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#things nhl players have probably done
goatisbetheres · 11 months
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The Penguins, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, and Washington Capitals have already started the process of implementing optional neck protection for players, a Penguins and league source told The Athletic. The collective aim is to stock up on multiple available forms of equipment for players, at their choosing, to test during practices.
The sooner the better, several Penguins players said on Tuesday.
“Not wait until training camp,” Evgeni Malkinsaid. “Do it now. Maybe players will like, maybe not. Our choice, you know?
“But, yes, wear in practice, see what feels good. Maybe not same thing like big pad for neck. But if shirt or cover like for socks and wrists, let’s try. Not wait.”
The death of Johnson, who died after his neck was cut by a skate blade during a collision in an English league game on Saturday, sparked Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas and coach Mike Sullivan to discuss the pros and cons of bringing neck protection gear into the club’s equipment mix. Advised by members of the equipment staff on details to consider — not only comfort but also how the protective element would look on players — Dubas reached out to the league and suggested head equipment manager Jon Taglianetti inquire with manufacturers.
Currently, manufacturers offer neck guards and base layer tops that prevent or lessen the severity of cuts.
“We’re in the process right now of trying to talk to our players about some protective equipment in those vulnerable areas,” Sullivan said. He added the Penguins’ minor-league affiliates, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) and Wheeling Nailers (ECHL), are now required to wear a form of neck and wrist guards.
The Penguins — because Johnson was once one of their own — want to set an example that could eventually lead to neck protection becoming mandatory in the NHL. However, that would require the league and its Players’ Association to reach an agreement, which is unlikely this season.
Even procuring options for players with which to experiment sooner than later comes with challenges. Specifically, a Penguins source said, the club is having “a hard time getting stuff” because of high demand in the wake of Johnson’s death.
“Of course, we’re talking about it now,” Kris Letang said. “But there’s a reason why kids are wearing it, you know?
“There’s always going to be accidents. But if you can minimize the risk and if they can find something that’s going to be comfortable for the guys to play with, it should be an experiment.
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out. But I’d probably try something.”
Like Pettersson, Letang sat at his locker on Tuesday and found it impossible not to think about Johnson while discussing the neck protection topic. He’s proud his organization, the only one he’s known over 18 NHL seasons, is attempting to lead by example.
“But it shouldn’t just be the Penguins,” he said. “Everybody should (be) trying something.
“We all know what happened (to Johnson). We should try to prevent something like that from happening again if it can be done.”
this is so important
also this tweet
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crosbyism · 25 days
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"but then again this is the guy who’s publically known for loving to eat ass so"
I'm sorry, I thought Nate eating ass was fanon. Are you telling me this is an actual canon fact??
god i love when people don’t realise how much “fanon” around sid and nate is actually canon. it’s like heroin to me. also bc it’s like. 90% of the stuff in fics (which is probably why people assume it’s fanon but. oh boy it’s not. there’s shockingly little fanon around these two, mostly because canon is so abundant).
yes, nathan mackinnon is a known ass-eater. let me direct you to this post, anon. you’re welcome.
other nate (and sid) facts you might not have realised are canon:
nate is a known advocate for therapy. he’s been seeing a sports therapist since 2017
they wear matching clothing all the fucking time, sid has said publicly that he started wearing white sneakers and updated his wardrobe due to nate’s influence (iirc nate might’ve even bought him his first pair of white sneakers? either that or it was a “he told me i need to so i did” situation). they share a tailor. unfortunately i now have to bring your attention to the fact that since they have an alarming amount of matching clothes that they’ve bought for each other, that means that they in fact have to know each other’s clothing sizes off by heart. they also low-key share clothing btw
their families celebrate canada day together and their dads are best friends. in-law behaviour goes crazy
nate did in fact stalk his way into sid’s heart (got the same personal trainer and agent at age 13; built his house next door in 2017; they’ve been spending every day in the summers together since at least 2015. sid cooks for them daily, or at least did pre-pandemic. sid refuses to use nate’s gym tho so they always use sid’s).
nate used to have a fan twitter account more or less where he rooted for the pens. it was active until 2017.
sid and nate regularly go to summer weddings together as each other’s dates. they have done this since, once again, at least 2015
nate has confirmed that he used to have a poster of sid on his wall as a teenager (he didn’t confirm he used to jerk off to it but frankly. i think that’d be saying the quiet part out loud)
when sid won the cup in 2009 and held the parade in cole harbour, nate stood by the side of the road watching it. he was about to turn 14, he was already working with sid’s trainer and agent, and he was about to start attending shattuck (sid’s junior high). due to old pics we also know that this was RIGHT before nate had his first growth spurt and hit puberty. i’m not saying seeing sid with the cup kickstarted nate’s puberty and gave him his first boner but i’m not NOT saying it
nate dated vanessa morgan of riverdale fame in his rookie year. she’s now good friends with elias petersson from the vancouver canucks (this means nothing but i do think it’s a very funny coincidence).
nate schmidt, formerly of the VGK, once failed a drug test (it turned out to be a testing-fuck-up); when nhl players were asked about it natemack iconically said “i don’t think he was sticking a needle up his ass” (i just like this one)
when he was a kid, the one other thing sid wanted to be was a hairdresser. nate, on the other hand, “didn’t have a plan B”
nate is canonically possessive of sid (see: the asg 2024) and sid is canonically delighted by this and into it
they go on so many lunch dates in the summer my dude. they go grocery shopping together. like there’s so many pics of them in grocery stores or out having coffee or weird green shakes
oh i almost forgot, they went on a roadtrip through ireland last year. they’ve been on holiday together multiple times over the years though. done some eurotripping together and stuff. in 2015 they spent three months together, three weeks of which were spent living in sid’s santa monica condo together just the two of them
sid has put up a picture of every stanley cup winning captain in his basement since 2008, when the pens lost in the scf to DET. apparently this serves as motivation for him to win the cup. he notoriously does not watch the playoffs after the pens are out
however, he partied so hard at nate’s cup party he actually closed down the party with his dad. nate is the only non-teammate sid’s ever been seen supporting for a cup run (he’s also never been to his teammates’ cup parties afaik so. there’s that)
also they talked on the phone daily and between periods during nate’s cup run. they also canonically have almost weekly phone dates that can run multiple hours. quote nate “i can’t talk to anyone else the way i can talk to him”
they each have pictures of the two of them together framed in each other’s houses
there’s rumours they’re building adjoining houses on neighbouring properties in cape breton next to a golf course bc apparently being neighbours in halifax isn’t enough or something. this one is as yet unconfirmed by reputable sources though
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sc0tters · 8 months
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Three’s the Crowd | Nick Moldenhauer & Luca Fantilli
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summary: at a team party two boys get the chance to have you, but what happens when you want them both?
request: yes/no
warnings: sexual themes, p in v, oral (m and fem receiving!), mild degradation, threesome, swearing.
word count: 5.02k
authors note: the Nick and Luca threesome is finally here and I’m embarrassed to admit how long it took me… @fantillisdaylight thank you for trusting me with this idea and I hope I have done it justice! this one gets hot people, that was the aim so let’s all hope I did it!
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You had always been someone Luca kept in his mind.
Becoming best friends with Adam when the boys signed to the Chicago Steel was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to you. He was the reason the University of Michigan went from third on your list of potentials to first. The Fantilli boy quickly became your person as he knew you like the back of his hand.
That’s why you ended up a little lost when he made the jump from college to the NHL. The man who kept you sane was no longer there and that what made you sink into the crowd as you needed a new sense of direction. So when Nick showed up it felt like your calls had all been answered with one swift movement.
Luca grew envious by how quickly you rekindled your friendship with the Moldenhauer boy who everyone swore had a crush on you. The thoughts were things that you had heard and anyone would have lied if they said they didn’t enjoy hearing how guys felt about them. But a level of greed seemed to seep into your mind as you turned into a glutton, taking the boys flirting yet still wanting more from other guys.
You thought you were slick as you would have multiple guys in your phone as you basked in the attention, but you had your favourite’s. Your main rule was that you never had these boys in your room, you could flirt but nothing was allowed to cross any lines as you were having fun.
Yet by the time the cold and icy air that January brought, so came a level of frustration that not even watching snow fall outside your window could cure. You were sexually frustrated and after weeks of contemplating and having to accept that your vibrator wasn’t strong enough to cure it. With the help of your friends you came up with the idea that would make you irresistible and if you were lucky more than one guy would end up in your trap.
Just as you hoped from the moment you walked into that party heads turned to watch you. Your black skirt was tight around your ass and your white cropped polo was barely keeping your bra hidden. Luca and Nick each stared at you from where they stood and you did little to hide your smirk “hey boys.” You stopped in front of them as you smiled.
You swore the boys had to be stupid to not see the way you had both of them in your hands “come here with anyone tonight?” Luca asked as he scanned the path behind you only to see a few of your friends from your dorm building walking on together “couldn’t I come see my favorite host alone?” You teased as the sophomore hockey players were hosting tonight after a run of big wins came from the team “you know I won’t turn down seeing you sweets.” The boy had given you the nickname years ago yet somehow it still brought a blush to your cheeks after all this time.
Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he watched the sight before his eyes “you want a drink?” The question slipped from his lips reminding the sophomores that he was there “only if you’ll have one too.” The wink you sent him made any and all jealousy that he had practically vanish from his mind.
He let his hand lock into yours as he pulled you towards the kitchen. A smirk formed on Nicks lips as he could feel the glare that Luca sent him “happy to see you tonight princess.” Nick mumbled sending shivers down your spine.
Luca let a scowl form on his face as bile built up in his throat, if Nick wanted you to play this game then he was going to have a worthy opponent in Luca.
The party continued on and now with a slight buzz and a beer soaked shirt from when Gavin bumped into you. The bathroom seemed to call your name as you pressed your hand against the wall keeping you upright “you enjoying making a mess sweets?” Luca teased turning his attention from the blonde girl who had been up against the wall next to him.
You shook your head as you groaned “Gav did.” His face hardened as he left the girl irritated “gotta help my girl.” Luca shrugged as he sent you a smile.
His hand pressed to the small of your back ignoring her complaints as he ushered you into the bathroom “didn’t need you to come with me.” You mumbled as the door shut behind you “missed you tonight sweets.” Luca smiled as he watched you strip out of your white revealing your sticky pink bra.
He’d be lying if he said that as he watched you pat down your sticky skin, Luca felt his cock throb as his eyes trailed down to your skirt that seemed even shorter “clearly you did.” You scoffed as you shook your head think back to the girl who was next to him not even a few minutes ago.
A laugh left his lips as you furrowed your eyebrows “you jealous?” Sure she was a pretty little blonde, and sure she was exactly his type but she wasn’t you. And for Luca that mattered the most “please you think I care about what you do with some-” you were cut off as his lips hit yours.
His hand reached up as it tugged in your hair “lu.” You moaned leaving your mouth open as it gave him a chance to slide his tongue into your mouth “mhm.” He groaned pushing you against the sink as you sat up on the counter.
He pulled away giving him the chance to see your swollen lips as you looked up at him “some what?” Luca smirked as you sent him a glare “you gonna let me have you pretty girl?” He asked dropping his head to your neck as he began to nip at your skin taking in the taste of the beer.
A whimper left your lips as you pressed your thighs together “you have me Lu.” You nodded as the pool within your panties became far too much for you to handle “fuck who knew I needed to kiss you to get you like this?” The hockey player teased dropping his hand between your legs letting his fingers dance against your thighs.
He watched in awe as you bit your lower lip “fucking do it before I find someone else.” The warning made his eyes go sharp “like who?” Luca didn’t want for your response as he began fiddling with your panties “Nick.” A penny dropped in his mind as Luca ripped the fabric that covered your cunt like it was nothing “Luca!”
Your groan echoed off of the walls as the boy laughed “c’mon you know I’ll get you another pair if that’s what you were worried about sweets.” Luca clicked his tongue as he finally pressed his fingers against your cunt.
You shuddered at his touch feeling himself drive his fingers up and down your slit “you’re fucking soaked.” He gasped into your ear before he went to suck at your ear lobe “please.” You whimpered pushing your hips closer to him.
Luca rolled his eyes as he began letting his lips nip at your skin. Your eyes screwed shut as you were lulled by his actions. His lips moved down your chest as he kissed between the valley of your breasts “just fucking do something god.” You grumbled as you were ready to unclip your bra for him to speed it up.
The boy shook his head as be smiled “you gonna let me taste you before you start acting like a brat?” Luca quipped back making you nod your head repeatedly as though he couldn’t see you.
He didn’t take long as he dropped to his knees hooking his hands under your legs pulling you closer to the edge of the sink “such a pretty pussy.” The hockey players mumbled kissing up your thighs as he made sure to not miss a spot “god please.” You begged feeling his breath against your cunt.
Time seemed to stop as your body almost double downed in pleasure when his tongue lay flat on your slit “that’s how I got to shut you up?” Luca clicked his tongue as he let out a chuckle. The boy squeezed your legs as he moaned at the mere tug of your hand through his hair.
His tongue focused on your clit like you were his last meal “right there.” You mumbled rolling your hips against him. As his cock now hurt in his boxers Luca didn’t even care about it as he watched you have that fucked out look on your face.
In fact he was so focused on you that he didn’t notice the door opening “oh.” Nick looked at the sight with wide eyes and as he spoke it made you use the little energy you had left to look at him “fucking shut the door!” Luca groaned replacing his tongue with his thumb on your clit.
Nick was quickly brought back to wart as he was reminded of the fact that there was a party literally on the other side of the wall “c’mere Nick.” You cooed curling your finger in your direction as you looked at him “we won’t bite.” You added letting your lips form a loose smile.
He nodded finally shutting the door making the effort to lock the door “this what you wanted baby?” Luca teased pulling his head back to your cunt where he went back to his meal “wanted to both.” You confessed making Nick smile as he finally walked over to you.
You watched Nick as he cupped your jaw “want to kiss you.” You mewled as Nick finally listened to you. His lips were rough against yours as you melted at his touch.
Luca couldn’t help it as he pinched your hip reminding you that he was still there “fuck!” You groaned pushing your head against the mirror “enjoying this baby?” Luca teased bringing you back to the image of him between your thighs.
Nick continued to kiss down your neck as he sucked at your sensitive skin “so much.” You whimpered as the boy reached behind your back with one hand to unclasp your bra. Both boys looked in awe as your breasts were freed from their constraints as your bra was thrown to the floor “you been hiding these from us?” Nick let out a grunt as he rolled your nipple between his fingers.
The room grew hot as you had one nipping at your breast and the other between your legs “you see how fucking needy she is for us?” Luca’s rough voice had you shivering as your thighs squeezed his head “can’t wait to see what she’s like around a cock.” Nicks vulgar words made Luca laugh as he kissed your cunt.
His tongue lashed against you and with each swipe your strength wavered “more?” You whimpered now infatuated with the idea of both boys sending you over the edge as their cocks stuffed your cunt and your mouth. Nick seemed to be on the same wavelength as you as he nodded “go make a mess on his tongue pretty girl and then I’ll let you get a taste okay?” The freshman watched in awe as your hair began to stick to the back of your neck from swear as your body shook almost overwhelmed from the pleasure you felt “Lu I’m gonna come.” You announced and you swore it only made him increase the pace of his tongue.
Feelings overwhelmed you as your mouth fell open yet it seemed that not a single sound left your lips as your eyes rolled back “fuck she’s a needy little thing huh?” Nick laughed as he kept his hands on your shoulders forcing your body to stay still as you came “fuck off!” You groaned making him scoff “gonna make you wish you didn’t say that.” Luca was too focused still lapping up the taste of your release to even notice that Nick had his hand pressed against the shell of your ear as he whispered.
As you tugged on Luca’s hair once more he finally pulled away as he was reminded of the fact that he wanted at least one more orgasm out of you. A smirk laced his facial expressions as his chin glistened from your juices that had made a mess on his face “you’ve got such a sweet fucking cunt.” Luca announced as he ran his fingers through your folds separating them in the process “look at how soaked she is.” Nick swore he had gone to heaven when he got the chance to look at you.
A look of almost shame found itself on your face “all for us isn’t it baby?” The freshman spoke in a hushed tone that had you just about ready to roll over and turn into a puddle “I need your cocks.” You groaned as the sudden feeling of Lucas fingers teasing your hole and Nick’s thumb on your cunt growing too overstimulating for you.
That was all it seemed to take from you to have Nick helping you off of the sink as you stood up straight “who do you want first?” Luca palmed his boner through his pants “want him in my mouth.” Your eyes locked with Nick as the image of Luca between your legs became just as strong.
The movements were quick, like in the blink of an eye and you were between both boys with Nicks hands around your neck and Luca’s one pinching into your hip “god you don’t know how much I’ve wanted this.” Luca felt like he forgot to breathe as he guided his cock to your clit spreading his precum over the sensitive nub as he teased your slit.
Your mouth far too occupied to complain though as Nick had his lips against yours. If this was any other moment Luca could have possibly found it in his heart to see the boys joy in the fact that Nick was finally getting with the girl of his dreams. But as you paid little attention to Luca it made him grow jealous, so with that he didn’t hesitate to slam his hips against yours as he gave you little time to adjust to how your walls swallowed his cock “fuck!” You moaned almost watching your legs give out as surprise mixed with amusement and you began to feel your mind go numb.
You let your hand brush down Nicks torso as it slid beneath the drawstring of his shorts “you want me that bad princess?” It took everything from Nick to not pass out in that very moment as he watched your eyes go full as your breasts bounced each time Luca bottomed you out.
It seemed that Nick was no longer going to try to have you in his tough guy act as he instead gave you what he wanted pulling his boner from his boxers as he let it hit his pubic bone “bro you should have gotten this pussy.” Luca groaned as he slapped your ass.
As your mouth fell open Nick took the opportunity to slide his cock into it “there you go pretty girl.” The freshman cooed as he clutched his fingers into your hair as it made you moan out in pleasure “think this is what she wanted all along?” Luca asked as the squelching sounds of your cunt that mixed with the sounds of your gags were like music to his ears.
You couldn’t help but let your cunt clench around him as your walls squeezed his length as you attempted to look up at Nick “looks like you fucking love being our little slut don’t ya?” When you didn’t answer him his hand tugged at your roots unintentionally making you open your mouth wider “hmm.” Your voice came with an inaudible moan that sent vibrations through Nicks body.
Luca let out a grunt as you hadn’t let up on the squeeze around his cock “fuck sweets if you don’t loosen yourself I’m not gonna last.” The warning made you whimper as you swirled your tongue around Nicks cock forcing your back to arch as you tried to take most of his cock forcing yourself to breathe through your nose.
This new angle also meant that Luca was hitting a further spot within you and with that came even more pleasure for all three of you as your throat loosened as the strain on your neck softened “think she deserves her second?” Nick had pushed his fingers to the base of your scalp forming a makeshift ponytail to get better control of his thrusts as he fucked your face.
The Fantilli boy shook his head as he heard you moan at the offer “no I think little sweets here should make you come first.” His words came with his hand on your clit like a bit of encouragement to get you to make him last longer than his younger teammate.
Your eyes were close to rolling back into your head as you gasped swirling your tongue around Nick’s cock like your life depended on it “don’t stop pretty girl.” The coo had your legs shaking as you were left certain that without Luca hand gripping at your hip you would have had your face in the floor “I’m gonna come fuck!” Nick let out a groan as he let his cock slide out from your mouth before his hand replaced where your tongue was “open those pretty little lips f’me.” As his hand began to jerk himself of Nick finally hit his release.
He watched in awe as the warm sticky ropes of his release shot from his aching cock and began to paint your lower face and even found as far as to land on your collar bones only making you moan louder as you felt it. Luca kept his hand locked in your hair as he kept your face from dropping “you close sweets?” The boys wanton expression made you mewl as his other hand stayed pressed against your stomach forcing you to feel how deep his cock went in your cunt.
A flurry of incoherent words flew from your lips as you nodded “so big.” Was the only thing that either of them could understand “is that a yes princess?” Nick let out a grunt as he found his lips hovering over yours as he took the moment to see the mess he had made on your skin “please.” The relentless pounding of Luca’s cock had your legs shaking as your ears rang.
The boys laughter taunted you “know you can beg better than that you.” Nick clicked his tongue as he pecked your lips watching your eyes flutter “want to make a mess for you please.” You whimpered feeling your cunt throb around his teammates cock “let yourself go then pretty girl.” As Luca huffed the words out wondering how much longer he could last within the bounds of your heavenly cunt.
You didn’t need to be told twice as Nick let your lips go as your moans echoed off of the walls as Luca’s orgasm was brought on by yours “right there sweets.” The sophomore grunted as his cock coated your walls fucking you through your orgasm.
Your chest heaved as you came down from it still feeling your core full as his thumb drew faint circles on your clit “enough.” You squirmed feeling a level of sensitivity build up between your legs once more “since you asked so nicely sweets.” Luca teased sliding his cock out of you letting you fall into Nicks arms.
The younger boy placed a kiss to your head as he smiled “Luca you in there!” Rutger groaned as he knocked on the door reminding the three of you that the party was still coming on downstairs.
Luca couldn’t help but groan as he watched Nick smirk “yeah.” Luca raked his fingers through his hair “we’re downstairs playing beer pong so hurry up!” the blondes words made a smile form on your face as you laughed “maybe leave the girl in there though.” He trailed off making your eyes go wide as you were reminded of the fact that they could hear you.
The Fantilli boy sighed as he pecked your lips reaching down for his shorts that were on the floor “stay with me?” You croaked out throat still raw as you looked at Nick.
He nodded as he lifted you back onto the sink as you both watched the older boy leave before Nick locked the door again “how are you feeling pretty girl?” The words made you smile as a giddy feeling built in your chest “this your version of after talk?” You let out a laugh as you watched him walk over to you.
The way his eyes stared at you made you feel so exposed, even as you were naked “liked making a mess on you.” He confessed as he brushed his fingers over your collarbone when he smiled.
Your hand was as placed over his as you nodded “it doesn’t have to end there Nick.” Your proposal made his ears perk up in surprise “what do you mean?” He mumbled as you cupped his face letting your hands squeeze his cheeks.
His eyes intently stared at yours as he waited for your answer “just that I wanna spend just a little more time with ya Nicky.” You cooed letting your lips hover over his “don’t know if I can do it.” His confession made you frown as he feared he had done the wrong thing “you trust me to walk you through it?” Your strong demeanour was replaced by this soft one.
A smile sat strong on his face as he nodded “have me just how you want me tonight.” Nick mumbled as you were fully in control of him. He was surprised as he watched you tug at his shirt “then it’s not fair that I’m the only one who is naked.” There was a hint of amusement in your words as you helped him get rid of his shirt and his shorts.
Just like before Nick was attractive to you as you couldn’t help but smile “you’re such a pretty boy.” You cooed letting your saliva drop to his cock as you began to run your hand up his length as you pumped his cock in an attempt to get him hard again “just for you.” Nick groaned as you kissed his lips reminding him of the fact that he was now the centre of your attention.
It took a few more pumps of your hand for him to grow hard again and you did a few more just to tease him “I’m not gonna last if you keep doing that.” He gasped letting his teeth sink into your shoulder as his cock began to throb in your hand as the precum oozed from his tip “watch this f’me pretty boy.” You ordered feeling a sense of power over the boy as he nodded practically lapping up your demands like they were nothing.
You drove the swollen head over your clit making you both shudder in the process “please.” Nick whined desperate to have more of you “since you asked so nicely.” You teased sliding his cock down your slit before you let it slowly slide into your cunt.
The air around you both grew warm as you both watched how your soaked pussy swallowed his cock like it was nothing “fuck!” You gaped biting down on your lip as you saw his pubic bone hit your clit as your legs went up on either side of him to accommodate him.
A smile formed on his face as he let out a little laugh “you good princess?” He asked as he let his hands setting on your hips “think I should be asking you that.” You quipped back finally losing your strong expression as he pinched the flesh of your ass.
It made him roll his eyes as he began slowly pulling his hips away from you before he brought them back “you can go harder pretty boy.” You mumbled wrapping your arms around his neck.
The thought was hot in your brain as you realised that Nick was fucking you with Luca’s come as his lube since it still coated your cunt “you still so needy after all that?” Nick let out a dry laugh as he began to taunt you “f’you.” You swore your brain was being rewired as it only made his confidence grow.
Nick began to pick up his pace as he nipped at your throat “was waiting to get you like this.” The freshman revealed as his voice was a low rasp “had to watch you be his girl.” He grumbled making his efforts stronger as it caused your breasts to bounce with each thrust.
A low moan left your lips “wanted to have you be all mine but you just had to be a little slut and want us both huh?” Part of you was surprised at how vocal he was “wanted to be your girl too.” You mewled bringing your hand between you two as you began to rub at your clit still feeling sensitive from your first two orgasms.
The sound of your squelching cunt echoed off of the walls “you get to show me that now.” Nick had been jealous the entire night having to fight Luca for every bit of your attention and he had now grown tired of it.
His cock pulsed in your core as his hands kept you planted on the counter “you’re so big.” You whined locking your legs on Nicks hips “should have let you fuck me in Chicago.” He tensed at the mention of your home city but as it made you moan he thought he was unnoticed.
Nick grew tired of kissing your neck as he swatted your hand away from your clit as he replaced it with his own “you don’t know how long I have been thinking about this pretty little cunt of yours.” You clenched around him as you heard his words “but I think you already knew how good you are.” He scoffed pinching your skin as he knew how the other guys were around you.
You were keeping your eyes screwed shut as you felt your stomach tighten “I’m gonna-“ the words couldn’t leave your lips before Nick cut you off “fucking hold it.” The hockey player growled having other things in mind for you.
A whimper was stuck in your throat “you wanted to come then you have to fucking beg.” Nick spat as his free hand was pressed up against the mirror behind you.
If this was any other moment you would have put up a fight but as your cunt was clenched and your body was close to losing it “I just want to be your little slut Nick.” You announced pressing your head against the glass behind you “make a mess on your cock and make you feel so fucking good.” Your promise made him smirk as he kissed your lips letting his teeth nip at your lower lip “make that mess.”
It was as though the heavens opened as you swore you heard the sounds of prayer bells playing in your ears “don’t fucking stop please.” You begged using the little strength that you had left to writhe your hips against him “come in me.” The words left your lips washing away any nerves that the boy might have had.
The room felt warm as your eyes fluttered “shit shit shit!” You chanted as you came clenching his cock as you spurred in his orgasm “right there!” Nick gritted as he continued to fuck you through your orgasm.
As he finally slowed down Nick watched your chest heave “you okay pretty girl?” His voice was soft as he kissed your cheek letting his cock slide out of your cunt “I’m good.” You mumbled as you nodded.
It was sweet as Nick smiled “you want a moment up here or you ready to go down?” He asked as he reached down for your panties “let’s go.” You felt your heart grow full at the gesture and you were going to be excited to learn that his levels of aftercare would only grow to improve from that night onwards.
You had felt weird the last few weeks. Sure the memory of that night was on replay in your mind as you started seeing the boys more frequently, both together and alone. So like any normal and responsible young adult you googled your symptoms and found three different things you could have been going through. One was something that you were about thirty years too young to be experiencing, the second was one you hoped it wasn’t. And the third was one you could have proven wrong with the simple action of peeing on a stick.
Truly you thought it was going to be nothing. Which is why you didn’t mind waiting for those three minutes to run right by. Of course though luck was never meant to truly be on your side as this was college and what better way to add stress to your life than a baby. But it didn’t end there, you didn’t even know who the father was because you had been sleeping with two guys who were also best friends.
So as the two thick lines stared back at you as though it was trying to mock you, you couldn’t help but groan “fuck!” As you slammed the test on the ground hoping that it would erase your current reality.
That wasn’t going to work though as this baby wasn’t going anywhere and you had somethings you needed to figure out, starting with whose goddamn baby, were you carrying?
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topguncortez · 6 months
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Slap Shot || Prologue
a Jake Seresin AU
previous part | masterlist | next part
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synopsis: the first night out in a long time, and it just so happens to be one of the biggest weekends in the Hockey season. A certain blonde hair cowboy makes his charm on you.
word count: 1.7k
warnings: mentions of grief, alcohol consumption, unhealthy coping mechanisms, mentions of "locker room talk", puck bunnies, mentions of cheating, PDA, making out, allusions of sex.
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This wasn’t like you. 
You weren’t the type who went out wearing one of the shortest and tightest black dresses you own, killer heels on your feet, your hair curled in big blown out-waves, makeup done and a bright bold red on your lips. You weren’t the type to sit at the bar, twirling the straw around in your drink and flirting with guys whose names you didn’t bother to ask for or learn. And you definitely weren’t the type to actively look for and plan to go home with one of those guys. 
But tonight was different. 
Maybe it was because for the first time in a long time, you felt the weight of the world had been finally lifted off your shoulders. Grief was such a weird thing. You knew that long ago, but it had been a while since you were met with the process. The first time you went through the grieving process, it had come on so suddenly, you weren’t sure how to handle it. This time, you had years to prepare for it. Once you hit that final phase of acceptance, you felt like you could breathe again. And you had a new outlook on your life and you were ready to take charge of it. 
Or maybe it was because the bar was crawling with hockey players. 
It was All-Star weekend, and the best of the best NHL players were in town to show off their skills. The bar you were currently sitting in was crawling with them. Some were trying to enjoy probably their first night off in weeks, others looking for a puck bunny (or two) to take back with them, and some fell in the middle. 
You sighed as you looked down at your drink, swirling around the melting ice with your straw. The confidence you had felt earlier when you first put on this dress was starting to fade, and the insecurities started creeping in. You weren’t entirely sure what you thought was going to happen when you strolled into this bar. You could count on one hand all the one-stands you have had in your entire life (the answer was one and that one ended up becoming a long term boyfriend). Also, you had a thing about not hooking up with hockey players. You had been surrounded by them your whole life. There was something about hearing the locker room talk the day after a win that made you want to stay as far away from hooking up with one as humanly possible. Even if a hockey player was the last man on the planet, you would weigh the pros and cons of reproduction or killing off the human race. 
“Hey,” You waved down the bartender, “Can I get my-” 
“Jack and Coke, sweetheart,” A husky voice said, as a large, warm body saddled up next to you, “And whatever the lady is having,” He nodded his head towards you. 
You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked up at the man next to you. You were met with the sight of perfect tan skin as if it had been kissed by the sun god himself, sandy blonde hair and the brightest smile you had ever seen. His green eyes peered down at you, a smirk on his lips. 
“You looked like you were going to leave,” He said, his voice with a slight southern twang to it, “And I couldn’t let you leave without introducing myself.” 
You raised a brow in suspicion.
“Jake,” He held his hand out to you. You looked at it skeptically, and then back up at him, his smile never wavering, “Oh c’mon sweetheart, I promise I don’t got any diseases. It’s just a hand shake, not a marriage proposal.” 
“Sonny,” You said before you even had a chance to stop yourself. It was the nickname your father had given you, and the name he almost always introduced you as. 
“Sonny, huh? Short for Sunshine?” 
I wish, you thought, “Yeah, I guess.” 
The bartender set down two drinks in front of you, the jack and coke for Jake, and another vodka soda for you. Jake lifted his drink, cheersing against yours before taking a sip. He leaned his back against his bar, canvasing the tightly packed area. Your eyes wandered over his body. He was clad in a burnt orange suit, with a lighter orange shirt underneath, a vast difference from the black and navy blue fitted suits filling the bar. It fit him in all the right places, the top buttons undone showing his collarbone and a gold chain around his neck. You watched as his throat bobbed as he took a sip of his drink, and thoughts of you running your tongue down the vein in his neck filled your mind, a warmth spreading in your lower belly. 
“I can feel you staring,” Jake said, turning his head to meet your gaze. 
Normally, you’d turn away and blush like a schoolgirl. You weren’t inexperienced with guys by any means, but you didn’t have the confidence. The fear of rejection was buried deep into you, that most of them you stayed away from guys like this. But blame it on the alcohol, you gave him a smirk, lifting the straw to your red painted lips. 
“A girl can’t admire what she likes?” You shrug, batting your eyelashes. 
A flash of darkness moved through his eyes, before the playful grin arose on his cheeks, “Yeah?” He leaned in closer to you. The scent of his cologne fills your nose, goosebumps arising on your skin from the warmth filtering off his body. Who knew that you could get turned on by a man smelling good? “What else does the girl like?” 
You bit your lip, leaning into him, so your chest was almost touching his. You didn’t miss the quick shift of his eyes downward at your chest and then back to your eyes. 
“Tequila.”  
The smirk never left his lips as he turned back towards the bar, ordering two shots of tequila with limes. You took another sip of your drink, setting it down on the bar as the bartender delivered the shots. Jake gently took your hand in his, his green eyes locked on yours as he licked a stripe on your skin, before sprinkling a line of salt. The move shouldn’t have turned you on that much, but alas here you were, wondering what it would be like to feel his tongue on other places of your body. 
As if he could tell what you were thinking, Jake shot you a wink before handing you one of the shot glasses. He held his glass up slightly, as he gave a small toast. 
“To bad decisions. Can’t come in her, come on her.” Jake’s eyes never left your as you both licked the lines of salt on the back of your hands. You watched as he clenched his jaw from the burn of the clear liquid down his throat. You set the shot glass down on the bar, now feeling the warmth of the alcohol spread through your veins. 
“More?” You asked, a look in your eye that told Jake you weren’t ready for the night to end yet. 
“Fuck it.” 
The two of you put down a couple of more shots, before Jake was dragging you back to a booth he and his friends had claimed on the other side of the bar. You weren’t sure what it was about Jake, but you felt like you knew him. Maybe it was his easy going smile or how easily a conversation flowed between the two of you. Jake had sat you down next to him in one of the booths, but at some point in time, you had slid into his lap, his hand resting comfortably on your thigh, like it belonged there. Your drinks had long been discarded and the ice melted. 
“So, what are you in town for?” Jake asked, his lips right next to your ear as he tried to speak over the loud sound of the bass. 
“Work stuff,” You shrugged. You would rather not get into the details of what was going to be your most stressful weekend of the whole entire season, “What about you? You live here or…?” 
“Nah,” Jake chuckled, “Born and raised, but don’t live here. Also visiting for work.” 
Right on cue, one of Jake’s friends set down another tray of shots, everyone around the booth grabbing one. Jake kept his arm around you as he reached to grab one. He raised it up, toasting with the rest of his friends, before turning to look at you. 
Your breath caught in your throat as you watched him take the shot, holding the alcohol in his mouth. You didn’t need to be told as his hand gripped your face, and brought your jaw towards him, opening your own mouth. You knew it was obscene as Jake spit the alcohol, which was again tequila into your mouth, but you didn’t care. You had barely swallowed the liquid, when you crashed your lips to his. 
Jake’s grip on your hips tightened, and you felt the swelling of his cock against your ass. His hand tangled in your hair, pulling you impossibly closer to him. His tongue entered your mouth, tasting of the lime and tequila he had taken earlier. His warmth enveloped you, as you rubbed your thighs together trying to get some friction to relieve the aching heat between your legs. Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling gently on the blonde locks, making a groan fall from his lips. Jake’s lips trailed from yours, leaving a path of sloppy, wet kisses on your skin, sucking with just enough pressure to make a moan tumble from your lips.
“What do you say, sweetheart,” Jake whispered against your skin, the feeling making you shiver in his arms, “Want to get out of here?” 
You turned to face him. His green eyes were blown wide with lust, his hair tousled from you running your hands through it, his lips slightly swollen and pouty as he looked at you. 
Throwing all caution to the wind, you placed another heated kiss on his lips before pulling away. 
“Thought you’d never ask.”
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False Confidence: Chapter 7
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Pairing: Javy “Coyote” Machado x Reader
Part of the San Diego Dogfighters universe
Summary: The Athletic named Javy Machado the fifth sluttiest player in the NHL last year. He’s a known playboy who leaves every game with a different girl. As far as he’s concerned he’s living the dream, playing his dream job with the dream lifestyle. Unfortunately his friends and bosses don’t agree. At 33, they think it’s time for him to settle down. You’re a kindergarten teacher at an esteemed private school. You don't expect much when you finally accept your colleague’s invitation to attend her husband’s hockey game but when you accidentally get separated in the post-game rush, you find yourself in a compromising situation with the last person you’d ever expected to meet. When his PR rep suggests a mutually beneficial agreement, your hands are tied. How long will you have to keep up the act? And how long will you be able to?
Chapter CW: 18+ ONLY, swearing, angst, fluff, fake relationship, mentions of death, suggestive language, anxiety, school system inaccuracies, hockey inaccuracies etc. There will be individual chapter warnings. No use of Y/N.
Word Count: 3.8k
A/N: This one’s kind of quick but it is what it is
Previous Chapter // Series Masterlist // Next Chapter
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When you wake up on Wednesday, the shame and anxiety that clawed your heart to sleep last night have melted into simmering anger that licks into white-hot fury as the day goes on. Last night when you’d left the bar, you’d felt so stupid. Stupid for believing that Javy respected you enough to be loyal to your agreement even if he didn’t have to be loyal to you. That’s the thing, the women didn’t bother you. You’d known what you were getting into the second Javy shoved his tongue down your throat the day you met. That and when you’d made it clear that you had no intention of warming his bed, you’d acknowledged that someone else probably would be. You’d just hoped he would respect you enough to have a little discretion. Zam was right, the bar was full of people with phones, cameras, and social media that would have eaten photos of Javy and those girls right up.
This time when you pull into the parking garage at Hard Deck Arena, your hands don’t shake as you hold back the urge to slam your car door as your flats slap against the concrete floors and the sound echoes through the space. You wrench the door to the arena open and trust your feet as they guide you to the door marked with the pink plaque. You knock on the door and thankfully a voice from inside calls out for you to enter. You barely wait for the door to shut before the words are out of your mouth. “I want out.” Zam looks up from her computer, pink lips parting slightly in surprise, though whether that’s due to your unexpected visit or what you’ve just said, you’re unsure. When she doesn’t answer, you enunciate the words again. “I. Want. Out. I’m done with the contract.” That seems to burst whatever bubble she’s trapped in.
“Roadie…” She says and you shake your head.
“No Zam, I’m done. I mean it.” Her lips purse into a thin line and she nods slowly. “Is there something I need to sign or anything? I can’t exactly afford a lawyer right now but I can try and figure out something if I have to.” You’re running out of steam now that Zam’s confirmed that you can get out of the contract. Relief washes cool through your veins, soothing the anger that’s been powering you all day.
“No, no, nothing like that. It’s not like you’re on our payroll or anything. The contract was more of a formality for the legal team in case things went sideways for any particular reason. “Consider it done unless you want to rip the physical copy up for closure.”
You’re surprised when you nod. “Yeah, I think I would actually,” she smiles faintly at that as she nods and gets up to root around in a file cabinet. She pulls a familiar sheet of paper out of a pink manila folder before she hands it over to you. You take a long look at the contract, unable to stop your eyes from wandering to the bottom of the page and tracing your and Javy’s signatures. This is for the best. You grip the top of the paper and rip. The sound seems to echo in the quiet of the room. That is, until the door swings open without warning and Javy walks into Zam’s office unannounced.
“Zam have you heard from-“ he blinks, surprised, as he takes in the sight of you, blinking back at him wide-eyed. “…Roadie.” You’ve moved to tear the contract smaller and you break the silence with the sound before you’re attempting to make it past Javy to the door of Zam’s office. Javy sticks an arm out to grab the door that’s still in the process of swinging closed behind him, effectively barring your path. “Hey Roadie, I’ve been trying to reach you all day.” You blocked his number last night once you got home. Originally you’d planned for it to be temporary while you gathered your thoughts. Now you doubt it’s a decision that will ever be undone.
You suppress the urge to roll your eyes and school your features, pressing the torn pieces of the contract into his chest which he has the sense to grab with his free hand while you duck under his arm, making your escape. You don’t look back as you call out to him. “Goodbye, Javy.”
***
Javy leans on the doorbell with a force that he should be concerned about, but he can’t find himself to care. The sound of a chorus of barks makes him slump with relief until the door swings open and it’s not who he’s looking for. Bugs is standing in the doorway, arms crossed across her chest as Pudding and Taz squirm from where they're sitting behind her legs, no doubt commanded to remain there by their mother. Her brow is furrowed and she’s glaring at him. While Javy’s been on the other side of Zam’s wrath, he’s had yet to cross his best friend’s girlfriend and somehow her wrath is scarier than his PR rep’s. He swallows, hard.
“Bugs,” he acknowledges and her brow furrows deeper but she doesn’t say a word. “Listen, is Jake here?” He asks, scratching the back of his neck, the tension making him uncomfortable. She hums in a way that gives him nothing before stepping back from the doorway and jerking her chin towards the living room, a silent invitation for him to come in.
He steps into the house and Bugs directs the dogs to move for him before she leads them off to where he assumes she’s planning to keep them while he and Jake talk. Javy’s surprised to find the living room is empty when he gets there, however, and just as he’s about to turn around and search for either of the house’s inhabitants, Bug’s voice startles him. “Sit down, Javy.” The firmness of her tone doesn’t leave room for argument so he sits down on the couch, awkwardly. She stands across from him. “Javy, four months ago you were asking me not to hurt Jake and now I feel like we’ve reversed roles here.” Her anger melts and Javy gets a look at the tired woman behind her anger. “What you did was cruel, Javy. I don’t know why you did it, and maybe I don’t deserve to know, but she does, Javy. She deserves closure even if she can’t have your respect.”
The sound of the front door breaks the silence followed by the sound of Jake’s voice. “Bunny, I’m home, are you here?”
“In the living room, babe, we’ve got company.”
Jake appears in the living room a few moments later, hair pushed back and damp with sweat. He looks like he’s just gotten back from a run. “Javy,” he says and Javy nods to acknowledge his best friend. Jake looks between Javy and Bugs before he tilts his head towards the back door. “Come for a walk with me?” He asks and Javy nods again, wordlessly before he stands and leads the way to the back door.
Jake doesn’t say anything until they’ve made it halfway down the beach behind the house. “So, Javy what are you doing here?” He asks like he doesn’t already know.
“Look, man, I…” Javy trails off, letting his eyes follow the water as it laps up against their bare feet. “I fucked up. I know that.” Jake shakes his head.
“You didn’t just fuck up, Javy,” Jake says, and Javy flinches at the bitterness in Jake’s voice. “You made a promise to Roadie. You signed a damn contract, and then not only did you embarrass her, but you did it at an event YOU invited her to. What the actual FUCK, man? What did that sweet girl ever do to deserve that?” He shakes his head. “Hell, Javy I signed off on this, I let this happen, and you went and did something not only extremely rude but it was cruel. And I know no matter what happened between the two of you, she didn’t deserve that, Javy. Not from anyone, and certainly not from you.”
“I know I just…”
“You just WHAT, Javy?!” Jake snaps finally and Javy looks up, surprised. Jake’s genuinely upset with him. “I’ve kept my mouth shut for years man, because no matter what you were doing at least it was mutually understood between you and whatever girl you were fooling around with that it wasn’t serious. No one was getting hurt so I kept my damn mouth shut and let it happen. I thought one day you’d wake up from whatever daydream it is you’re stuck in and decide to grow up even if you didn’t want to settle down because I respect that if that’s not something you want. And then Roadie got involved and I thought maybe it was the start of something new and maybe she’d be the catalyst that got you to change and not only did you not change but someone actually got hurt this time, Javy.”
“Don’t pretend that you understand,” Javy grits out, fists tightening next to him.
“Understand what, Javy? What is there to understand? I’ve been begging you to explain it for years and you refuse to-”
“Because you wouldn’t get it!” Javy snaps, turning on Jake. “And don’t you dare pretend to understand because you don’t!”
“Why, why wouldn’t I-”
“BECAUSE YOU LEFT!” Javy snaps and Jake has the good sense to look surprised. “You left Arizona and you never once thought about how that affected everyone else, about how that affected me!” His chest is heaving as the anvil that’s been sitting on it for years lifts. “And I didn’t hate you for it, I really tried not to. You had a chance to be close to home and you took it and I couldn’t be mad, I really couldn’t. You were amazing and you were destined for greatness and maybe it was childish of me, but I always thought we’d be great together.” He shakes his head, trying to ignore the sting of tears threatening to push their way to the surface. “And then, after I’d finally made peace with it, you got hurt, left Dallas, and came to San Diego, knowing I would be there, and you didn’t even bother to give me a heads up. You were my brother, Jake, I always considered you one. But somewhere along the way, you reminded me that I’m not, not really.”
Jake has the good sense to look embarrassed. “Okay, Javy, I fucked up, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realize me going to Dallas meant so much to you. And I know I’ve already apologized for what happened when I came here and I know I can’t do anything to make up for what I did, but I’m going to work every single day to try and make up for that.” He shakes his head. “But why does Roadie have to pay for my mistakes?” He asks and Javy feels his chest squeeze uncomfortably.
“I never knew my dad,” Javy whispers and he hates how quiet his voice sounds. “You know that.” He swallows, hard. “And my uncle passed when we were in college. The two most important men in my life were gone before I even turned 20. And then you left too. Everyone was leaving and I didn’t know how to cope with it. I didn’t want to be alone. I hated the way it made me feel and I didn’t want to feel that way anymore. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t ever want to be the reason someone felt the way I did.” He shrugs, lightly. “So I made sure that couldn’t happen.”
“By keeping things casual.” Jake finishes and Javy nods. “The problem is, someone actually got hurt this time.” Javy sighs deeply.
“Yeah, someone actually got hurt this time.”
“If you don’t want to hurt anyone, why did you do it?” Jake asks, but all the malicious ferocity from earlier has left his voice.
Javy shakes his head. “It was supposed to be fake, you know? It wasn’t supposed to be real, but damn it, it started feeling real. Or at least as real as I can remember anything feeling. I didn’t think, I invited her to karaoke without really thinking about it, and then the moment I had a moment to actually think about it, I panicked. Then those girls were there and it was just so easy to slip into old patterns so I did it without thinking.” He takes a shaky breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.” He hates how weak his voice sounds. “And I don’t know how to make it right.”
“Do you want to?” Jake asks, finally looking at Javy and Javy forces himself to meet the other man’s eyes.
“More than anything.” He pauses for a long moment. “She told Zam she wanted out of the contract. She ripped it up and threw it in my face.”
Jake lets out a chuckle, “good for her.” Javy finds himself matching the smile.
“Honestly, yeah,” he lets his mind drift for a second before his smile widens. “You know, she threw Josie Fitch’s expensive-ass shoes off the edge of the freeway?” Jake barks out a laugh and Javy chuckles in response.
“Did she really?” Javy nods.
“I think that’s the moment I fell in love with her,” Jake’s mouth drops open slightly before he attempts to school his features but Javy catches it. “If you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll use your spare key and murder you in the dead of night.” Jake mimes zipping his lips before throwing the invisible key into the ocean.
“So what are you going to do to get her back?” Jake asks and Javy smiles to himself.
“I think I have a plan.”
***
It’s been two weeks since you ended the contract. Two weeks since you’ve been to Hard Deck Arena, and two weeks since you last saw Javy. For the most part, your life has gone back to the way it was. Well, except that everyone still thinks you’re dating Javy, not that you’ve done anything to correct them. In your defense, the conversations have never been directed to you so much as at you as you walk into the teachers’ lounge too quickly for the conversation to die before your arrival, or some people simply feeling shameless enough to quiet their voices in your presence.
Today, however, you don’t have time to worry about the whispers as you struggle to accommodate the horde of adults crowding into your classroom that’s never felt small until this exact moment. You try to push down the feeling of embarrassment that’s been plaguing you all morning. In your rush this morning, you’d opted for a cheerful top and jeans for comfort and ease but now, surrounded by suits and smart-looking dresses that make your classroom smell faintly of starch, you feel severely under-dressed. Both students and parents alike are buzzing with excitement as you try and finalize a lineup that allows for the busier parents to get back to their jobs as soon as possible when a knock at your door makes you look up.
Your heart stops in surprise as you see the faces on the other side of the glass. You wave the unexpected visitors in before you can stop yourself and suddenly your room is even more full as two hockey players make their way into the room. Javy gives you a rueful smile while Jake is full-on grinning as he waves at the kids who are gaping at the players. Jake’s simply dressed in his jersey over jeans but Javy’s fully suited up except for his skates that he’s holding in one hand while the other is carrying an equipment bag.
“Mr. Machado!” One of the kids calls out and you push past a group of parents currently snapping photos of the players.
“Jake, Javy,” you shake your head as you try to wrap your head around the situation. “What are you doing here?”
Javy shrugs. “You asked if I would come to Career Day. I know you the deal is over but since I got dinner and lunch, I thought I owed you at least this. And if not for you, then for the kids.” He adds on quickly and you nod before you can stop yourself. Just because you’ve gotten a little braver in the last month doesn’t mean you’re ready to have a fight with your ex-fake-boyfriend in front of your entire class and their parents.
“Okay, okay. Um, just have a seat over there,” you motion over to where the other parents are gathered. “Oh!” You remember as they’re walking past you. Both boys turn to you. “Are you good with going last or do you need to get back to work?” Your brain is screaming at the idea of having to reorder the schedule, especially when a mom in a pantsuit who’s scheduled to go first is currently glaring daggers at the back of your head for the holdup. Jake shakes his head.
“We’ll go whenever you’re ready for us.” You give him an appreciative look and mouth a thank you at them as you head back to the front of the room.
***
An hour later, the last busy parent has just escaped your classroom after waving hurriedly back at their kid and you let your shoulders slump slightly in relief. Of course, there are a few parents remaining that have taken the day off to be here and they’re chatting amongst themselves. You motion over to Jake and Javy who’ve honestly been holding the attention of your class the entire time. As much as the other parents had tried to sway them, their tiny minds were in awe of the bright jerseys and Javy’s equipment.
The boys make their way to the front of the classroom and the class cheers. “Hey guys, it’s nice to see you all again!” Javy greets them and a chorus rises across the classroom.
“Hi, Mr. Machado!” Jake mimes grabbing his chest in response and they all giggle as he introduces himself and enjoys his own hello. You watch on fondly as the boys explain what they do for a living, Jake using Javy as a mannequin to explain the different parts of hockey gear.
Then they move on to the bag Javy brought and then the boys are handing around hockey pucks, one for each one of your students. They’re emblazoned with the Dogfighters’ logo and you watch as your students turn them over in their tiny hands, eyes wide in awe. Your heart aches at the kindness and thoughtfulness of the gift. These kids will remember this moment forever. Javy and Jake are holding up hockey sticks and showing off how to hit a puck with the stick.
Once the demonstration is over, Javy and Jake patiently field questions from the kids and while Jake’s explaining why they can’t wear their skates in the classroom, Javy turns to look at you and you feel your face heat as you’re caught staring. You give him a tiny wave and the corner of his mouth quirks upward and he gives you a tiny wave back. He turns back in time to answer a question from another one of your students.
By the time the bell rings for lunch, your students are still on a roll peppering the boys with questions and you have to corral them into a line and out the door. When you get back from dropping them off, you thank the parents that are left and see them out before you turn to your surprise visitors, crossing your arms across your chest as you regard them warily, the unease creeping into your mind now that you’re alone with them. “Thanks for having us today, Roadie!” Jake says goodnaturedly, as he collects the equipment they brought with them. He turns to Javy, “You should get changed.” Javy nods and gives you a nod before he heads towards the door.
“Oh! If you want, the staff bathrooms are a lot more private. Here I’ll get you my key-” You reach for your neck, rummaging through the keys on your lanyard as a knock sounds and you turn to see Josie leaning against the doorframe.
“Hey boys, I thought I heard familiar voices in here.” She says as she takes in Jake and Javy. You continue to fumble with your keys as speak up. “They came by for career day.”
“Did they now?” Josie says, a thoughtful look in her eye as she regards you a little too cooly and you abandon your key struggle.
“Actually, I should probably walk you down there myself.” You gesture for Javy to follow you, and you try to ignore the knowing look that Josie gives you as you pass her and she steps into your classroom. Once you’re out of earshot you turn to Javy to kill the silence of the hallway. “Thanks for coming today, I can tell it meant a lot to the kids. They’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives, and the pucks were such thoughtful gifts.”
“We actually wanted to bring shirts, but I wasn’t sure what everyone’s sizes were and Josie could only really just get us a head count.” Your heart squeezes slightly at the thought that Javy had reached out to Josie to ask for her help. “I was thinking, and Jake said we could talk to the front office about it, but maybe we could arrange for the kids to come to the arena for a field trip? They could hit some pucks and maybe watch practice? It could be fun.” Your heart squeezes tighter.
“I think they’d like that a lot. I can talk to our front office too and see what I can do on my end.” You say, giving him a tight smile as you reach the staff bathroom. You unlock the door and hold it open for him and you have a sudden thought. “Are you going to need any help with… any of it?” Javy chuckles and shakes his head.
“Don’t worry, Meep, I do this every day, I’ve got it, but thanks for asking.” You take your lanyard off and hand it to him, trying to ignore the fact that he’s still using that name.
“Here, so you don’t have to worry about rushing because I’m waiting. Just lock up when you’re done.” You show him which key as you place the lanyard in his outstretched hand.
“Hey, Meep?” He calls out as you turn to go and you look back at him. “Do you always worry about other people like that?” You tilt your head to the side slightly, surprised by his question.
“Yes, why?”
“It’s nothing,” he says and then he pauses before he speaks up again as you’re about to walk away again. “Isn’t it hard? Worrying about everyone all the time?” You feel your cheeks heat as you shrug in a way that probably looks more like a grimace.
“I’m used to it.” You say simply before you walk back to your classroom.
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A/N: I know that this one leaves off on a bit of a cliff hanger but it was a lot to try to jam into one chapter.
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starry-hughes · 1 year
Text
carried away
quinn hughes x tkachuk sister!reader
warnings: hints at smut but not actual smut
summary: after years of knowing one another, quinn and you finally find love at your brother’s wedding
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Quinn Hughes was a figure in your life for years. You practically grew up with him. He was teammates with your brother, Brady, who was only a year older than you. Both of your brothers were amazing hockey players and Quinn was as well. You didn’t get to attend school with Brady or Quinn, Brady had moved away to go play with the NTDP team. Matthew had done the same.
With two older brothers in the NHL and being the daughter of a former NHL player, it was easy to say that you had enough hockey boys in your life. But every summer, you find yourself surrounded by them. Your summers were spent at the lake house owned by the Hughes family. Your parents always visited after the school year ended, you and your sister in tow. Sometimes, Taryn opted out due to her having her own plans and friends for the summer.
That’s when you met Quinn. Both of you probably wanted to ignore what awkward and cringey look you two sported at the time. Quinn never looked at you as more than Brady’s younger sister.
As time went along and you grew up, Quinn would see photos of you on social media, maybe you’d be at a game once in a while or at dinner afterwards. But every photo he saw of you, you just got more beautiful. And every dinner he sat across the table from you, he couldn’t help but look at you as you laughed at something one of your brothers said or did.
There was one time, last year, December 2022, after Brady and Emma had been engaged, when you had gone to see Matthew play against Vancouver. You didn’t know what came over you, but you had texted Quinn. Quinn was not used to random texts from you. It was mainly birthday texts or random pictures that popped up in a Snapchat memory.
“I’m in Vancouver for the game, dinner tonight?”
Before responding to your text, Quinn thought about it. He was never one to have an attraction to a friend’s sister. But he had to admit that you were beautiful. You were no longer just Brady’s younger sister. You were just you.
He agreed to dinner and after the game, which ended in a loss, he asked if Matthew was joining. “He declined to join,” you informed Quinn. Matthew was busy celebrating the win against the Canucks. Plus, you were practically traveling with the team for the week, you had seen enough of Matthew.
It was an awkward dinner at first and then it came to a normal conversation, chatting about how things had been and how you were doing. The conversation fell to the wedding. “I think Emma is going to ask Taryn and I to be in the wedding at Christmas,” you took a swig of your glass of wine.
“Brady already asked me to be in it,” Quinn almost bragged. “Well at least we can be hopeful to be paired up to walk down the aisle. At least I know you won’t let me trip.”
-
Quinn didn’t really hear from you again until the week of the wedding. Your parents were high strung, trying to make sure Brady had the perfect wedding. Matthew and you had been passing a bottle of vodka between the two of you all night when Quinn arrived with his family.
“Matthew, (Y/N), always lovely to see you!” Ellen and Jim Hughes greeted. “How drunk are you?” Quinn leaned over and asked. “I had to deal with the wedding stress somehow,” you laughed.
“And you aren’t even the bride,” Quinn teased.
“Not this time,” you mumbled.
The next coming days were a blur. At the rehearsal dinner, you were paired with Quinn. “Make sure my sister doesn’t fall Hughes!” Matthew warned, slightly overprotective as Quinn held out his arm for you. You couldn’t help but stifle your laughter as Quinn tensed up for a second but relaxed when you leaned over to whisper to him.
“Don’t pay attention to him, he won’t do anything unless he catches us kissing or something.”
At the rehearsal dinner, Taryn got to make her speech. Brady had asked Matthew and you to do one tomorrow at the actual wedding. Throughout the whole rehearsal dinner, all you could do was stare at Quinn. Maybe it was the wine.
The next day was the actual wedding and you didn’t see much of Quinn. The girls were talking in the bridal party area as everyone got their hair done. “What about you (Y/N)? Anyone special in your life?” Emma’s cousin asked.
Your face felt hot. “No, not really.”
Quinn almost froze when he saw you for the first time right before the wedding started. “You look, uh, beautiful,” he stuttered out. “Thanks Quinn, you clean up nice too.” You adjusted his boutonniere to be straighter.
After the ceremony, you were dragged over to the open bar by Josh Norris. He was talking to you about needing to get breakfast with you tomorrow, saying he missed you. You didn’t allow yourself to get too drunk until after your speech.
After your speech, your face was warm and red. The open bar at the wedding was being used to your advantage. Your wine glass never seemed to become empty. You were tired of talking to your parents or family members. Brady was too enamored by Emma to come to talk to you, you couldn’t blame him though. It was his wedding and your non sister-in-law looked beautiful. You ended up at Table 8, visiting with the boys. “Wanna go on a walk Quinn? I need fresh air.” you asked lowly.
Quinn walked you outside, his arm looped in yours. You had been drinking wine most of the night. Maybe it was the alcohol talking or maybe it was feelings that had never come to light after years of knowing one another.
The two of you paused, looking out at the night sky where the ceremony had been held. Quinn looked over at you as you spoke softly about the day. His eyes flickered down to your lips. “Quinn, you okay?” you whispered. You wanted him to kiss you badly.
“We should go back before I do something Brady kills me for,” Quinn whispered, lips hovering above yours.
“What he doesn’t know won’t kill him,” you spoke softly.
-
A knock on Quinn’s door woke him up. Most of the family and wedding party were all staying in the same hotel. Quinn scrambled out of bed, glad that he at least had boxers on. He was barely awake when he cracked open the door.
Matthew stood there. “Sorry to wake you, have you seen (Y/N)? Brady and Emma leave in an hour and my parents want some send off from us.”
“I haven’t seen her since last night, sorry,” Quinn said tiredly. “It’s cool, I’ll check with Josh, I think they said something about getting breakfast together last night.”
Quinn shut the door and took a deep breath. You had woken up at the first knock but didn’t make a movement when your older brother was at the door. As soon as you heard the door lock shut, you threw the blankets off of your head.
You wore Quinn’s dress shirt as a nightgown. Your hair was no longer neat and your bridesmaid dress was draped on the back of the chair in the room. Your shoes were kicked off in minutes last night but you were nervous about getting the dress ruined so Quinn had stopped his actions last night to drape the dress on the back of the chair instead of crumbled on the ground, before returning to you in bed.
“Do you think he knew I was in here?”
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corrodedcoffins-blog · 7 months
Text
Making Up
quinn hughes x nhl player!reader
warning: suggestive, mention of food (i think, i dont ever remember what i write after its done)
word count: 1.8 k
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Usually, as in every other year, Y/n looked forward to training camp; it meant a year was starting, and with that a new start. Yet all she could think about the few months was how she so desperately hoped that training camp could be farther and farther away. But this year was different. Just like last year was different. All because she slept with Quinn once, well more than once but the first time was the inciting incident. 
But before the end of last season, with their ‘break up’ if you could even call it that, given they never dated. And since then Y/n has done a large amount of self-reflection, this came about when over the summer she had a weird feeling, one she’s only had after she leaves her family for the season. She was homesick, homesick for Quinn. 
She missed him so much, missed how he would hold her at night, and leave small kisses all over her body, she missed feeling his weight on her while they cuddled. She missed him. She wanted him. 
The woman hasn’t seen Quinn for four months, and they had barely talked after their ‘break up’, avoiding all chances during their last few games, and though she couldn’t be more happy and proud of him, the man now being the captain only made everything worse. If he was anything but captain, she could get away with avoiding him a lot easier. But life has never gone easy on her.
- Just as expected, training camp went terribly. Well, that’s an exaggeration, she did great, just not well Quinn was her partner, or next to her, or in her eye sight. And realistically, she was probably the only one to notice. Except for Quinn, he always noticed. But he was also in the same situation of not playing that great when Y/n was involved. 
So after practice, on their way out, Quinn ran to catch up with the girl just as she was getting in her car, he mutters, “Meet me at my house, we have to talk.”
His deep voice, being a small shock, having not seen him coming. And feeling his warm breath on her neck, and his voice in her ears brought up memories. Ones that her body had a physical reaction to being brought up in her brain. The rosy colour rising in her cheeks, and throat becoming dry.
-
Gaining the courage to finally knock on Quinn’s door, it opens before she can finish the third knock. Quinn no doubt waited on the other side, waiting for the woman to finally knock after standing out there for far too long.
“Hey.” “Hi.”
Standing in the awkwardness for enough time, Quinn walked out of the entrance way and towards his kitchen, Y/n assumes she’s supposed to follow so she does. Walking into the familiar room, looking around and seeing no changes in the decorations, or lack thereof. Quinn then passes the girl a beer, the cap already off. Quinn knew she hated twist off because they made the palm of her hand sore, so he always did it for her. Even now. 
“We have to have it out. We have to have everything out in the open. Or we won’t be able to play together like we used to.” “I agree.”
After standing in the awkwardness once again, Quinn decided that for once he was going to be bold and say what he truly felt, and what he truly wanted, “I love you. And that’s not gonna change.” Taking a sip of her beer, feeling she’ll need it for this, the woman listened as Quinn continued, “I love everything about you. Even the things I hate, and that annoy me, I love. I love how competitive you are, not even in sports, just in everyday things; just that you can unlock the door faster than me, so if Micheal Myers was chasing us you would survive and I wouldn’t. And I love the face you have when you’re tired, but you don’t want to admit it, just for you to fall asleep ten minutes into a movie you fought me over to watch. I love that you’re adamant on only having tomatoes once in your life, when I have seen you eat spaghetti and pizza more than once before-""It’s not the same ""-I love you, Y/n. All of you.”
Tears trickled down the woman’s face, tickling as they went down her neck. Because, fuck she thinks she really loves him too. And that was still really scary to say, but she would get over it for him. Because he wouldn’t hurt her like the other guys, he cared for her, and paid attention to the little things, and god, he was perfect. She couldn’t imagine a future without him. She was always on the fence about kids, but he wanted them, she would give him them.Wiping the tears away, looking into Quinn’s eyes, ones she’s missed so dearly.
“I think I love you too.I’ve only said that to someone once before and my love was taken for granted, so it’s been hard for me to give it out. But Quinny, you’ve never given me a reason to not completely trust you, and I think that’s what I was scared of. But I love you, and I don’t think it will ever change either.”
Swiftly, Quinn brings the girl into a deep, and passionate kiss, one they put all of their love for each other into. Y/n bring her hands to the nape of Quinn’s neck, grabbing the hair in her fist, pulling slightly; eliciting a groan from the boy, while he brings his hands from her waist to her hips to her thighs, lifting her and taking her to the couch. His hands now at the hem of the woman’s shirt, beginning to lift it over her head, before Y/n interrupts and he stops instantly.
“Wait- I don’t want this to be like last time. I don’t want the miscommunication, and the friends-with-benefits thing. I want you. I want to be with you.” “Glad we’re on the same page then.” He says, leaning his head down to kiss the woman’s jaw, and down to the spot she loves on her neck. 
“Quinny. So, what does that mean for us?” Quinn, now seeing this wasn’t going fast sits next to the girl, “Y/n. Will you be my girlfriend?” “How would that affect the team, and us playing together, what will people think? I mean- they’ll blame me, ‘first girl in the league, and she goes and dates her captain’ it will look bad. And-” “Y/n, stop thinking. Do you want to be my girlfriend, ‘cause I want to be your boyfriend. A lot.” “Of course! Of course I want to. But-” “Then why are we thinking about what other people will think?”
Quinn would never truly understand. No matter how hard he tries, no man will understand. What people will say. How they’ll think of every reason to hate her and add this to the list. But never will they hate Quinn for it, no. And she knows that Quinn is trying to help, saying not to care what other people think, but it’s hard when if she looks up her own name, everything that comes up is how ‘she doesn’t deserve to be in the league’ or that ‘she doesn’t work hard enough’ even though she is the first in the gym and the last to leave, she gets to the games first, always pushing herself but it was never good enough.
“People will hate me.”
“Y/n, you are the strongest person I know, if any of the guys got the amount of hate you do, they would have quit by now. You don’t let their words make you quit, you push yourself harder. I love you. And I don’t care what those people say, they’re just sexist bastards. You deserve to be happy, and I want to make you happy. Don’t let them take that away.”
That was what she needed to hear. She still had concerns of course, but her happiness will come first and they’ll cross the bridges as they come. Because Quinn was right. Letting those people stop her from living her life, only gave them what they wanted and her nothing. At that a large grin, from ear to ear, spreads on Y/n’s face. 
“I love you.” “I love you too. How ‘bout I show you how much I love you?” “Please, Quinny.”
-
Their naked bodies were now tangled in the bed sheets, Y/n turned her head and gently placed her chin on Quinn’s bare and muscular chest. Just looking at him, his eyes staring into the ceiling gave the woman a chance to observe the changes in him, his new stubble length, and his hair styled differently. Still as handsome as ever.
“It’s rude to stare.” “You don’t know I’m staring, you can’t see me.” “There’s mirrors over there.”
Looking at where Quinn pointed with his chin, there were in fact the mirrors of his closet door that gave him a great few of her face, and their bodies intertwined. 
“Fine. You caught me.” Y/n said, bringing a mischievous smirk to Quinn’s face, his hands now moving from the woman’s back to her sides, Quinn knowing that’s where she is ticklish. The woman squirming on top of him (for the second time today) now screaming out (for the second time today)
“Ahhh! Quinny! Ah stop! Wait, I have to talk- ah! Talk to you!”
His hands stopping, and coming to rub up and down on her sides, “‘Bout what?” Y/n can hear the mild concern in his voice and not wanting to worry him says a quick ‘nothing bad’ before sitting up and continuing her sentence, “I just want to talk so we’re on the same page about.. How this will affect the team and if we’ll tell them, and you’re the captain now so you have to put the team first and I never want to put you in that situation.”
“We’re not gonna affect the team.” “You don’t know that.” “Did it before?” “...That was different. And when we ended things it did.” “Well I don’t plan on ending things. Do you?” Y/n’s hands move to the sides of Quinn’s neck, tilting his head up to look at her, “I don’t plan on ending things.” “Good.” Quinn says, a smile on his face while leaning up to press a soft kiss on Y/n’s lips, then on her jaw before falling back against his pillows.
“Do you want to tell the guys?” “Not yet.” “Then let’s not worry about it. Just see how it goes before we tell them.” “Okay.” Leaning down, Y/n rests her head on Quinn’s bare chest once again, hearing his steady heartbeat and the warmness of his chest, warming her ear.
“And don’t give me special treatment in practice.” “I would never. If anything I would push you harder ‘cause I know that’s what works for you.” “Good.”
~taglist~
@books-hlmc
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cuttergauthier · 1 year
Text
Secret boyfriend
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female Smith reader x Ryan Leonard
Warning: injury, soft Ryan, fluff 
word count: 1.3k
let me know what you guys think🤍
let me know if you guys want me to do an insta edit of them soft launching their relationship!
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I love Boston College, the only thing that sucks is doing homework, studying and just like home I hate when it rains and I have to walk. We are currently in the middle of October, and we are having a rainstorm. I've been here since the end of August and it hasn't rained this much.
Usually my brother would come and drive me to my dorm room since we both live in the same building but he was currently out in the city with two of his teammates Drew and Gabe, since they wanted to go see the bruins play in their home opener and they decided to spend the night since all 3 of them only had late classes tomorrow along with a night practice.
I didn’t bring an umbrella and even though it was raining pretty bad, a lot of students were making a run for it either back to their cars or dorms.
I pulled the hood of my hoodie over my head and started walking fast to my dorm.
I was almost there when another student ran right into me making my fall on my knees on the sidewalk.
I grunted my knee hurt like a bitch. The student just yelled sorry and continued to run. He didn't even ask if I needed any help.
I pulled myself up and looked at my knee. It was bleeding. I groaned and started limping the rest of the way since it hurt too much.
Once i got to the building I opened the door and made my way up those steps and to my room. I am thankfully living in a single dorm room and it also has a small bathroom, i tend to stay up late to study sometimes, so being alone means I never have to worry about keeping my roommate up with the lights.
I unlocked my room and walked in, I dropped my bag on the bed and made my way to the bathroom to see if I had anything to clean my knee. I couldn’t find anything. I looked at myself in the mirror, I was soaking wet. I decided to take a quick shower and I could ask someone if they had anything to help me clean my knee after.
I went to my dresser and grabbed my bc hoodie and a pair of black gym shorts before making my way back to the bathroom to shower.
Once I was done my knee still stings. I got dressed and put on some shoes and made my way to the dorm next to mine. I knocked on the door and Jenna answered she’s the first person i met when i moved here, she’s really sweet.
“Hey Y/n, everything okay?” She asked
“Yeah, sorry but would you have anything to clean wounds?” I ask
She pouted and shocked her head.
“No i don’t i’m sorry”
I smile weakly.
“All good, don’t worry about it”
I made my way back to my dorm room and texted my brother, he’s a hockey player so I hoped he might have something in his room. He gave me a key when we first got to bc in case of an emergency so I could still get in.
Me
Hey, do you by any chance have anything to clean wounds in your room?
Will
Yeah, I should have something in the bathroom if not Ryan probably does. Everything okay?
Me
Yeah, I tripped in the rain earlier. Now my knee is bleeding but I don't have anything to clean it with. Then i remembered that you gave me a key incase of emergency & you’re a hockey player so i figured you might have something!😂
Will
True, go check Ryan should be there! Just tell him what happened and he’ll help you!
Me
Thanks, I love you! Have fun at the game ❤️
Will
Love you too & we will❤️
I made my way to my brother and Ryan’s room & hoped they did have some stuff. My knee is really bothering me. I didn’t really want Ryan to know, but he would have found out eventually.
I’ve known Ryan for a few years, since the untdp days, he and my brother were teammates. We started dating a month before the NHL draft but we wanted to keep it on the down low to make sure we would work out since he and my brother are teammates but also best friends, we didn’t want to make it awkward. Will still doesn’t know only both of our parents do, I’m surprised Will hasn’t figured it out yet.
Once I got there I knocked on the door. A few seconds later Ryan opened up. He looked good, he was wearing some sweatpants and his untdp hoodie.
“Hey, did you forget that your brother went to the Bruins game? Or are you here to hang out with your amazing boyfriend” He asked, confused as to why I was there, since I told him I wanted to study tonight.
“No um, Will said you might have stuff to clean wounds, so i came by to check” i said nervously.
“We probably do, come in.” He said. I walked in beside him and followed him to the bathroom.
“Did you hurt yourself?” He asked, concerned.
“It was raining pretty bad when I got out of class and I had to walk back here, so I was trying to rush and then some student ran right into me, and I ended up falling down, scraping my knee,” I said.
“You should have called me, I would have come by to pick you up” he said, giving me a quick forehead kiss before He took the stuff out of the cabinet and set it down before looking back at me.
“Come here, let me take a look." He said, smiling softly. I jumped up and sat down on the counter without hurting my knee worse.
Ryan looked at my knee.
“It’s not too bad” he said, he grabbed some Cotton balls and put some rubbing alcohol on.
“This is probably going to sting,” he said before cleaning my knee with it.
I bit my lip and turned around so he would see that I had tears in my eyes. I wasn’t as tough as my brother or the rest of them.
Once he was done he put on a bandaid.
“They're all done,” he said softly.
I looked up at him to see he was already looking at me. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“Thank you, i could have done it myself” i said smiling softly
“I saw how you turned your head so i wouldn’t see the tears in your eyes yn, it was probably better i did it since it probably would have taken you longer” he said and i looked at him embarrassed.
“Right, um sorry” I said awkwardly, I hate that I embarrassed myself in front of him.
“Hey you don’t need to be embarrassed about that, it’s just you and I here, I'm not going to make fun of you, I love you too much” he said smiling.
“Thanks Ry, I love you too,” I said smiling back.
He moved away so I could get down from the counter. He put the stuff away and we went back to the room.
“I was just about to put on a movie, do you want to stay a while?” He asked
“Sounds good to me, I don't feel like studying anymore” I said smiling. He chuckled.
He laid down on his bed and pulled me down with him. He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arm around my waist. He kissed the back of my head and turned on a movie.
A few minutes later I was trying to keep my eyes open but I was losing, it didn’t take long for Ryan to notice. His thumb rubs soft circles on my waist.
“Go to sleep beautiful, i’ll be here when you wake up” he whispered.
“Love you” i whispered softly
“Love you too beautiful” he placed a soft kiss behind my ear, a few seconds later i fell asleep.
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bitchinbarzal · 2 years
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Again | Q.Hughes
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summary: “and you watched it again, and again, and again”
warning: mature themes and mentions of sex. minors do not engage.
-
Quinn didn’t like people. He wasn’t outgoing, he didn’t venture out to find fun. He liked his people, his circle and the things he enjoyed.
He didn’t make new friends with people who weren’t on his team or introduced to him. He just didn’t.
That’s who Quinn was and he was content.
Until he met you.
Quinn had met you at a game, you were a guest of a big VIP suite holder at Rogers. The guy was trying to impress your boss and sent you for the night.
Down in the lounge you had excused yourself to answer a call in a hallway just off the room you were in.
Once you’d hung up you turned to go back automatically being thrown onto your ass on the floor.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” The guy rushed to help you up and you brushed off your skirt.
“I’m fine, I’m fine it’s ok!” You assured, looking up finally.
“I really didn’t see you there-“
“It’s okay, probably the most fun I’ll have tonight” you mumbled with a smile.
His facial expression matched yours in that moment before he looked back to the room you’d obviously come out of “Work thing?”
“Yeah”
“He always tries to impress people by bringing them down here, he’s a bit of a dick”
Your eyes widened in both shock and delight “really?”
“I probably shouldn’t say that but yeah” he sighed.
“Well i best get back” you smiled, reaching out to straighten his tie “Good Luck”
He quirked a smile “Yeah thanks”
You were almost at the door when you heard him call “Hey!”
“Yeah?”
“Can I get your number?” You paused, reaching into your pocket and pulling out your business card.
“Good Luck, Hughes”
Quinn had never done such an out there thing before but he text you that night, just desperate to get to know you.
You became friends and you got to know the other Canucks, you were invited places and hung around with other wives and girlfriends.
Quinn stopped most communication when he left for home in the off season.
You took that as a chance to start dating again, knowing you couldn’t get hung up on him. He’s an NHL player, it would never work.
You had a boyfriend by the time everyone arrived back in Vancouver for the season and Quinn had no idea.
“Hey don’t order yet I’m gonna text y/n and ask if she wants to come over!” Quinn announced, picking up his phone.
“She’s out with Liam tonight for his birthday don’t bother” Elias replied nonchalantly, ordering the takeout on his phone.
Quinn’s eyebrows furrowed “Liam?”
“Her boyfriend?” Brock replied almost as if Quinn were a child.
“She has a boyfriend? Since when?”
“Since the beginning of summer, Quinn have you not spoken to her?”
It was then he realized he actually hadn’t spoken to you. At all during the off season.
That night he was laying in bed he text you.
to: y/n
hey, I’m back in van for the season. want to grab coffee or something?
to: huggy bear 🐻
hey! welcome back!! schedule is pretty packed atm but I’ll text you?
to: y/n
for sure! you coming to the home opener? I can get your ticket.
to: huggy bear 🐻
I never miss it! dw about it brock already sorted mine and liam’s tickets thanks tho!
Quinn put his phone on the nightstand then
“Stupid Liam”
Stupid Liam stuck around until Christmas. He broke up with you when he had to move to New York for work and you guys just didn’t want the distance.
Quinn was delighted, you were heartbroken.
He helped you get through the holidays, opting to not go home to Michigan and instead spend it with you.
He took you out and you hung out when he didn’t want to be recognized outside.
He thought things couldn’t be going better until after the team had won, a shutout win everyone headed to the bar to celebrate.
You were all getting pretty wasted and one thing led to another Quinn had you pinned up against the bathroom wall of the bar fucking you senseless.
When you were done in the bathroom he could hardly keep his hands off you as you exited the bar and into a cab. All the way back to his place where you did it again, and again and again.
When you woke up the next morning with him laying next to you, you pressed a kiss onto his bare shoulder and started getting up.
You hard circles round to his side of the bed to try and find your bra when you felt his hands wrap around your waist, pulling you backwards into the bed with him.
“Quinn!”
He was now hovering over you, looking down with a look you couldn’t quite place and a smile
“Goodmorning” he mumbled, leaning down to kiss you quickly.
Your hands found his cheeks “Mornin’”
“You were trying to sneak out on me” he accused.
“I was trying to save us both the embarrassment”
“I’m not embarrassed. Are you?” He quirked an eyebrow and you shook your head “no”
“Good because if you were embarrassed I couldn’t do this” he continued by pressing kisses on your jaw, down your neck and stopping just above your breasts which still didn’t have a bra on.
You stopped him “Quinn, we can’t do this if we-“ he shut you up quickly by kissing you again.
This continued for a couple of months.
You’d go over to his and sleep together or he’d call you late at night with a
“You up?”
It started taking a toll and you realized soon enough you were falling for him.
You didn’t want to tell him, you had a good thing going here but push came to shove and you decided it was for the best you told him. You had to protect your own heart.
The Canucks were currently on a roadie, in New York while you were sat at home alone with your thoughts.
You knew you should wait until Quinn was home, to do this face to face. So, you left your phone next to you and turned to the tv as a distraction.
That approach reined useless when at 1am you picked it up and texted him.
to: huggy bear 🐻
hey. I know ur probably asleep it’s like 11 there I think? anyway I just had something on my mind I had to say. these past few months have been really fun and weird and Q I just have to get it off my chest that I think I love you. that’s so weird to say out loud lol but I care about you a lot and I hope we can be more than just fuck buddies. well I’m gonna go to bed. goodnight.
You hit send. letting out a breath and putting your phone down.
Lying on the pillow you smiled just thinking about him.
God, you were in love. In over your head.
When the morning came and you checked your phone you expected to see a message from Quinn but you didn’t, all you had were social media notifications and a message from your best friend.
from: bestie
I’m so sorry angel girl. I want you to hear this from me before anyone else sends you it. I love You. I’m here for you.
The message was sent with a link to a tweet.
@hugheswhoree: lmao we were out in a bar in Hoboken last night and my friend hooked up with Quinn Hughes? What is life? Anyway here’s the vid of them kissing ahaha she says he was a good kisser.
You watched the video. Watching how he kissed her, his friends around him laughing at the scene they were witnessing.
Your heart broke but you watched it again, and again and again.
Until the video couldn’t be seen any longer for your tears.
You threw your phone on the couch and sobbed.
“How could I be so fucking stupid?”
You let your phone die that day, not doing anything or talking to anyone.
When you plugged it in the next day and it powered to life you became inundated with texts.
Some usual texts from friends and colleagues, a couple from the girlfriends who had seen the video. Some from Elias and Brock both apologising to you about what happened asking if you were ok.
Multiple from Quinn. Your breath hitched and you pressed the text chain.
from: huggy bear 🐻
oh god
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.
You’ve seen it haven’t you? Please answer the phone I want to talk to you. I want to explain.
Please, Please y/n just answer the phone. I’m begging you to answer.
I love you! I love you too! and I just need you to pick up the phone please…
Tears dripped down your cheeks and your shoulders shook with sobs.
When the Canucks arrived back in Vancouver Brock headed straight to your house, to be the one to check on you and also because you were dog sitting.
He let himself in and found you curled up on the couch with Milo and Coolie.
You looked at him when he walked in, his face dropped “Oh no… don’t cry!”
“You knew…” Is all you said, your bottom lip quivering “I saw you”
“I know, I know but I didn’t know you told him you liked him!”
“I feel so stupid!” You cried, pulled into his arms “I feel stupid Brock-“
“I know, it’s alright” he comforted you, hand rubbing up and down your back.
Brock stayed the night. As much as he wanted to sleep in his own bed he couldn’t leave you so he made home on your couch for the night.
He left you the next morning after making you coffee and assuring you were ok.
He wasn’t gone more than an hour before you heard banging on your front door, approaching the door you looked through the peep-hole, Quinn was standing there on the other side.
“Go away Quinn!”
He sighed, relieved to finally have heard your voice
“y/n, please just open the door I wanna talk to you, please I need to explain-“
“I saw the video Quinn, there’s not much to explain!”
He sighed again, leaning his head on the door “Please”
You decided that you couldn’t listen to him any longer, walking away from the door.
He stayed out there for a while, sitting in front of the door and annoying your neighbours with his continuous talking.
“y/n… I love you. you’re the one who got me out of my comfort zone in life, I hadn’t asked a girl out until I met you and I love spending time with you. I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know why I did it because it was fucking stupid and I wish it was you-“
Quinn was cut off by steps and when he looked up he didn’t like what he saw.
“Hey Quinn, man you good? She not home?”
It was Liam.
“Oh no, no she is-“ “Okay, good. Can I get in?” He asked, making Quinn move out of the doorway, reaching into the plant pot to grab the spare key you kept which Quinn was facepalming about.
“It was nice seeing you man, you want to come in and see her?”
Quinn shook his head lightly “No, I should - I should probably get home! Liam, I thought you moved?”
“Oh I did! I was at your game at Madison Square Garden on Monday actually!” He chuckled “But she called me last night, she was really upset so I came back just to check on her”
Quinn clenched his jaw “Yeah… nice”
“Anyway man I better get in and see her. It was nice seeing you!”
Quinn only nodded his head and left down the stairs.
He’s missed his chance, again.
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goatisbetheres · 9 months
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Lots of big things happened Wednesday in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-0 romp over the New York Islanders. There were records and milestones, especially for core players Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. But not Sidney Crosby.
Amazingly, Crosby had no points in the game. But don’t think he felt anything but thrilled, especially for his longtime teammates. The relationship between Crosby, Malkin and Letang is as strong as ever.
“I don’t know. It feels like it did before Christmas,” Crosby cracked Thursday after practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Yeah, they can joke like that. The three are in their mid-30s and in their 18th season together, a North American sports record for a trio of teammates with the same team. They passed the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, who spent 17 consecutive seasons together.
There have been times when it looked as if the Penguins’ three core players might be broken up, but Letang and Malkin re-signed after the 2021-22 season. Crosby has this and one more season left on his contract.
“It feels like it’s pretty good after this long,” Crosby said of the relationship among the three. “If it can get stronger, great, but I feel like it’s been pretty good. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the years, been through a lot, and it’s pretty strong at this point for what we’ve gone though.”
They have won three Stanley Cups together — the highs — and have had first-round playoff flameouts and, last season, a seat outside the playoffs – the lows. They have been there for each other during injury and medical challenges. They have been there for each other for major individual accomplishments.
All three got misty the night the Penguins held a pregame ceremony for Crosby’s 1,000th game.
Wednesday, Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five assists in one period and tied a record for defensemen with six assists overall. Malkin scored twice to pass his childhood idol, Sergei Fedorov, for second place all-time in the league among Russian-born players with 484 goals.
Crosby was happy simply to be a part of the game and witness those things.
“It’s just cool,” he said of Letang’s record. “Whether you’ve played with someone for a long time or just to witness that … There’s a lot of years that have gone into the NHL, over 100. For that never to have been done and be part of that is cool.”
And on Malkin: “He probably doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for what he’s done over his career. Just to be able to be in that company now, and to pass Fedorov, someone he idolized growing up and we all loved watching, but especially being a Russian-born player … He’s a competitive guy. He’s shown that year after year. Happy to see him move up the list.”
Valtteri Puustinen also scored his first NHL goal Thursday. Crosby has always had a soft spot for those moments among his many teammates over the years. Plus Malkin and Letang’s moments that night. Crosby loves those.
“A game like that. A game where (goaltender Tristan Jarry last month) scores. Things like that are pretty cool,” he said.
There are bound to be more moments for Crosby, Malkin and Letang to celebrate together. And moments where they simply share a laugh. All those moments add up.
“We like to keep it pretty light and probably give each other a harder time, and we do more of that than we do compliments,” Crosby said. “That seems to be the way it works out, but obviously we care a lot about each other and like to see each other have success.
“Whether it’s Tanger having a big night like that or Geno moving up the list, you’re always proud to see your teammates accomplish those things like that, and especially guys that you’ve seen do things like that over the years.”
i love my core 🥹
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hugheses · 10 months
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The Rise of the Hughes Brothers with Jim Hughes - Nov 3, 2023
transcript below cut ↴
Jeff Marek: Not exactly a secret that, right now the Hughes family, all three of them dominating the National Hockey League. Whether it's Jack with 20 points, whether it's Quinn leading all defenders or whether it's Luke trailing Logan Cooley by a single point in rookie scoring, this is the Hugheses’ NHL. We're just skating in it. Father Jim Hughes is a hockey director of player development for CAA, he joins me now. Jim, how are you today? Thanks so much for hopping aboard.
Jim Hughes: Hi Jeff, how are you today?
Jeff Marek: I'm doing very well. Let me jump in with last night. I'm gonna ask you a few things historically about the kids and growing up and the family and how in the family full of defenders you ended up with, you know, one of the elite forwards in the game. But I want to rewind to yesterday. So, you know, watching Vancouver just take apart the San Jose Sharks, I mean, it's a blowout. It's a, it's a tilted ring, 10 to 2 is the final and I'm seeing Quinn, we all are and he's just piling on points here. And after two periods, I think we're all, you know, rushing to our media guide to try to figure out, OK, what's the most amount of points a defenseman's ever had in a single game. And it's Paul Coffey and Tom Bladen with eight. And I'm thinking to myself, Quinn's got a shot. Here, like Quinn's got a real shot here. And then third period rolls around and you know Carson Soucy’s on the power play and things are sort of Tocchet’s calming everything down. Was there a part of Jim Hughes that said, ‘I want to see if my kid can set a record here?’
Jim Hughes: No, and the reason why we we know we know David Quinn and Wiseman and and and and Gordon, they're they're all on the other bench and I think I think the Vancouver staff know that really well in terms of you know they could have been maybe even goalie interference on Demko at at the end but. Everybody wants that thing to just get going and get out of there and and you know, it was it wasn't an easy night for San Jose, so. I I think it was done, you know in the right way with the right manner and and and I think yeah, I mean I I think it was it was time to put some other people on the ice and give some other people opportunities.
Jeff Marek: Interesting, that is... Listen, you're very much a hockey guy and I understand where that comes from. On my perch here. I just love watching records get broken. And right now, you know, your sons are playing on a different level. And man, New Jersey is must watch television. Vancouver is must watch television and a lot of it is because of your boys. Like when you watch them right now, like what? You know take us behind a father's eyes here. What do you see when you watch all your three kids playing in the NHL right now?
Jim Hughes: Well, listen, it's a it's a, it's a very difficult league. It's a humbling league. It's a really hard league. It's a man's league and... You kind of just keep your feet in the ground and you just go one day at a time. Yeah, they're having success because, you know, the general managers, the coaches, they've done a good job building this team and putting good teams together and adding pieces so. So the journey, you know, Jack's been at this five years now and so they're building it and it's really starting to turn the corner and you know, I feel the same way about Vancouver and Quinn’s situation, but you you're bringing these additional pieces such as Hronek, who's doing a wonderful job with Quinn. A guy like Toffoli that's playing with Jack, who's just a hockey, you know, you know, he's a hockey, hockey, hockey guy, and that's probably why Jack loves him so much because they have so much in common. But Toffoli's got so many… intricacies and he does so many things well as a hockey player, he's a hockey junkie, so. You know they've added really nice pieces and you know, just sit back and you know Ellen and I, we just, we were in the living room last night, we actually had three TV's going. We watched the U17s from Prince Edward Island at 6 o'clock and then we watched Fantilli and Kent Johnson in Columbus, and then we turned on the Vancouver game, and I think we had the Ottawa game on the other TV. So it was like we, it was a busy night here, but we, we sit here and we watch and we're, we're enjoying you know how the kids are playing and. Yeah, they, they work hard in the summers. We have a fantastic group here of about 12 to 15 players. And they get after it three times a week. And we're big proponents of, you know, when you're 20, you got to, you got to make yourself better. When you're 21/22/23, you got to keep improving. You got to keep working on your skill sets and you gotta keep climbing the mountain. You got to keep getting better. So we have this group in the summer with Dylan Larkin and Werenski and Debrincat and Kyle Connor, Beniers, and Copp, and Sanderson. Luke, Jack, Quinn. I mean, so they get going and and really they challenge each other all summer and they just keep getting better. And now that's what you're kind of seeing in, I guess you're seeing in the... In the early part of the season.
Jeff Marek: With Jim Hughes, you know, one of the things, you know, Elliot and I, every year at the NHL Players Media tour. Uh, it's always fun catching up with Jack and one of the things that he always talks about, we always ask him too, you know, how? How were the family competitions in the offseason? How was, you know, the summer golf and summer tennis and whatever games the kids are playing against each other. And I can't help but think. And you can... Can shine the spotlight on this it seems. As if this is a family where all the kids have grown up, not just competing against other kids, other teams, but competing against one another like it, it seems as if you know competition has been at the forefront of their minds. You know, since they were, you know, able to play hockey, golf, tennis, whatever it is. Have they always been like this amongst each other? Like ultra competitive?
Jim Hughes: Always, and even when the kids were living in Mississauga. On a Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, when all the hockey was done, there would be six of them down in the basement. Maybe playing, you know, basement hockey and everybody, everything has a winner and a loser, unfortunately. So if they're out playing tennis or they're playing golf or they're playing pool. There's a judgment. There's a judgment going on. And so I don't, I don't think they're trying to outdo each other but it's... It's a competitive environment and no different than the Tkachuk family or you know, we can go on and on and on, but yeah, they get after it, there's no doubt, right? You know, if it's, if it's golf, they get after it and if it's, if it's tennis, they get after it, and so they probably bring out the best in each other.
Jeff Marek: You know it. It's so fascinating too. And listen, Henry Staal was, you know, was asked, you know, similar questions about his boys as well, you know, is there one sort of common thread that's running through all the kids here? I mean, you've got three kids in the NHL, like getting one to the NHL is remarkable enough. You've got three in the National Hockey League. Like, what's the, we always talk about, you know differences between people. I'm curious what the similarities are between these three kids, that allows them to be top of their field, top of their position in the NHL.
Jim Hughes: It's a very good question. Obviously people see the skating. And we used to drive the Zamboni guys crazy because we'd have six nets on the ice and people said, “We only have two goalies, why do you have all these nets?” But it was all it was, all skating mechanisms. It was all going around nets and and it's a tight turn with explosion and a burst and coming out of the turn faster than you go into it. But I would think that the biggest common threat between the three of them is their work ethic. And I always say that to the young kids and the kids we work with. Is that the work ethic propels and makes everything better. If you have a great work ethic, your skating will get better, your shot will get better, your passing will get better. Your physical training and the gyms will get, everything can get better. If you have a high workload. And so I would say, you know that would be the common thread because you've just got to keep getting better in all areas of your game, and if you got the work ethic ingrained in you then you know, there is a very good chance that you can become the best version of yourself.
Jeff Marek: You played, Ellen played. Jim, I'm curious. You know what that you know, you know, when you, when you snatched the pebble from the master's hand, then you can leave the temple of moment was. Like do you remember the moment where the kids got better than you and what was that like for Jim Hughes?
Jim Hughes: Um, well, we've never played in the league, so [laughs] it's really easy. It's really easy. We just we support, we're we're we're, we're resources and we're- we support and listen with any of these kids in the league that get there, there's a small village of people, it's coaches and strength coaches and NTDP coaches and youth. Approaches and there's a lot of people that are involved with the process as we call it resources and so. You know we try to make friendly suggestions like we there's ups and downs and there's roadblocks and there's highs and lows and. Sometimes we try to bring the temperature down like. You know they're competitive people and Jack will say something and I'll say, you know, Lindy wants what you want. You want what Lindy wants. You want the same thing. Like relax, it's gonna be OK like. You know, like, you know. And so it's their competitive environment, it's their competitiveness. But sometimes you know, not throwing gasoline on the fire is a good idea. And that would be my suggestion to a lot of parents out there that are listening and and we're all guilty of it. And I've been, I've been guilty of it too. But if you can learn how to really message with your child, your kids and bring the temperature down and have common sense conversations and talks. I think it's, I think it'll go further and it's more helpful.
Jeff Marek: You know it's so fascinating when you look at your three boys, there's I think an assumption that everybody makes, which is well, you know what their development has been a straight line. They've always been great. They've always been marvelous skaters. They've always dominated. They make it look easy. It must have come easy to them. I know you talk a lot to hockey parents. Can you share with us some of the setbacks? Because you mentioned like development, you know this, Jim better than a lot of people. Development is not a straight line, it's a bunny hop. It's you know. Two steps forward, two steps back, one forward, three back, four forward, one... You know what it's like, can you share how many setbacks the kids had along the way and how they work through?
Jim Hughes: There's constant setbacks and you can- you can sabotage yourself if you're not careful. Because the world of youth hockey, and youth sports in general is, it's not an easy climb and so you've got to be persistent and hard working. But. It's it's a, it's a. It's a challenge in so many ways of getting there and quite frankly. At an early age, I think we- a lot of people can attest that Jack was a little bit different than a lot of the other kids up in Toronto. But for Quinn and Luke, you know for Ellen and I, all we wanted was hopefully they had an opportunity to go play college hockey in the US. Which both of them wound up going to play at Michigan. But, we were realistic and you know, we weren't. We didn’t have these grand plans of National Hockey League or anything like that. All we're trying to do is just move the kids along and hey, hopefully maybe they're good enough to play in college someday and then, you know, one thing led to another. But we didn't get, we certainly didn't get too far ahead of ourselves and, you know, the NTDP didn't didn't hurt either because it's a place that they value practices and strength conditioning. So it's, it's a good place to really propel, propel yourself if you know, and you see a Norris doing it, a Brady Tkachuk doing it, you see... You know, there's countless guys that have come out of the program that have taken those resources and used them along the way.
Jeff Marek: Between Vancouver and New Jersey, how are your frequent flyer points doing these days?
Jim Hughes: They're manageable because, you know, we went up for the first game in Vancouver and then we were on the first flight the next morning and we caught the- we went right to the arena in Newark and we caught their home opener. And then we- we caught two more in New Jersey and then it happened that Vancouver was in Philly. So we caught five games on the trip and then we come home and now we're just bunkered down and we got our televisions and we're comfortable just watching games on the television, and doing it that way too. And so I think it's important to stay out of their way a little bit. We- we visit here and there and then we get out of the way and let them do their thing.
Jeff Marek: It's got to be the biggest thrill. It's got to be great. Jim, listen. Thanks so much for parking time. I know you're very busy. Not just, you know, watching the kids, but working at CAA. Hockey director of player development. Thanks so much for parking some time with me today. Much appreciated. Congratulations on the early success for the family and all the best in the future. Thanks. So much for doing this.
Jim Hughes: Thanks, Jeff. Talk to you soon. Take care. Bye.
bonus bit from later on in the podcast that was relevant to my interests
Jeff Marek: Listen, I just had a conversation with Jim Hughes, father to the stars. What used to be Henry Staal is now Jim Hughes, and Hughes has the three boys and you know their, Jack Hughes is leading all scorers with 20 points. Quinn Hughes leads all defensemen in points and Luke Hughes trails Logan Cooley by only a single point, like right now, this is domination by the Hughes family. Can you sort of, you know, isolate these three and share what you think about these three players that are top of their field amongst their peer group?
Brian Lawton: Yeah, it's really incredible. We've been talking about it for, it really started quite a while ago, particularly in the US, NHL Network, American kids, you're going to really jump on that. I remember the first time we met Jack at NHL Network. He did an interview at the finals. And Jack was so confident that the guys completely hated him. They were like, “Oh, my God, this kid is so confident, you can't be that confident.” And as time has gone on, they've grown to love him because he doesn't do it in an evil or rude way. It's just who he is. He's a very confident hockey player. He went through hell in a handbasket to get really where he is. I mean, it wasn't easy when he came into the league. But he never stopped believing, he remained with that confidence and obviously now, I mean it's ridiculous what he's doing. So I give him a ton of credit. He's a great kid, he's fun loving. He's a character. His abilities... Everybody always knew he could skate, the first time I really ever saw Jack do anything special was at the prospects game. He got even against the player and blew by him. And it was so unnatural. I was like, that's not natural. Those two guys are equal. He's the weaker player. The defenseman is much stronger, but they're dead even. And he just turned on the jets and I just went, “Oh my goodness, this guy just has a hidden gear that he can call upon any time.” And I believe that that is still what's happening at the NHL level now. He's earned respect. Where if you go back and you watch his overtime winner against the New York Islanders, Ryan Pulock backs off him. Gives him time and space. He walks to the middle, shoots it in the net, end of game and he never looked like he wasn’t concerned about anything, and that's that confidence. But he's earned a little bit of room and now you give him an inch and he's taking a mile. So that's his greatness, plays the game with his head up way faster than you think. Not super strong. Seems abnormal he's doing as great as he is because of that. But he's no longer small. Or frail. And we saw that early on for him. He's over the hump. He's going to be a great player. He's proving it every single night and everybody seeing.
Quinn on the other hand is just magically gifted, also with the player that plays his head up. Jim did a great job with his kids teaching them that. But his skating is so incredible, his IQ. There was a play last night he made for Van where he's out at the blue line. He backs his body outside the blue line, extends the space in the offensive zone for himself to create a little time and space. And ends up just absolutely geeking the forward out that was covering him, where he's looking for his jockstrap as Quinn blows by him to the outside, comes in and takes the slapshot, ends up in the back of the net. The magic in that is the feet and also the ability to play with the head up and then, I'll say it again, another very confident hockey player. You're the last man back with the checker at on you at the blue line. If you turn it over, it's a breakaway and it's on you. Absolutely no fear, I feel like he could make that play 9 out of 10 times, if not 10 out of 10, that's special. Luke, on the other hand, we haven't got a good read on, watched him a lot at Michigan. I watched a guy, quite frankly, struggle defensively, particularly turning to one side. He really had an issue with that in college where guys were blowing by him. He appears to have really cleaned that up. Now his feet are taking root. He's really the biggest of the three brothers. His potential is untapped. I don't know why we'd expect him to come in and dominate more than Jack did his first couple years. Quinn was a little bit of a freak. He stayed a little bit longer at college. He was able to come in and really be effective if truths been known, Quinn could have left college a year earlier. He just couldn't really get the type of assurance as he wanted to, to leave Michigan. So he stayed another year, grew his game, walked in and was really dominant. Luke, on the other hand, I think it's just a matter of time. I don't know who will be the best of these kids, but you're right, this is hockey's version of royalty right now for a family that's just dominating in the league.
Jeff Marek: You know it's interesting, Lawts, because I mentioned to Jim, I'm watching the Vancouver game yesterday and after two periods, I'm looking at this and saying well, hang on a second, if Quinn gets, you know, three more points here in the 3rd and we've seen him pile up before and he's playing against San Jose. With all due respect, he's getting into that, Paul Coffey, Tom Blade and you know. Either tying or setting a new record for points in a game by a defenseman. And I asked Jim if, you know, he thought that, you know, if he wanted to go see, you know, wanted to see his son, you know, set a record last night, would Quinn have liked that? And he said absolutely not. And it's because it was a blowout and it's respect to David Quinn and no one likes being on the end of these blowouts, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, this is a guy that, I mean, that's a very hockey answer. I get it. I personally when you're, I think you I think when you're close to a record, you owe it to the game to try to try to break it like, you owe it to hockey. You know what I mean, Brian, like you owe it to hockey to try to break that record. And the other example that I cited last year was a December game between Buffalo and Columbus, when you know all of a sudden bam bam, bam, bam bam, you know we're halfway through the game and Tage Thompson has six points and we're all wondering about Darryl Sittler in 1976. And then, you know, his ice time diminished and held back and stopped shooting et cetera, but I always have felt that when a player gets close to a game record, regardless of what the score is or how the other team may be offended, I think that you owe it to hockey to try to break it, to give it a really good shot because these records have stood for a long time and when you get close, you should really go for it. Do you have a thought on that one, whether Quinn Hughes should have said, or Rick Tocchet for that matter, should have said my guy’s close to a record that's stood for a number of years, I'm going to give him a chance to break it, or you say hold on a second here. It's a 10-nothing blowout. Let's pump the brakes a little bit.
Brian Lawton: Well, from the coaches perspective, you're trying to create accountability in the room and that rises one individual above the rest of the group. And that's not inherently normal or accepted in hockey. Now, from a player's perspective, I can tell you that they're aware of these things. They'd like to do these things, but they're never going to come out and say that. I don't think Wayne Gretzky, you know, is really openly gonna  say, “I went into game 39 knowing I needed five goals to get 50, so I did it. You know, I didn't really care if we won or lost.”
Jeff Marek: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brian Lawton: You know, so it. But make no mistake, having been a player, if there's something that you're aware of, of course you'd love to do it, but you're never going to hear that from players and quite frankly, hockey players. You know, I used to be a sports agent. We used to have all sports at Octagon, they still do. They had basketball players, football players, baseball players, a lot, I've got a lot of great athletes from other sports. But I'm biased, of course, but I didn't- I, one time. I won't say who it was I met, who was supposedly the nicest guy in another major sport. And went to a charity event that he had, was really excited to meet him and he would have been like the 700th nicest guy in the NHL. Like I was just blown away. He was not a super great, nice guy. So I've always had this thought. It's not true about all players. That was a bad sample size, but it's a very known player who's still playing to this day. He really had that line and don't try to guess because I don't want to get into that and embarrass him. But hockey players are just brought up differently. Things are, you know, now it's changing when I say, you know, people at NHL Network, or a few of the guys, I shouldn't say people, were not thrilled when meeting Jack. Jack's a great kid, youth. But what's different about him than other players at that age that maybe had that kind of success is they will tell you more what they think. Whereas in my era you were really, that wasn't happening. It was not happening, Jeff. And personally, I think it's a good thing. Jack Hughes is a great kid. The fact that he's going to tell you what he thinks and that's maybe different than what was 30 years ago does not make it wrong. As a matter of fact, I think it's better for hockey. I really do. So you gotta let these kids express themselves.
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goaliekisses · 2 years
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Malkin’s teammates share what sets him apart; favorite memories before his 1,000th game
they’re all like ‘he’s so BIG AND FUNNY AND BEAUTIFUL’ and sid is like, repeatedly ‘he’s so DOMINATING also let me rattle off a list of my favorite geno goals and also did i mention, he’s so dominating? i’m so lucky to have seen them close up i’ll cherish them forever (like i cherish him)’
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Sidney Crosby still remembers the first time he saw Evgeni Malkin play.
It was the 2005 World Junior Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was the second World Junior appearance for both Crosby and Malkin, but the two hadn't gone head-to-head in the tournament in Helsinki, Finland the year prior. They finally met in the gold medal game, with Crosby and Team Canada winning the tournament with a 6-1 victory over Malkin and Russia.
Malkin made his World Championship debut with the senior Russian team later that season. Watching that tournament, Crosby couldn't help but take notice again of the young Russian prospect who had been drafted by the Penguins the year before.
"He was just dominating," Crosby recalled when I sat down with him earlier this week. "He was just 18 then. I thought he was pretty special from the first time I saw him play."
Crosby and Kris Letang were both drafted by the Penguins that summer, and Crosby made his NHL debut in the season that followed. Letang and Malkin joined Crosby in Pittsburgh a season later, and the three have been together now for 17 seasons.
Through Malkin' career 999 games, he's amassed 451 goals, 714 assists and 1,165 points, ranking No. 3 all-time in franchise history in each category behind Mario Lemieux and Crosby. When the puck drops for the Penguins' game against the Blackhawks in Chicago on Sunday, Malkin will join Crosby in the record books as the only players in franchise history to play 1,000 games with the Penguins.
I spoke with Crosby, Letang and a number of other teammates of Malkin about what makes Malkin so special and some of their favorite memories of Malkin over the years.
Crosby remembers it being "pretty hard to communicate" with Malkin during those early years together, when Malkin's English was extremely limited. Still, that didn't stop Malkin from quietly tagging along with his teammates when everyone would hang out outside of the rink.
"I mean, he didn't say anything," Letang said. "He would just come and have dinner and not say a word. He would just say the same thing, 'hamburger,' all the time. ... He was so shy earlier on and didn't speak much, but his humor is funny, like joking around making fun of everyone."
Letang was a little amused recalling that Malkin insisted on his teammates calling him "71" rather than his name back then.
Players who made their debuts with the Penguins later in Malkin's career remember being a little intimidated by Malkin at first.
"Obviously, you're pretty scared," Jake Guentzel said with a laugh about his first time meeting Malkin. "He's a superstar. My first game I sat alongside him and Phil (Kessel), I think you get pretty nervous. You don't want to mess up."
"It was a lot of intimidation on my part," Bryan Rust said. "I was probably feel a little nervous to meet him, just a guy of his stature both physically and with what he's done."
Brian Dumoulin said that he felt like he was "tiptoeing" around Malkin early on, and was a little nervous being around someone of Malkin's stature, until he realized he just had to talk to Malkin like any other person.
"I wouldn't say he's the most outgoing guy when you first get to know him," Dumoulin said. "It takes some time to get to know him and for him to open up and for you. I remember people were saying to Geno, like 'Why don't you say hi?' He's like, 'Why don't you say hi to me?' That's kind of how it was for 'G'. I mean, you've got to approach him just like anyone else. That's how he wants to be treated."
A common trend in players' first interactions with Malkin is Malkin getting their names wrong, much to the amusement of his teammates.
"It's such a Geno thing to do, to not remember names," Kasperi Kapanen said. "I don't know, I actually should go ask him now to see if he remembers my first name or not."
Consensus seems to be that Malkin's gotten better with names over the years, but it's still a bit of a running gag for a teammate to ask him what a newer teammate's name is to see what he says. Marcus Pettersson remembers being in the stick room with Patric Hornqvist in his first week after being traded to the Penguins when Malkin walked in the room. Hornqvist pointed to Pettersson and asked Malkin what his name was. Malkin paused, then pointed to the stick Pettersson was holding, and read the "Pettersson" label out loud. Players used to do the same at the yearly rookie parties, making it a game to see if Malkin knows the actual names of the younger players. He might know a guy as "Rusty" or "Dumo," but beyond that?
"That's the thing," Dumoulin said with a laugh. "He might not know my first and my last name, but he knows my nickname, you know? That's all that really matters, I don't care. He doesn't have to know my name or anything like that. It's pretty funny."
Some players think that Malkin's notoriously bad memory with names might be a little bit of an act, given his sense of humor.
"He called me 'goalie' for the longest time," Casey DeSmith said. "He's definitely a character in the room. I remember the first time he said like, 'Good game Casey' I was like, (shocked face) 'What'd you say?!'"
"He just kept calling me Jack," Guentzel laughed, recalling his rookie year. "I don't know if he was just messing around with me, playing a prank on a young guy. But it was just funny, because nobody really knows."
When you ask players what makes Malkin so special or how they'd describe him, it's that sense of humor that is often mentioned first. He keeps his teammates laughing, and keeps the room light.
"There's no filter," Letang said of Malkin. "It comes out raw with that kind of broken English. It's the broken English that makes it funny."
"His sense of humor, I think is awesome," Rust said. "He just kind of sticks to himself, he's kind of quiet most of the time. Then all of a sudden, he'll just start cracking jokes, he'll just kind of pop in there just at the right time. He has the whole room laughing."
"Every day, he always says something," Kapanen said. "He's got those one-liners that make everybody laugh, and he's just a funny, fun guy to be around. He's one of the funnier guys I've ever met. So it's been a pleasure to be here with him.
"He's always got some smartass comment to make or something sarcastic," DeSmith said.
"He's spontaneous," Tristan Jarry said. "He's just always yelling, always getting the guys to laugh."
On the ice, it's Malkin's passion, drive and skill that get mentioned by his teammates as what sets him apart.
"It's just his natural ability," DeSmith said
"He's generational talent," Jarry said. "Being able to watch him every day in practice and in every game, it's something special."
"He's passionate," said Rust. "He loves coming here and he loves playing hockey. He loves being with this team, in this organization, in the city. You can see it when he's playing well, you can see it when he's playing bad. He just wears his emotions on his sleeve and he just wants this team, he wants himself, and he wants everybody else to do so well. You can see how much he cares."
Pettersson compared Malkin to a train, and spoke about admiring that same passion Rust spoke of.
"He's fire," Pettersson said. "He's like a locomotive when he takes over the game, he's so powerful the way he drives the puck. I just think about whenever he gets fired up on the ice, scores a big goal or something like that. Like when we were in Toronto and he had a pretty bad tripping call on him then scored. When he gets fired up, he creates so much energy for us and it's fun to see him in beast mode when he gets like that."
Dumoulin said that Malkin is a "magician" with what he's able to do on the ice.
"Pittsburgh is very lucky and I think I'm very lucky to be able to watch him play for so long," Dumoulin said. "I mean, on the ice, he's the magician. You never really know what he's going to do with the puck, whether it be D zone, offensive zone, neutral zone. It's just fun to watch him get the puck and just go. He's always a game changer every time he's out there. It's exciting to watch."
"I think of him as a beast," Letang said. "He's just so strong, so big, skilled. He's kind of unstoppable when he's playing well."
Crosby said that if he had to choose one word to describe Malkin, it would be "dominant."
"The way he can take over a game is pretty rare," Crosby said. "There's not too many guys who can do that, and he's done it for a long time."
Crosby said that he has "tons" of favorite on-ice memories of Malkin, with a big one being his first NHL goal against the Devils in 2006.
"Then against Tampa, when he walked through everybody," Crosby added, referring to this goal in 2012.
"Edmonton, the spin-o-rama," Crosby said, talking about this goal from 2015.
"That Carolina game, the hat trick he had in the playoffs," Crosby said, on Malkin's performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2009.
"I've been lucky," Crosby reflected. "I got to see a lot of those close up. Those are memories that I'll cherish forever."
Letang mentioned Malkin's entire performance in the 2009 playoffs -- when Malkin led the team in scoring with 14 goals and 22 assists in 24 games -- as one of his favorite memories. He also named Malkin's goal in the last game of the 2011-12 regular season against the Flyers: It was the first (and only) time Malkin hit the 50-goal mark in his career, and capped off a regular season in which Malkin won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer, the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league MVP, and the Ted Lindsay as the league's top player as voted by the players.
Letang was asked what he thinks Malkin's legacy will be in Pittsburgh, and he thought it was a tough question to answer. He mentioned the three Stanley Cups they won together, and Malkin's impending 1,000th game, but said that Malkin's legacy to him will be something different.
"I don't remember those guys for the hockey part," he said. "I remember those guys for being with them. He's funny. He's hilarious. He's loud in his own way."
If one were to make a Mount Rushmore of the top four Penguins in franchise history, Malkin would surely be on it. His skill, dominance and passion are what has made him one of the greatest to ever play for the Penguins. But it's who he is off the ice that has him so beloved by his teammates.
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eyesthatroll · 7 months
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wip catalogue ! ft. qh43, lh43, jh86, nm29, tz11, jc37, dm91
author's note; hey everyone, mari here, just wanted to say thank you for 1k followers!!!!!!!!1 that's crazy, and you guys are so so amazing and cool and swag. i thought about doing a celly, (fun fact, i've never done one of those!) but i've decided to save that for next time and attempt to do a draft clean out.
i have 117 drafts, really just pages upon pages of unfinished work that i'd like to get out at some point. so, if you enjoy my writing, under the cut will be excerpts from fics/oneshots/series' that i haven't finished. if any of them of them peak your interest, please let me know by either leaving a comment, or something in my inbox. i'll try and work on the ones that have the most interest first, and then finish the others. if this doesn't make sense, or you have any questions, you can let me know in the same fashion.
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dad!jt compher x fem!reader
Eamon huffs out of frustration. “She’ll already marry Sammy B. by then.”
Laughter escapes JT’s lips, “and who is Sammy B.?”
He huffs again. “He has black hair, and he sits by her in reading. Why can’t I have hair like mommy?”
“I got my hair color from my dad, your papa, just like you got yours from daddy.” You explain.
“Well, I don’t want daddy’s stupid h-hair.” Eamon’s voice waivers, and the tears that he was holding in begin to free fall. He turns into your side, clutching your shirt.
This idea randomly came to me. Eamon would probably be in either first or second grade, and has a little crush like all kids have. Said crush doesn't like his hair color, and tells him that flat out because kids are menaces and very blunt. OR. Was floating around the idea of the same concept, but perhaps a teenage girl? tween girl, maybe middle school age, and the boy she likes only likes blondes, so she asks to dye her hair blonde? But obviously that conversation would be waaaay more mature. I don't know. If you have any thoughts, feel free to let me know.
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jack hughes x fem!reader (best friends brother/kinda enemies to lovers)
"You can put your drink on my tab." A voice says, coming up from behind you, a hand on the small of your back as he takes a seat at the barstool to your right. You smile to yourself, shaking your head before turning to him.
You quirk a brow at him, "I did that already."
He rolls his eyes at your answer, taking a sip of his own drink, some beer you'd never heard of until earlier tonight. You'd taken a sip of Luke's earlier, and about gagged at the taste. "Of course you did."
You shrug your shoulders, no shame in your game. You were at a bar with about a dozen NHL players, you'd be damned if you had to buy your own drinks. "I already told Lukey I'm not paying for anything this weekend."
The request: Hiii can I request something where reader and luke know each other from college and they’re at a party or bar and jack is visiting luke so they see each other and jack is interested in reader but she’s playing hard to get 🤭
I changed the request a bit, so it's set in this season when Luke is already with the Devils, and reader visits during that 5 game homestead. This would probably be a long one shot, and I like the idea of combining these tropes:
forbidden
best friends brother
enemies to lovers (but not insanely enemies)
(more below, but a different part than above)
He scoffs, his hand pushing into your shoulder, playfully of course. "I love this relationship that we have."
You quirk a brow, bringing your glass to your lips, finishing off the rest of your white russian. "And what relationship is that?"
"The one where you pretend you're not in love with your best friends older brother."
"I always did like Quinn." You respond, an innocent smile on your lips.
"No-"
You cut him off. "Plus, he has that whole Captain thing going on. Very sexy."
"He has a girlfriend!" He exclaims.
You shrug your shoulders, leaning in closer to face him. "That's too bad."
You're obviously joking, but Jack doesn't seem to catch on. "And, you're too young for him."
You shoot him a questioning look. "But not for you, huh?"
He slides his barstool closer to yours, the fabric of his jeans making contact with the bare skin of your knee. "Are you still dating that college fuck, what was his name.. Alan?"
Your tongue rolls over your bottom lip. "Aiden."
He nods, feigning a look of realization, while you both know that he knew his name. "Right, Aiden." He confirms. "The guy who leaves you on the side of the road at 3am."
You scoff, shaking your head. "That was one time."
Your eyes shoot to his palm, that has found a place on your thigh, his warm hand against your cold skin sending a chill throughout your body.
"I could never leave a pretty girl like you on the side of the road." He continues.
Probably going to have a lot of bickering throughout the fic, reader will be hardheaded and uncompromising on fucking up her friendship with Luke. I haven't fleshed out the personalities I want them to have yet so this is in a very rough stage. If you have any thoughts, feel free to let me know.
———
nathan mackinnon x fem!reader (5 year age gap)
“Today’s my 23rd birthday.” You say, before taking a sip of your drink, your attention to the right, where a man as struck up a conversation with you at the bar.
He takes a swig of his beer, his eyes roaming your body before they finally meet your gaze again. He looks conflicted, his brows tensed as if battling an internal war.
You weren’t stupid. You graduated college top of your class—with honors, and even if you hadn’t, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that you were speaking to an older man.
The only man, to even catch a sliver of your entire, in the entire bar. You’d caught eyes with him from across the room, back when you were pushed in a booth with your friends. He looked away immediately, but you could feel his eyes on you every now and again, before you finally excused yourself from the table and went up to the bar. You wore a black slip dress, your hair cascading down your back with silver glitter hair tinsel placed throughout. You didn't bother turning to see if he would follow you, you don't chase, you attract. If he sat in the chair next to you, then he was buying you a drink. And if he didn't, then you'd move on to the next.
“Happy Birthday.” He finally said.
"What happened to your nose?" You were over the birthday formalities-having received them all night. You had questions for the man sitting next to you, starting with his bruised nose, a prominent and formidable feature dominating his face that you couldn't take your eyes off of. With him looking straight at you, you could see that it curved slightly to your right. Nothing stopped the thoughts of feeling it against your skin.
"My nose?" He questions. There's surprise in his tone of voice, like he forgot about the bruise on his nose, or surprised that you'd asked about it.
"Quite the shiner you got there." You comment again, bringing your glass to your lips again, this time finishing off the rest.
"Uh-" he pauses. There it is again with those tensed eyebrows, you wished you could gauge what he was thinking about. "Work incident."
"Damn, where do you work?" You let out a chuckle. You hadn't meant to be blunt, but you couldn't imagine what line of work would create a bruise like that.
He finishes his beer, setting it back on the counter with a light thud. "I work in..sports."
"What are you like a gym teacher?"
He laughs, for the first time since he's sat down next to you. You could tell that he had a nice smile. "Something like that."
Another fic starting in a bar. Don't know how this started, but very self indulgent as I am 22 and suffer from nate mac brainrot daily ! I have no idea for plot at all, literally nothing. I'd probably want to include smut of some sort, that seems very much where the vibe is heading, but I am absolutely terrible at writing it, so I'll have to do some research and practice writing that (if you have any tips-please let me know!!)
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quinn hughes x fem!reader (debating on making this an oc)
Quinn and Reader (debating on making reader an OC!) are getting married in a week, and reader is still struggling to write her vows. Will probably be a long fic and include the wedding. A bit angsty, but a lot of fluff to make up for it. I'd probably give reader/oc emotionally distant parents?? Or maybe her parents are divorced? Not sure. It'll mid offseason, so we'll probably see a lot of familiar faces (j. norris, b. tkachuk, etc.)
Your frustration mounted as you released an exasperated sigh, the eraser of your pencil frantically working overtime to correct yet another line that failed to capture the right essence. You flicked away the eraser remnants with a swift motion of your palm, straightening out your legs and allowing the spiral notebook to settle in your lap. Leaning back against the arm of the couch, you closed your eyes, simultaneously opening and closing your hand in an attempt to alleviate the cramping in your fingers. A burgeoning headache threatened to take hold, and you could feel a slight discomfort in your eyes after hours of writing without the aid of your glasses.
A week, you were getting married in a week, and you still hadn't finished writing your vows. Admittedly, you had procrastinated until the last minute, but you hadn't anticipated the challenge to be this daunting. Your love for Quinn surpassed anything you had ever experienced, so why was expressing it in words proving to be such a formidable task? Frustration morphed into annoyance, and you carelessly tossed the notebook onto the modest coffee table before rising from the couch and heading towards the bathroom.
You were grateful that no one was home at the moment. Everyone had gone out for lunch, and you chose to remain behind, citing a lack of sleep the previous night as the reason for your decision to take a nap. While that wasn't entirely false – your night had indeed been restless – your true intention wasn't to catch up on sleep while the others were away. Quinn, being the caring soul he was, insisted on staying with you, but you resisted his efforts and practically ushered him out the door. That was about an hour ago, and you were keenly aware that their return was imminent.
Delving into the medicine cabinet, your fingers located the bottle of aspirin. You poured two into your palm, easily popping them into your mouth and washing them down with water from the sink. Gazing into the mirror, you couldn't help but cringe at your reflection. The extent of your fatigue hit you with full force – the bags under your eyes were darker than you had ever seen them.
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
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quinn hughes x fem!reader
This would probably just be a fluffy, short, domestic blurb, don't really have any other plot ideas for this.
Arriving home from work, all you wanted to do was take a shower and collapse into your bed. Tonight was an exception, with your shift extending later than usual, around 10:30, instead of your customary 9. Combine that with your regular hour-long commute, and it's almost midnight by the time you finally get home. Silently navigating through the dark and quiet house, it appears that your boyfriend is already asleep. However, as you step into your shared bedroom, you find him slumped against the headboard, eyes fixed on his iPad, headphones in.
The soft glow from the screen casts a muted ambiance in the room, the only sound being the distant hum of the city outside. Your initial fatigue gives way to a subtle pang of guilt, realizing he stayed up to wait for you, something he quite often did when he was home, even though you insisted he not.
He doesn't notice you, until you've crossed over to your dresser to grab your nightclothes before your shower, slightly jumping before dropping his iPad and taking out his headphones. "Hey, you're finally home." He comments, climbing out of his previous spot on the bed to sit at the edge of the bed, his legs hanging off the edge.
You yawn, turning around to face him. "Don't you have to be up early tomorrow?" You question. He pats his thighs, gesturing for you step over to him.
Leaving your clothes to rest on the dresser, you walk over to him. Quinn widens his legs so you can step in between them. Wordlessly, his fingers trail up your waist, to your chest, beginning to undo the buttons of your white lab coat. He slides the fabric off your shoulders, leaving only the black satin blouse you'd been wearing underneath.
He pulls gently at your collar, drawing your lips to his softly. His hands drop to your waist, gripping at your sides to guide you on top of him until you're straddling him.
"Are you okay, Quinn?" you ask, breaking apart from the kiss, just enough for your foreheads to remain pressed against each other.
"Just missed you." he mumbles, pulling you into a hug, his head finding a comfortable spot in the crook of your neck.
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
———
jack hughes x fem!reader
Toxicity, angst, angry sex, maybe second chance love, idk.
"Where have you been?" Jack's inquiry slices through the air, surprising you as you step quietly through the front door. Your boyfriend, still awake and perched on the couch, rises to his feet the moment the door closes, arms crossed at his chest, a sour expression gracing his features. Your brows furrow in confusion as you lift one foot behind you, placing your hand on the wall for balance while attempting to undo your heel.
"What?" His question catches you off guard, especially because you had left him multiple messages earlier, clearly communicating your plans for the night—messages that went unanswered, leaving you on read once again. He sighs, a mix of frustration and concern, and crosses over to you, bending down. Without a word, he grabs your knee, gently pulling your heel-clad foot to rest on your knee, his hands deftly moving to undo the straps. He repeats the same with the other foot, before releasing you of his hold.
"I don't like you being out this late," he says, the firmness in his voice evident as he pushes himself up from his feet. Suddenly, he's towering over you, and you angle your neck to look up at him, annoyance etching your face.
"Sorry, Dad, didn't realize I had a curfew," you slur with a wry smile, a hint of laughter punctuating the absurdity of his concern. With a last dismissive glance, you shake your head and push past him, your shoulder bumping into his side as you ascend the stairs to the bedroom.
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
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quinn hughes x fem!reader
Quinn shows the reader that she can enjoy her birthday when the two of them spend it together for the first time. Would be super fluffy, reader will be written to have two dads, though I might make it an OC instead.
Quinn's persistent nuzzling against your shoulder blade disrupts your peaceful slumber. With a groan, you bury your head deeper into the pillow, yearning to cling to a few more precious moments of sleep before the demands of the day pull you from its embrace. Gradually, he initiates a series of tender kisses, commencing at your collarbone and concluding at that delightful spot just beneath your neck. "Happy Birthday, Angel," Quinn murmurs, his warm breath brushing against your skin.
Gently parting your eyelids, you shift on your other side to meet his gaze. His eyes are already fixed on you, brimming with adoration, as his teeth graze at his bottom lip. The morning sunlight filters through the blinds, casting a warm glow that accentuates just how gorgeous he truly is. Even in the early hours, with disheveled hair and faint remnants of drool, he remains undeniably handsome in every retrospect.
"Thank you," you express your gratitude softly, a subtle shyness tinting your voice.
Birthdays, even as a child, never held much appeal for you. The discomfort of being the focal point, the recipient of attention, has remained a constant, and birthdays, with their inevitable spotlight, are something you've always actively avoided. Yet, here you are, facing a birthday that feels different, primarily because Quinn is here to share it with you. This marks the first birthday you're spending with him in the span of your three year relationship, and it's a welcomed departure from the usual routine. It's a rarity, considering his demanding schedule that seldom grants him time off, but you know it's because he'll be leaving for a four game road-trip on Monday.
Reaching over, his hand envelops yours, fingers applying deliberate pressure that prompts a satisfying crack from your knuckles. It's a peculiar habit he picked up from you, a subtle exchange of quirks that began when you surprised him with it initially. "I have a special day planned for you," he announces, punctuating his words with a tender kiss pressed into the center of your palm.
"You know I don't want a fuss, Quinn," you mumble, weariness etched across your features.
He senses your reluctance and responds swiftly, his touch gentle as he brushes a strand of hair away from your eyes. "Not too much," he reassures, his words soothing against your worries. "Just want to celebrate you, Angel, on your day." Drawing nearer, he shifts, propping himself up on his right arm as he hovers over you. "Will you let me?" He wets his bottom lip, anticipation palpable as he awaits your response.
A small, close-lipped smile graces your lips as you reach up, your fingers delicately tracing over the overgrown scruff that lines his face. "Of course I will." A wide grin spreads across his face in response to your words, and he leans in, morning breath be damned, as your lips meet in a soft, synchronized dance.
He breaks apart, planting a kiss on your nose, before carefully stepping over you to get out of bed. "You get ready, I'll make breakfast."
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
———
luke hughes x fem!reader (but not really)
This is part two to Nobody's Love. I finished it, but I absolutely hate it, and will basically be starting over from square one. Below is where we would've left off, but when I finish this properly, it won't start with this dialogue, it will probably open within a flashback, and this part will be later in the story (if that makes sense).
"What's going on here?" Your blood runs cold at the sound of his voice, and you immediately break away from Jack, moving with an urgency as if you'd been caught doing something forbidden. Frantically, your hands move to wipe away the lingering traces of tears that you'd shed just moments ago. But your efforts to disguise your emotions prove futile as Luke's keen eyes detect the remnants of your sorrow, and his face contorts into a mix of confusion and well-intended concern.
"Why is she crying? What did you do to her?" Luke's voice brims with accusation, his words directed at his brother.. He takes a step forward, his intent to comfort you clear in his movement. You instinctively shuffle backwards, creating a protective distance, your arms loosely crossing over your chest.
Jack scoffs, disbelief etched across his features. "I didn't do anything," he retorts, his tone dripping with emphasis on the word 'I,' subtly implying that Luke is the source of your distress.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Luke's words slice through the air, laced with an unmistakable edge. His face tinges with a reddish hue as his gaze drills into Jack.
Again, would love to give you a bigger excerpt, but I hate everything else of what I've written LMAO. Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
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quinn hughes x darcy sorokin (black fem!oc)
Basically a quinn x single mom au. May rewrite this entire thing. Also, started this months ago and loved the name Sunny for the kid (Sunny Sorokin) (no relation to the hockey player) but now I kind of hate it :)
Quinn became utterly enamored with her the moment his gaze met hers in the diner. She was a delightful surprise, replacing his usual waiter, Johnny, to collect his order. Her dark skin seemed to radiate a subtle glow under the dim diner lights, and her curly hair was artfully gathered in a loose bun resting at the back of her neck, adorned with a floral bandana draped over it. When she smiled, her dimples and the slight gap between her front teeth only added to her charm, leaving Quinn captivated and unable to shake thoughts of her for days.
Quinn stumbled upon Alma’s, the quaint diner, during his rookie year in Vancouver. Its unassuming atmosphere, a hidden gem tucked away, immediately resonated with him, providing a sense of ease. Combine that with the staff’s familial treatment, and he easily became a regular patron. Now, however, his visits weren’t just about unwinding and savoring a meal; he hoped to encounter the beautiful waitress he had learned was named Darcy (not through inquiry, but thanks to her name tag — he was too anxious to ask). Quinn relished any excuse to come to the diner, whether to be served by Darcy or simply steal glances at her when she wasn’t looking.
Quinn’s attempts to discreetly observe Darcy didn’t go unnoticed. She could sense the weight of his gaze, subtly tracking her movements around the diner. Intrigued and slightly puzzled by his behavior, Darcy decided to approach her co-worker, Johnny, to inquire about this regular customer. Johnny, with his wealth of experience at the diner, shared that Quinn was a nice guy who had been a faithful patron for years. He detailed Quinn’s routine of ordering the same breakfast every morning—soft scrambled eggs on wheat—followed by prolonged disappearances, especially during the summer months. Armed with this newfound knowledge, Darcy’s curiosity about the handsome and somewhat mysterious customer deepened. 
Darcy couldn’t deny the undeniable attractiveness of the man. His chestnut brown hair, steadily growing out since their first encounter, months ago, often required his attention as he habitually moved it out of his line of sight. His eyes, a deep brown that occasionally hinted at hazel in the early morning light. The way his teeth grazed over his bottom lip during conversation, though she was unsure if it was born out of nervousness or mere habit. Following the tumultuous chapter with her ex-boyfriend, after nearly five years, another man had finally found a place in her thoughts.
She harbored these thoughts secretly, keeping them locked away from anyone but herself. With her son, Sunny, now five years old, she couldn’t afford to be hasty. Sunny, more aware of his surroundings, comprehended things with greater clarity. She had already delicately explained the departure of his father, her ex-boyfriend, wanting to shield him from the unnecessary pain of the wondering, not knowing. And despite yearnings for companionship, she held the burden of guilt for Sunny’s lack of a father figure, and understood the importance of not rushing into a relationship that wasn’t genuine. Both she and Sunny deserved better, and she was determined to prioritize their well-being.
Let me know if you have any thoughts.
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quinn hughes x fem!reader
Quinn and Reader go to their favorite diner late after a game. Probably lots of fluff, reminiscing. Possibly out of character Quinn, not too sure if he'd be into pda in front of the wags LOL.
Hovering in the distant corner, your fingers nervously toyed with the security pass draped around your neck, its edge resting just above the waistline of your jeans. A cluster of other wives and girlfriends lingered in the same vicinity, engaged in casual banter among themselves. You offered polite smiles, but there was no effort on their part to include you, nor did you make any overtures to join their conversation.
At last, you caught sight of a familiar mop of brown hair making its way down the hallway. The impulse to sprint towards him, leap into his arms, and plant an immediate kiss on his lips surged within you. However, with watchful eyes fixed on you, you opted for a more restrained approach, contenting yourself with a gentle caress of your hand against his right bicep. "Great game, Quinn."
A puzzled expression settles on his face, seemingly oblivious to the attention directed your way, or perhaps indifferent to it. His calloused hands find their place on your waist, guiding you closer as he dips his head low to meet your lips. Your fingers intertwine around his neck, and as his towering figure elevates you slightly off the ground, he murmurs, "Thank you, baby."
An orchestra of 'awws' surrounds you, a symphony of approval that bathes your cheeks in warmth. Quinn, charmed by your bashful response, lets out a chuckle, drawing you back into the protective embrace of his side. As he ushers both of you towards the back door, he bids the women farewell with a casual, "Goodnight, ladies," leaving the echo of their admiration suspended in the air.
"Goodbye, Quinn!" Their voices lingered with a touch of wistful admiration. You couldn't help but notice the collective enchantment Quinn seemed to cast on them. It wasn't entirely surprising—your boyfriend possessed a magnetic blend of boyish charm and dorky allure that had a way of rendering anyone weak in the knees. Since being crowned captain and amassing a string of victories, his newfound confidence only added to his undeniable sex appeal.
The night air nips at the exposed skin, coaxing you to cling closer to Quinn's comforting frame. As you approach the car, the two of you reluctantly break apart. "Do you want me to drive?" Quinn shakes his head with an easy smile, planting a tender kiss on your forehead before courteously opening the passenger side door for you.
You smoothly slide into the car, and Quinn secures the door behind you. With a jog to the driver's side, he swiftly settles into the seat, key in the ignition. Your hand instinctively reaches for the heat controls, but Quinn, ever attentive, beats you to it. After ensuring your seatbelt is on, he rests his hand on your thigh, the warmth of his touch contrasting the cool night air as he skillfully navigates out of the once bustling parking garage.
"Eddie's?" His voice dances just above the soft melody of the radio in the background. Tilting your head to the left, you catch his gaze for a fleeting moment before his focus returns to the road.
"Okay" You nod absentmindedly, a yawn escaping your lips as you lean your head against the window of the car.
He peers at you once more, skepticism lingering in his gaze. "Are you sure? We can just call it a night and head home if you're tired."
Your hand descends onto his, offering a reassuring squeeze. Fatigue clings to you, but the knowledge that he's hungry and wouldn't eat if you went home propels you forward. "I want to go out with you, Quinn."
A grin overtakes his lips, and he brings your hand up to his mouth, peppering a kiss against your palm.
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
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dawson mercer x juniper hughes (fem!oc) (luke's twin)
Remember last halloween when I floated around the idea of dawson x hughes sister. I started it, barely a sliver into the universe. I also know very little about dawson other than I think he's an absolute cutie pie, so I'll have to do some research for this series for sure. Will deal with heavy topics such as alcoholism, addiction, etc, so if that is triggering for you, this may not be the series for you, please take care of yourself, love you.
Juniper Hughes was no stranger to the judgmental eyes. They seemed to trail her everywhere she went, the invisible weight of societal expectations bearing down on her, reminding her both of who her family was and who she wasn't. While her brothers excelled as perfect, professional athletes, following in her parents' footsteps, she had been on a different journey—one of recovery from alcoholism after her expulsion from school due to underage drinking.
Twelve long years of arduous study, relentless commitment to extracurricular activities, unending string of tests, and the suffocating pressure of expectations—Juniper endured it all. Only one fateful night was enough to strip away everything she'd worked for. In the blink of an eye, her scholarship to Brown University was lost, her only friend torn from her, and her dignity shattered into pieces. The ruthless media, once her cheerleaders, rapidly transformed into her tormentors, subjecting her to a public shaming campaign for her mistakes, constantly drawing odious comparisons with her accomplished brothers. The intrusive question hung heavily in the air, echoing endlessly: where had her parents gone wrong with her?
Why was she so deeply flawed while her brothers seemed to glide through life unburdened? Why couldn't she manage a regular relationship-whether it was with alcohol, food, or people, but they could? Juniper's life had always been marked by relentless effort, a result of sheer necessity. Unlike her brothers, nothing seemed to come naturally to her—school, sports, it all required double the hard work just to lag two steps behind them. Alcohol served as her escape, a means to shed the heavy cloak of perfectionism that enveloped her. It provided release, a fleeting respite from her self-imposed pressures. Juniper enjoyed the person she became when she drank, but the mornings after, the ensuing guilt and repercussions, they ruined her.
"Cleaned out the guest bedroom for you, Twinny," Luke's voice is gentle as he opens the bedroom door, ushering you inside. Juniper offers him a nod, accompanied by a faint smile, and steps into the room. It's devoid of any distinctive character, featuring only four white walls, a simple bed, and a closet. As she walks around, she can't help but grimace, the stark emptiness of the room triggering memories of your time in the rehab center.
Juniper gracefully lowers herself onto the edge of the bed, her fingers delicately tracing the intricate designs on the black and white duvet. Luke and Jack linger in the doorway, observing her with wordless, almost reverent gazes, as if any sound might shatter the fragile stillness of the room. She clears her throat, then turns her gaze toward her brothers. "Thanks."
While this fic will deal with heavy topics, I don't want this entire series to be super depressing, so I'll try and add equal amounts fluff!!
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jack hughes x fem!reader
Part of the Bless the Broken Road series. Jack gets the kids up and takes them to school for the first time without readers help. Super fluffy. Might completely rewrite it, though.
"Hey, wake up." Y/N shakes Jack awake, her hand pressing into his shoulder as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed next to him.
Jack groans, stirring in his sleep, his eyes squinting open to meet her chocolate brown gaze.
"Remember, school starts at 8, kids need to be up by 7, and you need to be out the door no later than 7:45."
Y/N leaned down to plant a tender kiss on his forehead before straightening up. With grace, she retrieved her phone from the dresser and picked up her coat hanging from the back of the door. "Yeah, I know, I got it, baby," he dismissed, though when Y/N glanced back at him, his eyelids had drooped shut once more.
She flicks his cheek. "Don't fall back asleep!"
She was well aware of Jack's exhaustion, considering he had a late game last night that went into overtime. However, she had a scheduled meeting with a contractor at the bakery early in the morning, which meant Jack had to shoulder the responsibility of taking the twins to school.
Smacking her finger away, he forced his eyes open once more and sat up, leaning against the headboard. "I'm up." He rasps, "now go before you're late."
She gives him a knowing look, shaking her head. "Call me if you need anything."
"We'll be fine." He assures.
Things were definitely not fine. Jack couldn't pinpoint when or how it happened, but at some indeterminate moment, he'd drifted back into sleep, only to be roused by a gentle poking on his forehead and a soft voice by his side. He blinked his eyes open, finding his youngest son, Adler, right in front of him, his lips curved into a pout.
"Where's mommy?" Adler asks.
Jack's eyes shoot wide open, and he promptly sits up, his gaze fixed on the alarm clock perched atop the dresser, which displayed the time as 7:36. With a swift hand running through his tousled brown hair, he mutters a curse under his breath. Adler instinctively takes a step back as Jack moves abruptly, his tiny hands fidgeting nervously, forming knots of unease in front of him.
Exhaling a deep breath, Jack pushed off the covers, swinging his feet to the right side of the bed. He gently grasps Adler's shoulders, using one hand to push stray curls out of his eye line, his voice soft and reassuring. "Mommy had to go to work early today,"
Adler nods. "So no school today?"
Jack shakes his head. "I'm gonna take you. Will you wake up your brother for me, please?"
He nods, and Jack breaks into a grin, pulling Adler into a tight hug. With a gentle lift, Jack stands up, eliciting gleeful giggles from Adler as he spins them around in a circle. The sound of the child's laughter fills the quiet stillness of the house, prompting laughter of Jack's own. Setting Adler back down, the boy immediately dashes off, sprinting back to his bedroom.
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Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
jack hughes x fem!reader (ex-situationship to lovers??)
Months ago, when Jack had insisted that you attend your first hockey game when the season started, he had presented you with one of his jerseys. It had ended up tucked away in the back of your closet, gathering dust and fading into oblivion. In fact, you'd nearly forgotten about it altogether. However, the morning after your conversation with Luke, a sudden thought about what to wear to the game had crossed your mind. You were certain of one thing: you had no intention of donning Jack's jersey. You did briefly consider asking Luke for one, but that would have been counterproductive since he shared the same last name as him. Instead, you were determined to indulge in a little pettiness.
On that particular day, you impulsively ordered a Red Wings jersey from eBay. It happened to be Moritz Seider's jersey, though you didn't really know much about him, or whether he was still actively playing or not. Frankly, you didn't care. You had no intention of cheering for the Red Wings, you simply saw the purchase as a final "fuck you" to Jack Hughes.
Reader and Jack "breakup" and so she wears a different jersey to a game to spite him. Jack gets jealous, yada yada you can probably guess the vibes.
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trevor zegras x fem!reader (bookstore owner)
Trevor comes into readers bookshop a couple times a week, begging to take her out on a date. Might turn into a 3 times he asked and the 1 time she said yes type thing. Not sure!
"Go on a date with me." Your gaze transitions from the non-fiction books that you were presently shelving to the tall blonde on your right. He regards you with eager anticipation, awaiting your response, although it seems to be no different from all the previous rejections you've given him.
"Don't you have anything more productive to do than pester me while I'm trying to work?" Your voice carries a tinge of irritation as you descend from the small stepladder.
He offers a nonchalant shrug, feigning innocence with an expression of mock sincerity. "Just one date."
You push your way past him, making contact with his side as you stride back toward the front desk. He tails you, mirroring your movements like a lost puppy, eventually leaning his elbows casually on the tall counter, opposite to where you take a seat behind it.
"Why must you deny this obvious chemistry?" He's teasing, his face leaning on his hand as he looks intently at you. You let out a huff of laughter, settling into the spinny chair.
"Does rejection get you off or something?"
Let me know your thoughts if you have any.
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luke hughes x fem!reader
Reader broke up with Luke months ago, and doesn't expect to see him again, but she does, and he wants answers. Angsty, but will probably have a happy ending.
You tried your best to move on from him, putting in every ounce of effort you could to try and forget him. You threw yourself into your work, deliberately steered clear of the songs that held his memory, and even canceled your ESPN Plus subscription to shield yourself from the overpowering sadness that welled up whenever you saw him on the ice.
You weren't angry with him; anger had no place in your heart. After all, you were the one who had made the difficult decision to end things with him. You had asked him to leave your apartment as he struggled through sobs, his voice filled with desperation, seeking answers about what had led to the dissolution of your relationship. And despite the tears brimming in your own eyes, you didn't break down, standing your ground as he tried to challenge your conclusion.
Your sadness clung to you like a relentless shadow, casting a long and persistent gloom over your life for months. The vibrant and extroverted girl you once were seemed like a distant memory as you found solace in the confines of your home. Days passed in mechanical, robotic-like motions, each one blending into the next in a monotonous blur. Even the cheerful banter and laughter of your co-workers, which once provided a semblance of happiness, now felt like distant echoes in the cavernous emptiness of your heart. And nights were spent curled up on the couch, lost in the embrace of comforting films from your childhood, each frame a desperate attempt to escape the crushing loneliness that had become your all-encompassing reality.
You were aware it wasn't healthy, and though that knowledge weighed on you like a heavy anchor, you made no effort to climb up to the surface for air. The relentless ache in your chest, filled with sorrow and regret over losing the boy you had loved so deeply, was like a suffocating fog, clouding your vision at every turn. You couldn't go anywhere without being haunted by phantom images of him, his presence lingering like a stubborn ghost in the back of your mind.
It only got worse in the weeks leading up to the Devils vs. Red Wings game. You were aware that he would be in town, and that knowledge sent you spiraling into self-pity and uncertainty. You had deliberately steered clear of any rumors about his dating life, but your mind couldn't help but obsessively wonder whether he still missed you. Whether he mourned the loss of your relationship, or had moved on to someone better – a fear that had haunted you ever since he moved to Jersey even before the breakup.
It's a rainy Tuesday night, and you impassively make your way to Walmart with one single purpose in mind: to purchase alcohol and junk food. Your plan was simple – to watch the game and numb your sorrows with alcohol. You were fully aware of how pathetic it might seem, but at that moment, you simply don't care.
You stretch up onto your tiptoes, straining to reach a tall bottle of merlot perched on the top shelf, your shopping basket hanging from the crook of your elbow. In your haste to secure your wine, a sudden, sharp pain pierces your sternum. Your grip falters, and the basket slips from your grasp, clattering to the floor with an ear-splitting thud. One hand flies to your chest, your fingers resting on your heartbeat that pounded wildly against the thin fabric of your shirt. Disoriented, you stumble backward, the voice of a concerned stranger echoing in the distance as your vision blurs and darkness encroaches.
Let me know if you have any thoughts.
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jack hughes x fem!reader
Jack spends the night at Readers apartment for the first time, and asks her to move in with him. Probably would be a short blurb, maybe 1k-1.5k words and under.
"You live in this building?" Jack inquires, his gaze sweeping over the aging building, a typical five-story apartment complex in dire need of renovation. You nod at him, shutting the passenger-side door as you step out.
"Is this area safe?" He inquires, his eyes lingering hesitantly on the parking lot.
You were roughly forty minutes from Jack's neighborhood, and while this area was a bit rundown and perhaps less safe, you thankfully had never encountered any issues.
"Uh, yeah," you respond, taking Jack's hand and leading him toward the entrance. After a moment of rummaging in your bag, you locate the key to the building, insert it into the lock, and swing the door open. Jack grabs the door, gesturing for you to enter first.
Your building lacked an elevator, so you faced a long climb to the fifth floor, where apartment 48B awaited.
As you unlocked the door, you visually cringed at the chaotic scene that greeted you. Clothes strewn haphazardly across the floor, dishes forming a precarious tower in the sink. You hadn't had a chance to tidy up before Jack insisted on spending the weekend in your modest abode. And although you hesitated, knowing your apartment was far from perfect, you couldn't resist any longer. You two had been dating for about a month, and he had yet to see where you lived. He'd casually mentioned it a few times, so you knew it was time to swallow your pride and invite him over.
"Sorry bout' the mess." You apologize, nearly tripping over yourself to grab a pile of clothes off the floor.
Jack runs his hand across the wall to his right, his fingers tracing the scattered nail gun holes. "What the hell happened to the wall?" he asks, furrowing his brows in concern.
You pause in your cleaning, turning to face him. "Oh, the neighbors like to get drunk and play with their nail gun. Don't stand too close." you warn, shaking your head.
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quinn hughes x pharmacist!femreader
Nothing started for this, but my time working in a retail pharmacy has me obsessed with writing this pairing. Might make her an OC, though. I love the idea of a badass working woman who doesn't put her life on hold just because she's married to a hockey player.
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If you're wondering about the status of Never Have I Ever, I'm gonna be honest, I may discontinue that 🫣. Sorry! I just have no motivation to write out that storyline now, but maybe sometime in the future I will.
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author's note part two: Obviously this isn't all of my wips, only some, and most haven't been edited at all and a very rough drafts, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of what I have sitting in my drafts. I also have a lot of things in my inbox that I want to get written, but I have been slacking (clearly). I also wanna do some song fics because I've never done one and think that could be cool. Again, if you have any thoughts, don't hesitate to let me know.
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False Confidence: Chapter 13
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Pairing: Javy “Coyote” Machado x Reader
Part of the San Diego Dogfighters universe
Summary: The Athletic named Javy Machado the fifth sluttiest player in the NHL last year. He’s a known playboy who leaves every game with a different girl. As far as he’s concerned he’s living the dream, playing his dream job with the dream lifestyle. Unfortunately his friends and bosses don’t agree. At 33, they think it’s time for him to settle down. You’re a kindergarten teacher at an esteemed private school. You don't expect much when you finally accept your colleague’s invitation to attend her husband’s hockey game but when you accidentally get separated in the post-game rush, you find yourself in a compromising situation with the last person you’d ever expected to meet. When his PR rep suggests a mutually beneficial agreement, your hands are tied. How long will you have to keep up the act? And how long will you be able to?
Series CW: 18+ ONLY, swearing, angst, fluff, fake relationship, suggestive language, anxiety, school system inaccuracies, hockey inaccuracies etc. There will be individual chapter warnings. No use of Y/N.
Word Count: 6.1k
A/N: I’m back!!! Thank you to everyone who waited so patiently for this update! It’s been a long time coming and I’m glad to be settled to the point where I can start writing again!
Previous Chapter // Series Masterlist // Next Chapter
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Not many things in your life have been as hard as having to leave Seattle the morning after Valentine’s Day. You and Javy had stayed up all night, walking around the Seattle center after the Space Needle, and eventually heading back to his hotel room. Despite your initial nerves, the two of you had sat on his couch and simply talked until Josie knocked on the door to let you know it was time to go. You’d felt the physical heartache as you forced yourself to walk through his door and you know it must have been showing on your face because Javy simply grabbed his jacket and tagged along in the Uber to the airport, keeping an arm around you without another word. Despite that extra half hour together you still held him tight as the Uber lingered for Reuben and Javy at the deserted drop-off area.
While you’re extremely thankful to Josie for the Valentine’s Day surprise, it’s made the rest of your week unbearable, and you could barely do anything but watch the clock, waiting for Friday. Things have gotten even harder now that you know that Javy’s back in town. He’s just on the other side of town and you can barely hold yourself back. You still have a day of work and Javy’s probably exhausted from the road trip. You tell yourself that he’s at home, asleep, and you shouldn’t bother him, that you shouldn’t be so desperate, and yet you’re aching to text him and ask if he wants to grab dinner because you’re not sure you can wait until your plans tomorrow to see him.
You’ve resorted to turning your phone off and banishing it to the bottom of your deepest desk drawer and throwing yourself into your teaching to try and keep your mind off him. It was working, for the most part at least, but now that your students have been dropped off in the cafeteria for lunch and you’re faced with your empty classroom, your thoughts run wild in the space. Josie’s not even here to keep you company. She took the kids off-campus for lunch to meet up with Reuben. You have no idea how Josie’s done this for ten years, and you’re even more impressed with how adaptable the Fitch kids are. You’ve always known it must be hard, not having their dad around so much, but now that you’re right there alongside them in the trenches, you feel their pain acutely.
You drum your fingers on your desk as you debate releasing your phone from its prison if only just to distract yourself from the silence in the room contrasting with the loudness of your mind. Your fingers itch for the distraction, and you’re so in your own head that you almost miss the knock on your door. Head whipping up from where you were scrutinizing the wood grain of your desk, your heart leaps into your throat as you meet the pair of dark brown eyes peering through the window into your classroom. Your body moves before your brain, tripping over your own feet and your chair as you scramble towards the door as it swings open. Your legs give up their struggle with the chair and you go tumbling into Javy’s arms as he runs over to catch you and you let out a screech of surprise.
“Hi,” you breathe out on an exhale as you stare up at him where you’re crumpled awkwardly as he holds you up.
“Hi,” he says fondly as he smiles down at you and you bask in the warmth of his expression as he helps you find your footing.
“What are you doing here?” You can’t keep the wonder out of your voice as you’re tempted to reach out and touch his face to make sure he’s really here. He chuckles as he leans down and bumps your foreheads together.
“I missed you,” he says like it’s nothing but it sends your heart racing and you swear he can feel it pounding through your skin.
“I missed you too,” you feel your cheeks heat at the admission, at speaking the words that have been echoing in your head all week and you’re heart stops as his face brightens into a boyish smile at your words. You can’t stop yourself from kissing the smile off his face and he leans into your touch, reciprocating in kind. Kissing Javy feels like making up for lost time, it fills you up in a way that feels like bottling up sunshine, reenergizing you like you run on the solar energy that comes from simply being in his presence.
When you break apart, you can’t tear yourself far, hovering close to him and he seems to feel the same way until he pauses like something’s just occurred to him and he turns behind him and you follow him with your eyes as he scoops up a brown paper bag that’s fallen onto the floor and comes back over to you. “I brought lunch,” he explains and you’re glowing all over again as he leads you over to your desk and hands you the sandwiches he got from a place near his apartment. The food tastes spectacular but you’re pretty sure that has more to do with the company than the food itself.
Javy asks about your week and you ask him about his. You’ve had at least some idea of what he's been up to since you spent Thursday evening at the Fitch’s to watch the Colorado game together. He leans into you conspiratorially when you ask how Denver was and you try to ignore the way the proximity makes your heart skip. “I think Bradley almost proposed,” he whispers and your eyes widen in surprise. You don’t know Bradley as well as you know Zam, now that you’ve been welcomed into a group chat with the other girls since your art show, but you know from Zam that she and Bradley are particularly close.
“Didn’t they just get together a few months ago?!” You squawk indignantly and Javy laughs as he nods.
“They even broke up for a bit in December, but that’s Bradley.” Javy shrugs.
“Wait how do you know? Did he tell you?” You ask and Javy barks out a laugh.
“Bradley’s a locked vault, Meep, and only Zam has that key. But according to her, next time they go out for pizza in Denver, the team has to come because a certain someone has no self-control.” He shrugs nonchalantly but you can see conspiratorial mirth dancing in his eyes and you can’t help the giggle that bubbles out of you. The two of you sink into a comfortable silence as you eat, content just to be in each other’s presence after the time apart before Javy breaks it.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask,” you arch an eyebrow silently as you chew, “do you think you’d be able to come to our away game in Dallas next month? It’s on a Saturday so you’d be back in time for school on Monday, and I’d take care of the tickets, but it could be fun.”
“I’d have to look at the exact date, but I should be free, yeah.” You say, smiling shyly at the fact that he’s inviting you to an away game. Somehow it feels different than going to a home game. “Of course, I’d love to come,” your heart thuds at the ease that those four letters fall off your tongue. The relief on his face is apparent and you’re confused by how it contrasts the excitement dancing in his eyes. Your head cocks in suspicion but where you’d normally bury the feeling and wallow as your anxiety sows the seeds of distrust, you feel the urge to confront Javy. Maybe it’s because he’s always been painfully honest with you. No matter how well he seems to think he is at hiding his secrets and emotions, he wears his heart on his sleeve. Maybe you can learn to do the same. “There’s more, what aren’t you telling me?” His eyes widen in surprise and you feel your heart thunder in your ears at his confirmation that he’s hiding something. It makes your stomach turn sour even as your brain screams for you to hear him out before you pull away, retreating into the hermit-crab shell in your mind.
“I…” he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. “It’s not that I’m hiding it, I just…” he shakes his head. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you, especially when you’re still at work, and I didn’t want you thinking that I was making assumptions or moving things too fast.” He’s still walking around the truth, treading carefully as he tries to slow you down and grab your metaphorical hand before you can run for the hills.
“And?” You hate how small your voice sounds. You’re supposed to be getting better. Javy’s brought you out of your shelf over the past month along with all your new friends, but it seems old habits die hard. You see something you can’t read pass through his eyes at the tone of your voice.
“My mom wants to meet you,” he says with a resigned sigh, and your brow furrows in confusion. You’d expected a lot of things, but not this. “Well my sisters too, but my mom specifically. I told her about you, about us,” you watch his hand twitch like he’s holding back from reaching for yours. “And she said she wants to meet you. The whole family usually comes up to Dallas for our away games there and she asked me to bring you.” He pauses before adding, “If you want to obviously, she didn’t ask me to kidnap you or anything.” The last addition makes a small laugh bubble up in your throat and you let it slip out to watch Javy’s shoulders relax at the sound.
You nod after a pause. “Sure, Javy, I’d love to meet your family,” your heart squeezes gently as you watch the nerves holding Javy stiff release him from their grip and you wonder if that’s what you always look like to him. “Thanks for telling me,” you murmur, a mirror of what you tell your students when you successfully get them to open up. He nods, but you can tell something’s still bothering him so you reach over and take his hand in yours, rubbing reassuring circles on the back of his hand.
“I didn’t mean to lie to you, I mean it.” You give him a gentle smile but he’s not looking at you, instead, his eyes are focused on your joined hands. You reach your other hand to guide his chin up to look at you, trying not to get distracted by the feel of his smooth, warm skin under your fingertips.
“It’s okay, Javy. I mean it. I didn’t like you trying to keep it from me, but I understand why you did, and you apologized and I accept that apology. You’re okay. We’re okay.” You reassure him and you watch his deep brown eyes search yours before the uneasiness slowly creeps out of them. His fingers close around yours in his lap and he turns his head to brush his lips against your fingers still on his chin.
“Thank you,” His voice is soft like he’s still a little unsure, but then he shakes his head like he’s fighting to keep words inside his mouth. “Are we still on for tomorrow, Meep?” You can’t stop the way your face blossoms into a smile at the mention of tomorrow and you nod enthusiastically.
“Are you going to tell me what you have planned?” You ask, trying to hide how desperate you’re becoming. Javy’s promised that he has top-secret plans for your belated Valentine’s Day plans but he’s been annoyingly vague about them since he asked you to save the day for him.
“And ruin the surprise?” He raises a cocky eyebrow that makes you scowl. He brushes another kiss to your fingers. “Not a chance.” You pout at him and he looks like he’s fighting a grin. “So impatient,” he mocks and you roll your eyes, removing your hand from his chin with a scoff that lacks any real strength. Your attention is caught by the beginnings of movement outside the classroom and your heart aches subtly at the realization that he’ll have to leave in a moment and you’ll have to return to your work like he didn’t just blow through the door and lift your mood exponentially. Once again you feel the urge to ask him if he has dinner plans but your anxiety holds you back from possibly overstepping. He’s already taken time out of his precious day off to come and bring you lunch, you don’t want it to feel like you’re smothering him. Javy’s eyes dart to the window in your door, clocking the motion outside as well and you’re convinced that you see his shoulders slump slightly, but it’s likely your own delusion. “Guess I should get out of your hair,” he says, before coming back to look at you. Normally, you’d feel uncomfortable, being the subject of a person’s undivided attention but you don’t with Javy. His eyes rove over you like he’s recommitting your features to memory and you feel your cheeks heat as you take advantage of his distractedness to do the same. You can see the exhaustion from the past week lingering under his eyes and your heart aches slightly at the idea of how exhausted he must be as guilt twists your stomach. He should be home, asleep, or at the very least getting some rest.
“Get some rest, Javy,” you implore softly and he smiles gently in response.
“Don’t you worry about me, Meep, you just have a good day.” Your brows pinch together indignantly.
“I mean it, Javy.” Your voice is sharper, your teacher voice slipping through.
Javy chuckles. “Yes, Ms. Roadie,” he sing-songs, imitating your students and you roll your eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Your brow relaxes and you nod.
“I’ll be there,” you assure him before adding, “That is as long as you tell me where we’re going.” You give him a pointed look.
He gives you a mysterious smile, “All good things to those who wait, Meep.” You’re about to protest again but the sounds outside your classroom rise in volume and you know your time together is almost up. Anxiety at the idea of Javy leaving knaws at your stomach and before you can stop yourself, you’ve reached out, arms wrapping around Javy in a tight hug. His body starts with surprise under you but he reciprocates before you can draw away and second-guess your decision. “I’m tired of waiting,” you know you sound petulant as you grumble the words into his chest, but his chuckle in your ear reassures you that he knows your words go deeper than your plans tomorrow and he feels the same.
“I’m tired of waiting, too, Meep.” He reassures you and you heave out a sigh, relishing the feeling of being in his arms for a moment longer.
***
Your knee bounces particularly hard and slams into the steering wheel as you drum your fingers on it, waiting for the light to turn green. You’ve spent the last week brainstorming ideas of what Javy’s grand plans for today would entail but instead, he surprised you by texting you last night to meet him at the arena, which seems odd since he has the day off, but you didn’t question it, knowing he probably has something in mind. He told you to dress warm but the anxiety gnawing at your gut has your brain convinced that the sleeves of your sweater are itchy. You scratch your arm for what seems like the hundredth time as you gaze at Hard Deck Arena looming ahead of you as the light finally turns green.
As expected, the private parking garage is almost empty but you spot Javy’s Land Rover and you park next to it. A quick peer inside the neighboring car confirms that Javy’s not there. You’ve been to the arena a few times now but you still can’t shake the feeling that you’re intruding as you step out of the car, wiping your sweaty palms off on your jeans before you make your way to the door and swiping the guest pass Zam hooked you up with a few weeks back.
The hallways are eerily quiet with the day off and the normally raucous atmosphere of the players and staff being absent. You pause, halfway down a dimly lit hallway, fishing your phone out of your pocket before you call Javy. You don’t hear a phone ring in your vicinity and you can’t help but feel a sense of foreboding. Did he stand you up? Even worse, are the lights about to come on and reveal a hidden camera? Is this all a prank? A familiar sense of unease twists your stomach and your heartbeat is so loud in your ears that you miss the click of the line picking up.
“Meep, are you here?” Javy’s voice in your ear makes you jump and you spin around like you’re expecting him to appear behind you.
“Javy?” You question the shadows around you. He chuckles in your ear.
“Hold on, Meep, I’m coming to get you. Hang tight.” His voice stops but the line doesn’t cut, a quiet reminder that you’re not alone except for the sounds of his muffled footsteps on the other side of the line as you do your best to ignore the dimly lit hallway around you as you await his arrival.
Contrary to his explicit instructions to you, Javy’s wearing a fitted t-shirt, arms bare and glowing under the dim LEDs as he jogs down the hallway towards you, grinning boyishly. He takes you by surprise when he doesn’t stop, barreling into you and sweeping you into his arms as you let out a squeal of surprise, arms instinctively reaching for his neck to hold on tight as your feet leave the ground. “Hi,” his voice is breathless with giddiness as he greets you, dark eyes boring into your own, mouth spread in a wide grin as he holds your body against his, the heat radiating off him a comfortable aura that you’re shamelessly drawn to.
“Hi,” you breathe back as the air comes back into your lungs and you gaze at him, lips slightly parted in surprise. Your mind goes back to yesterday and you nervously let the words on your tongue escape, heart fluttering at the vulnerable honestly. “I missed you.” His face is like the sun as he beams at you, surely a mirror of yours yesterday when he let the same admission slip. He rubs his nose against yours affectionately, the warmth rolling off his skin in waves meeting the shy heat of yours.
“I missed you too, Meep.” Your body relaxes instantly, reassured the moment he reciprocates. He puts you down then, but even once your feet are safe on the ground again, he keeps you caged in his arms, pressed tightly against him. He doesn’t seem keen on inviting space between your bodies and you’re hard-pressed to argue.
“So,” your curiosity bubbles to the surface from where it’s been percolating all week. “What are we doing here?” You ask, and you watch boyish mirth dance in Javy’s eyes as his lips quirk into a ghost of a smirk.
“So impatient,” he teases, leaning down to peck your cheek as your skin tightens beneath his lips as you scowl at him, no anger behind the twist of your lips. He chuckles as he pecks your pouted lips, effectively sending your brain into a tizzy. It’s still getting used to all this casual attention after years spent lacking it. “Alright then, my little roadrunner, let’s go,” your body instantly bemoans the loss of contact he pulls away but he makes up for it, sliding his hand unto yours and lacing your fingers together like he too can’t bear to not be touching.
He leads you down the dimly lit hallway with a familiarity you envy. Your feet almost stumble as you reach a slight incline and then you catch sight of light at the top. When you emerge into the arena, the contrast of the blindingly bright LEDs compared to the dimness your eyes have adjusted to makes you blink rapidly, struggling to adjust quickly to get your bearings. The cooler air confirms your suspicion until your eyes adjust to the blinding sight of the lights bouncing off the white of the ice rink. Javy waits patiently next to you as your eyes adjust and your frown of discomfort shifts into one of confusion. He clocks the difference and leads you through a clear door into the bench area. You’ve seen it through the glass before but you’ve never been in here. It seems laughably small considering that it’s meant to house several dozen men in bulky gear. You make your way to the boards that you’ve watched the boys swing over effortlessly, eyes widening as you see where it falls in comparison to your body, realizing exactly how much upper body strength it must take. You’re not sure you could do it, let alone piled under the extra pounds of hockey gear. You shake your head in disbelief before turning to where Javy’s watching you, seated on the bench.
“This is amazing,” he grins at your words.
“Just wait until we get out there, Meep.” He says, grin widening as your stomach drops and the puzzle pieces start falling into place.
“Out. There?” You squeak even as your brain has already descended into chaos as you glance from Javy’s smiling face to the white ice stretching out ahead of you. Anxiety rises up and claws up your throat as you realize exactly what Javy has planned. “Oh,” the word is a soft exhale and it must betray your fear because Javy reaches for your hands, pulling you closer and turning you to face him. “I can’t skate.” The words flood past your lips, splattering into the floor between you, laced with nerves and fear and you watch Javy’s eyes soften. He rubs circles into the flesh of your hands where they’ve started to tremble in his hold.
“I know, Meep,” he says and it doesn’t reassure you. “Nat told me, so I figured maybe I could teach you.” Your eyes widen in surprise as you slowly put things together. You look away from his gentle gaze back to the rink, the bright expanse daunting as it glows back at you. You swallow, fear sticking in your throat. Javy lets go of one of your hands, reaching to turn your chin back towards him, cupping your cheek, and sweeping his thumb across your trembling skin. “It’s okay,” he soothes gently. “I won’t let you fall.” The words are like hot water, thawing the ice of the nerves encasing your heart. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. You believe him.
His smile turns rueful as he squeezes the hand still holding yours. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, though.” Your heart squeezes painfully. “We can get out of here, forget it ever happened. We’ll go get some dinner and then we can eat at my place.” He keeps up the gentle strokes of fingers against your skin. Your nerves are still present, deep in your stomach, licking painfully at your gut but your heart glows at Javy’s words. “Don't worry about it, either. This day is for you. If you’re not comfortable, it’s not worth it.” The aching of your heart is overwhelming, drowning out the twisting of your stomach and you shake your head.
“No, I want to.” Your voice doesn’t sound convincing so you clear your throat, squeezing his hand in yours. “I’ll be okay. I want to try at least.” He smiles, soft, as he scans your face, looking for any signs that your words aren’t genuine. When he’s convinced you aren’t doing this for him, he tugs your hand, gently, standing and switching places, carefully guiding you to sit on the bench as he stands in front of you.
“Sit tight,” he says and you nod as he steps over the bench to fuss with something behind you. While you wait, you nervously bring your gaze back to the ice rink. It looks cold and unforgiving. A thought pops into your mind as you wait for Javy.
“Javy, I don’t have skates,” the words die on your lips as he steps back in front of you, and your eyes fall on the box he’s holding in his hands. It’s clumsily wrapped in pink patterned paper with a bow awkwardly perched on top and he hands you it, an embarrassed smile on his face.
“Sorry, it’s not the neatest job. I probably should have just gone with a bag, but I’d already committed to the paper, and I figured since it was just a box it couldn’t be that hard.” Your eyes soften as he blubbers in front of you and you take his hand in yours, squeezing gently.
“I love it.” You reassure him and you watch the nerves seep out of his body, shoulders slumping in relief. You let go of his hand so you can unwrap the box on your lap, being careful not to tear the paper too much. You know you’re going to want to keep it. Maybe you’ll try your hand at a mixed-media piece and you can find a way to incorporate it. Adding some of his work into yours. The box inside is nondescript and you open it, breath catching in surprise as you unfold the tissue paper inside to reveal its contents.
The blades of the skates sparkle under the bright lights and you reach a curious finger out to run along the surface. The skates are simple but beautiful. As you reach to pull one out to examine it better, the paper falls away and your heart clenches as a simple detail catches your eye. Along the ankle portion of the skate is a custom patch depicting the Looney Tunes Roadrunner. A surprised laugh bubbles up your throat as you run a revenant finger along the patch. When you lift the skate, you see a matching patch of Wile E. Coyote on the other skate. Your lips quirk into a smile as you look up at Javy where he’s watching you.
“They’re perfect,” you assure him and his smile widens. “I love them, thank you Javy,” you reach for him awkwardly, trying not to drop the box on your lap and he closes the gap so you can give him a hug. When he pulls away, he drops to one knee in front of you, easing the skate box off your lap and placing it on the floor by your feet he holds out a hand, and you flush as you offer him your leg, feeling silly as you watch him carefully remove your shoe and guides the skate onto your socked foot, lacing up the skate, glancing up to make sure he hasn’t pulled it too tight.
When he finishes, he takes a seat next to you, lacing his skates up with a practiced speed. Then he stands, and you gawk, looking down to see how he’s standing balanced on the blades, your nerves quickly resurfacing at the idea of having to do the same. He clocks your expression and gives you a gentle smile as he steps over to you, holding out his hands. “I told you, Meep. I won’t let you fall.” You swallow, hard, before placing your trembling fingers in his. Javy’s brow furrows and he bends down, rummaging through the box at your feet, before he produces a pair of gloves and guides them into your shaking hands. Then he laces your fingers together again. “Ready?” You nod and he squeezes your linked hands and pulls, gently helping you ease off the bench. You’re surprised when balancing isn’t as hard as you expected.
Javy carefully leads you across the rubber flooring to the small door in the boards, slipping through and holding it open with his hip and you stare at the ice. “Whenever you’re ready, take your time,” Javy says comfortingly, waiting patiently for you. You swallow before raising a trembling leg and placing your skate on the ice. You feel the blade slide through the ice and gasp. Javy’s hand tightens on yours and you look up from the ice to meet his eyes. “I’ve got you,” he reassures you and you squeeze his other hand and carefully step your other foot onto the ice. Your footing is much less sure now, and your legs tremble like a baby deer as your wide eyes go from the ice to Javy’s. “There you go, look at you, Meep. You’re doing it.” His pride is a little premature, you know that, but your chest still swells under his praise. “You ready to move?” You swallow, throat feeling dry, but you manage to nod anyway. He carefully pushes off, still holding tightly to your hand and he skates backward, effortlessly, slowly pulling you after him.
“Javy!” The surprise of how easily he moves and the strange feeling of gliding behind him forces the cry out of your mouth. Your weight feels unbalanced and your feet not having a proper grip on the ground is disorienting.
Javy slows to a stop, pulling you in so you’re close to him. Your hands grip his forearms tightly. “Easy, Meep, I’ve got you. Okay so to balance you’re going to want to bring your center of gravity lower, kind of reach for your knees. I’m going to let you go and-”
“NO!” You shout, fear gripping your heart at the idea of having to let go of Javy.
“Hey, hey,” Javy placates gently as your wild eyes find his. He’s calm and you force yourself to focus on him, to even your breathing. “Even if I let go, I’m right here, okay? I won’t let you fall. The moment you need me, I’ll be right here.” You swallow, hard. You’re scared which you know is ridiculous. The worst thing that can happen to you is that you fall and Javy’s reassured you that he’ll catch you if you do. You need to trust him. You do trust him. Despite the racing of your heart, you nod weakly.
“Okay,” you hate how small your voice sounds. “Okay, I can try.” Javy beams down at you.
“That’s my girl,” he praises and you feel your entire body go hot. His words echo in your ears with your heartbeat and you feel stronger. “Okay, I’m going to let go, okay? Just reach for your knees, you won’t fall.” Your heart thunders as Javy’s fingers slip from yours and you feel yourself start to wobble. “Reach for your knees,” Javy’s voice breaks through your panic and you feel your center of gravity shift as you alter your stance, the wobbling evening out. Your eyes widen in surprise.
“I did it!” You cry, grinning giddily up at Javy and he grins back.
“You did it!” He reassures you and then skates back a few feet, holding his hand out. “Now try to move. See if you can come over to me. Just remember, it’s not like walking. Think about how you used to skid around in your socks as a kid.” You decide against pointing out that you still do that now. “You’re going to move with your knees and push.” He skates over to you slowly and your brows furrow in concentration as you watch his motions, committing them to memory so you can try and replicate them. “Here,” he skates over to stand beside you, “just copy me, and if you start to slip, I’ll grab you.” You watch his leg and follow with your own. Your attention is glued to his legs and replicating his movements. “There you go, you’re doing it!” Javy’s cheers snap your attention from his legs and you realize how far across the rink you’ve moved. Your eyes widen and you forget to move your feet. Unfortunately, unlike on the floor, when you stop moving your feet, you don’t stop moving and you continue to glide forward. You squawk in surprise as you realize you have no idea how to stop.
“Javy! Javy, I don’t know how to stop!” You shout and Javy’s quick to skate in front of you.
“Okay, easy now,” Javy says as your panic rises. “You’re going to bring the tips of your skates in, like the point of an arrow, and keep your weight in the center.” You fight the doubts warring in your mind and try to trust Javy’s instructions, moving your feet slowly, and to your surprise, you slow to a stop right in front of Javy. You gape at your skates attached to feet that don’t feel like yours before looking at Javy who’s wearing a proud grin. “Attagirl! You did it!” He cheers, wrapping you in his arms and you sink into his before realizing that’s probably a bad idea as your combined weights are unbalanced. Javy shifts his weight almost instinctively, keeping the two of you from bowling over. “What did I say, I won’t let you fall, pretty girl.” You feel your cheeks heat as you relish being in his arms. “You did so well, Meep, I’m proud of you.” His pride warms you from head to toe and makes you feel confident. “You all skated out, or do you want to try some more?” He’s giving you an out and your new-found confidence has you shaking your head.
“I think I want to try some more,” you see pride and joy sparkle in his eyes and he helps you rearrange your weight so you can stand on your own again.
“Well then, let’s see what you’ve got, Roadrunner,” he grins at you. “You think this Coyote can catch you?” You know he could without breaking a sweat but you play along.
“We’ll just have to see,” you tease as you carefully start moving across the ice again and Javy follows right behind, sticking close.
***
An hour later, you’re exhausted and your legs are trembling from that rather than nerves as you and Javy sit side by side on the bench, unlacing your skates and trading them for your shoes. Strands of your hair stick to your forehead that’s somehow managed to get a little sweaty despite the chilly air.
“So, did you have fun?” Javy asks as he scoops up his skates, offering you his free hand to help you back to your feet. You nod, a giddy grin still on your face. You weren’t anywhere close to his level of skill but by the end, you were a lot more confident moving across the ice. And Javy had kept his promise, you hadn’t fallen once.
“Thanks for this, Javy, really. I loved it.” He pulls you into his side, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.
“It was perfect,” he agrees before he pulls away so he can see your face as he asks, “What do you say to doing this again next weekend, maybe with some more company?” You cock your head, confused before he explains. “Next weekend is Family Day, where all the guys bring their girls and their families to the rink. We all just hang out and skate. There’s a potluck after and it’s just a team bonding event. I’ve been meaning to ask you to come but I knew you didn’t know how to skate and I didn’t want you to have to feel pressured to learn in front of a bunch of strangers. So I planned this, and I’d say you’re more than good enough to come if that’s something you want to do.”
Your heart pounds even as it aches at Javy’s concern for your comfort. You nod without a second thought. “I’d love to come, Javy.” You squeeze his hand in yours. “And thanks for looking out for me, I really appreciate it.” He smiles, the relief on his face is like watching the sun come out from behind the clouds and you smile back. “I can’t wait.” You assure him, snuggling against his side and he wraps you in his arms.
“Me neither,” he says and you can’t help but feel that despite the nerves and jitters, today has been perfect. You’re glad you didn’t let your nerves and anxiety ruin this perfect day, and you’re even more thankful to Javy for making you feel safe enough to have this much fun. You wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.
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A/N: And with that, the Valentine’s Day festivities come to an end! But there’s plenty more to look forward to on the horizon! Which are you most excited for?
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imperatorrrrr · 7 months
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Twenty Two Games Left in the Season
Its two in the morning, I have New Jersey Devils thoughts, so here you go.
We have to remember last season was not the plan. I think this is the most important thing. If last season went how last season was expected to go (we're a bubble team potentially fighting for a wild card spot), this season actually doesn't look as bad as it does by comparison. This season is so disappointing because we're, of course, using the lens of last season and so is everyone else. Now. I'm not saying last season was a fluke. All I'm saying is last season really colors how we're perceiving the team this season and maybe we should put all of that into context.
We knew this season would be worse. I think we tend to forget that the expectation was always that this season was not going to be as miraculous as last season. There were no moves made over the summer for goaltending. Fitz decided that he was going to run a tandem of Schmiddy and VV. That..did not work out well for us. We also lost two veteran defensemen and replaced them with one rookie defenseman, Luke, and one basically rookie defenseman, Bahlers. Remember, Nemo was most likely not going to see many games this season. I mean, I'm so happy he did because he's a revelation, but Nemo was not supposed to be playing NHL games, not yet anyway. There are guys on the team that are having pretty bad regressions, but that's not indicative of a bigger problem, it happens.
Injuries. I cannot begin to emphasize how detrimental the injuries were this season. We have not been healthy once. Millsy was hurt in the preseason. My belief is he was always supposed to be the sixth defensemen and BSmith was gonna be our 7D. Haula wasn't one hundred percent to start. Nico gets hurt. Jack gets hurt. Timo gets hurt. We have Laser missing random games here and there. Pally gets hurt. Dougie gets hurt. Siegs gets hurt. BSmith gets hurt. Nosek hurt. Jack gets hurt again. I feel like that isn't even everyone?
Sixteen back to backs in one season. Yes, its an excuse. Yes, they should have learned how to play in back to backs. But like, come the fuck on, man. That is brutal scheduling. Absolutely brutal. Our record would look so different if we had like, I dunno, just ten back to backs instead of a league leading sixteen.
Lindy Ruff. I have already done my Ruff rant, but to summarize, that man does not know how to utilize his players properly. Until MM20 was forcibly removed from this team, Lindy was using Nico Hischier all wrong. Until recently, Timo has been used all wrong. Don't get me started on Holtzy. He overplays certain players and underplays others. He played the same goaltender on back to back nights. He doesn't switch out goalies until its too late. His defensive pair decisions are ass. And thats not even getting to the fact that his only in game strategy is to shorten the bench and/or change the lines. Its endless, really.
Now I know this sounds like I'm making a doom and gloom post, but hear me out.
It isn't over. We are still, somehow, in the playoff hunt. Can you believe, that even with all this adversity we've faced this season, there's still a chance they could squeak in?
Fundamentally, the team is not the issue. I think thats really important. I think there's been a lot of questions around whether last season was a fluke or that these aren't the guys that are going to lead the Devils to a Cup run. I truly don't think thats the case. Do we need a goalie? Yeah. But Dawsy is showing signs of being steady. Akira is showing signs of being steady. Even VV had a handful of good games before he was sidelined. They probably aren't our main guy moving forward, but I'm not going to sit here and hate on goalies man, thats absolutely not my MO. We have the pieces. We really, really have the pieces. When they're played correctly and put with the right linemates, our stars can really shine. Siegs was having a pretty brutal year, but you see him getting back to shades of himself when he's paired with Nemo. Kevvy was also having a bit of a bad year too, and his last, what, ten or so games, have been lights out. I think Johnny and Luke together really work. Loads of people were bemoaning the Timo trade and look he's played properly and he has like what four or five points in his last four or five games. You find the right line combos for our top six/top nine, and oh man can we really get cooking. There's going to be growing pains sure, but you have to remember how young this team is. But we have the pieces. We have our core. The elements are there. This team has the foundation to truly fly.
This young team is learning to deal with pressure. That is the main difference between last season and this season. There weren't any expectations for the Devils last season outside of whatever internal ones they had in their locker room, so everything was gravy. This season, however, this season you have a lot of external pressure. Being named Cup favorites or Cup contenders by every major NHL media source in the summer and in the lead up to the season, that is very new for the majority of the guys on this team. And they're gonna have to learn how to respond to it. And it may be painful. You know I'm the first person to rag on Lindy, but I think his comment about the pressure from the reporters leading to the unsuccessful powerplay was actually really telling. These Devils have not had to deal with any expectations. And now they do. And dealing with that mentally and not letting it affect your game is a learning process, its a growing process. How do you silence the doubt not only from the outside but internally within yourself? That isn't automatic. Each of these guys needs to figure it out. And they will. Together. This is not a case of these boys getting too high and mighty on themselves because everyone thought they'd cruise to the playoffs. No. Not at all. This is a case of being in a brand new position in the NHL and figuring out how to navigate it.
This season is not a disaster. Now, I'm not saying this season isn't cursed. It definitely is. But its not a disaster. Its not a write off. Its part of the process. Its part of our window. Our window, which remember, only really opened last season and even then it opened at least a season earlier than everyone expected, is at its very beginning stages. Its frustrating to see them seemingly "waste" a year of prime Jack, Nico, Jesper, Timo, et al, but its wrong to look at it as a waste. It isn't a waste. This is why they call it a window and not like a singular shot or whatever.
I think I'm ceasing to make sense now and it is past three in the morning, so I'm going to stop typing.
TL;DR: I love the New Jersey Devils. I will always love the New Jersey Devils. I refuse to hate this team. I refuse to say this team sucks. I refuse to give up on this team. We've had a tough season. It isn't over though. And I hope we get to see them play some fun hockey as we have a little over a month of regular season hockey left to play.
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foxglves · 2 years
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leon is the most boring girlie in the nhl and there's so many of them and yet
his absolute loserness is whats saving him. if he just went out there and scored goals and gave generic press answers I would not care about him at all!!! nobody would. but instead he goes out there and scores goals and also absolutely embarrasses himself bonking into the side of the penalty box, faceplanting trying to score an eng, missing every shootout attempt he takes, almost knocking himself out trying to check an opposing player, doing random petty shit for no reason (these are all off the top of my head things he has done just within this season). and on top of that he gives the most freak press statements imaginable constantly!!! he's trying and failing to be funny he's going off on the media he's accidentally starting beef with an opposing player that the press will talk about for weeks and the tumblr girlies will talk about forever (the consequences "I would probably get off the ice" has had on the hockeyblr ecosystem are vast and incalculable). Its truly impressive how despite being one of the most talented players in the nhl right now (and probably ever) he still manages to be one of the most awkward embarrassing uncool people I have ever seen. he has never handled anything with grace in his entire life. I could write essays about this. dissertations even. I'm just so incredibly abnormally obsessed with this random ass guy
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