"Tuukka!" I screamed in excitement as I saw him walking out of arrivals gate next to a shorter guy.
"Great to see your pretty face babe." He said as he wrapped his arms around me, engulfing my body with his. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Since I had agreed to a date things got a lot more flirty between us, honestly I was loving it.
"This your girl man?" The shorter guy asked Tuukka.
"Naw we're just friends. For now." He said casting a wink my way making my cheeks heat up.
"Jessica Belk." I said sticking my hand out.
"Brad Marchand. I play with Tuukka in Providence." He said shaking my hand.
"Oh nice." I said smiling at him.
"Yeah Bradley here has a meeting with the top guys here." Tuukka chimed in as he swung his arm around my shoulder leaning on me.
"Oh how exciting. How long have you been with Providence?" I asked. Suddenly I was being lead towards baggage claim by Tuukka with Brad following beside us.
"Not to long. I've been warned that I won't get to Boston that quick and that I shouldn't get my hopes up or anything." He said shrugging.
"Well that wasn't a nice thing to say. Who knows what will happen. If you're good enough you'll make it to Boston." I said shrugging.
"You know I think we're gonna get along." Brad said grinned after a minute making me grin back at him.
"Do you need a ride anywhere?" I asked as Tuukka walked toward the small Starbucks shop a few steps away.
"If it's not to much trouble. It'll save some cab fare." He grinned sheepishly and I smiled as I shook my head.
"No problem at all. Tuukka has to be at TD garden in about an hour for a meeting. Where do you have to go?" I asked.
"Same as Tuuk. We both have meetings. Mine is after his."
"No problem." I said. Tuukka walked back over to us and threw his arm around my shoulder again.
"Are we ready? How are you getting to the garden Brad?" Tuukka asked as I stole his coffee.
"Jess here has offered me a ride. If that's okay with you." Brad said and Tuuk shook his head.
"No problem." He said. I made a face of disgust at Tuukka's coffee and handed it back to him.
"What?" He asked looking at me with a smile on his face.
"Much to bitter." I commented making him laugh some more. I led the guys out to the parking lot and to Nathan's borrowed truck.
"You can toss your stuff back here." I said pointing to the bed and they tossed their heavy suitcases and hockey bags as well. I hopped in the drivers seat and waited as they got in as well, Brad in the back and Tuukka in the passenger.
"You sure you're close enough there?" Tuukka asked laughing as he saw that I was practically hugging the steering wheel.
"Hey not all of us are 6 feet! Some of us are petite." I defended as I started the car.
"Are you sure you can handle a car this big?" Tuuk continued to tease as I drove down the street.
"Keep talking wise guy!" I retorted making Brad laugh loudly.
"You guys are like a married couple." He said.
"So I was thinking that after my meeting we can see if can get on the ice. Settle our bet." Tuukka said turning in his seat to face me.
"It was hardly a bet but yeah that works." I said making him smile.
"What bet?" Brad chinned from the backseat leanin forward so his head poked between our seats.
"We have a bet. Whoever wins decides where we go on our date." Tuukka said looking at him.
"Oooh you guys have a date? When?" He asked looking at me.
"I don't know. We still have to figure out who's deciding what we're doing." I said shrugging. The rest of the ride was filled with talk between the two guys.
"Where do I go?" I asked as I pulled up to TD Garden.
"Around back in the players parking lot." Tuukka said pointing to an entrance. I nodded and pulled in and turned the car off. We all got out of the truck and as soon as I was next to him Tuukka slung his arm around my shoulder bringing me closer to him. I looked over and saw Brad grinning at us. We separated when I saw some guys in suits waiting for them.
"I'll be elsewhere." I said breaking away.
"I'll text you when I'm done." Tuuk said before kissing my cheek and leaving me with Brad.
"So you and Tuukka..." He trailed off with a quiet laugh.
"What about us?" I asked raising my eyebrow at him.
"You guys seem chummy. How long have you known each other?" He asked.
"It's been a while. I met him at the end of last year." I said and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Wow so a while then. And you're just now going on a date? Like your first one?" He asked and I nodded.
"Yeah. We talk and hang out when he's here. Guess we built up to it." I said shrugging.
"What do you do? Where are you from? How old are you?" He fired off suddenly making my eyes widen.
"Umm I work for my brothers contracting business. I'm from Denver and I'm 20." I said mentally going over his questions. We talked more finding more about each other until Tuukka came out.
"Hey guys." He said sitting down next to me.
"Hey. How did your meeting go?" Brad asked and Tuuk shrugged.
"I have no idea though I never really known." He said and Brad nodded.
"I should probably head to my meeting. It was nice to meet you Jess. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other." He smiled before walking off.
"He seems nice." I commented as we watched him walk off.
"He is. Has a temper though. He's known as a pest." Tuukka laughed.
"Sounds like someone I know!" I laughed as I bumped my shoulder with his.
"Hey! I am not a pest!" He laughed throwing his arm around me and bring my closer. I laughed and braced myself against his legs as he twisted my body to his.
"Alright how bout we get on the ice now. It should be free." Tuukka said. I nodded and he grabbed my hand and dragged me to the truck so he could grab his gear.
"Do you have skates with you?" He asked. I quickly looked through the back of the truck and sighed in frustration when I couldn't find them
"No they're not in here. I guess I'll risk it and shoot while walking." I said to myself.
"Alright well we'll figure it out. Let's get inside." He said heading back inside. I sat on the bench and watched him get his pads on but I noticed he left his skates.
"What about your skates?" I asked as he got on the ice. He turned back to me and smiled as he gripped his helmet.
"I figure that since you don't have any I won't wear any. Now grab that stick and get your butt on the ice!" He joked as he out his helmet on and walked to his net. I grabbed the stuck that was way to big and a crate of pucks.
"So all you have to do is make two shots on me and you decide our date." Tuukka said pointing to the crate. I nodded and grabbed a couple pucks out and dropped them. Trying to get these pucks in was a bigger task without skates. It was mainly me taking a step or two and then falling in some ungraceful way.
"Ugh this sucks!" I said as I laid in the ice from falling once again.
"You're really ungraceful." Tuukka said as he walked to help me up.
"Shush. Can I just give up now to save myself 100 potential bruises." I pleaded as he leaned over me grinning.
"I suppose I can allow that." He grinned as he held a hand out to me.
"Think you can make a shot from halfway?" I asked. He looked back and forth and nodded confidently. "Lets see what you've got big shot!" He laughed and took the stick I was using and a puck before walking carefully to the middle of the rink tover the big logo painted on the ice. I quickly went over and joined him. He drew his stick back and shot the puck as hard as he could and I watched it as it bounced off the bar in the back of the net and slid back out.
"You made it!" I said smiling.
"Have any doubt?" He asked cockily as he looked at me and I shook my head.
"Shush!" I said smacking his arm playfully. He laughed and wrapped me in a hug. I leaned back and looked at him and I saw his smile slowly fade as his eyes darted all around my face. I slowly leaned up to him and he was leaning down.
"Hey guys!" Brads voice shouted behind us making us jump apart and lose our balance falling in a messy heap.

Notes

Can someone please let me know what they think of this?