Tyler’s POV

“It must have been so tough, coming to a new team and a new city, not knowing anyone…” the reporter simpered away with her redundant questions as Tyler tried to appear politely interested. That wasn’t true, anyways – he obviously knew Pevs, and he’d spent a lot of time studying video of his new teammates, so that when he got to Dallas, he could fit in as seamlessly as possible, both on and off the ice.

“I think it’s a challenge for anyone to be in a new situation, but I got really lucky in my new team, everyone has been great here, and Dallas is a great city…” Tyler smiled and kept his tone cheerful and upbeat, hoping to keep his answers just bland enough that the reporter would lose interest soon. It wasn’t that he hated the media, not like some hockey players, no, normally he would be happy to talk to people and make sure they got some interesting sound bites for the Stars fans.

It was just that, tonight was the night he got to go home early, no practice tomorrow, and he honestly couldn’t wait to cuddle up with Marshall, watch a little game tape and a movie, order in some awesome food, and then pass out. Early.

Tyler scratched the back of his head while half-listening to another long-winded question. Yeah, maybe that wasn’t a normal thing for a 21 year old multi-millionaire guy to think, but he wasn’t ashamed. He partied as hard as anyone, but he was damn tired after a long week of games, working out hard, and not getting enough sleep. He’d even said as much in the locker room when a handful of the guys had asked him to come out, and he’d actually gotten a chorus of agreement.

It’d been an exhausting week for everyone, good hard work and he was proud of it, proud of the team, and that itch that had always seemed to be present in Boston was quiet for once. He felt safe here, didn’t need to hide himself like he’d always done in that other locker room. Didn’t feel the need to drink balls to the wall, or prove he was macho. He was respected and included instantly on the Stars, and he finally felt like he could take care of himself when he needed to. He finally felt like he knew how to do that.

He caught Jamie’s eye as he walked by behind the reporter, looking like he wanted to help get her out of his face. He gave an extra-big smile and wink while answering the next question, but thankfully that was finally her last one and she thanked him and then left.

“You can always ask them to leave, Segs, you don’t have to answer a thousand questions after every game.” Jamie was rolling his eyes in exaggerated mockery but Tyler knew he was honestly trying to give some gentle advice, too.

“Ya, I know man. I don’t really mind, though.”

Jamie eyed him while he tied his shoelaces. “Thought you wanted to get home to your bed
early tonight. You do look beat, man, you want a ride?”

Tyler looked down at himself, gear still mostly on, his Under Armour shirt now dry but he knew he must stink. “Nah, m’fine. You go ahead, you look tired too.”

“Better off than you, though. Take it easy, get some sleep, that’s important too.”

“Catch you later, Jamie.”

“Bye.”

Tyler let his eyes trail over Jamie’s back as he walked out of the room, but quickly got a hold of himself and started methodically stripping off gear. No one else was left from the team, and Tyler knew the equipment guys would want to get in here soon to get everything cleaned up, so that they could go home too. He showered fast, and when he was ready to go he made sure to holler a “G’night!” to the skate guy, who waved at him and shouted back, “Good game Tyler!”

He grinned as he got into his car, thinking about Jamie offering him a ride. Such a captain complex. He couldn’t imagine Jamie without the “C.” He was like a mother hen, clucking about the locker room. Tyler knew himself well enough to admit that he liked it, liked being cared about and having someone worry about him. That that someone was an incredibly hot, sexy teammate was just a huge plus.

But Tyler knew that the thing between him and Jamie wasn’t like that. Jamie cared about him as a friend, and Tyler mostly kept his attraction to a low burn. When he was a little obvious and handsy, well, he could get like that with all of his friends, so it wasn’t looked at strangely.

His crush was a secret to everyone, and that was how it had to be. How it always was, with any of his crushes on teammates or guys in general. The few exceptions had been casual, with buddies, where they both knew it was just a buddies thing. He’d dated a handful of girls, too, but luckily the whole pro athlete thing seemed to serve as a watertight excuse as to why he never got serious with any of them.

He started the car and drove through the mostly empty streets to his apartment, same building as Jamie and Jordie. He parked a few spots down from Jamie’s car, a warm feeling settling in his gut when he saw it parked there. He hadn’t been sure if Jamie was going to go out with the few guys that seemed to still have energy, if he’d feel it was his captainly duty to go along for a few drinks.

But Jamie wasn’t really like that, and Tyler respected that about him. He only did things if he really felt like it, and wasn’t ever afraid of being called out or criticized. If Tyler had been more like him in Boston, or had had him as a role model in Boston, he’d have found himself a lot sooner, he’s sure of it.

His cell pinged, and he pulled it out to see a text from the man himself. Movie night?

Tyler texted back quickly, grinning again as he decides to tease a little. Only if you walk Marshall with me first.

Tyler didn’t get a response, but when he stepped off the elevator to his floor, he saw Jamie leaning against the wall by his door. He raised his eyebrows at him, as if to say, “ookay?”

“Jordie has his girl over, and he kept giving me these looks that mean don’t let the door hit you on your way out, like he thinks he’s even gonna get some tonight.” Jamie sounded grumbly, and Tyler didn’t have the heart to point out that Jordie probably will get some, seeing as how he’s had a steady girlfriend for over a year now.

Tyler turned away, so Jamie couldn’t see his smile, and proceeded to fling open the door to a bounding Marshall, who couldn’t seem to decide who he wanted to greet first. He ran back and forth between the two of them for a minute,his tail a blur and happy half-bark half-whines as Tyler grabbed his leash off the hook and swung his gear bag into the nook. He hugged Marshall, clipping the leash on his collar, and offered the handle to Jamie.

Jamie took it, grinning at Marshall and scratching his side. Tyler hoped he didn’t have a dopey-fond expression on his face right now, even though Jamie totally did – but that was really directed at the dog, not him. Tyler just couldn’t ever get over what seeing Jamie and Marshall together did to him, every time.

Jamie looked up at him and Tyler was pretty sure he’d managed to get his face under control. Tyler smiled and turned to lock up his door again. They headed for the elevator with Marshall vibrating with happiness between them. Tyler was feeling pretty content about where his life had taken him right at that moment. He leaned back in the elevator, watching Jamie press the button for the lobby in front of him, and thought to himself, “Well, I could be more content. But, I can’t have him, so having him as a friend is close enough.” He knew that would have to suffice, and he willed himself to just enjoy the closeness with Jamie whenever they were around each other.

But that didn’t happen…it couldn’t...


Jamie’s POV

Jamie considered himself a pretty self-aware dude. He knew he was always “bi,” and knew he thought Tyler was attractive and funny and sweet, a catch all-in-all. But he also knew he, himself, was shy when it came to trying to date, or even flirt with anyone. And he really, really did not want to mess up his new, awesome friendship he had going on with Tyler, nor did he want to risk messing up things for the team. He knew that Tyler played with his heart and soul out, went all in. He couldn’t seem to separate the game from how he was feeling and he would never do anything to jeopardize the game for Tyler.

He reminded himself of that with deep, steadying breaths in the crisp November air outside their apartment building, pretending to look at the scenery to his left while Tyler talked in a baby voice to Marshall, being all endearing and ridiculously cute. He felt a surge of affection for the two of them, and could feel his cheeks heat up. It was always like this, when they did domestic things together, like walking Marshall, apparently. He also loved to cook for Tyler, liked to make sure his house didn’t get too out of hand, brought him his gear bag when he left it in Jamie’s car or apartment…yeah, it was like that.

He’d always been that way with his family, looking after Jordie and his parents, his cousins, even his close friends at school. But with Tyler, it felt a little different. Jamie felt… well, possessive. And he knew that it wasn’t appropriate, especially when they had only been good friends for a couple of weeks, heck months, now. And he knew that Tyler wasn’t even interested in him in that way.

Tyler had dated Brad Marchand and other girls. It was weird, cause he never indicated anything more than platonic feelings for guys, and wasn’t shy about touching Jamie; always pushing him, hugging him, patting his back, and smacking him playfully. Jamie sometimes clammed up or got awkward around Tyler, but Tyler didn’t seem to have the same issue around Jamie. Obviously, he didn’t share the same confusing feelings that Jamie was struggling with.

And there was the little fact about him dating Brad. Well, he didn’t necessarily “date” him, but they had fallen in love with one another. But again, when Jamie had first met him, he didn’t seem like he was “homosexual.”

Jamie couldn’t really help but take care of Tyler though. And he didn’t want to stop. Tyler didn’t seem to mind at all, in fact, Jamie could even say that he liked it. Almost preened sometimes when Jamie paid him special attention. Jamie figured it was just his personality, but that didn’t make his reactions any less provocative.

Sometimes Jamie had a hard time not just giving in to his urge to stroke Tyler’s hair and tell him what to do, before taking him home and finally getting to look at that glorious body…

“Jamie, can you hear me in there…hellooo?” Tyler was waving his hand obnoxiously in front of Jamie’s face. He made it purposeful, so that Jamie caught it, almost kissed it, but instead he pushed it away and looked around.

“What?” he asked, eloquently.

Tyler laughed, a short, gleeful thing. “Dude, you were checked out, I like, left you all alone under this tree for a good couple minutes before I noticed you weren’t with me.”

“Oh, sorry.” Jamie rubbed his eyes with his knuckle. “Just tired, need a little downtime to let my body catch up with my brain or something.”

“Or something. Yep, Marshall did his thing, so we can head back. You still want to watch a movie?” Tyler was squinting at him, trying to decipher his face or something, if he knew what the older man was thinking...

“Yeah, I’m good.”

They got back to Tyler’s apartment. The young man hung up Marshall’s leash, while kicking off his shoes, which Jamie put in an orderly line with his own shoes. He could sense more than hear Tyler laughing at him, but it had become a routine and it comforted him.

Just like going into the kitchen and getting glasses of water for each of them, checking Marshall’s bowl for clean water, and grabbing some nutritionist-approved snacks and that pink drink Tyler loved and hauling it all out to the living room. Tyler was already set up for the movie, and was flipping through his stack of to-go menus, finally picking one and asking, “Thai food good? The usual?”

Jamie nodded, unable to speak for a moment as he met Tyler’s soft eyes, feeling like he was being pulled forward by an invisible force as he looked at him. Tyler looked away first, and grabbed his phone to order, dialing the number rapidly. Jamie shook it off and settled into the couch, determined not to be weirded out and to just enjoy the proximity to one of his favorite people. Marshall jumped up between them, which was usual, but the newly named captain had a fleeting moment of wishing he could snuggle up to Tyler like that.

But he could only dream and hope about that.

Jamie sighed and then yawned, and Tyler reached over Marshall to poke him in the arm. “No, no yawning. You have to stay awake and watch this with me.”

“What are we watching, anyways?” The movie was paused on one of the opening previews, which made Jamie’s heart flutter for a moment. Tyler liked to just skip through the previews, but one time Jamie stopped him and confessed that he liked to watch them, and since then Tyler had always played them. It was kind of sweet.

“The Truman Show – it had gotten great reviews, and it looked really interesting. I know it may be kind of old, but I hadn’t seen it before. I think you’ll like it.”

“What’s it about?” Not that he doubted Tyler’s taste, he just liked watching Tyler talk. And hearing him too.

“It’s basically about this one guy is raised in Hollywood as an actor, but he hasn’t been off of a movie set. Born on set and raised on the set or a TV Show. But then he gets curious about his life and whether things are really real or not. I heard about it through one of the people who does the Seguin’s Stars stuff with me.”

Jamie nodded. “Cool, sounds good.”

Tyler took that as a signal to start the previews, and they watched in relative quiet, aside from occasional comments about wanting to see this or that movie. When the movie started, Jamie quickly got absorbed, and was startled when the doorbell rang.

Tyler chuckled at him, patting his knee, before getting up to get the food. Jamie stared at the paused screen, suddenly feeling a little guilty about not helping his new friend out. It should be common courtesy for the guest to help out. Instead, he’d just remained on his ass on the couch.

Tyler poked him again. “What are you thinking?”

Jamie looked at him. He was unpacking the Thai food, and glancing at Jamie as he waited for a response.

“Just that, I--nevermind, man...I should have helped you out.”

Tyler smiled at him. “You have the biggest heart. You do that for us, all the time, being named captain now.”

Jamie could feel himself blush. “Yeah, I guess.”

He felt awkward about receiving a compliment like that. He knew he could do more and felt a bit ashamed that he didn’t. Tyler was always complimenting him. It seemed so easy for him, telling people how awesome they were. Jamie tended to keep those things inside a bit more, preferring to show people how much he cared through actions rather than words. But Tyler seemed to know that about him, and just gave him another grin before starting the movie again.

It was a really good movie, and by the end they both wiped their eyes a few times, which was pretty normal for them. Jamie loved how open Tyler was with his feelings, felt like it let him be more open too.

Jamie watched as Tyler relaxed back into the couch for a minute after turning off the TV. The room was dark, only a little light from the kitchen trickled into the living room. Jamie had an almost overwhelming urge to reach for Tyler and pull him close. His hand was already resting on Marshall, and Ty’s hand was on the dog’s head, just inches away from his own. He breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm his racing heart, and finally reached his hands overhead for a shoulder stretch, rolling his head at the same time. He dropped his arms, and Tyler was looking at him, but quickly looked back down at Marshall.

Jamie started picking up their mess of food containers and such from the coffee table, and Tyler joined in after a moment. They cleaned up in comfortable silence, and Jamie got that rush of fondness again as they worked in perfect synchronicity.

When they were finished, they both stood in the kitchen, and Jamie smiled at a very sleepy-looking Tyler before he said, “Gonna head up. See you tomorrow?”

Tyler nodded, and then took a few steps forward to pull Jamie into a full-body hug. Jamie loved this moment. The guy may hug everyone, but somehow, it felt special. This hug was just for him. Tyler lingered for a bit longer than normal, before finally pulling away and blinking tiredly at Jamie.

“See you tomorrow.” He offered a sleepy smile, and Jamie had to force himself not to reach for Tyler. He had to just smile back and turned for the door. He tugged on his shoes, which he left laced up, and after he opened the door he turned back to say, “Good night, Tyler.”

Tyler was just a few feet behind him, ready to lock up after him. “Good night, Jamie.”

As Jamie stood in the elevator again, he thought about how how much he was head-over-heels in love with Tyler Seguin. He wondered if it would get easier, if he would find someone who made him feel the same way that he could actually be with. Ideally a woman – but the idea just made him feel a bit sick, and he decided not to dwell on it right then. He had hockey, he had his friends and family. He was not missing anything.

Notes

Bennguin!! :D Not a fan of Seguin, but I'm a fan of Seguin and Someone Else!! :) I like Seguin bromances, just not Seguin himself. (Wow, how many times did I just type Pretty Boy's name?)


Next up: Poor Valeri...and who took him?! Is that really the Honey Badger??