Make You Miss Me

Calgary, Alberta. Home of angus beef, rig pigs, and more Canadian rednecks than any of the other provinces combined.

It was a nippy November afternoon when the Dallas Stars touched down, slated to play the Flames in two days.

Hot off the heels of a two game win-streak, the team having beat the Minnesota Wild the night before, the boys were all in good spirits, looking forward to a day and a half off after the afternoon's practice.

Still riding high from his OT game-winner in Minnesota, Tyler was looking forward to a night out with his teammates to celebrate.

They were sitting on the bus, enroute to the Saddledome when he leaned into the aisle to get Demers’ and Eakin's attention. "Night out after team dinner tonight, boys?"

Cody made a disgusted face. He was right though, despite having two professional sports teams, this city didn't really have much to offer.

"I know, trust me, I KNOW. But we already didn't do anything in Minny, which is fucking worse than this place ... There has to be somethi--fucking OW!" Tyler was rudely interrupted by his seatmate, Jamie, who flicked him behind the ear. "The fuck, Chubbs??!!"

"You were nearing white girl whining territory."

"I'll show you white girl whining.." Tyler shot his arm out towards Jamie's chest, aiming to give his nipple a tweak, as grown men do, but Jamie didn't see it coming and it very quickly escalated into an in-seat scuffle between the two. Jamie ended up maneuvering Tyler into a headlock, forcing him to tap out. Cheers broke out among the few teammates that spectated, large-figure bills being exchanged among the grown men who had placed bets on the scuffle's winner.

Straightening himself out, Tyler leaned into the aisle once again, "AS I was SAYING," he paused to turn and give Jamie a dirty look, "I know it's shit here but I just wanna have a night out with my boys!"

Cody huffed and rolled his eyes, but agreed nonetheless, "Yeah, I guess, whatever, I'm down."

Tyler smacked Jason in the arm, "How bout you, Daddy? You in?"

"I'm...gonna pass. An old friend of mine is in town and we already made plans"

Tyler raised an eyebrow at his teammate, "So...bring him along....?"

Jason smiled tightly at him before shaking his head, "Nah, but you fellas have fun though!"

Tyler furrowed his brow. Demers' nonchalant attitude was extremely suspicious. He sat back in his seat, the wheels in his head turning. His train of thought was broken when Jamie spoke up beside him.

"Why don't I get an invite?"

Tyler punched him in arm, "Shhhh! Dammit Chubbs! Because you don't get a choice! You're coming whether you want to or not!"

Jamie, satisfied with Tyler's reasoning, nodded, "That's fair."

Tyler couldn't shake the feeling that Jason was hiding something. It bothered him the rest of the bus ride, while getting ready in the dressing room, right up until they hit the ice. Finally during a 3-on-3 drill, it dawned on him. He skated up behind Jason, and lightly shoved him from behind, "It's a GIRL isn't it, Daddy?"

Jason looked back at the young forward before returning his attention back to the group doing the drill. A drawn out "Pffffffft" was all the response Tyler got. So he shoved at him again.

"Dems, you got a hot date tonight, bud? Hiding something from us, bud?" Tyler was relentless. He didn't like not being in the loop and he especially didn't like his teammates keeping secrets from him.

"Dammit Segs, it isn't like that! It's just a friend!"

"Is it a girl or a guy, Dems? It's a simple question, bro! Is it a lady boy? You into weird shit, Daddy?"

"Jeeeesus Christ SEGS! IT'S A GIRL, ALRIGHT?!"

Tyler whooped with victory, finally getting Jason to spill the beans. Coach blew the whistle and their group was up for the next drill. His interrogation would have to be put on hold momentarily. Tyler skated up towards the middle and got the puck on his stick. He maneuvered through the defensemen, passing the puck to Jamie who fired the puck at Kari, which the goalie gloved with a flourish. Tyler rang his stick against the post as he skated around to the other end, once again behind Jason, and once again determined to get more answers out of him.

"Is she hot, bro?"

Jason kept his eyes ahead, "Don't worry about it, Seggy. You're never gonna meet her so what does it matter?"

Tyler took off his glove and ran a hand over his face in frustration, but he wasn't about to let Jason off the hook just yet.

"So... This friend of yours ... She got a name?"

No response.

"Alrighty then, we're playing hard to get, are we? So. This friend of yours, you known her long?"

No response.

"I'll take that as a yes. This friend of yours...she hot?"

No response.

"Ohhhhhh..definitely hot. Niiiice. So. This friend of yours ... You ever hook up with her?"

Jason whipped around, "Fuck sakes, Segs! No! She isn't like that! I'll ask her if she wants to go to whatever shithole bar you guys are going to and if she wants to go, I. Will. Bring. Her. Now will you please shut the fuck up about it???!!!"

Tyler, pleased with this response, grinned like the Cheshire Cat at his teammate before giving Jamie a thumbs up from across the ice.

__

It was nearing 11pm when Tyler's phone vibrated with an incoming text. Tyler immediately fished the phone out of his pocket knowing exactly who it was. He had probably sent Demers at least 20 consecutive texts in the last hour asking if he'd gotten his friend to agree to come out, all to which he received read-receipts but no actual reply.

Jason: We're on our way

Tyler: fucking finally!!

Jason: I asked her this afternoon already and knew she was down. That's what you get for being an annoying shit

Tyler replied by sending several middle finger emojis then blacked out his phone screen, returning his attention to his teammates around the table just as a waitress put a tray down with a dozen filled shot glasses.

Jamie, who was sitting next to Tyler, bumped his shoulder to get his attention while Sharpy started passing shots around.

"So?"

"He says they're on the way."

"Wanna bet she's a total knockout?"

Tyler burst out laughing. "No fucking way! Not if she's hanging out with someone that looks like that guy! Hundred percent she's a total Velma."

Jamie stuck out his hand, "Hundred bucks says you're on, brother!"

The two shook hands and seconds later were each handed a shot glass with a mystery liquid in it. Neither cared too much, bringing the shot glasses to their lips and tilting their heads back. Tyler scrunched his nose in disgust and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Crown and butter ripple.

"Really, Sharpy. Is that what Chicago taught you?"

Sharp threw his hands up in mock defense, "hey kid, when you're the one buying the shots, then you can decide what we take!"

Challenge accepted. He already had a few choice shots in mind, but he wanted to wait until Demers got there. He wanted to be good and sober when he met Jason's mystery friend.

Finally after what felt like hours, he saw Jason making his way towards their section. His friend was behind him, just far enough behind that neither Tyler or Jamie could see her face. What they could see, however, was that she was wearing a pair of high ankle boots which led to long lean legs covered in tight black jeans, what looked like a light flowy top and a leather biker jacket.

Jamie leaned into Tyler, "Guess I just got a hundred dollars richer, eh Seggy!"

Tyler pushed him away as best as he could without fully removing his attention from the pair approaching them, "No way! Double or nothing says she's a butterface"

"Hah! You're on!"

The two approached the table, Jason greeting his teammates sitting closest first. Finally, he stepped to the side and introduced his friend.

“Uh, guys, this is my friend Lily…Lil, these are the uh … the guys…”

Tyler’s jaw hit the floor, his eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he figured his eyebrows were probably somewhere up in the rafters.

She was fucking gorgeous. Tyler was dumbfounded for a hot minute and was jolted back to reality thanks to Jamie jabbing him in the ribs with his elbow and snickering, “Make that TWO hundred dollars richer.”

As Jason introduced her to everyone around the table one by one, Tyler was able to collect himself and take her in. He assessed the girl slowly making her way around the table to him. She was slender, had impeccable style, an amazing smile. He wasn’t sure in the dark lighting of the club, but it looked like she had blonde hair, short, sitting at her collarbones, effortless wavy.

She wasn’t shy, but she wasn’t obnoxiously enthusiastic and bubbly like some of the girls the other single guys brought around either. She definitely exuded confidence, making her way around the table, politely shaking everyone’s hand and introducing herself like a pro.

She had made her way around the table and was now introducing herself to Jamie. Any other time, Tyler would have been laughing his ass off watching Jamie interact with an attractive female. Jamie was all deer-in-headlights-y, stumbling over his words and giggling. But at that moment, all Tyler could think about was the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears.

Fucking get yourself together, Seguin.

After a couple of minutes of her attempting to maintain a conversation with Jamie who was doing nothing but tripping over himself, she politely excused herself and started to make her way around him and towards Tyler.

She stuck her hand out towards him, to shake his hand. Tyler happily accepted and took her hand in his. She opened her mouth, about to introduce herself, but he spoke first, wanting to assert confidence and introduce himself first. As if she already didn’t know who he was though, right?

“Lily.” Tyler’s eyes widened realizing what he had just done so he quickly tried to backpedal “I mean…you’re Lily, I’m Tyler…” What the fuck was that?

He saw her giggle and say something but he couldn’t hear a thing over Jason and Jamie howling with laughter over his embarrassingly failed introduction. For the first time since he was a teenager, thanks to a girl, Tyler Seguin was so embarrassed that all he wished for at that very moment was for the floor to open up beneath him so he could disappear forever.

To make matters even worse, she added fuel to the already embarrassing fire by coming to his defense and telling the two to cut it out.

“Jase! Quit being an asshole!” She laughed as she darted her arm out and pinched Demers in the side of his neck.

Demers tried to duck but failed and yelped when she made contact. “Always in the neck! Fuck, LiLIAN!”

Lily exaggerated an eye roll and turned back to Tyler. She pointed her thumb behind her, gesturing towards his teammate, “Always a baby, that one.” She stuck her hand out towards him again, a big beautiful smile on her face, “Let’s try this again, yeah? Hi, Tyler, was it? I’m Lily. Nice to meet you!”

Tyler happily accepted her handshake once again. What the fuck? Did I just get goosebumps? Nah …I probably just have to take a piss. Or burp. Yeah. That’s it. Fuck me, she’s really pretty…

Shaking her hand, he noticed the three looking back at him expectantly and he realized that he had now been shaking her hand for an awkwardly long amount of time and had yet to say a word.

Quickly dropping her hand, certain that once again, for the second time in this girl’s presence, he looked like a complete idiot, he lamely replied, “H—Hi.”

That set off Jamie and Jason into peals of laughter once again. Lily let out a soft giggle, and politely – and he could have sworn, sympathetically - patted his forearm before turning her attention to the howling idiots, taking a seat between them.

Tyler gave his head a shake, blowing out a long breath. What the fuck is wrong with you?! He internally screamed at himself. This wasn’t him. Tyler Seguin was a fucking legend with the opposite sex. He could pull babes faster than you could say ‘hat trick’ and have them back in his room screaming his name even quicker than that. He was Tyler Fucking Seguin.

So what was it about this girl that made him forget how to function entirely?

Frustrated and embarrassed, Tyler pushed his chair back from the table and headed to the bar. The female bartender noticed him immediately, and ignored all of the other patrons in favor of serving him.

“Hey handsome, what can I make ya?” She leaned over the counter, her blatant intention of giving him an eyeful of her cleavage not going unnoticed.

Tyler flashed her his signature grin, darting his eyes down to her chest and back up to her eyes, still got it …he thought to himself.

“Can I get a crown and coke?”

“You got it” she winked and got to work.

She finished mixing his drink and set it down on a napkin in front of him. “I’m Tanya, let me know if you need anything else…” Tyler noticed that she had written her name and number on the napkin his drink sat on. Fishing in his pocket, he pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and told her to keep the change. She deserved the hefty tip for the much needed stroke to his ego.

Turning around, he leaned his back against the bar and looked towards his table of teammates. The shy ones of the group, Val, Kevin, Jamie O., Klinger -- looked almost huddled around each other, taking turns stealing glances at Lily, afraid to make any kind of eye contact, or just contact in general for that matter. Then there were the guys that oozed confidence; Sharpy, Rouss, Jordie, who expertly hovered, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce on the beautiful girl. Sharpy and Jordie were harmless – one married and the other practically so, but that never stopped them from appreciating the views and much like himself, the ego-boost that beautiful women provided.

Tyler watched as Rouss separated himself from the cool kids group and started making his way towards the bar. He ordered two drinks from Tanya the bartender (who much to Tyler’s ego’s dismay, gave Rouss the exact same treatment that she gave him), before turning his attention to his teammate.

“Mon ami, what are you doing all the way over here when there is a beautiful mademoiselle at our table?”

Tyler took a sip of his drink before turning his head to look at Antoine. “Y’know…just giving you guys a fair chance at her before I swoop in for the kill.” He tried to come off cool and confident but was afraid the Frenchman saw right through him. His assumption was confirmed when Antoine let out a hearty laugh.

“Tu es drôle, mon ami. We saw you choking on your tongue when the belle fille spoke to you earlier. I’m afraid you will lose this battle ce soir.”

With that, Rouss took a drink in each hand and headed back towards the table. Tyler clenched his jaw as he watched Rouss beeline for Lily, circling his arm around her from behind and offering her one of the two drinks in his hand. She accepted, and clinked her glass with his in thanks. Antoine leaned in closer, and was saying something in her ear. Judging by the death stare Demers was giving him, Tyler was willing to bet that Rouss was using his fancy ass France French to win her over and hopefully get into her panties. Tyler rolled his eyes so hard he was certain he saw the back of his brain.

Much to his delight though, Lily didn’t seem to fall for any of it. Half-turned in her seat so she could face him, she smiled at him and shook her head while gently pushing him away. Rouss put a hand to his heart and feigned being wounded before bending down and saying something else to her, probably something about how the French invented sex or love or orgasms or whatever the fuck else Rouss liked to claim the French invented. Fucking Frogs. Scoffing, Tyler downed his drink and turned to face the bar once again, hoping Tanya McTits the Bartender would fix him another drink.

She was way down at the opposite end of the bar making drinks for a group of college jocks but he got her attention nonetheless. She held up two fingers, asking him to give her a couple of minutes. He nodded his head, he could wait. Not wanting to turn around and watch the rest of his teammates fawn over Lily, he stared down the bottom of his glass, zoning out as he twirled the object in circles on the bar top. He was jarred out of his trance when a female voice spoke up beside him. He looked to his right and had to remind himself to be cool once he realized it was Lily beside him. Talking to him. Looking at him.

“What’s with the sad one-man party over here?” she joked, lightly nudging him with her elbow.

The nano-second of contact sent a shiver up his spine. Don’t say something stupid … don’t say something stupid…don’t say something stupid…

Tyler chuckled in an attempt to buy himself some time to come up with something not stupid to say. “I, uhh…” fail. “Y’know..uhh…” fail. “wanted to uhh…” Jesus Christ Segs. FAIL.

He took a deep breath, hoping she didn’t notice and praying that he wasn’t coming off dumber than a bag of nails, “Just wanted to give Chubbs and Dems a chance to catch their breath from laughing their asses off at me.” Admitting defeat, nice.

Her smile was blinding and the laugh that followed was like music, as she turned towards him, her eyes dancing with amusement.

“Awww…Jase is such an ass 99% of the time. If it helps, I wasn’t laughing my ass off at you…?” She placed her hand on his forearm before seriously adding, “I mean, I’d be pretty nervous meeting me too…” She tried to keep a straight face, but failed seconds later, bursting into that adorable laughter.

Tyler joined in on the laughter. She was joking of course, but she couldn’t have hit the nail on the head any more accurately. Tyler couldn’t put his finger on it, but this girl was different. She was talking to him like he was a normal guy, not Tyler Seguin Hockey Superstar. This girl in front of him literally couldn’t care any less about who he was and for the first time ever, he liked it. He liked it a lot.

Tyler noticed Tanya the bartender walking towards. Feeling a bit more at ease around Lily, he mustered up the courage and asked her if he could buy her a drink. She smiled and nodded, “Bombay Sapphire and Sprite please…”

He ordered their drinks, taking note of the daggers Tanya the bartender was shooting at Lily. Tyler glanced down at the bar top and noticed that Lily had brought the drink that Rouss had bought with her.

“Do you plan on double fisting your drinks or….?”

A look of confusion passed over her features before she realized what he was talking about, “Huh? Oh! This! Ha … yeah, your teammate Frenchie gave this to me without asking and I didn’t want to insult him by not taking it so I did. It’s a vodka cran but … no offense to your teammate or anything … but do I look like I drink vodka cranberries?” She looked almost insulted that someone would make such an assumption.

“I umm … don’t know what a girl that drinks vodka cranberries would look like…?”

The words weren’t out of his mouth but a few seconds before she brought her hand up to cover her mouth, embarrassment written all over her expression, “Oh my god, that came out so pretentious, I’m so sorry! I just meant like…it’s like the girliest drink of all time, like every sixteen to eighteen year old’s drink of choice when they want to get white girl wasted … I didn’t mean it in a spoiled brat way … oh my god I’m so embarrassed!”

Tyler couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if he’d tried. She was fucking adorable.

“It wasn’t pretentious sounding at all! I just wasn’t sure what you meant. But now that you’ve explained yourself in incredible detail, I can see why that would be offensive!” He was laughing now, which made her laugh in return.

The drinks he ordered were placed in front of him, and he couldn’t care less. He dug out a couple of bills from his pocket and handed them to Tanya without looking away from Lily, glancing over briefly to wave off her attempt to give him change, completely missing her annoyance when he returned his attention to girl beside him.

She put her hand on his forearm again, leaning closer into him, eyes wide and speaking in a hushed tone, “AND THEN … oh god, you won’t believe what he said to me! He felt the need to educate me on how the French invented multiple orgasms??!! What the actual fuck???”

Tyler barked with laughter. She was completely flabbergasted at his teammate’s advances and up until that moment, he was certain that he had never seen anything cuter in his entire life.

“You mean that fun fact didn’t make you want to drop your panties right then and there? Mind boggling…” Tyler was beginning to feel more like himself. He still felt like he needed to choose his words wisely around her, but at the least, he felt a hundred times more at ease than he did before she came up to him.

She smirked and rolled her eyes at him before picking up the drink in front of her.

He watched as she brought her drink up to her lips to take a sip. He felt like a pervert but watching her take a drink was like the most erotic thing he’d ever witnessed and he couldn’t tear his gaze away. What he wouldn’t have given to be that glass on her lips that very moment. He was quickly pulled back into reality when he felt a familiar twitch in his pants. Abort mission! ABORT MISSION.

Tyler tried to look at everything but her to distract his much more excited member in his pants. In that time, a comfortable silence fell over them, but he didn’t want her to think their conversation was over so he wracked his brain for something – anything.

“So are you, uh, coming to the game on Tuesday?” smart.

She shook her head ‘no’, “’Unfortunately I can’t…I’ve got a flight out Tuesday afternoon.”

“Oh right, Dems said that you were just in town...where are you from?” Geez Seguin, stalker much?

“Here. I’m from Calgary. I travel a lot for work though, so I’m rarely here, but Cowtown’s home.”

He was about to ask another question, but much to his disappointment, she picked up her glass and hopped off of the barstool, interrupting him, “I should probably get back to the table though…before Jase figures out that I’m fraternizing with boys on the forbidden list.”

Tyler didn’t want to stop talking to her; he wanted to ask her so many more questions. In his panic, he stepped away from the bar and reached out to grab her hand. Surprised, she turned around abruptly, nearly crashing into him.

“Sorry, I … uhh …umm … if you ever … if your travel ever lets you … you should uhh … maybe come down to Dally – uh, Dallas, I mean, for a visit…I’m sure Demers would get you tickets to a game, or I could, or any of the other guys too, I guess … but um…yeah…” wow Seguin, WOW. You couldn’t look dumber if you fucking tried, Tyler chastised himself as he waited for her response.

She smiled, “Yeah, maybe? I’m sure it would be a lot of fun!”

Realizing he still had a firm hold on her hand, he slowly released her, moving his hand to the back of his neck. He laughed nervously, once again successfully embarrassing himself in front of her, “Dallas is a good time, I promise…”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Good luck on Tuesday, and score some goals, eh?” She winked at him and before he knew it, she had turned on her heel and was halfway back to their group’s table.

Tyler watched as she walked up to Jason who was giving her a pointed look, no doubt having seen her talking to him and mostly likely jumping to the immediate conclusion that Tyler was trying to get into her pants. She waved off his interrogation and checked her phone. A minute later, they were both getting up and saying their goodbyes to the rest of the group. Rouss, of course, not one to give up a fight, made a big show out of bidding her farewell, giving her a hug and kissing both her cheeks. Tyler shook his head. The shit this Frenchman got away with …

As she finished her goodbyes around the table, she took one last glance over at him and waved ‘bye’ with her clutch in her hand.

Do something cool, do something cool, do something cool …He tilted his glass and nodded in her direction. Nailed it. That had to have looked Leonardo Dicaprio as fuck.

He saw her smile and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear as she walked the rest of the way to the stairs that would lead her down to the exit of the shitty Calgary bar. She was refreshing, like a breath of fresh air. Tyler sighed, wondering when or if he’d ever see her again.

Notes

EEEEE!!! Hi Everyone! I haven't written in FOREVER, but I've had this idea forming in my head for a long time now, it was just a matter of finding time to actually write it out. I'd been procrastinating on other actual real work over the weekend and was surprised at how much I actually got written lol so here's hoping for more procrastinating so I can maybe actually finish something I started? Also hoping you all like it and enjoy Tyler and Lily's journey!

kisses!