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T. Seguin - Back Road Part 3

A/N: Happy Holidays ya filthy animals.

Part 1 Part 2 "No, it's different."

You can hear Tyler getting frustrated with whomever he's on the phone, but you don't want to interrupt, staying in the foyer, quiet until he can finish his conversation.

"Well, she's coming and you'll just have to deal with it. I don't know what to tell you," that's when you decide to make yourself known, not wanting to eavesdrop on things you shouldn't hear.

You open the front door behind you and close it a bit louder this time, "Hiii. I'm here?"

"In here!" He shouts from the kitchen and you follow his voice after dropping your bag on the sparkling floors in the entryway. He finishes his conversation in hushed tones you can't quite make out over the sound of your sandals on the hardwood.

When you finally get sight of him in the kitchen he's drinking a water bottle, shirtless, and shoving his phone in his pocket.

"Do you like, ever wear a shirt?" His distraction technique is honestly flawless. You'd be hard pressed to recall what he was saying only a few scant seconds ago as your eyes take him in.

He's positively preening, and you're sure he's flexing his chest muscles. So you do the mature thing and push him away from your person before you can do anything stupid like run your tongue up his abs and make him think his macho posturing is sexy.

Like it is, but he can't know that.

You've only been seeing each other for two-ish months, but he's been great. Really attentive and sweet, calling you nightly even when he's traveling for work.

He has some free time coming up, a weekend to be exact, and he invited you to his family's cabin in Canada. You weren't sure you were there yet- as a couple, but as Bridget Jones says, "It can't be just a fling, a mini-break holiday means true love." Which is definitely pushing it, but you're not going to pretend it doesn't make your heart flutter that he's bringing you home to meet his family.

You spend the night at his place to make the shuffle in the morning easier since he lives closer to the airport than you do. He promises no funny business since you're leaving before dawn the next morning.

Tyler sticks to his promise and you both sleep soundly in the same bed, jolted awake by the ringing off your alarm, but excited nonetheless for your trip.

Boarding the plane at ass o'clock in the morning sucks, but is made better by being in first class- Tyler insisted on paying. It seemed like a bit much, but he persuaded you:

"I'm making you go.” “You're losing out on tips. At least let me pay.”

“It's not even like we need a hotel…

“You can make it up to me in other ways."

It took a few days for him to convince you, but you eventually gave in, insisting you'll do most of the cooking, and cleaning while you're there, ensuring you earn your keep.

You're happy he convinced you because it is infinitely easier to fall asleep in first class and you're pretty sure you're going to hate going back to economy class after this.

He nudges you awake when you land, "Hey, sleepy, lets go." He already has both carry-ons, so you grumble at being woken up, but you trudge through the airport a step behind him as he texts his mom to let her know you've landed safely.

"No one else is coming up until a little later, we'll have the place to ourselves for a few hours." He gives you what you assume is meant to be a meaningful look, but you can't be bothered to flirt when it's pre-9 am.

"Good, maybe I can take a nap."

_________

When you pull up it's actually really picturesque, lakeside and a far cry from his McMansion back in Dallas. He parks the car on the crunching gravel before getting out and grabbing the bags from the trunk.

You try to pull yours away from him a few times, but he won’t let you carry anything. It’s ridiculous, since all you brought is a weekender sized luggage and you’re certainly capable of carrying it yourself, but it is nice that he’s a gentleman, so you don’t make too much of a fuss.

He unlocks the door and it’s just as beautiful as his house back in Dallas, bright and big, gorgeous hardwood throughout the whole open floor plan with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the lake, glistening in the early morning sun.

It’s really, really beautiful- serene and calm, but you really, really want to nap, so you're not a cranky mess when you meet his family.

As he drags you through the house and to the stairs, you yawn and he gives in, “Okay, okay, point taken. We can sleep.”

The door he chooses at the end of the upstairs hall opens to a big bedroom, probably the master, if the balcony overlooking the lake outside is indicative of anything. You wiggle out of your hoodie and pull back the blankets, “Should we be sharing a room? Is your family going to think I’m slutty.”

He doesn’t answer directly, but rolls his eyes so hard you get the point. “I’m just trying to make a good impression. I don’t know!”

“They’re not going to think that,” he peels back the comforter on his side of the bed and tugs off his shirt before lying down next to you. “I don’t bring girls around here often…" he considers, "... ever?” He rolls toward you and lets his leg rest against yours. It’s too hot for any more body contact than that, so you don’t mind.

You're nervous for what's going to happen when you wake up. The excitement of being on vacation with Tyler giving way to a very real fear that his family will hate you; you already overheard whoever he was talking to last night not wanting you to tag along on family time.

You can't help it as you mash your eyes together and whisper, “Tyler?" He hums, eyes closed, sleep already setting in, “Who were you on the phone with last night when I got to your house?”

His eyes open, “My sister, why?” his mouth is set in a straight line, jaw tight, and you’re not sure you should continue your questioning, but you’re so nervous and you need your questions answered.

“I overheard a little of what you said to her when I walked in. I didn’t mean to, but I did,” he doesn’t say anything so you continue. “It didn’t really seem like she wanted me to crash your family weekend.” You choose your words carefully, not wanting to offend or point fingers at his sister before you’ve even met her.

“I don’t really care what she wants,” Tyler pulls you towards him into his bubble of warmth.

“That’s not nice, Tyler,” he leans in close and kisses you on the nose.

“You’re right. Still don’t care though. We’re going to have a good weekend,” all you can do is sigh, hope he’s right, and close your eyes to slide into your nap.

_________

When your alarm goes off, it’s time to face the music, so you stretch and roll out of bed, ignoring a grumbling Tyler behind you.

You shower in the adjoining bathroom; even that has a stunning view of the lake. Tyler starts making noise from the bedroom as you're swiping on mascara in the mirror and letting your hair air dry. He pops his head in the bathroom after knocking, "Hey, they said they'll be here in 30 minutes. I'm going to order in so we can eat when they get here. I'm starving." Nodding your assent, you brush through your hair again and check your reflection for the thousandth time.

Standing over the two outfits you’d laid out on the bed, you settle for the high-waisted shorts and a flowy blouse. Nothing too short, and nothing too tight, you don’t want to come across at all tawdry the first time you meet his family. As you slide on your sandals you can hear a ruckus downstairs, paired with a whole bunch of female voices.

Time to face the music.

After a deep breath and one last look in the mirror to smooth down your outfit and triple check that your shorts aren’t showing any cheek, you make your way down the stairs.

_________

You can tell immediately that Tyler’s mom is effervescently happy to meet you. She pulls you into a hug and takes the chair right next to you at the table as Tyler tips the delivery driver and plops down a few pizza boxes on the counter. Tyler eyes her warily and sits down on your other side. He rests his foot against yours under the table and catches your eye. The move is clear, we’re in this together. It’s comforting.

After everyone has dragged a slice of pizza onto their plate and chewed a few bites, his mom can’t seem to hold out any longer.

“I don’t know if he’ll be mad at me for saying this, y/n but this is the first time Tyler has brought a girl to the lake.” His foot nudges yours gently.

“Yeah, he mentioned that earlier,” you sip your water and continue, “I think it was supposed to calm me down but it just put the pressure on!” She smiles. It’s warm and that calms you down more than anything Tyler could have said.

His younger sister, Cassidy, pipes up, “It’s just us, no reason to be nervous. We’re not his fancy Dallas friends.” You take it as a win, but you’ve still yet to get more than a sideways glance from his elder sister, and you’re sure she’s the one who was on the phone, protesting against him bringing you along.

You can’t blame her. They live so far and she probably rarely gets to see him, it makes sense that she’s less than thrilled at you tagging along, taking up their family time.

It makes you want to prove her wrong, show her you’re not that clingy girl looking to drive a wedge between him and his family. You're just not sure how.

_________

When the wine comes out after dinner things get easier.

Jackie disappears into a closet and returns with Scrabble. Tyler is good, which (you’re embarrassed to say) surprises you, always ready to judge a jock. As your glasses empty and refill a few times the game gets progressively sillier. You challenge Tyler a number of times.

He confidently lays down “playwrite” and starts to tally up his total before you get a better glimpse at the board and shake your head. “Uh-uh, I don’t think so! Pick that up!”

He looks at you adamantly, “What’s wrong with playwrite?! It’s one word!” He gestures his hand toward the board.

“That’s not how it’s spelt! It’s W-R-I-G-H-T!” Tyler squints his eyes at you, tilting his head to the side like you’re being purposely difficult.

“That makes absolutely no sense, they write plays!”

You cross your arms over your chest, “Doesn’t matter, it’s wrong!”

Tyler matches your stance, “Is that an official challenge?”

When you look over at the rest of the table you can see his mother is barely holding in a laugh as his sisters smirk up at his ridiculously defensive stance. The score is close and the letter bag is empty. The G is resting on a triple letter, the P on a triple word and you hope to God you’re not too drunk to remember how to spell. You nod solemnly, watching Tyler grab his phone.

He types something out and you can tell you're right the moment his expression softens and deflates.

“Fine,” he pulls a few of his letters off the board and leaves only “write" remaining, before adding up the score and writing it down on the paper next to him. Candace runs through all of her letters on her next turn and you all have to subtract your remaining letters from your own scores. She beats you by 3.

After boxing up the game and tidying the table, you all sleepily stumble up to bed, exhausted from all of the travel and wine. Tyler kisses his mom goodnight and hugs his sisters. You do this awkward hug with his mom, not sure if you’re there yet, but she wraps her arms around you and says “Night hon,” so you’re probably overthinking it. His sisters call out a good night to you before they head into their rooms, but no one looks sideways at you and Tyler entering the bedroom together, so you take it as a small victory.

_________

Scrubbing off your make-up in the bathroom is exhausting, but a necessary evil, so you stand in front of the mirror again reflecting on the past few hours, the night coming full circle.

“I can hear you dissecting every word that was said tonight. Come to bed, babe. It’s not that real,” Tyler’s footsteps creak on the hardwood and alert you to his presence before you can see him in the mirror behind you.

“Do they like me?” You put down the wash cloth and turn to him. “I’m nervous. Help meee,” you’re only half kidding as you whine and stick out your bottom lip hoping Tyler takes pity on you.

He does.

He wraps you up in his arms and your face, still damp from washing it, leaves wet blotches on his t-shirt. “They like you just fine, you psycho. Relax,” he kisses the top of your head. “I like you that’s all that matters.”

Stepping back you look up at him, “Eh.” You smirk and he calls you a little shit before kissing you hard on the mouth. His hands trail down your back to your ass, squeezing once before he reaches for the front of your shorts.

“I don’t think so mister. Your family is here!” you chastise him in a harsh whisper. He rolls his eyes but lets go, dragging his hands back around to your butt. He rolls his eyes, but leans down and kisses your neck.

“Fine, but just know that I’m sad about it,” the way he whispers it into you ear has you second guessing your decision, but it’s still hard to hold in the laugh.

“Noted, but just know that I don’t care.” You let him drag you to bed and lave soft kisses down your neck before you fall asleep.

_________

When you all tumble out of bed the next morning the sun is shining. It glints off of the water making it sparkle in the summer heat and everyone quickly decides to spend the day on the lake.

You always feel a little scrubby next to Tyler when he’s half naked. He’s hard and toned, barely an ounce of fat on his lean body. Meanwhile, you know it’s obvious that you don’t spend enough time in the gym and definitely love carbs.

As soon as he invited you to the lake, you went out and bought a new bathing suit. It sits high enough on your torso to hide your lower belly and nip in flatteringly at your waist while the top lifts and supports as much as you could hope for, so you think you look okay.

When his sisters make their way out on the dock you instantly want to wrap yourself up. You know you’re built differently, but it doesn’t stop you from unhelpfully comparing your bodies. They’re long and lithe, and you feel nervous that they’ll find something to pick apart and cement their dislike of you.

After a few minutes, your fears dissipate. Everyone is enjoying a relaxing day in the water and no one is staring at your thighs like they’re offended. Candace even tells you she likes your suit, so you know you’re being silly and remember that you have nothing to be self conscious about. Life isn’t a teenage rom-com and no one cares if you have some cellulite on your butt. It helps that you catch Tyler sliding his sunglasses down his nose and winking at you when his sisters aren’t looking. It makes your heart freeze before thumping wildly against your ribcage.

You take turns getting dragged around the water on an inner tube as Tyler speeds the boat along the empty lake. Jackie shouts to be careful from the dock, drenched in the shadow of her sun-hat looking truly terrified. Everyone laughs and waves at her, cheering when Tyler jerks the boat around trying to throw you all off of the tube.

When the sun starts to set you hop in the shower and everyone ditches their bathing suits for a bath and dinner. Tyler grills up burgers outside and you all sit on deck around the table, laughing and eating, less tense than the evening prior.

As the sun fully sets it gets chilly on the water, so you all head inside and start up a game of rummy. It’s friendlier than the game of Scrabble. It turns out none of you are very good at remembering what another player picked up and you are all holding a meld that someone else is also trying to build.

Jackie wins, she claims she’s had longer to learn strategy and you all boo her, chucking your cards into the middle of the table before heading up to bed, thoroughly worn out from the long day on the water..

_________

Sunday passes largely the same way. Tyler lets you all take turns driving the boat, which is simultaneously the most fun you’ve ever had and the most terrified you’ve ever been.

“Cassidy barely got her license and Candace has a lead foot. I don’t know what I was thinking!” He looks over at you, hat backwards on his head and looking bronze from head to toe. You can barely process what he’s saying when he looks like this, but his sisters squawk at his unfair assessment.

“I only failed one time!” Cassidy shouts over her shoulder.

Candace nods, “And I’m the one who taught you how to drive, little brother. Have some fucking respect for your elders!” Candace sniffs, offended, and turns back towards the bow.

After Tyler has insulted everyone’s boating abilities, he breaks out some paddle-boards from the boat garage. Turns out paddle boarding is not a hidden talent of yours. You’re far too clumsy to stand up for any length of time. All three siblings are athletic enough to maintain balance while laughing and shouting pointers at you to no avail.

That night's dinner is a little subdued because you all know you’ll be leaving in the morning and your little bubble of vacation is about to pop, but you feel like you've made headway with Candace. She sits across from you at dinner and asks about your life back in Texas and seems genuinely interested in your answers, even if it is just about the diner you work in or where your little apartment is in relation to Tyler’s house.

You know you're correct when she drags you in the house to get stuff for smores as Tyler lights a fire up in the yard. You're in the middle of grabbing the graham crackers when she corners you in the pantry.

"I just wanted to apologize," she looks you directly in the eye and it's a little unnerving.

"For what?” you shrug, not wanting to let her know you overheard Tyler on his phone call with her.

"I just… I wasn't sure about you. But I'm actually really happy my brother brought you around." You smile and she does a little too, but continues, "It's hard to tell who's with him for the fame and the money and who actually likes him for his dorky self."

Her face drops when your brows knit together in confusion, "The fame?"

It's her turn to look confused, "Yeah? Because of the…" she tapers off, tilts her head to the side, and you can see the family resemblance in the mannerism, "Did that fucking idiot not tell you what he does?"

"I just-” she stares at your with her brows knit together and it’s hard to continue, “I assumed he was an athletic trainer of some sort,” you start. "He travels a lot, and he's in good shape and, you know- it's Texas. Football’s big there. The players need to condition…"

She's shaking her head in her hands and you don’t know how this conversation went south so fast.

"Okay. I'm going to tell you a secret. Please don't clue him in that you know...” She types into her phone, manicured fingers tapping gently against the glass. When she spins her phone around the Google search results have everything clicking together in your head. “Buuuuuut he's kind of a big deal."

"Are you kidding me?"

Candace looks stricken, eyes wide and palms out in front of her.

"You can't tell him I told you. He'll kill me. Please don't be mad. You can understand why he'd be cautious…"

"I won't say anything. I just can't believe I didn't think of it. He's such a dope." You roll your eyes but start heading out of the pantry. "C'mon, they're going to get suspicious," you nudge her shoulder with yours so she knows you're okay. Candace looks relieved and follows you outside with the marshmallows.

Your flight leaves early in the morning and you say goodbye over breakfast before loading up the car and driving to the airport. You're too tired to be mad at him for keeping you in the dark. You hate to say it, but you understand. By the time he drops you off at your house and kisses you goodbye, after thanking you for spending time with his family, you're so soft for him you forget why you were ever angry in the first place.

_________

He’s not quite sure what to do now. It’s been so long. They’ve been dating for almost five months at this point. She’s been to his house, knows his dogs; she met his mother for Christ’s sake.

With camp coming to an end and pre-season looming in the very near future, he’s out of time.

So, he has her over. He makes her grilled cheese and pours her wine, just like the very first time he ever got her to come back here. He hopes the nostalgia will soften the blow of the bomb he’s about to drop.

She sits there in her leggings, wrapped up in one of his sweatshirts. It’s now or never and he knows it. Has to spill the beans before she sees his face plastered on commercials and all over downtown Dallas next to Jamie’s on a billboard.

He's casual, "So I, uh, have a little bit of a confession to tell you."

She looks up and stops chewing, eyes wide and brows high. She puts her grilled cheese down and has a sip of water before turning to him, hands in her lap. “That sounds ominous.”

He doesn’t know what’s about to happen, but he knows he can’t put it off any longer, “I didn't really lie, but I've definitely omitted some truth. We're getting really close, so I think it's only fair that I tell you what you're getting yourself into."

She nods, picks her grilled cheese back up and picks at the crust, “You have some bodies buried under the pool or something?”

He loves her.

“No, nothing like that,” he sips his wine. "I, Uh. I'm…" he pauses and she nods for him to continue. "I’m a little famous? I play in the NHL and that's why I'm always traveling and my work schedule is so crazy."

There. It’s out in the open. She can reject him if she wants, but he did what was right. The silence stretches on as she chews her dinner thoughtfully and he has a mini-panic attack thinking of everything that can go wrong. He hardly had her buy in at the beginning of this relationship; could this be the weight that breaks the tenuous string of trust she gave him?

He doesn’t say anything. Just waits for her and bounces his knee up and down, needing to do something to loose the frenetic energy building up in his body.

She swallows the bite of grilled cheese in your mouth and nods, "Yeah, I know."

The first thing he feels is relief. It’s cool and soothing and coats his body. The second thing he feels is utter bewilderment. "You know?" It comes out more accusatory than he intended. He’s just… shocked is all.

Nodding, she answers. "Yeah I've known for a while. Like a month now I think?"

He can’t even string a whole sentence together. The only words leaving his mouth are half questions, “Who? I don’t- When did you? What?” She bites her lip to stifle a laugh and he takes a breath and tries again.

“How did you find out?”

She barely shrugs, gently lifts one shoulder and pats him on the knee, “A good investigator never reveals their sources…” He shakes his head, “but maybe it was a certain sister, who shall remain nameless”

It takes a minute or two for him to settle, but he stops and lays both of his hands on her knees. "It’s just as well I guess. You're okay with that? With my life?" He has to know she’s all in, just like he is. She won’t block his number and ghost him when she catches sight of the cardboard cutout of him that some of the bars downtown display as mostly a joke.

She lays both of her hands midway up his thighs, stares into his eyes and grins, "I don't scare easily." Her smile is devastating and his heart explodes in his chest. She’s not going anywhere. She’ll still have him. All of him.

He can’t help himself and he leans down and lays a kiss on her lips- mouth salty and soft. It’s sweeter somehow, with nothing separating them, "What a coincidence. That happens to be my favorite quality in a girl."

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