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December 2, 2010 Capitals 1 @ Stars 2
December 4, 2010 Thrashers 3 @ Capitals 1
December 6, 2010 Leafs 5 @ Capitals 4 (SO)
December 9, 2010 Panthers 3 @ Capitals 0
December 11, 2010 Avalanche 3 @ Capitals 2
December 12, 2010 Capitals 0 @ Rangers 7
December 15, 2010 Ducks 2 @ Capitals 1(OT)
December 18, 2010 Capitals 2 @ Bruins 3
December 19, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Senators 2
December 21, 2010 Devils 1@ Capitals 5
December 23, 2010 Penguins 3 @ Capitals 2 (SO)
December 26, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Hurricanes 2
December 28, 2010 Canadiens 0 @ Capitals 3
On the last game of the year, everything went right for the Capitals. They scored three goals. The Montreal Canadiens got 25 shots on goal and Semyon Varlamov stopped every single one. The Caps were playing good hockey again and they were going off to play in the Winter Classic a few days later in high spirits.
Nicky had an extra jump in his step when I met him after the game. We drove straight to his house after. Then we went straight to his room, where our bodies did most of the talking. After a big win, over 20 minutes of ice time wasn’t enough to exhaust Nicky for the night.
We hadn’t been together since the morning after Stoffe’s party but he didn’t rush through it. He was even better with his hands than I remembered, always in the right places along my body at all the right moments. He attached words in Swedish to my name and spoke them against my skin. I felt the sensation of his strokes, one after another, all the way down to my toes.
It took me a while to catch my breath when we finished. Nicky held me closely and continued to kiss me between deep breaths, our heart rates falling. Every surface of my skin was tingling.
“We should end every win like this,” he suggested as my heart was fluttering in my chest.
I giggled and dropped my head against the pillow, smiling at him.
“I think you’re good luck,” Nicky spoke again. “We win when you’re at the games. I’m excited for Pittsburgh.”
“Well maybe,” I suggested, smirking, “the hotel room will be more fun than the game.”
It was his turn to chuckle as he reached down and pulled the sheet over us.
On Christmas Day, by the time I checked my e-mail in the evening, Nicky had forwarded me an itinerary of a return flight to Pittsburgh and back, and reservation confirmation for a room at the same hotel the Caps were staying at, both in my name. There was no backing out of the New Year’s plans I’d agreed to.
Just as I thought, things were changing. Another week spent dating Nicky made it clear that we were headed beyond that. It wasn’t going to be enough to just go out on creative dates with him when he was home and talk to him every day. Two weeks before when Nicky went on the road with his team, it was just a couple of days until I went on a date with him again. After Christmas, when the team went to Raleigh, I missed him.
The fact that we’d moved so fast didn’t have to be a bad thing. It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t a mistake. It just...was. My sister was right. Everything wasn’t going to move at a pace that I wanted it to—and it didn’t have to. Nicky and I got to know each other and got close to each other, how we did was just a detail.
“I’m so happy you’re going,” Nicky said, moving a knee between my thighs and tracing over my hipbone.
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him say that. He’d said it a few times since I agreed to go to Pittsburgh. I knew there was an implication in his words even if he didn’t say what he was actually thinking out loud. If there was one knock against Nicky, it was that he didn’t—or felt like he couldn’t—always tell me what he wanted to say. When it came to flirting and going out together and getting me into bed he was bold, but he wouldn’t step on my toes. He hadn’t even said the word ‘girlfriend’ since I told him to give it time.
Since then, he seemed pretty unsure of himself with regards to scoping my reactions. I thought that I might have even hurt his feelings when I asked for time. He was a darling among everyone around him—his team, the media, the fans—after all. I didn’t think he expected everything to go his way, but there probably wasn’t much he had to ask for if he wanted it. I could tell he was wary that I wouldn’t end up going to Pittsburgh and that was why he kept saying he was happy for me to be going.
“I’m not backing out,” I answered, stilling his hand on my hip, covering it with my own palm. “But it is too much.”
“What do you mean?” he wondered.
“Pittsburgh,” I replied simply. “Me going at your expense.”
“Is no big deal, really.”
But it was. I was well aware that at the end of the day, what he was spending on my trip was just chump change to him. In real world terms though, it was pricey and a huge present. It was the kind of thing you gave to someone who had earned it. I didn’t think that I inherently deserved to be treated well or get hockey tickets for my family or get to go to the Winter Classic just because he thought I was cute and I was dating him. I wanted those things to come with mutual respect of each other. I certainly hoped that along the way in our accelerated pace I’d earned it.
I tucked a few strands of blond hair behind his ear and spoke, “I’m getting a much better Winter Classic experience than most.”
“Erin, I…I really like you and care about you.” He looked at me with honest eyes. “I just want to share it with you.”
I kissed the bridge of his nose, whispering, “You’re amazing.”
His expression didn’t change. “I think you are, too.”
When Nicky just said what he was thinking, I didn’t have to wonder about anything. In his mind, I’d earned what I needed to and was getting my just deserve. Content, I took his hand from my hip and intertwined our fingers. The sheet that covered us moved downward slightly, showing off some of our skin, as our elbows hovered in the air underneath.
“What will you tell people if they ask about me?” I asked seriously.
Going to Pittsburgh was going to be public. We weren’t just going to be able to hide inside the hotel room. The HBO cameras and other media were going to be on ice for the friends and family skate. I didn’t expect that the hockey media was particularly interested in Nicky’s personal life or that they would ask him about it if they saw me there with him. But pictures could get published and we might be deemed official, in the photo gallery of the NHL’s website, of all places, before we were official.
There were also the majority of his teammates, most of whom I had yet to meet, that might be curious. If they truly were his second family then they would care and he would have to explain.
“I’ll tell the truth,” Nicky responded.
“Which is what?”
“I’ll say you are my favorite person.”
He started grinning halfway through his sentence and his megawatt smile was infectious. I kissed it right off his face as our fingers parted. Nicky pulled me even closer than we already were, leaving no space between us. Our tongues collided and his hand slid up to support the back of my neck. Before things could get heated again, I pulled back, ready to speak. He didn’t give me much room to breathe. Our foreheads were nearly touching.
“Nicky?” I spoke his name.
“What is it?” he whispered, staring at me with his lips pursed.
I blinked and moved back a little further so I could see his entire face in focus, not just specks of green in his sepia eyes. I breathed in deeply. “Do you still want me to be your girlfriend?”
His lips parted and he sighed. But it wasn’t a wary sigh. I thought I could see a few different ideas forming in his mind by the expression on his face before he settled on a smirk and a one word answer. “Why?”
“I want to be your girlfriend,” I answered, touching his chest. “If you want.”
He pulled me back into his arms. “I want.”
“Okay,” I smiled. I’d barely said it before he was kissing me again.
Skin against skin and no room to breathe, we resumed our activity. When I brushed my foot against his shin, Nicky used his weight to roll me flat onto my back against the mattress. The details were sorted out. He was on his knees between my legs, hovering over me as and hovering at my entrance as he kissed my neck. His lips traveled up my jawline and then he spoke huskily in my ear, “I want.”
December 4, 2010 Thrashers 3 @ Capitals 1
December 6, 2010 Leafs 5 @ Capitals 4 (SO)
December 9, 2010 Panthers 3 @ Capitals 0
December 11, 2010 Avalanche 3 @ Capitals 2
December 12, 2010 Capitals 0 @ Rangers 7
December 15, 2010 Ducks 2 @ Capitals 1(OT)
December 18, 2010 Capitals 2 @ Bruins 3
December 19, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Senators 2
December 21, 2010 Devils 1@ Capitals 5
December 23, 2010 Penguins 3 @ Capitals 2 (SO)
December 26, 2010 Capitals 3 @ Hurricanes 2
December 28, 2010 Canadiens 0 @ Capitals 3
On the last game of the year, everything went right for the Capitals. They scored three goals. The Montreal Canadiens got 25 shots on goal and Semyon Varlamov stopped every single one. The Caps were playing good hockey again and they were going off to play in the Winter Classic a few days later in high spirits.
Nicky had an extra jump in his step when I met him after the game. We drove straight to his house after. Then we went straight to his room, where our bodies did most of the talking. After a big win, over 20 minutes of ice time wasn’t enough to exhaust Nicky for the night.
We hadn’t been together since the morning after Stoffe’s party but he didn’t rush through it. He was even better with his hands than I remembered, always in the right places along my body at all the right moments. He attached words in Swedish to my name and spoke them against my skin. I felt the sensation of his strokes, one after another, all the way down to my toes.
It took me a while to catch my breath when we finished. Nicky held me closely and continued to kiss me between deep breaths, our heart rates falling. Every surface of my skin was tingling.
“We should end every win like this,” he suggested as my heart was fluttering in my chest.
I giggled and dropped my head against the pillow, smiling at him.
“I think you’re good luck,” Nicky spoke again. “We win when you’re at the games. I’m excited for Pittsburgh.”
“Well maybe,” I suggested, smirking, “the hotel room will be more fun than the game.”
It was his turn to chuckle as he reached down and pulled the sheet over us.
On Christmas Day, by the time I checked my e-mail in the evening, Nicky had forwarded me an itinerary of a return flight to Pittsburgh and back, and reservation confirmation for a room at the same hotel the Caps were staying at, both in my name. There was no backing out of the New Year’s plans I’d agreed to.
Just as I thought, things were changing. Another week spent dating Nicky made it clear that we were headed beyond that. It wasn’t going to be enough to just go out on creative dates with him when he was home and talk to him every day. Two weeks before when Nicky went on the road with his team, it was just a couple of days until I went on a date with him again. After Christmas, when the team went to Raleigh, I missed him.
The fact that we’d moved so fast didn’t have to be a bad thing. It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t a mistake. It just...was. My sister was right. Everything wasn’t going to move at a pace that I wanted it to—and it didn’t have to. Nicky and I got to know each other and got close to each other, how we did was just a detail.
“I’m so happy you’re going,” Nicky said, moving a knee between my thighs and tracing over my hipbone.
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him say that. He’d said it a few times since I agreed to go to Pittsburgh. I knew there was an implication in his words even if he didn’t say what he was actually thinking out loud. If there was one knock against Nicky, it was that he didn’t—or felt like he couldn’t—always tell me what he wanted to say. When it came to flirting and going out together and getting me into bed he was bold, but he wouldn’t step on my toes. He hadn’t even said the word ‘girlfriend’ since I told him to give it time.
Since then, he seemed pretty unsure of himself with regards to scoping my reactions. I thought that I might have even hurt his feelings when I asked for time. He was a darling among everyone around him—his team, the media, the fans—after all. I didn’t think he expected everything to go his way, but there probably wasn’t much he had to ask for if he wanted it. I could tell he was wary that I wouldn’t end up going to Pittsburgh and that was why he kept saying he was happy for me to be going.
“I’m not backing out,” I answered, stilling his hand on my hip, covering it with my own palm. “But it is too much.”
“What do you mean?” he wondered.
“Pittsburgh,” I replied simply. “Me going at your expense.”
“Is no big deal, really.”
But it was. I was well aware that at the end of the day, what he was spending on my trip was just chump change to him. In real world terms though, it was pricey and a huge present. It was the kind of thing you gave to someone who had earned it. I didn’t think that I inherently deserved to be treated well or get hockey tickets for my family or get to go to the Winter Classic just because he thought I was cute and I was dating him. I wanted those things to come with mutual respect of each other. I certainly hoped that along the way in our accelerated pace I’d earned it.
I tucked a few strands of blond hair behind his ear and spoke, “I’m getting a much better Winter Classic experience than most.”
“Erin, I…I really like you and care about you.” He looked at me with honest eyes. “I just want to share it with you.”
I kissed the bridge of his nose, whispering, “You’re amazing.”
His expression didn’t change. “I think you are, too.”
When Nicky just said what he was thinking, I didn’t have to wonder about anything. In his mind, I’d earned what I needed to and was getting my just deserve. Content, I took his hand from my hip and intertwined our fingers. The sheet that covered us moved downward slightly, showing off some of our skin, as our elbows hovered in the air underneath.
“What will you tell people if they ask about me?” I asked seriously.
Going to Pittsburgh was going to be public. We weren’t just going to be able to hide inside the hotel room. The HBO cameras and other media were going to be on ice for the friends and family skate. I didn’t expect that the hockey media was particularly interested in Nicky’s personal life or that they would ask him about it if they saw me there with him. But pictures could get published and we might be deemed official, in the photo gallery of the NHL’s website, of all places, before we were official.
There were also the majority of his teammates, most of whom I had yet to meet, that might be curious. If they truly were his second family then they would care and he would have to explain.
“I’ll tell the truth,” Nicky responded.
“Which is what?”
“I’ll say you are my favorite person.”
He started grinning halfway through his sentence and his megawatt smile was infectious. I kissed it right off his face as our fingers parted. Nicky pulled me even closer than we already were, leaving no space between us. Our tongues collided and his hand slid up to support the back of my neck. Before things could get heated again, I pulled back, ready to speak. He didn’t give me much room to breathe. Our foreheads were nearly touching.
“Nicky?” I spoke his name.
“What is it?” he whispered, staring at me with his lips pursed.
I blinked and moved back a little further so I could see his entire face in focus, not just specks of green in his sepia eyes. I breathed in deeply. “Do you still want me to be your girlfriend?”
His lips parted and he sighed. But it wasn’t a wary sigh. I thought I could see a few different ideas forming in his mind by the expression on his face before he settled on a smirk and a one word answer. “Why?”
“I want to be your girlfriend,” I answered, touching his chest. “If you want.”
He pulled me back into his arms. “I want.”
“Okay,” I smiled. I’d barely said it before he was kissing me again.
Skin against skin and no room to breathe, we resumed our activity. When I brushed my foot against his shin, Nicky used his weight to roll me flat onto my back against the mattress. The details were sorted out. He was on his knees between my legs, hovering over me as and hovering at my entrance as he kissed my neck. His lips traveled up my jawline and then he spoke huskily in my ear, “I want.”
Great story!
11/16/18