“When my hair’s all but gone and my memory fades, and the crowds don’t remember my name… I know you will still love me the same…”


Out of all the things Marie had to do in the days before Christmas, thinking about the team party was the last on the list. She had managed to procure necklaces for her mom and sister that matched one she had for herself. It’d be nice additions to their jewelry collections. But she didn’t have a gift for Marco.

They had come to the agreement that they weren’t going to exchange gifts with each other this year. Even though that’s what they said, there wasn’t a chance in hell that Marie was going to wake up Christmas morning without a gift for him. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what to get him. What could you possibly get the man who had everything?

But before she could worry about all that, she had to get through this workday. The shop had been busy as of late, as people wanted to get things to bring to parties. But since the opening, the team had busted their butts in order to make it a profitable joint. The result? Marie figured the shop would be more than okay if they closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

The team was more than excited to have a short break, and Marie allowed the break to be even longer for some of them. She sacrificed her Christmas Eve eve by deciding to work the half-day. It’d be pretty slow, and it was the least she could do for the people who had been working so hard for her.

“No baby today?”

Pulled out of her daydream, Marie focused in on Cam as he stood in front of her. Dressed in a tailored suit, per usual, it’d been awhile since she’d seen him.

“My mom’s in town,” she stammered. Their last conversation together flooded her memory, and all she could truly think about was how much had changed. “You look nice,”

“Thanks… How did the rest of your semester with Barthes go?”

Marie looked him square in the eyes and turned around, retrieving the coffee she knew he’d want. “I uh… I optioned out of class. Things got crazy with Sofia and the café,”

“Your boyfriend let you quit school?”

She held up her hand, showing off the diamond on her finger, “he proposed yesterday.” As Cam held out a five-dollar bill, Marie took it from him gently, “he didn’t let me do anything. It wasn’t his decision to make.”

“I wouldn’t have let you quit school. I thought you wanted a degree?”

“I think I’m doing fine without a degree,”

Cam smiled and put his change in the tip jar. “You’re doing more than fine, but it’s just a major accomplishment to finish college.” He offered a small smile and shook his head sheepishly, “I know, I know. I’ve got no right…” He sat down on a barstool by the register and looked towards the door to make sure no other customers were coming in. “You’re a grown woman, you can make your own decisions. I’d just hate to see a brilliant mind go to waste,”

Marie grinned and shrugged her shoulders, “our definitions of success are a little different.”

The bell on the door jingled, but Marie didn’t look up at first. It seemed like Cam had something else to say. But he ended up just looking down at his coffee, and that’s when Marie looked to see who’d come in. The café was pretty empty, only a few tables were occupied, so it wasn’t hard to spot the man who waltzed in, looking semi-disheveled from his off-ice workout.

But even his ragged appearance couldn’t keep two young children from bounding towards him. They were wearing jerseys, one with Marco’s name on the back, and one with Zach’s.

Marco knelt down in front of them, “I like your jersey, bud!” He was beaming at the little boy who wore the number six.

“You’re my favorite player,” the boy pressed his hands over the crest on his chest. He couldn’t have been more than five. “I play defense like you,”

“I bet you’re a lot better than me,” Marco smiled and nodded his head. He looked over the boy’s sister. She was staring at him in awe. “Who’s jersey do you have?”

The girl giggled and clasped her hands together, “Parise.”

“Zach’s your favorite?” Marco held out his hand to her and she took it eagerly, nodding. “Who’s your second favorite?”

She pointed at Marco and it earned an enthusiastic nod from him. Marie watched from the counter as the children’s father began to approach, nervously feeling like his kids were now taking up too much of Marco’s time. And though Marco acknowledged him, even shook his hand, he started his conversation back up with the kids.

“Are you excited for Christmas?”

The little boy jumped up and down, “we asked for a puppy! He’s a little spotty one from the pound!”

“Whoa, that’s awesome! He’ll be the luckiest puppy in the whole world,”

“What’d you ask for?” The girl mumbled.

Marco smiled and wrapped his arm around the girl, spinning her around, and then pointed towards the cash register. “You see that girl right there?” The kids nodded, and Marco caught Marie’s eyes, “I asked for her to marry me.”

“Did she say yes?!” The little girl looked back at Marco like she was hearing a brand new fairytale.

He nodded and focused in on the father as he stepped forward, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Alright kids, time to say goodbye to Mr. Scandella. We have to let him enjoy his day off,”

The children groaned, but after the picture was taken, the small girl turned back towards Marco. She stretched her arms out and clasped them around his neck. He smiled and hugged her, rubbing her back softly. Each holding their father’s hands, the kids waved on their way out, and Marco approached the counter.

He leaned over it and pecked Marie’s lips quickly. “Just wanted to remind you to bring Italian wedding cookies to Zach’s tonight,”

“Well hello to you too,” she grinned and ran her hand up his arm. “I’m cookin’ up some fresh ones as we speak. Stay for coffee,”

Marco pursed his lips, “I can’t. I have to shower and get ready. I’ll see you in a couple hours,” he leaned in again to kiss her lips again. This time he lingered, breathing in her scent as their lips touched.

“Make sure you bring the strappy heels,” Marie reminded. Because she was working, Marco was bringing her clothes so she could change in the car on the way to the party. “And the diamond necklace from last Christmas,”

“Anything else, Queen Marie?”

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, “leave the attitude at home.”

He grinned and playfully scrunched his nose. In the next moments, he was out of the shop, and Marie looked back at Cam. He looked like he was trying to mind his own business, but she doubted if he was successful in it. Whatever he was thinking though, she couldn’t be bothered with it. There were so many things in her life to worry about, and unfortunately for Cam, he just wasn’t one of them.

---

“Lord almighty, what a ring,” Becky exclaimed, holding up Marie’s left hand. The other girls had circled around like lion’s around a fresh kill. They all wanted to see the rock that Marco had planted on her finger.

Still an outsider to most of these girls’ lives, it was strange to have their full attention. Marie felt at a loss for words. Saying she was engaged and someone’s fiancée was still pretty fresh, and she could hardly believe it was true. Looking out over the sea of people for a familiar face, her breath caught in her throat when she spotted Marco in the living room. He looked her way at the same time, smiled and lifted his beer like he was raising a toast to her, and then looked back to the boys he was in conversation with.

Marie focused back on her conversation with the women as Becky touched her shoulder. “It’s the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen,”

She smiled and nodded graciously. The last thing she wanted to do was inadvertently flaunt the fact that Marco had bought her the most perfect engagement ring.

“Reeling in a guy like Scandy… I don’t think I’ve ever met two more lovely people who deserve each other,” Alisha chimed in.

“Ladies…”

Marie shivered at the comforting feeling of Marco’s hand on her lower back. When she turned to look up at him, he was right by her side, now without a drink.

“Scandella coming in hot with that diamond,” Alisha mocked, nudging him in the shoulder. “You must’ve taken some time with that,”

“Best investment I’ve ever made,” he smiled and bent down, pressing his lips to the top of Marie’s head. He waited before continuing, just incase any of the other girls wanted to chime in. But after seeing his comment seemed to nullify them, he reached for Marie’s hand, “will you dance with me?”

She nodded just in time for Marco to whisk her away, spinning her around towards the center of the living room. Music was playing for ambiance, but no one else was dancing. It wasn’t really that type of party. But leave it to Marco to manage to turn a team party into a romantic outing.

He scrunched up his nose, and set one hand on her waist, holding her hand with the other. She looked up at him and placed her free hand on his shoulder. Marie giggled as he began to struggle to find a rhythm to Silent Night. At first their steps were choppy, and then taking initiative, Marco began leading in a way that didn’t match the music at all. They just glided around at their own slow pace. Marie could feel eyes on them; watching, judging the way they floated around the room hopelessly in love. Even the people in relationships or marriages, it seemed they couldn’t believe two people could be so into each other. For whatever reason, Marie and Marco seemed to be the exception.

Marie rested her head against his chest, looking out at the room as Marco spun her around. “You think we’re gonna turn out like them?”

Marco looked down at her and moved his hand from her back, to her hair, stroking his fingers through it, “like who?”

“Them,” she nodded out towards everyone else. “All of them.”

“How’d they turn out?”

“Passionless,” she whispered, tucking her head closer to Marco’s chest. “They don’t look at their spouses with overpowering love anymore. They don’t look at their husbands or wives the way we look at each other.”

“We’re not going to turn out like that,” he whispered back. When Marie glanced up at him, he cupped her face, “I can’t see myself ever loving you less.”

Chatter began across the room, and they both looked over. Just when Marie thought they all lived in a sort of passionless haze, she watched Zach approach Alisha with his hand held out. Alisha blushed and held onto his hand, giggling like a schoolgirl as he spun her around and began slow dancing. Soon, they watched Ryan do the same thing to Becky. Mikko and Jared approached their wives, and before they knew it, the other married couples surrounded them.

Marco could hardly keep the boyish grin off his face, seeing what they had started. They’d managed to take a room full of skeptics and turn them into full-fledged fairytale believers.

“I want to show you how much I love you,” he bent down and whispered in her ear.

She hummed in confusion, only to have him respond by sucking on her earlobe. “We can’t do that here,”

“We can do it in the bathroom,”

“You drive a hard bargain, Scandella.” She paused and pulled away from him slightly, “meet you there in two minutes?” She smirked and glanced around, ducking away down the hallway.

When she looked back, Marco was still in the middle of the room, standing alone and staring at her. She pushed open the door to the powder room and shut it behind her. The first thing she did was look down at her dress, adjusting the way it fell against her body. It was pretty tight and ended at her upper thigh, but she still tried to make it fall a little more elegantly.

Shoes clicked against the tile floor and she flicked her eyes up to the mirror, grinning as Marco locked the door behind him and wasted no time in getting his hands on her. His fingertips grasped at her dress, tugging it upwards and over the curve of her ass until it gathered at her waist. He breathed heavily in her ear, tucking his fingers between her legs.

Marie bent forward, legs buckling, as Marco tapped on her clit. He giggled like a petulant child, stepping forward until Marie was pressed against the sink. “God, I want to fuck you,”

Her mouth fell open and her head bowed. His fingers were working against her expertly, and she grabbed onto the counter, trying to stay steady. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Marco clenched his teeth together and growled, unzipping his pants and had his dick out in no time. He tugged on her arm, spinning her around to face him. And in her heels, she was the perfect height for him to slip into her effortlessly. Her face twisted into an exasperated grimace as he buried himself inside of her.

“I don’t know if I want to kiss you or slap you,” he squeezed his hands around her neck and thrust upwards. It caused half of her body to sit up on the sink.

Marie whispered, “you have to choose.” She placed her hands on his biceps and held on. Between Marco thrusting into her and her hips being pounded back into the sink, her entire body was throbbing.

He smirked and pulled one hand away from her neck, slapping it to her ass in the same moment. She moaned quietly, feeling the stinging on her skin. And a second later Marco leaned in, feeling some remorse for his actions, and kissed her ass cheek gently.

They should’ve known that their bathroom escapade would end badly. One could only hide therefore so long before someone ruined the moment. So when someone began pounding on the door, Marie and Marco froze.

“Scandy, I saw you go in there! C’mon! I have to take a leak,” a very drunk Nino pounded his fist on the door again.

For Marie, the moment was gone. The turn on of doing something forbidden vanished the instant Nino brought back reality. She pushed on Marco’s chest, and slipped out from behind him, readjusting her dress back into position.

“Babe,” Marco reached out for her, zipping his pants back up.

She looked up at him and smiled, taking his hand in hers. They kissed slowly, interrupted again by Nino’s incessant knocking. Marco spun around and pulled open the bathroom door, confronting Nino with the situation at hand.

Even in his drunken state, Nino realized he’d just stepped in the middle of the two of them getting frisky. “Oh. Shit. I’ll go to another bathroom,”

“It’s fine, we were just on our way out,”

Marie ran a hand through her hair to smooth it out and returned to the party, quickly getting back into a conversation with some of the women. When she and Marco made eye contact again, she knew that while things didn’t always work out for them, there wasn’t another couple out there that tried as hard. Their relationship wasn’t exactly perfect, but they weren’t willing to throw in the towel.

Notes

"Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran.

Thank you all for reading! It really means so much that y'all are enjoying this story!