A New Leaf

When the three of us arrived at the ACC, Tyler gave Erin and I our tickets before he descended down the long hall towards the dressing rooms. Erin and I decided to grab some dinner at the executives lounge located by our seats. We sat in the dimly lit restaurant type bar surrounded by men in suits, looking totally out of place in our jerseys.

Erin and I both had a pasta dish, before we decided to head out to the rink where people were beginning to take their seats. As soon as we sat down the players skated out to do their warmup, I immediately spotted Tyler and he flashed me a goofy smile. You could easily tell that he was overjoyed to be playing his first NHL game- and he had every right to be.

"You better show that hot boyfriend of yours some love. These seats are amazing." Erin pointed out. I cringed a bit at the word boyfriend, however.

"He's not my boyfriend." I said, blushing as I watched the players skate around and shoot at the goalie.

"Oh come on Mila. Do you see the way he looks at you? What do you think you're just friends?" Erin raised her eyebrow at me.

"No but I don't know we're not, like, officially dating or anything." I said, feeling slightly awkward.

"Well get that made official because I need a wingman to set me up with Lupul." She joked.

The game was against Colorado, and the leafs were in the middle of a losing streak. Tyler kept glancing back at me from the bench and grinning, honestly, from ear to ear. It was during the second period when things really picked up and mad him smile though.

They were down 2-0 when Tyler had the puck, passed it over to his teammate who scored, bringing them back into the game at 2-1. However it didn't last long, as they ended up losing 4-1. Overall they seemed to give the other team way too many chances, and they weren't blocking shots enough. Or so I heard from Erin's screaming throughout the game.

After the game Tyler texted me and told me to meet him outside of their dressing room, and that he had a surprise for Erin. We waited for a few minutes until the dressing room door flew open. Joffrey had his arm draped around Tyler when they approached us. Tyler was smiling as he directed Lupul towards Erin and I. I honestly thought Erin was going to collapse being in that close of a proximity to Joffrey Lupul himself.

"Hey beautiful." Tyler began, before he was cut off by Joffrey.

"Bozie's first game in the NHL!" Joffrey yelled, "who's down for some drinks?"

"We are! Definitely!" Erin said quickly.

The four of us walked down the street from the ACC to a small bar. I walked linked arm-in-arm with Tyler, while Joffrey and Erin walked behind us. The whole time I'm pretty sure Erin was trying not to say anything embarrassing, but Tyler ruined it for her.

"Hey," Tyler turned his head back, "did ya know that Lupes is totally desperate for a girl and Erin has a shirt that says Mrs. Lupul on it?"

Tyler giggled and grabbed my arm, dragging me with him to the bar, so that Joffrey and Erin couldn't react. When we got to the bar, Tyler and I sat down first, before Joffrey and Erin came trailing in behind us, sitting down having their own conversation. Tyler was dressed in the suit from earlier and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I didn't know it was possible to look so good after a hockey game, but Tyler managed to do it. Before I could even realize myself, Tyler caught me staring.

"What are you thinking about?" Tyler asked.

"To be honest, how cute you are." I immediately regretted saying that, and blushed.

"Good because I was thinking the same thing." He squeezed my knee, and then motioned to the bartender requesting two beers for him and I.

We spent about an hour at the bar, where Tyler gushed about hockey and how great he felt to finally make it to the big leagues. I knew barely anything about hockey, but I knew I was definitely proud for him. Listening to him talk was mesmerizing, and neither of us realized that Joffrey and Erin had left.

"Hey, uh, this may be weird but do you wanna come over to my place maybe." Tyler asked, obviously given courage by the 3 beers we had drank.

"Sure." What are you doing Mila? You remember what happens when you go home drunk with a guy from a bar. "Wait you're not trying to sleep with me are you?"

"Nah, let's watch some movies or some shit and get outta here." Tyler said, quickly getting up from his barstool and helping me off of mine.

----

We took a taxi to Tyler's condo, which was absolutely beautifully decorated. The couches were black leather and the entire condo was a light cream shade with hardwood floors. I was instantly jealous, comparing this to my cramped door room. Maybe one day, when I'm a doctor, I'll be able to afford a place like this.

"What do you wanna watch" Tyler said as he scrolled through netflix from his position beside me on the couch, eyes glued to the TV.

"I don't care really." I said honestly.

Tyler ended up putting on a random comedy movie, which we watched for about 10 minutes before I decided to snuggle up to him. I shifted myself over a coushion and rested my head against his warm chest, cuddling into his red "Denver" sweater.

"You know, this is nice." I said. "Most guys I've been with usually get me home from a bar drunk and expect sex or something."

"Mila, honestly, I just want to be with you. I have no desire to use you for sex or anything like that." His face turned serious.

"Thank you." I quickly looked up and kissed Tyler's cheek, which surprised him.

He returned the kiss with a kiss on my forehead, to which I responded with a kiss on his nose. Eventually our lips found each other and my hands snaked up to the back of his neck, and his hands found my waist. Tyler pulled me in closer and deepened the kiss. I ran my fingers through his short hair as his lips began to kiss my neck. He sucked at my neck gently, leaving a trail of hickeys. I wouldn't hear the end of this from Erin. I laughed a little as he returned to my mouth, biting my lower lip.

Eventually we passed out together on the couch, with the crappy comedy playing in the background. I fell asleep feeling relaxed, and protected, for the first time in months.

Notes

Keep commenting! I honestly need some constructive criticism, or nice comments haha!