comphy-and-cozy - Tumblr blog

comphy-and-cozy · 2 days ago

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a/n: happy @wyattjohnston summer fic exchange! this is my fic for @comphy-and-cozy and it was so much fun to write for someone new - especially with all the mikko happenings this past season! c, i hope you enjoy the fic!! ☺️

word count: 15k

tw: lust at first sight, slightly toxic family dynamics, oldest daughter burnout, fake dating (briefly), fingering (f receiving), p in v sex (protected), dirty talk, semi-public sex (backyard, no one will really see)

summary: Rainey Lewis is stuck in a life that’s not bringing her much joy. Enter Dallas Stars’ forward Mikko Rantanen to turn everything on its head

The move from Raleigh to Dallas isn’t as jarring as the move from Denver to Raleigh had been. To be fair, one move hadn’t been his choice while Mikko’d had some say in the second.

Still, when he gets off the plane in Dallas three days after the trade deadline, following a back-to-back in Edmonton and Vancouver with his new team, he can’t help but be discombobulated.

The weather is different, the energy is different. Mikko, himself, is different.

He’s upset over how his time in Colorado ended, frustrated by his time in Carolina, excited to start his tenure in Dallas. There’s also a chip on his shoulder that hadn’t existed three months ago, a desire to prove himself on his newest team, to show that he’s worth the contract he signed with Dallas.

The locker room, with its overabundance of Finns, was welcoming and warm and familiar.

The whirlwind of travel and games and travel makes it difficult for the reality of the situation to really sink in until the plane lands in Dallas and Mikko is faced with the realization that he has nowhere to live currently.

“Ah, you’re coming with me,” Roope laughs, swings an arm over Mikko’s shoulder. “Kristina insists you stay with us until you find a place, but make it quick. Don’t want your ass hanging around too long, yeah?”

Mikko rolls his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips, and replies in Finnish, “trust me, I don’t want to be living in your basement for longer than I have to.”

It’s nice to be able to have conversations in his native language and when they’re back at Roope and Kristina’s place, the conversation flows easily. Kristina is a perfect hostess and Mikko doesn’t really mind living with the couple, especially since he’s in the guest room and not the basement.

Mikko manages to make it three days - thank god they’re wheels up for Winnipeg - before he accidentally catches the couple on the verge of having sex in the kitchen. Roope’s hands are up the back of Kristina’s shirt and the noises, fucking Christ the noises. He makes an obnoxious fake gagging noise and Kristina squeaks, darting away from her husband while Roope, the bastard, simply laughs.

“Wouldn’t happen if you had your own place, Moose,” the rapid fire Finnish makes Mikko curl his lip in a sneer.

“Thought the kitchen was a communal area?” He replies, avoiding looking at Kristina. She’s flattening her hair and pretending to be busy in the refrigerator.

Roope laughs again, “how can you blame me when my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world?” He winks at Kristina and smirks at Mikko’s eye roll.

“You are trouble,” Kristina murmurs to her husband, swatting at his hip with her hand. To Mikko, she says, “don’t let him get to you. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

The thing is, Mikko doesn’t really want to hang around the happy couple too much longer. It’s been at least a year since his last serious relationship ended and the last time he hooked up with a woman was when he was still wearing the red and black colors of the Hurricanes - a nightmare of a night with a woman he picked up in a Raleigh bar because she seemed to not know who he was and all the press coverage of his trade and his game play was getting to him. In the end, she’d asked if he had Andrei Svechnikov’s phone number and if she could have it.

It’s been just his hand ever since.

And frankly, it’s starting to get a little old.

Lonely is the adjective he might use if he examined his feelings a little bit.

A new eight year deal, a new home city, and no one to share it with.

He shoves a hand roughly through his curls, damp from his pre-flight shower, and his face must fall into a scowl because Kristina cocks her head at him and asks, “are you okay?”

He offers her a tight smile and a nod. “Just thinking about next steps,” he shrugs. “Going to have to find a realtor, get going on the house hunt.”

“Oh, well I can help with that,” she says brightly. “I’ll reach out to the agency that we used to buy this place. They were helpful and found a bunch of places really fast.”

Mikko shrugs. It’s not like he has many other options.

“Thanks,” he says warmly, kissing Kristina’s cheek. “I appreciate that.”

Kristina winks at him, giving him a smirk that he’s seen too often on Roope’s face. “It’s not totally selfless,” she laughs. “It’s tiring making sure Roope remembers we have a guest.”

“Ugh,” Mikko rolls his eyes again, laughing with the gesture. “Once I’m gone, you two can get back to whatever you want.”

“Off we go, Moose,” Roope shouts, returning with his carry-on. “Winnipeg is waiting!”

He loops an arm around Mikko’s neck and practically drags him to the door, laughter echoing around the house. Kristina promises to set up a meeting with the realtor for him and ushers them both out the door with a kiss for Roope and a hug for Mikko.

Next stop: Winnipeg.

———-

Lorraine Lewis hates her life.

Well, okay, no. She doesn’t hate hate her life. Not usually.

But she definitely hates it right now.

As in, this very second, she hates her life.

The office phones are ringing off the hook, her uncle Mike has fucked off to tropical parts unknown, her iPhone is vibrating with incessant and unending texts in her family group chat (“the insane asylum 🤪” as named by her youngest sister and hated by her mother. Rainey’s lost track of how many times Corrine Lewis has asked Willa to change the name of the group chat, it has to be in the thousands by now.), and - “Oh my god! Nash, do not -“

The long-haired dachshund puppy that Rainey unfortunately loves more than life itself gags and then vomits right on the carpet of her office.

Rainey groans and drops her head to her desktop with a thunk that she feels reverberate in her skull.

There’s a brief moment of silence and then Nash vomits again. Rainey lifts her head and glares at the puppy, who’s looking between her and the pile of vomit with his head cocked as if to say “are you going to do something about that, Mom?”

“You’re a terror and a menace and I should’ve never brought you home,” Rainey points her finger at the dog, shaking her head, no real heat in her tone. Nash barks once and prances off, disappearing out of the door to her office and likely making his way to Uncle Mike’s office where a second bed had been set up for the puppy. For all of his faults, and there are so many, Rainey’s uncle does love the puppy.

She allows herself one frustrated groan before twisting her hair up into a knot on top of her head and pushing out of her desk chair to retrieve the cleaning supplies from the office kitchen. This is not the first time Nash has vomited in her office and it’s probably not going to be the last.

She’s going to have to talk to the interns about giving him too many treats.

Again.

Sounding like a Boomer, even in her own mind, Rainey complains about the youths - entertaining herself by using Schmidt from New Girl’s inflection on the word.

“Hey, Rainey?” Layla’s voice, hesitant and thickly Dallas-accented, startles Rainey from her position on hands and knees cleaning, making her stomach lurch from the surprise and sends her falling to her side when her wrist gives out and she loses her balance.

“Fuuuuuck,” she drags out the curse, splayed flat on her back and staring up at the ceiling.

Layla’s face appears in her line of sight, forehead crinkled in concern, lips turned down in a frown. “Are you okay? I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, but there’s someone on the phone for you?” Layla’s sentences always tick up into a question at the end and Rainey’s learned to live with it. Even though it does drive her a little crazy.

“Who is it?” Rainey’s still flat on her back, making no effort to get up. Why should she? She’s just going to have to get back down on the floor to finish cleaning Nash’s mess.

“Well, he said his name was Kevin, but he kind of sounded like Brian?”

Rainey’s temple throbs and her eyes bulge out in surprise. Shooting up into a sitting position so fast she gets dizzy, she yelps, “my ex, Brian? Brian Thompson? The dick bag that left me stranded in the Cayman Islands because he quote-unquote didn’t realize he took my passport too? THAT Brian?”

“Um, yes?” Layla’s eyes are wide and she twists her fingers together anxiously. Rainey realizes that she might have been shouting, so she makes an effort to tone down the volume.

“I need you to get back on the line,” she says slowly, almost robotically with her effort not to shout, “and tell him to go fuck himself.”

“I’m not going to do that?” Layla holds out a hand to pull Rainey to her feet. “But I can just take a message?”

Rainey dusts off her pant legs, wincing when her wrist twinges a little, and nods. “I didn’t really think you’d tell him to go fuck himself. A message is good, thanks, Layla.”

The twenty-two year old receptionist nods and gives you a little salute, grinning now. She tips her chin down at the floor, “Nash’s handiwork?”

Rainey nods. “No more treats for the little guy,” she huffs a sigh. “I feel like I’m going to have to tattoo that to the interns’ foreheads.”

“It wasn’t the interns,” Layla says. “It was Ricky. In payroll? He says Nash keeps looking at him with beggar eyes?”

“Fucking Ricky,” Rainey mutters. Her cousin graduated with a degree in accounting and promptly hustled his ass to the family business so he could do the bare minimum of work and collect his nice paycheck and vacation days. Sometimes Rainey wishes she got the Type B Lewis genes instead of her grandmother’s Type A perfectionist genes.

Nana always said that Pop and the boys - Rainey’s father and his four brothers - would lose their heads if they weren’t attached to their bodies.

It may have been cute when they were younger, but now they’re all middle aged men and Rainey is stuck running the business day to day, cleaning dog puke off the floor because her idiot cousin doesn’t listen, and trying to keep the family from imploding at all times.

So yeah, Lorraine Lewis hates her life.

And maybe it’s not just a today thing.

She drops back into her chair and scrubs a hand over her face, remembering too late that she’s got a full face of make up on.

“Fuck,” she whines, pulling her hand away from her face and inspecting the colorful smears of eyeshadow and eyeliner on her palm. She rubs at the smudges with her other hand, until the color is gone and her palm is red.

The phone on her desk rings and it’s her direct line, a Dallas area code, so Rainey exhales harshly and picks up, letting out a chirpy, “this is Lorraine Lewis.”

———-

Mikko is uncharacteristically nervous, stomach twisted in a knot.

Then again, he’s never been in this position before - returning to his old city with a new team. Ball Arena is as familiar to him as his own home, but the path to the visitors’ locker room is different.

It’s not as nice as the home players’ locker room and Mikko notices the subtle differences, the way everything just feels off even though it’s laid out the same way.

The guys get their pre-game routines going and Mikko does the same, changing out of his suit and into his athletic gear. He chews on a piece of Dentyne Ice, the minty zing clearing his head. He lets himself zone out as he tapes his stick, ignoring the warring emotions about his return to Colorado.

There’s a video tribute for him, cheers and boos intermingling, a secondary assist on Robo’s goal, and an overtime loss for Dallas that Mikko knows means he’ll see the hot takes on social media and ESPN and when he gets back into the locker room, he smashes his stick against the wall of his stall.

The guys give him space and he appreciates it, silently getting himself ready for the trip back home.

He wishes he’d been more productive on ice, more of a difference maker…just more.

A hot flush of embarrassment makes Mikko’s chest itch, the feeling that his return to Colorado just proves the point of his detractors. All the Tweets that he shouldn’t be reading that say he was a Nathan MacKinnon merchant, that his productivity dropping off in Carolina was him returning to the mean. Never mind the fact that the Carolina system stifled him, that he was traded when he wanted to be an Av for years to come.

Losing in his homecoming - no not a homecoming, Colorado is no longer his home - losing in his return is not how he wanted this to go.

Roope and Esa jostle him, bouncing off his side to try and work him out of the mood that’s clouding him after the loss. It doesn’t really work, but it’s nice to have friends around him.

They fly home late and Mikko crashes on the guest bed when he and Roope get home, barely changing into his sweats before he’s asleep.

The next morning, the loss still stings, but it’s lessened. Mikko’s focus is on the next game, home against Anaheim, and figuring out his next moves. Over breakfast, he’ll talk to Kristina about getting in touch with the realtor.

Or, he notices a new email on his phone, the realtor will get in touch with him.

The email is short and sweet and it’s addressed to “Mr. Rantanen” which makes Mikko laugh. It’s been a while since anyone addressed him with such formality.

The body of the email is perfunctory, explaining that Kristina reached out and if he has a moment to hop on a call or come into the office for a meeting, that would be great. It’s signed Lorraine Lewis and Mikko imagines a high powered, older woman in a severe pantsuit and tight slicked back bun. He’s not sure why, but the image won’t disappear no matter what.

He supposes that a seasoned realtor will be able to find him a house quickly, so what does he have to lose?

He types back a quick message and forgets about it, off to another practice.

———

“Sounds good. Can be there at 3:45 if that works? MR”

Rainey’s not sure why she expected anything more verbose from a hockey player, but the short email does make her laugh a little.

A quick scan of her calendar informs her that 3:45 does, in fact, work and she shoots Mikko another email back to confirm.

She hopes he’s as nice at the Hintzes. They’d been easy to find a house for and she’d gotten a fantastic commission from the sale. Part of which she’d used to pay for the ill-fated Cayman Islands trip.

Allowing herself an eye roll at the memory of Brian’s dopey face, playing innocent when he knew exactly what he had done, when she FaceTimed him about the missing passport, Rainey pushes that to the side and gets back to work. She’s showing a handful of houses before lunch, which means she needs to make sure her route is perfectly mapped and she has the keys for each place.

The morning goes smoothly, thanks to Rainey’s preplanning, but of course there’s a hiccup when she tries to run out and get lunch - at 3 in the afternoon of course, because she can’t drag herself away from paperwork.

“Do you know what your brother did now?” Rainey’s mother’s voice is sharp and shrill through her car’s Bluetooth.

“What?” Rainey pinches the skin on the bridge of her nose. It could literally be anything. Ford is nineteen going on nine, a spoiled brat with impulse control issues. He’s seven years younger than Rainey and some days that gap feels like decades.

“Dropped out! He dropped out right in the middle of the semester,” Corrine shrieks and Rainey winces, smashing the volume button on her steering wheel.

“Jesus, Mom,” she sighs. “You don’t have to shout.”

The sigh that comes through the speakers is long suffering. “Lorraine, this is precisely the moment for shouting! After all that effort to get Ford into Baylor and this is what he does? I need you to talk to him.” It’s an order, not a request.

Rainey’s stomach knots up, anxiety tightening her chest.

“Ford doesn’t listen to me,” she says flatly.

“Ford doesn’t listen to anyone,” her mother snaps.

“Then why should I talk to him?” Rainey’s fingers tap against the leather of her steering wheel. She knows what her mother’s response will be and she mouths it along with Corrine.

“Because you’re the oldest! You’re responsible for your siblings.”

Rainey’s temple throbs and her eye twitches. Her parents never bothered to parent Ford and as a result, he’s flightly and commitment-phobic, unconcerned with consequences because he knows their dad will just bail him out.

“I will try and talk to him,” she hedges and hangs up with a quick, “loveyoubye.”

She lets out a brief scream and feels better, some of the pressure released from her shoulders. It’s still a nightmare and her phone is blowing up with texts as it sits in her cup holder, but she has approximately thirty minutes to eat and get herself settled before her 3:45 with Mikko Rantanen.

No matter what drama her family throws at her, she is a professional and she has a business to keep running.

She’s got this.

———

“I don’t understand!”

Mikko’s eyebrows lift at the shout. He steps off the elevator and into the reception area of the realtor. It’s buzzing with an anxious energy that even he can feel.

And the receptionist is in a shouting match with a man and a woman that both look like they’re in their late twenties. The receptionist looks younger than both of them, but Mikko gets the sense that she can handle herself.

“How fucking difficult is it for you to make sure the paychecks go out on time? And where’s Tony, because the computers are going crazy and it’s like you’re all trying to make my job harder,” the older woman’s face is pink, her hair falling out of a ponytail.

She’s cute, Mikko can’t help but notice. Dressed a little like a librarian in a tight pencil skirt and one of those fancy, silky looking tank tops. Her eyes flash a little and she opens her mouth to, presumably, shout again, but the receptionist catches sight of him out of the corner of her eye and nudges the other woman, hisses under her breath, “your three forty five!”

Mikko watches in real time as the woman - who he’s realizing now is Lorraine Lewis, decidedly not a forty-five year old like he had imagined - transforms in real time. She straightens her spine and lifts her chin, her face falling into a practiced and polite expression.

Her left hand smooths down the side of her thigh while her right is extended for a handshake as she walks towards him.

Mikko finds his lips curling up in an irrepressible smile, she’s really cute.

“Mr. Rantanen,” she greets him and Mikko has to press his lips together to muffle the laughter that wants to slip out.

She’s so fucking cute.

“Mikko,” he corrects her, shaking her hand. It’s warm and dry in his, the slight press of her long nails against his palm when he tightens his fingers around hers. There’s a zip of something sparking up his arm, his fingertips tingling.

He watches her eyes widen briefly, the edges of her smile wavering before solidifying again.

“Rainey…Lorraine,” she corrects herself quickly, hand still tucked nicely in his. She’s staring at him, blinking slowly, her lower lip finding a place wedged between her teeth. Mikko’s cock twitches in his pants.

His fingers brush lightly against her pulse and Mikko sees her physically jolt back into the moment, her hand dropping his like a hot potato. It does nothing to wipe the smile off his face.

“Nice to meet you, Lorraine,” he says, grinning. “You’re not what I pictured.”

“You pictured me?” Her head cocks to the side and behind her the receptionist whistles lowly.

“Couldn’t help it,” he shrugs loosely. Then, leaning in, he adds quietly, “I thought you would be a forty-five year old badass.”

Lorraine’s cheeks flush pink and she snorts a laugh, looking horrified as soon as the noise leaves her body. Mikko’s whole body lights up with delight and the sudden, unexplainable desire to get her to make that noise again.

“I…ah, no,” she manages to say, running her palms over the front of her thighs, drawing Mikko’s attention to the way she fills out her skirt. “Not a forty-five year old badass.”

“Even better,” Mikko smiles at her and watches her nose go pink. His cock twitches again and he thinks he’s in trouble.

Lorraine shakes her head a little and blinks and she’s back, spine straight and business woman smile plastered on her face, a little warmer at the edges this time. She sweeps her arm behind her, “should we get started? In my office?”

“Looking forward to it,” Mikko replies, gesturing her to go first and he’ll follow. And if he glances down at the sway of her ass as she walks, who can blame him?

��—-

Rainey doesn’t think she’s ever been this flustered in her entire life.

She considers herself levelheaded and practical, responsible to a fault. Several exes have referred to her as closed off and bitchy.

But Mikko Rantanen, all curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes and a lower lip so full it should be illegal, has her flustered.

Her fingers are still tingling from their handshake, the phantom press of his fingertips against her wrist is distracting her.

He fills her office, broad and tall - taller than Rainey, who’s six feet in her favorite heels - and with this energy that just draws Rainey’s attention like a moth to a flame. It’s scaring her a little, how difficult she’s finding it to collect a coherent thought with him looking at her like she’s a puzzle he’s trying to solve.

She feels exposed and she hates it.

“So,” she starts, clearing her throat. Mikko’s eyes snap up to her face and that’s almost worse. “I know your schedule is, um, unconventional. So I thought I could send you listings and you can give me a top five that we can tour in person when you’re here.”

“Sure,” Mikko replies easily, relaxing back into the chair and making it look small. “Spending time with you isn’t going to be a hardship.”

Normally a client saying that would come across creepy and unwanted, but in Mikko’s low, accented voice, all Rainey feels is excitement and the bubbling nervous energy that something is changing and shifting.

“Well,” Rainey coughs lightly, managing a smile, “I hope not. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your price range and what you’re looking for in a house?”

Without any sort of brag in his tone, Mikko says, “price range is whatever. I’m good for it. But I’d like something with room for you know, friends and family to stay. Kids, one day.”

Rainey nods, picking up a pen off her desk and scribbling a note. “Great start, something like four or more bedrooms? A pool? It’s Texas so you’ll want that in the summer,” she smiles.

“I’ll probably go back to Finland for summers,” Mikko replies. “But a pool will be nice anyway. And a sauna, if we can. Or enough space to build one.”

“Sauna?” Rainey lifts an eyebrow. It’s an unusual request.

Mikko eyes her with amusement dancing in too blue eyes and he says, dryly, “sauna is the national pastime of the Finns, Lorraine. I will shrivel up and die if I don’t go at least once a week.”

A laugh bubbles out of Rainey’s mouth at his deadpan response, even as her entire core clenches at the way her name sounds in his voice. The syllables sound loaded with something that sparks an emotion in her that she’s too nervous to explore.

Yet.

Maybe.

Fuck. She’s got a crush on her client.

She can’t afford distractions, can’t afford anything that will throw her off her game. And indulging in a crush on a hockey player is probably the worst thing she could add to her life right now.

Sell him a house and move on, that’s the plan.

Mikko smiles at her, clearly delighted that she laughed at his joke, and oh fuck, that’s going to be easier said than done.

———

RL: I emailed you a few listings. Please take a look and let me know if you’d like to see any of them. Thanks!

MR: I like when you text, less formal than your emails

RL: I can still call you Mr. Rantanen over text if you want.

MR: I wouldn’t mind it, Ms. Lewis

RL: Do you have any availability to view these properties?

MR: Off days this wk are WFSun. Any of those good for you?

RL: Friday is clear on my schedule. Let me know which houses you’d like to see and I’ll plan the most efficient viewing order.

MR: How do you take your coffee?

RL: Irrelevant to the task at hand.

MR: Indulge me

MR: Please?

RL: Iced, skim milk and a pump of cinnamon syrup

MR: Noted, thanks!

MR: See you Friday 😁

———-

Mikko rejects every house Rainey shows him, vague excuses of not liking the location or the layout being weird.

She sucks aggressively at the straw in her coffee - made exactly how she likes it, delicious even though she’d protested when he handed it over at the first house - the plastic creasing and bending under her teeth. Her phone vibrates nonstop in her pocket and it’s getting hot.

“What’s wrong with this one?” She tries to keep the aggression out of her tone, landing on something syrupy sweet and emphasizing her drawl.

Mikko’s lips twitch to the side, his eyes shaded by a pair of sunglasses, making it impossible for Rainey to read his expression. He lifts one shoulder in a shrug and rattles the melting ice in his own coffee, “I just don’t like the energy.”

Rainey bites her tongue to prevent her teeth from grinding together. Dr. Diamond would be so proud of her, or maybe he wouldn’t care since he would just get to charge her for more dental work and ineffective mouth guards.

She inhales slowly and counts to five in her head. Hockey players are notoriously weird, she reminds herself. Not everyone could be as chill as the Hintzes. She’s dealt with worse clients. She can deal with this one.

He grins at her suddenly, white teeth flashing in the bright Dallas sun, disarming Rainey.

“Can I take you to lunch?” Mikko asks, taking half a step in her direction.

Rainey blinks at him, processing. She opens her mouth, “I -“ have to pick up Nash from the groomer, have to collect her wayward brother for a ‘set your head straight’ dinner, have to organize the paperwork that’s cluttering the side of her desk.

“No excuse, huh?” Mikko replies, pulling off his sunglasses with a flourish and treating Rainey to a crinkly-eyed smile.

No, she has no excuse. Not a good one anyway. Nash can be picked up any time - they’re always happy to have him around. Ford doesn’t give a shit about listening to her if the lackluster “i guess?” she received in response to her question asking if he wanted to get dinner today is any indication. And the paperwork? Well, that’ll all still be there tomorrow and so will all the other problems with the agency.

So, “sure, let’s have lunch.”

“Really?” It’s Mikko’s turn to blink back at her now, clearly surprised that she gave in so easily.

“Yeah, really,” Rainey nods, smiling fully now. She likes being the one to throw him off his game. “Unless you didn’t mean it?”

She cocks an eyebrow at him, a challenge, and Mikko shakes his head, grinning.

“No, I definitely meant it,” he says, reaching out to nudge her lower back with his fingertips, guiding her out of the front hall and to the street where their cars are parked. Rainey’s spine tingles at the brief, light touch, her clit giving a little throb. His cologne, something woodsy and spicy, invades her senses and Rainey knows this is not going to end well for her.

“Maybe you can figure out how to be less picky on houses,” she teases in a slightly shaky voice, crowded up against the driver’s side door of her car when Mikko leans in to tug at the handle for her. She gets another inhale of his scent and it makes her dizzy.

“Maybe,” he says with a cheeky smile, pulling the door open for her and letting their bodies press together briefly. Rainey’s eyes widen at the feeling of hard muscle bumping her arms and Mikko’s eyes twinkle. “Follow me, Rainey.”

At some point while touring the second house, Rainey had gotten tired of hearing her given name in Mikko’s light accent and decided to tell him to use her nickname. But now it’s worse, the way his mouth shapes her name, tone imbued with promise.

She knows he means to the restaurant, but Rainey can’t help but wonder how far she’d follow Mikko, if he really asked.

And the thought terrifies her.

———

The next week is a flurry for both Mikko and Rainey. He’s traveling - a back to back in Edmonton and Calgary and then two games in Seattle. While he’s gone, Rainey scopes out more properties, sending him links that he scans in his free time.

He tells her that he wants to see all of the houses, an excuse to spend more time with her.

Rainey’s heart skips when she reads his text - “All of them, want to see a good variety, Rainey” - and then groans when she realizes how much work scheduling the tours around his games will be.

But it’s worth it to get away from the chaos. Ricky is still fucking up payroll and her Uncle Mike is still MIA. Her dad is golfing and her mom is blowing up her phone with complaints about Willa and Ford.

Ford, by the way, has blatantly refused to go back to college, insisting that he’s going to become a content creator and that’ll be how he makes a living.

Rainey’s life advice had fallen on deaf ears, obviously.

But why would her brother listen to her anyway? When she has a business degree from Baylor that she hates, a job she’s good at but hates, and no time to follow her own dreams?

It’s not like she’s really succeeding at living her own life.

The only things that seem to make her smile these days are Nash and the texts that Mikko sends from the road. It’s wildly unprofessional, but she’s finding it harder and harder to care.

Not when she can’t sleep at night from the stress of dealing with her family and the business and the only thing she’s looking forward to is Friday’s house tours with Mikko.

She’s attracted to him - more than attracted to him, she flushes red just thinking about how she’d pulled up one of his post-game interviews the other night, listening to his voice while she held her vibrator against her clit. Then she’d laid in bed, embarrassed and still horny, clit throbbing and cunt leaking with arousal as she thought about the little smiles he shot her way.

Guilt settled in long before the arousal went away and so she’s a little glad that she has to bring Nash with her to the house viewings today. Willa was supposed to be watching the puppy, but naturally her sister flaked and is currently en route to Tulum for a long weekend with her best friends.

Mikko’s already waiting on the curb when Rainey pulls up, two iced coffees in his hands. She smiles reflexively. Nash pops his head up in the passenger side window, paws on the ledge, and Rainey watches as Mikko’s eyebrows draw together and then relax, a grin splitting his face.

His reaction to Nash relaxes her, if he likes dogs, he can’t be bad.

“Sorry,” Rainey starts, getting out of her car and holding Nash in her arms like a baby, “I couldn’t -“

“Who’s this guy?” Mikko cuts her off with a smile. He hands her one coffee and uses his now-free hand to scratch under Nash’s chin, letting out a bright laugh when Nash’s tongue lolls out of his mouth and he yips excitedly.

Rainey rolls her eyes affectionately at the puppy. “This is Nash,” she bounces him lightly in her arms. “My sister was supposed to watch him today, but, well….” A shrug and she trails off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Mikko cocks his head at her, studying her in a way that makes Rainey feel exposed. He opens his mouth, thinks for a second, and closes it again. His eyes soften, icy blue going molten, and he says, “short for Nashville?”

Technically yes. But also, Rainey cringes internally thinking about the puppy’s full name, given while she was in the middle of an ill-advised, post-breakup juice fast and completely starving. Normally she wouldn’t tell anyone the puppy’s full name, but something about Mikko’s face is making her want to be honest.

“Nashville Hot Chicken,” Rainey admits, only slightly reluctantly. “Because -“

“He’s the color of fried chicken,” Mikko finishes her sentence.

Exactly right.

Something warms her chest - the unfamiliar delight at being seen and understood - and Rainey swallows back against a lump of emotion in her throat, nodding.

“He’s lightened up a little bit,” she says, scratching at his ears. “But when I got him, he was the exact color.”

“I like it,” Mikko laughs, nudging her fingers with his. “It’s funny.”

The warm feeling refuses to dissipate, joined by the sparks that Mikko’s fingers against hers sends up and down her arm. Nash seems to grin at her, a tricky little look on his face.

“I can be pretty funny,” Rainey smiles softly at Mikko, “when I want to be.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing that side of you,” he winks and gestures up to the house, “should we start the tour?”

——-

By the time Rainey and Mikko are halfway through touring the second house of the day, Nash is draped over Mikko’s forearm, his little head resting in Mikko’s upturned palm. Rainey had been struggling with Nash’s overexcitement while she tried to open the front door, so Mikko had taken him and when Rainey tried to take the dog back, he shook his head and cuddled the puppy to his chest.

“I think he belongs to me now,” Mikko had grinned, kissing the dog on his forehead and sparking a burst of desire low in Rainey’s stomach.

“If you get tired, just give him back to me,” Rainey says, but it seems like her comment falls on deaf ears. Mikko is scratching Nash’s head and chatting quietly to the puppy, pointing out the backyard. It’s supremely adorable.

By the third house, Rainey’s worried she may have lost the love and affection of her puppy to Mikko. Nash is giving the hockey player big “love me” eyes and Rainey almost wants to copy him, if it means Mikko will look at her like he’s looking at Nash.

Mikko and Nash wander out into the backyard of the third house, a huge green expanse that’s broken up by a pool and a patio with a state of the art grilling set up. Rainey can see Mikko lift her dog and set him on the counter next to the grill, holding Nash in place with one hand while flipping open the lid of the grill with the other.

She smiles faintly at the sight, watching until a noise at the front door startles her.

The front door opens and she recognizes the voice first.

“This one should be big enough for us,” the voice - Brian’s voice - says. Rainey’s heart sinks to her stomach.

She looks around for a place to hide, not proud that this is her first instinct, but the first floor is open concept, leaving her nowhere to go.

Fuck an open concept.

The pair of footsteps gets closer and Rainey freezes against the island, like a bear in a trap, helpless to do anything but stare when Brian finally makes his appearance in the kitchen. It feels like all the air is sucked out of the room when she locks eyes with her ex-boyfriend, time freezing in the most uncomfortable of ways.

Rainey refuses to be the one to break the silence, even though she’s extremely curious as to how Brian got access to this listing when it was supposed to be a Lewis and Lewis exclusive. She crosses her arms over her chest, lips tilting down in a frown that borders on a scowl.

“Lor?” The nickname grates on Rainey’s nerves.

“Bri,” she returns the favor with her ex’s least favorite nickname and takes satisfaction in the way his plastered-on, fake smile dips at the edges.

The petite brunette at Brian’s side raises an eyebrow, looking between Rainey and Brian, before sticking her hand out and introducing herself, “Jana Foster.”

“Lorraine Lewis,” Rainey shakes her hand, figuring she can be polite. “Are you looking at this house?”

Brian coughs and Jana beams. Rainey feels like she’s missing something and then it hits her like a sucker punch to the chest.

“Yes!” Jana chirps. She clearly has no idea who Rainey is, because she holds out her left hand, a huge diamond solitaire twinkling on her fourth finger. “We just got engaged, well, a few weeks ago and now we’re house-hunting. How lucky am I to be marrying a realtor?”

“Oh,” Rainey manages a tight smile, her mind going a mile a minute, calculating. Either Brian moved on remarkably fast after their breakup four months ago or he was seeing both of them at the same time. She’s not sure which is worse.

The squirrely look on Brian’s face is making her lean towards the latter option. Nausea bubbles up when she thinks about how he left her in the Cayman Islands and probably ran right off to Jana’s side, giving him a few days completely uninterrupted without having to worry about her asking questions.

Rainey’s palms start to sweat and she blinks, too fast, blurting out, “how’d you get the listing, Brian?”

It’s a non-sequitur, rude if she considers the look on Jana’s face, but Rainey doesn’t care. The back of her neck prickles.

“Oh,” Brian brushes off the question carelessly, with a casualness that Rainey knows is practiced. “I got it from … Tom.”

He hesitates just slightly before he says the name and even though it’s a generic name, could be anyone, Rainey knows. Her own fucking father gave Brian access to the listing that’s supposed to be an exclusive.

She opens her mouth, not sure what’ll come out, but a warm, rough hand lands on the nape of her neck and her teeth clack together with how fast she closes her mouth. Mikko’s warm at her back, his cologne enveloping her.

“Who’s this, kulta?” Mikko says quietly, the unfamiliar word sticking in Rainey’s brain. His thumb rubs arcs over her skin and it feels like she’s short circuiting and grounding at the same time.

She looks up at him and he looks down at her, a twinkle in his blue eyes. Nash is draped over his other arm and looking at Brian with doggy disdain.

“This is Brian Thompson,” Rainey gestures quickly, “and Jana Foster. Brian’s also a realtor, they’re looking at this house.”

Brian and Jana are both looking at Mikko, matching looks of concentration on their faces, and Rainey figures it’s only a few minutes before they place him. Brian is a Stars season ticket holder.

“What a coincidence,” Mikko sounds pleasant enough, but Rainey’s surprised to realize she knows him well enough to hear the slight edge underlying his tone. He jiggles Nash a little in his arms. “I don’t think this place is big enough for this guy to run around though. Rainey, we should leave them to it, find ourselves a better place.”

“Mikko Rantanen!” Brian bursts out, drawing attention to him. Rainey watches with satisfaction as his ears turn red with embarrassment. Her ex doubles down and continues. “You’re, uh, Mikko Rantanen. I recognized…I’m a big fan.”

Mikko’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes and he steps closer to Rainey, his body heat seeping through her camisole. He doesn’t say anything, but Rainey knows their body language, the way she’s leaning into him, the way his hand hasn’t left the nape of her neck, it’s all giving Brian the impression that they’re dating.

She shivers a little and something snaps inside her, a feral sort of recklessness pushing aside all of her better angels. She leans back against Mikko’s chest, his sturdy bulk the perfect resting spot, and smiles slightly at Brian when he looks at her.

“It was nice to meet you, Jana,” she says with a warmth she doesn’t feel. “Mikko and I have other houses to see, aren’t I lucky that his budget is limitless?”

She giggles lightly and reaches back to hook her fingers in the belt loop of Mikko’s jeans, tugging him forward. He follows willingly and Rainey can feel his body behind hers, Brian’s eyes on them. She straightens her shoulders on the way out, something powerful fizzing in her veins.

When the front door shuts behind Mikko and they’re nearly at their cars, Rainey suddenly can’t control herself and bursts out into uncontrollable, gasping laughter. Her hand falls away from Mikko’s belt loop and she doubles over, arms wrapped around her stomach as she laughs so hard she cries.

“I’m sorry,” she chokes on the words, finally standing up and wiping at her eyes. her fingers come away smeared with mascara and eyeliner, but she finds she doesn’t care what she looks like. Mikko’s been waiting patiently, watching her with a small smile on his lips. He’s got Nash resting against his shoulder now, like a baby getting burped, and Rainey’s pretty sure she’s never getting her puppy back.

“Take your time,” Mikko replies. “You have a nice laugh.”

“Thank you,” Rainey’s pretty sure her face is bright red, but the compliment is nice. “That was my ex-boyfriend and his new fiancée. We broke up four months ago and now he’s buying a house from a listing that was supposed to be an exclusive, but my dad gave it to him. He left me in the Cayman Islands without a passport.”

“Your dad?” Mikko asks, looking both concerned and confused.

Rainey shakes her head, “no, sorry, Brian. He left me there, by accident, quote-unquote. And I broke up with him, but now he’s getting married to some girl who he was probably dating back then and my dad is sabotaging me and giving listings to him. And, oh my god, I’m trauma dumping on you. I am so sorry.”

She snaps her mouth shut, embarrassment making her mouth curl up in a tight, apologetic smile.

“He sounds like a dick,” Mikko says plainly, making her laugh with his bluntness. “You deserve better.”

Rainey’s momentarily speechless, letting Mikko’s words sink in. He reaches out to cup her elbow and squeeze it gently, his entire hand wrapping around her arm and making her skin feel like an electric current is running under it.

“Thanks,” she whispers. Mikko’s thumb presses against her inner elbow and she can feel her heart skip. “Next house?”

Mikko nods, “next house.”

———-

The fourth house of the day is perfect. This is the house Mikko’s going to buy, without a doubt.

“And,” Rainey leads him out to the backyard, gesturing with a flourish to the side of the expansive patio, “ta-da! A sauna for the Finnish expat!”

The blond wood sauna is perfect and Mikko can picture spending time in there, recovering and relaxing, maybe one day with Rainey’s body draped over his. Sweat slicking up their bodies from more than just the steam. His cock throbs behind his zipper and he shifts his stance to relieve some of the pressure.

She doesn’t seem to notice the growing bulge in his pants and Mikko’s grateful for that. Rainey dances down the steps of the patio, gesturing for him to follow her, saying, “come look at the pool house. It’s kind of bare bones, but you could do a reno and make it into whatever you want.”

He watches her hair bounce over her back, enjoying the sway in her hips and the delight in her tone. The drive to this house has done wonders to wipe the ex encounter from Rainey’s mind, clearly.

Mikko can’t stop thinking about it though. Rainey’s body had been so full of tension, hurt written plainly on her face - whether from the business with her father or from seeing her cheating ex move on so fast, Mikko’s not sure. All he knows is he hated the look on her face when that smug ass was in front of her and he never wants to see it again. Her laugh though, that he wants to hear every day for the rest of his life.

“Nash,” he lifts the dachshund into the air, making sure they’re making eye contact, “I think I might be crushing on your mom, are you cool with that?”

The puppy yips and licks Mikko right on the face.

He’ll take that as an endorsement.

“Mikko?” Rainey calls again and Mikko’s stomach does a little flip. Fuck, he wants to hear her say his name for the rest of his life. He wants to hear her scream it while he’s buried as deep inside of her as possible.

He wants to hear her say his name in the early morning and late at night.

He’s in so much trouble.

Rainey’s leaning against the outside of the pool house when he catches up to her, legs crossed at the ankles and a pleased smile on her face. She widens her eyes at him and holds her hands out to the side, wiggling her fingers, “so, did I do a good job on this one?”

“Saved the best for last, Ms. Lewis,” Mikko grins in response, clocking the way Rainey’s pupils dilate and her cheeks flush with color.

His eyes never leave her face, so he sees the exact moment something shifts in her expression, her eyes flickering down to his mouth for a brief second before she lifts up on her toes and presses her lips to his in a kiss that starts hesitantly.

Mikko freezes momentarily, his brain glitching until he can process that Rainey is kissing him, his free hand automatically coming up to her waist and curling around the curve.

Her mouth moves over his, her lips slightly chapped, and Mikko kicks into action, kissing her back. He grins against her lips, tracing his tongue over her lower lip until she opens her mouth with a soft whimper that shoots straight to his cock.

Rainey’s hands are soft, ghosting over his jaw line before burying into his hair and pulling him in even closer when she deepens the kiss. She tastes like coffee and mint gum and Mikko licks his tongue into her mouth to get more of it, more of her.

Mikko surges forward, pressing her flat against the side of the pool house and nudges his thigh between hers, his heart beating out of his chest. She groans and grinds down on his thigh and Mikko’s fingers tighten on her waist.

Nash barks in his arm, squished between their bodies, and Mikko pulls back, startled. He’d forgotten he was holding the dog.

Rainey blinks at him. Her face is flushed, her lips swollen and red. His imagines what it would feel like to have that gorgeous mouth wrapped around him and his cock throbs painfully enough that he has to reach down and press the heel of his palm roughly against the bulge. Rainey’s eyes drop to follow his movement and her mouth falls open even more when she sees the evidence of his arousal.

“Oh,” she breathes and Mikko doesn’t think she realizes that she’s still staring at his crotch. He grins and flattens his palm over himself, rubbing his cock over his jeans. She blinks and her tongue darts out to wet her lower lip.

“Say the word, Rainey,” he says roughly, voice hoarse. “Say the word and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Rainey doesn’t hesitate.

“Yes,” she nods, drawing his face back to hers for another kiss. Into his mouth, she murmurs, “I want.”

Mikko will happily give her everything she wants.

———

It feels like she’s out of her body, every nerve on fire with each pass of Mikko’s hands. His lips are softer than she would’ve thought, pressing hungry kisses over the edge of her jaw, soothing over the spots where his stubble abrades her skin.

His thigh is solid between her legs, thick and hard and perfect for her to grind down against. The seam of her pants presses against her clit and Rainey’s almost positive that she’s going to come like this, riding Mikko Rantanen’s thigh with his hands kneading at her breasts.

“Oh god,” she groans when his hands slide under the cups of her bra, thumbs rubbing over the tight points of her nipples. “Mikko, please, I need…”

She trails off, head fuzzy.

She’s not used to needing.

“Tell me, kulta,” he nuzzles the tip of his nose under her ear, kissing the side of her neck. “Let me take care of you, let me give you what you need.”

“More,” she manages, flexing her hips. It feels like a dam broke inside of her, panties soaked with arousal, stomach coiling tight with pleasure. She wants more. She needs more.

Mikko bites down on her earlobe, pinching her right nipple. Rainey wiggles and gasps and then his hands are sliding over her stomach, teasing at the waist of her pants, waiting.

She nods against his shoulder and that’s all he needs to flick the button and pull the zipper down, thick fingers burying themselves between her legs.

“Fuck,” he groans, teasing at the wet mess of her cunt. “All this for me?”

“Mhm,” Rainey nods again, her head tossed back against the side of the pool house. She can’t believe that she’s letting him finger her out in the open, can’t believe she’s being this reckless. “Been like this for days,” she confesses, the filter between her brain and her mouth gone.

“You’ve been aching for me for days?” Mikko asks, his fingers exploring and finding her clit. She hiccups a gasp and Mikko’s smile goes animal at the edges. “Found it.”

Stars burst in Rainey’s vision, Mikko’s deft fingers playing with her clit until she can’t take it anymore. With a wild moan of his name, Rainey comes on his fingers, dripping even more and clenching around nothing. Her cunt throbs and she digs her nails into his shoulders for purchase.

“Good girl,” Mikko kisses her throat, continuing his work between her legs. He pushes down her pants and exposes her slick cunt to the cool air, watching his fingers disappear into the tight grip of her. Rainey wails with the stretch of his fingers, her brain a blank screen, her body nothing but sensation. “Came so pretty for me with just my fingers. What are you going to do when I get my cock in this perfect cunt?”

Another orgasm builds low, or maybe it’s still the first one, Rainey’s not sure.

Her entire world is narrowed down to Mikko’s fingers pumping in and out of her, the hard press of his cock against her hip. His scent envelops her and she comes again on a broken cry.

Her knees wobble and it feels like she’s been turned inside out, so when Mikko pulls his fingers out from between her legs and sucks them into his mouth to clean, she can’t do anything but gape at him. He winks and that’s it, Rainey’s died and gone to heaven.

“You taste so sweet,” Mikko says lowly, tipping her chin up with wet fingers and sliding his lips over hers in a kiss that’s too chaste for her liking. She nips down on his lower lip and is rewarded with a growl. When he pulls back, Mikko continues, “I can’t wait to get my mouth on you, taste you directly. Dinner tonight?”

“I…yes,” Rainey nods her head quickly, wanting more of him. And then just as quickly she remembers, “oh, no. I can’t. Not tonight. My parents…we’re having an intervention for my brother.”

Mikko frowns at her and strokes the curve of her waist, his fingers rough against her skin and making her shiver. “Intervention?” He asks curiously.

It’s hard to think with his hand on her, but Rainey manages to say, “he dropped out of college. Again. And I didn’t do a good enough job of convincing him to go back over the phone. So, we’re all having dinner to convince him to go back. Or enroll somewhere else.”

He continues to study her face, making Rainey feel even more exposed. A breeze makes her shiver, cool air against her bared lower half, and she angles away from Mikko’s thigh to pull her panties and slacks back up. He looks like he wants to say something, but something hot and slimy curdles in Rainey’s stomach and she shakes her head, ducking down to retrieve Nash from the patch of shade he’d found to nap in.

“Um, I’ll get the paperwork ready,” she says in a rush, backing away from Mikko, “and the house will be yours.”

“Rainey, wait,” Mikko reaches for her, fingers brushing her forearm. “I’m sorry, did - was it too much? Do you -“

He cuts himself off and he looks so horrified that he may have taken advantage of a situation. Guilt settles like a rock in her stomach, her head shaking. “No, it’s not you. It’s - I really, I shouldn’t have done that. You’re, well, you’re you and I’m me,” the words rush out of her in a nearly incomprehensible mess. Nash kicks his legs like he’s swimming in the air and Rainey tightens her grip on him.

“I’m sorry,” she says, feeling awful as she rushes back to her car. She wants to take everything from the last few minutes back and kiss Mikko again, but she shouldn’t have kissed him in the first place. She doesn’t have time in her life for the distraction he would provide.

As if to prove it, her phone vibrates with a call from her mom, connecting to the car’s Bluetooth with a tap of Rainey’s finger. She inhales quickly and doesn’t get a chance to say anything before her mom interrupts.

“Can you swing by the dry cleaners’ on the way home, Rain?” She asks. “Your father and I have some clothes that are ready.”

The mention of her father reminds Rainey of Brian and the listing betrayal. Her stomach curdles and when she replies to her mom, it’s in a quiet, resigned tone.

Things just won’t change.

———-

April speeds by, Dallas heats up, and the regular season starts to wind down. Playoffs are around the corner and it’s looking like Dallas will be facing the Avalanche in the first round.

Mikko’s never been this combination of nervous and excited for a series.

He also hasn’t heard from Rainey in more than two weeks, with the exception of a perfunctory email with sale documents and a final congratulations on the house.

He can’t stop thinking about her in a way that should probably be concerning. She’d flipped moods so fast out by the pool house and he’d thought that things were going in a good direction.

It seems like she’s going through a lot, based on what she blurted out, and Mikko is overwhelmed with the urge to take care of her and make sure she’s enjoying life.

“Just call her,” Miro snaps a towel at him in the locker room.

“I want to give her space,” Mikko replies, scowling. She hadn’t said as much, but it was clear that she wasn’t interested in him reaching out.

“Your big mopey eyes are bringing us all down,” Roope chimes in, sweaty from practice. He runs his hand roughly over his hair, showering his closest neighbors with a spray of sweat and grinning when they complain.

Mikko rolls his eyes - he’s not mopey. He’s…concerned.

“Who needs a new house?” Tyler Seguin cups his hands around his mouth and shouts to the locker room. “We need to get Moose back in the room with his girl. Harls? Robo? Someone step up.”

A few towels fly through the air, landing on Seggy’s face and muffling his cackled laughter.

“No one’s buying a house,” Mikko says, rubbing a fisted hand over the tight muscle of his thigh. “It’s done, it was nothing.”

The words feel sour coming out of his mouth.

“Call. Her. Call. Her. Call. Her,” Roope starts the chant, clapping on beat. The rest of the team joins in, the cacophony of noise echoing around the walls of the locker room and inside of Mikko’s head.

“Fine, fine!” He concedes, with a quick rattle of Finnish curses that makes Roope and Miro crack up. He fishes his phone out of his bag and waves it in the air. “I’ll text her, that way she doesn’t have to respond.”

His thumbs hover over the screen, the text thread with Rainey pulled up, the last blue bubbles left unanswered.

The guys crowd around him, making suggestions of what he should say and Mikko ignores them all, typing a quick message and sending it before he can really think twice.

Roope stares at him, horrified, and shakes his head, “all of this help and you land on ‘hi’? What an embarrassment to the Finnish nation.”

——-

The thing about Rainey is that she doesn’t have very many friends.

Sure, she makes friends and usually she can keep them. But her childhood best friend lives in California now, a career decision that was clearly the right move since she now has a minor part in an upcoming Netflix series, but means that Rainey only sees her a handful of times a year.

Her college friends are scattered to the winds, all settled in different states. They make an effort to get together as much as possible, usually once a year for a girls’ trip. But with time differences and busy schedules, they’re not people Rainey can rely on for day to day problems.

She’s been so wrapped up in her family’s lives, managing their schedules and taking care of everything that needs to be taken care of, it just was never a priority to make friends as an adult. But now that means she has no one that she’s close enough to in the immediate Dallas area that she can talk to about the Mikko Rantanen of it all.

By default, she has Layla, who is the closest thing she has to a friend and also terrifies Rainey a little bit.

When the unexpected text comes through, Rainey has a mouthful of hummus and pita chip and nearly chokes.

“What the fuck does this mean?” She rushes into reception, holding her phone out in front of her. Layla jumps back, startled.

“Is your phone dead? Rainey, the screen’s black, I have no idea,” she says slowly.

Rainey huffs a disgruntled noise and taps the screen so Layla can see the innocent-looking notification - Mikko Rantanen and his ‘hi’.

Layla looks from the screen to Rainey’s face and back again. Her eyebrows lift and she covers her mouth with her hand to smother a giggle. An anxious little pit forms in Rainey’s stomach, accompanied by the fear that Layla is making fun of her.

“Rainey, I think you’ve got a hockey player pining for you,” she grins. “Text him back!”

“No way,” Rainey shakes her head. “I haven’t talked to him in weeks. It’s not -“

“Not what? Something selfish for just you?” Layla arches a brow at her, knowing smirk on her lips. “Not a decision that helps your family? Rainey, you need something for you.”

Layla’s words land like little darts to the chest and Rainey rolls her lips inward. She’s not wired to be selfish, all of her tendencies leaning towards making sure everyone around her is happy and taken care of.

Sure, she thought about confronting her dad about the listing, but decided that it wasn’t worth the fight that would ensue.

Sure, she thought about telling Willa how much of a hassle it created when she promised Rainey she would do something only to flake at the last minute.

Sure, Ford is now crashing on the couch in her one-bedroom because he’s fighting with their parents and Rainey couldn’t say no when he showed up at her door with his duffle and a scowl, proclaiming, “mom’s a bitch, can I stay here?”

“Be selfish,” Layla urges her. “Text him back, get laid. You always had such a huge smile on your face when he was on the schedule?”

Rainey’s fingers clench around her phone, thinking about Mikko’s smile softening at the edges when she kissed him. The coffees he brought her, the feeling of his body against hers.

“I…” she starts, leaves the sentence hanging when she realizes she doesn’t have a counter argument. Layla’s right and Rainey’s been feeling the same way for a long time. Longer than Mikko’s been in her life, for sure. But maybe she needed him to be the catalyst. She nods at Layla. “Okay, yeah, I’m going to text him.”

Her thumbs hover over the screen as Layla throws her hands in the air and cheers. Rainey chews at her lower lip and deliberates on the message, pushing Layla away when she leans over Rainey’s shoulder to see what she’s typing.

“Oh my god,” Layla whines, “‘Hi, how’s the house?’ You are so lame.”

“I panicked!” Rainey wails, tossing her phone onto Layla’s desk. “I’m not good at this, oh my god.”

“Ooh look, dots! He’s responding, girl, you have that man wrapped around your finger if he responded in ten seconds to that lame message,” Layla’s eyes are wide as she watches Rainey’s phone screen.

Rainey groans, dropping her head to her hands. She can only imagine how Layla would react if she knew about the pool house. Her fingertips tingle just thinking about how good it felt to have her hands buried in Mikko’s curls.

“Huh,” Layla’s exhalation draws Rainey’s attention, “he responded and honestly, he’s kind of lame too?”

——-

MR: It’s good, empty. Haven’t gotten furniture yet

RL: Nothing at all?

MR: I got a bed and some chairs, but I don’t really have time to decorate.

MR: Do you know anyone that can help?

RL: I don’t keep interior decorators on file, but…

MR: But what?

RL: I technically have a degree in interior design, I could help, if you want?

MR: Very much. I need your help, Rainey.

RL: How about dinner? To discuss what you want

RL: In the house, like for furniture and decor and stuff

RL: So I can get to know you

RL: Your taste

RL: In decor

RL: I’m going to stop now

MR: Please don’t stop, it’s adorable

MR: Dinner tonight, 7pm. I’ll pick you up

RL: Looking forward to it

———

If Rainey had known that being selfish would end with her legs folded up by her chest and Mikko Rantanen’s perfect cock splitting her open, she might’ve leaned into it earlier.

After the first dinner, where Rainey had lowered some of her walls and laughed harder than she had in months, they’d ended up making out like a pair of horny teenagers in the backseat of Mikko’s car. The thick, heavy ridge of his cock pressed against Rainey’s core as she straddled his lap and she’d gone home to get herself off to the phantom impression of his cock and the feeling of his stubble scraping over her skin while they kissed.

In the few days before the playoffs started, Rainey dug into her design plans for Mikko’s home - after he’d told her to pick whatever she wanted, that he trusted her vision - ignoring the rest of her responsibilities. It felt good to focus on the decor, rejuvenating.

She’d also hooked up with Mikko on two more occasions, coming on his fingers with her office door closed and locked and on her own fingers while she’d sucked his cock in the empty, echoing front hall of the new house.

It’s the most reckless she’s ever been in her life and the fizzy buzz of adrenaline and freedom makes her head light. It’s addictive, Mikko’s addictive. She’s terrified to find that she wants more of him when he’s not around and thrilled to find that he wants more of her too.

They text, like all the time, and that’s new for Rainey. Brian hated texting, hated giving her more attention than he felt she deserved at any given moment.

Mikko, on the other hand, is in the middle of the first round and he’s still finding time to ask her about her day. He even sent lunch to her office, knowing she had a packed schedule.

It’s just really nice to be wanted.

And then he invites her to Game Seven of the first round, gives her tickets for Layla and Willa and Ford too, if they want them. (They do, it’s not even a question, she barely finishes her sentence before all three are agreeing.)

And then he scores a third period hat trick and the arena loses it’s ever-loving shit. Rainey shrieks so loud she’s pretty sure she’s done permanent damage to her vocal cords. Ford grabs her around the waist and jumps up and down, shaking her around in a way that should be unpleasant but isn’t, while he screams, “your boyfriend just made me three thousand dollars! I love him, fuck yes!”

And then her phone lights up with a text from Mikko.

A smile splits her face and she doesn’t bother telling anyone where she’s going. They definitely already know what’s happening.

Rainey’s waiting on the porch swing when Mikko’s car pulls into the driveway and she can see his huge smile through the front windshield, her own face breaking out into a matching expression.

“Shouldn’t you be out celebrating?” She calls, unable to hide her delight at the way her practically flings himself out of his car and jogs up the walkway.

“I want to stay in and celebrate,” he replies simply, grabbing her around the waist and swinging her in a circle. Rainey laughs loudly and openly, locking her arms around Mikko’s neck. He sets her on her feet and kisses her deeply, stealing the breath that she had left. “I want to celebrate with you, Rainey.”

Warmth floods her entire body, insides turning to putty, and Rainey nods, burying her face in Mikko’s neck as it heats up. His hands tighten on her waist and he lifts her so she can lock her legs around his waist. Mikko kisses the side of her neck and they’re moving and kissing and his hands are hot on her skin, burning a trail up her sides.

“Mikko…” she mumbles his name, leaving it hanging in the air. She doesn’t know how to ask for what she wants, but he knows.

“I’ve got you,” he kisses her sweetly, tracing his tongue over her lower lip. “Let me take care of you, Rainey, okay? Let me take care of you.”

She nods and Mikko grins into his next kiss.

Rainey’s senses sharpen and fade around the edges at the same time, her body lit up like Times Square with every touch and kiss Mikko plants on her body. He’s huge, she knew that, but didn’t realize just how big he was until he was leaning over her on his bed, running the palm of his hand up the back of her thigh and pressing her legs open wide.

“You’re so perfect, fuck,” he mutters, kissing the inside of her knee.

“Look who’s talking,” Rainey returns in a dry, breathy tone, gesturing at the bare planes of his chest. “It’s like looking at the fucking sun.”

Mikko laughs hoarsely and Rainey’s body flushes with delight. She trails a hand down her stomach, dipping her fingers into the mess between her legs and thumbing slowly at her clit. Mikko’s gaze tracks her movements like a predator with prey and when she circles her clit, his cock throbs between his legs. It bounces when he swallows harshly and his hips twitch into the air.

“Hands off, kulta,” Mikko rasps, pulling Rainey’s hand away and lacing his fingers with hers, squeezing gently. “You do enough for everyone, this time pleasure is only for you.”

“I…okay,” Rainey nods, gasping in the next second when the head of Mikko’s cock presses against her clit. She whines and kicks her foot, hands reaching for Mikko’s shoulders.

The hot, hard length of his cock slides through the wet mess of her cunt, throbbing against her inner thigh and making her gasp his name. Her core clenches around nothing and her swollen clit throbs for more stimulation. But Mikko knows what he’s doing and is purposeful in his touch.

He’s going to drive Rainey insane, she thinks blearily, his hips rocking against hers and one hand playing with her nipples until they’re tight buds for him to suck into his mouth. A jolt of pleasure rockets down her spine when he scrapes his teeth over the pebbled skin and she lifts her hips off the mattress, locking her ankles at his lower back to keep his cock pressed against her cunt.

“Please, please,” she whines, reaching between their bodies to stroke the velvet hot skin of his shaft. Everything feels heightened, pleasure and want and everything good building in her body in a way it never has before.

Mikko releases her nipple with a wet pop and kisses the point of her chin, his cock still moving between her lips, the head of it bumping against her clit on each pass and making her see stars.

“So wet for me,” he grins wickedly, leaning over her and reaching for his night table drawer. A condom crinkles and Rainey’s cunt clenches in anticipation. “Bet my cock will slide right into that perfect cunt of yours, huh?”

She nods like a bobble head and whines when Mikko leans back on his haunches to roll the condom down the thick length of his cock. Rainey’s eyes nearly cross as she watches his hand wrap around the base of his cock and squeeze tightly, his other hand rolling his balls quickly.

“Fill me up, please, oh my god, Mikko,” words fall from Rainey’s lips, tapered off in a gasp when he notches the head of his cock at her entrance and pushes in, just an inch, just enough to stretch her and leave her hiccuping.

“Good girl,” Mikko chokes out, one hand holding her thigh open and the other stroking at her clit. He watches his cock disappear into her cunt, swallowed greedily inch by inch, and groans audibly. “Taking me so well, like you were made for me.”

“I am, I am,” Rainey moans, twisting the sheets in her fists and arching her back. She clenches tighter around Mikko’s cock and the familiar wave of pleasure rises in her stomach with each stroke of his fingers on her clit. She wails and whines, chasing her pleasure on his fingers and cock, groaning his name through her orgasm. She comes on his cock, half buried in her cunt, and Mikko’s groan joins hers.

He pushes in another inch while her entire body trembles from the orgasm, his arousal slick hand ghosting over her stomach and tweaking a nipple.

Another inch and then he rocks back, dragging his cock out a few inches, rocking back in again.

 Rainey’s breath saws in her chest, her entire body tingling from the fading aftershocks of her orgasm and she wants more. Every thrust of his cock into her cunt is like a drug and Rainey’s afraid she’ll never be satisfied.

“More, please, oh god, Mikko,” she cries and he buries the remaining inches of his cock deep inside of her, their hips meeting as he bottoms out. Rainey’s impossibly full, legs spread wide to accommodate his size, and she sobs when he rotates his hips to grind the coarse hair at the base of his dick into her clit. Another orgasm builds quickly and Mikko grinds against her, feeling the squeeze of her cunt around his length.

“Open those gorgeous eyes, Rainey,” he grits out, pumping his hips. “Want to see you when you come again. Don’t hide from me.”

Rainey’s eyes open and lock onto Mikko’s baby blues, darkened with lust, and that’s it. That’s all it takes for her to come again, gushing around his cock and soaking the sheets under her body. She keens his name through the crest, gasping for the air that Mikko’s thrusts are punching out of her lungs. He plants his hands flat on either side of her head and doubletimes his thrusts, following her over the edge with a groan of her name. His cock throbs inside of her, filling the condom while she convulses around him.

They’re both spent, Rainey’s limbs trembling and her teeth clacking together. Mikko drops his body weight onto her, crushing her into the mattress and kissing her jawline while he softens inside of her.

Rainey can barely catch her breath with Mikko’s bulk on top of her, but she doesn’t care. Instead she lifts her hands to bury them in his damp curls, scraping her nails against his scalp and enjoying the full body shiver that it elicits from him. She grins and gives a faint, experimental clench of her cunt. Mikko groans and nips at her jaw, more teeth than lips, and despite his weight holding her down, Rainey’s never felt lighter.

——-

“You’ve got freckles,” Mikko notes, running the pad of his thumb over the bridge of Rainey’s nose.

She wrinkles it at him, replying drowsily, “thought I was better than sunscreen in my teen years.”

“They’re cute,” he says and Rainey’s lips curl up in a sleepy smile. She tucks herself closer to Mikko’s side, her head resting on his bicep and her legs tangled with his. The hem of the shirt she borrowed from Mikko rides higher up her thigh and Mikko’s leg shifts to press her legs wider apart.

Rainey traces her fingertips over his chest, scraping her nails over his nipples lightly and enjoying the hiss that ruffles her hair. She presses a kiss against his shoulder and giggles when he shifts and rolls onto his back, making her splay over his chest, one of his thighs pressed firmly between hers.

It’s so late it’s early and Rainey can barely keep her eyes open, but she doesn’t want the night to end.

“The house looks amazing,” Mikko kisses her forehead softly, trailing his hands down her back and under the hem of her shirt. He grabs two handfuls of her ass and kneads with no real purpose. A low hum rumbles in Rainey’s chest. “I couldn’t have done a good job like this.”

She presses her face into his neck, flushed from the praise. She’s not used to it.

“Technically,” she whispers into his skin, “I have an interior design degree.” She knows she mentioned the degree to him before, but she’s know sure if he remembers.

“Technically?” Mikko’s distracted by the ghost of her breath over his skin, shivering a little. He can feel his cock twitch with interest when Rainey shifts on his chest, the heat of her cunt against his thigh.

She hums again. “I have the degree, along with my business one. But I don’t use it. It was always…I was going into the family business. Interior design wasn’t what I was supposed to do,” Rainey’s explanation is muffled and Mikko can hear the hurt edging into her tone. She stiffens under his touch slightly and he smooths a hand over her ass until she relaxes again.

“Why don’t you do it now?” He asks and Rainey’s fingers freeze where they’re tangling in the curls at the nape of his neck.

“Do…interior design?” Her nose brushes against the underside of his jaw when she lifts her head to look at him.

Mikko nods, “why not? You’ve been having fun here, right? You did an amazing job. I’d have you come and redecorate every six months.”

He’d do just about anything to keep her in his arms, but this is the truth. Rainey really had captured his tastes perfectly in her work.

“Thank you,” she replies, almost absently. The wheels are clearly turning in her brain and Mikko can see the calculating as it’s happening.

His body relaxes even deeper into the mattress, his muscles loose and the adrenaline from both the game and sex with Rainey finally fading. A yawn cracks his jaw and his eyes drift shut. Rainey relaxes on top of him again and he resumes stroking a hand up and down her back, over the curve of her ass until her breathing evens out and she’s asleep.

When he wakes up, Mikko’s alone in bed and there’s a crinkled piece of notebook paper resting on the pillow next to his head. He yawns and rubs a hand over his chest, grabbing for the paper with his other hand.

Rainey’s loopy handwriting fills the page: Thanks for last night, lots to think about. I’ll talk to you later? xo R

With a P.S.: Proud of that hatty, eat your heart out Colorado ;)

A bark of laughter startles out of his chest, a grin stretching across his face. Rainey’s note loosens something in his chest that he didn’t realize was tight. Stepping up and showing up in the playoffs is all he’s ever wanted to do and this feels like a good first effort.

Maybe he can convince Rainey to come to the next home game, as a good luck charm.

Mikko always plays his best when he’s showing off.

——-

When Rainey finally turns her phone back on after sitting in her favorite coffee shop for six hours with her laptop and the faintest beginnings of a plan, she’s wide eyed at the avalanche of notifications.

A dozen missed calls from her mother alone.

Two missed FaceTimes from Willa.

More texts than she can count, including two from Mikko that she decides to save for later.

She ignores everything and taps open her inbox, composing an email to her entire family - Uncle Mike, Ricky, and the rest of them included.

It’s short and sweet.

Just two words.

“I quit.”

She hits send and it’s like an anvil lifts off her shoulders. She rolls them back and shakes out her wrists, grinning like a fool the entire time.

On the tabletop, her phone goes crazy with texts and calls and she laughs to herself as she swipes them all away. It’s the first time she’s made her own decision in her career and it feels better than she could’ve imagined.

No more concern about Uncle Mike’s disappearances or Ricky’s inability to manage the books.

No more concern about the listings that her dad is giving away to other agents when they’re supposed to be Rainey’s.

With a shaky hand, Rainey covers her mouth to muffle a slightly unhinged giggle.

She just quit her job and essentially quit her family. Sure, she’ll respond to their messages eventually, but right now she’s going to ignore them.

A text from Layla catches her eye: don’t know what prompted it, but i’m proud of you!!! i hope you’re getting dicked down in celebration 🥳

Rainey laughs loudly now. Layla’s personality getting more and more exposed is something she’s really starting to appreciate more. She doesn’t reply to the message right away, but it’s nice to know that she’ll still have Layla’s friendship.

She’s going to need it, with all of her nascent plans, Rainey’s going to need a sounding board and someone to keep her worst crash outs at bay.

Her fingers tap at the touchpad of her laptop, waking it up and displaying the Google doc she had been working in. Full of words and images pulled from Pintrest, it’s Rainey’s hopes and dreams for the future all conveniently packaged in Times New Roman.

She reads through the business plan again, smiling to herself, and makes a change here and there. But it’s pretty solid, if she does say so herself, considering it all started with a blank document, the strongest coffee she could stomach, and dumping all of her thoughts onto the page.

Without really thinking about it, Rainey reaches for her phone and swipes past all the noise her family is making. She pulls up her text thread with Mikko and smiles when she sees the texts he sent her earlier - a photo of his rumpled bedsheets and the question “should I make your side or leave it a mess for later? 😉”

She wants to tell him what he inspired her to do, with just a few simple, nonchalant words last night, but she wants to see his face when she tells him her plans.

For now, she sends two messages in quick succession. First, “I like it messy 😉”, knowing that’ll get a reaction out of him. And second, “when can I see you? Have something I want to tell you.”

Mikko’s response comes quickly, her phone vibrating a second before the notification pops up. It’s a screenshot of an OpenTable reservation for tomorrow night.

Rainey grins and replies “it’s a date” before her phone vibrates aggressively in her hand with an incoming call from her father.

She hesitates, maybe she should take the call and get it over with. Rip off the Band-aid.

Her hesitation is too long and the call goes to voicemail, and Rainey exhales in relief that the decision has been made for her, but it’s short lived. Her phone lights up again with a call from her father, he must not have left a voicemail this time.

This time she swipes to answer.

“Ah, wonderful, my eldest daughter decides to answer the phone,” her usually laid back father’s tone is icy with sarcasm. Rainey’s not familiar with this side of him, but she supposes he’s never had a reason to be anything other than relaxed.

“Hi, dad,” Rainey keeps her tone even, but the hand not holding her phone shakes and her heart beats a little faster in her chest.

“I don’t know what got into you, Lorraine,” he sighs. “But you got your attention. Now, please, get into the office and handle your work.”

Rainey swallows, tracing a line on the table. “No, dad. I’m sorry, but no. I know I kind of burned it down, but I’m not happy,” she says carefully. “It’s been me, handling the agency for so long.”

“And you’re very good at it,” his tone softens, turns a little cajoling, and Rainey closes her eyes briefly to fight against the people-pleasing instincts that landed her in this situation.

“It’s not what I want to do,” Rainey remains firm. “I can acknowledge that maybe I didn’t go about it the right way and I’ll finish up what I need to, but I’m done. I’m going to do something for me.”

“Lorraine, please, this is ridiculous,” the sigh her father lets out is loud enough to ruffle her hair through the phone. “You’re too old for temper tantrums.”

Rainey sucks in a sharp breath through her teeth. This conversation is going nowhere fast and the longer she stays on the line, the more she can feel her resolve crumbling. She curls her hand into a fist and squeezes, letting the tips of her nails stab into the palm of her hand. The sharp prick of pain grounds her and she interrupts the speech her father’s monologuing in her ear.

“Dad!” Rainey doesn’t mean to snap, but the word comes out much harsher than she intended. “I’m done. If you’re so worried about work, give Brian a call. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have the rest of my listings too.”

Finally, her dad is surprised into silence and Rainey smiles grimly to herself.

“Call me when you want to apologize,” Rainey says and ends the call before her father can say anything else. She clutches her phone in her hand, exhaling shakily and staring off at the abstract painting hanging on the wall in front of her.

The lines go fuzzy, the longer she stares, but her future snaps into focus and she can’t wait to get started.

——

“I quit my job,” Rainey announces proudly and Mikko’s eyebrows lift into his hairline.

“Congratulations?” He replies, the word lifting up at the end in a question.

Rainey’s smile lights up her entire face, eyes twinkling in a way Mikko hasn’t seen before. She seems lighter, her shoulders more relaxed - even her hair is down in loose waves, tucked behind one ear and spilling over her shoulders. Mikko wants to run his fingers through the strands, twist it around his wrist and use it to hold her in place for a kiss.

Later.

“I can hear your confusion,” she laughs lightly, spreading a layer of butter on her roll and sprinkling it with the sea salt the waiter had also brought out. “But, remember how I told you I’ve always wanted to go into interior design?”

Mikko nods. “It was two days ago,” he grins, “I haven’t been hit that many times in the head.”

The way Rainey crinkles her entire face at him makes Mikko’s heart clench. This lighter, playful side of Rainey is new and he can’t wait to see more of it.

“Anyway,” she emphasizes the word, moving on, “I quit my job and brain dumped a business plan after I left you the other day. I’m going to do it, on my own, and totally terrified. But I’m actually going to do something for me.”

She’s so proud of herself, spinning off into explaining her plan to Mikko while all he can do is sit back and listen to her. He can feel the smile grow on his face as she gets more and more animated, showing off the early designs for a logo and a website that she’s already bought the domain for.

“I’m proud of you, kulta,” Mikko grabs one of her hands from the air, mid gesture, and kisses her fingertips. Rainey flushes a bright red from the tips of her ears down to the swells of her breasts and Mikko feels a rush of satisfaction that he caused the reaction. He rubs the pad of his thumb over her knuckles. “I’ll happily undecorate my house so I can hire you again.”

“Not necessary,” she wiggles her fingers in his grip, “but I would love to use photos for my website?”

Mikko nods eagerly, “whatever you need. However I can help and support you, I’m in.”

She hasn’t said anything about her family and how they took the news and Mikko wonders if that was a less than positive conversation. He’ll ask her about it eventually, but for now he doesn’t want to say anything that will chase away her delighted expression.

“You’re sweet,” she says quietly, with a slight pause that lets him know ‘sweet’ wasn’t the original adjective she wanted to use. Rainey continues, “this whole thing,” she waves her free hand in a vague circle, “was all because of you, you know. No one’s ever really just…listened to me. Or encouraged me to do what I want, like it’s just that easy.”

With hockey, it’s not always that easy. To be in a slump and to just say, the goals will come. Because it feels impossible sometimes, like he’ll never score again, never contribute to the team again. It’s easy to fall into that negative spiral when it comes to his own abilities.

But with Rainey? Mikko knew from his first meeting with her that she could do whatever she wanted and succeed at it. There was a steely glint in her eye and a set to her spine that made Mikko want to know more and uncover her secrets.

He’ll encourage her to do whatever she wants and support all of her dreams.

Mikko’s not used to the gooey feeling spreading through his chest, but he doesn’t hate it. Rainey keeps talking, switched to a different topic now - Nash’s newfound obsession with barking at nothing - and he’s happy to listen, tracing his fingers over the palm of her hand and enjoying the little hitch in her voice every so often from his touch.

He orders a bottle of champagne to celebrate her, and then another, Rainey’s cheeks flushed and her eyes twinkling in the low light of the steakhouse. Mikko’s more sober than not, three glasses of champagne nothing for his metabolism.

Later, there will be multiple, serious conversations with her family - crying and shouting and eventually, boundaries that lead to awkward dinners where Mikko keeps a hand on Rainey’s thigh to keep her grounded.

Later, there will be Edmonton bouncing Dallas in Game Five of the WCF. Mikko will slam his stick against the boards on his way off the ice, anger and frustration and sadness making him avoid Rainey’s texts and calls, until she has enough of his bullshit and appears on his doorstep with Nash and a bottle of wine. A smile for him and an “I’m proud of you,” that makes some of the hurt disappear.

Later, there will be Rainey’s extremely successful interior design business. Her huge smile while she talks about fabric samples and Mikko’s heart eyes while he listens, Nash curled up like a little potato on his lap.

Later, there will be wins and losses and Rainey in a bright green Dallas Stars jacket for each playoff run, whistling through her teeth every time Mikko scores a goal.

For now though, there’s champagne and Rainey’s hand in his, liquid heat flooding his veins and the promise of more.

#AHHHHHHH OMG #when i got the notification from you i shrieked bc i instantly knew this was gonna be fire #and you did not disappoint babe!!!#first of all love the way he's portrayed here #confident and maybe a little bit cocky #second the poolhouse scene oh my LORDDDDD i thought i was gonna combust #so hot #he is just too sexy for his own good #also my dog's name is nash!!!! he isn't a dachsund but he is kind of the color of fried chicken #ty ty ty so much for this beautiful fic!!!!#pls go read this it is well worth the read #mikko rantanen fic #hockey fic #fic rec

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