It was the last charity event for the Bruins before they kicked off the 2013-14 season against the New York Islanders at home. They’d trained hard, got a couple of bruises, but couldn’t wait to start the season. Of course there would be charity events during the season, but this was the only one where every last one of the team was present. They’d have the following day off before the game a day later, so they were allowed to enjoy themselves. Have a drink, dance with a woman, whatever they wanted.
Tuukka Rask was there alone, because Mika had to stay at home with the baby. Gregory, now finally married to Abby, the love of his life, was already on the dance floor. Benoit and Kara were no longer with them. Pouliot was now playing for Tampa Bay, and Kara spent some time in Boston, and some with Benoit. As a writer of erotic fiction, she could work anywhere.
Adam McQuaid was leaning against the bar along with some of his teammates. Shawn Thornton was nipping on his bourbon, while Andrew Ference scanned the room. He was talking to Tyler Seguin about the upcoming game. They couldn’t wait to start. Adam listened to the conversation next to him when something, or rather someone, caught his eye.
There were men in suits and lots of women in beautiful dresses, but only this one got his attention. Without the black heals she was wearing, she was about five foot seven. The long black dressed hugged her curves in all the right places. Her light brown hair was pinned up. Her left hand lay in the one of the man next to her, who leaned down to kiss her cheek. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“She’s hot,” Brad Marchand said next to him, getting his attention.
“Who’s the guy next to her?” That was the one thing Adam had to know.
“Ben Lowell.” This time it was Shawn who spoke to him. “Multi millionaire. He inherited some money, but earned a lot on the stock market and with investments. He does a lot for charity. Why do you want to know?”
“Because I know the woman at his side.”
Right then Ben Lowell left the woman alone, and Adam used this opportunity to go over there. He stopped right in front of her, making her tip her head back a little so that she could still look in his eyes. Her eyes widened when she realized who was standing in front of her.
“Rylee Sinclair,” Adam said with a grin. “It’s been years.” Looking in her brown-green eyes framed by extremely long lashes brought back memories of laughing with her for hours, rolling around in the grass, and holding each other in the freezing nights. Those had been good times. Really good times.
“Adam!” she said a tad too loud. She wanted to hug him, but held back before she did something to embarrass herself. Yes, he’d broken her heart, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t missed him. Quite the contrary. But now she was engaged to a prestigious man and had to behave that way. Hugging someone, a man, she hadn’t seen in years, was frowned upon. “I heard that athletes would be here, but I didn’t expect to actually see you.”
She was glad she saw him now. Her whole body told her that. But before he’d stood in front of her, she’d hoped that she wouldn’t meet him. They hadn’t seen each other since he’d broken up with her.
“And I didn’t even know you were in Boston.”
“How would you? We haven’t talked in ages. I’ve been living here for a couple of months now.”
He hadn’t changed that much. Every now and then she’d seen photos of him on the news, in the newspapers. He’d grown his hair out again. Back when they were going out she’d always wanted him to let his hair grow a little bit more. By now he was so used to the mullet that he’d grown his hair like this again. It suited him.
“So, you and Ben Lowell, huh?”
“Yeah. We’re engaged. My parents introduced us.”
Engaged? Adam took her hand in his and looked at the ring. It was too big for her hand and didn’t suit her at all. It wasn’t her kind of ring.
“I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you.” Rylee smiled politely and clasped her hands in front of her.
Her posture was a little stiff and again, her smile put him off a bit. For the girl who loved to laugh often and loud, this was very unnatural. Her clothes were right for the occasion, but she’d always loved to wear her hair down. Pins hurt her head and she couldn’t run her fingers through her hair this way. She often did this when she was nervous, because it calmed her down somehow.
“Why are you wearing your hair like this?” After all these years this was one question he had to ask. He could have asked her anything. How she was doing, if she was happy, where she worked now, and he chose to ask her that.
The question caught her off guard, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you like it? It’s what one wears to an event like this.”
“It’s just that you always wore your hair down or sometimes in a ponytail. You hated pins in your hair.”
“Well, things change, Adam.” She looked away from him to take a deep breath.
“What’s going on with you? You seem different.”
“People change. You haven’t seen me or talked to me in a long time.” She looked back in his eyes, but crossed her arms beneath her breasts now. He could still make her heart beat faster, make her nearly lose her cool.
“That’s exactly why I can see that something’s wrong. You were always so full of life, but now you seem like just a shell of the old you. The outside is the same, but on the inside you’re different.” He studied her face. He knew that she’d wanted to hug him, but had held back. And she’d never done that years ago. Sure, time could change people, hell, he wasn’t the same he’d been back then, but it seemed like she’d changed her personality completely.
“I’m engaged to Ben Lowell. People expect me to behave in a certain way, and I have to make a good wife to my future husband. That’s what I’m trying to do. It was my choice to agree to marry him, so I have to do what is expected of me. You can’t understand this.”
“Maybe I can’t, but that’s not the point. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you’re happy with him and I’ll leave you alone.”
Rylee looked up at him stunned. But she couldn’t say what he wanted her to say. She’d never been able to lie to his face. Just what he’d expected. What he’d hoped. Seeing her again had made him think of the time they’d shared together and how it had ended. How he’d broken up with her before he’d left, set her free so that she could become happy. Having a long distance relationship would have destroyed her, and he hadn’t wanted to let that happen.
“You know,” Rylee started, but shook her head quickly again. “No, forget it.”
“What is it?” Without thinking about it, he lifted her chin, surrounded by all these people and looked at her. Tears were brimming in her eyes.
“I never got over you.” With that she turned around and walked towards Ben, not waiting for a reaction or an answer.
Adam was left standing there, staring after her. She’d never gotten over him? Well, it was the same for him. Just seeing her had made him remember everything and want her back by his side. Now they were both in the same city, after years of being separated. He hadn’t contacted her, because he was afraid he’d find out that she was happy, while he still couldn’t forget her. He’d hoped that she was happy, after he had broken up with her, left her alone when he’d intended to marry her. But he could never have asked her to come with him. She’d had her family, her friends, her life in Cornwall and Charlottetown. And his dream had been to play hockey.
“What was that all about?” Shawn asked as soon as Adam returned. Brad looked at him curiously as well.
“Rylee Sinclair, the love of my life so to say. I broke up with her when I got drafted. And now she’s engaged to Ben Lowell. But probably not for much longer.”
“I thought you’d say something like that,” Shawn said with a grin. He knew determination when he saw it, and he’d seen that look on Adam’s face a lot.
“She’s not happy with him. And she never got over me. That’s what she said.” Adam sighed, keeping an eye on her and Ben.
“Because you broke her heart.” Shawn had heard the full story once. He hadn’t understood why Adam hadn’t even tried to stay with her if she’d made him so happy. But if he wanted to win her back now, make her the person she once was again, he was in and would help him as best as he could.

Notes

Okay, I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and decided to publish it now. It's supposed to be the 2013/14 season, since I already wrote about the lockout season. And Benoit Pouliot is now with Tampa Bay.
As always, let me know what you think :)