Goodnight, beautiful

Folding a pair of clean jeans, Bristol stacked them atop another pair in Daniel’s tightly packed duffel bag. Her heart sank as she took in the sight; the bag sat on Dan’s unmade bed, in the middle of his disordered bedroom. This marked the first time Bristol was helping Dan pack for a road trip and it took her by surprise at how she found herself rather blue at the prospect of him being gone.

In the bathroom, Daniel stood at the vanity as he packed his toiletry bag. He didn’t have to look into the mirror to know Bristol’s eyes were on him.

“I can feel you staring at me,” a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he saw Bristol turn red before going back to packing.

“I guess I can’t keep my eyes off that cute ass of yours.”

Dan lightly laughed to himself as he tossed his shaving tools into the bag. He zipped it up and tossed it to Bristol, who then arranged the contents of his duffle to fit everything in perfectly. Bristol silently questioned if Dan would be able to pack it just as she had. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when Dan wrapped his arms her torso, placing the gentlest kisses to the back of her neck. The feeling of those warm, feather-light kisses made Bristol melt into his arms.

“So,” Dan purred, “I have a surprise for you.”

As much as Bristol’s curiosity had been spiked by his confession, she wished he wouldn’t have stopped kissing her like that. Dan instructed Bristol to close her eyes and hold her hands out in front of her. Following his orders, Bristol bit her bottom lip as she waited in anticipation. Her sense of hearing suddenly heightened. Listening carefully to Dan’s movements, Bristol heard him rummage through his nightstand before plopping a box in the palm of her hands. On his command, Bristol opened her eyes.

Her gasp was audible, her jaw nearly hitting the floor as her fingers wrapped around the distinct robins egg colored box.

“Dan, I,” Bristol stuttered. She was in shock, not knowing what to expect.

He urged her on, his own excitement building from her reaction. Tiffany’s was a place Dan often stopped at to buy small gifts to woo ladies in his life, but Bristol’s reaction was nothing compared to the reactions he had seen before. The other women had almost expected gifts that came in little boxes of that color, but Bristol hadn’t and for Dan that made this one all the more special. And it was special.

Pulling the white ribbon off the box, Bristol sat on the bed as she shook the lid open. Her heart fluttered when she saw what was inside and for a second she thought her mind was playing games with her.

Inside the box sat the most beautiful keychain she had ever seen in her life. While it wasn’t the classic heart charm with the words, “Please Return to Tiffany & Co. New York” that caught her by the most surprise, it was the key wrapped around the key ring that did.

“Is this,”

Dan cut her off, “it’s the key to my apartment.”

Bristol put the box down on the bed as she stood up, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. No man had ever given Bristol the key to his place and the small gift gave her all the answers she needed without even having to ask the questions. Daniel wasn’t good at having those “what are we?” discussions when it came to relationships, and he decided this would be his way of showing Bristol he sought something far more serious than they both thought they wanted.

A few days ago, Dan and Bristol had spoken about her keeping an eye on Dan’s dog, Chief, while he was on the road. She had agreed to do so and assumed he would give her a key that would be returned upon him coming back home.

“Thank you, so much, Dan. The keychain is beautiful.” Bristol kissed Dan several times in an attempt to show her appreciation for the gift.

“Now you can come by and hang out whenever you want.”

“I’m sure it won’t take long until you get sick of me and want that key back.” Bristol joked self-deprecatingly.

Dan unwrapped his arms from Bristol and placed his hands on her shoulders. He couldn’t believe she would say such a thing. They had spent so much time together already and this point he couldn’t imagine ever getting sick of her. For Dan, it was nice finally having a woman in his life who genuinely made him laugh and whom he didn’t feel as though he had to impress.

“Hey, don’t say that. I don’t think I can ever get sick of you. Bristol, all I can think about when we’re apart is how much I wish I could be with you.”

A sincere grin appeared on Bristol’s face as Dan spoke. Since leaving Danny’s several hours prior, she finally found herself really wondering where her relationship with Dan was going. There was no doubting that Bristol would be fine with nothing more than casual sex with Dan but she was caught between a rock and a hard place emotionally. Deep down she really wanted a committed relationship, but she wasn’t sure if Dan was willing to give her that nor did she think she had it in her to be in a relationship with Briere. While Bristol loved the Briere boys sincerely, she wasn’t certain she was ready to take on a mother-figure role, especially when Danny’s oldest was only 11-years her junior.

The fact of the matter was the age difference between she and Danny was one year less than the gap amongst Bristol and Caelan. With that in mind, Bristol found it harder to visualize herself with Danny after all.

Noticing she was off somewhere not in the current reality, Dan suddenly started wondering if he’s gift had been too bold and scared her off rather than bring her closer. Daniel Briere wasn’t only on Bristol’s mind; the bold moves lately of the usually quiet French Canadian had Daniel Carcillo acting out of his own comfort zone.

“Everything okay, Bristol?” now it was Dan’s turn to fumbled with his words. “Is it the key? Was it too much too soon?”

Bristol realized where her head had been and she didn’t want it there anymore. She wanted to be there and present with Dan. Grabbing his hands, she brought them to her lips and pressed kisses to his knuckles.

“Everything is fine. The key wasn’t too much too soon. I’m really happy you gave it to me.”

In the moment she smiled up at him was the moment Dan realized how much he was going to miss Bristol while he was on the road. Being gone sucked even when he only had Chief waiting for him at home, but now that he had a girl, a good girl at that, he knew the goodbye would be near heartbreaking.

Dan’s lazy English bulldog caught the attention of the couple with a loud bark when the pooch started feeling left out of the love fest. Chief didn’t even move from the comfortable spot he had claimed on the bed, instead Dan went to him. Lying across the mattress, Dan used his bitten, non-existent nails to scratch the dogs head.

“I promise she’ll take good care of you while I’m gone.” Dan pointed in Bristols direction. “She takes good care of me.”

- - -


The following morning, Bristol was wide-awake at 3 am along with Dan. In three hours the team charter would leave Philadelphia for Sunrise, Florida, where they would take on the Panthers later that evening. As Dan showered, Bristol busied herself in the kitchen with making coffee and toasting bagels. She had been hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep but that had been the last thing on her mind once Dan managed to her naked. It was a miracle she wasn’t sore from having her lower limbs twisted into positions she never thought they could be twisted in.

A nap would absolutely be in both their futures.

Just as Bristol had finished smearing globs of cream cheeses on the hot bagels, Dan emerged from his bedroom fully dressed in his suit. Even in the middle of the night, he could still look as dapper as ever.

“I bet you’re really regretting that last go around now, aren’t you?”

Bristol earned herself a smirk from Dan as he sat down at the table in front of his plate and coffee mug.

“Please, I will never regret staying up all night before a road game to fuck you into another dimension.”

“That’s so romantic.” Bristol took a seat beside Dan, coffee in hand as well.

The light banter between the couple was interrupted when Bristol’s phone buzzed. A text message light up the screen and the name that popped up immediately built a thick tension between Bristol and Dan.

“It’s not even 4 o’clock in the morning, what the fuck does he want?”

Dan reached for Bristol’s phone before she had a chance to, unlocking it. Bristol was is in a state of shock by Dan’s jealous actions that she didn’t react to his clear invasion of her privacy. She expected more from him; but she did feel guilty considering just 12 hours ago she had agreed to have dinner with Danny. But, that was well before Dan had decided to her a key to his apartment.

Bristol took her phone from Dan when he handed it to her; unable to focus on the text Danny sent but rather on what Dan was saying. “This is why you shouldn’t have agreed to watch the boys those couple times. Now he thinks he can text you at all hours of the day asking for a favor.”

“He probably thinks I’m sleeping and meant for me to see it later. He’s going to be busy all day and doesn’t want to forget.”

Now it was Dan’s turn to be shocked and by the fact Bristol was defending him. Beyond irritated, Dan pushed his plate away as he got up from the table. It would be in both their best interests if he left a little early for the arena. However, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep his mouth shut once he saw Danny.

“You do what you want, Bristol. But, understand that I won’t put up with him dictating how much time we spend together in this relationship.”

Bristol was unable to get another word out before Dan left the apartment. It would be three days before she would see him again and he left without hesitation, no kiss or goodbye.

She really wished Dan would understand that she wasn’t always agreeing to watch the boys for Danny simply because she didn’t know how to say no. Of all people she thought he would be the one to understand what it felt like to be so far removed from loved ones and being around the boys offered Bristol a sense of belonging. With the boys she didn’t feel alone nor did she hear the little voice in her head telling her she had made a mistake coming to Philadelphia. Those three boys gave her a reason to stay. In the time they had been together, Bristol had never seen Dan glow the way Caelan, Carson, and Cameron did when she entered a room. They were always excited to see and made her feel welcome into their tight-knit family.

Picking up her phone, Bristol responded to Danny. Of course she would pick the boys up from school later that afternoon, and she would do it in a heartbeat a thousand times over.

Notes