Goodnight, beautiful

Danny began having a hard time focusing on lacing his skates. The redhead sitting beside him was in the zone, her fingers working quickly and diligently to weave pink laces into her worn Bauers. When she was laced up and ready to hit the ice, Bristol turned to Danny and smiled.

The radiance of her smile caused Danny’s brain to hiccup. He had forgotten for a second how to lace his own skates.

“You need me to help you tie your skates?” Bristol joked.

Danny thought about it for a second. If he said yes, then she would kneel in front of him allowing his eyes full access to see down her shirt. He had a love-hate relationship with her love of v-neck tops. There was no way he could deny how much he loved sneaking a peek at her cleavage but hated the fact it made him feel like a horny teenager.

“Bristol!”

Cameron had managed to catch not only her attention but also Danny’s, as the young boy skated up the boards. Unfortunately, Bristol was moving at a pace far too slow for him considering he had been looking forward to this for the last fifteen hours. Like father, like son, Cameron had been yearning that Bristol was an inexperienced skater and would need a hand to hold while on the ice. It came much to the pair’s displeasure when Bristol showed up to their Haddonfield home with her hockey bag in tow, a clear sign that this trip to the ice arena was not her first rodeo.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Bristol smiled at the youngest Briere as she removed her plastic blade protectors.

A father of three would generally fight these particular thoughts entering his mind, but he couldn’t keep from imagining Bristol repeating her response to but in another context.

“You coming, Danny?”

As soon as the question left Bristol’s mouth, his brain teased his cock with a mental portrayal of him indeed coming, rather all over Bristol’s tongue. His muscles twitched at the slightest idea of her warm mouth wrapped around him. Upon his head returning to Earth and once he comprehended what Bristol meant by her question, Danny shook himself back to reality.

“Yeah, I gotta finish tying these up and I’ll be right out.”

Bending at the waist, Danny scolded himself for choosing the worst possible time to pop an erection. He flexed every muscle in his body, even going as far as thinking about his ex-wife in an attempt to make it go away. Even though he had finished lacing his skates, finally, Danny took a second to just watch Bristol interact with the boys. The four of them skated laps around the ice, Bristol even humoring Cameron by letting him hold her hand.

Undoubtedly, it would take his “father of the year” award away from him, but when Danny found an opportunity to swoop in and snag Bristol away from the boys he took it. Stepping on the ice behind them, he picked Cameron up which earned a screech from the boy. Plopping him back down onto his skates, Danny gave his son the side-eye and a comment that didn’t need to be told twice to him, “go skate with your brothers.”

Accepting his fate, Cameron knew he would have another chance to skate along side Bristol.

“Sorry about him,” Danny said once Cameron was out of earshot. “He usually doesn’t act like this.”

Bristol could only giggle at how Cameron had been acting around her. She assured Danny he had nothing to worry about and that she wasn’t bothered in the slightly. He wasn’t the first ten-year-old boy to ever have a crush and he certainty wasn’t the last. It was all in good fun and Bristol knew it wouldn’t last long and someone younger and prettier would come along in a matter of weeks.

“It’s flattering, really.” She joked.

Quite badly Danny wanted to grab Bristol’s hand and feel her fingers lace with his as they skated. Since he knew that was out of the question he did the only other thing he knew what to do. However, he knew she had seen him skate countless times but that didn’t stop him from turning to skate backwards so he could have a better look at Bristol.
“Showoff.”

The smirk on Bristol’s face was cute as she turned to do the same, her legs crossing over as she kept up with his pace. She spoke again, earning a chuckle from Danny. “See, I can do it too.”

It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t impressed but it did bum him out that there probably wasn’t anything he could teach her on the ice, as she was already experienced. Since he dove back into the dating pond, one of his go-to moves had been teaching the ladies how to skate—it was the perfect way to get close to someone one. Danny accepted the challenge to find other ways to get close to Bristol and he wasn’t above using his boys to make that happen. It was a win-win, he figured, considering the boys seemed to take a great liking to her.

Luck seemed to be his corner that day, nonetheless. When Caelan, Carson, and Cameron had finally caught up to them, the boys all but ambushed Bristol, which caused her to loose her balance. In an attempt to stay on her skates and off her ass, she grabbed Danny’s hand on her own freewill. However, instead of it keeping her up as she thought it would, it sent to the couple to the ice with Bristol landing on top Danny this time. They weren’t as close as they had been the other night when Danny fell over her on the stairs, and nor were they alone. One thing was for sure and that was the fact they once again caught each other’s eye, the sexual tension now undeniable.

“Way to go, idiot, you made them fall.” Caelan snapped at his brother, feeling bad Bristol had taken a spill.

Danny interjected, all but forcing his oldest to apologize for the name-calling. Now that she was feeling slightly embarrassed over the flash moment she and Danny had shared, Bristol decided it would be best focus her attention the boys. After all, the reason she had agreed to join them in the first place was the spend time with them. Not to mention, Danny would rather spend time with her alone and not in the middle of an ice arena.

Making up an excuse so he could get away, Danny stood to his feet. “I’m gonna go get my blades sharpened, they’re getting pretty dull. What do you say we meet up in about an hour and head back to the house? I’ll order pizza.”

Before Bristol could verbally give Danny an answer, she had been whisked away, her reply coming in the form of a thumbs up.

- - -


Danny did feel bad for having underestimated the accomplishments Bristol had managed to put under her belt in 24 shorts years. Over a bottle of wine, he had learned more about Bristol than he had in over the month they’ve known each other. Danny wondered if Carcillo knew or even cared about the things she told him. Bristol was a humble person; finding contentment in ghostwriting for the NHL website not really caring that other people took credit for her work. What took Danny by the biggest surprise was that she had graduated Suma Cum Lade from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She had dabbled in playing hockey throughout her life but it was softball where she excelled. In fact, it was softball that had landed Bristol a scholarship to school.

“What are you doing hanging around hockey players and ghostwriting?” Danny genuinely asked. “You should be in front of the camera, cozy in a studio.”

Bristol blushed. Broadcast journalism was something she tried in college but it took for her to actually get in front of the camera for her to learn she had a serious case of stage fright.

There it was. That damn lip bite of hers, as she was deep in thought considering her answer to Danny’s question. She looked up at him with clearest, bluest eyes he had ever seen on a human being. “Hockey players are very fun to party with and I like being a nobody.”

He came up with about a hundred and one reasons why her answer was ridiculous. To him, she deserved better than spending her time with the likes of Dan Carcillo and following Kris around North America, but he knew if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be sitting at the island in his kitchen drinking wine. Danny couldn’t deny his curiosity any longer.

“What do you see in him?” Apparently, he couldn’t deny the disgust in his voice either.

Bristol poured herself more wine but where the conversation was headed she wanted something a little stronger.

She didn’t mean to sound crass, it just came out. “The sex is good.”

She was lying and he knew it. Dan and Bristol had only been hanging out for three weeks and it was only two nights that they finally slept together. He really wanted to tell Bristol about the hit Dan made on him the pervious morning during practice but he was afraid it would only make him look like a baby. However, he had managed to get her away from Dan for one day and he decided to press his luck a little farther.

“Are you two like,” his words trembled, “dating exclusively? A couple?”

Bristol smiled into her glass as she drank, “Daniel Briere, are you trying to ask me out on a date?”

She tried to keep it together and not get her hopes high. She wondered why a man like him would pursue any sort of relationship with her. Bristol was only 24, willing to drop everything and move to another state (and country) on the flip of a dime. She had no idea what it meant to be in a relationship with someone who had responsibilities. The biggest things she had to worry about getting the rent check to Kris on time and tracking her period.

“I am,” Danny found his confidence.

In that moment, Bristol knew she had to hold it together and not jump for joy like a fifteen-year-old girl.

“What do you say? After I get back from the road trip, I take you out to dinner.”

Bristol didn’t dawdle to answer. She agreed before the words could even get out of Danny’s mouth, positive he could see sense her heart fluttering in her chest. There was a voice in the back of her head telling her that she probably shouldn’t have accepted his offer, as Dan would be none too happy. To be fair, she reminded herself; a conversation about where their relationship was headed had yet to take place. As far as she was concerned the only thing going on between she and Dan at the moment was casual sex. What big of a deal could it be? It was just dinner, not a marriage proposal.

Notes