“I don’t wanna be needing your love, I just wanna be deep in your love… ‘Cause I don’t really care where you are, I just wanna be there where you are…”


Marie twisted and looked at herself in the mirror. Tonight would prove to be different than the other nights she and Marco had spent together. While she had been dressed in sexy, revealing outfits before, tonight was on a whole other level. Plus he wouldn’t be the only one seeing her in it either. The team was putting on a Halloween party, and when asked about what she should wear, Marco responded with, “leave nothing to the imagination”.

It wouldn’t be her first time going to a Halloween party, and it surely wouldn’t be her last. So looking at herself, she was pretty pleased with what she had managed to throw together. All things considered, she knew Marco would be pleased to see her all dressed up for a crazy night out.

By the time he was knocking on her door, Marie was just pulling on her boots. She called him in and looked up as her foot slid into place, and she noted her boyfriend’s reaction as he laid his eyes upon her. It was a look he’d never given her before. And Marie was sure she was giving him the same look. He looked better than she could’ve ever imagined, all dressed up as a firefighter. She knew that the tight tank top that covered his chest would be off by the time they made their entrance, leaving him in the yellow cargo pants, red suspenders, and yellow hat he was also donning.

While they weren’t in matching costumes, both knew that Marie was a sight to behold. As Marco stared at her, taking in her sight, Marie glanced down at what she’d thrown on. It wasn’t a secret as to why Marco was fawning over her. Besides the leather cowboy boots she’d slid into, she was only wearing faded Daisy Dukes, which really hid nothing at all, a black lace bralette, and a cropped red flannel, buttoned low to reveal as much as possible. She had been going for a sort of cowgirl pinup look, and she felt she nailed it.

“I almost don’t want to take you out tonight… Kind of just want to keep you here all to myself,” Marco finally shifted his eyes up from her body.

“No we have to go. I don’t want your teammates to think I’m some controlling, psycho bitch that won’t let you go anywhere.” Marie smiled and reached down for the straw cowboy hat on the couch. She placed it on top of her head and approached Marco with her phone and wallet in hand.

He leaned in and pecked her lips, taking her belongings from her hands and placing them in his multitude of pockets. They stood for a moment, quietly encapsulated in each other’s arms, thinking about the rest of the night. Marie wondered if she’d taken the costume a touch too far. After all, some of the guys were married, and what would their wives think of the teenager flaunting her body in front of their husbands. It’d be the first time she met most the wives and girlfriends and she wanted to make a good impression. The last thing she needed was to be seen as an outcast to those women.

She finally got Marco out to his car and they started off for Zach’s house. The entire ride over, Marie kept antagonizing herself for the way she looked. Although Marco liked it, that was to be expected. He liked her clothed or naked; it didn’t matter. But Marie knew better than to expect the same reaction from the women. Girls always found a way to be nasty with each other, and with so many girls in one small space, she feared that would happen sooner rather than later.

When they rolled up to Zach’s, the street and driveway was already packed with cars. Marco was quick to park and scurry out of his car, running around to open the door for Marie. After offering his hand to her, she stood up and pulled her flannel around her chest tighter.

“You don’t have to cover up,” Marco smiled, setting his hand down against Marie’s lower back. “Trust me, you’re not going to be the only girl dressed all sexy,”

“Well don’t you be looking at all those other girls. Eyes here, buddy.”

Marco chuckled and stepped onto the elaborate porch and pressed the doorbell. They could hear a ruckus from inside, made louder when the door opened up. Marie stared on as a woman stood in front of them, dressed up as a baby doll.

“Scandy, looking good!” She squeaked, rushing forward to hug him.

“Hey Alisha,” he reciprocated her embrace and kissed her cheek quickly. “I’d like you to meet Marie,”

Alisha backed up and reached for Marie, giving her a tight hug as well. “And I thought Scandy looked good. Come on in, guys!”

The woman turned and skipped away, allowing Marco and Marie to enter at their own pace. And sensing a sort of confusion, Marco grabbed Marie’s hand and bent down closer to her ear, “Zach’s wife.”

“A wife? So you weren’t lying when you said I wouldn’t be the only one scantily clad,”

“Of course I wasn’t lying,” he smiled, walking towards the kitchen where many of his teammates were gathered, pouring drinks. “How embarrassing would that be if you were the only one dressed up?”

“Now you know how I was feeling,”

Marco kissed the top of her head as they entered the kitchen. They were greeted by having a round of shots thrust into their hands. Looking down at the glass bottle on the counter, Marie could see that they’d just been given shots of Patrón. From her past experience with tequila, she knew it wouldn’t take much to get her plastered. She glanced up at Marco to see him holding his shot glass up towards her. Reluctantly, Marie clinked her tiny glass against his.

“Salute,” he said in his charming Italian accent.

Marie watched as he downed the clear liquid with ease, cringing as he looked down into the empty glass. Not wanting to make a scene and stand out, Marie lifted the glass to her lips and finished it off in one gulp. She had the same reaction as Marco, but before she could suffer for too long, he thrust a lime wedge into her mouth.

She bit into the tart fruit and shook her head, hoping it would help the battery acid taste get out of her mouth. No matter how many shots she took of how many different alcohols, she’d never particularly like the taste of it.

Just as they finished one round, two ninja turtles were handing forward another round. Marie groaned, but as Donatello and Leonardo backed up, Marco threw it back like it was water. While everyone else was pressuring Marie to take it, Marco could see she was hesitant to do it again. So instead of forcing her to struggle through it, he took the shot glass from her hand and finished it off swiftly. He grimaced after his third shot and held up his hands.

“Enough,” he set the glasses down on the counter and looked around. “I need a beer… you want one?” He waited for Marie’s answer, and when she nodded, “two!”

Without much time to comprehend what was going on, Marie was being handed a bottle of beer. The cap had already been popped off for her and she peeked up at Marco to see him taking a pull on his own drink. She lifted the beer to her lips and took a sip, looking towards the doorway as Alisha reappeared. She seemed to be in pursuit of something, and when she saw Marie circled around the men, she reached forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the living room.

The wives and girlfriends had created their own little circle, talking amongst themselves as though it was the more natural thing in the world. Marie sat on the couch beside Alisha, smiling pleasantly as the other women acknowledged her.

“I’m so happy Marco found someone like you. For a while there, he was pretty shy. It took some time to get him to come out of his shell.”

Marie brought her beer up to her lips and tried not to look too embarrassed by the whole situation.

“Everyone can tell he’s a lot happier. Even if some of the guys give him some crap about it, he’s definitely a changed man.”

“What would they give him crap about?”

Now Alisha was the one to fall silent. Marie probed her face for answers but became increasingly worried as nothing left her mouth. She took a deep breath as if she were about to say something, but then pursed her lips and looked down at her cocktail.

“You know guys; they like to take jabs at each other,” she began, dancing around the actual subject. “They joke around saying Marco’s babysitting. But let me tell you, all the girls are super supportive of the relationship. We just want to see Marco happy, and you too.”

This is how she expected a group of girls to get along. Alisha had mentioned how the boys liked to take jabs at each other, but as Marie looked around the group of women, many were shooting daggers at her. Boys weren’t the only ones who knew how to throw punches. She took another long sip of her beer, glancing through the tinted glass to see it was just about finished. Beer wasn’t her drink of choice, but these women might drive her to it.

Alisha wasn’t giving glares though; in fact she seemed to be one of the only women who seemed genuine in what she had said. Aside from her and Ryan Suter’s wife, Becky, the other girls in the small circle looked on judgingly before returning to their own conversations.

“Don’t let the other girls intimidate you too much. It’s just been awhile since we’ve had a new woman in the mix.” Becky sat down beside Marie, handing her another beer.

She took it begrudgingly and twisted off the cap, lifting it up to her lips and took a small sip. The shot of tequila had left a bad taste in her mouth, and now she felt a little uneasy having another beer in her hand. “I never had too many girl friends growing up. For this reason… it’s a lot of drama,”

“Once the rest of the girls get used to seeing you around, they’ll warm up,” Alisha interjected. “Believe it or not, a few of these girls felt the same thing you’re feeling when they were new.”

“Carrying on the tradition then,” Marie murmured, reaching down to pull on her cowboy boot. When she sat back up, a wide smile spread across her face as Marco came strutting into the living room.

The t-shirt he had previously been wearing was now gone and the red suspenders that once hung over his shoulders were now tapping along his hips and chest with each stride. Although he still had a beer in his hand, his visibly inebriated state caused Marie to believe he had taken a few more shots since she had left the kitchen.

“You taking care of my woman?” He walked up behind the couch and bent over, reaching to kiss Marie’s neck. He bit into it gently, smiling as she shied away from his impetuous actions.

“We’re keeping an eye on her,” Becky smiled.

“Scandy, where’d you guys meet?” Alisha asked, setting her drink down on the coffee table.

“Montreal,” he stumbled over the name of the city but eventually got it out. Slowly, he set his beer down in between Marie’s legs. “First at a bar and then again at a charity event. She’s sexy as hell, right?”

One of the other girls chuckled and Marie looked down at her lap, chewing on the inside of her lip. These women didn’t take her seriously; not one bit.

“She’s beautiful,” Becky growled, shooting the other girls a quick glance. “Can’t believe you were able to keep her around,”

“Me either. Best thing that’s happened to me in awhile, wouldn’t you say?”

“Okay, you’re drunk.” Marie grinned and tilted her head back to look at Marco. He was leaning down over her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

When he backed away, he grabbed his beer bottle again and lifted it to his mouth, finishing it off in one fluid motion as he returned to the kitchen with the rest of his team. Marie saw how the women around her seemed to analyze her relationship like Marco. Like what could he want with a nineteen year old? It had never bothered her before, but now with all these women staring at her, Marie began to worry.

---

“I think we should slow down.”

“What?” Marco stepped out of his cargo pants. Now nearly two in the morning, he was well on his way to sobering up. They had just arrived back from the party, and with a morning skate in just a few hours, Marie knew they wouldn’t be up for much longer.

“I think we went into this a little fast, and I’m getting frightened. You were too drunk to notice, but those women were staring at me like I was a cheap whore… Like you’re my sugar daddy and I’m just here for the gifts.”

He picked up his pants and hung them over the back of the couch. It didn’t even seem like he was too worried about what Marie had said. “We both know that’s not true,”

“But they think it is,”

“I don’t care what they think. They’re not in this relationship, their input is irrelevant.” He walked into his bedroom momentarily, only to reappear in a pair of gray sweatpants.

“And what about your teammates? What do you think when they say you’re just babysitting?”

“It’s a joke. They don’t mean any harm by it. Did you not hear what I said at the party? You’re the best thing that’s happened to me. And everyone sees that but you,”

“Well me, and my mom, and your parents, and half your team, and their wives and girlfriends…” she set her hands on her hips.

“Now you’re just being stubborn and childish,”

“Well then,” she threw her hands up in the air, “like I said, let’s slow down. In fact, let’s just call it what it is. We’re pretty much through right? I thought I could be mature and grown up for you, but I can’t. I am stubborn and childish… but that’s because I’m nineteen and still trying to figure out how my brain works. I can’t be a put together woman for you. I don’t know how to put myself together.” Marie buttoned up her short flannel shirt, “you want… you need someone like that. You’d be better off with my sister,”

“You think my life is put together? Zach Parise has his life together. Ryan Suter has his life together. I have the façade of being put together. If you think I have the faintest idea of what I’m doing with my life, you’re so wrong. I don’t know much, but what I do know is that I want to play hockey for as long as possible, I want to find a girl to be with and settle down with, and I want a family. And most of all I know that I do not want your sister.”

Marie pursed her lips and brought one hand up to her face. She squeezed the bridge of her nose and looked up towards the ceiling. “I made brash decisions to move out here. This relationship was a brash decision. We need time apart to see if spending time together is the best thing for us,”

She stared at him, half expecting he’d spill every little ounce of feeling out, and half hoping he wouldn’t stop her as she left his apartment. His eyes searched her face for some pity, but she forced a tight smile, pulled open his front door and slipped out into the night.

Notes

"Sugar" by Maroon 5.

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