex went to find Sid. However, he kept a firm grip on her hand. Together they knocked on the door and entered the office together. 

“So what’s the verdict?” Sid asked.

“We’re in for the right price,” Lex answered. He took a deep breath, “500K should do it.”

“Okay,” the Canadian crime boss answered without pausing, “When can you start?”

“Wait,” Teddy interjected. Sid turned to her, “And a reno budget for the cottage.”

Sid blinked and then smiled, “Welcome to the family. Let’s go celebrate.” 

The crew sat in the private dining of Ciliegia, Sid’s preferred Italian restaurant. The usually all male crew felt invigorated by the presence of a woman. There was a sly game of one-up manship as they vied for Teddy’s attention. It had not taken them long to realize that the key to getting into the new boss’s good graces was getting into HER good graces. 

After much prodding from Sid, Teddy finally spilled the beans on Burky’s failed attempt to steal her bracelet. 

“I lifted it without you noticing,” Burky protested as he blushed, “At least give me credit for that.” 

“Yes, Andy,” she teased, “You did do that. Now what you were going to do with it once you had it, I have no idea.” 

“Andre… if you are not going to call me Burky, call me Andre,” he begged. 

“Why would I do that, Andy?” Teddy answered, “I think you should be glad that this is the only punishment I am going to dole out.” Lex watched with a bemused smile as the two bantered. 

Later, Sid asked the server to send his compliments to the chef for the delicious meal. They were surprised when the fiery redhead walked into the room. She wiped her hands on her apron as she approached Sid at the head of the table.  He stared at her, suddenly unable to speak. Startled glances were exchanged among the group before Lex spoke up to pass along the praise. The chef, Lizzie, nodded her head as she listened but her eyes were transfixed on the brunette Canadian. When she stumbled out of the room as she kept her gaze in his direction, Teddy and Lex shared a look.

As they walked out to go their separate ways, Sid nudged Lex, “I am pretty sure I just met my future wife.”

Lex stopped suddenly, “Don’t you think that you should know her name first?”

“I know her name,” Sid corrected, “It’s Mrs. Crosby.”

Lex laughed out loud, “Those redheads, I’ll tell you.” He glanced over at Teddy who was busy exchanging phone numbers, instagrams and snapchats with Seggy and Burky. “They’ll snatch your soul out of your body in an instant and never give it back,” he said with a smile. She turned to him and flashed a smile that melted his heart.

Lex pulled Teddy in a tight hug. “I lied earlier today, Foz” he whispered as he kissed the top of her head. 

“You did?” she looked up into his eyes, “about what?”

“I said that I am the only criminal in this relationship,” he smiled as he spoke, “That’s not true.”

“I’m a criminal now?” she playfully pouted, “Fine - I’ll get the suit cleaned and returned to Daddio’s closet. No harm, no foul.”

“I’m not talking about that, Foz,” he kissed her forehead. 

“Then how am I a criminal?” she poked his rock hard abs. 

“You stole my heart, just like a seasoned professional,” he bent down to kiss her gently, “Much better than the Swede.”

“Oh,” she returned his kiss, “In my defense, you stole mine first.” 

“Well, I am not giving it back,” he lifted her up to kiss her more deeply.

“Me either,” she wrapped her arms around his neck, “I am yours forever. No takeback and no exchanges.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” he grinned as he carried her out to their waiting car, “I wouldn’t think of it.”

Chapter One-Trouble with a capital T-https://starshine-hockey-girl.tumblr.com/post/653360134099288064/trouble-with-a-capital-t-magical-mystery

[starshine-hockey-girl]

Wow.....this is so good. Great song choice

1) I really like the pacing and brevity of it. It's short but it packed so much punch!

2) Jamie doesn't deserve Chelsea

3) but I am glad they are giving it another go.

wildest dreams - jamie oleksiak

Say you’ll remember me…

wow my first fic in ages, while i know this is a little short, it challenged me, and makes me hopeful to maybe wanna dig into them a little more. This is for the era’s fic challenge by @comphy-and-cozy and @wyattjohnston ! My song was wildest dreams, from 1989 (taylor’s version)

Word count: 1.3k

Language: yes

smut: tiny mention

divder: by wcnderlnds

Lets get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from this town:

Chelsea was a little hesitant, it’s who she was. How did she end up here? Standing in a nice dress…

She decided to go on a weekend trip to Seattle with her two friends. She had more than enough time off, so three days wasn’t going to hurt anyone. She had never been out there, and had always wanted to go. Was her reasoning to go to a Seattle Kraken home game? Yes, but she also wanted to check out the bars with her friends, and find the first ever starbucks. 

Well, the team ended up having a couple days off, playing the day before her and her friends arrived, leaving the day before she did, so she was a little unlucky in that part, but had seen them before. She got ready with her friends to go to a local bar. Her two friends were talking to guys at the bar, that’s something that came easy for them, while you sat at the booth you three had, sipping a vanilla vodka drink they had on special. Chelsea went to go grab another one, also wondering if her friends were going to even remember they came with her, and she bumped into a man, literally. 

He’s so tall, and handsome as hell

He was about a foot and a half taller than her, and almost spilled her drink. He introduced himself as Jamie, but Chelsea knew, she had to keep it cool though.

You two ended up talking the rest of the night, getting a little tipsy and almost half making out in a booth, when it was last call. He asked if her if she wanted to hang out at his cabin away from the town he had, and she accepted. As much as she wanted to go to Forks with her friends, being OG Twilight fans, she would never pass up an opportunity to hang out with a man that came right out of a book.

He was a man of nature, he liked fishing and being outside, which was something she didn’t. She could be outside and be eaten alive within in 5 minutes. But there she was, sitting on his dock, outside of Everett Washington. He liked to be in nature, but also liked to be near civilization.

They spent the afternoon talking, sharing stories, making out with the lake behind them. It was perfect, and you were already falling. But as quick as it was starting, it had to end. He had a west coast road trip that started tomorrow, and Chelsea had to go back to work. Well. she could work anywhere, but had to go to her home base.

“I hate the long distance shit, but I think we could give it a shot.” Jamie said

“Really?” Chelsea asked.

“Yeah, not exclusive or anything, but also you’re the only one I want to talk to, distance makes the heart…do something right?” Jamie said and Chelsea laughed.

I said, "No one has to know what we do"

His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room

It was the beginning of the 4 nations tournament. Chelsea was working away and Jamie ended up with almost a 3 week break.  He was coming in the first possible moment he could, and Chelsea took the next day off work, him coming in at midnight.

Chelsea laughed as Jamie attempted to get into her smaller Honda. 

“Maybe you should have rented a car.” She giggled as he made it work, getting into her car and kissing her softly. Honks from cars trying to move out of the pick up area made him pull back, a laugh escaping him this time.

“There’s really nothing open except for bars, no food…I know a neat one not far from here.” Chelsea said, pulling onto the freeway.

“I know something I’d like to open.” He smirked, typical man but she couldn’t help but heat up, knowing where the night was going.

He wasted no time getting her up the three flights of stairs leading up to her appartment, clothes being tossed in the hall before the both of them hit the bed.

Jamie wasn’t her first, but she’d like to forget the asshole who was, and pretend he was. He knew how to make her feel good, and always put her needs first. It was a turn on to him to watch you release two-three times before he could. 

Nothin' lasts forever

But this is gettin' good now

He stayed with Chelsea for about a week before he left. She was afraid he would get bored while you worked all day, but he fixed some doorknobs, grabbed a sponge she threw at the cupboards in the kitchen when there was a huge spider, and ordered coffee and food before you could even ask.

“You don’t know how much this week meant to me, most times I get annoyed when I have people in the apartment when I work, but this was different” Chelsea said, her pulling into a parking garage to drop him off. First 30 minutes were free, and she could kiss him before getting honked at.

“I’m glad to know that I don’t annoy you.” He smiled. “Though this car hurts.”

“If you come back..we’ll get a rental..” Chelsea laughed.

“It’s not a romantic spot, this parking garage that smells weird, but I want you to be my girlfriend, we can do long distance.” He said.

“Really?” She asked. “I can find cheap flights..work from your place too if needed.” She smiled before Jamie placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Chelsea was soon added into a chat with the other WAGS. She didn’t know who these people were, but they were so excited to see that quiet Jamie finally bagged a girl, who didn’t seem like she was the rudest girl alive. They face timed her several times, and did everything they could to make her feel comfortable, even if they were thousands of miles away.

The Kraken made the playoffs, and Chelsea was able to work from his place. Half of her co-workers lived on the west coast, and it worked perfectly. 

She was excited, never being to a playoff game before, but she could feel some tension. Yes, the long distance worked pretty well, but maybe it was the distance? If it got serious, Chelsea would move across the country to Seattle, but right now Chelsea, and Jamie were in a good place. So maybe it was playoffs, that would make sense, it’s a stressful stretch. 

The Kraken made the second round, but that sadly was it. She didn’t have to leave anytime soon, since she could work from anywhere.

I bet these memories follow you around. 

Chelsea loved Jamie, Jamie couldn’t. Well, he could, but for some reason, he couldn’t get the same feelings. Nothing happened that would have broken up the relationship, it was just feelings. Chelsea understood, though her feelings made her want to do anything for him. She was heartbroken when he broke it off, but she understood. Her first real heartbreak was the man of her dreams. 

Both of them kept appearing in dreams. Chelsea was in an airport and Jamie ran to her. Jamie was in her childhood home town and was walking downtown in the Christmas lights. There was no bad blood, but they both couldn’t get each off their minds. 

Say you'll remember me

Standing in a nice dress

“Wow, you look beautiful.” Jamie said. 

“I look like I haven’t slept in two days.” Chelsea laughed. 

Chelsea was returning back to her parents home for a few days, when they ran into each other in Chicago, each on a layover. 

“How long do you have? Coffee?” He asked

“Should we actually do this?” She questioned back, knowing how much hurt she had to get over. 

“If it doesn’t work, not meant to be, at least I’ll have the good memories, and I don’t want you to think i’m a dick.” He said. 

“We can get coffee, i have 45 minutes. We can start back slow, and maybe in our wildest dreams, we’ll try again.”

[v6quewrlds]

⁎⠀┉⠀current works in progress!

here's a little list of fics and request i'm currently working on. this is (probably) an exhaustive list. fics will more than likely be posted out of order. as of 11/14, requests are CLOSED. i usually write pretty quickly when i have inspo, but please be patient with me <3

J. BURROW, the cincinnati bengals.

jealous!joe x reader (angst, smut) joe/andrei x reader (love triangle fic) joe x reader (invisible string theory) joe x oc (part two)

J. HERBERT, the los angeles chargers.

justin x high school sweetheart!reader (nsfw alphabet)

A. IOSIVAS, the cincinnati bengals.

joe/andrei x reader (love triangle fic)

J. OLEKSIAK, the seattle kraken.

jamie x reader (part two)

[senditcolton]

there must be something strangely sacred in salt; it is in our tears and in the sea

pirate!Jamie Oleksiak x selkie!OC Eria

[bqstqnbruin]

Not Like I'm in Love with You

Hello I wrote a Jamie O fic inspired by a tik tok that I currently can't find but it had a song called "Not Like I'm in Love with You" in it and then this was born

Shout out to @raysofcrosby for refreshing the google doc so many times that she was 5031293 different anonymous animals while proofing this (long live anonymous dumbo octopus).

Have fun!

Warnings: Swearing

WC: 11.2K

__________________________

Put the phone down.

All she had to do was put it down.

Everything was typed out, but it’s not like she had to hit send on anything.

All she had to do was put it down.

“Annie, if you’re going to pick up your phone like that one more time, at least add weights to it to make it worth a workout,” her roommate, Harper said. Annie shot her a dirty look, obviously annoyed despite Harp being right. “Anastasia Greenwood, either text him to see what he’s doing, or put the phone down and watch this crappy rom com you made me put on.”

“It is not crappy, and don’t call me Anastasia,” Annie whines, staring at the screen as Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell conspired to set up their bosses in order to get time off from work. It was just the right amount of cheesy comedy mixed with Pete Davidson that made Annie melt and have the unreasonable desire to watch the movie at least once a week. She wanted the romance of two people falling in love without realizing they were in love until the last few minutes, something stupid happening that to make them finally understand that they had been with the right person all along. “You don’t like it because the main character has the same name as you.”

Harper let out a sigh, rolling her eyes at her friend. “I don’t like it because you’re using it as an escape from your reality that is pretty much the same thing as this movie.”

“I am not conspiring to set my boss up with someone. Laura already has a husband and two grown children. And four dogs. She’s happy. Plus, she has a roommate who gets engaged in the first ten minutes, you have no prospects of getting engaged any time soon, so,” Annie tries to counter, despite knowing exactly what Harper was getting on about.

Harper paused the movie, Zoey and Glen’s character’s hugging each other at Yankee Stadium as they watch their bosses on the kiss cam, the start of their plan finally coming together, frozen in motion. “We’re not talking about me, though. We’re talking about you, and you do have a crush on someone that both of you are too dumb to realize.”

“I’m a teacher. I can’t be that dumb. And I’m not dumb enough to not realize I have a crush. But that is all it is. He’s the one who doesn’t know about it.”

“Annie, you’re practically in love with him. How is him not realizing it better?”

“Because this way, I can just wallow in my misery and drown all my sorrows in stupid rom coms and ice cream while he lives his life and we go on being each other’s best friends and nothing will ever change,” Annie spits out all in one breath.

Harper stares at her, mouth hanging open like a fish while she starts to shake her head. “That,” she starts, hesitating while trying to find the right words. “That is not better.”

“Ok,” Annie says, stealing another glance at her phone. “Can we at least admit that this crush is better than my last one?”

Harper pauses for a second, thinking about Annie’s ex-boyfriend. “ You’ve had this crush since you met him, but I’m pretty sure that everyone is better than that human equivalent of a stale ham sandwich that you liked.”

“Justin was not that bad.”

“His name started with the letter J. Immediate red flag.”

“Jamie?”

“His name is his only red flag. And it’s a gender-neutral name anyway, less of a red flag.”

Before Annie could respond, her phone screen finally lights up, a text from Jamie showing up, then another, and another. Jamie normally didn’t send multiple texts at once, so something had to be up for him to do this. “Look at the messages,” Harper tells her, obvious annoyance in her voice over the unnecessary antics of her roommate. She knew for a fact that Annie’s life would be much easier and much less stressful if she just admitted to Jamie that she was into him. Everyone knew Jamie was into her the same way, he was just too much of a dumb boy to admit it.

Are you busy?

I have to tell you something

Can you come over?

“He wants to tell me something,” Annie said, trying to figure out if she should drop everything for him, or just lie to him and say that she was busy. Because to her, Harper would do anything to stop watching this movie and seeing her friend stare at her phone trying to will a boy into messaging her.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Harper said, getting up and leaving before Annie could say anything else.

By the time Annie managed to get to Jamie, an hour had passed, seven more messages from Jamie came in, and Annie’s anxiety grew for no reason other than she was freaking out that he could potentially have bad news for her. She didn’t even have to knock on the door before he whipped it open, pulling her into his apartment without even saying a word.

“Jamie, fuck,” she said, wriggling free of his pull. “I’m not going to let you tell me anything if you pull my arm off and send me to the hospital.”

“Sorry, sorry, you just took so long, I got scared,” he says, sending a chill down Annie’s spine, plopping down on his sofa. “I just had to tell you about last night.”

Annie couldn’t read him as she sat down. Jamie looked nervous but excited, scared yet confident. She wasn’t sure how he could be portraying all these emotions when normally his emotional range was that of a corn chip, but something apparently happened last night that changed that for him. “Are you ok?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says, letting out a deep breath and flopping back on the cushions. “Haydn introduced me to the most amazing girl.”

Annie felt her heart stop when she saw him light up the way he was. He was staring at the ceiling, almost like she wasn’t there at all and he was just recounting his night to the air around him. She wanted to be the girl to do that for him, and thanks to Haydn, she couldn't be. At least not right now. Probably not ever for that matter. “Wha-what are you talking about?” she managed to stammer out.

“Haydn’s been telling me about this girl that he knows, he thought we would be a good match. And, god, I met her last night. Stass, I think she might be the one.”

Annie felt like she could die at that moment. She knew all she felt towards Jamie was a mild crush despite Harper’s insistence that it was more, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear him talk about other girls to her. But of course he did; they shared everything with each other, no matter what it was. When her mom got sick and Harper couldn’t be around, Annie went to Jamie to tell him first because she couldn’t get a flight out to see her mom right away. When he was excited about playing really well in the first game back from an injury, he didn’t talk to his teammates, he burst through Annie’s door and they sat on her bed and talked about it the entire night. Jamie was there when her mom passed away, flying with her and Harper for the funeral and everything that went on, even going as far as missing two of his games for her. She was the first one he Facetimed when Penny won big at the Olympics, she was the one who he called when the trade rumors had freaked him out about the possibility of being in a city that was different than the one she was in.

And now he had another girl in his life that he was apparently going to spend the rest of his life with, and it wasn’t her. She never even got the chance for it to be her. If Jamie had another girl, then Annie wouldn’t be the one who he went to. She didn’t see how she could be.

Annie swallowed hard, trying to keep her cool and not burst into tears over some guy. No guy had ever been truly worth the tears, and she wasn’t about to let Jamie be the first one. “She’s really the one?”

“Well, maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. I only spent the night with her.” Jamie goes on to tell her about how the night was amazing, trying not to go into too much detail, thankfully, but just enough that Annie wanted to leave and never see him again. Harper couldn’t be right that she was in love with him, but there was no way that she could be this upset over the idea of her best friend spending a night with some girl if she wasn’t.

Annie felt herself spiraling, trying to focus on Jamie, seeing him so excited over a girl for the first time since they became friends. She had never seen him like this, and she wished she never did. She should have just listened to herself and put the phone down, just ignored the texting and focusing on the movie instead. A girls night back with Harper seemed like a much better option than being here watching Jamie talk about a girl the way he would never talk about her.

“I think you’d really like her,” she finally hears him say, Jamie leaning forward, placing his hand on Annie’s knee.

“What?” Annie said, wishing that she could forget this entire conversation. All she needed to do was go back the hour or so before she left to tell Jamie that she couldn’t come over. Then she wouldn’t have to hear this.

“Reagan. You’d really like her. You’re a lot like her.”

“Oh, yeah, just let me know when she’s free.”

------------------

“Anastasia, did you hear that?”

She had no idea who said that, looking back up from her computer to see her head of school standing in front of her, trying not to cringe at the use of her full name. “Uh,” she started, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks as Laura was standing in front of her, not looking entirely pleased with her zoning out during the faculty meeting. They were only once a month after school and were the epitome of ‘this could have been an email,’ but they were still mandatory. “Yes, I did.”

“So what are your thoughts on it?”

‘Increasing tuition so we can also increase our salary and department budgets for supplies’ popped up on her computer screen from Ally sitting next to her.

“Well, as long as parents are alright with the increase, I don’t see why it would be a bad thing. It gives us as teachers the opportunity to purchase more things for our classrooms that would directly benefit our students, and a higher paycheck for us is something I personally wouldn’t say no to.” ‘Increase by $500 per student for the year’ came in from Ally again. “The $500 still keeps our tuition lower than some of the other independent schools while still helping us maintain the same academic standards as those schools.” Laura seemed to be satisfied with that answer, moving on to the next topic of the meeting: the anticipated openings of the school, going on to talk about how they needed people to sit in on interviews, if anyone had any candidates in mind, send them to Laura, etc., etc.

The rest of the meeting moved at a snail's pace, the hour-long meeting feeling like it could have overtaken two days. But she was barely thinking about the meeting or anything else related to school.

Jamie had been texting her all day about Reagan, trying to figure out what was the best day for them all to meet up. This was while trying to maintain her classroom with a lab that wasn’t working for half of her students and having to give them the choice of borrowing the data from another group who would be willing to share or coming in at another time to redo the entire lab. Needless to say, Jamie texting her about Reagan was not a welcome distraction.

The meeting ends without Annie even realizing it, just absentmindedly staring at her computer while she tries to figure out her lesson for the next day.

“Hey,” she hears from in front of her, Ally and Luke standing in front of her. “I know your students call you a space cadet, but you’re really out of it today.”

Annie shakes her head, the three of them heading back to their classrooms. They were three of the younger teachers in the school, naturally sticking together as much as they could. It also meant that Annie had someone who could relate to what she was going through at work; teenagers could be ruthless, especially to someone who isn’t that much older than they are.

“None of my students call me a space cadet. But, I just didn’t sleep that well last night,” she lies, feeling her phone buzzing in her pocket. The two of them looked at her like they didn’t believe her, shaking their heads and pushing past her into her classroom.

“So what really happened?” Luke asked her, plopped down at one of the desks, leaning on the table like her students do when they’re pretending to listen to her teaching.

“Nothing,” she lies again.

“Annie.”

“Fine,” she huffs, giving in because she knew her friends would keep asking her until she told them the truth. “ It’s Jamie.”

“That hockey player?” Ally asks, going into Annie’s desk drawer. “Yes, what are you doing?” Before she can pull Ally from her desk, she pulls out the bag of candy that Annie has hidden from her students, tossing a piece to Luke before taking one for herself and settling down on the desk table. “That’s for good behavior.”

“All of us know you’ve eaten more of this bag than all of your students combined,” Ally says, Luke nodding in agreement, his eyes on Ally as he did. “Anyway, why are you thinking about hockey guy?”

Annie let out a groan, wishing that she didn’t have to relive the night before at Jamie’s place, knowing that she would have to tell Harper everything since she hadn’t seen her since leaving in the first place. “He asked me over his place last night and-”

“Did you finally hook up?” Luke asked, Ally starting to bounce up and down.

“Jesus, you’re worse than the students, no,” Annie scolds them.

“If you’re telling the students about your hookups then you have other issues going on,” Ally tells her. “That’s not what I meant. It’s the interrupting and the weird need to invade my personal life. But no, he was telling me about this girl one of his teammates introduced him to, Reagan. The girl is Reagan, not the teammate. Apparently, he thinks she could be the love of his life.”

“He’ll dump her soon,” Ally says.

“You have a whole room of chemicals ten feet away from you, just pull a Breaking Bad on her and you’re fine,” Luke suggests.

The two girls look at him with their mouths hanging open. “What is making meth going to do to get her away from Jamie?” Annie asked, trying to figure out where Luke could have made that connection.

“Just plant it on her then call the FBI.”

“Ok, next time you have a group of boys hanging out in your room during free period, do not listen to their conversation,” Ally tells him, Luke rolling his eyes and sitting back in the chair. “And don’t listen to him. He’s a guy, what does he know?”

“I know enough to teach biology,” Luke counters.

“And despite having a degree in the science of life, you know shockingly little about the female one.”

“Ok, no, no,” Annie gets up from her desk, standing in front of her two friends like she was teaching her students, pacing back and forth between her desk and them. “We spend all day with kids and their drama, I do not need you two reenacting it when talking about my love life.”

“Or lack thereof,” Luke adds. Annie, back at her desk, pulls out a piece of candy from the bag and whips it at him for his comment, Ally laughing while Luke struggles to dodge her throw as the sound of it smacking his skin caused even Annie to wince. “Fuck, you coaching softball makes so much more sense now.”

“Can you say something helpful?” Annie asked him, pleading and annoyed with him at the same time.

“That’s not fun, though,” Luke says, Ally and Annie both glaring at him. “Ok, from a guy's perspective, if he really likes you, he probably doesn’t know it yet. Reagan is probably just some sort of detour on his way to realizing he’s into you.”

“Has he been with any girl since he moved here?” Ally asks.

“Not seriously, nothing more than a hookup,” she tells them, all those nights at the bar watching him find a new girl to take home while she sat there wishing he would just look at her for once. God, she sounded like a shitty teenage love song. How was she any better than her students in that moment?

“He just needs to meet one girl to realize that you love each other and then bam, your students will be calling you ‘Mrs. Hockey Man’ before you know it,” Luke tells her.

“You still don’t know his last name is Oleksiak?” Ally asks him.

“I teach half of the freshman and senior class, we’re lucky I know your names.”

“Guys, hey, love the impersonation of our students, but can we come back to being adults for a minute?” Annie interrupted them. “I’m not in love with him. And he’s not in love with me. He’s my best friend, and honestly, that’s all we’re going to be.”

“Then why would him starting to see a girl make you so distracted I had to save your ass during the meeting? You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks,” Annie brushes it off, “And I don’t know. I don’t want to see him get hurt?”

“You don’t want to see him get hurt, or you don’t want to be hurt?”

------------------

“Why are you making me come to this tonight?”

“Because you have nothing else to do and I need backup.”

“How do you know I have nothing else to do?”

Annie held her hair on her curling iron, staring at Harper through the mirror while her roommate tried to do her makeup. “Harp, I love you, but you haven’t had anything to do on a weekend that didn’t involve me in three months.”

“That’s a choice,” Harper tries to defend herself.

“Why would that be your choice?”

“You’re the only person I don’t want to kill most of the time.”

“Ok, Harper. But, you said you didn’t want me to meet Reagan alone with just Jamie there, so here we are, going out with Jamie, the girl he says is the one that is apparently just like me”

“And like half of his team.”

“So that way if Jamie and Reagan start trying to swallow each other we still have people who we know that we can talk to.”

“What do you think people who are in relationships do with each other when they’re in public, Stass?”

Annie didn’t hear the entire question. The word relationship stuck out to her like a sore thumb, the thought of Jamie not only seeing her, but being committed to her was probably Annie’s worst nightmare. But what if she made him happy? What if she really was good for him?

“Hey, Annie,” Harper pulled her roommate out of her internal spiral. “We don’t have to meet her if you don’t want to. You could tell him I’m sick and that you want to stay with me if I need anything. Use me as an out.”

Annie lets out a sigh, turning off the curling iron and carefully setting down on the bathroom counter. “No, I have to meet her at some point, I might as well get it over with.”

“Didn’t he say she was just like you?” Harper asks her, pulling her out of the bathroom as they tried to gather the last few things that they needed before leaving.

“Yeah, why?”

“If he ends up with her, like, forever, doesn’t that mean that he’s dating you but not dating you?”

Annie took a second to process what Harper just said. He was dating her, but at the same time not. Why was Reagan good enough for him to be with, but she wasn’t? “How do you think that helps me?”

Harper shrugs, grabbing Annie’s wrist and dragging her out of their apartment to meet everyone at the bar. Worst case, Annie could just try to find a random guy to hook up with. What better way to deal with your emotions than by just kissing some random guy that you have no interest in seeing ever again?

On their way to the bar, Annie’s phone started going off, her heart starting to race as she hoped that it would be messages from Jamie. If she were living out a random romance novel that she spent way too much time reading and fantasizing over, it would be him telling her that he dumped Reagan and only wanted to see her. Instead, it was her group chat with Ally and Luke, letting her know that they had planned on meeting up with her and her friends at the bar.

More backup was good. More distraction from Jamie was good.

The two of them make a beeline to the group of guys that were sitting in the back of the bar, the group not hard to spot given their noise and their demeanor compared to the rest of the patrons there.

“You came!” Jamie yelled, clearly already drunk despite it being way too early in the night. He got up and hugged Annie, lifting her off her feet as he held her close. He buried his face in her neck, Annie having no choice but to hug him back, wishing that this hug meant something more to him than just him drunkenly excited to see her. “I’ve been waiting for you to get here,” he whispers to her.

He was just drunk.

He probably thought that she was Reagan or someone else.

It didn’t mean anything that he was saying this to her.

“Of course I came,” she tells him, a small smile on her face. Annie felt her heart flutter by his hands lingering on her waist, Jamie not letting go despite their greeting being long over. Annie turns around in hopes that Jamie would let go, wanting to say hi to his teammates. Instead, she felt his hands tighten slightly around her, Haydn’s eyes following his teammates fingers before a smirk covered his face, Harper’s expression mirroring his.

Annie wriggled free from Jamie, the heat rushing to her cheeks and already knowing that she was never going to hear the end of this from Harper when they got home. She sat down, Jamie sitting next to her, his knee touching hers under the table. He was just drunk. He was always like this when he was drunk.

It meant nothing now, like it meant nothing then.

“So, where’s this Reagan that I’ve been hearing all about?” Annie asks him over the music.

“She couldn’t make it tonight.”

Annie felt a weight lifting off her shoulders, releasing the breath that she didn’t know she was holding in. “Oh, that sucks,” she lies. “Is everything alright?’

Jamie nods, taking a sip of his drink before passing it over to her, something he did every time they went out together and he got something he thought she would like. “She has an early morning tomorrow or something.”

He starts rambling about something Annie can’t make out over the noise, taking it upon herself to finish the drink that he had passed her instead of doing anything to listen to him. She didn’t care how drunk he was, she didn’t want to listen to him rant about Reagan.

Her phone lights up on the table, a few texts from Ally and Luke telling her where they were, another one from Haydn coming up as well.

‘I don’t think he actually wanted her to come.’

She looks up at him, seeing him talk with his teammates as if he weren’t just looking at his phone a second ago. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I was with him when she said she couldn’t come. He wasn’t that upset.’

Annie stands up, trying to figure out how to process Haydn’s texts with the drink hitting her as fast as it was. She gets up to the bar, not expecting Haydn right behind her when she turned around. “Jesus, you’re like a pop-up book from hell.”

“That sounds like something one of your students would say,” he says, leaning next to her on the bar counter. The two of them stand in silence for a second, waiting for the bartender to come over for their orders. “He said he didn’t mind Reagan not coming if you were going to be here tonight.”

Annie looks at him, shocked. “What?”

“He was worried that you’d be too tired from the week to come out. Jamie was going to go home if you weren’t here by, like, eleven.”

“Why would he do that?”

Haydn lets out a laugh, shaking his head at her. “You know he loves you.”

“Like a sister.”

“He does not love you like he loves Penny, Hayley, or Claire.”

“So like a friend.”

“Aren’t Chemistry teachers supposed to be good at reasoning through evidence? Shouldn’t any science teacher be able to do that?”

“I work with data and numbers, and trying to figure out why my students didn’t get a one to one ratio of magnesium and oxygen when they did their empirical formula lab.”

“I’m going to pretend like any of what you said just made sense, but come on, you do observations and shit as part of your labs. I should know, Jamie comes to practice and talks about all the stuff you show him that you teach your kids. You should be the first one to notice that he likes you.”

“Then why did you introduce him to Reagan?”

“He’s too dumb to notice that he loves you so he needed a little detour to get there.”

“If this ends poorly and he ends up with her, this is your fault.”

“You won’t do anything, you’ll lose your teaching license if you get arrested.”

“I firmly believe that there are two main reasons why there are statistically more men convicted or murder: one, men are not to be trusted and two, women are better are getting away with it. Don’t test me,” she tells him, flashing a smile and turning away from him as he laughed. She found Ally and Luke, the two of them nowhere near the rest of her friends. Standing there with them was a guy she didn’t recognize, but from what she could make out, he was kind of attractive. He looked just like someone she knew, but she couldn’t put her finger on who he resembled, the slightly curly light brown hair, tall, somewhat fit, a goofy smile as he laughed at something Ally had just said.

“Annie!” Luke screamed, pulling her in for a hug. “Have you met my roommate Sam?”

The mystery man extends his hand out for her, flashing a smile that made Annie melt a little and introduced himself. “It’s nice to meet you, Anastasia.”

Annie hated her full name, it only being used when she was being scolded for something. Everyone called her Annie, with the exception of Stass coming from Harper and Jamie. But hearing Sam call her Anastasia? That was different.

The two of them get to talking, Sam telling her that he was in his third year of law school and already had a job lined up at one of the big name law firms in the area for when he graduated. They were so interested in their conversation, they didn’t even notice that Ally and Luke had left the bar completely, their only reason for going being the set up planned between Annie and Sam.

Across the bar, Jamie stood up to look for Annie, wanting to talk to her for the sake of conversation while his teammates were screaming about god only knows what. Haydn was there at the table, Harper was, too. So where was his best friend?

He finally locks eyes with Annie, seeing her talking to a guy he didn’t know. He saw the way she smiled at him, the guy pulled her close to him as someone tried to squeeze behind her with a precariously filled drink. He watched as the guy's hand lingered on her body, Annie doing nothing to get his hand off her. Jamie wanted to be that guy, for whatever reason, that was holding on to her and guiding her through the bar.

Jamie sits down once he loses them in the crowd, his mind racing over all the possibilities of what they could be up to with a sea of strangers around them.

His phone lights up, a text from Reagan that he wasn’t even excited to read flashing on his screen. ‘I just got home. Do you want to come over?’

His fingers hover over his screen, trying to figure out how to answer. He was so preoccupied by Annie that he couldn’t even think about spending the night with Reagan, let alone even generate a response to her yes or no question.

‘Heading home, not feeling too well. Talk tomorrow after practice?’

------------------

“You know what you should do to make chemistry more exciting?” Luke said. The three of them always had the same lunch together, switching whose classroom they ate in based on who had the free period next. They were sitting in Ally’s room, an English classroom turned her math class that still had the fun reading corner. The three of them were sprawled out on the couches and comfy chairs with their food, hoping that lunch would last long and that no students would come looking for them for help while they were eating.

“I would say have you teach it but I want my students to actually stay awake during my lessons.”

“They’ve only fallen asleep once,” Luke tries to defend himself. “You’ve never had a student fall asleep in your class?”

Ally and Annie both shake their heads no, Luke slumping down further into his chair as he mumbled something neither of them could hear. “Do you want to tell me what would make my class more fun before I hurt your feelings more?” Annie offered, knowing that she would hate the response no matter what he suggested.

“I was going to say,” Luke started, a grin on his face that made Annie instantly regret giving him the opportunity to share, “You should bring someone fun in to do an experiment with them. They would go nuts over that.”

Annie knew she should have just stopped there, especially with Ally’s smirk into her food that she was trying to hide by lifting her container as close to her face as possible. “And who do you think I should bring in that’s fun, Luke?”

“Jamie.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Why?”

“Because I think it would be funny trying to watch you control yourself around our kids when Jamie is around.” Annie took a piece of chicken from her lunch and threw it at Luke, him barely dodging it and ending up with the sauce on his face, a little bit on the white button down shirt he wore more often than he probably should. “Hey!”

“You deserved that,” Annie tells him. She could ‘control herself’ when Jamie was around her students. He had come to school events with her plenty of times; graduation every year, when she chaperoned school dances, he was even on a summer trip with them when they went to D.C. one year as a chaperone when no one else could come. Having him in for a lab would be no different and not necessary.

“Why not just have him in anyway?” Ally asks. “Come on, think about how much Laura would love that for the school for the weekly? A professional hockey player coming to do a lab with the kids? She’d lose her mind.”

“Ally’s right.”

“Ok, you,” Annie started, pointing at Luke, “Are suggesting it to be a dick. You don’t get a say in who is right or wrong. I’m not asking Jamie to do a lab, he has practice or travel almost every day.”

“They have off days,” Luke points out.

She couldn’t ask him to do a lab with her students. There’s no way that could happen. “Hey, what are you doing?” Annie asks, seeing Luke and Ally now sitting next to each other on the couch, Ally leaning over on Luke’s shoulder, Annie thinking that she saw Luke’s chest rise and fall a little faster with Ally so close to him.

“When are you doing a lab next?”

“Probably on Thursday?”

“He’s free.” Luke had a smile on his face that made Annie squirm, finally noticing that he was holding her phone in his hands.

“Oh, what the fuck did you do, Luke?” Annie grabs her phone from him, seeing her conversation with Jamie pulled up. Luke had asked Jamie to come for a lab on Thursday, him answering that he would within a matter of seconds. “Not a day goes by that I don’t want to kill you.”

“You’re a teacher, tell me something new for once.”

“You shouldn’t be taunting the teacher who has the key to the cabinet with all the dangerous chemicals,” Annie pouts.

“He said he would come within seconds of you asking him though, it might be worth it just to have him.”

The bell rings before Annie could answer, now having to go back to her classroom while Ally and Luke probably spend more time scheming about how to make her want to set herself on fire by bringing a man into her lab. How could Annie even think about whatever lesson she was working on while Jamie was waiting for a response from her?

------------------

Annie didn’t get home from school until late, Harper’s car already in her parking space waiting for Annie’s car to join. The rest of Annie’s day was spent trying to figure out how to navigate the floodgate that Luke opened by texting Jamie. Thankfully, the rest of Annie’s classes involved her students doing practice problems, so not much actually thinking was needed to teach them. All she had to do was give them a packet, tell them to work together and, boom, the lesson is done. Teamwork, chemistry, and problem solving, all in one, whether the students knew it or not.

“Harper, you would not believe what Luke and Ally did,” Annie says, bursting through the door and nearly throwing her work bag across the room.

“Harper’s in her room.”

Annie looks up from her fallen bag, seeing Jamie sitting on her couch. He had the remote to her tv in one hand, his other resting on the back of the couch. The t-shirt he was wearing hugged his body perfectly, looking like it fit just well enough that Annie could see every curve and vein in his muscles.

Fucking hell, why did he have to wear a shirt like that and look like that?

“What are you doing here?”

“Harp let me in.”

“Ok, so what are you doing here?”

“You never texted me back.”

“So you show up and make yourself at home on my couch?”

Jamie looks at her, flashing puppy dog eyes and a stupid pout that made Annie melt inside. “I was worried and needed to make sure you were ok.”

“I know you well enough to know you needed an excuse to order food instead of making it yourself. We both know that any conversation we can have can be done over the phone or it’s done over food and there is no in between.”

“I might already have pizza being delivered here,” he admits.

Annie laughs, sitting down next to him on the couch. She wanted to curl up with him, his arm extended out on the back of the couch as if he were reaching out to her. She couldn’t focus on the show they were watching, some sitcom that Jamie had definitely been binge-watching recently that Annie couldn’t think of the title of. Why did he have to be with Reagan? Why did she have to have feelings for her best friend when her life could just be easy and they could just be friends with nothing more?

And why was she feeling this way and he wasn’t?

“So, those texts you got from me today?” Annie finally breaks the silence between them, knowing that they had to talk about it sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, Thursday we don’t have practice or travel, so it actually works out perfectly for me to come and do a lab with your students. Can we do something fun? Can we light something on fire?” he asked her, lighting up like a little kid in a candy store.

“Ok, calm down there,” she says, reaching out and putting her hand on his chest as a way to get him to stop. “You’re acting like my students right now and I always tell them no. Jamie, I didn’t even send those texts.”

His expression immediately deflates, him reaching up to touch Annie’s hand as he pouts at her. “Do you not want me to come?”

She hadn’t expected him to look so hurt by this, or for him to actually get excited about visiting a high school chemistry class to do something that was probably going to go right over his head anyway. “I do, but Luke was the one who sent the text. It was his and Ally’s idea. Do you actually want to come?”

“Well, Reagan and I were supposed to hang out on Thursday, but I can cancel that.”

Reagan. For a moment Annie forgot she existed, still unable to meet her or even talk to her since she never seemed to be with Jamie. For the girl who was supposed to be the one for him, she was never really around to be his ‘one.’ “No, you should go spend time with her, you coming to do the lab isn’t that important,” Annie told him, sitting back to face the TV again. He should choose Reagan over her. There was no reason he shouldn’t choose Reagan over her, even if Annie wanted to be the one he chose.

“Come on, Stass, anything with you is important to me. You really think I wouldn’t come for you first?”

What would it look like if Jamie came to her classroom for a lab? He was just a guy she knew with nothing to really connect him to the classroom. He couldn’t just come by himself. “Do you think any of your teammates could come with you? That way it’s like a Kraken thing instead of just some random guy showing up to a classroom?”

“When you say it like that, it’s creepy,” Jamie laughs. “But, sure, I’ll ask some of the guys.”

Having some of the other guys there provided a buffer for her; she didn’t have to worry about it being just the two of them around her students, who would, of course, making everything about the two of them a big deal. When Luke first started teaching at the school, the students immediately assumed he and Annie would start dating. She didn’t even want to think what the high schoolers would do if they saw the way she and Jamie interacted alone. His teammates being there would mean she could focus on them instead of him.

------------------

“Ms. Greenwood, you have visitors waiting for you in the main office,” Mrs. Brown’s voice came through on Annie’s classroom phone. Jamie was there with his teammates and there was nothing that could make Annie more anxious. Laura got word that the Kraken were coming, arranging for someone to take pictures of her and her students with them, as well as invited the Board of Trustees to her classroom to see everything.

She hated Luke for sending that text.

“Come with me to get the guys,” Annie said, poking her head into Luke’s room to quickly yell at him for what he did. “It’s your fault they’re here anyway.”

“Hey, all I did was send a text. He didn’t have to say yes,” Luke tried to defend himself.

“You didn’t have to send the text in the first place.”

“If you didn’t like him, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

Annie stops in her tracks, her hand flinging out to make Luke stop walking as well. His eyes went wide as he was caught off guard and thrown off balance. “Don’t you think I know that? What do you think it’s like to have whatever sort of feelings these are for your best friend when you know there is nothing you can do that will get them to ever feel the same about you?” she asked him in a hushed voice. “I do not need you meddling in my personal life and trying to set me up with Jamie.”

“Why do you think I introduced you to Sam?”

“What?”

“You need to make up your mind. Either you like Jamie and you do something about it, or you forget the crush and move on with someone new. Sam likes you, Annie. He hasn’t been able to stop talking about you since he met you at the bar. Why do you think he’s been texting you nonstop and trying to meet up with you again? The only reason he knows it’s hard is because he knows you're a teacher and knows you’re busy and tired at the end of the day.”

Luke pushes past her, leaving Annie to try to process what she just heard. Sam barely knew her. How would he even know that he liked her if they had only talked in person once? There was no way he could. If Jamie didn’t like her, why would Sam like her?

“Hey,” Annie catches up to him, “I didn’t know.”

Luke takes in a deep breath, his hand on the office door ready to pull it open to get the guys. “I just don’t want to see you hurt pining over a guy who doesn’t like you when there’s someone so close to you who does. It sucks to love someone who doesn’t love you,” he tells her, his shoulders dropping as he looked down to his feet.

Annie gasped, finally realizing what he meant, putting her hand on the office door to stop him from opening it. “Are you talking about Ally?”

“What? No, I,” Luke stammers, clearly panicking over what Annie asked. She raised her eyebrow at him, a knowing smile on her face to try to get him to confess. The way he looks at her, how he always tries to spend their free periods together no matter what else he has to get done, how Annie could see his breathing changing by the simple act of Ally being near him. It was obvious. “Yeah.”

“I won’t say anything,” she promises. “But thanks for looking out for me.”

“I think I deserve a raise for all I do for you.”

“I think you’re lucky I haven’t committed a felony and framed you for it.”

Luke laughs, finally opening the door to get Jamie and his teammates who had been waiting for what felt like way too long.

On the other side, Jamie was nervous for this, bouncing up and down on his toes, pacing in front of the guys while he waited for Annie to get him. He was used to her being there for his games, seeing him in his element, and doing what he loved most, but couldn’t help but feel a mixture of anxiety and excitement to see Annie doing what she loved.

“Can you stop?” Haydn asks him. “It’s just Annie.”

“It’s Annie and all her students.”

“And it’s still Annie.”

“What if we mess up the lab?”

“Then she’ll help us fix it.”

“What if someone gets hurt?”

“She said this lab uses water, glitter, food coloring, and nail polish remover. If someone gets hurt from this lab, that is natural selection coming for them.”

“What if-”

“How are things going with Reagan?” Haydn cuts him off, hoping that the subject change would help his teammate calm down.

Before Jamie could answer, he hears Annie’s laugh filling the office, seeing her and Luke walking up to greet them. “Who?”

“Ready to do some science?” Annie asks them, not noticing Jamie’s visible nerves or Haydn’s smirk on his face.

“What are we doing, anyway?” Brandon asks.

“We’re making our schools colors in a water bottle by playing around with the way different substances interact with each other.” Annie goes on to explain the lab to them, apparently the same way that she is going to explain it to her students. Jamie tried to listen, but he couldn’t focus. He didn’t know what it was about seeing Annie like this as she walked them to her classroom, all dressed in her teaching outfit that he normally only saw her in for a brief moment before she changed into her sweatpants and what was normally one of his tshirts or sweatshirts that she had stolen from him. Why couldn’t he focus? What was different about her now that he was seeing her this way when he spent all his free time with her to begin with?

The guys were milling around the lab tables, trying to figure everything out before Annie’s students came in.

“Oh, Annie,” Luke says to her, her phone in his hand. “Sam texted you.”

Annie rolled her eyes, a smile forming on her face regardless, “You already know my passcode, what did he say?”

“He wants to know if you’re free tonight.”

Jamie’s head turned at those words, some guy asking Annie if she could see him. “Who’s Sam?”

“He’s my roommate. He has a thing for Annie,” Luke says, a smug look on his face as he looks between Jamie, Annie, and Annie’s phone. “So are you free?”

“We were busy,” Jamie says, defensive with his arms crossed over his chest.

“We were going to watch a movie and order food, we can do that any time,” Annie tells him, feeling the heat rushing to her cheeks over the thought of ditching Jamie to see Sam. “Now you can see Reagan, you haven’t hung out with her in a while.”

“Uh, yeah,” Jamie mutters, Haydn playfully punching him in the arm as he watched his teammate get flustered.

“Tell him I’m free,” Annie says, feeling guilty but excited. Sam likes her for sure. She could like Sam. She couldn’t see why she wouldn’t like Sam; he was a law student, he was smart, caring, funny, and he certainly is attractive. Why did she feel like she shouldn't see him?

The bells rings, Annie’s students starting to file into her classroom moments later, none of them noticing the guys standing in the back, sadly not surprising since the only things they notice are the random trinkets that she’s collected over the last few years that they bring to her like crows.

“It’s lab day everyone,” Annie says in her teacher voice, “Who’s ready to make our school colors in a bottle?” The students start talking a little bit, Annie standing there waiting for them to quiet down and listen. “How many of you know the phrase ‘opposites attract?’”

Annie’s students raised their hands and nodded before she continued. “We’ve been talking about our intermolecular forces, our IMFs. The phrase opposites attract doesn’t actually apply to this, though. Molecules with the same forces are going to be attracted to each other. We are going to be dying water yellow and acetone blue and see what happens when they mix. Because structurally, they are similar, they’ll interact in a way that reflects that, mixing together as if they are one, until something stronger comes in and pulls them apart.”

------------------

“So, what’s it like teaching chemistry?” Sam asks Annie. He had taken her out to dinner as their first date, some place that was definitely more fancy than anywhere she could afford, but he insisted their first time out be something nice and something he wanted to treat her two. He actually used the reason of ‘you do so much for your students every day, let me do something for you in return,’ which made Annie melt more than it should have.

Annie spent nearly an hour just trying to pick out an outfit. She couldn’t figure out what to wear that wasn’t her teaching clothes. She was nervous about going out on a date for what felt like the first time in forever, Harper doing nothing to help her nerves as she is, as she so loudly proclaimed, ‘Team Jamie’ and not ‘Team Sam.’ It didn’t matter to her that Jamie was seeing Reagan and that Sam actually liked Annie, Harper was fixated on the idea of her and Jamie finally getting together, despite the fact that it would never happen.

Luke was right. Annie needed to focus on someone who actually expressed interest in her, not someone who didn’t.

“It’s fun,” she starts, trying to put into words what it was really like. “Seeing the kids have a breakthrough and finally getting something that they spend days trying to learn is one of the best feelings. And the relationships that you get to form between you and the students? Having them trust you enough to be the person they go to when they need help or when they have something good to share is amazing.”

Sam held his gaze on her the entire time, like he was taking in every word that came out of her as if it was the most interesting stuff he ever heard. “That’s awesome, I love that. Luke never talks about teaching like that.”

Annie laughs, thinking about her friend and trying to imagine talking about their job the way she does. “Does he talk about anything like that?”

Sam scoffs, shaking his head. “The only thing I know about his job that he really enjoys is Ally. Then you’re maybe a close second. Everyone else he could do without.”

“I think he picked the wrong job then if he doesn’t like the students.”

“I think he sticks with it because he likes Ally.”

“How long have you known about that?” Annie asks.

“He told me beginning of the year that he was into a coworker, but I didn’t know if was you or Ally.”

“So we’re teaming up to try to get them together, right?” Annie asks him.

Sam smiles at her, Annie feeling a tingle down her spine at the way he looked at her. He reached out across the table for her hand, his fingers closing around Annie’s. “That means that we have to keep seeing each other, Anastasia.”

Annie stops for a moment, feeling nothing as her hand laid in Sam’s. There was no spark, no chills sent through her from his touch. Maybe she just read too many romance books and watched rom coms too many times, but she was expecting at least something. It was just missing. Him smiling at her was nice, but she thought having contact with him would give her something.

She was overthinking it. He liked her. She could like him. What was wrong with that?

“I think I’d like that.”

The night goes on with Annie and Sam deep in conversation. Talking to him was easy, sort of like talking to Luke. Her mind kept going back to Jamie the entire time, hoping that her phone screen would light up with a notification that he was texting her, calling her, snapchatting her, anything that would mean he wanted to talk to her. He knew she was out with Sam, though.

He could still text her.

Sam pays for dinner, escorting Annie out of the restaurant and to the sidewalk, the wind blowing just enough to make Annie shiver. Sam takes off his jacket, draping it over her shoulders and guiding her back to his car with his arm around her. “Do you want me to drop you off back at your place?”

“Yeah,” Annie says, “I have to get to school early tomorrow to clean up from the labs today.”

“Luke told me some guys from the Kraken came? How’d it go?”

“It was good,” Annie says, both of them getting into his car. “I’m friends with them anyway, so it’s not like it was weird or anything. The kids had fun doing it, too.” She pulls out her phone, showing him a video that she took of one of the student’s bottles. They shook it up, a huge smile on their face, causing the liquid to turn green. Annie had zoomed in on the bottle as they set it down, the liquid separating out into their school colors, blue and yellow.

Annie noticed Jamie in the background, talking with one of her students. Peyton was one of her students who she had trouble connecting with, trying hard to talk to her before classes started but never really having much success. Her grades were fine, she was just quiet and didn’t really want to interact. Annie knew Peyton had social anxiety, so trying to let her pick her partners or having her work with a student Annie thought she was comfortable with in hopes of Peyton participating more and really getting to enjoy the subject was Annie’s goal, but she has paired Peyton with everyone at least once, and no one has been able to get Peyton to really talk. Jamie, however, she warmed right up to, talking with him and working with him like they were best friends. Annie couldn’t help but be in awe over Jamie’s ability to get her to open up, and seeing her excited about the lab working perfectly while she was with Jamie was the highlight of her day.

But as much as she was watching Jamie and Peyton, she still felt like Jamie’s eyes were on her while she just tried to focus on her students. There was so much pressure for the entire lab to go perfectly, and having him there only made her nervous. On top of anticipating going out with Sam that night, Laura breathing down her neck, and the Board members there to see the teacher who managed to convince members of the Kraken to come to the school without really needing much persuasion, the last thing she needed was him staring at her the entire time. She wanted to know why he was, what had happened between the last time she talked to him and him being in her classroom that his demeanor had changed. It could have been something to do with Reagan, but why would that affect the way he acted around Annie?

Annie finally looked up from her phone, Sam inches from her face as they were both leaning over the center console to watch the video. She felt her breath hitch as he reached over, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers lazily tracing a pattern down her jaw. “This might sound weird, but can I kiss you?” he asks her.

Her heart was racing, Sam waiting for her answer, his hand still on her face. She couldn’t say no. “Of course.”

His lips connected with hers, and Annie felt...

Nothing.

There was nothing there for her.

It was just a kiss from a guy that she wished was Jamie.

------------------

“Why are you so jittery?” Haydn asks Jamie after practice. “You looked like you were afraid of the puck every time someone passed it to you.”

“I just have something on my mind,” Jamie tells him, not entirely lying to his teammate.

“It’s a girl, isn’t it?” Brandon teases him.

Before Jamie could process what was going on, his teammates were surrounding him, ready to know why he had the shitty practice he did. “What’s she like? Her name is Reagan, right?” Ryan asks him.

“This girl is the most incredible girl I have ever met in my entire life,” he starts. Not hearing all that Ryan said, “She is so intentional. She is so caring, and so selfless to others and sacrifices her time and her energy, even when I don’t even think she has it. She, like, comes from this source, I don’t even know where to get the energy to, like, care and, like, love people and,” he lets out a long sigh, passing his hands over his face in frustration, “she makes me feel safe and she makes me feel valued, and, I’m, like scared. I’m really scared, because I’m, like, what if I’m not able to care for you the same way that you’re caring for me right now? And all I wanna do, all I wanna do right now, we’re like three hours away from her, all I wanna do right now is go home and make her smile.”

Haydn looked at him, trying to take in all that his teammate just said. Jamie had no idea what he just said. “Who are you talking about?”

Jamie stared at him for a second, realizing he wasn’t talking about Reagan. “Fuck.”

“You’re talking about Annie, aren’t you?” Haydn asked him. Before Jamie could even try to put together what his teammate had known for a while, he continued. “It’s not hard to see that, Jamie. You look at Anastasia in a way that I’ve never seen anyone look at another person before. The way you light up when you see her or talk about her, or, fuck, even think about her, says more than any words you can even put together. You’ve been in love with her since you met her, the day you came into the locker room and told us about ‘this girl you met at the bar who you hung out with all weekend.’ It’s always been Annie. It just took Reagan for you to realize it.”

“But she’s with Sam. She even said yesterday that two things that are similar will mix until something stronger comes along and pulls them apart. She and I are similar and Sam is pulling us apart.”

“I don’t think mixing water and nail polish remover with salt is that deep, man,” Haydn says. “Sam is only ‘stronger’ right now because you have Reagan. Is Annie supposed to sit around and wait for you to stop seeing her before you finally realize that she’s the one you want to be with?”

“I like Reagan, but Annie is,” Jamie stops, taking in a deep breath. “Annie’s everything.”

“Well if she’s with this Sam guy then she definitely doesn’t know you think that,” Brandon points out.

“So what do I do?”

“Tell her, ya dumbass. She might be smart but she can’t read your mind.”

“How do I tell her?”

“Hey, Annie, I like you.”

“There’s no way it’s that simple,” Jamie groans, leaning back in his stall with his hands over his face. He couldn’t be in love with his best friend. But he wasn’t in love with Reagan.

“Go see her. You’ll know what to say when you’re with her.”

------------------

“Luke, what do I do?” Annie groaned, sitting on her couch next to Harper. She had called Luke that afternoon, Harper wanting to join in on the recap of her date the other night with Sam. The week had been so busy for all of them that they didn’t have the chance to even see each other in passing, let alone for long enough to talk about the disaster that was Annie’s date.

“You really felt nothing?” his voice came through on the other end of the phone. He was speaking in a hushed tone, probably because Sam wasn’t far from where he was.

Annie had been avoiding Sam since he dropped her off that night. He gave her another kiss, definitely hinting that he wanted to go upstairs to her place with her, but she bolted from the car as soon as she could. The entire time, she wanted to be with Jamie. “I was wishing I was anywhere else than kissing him.”

“Was he that bad of a kisser? Did he use too much teeth? He looks like the kind of guy you would have a teeth fight with,” Harper adds.

“What the fuck, Harp?” Luke groans.

“He didn’t use too much teeth,” Annie groans. “He’s a good kisser, it just wasn’t something I wanted? I don’t know. He’s just not it.”

“He’s not Jamie,” Harper says. “I’m team Jannie, not Sannie.”

“You have way too much time on your hands if you can come up with couple names for me,” Annie says. “I don’t care what team you’re on; Jamie doesn’t like me the way that I like him.”

“You what?” Annie and Harper heard, turning to see Jamie standing in their apartment, letting himself in like he had done too many times before.

“Annie? Harp? What’s going on, who is that?” Luke asks.

Before anyone can answer, Harper rips the phone from Annie’s hand, running into her room to leave Annie and Jamie alone. “You like me?” Jamie asks, taking a step towards her.

Annie pulls her legs underneath her on the couch, not wanting to get up. She couldn’t believe that Jamie had just heard her say that. She could feel panic rushing through her, her plan to never let him know about that falling apart before her. “As a friend,” she spit out in a panic, hearing Harper hit something in the other room. She didn’t doubt that her roommate was holding the phone with Luke on the other end, listening to whatever conversation was about to happen.

“Only as a friend?” Jamie asks, taking another step towards her. He was too nervous to move any faster, approaching her as slowly as he could simply because he didn’t know what else to do. He had just confessed his feelings about her to his entire locker room, and here he was to tell her the same thing, only for her to say something first. Albeit without knowing he was in the room, but he heard her say it, and he wanted her to mean it.

“Yes,” she lies to him, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. This couldn’t be happening to her right now. “Stass,” Jamie says, sitting down next to her. “Why are you lying to me?”

“I’m not.”

“You are. And I know because I know how you get when you lie. You shut down, your sentences are short, you don’t want to talk. It was the same when you found out your mom was sick and you wouldn’t tell me. It was the same when you got turned down for the job at that really posh private school in the area before you got your job with Luke and Ally. It was the same when you were nervous before your first day teaching there. You’re lying to me about liking me,” he lists off, getting nervous himself as he felt like he was about to burst. The girl he loved felt the same about him. Maybe.

“Fine, Jamie, I like you. I probably love you, but what am I supposed to do? I have been sitting here the last how many weeks listening to you talk about Reagan and how much I would like her, how much you like her and think that she’s the one for you, that you can see yourself spending the rest of your life with her after you spent one night with her. How am I supposed to tell you how I feel when you text me, call me, facetime me, snapchat me, everything, talking about Reagan, a picture of you two together, when you’re out to dinner, when you’re even just thinking about her and see something that reminds you of her?” Annie spills out.

“Well, how do you think I feel when I hear you making plans with Sam?” Jamie counters, Annie looking shocked in the meantime. “You have this guy who you tell me is perfect, who you were so excited to see, and then you don’t even tell me about the date? We tell each other everything.” He could feel panic setting in, his plan to tell her everything going exactly the opposite of how he wanted it to go. Now, they were fighting over other people when they should have just been talking about each other.

“How was I supposed to tell you that I went on a date with a guy, who, when I first met him, called me by my full name and I didn’t hate it, but when I actually went out with him and kissed him, I kept wishing that I was with you instead? Do you have any idea what it’s been like to sit here and agonize over this stupid crush on you when you don’t feel the same way?”

“What are you talking about?” Jamie asks her, gently placing his hand on her knee. “Annie, I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to figure out why you talking about this Sam guy has bothered me. It’s not because there’s something wrong with Sam, it’s because it made me realize that I,” he stops, trying to find the words he wanted to say. He could tell her everything in some long drawn out way, explaining to her and circling around his point in hopes that she would get it. But, “I love you. I think I have since I met you.”

“What? What about Reagan?”

“She’s a great girl, but she’s not you, Anastasia.” Before Annie could process what Jamie had just told her, she felt his hand graze her chin, his thumb and his forefinger tilting her hand up as his other hand gently squeezed her leg right above her knee. “Can I do something I’ve been wanting to do for longer than I can remember?” he asks her, his voice deep and hushed.

Annie smiles, letting out a yes as her hands find his face, his lips connecting to hers. The two of them moved in sync with each other, all the nerves of both of them melting away. The kiss was everything Annie had wanted her kiss with Sam to be.

It was with Jamie.

[hockeyshmockey]

Jamie Oleksiak instagram imagine

loleksiak besties, we got something to tell you!

tagged: jamieoleksiak

12,389 likes

pennyoleksiak BABY!!!!

jamieoleksiak I have never seen a more beautiful woman ever

seattlekraken baby krack!

jamieoleksiak nba baby or what?

tagged loleksiak, murpandmack

920,239 likes

loleksiak if this kid has your head I will lose my mind

pennyoleksiak @/loleksiak let me apologize in advance

tseguin91 congrats big rig!

loleksiak Introducing Ian Jameison Oleksiak.. these next few years are gonna be a whirlwind

tagged jamieoleksiak

19,829 likes

pennyoleksiak he is gorgeous liz, we cannot wait to meet him! we love you!

seattlekraken welcome to the family ian!

jamieoleksiak my whole world.

tagged loleksiak

pennyoleksiak proud of you J

mgiordano congratulations my friend, get ready for the crazy

nhl congrats jamie and family!

[wyattjohnston]

welcome to a winter (& loosely holiday) themed series of fics. i have been working on these fics since august, and there have been more changes to this series than i would have liked.

these 9 fics in 1 month are my gift to you all for reading my fics and hanging around 💚

fics with an (x) link at the end have OCs with pre-existing stories. all other OCs are brand new.

all fics will be posted at 9am UTC -5 (NYC time) on the day shown and represent the final (sometimes only) date of the fic.

3 December

it’s golden - anthony beauvillier & maggie fisch (x)

4 December

never saw you coming - ryan graves & isla darkott

7 December

been a long time coming - elias pettersson & joanie bachman

13 December

your eyes look like coming home - jamie oleksiak & devon abbott

17 December

i'm all about you - brock boeser & annie horvat (x)

24 December

friday night beneath the stars - kevin hayes & sofia lakeland (x)

25 December

everything that we should be - jack hughes & daisy holston (x)

28 December

remember how it was back then - jeff skinner & melanie chester

2 January

yours for the weekend - nico hischier & stef brunner (x)

i hope this is worth the week long wait after posting this, I know it’s a long time 💚

many special thank yous to @matthewtkachuk @danglesnipecelly @farbutnevergone @lulucanwrite and @hock-ee for letting me talk about these fics and for helping me out when i needed it 💚

[nugnthopkns]

may fic round up!

what's up babes? may brought us playoff hockey and me a lot of stress, but around here we focus on the good parts! here's a small collection of fics i read this month that i treasured and adored!

smut is marked with *, minors dni

denis gurianov

rules were meant to be broken by @denis-scorianov

ky and i are in the midst of trading brunette hockey boys to be in love with, and this sweet little fic was with perfect introduction to guri! check it out :))

erik johnson

fourth line grinder (1) (2) (3)* (4) (5) by @horsesandhockeyplayers

yo this series is the bomb and you should read it asap!!! i miss ej constantly and this really fills the void. one day i hope to love my job as much as nell loves hers

jamie oleksiak

sleeping in* by @senditcolton

goofy feel-good big rig smut that feels like morning sunshine when you read it. so good!

joel farabee

i'm with you by @hotgirlhockey

a sweet little beezer fic that made my day when i read it. unrelated but mel is a sweetheart and you should deffo check out her writing if you haven't!

you drew stars (1) (2) by @broadstflyers

a super cute little series that's a mix of childhood friends to lovers/soulmates from what i can tell so far! v excited for the next part

like doves in the wind (1) (2) by @museinmind

joel x oc that looks like it's shaping up to be co-workers to lovers? sign me up!! i love everything about mattie and wish i embodied more of her free spirit

kevin hayes

cape cod confessions by @miracleonice87

adorable summer wedding fluff with everyone's favourite himbo. what isn't there to love?

got a hold on me* by @antoineroussel

this is technically a re-read i did for kev's birthday but it was to be included because it's phenomenal and i think you should read it at your earliest convenience

hell of a view (1) (2) by @danglesnipecelly

this little series is fulfilling all my needs of a summer romance!! there's also a healthy does of fake dating that i can't get enough of. i can't wait to see where this is going to go

matthew tkachuk

twisted in bedsheets* by @troubatrain

best friend's brother has never been my fav trope, but kim is a writing genius who can literally do no wrong. adorable but still so hot

loving you is easier than i had expected by @aereres

i didn't know i needed to see matty as a rockstar but i did and now i think about it daily. so so so good!

bend the rules by @denis-scorianov

angst! angst galore! this hurt so bad but was so beautiful

mikko rantanen

only you* by @hookingminor

who doesn't love mikko?? very hot but also domestic enough to hit me in the feels

sidney crosby

all bets are off (10) (11)* by @princessphilly

i seriously love this story and pray that sid and nina get a happy ending. i want to be as strong as nina when i grow up

tyson jost

like this (1) by @matbaerzal

amalie was kind enough to let me get a sneak peek of this before it got posted and y'all need to get behind this asap!! roomate fics are weakness and this if going to be a good one

[sunshineseguin]

sunshine’s wip list

last updated: may 6, 2021

“you’re bad for me, and baby i’m bad for you” nsfw — (jamie oleksiak x oc)

when vanessa follows tyler to dallas after years of begging, a certain defenseman doesn’t make it easy for her to settle into the group that her best friend calls family. it’s seems as though jamie is hellbent on being a thorn in her side until the end of time. but what if that thorn was really a seed, and it sprouts into something that neither of them expected?

“she said that i don’t look like me no more, no more” — (nolan patrick x oc)

nolan and scarlett were the picture perfect, fairytale happy ending that children dreamt of. at least, that’s what scarlett always thought.

“i think you got all you came for. but do you want more?” nsfw — (matthew tkachuk x oc)

noah hanifin has made it clear that his best friend danielle was off limits, but matthew isn’t one to follow rules. despite all warning, dani lets herself be sucked in, and she isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to shake matt’s hold on her.

“have it any way you like” nsfw — (tyson jost x reader)

tyson doesn’t like to be the controlling boyfriend. he doesn’t want to demand y/n change outfits before a night out and he damn sure won’t tell her what she can or can’t do. after a rough losing streak and a petty argument that never seemed to end, y/n throwing herself at his teammate is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

“do you think about me still?” — (anthony beauvillier x oc)

anthony and jenna had no intensions to ever see the other again after their nasty break up. they had cut their loses and seemingly moved on with their lives. fate had other plans and brings the the two broken souls together once again.

“so many reasons why i could never stay” — (tyler seguin x oc)

childhood best friends gwen and tyler have always had a love for each other no one could understand, not even themselves.

“if there’s nothing but pain, put it on me” — nolan patrick x oc)

nolan quite likes his little quiet apartment building on a corner in downtown philadelphia. it’s something that he can call his own and escape to when he’s feeling overwhelmed. his new neighbor eliza brings the noise, and nolan is more than willing to face it.

[laurenairay]

I Swear To You - J. Oleksiak

This is my entry for the summer fic exchange 2k21, run by the wonderful @antoineroussel.

I received @romanseggy as a giftee, so I really hope you enjoy this Kim!

There was so much musical influence here – everything from Love Someone by Lukas Graham, to At Last by Etta James, to Say You Will by Parachute – and I had a lot of fun with it! All photos in the header banner are not mine; found across tumblr and pinterest. Thank you to @tippedbykreider​ for all your encouragement and for reading over the start of this story! 💖

Word count: 5.5k

Warnings: fluff, so much fluff, some bad language

Summary: I don't think I breathed as he walked you down the aisle. You were in your dress, I was such a mess when you saw me and smiled. This is the wedding and love story of Jamie Oleksiak and Alyssa Morgan.

*

For Jamie, Alyssa had agreed to have the big white wedding, instead of an intimate gathering. For Jamie, she had woken up at 5am to have her hair and make-up done, with her friends and female relatives around her. For Jamie, she had strapped herself into a corset to achieve the smoothness her voluptuous curves required to fit seamlessly into her wedding dress. For Jamie, she had slept without him by her side for the first time in years, to appease his bad luck nerves.

For Jamie, she would do anything.

For Alyssa, Jamie had spent all of his limited free time writing wedding invitations, taking care of all of the postage. For Alyssa, Jamie had spent countless hours on road trips creating a playlist for their reception, putting all of her favourite songs on there as a surprise. For Alyssa, Jamie had shared a room with his snoring father for the first (and last) time, only 10 rooms apart in the hotel that doubled as their wedding reception venue, but a distance that felt like an ocean.

For Alyssa, he would do anything.

Today was the day, the day that their lives would intertwine forever, and Alyssa couldn’t be more ready for it. After nearly a year of planning and stressing and visualising, she was finally able to marry the man of her dreams, with both of their families and all of their friends around them to share in their joy.

It had been strange, sharing a room last night with her older sister Violet rather than Jamie. She knew it was tradition to sleep separately, that they shouldn’t see each other on the day of the wedding, but it was harder than she thought it would be. It wasn’t the same waking up to see her sister’s matching long brown hair on the pillow, rather than the blonde curls she’d gotten used to over the past few years. But after today, she would never have to wake up with someone else in her bed again. Just him.

That thought alone put a smile on her face.

Click.

“Okay that was a cute one – what are you thinking about?” the photographer mused, lowering the camera.

Alyssa’s cheeks heated in a blush, making her bridesmaids laugh.

“Jamie,” they chorused in sing song, teasing evident in the voices.

The unfortunate nature of a large Midwestern family – a lot of people always up in your business. Luckily for her, Jamie had fitted in seamlessly. Luckily for her, the family adored him as much as she did. It just happened that her sister, her three cousins, and her childhood best friend were her biggest teases as well as her biggest supporters.

“Oh hush now, that’s enough. If she wasn’t smiling, then we’d have a problem,”

Alyssa grinned at the half-scolding tone in her mom’s voice, tilting her cheek up for a kiss as she came up beside her. The perks of being a momma’s girl. And Trisha Morgan was not a woman to be messed with. Her cousins just stuck their tongues out at her, making Alyssa laugh. Yes, today was going to be a good day.

The photographer’s camera continued to shutter and click as the make-up artist completed Alyssa’s make-up look, as she and all her bridesmaids got ready in the hotel room where she’d stayed last night. Her sister would stay in here again tonight, while Alyssa and Jamie moved to the wedding suite after their reception finished in the reception venue downstairs, but getting ready together like this was exactly what Alyssa had hoped for. All the people she loved, all in one place, minus a few people of course.

Jamie and his male relatives, along with his groomsmen, were getting ready at the other end of the hallway, with Alyssa’s dad and brother and Violet’s husband getting ready next door. Jamie’s mom and sisters were getting ready in the room next to that, and it made Alyssa smile to think of everyone being together just for them. All that love, because of their love.

Love and tears, naturally. One person in particular was Alyssa’s mom, who had been crying happy tears on and off all morning, starting from the moment that Violet had let her through the door.

“Let me just run and get another can of hairspray from my car, I’ll be right back,” her hair stylist said quickly.

Alyssa shrugged and smiled. Her make-up had already been finished – it was only her hair that needed doing now, before she put on her dress and had photos taken before they left for the church. They still had plenty of time.

“Oof, this corset might not have been a good idea,” she said, huffing out a laugh as she tried to get comfortable in her chair.

“Hey, you wanted everything sucked in and smooth,” Violet mused, holding her hands up in surrender.

The curse of the curves.

“At least my posture will be great,” Alyssa laughed.

“A mother can only dream,” Alyssa’s mom said dryly, eyeing the way the Violet was slumped in her own chair.

Violet just grinned before leaving the two of them alone in their corner.

“I did warn you against the corset,” her mom pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I want to look good in the photos. I know Jamie will want to send something for the Stars to post, and I want to look my best,”

It had taken her a long time – most of her 26 years, in fact – to learn how to love her body. The body that had gotten her teased through most of her school years. The body that never seemed to want to do what she needed it to. The body that she’d had to figure out how to make work for her. Sure, she exercised. Sure, she ate fairly healthily. But she was also realistic – all the cauliflower rice in the world wasn’t going to make up for the fact that she genuinely enjoyed pasta. Everything in moderation was how it worked, right? Alyssa loved her body, loved her larger curves, and so did Jamie.

But some days…it was difficult. Especially considering the figures of the other Stars’ wives. There were always going to be cruel people in the world, judging and try to shame her. No, today was not one of those days. Today, she knew she was going to feel amazing. Today, she was going to become Mrs Alyssa Oleksiak – and she’d be damned if she was going to let anyone (including herself) ruin that.

“You know, I was worried when you first said you wanted to lose weight for your wedding. You’re beautiful just the way you are, and Jamie loves every single one of your curves. I just…you don’t need to change a single thing about yourself, sweetheart,”

Alyssa felt a lump rise in her throat, and she desperately blinked back the threatening tears. “You always know exactly where to strike, mom,” she laughed, a little wetly.

“Oh Lyss, I didn’t mean anything bad by it, I swear! You’re my beautiful baby girl and I always want you to be happy,”

“I am happy mom. So happy. I just want everything to be perfect, you know?” Alyssa nodded, smiling.

Her mom laughed, squeezing Alyssa’s hand. “I remember that feeling, all those years ago marrying your dad. Whatever the day holds, it will be perfect for you and Jamie,”

That was all Alyssa could hope for.

The rest of the morning flew by, meaning all too soon it was time to get into her dress. All too soon, in less than an hour, she would be leaving for the church on her dad’s arm, to get married. Married to Jamie.

Wow.

“Are you ready sweetheart?” her mom asked, resting a hand on her forearm.

Alyssa took a deep breath, glancing around the room, eyes trailing over the happy faces of her sister, her cousins, her best friend, her mom, before she smiled.

“I’m ready,”

*

They first met on a Friday. There was nothing special about that Friday in particular, just the stars aligning to bring Alyssa Morgan and Jamie Oleksiak to the same flower store at the same time on that same Friday.

It wasn’t uncommon for Alyssa to buy herself flowers. Why shouldn’t she? Just because she was single, it didn’t mean she didn’t deserve them.

And it wasn’t because she’d had a bad day, or because she wanted to cheer herself up in general. Alyssa just always felt like life was brighter with fresh flowers in a room. It was something that she’d grown up with in Milwaukee, fresh flowers in her parent’s house – even her grandpa still bought her grandma a bouquet every week just to make her smile. There was just something about the happiness they brought. Whenever Alyssa saw the fresh flowers she bought herself every two weeks, they reminded her that everything was okay. That she was doing okay. That no matter what, this pop of colourful brightness and happiness would remind her that the small things were just as important as the bigger picture.

Life could be difficult. Very difficult. And the world was so often cruel and grey, despite the Texan sunshine. So if she wanted to buy herself some flowers every couple of weeks, so what? There was nothing wrong with doing something nice for herself. We all need a little treat every now and again.

Through her years of buying flowers, she’d somehow managed to learn quite a lot about their meanings. Sure, some/most people might not care, but with how often she bought them, it just added something extra to know that whenever she combined a certain set of flowers, that she was projecting that energy out into her life.

It made her happy, at least.

This Friday, she had decided on a beautiful bunch of gerberas, for happiness and positivity. Surely, putting that energy out into the world could only bring back benefits, right?

Alyssa was just waiting for the shop clerk to check if they had any yellow gerberas in the back of the store – ideally she would be able to get yellow ones as well as the orange ones she’d found – when the door opened for another customer.

Hot damn.

In walked the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Extremely tall, broad shoulders, beautiful blonde curls? A face like it was carved by angels? Damn. If a guy like that ever looked her way, she’d melt on the spot. She bit her bottom lip as she noticed her looked a little stressed, glancing over the premade bouquets with a frown on his lips. Maybe she could help?

It’s not like offering her advice would hurt. It’s not like he’d look her way otherwise.

“Do you need any help there?” she called out.

The man jumped, cheeks blushing a little as he looked at her, seeming to freeze briefly before he smiled at her sheepishly, making her giggle.

“I, uh, kind of? Just trying to find some flowers for my friend’s wife. She just got a job she interviewed for, and I want to say congratulations and good luck, you know?”

Oh how sweet!

Then the man grimaced, running a hand over his curls. “You probably didn’t want to know that. Sorry,”

Alyssa shook her head, cutting him off. “I think that’s really sweet of you, she’ll love them,”

“Yeah?” he asked, smiling.

Alyssa couldn’t help but smile widely back, and his face shifted into something that looked a little stunned. What?

“Are you okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“Oh, yeah, uh, I’m fine. Which flowers do you think?” he stammered.

Alyssa giggled again. He really was so cute. “Hmm, I think this one would do the trick - a mix of peonies, freesias and yellow roses. Peonies for happiness and good luck, freesias for friendship and thoughtfulness, and yellow roses for friendship and joy,” she said, pointing to the bouquet in question.

“Wow. You really know your stuff. That sounds perfect,” he said, a smile still on his lips.

“I’m sure she’ll like them, whatever you choose,” Alyssa shrugged.

“Oh I’m definitely choosing those, you have good taste,” the man replied smoothly.

Now it was Alyssa’s turn to blush.

“I’m Jamie, by the way,”

He held out his hand for her to shake, which she happily did. Holy shit.

“I’m Alyssa,” she said, smiling.

*

As the wedding car pulled up outside the church, Alyssa felt her heartbeat start to race. The parking lot was packed with cars, and she had no doubt that more were parked elsewhere. They were here. They were all finally here and ready and waiting.

Her mom helped her out of the car, her sister holding her bouquet until she was standing properly, earning a kiss to the cheek. There was a reason she’d chosen Violet as her maid of honour.

“Look at you,”

“Dad, you’ve already seen my full ensemble,” Alyssa mused, “and we’ve even had photos done back at the hotel!”

“Can’t blame a father for his feelings, now I’ve seen you standing outside the church. Beautiful,” her dad shrugged.

Alyssa knew her dad would get sentimental today, being his final child to get married, so she had prepared herself for him to be emotional. Sort of. Could a girl ever be ready for her dad to cry? He was a simple Milwaukee man, told life like it was, a typical let-me-fix-that-for-you-sweetheart kind of dad – but he’d never shied away from showing them how much he loved them. Robert Morgan was the best dad she could ever have hoped for, and the fact that he gave his blessing to Jamie without hesitating meant the world to her.

“My baby girl, all grown up and getting married,” her dad said softly.

It was when he sniffed that Alyssa felt tears stinging her eyes, and her mom quickly smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

“Don’t you dare make her cry, Robert! If she cries then I’ll cry, and then all the bridesmaids will cry, and then the wedding will be delayed while all the make-up gets fixed,” her mom scolded.

Alyssa felt herself smile, albeit a bit wobbly, when her sister, her cousins and her bridemaids laughed and nodded, all of them knowing that her mom was right. It would be a cascading waterfall of mascara if they weren’t careful.

“Can’t help it when our Lyss looks so beautiful, Trish,” her dad shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

“Hold your crying in for the vows, dad,” Violet teased.

Her dad cleared his throat with a harrumph, making Alyssa giggle at the lingering wetness in his voice. There was no way he wasn’t going to cry, but if he could hold off for at least a little longer then she would be forever grateful.

As if reading their minds, the preacher walked out of the church doors, beckoning them forward with a smile.

“Welcome Alyssa and loved ones! It’s so good to see you again,”

“Likewise,” she said, “Are we all okay to start?”

“Everyone’s here and ready whenever you are,” the preacher nodded with a smile.

Alyssa let out a shaky breath, smiling back at him.

“Can I have a few moments to calm my nerves?” she asked quietly.

“Of course, there’s no rush,”

As the preacher walked back over to the church doors to give her some privacy, Alyssa swallowed heavily. This was real. This was really happening. Jamie was waiting on the other side of those doors, at the end of the aisle, to marry her. She wasn’t dreaming.

“Everything okay sweetheart?”

Her mom’s voice broke her out of her thoughts,

“Yeah, I think so,” she nodded.

“Don’t go overthinking things now. I know what you’re like,” her mom warned.

“Oh don’t fuss Trish, let her have a moment,” her dad mused, “This is a big step and it’s natural to feel nervous. I know I was when I married you,”

“And lucky for you, I still married you anyway,” her mom shot back.

The teasing fond smile on her mom’s lips was what lowered her nerves. For her parents to still have this much lightness and love after all these years, the exact things she hoped for herself, gave her all the confidence she needed. Walking down the aisle, seeing Jamie’s face smile at her when he saw her in her dress for the first time…that was all she needed and wanted right now.

“There’s our girl,” her mom murmured happily, seeing the change in her expression.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?” her dad asked, holding out his arm.

Alyssa smiled and slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow.

“I’m ready,”

*

“Baby, what are you doing up?”

Alyssa looked over her shoulder at the sound of her boyfriend’s murmur.

“I woke up early and couldn’t sleep,” she shrugged, “figured I’d get some coffee going,”

“Mm, coffee,”

“Ah yes, your third love, after hockey and me,” she teased.

Jamie just grinned, ducking down to press a kiss to her lips.

“Hop on up, I’ll make a fresh pot,” he said sweetly.

Alyssa laughed but boosted herself up onto the kitchen counter as he suggested, letting him fuss with their temperamental coffee machine. He kept glancing over at her, running his eyes up and down her pyjama-clad body, making her cheeks heat up in a blush. She was only wearing a giant shirt of his with a pair of sleep shorts, her hair messy and down and her face bare of makeup with pillow creases in her skin…but he was looking at her like he wanted to devour her.

Not that she was complaining. He could devour her any time he wanted. But still, it was unexpected.

“Here you go, a fresh mug of coffee,” Jamie said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Black with two sugars, just how she liked it. Alyssa inhaled the coffee aroma and sighed happily. Perfect.

“Thanks baby,” she smiled.

Jamie smiled back, leaning forward to kiss her softly, made much easier now they were the same height. But then he broke away abruptly.

“Okay, I can’t wait any more. There’s something I need to do,”

Alyssa startled at the firmness in Jamie’s voice, lips parting in confusion as he walked quickly back to the bedroom. She heard him rattling about for a few seconds, before he came striding back out, one of his hands clenched into a fist. What the hell?

“Jamie, what’s wrong?” she frowned, putting her coffee down to the side.

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong at all. Everything is wonderful and just waking up this morning to see you so at peace in our home makes me realise that I can’t wait on asking you,”

Oh shit.

“Asking me what?” she said quietly, eyes wide.

Was he really?

No, he couldn’t be.

Was he?

“I wake up every morning and I pinch myself, knowing that you choose to be with me above anyone else. The moment I saw your pretty face in that flower shop, I rambled like a fool because my head was in a spin. When you helped me out of the kindness of you heart when you could’ve left me to flounder, it told me instantly how sweet your heart is. And the moment you smiled so wide and genuine at me, I was gone. It’s been three years of complete and utter happiness, and I can’t imagine a life without you in it. I don’t want to imagine a life without you. I love you, Alyssa Morgan, so much. Will you marry me?”

Jamie then sunk down on one knee, Alyssa’s hand flying up to her mouth as he opened his clenched fist to reveal the most beautiful diamond princess cut ring. It was the most stunning thing she’d ever seen…and Jamie wanted her to wear it? He wanted to marry her?

“Just like that?” she choked.

Jamie huffed a laugh and smiled, making her heart beat even faster.

“Just like that. I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to call you my wife, I want to be your husband. Marry me?” he repeated.

Alyssa’s breath hitched in her throat, but she found herself nodding.

“Yes, yes of course I will,” she whispered.

Jamie’s eyes pricked with tears as he slid the ring onto her finger, and by the time he stood up from one knee to kiss her, they were both crying.

“Thank fuck,” Jamie murmured between kisses.

Alyssa laughed wetly, resting her forehead against his with a wobbly smile.

“I can’t believe this. You proposed. You actually proposed!” she giggled.

Jamie laughed, a little like he couldn’t believe it himself, before he kissed her again, one two three times.

“I asked your parents for their blessing in the summer,” he admitted.

Oh wow. That was…wow. He really did that? For her?

“Hey, don’t look so surprised,” Jamie mused, reading her expression easily, “I know how much tradition means to your family. It does to mine too. I wanted to do things right,”

“You did do them right. So right,” she sighed happily.

Glancing down at the ring, Alyssa couldn’t stop the silly smile spreading across her face. Not that she wanted to. This giddy feeling coursed through her veins and made her feel unstoppable, like she could do anything and Jamie would be right there by her side.

Which he now would be, she guessed.

“I love you so much,” she murmured.

“I love you too,” Jamie said in reply, before kissing her again.

Alyssa slid her arms around his neck, Jamie wasting no time in pulling her to the edge of the counter to press their bodies together. Fuck. Oh fuck she could have this for the rest of her life too, couldn’t she?

“We don’t have to tell anyone for a few hours, right?” she mumbled against his lips.

“Oh they can all wait,” Jamie said lowly.

“Race you,” Alyssa grinned.

Jamie looked a bit stunned as she hopped off the counter, but grinned as she ran towards their bedroom, happily giving chase.

*

Alyssa held tightly onto her father’s arm as her mom slipped into the church, signalling to the organist that they were ready. The preacher walked in next, following by all her bridesmaids, until it was time for Alyssa to walk too.

“Ready sweetheart? It’s not too late to run, I can get the car,” her dad mused.

Alyssa giggled, shaking her head. “I’m ready, dad,”

He pressed a kiss to her temple, before nodding at the preacher. The guests all stood up as they were gestured to, and Alyssa took a deep breath.

It was time.

Slowly but surely they walked down the aisle, Alyssa’s taking in all the beautiful flowers to keep herself calm. Baby’s breath for festivity, white carnations for pure love, lavender for devotion. She took a chance to look properly at Jamie, and her breath hitched in her chest. He was standing at the end of the aisle, looking more handsome than you had ever seen him, in his black tux and grey waistcoat and dark purple tie. His smile grew as his gaze caught with Alyssa’s, and she didn’t miss the tear that escape his eye, laughing softly as he quickly wiped it away.

Soon enough, her dad was placing her hands in Jamie’s, and clapped Jamie on the shoulder before he joined her mom.

“We are gathered here today…”

Alyssa lost herself looking up into Jamie’s eyes, his wide smile matching hers. This was real. This was really happening. They were getting married.

“…if anyone has any objections to the marriage, please state them now.”

Jamie just winked at her, Alyssa’s heart beating a little faster at the silence that surrounded them. No-one was going to oppose their marriage. Why would they?

Still…

A few moments later, when not a word had been said, Jamie let out a dramatic relieved sigh, breaking the tension and making everybody laugh, including Alyssa. That was her man right there, knowing exactly how to make the best of every situation. He squeezed her hands in comfort, Alyssa smiling widely at the feel of his ring on his left hands, her own ring a welcome weight.

The preacher laughed, bringing Alyssa’s attention back to him.

“Jamie and Alyssa, having witnessed your vows for marriage before God and all your family and friends assembled here, by the authority invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jamie, you may now kiss your bride!”

Jamie wasted no time in cupping her face with a hand, drawing her forward into a soft slow kiss, Alyssa smiling into the embrace and clutching at his shirt at the cheers, whistles and applause that filled the room.

*

While they had initially discussed getting a wedding planner, her mom wouldn’t have any of it. She reasoned that now she’d taken early retirement, she had all the time in the world and all the best intentions for both of them – her mom had helped organise the weddings of two of her cousins as well as her sister’s, so why not do Alyssa’s too?

Alyssa hadn’t seen any reason to argue, neither had Jamie. And her mom had proven herself right – so far everything had been booked and organised to perfection, blending Alyssa’s and Jamie’s tastes perfectly. Now, with only a few things left to decide on and everything else running so smoothly, Alyssa knew she’d made the right choice. Perks of being a momma’s girl.

Today they were deciding on the last few points on the wedding checklist – Jamie, Alyssa, Alyssa’s mom, Jamie’s mom, and Penny, the only members of all their families that were free that afternoon.

“That sounds nice, right? Baby’s breath for festivity, white carnations for pure love, lavender for devotion?” Alyssa said, looking up at her fiancé.

“I always defer to you with flowers baby, you know that,” Jamie laughed, holding his hands up surrender.

“Jamie…” she whined, making the women around her laugh.

“They sound good to me. Fresh, pretty, and light to look at, and the lavender will fit in well with the dark purple in the colour scheme,” her mom Trisha nodded, winking at Jamie.

“See? That,” Jamie grinned.

Alyssa rolled her eyes playfully but noted down their choices on the flowers form – they already knew the amount they needed after all, it really was just the choices.

“So all that’s left is ordering those flowers, deciding on appetisers, choosing the dress and making the table decorations?”

Alyssa nodded to Penny, glancing over her checklist one last time.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it I think. I mean, the dress shopping is going to be a nightmare with my body but…”

“Really? It’s that much of an issue?” Jamie interrupted, frowning.

“Baby, I love you, but sometimes you are so clueless about plus size women,” Alyssa mused.

The women in the room snickered, making Jamie blush.

“I just don’t understand why you shouldn’t get all the same options any other size woman. It’s not fair,”

Alyssa’s heart softened a little, but she still shook her head.

“I know it’s not fair, but that doesn’t change the facts that many shops still don’t cater for women my size and above. Some even only have samples of size 6 and size 8. There are some specifically plus size places, sure, and some bigger stores have a couple of plus size dresses, but they aren’t always flattering. And there’s also the judgement from those tiny little sales girls and bleurgh,”

Jamie glanced over to Trisha, who grimaced and nodded, knowing Alyssa’s shopping disappointments well.

“Things are much better now than they were even 5 years ago, and there are so many stores that we can at least enquire into,” Penny pointed out.

“And there is a dress out there for you. The dress. It doesn’t matter if we have to travel to New York or California or wherever to find it,” Jamie’s mom added.

“Wedding dress shopping is a wonderful experience, sweetheart, and we’ll be here for you every step of the way,” Trisha insisted.

“Really? All three of you?” she asked, eyes wide.

“All four,” Jamie nodded.

“No,”

Jamie frowned at the chorus of voices, pouting until Alyssa laughed.

“You don’t want to see me for 24 hours before the wedding because of tradition? I don’t want you to see the dress before I’m walking down the aisle,” she shrugged.

“Damn,”

“Think of the surprise, J,” Penny grinned, “I’ll make sure dad has a handkerchief ready for your tears of joy,”

Jamie blushed but smiled, nodding. “Alright, fair enough,”

Alyssa laughed, but nudged him with her shoulder, earning a nudge back.

“Now that that intense conversation is over, let’s talk appetisers,” she mused.

The group went through a whole list of ideas, trying to appeal to everyone’s tastes and diets. Including more cheese than they could possibly eat, and the inclusion of lots of local beers and ales to appease the Wisconsin attendees.

“It’s going to be insane enough, combining our full extended families, without all this extra stuff to remember,” Jamie grinned.

She grinned back up at him. “As long as it doesn’t end up as messy as when you came up for the family reunion at Lake Geneva, then I think we’ll be fine,”

While her immediate family was based in Milwaukee, the rest were scattered around the rest of Wisconsin – sometimes, meeting up at her grandpa’s big old lake house at Lake Geneva was just the easiest way for them all to get together.

Jamie burst out laughing at the memories, leaving his mom and Penny frowning in confusion. Alyssa’s mom giggled before taking pity on her future in-laws.

“Between three of my nephews shotgunning beers until they puked, to the savage cornhole tournament when my ma was ruthless, to my brothers arguing like they always do over the best local breweries, I’m surprised Jamie didn’t run for the hills,” Trisha mused.

Jamie’s mom’s lips parted in surprise but Penny just grinned, making Alyssa smile. Penny was Alyssa’s favourite for a reason. The reception was going to be an interesting one, that was for sure.

“I wasn’t going to run then, Trisha, and I’m not running now. Alyssa has been it for me, for a long time,” he said simply.

Alyssa huffed out a breath, a little shakier than she thought it would be, before she found herself smiling as Jamie sent a wink her way. The fact that he could say such a strong statement so confidently, so sure of himself, settled the nerves she didn’t know she had.

“You two are so sweet, I don’t know whether to coo or gag,” Penny teased.

“For that, you’re on table decoration folding duty,” Jamie shot back.

Penny pouted, but Alyssa just laughed along with their mothers. If this was what the future was going to be like, she couldn’t wait.

*

“Please welcome to the dancefloor, for their first dance, Mr and Mrs Oleksiak!”

Alyssa’s breath hitched in her throat, a wide smile on her lips. That wasn’t going to get old any time soon. Mrs Alyssa Oleksiak. Wow.

Jamie just grinned at her, lifting one hand to his lips to press a kiss to her knuckles before holding it out to the side, placing his other hand on her waist. Alyssa just rested her free hand on his chest, unable to look at anything other than him as the opening beats started playing. It had been difficult choosing the music for their first dance. There were so many incredible options and they both had such a diverse taste in what they liked to listen to, but as soon as they heard this song, they knew it was the one.

I don't think I breathed, As he walked you down the aisle, You were in your dress, I was such a mess, When you saw me and smiled.

It just captured everything they wanted to express. The mood, the sweetness, the happiness. Only their moms knew what song they’d picked, so she could only hope that their guests adored it as much as they did.

Say you will, Promise you I'll never let you go, From now on, I swear to you you'll never be alone.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look?” Jamie murmured, catching her attention.

“Only a dozen times,” Alyssa teased in reply.

“Only a dozen? Better up my game,” Jamie huffed, winking.

Alyssa couldn’t help but laugh, hoping that someone was catching this moment of genuine joy on camera.

“You’re beautiful. I can’t believe you’re finally my wife,” Jamie sighed happily, “I’m the luckiest guy in the world,”

That, right there, sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and her heart racing. This man.

“Just like I can’t believe that you’re my husband. Maybe we’re both lucky,” she said, just as happily. Everybody watched, As we danced under the moon, Wrapped in summer heat, You in your bare feet, Laughing as we moved. Say you will, Promise you I'll never let you go, From now on, I swear to you you'll never be alone.

“I love you, Mrs Oleksiak,”

“I love you, Mr Oleksiak,”

Jamie smiled down at her, a little helplessly, as if there was nothing else he could do. Alyssa just smiled back up at him. This was her forever, by the side of this man, their lives intertwined, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

[starshine-hockey-girl]

Scent of a Woman - Journey to the Emerald City - Chapter 16

Summary - Lex's embarrassing little secret leads chaos and misunderstanding on a road trip.

Author's Note- A return to fluffy Teddy and Lex. I apologize for the delay. I also apologize for the slight character assassination of Fanny. She seems like a lovely woman.

@pattiemac1 @newlibrary @penstxgal1968 @dutch-tv-fan @irlkpop

If you asked Lex, he would say that he had no idea where the habit began. He would probably deny that there was a habit at all. Truth be told, the desire that fed the habit began within weeks of the start of his physical relationship with Teddy. On a road trip later that fall, he found himself longing for her scent as he spent night after lonely night in hotel rooms.

He couldn't pinpoint the exact descriptions of her scents but there were two variations. One was her "fresh out of the shower” scent of Bath and Body Works Champagne Toast that reminded him of tangerines, berries and champagne. It was sweet and bubbly, just like her. She wore it in layers that ensured that scent lingered throughout the day.

The second was a rare perfume that was intoxicating. It had been a gift from her parents. She wore it sparingly, saving it for special occasions. Each time he smelled it he was transported back to their first kiss outside the Music Hall, to the landing outside the garage apartment where he buried his face in her neck as she tried to unlock the door or that moment she took him deep within her and leaned forward to kiss his neck. The scent was calming yet arousing at the same time. It made him dizzy with desire.

The first thing he "acquired" to satisfy his need for her scent was a scarf that had been tossed in a corner during one of their many races to disrobe each other after any sort of separation. He couldn't help it if the scarf accidentally made its way into his suitcase for the next road trip. Teddy never mentioned the missing scarf. She had convinced herself that she had left it at the Starbucks she had stopped at to pick up their coffee order. He never admitted it was in his possession.

The second item was the emerald green silk nightgown that she wore on their last night together before he flew to Pittsburgh. Obviously, it got mixed in with his clothes as they rushed to make his flight. It was totally normal that it stayed under his pillow and he smelled it before he fell asleep every night. Well until the scent faded into oblivion.

It was during his second return trip to Dallas after his trade that the third and only deliberate theft occurred. He slipped the small bottle of perfume into his pocket when he arrived at her hotel room. It was then that the habit began. One spritz on the hotel pillow and he slept soundly. At the time he had no idea that he would be continuing the action nearly two years later. It was his little road secret and no one needed to know. At least that was the way he planned to keep it until it all came unraveled. How do you ask? Three words- Tyler Fucking Seguin

October 18th- Pittsburgh, PA

Lex walked off the team bus with his cell phone pressed to his ear. Teddy was in the middle of telling him about the latest news in their hunt for a new apartment. He looked up as he began the walk to the arena. “Bliss, I need to go into morning skate. Can I call you” he began when he felt Tyler shove him behind before he reached up and snatched the phone from his hand.

“Teddy!” Tyler laughed into the phone.

“Tyler?” Teddy asked in question, “What happened to Lex? Why do you have his phone?”

“I took it from him,” Tyler laughed again as he turned to see Lex walking towards him.

“You…. took…. the…. phone from him?” she said in disbelief, “How did you do that? WHY did you do that?”

“You doubt my ability to best the Big Rig. Oh ye of little faith!” Tyler exclaimed as Lex approached him with a smile on his face. “I stole it because I texted earlier and you did not respond. I had to resort to desperate measures,” Tyler said before he realized what was about to be his fate. “Teddy!” he shrieked as Lex reached him, “He’s going to put me in a…..”

Tyler’s voice became muffled and Teddy finished his sentence, “A headlock? Seriously Tyler, did you not learn your lesson in September?”

Lex snatched the phone from Tyler’s hand, but continued to hold him in a headlock. Tyler’s arms flailed as Lex spoke, “So as I was saying Bliss- I have to go into the morning skate. I will call you afterwards okay. ”

“Lex…..let him go,” Teddy chided her giant of a boyfriend gently.

“Why? He snatched the phone from me while I was talking to you. That cannot go unpunished, Bliss,” Lex smiled as he tightened his grip. Tyler’s pleas for help could be heard on Teddy’s end.

“Lex…. let him go,” Teddy chided again.

Lex tightened his grip and Tyler inhaled deeply. Then Tyler’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. Finally, Lex released his grip, Tyler stumbled forward before he regained his balance. “Seggy sends his best, Bliss. Don’t you Seggy?” Lex smiled as he turned from Tyler, “I’ll talk to you later Bliss. Will you be at home? Can you help me with some pregame relaxation?”

“As long as Tyler remains uninjured, even if he brought this on himself, I can accommodate your request,” she smiled into her phone.

“Don’t worry about Seggy here. I am sure his pride will recover nicely. Love you. I will talk to you later Bliss, ” Lex laughed as Tyler stood and watched him. When Tyler started to walk towards him with purpose, he stepped back. “Woah, Seggy. You started it, “ Lex held up his hands in mock surrender. Tyler marched up to Lex, grabbed his hand and sniffed it “What the fuck dude?” Lex huffed.

Tyler took a step back and looked up at Lex, “Why do you smell like Teddy?”

Lex stepped back again, “Why do I smell like my girlfriend? I think that you can imagine why.”

“No, I can’t,” Tyler replied, “I can’t imagine why you smell like Teddy in the middle of a road trip.”

Lex blinked slowly. He thought back to his morning in the hotel. In his rush to pack his toiletries he had accidentally sprayed Teddy’s perfume. The mist landed on his hands and sleeve of his shirt. Lex struggled to come up with an explanation.

Tyler continued to pry, “We have been on the road for four days. I’ve seen you shower after games.” Lex lifted his eyebrow at that remark. “Not seen, but know that you have showered after games,” Tyler explained, “There is no reason to smell like Teddy unless……. Is she here? Did she sneak into your room last night? Is that why she didn’t answer my call earlier?”

“No, of course not,” Lex answered sternly.

“Then why do you smell like her?” Tyler eyed him suspiciously.

Lex ran his fingers through his hair and weighed his options. From what he could tell, it was either come clean or come up with an excuse in the next five seconds which seemed highly unlikely. “Fuck,” he huffed as he looked to the sky.

Tyler tilted his head. He had just been giving Big Rig a hard time. Now he was clearly upset. This had quickly gone from teasing to revealing something serious at a speed that made him dizzy.

Lex turned to him and spoke softly, “This stays between you and me, got it?”

“Nope, I am not agreeing to that at all,” Tyler suddenly got equally serious, “If you are going to confess to some sort of shenanigans that affects Teddy, I am telling her.”

“Oh shut up,” Lex hissed. Then he turned around and paced for a bit. “I smell like her because I accidentally sprayed her perfume on my hands while I was packing it this morning.”

Tyler looked confused, “Why do you have Teddy’s perfume? Is this some sort of kink….” He stopped himself short when the memory of the last time he suggested that Big Rig had some sort of kink.

“No, it’s not some kinky shit,” Lex whined, “I just like the smell. It helps me on the road.” Tyler blinked. “I sleep better when I smell it on the road,” Lex explained, “It makes me miss her less. Sometimes I miss her so much and the scent helps me.” His voice cracked at the end.

Tyler opened his mouth to say something sarcastic but words failed him. They stood and stared at each other. Finally Tyler spoke, “How long?”

“Ummm, since the beginning?” Lex replied, “It started off unintentionally with a scarf she left at my apartment. Then it was her nightgown she wore on my last night in Dallas.” Tyler’s eyes widened and Lex glared at him. “Then her perfume may have ended up in my luggage after my trip back to Dallas.”

“You stole her perfume? She didn’t lose it at the hotel?” Tyler laughed.

“You knew about that?” Lex questioned.

“Of course, I knew about it,” Tyler quipped, “She whined to me about it for weeks. It was her special Paris perfume and she lost it.”

“Her special Paris perfume?” Lex asked.

“You don’t know the story of the perfume?” Tyler remarked, “See…. this is why I am the best friend and you are just the boyfriend.”

Lex took a step forward, “Do you need the headlock again?”

“Okay, okay,” Tyler said, “Walk and I will tell you the story.”

“You know that Baxters all went to Paris to celebrate Teddy’s sixteenth birthday? You know Mrs. B- it was a production. One of the activities was a private party at perfumery where you can create custom scents. Teddy made a custom scent for Frankie and Frankie made one for her.”

“That’s the perfume she wears? The scent that Frankie made for her?” Lex interjected.

“Shut up and listen to the story,” Tyler countered.

“They each got two bottles of the scent created for them. Teddy has been using hers since Frankie died. When she finished the first bottle, she switched to alternating between the fruity one and the Frankie one. At least until she thought she lost it at the hotel,” Tyler paused to glare at Lex in disapproval. “She was heartbroken. It was one of the last tangible items she had connected to Frankie. I don’t know how he did it, but Mr. Baxter pulled the rabbit out of a hat and got a replacement.”

“Fuck,” Lex uttered, “I had no idea. I just thought it was a nice perfume.”

“So you stole it?” Tyler quizzed, “Nice… really nice.”

“You can’t tell her,” Lex replied, suddenly panicking about what Tyler would do with incriminating information. “Seriously,” he stammered, “You can’t tell her.”

“Don’t worry, Big Rig. Your secret is safe with me,” Tyler laughed, “It’s kind of sweet in a slightly obsessive-compulsive way. It’s totally on brand for you two.”

“Promise?” Lex asked with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Dude- relax,” Tyler said in a serious tone, “Your secret is safe with me.”

October 31st- JW Marriott Hotel- Denver, CO

“Big Rig, it’s your lucky day,” the team travel coordinator smiled at him as she passed out room keys. His eyebrows lifted in surprise and in question. “It seems as if someone loves you and upgraded you to a suite!”

“A suite?” Lex asked in a confused tone, “Who would do that?” Then he smiled to himself. He knew exactly who upgraded his room- Teddy. He pulled out his phone and made the call. Teddy was in Los Angeles at a conference for social media influencers. She was scheduled to speak on panels about brand engagement and body image in social media. The conference conflicted with the hastily scheduled WAG “road trip” for the AV/Stars game.

Lex: Bliss? What did you do?

Teddy: I have no idea. What did I do?

She smiled at him as she walked around her hotel room in Los Angeles. She paused and looked out the window.

Lex: You know exactly what you did. The upgrade to the suite?

Teddy: Oh that? I thought it would be a nice treat since I couldn’t make the trip.

Lex: I would rather have a smaller room and you here.

Teddy let out a sigh.

Lex: I didn’t mean it that way. I understand you have your own career. I just miss you.

Teddy: I miss you too. I’ll see you Saturday night?

Lex: I can’t wait. Thanks again for the suite. You spoil me, Bliss.

Teddy: Nothing makes me happier than spoiling you.

Word spread like wildfire among the team and WAGS. Suddenly plans were made- party in Big Rig’s suite. When Teddy got word, she arranged for food and a bar set-up to make the party as festive as possible.

Later that night, the team was sitting in the living room watching Scream. Lex looked around the room and sighed. Couples were huddled close together. He felt a pang in his heart and thought about Teddy. Silently, he got up and went into the bedroom unnoticed by the group with the exception of Fanny, John Klingberg’s girlfriend. Her eyes followed his large frame until he shut the bedroom door. Lex walked over to the window and looked up at the moon. Then he picked up the phone and facetimed Teddy.

Teddy: Hey Lex

Lex spoke in a soft tone: Bliss

Teddy stopped in her tracks: What’s wrong, Lex?

Lex: I just miss you. It’s cuddle central out there and I don’t have my cuddle buddy.

Teddy: I am sorry, Lex. What can I do to make it better?

Lex: Remember last year when you sang me that song? From that mouse movie?

Teddy smiled at the memory: Yes, I remember. It was back when I wanted to say I love you but couldn’t say it yet.

Lex: Do you think you could sing to me again? I am looking at the moon.

Teddy: Of course, I can.

Teddy began singing softly as Lex listened. Outside the door, Fanny paced outside of the door. She turned to walk back to the couch but then gathered up her nerve. She desperately needed to go pee, but Benn and Katie had ensconced themselves in the suite powder room. Nervously she knocked.

Lex turned to face the door. “Yeah?” he answered abruptly, slightly irritated that his serenade was being interrupted.

“Ummm, can I use the restroom?” Fanny asked quietly.

“There is a powder room out there,” he called back.

“Yeah, but there are people in it. It’s kind of an emergency,” she replied.

Lex stared at the door and pondered her answer. “There are people in the powder room?” he thought to himself, “What would they be doing in the powder room?” Then he remembered Fanny was waiting on an answer. He walked over to the door, opened it and pointed to the bathroom. He returned to his position by the window.

Inside the bathroom, Fanny set her phone on the back of the toilet and attended to her business. She could hear Lex speaking in hushed tones, but could not make what was being said.

Inside the bedroom, Lex listened to Teddy’s sweet voice as he considered the powder room situation. Visuals of his very sexy encounter with Teddy in Tyler’s powder room flooded his mind. He was so caught up in the memory that he didn’t notice that Teddy had stopped singing.

Teddy: Lex? You still there?

Lex came back to reality: Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.

Teddy: And what would that be?

Lex glanced over his shoulder: Remember that time in Seggy’s powder room? Remember how I fucked you?

Teddy purred: Yeah, I remember that. I remember it very well.

Lex let out a soft moan: Damn it Bliss. You’re turning me on.

Teddy purred again: Want me to help you out there Big Boy?

Lex heard the bathroom door open and Fanny stepped into the room. He turned quickly back to the window.

Lex: Good God Kitty, you are so fucking sexy. I would love to finish this but now is not a good time. Maybe later?

Fanny froze in her footsteps.

Teddy asked: Too many prying ears?

Lex: Prying ears and eyes

Fanny stepped closer to the bed to hear better. She was almost touching the bed when the scent of Teddy’s perfume wafted into her nose. She looked down and then around. It was a distinctly feminine scent. It was a scent that should not have been present in Big Rig’s room. She looked at the bed and then at Lex. His back was still to her so she allowed her nose to follow the scent to its source- the pillows on the unmade bed. Her mind began to race. Why was the bed unmade? The team had just arrived in town that afternoon. Why was there a scent of a woman’s perfume on the pillow? Her mind lept to the most logical conclusion. A woman had been in the bed. A woman that was not Big Rig’s beloved,Teddy, had been in the bed.

She let out a little squeak and he turned to face her. Their eyes locked for a moment and Fanny turned to race out of the bedroom. In the living room, Fanny mentally replayed the scenario. “Maybe later?” she thought to herself, “He is making plans for later?”

Fanny smiled to herself and exited the room. Truth to be told, she wasn’t a fan of the Big Tex couple. Teddy and Lex had been given the moniker by the players and WAGS sometime during their “friends with benefits” stage and it stuck.

Moments later, Lex walked around and resumed his position for the movie. He didn’t notice the careful watch that Fanny took as he scrolled through his phone, looking at pictures of his beloved Bliss. He tilted his phone slightly to prevent the racier photos from being seen by others. He squirmed in his spot as the longing in him grew exponentially. One particular picture made him lick his lips as he switched over to his messages.

Lex: Good God - remind me never to invite people into my room again.

Teddy: Why?

Lex: I am so fucking horny.

Teddy: Easy there Tiger. Kitty Kat won't be available for another couple of hours.

Lex groaned out loud and looked around the room. Fanny stared at him. They made brief eye contact and he focused on his phone again.

Lex: Save me. I beg you. Fanny is staring at me like she can read my thoughts.

Teddy: Are you still afraid of WAGS?

Lex: Hey, WAGS are scary

Teddy didn’t respond

Lex: except you of course. Please Bliss.

Teddy: You owe me Tiger

Lex: Anything you want

Suddenly his phone rang and the extremely loud sound of Teddy's crocodile tears rang through the phone.

Teddy screamed: Lex!!! Lex!!!

Lex sprung into action. He jumped off the club chair and responded: Bliss!! What's wrong? What's wrong?

Everyone turned to listen to the activity.

Teddy began a torrent of incoherent screaming and crying. Inwardly, he smiled but his face showed concern. He turned to the group, “Sorry guys, Teddy is having a meltdown about her speech tomorrow. I need to talk her down from the ledge. You have to go. You have to go.”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. He could always go into the other room if necessary. However, no one took the initiative to argue with the Big Rig who made it clear that he wanted everyone out of his room. He wanted them out and he wanted them out NOW.

They slowly shuffled out of the room, whispering amongst themselves. After a quick huddle, they decided to reconvene in Benn’s room. Fanny replayed the scenario from Lex's bedroom over and over in her mind. Should she say something?She would want to know if John was cheating on her. She stewed and finally came to the decision to ask the other WAGS..

She poked Katie in the ribs and nodded her head toward the bathroom. She whispered “It's an emergency.” Katie whispered into Anna’s ear and word spread.

Once all the women crowded into the bathroom, Katie stood against the door with her arms crossed. Because she dated Benn, she was the de facto leader of the group. “What’s the emergency, Fanny?” Katie asked bluntly. Quite frankly, she wasn't a huge fan and she had unfinished business with Benn

Fanny breathlessly described her observations to the group. She was met with immediate disbelief and judgment.

“I don’t buy it,” Andrea Bishop interjected.

“Me either,” Anna Lindell added.

“Look, I know that I am new around here,” Jennifer Spezza said, “But one thing I know for sure is that Big Rig only has eyes for Teddy.”

Fanny started to explain again.

“It’s almost like you are wanting it to be true,” Katie observed. The other WAGS nodded their heads.

“Don’t you think she would want to know?” Fanny questioned. This juicy bit of gossip was not being received the way that she envisioned.

“There is nothing to know,” Katie replied, “You smelled some perfume and overhead what you think was Big Rig making plans.”

“I think that we should tell her,” Fanny interrupted.

“Fuck no,” Andrea answered, “She has a huge presentation tomorrow. The last thing that we are going to do is upset her for no damn reason.”

With that, the group adjourned back to their men. Then the party fizzled quickly after that. John and Fanny walked toward their room. He asked her what the huddle was about. Fanny explained her observations. “Big Rig cheat?” he laughed, “Why would he cheat NOW? Why would he risk it during a WAGS trip even if Teddy is not here? He knows better than that. He is not an idiot like…..”

“An idiot like who?” Fanny whipped her head around.

Klingberg stopped in his tracks. “Shit” he thought to himself, “I said the quiet part out loud.” This was a topic of conversation that he wanted to avoid at all costs. “Fan,” he spit, “I am just saying that Big Rig is smarter than most of us. He wouldn’t make hook-up plans with the entire team literally in the next room.”

“So you are saying that he would cheat if we weren’t around?” she said as her eyes narrowed, “Are you saying that’s what you would do if I weren’t around?”

“Kärlek,” he soothed, “You know I love you and only you. There is no one else in my heart.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. He didn’t say there wasn’t anyone else in his bed or on his dick. “Come, let me show you,” He grabbed her hand to lead her, “Maybe we can take a fun video on your phone.”

Fanny stopped suddenly and stuck her hand into her pockets. Her phone wasn’t there. She mentally backtracked until she realized that she must have left it in Big Rig’s room. Klingberg tried to convince her to continue to the room and get the phone later. Fanny insisted on getting it then. She had plans to text her sisters in Sweden with the gossip about Teddy and Lex. Even if none of the other WAGS had taken the bait, she was sure that they would.

Back in Lex’s suite, he sat on the couch nude. His phone was propped up on the entertainment center. Teddy’s green silk nightgown had been thrown down in haste when she had called for their planned video fuck. His hand stroke furiously as he watched Teddy expertly bring herself to her climax with Pinky and her fingers. She screamed out in ecstasy as the third orgasm washed over her. Ever the gentleman, Lex made sure that she reached her peak before he succumbed to his desire.

A series of grunts and moans escaped his mouth as he edged closer. Finally, he exclaimed, “Fuck Kitty Kat. Oh God, you fuck your Tiger so good.” Teddy’s eyes widened and he went silent. It was their unspoken rule that those names were reserved for their kinkier, in person play sessions.

“Uhhhhh, Lex?” she questioned.

“Sorry, Sorry, “ he stammered, “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Seems like Tiger is in need of his Kitty Kat,” she said seductively, “You like how Kitty Kat is a good girl for you?”

Lex felt his body respond, “Kitty Kat you know I like everything about you.”

Outside the room, Fanny listened in shock. She had arrived just as Lex had screamed Kitty Kat. Her mind jumped to the most shocking of conclusions. She was RIGHT. He had someone in there with him- some whore named Kitty Kat. She smiled to herself in triumph. “Guess I wasn’t so wrong after all. Was I girls?” she thought to herself. She started to walk away in triumph and in anticipation of the salacious update she was about to provide when she remembered her phone. She would need it to text and call people. She turned and knocked on the door.

Inside the room, Lex stroked himself. It took almost a full minute of knocking for the sound to register in his brain. “Fuck,” he uttered in annoyance, “Kitty Kat, someone is is at the door. I gotta go.”

“Lex Love, at least cover yourself up,” Teddy laughed.

Lex called out, “Hold on. I gotta get dressed.” He went to the bedroom and grabbed his gray sweat pants and shimmied into them. His chest glistened with sweat as he opened the door. He saw Fanny standing there with a look of smug satisfaction. “Hey,” he said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice, “I am kind of in the middle of something.”

“I bet you are,” Fanny muttered under her breath as she glanced down. Lex’s erection was evident under the soft fleece of his pants. Lex’s head tilted, not quite sure he heard her correctly. “I….. ummmm…. left my phone here,” Fanny said plainly.

“Oh,” he stepped back and let her enter. Together they stepped into the room. Teddy, hearing voices, disconnected the FaceTime video. Lex’s eyes glanced at the phone. Fanny followed his eyes then moved onto the couch where Teddy’s green nightgown sat out in the open. Fanny scanned the rest of the living room. No other evidence of a woman stood out to her, but her mind raced with the presence of woman’s lingerie. There was definitely something going on.

“I think it may be in the bathroom. I was in there earlier,” she said as she walked in that direction. Lex stepped back to let her pass. Mentally he cursed both himself and her. He could hear her moving around and he paced back and forth.

In the bathroom, Fanny quickly found her phone. She glanced over to the counter where Lex’s toiletry bag sat. She quickly looked in the direction of the living room while she stepped forward. Two things immediately stood out - a small glass bottle with a label printed in French and a condom. She picked it up and smiled.

“Did you find it?” Lex called out as calmly as he could. His heart raced although he was unsure of just why. “How much had she heard?” he questioned himself. The chirps about Teddy and his sex life had just about stopped. If Fanny heard anything, they were sure to start up again. Little did he know the wildfire of gossip she was about to unleash within the group.

Fanny’s head popped up, “Yes, but can I pee real quick?” She took out the phone and snapped photos. She turned on the water to “wash” her hands and formulated a plan. Then she placed the items back to their original locations and held her phone in her hand. She moved quickly into the living room, made a beeline for the couch, snapped a photo of the nightgown on the couch and headed toward the door before Lex could process her movements.

“Thanks Big Rig,” Fanny called over her shoulder, “You should get some sleep. It’s a big game tomorrow and you look exhausted.”

He stood in disbelief. She was up to something but he couldn’t tell what. Then he shook his head. “Dude,” he said to himself, “You’re being paranoid and whatnot. She is perfectly innocent.” Still he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling in his chest. He scooped up his phone and went into the bedroom. Teddy picked up his FaceTime call.

Teddy: Did Tiger behave himself?

Lex rolled his eyes: You know that Tiger only comes out for you.

Teddy smiled: Was that Fanny’s voice I heard?

Lex shook his head: She left her phone in the bathroom earlier. She came to get it.

Teddy’s eyes narrowed: What’s wrong, Lex Love?

Lex sighed: It’s nothing. I just got a bad feeling about her.

Teddy: Love, you are probably just picking up my feelings about her. She is the only one that I don’t get along with. Katie and I can’t stand her.

Lex nodded his head. He had overhead the two best friends venting about her in the past. Fanny considered herself to be the de-facto leader of the WAGS because of Klingberg’s tenure and she resisted any suggestion that Katie or Teddy made.

Lex rubbed his face: That may be it. Talk about a mood killer though.

Teddy winked at him: It’s probably a good thing. I have a big day tomorrow so I should get some sleep.

Lex smiled: How many people will be at your session?

Teddy bit her lip: Almost a thousand. Apparently there is a wait list to get in. No pressure or anything.

Lex studied her for a moment before speaking: Get out of your head, Bliss. You are more than prepared. Your speech is amazing and perfectly on brand for you.

Teddy flashed him a smile: Thank you Love. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

November 1st - Jamie Benn’s hotel room

Benn rolled over and sighed, “What in hell is going on? You have been texting all night.”

Katie paused, “You won't believe it if I told you.”

Benn yawned “Try me, honey.”

Katie explained Fanny’s initial assertions. “We all said no way,” she added, “but then she went back and found this.” She handed over her phone to show him the pictures of the perfume bottle, nightgown and the most damning evidence- the condom.

“Shit,” the captain said in disbelief, “That’s unbelievable. Lex has never even looked at another woman since Teddy. What the hell?”

“How do you explain those pictures?” she accused.

“I can't,” he replied softly.

“What do I do?” Katie asked, “I should tell her, right? I would want to know. It's going to break her heart.”

Benn thought for a few minutes, “Make Seggy do it.”

Katie looked up in surprise, “Think he will do it? Isn’t there some sort of bro code?”

“If Teddy is being cheated on, Tyler will squeal like a fucking canary,” Benn laughed. Katie knitted her brows together. He pulled her into his chest. “Seriously, if it were anyone else, Tyler wouldn’t say a word. There is no way that he is going to let Big Rig cheat on her on his watch.

With that, Katie sent a message to the WAGS group chat that excluded Teddy. It was a simple “Stand down. I am going to talk to Seggy about it. I think the news should come from him.” The message was met with mixed replies. Half of the group agreed that Tyler would err on the side of telling Teddy while the other half felt he would not sell out his teammate.

Katie was waiting for Tyler in the hotel lobby when the team arrived back from morning skate. He took one look at her face and joked, “What did I do?” When she didn’t smile or laugh, he got serious, “Tell me.”

Tyler listened incredulously as after the narrative began to become clear. He shook his head vigorously from side to side. “Nope,” he asserted, “No way that Big Rig is cheating on her. Not after everything that they have been through together. No fucking way.” Katie listed off the WAGS group accusations against Big Rig.

When she told him about the perfume scent and saw the picture of the bottle, he emphatically answered, “You are barking up the wrong tree.” When Katie asked how he was so sure, Tyler paused. He had given his word to Big Rig that he would keep his secret. He was not about to cough it now because the WAGS had gotten a bee in their collective bonnets.

He similarly dismissed what Fanny overheard. He knew from past conversations with Teddy that they indulged in smutty phone and video calls. Okay, she had never deliberately told him about the calls but Tipsy Teddy let it slip out once in a rush to get Tyler off the phone so she could speak to Big Rig. Again, he wasn’t about to reveal that information, but it convinced him that Fanny had not overheard anything of consequence. He did make a mental note to ask Teddy about the “Kitty Kat” nickname.

However, when she showed him the photo of the condom, he went silent for a moment. Why would Big Rig have a condom in his toiletry bag? Katie sensed his hesitation and pounced. She raised the same question he had just asked himself. Suddenly, the most obvious answer emerged - the condom must be leftover from before they got together. Katie looked dubious.

“Yeah, remember she got upset with him because he had condoms in his bag in the limbo era between his move to Pittsburgh and them getting together, “ Tyler announced, suddenly proud that he came up with a reasonable excuse.

Katie sighed. She wanted to believe the best, but she still had questions.

Tyler stood his ground. “Come on Katie,” Tyler urged, “You know him.” Katie looked at the ground. “Hey, look at me, can I tell you something?” Tyler said softly. She looked up with hopeful eyes.

“You know that it was complicated between Teddy and me. I have a lot of ‘what could have beens’ that linger in my mind,” Tyler spoke from the heart. “I’ve accepted that Teddy and I are best friends. That’s our destiny,” he said as he swallowed. “However, I am still human. Don’t you think if I had the opportunity for a do-ever I would take it? This would be the perfect opportunity, Katie.” She studied his face that was suddenly soft with emotion.

“But I can’t because it’s not the truth. You know and I know it,” he said with an unreadable tone, “We have to shut this shit down. It’s only going to hurt Teddy and she doesn’t deserve that.”

With that, she was convinced. “I’ll do my best to shut it down.”

“Tell them to come see me if they have doubts,” he urged, “Trust me Katie. I know that he isn’t cheating on her.” They went their separate ways. Tyler looked at his phone. It was almost time for Teddy’s presentation. He sent her a quick good luck text. She responded with a thumbs up emoji.

LATER THAT NIGHT DURING THE GAME

Teddy pulled out her phone as she settled into her hotel room for the night. She pulled out her phone and did a double-take. She had 5 missed calls from Fanny along with a text that read “Please call - URGENT”. Teddy’s mind instantly went to Lex. Did something happen with him? Were they trying to get a hold of her? She mentally cursed herself for not turning on her phone sooner. Her heart began to race and she reached for the TV remote. She found the game as quickly as she could. It should be toward the end of the game. Visually she scanned the ice for his large form. He was not out there.

She cussed as she pulled up Google. Nothing new popped up when she searched his name. The broadcast finally did a shot of the bench. There was Tyler, but no Lex.

“Think,” she commanded herself, “Who would know?” She smiled and dialed Katie’s phone number. It went straight to voicemail. She decided to text instead.

Teddy: Hey, is Lex okay?

She saw Katie replying immediately.

Katie: Yes, as far as I know. I think there was an issue with his skate.

On cue, Lex emerged from the tunnel and took another shift.

Katie: Why do you ask?

Teddy exhaled and smiled to herself: Oh, it’s nothing I guess. Fanny has been blowing up my phone. I thought maybe Lex got hurt.

Katie inhaled deeply. “Shit” she thought to herself, “I thought we nipped it in the bud.” If Fanny was reaching out, the genie was about to explode out of the bottle.

Katie: Definitely not hurt. If I were you, I would get some rest and deal with Fanny tomorrow after we all get back to Dallas.

Teddy yawned: As long as Lex is okay, you don’t have to tell me twice to ignore her.

Katie hated lying by omission to her friend, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Immediately following the game, Katie made a beeline to the Stars locker room. Via text she ordered that Benn send Tyler and Big Rig out to see her immediately. Katie paced back and forth in the training room. Shit was about to get bad and about to get bad quickly.

“Yo Rig and Seggy- Katie wants to see you right away,” Benn commanded. They tried to argue with Benn about making Katie wait until they showered. It was a firm “My woman wants to see the both of you NOW for some reason. I am not going to question it. Get your asses out there so I don’t have to deal with her drama.”

Seggy and Lex walked out of the room, half undressed from the game.

Katie: We have a problem. A big Fanny problem

Lex looked at Katie in confusion. Then he looked at Tyler who seemed to understand what she said perfectly.

Tyler: How do you know?

Katie: She is blowing up Teddy’s phone.

Lex: Blowing her phone about what?

Katie narrowed her eyes: About your extracurricular activities

Lex: My what? What extracurricular activities?

Katie: Don’t play dumb with me.

Tyler interjected: Hey, we’ve already gone over this. Riggy is innocent.

Lex screamed: Innocent of what?

Katie: Of fucking around on Teddy.

Lex gasped in horror.

Lex: Why? Why would anyone think that? What does Fanny have to do with this?

Katie: She heard you. She heard you making plans last night and then all sudden we all had to leave your room.

Lex: Teddy was having a crisis. You heard her on the phone.

Katie: Oh yeah? Who’s perfume do you have in your bathroom?

Lex looked at Tyler who threw his hands up in surrender.

Tyler: It didn’t come from me, dude.

Lex: Who did it come from?

His mouth dropped when he started to put together the pieces. Fanny was in his bathroom. He must have left the perfume bottle out.

Katie continued: So you don’t deny that there is a woman’s perfume in your hotel room. Wait, you knew about the perfume, Seggy?

Tyler protested: I am not saying anything. I just know that Rig is not a cheater.

Lex’s mind raced. “Think, think, think,” he screamed internally. He considered the option he had at the moment. To tell the truth and become the laughing stock of the locker room again OR say nothing and let people think that he had been unfaithful. Neither seemed particularly appealing. He cursed his impulse decision two years ago.

Katie prodded, grabbing his attention: Why do you have women’s lingerie?

Lex looked to Tyler for help and was met with a shrug:

Lex: Ummmm, it isn’t what you think?

Katie pushed on: “Why do you have a condom??

Lex’s hands went to his head.

Lex: There is an explanation, I swear.

His voice got soft and low.

Lex: Do you honestly think that I would cheat on Bliss? After everything? Do you think I would be that stupid?

Katie sighed: That’s why I am so confused, Rig. I wouldn’t believe it but Fanny has pictures.

Tyler whistled lowly and examined Big Rig’s face. He was trying to hide the panic but it was evident.

Tyler: “Let’s focus on the immediate problem- Fanny”

Katie and Lex turned to him.

Tyler: You spoke to Teddy?

Katie: Yes, I told her to get rest and ignore Fanny.

Tyler turned to Lex: You have to tell her, dude. You have to tell her before Fanny gets to her.

Lex balked: And tell her what? That there is a rumor that I am cheating on her going through the WAGS? Seggy, you know that will be a complete mind fuck for her.

Tyler stepped up: Now, what will be a mind fuck is if she hears it from Fanny without any warning. You have to man up and tell her.

Lex turned to Katie: You are certain that Teddy won’t reach out to Fanny until tomorrow?

Katie: That’s what I told her to do.

Lex sighed: Fine, I will tell her before Fanny gets to her.

Tyler warned Lex: Just come clean. This is getting out and it will be worse if it doesn't come from you.

Sitting in the bus at the private airfield, Lex looked down at his phone and tried to will himself to hit the call button. He knew what he needed to do but his stupid pride stood in his way. He had no idea how he would explain what a complicated scenario that began with his innocent desire to feel closer to her. His thoughts were interrupted with an incoming call from Teddy.

Lex: Hey Bliss

Teddy: Hey Love. Are you okay?

Lex: Yes, why wouldn’t I be?

Teddy: You didn’t call me after the game

Lex: Oh, I forgot.

Teddy blinked: You forgot to call me?

In the two years that she had known Lex, she could count on two things - that he would text when he landed anywhere he traveled and that he would call within an hour after every road game. You could set your clock by it.

Lex hemmed: Yeah, sorry about that.

Teddy blinked: Is everything okay Lex?

Lex studied her face. He could see the anxiety creeping into her features.

Lex: Yes, everything is fine Bliss. I promise. Are you okay?

Teddy shook the negative thoughts out of her mind: I am good. I am glad to have my talk over. I have just been relaxing and ignoring Fanny.

Lex felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. He struggled to his voice neutral: Fanny? What about Fanny?

Teddy: She has been blowing up my phone. I have no idea why. I am ignoring until I get back to Dallas.

Lex breathed an internal sigh of relief.: Okay, sounds like a plan.

He studied her face and tried to work up the courage to tell her the truth. He longed to hold her as he made his confession. It would be better to do it in person, he told himself. “Yes,” he said to himself and smiled, “It will be better to do it in person.” They would be together tomorrow afternoon. The team would arrive back in Dallas in a few hours, but it would be afternoon before he saw her. Her flight from California would not arrive until after he left for practice. In the end, his fear won out and he didn't say anything.

Teddy: Are you sure you are okay? You seem off tonight.

Lex: Yes, just tired and missing you.

Teddy: Okay. Go get on the plane. See you tomorrow.

November 2nd - Lex and Teddy's apartment

Lex held the large bouquet of flowers in one hand and pressed the up button in the garage elevator. He was looking forward to their upcoming move into a house. He was tired of apartment life and parking garages. He was lost in thought when the elevator dinged. He walked in as a small blonde stormed past him, muttering under her breath in a language that sounded vaguely familiar. Her shoulder bounced off his elbow. He turned to apologize but the woman kept walking. His eyes squinted in disbelief. “Is that?” he questioned himself, “No, it can be. What are the odds?”

He pressed the button for their upper level apartment. Then he used the electronic key fob to open the door. “Bliss?” he called as he entered the apartment, “Are you home?”

“Yes,” she called from the ensuite bathroom, “just unpacking. Hold on.”

He walked into the kitchen and started to put the flowers into her favorite vase.

“Lucy, you got some ‘splaining to do,” Teddy shouted as she walked into the room. She was putting her hair into a messy bun with a fake scowl on her face.

Lex’s head popped. “I what?”

She continued into the kitchen. “You know ‘splaining like Ricky would say to Lucy in ‘I Love Lucy’ when she would do something crazy.”

“Crazy?” Lex's voice rose an octave, “I haven’t done anything crazy.”

“Are you sure about that?” Teddy walked closer, “I had a little visit with Fanny. She was waiting for me when I got home.”

His voice rose even higher, “Waiting for you? Why? Why would she be waiting for you?”

Teddy looked him straight in the eye, “Something about a perfume bottle and some lingerie?”

Lex gulped and felt the bottom fall out of his stomach. He felt the sweat instantly forming in his armpits and forehead. “Fanny told her. Fanny got to her first. Now Bliss thinks I cheated on her,” he thought to himself. The words swarmed around in his brain.

“Bliss, you can’t believe her,” he stammered, “I don’t know why she is saying it, but I am not cheating on you. I swear to God. You gotta believe me.”

Teddy tilted her head, “Wait, you knew what she told me? How did you know?”

“Katie and Seggy told me last night,” he answered.

“And you think I heard what she said and believed that you are cheating on me?” Teddy laughed and crossed over to him.

Lex blinked slowly. “What did she say?” he said softly, cursing himself for being a coward the night before.

“Well…..” Teddy replied as she took his hand and led him to the couch.

THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER

Teddy glanced at her phone as she waited for the garage elevator. There was yet another text message from Fanny.

Fuck,” Teddy groaned as walked off the elevator. The Swedish blonde clad in head to toe Lululemon leaned against the wall outside of their front door. Teddy tried to think of how Fanny even knew the address when she remembered hosting a watch party during the playoffs last season. She cursed her mother for giving her the spirit of hospitality.

Fanny turned around slowly and crossed her arms, “You are a hard person to track down.”

Teddy paused for a moment. Fanny’s tone of voice was aggressive and shrill. She decided to go with a conciliatory tone rather than the snarky tone that felt much more natural.

“I am sorry,” Teddy began to explain as she opened the apartment door, “I was worn out from my speech at the conference. I was all “peopled” out which is why I have been radio silent. What’s up?” She added as much cheer as she could muster to the question.

“I wanted to tell you face to face,” Fanny said with a little too much joy in her voice.

“Tell me what face to face?” Teddy questioned as she placed her suitcase and carry-on by the door. She walked over to the cabinet to get a glass. She filled her glass with ice cold water and turned to face Fanny. She move her hand in a “speed it up” motion.

“Big Rig is cheating on you,” Fanny declared emphatically.

Teddy stood perfectly still but her grip on her glass slightly. It came crashing down onto the kitchen tile. She looked down and then back up at Fanny. “I’m sorry,” she questioned, “What did you say?”

“I said that Big Rig is cheating on you,” Fanny answered.

“With another woman?” Teddy choked out.

“Do you suspect a man?” Fanny asked incredulously.

The very thought of Lex being with a man sent Teddy into a fit of giggles. She tried to imagine his “type” and what his preferred activities might be. She doubled over in laughter, much to Fanny’s chagrin. “I’m sorry,” Teddy replied between laughs, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know which is funnier,” she continued, “The thought of Lex cheating on me with another woman or the idea of him cheating on me with a man.”

“I am being serious, Teddy,” Fanny exclaimed.

“Oh, I am sure that you are,” Teddy tried to compose herself, “but seriously- Lex cheating?”

Fanny stood upright and crossed her arms, “Do you think I am just fucking with you?” she uttered softly. Her concern almost seemed genuine.

“Okay, I will listen to you,” Teddy conceded, “Why do you think Lex is cheating on me? When exactly was this?”

“It was Halloween night,” the Swede began, “Well, first thing - I smelled a woman’s perfume in his hotel bedroom,”

Teddy’s eyebrow raised, “There is more?”

“You need more?” Fanny countered.

“No, but you said the first thing which implies more,” Teddy replied, “Do you want to respond to each point or wait until the end?”

“Wait until the end I guess,” Fanny said with annoyance.

“So there is the scent and what else?” Teddy prodded.

“Then I heard him make plans on the phone for ‘later’," she continued. Teddy thought of the night in question. She remembered their phone call being interrupted by Fanny needing to use the restroom.

“Go on,” Teddy responded neutrally.

“Then before the movie was even finished, he rushed everyone out of the room,” Fanny continued. “I bet he couldn’t wait to get the little tart into the room.”

Teddy raised an eyebrow, “Tart huh? What are you seventy now?”

Fanny glared but went on, “About an hour later I realized that I left my phone in his room. I went back to get it and it took him FOREVER to answer the door. When he did, it was clear that I had interrupted something.”

“Clear in what way?” Teddy questioned.

“You know,” Fanny whispered as her cheeks flushed.

“Obviously I don’t know which is why I am asking,” Teddy replied even though she had the mental image in her mind.

“First he was covered in sweat and he had,” Fanny looked down and then back up, “He had…..” Teddy willed herself not to laugh when Fanny finally blurted out, “a HARD on”. The picture of one of the many reasons that Oleksiak was called Big Rig flashed before her eyes and the blonde’s heart began to race.

“So he had an erection,” Teddy repeated back. Secretly, she was enjoying watching Fanny squirm even if she was losing patience with the drip-drop method of disclosure Fanny used.

“While I was walking into the bathroom, I saw a green silk nightgown on the couch,” she said with authority. “Big Rig tried to push it under the cushion, but I saw it.” That bit of information got Teddy’s attention and Fanny seized on it.

“Then I went into the bathroom and saw the bottle - sitting right there in the open,” Fanny said breathlessly, “And……” She paused for dramatic effect, “I saw the condom.”

Against her better judgment, Teddy inhaled sharply. It was the first and second bits of information that she didn’t have an obvious explanation for. It wasn’t that she doubted Lex’s fidelity yet, but she was puzzled.

“Is that it?” Teddy finally asked.

“Isn’t that enough?” Fanny challenged.

“I just wanted to be sure that you were done,” Teddy spoke slowly as her mind raced to explain a perfume bottle in Lex’s room. She asked herself if it was possible that one of her bottles may have been inadvertently left in his toiletry bag during a trip. She immediately nixed the thought because she wasn’t missing any perfume. Well, not since her custom-made fragrance from Frankie had gone missing, but that happened before Lex and her had ever traveled together.

Then her mind went to the nightgown. “Think,” she thought to herself, “there is a reasonable answer for this.” Suddenly an idea popped in her head and she grasped onto it. It was a gift. Lex must have gotten her a gift while traveling. She breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up and saw Fanny staring at her with an expression on her face that bordered on smug. Although her mind was racing, there was one thing she was sure of and that was that there was no possible way Lex was cheating on her. It was just about the only fact in her life that she had the utmost confidence in - Lex’s unwavering love and fidelity.

Teddy smiled, “I appreciate your concern, but Lex isn’t cheating on me. I know it for a fact.”

Fanny’s face dropped. This was not the reaction she had envisioned. She scrambled, “Wait, I forgot to tell you. I know what he called the trollop.” Fanny apparently had zoned in all of the synonyms for slut while studying English. Teddy smiled and Fanny continued, “He called her Kitty Kat.”

Teddy smiled again, “I still don’t think he is cheating.”

“But…. but ….. But….. I have proof. I took pictures,” Fanny stuttered.

Teddy stopped in her tracks, “Show them to me.”

Fanny handed over her phone and Teddy studied the pictures. First the condom. Teddy recognized it immediately. She had put it in his Christmas stocking as a joke.

She remembered his loud groan as he pulled it out in front of their families. “Bliss- I am not living that one mistake down, am I?”

“Lex Love, you have made so few mistakes in this relationship compared to me. Let me have this one thing” she smiled mischievously, “Just promise that it doesn’t get used.”

He almost had the inappropriate retort out of his mouth before remembering their audience, “I promise”.

Next was the green nightgown. “Why does that look familiar?” she thought to herself. “I used to have one similar….” she thought, “but I haven’t seen it since the night that Lex went to Pittsburgh.” Her mind reassured her that she must have mentioned the missing nightgown in passing and he bought her one to replace it. There was no way that it could be HER nightgown.

Then she scrolled to the next picture. She audibly gasped and zoomed in. “Is that?” she questioned, “No, it can’t be.” There it was, sitting right next to Lex’s toiletry bag- her custom perfume from France. It wasn’t just any random perfume of some trollop. It was HER perfume. She started laughing. She wasn’t sure if it was from relief that she had proof that all of Fanny’s suspicions about Lex cheating led back to her or relief that she hadn’t actually lost one of the last tangible reminders she had of her sister. Whatever it was, she was filled with joy.

“I am the jezebel,” she said out loud without thinking.

“You are the what?” Fanny asked.

“I am the jezebel,” Teddy repeated and smiled.

“What you talking about?” Fanny exclaimed.

“You heard him on the phone making plans for later than night?” Teddy began her point by point “defense”. “He was talking to me. He was lonely so we made plans for phone sex later that night.” Internally Teddy winced. Lex would be mortified to know that she was speaking so freely about the intimacy, but she was sure that he would be even MORE mortified that people were under the impression that he was being unfaithful.

“Was the scent that you smelled woody and spicy with hints of amber?” Teddy began her next point. Teddy crossed her arms, “That’s my perfume. It is a custom made perfume - the only one like it in the world.” Teddy winced at the small lie. It was close enough to one of a kind for Fanny’s purposes.

“What was next?” Teddy went on. “Oh yeah, the rush to get you out of the room?” Teddy checked off her mental list, “Lex texted an SOS and I obliged with a fake panic attack. It worked like a charm.”

Fanny began to back away from Teddy. No, this was definitely not the way she thought this was going to go.

“Then you very rudely interrupted us because you left your phone like a dumbass,” Teddy stepped toward. She had begun to feel the anger form in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure where it was coming but it fueled her.

“But, but, but…..” Fanny tried to regain the upper hand, “It’s all the tell tale signs of a cheater.”

Teddy stepped up to her, “That may well be true, but you forgot three things.”

“What’s that?” Fanny spouted off.

“One- Lex is not a cheater. It’s not in his DNA,” Teddy said as a matter of fact, “He would break up with me before cheated on me.”

“Two,” she added, “He would have to be a special kind of stupid to cheat on me with my two best friends in the same hotel as well as a gaggle of WAGS apparently watching him like a hawk. Or was that just you?”

Fanny scoffed, “and what is three?”

Teddy laughed, “Well….”

Later, Lex sat on one end of the couch while Teddy sat on the other end. She sat cross legged, her body turned to face him. Lex was covered with sweat and his heart raced as Teddy told him the details of her confrontation. He could not make himself look at his beloved redhead.

“Lex?” she questioned, “Lex, are you hearing me?”

He simply nodded his head up and down.

“Lex Love,” she said softly as she began to crawl towards him, “Lex, look at me.”

“I…. I …..I can’t,” he whispered, “I can’t look at your face after what I’ve done.”

“What have you done?” she whispered back as she reached him. She placed a gentle kiss on his shoulder.

“People think I cheated on you Bliss. They have been gossiping about us,” he whispered.

“Lex Love,” she said more firmly, “Look at me.”

He brought his tear filled eyes to her face. He was expecting to be met with a look of hurt or disappointment, even anger. Instead, she looked at him with eyes sparkling with love.

“Do you think that I believe her? Do you think I believe that you would ever be unfaithful to me?” she pressed her hand to his cheek. “After everything that we have been through, you think I don’t trust you completely?”

“You don’t believe her?” he whispered, praying that he was hearing her words correctly.

“Fuck no, I don’t believe her,” Teddy smiled, “You would never cheat on me.”

“I never would, Bliss,” he placed his large hands on either side of her face and pulled her close so that their foreheads touched. “I would never want another woman. You are the one for me,” he said. His voice was low and filled with relief. “I can’t believe that she actually went to you. I am such an idiot,” he sighed.

“You’re not an idiot,” Teddy kissed him gently, “Remember we are whatever it takes, no matter what.” He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. His arms wrapped around her and squeezed her tight. She could feel the slight tremble as he held her. She nuzzled her face into his neck and soothed, “Lex Love, it’s okay. It’s okay. I am not going anywhere, but I do have questions.”

“Give me a minute,” he sighed.

“Take all the time you need,” she murmured as she pressed her lips into his neck. They sat together for a few minutes before he gave her the signal that he was ready. She sat up straight and rubbed her thumb across his forehead.

“So is that my green nightgown she saw in your room?” she questioned as she looked into his eyes. He nodded affirmatively. “Did you take it from my apartment before you left for PIttsburgh?” she asked.

Lex leaned his head back and gathered up the courage. “Not deliberately, but I was happy when I found it shoved in my bag. The scarf had lost its Bliss scent so I was happy to have a replacement.

“The scarf?” Teddy replied in surprise, “My scarf? The blue one?”

He blushed, “Yes, that was my first acquisition. It was an accident- I swear. Both of them were accidents.”

“And you acquired these things why?” she prodded.

“They smelled like you.” he choked out, “They smelled like you and if I had them, I could smell you on the road.”

“You wanted to smell me?” her brows furrowed together, “Why?”

“I kept the things so I could smell you and not miss you,” he looked down.

Teddy lifted his face with her finger so that she could look him in the eye. “You missed me? Even way back then?” she questioned, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t I tell you that I kept your things like some sort of freak with a scent fetish?,” he smiled tentatively, “Why didn’t I tell you that I was crazy about you even then?

Then his face fell again. “I was so crazy that I stole your perfume. I stole your Frankie perfume,” He looked up to judge her reaction. Her face was calm and serene. “I swear I didn’t know that it was your Frankie perfume then. I would have never taken it.” He sighed, “I wouldn’t have taken it if I knew it was your last thing from Frankie.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that it’s not actually lost then, eh?” Teddy laughed as she exaggerated the eh for his benefit.

“You are not mad?” he asked in surprise.

“When did you find out about all of the Fanny shenanigans?” Teddy asked, suddenly serious.

“Ummmm, yesterday - after the game,” Lex answered without thinking.

“What I am not thrilled with is that you knew something was going on last night and chose not to tell me, “she started. He went to interject but she held up a finger to stop him. “I don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it is because we got lucky. Fanny caught me on a good anxiety day where I could think clearly. This could have gone south really quickly and that would have sucked.” She stared into his eyes for a moment. “No matter what, whatever it takes includes the sucky conversations or what you THINK will be the sucky conversations.”

“I thought you would be upset,” he said finally.

“Then let me be upset rather than ambushed in my own apartment,” she countered.

He nodded in understanding. “Bliss, I am really sorry,” he pleaded, “I just didn’t know how to tell you after Seggy told me about the perfume.”

“Tyler knew about the perfume?” Teddy gasped, “For how long?”

“I don’t know- a couple of weeks,” Lex answered.

“Did he know about Fannygate?” Teddy asked.

Lex nodded his head in affirmation. “For the record, he told me to come clean to you. I didn’t listen and it turns out that he was right,” Lex explained, “Dammnit, don’t tell him that he was right. He will never let me live it down.”

“So what lessons we have learned from this?” Teddy questioned.

Lex sighed, “To have the hard conversations.”

Teddy leaned forward and kissed his neck, “and what else?”

“Fanny is a busybody,” he smiled.

“And what else?” she spread her legs and straddled his massive thighs.

“I don’t know. Tell me,” he murmured, “I am a little distracted.”

“Tyler is still a really good friend to you and you give him too much grief,” she resumed her nibbling on his neck.

“True,” he moaned softly, “Anything else.”

“Yes, ask next time you need something instead of taking it. I would have given you my other perfume. You know, the cheaper one,” she remarked.

“Yeah, but that’s not the special perfume,” he said as his hands grabbed her ass and pulled her into him.

“Special perfume?” she asked,

“Yes, the one that you wore when we first kissed,” he kissed languidly. “You also wore the first night that we…….”

“Fucked?” she finished for him, “Lex, you may be the sweetest man to ever exist.”

“You are really not mad?” he lifted her off the couch and started carrying her to the bedroom

“No, I am not mad,” she kissed him passionately. “Now, my dad on the other hand,” she grinned, “He is going to want to have a word with you when I tell him about the wild goose chase you sent him on.”

“Please don’t,” he pleaded with her as he set her on the bed and climbed on top of her body.

“I think I could be convinced to keep your secret,” she moaned, “If given the proper motivation.”

“All my love and devotion?” he grinned as he pushed her top and his mouth made contact her nipple.

“Do that thing with your mouth too,” she purred, “I’ll take that along with your lover and devotion.”

“You got it, Bliss….. You got it.”

[princessphilly]

Tag List for One Night In Seattle

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[senditcolton]

sacred in salt (pirate! jamie oleksiak x selkie! oc)

life is so short. this stretch of sea and sand, this walk on the shore, before the tide covers everything we have done. i love you... what else can i say?

eira had seen the truth of men. she had her fair share of abuses at their hands and so had her people. so when ships got caught in storms and men fell into the wine-dark sea, who could truly say whether the waves pulled them down to meet their end, or her pale hands? that was what they deserved, the fate that awaited all of them. every last one... except jamie. and that one small act of mercy sets off a tale of loving, of letting go, and of how the tide will always return.

[moodboard]

[beauvibaby]

📓

Plus size!OC x Jamie Oleksiak – coworker or friends to more

This is a fic ive actually done a lot of thought for but never have the courage to write because it’s an OC

[hockeyshmockey]

masterlist

yall idk how to make these but with the amount of f1 stories I have in my drafts I felt i should try.. this doesnt have any of my stuff from before the end of 2021 so sorry about that

Requests are open! especially for f1 :)

updated 3/18/2023

f1 driver stories, insta aus, blurbs

charles leclerc

champagne

5+1 times charles and alysia run into each other. charles x oc

blurb

post imola feels. charles x oc (alysia favale)

I gotta feeling

you surprise charles in bahrain. charles x reader 

midnight call

charles gets a late night call from you. charles x reader

lord perceval

you’re a youtuber. 5 times charles ended up in your videos, and one time you’re in his. charles x youtuber!reader

Pierre Gasly

wags (habs)

pierre dating a professional tennis player. pierre x oc

style

hadley takes over styling pierre, he joins her in a youtube video and everyone knows they’re in love. pierre x oc

ig au 2 3 

celeb yn insta edit

daniel ricciardo

ig au 2 3 4 country singer yn

this is it

sasha is at the Aus GP and can’t be more in love with this honeybadger. dan x oc

sydney

daniel and his wife have a baby. dan x female reader

lewis hamilton

sugar

lewis likes to spoil his girl. lewis x female reader

untitled

Lewis Hamilton is a loyal brit through and through. what happens when he meets the youngest member of the royal family? lewis x oc

untitled

lewis surprises his girlfriend at her fashion show. lewis x model!reader

ig au singer!yn au

she’s safe with me

request that went a lot sadder than anticipated!! prompt idea: lewis in a relationship with someone who has a good relationship with their dad. the ending would prob be like “don’t worry, i’ll keep her safe & happy just like you did, she’s in safe hands.” PLS. lewis x fem!reader

mick schumacher

crazy girl

mick and his childhood friend In love, thats it. mick x oc

embarassing

mick meets someone and gets a date in the most interesting of ways. mick x oc

bare with me

based on this request! Heyy would you please write a part 2 of crazy girl (mick story) where they end up talking about the kiss and their feelings? Cheers love xx. part 2 to crazy girl. mick x oc

max verstappen

familial ties

5 times max and isabella ricciardo annoy daniel with their relationship + 1 time he thinks he can get over it.  max x ricciardo!oc

champion

max wdc win smut. max x female reader

my girl

max goes looking for a fight after bahrain. max x oc

insane

jos and anna verstappen get into an altercation. time for max to step it up. max x fem oc

wing men

the moment when max has a crush and the paddock tries to help wing man. max x oc

insta au (characters from familial ties)

burning up

request: can I please request an at-home dinner date w/max where he makes food but is useless so you take over (he’s happy to watch tho bc he’s so in love) or you make food from the start as a sweet gesture or something, will leave the choice up to you! just absolute fluff and cuteness all around. max x reader

lando norris

day in the life

ciara goes through old quadrant videos and decides recreate one. lando x ofc

untitled blurb

lando coming home to you after a race. ln x reader

streaming

you wake up and Landos streaming. Lando x reader

insta au

carlos sainz 

meddler

natalia norris and carlos sainz just need a push in the right direction. carlos x norris!oc

insta au

regrets

after meddling to get his sister and former team mate together, Lando may have regrets (4+1). part 2 to meddler. carlos x norris sister!reader

sebastian vettel

love report

sebastian vettel? notorious flirt. what happens when his future wife is a reporter? seb x fem oc

nhl player stories, insta aus, blurbs

erik johnson

new number

you meet ej at a bachelorette weekend. ej x female reader

story

the ej x landeskog!sister moment I feel like I needed. ej x fem oc

cale makar

ig au

meant to be

cale makar x reader

jacob markstrom

baby fever

olivia is obsessed w her sister’s baby and jacob wants one. jacob x oc

jamie oleksiak

ig au

tyler seguin

sunshine

tyler with a pregnant reader