#but after I give him a couple weeks to acclimate bestie is being handled every day

[spoofyleaf]

It’s important to me that you guys look at my new son I brought home last night

His name is Bartleby

[burkymakar]

Tyson Jost Imagine: Collide (Part Two)

Summary: After a month of being Tyson’s nanny, you’re learning more about him and the team.

Rating: T (language and alcohol use)

Word Count: ~6.6k

Parts: Prologue, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

BLM Resources

Winter

At first you were kind of worried about acclimating to Tyson Jost’s life, but it’s actually fairly seamless. The first couple of road trips, he arranged for you and LJ to join him so he could keep his daughter close, but eventually he grew to learn to leave you alone with her on the road trips.

It was an absolutely marvelous time alone with LJ, FaceTiming Tyson when he was back in the hotel and sending him updates. He slowly learned to trust you more, only checking in a couple times. 

By late January, you’ve completely moved into his apartment’s guest bedroom. You spend your days with LJ, taking her through walks in Denver or taking her to the movies if there's something cute playing. She loves saying hi to everybody from her stroller, and seems to be besties with every passerby. The neighbors love her. Plus, she has the cutest baby winter wear and you have a lot of fun dressing her up. She loves it too, never wriggling or throwing mittens.

On your days off where Tyson has her, you either call Kacey or some old friends, but mostly you stick to Denver Art Museum. With your nanny-to-an-NHLer paycheck, it’s your first splurge to become a member. It’s a great way to pass the day, and you love art so you love going.  

Some days with LJ, you mostly just stick to the apartment. Tyson seems to spoil her, there are so many toys scattered around. She loves every single one, but her favorite seems to be a green, stuffed cat named Kit. You like reading to her, and right now you’re reading her Wizard of Oz. She loves it. 

At night when Tyson takes over, you stick to your room, unsure of how to handle sharing the space with him. It was so amazingly nice of him to let you move in, and charge you rent (at your insistence, but you have a feeling he’s massively underselling the value). 

You’ve lived with boys before, when you were in Care Networks in BC, and you’re pleasantly surprised by how generally tidy Tyson keeps the place. There are toys strewn all over, but there are no dirty clothes and he cleans his dishes pretty quickly. 

Tyson is surprisingly sweet. Actually, the surprising part should be more of a given considering how kind his sister has been to you. He always checks in, and offers to pick you up food. He even gave you vouchers for Lyft for you to get around Denver. And, sometimes, when his daughter is asleep, you two will just chill on the couch together. It’s casual and cozy. 

Your third week with the Josts, you read LJ the last bit of The Wizard of Oz. 

“‘From the Land of Oz,’ said Dorothy gravely. ‘And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!’"

You set the book down and clap her hands for her.

“The end. Did you like it?” You ask LJ.

She says “bok!” and waves her arms. 

“Yes, it was a book,” You tell her. “You have your own Toto too.”

“Kit,” She says, holding the kitten toy in a vice grip, then yawns mightily. 

“Oh yes, so tired,” You tell her. “Good thing it’s time for bed.” 

You give her a bath, change her diaper, and put her in the comfiest jammies. As you go to set her down in the crib, your phone vibrates. 

After you get LJ settled, you see the text is from Tyson. 

“We’re about to go on the ice, all good??” His text inquires.

You send a picture of LJ in her crib with a thumbs up emoji. He sends one back. You’re not sure how superstitious he is, so you just say “I hope you have a good game.” He sends another thumbs up emoji and the hockey emoji. So you assume he doesn’t mind.  

The Avalanche are playing the Sens tonight, a team you hate. You’d avoided watching hockey on the TV since moving in with Tyson, because that was his job. It’d be weird, right? What if he came home to watch you watching him on the ice?

Granted, time travel would have to be possible, but the idea still mortifies you.

But you do miss hockey, and you would love to see the Sens get their asses handed to them, so you put on the game. 

You get through the first period then grab some chips to snack on. The Avs are up 2-1 in a really tight game, and you watch excitedly as Tyson gets an assist in the second period. 

You almost cheer, then remember that LJ’s sleeping. So you have to quietly celebrate. 

During the second intermission, you hear a cry through the baby monitor and go to check on LJ. She’s standing in her bed, nose runny and tears down her face as she holds her crib bars. 

“Oh, baby,” You coo and pick her up, grabbing a tissue to wipe her face. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“Da-da!” She wails. 

You know Tyson likes to keep her on a strict sleep schedule, but she looks so sad without him. “C’mon, we’ll watch Da-da’s game.”

Hooking LJ on your hip, you carry her into the living room and resume the play. “See? There he is.” You point out #17 whenever he shows up on screen. Each time you do, she perks up a little more. She also appears to recognize other players when the footage cuts to their faces in a close-up.

“Cah,” She points at Cale Makar, who you’ve seen around the complex. “Jah” She points at JT Compher, who’s been around the apartment a few times. She seems to have sounds for each player, which is adorable.

While she had been napping during your time together, when you weren’t cleaning up or preparing snacks, you passed time by researching the roster for the Avs, since you now kinda worked for them. It helps when you hear Tyson talk through his day with LJ, which he does every night. You try not to eavesdrop but the walls are kinda thin. Plus, it’s super sweet, hearing him tell her everything about the team and his practices.

You bounce her a bit as the game play continues, and the Avs score two goals in quick succession. She still isn’t asleep by the end of the game, so you move to the couch and let her rest on you.

The Avs win 4-1, and you move to lay on the sofa so you can better support LJ’s head. You know you should put her back in her crib, but you figure it’s not worth it to wake a sleeping baby. 

You hum, petting her curls and rubbing her back. She makes these little huffs in her sleep, and it’s so goddamn adorable. It makes up for the fact she spit up on you yesterday before you could prepare and ruined one of your favorite sweaters.  

The door opens and you see Tyson walk in with another guy. You blink in slight surprise when you see it’s Cale Makar. 

Every time you think you get a handle on the fact you now work for an NHL player, he does something like bring one of the most famous rookies in the league to his apartment. 

“Hey, Y/N,” Tyson says at a normal volume, stopping when he sees LJ. “Everything okay?” He whispers. 

“Let me put her to bed,” You whisper, easing to sit up. LJ wriggles, thankfully not waking. 

“I got her,” He says and takes her from you. 

“Hi, Y/N, how are you doing?” Cale asks as Tyson puts LJ in his room,

You smile, “I’m good, how are you?” 

Tyson comes back out, shutting the door, as Cale answers, “Doing pretty good. Buzzing, have a lot of energy.”

“Why wasn’t LJ in bed?” Tyson asks, not accusatory just curious. 

You turn back on the baby monitor and stretch, “I think she had a bad dream, she started crying and calling for you, so I let her watch the game. Congrats, by the way.”

“Thank you,” They both say. “It’s good she’s an Avs fan,” Tyson adds, causing you to chuckle.

“We were gonna have a beer, want to join us?” Cale offers. 

You were going to leave them to it, but it has been awhile since you’ve just relaxed with some people your age. So you look to Tyson, and he doesn’t make any sort of disagreeable face. 

“I’d love to, if that’s alright,” You still check. 

“Yeah, of course,” Tyson says. He grabs all three of you a beer, and you stay by the bar’s island while he and Cale kick out on the sofa. 

“How are you liking Denver, Y/N?” Cale asks.

“It’s an adjustment,” You admit. “But this is such a cool city.”

“Have you gotten to explore much?” He asks.

“LJ loves going on walks, even with the snow, so I take her around. I really love the Denver Art Museum. We’re walking distance, I go there a lot.”

“You like art?” Tyson asks, sipping at his beer. 

You’re too worried, for a lot of reasons, to drink. So you just play with the bottle, twirling it around. “I love art, and the museum’s amazing, so many different mediums. LJ’s been with me a few times, she likes the interactive exhibits.” 

Cale nods, and he asks more questions about your time at UBC, and you ask about his time at UMass. 

Tyson interjects every once in a while, but mostly the conversation stays between you and Cale, who is an absolute sweetheart. You’re so engrossed in the conversation that you’re surprised when you see it’s already 11. “Thanks for the beer, boys,” You still haven’t had a single sip, but you get up anyway. “But LJ gets up at 5, so I’m going to bed.”  

“Have a good night, Y/N,” Cale says.

“See you tomorrow,” Tyson offers. 

You smile at them both and say, “Again, great game.” Then head to the bathroom to brush your teeth. As you do, you smile again, just to yourself. It had been so long since you’d had a conversation with someone who could have one back. And it was a nice feeling. 

+

After Y/N heads into her room, Tyson goes to put on some Netflix but Cale says, “Walk with me to my room.”

“Oh, okay, dude,” He says and follows Cale out. 

As they walk through their hallway, Cale says, “Have you thought about inviting Y/N to anything?”

Tyson honestly had. But he keeps remembering JT’s words, and he’d hate to make you feel uncomfortable, so he hadn’t. “I’ve thought about it. Why?”

“Well, she doesn’t know anyone out here, right? And she’s living with you. It doesn’t seem like she’s had a lot of opportunities to make friends.”

“Shit,” Tyson rubs the back of his neck. “I wasn’t sure if she wanted to hang out with me without getting paid.” 

Cale laughs, “Fair point. But she doesn’t seem to be meeting people. I don’t think there’s any harm in asking.”

“Think it’s okay to invite her to our get together tomorrow?” They had a practice on Friday then a day off on Saturday before two games on Sunday and Monday. He was gonna give her the night then the two days off.

“I’m sure the guys would be down,” Cale shrugs. “Are you gonna bring LJ?” 

“Maybe I’ll have Y/N come with LJ to the practice, but there’s a sitter I used who lives in our complex. Maybe she’ll be free on Friday night.” Her name’s Rhoda, and she’s 70, and all her grandchildren are in Wisconsin and New York, so she loves babysitting LJ. 

“Awesome, you know we love seeing her,” His d-man friend says. “I just remember how much it meant for you guys to invite to things when I joined the team.”

“Aww, rookie,” Tyson wraps an arm around Cale’s neck, causing Cale to shove him off near-instantly. They laugh as they reach Cale’s room. 

That morning, Tyson walks in to see LJ in her high-chair, feeding herself yogurt, and you sitting next to her, cleaning up some mess his daughter must have made.

“You going to the rink today?” You ask him. 

Tyson nods, “Yeah we have practice. I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” 

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to come to the practice with LJ. She likes the arena, and I know you like hockey.” 

He can’t help but smile as you perk up. “That’d be amazing. Do I have fifteen minutes to get ready?”

“Of course, take your time,” He still has an hour before practice started. So he tickles LJ, causing her to shriek with giggles, and then helps himself to a banana. He doesn’t like eating much before practice, and they fed them all after. But he needed something in his stomach or he didn’t have energy.

You step out in a sweater and jeans, as well as LJ’s travel bag. “Ready?”

“Let’s go.”

At the arena, Tyson gets you signed in with a badge, and gives you a mini tour. He kisses LJ’s head, and says, “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do,” You say. “If I get lost, who should I call?” 

“Oh, I’ll send you our trainer’s number, and they’ll get you set up. But I think Zadorov’s wife is at this practice, she can show you around,” Normally, his mom just knew where everything is. But it’s easy to forget how big the Pepsi Center is when he’s there like every day. 

In the lockers, he gets changed into their practice jersey, and turns to the guys. “Are we still getting together tonight?”

“Hell yeah,” Nate MacKinnon says, stretching out his legs. “I intend on abusing our day off tomorrow with a hangover.” Gabe Landeskog reaches over and smacks him in the back of his head with his glove as the guys all laugh. 

“Would it be okay if I invite Y/N?”

“Your nanny?” Erik Johnson asks, lacing up his skates. “Since when do we need supervision?”

“Always,” Andre Burakovsky jokes. 

“I meant as a friend, Eej,” Tyson rolls his eyes. 

“Fine with me,” Cale says pretty quickly, probably trying to reassure Tyson since this was his idea. 

“Sure,” Burky says, and the other guys who could make it murmur their assent. 

“Want me to invite Mel? It’s last minute, but I bet we could get a sitter,” Gabe says. 

“Yeah, if you want,” Tyson shrugs. Maybe Mel will know more women for Y/N to meet. Probably not fun to spend her days with either a baby that can barely talk (as adorable and perfect and amazing as she is) and a bunch of annoying hockey players.

“Cool, I’m sure she could use a mommy break,” Their captain says, already pulling out his phone.

“So this is going to be a WAGs evening?” EJ interject. “Lame.” Sam kicks at him, but EJ dodges with a laugh. 

Tyson goes to interject that Y/N isn’t his wife or girlfriend, but everyone already knows that. So it’ll probably be more weird to say something, right? He decides to take his sister’s general advice and just shuts up.

On the ice, Tyson keeps his focus on the puck and the exercises. But every once in a while, he finds himself looking for you in the stands. From what he can see, you seem pretty comfortable with LJ, holding her up and dancing to the music they have playing. 

Before they start drills, he catches you standing near the boards, waving LJ’s hand for her. He waves back, and Bellemare takes the opportunity to go for his knees and nearly knock him off balance. 

By the time he’s able to look again, he sees you sitting with Aleksandra and Sophie, holding LJ in your lap so she can stand on your thighs. You seem to be having fun, and he knows LJ loves the rink. 

Satisfied, he doesn’t look to you or LJ again, keeping his focus on the pucks and his teammates and the game plans. 

It’s not ‘til after, when they’ve been fed, and they’ve had time to clean off, that he steps out to look for you in the seats, and finds you where he last saw you, with Aleksandra who’s already packing up. 

“Da!” LJ shouts immediately, reaching for him. He will never get tired of that. 

Gleeful, Tyson scoops his daughter up and kisses her cheeks, “Hi, baby. Did you have fun? Were you a good girl?”

“She was an angel, as always,” You report. “It was nice to meet Aleks, I didn’t realize Sophie was about the same age.” 

“Nice to meet you as well,” Aleks agrees. “I warn you. What the say about terrible twos is true.”

Tyson makes a face at LJ. “You? Terrible? Nooo.” 

She grabs at his scrunched nose.

Aleks and Sophie leave quick, since Z couldn’t make it tonight anyway. 

“What do you guys do after practices?” You ask, standing up. Your jeans make your legs look very long and elegant, and he has to keep his eyes up before he can really wonder what they’re doing for your ass. 

“A couple of us are getting drinks tonight. I wanted to ask, I was already planning on getting a sitter for LJ. Wanna join us? We’re going to a bar not too far from the arena.”

You hesitate, but then something shifts and you smile warmly. “I’d love to. Thanks.”

“Of course,” Tyson says, trying to bury the guilt of not thinking of inviting you sooner. He’s gonna have to buy a beer for Cale, that boy’s too smart. “We’ll just drop off LJ with Rhoda-”

“I want to see LJ,” Burky says, coming up with JT and Cale with all their gear.

“Buh!” LJ shrieks with glee, reaching for the left wing. 

Tyson hands his daughter to Burakovsky, who immediately cuddles her up and murmurs at her in either babble or Swedish, he still can’t tell. There are only three men on the team who don’t have kids he trusts to watch his baby unsupervised, and Burky is two of them. 

“Hi, Y/N,” Cale greets. 

You wave. 

“Glad you’ll be joining us tonight,” JT offers the nanny. “Tyson’s been telling us a lot about you.”

Tyson gives JT a subtle middle finger, since he doesn’t need Y/N knowing that. Not that he’s been saying that kinda stuff since he hired you. He keeps it professional, and he’s truly grateful for the care you give LJ. But he knows JT’s chirping about the fact he gushed about you back in December. 

“This is Andre Burakovsky by the way, he forgot to introduce himself,” Tyson redirects the conversation.

Burky looks up from LJ, “Oh, hi. Sorry. Y/N, right?”

“Hi,” Y/N laughs. “And yes. I totally understand, she’s a scene stealer.” 

“Give me back my baby,” Tyson says, and Burky reluctantly hands her back. 

“Nice to meet you,” Burky offers. 

“We have to drop LJ with the sitter, but we’ll be at the bar in half an hour,” Tyson says. 

“See you there,” The guys say. Tyson hands you LJ, but he then carries all her day stuff back to their car.

As they drive back to his apartment, he says, “Hey, I just want to check, it’s not, like, weird I invited you, right? I don’t want to put you in a tough spot or anything.”

“No, it’s very sweet,” You say. “Thank you for doing it. I’m excited to meet the guys.”

“Don’t be, they suck,” He warns, but you just laugh as he knocks on Rhoda’s door.

Rhoda immediately cuddles up LJ, who does seem to inspire that reaction in people, and says how excited she is for time with her. “Now that you got this one, I feel like I don’t see her enough.”

“I can bring her by sometimes,” You offer, and Tyson has to ignore how warm that makes him feel. “She obviously adores you.”

“I know babies,” Rhoda says sagely. “You two have fun on your date, now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tyson says, knowing it’s better than arguing with Rhoda about anything. “We’ll be back around 10.”

“Oh, be back later than that, I got this angel.”

“I’ll call when we’re on our way back,” Tyson compromises, knowing he’ll try to be back around 10:30 then. Going out and partying and getting lit stopped being fun when LJ came into his life. One, because she was a very good reminder of what happened when someone behaved without consequences, and two, he doesn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize being her father. He’s not his dad, absent and probably shitty, and he was the first year of his daughter’s life against his will. He’s not going to do anything to threaten that again.

“Say bye-bye to daddy!” Rhoda says, but LJ is too busy gurgling so they sneak out, wanting to avoid one of her tantrums at missing her dad. 

“Do I need to change?” You ask.

“You’re good,” He says. He could say something about it being a casual place with chill guys, but he has a feeling the less he says about how amazing you look in your outfit the better. 

“Do you want me to drive? I won’t be drinking,” You offer.

“I wasn’t planning on going nuts,” He says. “But you can drink, you’ll be off the clock, or whatever.”

You shrug casually, but there’s something off about it. “I just figured I’d offer since I don’t drink.” 

It’s none of his business, but he’s kinda curious as to why. You’re both kind of young to both have had and recovered from a serious addiction, and that goes against everything he’s heard about you so far. 

He’s saved from finding a proper response by his phone dinging with a text tone. It’s JT. “Hey, Gabe and Mel couldn’t find a sitter, but they still wanted to see everyone so we’re going to their house. So don’t go to the bar loser”

“Fuck u, we’ll be there,” Tyson responds then turns to you. “Slight change of plans,” He says aloud.

“All good?” You ask. 

“Yeah, we’re actually going to Landy’s house, sorry it’s not a night out,” He offers. It felt weird to go against the captain, and it’s not like JT gave him much room to argue. But he hopes you really don’t mind.

“You can have fun anywhere,” You say with a smile. “So this should be nice. Should we head over now?”

“Yeah, let’s get going.” 

+

A very deep sense of apprehension fills you as Tyson drives you two to the Landeskog house. You’re about to hang out with an NHL team at their captain’s house.

One month ago, you were couch surfing because you had to leave your dorm room and you didn’t have a home to go back to. 

You rub your sweaty palms on your thighs, and try to remember how to breathe as Tyson pulls up to a very nice house with some cars already there.

“Are you okay?” You jolt at the sound of Tyson’s voice, and see he’s already out of the car.

You nod, and get out and embrace the cold. It’s refreshing, and you take a deep breath of the thin air. 

Together, you walk to the door. You expect him to knock but he just opens the unlocked door.

There are a fair amount of players already there, mostly the single ones. They’re all insanely tall, even without their skates on.

Tyson shrugs out of his coat, as do you. “Where should I put this?” You ask. 

“We usually just toss them here,” He throws them on the stairs, and you see a ton of other coats there. You can’t help but snicker. 

“You’re much neater at our apartment.”

“Can I record you saying that so I can show my mom?”

You’re still laughing as you walk in and surveil the living room and kitchen, an open flowing concept. There are a fair amount of people there that you immediately recognize, like Cale and JT talking to the Nathan MacKinnon. Then Andre, who you met earlier, is holding a baby while talking to Erik Johnson and Sam Girard. There are other people, but you’re a bit distracted to name them all.

The Captain is in the kitchen with his wife, the two of them talking close and smiling. 

It’s so sudden and domestic that you’re taken aback, reminded of your own parents. The pain in your chest is so sudden, but you barely have time to feel it before you feel someone approach you.

“So this is Y/N,” Erik Johnson steps up to you and Tyson, Sam Girard right behind him.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” You extend your hand, trying to compose yourself. “Great goal last game, it was amazing.” 

“Glad to see someone knows how to start conversations with me,” Erik says, shaking your hand. Wasn’t he a first overall draft pick? His hands are huge. 

You smile and catch Tyson rolling his eyes. “You should learn too, dick, you didn’t introduce yourself,” He berates.

“No swearing around the baby,” Andre adds. It’s so heartwarming, seeing such a tall, big man so gentle around a tiny infant. 

“Oh, sorry, I’m Erik, but these bastards mostly call me EJ.” Andre rolls his eyes at “bastards”. 

“I’m Sam.”

“Nice to meet you both,” You say. “I’m Y/N.”

“Tyson’s told us about you, how you’ve saved his ass,” Erik says. 

“I do what I can,” You say, feeling oddly defensive of Tyson. “From everything I’ve heard and seen, he’s done a great job with LJ.” 

“Thanks, Y/L/N,” Tyson grins. “I’m not worried though. EJ only knows how to parent horses.”

“We all have our children,” Erik says, and you laugh. “Sam has his dog, I have horses. Some choose to have humans.”

“Speaking of, what a darling baby,” You say, refocusing on the infant with the giant red bow. 

“Not mine,” Andre’s quick to say. “She’s the Captain’s. I just like holding her.”

You look again at Gabriel Landeskog and his wife again, he’s leaning in to whisper something and she’s laughing. That tightness hits again, so you focus on the baby.

“This is Linnea,” Tyson says. “She’s only a couple months old.”

“She’s adorable.”

“Thank you,” You turn to see the captain approach, grinning. Andre hands Linnea back to him without much of a fight. “Sorry we couldn’t take you to a more fun place in Denver, Y/N, but our babysitter was busy. I’m Gabe Landeskog by the way.”

The Captain of the Colorado Avalanche knows your name.

Wow.

Right, you’re having a conversation, “No need to be sorry, you have a lovely home.”

“Thank you, we’re proud of it,” He says. “Feel free to wander around. If you need a break from all us guys, Mel and Sydney, JT’s girlfriend, are here.”

“We’ll be on our best behavior,” Erik rolls his eyes. 

“I don’t trust that. Here, Y/N, I’ll give you a tour,” Tyson says. For a moment, his hand rests on your lower back, before it drops away, and you instantly miss the warmth.

By the end of the night, you’ve met everyone in the house. You weren’t entirely sure what to expect of their behavior, even though you had met professional players by that point. All the boys have a bit of booze in them and they’re still behaving pretty well. It’s been a while since you’ve been to a party, but all your apprehensions have faded away. 

The guys have started playing pool in the basement, but you, Sydney, and Melissa. 

Sydney has a cocktail but Melissa isn’t drinking so you don’t feel too weird about just having a soda. Linnea is chilling in your arms. It’s been a while since you’ve held a baby so tiny. But it does make you miss LJ a bit. 

“So, what’s it like being a nanny?” Mel asks. 

“I imagine it’s similar to what you do,” You smile. “Just on a different scale.”

Sydney snorts.  

“I guess I mean for Tyson,” She laughs. 

“He’s a great dad and boss, he just loves reading parenting sites, so he’s always checking out different tips,” You admit. “I get texts throughout the day saying ‘Have you heard about this method?’ And so I have to check them out and debunk them for him if they’re insane.”

“Aww, he means well,” Sydney coos. “He’s always been such a sweetheart. Underneath the slight douchey thing.”

“‘Douchey thing?’” You nearly choke. Kacey had called her brother a douche before but you didn’t realize it might have been a real personality. 

“I would have sworn he was from California, or some shit, with his attitude,” Sydney giggles. Her explanation only confuses you more. “Before LJ came into his life, he was kind of sleazy.”

You raise your eyebrows. 

“That’s a bit harsh, Syd,” Mel defends. “I’ve seen some rookies go a bit crazy with the fame. Josty wasn’t that bad.”

But she says “wasn’t that bad.” Not “wasn’t bad.”

Before you can really ponder this, Linnea whines on top of you and starts waving her little fists. 

“Oops, baby’s bed time,” Mel says. “I’ll go put her to bed.”

You hear something made of glass break downstairs and flinch, but Sydney just laughs and pulls you off the sofa. 

“C’mon, Y/N, let’s go see what they broke.”

That seems like a bad idea but Sydney’s pull you down the stairs to the basement, and you don’t want to be irritating so you follow.

The basement is just as nice as the rest of the house. There’s a mini workout station set up, but mostly it seems to be a haven for sports and nonsense.

“Stop breaking my shit!” Gabe is shouting, but it loses its impact with his giggling.

The game of pool seems to have turned into a game of beer pong, and they’re all laughing. That eases some of your nerves, and you take a slow break.

“I tell them they should stick to pool,” Sydney shakes her head, but she’s smirking. “They never listen to me.”

“Babe! Syd, Sydney,” JT quickly rushes over to them, seemingly giddy. “I won the last round. EJ couldn’t handle it.”

“You cheated.”

“How do you cheat at beer pong?” Sam asks.

“He blew on it weird!” 

“Take the L,” Gabe claps the taller blond on the back. 

Erik doesn’t seem actually mad, but hopped up. He looks you in the eye and points a finger at you. “I challenge the new girl. Y/N.”

Your eyes go wide. “I don’t drink,” You evade as the guys set up the fallen cups.

“I’ll drink for you,” Ryan Graves says, slightly slurring, leaning on a pool cue as if it’s a crutch. “Happy to sacrifice that make.”

“Me too,” Nathan MacKinnon holds up a hand, as well as holding his liquor better surprisingly. 

“I’ve never played,” You admit. It’s true, but you’ll say anything to get out of this game. These guys are professional athletes, and you’ve never even had a hangover before.

“The only way EJ can win,” JT snorts, and Sydney laughs. 

“I’ll help you, Y/N, come on,” Tyson gestures you to stand with him at the pool table. He has a gentle smile on his face, and your worries ebb away a bit. Hopefully, if you truly suck, Tyson can just take over. “You have these ping pong balls, eh? Just throw the ball.”

“She can have a practice throw,” Andre offers, and the other guys murmur assent.

“Kick their asses, Y/N, woo!” Syd cheers.

You send her a hesitant smile, pleased by the solidarity, and throw a ball towards the pyramid of red solo cups.

You miss by a near mile.

Tyson is the only one who hides a laugh. “Not bad for a beginner.”

“Just bad in general?” You ask, causing the laughter to grow.

“No, you just need practice, here,” He moves to stand behind you, picking up your hand. He’s not pressed against you,

“‘Oh let me show you my golf swing,’” Nathan MacKinnon mocks in a deep voice, causing the players to snicker. 

“Fuck off,” Tyson says without any heat, and it hits you that he’s right behind you. You can’t turn around to see him, but it’s almost like he’s whispering in your ear. “Zone ‘em out, they’re not saying anything. Just focus on the ball. I’ll guide you this time.”

His touch is gentle as he moves your arm and wrist to throw the ball, and you let him guide you. The ball hits the rim of one cup but it bounces into another.

And the entire room erupts in cheers like you just won a home game. 

You blame their reaction on the alcohol, but you can’t help but grin as they all clap you on the back, calling you “a natural.” 

You still end up doing poorly compared to EJ as the game continues, but both Gravy and Nathan seem content to drink your share of the alcohol. 

The rest of the night passes by in an exhilarating blur, but as it nears 10:30, you and Tyson bow out gracefully. Mel tells you that you are welcome to their home anytime, and Sydney calls you a badass bitch, and Nathan MacKinnon thanks you for getting him drunker. 

You’re reeling from probably the most fun you’ve had in your entire life, and you go through the motions of getting up to Rhoda’s apartment and gathering LJ’s things. You keep reliving the night, forgetting the worries, and hope you don’t forget the way your heart beats just thinking about playing beer pong with the guys or dancing with Cale when Gabe bumped ABBA from the basement, apparently at a volume where Linnea couldn’t hear. 

You’re thinking of the way it felt to have Tyson help you throw the ball again when you hear him ask, “Were you okay? I know we’re all kind of overwhelming.”

Tyson no longer has LJ, so that means she’s already in bed. You blink from your spot on the sofa, and turn to give him a reassuring smile. 

“That was some of the best fun I’ve had in ages,” You say. “Thank you so much for inviting me.”

“Everyone really liked you,” He says, stretching. “Normally, they take a while to warm up to people, but you clicked.”

You duck your head to hide a blush. “Well, thank you.”

“No need, I hope you’re liking Denver.”

“It’s amazing,” You tell him. “And I’m lucky I like the team.”

“You’re an Avs fan now, eh?” He says, sitting next to you on the sofa.

You blush, “I guess now.”

“Even from Vancouver?” He raises an eyebrow skeptically.

You bite your lip, “I have enough love in my heart for two teams.”

And he laughs. “Don’t worry, I was raised as an Oilers fan. But the Avalanche has a high conversion rate.”

“Don’t blame ‘em,” You yawn. “I’m going to enjoy sleeping in tomorrow. But feel free to let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do.” 

And once you’re in your room, you allow yourself five seconds of a happy dance. What a day.

+

As the seasons of hockey and winter move through February and March, Tyson finds that he and you have really found a groove. You’re really good about knowing what LJ wants. He kind of wishes you were stricter about things like bedtime and no fast food, but LJ has the power to be manipulative with her big brown eyes and adorable laugh, even with her limited vocabulary. He can’t blame you one bit. 

He comes back from a game earlier than he originally told you, hoping to catch LJ still awake. One of his favorite things is putting her to bed, because it’s such a gentle time. She, like her father, hates waking up, but loves falling asleep. 

He enters the apartment quietly, just in case Y/N has put LJ to sleep. Instead, he hears music playing, loud, fun rock music. 

Tyson pauses. He can’t fathom you throwing a party, especially with LJ in the apartment and especially without telling him beforehand. It had never come up, but you’re normally good about discussing roommate situations with him.

He’s about to call for you over the din but sees you immediately in the kitchen, jamming to Journey’s Only the Young. 

Your moves aren’t Broadway-worthy, but they’re free as you move throughout the kitchen. He ducks back a bit as you move to pick up LJ, and you sing along. 

“Only the young can say

They're free to fly away

Sharing the same desires

Burning like wildfire”

Tyson wonders if this is the most fun he’s ever seen you have. You had a great time at the party weeks ago, and at the several parties since, but he could tell you still were nervous. He’d been careful to make sure not to drink around you either, even when he wanted to pop open a cold one with JT or Cale. You still hadn’t told him what’s up with that, but he doesn’t need to know. 

Even though the curiosity hasn’t died down.

Feeling a bit like a creep for just watching you, he steps out. But you’re using LJ as an air-guitar, he can hear her shrieks of laughter, and you don’t seem to see him.

“Y/N?” He tries to call over the music.

You freeze, LJ still in guitar-position. “Oh, hi,” You greet, a blush igniting your cheeks.

“Journey?” He asks.

You nod, but before you can say anything, LJ makes grabby hands for him. “Da! Da!” 

“Hello, LJ,” He greets, taking his daughter in his arms. Y/N turns down the music from her speakers. “Did you have a good day, sweetheart?”

“Yah!” She says. “Love you!” 

Tyson nearly double takes, “That’s a new one.” Warmth encompasses his entire chest.

“Love you!” She repeats, bouncing excitedly.

“We’ve been practicing,” Y/N says, a bit sheepish. “For a while it was ‘lah u’. But she’s a fast learner.” 

Tyson cuddles LJ close. “Amazing! I love you too.”

She squishes his cheeks together so his lips are pursed, so he kisses her nose. She shrieks a giggle. 

“Someone’s not tired,” He gives you a look. 

“You’re early,” You say a bit defensively, but you don’t look pissed. With nearly three months working together, you two know how to handle each other. “Besides, she wanted a concert with dinner.” 

Tyson looks at the clock on the microwave. Y/N’s right, LJ’s barely late with dinner, it’s still pretty early.

“What you got?”

“Pasta for her, but I was gonna order pizza,” You say. 

Tyson thinks of the fact he doesn’t have a game tomorrow, just a workout and practice, and says, “I’ll join you, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” You say with a playful grin. “As long as you join the concert.”

Tyson goes to say no, but LJ’s clapping again. “Music!” That’s one of her new words that Y/N taught a bit ago. “Love you!”

“Well, I know when I’m outnumbered,” He says, and dances with the two of you as you turn the music up again. 

Tag List: @sticknpuckwtheboys​

Note: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought and if you’d like a part three!