not sure what exactly you're looking for but! here are some of my faves (and i may be a little biased). this list is not exhaustive!!
i know the end by pokechetkov ( @pokechetkov ) - frederik andersen & pyotr kochetkov (+eventual slash), ch 1/?, rated M, medieval fantasy au
lights up (do you know who you are?) by twenty_three_hours_to_midnight ( @twenty-three-hours-to-midnight ) - seth jarvis/andrei svechnikov, 13.2k, rated E, alternate timelines
lying on the internet by yehetno - seth jarvis/andrei svechnikov, 11.9k, rated G, seth jarvis pretends to be svech on twitter
everyone is a curse, or something worse by kojafras - andrei svechnikov/pyotr kochetkov, 1.4k, rated T, zombie au. tw for things related to zombies.
the end of beginning by pokechetkov - joel nyström/alexander nikishin, 26.3k, rated E, chronicles the time since nystrom got the call up from chicago
Measuring Up by Oh_brother - seth jarvis/andrei svechnikov, ch 15/15, rated E, slow burn bdsm au where jarvy "learns" to be a better dom
harsh and dreadful thing by unfunfetti - pyotr kochetkov/alexander nikishin, ch 7/?, rated E, bdsm au where pk is given the responsibility of housing the new russian guy. read tws!
take it off (cannonball) by toreadorbaby ( @toreadorbaby ) - joel nyström/alexander nikishin, 3.2k, rated E, genderbent nikistrom hotel sex
hurtin' deeply inside by seneystretch ( @sexuallyvague ) - joel nyström/alexander nikishin, 7.8k, rated E, bloodplay after nystrom got hit in the face with the puck. tw for blood, if that needs saying.
you're gonna go far, kid by itsamoose ( @sadmoooose ) - jackson blake/the canes locker room, 6.2k, rated E, rookie free use!
i tried to put a variety! happy reading! (+if any authors mentioned aren't tagged and u want me to just lmk!)
p.s. i also have a few things cooking whenever i can get myself to finish writing/editing :3
summary: 3 times the engagement was a secret and 1 time it wasn't.
word count: 1,698
note: this is a fic written for @isconnormcdavidok as part of a server exchange run by @mp0625 💚
It never ceased to amuse Eva that seeing the other WAGs was like seeing a friend you hadn’t seen in months. It had been 2 days since the last home game, and yet it would still be all hugs, kisses and tell me what I’ve missed. Some of them weren’t at the game so Eva could talk about dragging Andrei along to Christmas with her folks, at least. Everyone else would get a somewhat rehearsed story about her plans for starting the New Year off on the right foot.
It was only ever so hard during the holidays when everyone always expected a big, grand tale every time they saw each other.
And only more so of a big deal because she was keeping a secret.
A large secret.
A secret taking up quite a bit of real estate on her left hand.
1.
Eva sighed at the line up of cars in the driveway and on the street outside her parents’ house. She had tried so hard to not be late for once, and she thought she was doing an excellent job.
Andrei assured her that they were, actually, only fifteen minutes late, which was the most on time Eva could ever remember being and her family would hopefully be impressed by that fact.
They made their way to the front door, arms so loaded with presents that she had to awkwardly press her nose to the doorbell because neither of them could free a hand to let themselves in.
A nervous buzz zipped through Eva’s body, her body bursting to tell her family news they’d been waiting to hear for what felt like forever, and she had her mouth open to spill it as soon as the door opened in front of her—except she was grabbed by the arm, her cousin letting out an exasperated “finally”, and hauled into the living room where the entire family was waiting.
Eva looked at Andrei, about to ask him if this was all his doing, to ask if he’d planned this, only to be met with him staring back at her and about to ask the same thing.
There wasn’t any time to work it out between them, though, because Eva’s sister was pulling her husband in front of them all and announcing that she was pregnant. Eva’s left hand got suddenly heavier.
It didn’t matter, though, that it had to put their plans on hold—and there was no question that that had to be the case—Eva used the now empty couches to unload presents from her arms, taking the ones Andrei was carrying.
“We’ll still be engaged tomorrow,” she whispered to him, the pressure of his hand on her upper back settling her.
His laugh was deep but soft when he said, “I know, Zolotse. I know.”
Eva joined the line to celebrate her sister and the pregnancy that she had all but given up on ever happening.
No effort was made throughout lunch to hide the new engagement ring, not intentionally on her part, anyway. Andrei holding hers hand throughout lunch, or when everyone moved back to the couch after, was the norm so nobody thought anything of it. He just so happened to be hiding the news they’d been so eager to share.
2.
Eva always made an effort to watch Andrei’s home games; she’d very much grown to enjoy over the course of their relationship, having met Andrei very early on in his NHL career. There was a nice rotating cast of significant others and kids who appeared at games, too, and Eva’s relationships with them had become some of her most cherished.
“Are you going to take your coat off?” Courtney asked, tugging at material as she passed Eva. “And gloves?”
Eva balled her hands up and then shoved them under her thighs. Her ring caught on the glove which in turn caught on her jeans, but she wasn’t going to let the cold get to her.
“Are you coming down with something?” Gracia asked, concerned enough to put her hand against Eva’s forehead. “It doesn’t feel like you have a fever.”
“I’m just really cold. I haven’t been able to get warm all day.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re twenty-three not eighty-three. Can you start telling us when it’s about to rain?”
Eva rolled her eyes, insisting that she wasn’t sick or old or anything else. She was cold.
There was a period of time before the game started where people were seeming to give her a wide berth; Eva was unsure if it was because they thought her contagious or if she looked generally unhappy about being at the game. And she wasn’t unhappy to be there; she made that very clear when Nykki finally sat next to her.
“Are you sure? You’re a little grumpier than usual.”
“Because nobody will let me be cold!” Eva protested. “I’m just trying to get warm.”
During the first intermission, a blanket from the team store was delivered. It was mortifying.
Andrei, when they were both home after the game, found it amusing at least, when he saw it laid across their bed where she was waiting for him with the covers tucked up under her chin.
3.
The boys were, yet again, off in a road trip. This time, just for one game in Toronto before they flew back for New Years’ Eve. Eva was out to brunch with most of the younger cohort of WAGs, ready to start ringing in the new year even if it was a day early.
Before she left, she’d spoken on the phone with Andrei as he was rushing out the door to get on the bus for practice.
“I think I’m going to take the ring off,” she had said, spinning the ring around her finger as she spoke.
There was a beat, much thicker than Eva had been expecting, before Andrei asked in a thick voice, “You what?”
“Nobody knows yet, right?” she asked, unsure if Andrei had told any of his teammates. It wouldn’t be a big deal, but she would have expected him to tell her. “Taking it off until you get home won’t be a big deal.”
Another beat followed, and Eva was expecting him to tell her that people already knew, that he was nervous to do so. She was opening her mouth to say that she wouldn’t bother if people already knew—because everyone would definitely know before she left for brunch—but Andrei beat her to it, sounding even more dejected.
“Zolotse… You don’t want a ring? You don’t want to be engaged?”
“Oh, god. Andrei. No. That is not what I mean!” Eva said in a rush, her voice becoming more and more high pitched with each word.
“What you mean?”
“If I take it off, we can tell people tomorrow! Together!” she held her left hand to her chest and bit the inside of her cheek as her eyes started to water. “Andrei, baby, I just want to tell people together. That’s all.”
Andrei asked her softly, a couple more times before he had to leave, to promise him she was telling the truth.
It put a bit of a damper on heading out to brunch, because she found that, even though it had been her idea, taking off the ring was a struggle. Still, she put it delicately on her bedside table, and headed out to see her friends.
+1
Hiding the ring was easy when her hand was securely in Andrei’s as they walked into the New Years’ Eve party. She was filled with nervous energy, and even though the ring was hidden she found herself looking at everyone as if they would be able to tell with just one look at her.
Not that they had up to that point.
They weren’t without drinks for very long as someone seemed to have been tasked with holding a tray right near the doors. Eva, without any input from Andrei, led them straight to where Martin and Nykki were standing off to the side—they were the first people they wanted to tell, after all.
There were handshakes and hugs the second Martin and Nykki noticed their arrival.
“Did you find the non-alcoholic wine?” Nykki asked, gesturing to Eva’s champagne flute and earning a furrowed brow in response.
“No? Why would—no, that’s not what I want to talk about. We have something to tell you.”
“I fucking knew it,” Nykki shouted, immediately turning to Martin and excitedly smacking his chest. “I told you she was pregnant?”
Andrei choked on his drink.
“Pregnant?” he asked, hurried and panicked.
“What the fuck?” asked Eva. “Where the fuck did you get that idea?”
“You’re obviously keeping a big secret.” Nykki’s tone was more accusatory than Eva expected. “You’ve been weird since Christmas, and you were really sick at the game on Saturday, and you’re not drinking—”
Eva cut her off to exclaim, “I had three mimosas at brunch yesterday!”
“They weren’t orange juice? What have you been hiding from us then?”
“This fucking dwarf planet I’ve been wearing for a week?” Eva pulled her hand from Andrei’s to hold it out to Nykki and Martin. “That somehow nobody has noticed? It has gravitational pull.”
Nykki grabbed Eva’s hand so rapidly that Eva was startled, but she let Nykki inspect it closely whilst Andrei and Martin had a silent conversation over Nykki’s excited screaming. It drew the attention of everybody nearby.
There was a lengthy conversation once more of the WAGs gathered, how did he do it? When did he do it? Why didn’t you tell us? And Eva had to try and convince them that she hadn’t meant to—aside from the brunch—it had just ended up that way. Not one of them believed her in the moment.
Her hand was being passed around the group, everyone admiring the ring and asking questions Eva didn’t know the answer to, so Eva caught Andrei’s eye here he was holding court with the boys and nearly melted at the softness of his smile. At the pride behind his eyes. At the love that emanated from his entire body.
don't overthink when you could be loving me - sebastian aho (a sneakpeek !)
a/n: for months on end i've had so many fic ideas floating around in my head but just haven't put aside the time to properly flesh them out (wips list incoming !). it's been a battle trying to pick which one to start with but i've recently gone on a tangent of just exclusively seeking out canes fics and there's a bit of a drought in that area. so here's something new! (this sneak peek is also to keep me accountable lol)
summary: your inadvertent friendship with some of the canes players was not something you advertised in your day-to-day life. but an evening of friday night drinks changes that when you find yourself trapped in the same bar with your new co-workers and one love-struck sebastian aho who’s determined to make it known that you’re spoken for… well, tentatively that is.
posted here: don't over think when you could be loving me
You won’t lie - you weren’t always a big believer in keeping your personal life and work life separate.
Despite the numerous warnings about how “your co-workers aren’t your friends”, you couldn’t help but become close to them no matter where you went. You’ve always felt like you’ve lucked out in that department.
The moment when your luck seemed to wear out was at your old office.
It didn’t start off any different than your previous roles. Everyone was cordial when you joined the team, you’d attend a few casual after-work drinks to not come off standoff-ish, and then a work dinner or event would eventually roll around where free-flowing drinks were guaranteed to loosen up everybody’s lips, including yours.
It’s not like you would run around advertising the fact that you were family friends with Seth Jarvis growing up. But hockey culture was thriving in Raleigh and conversations couldn't pass without a mention of the Canes thrown into the mix. And more often than not, you were happy to pass on any unused tickets that Seth had reserved in your name every year.
Of course, the first round of tickets, generally no one questions where they came from. But by the fourth round, who would believe that you just accidentally bought expensive seats not knowing you already had plans?
So, it would eventually come to light that you knew the Canes more than just their names and the responses you would receive usually followed the same pattern. You’d get the looks of amazement and disbelief, followed by thirty minutes of inquisitioning, and then the excitement of the news would eventually fade before moving on to something salacious that had happened earlier that week.
With this set of co-workers though, the news of your affiliation was volatile.
Suddenly, your tickets weren’t viewed as a generous offering but rather as a right. People in different departments whom you had never met started taking you out for lunches with a casual mention of how they hadn’t ever been to a live game; your boss expected you to give them up for the sake of appeasing potential clients; girls would invite you out with the hopes of them showing up to wherever you were.
You resigned after four months.
So when you signed your letter of offer for your new role, you made a silent promise to yourself to keep that portion of your life separate. So, you distanced yourself.
Seth had noticed. He had known that you would occasionally give up your tickets when you knew you weren’t able to make a game. But as more and more weeks had passed, he had maybe seen your seats filled twice. Once by a few of your closest girlfriends and the other was when your parents had come to town for a long weekend.
Outings with him and the team became infrequent as you declined to attend any sort of public event that would bear the risk of you being caught out by your new colleagues. And when you were eventually questioned why, you simply excused that your new job had you locked down.
The second person to notice your increasing absence was Sebastian.
Since Seth’s rookie days, you had been, on more than several occasions, his plus one to team events. And over the years, you had gotten to know some of the younger members who were able to keep up with Seth’s redbull-fueled energy. That included Sebastian.
The first time you had actually properly spoken to him was at a Canes charity gala. Seth and KK had been swept into a conversation by a few board members, leaving you to quietly people watch from your assigned seat.
“Refill?”
You turned to find Sebastian with an arm extended out; a glass of champagne delicately sat between his fingers. You returned a gracious smile as he sat down in Seth’s seat.
“You manage to avoid the noise fest?” you lightly poked, looking over at Seth where Andrei and Jack were now caught.
He let out a laugh and shook his head while looking down, “I’ve definitely done my fair share of the sucking up.”
“You didn’t feel like joining your boyfriend?”
You choked on your drink as soon as the assumption left his mouth. You couldn’t help but begin laughing as you coughed up a response, “Oh my god, no. Seth and I grew up together back home. Our parents were close friends.”
His face flushed red at the revelation.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed because you’ve come to a few of these things with him before and you’re at our games a lot,” he tried to reason as he rubbed the back of his neck to ease the embarrassment.
You shook your head with the same amused look donned across your face, “he’s really never mentioned that we grew up together as kids?”
“I’m sure he’s mentioned it but it’s hard to catch everything he says. He talks… a lot.”
You couldn’t help but giggle at the blunt statement.
You had found it easy to talk to Sebastian. The conversation flowed seamlessly, from the standard questioning of each other’s jobs to the shared ache of missing home. Before you knew it, Seth had returned with a sheepish look on his face; apologetic for his disappearance but not missing the flash of disappointment across his teammate’s face when you said goodnight.
After that, the trajectory of your relationship with Sebastian had shifted into something more. Sure, you both became friends, growing comfortable in the presence of one another. But as time went on you couldn’t help but feel like the line between you two would occasionally go hazy; blurring completely on a big night out following a hard-fought win.
This is obviously a rewrite of my old fic. I have been feeling romantic and Christmasy, so I figured it was time to bring back my favorite holiday couple. I found the header from @whatishockey!!
Synopsis: When Adelaide Thibodeaux finds her husband to be diddling the wedding planner in the Church before their nuptials, she walks out and is determined to take her dream honeymoon by herself. Until she gets a seat upgrade to first class and ends up next to Hurricanes Defenceman, Joel Edmundson. Holiday shenanigans ensue.
Author's Notes: This was written in early 2019 before Eddy went to Montreal as a free agent. I will be tagging both teams.
Part 1
Looking back on my relationship, there were a lot of red flags I ignored. Or maybe I was just naïve. Either way, it was five days before Christmas and I was starting my solo honeymoon in the tiniest airport known to man in Birmingham, Alabama. My cousin, the “travel agent”, had “given” me a deal on my honeymoon as her wedding gift, but I was beginning to suspect she didn’t own a damn globe because I was flying to North Carolina then to Winnipeg, and then onto the winter wonderland of Toronto, Canada.
The plane looked like it would lose a fight with a sparrow, but 30 people were going to board the thing. As someone that had never been on a plane, I was beginning to regret my gumption of marching out of the church and taking the limousine directly to the airport.
If you asked me, impulsivity was not a common trait among my people. I was Southern by blood, Southern by raisin’, Southern by livin’ and I wasn’t prone to rush anything and I enjoyed tradition as Southerners do. I picked at a hangnail with my teeth and resisted the urge to ruin the most expensive manicure I had ever had in my life.
A tinny version of Jingle Bells played in the terminal and I was tempted to turn tail and run home. My momma went hog wild for the holidays and our house usually looked like something right out of a Thomas Kinkaid painting. White fluff and tiny villages covered every surface, anything that could be wrapped in lights and garland was adorned and Daddy made sure you could see our house from space. It didn’t matter if it was 30 degrees or 80 on Christmas day (being Alabama, both were possible) we were having a baked ham with all the fixin’s.
There seemed to be two types of women in the South: Southern Belles with white gloves, pearls, and eyelashes that could bat for anyone, or TomBoys dressed in camo and boots. Any woman that fell into the inbetween was pigeonholed into one or the other. Despite the fact that I was 5’10” and closer to 200lbs than 150lbs, my momma always tried to turn me into a belle. Gymnastics, ballet, cloggin’, modern dance, pageants, cotillion of all things, were on my resume for a proper Southern Belle.
If I had let my mother dress me I would have been in a Chanel suit, tottering close to six foot in matching pumps, and a string of pearls around my neck. Dixiecrats were nothing if not predictable in their fashion sense. My own personal style was more “post menopausal writer” in leggin’s, drapey sweaters, and sensible flats (if I had to wear shoes at all).
Considering all I had as I sped away from the church was the suitcase I had packed for the honeymoon, I was looking festive in darkwash jeans, a sensible red blazer I had found in a consignment store over a green teeshirt from the Wal-Mart, and pair of comfortable silver flats that I had found at Payless Shoes for $12. My Christmas light earrings actually lit up with the push of a small button and I looked like Santa Claus’ long lost granddaughter. You know… if she had run away from her wedding and slept in an airport.
I had my hair up in a messy bun after leaving a small mountain of bobby pins in the back of the limousine, but the bangs that were last year’s bad decision didn’t quite make it and they fell around my face in unkempt waves.
My knees were currently jammed into the seat in front of me and I was pressed against the window trying to make myself as small as possible. My fear of the window falling out and being sucked out of the plane was now secondary to making sure I did not touch the sweaty, leering, overweight man who had jammed himself in the seat next to me and might have actually drooled when he blatantly stared at my breasts.
I was saved by the captain’s voice coming over the loudspeaker, “Good morning y’all, there’s a big ol’ storm comin’ down that’s gonna be coverin’ the better part of the Eastern half of the country, but we should be getting you into Charlotte on time to catch your connecting flights before she hits.”
My family was poor, but we weren’t rich either. My daddy owned the family hardware store in a small town outside of Tuscaloosa and my Momma was a professional homemaker that would have made Paula Deen and Martha Stewart weep with envy. We had enough to go on day trips, to pay for my sister and I to do all of our extracurriculars, but I had never been on a plane in my entire life and I was about to spend the next 57 minutes with my knees jammed to my chest while being squashed by the fattest, reddest, sweatiest man on the planet and I would bet my life savings he was some sort of shoe salesman, or a judge, or a small town sheriff or something.
--------------------
When we landed in Charlotte, I sent a little prayer to the Universe for allowing me to live and for the one millionth time since climbing into that big car I thought about just going home. But that was what sensible me would have done and I was always sensible.
As we taxied to the terminal, I turned on my phone and the family group text started blowing up my phone.
Little Sister: Addie are you there yet? Did you live? Did the plane crash? I didn’t see anythin on Twitter.
Momma: Adelaide, I don’t understand dear, why are you leaving for Christmas? It was different When you and Daniel were going on your honeymoon and starting your own traditions. This is insane. Text us when you land. Adele said she didn’t see anythin’ on the Twitter App. I know this weddin’ didn’t go quite the way you were hopin’ but just come home.
Daddy: Girl, call us when you land and Canes won!
My phone was to my ear as the plane came to a stop and all 40 something passengers tried to stand at the same time with the exception of Chubby McPervert who didn’t move a muscle and fell asleep with his massive jowl to his chest.
“Hi Daddy, I landed. Yes, I’m going to catch my next flight. No, this one wasn’t bad.” It had in fact been horrible, but I wasn’t about to tell him about Chubby McPervert and his leering eyes. “I love y’all too. I’ll call y’all when I make it to Toronto, it will be really late. No it won’t cost a fortune, remember Adele and I taught you how to facetime using the WiFi. Yes, Daddy, we have to use that newfangled thingamabobber. I love you too.”
I hung up as people were starting to file off the place and Chubby McPervert still hadn’t gotten out of his seat and I needed to grab my carry on from the overhead bin. I swung my purse onto my other shoulder making sure it whipped right across his sleeping face and I put a look of abject horror on mine, “Oh mah gosh! I am SO sorry, This purse was a present from my Daddy so I can carry all my stuff and I just have not gotten used to this big ol’ thing!”
He grunted and finally got up. He apparently didn’t have a carry on and I stuck out my tongue at his retreating back to the amusement of the little boy seated behind me. Stepping into the narrow aisle and grabbing my little roller bag that contained all my toiletries and a few changes of clothes in case the airline lost my suitcase, I rolled after everyone else exiting the plane and entered the indoor city that was (to me) a large international airport.
The hustle and bustle of an airport right before Christmas was overwhelming and I looked for a place where I could get out of the way and get my bearings.
I found a pillar in front of a bank of screens framed in cheap tinsel garland that had a list of all the flights coming and going. To my dismay, it looked like a lot were already being cancelled due to the weather. When I finally found my flight, I was dismayed to see it was already delayed. I looked around the terminal for signs of where the gate might be and figured waiting there was as good as any place.
It took what felt like an hour to traverse the bustling airport and I was pretty sure I had walked to the next county.
The poor gal behind the counter looked harried as people checked into the flight and a lot of grumpy faces seemed to be aware of the delay. I waited patiently in line for my turn as she tried to find accommodations for people who needed to make connecting flights. Much to my chagrin, Chubby McPervert huffed up behind me and spent the next 20 minutes grumbling under his breath. When I finally got to the counter I set my giant purse on it, “Y’all look like y’all’ve had a DAY.”
She took a breath before answering, “I’m new, this is my first holiday.”
“Well take a breath, a drink of water, I gotta find my ticket on my phone anyway.”
She shot me a grateful look as Chubby McPervert made impatient huffy noises behind me. She clicked around on her computer and after a good minute I held out my phone feigning stupidity, “This is for this flight right?”
She smiled, “Yes it is.”
Chubby McPervert made another impatient huff. I wanted to tell him he sounded like the draft horses in the log pull at the county fair, but I didn’t, I just turned on the Southern Charm, “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, am I going too slow? I bet you’re in a big ol’ hurry to board a flight that’s been delayed.”
Turning back around, I made a note of the name etched on the little brass name tag as I reached over the counter with my hand and hoped the gal would follow my lead, “Bethany dear, how IS your momma doin’? I sent her a Christmas card last year and it was returned! Did she move?”
Bethany tried to hide her smirk as she caught onto my game, “You know we had to move her in with my brother last year, I’ll text you her new address.”
I made a sympathetic face, “Aw I am so sorry to hear that.”
She shook her head, “No, it’s good, after Daddy died she just couldn’t keep the farm all by herself. She fell and broke her hip, but she is doing great now. The grandkids can barely keep up with her!
She let go of my hand and passed my phone back to me, I gave her a wink and turned around with my cheeriest smile, “Bless your big ol’ heart for waiting while I caught up with my friend. I’m sure she will be happy to help you now!”
As I grabbed my purse, Bethany mouthed, “Thank you,” and I ventured into the waiting area to take a seat and wait for my delayed plane.
I was deep into a meditation podcast when I felt a tap on my shoulder, Bethany was bent over me, “Ms. Thibodeaux? Can I have you come up to the counter please?”
“Absolutely,” I answered, pulling my earphones out of my ears as I stood.
Setting my purse on top of my rolling carry on, I followed her to the counter. When she was back behind the computer she made a few taps, “Unfortunately, the gentleman behind you in line had to find an alternate flight, so we now have a first class seat available, would you like a free upgrade?”
A free upgrade into first class? I didn’t even know there was such a thing.
Bethany seemed to sense my hesitation, “There’s more legroom? You get to drink?”
She knew exactly what I needed. Bethany was like my secret Santa, “Well in that case, how can I say no?”
She gave me an updated paper ticket, “Your flight is about an hour out, enjoy!”
It was her turn to give me a wink and I was suddenly very grateful for my parents who taught me to treat everyone with respect and patience.
Returning to my seat to wait, I watched people exit a freshly landed plane, watched the cleaning crew get on, the switching of the pilots and attendants, the waiting area emptied as they started to board the plane like a herd of grumpy cattle and eventually it taxied away from the gate.
There was a duty free store across from where I was sitting and I idly wondered how many of those little gin bottles it would take to fill my water bottle and more importantly, how much it would cost. I finally decided, “Way too damn much,” and I was saved from a potentially bad decision by the loudspeaker announcing my flight. I blinked and noticed the waiting area had filled up again with weary holiday travelers and the flight was going to be very full as cancellations meant everyone was trying to get somewhere before the storm covered most of the US.
I got up, shrugging my purse onto my shoulder and grabbing the handle of my bag. I turned to walk around the bank of seats I was sitting in to avoid the gaggle of teenagers that had settled on the floors to take turns with the one available charging outlet, but was stopped as I smacked into a solid wall that I did not remember sitting next to.
Rebounding off the slab of granite, I tried to step back but the back of my knees hit my carry-on and they buckled. I felt myself losing my balance, before two large hands wrapped around my arms to steady me.
I would be the first to admit it was tough to date men when a woman happened to be nearly six feet tall and could be generously described as “curvy.” Dan had been almost two inches shorter than I was, and was one of the very few men who didn’t seem bothered by the fact I was bigger in every sense of the word. That is what I had believed, anyway, until I found him balls deep in our wedding planner who was all of five foot and 100lbs soaking wet.
The man I ran into, however, was much taller than Dan -- much taller than I was-- and it was a weird experience looking up into a man’s eyes instead of down. Not that I was complaining.
I felt my mouth open before I told it to and I knew stupid was going to come out, “Oh mah goodness you are handsome.” My drawl became more pronounced when I was nervous and I had a feeling I just went full ‘back in the holler down by the crick’ Southern.
He blushed, murmuring what had to be a thanks and let go of my arms, gesturing for me to walk in front of him. When I turned around the aisle between the banks of metal framed seats had cleared like a combine gone through a wheatfield.
Making my way to the gate, I could feel the man’s huge presence behind me and I realized for the first time, I was unsettled because he made me feel almost small. Adelaide Thibodeaux don’t you dare trip or make a fool of yourself more than you already have.
I scanned my ticket with my new seat assignment and headed down the gangway to a thankfully, much larger airplane than the first one. First class looked like having a king sized bed to myself after flying on what was essentially a deflating balloon next to the world’s sweatiest man. The seats were in pairs on either side of the aisle and even economy, which had three seats on either side, looked roomy comparatively.
My seat was smack in the middle of first class and I was by a window. I stopped and pushed the extendable handle down on my carry-on and before I could pick it up the man I had crashed into basically palmed the thing like it weighed no more than a feather and lifted it into the overhead bin, before putting in his own bag and laying his very nice coat on top of both of them.
I felt a flush the exact color of my blazer creep up my neck and into my cheeks. “Um thanks! Polite and handsome, my momma would love you.”
Adelaide Thibodeaux, what the actual flying fuck are the words coming out of your mouth?
I took my seat near the window and looked out at the workers throwing the luggage onto the plane, hoping the very tall, very handsome man would keep going and I would never see him again. Which would be disappointing, but quite alright since I apparently couldn’t control the verbal diarrhea around him and I wanted to sink directly through the plane to the ground below.
I was not that lucky; God didn’t seem to want to grant me any favors to avoid paralyzing embarrassment this day and I glanced up at the man who was about to sit next to me. From a different angle and finally focusing on his face, I immediately recognized him and I turned my face toward the window again to have a minor meltdown. I was about to spend the entire flight next to a Carolina Hurricane and I did not want to find out what incredibly stupid things could come out of my mouth in six whole hours.
When I looked back over and swallowed he gave me a funny look, suddenly the plane seemed even smaller than the one I arrived on. There may have been at least four inches between our arms, but it felt like nothing and I swear I could feel the heat of his body coming through his stylish sweater. The awkward silence stretched tight like a bungee cord and I knew when it finally snapped I was going to feel the lash.
He held out his hand, “Joel, and I’m sorry about putting my hands all over you, but I don’t make a habit of letting beautiful women fall to the floor.” His smile indicated he was anything but sorry.
In that moment, I wished his hands had been all over me. I cleared my throat and willed myself to say something normal, “Adelaide, and it’s no problem, hot hockey players catch me in airports all the time.”
I winced internally at the flood that escaped my lips, but he just chuckled, “First time flying?”
“What? No! Excuse you sir, I fly all the time.” I had an intelligent, stubborn, impulsive little sister, I could razz with the best of them.
He grinned, and looking at him was like looking directly into the sun, he was so hot, “Are we making up stories? I’m going to win the Norris this season.”
The teasing was enough to release that awkward tension and I smacked his bicep playfully, “Shut UP I am not that obvious!” I don’t know what bayou I was suddenly born in but the Southern just jumped right out and I sounded like I should be noodling catfish and not flying to another country.
“Just when I think I’ve gotten used to the southern accent, you sound a little different than people in North Carolina,” his smile was infectious and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well Mr. Edmundson, you are acquirin’ quite the ear. I have a ‘bama accent not a Carolinan one.”
He squinted his eyes in thought for a moment, “Alabama?”
“The Sweet Home one, yes.”
The gorgeous pea coat he had been wearing was in the overhead bin, leaving him in just a burgundy cashmere sweater and soft jeans that hugged the muscles in his thighs. “How did an Alabama girl start watching hockey?”
This was a story that had been told more than once in our house during the holidays because Alabama was definitely football country. “Back in 2017 Bama lost a game to Auburn and at one point Daddy screamed at the TV, ‘If you let that dumbass team beat you I am never watchin’ football again!’ Auburn beat us 27 to 14 and my daddy is a stubborn southern man and hasn’t watched a single pass since. We all thought it would last a week tops but here we are 2 years later and now we’re all Canes fans.”
“When you say… us?” He had an eyebrow raised.
I realized I probably sounded like one of those fans that thinks they are on the team, “Oh! Alabama football, Roll-Tide! If you’re from Alabama you’re a Bama fan or an Auburn fan. We are a ‘Bama family and I am a ‘Bama alumni.”
He grinned and shook his head, “I know you’re speaking English, but I’ll be damned if I understood a single word, but you sure look cute saying it.”
The heat flooding my cheeks could have probably cooked a holiday turkey and I was certain my face was the same color as my blazer. It almost felt like I was being hit on. Clearing my throat, I fiddled with my phone, opening and closing apps hoping my brain was going to restart soon because it needed to tell my heart to stop beating a million times a minute.
The silence stretched like some eldritch being between us until he broke it again, “So you’re obviously from around here…ish. What is taking you to Winnipeg?”
He was almost too handsome to look at directly, “I am actually going to Toronto for the holidays.”
A perplexed look crossed his face, “are you on the right plane?”
I sighed, “Yes, my ‘travel agent,’” I made air quotes, “is a cousin on my momma’s side, honestly, the whole side of the family is a lost cause.”
He replied with a knowing nod, “Gotcha, so do you have family up there? Meeting family? Friends?”
I nervously fiddled with the end of the seatbelt, “Uh no, I’m going by myself.”
He didn’t say anything and the silence began to stretch and grow like an organic being and I felt myself rushing to fill it, “It was actually supposed to be my honeymoon, until I caught my fiance having a one on one meetin’ with my wedding planner, naked, in the bridal suite of the church.
A big breath of air whooshed out of him, “Wow that kept getting worse.”
I offered a shrug, “It was not my finest moment. But the trip was non-refundable and I needed to leave, you know?”
His long strong fingers traced the edge of the armrest and he cleared his throat, “You know that Toronto is like a two hour flight from here and you’re about to fly six hours in the wrong direction.”
A humorless laugh escaped my throat, “Ha, well yes, my cousin is not really gifted in any way. The good lord didn’t see fit to give her smarts or looks, so here I am flying in the wrong direction because she dropped out of school at 14.”
He gave my hand a cursory pat and it was probably wishful thinking that he let his fingertips linger ever so slightly, “Well Adelaide, I’m very happy my mom convinced me to fly out last minute and that your cousin is terrible at geography.”
As the last few passengers filed onto the plane, the crew pulled the door shut, and the pilot came over the loudspeaker, “Sorry folks, but there is a mechanical problem with the fueling truck, it will be a few minutes longer.” There was a collective groan from everyone.
The thought of the plane going down in a snowstorm made me shiver. If the crash and subsequent explosion didn’t kill me then hypothermia would and at least I’d die next to Joel Edmundson.
He glanced at the fancy black watch on his right wrist, “I wonder if it's too late to disappoint my mother and be back to my apartment before the evening news.”
I scoffed, “You couldn’t let me fall on the ground, but you’ll let me die in a fiery plane crash by myself? AND disappoint you mother? Some gentleman you are, Mr. Edmundson.”
His grin was wide and white, “Fair enough, I can’t be disappointing my mom.”
The flight attendants were starting to make their way down the plane with the drinks cart while we waited. His fingertips were still on the back of my hands and he gave it a pat, “First drink is on me, what is your order?”
I resisted the urge to move my hand away, not because I didn’t want him touching me--I did, I wanted him to touch me all over so when I died on this death trap, I didn’t have a single regret--but the sensation was also overwheming because the Sex on a Stick that was Joel Edmundson had been caressing my hand like a lover and it was all too much.
“Lady?”
That snapped me out of my own head, “Lady?”
I don’t know what face I made but he was quick to backpedal, “No not like ‘Hey Lady!’ But L-A-I-D-I-E Like Adelaidie. Sorry, it’s a hockey thing. Nicknames.”
“Uh, my sister just calls me Addie.”
He shook his head, “Can’t have Eddy and Addie, that’s too cute.”
This was a completely surreal conversation and I wondered if the gangway to planes was like a portal to another dimension, “So Lady and Eddy is better?”
He nodded like this was a completely normal thing to talk about 5 minutes after meeting someone, “Yeah like Eddy and his lady.”
I just blinked and answered his original question in case I hallucinated this entirely ridiculous exchange. “Gin and Tonic please.”
He snickered, “Such a Lady thing to order.”
How many concussions had this man suffered?
He took our drinks and surreptitiously slipped a couple of dollars into the flight attendant's hand, then passed over my G&T, heavy on the T. I suspected I’d have to drink 20 to even feel anything close to tipsy.
As she helped the row behind us, I leaned over and Joel leaned in and now our faces were close together and it was difficult for me to focus, “Was that enough money?”
He looked confused a moment before his face softened, “Lady, drinks are free. This is first class, that was just a tip.”
I had a feeling I just showed my Alabama roots. “Oh.”
He patted my hand again and left his fingers on top of mine. Was it hot in here? It felt hot. I desperately wanted to move my hand because touching him was summer in Phoenix, completely fine in small doses and completely overwhelming after 30 seconds.
Finally, I was saved by the buzzer as my phone notified me of a text message. I regretted losing the contact of his touch immediately as I slid my hand out from under his and pulled the phone out of my purse.
Little Sister: Are you THERE YET?
No. My flight was delayed but I did get upgraded to First Class and you will NEVER GUESS WHO I AM SITTING NEXT TO.
Little Sister: TAYLOR SWIFT.
Why would Taylor Swift be flyin to Winnipeg also I’m pretty sure she owns her own plane.
Little Sister: Well then I don’t know.
Joel Edmundson
Little Sister: … Fake… Take a picture.
I AM NOT TAKING A PICTURE
Little Sister: Then you are obviously lying. It’s probably some stinky old rich guy.
I sighed as only an older sister could sigh and Joel looked over at me, “What’s up Lady?”
“My little sister is a pain in the ass,” I said as I set my phone face down on my thigh.
His smile was large and genuine. “As the little brother, I take offense.”
I offered an eye roll, “Yeah, but I bet you don’t drive your older brother crazy.”
He laughed, “I’m pretty sure he still wants to strangle me on a regular basis.”
“Well then, maybe I should introduce you to my little sister, and you can introduce me to your brother,” I said, shaking my head.
He lowered his voice, “only if she’s as gorgeous as you,”
This time I know my face matched the color of my blazer. “She got the same build as my mom. Small and petite ”
Joel sucked air through his teeth, “Sorry not interested. Petite has never been my thing.”
I almost barked and covered my mouth with my hand, “Liar. Petite is every man’s thing.”
He took a sip of his vodka soda and shook his head. “Nah”
Turning in my seat to face him I rolled my eyes, “Ok mister mysterious. What is your type?”
He stayed silent but his eyes traveled slowly down my body before he looked forward again and took another sip of his drink with a smirk.
The temperature in the cabin seemed to jump 500 degrees. I pulled the safety card out of the pocket of the seat in front of me and pretended to read it for a moment before I just started using it as a fan. “Is it hot? I feel like it’s hot.”
He just grinned to himself and took another sip of his drink.
Eventually I started babbling to fill the silence that once again stretched and started to come to life, “So Daddy said y’all won today. I couldn’t watch the game because I was flying from Birmingham to Charlotte on a plane the size of a tic tac. But, congrats.”
He just smirked. “Thanks. I was feeling good, probably why my mom was able to convince me to get on a plane last minute.”
Then something hit me out of the blue. “Shouldn’t you be flying outta Raleigh?”
His answer was punctuated by a nod, “This was the last flight to Winnipeg I could find this afternoon before the storm hit.”
“Oh that’s right we’re flying directly into a storm.” I downed the rest of my drink and resisted the urge to crush the little plastic cup in my hands.
He just arched his brow, “You’ll be fine.”
My answer was bitchier than it should have been and I grimaced as I said it, “Oh really, are you a pilot?”
“I spend hundreds of hours on a plane every year.” The look on his face was kind.
I shrunk down in my seat, thinking I was toilet scum, “Oh. I suppose that’s true.”
I glanced at my phone, my sister was still relentlessly texting and finally she called. Even though my voice was low there was no mistaking the tone when I hissed, “What Adele?”
Joel gave me another sideways glance and he seemed to have the smirk permanently etched on his face.
“No! I’m not puttin’ him on the phone. Why? Because he’s flyin’ home for Christmas, not partaking in a meet and greet with my crazy little sister. You are SO crazy. Oh my goodness gracious, put Daddy on the phone I can’t with you right now,” I growled, “Why are you like this? I swear.”
Before I knew what was happening, my phone had been snatched from my ear and his giant hands dwarfed the device. “This is Joel Edmundson and you are?”
I couldn’t hear her side of the conversation any more but I did hear her shriek and I covered my face with my hands. This poor man...and I was going to have to sit next to him for six hours and stew in my embarrassment or he’d have me moved back to economy or something.
I did my best not to listen to the conversation because I knew I was going to melt into a gooey puddle of embarrassment if I did; fortunately it was fairly easy because, true to form, my sister wasn’t letting the hockey player get a word in edgewise.
After 84 years she seemed to stop talking. “Well, Adele, It’s lovely to make your acquaintance and I’ll get your address from your sister and send you some swag. Yes, I’m sure she’ll give me your address. I can be very charming ma’am.” There was a long pause, “Well, yes she does seem immune to my charm though…”
My head whipped around at his words, but he ignored me and continued. “Well, I’ve tried to be very obvious, but she’s not picking up the cues, oh she’s dumb that way?”
His eyes met mine and he winked, he was joking. Everything was fine. He was just kidding. Of course Joel Edmundson wasn’t interested in me, imagining that could be true would be a special kind of brain trauma. I probably was dumb like my braniac sister always said.
“She IS gorgeous, I’m glad you agree, legs for days and that hair! So tell me about this loser she dumped on her wedding day… uh huh… uh huh… What a bastard. Your daddy never liked him huh? I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but would your daddy like me? Uh huh… I can definitely work on not turning over the puck on the blueline. Is that his only complaint? Of course I’d treat her like a queen. Have you seen her?”
My mouth was hanging open so wide that my chin was somewhere around the vicinity of my boobs. Who in tarnation was this man?
“Look, Adele, I’m going to have to let you go, I think your sister might be going into shock, but add me on Instagram, okay? Great! I look forward to it, have a wonderful holiday.”
His hand had barely lifted from his ear before I heard my Daddy’s baritone, “Son?”
Joel put the phone back to his ear. “Yes, sir?”
This conversation was easier to follow because my father was a simple and forthright man, “I also think it’s crazy she’s going all the way to Toronto by herself. Uh huh…. Yessir. Well, I’d love to accompany her to Toronto, but I’m afraid I promised my mom I’d be home this Christmas. Uh huh…. Uh huh. We always love the holidays. My mom’s been baking for weeks.” He gave me a sideways glance as my father’s voice rumbled, “I can’t imagine she will like this idea.”
He covered the phone with his hand and I wondered if I had somehow been transported to a different timeline; maybe parallel universes did exist. “Your dad says I either have to go with you to Toronto or you have to come to Brandon with me.”
“He did NOT say that,” I said, furrowing my brow. I leaned forward and he held the phone out, “Daddy did Eddy take a hit to the head today?” I could barely hear him, “Because I think he might have a concussion.” Our faces were inches apart and this close I could definitely smell his soap or a hint of cologne mixing with his natural scent and it was panty dropping for sure.
He brought the phone back to his ear, “OK sir, I’ll do my best to change her mind. I have her as my captive audience for six hours. Yes sir, thank you sir. Have a great evening.”
The call was over when he handed the phone back to me and I gladly put that fucker in Airplane Mode and slid it into my purse before studying the safety placard with great interest. Eventually, the air felt extremely heavy to my left and when I glanced over Joel had turned in his seat to watch me with great interest. I gave him a dry look, “What?”
“You don’t seem interested by that phone call.”
“What phone call, that was clearly a hallucination and you are a figment of my imagination. My fear of flying is clearly manifesting into,” I gestured at his big body, “you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, your dad said if I don’t go with you to Toronto or convince you to come home with me he knows a witch and he’s gonna curse me.”
I chuckled through my nose, “My daddy wouldn’t know what a witch looked like and he sure as heck doesn’t know one. But I’m pretty sure my Auntie practices Hoodoo. But that’s just speculation. Anyway, I’m staying out of these cockamamie shenanigans.”
He looked perplexed, “You mean VooDoo?”
I rolled my eyes, “I said what I said Mr. Edmundson, Google is free.”
His eye brows hit his hairline and he made a serious face, “Okay Ms. Witchcraft Know-it-All.” Facing forward he made a sad noise, “Man, my mom is going to be so disappointed that I’m going to Toronto.”
“I think we both know that you aren’t following me to Toronto and I’m not actually invited to Christmas at your house, so don’t even try and make me feel guilty. Also, it’s weird, we met like 5 minutes ago.”
He just looked at me, deadpan, while he picked up his phone to hold it to his ear. While it rang, he spoke, “It’s been like half an hour and it IS weird, because I never let my brother meet girls I’m interested in, “Hi mom, yes, I’m on the plane. No, it’s delayed again. Yes, I will be home in time for Christmas. Listen, I’ve met this lovely woman, Adelaide, she is flying to Toronto. Yes, she knows she’s on a plane to Winnipeg. There were scheduling problems. Anyway, she’s going to Toronto, on her honeymoon, BY HERSELF. Yeah, I know that’s terrible. The asshole cheated on her, ON HER WEDDING DAY, can you believe?”
I shushed him and waved my hand indicating he should lower his voice, leaving me slightly mortified that not only did his mother know what a loser I was, but so did everyone on this plane.
“Yeah she’s sitting right here. No you can’t talk to her. No, Mom. No.” He held his phone out, “My mom wants to talk to you.”
This was the most surreal experience I had ever had and I was 100% sure this was some kind of dream. I was probably the lone survivor of the plane crashing and I was pinned by piles of twisted metal and I was hallucinating as I died from blood loss. Tentatively I took his phone and held it lightly to my ear, “Umm, hello Mrs. Edmundson. Umm no ma’am I can’t call you by your first name. Southern raisin’ and all. Well, I’ve never been out of the country before and the trip was already paid for so I figured ‘why not.’ No ma’am we celebrate Christmas. My house lights up the whole block. Yeah my Daddy does displays at our house every year. My mama bakes a ham every Christmas. Yes ma’am, it’s a big deal at our house. You and my mama would get along real well Mrs. Edmundson, she asked me the same thing before I left. Mmmhmm. Yes ma’am.” I handed the phone back to Joel and sighed, “She says I’m invited for Christmas.”
He gave me a smug look, “Yeah, mom. I don’t know if Dad should bring the SUV to pick me up, I don’t know if it will be an us. Yes, I will ask her. Yes, I know. Ok. Love you, bye.”
It was his turn to down his drink and he turned to face me again. “My mom says if you won’t come to Christmas, then I have to go to Toronto with you and while that will make her sad, your safety is important.”
Was everyone in this dream crazy except me? Or maybe I was the crazy one and this was normal behavior. “I am not crashing your family’s Christmas because your mother feels a moral obligation to some sad sack you met on an airplane and because my family is trying some weird matchmaking thing.”
He sighed. “Man, my mom is going to be so disappointed. Do you have a bunch of couples stuff planned in Toronto? Are we going to get a sensual couples massage? Couples yoga? A romantic carriage ride?”
I hit the call button above my seat. “We are not getting anything. You are going home to your mother and I am going to Toronto to enjoy my solo vacation.”
The flight attendant interrupted Joel’s retort, “Can I assist you?”
I held up my empty glass. “I have a newly developed fear of flying and this man might be insane. May I have another gin and tonic, heavy on the gin, light on the tonic.”
She was ever the professional but her mask slipped as she eyed the 6’4” defenceman and her look said “Girl, look at this tall drink of water you get to sit next to for six hours, what is wrong with you?”
She didn’t actually say any of that though instead she said, “Of course, just one moment.”
Ignoring the man next to me, I impatiently tried to push my failed bangs back, They immediately fell forward again and I stared dejectedly out the window. I almost missed Joel lifting his phone, the telltale shutter sound, and him swiping his finger across the screen and the swoop of a text being sent.
I narrowed my eyes at him, “What did you just do?”
He lifted his butt off the seat and slid the phone back into his front pocket. “Sent a picture of you to my mom.”
The audacity of this man. There was a replying bing that was followed by a second bing. “Aren’t you going to check that? It’s your mom telling you not to bring Shrek to Christmas.”
He shook his head, “Don’t need to. The first one is my mom saying you look nice and it’s about time I date a nice girl and the second one is my brother asking how serious we are and if he has a shot.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are such a fibber.”
He snorted, “A ‘fibber’?”
“Yes, you know, someone who is a liar.” My drawl drug that 'i' out to pasture and the 'r' was soft and barely pronounced.
“Oh I know what it means, Lady, I just haven’t heard that word used in this decade.”
I swatted his bicep again, “Are you always this annoying or is this just for me?”
He rubbed his arm and faked a wince. “Am I going to have to tell Rod the Bod I can’t play because I was abused by a girl on an airplane?”
I countered his question with one of his own, “You call your coach ‘Rod the Bod?’”
Joel dropped his arm to the rest again. “Not to his face, because I value living, but have you seen the man?”
He had a valid point. Rod Brind’Amour was jacked in all the right ways. “Of course I’ve seen him, I have eyes for goodness sake.”
The flight attendant returned with my happy juice in a much larger glass and waved away the few dollars I tried to give her and her eyes darted to the man next to me before she gave me a pointed glance.
I took a sip and I didn’t think there was a drop of tonic water in it. I just had a straight up highball glass full of gin. “I do believe that woman is trying to get you into the mile high club Mr. Edmundson.”
He snorted, “Baby I’m already in the club, but I’d be more than happy to provide your initiation.”
I didn’t know what to say to that so I just sipped my gin and my face was once again just as red as my blazer.
He snuck a glance at me, “You blush so easily, it’s fantastic.”
If you're lounging on your bed with your phone in your hand and not reading this, sorry but I'm legally obligated to come and punch you in the face for wasting your time.
inextricable by kehlee (ao3, locked to users only) is beautiful, emotional and achingly real in the sweetest possible way and criminally underrated, goGOgo!! and read it I don't want to scream about my foolish boys alone. @svechlly thank you for writing it!
This is obviously a rewrite of my old fic. I have been feeling romantic and Christmasy, so I figured it was time to bring back my favorite holiday couple. Title banner by the wonderful @whatishockey. Thank you thank you thank you to the people who periodically peek at this fic to make sure I don't make too many typos and mistakes. @hockeylvr59 @rymurrsneckbeard and @princessphilly
Synopsis: When Adelaide Thibodeaux finds her husband to be diddling the wedding planner in the Church before their nuptials, she walks out and is determined to take her dream honeymoon by herself. Until she gets a seat upgrade to first class and ends up next to Hurricanes Defenceman, Joel Edmundson. Holiday shenanigans ensue.
Author's Notes: This was written in early 2019 before Eddy went to Montreal as a free agent. I will be tagging both teams. It's been a while since I've posted a dual POV so reminder that *~*~*~*~*~* delineates a change in POV. Today we are beginning with Eddy.
Tag List: @leafs-foreverr, @pagirl6866, @colecockfield If you would like to be part of the tag list, please let me know.
Part 6
*~*~*~*~*~*
Just over an hour later we were crawling along I-90 in an SUV the size of a tank. After the second close call of almost being sideswiped by another vehicle sliding on ice after a single mile on the interstate, I was thankful for it. It was a rideshare, so I didn’t care if it only got two miles per gallon, as long as it was able to get us to the airport in one piece.
Adelaide finally turned on her phone and I just arched a brow at her as it vibrated in her hand for what seemed like a solid minute while she looked annoyed, “You ok there?”
She gave me a withering glare, and she looked so cute that I couldn’t help but smile, which made her glare harder and the entire thing was just a circle of me being amused and her getting more furious. It was fantastic.
Poking around on the screen, a call connected and started to ring as she brought the phone to her ear. I could hear her mother’s voice on the other end of the line. “Hi Momma, is everyone there? Put me on speaker.”
I was thankful it was a regular voice call and not a facetime, because I knew her father would pinpoint the “I just fucked your daughter nasty" vibes wafting off of me from four states away.
“No, Adele, I'm not putting Eddy on speaker.” She sighed and dropped her phone to her lap, hitting the speaker button with her thumb. “FINE. Is everyone here?”
“Adelaide why are you in a car, it sounds like you’re in a car.”
She transferred the phone to her opposite hand as I stretched my arm across the seat and intertwined our fingers. “Eddy and I are going to the airport Mama, our flight leaves at one.”
Her father’s rich baritone chimed in, “I guess there’s a first time for everything, one of my daughters not being stubborn? I better buy a lottery ticket.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes, “Daddy.”
“Eddy, son she IS going with you, correct?”
I cleared my throat, “Yessir, she agreed.”
“Good. Finally. Adele you’re next.”
Adelaide mouthed “I’m sorry” at me.
The conversation devolved from there. “What does that mean Daddy?” Adele sounded irritated.
“It means you need to stop being so stubborn and accept help and maybe find a good man.”
An argument started between the two of them, with Dottie interjecting at random times. There was something about college and Adele getting her Masters while working. Adelaide looked bored, like she had heard this argument before. She started massaging the palm of my hand with her thumb and staring out the window as her family argued.
Finally, Adele’s voice cut through the nonsense, “Addie and Eddy’s hotel room only had one bed!”
I caught the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror and I don’t think he felt at all sorry for my impending death.
Adelaide’s attention was suddenly diverted back to her phone, “ADELE! Daddy, there was one bed, but I slept on the couch.”
Her sister wasn’t to be swayed from her current path of turning the attention to Adelaide, “Daddy, I looked at photos of the suite, the couch was too small for anyone to sleep on.”
He sounded displeased, I was suddenly very aware the man owned a hardware store and all murdering/disposing bodies things were readily available and no one would blink twice at him having any of them. “Eddy made you sleep on the couch?”
Adele sounded breathless, “THEY WERE CUDDLING THIS MORNING.”
Adelaide started making sounds into the phone, “Can't…. tunnel… losing…. service…” She hit the end button and heaved a sigh, “Well that was a fucking disaster.”
I squeezed her fingers. “Am I safe from your father in a different country?”
She squeezed back. “Probably.”
Her phone started vibrating and she sent the call to voicemail and the next three calls after that before opening Instagram and scrolling through her notifications.
She frowned thoughtfully, “I probably should have gone private before you posted that picture. In our little bubble I forget you’re a famous heartthrob.”
“What? Why? Are people being mean?” I released her hand and snatched the phone from her. Totally ignoring the famous part, because honestly I forgot sometimes too. Someone had gone through every photo of her just commenting “fat” or “whore.”
I took the liberty of blocking them. She had 100 new followers and a number of DMs. “Do you want me to go through the DMs?” She didn’t answer so I took the liberty.
A lot of them were the same as the comments, a few from women I had slept with claiming I was their boyfriend, a lot of marriage proposals from men, those all got deleted. And finally, there were some messages from my teammates' wives, and at least three from my horny teammates trying to hit on Adelaide. She would see right through them, so I left those for her to laugh at later. I set her profile to private and handed her back her phone. “Cleansed. But Svech proposed, you should probably let him down easy.”
She smirked. “I don’t know...he’s heading for a big contract and I’ve become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Besides I’m dying to find out what else his nimble hands can do.”
My jaw dropped, “You minx. He’s 12.”
“Oh so we should add stamina to the pro list then,” she said looking teasingly thoughtful.
The SUV pulled up to the terminal and I reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt and haul her against my side, lips finding hers. “Svech probably doesn’t even know what the clit is. You’re better off with me, beautiful.”
As the driver put the vehicle in park and went around the back to get our bags, I stepped out of the backseat and offered Adelaide my hand, which she took, gracefully stepping out of the SUV. I could easily picture her stepping onto the red carpet at any awards show.
There were a lot of perks of flying first class and the priority lane through security and the lounge were two of them.
Adelaide was sipping on a double cappuccino she snuck off to buy herself and staring around the lounge. “I’m suddenly regretting working in Human Resources instead of being a bajillionaire.”
We were sitting on a plush leather loveseat and I put my arm around her and tugged her against my body. “Bajillionaires own their own planes. They don’t fly with the unwashed masses.”
“Eddy, I’m the only woman in this lounge and everyone’s shoes cost more than my entire outfit.”
I kissed her temple. “Except I know you’re not unwashed because I was in the shower with you, doing the washing.”
Little Eddy twitched thinking about the shower, soap cascading down her body and dripping off her tits while I fucked her against the shower wall.
She blushed and hid her face in my shoulder. “Eddy! Shh, someone might hear you.”
I didn’t tell her the guy a few seats down definitely heard me and looked her up and down. I had never been possessive before. It was a new feeling and I didn’t want some overdressed schmuck making eyes at my girl.
With her tucked into my side, head under the side of my jaw, she let the coffee cup she was holding rest on top of my thigh. A few minutes later it started to slide out of her fingers and I took it with my free hand and sipped while she made little kitten snores into my neck.
She was wearing an oversized cream colored fisherman’s sweater, sleeves rolled up, over black leggings with practical fur lined boots. The knit hung from her shoulders making her appear way more petite than she was and according to her, was premium comfort.
I just thought she looked cute and I had only thought about bending her over the back of the loveseat, pulling her leggings down just below her ass and fucking her hard until we both came, twice… maybe three times.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I lifted my hips slightly to get my hand in there and pull it out. I rejected the call and sent my mom a text in reply.
At the airport, Adelaide is sleeping.
Mom: She’s coming?!
Yeah… she’s coming. We’re gonna land about 5, and it will probably take an hour or so to get through customs and get her checked bag. You should have dad bring the dolly. Her luggage was huge before we went shopping.
Mom: Ooh a heavy packer. I’ll have Dad pick you up around 6 then. You and Jesse will have to share the bunk beds. The guest room is full of storage stuff.
It’s all presents for you guys and her family. We spent 6 hours in department stores and boutiques and I don’t think she bought a single thing for herself. I am not sleeping in a bunk bed.
Mom: She didn’t have to get us anything! What a dear. Well I’m not making our guest sleep in a bunk bed with your brother.
I told her that. She didn’t listen. Something about hostesses and Southern women. Mom, my suite at the Thompson only had one bed.
Mom: Oh… OH.
Yeah.
Mom: So when are you proposing?
You’re ridiculous.
Mom: You’re bringing home a woman that you are sleeping with which has never happened in the history of EVER. Even when you dated that one girl for almost a year.
I met her two days ago, she was just left at the altar and cheated on. Give me some time.
Mom: But you’re planning on it.
I’m currently trying to convince her to let me take her somewhere tropical for the break. Besides, she could go full exorcist at any time. I literally know nothing about this woman.
Mom: Whatever. You’ll marry her. A mom knows these things. She’s been through a trauma and still scurried around to buy people she’s never met gifts.
I shoved the phone in my pocket. I knew my mom was going to make a huge deal about this thing. I sat in the quiet lounge, staring out the window as the storm clouds began to clear and chilly sunshine started to glint off of the snow and ice, sipping on Adelaide’s cappuccino while she snored gently into my neck.
Finally, our flight was announced and I turned my head to kiss her forehead. “Lady, our flight is boarding in 10 minutes.”
She stirred and pressed a kiss to my neck before sitting up and stretching. “Mm. Okay handsome.”
I grinned, “Handsome?”
She took the now empty coffee cup from my hand and frowned. “Well yeah, you call me ‘Beautiful’ so can’t I return the favor?”
Taking her free hand I pulled her to her feet and grabbed our carry-ons, “Of course you can.” I brushed her hair from her face and gave her a chaste kiss, “You’re adorable when you sleep by the way.”
“Oh my god, did I drool or snore?” she said, rolling her eyes.
“No drooling and only soft little cat snores. Adorable.”
The airport was absolutely packed and bustling outside of the first class lounge and instinctively she stepped into my body and I put a protective arm around her as we made our way to the gate.
When we got to our seats, I let Adelaide take the window. I tended to prefer the aisle anyway. Leaning over, I took her hand. “Do you still have a fear of flying?”
She squeezed my fingers. “I’m still nervous, but it’s like an excited nervous. But I don’t think I can fly economy ever again.”
I squeezed back, “Stick with me Lady and you’ll never have to.”
Her bright genuine smile made my stomach jump. Oh no.
It was amazing watching her reactions: well rested, well fucked, and without the stress of getting left at the altar, she was able to actually enjoy all the minute things about flying that frequent travellers lost. I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face as she treated take off like a roller coaster, saying a whispered “wheeee” to herself as she watched a winter laden Chicago get smaller and smaller.
She was still staring out the window, her nose practically pressed to it like a child waiting for Santa when the drink cart came by and I got her a G&T. “Lady, I got you a drink,” I said, nudging her elbow.
Settling back into her seat she took the drink, “Thank you Eddy.”
I grabbed her free hand with mine and brought her fingers to my lips, “You’re welcome, Lady.”
We sat in silence, she occasionally glanced out the window, but we had ascended above the clouds and there wasn’t much to see. At least I didn’t think so, but I was wrong.
“I bet this is what heaven looks like… but less cold.”
I choked down my drink, “What?”
“It’s just a big fluffy blanket that goes on forever. Like a foam pit but without all the gross kiddy germs.”
Suddenly, I saw the appeal of economy; sure there was less leg room, but the armrests lifted. I hated the six inches of extra space that separated our bodies. I leaned an elbow on it, “Lady.”
“Hmm?” She continued staring out the window.
“Lady, come here and kiss me.”
Turning her head, she mimicked my position and pressed her lips to mine. “Thank you Eddy.”
I wrapped a lock of her hair around my finger and tugged her closer to kiss her again, “For what?”
“The destination and the man are different, better even, but this feeling I have? That’s exactly as I planned it. I feel… I don’t know, safe, cared for.”
I kissed her again before pressing our foreheads together. “Good. I want to give you everything you want for Christmas this year. Dan is a fucking idiot.”
“You’re making a shitty holiday better than I ever could have imagined.”
Pressing my lips to hers again I wove my fingers through hers, “We have about 5 hours in the air now, want to tell me about your dad?”
She sighed and tugged our hands into her body and laid her head on my arm. “My real dad is a congressman now. Has been. He knows I exist but,” she shrugged, “he doesn’t care. My mom was raised by a family that was trying to climb the social ladder and my grandmother actually encouraged her when he started making advances even though he was with someone else. My mother didn’t know it but he had gotten engaged to that other woman when she had gotten pregnant with me. He chose the other woman who was from a better family. My mom got thrown out of her house because she refused to get an abortion. So she was 20, pregnant, and basically had zero life skills other than knowing what fork to use for what course.”
She paused and took a sip of her drink. “My dad had just taken over the hardware store from its previous owner. Papa Glenn was white, widowed, and his kids had zero intention of taking over the store. It had been an institution in our town for over 50 years and they wanted to sell the building and the business. So Papa Glenn left it to my Daddy who had worked for the man since he was just a poor teenager. He started as someone who swept and tidied. I don’t think he even needed help, just saw a boy who needed a purpose in life and gave him one. I started calling him Papa Glenn when I was a little girl, but he passed quite a few years ago. ANYWAY, he had just given Daddy the store. His kids vandalized it. Threw bricks through the windows, tried to burn it down, graffitied horrible things on the walls. Daddy almost lost the store before he even got a chance to run it.”
I squeezed her hand as she continued, “So, he’s sweepin’ up all the broken glass and my mom, who is about six months pregnant at this point, comes up and starts clucking about crime and hooligans. Just treated him like any other person. He’s cleaning up and this pregnant white lady is standing in the street giving him the what-for all while picking up merchandise that can be salvaged and putting it in a box. Finally, he just looks at her and asks where her husband is, she says she doesn’t have one, he tells her to go home, she says she doesn’t have one of those either. She ended up living in the space above the store managing the books until Daddy convinced her to marry him a couple years later. When they got married someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the big front window. This time though, half the town pitched in to help. What happened to my mom made the rounds in a small town and you don’t just throw bombs in the windows of men who take in pregnant ladies and provide for them. You just don’t, anyway, Adele was born a year later. Mama became president of the PTA and Daddy’s store sponsored sports. Other than the occasional asshole, life was pretty good. And that is how I ended up with a dad that is Black.”
I rubbed her knuckles with my fingertips. “Did you ever try to contact your real dad?”
Her voice was firm. “George Thibodeaux is my real dad. But I know what you’re saying, I sent him a letter once in high school. He basically sent a cease and desist back. I didn’t care after that. I had a father that provided for me in all the ways that were important. Who loved me as his own. He never treated Adele and I differently.”
I kissed her temple, “It’s a beautiful story. I look forward to meeting your dad one day, when he doesn’t want to bury me in concrete.”
She downed the rest of her drink and put it in the trash as the flight attendant walked by. The seatbelt sign had long been turned off and I reclined my seat and reached over to unclip Adelaide’s seat belt. I hauled her over the armrest and she made a small squeak as I settled her on top of my body and pulled a blanket over us. Her voice was quiet, “What the fuck Joel?”
I sighed, “I really hate it when you call me Joel. Nothing ever good happens when you call me Joel. Now, just settle. I need a nap and I can't nap when you’re all the way over there.”
She settled her head on my chest with a sigh and muttered, “Whatever.”
My last thought before I fell asleep was to wonder if I could bring her on the team plane. I was insanely comfortable and warm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I woke, I felt like half my face was plastered to whatever I was using as a pillow. It was the type of nap when you wake up and you don’t know what year it is. My pillow was rumbling and there was an arm around my waist. Yawning, I lifted my head and reality slowly resumed. Joel was snoring softly and the plane was filled with a muted orange glow like we were flying directly into the sunset. It was oddly romantic. Before I had time to absorb it the captain’s voice came over the intercom announcing our descent into Winnipeg and the seatbelt light came back on.
I tried to roll off of him gracefully and back into my own seat. I knew I failed when he let out a soft grunt and removed my elbow from his spleen. I grimaced, “Sorry.”
He yawned and adjusted his seat upright. “Don’t be, that was the best damn nap I’ve had in awhile. It was like 3 hours.”
His hair was tousled from running his hands through it and his face was still slack with sleep as he picked up my hand and kissed it with a groggy smile. My heart did a free fall out of my chest and for the first time since I crashed into Joel I realized he had more power to break my heart than Dan ever did and it had been less than three days.
Taking a shuddering breath and an anemic smile he misread whatever vibe I was putting off, “Scared of landing?”
In a metaphorical way it fit, because I was afraid of landing after going back to the real world after this fairy tale, so I nodded and he let go of my hand and settled his palm behind my head, his fingers rubbing the back of my neck.
This revelation was kicking my ass and I realized this was a HUGE mistake, going home with him to his family, but backing out now would be so incredibly rude.
The sun was quickly setting and I looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Winnipeg before it was too dark to see anything properly.
Joel let his hand drop and started playing on his phone. As I settled back into the seat he leaned over holding his phone out, “Can I post this to close friends on Instagram?”
The photo was before I had put his sweatshirt on, it was clear I was wearing a Christmas themed pajama set that bordered on lingerie. I was smiling and looking at the camera, Elf hat at a rakish angle on my head, hair falling perfectly and Joel, Joel was looking at me in the photo. Looking at me like nothing else in the world existed. I felt a small flame of hope ignite in my belly. “That’s a good picture, post it wherever you want.”
He looked at me apprehensively. “You’re not worried about your family?”
I gave a wry laugh, “My mama is going to be plannin’ another wedding when she sees that. When we can afford another one that is.”
He linked his arm through mine and started tapping on his phone again. “Your mom will have to fight my mom for that right.”
The little flame of hope glittered a little brighter as the plane made a controlled descent into Winnipeg.
It took the better part of an hour for the plane to land and for us to make it through customs and get our bags. Joel had his bag over his shoulder and was dragging my big suitcase as he followed me with my smaller carry-on. The bells I attached to the zippers jingled everytime the bags bounced over a bump.
Bob Edmundson had texted his son to let him know he was circling the airport and would meet us out front as soon as we got our bags. I stopped in the middle of the sliding doors as the icy blast hit my face and I made an about-face running into Joel.
His arms came around me protectively, “Where’s the fire, Lady?”
“Cold,” I answered, giving a shiver.
His laugh rumbled in his chest, “It’s Manitoba.”
“This is not Alabama cold, this is not Chicago cold. This is Arctic cold and I AM FROM ALABAMA. It’s 65 degrees in Alabama!
He used his body to herd me out the door and I was suddenly seeing a disadvantage of being the small person in a relationship. “This isn’t bad, it’s probably like negative ten.”
My voice was a little louder than I anticipated and my Southern was coming out a little more than I liked, “Negative Ten?! It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here!”
A dark SUV pulled up to the curb and Joel had the audacity to chortle, “Negative ten Celcius. That’s like fifteen degrees Fahrenheit.”
I suddenly felt chilled to the bone. “That information does not in fact make it better, Joel. If it’s below freezing the entire South just shuts down until it defrosts.”
He grinned again and grabbed my head to press a kiss to my temple. “I know Princess, I won’t let you freeze.” As he rounded the back of the SUV with our bags a gentleman about my height rounded the hood and his smile was identical to his son’s.
He opened the front door of the vehicle and held out his hand, “I’m Bob Edmundson, you must be Adelaide, let’s get you in the car before you freeze.”
I gripped his hand, surprised to find it warm and I looked at it in surprise, “Mr. Edmundson, it’s a pleasure. Does everyone in your family run hot? I feel like my hands are turning to icicles.”
“Hop in, the seat heaters are warm, and please call me Bob,” he said, gesturing to the front seat. The well worn leather was already warm and the heater was going full blast as he closed the door and I turned in my seat to watch the men do the forearm grab/back slap hug all men seemed to do. Masculine affection was weird.
There was a muted argument between the two that was short-lived and ended with Eddy sliding into the back seat while his dad slid into the driver's seat, both muttering about stubborn assholes.
I cleared my throat apprehensively. “I can sit in the back seat, there’s probably more room for Eddy’s legs up here.”
The answers were simultaneous with Bob looking at Joel in the rearview mirror and Joel staring back at his father.
“You make her call you Eddy?”
“The old boat only has seat heaters in the front. Because my parents are too stubborn to let me buy them a new one.”
I sat in the front seat as the SUV pulled away from the curb, hand folded in my lap trying not to smile as the men practically yelled at each other.
“Your mother and I don’t need a new Land Rover.”, he held up a finger as Joel opened his mouth, “OR a Gwagon or BMW whatever.”
The six foot four, two hundred and thirty pound man that had literally been inside me less than 12 hours ago, pouted like a petulant toddler in the back seat muttering under his breath, “Stubborn old coot.”
Bob frowned and reached over and patted my knee in a comforting manner, like my own father might do. “I’m sorry, we’re not this dysfunctional usually. But lately Joel and his brother have gotten it into their heads that I’m some infirm old man.”
I smiled and patted his hand. “If you’re ever blessed with a speaker phone chat with my family you will understand why I find this perfectly comforting. Thank you Mr. Edmundson.”
“You can call me Bob, Adelaide.”
“I will certainly try Mr. Edmundson, I mean Bob.”
I bent over to dig through my purse trying to find my phone so I could call the family and let them know we landed. I turned off the data roaming and various notifications started to pop up. A long arm appeared from the backseat, “Use mine Lady, the international charges will be outrageous.”
Bob frowned as he piloted the SUV toward the highway. “You call her Lady?”
“Yeah, Dad. Like ‘Adelaidie.’”
I got a sideways glance from Bob and I put a hand on his arm. “It’s fine. He’s not being disrespectful, I promise. At least he doesn’t insist on calling me Addie like my sister. She calls me that because she knows I hate it.”
Joel shook his phone at me again, “Lady.”
I took his phone and threw it back at him where it hit his chest and fell in his lap. “I have an international plan, Dorkface.”
Bob coughed and kept looking at the icy highway in front of us, while his son looked shocked and then continued pouting in the backseat, “Did you just call me ‘Dorkface?’”
Dialing the phone I held it to my ear. “I did.”
The man to my left was now openly smiling and trying not to laugh.
“Hi Mama! I made it! Put me on speaker. Hi Daddy! No Adele, I’m not speaking to you. Yeah, Eddy’s dad picked us up from the airport. Brandon is about two and a half hours from Winnipeg?” I looked at Joel for confirmation, “Maybe three with all the snow and ice and stuff. No. I’m not putting you on speaker. I just wanted to let y’all know I got here and I’ll send you a text when we get there. No, I’m not inflictin’ you on Bob while he’s drivin’. Momma he told me to call him Bob. Not calling him Bob is rude. Ugh… Momma!”
Joel and his father shared a smile and meaningful look in the rearview mirror that I didn’t have the extra brain cells to process at that moment. “Ok. The plane landed. I’m safe. I’ll send y’all a text when we get to the house. Bye.”
There was a comfortable silence after I hung up and inspite of the three hour nap on the plane, I felt the day catching up to me.
Joel yawned and stretched in the back seat. “Hey Dad, pull over and hit that Timmies.”
I perked up slightly. “Timmies? Like Tim Horton’s?”
He grinned, “You can’t get the authentic Canadian experience without going to Timmies.”
The big SUV pulled up to the drive-thru and we sat behind a couple of other cars as I stared out the window looking at the lights of Winnipeg. Something moved in the bushes by the drive-thru and squinted trying to see what it was before Bob asked me a question.
“Pardon?” I shook my head slightly and blinked a few times. I must have been more tired than I felt.
Bob repeated his question, “What would you like, Adelaide?”
I answered with a small smile, “Oh just some herbal tea for me.”
“You don’t want a Timmy’s coffee?” Bob Edmundson was the epitome of a father and I was beginning to think Eddy and I had similar childhoods.
“I do, I just had a good nap on the plane and if I drink coffee at this time in the evenin’ I will never sleep.”
“Oh Dad, get Timbits!” Eddy piped up from the back seat.
Any guard Joel might have up was completely gone as he sat in the back seat of the older SUV. He was just a big kid in the back seat of the family vehicle and I wondered if his family had taken him to hockey practice in this car. His buddies and teammates and all their hockey gear piled in the big Tahoe and I wondered if our kids would play hockey. What the fuck? I turned back to the window so any expression I might have about my intrusive thought was hidden.
Something moved in the darkness again and I strained to see what it was , blinking trying to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness as Joel and his father had a conversation like I wasn’t even there, which is what my parents did when Adele and I were annoying.
“Will she eat Timbits?”
“Yes, Dad she eats anything, it’s fantastic.”
I was distracted when I interjected, still trying to develop superhuman night vision. “I actually hate broccoli unless it’s smothered in Velveeta.”
I had no idea the look that passed between the men in the rearview mirror, but Joel replied excitedly, “I told you!”
As we pulled forward to the speaker box I could see what I had been looking at was just a bag of trash moving with the wind.
Bob was in the middle of ordering when the bag moved again and this time there was no breeze to speak of. I unhooked my seatbelt and opened the door, the cold hitting me like a freight train.
Joel leaned forward in his seat as his father gave me a sideways glance, “Lady?”
I wrapped my arms around my body, “That bag of trash keeps moving, I just want to make sure there’s not a possum or something stuck in it.”
“Lady, it’s just some varmint. It probably has rabies or something,” Joel’s voice was tinged with a combination of amusements and exasperation.
“Then, we will call animal control or whatever to put it down humanely and not let it suffocate in a trash bag,” I answered matter-of-factly.
Slamming the door I tiptoed through the bushes next to the drive-thru, the Manitoba winter cutting through the knit of my sweater with ease, and as I got closer, the bag moved more and whimpered. Feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the cold I jumped back to the Tahoe and threw open the door to the back seat, “Eddy give me your coat.”
He held the wool to his chest. “What? Why? Adelaide this is a Tom Ford, I’m not letting you wrap a raccoon in a four thousand dollar coat.”
My jaw dropped, “Why do you OWN a four thousand dollar coat!? That’s just ostentatious!” Slamming the door I pulled my arms through the sleeves of my oversized sweater and slid it off, leaving me in leggings and a cami and I ripped a hole in the trash bag with frozen fingers. The puppy inside the plastic gave a tired cry and I gently wrapped it up in my sweater before cradling it to my chest.
Joel jumped out of the back of the SUV. “Adelaide, what the fuck it is freezing outside!”
Suddenly, filled with a white hot rage, it was directed at him in that moment, “It’s not a raccoon, you asshole! It’s a puppy!”
He settled his coat around my shoulders and helped me back into the SUV. I wasn’t sure who was shivering harder, me or the puppy now cradled against my body. I pulled the four thousand dollar coat around me, trying to create a pocket of heat for the little creature. I hugged it a little tighter and it gave a sharp cry with whatever energy it had left. I felt helpless, “Eddy!”
“I’m looking for an emergency vet right now, Lady.”
Bob pulled forward in the drive-thru line and looking between his son and me and the puppy before pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. I guess the Tahoe was old enough not to have bluetooth and therefore could have been the car that Joel and his brother got carted around to hockey practice.
“Hi honey, we are going to be a little later than planned. Joel insisted on Timmies and Adelaide found a puppy and I think we need to drop it off at a vet.” There was a pause that was obvious confusion before he continued, “You’re going to love her. She found the poor pup in a trash bag. I’ll give you a call when we are on our way again. Ok. Bye dear.”
We sat in silence, trapped in the drive-thru. I carefully tried to tuck my sweater around the dog as Joel spoke, “There’s an emergency vet about five minutes across the highway. I’m going to call them.”
The SUV inched forward, pulling up to the window and Bob handed his credit card over and silently distributed drinks and a cardboard box with a handle. “Hi, yes, my, uh, girlfriend just found a puppy in a trash bag. It’s cold and we think it’s hurt.” He paused and I just blinked at the word “girlfriend.” I supposed it was faster than “girl I bumped into in the airport and fucked” and probably would result in fewer questions. But he could have also said friend in a pinch, travel companion, literally anything other than the G word.
Bob regarded me through the conversation. I was never adept at hiding any thought that crossed my mind and I knew he read my face like a book.
“I understand it’s close to Christmas and you’re full, but this is an emergency. Yes, fine we accept financial responsibility. It’s an animal that needs care.” He hung up and pointed between the front seats, “Dad, take a left out of the parking lot.”
I held the cup of tea inside the coat, hoping the hot cup and steam would produce some radiant heat to help warm the puppy and myself.
Joel wasn’t kidding when he said the emergency vet was close and we pulled in just a few minutes later. It was one of those little miracles that happen especially around Christmas. The smell of disinfectant made my nose wrinkle, but the office was warm and I was thankful for that.
The girl behind the desk seemed friendly enough in holiday themed scrubs, “Hi, welcome.”
I almost surprised myself when I spoke first, “Hi, yes my boy… my boyfriend just called. This is the puppy I found.” It was harder than I thought, saying that word.
She frowned, “The one you found in a trash bag? Let me take it back immediately. We’ll assess the poor dear and let you know what needs to be done.”
I tried to wrap my sweater around the puppy more securely before I handed it over across the desk. She took the bundle and cooed as she walked to the back, “Aren’t you darling? We’ll get you all fixed up.”
Joel and his father had taken up residence in the three empty seats, leaving the middle one for me and I pulled the peacoat closer around my body as I plopped in the plastic chair. “I can’t believe you own a four thousand dollar coat, Eddy. I can’t believe I am WEARING a four thousand dollar coat; four thousand dollars is like a year’s worth of car payments for me.”
He put his arm around me and kissed my temple, “Lady, I’m in a tax bracket that’s just a little higher than yours.”
“A year’s worth of car payments, Joel… A YEAR.” It was clear that I was going to be stuck on the coat for while.
“No offense Princess but it sounds like you need a new car.” HIs big hand rubbed my arm, trying to create friction and warmth.
Bob gave his son a dry look over my head, “Don’t let him bully you into buying a new car Adelaide.”
Joel started rubbing the back of my neck, which was becoming a habit. “Don’t you work for Mercedes?”
I scoffed, “In HR. And why would I spend half my paycheck on a stupid expensive car that is even more expensive to maintain. Just to get like a 10% discount?”
He made a face. “Really? Your company discount is that low?”
“You probably get a better deal as a professional athlete than I do as an actual employee,” I sighed.
The receptionist came back out front and looked at me, “Are you taking responsibility for the puppy?”
I stood and went to the desk. “Yes. What do I need to do?”
She slid a clipboard towards me, “Just fill this out and we will get started on her.”
“Her!? It’s a her! Is she ok?”
I received a warm smile, “Yes, she’s lucky you found her. She’s malnourished and dehydrated, suffering some hypothermia and probably some other things, but for being found in a trash sack and separated from her mom at such a young age she should be just fine. She will probably have some pretty bad diarrhea for a few days.”
“Is she really young? I thought she was pretty big.”
“She’s barely six weeks, if that. She’s gonna be a big girl. Probably some sort of LGD and malamute, husky, german shepherd. Something like that. We’ll send you home with some puppy food.”
I looked over the form in front of me, only half paying attention to it, “What’s an LGD? How big will she get?”
“Livestock Guardian Dog like a Great Pyranees or Anatolian Shepherd. She will probably be around 70lbs.”
I sighed, “Of course I couldn’t find a Chihuahua in a trash bag.”
“Go ahead and fill out that paperwork to the best of your ability, she is just old enough to get the first round of distemper and parvo, do you want to do that?”
I nodded, “Yeah I mean, I guess just do everything you need to.”
Both men were buried in their phones when I plopped back into my seat. “I think I have a puppy,” I said it to no one in particular, but a thought occurred to me, “Oh my god, Bob. I’m so sorry. We can find a shelter or something to take her to, if she can go.”
He patted my knee and didn’t reply, just asked me a question, “What’s her name?”
I answered before I even knew the question had an answer, “Tinsel.”
“Why don’t you stay here and wait for Tinsel and Joel and I will go across the highway, I’m pretty sure we passed a Pet Valu. Just text Joel anything you need.”
“Ok, let me get my emergency credit card,” I said as I dug around in my giant purse trying to find it. Joel gave me a dry look and I sighed, “If I check this later there won’t be a charge on here will there?”
He shook his head.
Bob just looked at us with a big grin on his face. “Best Christmas ever.”
Soon I was alone in the waiting room, barks, yips, meows, and yowls coming from the back room and I tucked Joel’s coat tighter around me. I actually swam in the thing, but I didn’t have time to process that.
This is obviously a rewrite of my old fic. I have been feeling romantic and Christmasy, so I figured it was time to bring back my favorite holiday couple. Title banner by the wonderful @whatishockey. The center photo is from a gifset by the amazing@powerblais
Synopsis: When Adelaide Thibodeaux finds her husband to be diddling the wedding planner in the Church before their nuptials, she walks out and is determined to take her dream honeymoon by herself. Until she gets a seat upgrade to first class and ends up next to Hurricanes Defenceman, Joel Edmundson. Holiday shenanigans ensue.
Author's Notes: Rushed to get this done for Christmas, so ignore any typos please. THAR BE SMUT AHEAD. This was written in early 2019 before Eddy went to Montreal as a free agent. I will be tagging both teams. It's been a while since I've posted a dual POV so reminder that *~*~*~*~*~* delineates a change in POV.
Tag List: @leafs-foreverr, @pagirl6866, @colecockfield If you would like to be part of the tag list, please let me know.
Part 5
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When I woke up in the morning, I could tell the snow was falling heavy. Daylight was trying hard to penetrate the wall of blizzard outside and failing.
Sometime during the night, I had flipped Adelaide over my body and she was curled into my chest as I faced the wall of windows on “my” side of the bed. She was snoring softly and had gotten rid of the sweatshirt sometime during the night. Probably because I was a human furnace when I slept.
That was fine by me as I lifted the covers to take a peek at her pajamas that drove me insane. She burrowed into me more as the cold air hit her skin and I let the coverlet fall and wrapped my arms around her. I was awake, I had to pee, and I was horny. I was definitely looking forward to the day where I could wake her up in the morning with my cock sliding into her hot wet cunt. The thought made me swallow, hard.
She snuggled into the hollow of my throat which didn’t make me want her less, but I was doing this “in the moment” bullshit now so I wrapped my arms around her even tighter as I hugged her to my body and watched the blizzard swirl outside the hotel windows.
I lifted my wrist to check the time and it was just after seven in the morning. I had no idea what the streets below looked like but based on what I could see falling in the muted morning light, pending a Christmas miracle, we weren’t getting out of Chicago today.
There was a grumble somewhere around the vicinity of my throat and phone started to vibrate on the side table. Reaching over the dark haired badger making unhappy noises into my throat, I picked up the phone.
If the majority of my blood wasn’t in my dick, if I didn’t have a beautiful woman snuggled into my body, and if I had been awake more than two minutes, I probably wouldn’t have answered a facetime call from a number I didn’t recognize, but I did.
When I hit accept, I had less than a second to 1) realize the caller was Adele and 2) Notice Adelaide’s dark head was clearly visible under my chin before her sister let out a shriek that could have awoken long dead Egyptian Pharaohs.
The noise made Adelaide bolt upright, her head snapping me in the chin so hard my teeth smashed together, and when her sister was able to clearly see what she was wearing, that got another shriek of joy of which any toddler in the world would have been jealous.
My phone was snatched out of my hand and Adelaide threw it across the room where it landed harmlessly on the carpet, her voice a harsh whisper, “What the fuck, Joel?”
All of my blood was still not where it was supposed to be and I was having a difficult time processing everything that just happened in the span of three seconds.
Stretching my jaw, I moved it side to side with my fingers, tongue running over my teeth to make sure they were still there. That would have been an embarrassing story to tell the boys. Adele’s voice was tinny from across the suite and I pulled Adelaide back down in the bad and pulled the duvet over our heads as I feverishly whispered, “What the fuck just happened?”
Her hands started running over my body, like she was checking me for injuries and it was NOT helping the situation in my boxer briefs. “Why did I just wake up to my sister shrieking like she just opened new Louboutins?”
I snatched one of her roving hands and placed it not so subtly on my dick, “Because I woke up three minutes ago wrapped around a beautiful woman wearing the lingerie you’re wearing, making badger noises into my chest and all my blood is here.”
Her fingers trailed idly over the hard length and I couldn’t help the noise I made in my throat. She didn’t seem to notice, “Badger noises?”
I swallowed and struggled for control, grabbing her wrist, “Adelaide, your sister is still talking into that phone across the room and unless you want my dick so deep inside you it’s coming out your throat, I need you to stop. Please.”
The little minx didn’t stop, she actually smirked. I wouldn’t have thought Adelaide could smirk, but she did and she slipped her fingers into the waistband of my Calvins and she wrapped her entire hand around the shaft and stroked.
I swallowed and sank into the pillows, “Fuuuuuuccckk.”
Suddenly her face was in front of mine, “You have to stay quiet until Adele hands up, which, she knows we are in the same bed, and she wants deets OR to see you naked, so don’t bet on that.”
Holding her wrist still, I hissed, “I do not know what you did with the sweet southern woman I picked up at the airport, but this is not appropriate!”
She smirked again uncharacteristically, “She woke up curled around a very very hot half naked man and she decided to stop being stupid. So do you want my mouth on you or not?”
Propriety was NOT my strong suit and I had made an unsuccessful attempt at being a gentleman, so I gave in. I let her wrist go and settled on my back, folding my hands behind my head, “I’m a man in bed with a gorgeous woman, who wants me in her throat? If this is some kind of test, then I fail.”
Placing her lips on mine, she gave me a gentle kiss and released Little Eddy before hopping out of bed like an adorable long legged doe.
I sighed and pushed up into a seated position, the headboard supporting my back as she picked up the phone, “Hi Dellie bye Dellie!” She hit the end button with a jaunty wave and turned the phone off before tossing it back on the bed. “Give me a minute?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Lady,” I said, gesturing to Little Eddy making a tent under the duvet.
She disappeared into the bathroom and i put the phone on the nightstand. She didn’t take long but I was staring out the windows, lost in my thoughts when she returned. Climbing on the bed, she straddled my hips and pulled the covers up around her waist, “Open your mouth.”
Her breath was minty fresh and I knew she had brushed her teeth in the bathroom and I was suddenly self-conscious about my own breath. It was a new feeling, I was never self-conscious about anything.
I opened my mouth, and like she had read my thoughts she placed a breath strip on my tongue. In that moment it was my heart and not my dick that twitched.
Settling my hands on his hips, I shifted so she was perfectly stradldling my hard on and I arched up into her. She sucked a breath through her teeth, hands coming to rest on my bare shoulders.
When I spoke my breath was also minty fresh, “Are you sure, Lady?”
Rolling her hips against me, she shyly bit her lip and I felt my self control shred. “Lady?”
Letting her lip pop out from between her teeth she answered, “Yeah, I’m sure.”
I lifted my hands to hold her head, thumbs under her chin and I held her for a kiss.
She was the one to deepen the kiss, her tongue slipping between my lips and an absolutely feral sound originated in my throat. Holding her to me, I flipped us and she gave a small squeak as her back hit the mattress. I had an entire buffet of Adelaide and her lips were just round one. Breaking the kiss I started to nibble down her neck.
Her hands trailed up my spine, her voice breathless, “holy shit Eddy.”
“What?” I replied between kisses. I was trying to decide if that silken pajama set was going to hit the floor now or later.
“You just threw me around like a feather.”
I chuckled against her skin, “Trust me you’re not a feather, but you’re not another 240lb hockey player in full pads either. You’re not nearly as big as you think you are.”
She didn’t answer, just gasped as I nipped her nipple through her cami, my free hand plucking at the other. I suddenly made a decision and lifted the shirt up and over her head, red silk and white lace hitting the floor before I laid her back down again.
Her fingers threaded through my hair as I sucked a nipple into my mouth and swirled my tongue around the nub. My fingers rolled her other nipple between them before I trapped it and started to squeeze with increasing pressure until Adelaide arched her hips into me with a moan.
Her voice was barely a whisper, “oh my god, Eddy.”
I hummed against her as I continued kissing down her body, “hmmm, if that’s all it takes to get an ‘oh my god, Eddy.’ I’m looking forward to the rest of this.”
She flinched when I started kissing across her stomach and I’m pretty sure I actually growled, “Whatever dumb insecure bullshit you just thought of, knock it off.”
I kissed across her belly again, tongue dipping into her navel before my fingers found the waistband of her shorts. They too hit the floor and suddenly she was laid out in front of me completely naked. She was just as spectacular as I thought she would be.
“Fuck, you are beautiful.”
Her pussy lips were glistening and I traced a finger down the seam gathering her juices before I let it slip between them. Watching her face, I slid my finger over her clit and pressed down, rolling it against the pad of my finger. She gasped and her hands fisted in the sheets.
I let my finger slide down her folds, adding pressure as it found her entrance and I pushed it inside. She was so wet and warm, I needed to taste her. I moaned as I licked her clit; she was so tight and her cunt sucked my finger inside her. She arched off the bed and buried her fingers in my hair, gripping the strands as I lapped at her cunt and fucked her with my finger.
At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to see this beautiful woman cum. I sucked on her clit and slid a second finger inside her and she gasped. Twisting them inside her I pressed the tips to her walls, searching for her g-spot and her hips lifted when I found it and she gyrated in the air trying to get more stimulation.I fucked her with my fingers then, dragging them along the spot, clit trapped between my teeth as I sucked. She was panting as I fucked her, chest heaving, breasts moving with every breath.
When she started to beg, I almost lost it. “Eddy, oh my god. Please. PLEASE.” I pushed a third finger inside her and bit down on her clit with increasing pressure until her back bowed off the bed and she was scratching at the headboard with her free hand. Her pussy convulsed around my fingers and I let her clit go, lapping at it with a flat tongue as I fucked her through the orgasm, cunt rippling around my digits.
Her juices were running down my hand and I needed to be inside her. Untangling her hand from my hair I pushed it above her head and gripped both of her wrists in my hand as I levered over her, shoving my underwear down my hips. My cock bounced free and I shifted, dragging the head through her dripping pussy until it notched at her entrance.
My voice was more forceful than I intended for it to be. “Are you on birth control?”
She nodded, hands still pinned above her head and I slid into her body with a hard thrust, feeling the crown of my cock drag against her walls. Even after an orgasm and good finger fucking she was still tight and it took few thrusts to get all the way in. I held my dripping fingers to her mouth. “Suck.” Her lips stretched around all three fingers, tongue running over them, tasting herself.
When I was buried inside her to the hilt, I felt the tip of my cock pressed against her cervix and she rotated her hips, trying to get me deeper. Taking my hand out of her mouth, I supported my weight with it. She squirmed under my body and she whined, her voice needy. “Eddy, fuck Eddy, you are so big, I need more.”
I bent down, lips latching onto her skin below her collarbone and I sucked hard as I slammed my hips into her repeatedly. I did this for a few minutes, sucking a bruise into her skin, marking her as my hips set a slow forceful pace. The only sounds were her whimpers covered by the fervent slap of our bodies together. When the mark was an angry purple, I turned my attention to her nipples; my cock was slamming into her so hard that her entire body shook, which had her boobs bouncing in my face.
I latched onto a nipple, my free hand trapping the other between my fingers and I bit down and squeezed at the same time. She arched up into me with a string of curses, legs wrapping around my waist and that was my undoing. I braced both hands on the headboard and I fucked her hard and furious, our bodies sounding like applause through hissed expletives.
Her orgasm seemed to catch her by surprise as I shifted my hips, the shaft of my cock dragging along her clit as I fucked her. Watching her face as she came was my breaking point and I felt my balls tighten as I shot stream after stream of cum into her cunt.
I braced my weight on my forearms trying not to put too much weight on her, because I didn’t want to pull out just yet. I wanted to stay inside her hot wet warmth forever.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My voice was breathless like Scarlett O’Hara had run a mile, “Holy Shit Eddy.” He refused to put any weight on me, but refused to move as well so I wrapped my arms around him and tugged.
His voice was muffled in the crook of my neck, “No Lady, I’m too heavy.”
“Let me be the judge of that will ya,” I said, pressing a kiss into his temple. I tugged him down again and this time he obliged, settling his weight carefully on top of me, his softening cock still inside me, filling me. I wanted to stay in this moment forever.
We laid there, sweat drying on my skin, pussy still fluttering anemically around his cock as he nosed my ear pressing gentle kisses along my neck. “That was perfect, you’re perfect. God, I don’t even know when I’ve cum that hard.”
I sighed and hugged him tight, “One of the drawbacks of living in the moment is wanting to stay here forever, never wanting to go back to reality.”
He propped himself up on an elbow and kissed me sloppy and deep, our tongues lazily entwining until he had his fill and he pulled back, pressing his wet lips to my face in soft kisses. “You think when Christmas is over I’m just going to go away? You are sorely mistaken. I just became addicted to you Lady.”
I sighed again, relaxing into the heat his body produced, “You say that now, before we have to go back to the real world.”
He pulled back, lifting his hips to watch his dick slide out of my body, followed by a trickle of his cum. I watched him as his fingers gathered it and bit my lip as he shoved it back inside him. It was so crude and possessive, I almost came again before he brought his finger to my lips, his voice commanding, “Suck.”
Opening my mouth, I drew them in, sucking our co-mingled juices off his skin. He uttered a hissed, “Fuck,” and pulled his fingers from my mouth as there was a knock at the door
He kissed me, tongue invading my mouth like he was trying to lick our cum off of my tongue. Sex with Dan had never been like this. We had only done it a handful of times but they had been fumbling, hurried, unfulfilling events in the dark with him grunting and thrusting erratically and I had nothing else to compare them too. If this was what sex was supposed to be like, I understood why Adele was so insistent I get out an “get some.”
There was another knock, “Room service!”
He broke the kiss and pressed our foreheads together, “I ordered coffee and breakfast last night.”
I gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Mmm, that was mighty thoughtful of you.”
His eyes were soft and almost a little wistful, “Is it weird that I’m hoping this blizzard lasts a few more days and instead of going home I can just spend the next three days fucking you in increasingly depraved ways?”
I gave him another chaste kiss. “Go get breakfast before my ass deflates.”
He pouted and kissed me again, “We can’t have that, it’s one of my favorite parts about you.”
I gave him a small shove. “Go.” He responded by tucking the covers around my naked body, his cock limp and shiny against his thighs as he pulled his underwear on and walked to the other side of the bed for his joggers.
There was no way to hide the smell of sex in the room and I wanted to pull the covers over my head and hide from the employee delivering breakfast.
How he managed to pull on his sweats and gracefully hop across the suite, I don’t know. I would have crashed into 14 pieces of furniture and probably needed stitches and a trip to the hospital.
“Can I pay for the tip, or…” I asked, after clearing my throat. He snatched his wallet off the table and rolled his eyes at me, clearly not dignifying my request with an answer.
I threw a pillow at his retreating back and huffed, “You’re such a jerk!”
A smirk covered his face as he reached the door, “Yeah, according to Don Cherry, I’m part of a bunch.”
I flopped back into the remaining pillows and pulled the covers over my head, he was impossible, “Well Don Cherry is a dinosaur in completely awful suits!”
I stayed under the duvet for the transaction and wondered if I could just hide out under the goose down forever. Soon the smell of bacon smothered the smell of sex in the room and I peeked out from the safety of the duvet only to find Joel wafting the smell toward me with a napkin.
His grin was wide, “Mmm. There’s my Lady. Come eat.”
I rolled my eyes, clutching the sheet to my chest, and trying to find the pajama set to put on.
He poured me a coffee. “Lady, just wrap the sheet around you and come eat, because getting dressed is an act of futility. I’m just going to strip you naked again as soon as we are done eating.”
Somehow I managed to gather the huge sheet around my body in some kind of toga and not trip on the ends as I made my way to the table. When I sat and started to chew on a piece of bacon, my voice was dry, “What makes you think you’re going to get me naked again?”
A smile stretched his face, but his eyes were dark. “Because I’m gonna put on the antlers and you’re gonna put on the elf hat.”
I tried to resist the whole body shiver that snaked down my spine, but based on Eddy’s gleeful smirk I wasn’t sure how successful I was.
Picking up a fork I pushed the eggs around on my plate. “Speaking of that… we didn’t um.. Use protection.”
He paused chewing and swallowed before he spoke, “You said you were on birth control.”
“I am… but like pregnancy isn’t the only STD”
He choked on his coffee at the implication that children were STDs. “I haven’t been with anyone since I was last tested.”
Frowning, I put down my fork. “Oh yeah? What about me? I could be a giant… slut!”
He gave me a dry look, “The fact that you had to search for the word slut in you vocabulary tells me all I need to know, but please stop me if at any point this becomes inaccurate. You met Dan three years ago. It took him almost six months to get into your pants. You’d have sex two to three times a week at first, you were engaged by your second year together, by the third year you were down to once a month at most, none at all leading up to the wedding. You figured the wedding would change things.”
My frown became a scowl and I pushed the eggs around on my plate some more. I didn’t want to tell him he was off the mark but not in the way he would be expecting and that my experience was actually much much less than that. He looked awfully pleased with himself as he finished his stupid egg white omlette. I hoped it tasted like sad kale.
“We actually only had sex a few times and it wasn’t like what we…” I trailed off and pushed my food around some more.
I could tell he didn’t know what to do with that information, so he changed the subject, “Stop frowning and start eating.” He finished his plate and grabbed his phone off the nightstand.
While he disappeared into his device my eyes strayed to the windows and the city of Chicago. We both spoke at the same time.
“The snow stopped.”
“Our flight wasn’t cancelled.”
Suddenly, I was faced with the reality that life existed outside of this suite and I was going to bumfuck nowhere Manitoba with a professional hockey player to crash his family’s Christmas.
He pointed at me, the rest of his fingers still curled around his phone, “Stop it.”
I frowned and pushed the eggs to the other side of my plate, just to change it up for once. “What? I didn’t do anything.”
“You’ve suddenly realized you said you’d go home with me and you’re feeling some sort of way about it and that way is not jumping for joy,” he said as he refilled my coffee up with his free hand.
It was creepy how easy could read me, he barely knew me, “Joel…”
He practically growled. “I hate when you call me Joel. When you call me Eddy you’re all cute or turned on. When you call me Joel, inevitably, something I’m not going to like is about to come out of your mouth. New rule, you’re not allowed to call me Joel.”
He started clearing his side of the table, putting things back on the cart. “Finish your breakfast. Our flight was moved up an hour. They want to try and get us out of here before the skies clear completely and the temperature drops 20 degrees and the runways are covered in ice instead of snow.”
I managed a few bites of the eggs, ate another strip of bacon and gave up on breakfast. My Momma would have been cluckin’ and feeling my forehead. Wrapping my hands around my mug of coffee, I stared out the window. The oppressive snow clouds started to lift and once again the Chicago street below me started to buzz with cars and people as the city began to dig out from the storm. My mind joined them, wondering what each one was doing with their day.
I felt pressure on my wrist, when I looked down Joel was carefully unwrapping my fingers from the mug and he tugged me out of my seat. When he spoke his voice was soft, “Hey, do you still want to come home with me?”
My shoulders lifted so high I could've sworn they brushed my earlobes before I dropped them in an exaggerated shrug. “I like you, I like the way you make me feel. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth to keep feeling this way but, everything just seems to be processing finally.”
He stepped closer, his fingers and palms grazing the line of my jaw before his hands buried in my hair. He lifted my chin with his thumbs and pressed a kiss to my lips. “No pressure, you know. We can go to Toronto or I can take you home to Alabama and crash your family’s Christmas.”
I managed to stop my eyes mid roll, because Joel in Alabama would be a disaster, “I’m just worried about what people will think, what your family will think. You already posted that photo to instagram, people probably think I’m some holiday hooker or something.”
He rested his forehead against mine, “Adelaide, no one with a soul can dislike you and why do you care what people think? No one on Instagram thinks you’re a holiday whore, they think you’re my girlfriend. So if that addressed all your concerns, in a perfect world where would you be right now?”
“On my honeymoon with a man who loved me and inbetween sightseeing and sex I’d be worried if the new towels matched the shower curtains for the house.” The thought escaped before I could stop it and he sighed.
“Well, I’m wayyyy better than Dear Old Dan, but Manitoba is a poor substitute for Toronto, so we are batting 50/50.”
I placed the hand I wasn’t using to hold up my sheet toga up, on his bare chest. I knew it wasn’t possible but I felt electricity flow between us. “But you’re going to be in Manitoba, so Manitoba wins.” He lifted my chin and kissed me again, this time his tongue sliding between my teeth.
As we kissed he backed me up against the bed and I yelped, my mouth ripped away from his as I fell ungracefully onto the mattress.
Joel didn’t flop around like a beached sperm whale, his descent to the bed was controlled and graceful as his arms landed on the bed on either side of my head.
His head tilted, brows arching as he looked at me, “A weird expression just crossed your face.”
“I was momentarily jealous of how graceful you are.”
“Is that what that expression was?” He looked amused.
“Yes, bu this expression is me remembering there’s at LEAST two videos of you on youtube sprawling on the ice because you forgot to take your skate guards off and that made me feel better about myself.”
He sat up against the headboard and hauled my sheet-toga clad body against his. “I’m glad those seriously embarrassing moments in my life give you peace.”
Unwrapping my body, I settled the sheet over both of us and rested my head on his shoulder. After a moment, he cleared his throat and when I looked up at him, he was wearing the reindeer antlers. “I believe I have a fantasy…”He plopped the elf hat on my head with a hopeful waggle of his eyebrows, “What do you say?”
I didn’t answer, just trailed my fingers down his body, the tips dipping into the valleys of his abs, feeling the muscles contract at the sensation. I wondered how much he worked out to get a body like this and I figured it was a million hours per day and I knew he sacrificed bacon and egg yolks. His body was nice, but God, at what cost?
His cock jumped, already hard, as I licked his sex lines and slipped my fingers around him giving a firm tug. Living in the moment was something new for me and apparently it took practice. But I was fully flexing that tiny little muscle now and fully prepared to chase my own pleasure while using this man’s body like an adult playground.
His cock still had that musty after sex smell clinging to the skin and I wanted to taste it, taste us. Leaning over him I ran my tongue around the mushroomed crown and he let out a breath through his nose, one of his hands sliding into my hair, “Fuck, Baby.”
I licked the length before taking him in my mouth and sucked until my lips met my hand. When I let him go to take him in my throat his hips lifted and I thought he was going to fuck my face. Instead, his hand fisted in my hair and he gently pulled me off his cock. “I’m too close. I don't want to finish in your mouth.”
He pulled me on top of his body as I licked my lips. “But what if I want to taste you?”
“Mmm you can suck it off my cock after.” His hand slipped between our bodies and I suddenly found myself full of his fingers, “But my cum belongs here.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that but I felt my walls ripple against his digits and I rocked on them as I got wetter.
His smile was wicked as he removed his fingers and lined up his cock, gripping my hips and rolling them slowly until he was buried inside me. “You like that idea? Being full of my cum?”
I bit my lip and nodded, rolling my hips again, feeling him deep inside me, head snug against my cervix he was so deep. The pressure was arousing and intense and I wanted more even though there wasn’t anymore of him or anywhere for it to go. Bracing my hands on his chest I let him take my whole weight, feeling so full of his entire length pressed inside me.
Letting go of my hips, he palmed my breasts, hefting them and holding the weight of them in his hands as I rode him. “I’m going to remember this forever.”
I was so turned on, my entire body felt flushed as his dick slid in and out of my sopping pussy. I mewled when his fingers plucked at my nipples and rolled my hips to shift the angle of his cock inside me, trying to get friction on my clit.
When he pinched my nipples, I gasped and increased my pace, “Fuck Eddy, I’m so close.” My voice was breathy and my hair was sticking the sweat on my neck.
Releasing one, the blood rushing to the tip was a sensation I felt right in my clit and his hand slid down my belly, his thumb seeking the bundle of nerves that so desperately wanted stimulation. One of my nipples was still pinched between his fingers and he increased the pressure rolling it between the pads of his thumb and forefinger as his thumbnail scraped my clit and I fell apart, bucking hard on his cock, as I had the hardest orgasm I had ever experienced.
His hips shot up as my walls fluttered around him, fucking me through it. “That’s it. Cum on my cock, Lady.” His fingers teasing my nipples and clit didn’t stop until I couldn’t hold myself up anymore and my elbows buckled.
Before I knew what was happening, he was out from under me and I whimpered as he pulled out, but he then he was behind me, pulling me to my knees and he slammed back in, fucking me so furiously that a second orgasm followed on the heels of the first, and this time his thrusts became erratic as he slammed into my cunt, cock twitching as he spilled inside me for the second time.
His long fingers were gripping my hips so hard I was sure there were going to be bruises and he was pressed as deep as he could be as the final ropes of cum shot out of him.
He stayed in me, pelvis flush with my ass as he ran a hand up and down my sweaty spine. “When you cum it feels like your pussy is literally trying to milk the cum from my balls. Is it weird that I like fucking you bareback? I never fuck women without a condom,” his voice was rough as he finally pulled out and I felt some of his cum dribble out. His fingers scooped it up and he held it in front of my lips. I lapped at his fingers as he flopped next to me and hauled me against his chest.
I made some sort of noise that indicated the negative to his question and ran my fingers down his chest. The asshole wasn’t sweating or winded and I felt like I needed a drink and a cigarette and 20 hours of sleep.
His phone vibrated on the side table and he reached over to grab it, “Your sister is trying to call again.”
I buried my face into his chest. “You have to change your phone number now. I have to change my number too. Does your mom want a daughter?”
Declining the call, he set the phone back on the table and wrapped his long arms around me, “I already got a DM from a cousin asking if the woman in the photo I posted was my fiance. There were apparently some wires crossed between my mom and aunt and the words ‘daughter-in law’ were used in some capacity and honestly, I don’t know the whole story but if we eloped no one would be happier than my mother.”
I didn’t know what to do with all that information and I just sighed, listening to Joel’s steady heartbeat beneath my ear tracing figure eights around his nipple with my fingernail.
He swept my hair over my shoulder. “Are you just going to ignore that?”
“YUP. No idea how to process so didn’t happen. I heard nothin’.”
His fingers continued combing through my hair, “It’s almost 9:30. We still need to get up and showered before we check out so we can get to the airport on time. And your phone has been off since last night according to the angry text I just got from Adele, so maybe turn it on and call your family before your dad kills me and no one ever finds the body.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you sure Adele isn’t your type? You’re both giant drama queens.”
“Ma’am I am a drama KING.”
I tried to use my liquid muscles to sit up. “Ok Mr. Crop Top Man.”
A yelp escaped as he suddenly flipped us, his narrow hips between my thighs, arms caged around my head, lips on mine as his tongue lashed into my mouth. I was halfway turned on again when he lifted his head, “I just made you cum like four times in the last two hours, are you seriously questioning my virile masculinity?”
“If I say yes will you make it five?” I said with a smug tone.
He groaned, burying his face into the crook of my neck. “You’re a vixen. I would love nothing more than to spend the day in bed, enjoying your body, making you scream my name, but that has to wait until All Star break. Maybe I can whisk you away to someplace with a beach and little umbrellas in the drinks, but right now, you have to get your beautiful butt outta bed and I don’t mind you smelling like my cum, I prefer it actually, but other people might not like it.”
When I spoke my voice was soft, “All Star break? Some place with a beach?”
“You heard me. Now, let’s go.” He rolled off of me and I was being hauled to my feet and directed to the bathroom still trying to process his comment about the break.
