“What time is it?” Nicki asked Tyler. They had just finished watching the movie and she was feeling more than a little sleepy.

Tyler reached for his phone. “About two. Want to go to bed?”

She smiled at him. Would she ever get used to him asking her that? Probably not. She loved it. Tyler got up and turned off the TV. He was still in his bathrobe – which looked incredibly sexy on him. Nicki couldn’t stop looking at him. She felt like a horny school girl. Actually, she was one. He caught her looking at him.

“What?” he asked her.

“Nothing. Come on, let’s go to bed,” she said, grabbing his hand.

Nicki didn’t really feel like changing. She was nice and toasty in her robe. Instead of doing the sensible thing and putting on pajamas, she dropped her robe and got into bed naked. Tyler saw her and grinned.

“Okay, then,” he said as he did the same. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, leaving his arm across her stomach. Nicki felt him pressing up against her back.

“You’re so warm,” she said, curling up underneath his arm.

She felt Tyler kiss the back of her neck. That meant it was time to go to sleep.

“Sweet dreams,” he whispered in her ear.

“You too, love,” she said, smiling to herself.

** * * * * *

Nicki felt something wet and cold on her hand. She pulled it close to her and looked down.

“Aww, Marshall,” she whispered. “What is it boy? Wanna eat?”

She looked at the clock. It was only five in the morning. She sighed, realizing that Tyler had to leave in less than two hours. Marshall wagged his tail and stuck out his tongue. He walked out of the room, so she grabbed her bathrobe and followed him.

“Oh. My. God…” Nicki brought a hand to her mouth.

Marshall had chewed through half of the sofa. He must have eaten some of it, because about a quarter of the couch was missing all together. Tyler had said they needed a new one, but the old one didn’t have to go out like that. She liked that couch. They had memories on it.

“Marshall, you’re so bad!”

Nicki decided that now was probably a good time to wake up Tyler. She walked back into the bedroom. Tyler had ended up on his back with an arm crossed over his face. She smiled and took off her robe again. She climbed on top of him and kissed him until he woke up.

“Hi there,” she said as he opened his eyes.

“Hey…” He looked at her, realizing what was going on. “Are you…?”

Nicki bit her lip and nodded. She couldn’t get enough of him. And she figured he wouldn’t mind waking up to that.

“That’s freakin’ awesome,” he said, grabbing onto her hips.

She went slowly, trying to give Tyler the chance to wake up a little first. She leaned forward so she could kiss him. He took control, moving her hips with his hands. Nicki felt a tingling chill move throughout her body. There was absolutely nothing like it. She let out a moan and put her hands on his headboard, letting him take over completely.

She was there in a matter of minutes. Her breathing got heavier as she felt her toes curl up. She brought her hands down from the headboard and met Tyler’s gaze.

“What made you want to do that?” he asked her, out of breath.

“Well, you were just lying there. And to be honest, it’s pretty much all I’ve been able to think about since last night. I can’t help myself,” she said as she kissed him.

He shook his head. “Now I’m really going to miss you the next couple days.”

“I wouldn’t worry. When you get back, I’ll probably be even worse.”

“I’ll be looking forward to that,” he said, smiling.

Nicki got off of him and went to pee. When she came back, it was time to break the news to him about the couch.

“So, Marshall woke me up this morning,” she started.

“Sorry. He does that a lot.”

“Yeah. Well this morning he woke me up because he wanted to show me something…”

Tyler groaned. “He didn’t crap on the floor did he?”

“Nope. He just… ate your couch.”

“Oh,” he said, “I’m surprised it took him this long.”

Nicki was confused. If her dog did that to her couch, she would be livid.

“You’re not mad?”

“Nah. I’ve been looking for an excuse to get a new one, anyways. But I have to leave in like an hour. I don’t want to leave you without a couch. Do you mind going by yourself?”

“You want me to go by myself to get you a new couch?”

“Only if you don’t mind,” he said.

Nicki jumped onto the bed and wrapped her arms around him.

“I would love to! I’ve been dying to buy furniture since I was like twelve! I’m so excited!”

It was true. Since she was a little girl she had spent hours upon hours looking through magazines and catalogues picking out furniture for her future home.

“I’ll say it again. You’re so weird. I hate buying furniture,” he said, hugging her back. “The credit card you used for the vet is still in the same place. Just use that. I paid the balance last week.”

“How much do you want me to spend?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable about spending his money.

“I don’t really care. Cap it at like ten grand. Just in case Marshall eats this one, too.”

Ten grand? He said it like it was nothing. She would certainly not be spending ten thousand dollars on a couch.

“K. I hate to do this, but you should probably get ready,” she said, frowning.

He grabbed her face and kissed her. “I know. I don’t want to leave.”

“I don’t want you to,” she said.

Nicki put on some actual clothes and headed out to the living room to start picking up Marshall’s mess. She found big, green trash bags in one of the kitchen cabinets and started filling them with foam and leather. That poor couch. She wondered why Marshall had done it. She glanced over at him. He was snoring peacefully on his dog bed.

By the time she had finished, the sun was starting to rise. She had filled up four huge garbage bags with what was left of the couch. She would have the furniture company take the part that was still standing when they brought the new one. Nicki couldn’t believe that Tyler wanted her to get him a couch. It made her happy that he trusted her enough to do something like that.

Tyler walked out of his room. He had only slept a few hours, but he cleaned up well. He looked gorgeous.

“Why are you wearing a scarf? I don’t think it’s that cold out today,” she said.

“It’s not. I’m wearing a scarf because a certain someone left a huge hickey on my neck and the last thing I need is to hear it from the guys.”

Nicki giggled. She had a few of them on her neck as well. He had found her favorite spot to be kissed, and he kissed her there over, and over, and over. She wasn’t complaining.

Tyler noticed the trash bags lined up against the wall. “I’ll take those out when I leave. Thanks for cleaning it up.”

“No problem,” she said as she approached him. “Please don’t leave.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I know. I wish I didn’t have to. I hate back to back away games. What if I’m sore? I doubt Marchy is gonna want to oil me up.”

Nicki laughed at the thought of it. “Just be safe, okay?”

“I will, I promise. I’ll call you when we get there.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She ran her fingers through his hair. She was going to miss him. A lot. He gave her one last kiss on the forehead and left, trash bags in hand. She locked the door behind him.

** * * * * *

Tyler boarded the team bus. They were only going to New York and then to Pittsburg, so there was no need for the plane. He liked the coach bus better, anyways. Flying still made him a little nervous. He adjusted the scarf around his neck as he sat in his seat. Milan sat down next to him.

“Hey Luc,” Tyler said. He couldn’t hide how good he felt.

“Woah. Someone looks a hell of a lot better,” he said.

Tyler noticed some of his teammates circling around them, interested in what was going on. Of course.

“Yeah, I feel better.”

“How’s Nicki?” asked Brad.

“Good. Great, actually,” Tyler said. He was beaming.

“You finally slept with her,” Milan said, understanding.

Tyler felt his cheeks get hot.

“Dude, are you blushing? The fucks wrong with you?” said Brad.

“Shut up,” Milan said, punching Brad hard in the arm. “You did, didn’t you? I know that look.”

“What look?”

“The look on someone’s face when they have sex with someone they love for the first time. Last person I saw it on was Horty. Don’t deny it man, I know,” said Milan, smiling.

“I don’t… love her.” Tyler’s voice grew quiet as he said the last two words.

“Whatever. So how was it?” he asked. Everyone that had gathered around waited silently for him to answer.

Tyler didn’t feel like holding it in any longer. They were his teammates. He was supposed to share everything with them.

“Fucking incredible,” he answered.

The guys started to yell and cheer. Tyler laughed. They were so immature.

Once they quieted down he added, “She’s an animal. I could barely keep up.”

That really got them going. Brad screamed, “She’s a fox!”

Tuuka repeated his words. As did Nathan, Dougie, Patrice, Johnny, and even Chara.

“I’m gonna start calling her foxy,” said Brad.

“Come on man. I don’t know if she wanted me to tell you that,” Tyler said.

“Just try and stop me,” he said, giggling. “It’s a compliment!”

“So did when did it happen?” Dougie asked.

“Last night. Twice actually.” He paused. “And once this morning.”

Milan gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “So that’s why you’re so damn chipper this morning. Congrats man, I’m happy for ya.”

“Yeah, thanks. So if you don’t want to have that party, I think she’s doing a lot better. She might not even need it.”

“Not have the party?! We’re having this fucking party,” said Brad.

“He’s right. Just because she’s doing better doesn’t erase the fact that her little brother just got thrown in jail for murder. Plus, we have everything set up already. She’s gonna be so surprised,” Milan said.

Tyler smiled. He could picture the way that she would react. He already missed her. He pulled out his phone and sent her a text.

Hey

Some of the guys started to disperse. It was just him and Milan again.

“Dude, are you already texting her? We haven’t even been gone an hour yet,” he said, looking over Tyler’s shoulder.

He wished Milan hadn’t seen that.

“I’m just checking up on her. Marshall tore up my couch last night and I told her to buy a new one. I wanted to know when she was going,” he lied. He really just wanted to talk to her.

Nicki 07:58:40: Hey Ty :)

Tyler hid his phone on his other side. He would text her when Milan was paying less attention.

“So you’re just sending her off to buy a couch? What if she goes nuts and buys a bunch of shit?”

“She won’t. I’ll be surprised if she spends more than three grand.”

“You really trust her, huh?”

Tyler nodded.

“I won’t mention this to the guys, cuz I know how much crap they’ll give you. But buying furniture is kind of a couple thing, don’t you think?”

“We are a couple,” Tyler said.

“I mean like a married couple thing. You guys haven’t even been together a week yet.”

Tyler looked down at his lap.

“I kind of want to ask her to move in with me…”

Milan stared at him. “You really are serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I really am. I don’t know. The thought of coming home to her every day almost seems too good to be true. It’s like I always want to be around her,” he said.

He couldn’t imagine having this conversation with anyone else on the team. Not even Chara. Tyler was glad Milan was so down to earth.

“Well bud, she’s basically living at your place while you’re on the road. My advice? Give it a few more road trips. If coming home to her doesn’t get old, then go for it.”

“Thanks, Luc. I really appreciate it,” Tyler said.

“No problem. I enjoy using my worldly knowledge to educate the youth,” he said, chuckling. “Alright Segs, I’m knockin’ out. Wake me up when we get there.”

Tyler leaned back into his seat and looked at his phone.

** * * * * *

Tyler 08:32:49: What r u up to?

Nicki smiled at her phone. She wasn’t expecting him to text her while he was on the bus. She figured he would be too busy with the team.

Just finished taking Marshall for a walk. Leaving to look at couches in 5.

She stepped into her boots.

Tyler 08:33:51: Cool. Where r u gonna go?

Bernie and Phyls. Jordan’s doesn’t open until later. Want me to send a pic before I buy anything?

Nicki grabbed the keys to Tyler’s car. Nathan had picked him up that morning so she would have something to drive, since her car was still at her house. She was terrified to drive it. What if she got in an accident? And it drove so fast…

Tyler 08:35:01: Nah I trust u. Good luck. Have fun drivin the car =]

He knew that she hated fast cars. It wasn’t because of the accident. She just didn’t like driving fast. She drove like her grandmother. Nicki grabbed her pea coat off of a stool in the kitchen and swung it around her shoulders. She buttoned it up and stuffed her phone in the pocket.

She started to get nervous when she got into the car. It took her fifteen minutes to adjust the seat and all of the mirrors. He had really long legs; she couldn’t even reach the gas from where he sat. After getting herself situated, she put her foot on the break and pressed the button to start the car. She always wanted a push to start. Maybe this would be fun.

Nicki flew to the Bernie and Phyl’s on Route 1. It only took her a moment to get used to driving Tyler’s car. It was so smooth. She blasted her music through the speakers. When she got to the furniture store, she pulled into a parking spot all the way in the back. If something happened to that car, she would die.

She was greeted by salespeople upon opening the door. Normally when she would go into a furniture store, she would say ‘just looking’, which earned her many heated glares from the employees. She was sure that they hated people coming in just to look.

This time she got to say, “I’m looking for a couch.”

They asked her all kinds of questions about what kind of couch she was looking for. She told them that she preferred leather, and wanted a sectional. Other than that, there were no specifics. An extremely unfriendly woman led her through the store, stopping while Nicki sat on each couch.

An hour later, she finally found the one she wanted. It was a dark brown leather sectional. It was twice the size of his last couch. She told the woman that it was the one she wanted and they sat down to go over the paperwork.

It was a long, tedious process. When Nicki got down to the final sheet of paper, the woman asked her to sign her name. She did, and handed her Tyler’s card.

“It says on this paper that you are Nicki Westmoore. This isn’t your credit card.”

“No. It’s my boyfriend’s,” she said. She loved the sound of that.

“I’m going to need some kind of verification from him. It’s our policy.”

Nicki sighed and took out her phone. Could nothing ever be simple? She dialed his number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ty. It’s me. I need you to verify to,” she glanced at the woman’s nametag, “Veronica that you gave me your card. Do you mind?”

“Nope. Give her the phone,” he said.

Nicki handed her phone to Veronica.

“Is this Tyler Seguin?”

“It’s a pleasure to talk to you. I’m a big fan.”

Nicki glared at the woman. She got the feeling there was no policy.

“Yup. Uh huh. I have a girl here claiming to be your girlfriend, but I have to say I really don’t believe her. I would picture you with someone a little more… attractive.”

That’s it. Nicki ripped her phone out of Veronica’s hand, grabbed Tyler’s card, and stormed out of the store. Her phone started to vibrate.

“Yeah?”

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I left. I’m going to Jordan’s.”

“She was such a bitch,” Tyler said.

“You’re telling me.” She was fuming.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll take care of it.”

“What?” She had no idea what he meant.

“Don’t worry about it. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

Nicki looked down at her phone. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that woman. Who says that? Maybe she would meet some less psychotic people at Jordan’s.

Fortunately, she had a male salesperson help her there. He was much friendlier. Nicki even told him about what had happened with Veronica. He laughed and told her that Veronica would probably be fired before the end of her shift.

Nicki ended up finding nearly the same couch at Jordan’s for half the price. She reclined on it, just to make sure that it was comfortable in every position. It was. She let the salesman know that she was ready to buy it.

“Alright, follow me,” he said. Nicki looked at his nametag. His name was Mark.

He brought her to a room near the front of the store. There were a few other people there buying furniture, mostly couples. She sat in a chair across from Mark.

“So you’re really Tyler Seguin’s girlfriend?”

Nicki laughed. “Yeah. I almost don’t believe it myself.”

He smiled at her. “I’m a huge hockey fan. It’s cool to know that even the big guys just date normal girls. Makes them seem less like superstars and more like ordinary people.”

She nodded her head. She agreed with him. It was easy to think of them as some kind of superheroes.

The paperwork went smoothly, and Mark didn’t make her call Tyler. Apparently Jordan’s didn’t have the same policy as Veronica did.

“So when are we delivering this?” he asked her.

“Well, it’s kind of an emergency purchase. Is there some kind of rush shipping that could get it there today?”

“Yup. We can bring it there right now, and get rid of the old one for ya. It just costs a little extra.”

“That’s fine,” she said.

He stood up. “Okay, we’ll load it onto the truck and have them follow you there. You’re gonna want to pull around back. You’ll see the truck right away. Tell them who you are and you should be all set. It was nice doing business with you, Nicki.”

He stuck out his hand. Nicki shook it.

“Thanks, same to you Mark.”

** * * * * *

Tyler only had an hour before the team had to be at Madison Square Garden. He hadn’t heard from Nicki since the disaster with that furniture store woman. As soon as he got off of the phone with her, he called Bernie and Phyl’s asking to speak to the manager. He introduced himself and explained what happened. The manager was a diehard Bruins fan. Tyler imagined that Veronica would get what was coming to her.

He reached up and stretched. A bunch of the guys were hanging out in his room, watching some weird video on Dougie’s laptop. Tyler took out his phone. He wondered if Nicki would remember how to answer a face time call. He tried anyways.

“Hey Ty! Look! I figured out how to work it!” she said with a huge smile on her face.

“Proud of you,” he said, sarcastically. A couple of the guys had noticed that he was talking. They scrambled onto his bed to see what was going on. Privacy didn’t exist when you were on the Boston Bruins.

“Are you ready?” she asked him. He nodded his head. “May I introduce you to our… your – new couch!”

She moved her phone around the room so he could see it.

“It’s huge!” he paused to look at it. She had said our couch… “It can be our couch. I’ll take it during the week, you can have it on weekends.”

She laughed. Tyler elbowed Brad, who was getting uncomfortably close to him. Nicki brought the camera back to face her. She collapsed onto the couch.

“It’s soooo comfy!”

Tyler looked at her. He wished he could be there with her. That’s when he noticed.

“Aw, you’re wearing my jersey,” he said.

She blushed. Some of the guys made noises.

“Uh, yeah. I forgot mine. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No. I love it.”

He kept using the word love with her. He hoped it didn’t freak her out. It wasn’t that he loved her. He just loved a lot of the things that she did. She smiled at him.

“Well then you’re really going to love this… I did end up buying one other thing…” She called Marshall’s name. Tyler could hear him pounding his feet across the floor. He watched as Marshall jumped on top of Nicki, licking her face.

“I love you too, buddy! Look Ty!”

She got away from Marshall and pointed the camera towards him. He was wearing a doggie version of his jersey.

“Isn’t it awesome?!” She was so excited.

“It’s great,” he said.

“And don’t worry. I didn’t go crazy. The couch, delivery, and Marshall’s shirt didn’t even cost twenty-five hundred.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“But I do! You work hard for that money. I’m not gonna spend it.”

Tyler was about to respond, but Brad decided that he wanted to be in on the action. He jumped on top of Tyler and took his phone.

“Hi Brad,” he heard Nicki say. “I didn’t know anyone else was there. What are you guys up to?”

“Hi foxy. Nothing. Just listening to you two lovebirds.”

Tyler could kill him. He tried to get his phone back.

“Why did you just call me foxy…?”

The rest of the guys started laughing.

“Segs told us you were a fox in the sack.”

Tyler tried to see the screen to gauge her reaction. He hoped she wasn’t mad that he said something.

“He said that?” she asked.

“Well, he said you were an animal, if that makes a difference.”

There was more laughter. Tyler hit Tuuka hard in the stomach.

“Wow… Thanks Ty!” she said. She sounded like she was happy about it.

“See Seggy? Told you it was a compliment!” Brad exclaimed, proud of himself.

“I hate to cut this short guys but we gotta get going,” said Milan from across the room.

“Can you give the phone back to Tyler so I can say goodbye?” Nicki asked Brad. He handed Tyler his phone.

“Sorry,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, you should be. Now I have a reputation that I’ll have to live up to,” she said. She winked at him.

Tyler sighed. “I miss you,” he said quietly, hoping only she would hear.

“I miss you too. Well I heard Milan. You should get going. Good luck tonight. We’ll be cheering for you.”

She smiled sweetly at him. What he would give to kiss her.

“Talk to you later.”

She blew him a kiss and he ended the call. It was time to concentrate on the game.

** * * * * *

Nicki sat forward on the couch, gnawing on her fingernails. She hated shootouts. With all of her heart. Chara had scored a goal in the last minute to send them into overtime. The overtime came and went. Both teams were fighting ruthlessly.

Normally, Claude always sent Tyler out first in a shootout. At least if he didn’t score, it wasn’t a huge deal. Tonight, for some reason unbeknownst to her, Tyler was shooting third. If he didn’t score, they would go to a sudden death shootout. If he scored, they would win 3-2.

She watched him skate out onto the ice. She crossed her fingers and closed her eyes.

“Please, please, please God let him score this goal. I promise I’ll start going to church if you just make Tyler score this goal.”

Nicki wasn’t a very superstitious or religious person. But hockey brought out the best and worst in her. Someday, when she was older, she would have a heart attack while watching a game and it would be the end of her.

She opened her eyes and watched him weave towards the goalie. He was so fast. He faked a shot, sending the goalie to the right side of the net. He shot so quickly that Nicki didn’t even see it. All she saw was the puck in the left corner of the net. She screamed and jumped off the couch, throwing her arms in the air.

She grabbed Marshall’s face.

“He did it buddy!” She gave him a long kiss on the top of the head.

Nicki didn’t care if she looked like an idiot. No one was around to see her. She grabbed her phone off of the table to text him.

WOOO! Tyler you’re fucking awesome!!!!! I love you!

WOAH. She didn’t mean to write that last part. She had gotten a little too excited. She quickly deleted it and sent the rest of the text. What if she had sent that by mistake? She had to be more careful.

Nicki sat back down on the couch. She was so happy for him. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him. Marshall would have to do for now. He was lying on his side, sprawled out on the new couch. Apparently, he approved. Nicki rested her head on his stomach.

She waited for the locker room reactions after the game, hoping they would interview Tyler. She always liked watching him talk before she met him. He always said the same exact things, no matter what the question was. She thought it was adorable.

Tonight was the first night since she had met the Bruins that she had watched the interviews. It felt so strange to actually know the people behind the faces she had become so familiar with on her television. Nicki listened to the analysts break down the game. They spoke about Tyler, complimenting the way he played. It made her happy to hear good things about him. She was so proud of him.

Luckily, the first person Naoko Funayama interviewed was Tyler. She held the microphone up.

“Tyler, what was going through your head during that shootout?”

He smiled. That cute, amazing smile. “Well, I knew Lundqvist was weak on the quick fake, so I knew going in that’s what I was going to do. I’ve had a lot of good energy lately, and I guess I just channeled that into the shot.”

Naoko nodded. “Could that good energy have something to do with a certain picture we saw that you posted on Twitter?”

Nicki’s heart skipped a beat. Was she even allowed to ask him that?

“Yeah. It has a lot to do with that.”

“Should your women fans be concerned?”

“I don’t see any reason for concern. I wasn’t going to stay single forever.”

Naoko laughed. “Thanks Tyler.” He nodded and walked away.

Nicki started to panic. She was in disbelief. It was a hockey game! They shouldn’t be asking about personal lives after the game. And when they did, the players always said ‘no comment’. She knew Tyler wanted people to know about them. But everyone who was watching that interview? He has hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. Now they’re all going to go on and see that goofy picture of her.

After the initial shock was over, Nicki centered herself. It was going to be fine. So, maybe she would start getting harassed on a daily basis. And receive death threats on the internet. And be stalked by crazy fans. As much as all of that terrified her, being with Tyler was worth it. Her phone buzzed on the table.

Tyler 22:11:47: Lol thanks. Did u see the interview?

Yeah, I did.

Tyler 22:12:51: I lied u kno. I was thinkin about u the entire time

Nicki bit her lip and shook her head. How did she get so lucky?

I literally prayed that you would get the goal. I told God I would go to church. I lied too.

Tyler 22:13:33: ur goin to hell. im sure ill be there wit u

As long as you’re with me, I don’t care where I end up.

He didn’t text back right away. Nicki hoped she didn’t take it too far; but it was true. All of the sudden, she was exhausted. She shut off the TV and folded up the blanket she had been using. She walked into Tyler’s room and climbed into his bed. His pillow smelled like him. Nicki rested her head on it.

It was the first time she had slept in his bed without him. The last time he went away, she had stayed on the couch the entire time. She had been too upset to go anywhere near his bed. She tried to fill herself with thoughts of the previous night.

She knew the sex would be great. She could tell by looking at him that he knew what he was doing. But there was so much more to it. Something she didn’t quite know how to describe. Her phone vibrated.

Tyler 22:26:17: same

It was only one word, but it meant a lot. She wished she could have seen his expression.

I’m going to sleep. Don’t party too hard tonight.

Tyler 22:27:45: i wont. sleep tight

Tyler 22:47:47: <3

** * * * * *

Sunday 8:00 AM

Nicki finished tidying up Tyler’s apartment. He would be home any minute, and she wanted everything to be in order. Yesterday she had spent the entire day cleaning. She even cleaned the bathrooms. There was nothing else for her to do, and she really didn’t mind.

When she was done, she plopped down on the couch next to Marshall and picked up her book. It was some mystery about a serial killer. All of the books she read were more or less the same. She only got a few pages in when she felt Marshall’s tail thumping against her leg.

“What is it buddy? Do you hear your dad?”

Just as she asked, she heard the door unlocking. Tyler set his things on the ground. Before he could even look up, Nicki was sprinting towards him.

“TYLER!” she screamed as she jumped on him. He caught her and held her close.

She touched her lips to his.

“That was exactly what I needed to come home to,” he said, smiling. He put her down on the ground, but kept his arms around her.

“Ugh. I’m sorry about last night. How’s your hip?”

The game the night before had been a shit show. The Bruins had led three to nothing going into the third, and the Penguins caught up and ended up winning the game. Tyler had scored two goals. He was on fire, but he couldn’t carry the entire team.

Throughout the game, Tyler kept getting tied up with Sydney Crosby. It ended up getting dangerously physical. Tyler was just doing his job and playing good hockey. Sydney didn’t react well. At one point he took a cheap shot and Tyler landed hard on his hip.

“I have a massive bruise. But that’s the worst of it. Just a little sore.”

Nicki made a face. “I don’t like him anymore.”

Tyler laughed. “You can’t just not like everybody who pushes me around. It’s hockey. That’s the point. He’s a good guy.”

“Well I don’t like him.”

He shook his head at her. She was serious. She didn’t want Tyler to get hurt. All it took was one bad cheap shot to end someone’s career and ruin their life. He had so much going for him. She watched Tyler as he looked around.

“You know you aren’t my maid. You don’t have to clean every time you’re over here.”

“A thank you would be nice. I didn’t have anything else to do yesterday. Oh! But I made cookies!”

Nicki ran into the kitchen and grabbed a container off of the counter. It was filled to the brim with chocolate chip cookies. They were her specialty. Her mother had given her a secret recipe for them when she was little. It was one of the only good memories she had of her mother.

Tyler took one. “Holy shit, these are incredible,” he said with a full mouth.

Nicki smiled. She knew they were. He swallowed and started talking again.

“Listen, I forgot to tell you. Milan and Brittany are having people over today. Nothing big. I’m going around two. Will you be my date?”

“I’d be honored,” she said as she leaned in to kiss him. He tasted like cookies.

“You should totally bring those, they’ll be gone as soon as you turn your back.” He gestured to the cookies.

“I will. It’s too bad I didn’t make more. How many people are going?”

“Only a few. I think it’s gonna be the same as last time.”

“I’ll have to go home, I don’t have any clean clothes left.”

Nicki hated the thought of leaving him, even for a couple of hours. He had just come home.

“We can go to your house on the way.”

That was fine with her. She put the cookies back in the kitchen. Tyler followed her.

“Have you eaten?” she asked him.

He shook his head.

“Want me to make you something?”

Tyler grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her on the cheek.

“Yes I do.”

Nicki giggled.

“What do you want?”

“I dunno.”

“I went food shopping. You can have eggs, oatmeal, pancakes, French toast, cereal…”

“You know I love pancakes,” he said.

She smiled at him. “Yes you do. Pancakes it is.”

** * * * * *

Tyler watched Nicki as she worked her way through his kitchen. She had learned where everything was. He thought back to what Milan said to him on the way to New York. He would wait a little longer to ask her, but he knew that he wanted her there. It was perfect. She cooked for him, cleaned, took care of Marshall, and the best part was that he didn’t even need to ask. She did it because she wanted to.

Just when Tyler thought things really couldn’t get much better, she told him she had a surprise for him. She went into the fridge and pulled out a package of thick sliced bacon. If there were any doubts in his mind, they had been erased.

“You’re gonna make me fat by feeding me all of this food. Then I’ll get kicked off of the team and I’ll have to live on the streets.”

Nicki laughed. “If that happens I’ll take full responsibility. You can move in with my dad and I. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing his room with you.”

“I don’t think he likes me that much,” he said. He looked at her making the batter. “You don’t use the stuff in the box?”

She stopped whisking and turned to look at him.

“Nope. I don’t make anything from a box. I make it all from scratch. It comes out better that way. Plus, it doesn’t have all of those nasty chemicals in it.”

Tyler scoffed. “You’re one of those people who goes crazy over stuff like that?”

She lifted a finger, scolding him. “You laugh now Tyler Seguin. When your kids come out with their face on their ass, I’ll be the one laughing.”

Not if their yours, too. Did he really just think that? He didn’t even have control over his own thoughts anymore…

“What’s with the face?” she asked him.

He didn’t respond, and she went back to whisking. Tyler thought about what she would be like as a mother. He knew she would be great. She was so nurturing and loving. And it seemed like she had learned a lot about parenting from her parent’s mistakes. Why was he even going there? He let out a sigh.

“What is it, love?” she asked as she came over and kissed him on the cheek. “Looks like there’s something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing. You’re really great, you know that?”

He watched her expression soften. She put a hand on the back of his neck.

“After you eat, we are snuggling on that new couch until we have to leave for Milan’s. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am. Shit, I didn’t even look at it.”

He got up from the stool and went into the living room to see the couch she picked out. It was enormous. But it made the whole space look a little better. He couldn’t put his finger on how, exactly. The room felt a lot cozier. He went around to the front and sat down. It was much more comfortable than the last one. He noticed that Nicki had it positioned the same way as before, with the shorter end of the sectional facing the TV. It made him smile.

“OW! Shit!” He heard her cry from the kitchen. He ran in to see her.

“What happened?”

“I burned myself on the bacon oil,” she said, holding up her wrist. There was a big, circular burn. It was already starting to blister.

Tyler opened the freezer and got out the icepack he had used the day he elbowed her in the head.

“Put this on it,” he said.

“I can’t cook with one hand. I’ll do it after. I’m almost done.”

“Just be careful. I don’t need to be driving you to the emergency room today,” he said, chuckling.

He imagined that if they stayed together a while, there would be at least a few trips to the hospital for her. She really was clumsy.

“There, all set,” she said, flipping the last pancake onto a plate with the others.

She put a piece of butter on top and drizzled syrup over it. Then she added the bacon. It looked delicious. She put it down in front of him. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture. He uploaded it to Twitter. ‘Nothing like coming home to a clean apartment, a beautiful girl, and a heaping plate of pancakes’. For some reason, he liked to tweet. He knew that Nicki didn’t like it.

He heard Nicki’s phone go off. She grabbed it off of the counter with her non-burned hand. She looked up at him.

“Tyler… that’s so sweet.”

He smiled. “You get notifications when I tweet?”

“Maybe.” Her cheeks turned red. “So tell me about your trip. Did you guys do anything fun?”

He told her about it as he ate. They didn’t do much. After the win on Friday, they went out to a club. He got made fun of a little bit for not hitting on anyone. Milan stood up for him. They had developed some kind of bond over the last few weeks.

Tyler sat back. “I can’t. Eat. Anymore.”

Nicki laughed at him. “Next time I won’t make so much.”

She took his plate and started cleaning up.

“I don’t think so,” he said, grabbing her arm. “Go ice your wrist. I can clean up. There isn’t that much.”

She shrugged and walked into the living room. He heard her fall onto the couch. He put the plate in the dishwasher next to the two pans she used to cook and the bowl from the batter. It wasn’t full, but he started it anyways.

Tyler sat down on the couch. Nicki crawled over to him, nursing her right arm.

“How’s it feeling?” he asked her.

“Well, it burns,” she said.

“Would it help if I kissed it?”

“Aww. No, it would probably make it worse. But give it a shot,” she said, holding her wrist up to his face. He kissed her as softly as he could. She flinched.

“Ouch. Well it made me happy.” She turned her head and kissed him on the lips.

When she pulled away he said, “I have some gauze and first aid cream, we’ll wrap it up before we leave so it doesn’t get infected.”

She nodded. “So what do we do now?”

** * * * * *

Nicki led Tyler up the stairs into her room. They had passed the rest of the morning doing what they did best – napping. He was well rested and ready for Milan’s party. They should be done setting up soon. The plan was for everyone to arrive at one. Tyler would bring Nicki at two. Even her father had been invited.

“You wait in here while I shower, okay?”

“Fine,” Tyler said as he crossed his arms and sat on her bed.

He knew that she took long showers. She had all of that hair to wash. He looked around her room. Everything was perfectly placed in exactly the right spot. The walls were a calm green color. Tyler noticed that she didn’t have many pictures on the walls. Every girl’s room he had ever been in had countless pictures of themselves with their friends.

Tyler got up and paced around the room. He picked up and smelled all of her candles. Ten minutes had passed and the water was still running. He walked over to her closet, tripping over something. What the hell was that? He kicked the thing. It unrolled. It was a mat. He stepped over it and looked through the clothes she had hanging up. They were mostly nice tops and dresses. Tyler turned around when he heard the door open. Nicki walked in wrapped up in a towel.

“Hi,” she said. “Wanna pick out something for me to wear?”

“I’ll give it a shot,” he responded.

He knew that what he would like on her probably wouldn’t be appropriate for an afternoon party. He looked at her to ask her a question, but completely forgot what he was going to say. She had taken off her towel and was bent over, drying her hair in it. It was the perfect opportunity. Tyler knew that her father wasn’t home, and would be heading to Milan’s soon. He wouldn’t be coming back.

Tyler picked her up and tossed her onto her bed. He didn’t bother kissing her lips; he went straight for her neck. If he was going to get her in the mood, that was how. It turned out she didn’t need any help. She reached to unbutton his pants.

Not even ten minutes later, he had collapsed on her, panting. He had forgotten how good it was. Nicki looked up at him.

“Sorry about your back,” she said.

Nicki had dug her nails into his back, hard. He hadn’t checked, but he thought she drew blood. He kissed her.

“It’s fine. I’m taking it as a compliment. Nothing says job well done like a couple of claw marks across your back.”

She burst out laughing. “Well, you’re four for four if you catch my drift…”

“Thank my personal philosophy for that,” he said, still on top of her.

“And what’s that?”

“Ladies first.” He smiled at her. She laughed again.

“Ugh. I wish I could just lie here forever. But I have to get ready,” she said, scooting out from underneath him.

Tyler flipped onto his back and put his arms behind his head. He looked up at Nicki. She was staring at him.

“I’m never going to get anything done with you all spread-eagled on my bed.”

He got up and started to get dressed. It was his fault that she had gotten distracted. Oops. He walked back to her closet and sifted through her things. He pulled out a cream colored dress and held it up. It looked like a dress and a sweater had a baby.

“How about this? With like, boots or something. I dunno.”

She turned to look at him.

“That’s one of my favorite dresses! Nice job, Ty.” She was leaning over her vanity putting curlers in her hair. “Wanna go in the second drawer of my dresser and get me a bra and some underwear?”

“You look like an old lady with those things in your hair.”

She threw one at him. “You won’t be saying that when I take them out.”

Tyler went to her dresser. The draw he opened was neatly organized. Socks on the left, bras in the middle, underwear on the right. Damn, she had a lot of thongs.

“Actually, whatever you pick, make sure its beige or skin colored. Otherwise it’s gonna show right through the dress.”

He certainly wouldn’t mind that. But he didn’t want everyone else seeing it. He grabbed a plain looking bra and a lace thong and threw them on her bed.

“Anything else you need me to do?” he asked, pretending to be fed up.

She started apologizing.

“Nicki, I was just kidding. Don’t cry.” He laughed. “Really though, is there anything else I can do to help?”

She looked at him, questioning whether or not she should ask him something.

“My shoes are in that top space in my closet… There’s a pair of caramel colored leather boots. They have a heel.”

Tyler reached up to search for them. He found them and put them on the floor. He decided to sit on her bed and watch her. He started to draw the conclusion that being a girl sucked. How can they spend so much time on a single piece of hair? He looked again around her room.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask you. What the hell is that thing for?” he asked, pointing to the mat that he nearly tripped over.

She looked. “It’s a yoga mat.”

“You do yoga?”

“Yeah. How do you think I got to be so flexible?”

Oh. That explained things.

He looked at the clock. They still had forty-five minutes until they had to be at Milan’s. Tyler watched Nicki blow dry her hair, put on makeup, and brush her teeth. She was still naked. The view wasn’t so bad. Finally, a half hour later, she seemed to be done.

“How bored are you right now?” she asked him.

“Not at all.” If she wasn’t dressed, he wasn’t bored.

She put on her clothes and stepped into her boots. She opened a drawer in her vanity and pulled out a gold necklace.

“Will you help me with this?” she asked him.

Tyler took it from her hands and draped it around her neck. He fumbled with the clasp, but eventually got it. He ran his hands down her back and across her stomach. He felt her fold her arms around his.

“Time to stop looking like an old lady,” she said as she turned away.

She pulled the rollers out of her hair, and Tyler watched each strand fall down and then bounce up. When she took out the last one, she had a head full of big, shiny curls. He hadn’t really noticed until then how nice her hair was.

“You look hot,” he said, squeezing her around the waist again. “If we didn’t have to leave, I would definitely take you on for round five.”

He looked forward. They were facing her mirror. Besides the pictures their waitress took, he hadn’t really seen himself with her yet. They made a pretty good looking couple. They weren’t just good looking. They looked good together. He kissed her cheek.

“We gotta go,” he said. He didn’t want her to be late to her own surprise party.

She grabbed her coat and put it on. She picked up her bottle of perfume on the way out and sprayed it on her neck. Before they left her house, she gave her dog a kiss on the head.

They got to Milan’s at exactly two o’clock. Tyler stopped the car and got out to open Nicki’s door for her, but she had beat him to it. She had the container of cookies in her hands. He walked in pace with her and placed his hand on her lower back. They walked up Milan’s front steps, and Tyler rang the doorbell twice. That was the signal that he had Nicki.

Brittany answered the door. “Hey guys, come on in.”

They followed her into the entryway and down onto the landing where the house opened up. Before Nicki even got the chance to look around, everybody yelled, “Feel better Nicki! We love you!”

Tyler looked at her. She had brought her hands up to cover her mouth. She always did that. She looked at Tyler. He kissed the side of her head. He heard some “awws” come from the crowd.

He watched as she started to cry. Tyler had warned everyone that she was going to cry. One at a time, everyone there came up to her and hugged her.

Milan came first. He overwhelmed her small frame. “Hey Nicki. I’m so sorry about your brother.”

She pulled away to look at him. “Did you and Brittany do all of this?”

He shook his head. “It was a team effort. Everybody pitched in a little. We have a pretty sweet day planned for ya.”

Tyler looked away and heard a familiar voice. He watched for Nicki’s reaction.

“Freddy?! What the hell are you doing here?!” She yelled as she ran towards him and bear hugged him.

“Sorry I had to lie to you. Last time we talked, I knew I was going to be here. Marchy called me that morning.”

“Are you home for good?” she asked him. He nodded and she hugged him again.

“I’m gonna let everyone else have a turn with you. But later I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Tyler loved that Nicki and Freddy were so close. It would make things a lot easier if she moved in… He looked up when he heard Nicki yell again.

“Dad?!” Tyler watched her squeeze her father.

“Hi sweetie. I hope you don’t mind that I’m here. Tyler called me the other day and asked if I would come. He said it was for both of us. So I figured I would come for some free food.” They laughed together.

“I’m so happy you’re here. I’m in shock. I can’t believe they did this.”

Tyler turned away to give them their privacy. He would let Nicki have her moment. She deserved it. He was thrilled that everything had worked out. And it was just the beginning of surprises for her. He looked around. The entire team had showed. Even the wives, girlfriends, and coaches.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Milan.

“Luc, I can’t thank you enough. She’s so happy right now.”

“I know. It feels good to help someone out. You don’t have to thank me. We all wanted to do it. Did you tell her about the cake?”

Tyler chuckled. “Of course I didn’t. That’s going to be the best part of the entire day.”

** * * * * *

“Foxy!” Brad said as he slung an arm around Nick’s shoulder.

“Hi Brad,” she said, giggling. “I don’t suppose you’re ever going to call me Nicki again.”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “Do you like the banner? I was the one who got it made.”

For the first time, she looked up. There was a black banner with yellow writing that said ‘FEEL BETTER NICKI, WE LOVE YOU’. She wrapped Brad in a hug.

“That is so sweet. I can’t get over this. Were you the one who decided what to put on it?”

Brad laughed. “Nope! It was Dougie, actually. The whole theme was his idea. He was babbling on like an idiot, but it ended up being a pretty solid idea.”

“I’m going to go find him. Thank you so much Brad, you’re a good guy,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Nicki wandered through the throng of people. She didn’t even recognize some of them. But she could feel the support from everybody in the room. It was amazing. She never thought people would come together like that just for her.

On her way to find Dougie, she spotted her dad. He was drinking a beer and laughing with Johnny, Patrice, and Shawn Thorton. She was so glad to see him having fun. It had been a long time since he had gone out.

“Dougie!” Nicki yelled at him when she spotted him. She wrapped her arms around him.

“Dougie, you are the sweetest.”

“You like it?” he asked.

“I love it! Everything. You guys really are the best.”

They talked for a moment before Dougie got dragged away by Tuuka. Nicki went to look for Freddy. She felt arms around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. She didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. They were a very familiar pair of arms. She spun around to face Tyler and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Hey,” she said, tilting her head up to kiss him.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked her.

“Ty, this is incredible. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank everybody here.”

“You don’t have to. They all know how much it means to you. That’s why they’re here.”

Nicki heard someone clear his throat. She and Tyler looked to their left. It was Freddy. She dropped her arms from Tyler’s neck and turned to face him.

“Mind if I steal the woman of the hour?” he asked Tyler, holding out his arm for Nicki.

“Go ahead.” He turned to Nicki and kissed her again. “I’ll see you later.”

Nicki grabbed Freddy’s arm. “I’m so glad you’re home,” she said.

“Yeah, me too. Now will you please tell me everything that happened? I’m extremely curious.”

They sat in a smaller room off of the main space, where they would have a little privacy. She told him everything that had happened between her and Tyler since he had left.

“That’s really great, Nicki. I think you two needed each other. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ty so happy. And you! You are a completely different person than the girl I met that day at the apartment.”

“Thanks Freddy,” she said. Her face was glowing.

“So has he said it yet?”

“Said what?”

“That he loves you.”

Nicki looked at the ground.

“No, he hasn’t.”

“What about you?”

She shook her head.

“Well, do you? Love him?”

“Come on, Freddy. You’ve known that for a while now.”

“So why don’t you tell him?”

She sighed. “Because I don’t want to freak him out. Believe me, I’ve come close like a million times. I’m going to wait for him to say it first. I don’t care how long it takes. I know how I feel, and that’s really all the matters.”

** * * * * *

“Hey, have you seen Nicki?” Tyler asked Tuuka. He shook his head. Where was she?

He couldn’t find her in the main area, so he started to check the smaller rooms off to the sides. He found her in a study with Freddy.

“There you are. I was looking all over for you.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, there’s something you need to see.”

He grabbed her hand to pull her up off of the small loveseat. Freddy got up and followed. Tyler led them into the kitchen. Everyone had gathered around in the middle. When they saw Nicki, they parted so that she could come in. Tyler looked at the cake sitting on their island.

“No way!” she screamed, “A giraffe cake?!”

Everyone in the room laughed. She got so excited over everything. Tyler hugged her from behind.

“A giraffe cake,” he said.

Milan stepped up onto a chair.

“Before we cut the giraffe cake, I want to make a speech.” He waited for everyone to finish clapping. “Now, as all of us here know, being on the Bruins is more than just being on a team. It’s being a part of something much bigger than that – a family. When one of us breaks, we all break. That’s why we’re here today. Tyler brought Nicki into our family, and no matter what happens, she’ll always be a part of it. I know we can’t give you back what you’ve lost, but look around the room at everything you’ve gained. We’ll always be here to pick you up when you’re down. And hopefully you can do the same for us.”

He got down off of the chair. Tyler looked around as everyone clapped and cheered. He still had his arms around Nicki’s waist. He leaned forward to look at her. Tears were streaming down her face. He didn’t know that Milan was going to make a speech. Tyler could feel the effect of it throughout the room. Everyone knew that they were family, but no one had ever come out and said it that way.

Milan got a huge knife and started to cut the cake, handing out pieces to be passed around the room. Nicki turned to face Tyler and pressed her lips to his. He could feel them trembling; she was still crying. She pulled away and went over to Milan. She whispered something in his ear and he hugged her. Then he said something that made her laugh. She finally stopped crying.

After Milan’s emotional speech, the atmosphere became a lot lighter. A cake fight almost erupted, but Brittany broke it up before it could begin. Tyler couldn’t imagine cleaning up after a hockey team had a cake fight.

“Okay everybody,” Brittany started, trying to get everyone’s attention. “If you could all go back into the living room, there are a couple things left on our agenda that we need to take care of.”

Tyler grabbed Nicki’s hand. Last time they had sat in the living room together was the night they first kissed. He didn’t want today to be anything like that. Tyler sat on one of the couches and pulled Nicki into his lap. She smiled at him and pressed her cheek against his head.

He watched as Milan helped Brittany bring out three cardboard boxes. They were long and thin. He knew what was in them, but he hoped Nicki wouldn’t figure it out. They brought them over to Nicki and leaned them against the couch for her to open. She struggled and Tyler reached over to try and help her open them. She grabbed onto something and pulled it out of the box.

“Oh my God… This is unbelievable. Who did this?”

She looked at the picture. When they were in Pittsburg, Tyler had gone to a frame shop. He had the two pictures of them together and the one of her laughing with the giraffe blown up and neatly framed. She stood up so she could look at it better. She opened the other two boxes.

“You can thank your boyfriend for those,” said Milan.

Nicki stared at Tyler. She put away the pictures before grabbing his hands and pulling him off of the couch. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He moved his lips against hers. He didn’t care that everyone was watching. He ran a hand up her back and put it on the back of her neck, bringing her face closer to his. When she finally pulled away, they were both breathless.

“You guys are too much,” said Brittany.

Tyler looked at her and smiled. He caught Bill’s stare. He forgot that Nicki’s father was there. Tyler hoped he didn’t mind.

He heard music playing and looked around the room. Freddy had somehow managed to sneak in his guitar. They had planned for him to play a song for Nicki. Tyler braced himself for her to cry again. He pulled her back onto his lap and watched her as she listened. She recognized the song almost instantaneously. Tyler had picked it. It was on her list of favorites. Freddy began to sing.

“So lately, I’ve been wondering who will be there to take my place

When I’m gone, you’ll need love to light the shadows on your face

If a great wave shall fall, it would fall upon us all

And between the sand and stone, could you make it on your own?

If I could, then I would, I’ll go wherever you will go

Way up high, or down low, I’ll go wherever you will go

And maybe I’ll find out the way to make it back someday

To watch you, to guide you through the darkest of your days

If a great wave shall fall, it would fall upon us all

Well I hope there’s someone out there who can bring me back to you

If I could, then I would, I’ll go wherever you will go

Way up high, or down low, I’ll go wherever you will go

Run away with my heart, run away with my hope, run away with my love

I know now, just quite how, my life and love might still go on

In your heart and your mind, I’ll stay with you for all of time

If I could, then I would, I'll go wherever you will go

Way up high, or down low, I'll go wherever you will go

If I could turn back time, I’ll go wherever you will go

If I could make you mine, I’ll go wherever you will go”

Freddy finished the song. When the clapping ceased, he looked at Nicki.

“I’d like to say that that song was from all of us. But Tyler was the one who told me to play it, so you’ll have to thank him.”

Nicki stared at him. She didn’t say a word. He wanted to know what she was thinking. The conversation picked back up around them. Nicki’s dad walked over to them.

“Hey hon, I’m gonna get going. It’s getting to be past my bed time,” he said as she got up to hug him.

“I’m really glad you came.” He kissed her on the forehead. Milan went to walk him out.

Her father had started a trend. Slowly, everyone else got up to leave. By seven, Tyler, Nicki, and Freddy were the only guests left. They helped Milan and Brittany pick up, and got the entire house clean in less than an hour. They said their goodbyes and Nicki thanked them over and over for the party.

Freddy hugged Nicki then turned to Tyler. “I’ll see you at home.” He walked to his car.

Tyler opened Nicki’s door for her. She got in without saying a word. When he started the car, she finally spoke.

“You really told him to play that song?”

“Yeah. Out of all the songs you gave me, that one was my favorite. And I kind of thought the lyrics were appropriate for today.”

She stared at him again. He desperately wanted to ask her what she was thinking. Instead of saying something, she grabbed his hand and looked out the window.