Tyler’s teammates were starting to trickle in. Everyone was hanging out in his kitchen and dining room where all the food and drinks were. Bailey was having a great time catching up with Brittany and Katie. Their conversation primarily revolved around Bailey recounting her date with Tyler earlier that day. It didn’t feel like an inquisition to Bailey as she answered all their questions. It was almost as easy talking to them as it is to talk to Emily and Christina. She knew the girls were truly interested and they were forging new friendships.
Tyler watched Bailey from across the room. He was relieved that she was still getting along so well with his teammates’ wives. They hated all the other girls he had introduced to them and had no problem letting him know. Brittany even made Looch talk to him about the last girl he dated to help him realize she was a gold digging whore. He would be forever indebted to them, as it turned out she was trying to get pregnant to force Tyler to marry her. Thanks to Brittany’s insistence he found out before it was too late and dumped her. He knew Bailey wasn’t like that from the start, but it was still nice to know that his friends seemed to like her as much as he did.

“Do you mind if I steal Bailey away for a minute? I want to introduce her to some more of the guys.” Tyler asked as he took Bailey’s hand in his.

“Not at all, there will be plenty of opportunities for us to talk.” Brittany said with an approving smile to Tyler.

Tyler and Bailey walked hand in hand back to the kitchen where he introduced her to Chara and Krejci.
“Holy heck, you’re tall enough to hunt geese with a rake!” Bailey said as she stared up at the man who was almost 2 feet taller than her. Everyone around burst into a fit of laughter.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Bailey blushed and turned into Tyler’s arm to hide her face and seek comfort.

“It’s ok, I get that all the time.” Chara said reassuringly to Bailey.

“Bailey, I get where you’re coming from. I feel like a little person every time I stand next to him during the National Anthem before a game. The man’s a fucking giant!” Andrew said.

Everyone laughed again, before they could change the topic of conversation, Marchy stormed into the condo. “I’m here, so the party can begin!” He high fived and greeted everyone as he passed them and headed toward the kitchen. “Bailey!” he cried out as he scooped her up into a bear hug.

“It’s good to see you again too, Brad.” She giggled still in Brad’s strong arms.

“You can put her down now.” Tyler said feeling a little territorial and protective of Bailey. “Why don’t you introduce us to your date?” staring at the scantily clad woman now standing beside Marchy.

Brad set Bailey down, “Oh yeah, this is Mandy. Mandy this is Bailey and Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you Tyler.” Mandy said as she flipped her hair before putting her hand out towards Tyler, licking her lips, and sticking her very large and obviously fake chest forward.

Bailey put one arm around Tyler’s waist, catching Tyler pleasantly by surprise. Bailey took Mandy’s hand, squeezing as hard as she could. “Nice to meet you too. The drinks are over there, you can help yourself.”

Mandy glared at Bailey before Brad grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the drinks.

“Stupid puck fuck!” Bailey said under her breath but not soft enough to prevent Tyler from catching.
“I take it you don’t like Marchy’s date?”

“You heard that? Me and my stupid big mouth, better shut up before I get into more trouble!”

“It will be our little secret and I happen to really like that cute mouth of yours.” Tyler said with a wink.

“Well in that case, you need to tell Brad he can do so much better than that skank!”

“Will do, but I’m pretty sure she won’t be around after tonight.” Tyler chuckled and pulled Bailey into a quick embrace.

“Yo Segs, where’d you get this bruschetta?” Dougie asked.

“Tyler made it.” Bailey said with a sense of pride as she turned to face Dougie.

“You better spit it out Dougie, we’d hate to lose you before the season starts.” Marchy shouted as he headed back to the kitchen with a beer in hand and his date trailing behind.

“Asshole! Bailey helped me make it, so it’s perfectly safe.”

“Well in that case, let me try it.” Marchy grabbed one off the plate and took a bite. “Damn woman, you can cook! This is almost as good as your brownies. If I score a goal in our game for you, will you cook for me?”

“Thanks, but I really can’t take all the credit for the bruschetta. Tyler was a quick learner and really did a great job helping me make it.”

Tyler wrapped his arms around Bailey’s waist and leaned down and spoke in her ear, “Thank you.”

“You didn’t answer my question. If I score a goal for you, will you cook for me?”

“If she’s going to cook for anyone, it’s going to be me.” Tyler said as he pulled Bailey closer into him.

Freddy chimed in, “I like this idea! What do you say to giving Tyler a little incentive to scoring?”

“Yeah Bailey, help the team out and give Tyler some extra motivation!” Looch said.

Bailey turned to face Tyler and his lips pulled back and a grin widened across his cheeks. It was the most heart warming yet disarming smile she’d ever seen. There was no way she could resist.
“Although I don’t think Tyler needs any help, I’ll bite. I’ll cook him anything he wants for every point he gets on your upcoming road trip.”

“Every point?” Tyler questioned Bailey.

“Yes, every point you get on the road. Heck, out of the kindness of my heart, I will even make Brad something if he scores a goal in the first game.”

“SWEET! Your on!” Marchy hollered.

“Do we have a deal Tyler?” Freddy asked.

“Fuck yeah, we do! We’ll be eating great very soon, thanks to Bailey.”

“You have to hold your end of the bargain up too you know.” Bailey reminded Tyler.

“No problem!” Tyler said before giving Bailey a quick peck on the cheek. “Now everybody grab some food and a drink and lets watch a movie.”

Tyler and Bailey were the last two to enter the living room. His couch and all the chairs were taken. Bailey followed Tyler, assuming he was headed to an open spot on the floor. He stopped in front of the last seat on the couch where Dougie was seated.

“Sorry man, that seat’s reserved.” Tyler told Dougie.

“It’s ok Tyler, I told you I don’t mind sitting on the floor.”

“Well I do. Sorry man you got to get up.”

Bailey gave Dougie and apologetic smile as he got up and she and Tyler took his spot on the large expresso colored, leather sectional couch. Tyler put their drinks on the side table next to their seat, then reached down to push the recline button. Caught off guard by the suddenly reclining seat, Bailey grabbed Tyler’s forearm. Once the seat was totally reclined and the footrest extended, Tyler removed his hand from the button and they both relaxed in the seat.

“I’m glad you made Dougie move.” Bailey whispered in Tyler’s ear before resting her head on his shoulder.

“We’re ready for the movie; what’d you bring Dougie?” Soupy asked.

“Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” Dougie said as he handed it to Freddy to put in the DVD player.

“Yo Segs, you better hide the popcorn and go get your helmet on to protect that perfectly chiseled face of yours.” Marchy joked clearly in reference to Bailey’s over reaction in the movie theater.

“You better watch it Brad, or I won’t cook you anything goal or not!” Bailey hollered back and threw one of throw pillows on the couch at him.

“Whoa, you’re a feisty little one aren’t you.”

“That’s right, and you’ll be good to remember that.”

“I’ll be good I promise.” Marchy said with a wink in Bailey’s direction.

“I thought you told Dougie no horror movies? I might as well just go hang out in your bedroom with Marshall for the next two hours.” Bailey whispered to Tyler.

“As appealing as it would be for me to join you there, I can’t since it’s my party. Besides it’s not what you think, just watch.” Tyler said as he moved his arm to wrap it around Bailey’s shoulders.

Freddy popped the movie in and skipped over all the previews. Everyone was watching as Tyler’s wide screen lit up with this buxom blonde going down on this wannabe Chris Hemsworth. Bailey’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe Dougie had accidentally brought a porn.

“Ooooh, GROSS! Turn it off!” Brittany yelled.

“Dougie, what the hell’s wrong with you?” Soupy said as he smacked Dougie on the back of the head.

“Yeah man, there are ladies here. What were you thinking?” Looch asked.

“I swear it’s not my movie! I don’t know how it got in there.” Dougie said with a confused bright red face.

“Yeah right, just admit it your addicted to porn.” Marchy teased.

“No honest, I wouldn’t bring a movie like that, especially knowing girls would be here. You gotta believe me! I don’t know what the fuck happened! I’m so sorry!” Dougie started shaking his head in disbelief as he covered his face with his hands.

“Ok, I can’t do this anymore. Look at him; he looks like he could cry. Tell him the truth!” Brittany said.

“Dougie, you make it too easy! Marchy switched your movie out when he got here. We thought it would be fun to watch you squirm and you didn’t disappoint. If you could have seen your face when the movie started, fuckin’ hilarious!” Looch told Dougie.

“Fuck all of you! That wasn’t funny!” Dougie squawked and everyone in the room busted out laughing.

“So is there a real movie we are going to watch?” Bailey asked, hoping to shift attention off Dougie because she felt bad for him.

“Freddy put in ‘Fast and Furious 6’” Tyler said.

About ¾ of the way through the movie, Bailey dozed off, nuzzled against Tyler with her hand resting on his chest. He was aimlessly playing with her hair when he heard Brittany scream. He shot up taking Bailey with him. She stared at him confused as she was just woken from her stupor.

“Stay here.” Tyler said as he gently squeezed her hand and then followed after Looch who took off like a bat out of hell when he heard his wife scream.

Brittany jumped into Looch’s arms shaking hysterically.

“What the hell happened? Did you see a mouse or a spider?” Looch asked, while rubbing Brittany’s back to calm her and carrying her back to the living room.

“There’s a snake in the bathroom!” She screeched.

“A snake? It’s probably just a sock or something they left lying around.” Soupy said.

“I know what I saw, it’s a SNAKE!”

Bailey went to the cooler to get Brittany a bottle of water, while Tyler and Freddy headed to the guest bathroom to figure out what Brittany saw.

“Holy shit! It is a snake!” Tyler yelled and several of his teammates ran to check it out and take pictures.

Tyler came back to the living room to find Bailey and Katie trying to comfort Brittany who was now sitting in Looch’s lap. He showed them all a picture of the snake.

“It looks pretty big, how on Earth did it get in here?” Bailey asked.

“Not sure, my guess is through the pipes or a vent.” Tyler said.

“You need to call animal control to get it removed.” Katie told Freddy and Tyler.

“Where’s Marshall?” Bailey asked

“I don’t know, why?” Tyler asked.

“Because you have a frickin’ snake in your house and it might hurt him.” Bailey said, now very worried scrambling around trying to find the puppy.

Tyler’s teammates all started to hunt for Marshall and made sure the door to the bathroom was shut. After a few minutes, Dougie found Marshall in Tyler’s closet asleep. He carried the pup over to Tyler who looked relieved.

“The animal control office is closed. I called a couple of other places I found online, but they are all closed until Monday.” Freddy said.

“Should we try to move it?” Tyler asked Freddy.

“Absolutely not! You don’t know if it’s poisonous.” Bailey grabbed Tyler’s hand, fretting for his and Freddy’s safety. Everyone agreed that nobody should mess with the snake.

“Your best bet is to keep that door closed and see if you can find anyone to come out tomorrow to remove it. Get them to check to make sure there aren’t any more of them too.” Andrew told Tyler.

“More? I didn’t even think about that. Crap, Marshall can’t stay here until I take care of this.”

“Marshall can stay with me. I promise I’ll take good care of him.” Bailey suggested to Tyler.

“You sure you don’t mind? You saw that he can be a handful sometimes.”

“It will be my pleasure. He can stay as long as you need.”

Tyler leaned in a kissed the top of Bailey’s head, “You’re the best.”

“I know.” She replied with a giggle.

“I guess this party is over, sorry guys.”

“It’s ok man, we understand. Besides this evening was full of excitement. Can’t wait to tell the girls about the snake in the morning. Hope to see you again soon Bailey.” Andrew hugged Bailey before he and his wife, Krista told everyone goodnight.

Tyler gave Brittany a hug and apologized to her; he felt awful that she had been so scared in his place. He promised he’d make it up to her. She told him it wasn’t his fault and that he should focus on Bailey, Milan would take care of her. She kissed Tyler on the cheek and then headed out the door.

After everyone left, Tyler grabbed Marshall’s leash, his favorite toys, some treats, and his food. “Let me get his bed and we can head out.” Tyler told Bailey.

“No need, Marshall’s going to sleep in the bed with me.”

“Hear that buddy, you’re the luckiest pup in the world!” Tyler said as he carried Marshall and his things out the door. Bailey giggled as she followed them.

Tyler and Bailey had a blast singing along to the country hits on the car stereo on the way over to her apartment. Tyler was quite impressed with Bailey’s voice and complimented her. He found out she use to sing in the choir at church and was in musical theatre when she was younger. He loved learning new things about Bailey every time they talked. He never got bored just listening to her and that wasn’t something he could say about most of the girls he hung out with.

Tyler carried Marshall and all of his things up to Bailey’s apartment. Once inside, he shared important info regarding how to care for Marshall. Bailey took notes and posted them on her refrigerator.

“I guess that’s everything, so I should get going.” Tyler said as he started towards the door and Bailey followed. He turned to face her, “I had a really great time today.” Tyler’s eyes locked on Bailey’s, and he took a step closer and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

She swallowed, “Me too. I hope…” Her words got lost in her head as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She was certain her heart was pounding faster than ever before as Tyler looked down at her. He gave her that special smile and caressed her cheek before lifting her chin. He leaned down and she could feel the warmth of his breath brushing the top of her lip. She stared back into his big brown eyes and put her arms around his waist. This was the moment they’d both been waiting for all day. Before they could fully capitalize on the emotions that had been building all day, Emily stormed into the apartment. Bailey leaned into Tyler and banged her head into his chest out of frustration that yet again the moment was ruined.

“Everything ok Em?” She asked clearly aggravated, her head still in Tyler’s chest.

“Everything’s perfect! I think I just called off the wedding.” Emily sarcastically said as she grabbed a pint of Half Baked Ben and Jerry’s ice cream from the freezer. She started to sob as she headed to her room.

“You better go check on her.” Tyler said genuinely concerned for Emily.

“I’m sorry.” Bailey said as she looked up at Tyler.

“Goodnight Bay,” he whispered into her ear. She could feel every inch of his breath on her cheek, giving rise to goose bumps on every inch of her body. Bailey leaned back into Tyler’s chest to hide her embarrassing reaction of her yet again flushed cheeks. He kissed the top of her head before she let go and headed off to check on her roommate and he let himself out.

Notes

Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but school is taking over again. I hope you like it! I know y'all want the kiss; I promise it's coming but Tyler and Bailey will have to wait a little bit longer.

Let me know what you think of the story so far. I'm trying hard not to rush it as I want to show their relationship grow in a somewhat realistic fashion.