By the time they reached their destination, everyone was in great spirits. Nicki couldn't believe how much fun the men on the Bruins were. They acted like five year olds. Five year olds who like to drink. A lot.
They told the story of when they went to Foxwoods after they won the Stanley Cup. They racked up a bill that cost over $150,000, mostly due to the fact that Brad bought a beer that was $100,000. At first Nicki was disgusted, but then she thought of what it must have felt like to win the Cup, and changed her mind.

The team piled out of the limousine and into the small bar. It was located on the corner of two completely deserted streets. Nicki couldn't even find a sign with the name. It was either going to be very exclusive or very sketchy. Nicki was the last one to enter the bar, and found that it was the former. Very exclusive. Before you could enter the actual bar, you had to provide some kind of identification to a bouncer in a dimly lit lobby. She suspected that this was not the first time the Bruins had come here, because a few of them knew the man by his first name.

The monster of a man looked at Nicki and Lisa and asked, "These girls with you?"

"Yeah, they're good. Thanks Dave," Tyler said, slipping him a fifty dollar bill.

"Oh, what a surprise. Course they're with you, Seguin," Dave said, laughing from deep within his huge belly.

Tyler didn't seem to think it was very funny. Nicki could only guess what he meant by that and did her best to push away the thoughts surfacing in her head.

They walked into the bar, which was much larger than it looked like from the outside. Similar to the lobby, there was almost no lighting. There was a small dance floor, a disco ball that was currently not in use, a huge stereo system, and about thirty televisions. The focus point however was the semi-circle shaped bar. Neon signs hung along the walls and over some of the small tables scattered throughout the room.

Nicki laughed to herself as she took in the whole scene. Besides the ones she came with, there were only three other men in the entire place, but there were about twenty gorgeous women. She imagined that none of them were very respectable. The few that noticed her looking at them gave her a variety of hateful looks. She must be trespassing on their territory.

Nicki turned to Tuukka and asked, "Should I be worried about those girls? They look like they want to rip me apart limb from limb."

He laughed and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Nah, you're fine. Most of them are here for Segs anyways."

Great. He obviously didn't know who had invited her and Lisa out in the first place. Nicki looked around again, scanning the slowly filling room for Lisa. She was somehow not surprised to find her already dancing atop the bar with Milan and Brad. Milan must have warmed up to her.

Slowly more and more of the team started joining the girls on the dance floor. The ones who didn't took seats at the bar and ordered more drinks. Nicki stood in the middle of it all, not really sure what to do. She managed to forget how much she hated the party scene. It hadn't suited her in high school, and certainly didn't suit her now.

Nicki felt a hand on her lower back and looked to her left, trying to keep her breathing steady as she realized who was touching her.

"Why don't I buy you a drink or something? You look miserable," Tyler offered.

"Thanks, but I don't really drink." Nicki thought about it for another moment. "Screw it. Why not? What do you usually drink here?" she asked.

"I'm more of a beer guy than anything, but the bartenders are great here. They can pretty much make anything."

Nicki was entirely lost when it came to drinks. She could count on one hand how many times in her life that she'd had alcohol.

"Umm.. I'm not sure. Whatever you think I'd like."

He yelled over to the bartender, "Jeff, how about an appletini?"

Jeff shouted back over the music that had grown louder since they'd arrived.

"Isn't that a little girly for you Tyler?"

Nicki couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Think that's funny, huh?" he asked, glaring at her.

She continued to giggle, inspiring him to pick her up and hoist her over his shoulder. Nicki tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but realized quickly that she had nowhere to go but down, and guessed it wouldn't be a pleasant trip. Besides, she would have been lying if she said she wasn't enjoying it. Tyler brought her across the room to the bar and set her down on a stool, a little too roughly.

"Hey, careful! That hurt," she whined, pouting.

Tyler flashed her another one of his knee weakening grins. He seemed satisfied with his revenge.

She adjusted herself on the barstool, noticing Tyler out of the corner of her eye, watching her. A knot formed in her stomach. There was no way that he was actually interested in her; she had to be imagining things. Just then, Lisa got down off of the bar. She gave Nicki a big, drunken kiss on the cheek and said that she was going to dance over on the floor. Nicki wished that she could be as much fun as Lisa sometimes.

"Your friend is a little crazy," Tyler pointed out. "Compared to you, at least."

"Yeah, the ying to my yang I guess," Nicki said, shrugging her shoulders.

They had always been that way. They balanced eachother out. Lisa was adventurous, wild, and sometimes a little clueless. Nicki was calmer, happiest by herself, and always knew exactly what was going on.

"That's cool. My roommate and I are like that, too," he said.

The bartender placed Nicki's drink in front of her, and handed Tyler another beer.

Nicki grabbed her glass and held it up.

"Cheers to you and your game winning goal," she proposed, trying her best to smile at him without looking like an idiot.

Tyler met her halfway, mirroring her face. She got the feeling that he looked a hell of a lot better with that smile than she did, but chose to ignore the nagging feeling that he was much too attractive and cocky to have an interest in her. He let his eyes linger on her face for a moment before taking a sip of his beer, and she copied with her own drink. As soon as she felt the fiery liquid sliding down her throat, she pulled back and scrunched her face, evoking an amused chuckle from Tyler.

"You took that like a pro," he teased, placing his bottle on the bar in front of them.

"Shut up," she snapped as she shoved his chest. Already she was feeling a little flirty, but some minuscule part of her brain was telling her to be careful.

"Why don't you drink?" he inquired, as if he was actually interested in the answer.

"You really want to know?"
He nodded his head and waited for her response patiently. She started to recall all of the horrible memories, and wished she'd never started talking to him in the first place.

"Both of my parents were alcoholics. Long story short, my mom died from liver failure last year. My dad straightened out after it happened, but it's just something I can't forget. And that is why I don't drink," she explained bashfully, wondering why a stranger could make her feel so insecure, yet so at ease.

He looked at her, obviously a bit stunned. "I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. You don't deserve that."

"Nobody does." She instantly regretted telling him. She didn't need him feeling bad for her like everyone else. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you. I just didn't want to lie. I hate lying."

"It's okay, I'm glad you did. I never would have known that about you. I mean, I know a couple people who have bad lives or shitty parents. You're not like them at all," he said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she admitted, knowing full well that she was one of the lucky ones who learned from her parent's mistakes, rather than mimicking them. "So, now that I've told you that, you tell me something."

"Fair enough."

"What's the story behind that tattoo? I've been trying to figure it out all night," she said, suddenly feeling a bit creepy. She hadn't meant to tell him that she'd been obsessing over him since the moment they met.

Tyler glanced down at his arm before responding. "It's two separate ones that I got merged together. At first I had my last name on my tricep. The second part I just got done a little while ago. It might sound stupid but, growing up my dad always told me to wear my heart on my sleeve. It just seems important. I always want to wear my heart on my sleeve. Family, heart, passion, all that stuff. Then I have my family's' birthdates. I just wanted to get something meaningful."

Nicki stared at him. "To be completely honest, I was not expecting that at all. No offense, not many people have a tattoo that actually means something. That's really awesome. And kind of inspirational," she said with a light hearted laugh.

She looked at him, and found herself void of breath. Tyler's eyes were locked on hers, in a way that she'd never experienced before. It was like he was looking straight through her. He glanced down at her lips quickly, letting her know exactly what was on his mind. Caught up in the intimate moment, Nicki leaned in to meet him, never peeling her eyes from his. His warm breath on her face as he inched closer made her shiver, and she tried to hide the fact that she felt like she was going to vomit. Just before their lips touched, she turned her head away.

"Tyler, I'm so sorry. I can't do this. Not right now. I still have so much pain. It isn't fair to either of us. And I have to say, I get the feeling we don't really want the same thing."

Tyler just stared at her, defeated. He never said a word. As he picked up his beer he raised one corner of his mouth, so little that it could barely be called a smile. He walked away from her and towards the dance floor. She saw him take off his shirt as he was surrounded by the self-indulged leeches that called themselves girls.

Nicki threw her head back and finished off her drink before begging Jeff for another.