Caroline woke up to her phone ringing beside her head. Hadlee and Baby K hadn't been gone that long. Who would be calling this earlier. Okay so it was noon. But it seemed like they had just left. Caroline looked at the phone and realized that it was Dougie trying FaceTime.

"Damn it Hamilton you woke me up"

"It's noon" laughed Dougie.

"Well someone kept me up late after I got home from work." she whined

"Uh me and Spoons were in bed asleep by 1 am" replied Dougie "Whatever you and Hadlee did when went to sleep is all you all."

"We just had a heart to heart talk about you"
"Me " asked Dougie "What were you all discussing Miss Rader?"

"Not telling Hamilton" she teased "Did you call to interrogate me?"

"Nope" replied Dougie "I missed your sassy mouth."

"And apparently what you can do with your sassy mouth" called Spooner from off screen.

Caroline started laughing. She heard Dougie threaten to use Spooner's femur as a hockey stick. She laughed even harder.

"I miss you too Hamilton."

"We are heading to lunch. Then to nap. I will text you before we head to Brooklyn."

"Be good. Hey Spoons" called Caroline. Ryan's face came into the screen.

"Yes my queen" said Spooner smiling at Caroline.

"Hamilton likes when you wear his shirt and cuddle with him when he naps. So can you fill in for me until y'all get home from New York."

"You got it Bae" said Spoons "I will cuddle him so hard." Caroline laughed as Spooner was humping Dougie's leg.

"I hate you both" replied Dougie "Spoons if your balls touch my leg you are going to be an unhealthy scratch."

"You love me" teased Caroline "Laters Hamilton"

"Yeah probably" said Dougie disconnecting the link.

Holy fuck thought Caroline did he mean that. No he said probably. Was he just as confused as Caroline. Holy hell the first guy ever to tell her loves her and it was a probably. Caroline was freaking out. She needed Hadlee but she was in court. And KK was busy with Baby K. Okay she could manage this on her own. Nope she was totally spazzing.

"Dude" said Spooner very seriously "You realize that you just admitted that you love Caroline and disconnected the conversation like a lunatic."

"Yeah, I kind of panicked."

"I'm sorry I humped your leg and you told Caroline you loved her." responded Spooner sitting in the bus seat next to Dougie.

"So you finally told Caroline you love her" said Marchy

"No, he told her "Yeah probably and disconnected the FaceTime" replied Spooner

"What the hell Hamilton" said Kevan.

"This is all completely out of context." explained Dougie. He related the conversation that he and Caroline had including the part where she said you love me. Both Kevan and Marchy were cracking up. Looch, Kelly, and Seids were staring at him like he was mental. "What?" he demanded.

"You are an idiot" said Looch

"Yeah, kid you fucked up" replied Kelly "You need to call her."

"Chicks don't want to hear that you probably love them. That's like you might want to marry them." explained Seids

"Do you want me to call Kayleigh and tell her you are an idiot?" asked Marchy.

"No" shouted Dougie "I'll fix it."

"You can't take it back" said Soderberg.

"I didn't say I wanted to take it back." spat Dougie "I just panicked."

"Okay Hamilton as one of the old guys" began Boychuck "I think you need to tell the truth whatever that maybe if it's love , if it's falling, or if it's just a booty call. But tell her straight."

"Caroline isn't some fucking booty call" replied Dougie " I know that I am definitely falling in love with her. But if I mention commitment she will run like hell. "

"She sounded pretty fucking committed in the shower" teased Reilly. Miller fwacked him in the side of the head. "Ow fuck, Millsy."

"When did this damn bus turn into a god damn soap opera" asked McQuaid "Dougie she fucking loves you man. It's obvious."

"Darth Quaider, love doctor" replied Looch.

"I am so fucked" said Dougie hanging his head.

"Wanna snuggle" laughed Spooner throwing an arm around Hamilton " You can wear one of my shirts."

"I still fucking hate you" replied Dougie shoving Spoons against the window. The entire bus was laughing. They filed off the bus and into the restaurant for lunch. Dougie hung back and let the guys clear from the bus. He had his phone in his hand and he was debating about calling Caroline. Loui Erikkson sat down beside him. Loui was a quiet guy he rarely cut up or carried on like the other guys.

"Come on Hamilton" stated Loui "Let's eat and figure out how to tell your girl you love her. She is probably just as freaked out as you are. And if I remember right you made her commit before you ever even stayed the first night with her. So commitment won't spook her. But not feeling secure will freak her out. But telling her in moment of panic isn't the best idea. So we eat, we nap, we play, then you talk to girl after we win. Ya."

"Yeah" said Dougie. The meal passed in a blur. They napped. They were all getting ready to leave for the arena when they got a group message from Pastrnak. It was a group shot of Caroline, Hadlee, and Kayleigh walking into the BC gym. All three girls were clad in Nike Pro shorts, sports bras, cheer shoes, and ponytails. Dougie read the responses from Miller and Marchand. He instructed the rookie not to send the pics to anyone else. Miller put the kid on bodyguard duty. Marchy just wanted the kid not to perv on Kayleigh.

Once loaded on the bus they headed to the arena. He heard Miller say fuck and show Marchy a video of Hadlee flipping herself into a guys hand. Marchand laughed until Pastrnak sent him a video of Kayleigh being swung like a jump rope up into a cheer stunt. Pastrnak didn't send him a video but a text that said Caroline was moving too fast to get good footage. He said she was on top of pile of people. Dougie laughed her assumed it was a stunt of some sort. They were all getting ready in the visiting locker room. They had all stripped out of the dress clothes and were in their base layers. The music was playing and they had been bouncing a soccer ball around.
They were waiting for Gears to send them more pics of the girls.

After another 45 minutes the girls motioned for him to come over. Davey jogged over to KK.
She smiled at him and told him they were going to run the entire floor routine to come watch. He stood in awe watching the BC cheerleaders do an entire routine with the elements that the girls had just helped with. It looked flawless to Davey.


"Better" yelled Caroline


"We need to be tighter and cleaner" replied Kayleigh


"Good effort" said Hadlee "We'll work on it next time we are here."


"What did you think?" asked Kayleigh


"I think I stick to hockey. I thought it was perfect." he answered.


"Good then most people will think it was perfect" said Caroline.


"Miller and Marchy said you all scare the hell out of them" replied Davey "Miller may or may not kill the boy who catch Hadlee."


"What no message from Hamilton" asked Caroline.


"You too fast" he responded "I didn't get video of the pile of people."


Caroline laughed out loud. "It was a modified wolf wall. But pile of people sounds good too
Baby K."


"Come on" said Hadlee "Let's introduce you to the hot girls that are your age."


"Umm. I am good" replied Davey


"Nope, Baby K" teased Caroline "We are awesome wing women. Plus they have all been checking you out. Hell I think a few of the boys were even checking you out."
Pastrnak blushed as they brought him into the gaggle of cheerleaders. He recognized one of the girls. She was an ice girl but he had only saw her in passing.


"So we get to hang out the B's latest acquisition. Guys this is David Pastrnak. He is the rookie we took first round this year." explained Caroline "I expect you all to be nice he is stuck with us until he is cleared to play. So he will be around. No fan girl squealing. He is a person. And no he won't introduce you to Smith."


The entire team engulfed Davey. The girls sat on the edge of the mats and watched him interact with people his own age. He was still a little bit shy around that many people. He would have to get over it. Kayleigh pointed over at the group as several of the girls were taking pictures of themselves with Davey. It wouldn't be long until Instagram and Twitter blew up with Pastrnak hashtags. Hadlee had one of the cheerleaders take a picture of Baby K and all three of them in their UK cheer gear. Hadlee sent the photo Kevan, Brad, and Dougie. She then tweeted out newest member of the Big Blue Nation Bruins Rookie David Pastrnak. The girls called their goodbyes and collected their gear and Gears. Kayleigh was happy to see that Davey had gotten a few numbers from some of the girls.


Caroline was busy talking to Jami. She gave Caroline one of her ice girl outfits. It was still costume month at the bar. She went to the locker room and changed quickly into the uniform. After about 10 minutes she returned with Jami. Pastrnak did a double take of Caroline in the ice girl uniform.


"Well Baby K" she asked


"Way hotter than German girl." he replied " Not sure Dougie be happy you in that outfit at work."


"He'll get over it." she replied. "Send him a pic."


Pastrnak shot a picture of Caroline and sent it to Hamilton.

Pastrnak: Caroline say good luck tonight. Hope like her outfit for bar.


He stuck his phone in his pocket and climbed into the passenger seat of Kayleigh's SUV. He, Kayleigh, and Hadlee were headed to Kevan's to watch the game. Caroline took Hadlee's very tiny car to work. Hadlee announced they were having Chinese. She wanted to know what he liked. He said he wasn't sure. Hadlee ordered a little of everything. They would beat the food home. His phone chimed.


Dougie: Holy shit Gears. Is she trying to kill me.
Pastrnak: Nope but I think you have hands full.
Dougie: Damn straight. What are your plans?
Pastrnak: Chinese and game. Rules according to Hadlee. Good luck.


Dougie showed Kevan and Brad the picture of Caroline in the ice girl get up. Dougie didn't know if he should be worried or not. After his crazy this afternoon he wasn't sure what she was up too. Kevan assured him that it was just costume month. Plus now he had his own ice girl. Marchy just wanted to know if Kayleigh could borrow the outfit. Smitty, Spoons, and McQuaid also looked at the picture.


"Tell her I probably love her too" said Spoons shoving Dougie.


"I guess we see what the racket in the shower was all about." laughed McQuaid


"I'd dress her in big shirts too" replied Smitty "In fact I might make her only wear your clothes and multiple layers." Smith scrolled back through the texts that Gear had sent. "It is so not fair you fuckers met them first." Kevan and Brad laughed.


The game was a grinding back and forth game. Dougie managed to score a goal and hoped his ice girl was happy. He really wanted to talk to her but she was still at work. They got showered up. He loaded the bus.


"Show them the pic" said Reilly in front of his team mates.


"Damn it Smitty" replied Dougie as he handed the phone to Smith "She has a costume thing at work because it's October." He heard his phone chirp as they were passing it around. He heard several murmurs of appreciation. Loui told him to check his messages.


Dougie smiled when he saw the message. Caroline had sent him another pic. It was of Caroline standing on the bar at work. She still had the ice girl outfit on. But had put his jersey over it. The caption of the text said "I probably wore this over the outfit the entire time. So just you, the girls, and Baby K saw the outfit. I might wear it for you when you get home. Nice goal."


He passed his phone around so Kevan and Brad could see what she said. "Ok gang, none of you all get to mention you saw that." threatened Dougie "Smitty I will disembowel you if you mention it/"


"Wow" said Smitty "Violent."


"Damn straight."


Caroline walked through the apartment quietly so she didn't wake up Deke or Baby K. She pulled the jersey off as she went through the apartment. She went into the bedroom and found Hadlee asleep facing her iPad. Caroline noticed that it was still connected to Kevan. Aww Miller was almost asleep as well.


"Nite Miller" said Caroline. Miller stirred and looked at her for a moment before disconnecting the link.


Caroline scrubbed her make-up off. She managed to find Dougie's huge shirt and slip it on. She grabbed her iPad and headed to the kitchen. Hadlee had told her they ordered her dinner. She grabbed the Chinese carton, a cherry coke, and a fork and flopped down on Kevan's couch. She clicked the television on to the late night talk shows. After about 10 minutes her iPad chimed. She smiled at Hamilton when he appeared on the screen.

"Hey" said Dougie taking in her appearance. She was scrubbed up and stripped down to his tshirt "I think I like this outfit best of the 3 I've saw today."

"What you didn't like the ice girl outfit or my cheer gear."

"I like it just fine but I would like it better with just me seeing it. I nearly stroked when I saw the ice girl outfit. "

"No worries" said Caroline "No one saw it really."

Caroline looked at his expression. He had no poker face.

"Dougie Hamilton" she said "Who did you show it to?"

"Uhh." he replied. Caroline laughed when Spooner's head came into the frame.

"My fault Caroline" said Spoons "I grabbed and showed Smitty and it went kind of viral from there. Dougie threatened to disembowel anyone who mentioned it."

"Damn it Spoons" said Caroline

"You still love me Caro" asked Spoons.

"The answer is probably right Spooner" laughed Caroline.

"Yep" he said laughing "Wingman out. I'm going over torture Smitty." He made a kissy face at Caroline. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I still hate you" called Dougie as Spooner left the room.

"Love you too man. Don't mess with my giraffe." called Spoons "Night Caroline."

"Nite Spoons" she responded.

Dougie was just looking at her after Spoons left the room. He was not saying anything. For a second Caroline thought her iPad had a glitch.

"So that happened eh?" said Dougie.

"I love it when you blush and go all Canadian on me Hamilton." smiled Caroline

"Seriously, I didn't mean for that to come out like it did."

Caroline's smile faltered. He was fucking this up.

"So after I said I probably loved you. The entire team became involved in my epic stupidity."

"Dougie you don't...." He interrupted her sentence.

"Let me get this all out Caroline" he replied "So they all gave me advice. Looking back I am pretty sure that when Boychuck told me to tell you the truth is when I decided I had to say something. I got completely pissed when he said I need to tell you I love you, or I'm falling for you, or that you were just a booty call. I was pissed because you are so much more than a booty call and I hoped you knew that. But then I realized I hadn't really told you how I feel. Then I thought if I told you would bolt. However, after everyone filed off the bus I was sitting phone in hand thinking about how to call you and fix it. Loui stayed behind and talked to me. He told me that we were already committed. He told me that loving you wouldn't freak you out but uncertainty about me loving you would freak you out. Who knew that Loui a man of few words was so smart. I've told you it has to be just me and you. I've told you I'd catch you when you fall. But what I have not said is simply I know I love you Caroline. There is no probably to it. And I've known for a while."

Caroline didn't say anything. She was just looking at him. He realized that she was crying.

"Oh hell Caroline. Sweetheart please don't cry. I probably should have told you in person. You don't have to say anything back. Just please be there when I get home. Caroline..."

"Shut it Hamilton." she exclaimed "I love you too."

"Caroline you don't have to tell me that to make me feel better."

"No you ass I really do love you. Hadlee and I talked about this last night. She was telling me I was more than a girl you liked to fuck. I asked if I could tell her a secret and her not make fun of me. She of course told me no. I told her the thing I missed most was just your heartbeat. It's just like you steady, strong, and consistent. I can be there with you in absolute silence and listen to your heart and be content. Hadlee and KK are the only other people I can be silent around."

"You miss my heart beat" he asked stupified. Dougie started laughing.

"Don't laugh at me Hamilton"

"I'm not Sweetheart. I've been panicked most of the day that you didn't love me."

"Of course I love you. You are stuck with me Hamilton."

"I love you Caroline Rader and all your shenanigans." Caroline carried him through the apartment with her. She crawled into the bed beside Hadlee and laid him on the pillow beside her.

"I wish you were here" said Caroline "First guy that loves me tells me when he is hundreds of miles away."

"I'm going to be the last guy that tells you he loves you Caroline." replied Dougie "Snuggle up with Hadlee and I'll be home in 48 hours. Only 2 sleeps."

"2 sleeps Hamilton then get your ass back to Boston. Deal."

"Deal Caroline. Miss you too."

"Nite Hamilton. I love you."

"I know" said Hamilton

"Alright Han Solo" she replied laughing. "Talk with you tomorrow. We are disturbing Hadlee she is wiggling."

"Nite Dougie" said Hadlee snuggling back into her pillow. He said goodbye to both girls and disconnected the call. Hadlee rolled over and faced Caroline. Hadlee smiled at Caroline.

"What" said Caroline.

"You love him" she teased "you want to have little redheaded hockey babies with Hamilton."

"Let's see if Gears survives the week" replied Caroline.

"Are we gonna call KK?" asked Hadlee

"She will be up in 2 hrs I will text her so she sees it."

Texts sent. Caroline snuggled up in the bed with Hadlee. She fell asleep think holy hell he loved. And it wasn't a probably.

Notes

All three updated. More to come. Still keeping with the Rolling Stones theme for these chapters. Anybody else find Spooner hilarious. He got a cat names Vern last night. Said he wished it was a mini Giraffe.