i just wanted to let you know that from time to time i go and re-read the entirety of “to finally be yours” because it is such a well written story and also travis dermott is such an underrated cutie. but yeah, that story line? 10/10 mwah
no i'm not crying you are
MY BABY
i don't even remember the last time i got a comment for TFBY and this absolutely made my day when you sent this in!
this story will FOREVER hold a very special part of my heart, thank you!!!!
and yes, dermy is a very underrated cutie! and we stan an ally! when he actually has hair
Comments: I really want to take the time to thank McMo for inspiring this, being patient with me, and always being there. You’re the real MVP. To Kylie and KO, thank you for supporting me and being there to listen and relate to my writing struggles. To Amalie, thank you for hyping it up while barely knowing anything about it. And of course, to Criss, thank you for always helping me and giving me ideas despite having no clue who this man is. I love all of you. xx
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(c) nat g. 2020 // do not repost, do not claim as your own
Travis always dreamt of playing in the NHL. He never thought he’d get there, but he dreamt of it. You, on the other hand… You always knew that Travis would make it to the big league. He was too good no to. You grew up watching him play Timbits hockey on Saturday mornings which turned into primetime games as he crushed it in major junior for the Erie Otters, playing on a team with “The Next One” no less. By no means did you dedicated your life to Travis’s hockey career, but you spent too much of it watching him on and off the ice and you knew he was destined for the NHL.
And you were proven correct when the final draft rankings for the 2015 NHL entry draft were in and Travis was in the top 50. You were there the day he was drafted by the Leafs. You held him tightly in your arms as you told him how proud of him you were and how you always knew he’d make it.
You just didn’t know that Travis making it to the NHL would come at the cost of losing you.
But that’s not where the story starts.
The story starts in the second grade when the teacher rearranged the desks in October, seating you next to a boy named Travis. With the hockey season right around the corner, you learned quickly that Travis, much like yourself, was an avid hockey fan, an avid Leafs fan. It felt like overnight the two of you became inseparable.
The days Travis didn’t have practice, he was with you. You spent recesses together talking about the game the previous night. You spent countless hours in the summer playing road hockey and playing out the fantasy of winning the Stanley Cup. As you got older, the two of you didn’t grow apart. But instead of road hockey, you were watching movies. Instead of Leafs stats, it was OHL stats. Instead of colouring the formidable Nunavut together, you were helping him study since he didn’t have much time outside of his soon to be professional hockey career.
The times changed and the two of you grew up, but you didn’t grow apart.
And as the two of you got older, you both learned to appreciate the cabin your family owned on the side of Lake Jasper. You used to call it your little slice of happiness, but Travis nicknamed it “The Retreat” because you would go away for weeks at a time and there was no cell service and he couldn’t talk to you and he hated it.
Travis stopped hating it the moment he got to tag along for a week trip to The Retreat. It was calming there, trees as far as the eye could see and a beautiful lake. There was no cell service so there was no worry of the outside world. That was something you both learned to appreciate as you got older. You didn’t have to worry about your grades or the next bad thing happening in the world. And Travis didn’t have to worry about hockey or how his stats were or what was in his future. Both of you could just be you for a few interrupted days.
Both of you had so many good memories out there, and you always thought the two of you would make more memories...
Your first year of university was the year after Travis was drafted. He didn’t make the Leafs’ opening night roster and he was sent back to Erie while you went away for university. You worked your ass off at university. During the school year you hunched over your books, and you worked two jobs in the summer to make enough money to make your own dream a reality like your best friend’s. And just like you, Travis was working harder than he had ever worked. He needed to be better to make the next jump in his hockey career, to show the Leafs he was worth it.
Both you tried feverishly to keep in touch through all of this. There were countless texts, phone calls, and FaceTimes. But your schedules no longer lined up and you both had so much work to do…
You spoke to each other less that year than you ever had.
And then you didn’t come home for the summer like he was expecting you to. You got a job in your university town that paid better than anything in Newmarket, so you stayed. It was the first summer you didn’t spend with Travis.
The next year, Travis made the jump from the OHL to the AHL.
Neither of you meant to drift apart, but the AHL took up so much more of Travis’s time and you got busier with university. So, the phone calls stopped. The texts between the two of you slowed until you didn’t even notice that you hadn’t spoken to him in months.
The two of you just grew apart.
It hurt both of you deeply to watch your friendship fall apart despite being attached at the hip for the better part of your lives. But neither of you had the time or energy to fight for it the way it deserved, the way it needed, and the halfway point the two of you were sitting at was hurting the two of you more than it was helping.
But the thing about losing a friend like Travis is that no one tells you that it hurts more than any break up ever could. You were friends since second grade, you knew him longer than you didn’t, and you couldn’t even remember life before you met him. To you, he had always been there. And then he just wasn’t.
When you lost him, you lost a piece of yourself.
But even as you lost him, you didn’t stop watching him. You could blame it on nostalgia or force of habit, but you watched him in the AHL. You watched him make him NHL debut and score his first NHL goal. You watched as he won the Calder Cup with the Marlies, making you laugh despite the pain in your chest as you listened to his post-game interview.
Listening to the people around you and the buzz on the web, you knew a lot of people were surprised with how well the ‘young Leafs defenceman’ was doing, the progress he made in his development as he grew into a gritty top-four defenceman for the blue and white. But you weren’t surprised in the slightest. It was the Travis you knew and loved.
And now, after a strenuous academic career, you were finally graduating university. Graduating with honours and high in your class. And you scored an interview for a good job in your field in Toronto. You got the job, which started in October. It was a wonderful start to the next chapter of your life.
And since you had worked two jobs in the summers of your university career and you were getting a big girl job in October, you thought you would treat yourself to a one summer off where you would be able to be free for one final time before the ‘real world’ began. And, naturally, you thought the best place for that would be to spend some time at your family cabin that you hadn’t been to since high school. The Retreat would be the perfect place to relax.
Your parents were a little unsure about giving you the keys with no timeline on when you’d be back, but you were a big girl, so they caved eventually and handed the keys over to you. On the first Thursday of July you packed your car up and made the drive north to Lake Jasper. Every kilometer you got out of the city, you felt the weight lift from your shoulders. This was where you belonged.
You couldn’t stop smiling to yourself as you drove down the dirt road knowing that you were so close the place you had longed to be for so long. And it wasn’t long until you reached the gate at the end of the driveway. You got out of your car to unlock and open it before driving through and pulling up beside your cabin.
You turned your car off and looked out the window for a moment as you took it in. Slowly, you opened the door and got out, the tall grass was brushing your ankles so you made a mental note to cut the grass. You closed your door behind you and you couldn’t help but close your eyes and take a deep breath in. You couldn’t get crisp air like this in the city. The birds chirped in the background and you made your way down to the dock, wanting to look at the lake and feel the cool water between your fingers before you started to unpack.
The dock creaked under you as you walked on it, taking more deep breaths as you looked across it. It was trees and water as far as you could see. You would stay out here looking at it forever if you could. It was that beautiful.
You stood there for several minutes taking it in, breathing, listening to the loon calling across the water and the feeling the warmth of the sun on your face. It would have been perfect if not for the voices you heard coming from a property to your left. You had no idea who owned the property, your mother told you a couple years back that it had been sold but they weren’t sure who bought it, but based off the voices you guessed it was a frat or a college guy or a family of a college guy because it sounded like a group of rowdy boys.
You shook your head with a sigh before making your way back to the cabin. You fished the keys from your pocket and unlocked the door.
It was musty inside so the first thing you did was open the blinds and windows to let the place air out and to bring some light in. When you opened the last window of the main area, you turned around, taking the place in. Nothing had changed from the last time you were here five years ago. It was the same furniture in the same place. The pictures on the wall didn’t change either. The only difference was the inch of dust on everything.
You were walking towards the door to go grab your stuff out of the car when one of the pictures on the wall caught your attention. It was of you and Travis playing in the water with big smiles on your face. You were both eleven in that photo and if you closed your eyes you could still hear your laughter.
You ran your finger over the photo as your chest tightened at the memory. When you finally pulled your eyes away from the photo, you realized that all the pictures on that wall were of you and Travis. They varied in ages from ten to eighteen. Pictures of you in the water and around the fire and even catching grasshoppers. There was even a picture of you asleep in each other’s arms from a summer in high school.
All around you was reminders of Travis and you could remember every second of it.
The next picture your eyes fell on was of you and Travis on the dock. It was from the same summer as the previous picture. Travis held you bridal style in his arms with a wicked smirk on his lips as you clung desperately to him with fear in your eyes. You couldn’t help but laugh at the picture, remembering exactly what transpired just moments after it was taken.
“One for the money!” He said while swinging you, your screams doing nothing to prevent him from continuing. “Two for the show!”
“Please, Travis, don’t do this! Please!” But your begs fell on deaf ears.
“Three to get ready and four to go!” He said before he threw you into the lake.
When you closed your eyes, you could still hear him laughing.
He laughed so hard as you screamed that he had to bend over to try to catch his breath, even when you resurfaced and yelled and cursed at him. He just thought it was hilarious to see you soaking wet and screaming like a banshee. You, on the other hand, did not think it was funny. But, luckily for you, Travis was so preoccupied with pissing himself laughing that he didn’t process the malicious look in your eyes as you got out of the lake until you were standing on the dock with him.
“Oh shit!” Travis shouted, the laughter draining from his voice as he tried to move around you, but it didn’t work and your mom helped you block him on the dock so you could push him off of it and into the water. It was your turn to laugh, and did you ever.
It was a great memory and you couldn’t help but smile, even as your heart panged in your chest. You couldn’t lie and say it didn’t hurt you to think about what you used to have with Travis and how much you missed him. But even with the heartache that was eating at your chest, you couldn’t pull your attention away from the wall of photos.
Your gaze moved from the photo of the two of you on the dock to a picture of the two of you on a tube. You were still kids in the picture, both of you wore big smiles on your faces as you tried desperately to hold onto the tube as your dad drove his boat as fast as he could, pulling screams of terror and excitement from both of you. Those screams were embedded in your memory and you could still recall them now.
You had had a lot of fun in your life, but you couldn’t describe the pure joy that you felt when tubing, even if it did end with you thrown off the tube and landing harshly in the cold water of the lake. You had even lost your bikini bottoms a few times and had to urgently hunt them down in the surrounding water without revealing yourself to anyone. But still, there was nothing like tubing. Especially when you were with your best friend.
You laughed softly to yourself as you remembered the summer when you were older and you and Travis used to shove each other off the tube, competing to see who could hold on the longest. He won basically every time, his years of hockey and working out giving him an unfair advantage over you as he could hold on a lot stronger than you could and he could shove a lot harder than you could. But still, it was a great time.
You sighed and moved your eyes to another photo. You and Travis both wore rubber boots and flannels far too big for either of you. Adult shirts no doubt, probably your dad’s. Both of you had big smiles on your face as each of you held up your own fish. Yours was bigger than Travis’s and the grin on your face showed how proud of yourself you were.
You couldn’t help but run your fingers over the photo, over your smiles. The picture was taken the first summer Travis came out to the lake. Your dad had taken both of you fishing in the evening because you both begged him to. If you were behind honest, you enjoyed the boat ride more than the fishing, but Travis had lit up like a Christmas tree when your dad finally agreed. You and Travis only caught one fish each that night before your dad shut things down for the night, but it was enough to make both of you happy and you could still remember how excited you were to show your mom that you had caught the bigger fish.
Both of you were so young and happy and neither of you had any idea what was going to happen in the future. All that mattered in that moment to either of you was that your fish was bigger than Travis’s.
Oh, how times had changed.
You took a deep breath as you shook your head, trying your best to shake free of those memories, and you forced yourself to walk back out the door to your car to unload and unpack everything.
It took you about an hour to unload and get everything put where it was supposed to be, turn on the gas and check the solar batteries and all that. It took you another hour to give the place a good dusting and wipe down all the surfaces. By the time you were done, the place looked like people had actually been living there rather than some summer cabin your family only visited a couple times a year, and that made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
You spent the rest of Thursday and the entirety of Friday just relaxing. You had your morning coffee on the deck as you watched the water. You listened to the loons and the ducks and the other birds call to each other. You did absolutely nothing productive and you hadn’t felt so free in years.
In high school you worked hard to get into a good program in a good school. In university you worked hard to get a good job. At work, you worked hard to make money to live. But all the hard work finally paid off and now you were getting that time off. You were free to just be, and you couldn’t enjoy the nothing to do more. And you couldn’t put into words just how happy and liberated you felt.
Even with the rowdy group of boys who were there for the weekend.
The thing about the rowdy group of guys you didn’t know, was that you actually did know them. And you knew one of them intimately well.
Travis had so many fond memories at the lake. He cherished every single one of them, the happy, the nostalgia, the pain. He cherished every memory he had of the two of you together at the lake and the fun the two of you used to have there. He loved how he could escape the city and pressure of Toronto. He loved that he could keep you close despite the two of you no longer being close. He loved it there, even if it hurt him to think about what could have been with the two of you and the future you both lost.
So, when a cabin two doors down from yours went on the market, there was no hesitation. He snatched it up in an instant.
Travis spent weeks up there in the two summers that he had the cabin for. He felt more himself there than he felt anywhere else. He was able to breathe and leave Toronto and the media and all the nasty Twitter users in his rear view mirror when he came out here. It was just him, Niylah, the lake, and happiness. And sometimes his annoying teammates that he loved deeply, even if he questioned what exactly was going on inside their heads.
And when he was up there alone, he would go out onto the dock every day and let his eyes fall on your cabin rather than the water as he searched for you. He always searched for you, hoped for you, but he always came up empty. The blinds on your cabin remained closed and the place empty as you were hundreds of kilometers away.
He tried to break the habit when he had guests overs, but the it was so ingrained in him. So, of course Mitch caught him staring at your cabin lost in his thoughts rather than paying attention to whatever shit the guys were talking about as they kicked back on the dock with beers in their hands.
“Are you going to tell us why you’re more interested in a vacant property than your friends?” Mitch had asked. Travis tried to shake him off, tried to steer the conversation back towards whatever bullshit they were talking about, but none of them let that happen. Mitch, Kappy, Hollsy, they had all picked up on how different Travis was out here compared to in Toronto, how he quieted himself down rather than got louder, how he withdrew from the group on more than one occasion, how he looked longingly at one singular cabin on the water. And they were all curious to know why.
So, they forced Travis to spill.
And Travis, with the help of another two beers, told them everything. “I met her in the second grade,” he started and they knew where this story was going long before Travis did. Travis told them how close the two of you used to be, how much you meant to him, how you had always been there, and how he had let you slip through his fingers. Every word that fell from his lips felt like another nail in his coffin that was going into the grave he dug himself. But he still told them.
He told them every ounce of his regret of not fighting harder for you and how stupid he was for thinking that hockey was more important than you.
“And this has to do with the cabin how?” Mitch had asked after Travis was done telling his story. Unlike the rest of the group, Mitch didn’t catch on to where the story was going.
“Because it’s her cabin.” Travis said, his eyes once again going to the cabin. If the guys caught on to how the words stuck to Travis’s throat, they didn’t say anything. So, Travis explained how he bought his cabin because of you and how he hoped every day that he would see you there on the dock or in the window and how he hoped that one day you would be there and the two of you would be able to fix things between the two of you.
But that just never happened.
The boys never again questioned Travis about the way he looked longingly at your cabin. Occasionally they told him to text you to see how you were doing, but Travis shook them off. In his mind, it wasn’t fair to ask for more of your time like that when he was the one who walked out of your life. He knew deep in his heart that you were out doing amazing things and that, he told himself, was enough. But that was a lie. It was never enough.
But that was then.
Now, two years later, a similar group of Leafs enjoyed their time at Travis’s cabin. This time around, they overlooked Travis’s constant longing. They had become so used to it that they barely even noticed it. And Travis had become so used to you not being there that he only glanced at your cabin once that week, his focus almost entirely on his friends as they partied all night and regretted it all morning before doing it all over again that night.
But, had Travis spared more than a glance towards your cabin, he would have noticed that the usually drawn blinds were wide open and that a car was pulled up next to the cabin. He would have noticed that you were there.
But instead he threw beer back like candy and laughed with his friends, playing music way too loud as they all enjoyed the summer heat. A couple of them (like Mitch) had cabins of their own, but they were mostly in Muskoka and weren’t half as secluded as Travis’s, so they all liked to flock over to Travis’s for at least a week every summer. It let all of them get a break from the vultures that were the Toronto media, something the superstars and the media’s favourite punching bags desperately needed.
Sunday was the last day they were all spending out there, so, naturally, they wanted to spend it down by the water. There were a couple of chairs with a table on the dock along with a case of beer and their towels, and they floated on various floaties in the water, beers in their hands. Unlike his friends, however, Travis stayed on the dock. He was in his swim trunks (which the guys had forced him to change into when he came out of his room in his speedo), his shirt was thrown over a chair and a pair of sunglasses rested on his face as he lounged back in the chair to “get some colour in,” which made the guys laugh.
Sunday was also the hottest day since you had been up at the cabin. Even with the windows open, you couldn’t cool off. But, luckily, you had a beautiful lake in front of you. The water was calm and with the sun out, you knew that the water wouldn’t be too cold, just cool enough to refresh you and cool you off. So, you pulled a deflated innertube out of storage and blew it up before changing into your swimsuit, grabbing your towel and making your way down to the water.
You thought nothing of the group of guys relaxing in and around the water a couple doors down from you as you set your towel and shoes on the dock before making your way into the water. The water was cool and it felt heavenly against your skin. You stood there for a moment, your eyes closing as you enjoyed it before you got onto your innertube.
Mitch caught sight of you first.
He was the only one completely facing that part of the lake and he watched you set your towel and shoes on the dock before making your way down to the beach with your innertube in hand. Mitch sat up straighter in his blown up dragon with rainbow scales as he realized what was going on.
Lounging on the dock, Travis had his back to you so he didn’t know that you got onto your floatie and let yourself drift with the wind, enjoying the cool water on your arms and legs while the sun warmed the rest of you. Travis had no idea just how close he was to you for the first time in years as he busied himself with arguing with Justin over what the best dipping sauce is.
“Hey,” Mitch said, his voice weak as he kept his eyes on you, so he tried again. “Hey!” This time he grabbed everyone’s attention. “Isn’t that,” he swallowed, pulling his eyes off you to look at Travis before pointing over Travis’s shoulder. “Is that who I think it is?”
Travis furrowed his brows but looked over his shoulder, following Mitch’s finger until his eyes landed on you.
The world stood still for Travis.
He knew the guys were talking to him, but he couldn’t register what they were saying. His beer slipped from his fingers as he stood, turning to look at you. His mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. For the first time in years, you were really there.
You had only been in the water a few moments when the rowdy boys fell quiet. You opened your eyes to look over at them, wanting to know what had quieted the group that seemed to party all day long since you had gotten out there. You were ready to tell them off if they had a problem with you using the lake at the same time as them.
But instead you made eye contact with someone you hadn’t seen in years: Travis.
You often wondered if you’d ever seen him again. You figured if you did, it would be in Newmarket or if you were ever brave enough to go to a Leafs open practice after you moved to Toronto. Never in a million years did you think that you’d run into him here.
It never crossed your mind that Travis could have been the one to purchase the cabin, that he would want to purchase a cabin of his own on the lake that you had shown him, that he would share The Retreat you and he shared with friends of his own.
It knocked the wind out of you and you slipped from your innertube into the cool water. It was a welcomed awakening as it pulled you from your thoughts. Your fight or flight instincts kicked in as soon as you resurfaced and you grabbed your floatie and made your way to shore as quickly as you could, abandoning your towel and shoes on the dock in favour of getting to your cabin as quickly as possible.
You locked the door as soon as it closed behind you and you forced yourself to breathe, trying to calm yourself down despite the panic that was coursing through your veins. You didn’t even know why you were panicking, but your heart was going a mile a minute and all the pain, heartbreak and regret hit you like a ton of bricks and it left you gasping for breath. Everything you left unsaid and every thought, hope and dream you had pushed down over the years came rushing back and you didn’t know what to do.
You didn’t know whether you should go over there and say hello, or if you should stay in your cabin behind locked doors where he couldn’t hurt you again. You knew it wasn’t fair to say he hurt you when it was your combined lack of effort that led to the loss of your friendship. But, regardless, Travis did hurt you when he walked out of your life, even if you were partially to blame for it.
In the end, despite the voice in the back of your head screaming at you to go over there and see him, see if you could mend what happened between the two of you, you stayed in your cabin, the door locked as your final barrier between you and him. You got yourself a towel and dried off before changing and busing yourself with making dinner to quiet your thoughts. You even opened a bottle of wine to see if that would help silence your heart.
Sure, you wanted to see him, let him know that you were proud of him and how well he was doing in the NHL, see how much he had grown and changed over the years like you had. But, you also wanted to protect your heart. When you lost Travis, you lost a part of yourself, a big part of yourself. Just seeing him felt like a thousand papercuts on your heart. You couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if he rejected you, not wanting to even talk to you after all the years the two of you spent together. And what if he had become someone you didn’t recognize? What if Toronto had hardened all his soft edges and turned him into someone else? You didn’t—couldn’t—ruin all the good memories you had with him and replace them with what could happen ifthat were true.
So, you stayed home where you and your memories were safe.
And you realized you made a good choice when you heard a car drive off from somewhere to your left just before dinner. You assumed it was Travis and his friends heading back into town, him being unable to even be in the same area as you even if he didn’t speak to you. Part of you felt relieved that you didn’t have to worry about him or see him or talk to him. You could now do your best to pretend that you didn’t see him and no one had to know.
But, the other, bigger, part of you felt sick. You let your best friend walk out of your life without a fight not once but twice.
But there was nothing you could do about it now and you were beginning to think you might need something stronger than wine to soothe your aching heart.
What you didn’t know, however, was that Travis didn’t go into town with his friends. He and Niylah stayed out with his Jeep because he couldn’t leave you, not again. When he saw you run towards your cabin, Travis tried to run after you, but Justin anticipated that and was able to get out of the water before Travis made a run for you, so he was able to stop him, Justin’s hand wrapping tightly around Travis’s bicep, stopping Travis in his tracks.
“I—I have to!” Travis told Justin, but his eyes were scattered and his heart was beating out of control. “I can’t let her slip through my fingers again,” Travis told him, but Justin kept his grip on Travis.
“You need to calm down,” Justin told him before his voice softened. “Figure out how you’re going to play this, what you’re going to say to her because she literally ran away from you, dude.”
Justin kept his gaze on Travis until some of the fight died out of him, and when he was sure Travis wasn’t going to go racing after you, he let go of him. The two of them walked back to the dock and everyone in the water knew that their fun was over. They knew Travis and they knew what happened between the two of you and how much you meant to him. And they could see it in Travis’s eyes and shoulders that the only thing he cared about and would care about was you. Going to see you and talking to you.
So, the boys finished their beers in silence before they made their way back inside to pack. They gathered their things while Travis took a seat at the dining table, trying to sort his thoughts. Justin saw just how lost Travis was, barely acknowledging Niylah nosing for attention, so he took a seat across from Travis. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” Travis replied, pulling his gaze from the window to look at Justin. Justin sighed and gave Travis a leveled look making Travis sigh. “I just don’t know what to say. To you or to her. I bought this place because of her and every time I come out here I hope to see her but I never do. But now she’s here and I want—need—to see her, but what am I supposed to even say to her? ‘Sorry I’m an asswipe who couldn’t be bothered to text?’” Travis quieted and looked down at the table. “She probably doesn’t even want to see me,” his next part was almost unintelligible, “I certainly wouldn’t.”
You had run away when you saw him. He had spent the last several years regretting what happened between you, playing everything back in his head and thinking about what he could have done differently. He wondered if you had done the same, but your reaction made him think differently and that hurt him in indescribable ways.
“I think she was just surprised, you know? Taken off guard.” Justin tried to reason with him. They were both quiet for a moment before Justin spoke again. “You are going to talk to her, right?” When Travis nodded, he kept talking. “Do you want to talk about what you could say?”
Travis was quiet for a moment. “I have to tell her I’m sorry.” He paused. “After that, I don’t know.”
“Do you want to talk it through?” Justin repeated, but Travis shook his head.
“No, I have to figure this out on my own.” Justin nodded. He waited a couple moments and when Travis didn’t say anything else, he got up to go pack himself.
Eventually everything was gathered and the car was loaded. Justin clarified that Travis was okay and sure he wanted to stay out alone, and Travis assured that he was. Whether he was mentally and emotionally ready to see you or talk to you or not, he had to at least try to make things right with you.
Justin nodded and pulled Travis into a hug. When he pulled back, he got into the driver’s seat and started the car. It was always planned that Justin was going to be one of the group’s DD, so, unlike Mitch, Kappy and Willy, he hadn’t had anything to drink that day. Travis watched Justin drive slowly to the gate, Mitch running out to open it and close it behind them, and then, just like that, they were gone, leaving Travis alone with his thoughts. With you.
Travis made his way back inside and poured himself a glass of scotch to help his thoughts. Since he was supposed to be going into town that evening as well, the only thing he had had to drink was that one beer, that one beer that he dropped when he saw you, so only like half a beer. And Travis definitely needed more than half a beer to process everything. He took his scotch to the couch where he called Niylah onto his lap, petting her as he tried to figure out what to say to you. After what felt like forever but was really only an hour, Travis didn’t really come up with anything, and he had finished his scotch, so he decided it was now or never to go talk to you.
He changed into more appropriate attire, throwing on a pair of jeans and one of his many Leafs hoodies, running a hand through his hair before deeming himself good to go. He made his way down to his dock to look over at your cabin to make sure you were still there. He hadn’t heard any cars leaves besides Justin’s, but he had to check. Sure enough, your car was still there and the blinds were still open. He hadn’t lost you again, at least not yet anyways.
After taking a deep breath, Travis made his way over to your property, crossing along the water. When he got to your property, he noticed that your shoes and towel from when you ‘went swimming’ aka, wanted to go swimming but he scared you away, were still on the dock. So, he grabbed them and made his way up to the cabin that he knew so well.
So many fond memories from his childhood were made here. When he thought of this place, he felt nothing but happiness. Now, staring at the cabin from the outside having not been there in years, he felt unsure. In the years since he owned his own cabin just two doors down from you, he never came over to check it out. It hurt him too much and he was afraid. So, it was intimidating to be face to face with your cabin from the first time in years, especially since he knew you were inside.
Travis looped around the cabin to the backdoor, both because that was how you used to enter when he stayed in the summer, and because it wasted more time, giving him precious extra moments before he had to face you. In doing so, Travis noticed that there was only one car pulled around the side, one that he didn’t recognize and could only assume was yours. By walking around the cabin he also got the best look into the various windows and he only saw one person: you.
There were two doors to your back door, the main exterior door with the deadbolt that kept the cabin locked at night and when you weren’t around, and the screen door. The main exterior door was open, leaving just the screen door as a barrier between you and him. His hand shook as he brought it up to the door frame and knocked three times.
You were cleaning up dinner, your half finished bottle of wine still sitting on the table when there was a knock at your door. “Fuck!” You shouted with a jump, your heart beating frantically in your chest. You were alone. In a cabin in the woods. With no cell service. And you didn’t know anyone out there. And it wasn’t like you could pretend that no one was home with your windows open, your car right there and your main exterior door wide open. Not to mention they probably heard you shout. You took a shaky breath and looked out the kitchen window to see who was knocking at your door.
You took a deep breath, putting your palms on the kitchen counter to brace yourself as you calmed down. There was no axe murderer or serial rapist at your backdoor. Perhaps even more shockingly, it was Travis. And in his arms he held both your towel and your shoes that you had left down on the dock earlier. While you were more than glad that the person knocking on your door wasn’t an axe murderer or rapist, your anxiety certainly did not go away when you realized it was Travis.
But it wasn’t like you could pretend to not be there, so despite all your desires to go hide in your bedroom, you walked towards the door, your heart going a mile a minute against your chest as you did.
Travis’s own heart picked up when he saw you walk down the entry towards the door. His jaw fell slack as you approached the door, but you didn’t make a move to open it. Instead, you crossed your arms over your chest. “Can I help you?” You asked and you hated how much your voice shook.
Travis swallowed as he took you in. He knew he had changed a lot since high school so realistically you would have too, but he wasn’t prepared for just how different you looked. You were still you obviously, but your features had hardened. Matured. You looked like an adult ready to find her place in the world. That is, he realized, if you hadn’t already. It’s not like he knew what you were up to or what you had accomplished.
“I, uh,” Travis lifted your things. “I thought you might not want to leave these outside overnight.”
“Oh,” you whispered. “Right, thanks.” Travis nodded, but you made no motion to open the door, so Travis took a deep breath.
“And I was hoping we could maybe talk?”
You sucked in a sharp breath not really knowing if it was a good idea or not. And Travis was looking at you with his soft, loving blue eyes you knew so well and you had to look away. Your eyes landed on the wall of photos of the two of you over the years. From ten to eighteen, pictures of the two of you smiling and laughed looked back at you. You wanted to protect your heart from further pain, but looking at how happy the two of you used to be, you couldn’t turn him away. So, you nodded and opened the door to let him in.
Travis took a shaky breath and stepped into the cabin, closing the door behind him and handing you your things. You took them with a murmured “thank you” and walked further into the cabin. Travis followed you and you put your shoes on the shoe rack and placed your towel on the back of a chair before making your way through the dining room to the sunroom where there was a table and chairs overlooking the water. You and Travis had played countless games, made countless puzzles, on that table. But there were no games this time around as both of you settled at the table.
“You, uh, you look good. Really good.” He said after sitting down, breaking the heavy silence.
“Thanks? So do you. But then again that’s kinda expected for a professional athlete…” You replied, forcing a laugh as you trailed off. “You also look good on the ice by the way.” You didn’t know why you said it, but you did. You wanted to blame it on the pliable tension between you or your nerves, but the words slipped from your mouth. And it was true. Travis did look good on the ice. You knew because you watched him. You never stopped watching him.
Travis’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Yeah?” He asked. You nodded and looked down, not sure what to say. “I didn’t know you watched,” he whispered.
You laughed again and looked up at him with a shrug. “Old habits die hard,” you told him before your voice softened. “And it’s nice hearing your name again, see you accomplish your dreams.” Travis took a shaky breath, not knowing what to say to that. You shook your head and stoop up. Travis instantly reached out for you, but you pulled your hand away before he could touch you. “I need a drink. Can I get you anything? Beer? Wine? Whiskey?”
Travis let his hand fall on the table. He swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you’re having would be great, thanks.” You nodded and walked back into the main space of the cabin. Despite the half finished bottle of wine on the table, you reached for the liquor cabinet, grabbing the bottle of whiskey. You walked into the kitchen to grab two glasses before returning to the sunroom. Travis was looking out the window but he looked back at you when he heard you walk in. You put everything down on the table before sitting down and pouring two drinks, taking a big sip of yours before Travis could even grab his glass.
Travis had taken the first step earlier, so after you put your glass back down on the table, you took a step. “What happened to your group of friends you were with earlier?”
“They went back into town,” he said before explaining. “Today was their last day out here. They were here all week.” You nodded your head, taking another sip of your drink, not knowing what to say, so he continued. “They’re uh, they’re my teammates. From Toronto,” he tacked on as if you didn’t know where he was playing.
You perked up at that. “Like the London Knights’ Mitch Marner?” You couldn’t help but tease. Travis had been an Otter at the same time Mitch was a Knight and that was a rivalry for the ages. A rivalry you so vividly remember, particularly between Davo and Stromer and Mitch.
Travis laughed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah Mitchy was here. You have to meet him some time, I think you’d get along great.”
You shook your head, “I don’t know. He seems like quite the energizer bunny.” You paused. “You had a much better temperament,” you told him, referencing how chill he was, or used to be anyways. You didn’t know if he was still like that.
Travis agreed with you. “You’re not wrong. But you get used to him. Eventually.”
You laughed again. “So, you’re happy? In Toronto with the Leafs I mean?” You asked, your question falling on the serious side.
Travis took a drink of his whiskey and nodded. “I am. It’s a good group of guys. Young, talented. It’s always fun to hang out with them. I mean,” he snickered. “Last season we debated what would be a better weapon, a knife or a hockey stick, for like three months.”
“A knife, obviously,” you said. “Who in their right mind picks a hockey stick?”
“Hey!” Travis said, faking offence. “A hockey stick would be an excellent weapon! It’s like a staff, a baton and a spear all at once. AND it can keep your enemies at a distance.” You burst out laughing at his answer. You wished you could be surprised that Travis would pick a hockey stick over a knife, but you weren’t.
It hurt realizing just how much the man in front of you was very much still your childhood best friend.
“Uh huh,” you said and forced a smile. “So how come you didn’t go back in with them?” You asked, steering the conversation back to where it was supposed to be.
Travis froze for a second before answering with a lie, not that you noticed. “I was always planning to stay out longer than them. Get some peace and quiet after dealing with the rowdy bunch, you know?”
You nodded, “makes sense.” You paused. “What doesn’t make sense is why you’re out here at all.”
It had been a long time since you saw Travis Dermott blush, but he turned bright red at your words and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. In all his thinking about what to say to you, explaining why he had a cabin here didn’t even cross his mind, which, he now realized, was very stupid. Of course you would ask him that question.
“I, uh…” He gave you a lopsided smile. “You know, I’m not even going to try to give you some random answer. The truth is, is that I love it up here, thanks to you I mean, and I always hoped that maybe we would reconnect out here, so when that place went on the market, I snatched it up. It needed a few repairs, an update here or there, but it’s really come together.”
You didn’t know what to say, so you settled on, “it is gorgeous here.”
Travis’s smile faulted and he moved his gaze to the window. “Yeah,” he said, but it almost seemed like the hope had died out of his voice. “It is.”
Despite your heart beating rapidly against your chest, you took a leap, just like he did. “I, uh, I’m planning to be out here all summer.”
If he bought a whole cabin to maybe talk to you, reconnect with you, you could extend an olive branch to him. And it wasn’t like you didn’t want to fix things with him. Of course you wanted Travis back in your life, and he was still Travis, your Travis, so you had to give him another chance and not spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if’ like you had been the last couple of years.
Travis raised an eyebrow at you, giving you a smile, “yeah?”
You smiled and nodded, telling him that you finally graduated university (he congratulated you) and that you were taking the whole summer off before the ‘real world’ began. He asked you if you found a job and you told him that you did, explaining the whole deal, but you left out the job location. You didn’t know what you compelled to hide the fact that you were moving to Toronto, but you did. And it wasn’t like he asked where the job was, so it wasn’t like you were lying.
“What about you?” You asked him. “What are you summer plans? Spend all of it working out?”
Travis shook his head, lying to you once again, “I was actually planning to spend most of it out here.” He looked back out the window. “It’s nice to escape from the vultures, you know?” You nodded in understanding, not that you really knew what it was like to be in the spotlight and picked apart the way the Leafs were. “And Niylah loves it out here.”
The truth was, he was supposed to be spending the summer in Toronto and spend some time with his parents, but all of that went out the window the moment he saw you. He’d do anything to spend time with you. But you didn’t need to know that.
“Niylah is your dog, right?” You asked. You were pretty sure due to some content posted by the Leafs, but you wanted to be sure. He lit up instantly and nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. He tapped the screen quickly before sliding it across the table to you. “Awww!” You said, picking his phone up to get a better look. It was a picture of Niylah wearing a doggy Leafs jersey. “Absolutely precious,” you told him and he nodded.
“Isn’t she?”
“And she’s out here?” You asked.
Travis nodded and took his phone back when you slid it back across the table to him. “Yeah, she is. You should come over and meet her. And I can give you a tour of my cabin at the same time.”
You took a shaky breath and glanced out the window. It was getting dark. “Another time,” you told him. “It’s getting late, you know?”
You pretended to not notice how his shoulders fell at your words. “Is there going to be another time?” He asked after a moment, sounding more vulnerable than he would have liked, but it was a valid question. You had both given up on this friendship before and he felt like he only had one foot in the door with you and he was terrified that you were going to push him out and leave him.
He didn’t think he could survive losing you again.
You gave him a reassuring smile, “I told you, I’m here all summer. I’m not going anywhere.” Your words soothed him a little, but you could see that he was still a little unsure, so you reached across no man’s land that was the table top and gave his hand a squeeze, which seemed to calm him down more and he squeeze your hand back, giving you a small smile. “How about I give you my new number?” You asked him and his smile widened.
He unlocked his phone and pulled up contacts, your contact, and slid it across the table to you. Your breath caught in your throat at how he kept you in his phone all the years later. It was a new phone which meant he added you to his new contacts, and it knocked you back a bit, guilt and pain crawling through your chest. You deleted your old number and put in your new one before giving it back to him. “There. You have me.”
Travis looked at the number on the screen and nodded. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I have you.” He looked back up at you. “So, how about you come over tomorrow?”
You honestly hated how there was no hesitation in you agreeing. “Tomorrow sounds perfect. Any particular time?”
He shook his head, “whenever. I have no particular plans.”
“Okay,” you smiled. “Then I’ll come over tomorrow and meet that beautiful girl.”
Travis laughed with a big smile, “she’s going to love you.”
“I hope she does,” you told him.
“She will.”
And just like that, the two of you fell quiet, but the silence wasn’t tense or awkward like it was before. It felt familiar. You both finished your drinks and then your second drinks and before you knew it, it was very dark out. Travis sighed and stood. “I should get back. I don’t want to leave Niylah alone too long while it’s dark.”
You nodded, “yeah, right, of course.” You stood and gestured towards the door in the sunroom that led to the front deck. He crossed the space and put his hand on the doorknob before turning back to look at you.
“What does this mean for us?” His question hung in the air and you struggled to find the right answer. Were you acquaintances? Friends? The voice in the back of your head wondered if there was a possibility for something more, but you pushed that thought out of your head as quickly as it came.
“Friends?” You offered.
Travis nodded with a small smile. “Friends.”
It was far from what the two of you used to be, but it was a step closer, something neither of you had yesterday or any day of the last three years. So, he welcomed it. You both did.
Travis hesitated another moment, wondering if he should or could give you a hug. He wanted to. He hadn’t felt you in his arms in so long and he could still remember how perfect you felt against him, like you were supposed to be there. He wanted to feel that against. But he also realized that now wasn’t the time, so he bid you farewell till tomorrow and slipped out the door.
You watched him walk down to the waterfront before disappearing next door. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding once he was out of your sight. You didn’t know if it was in relief or disappointment. Slowly, you pulled yourself from the window, grabbing the used glasses and putting them in the sink to wash before putting the whiskey away. Your eyes scanned the room and fell on the half finished bottle of wine, so you sat down at the dining table and poured yourself another glass as you processed what just happened and the plans you had made. Whether you were prepared or not, Travis Dermott was back in your life. And you were going to see him again tomorrow.
(c) nat g. 2020 // do not repost, do not claim as your own
Travis had been going over how he felt about you for weeks and the answer he came to never changed: he was hopelessly in love with you.
Part of him wanted to stuff it down and keep it a secret and just let everything continue the way they were because at least then he would have you in his life. But, the bigger part of him begged for more, begged to hold you and kiss you and tell you how incredibly in love with you he was.
And that part won every time.
And now it was the third week of August and he didn’t know how much more time he would get with you, so despite his fears of rejection and losing you for a second time, he knew he had to tell you.
And while he was terrified that you would not only reject him, but leave him for a second time, he remembered your eyes dipping to his lips and your arms wrapped around his waist while he made breakfast and how he always made you smile and the way you looked at him while on that canoe trip and he hoped, God he hoped, that he was reading the signs right and you liked him back, even just half as he liked you. Loved you.
So, after Travis decided he had to tell you, he went to his pantry and got one of the two expensive bottles of wine he bought when the two of you went to the LCBO. He never knew why he felt the need to buy them and why he had put away and not on the wine rack, but now he was thankful because he did not want to give you cheap wine when he was about to spill his heart out.
He chose his finest Merlot and pulled a quilt from the chest in the guest bedroom before changing into a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt. His hands shook, but he knew he wasn’t going to get the courage again, so he grabbed the bottle of wine, the wine opener and the stopper and he and Niylah made their way over to your cabin.
Travis first realized he was falling for you out on your dock when the two of you were watching the Northern Lights, so he thought it was the perfect place to tell you how he really felt. And sunset was the most romantic time of day…
When Travis showed up at your doorstep dressed nicely with a bottle of wine and a blanket, your heart fluttered with hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, this was going to be it, that maybe you were going to finally cross the line it felt like you had been toeing for weeks. You tried to push that hope down, not wanting to push the limits more than you already were and risk it all, but you couldn’t stop the hope completely, especially when he asked you to go watch the sunset with him.
You let him in and quickly changed into something that was better match for what Travis was wearing, putting on your own pair of jeans and the nicest shirt you brought out, which wasn’t much considering you were in the bush and weren’t expecting to need anything nice, but it was better than your sweats you were previously wearing. After you got changed, you grabbed two wine glasses from the cupboard and the three of you made your way down to the dock.
When the two of you reached the dock, he threw the blanket down, putting the bottle of wine and the opener down before offering you his hand to help you sit down. You happily took it, giving him a smile as you sat on the quilt. Niylah joined you, laying down against your legs and Travis followed suit, sitting down beside you with just inches between you.
The inches felt like millimetres, but at the same time they also felt like miles.
Travis glanced over at you and gave you a smile before he opened the bottle of Merlot and poured both of you a glass. Your hand grazed his as he handed you your glass and your breath caught in your throat. After the dinners and the breakfasts and the canoe trips and the stargazing, sitting out on the dock with him felt like another date in a series of dates that weren’t real dates.
Looking at him in that moment, you knew that if he didn’t make a move, you would. You couldn’t keep pretending you weren’t falling for him, that you hadn’t fallen for him. You didn’t want to pretend.
But then Travis gave you his signature smile that left you weak in the knees and clinked his glass against yours and your thoughts were pushed aside as you turned your attention to the sky. The sun was just kissing the horizon. It sat low and a beautiful orange. The sky was a watercolour of yellows and oranges and pinks. It was beautiful and romantic.
You took a sip of your wine and closed your eyes from a moment. You could taste how expensive the wine was and you savoured it. You couldn’t say you were ever treated to such expansive wine before. You took another sip before putting it down to your side and laying your hand down on the blanket between you and Travis. It only took a second for Travis to cover your hand with his. You looked over when you felt his touch, but he was already looking at you. Your breath caught in your throat again at the look in his eyes, but neither of you looked away.
You didn’t know what compelled you, but you leaned into him. Travis mimicked your actions and closed some of the distance between you. The butterflies you couldn’t seem to get rid of came back and your eyes slipped down to his lips. He was so close you could almost—
And then his lips were on yours.
The tension from the last couple of weeks melted away as he kissed you. His lips were soft and they fit against yours perfectly. You leaned into him more and Travis’s hand came up to cup your cheek, his thumb resting softly against the arch of your cheek, the tips of his fingers just brushing your hair.
Slowly, you pulled back from the kiss, your eyes fluttering open to see Travis looking back at you with a smile, his eyes shining with what you could now recognize as adoration. Your heart was so full that you couldn’t help but shake your head and pull him in for another, deeper kiss.
His hand tangled deeper into your hair before he ran his tongue over your bottom lip and slipped it into your mouth, making you moan softly. It was a sound he would die to hear again and you rewarded him by gripping his wrist tightly, needing to hold onto him. And then he was pulling back, not wanting to push things too far without talking to you.
“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he whispered. You smiled at him, but before you could find the words to reply, he brushed your hair back and let his feelings tumble from his lips.
“I lost you and I didn’t think I’d ever get you back. But then I did. And these last few weeks have been the best of my life and I’ve honestly never been happier. But then I started to feel these, these feelings,” he struggled to find the right words, using his hands as he tried to phrase things correctly, his eyes moving to the water. “And at first I didn’t know what they were, but they just kept getting stronger and then,” he turned to face you, giving you a soft smile. “And then we watched the Northern Lights and I knew. I knew I was falling for you. I don’t know if I’ve always felt this way but didn’t know it or if it’s new, but I know I’m in love with you.”
You took a shaky breath, your heart pounding against your chest. But Travis just smiled brighter and gave your hand a squeeze, his voice softer than before. “I’m in love with you, (Y/N).”
You said the only thing you could say back to him, “I love you, too.”
“Yeah?” He asked hopefully, as if he hadn’t just had his tongue in your mouth after you pulled him in for a kiss.
You shook your head but you couldn’t stop the wide smile as you looked at him. “I knew I felt something for you that second week when we went grocery shopping, but I didn’t put it together that I loved you until the fire when you remembered the story of the Bears. No one ever cared enough to remember the story of Callisto and Zeus and the Bears. But you did. It felt like you pulled the flood gates open by the fire and I—I, I knew I was falling for you and that I was falling quick.”
You watched as Travis’s cheeks turned red. “I always remember what you tell me. I always listen.”
It was your turn to give his hand a squeeze as you smiled softly at him. You shook your head softly as you looked at him. “God, I am so madly in love with you, Travis, it’s crazy. I didn’t think I could feel this way about a person, but I do.”
“Trust me, I know the feeling,” he smiled before kissing you again.
The urgency that was missing from the first kisses wasn’t missing here as he set a bruising pace. He cupped your cheek with one hand and used the other to hold his weight as he slowly laid you down on the quilt, laying himself half on top of you. You moaned the feeling, not passing up your chance to finally get your fingers in his hair. He easily slipped his tongue into your mouth and you gently tugged at his hair in response, pulling a moan from him that went straight to your core. He moved his hand on your cheek down to your hip as his lips moved against yours, one of your hands moving down to his shoulders, feeling the firmness of all his muscles under your fingers.
And then Niylah was nosing her way between you, forcing Travis to pull back and roll off you, Niylah laying down on his chest, concerned for her dad. You couldn’t help but laugh as you looked at them and how Travis scrunched up his nose as she licked him all over his face, happy that he was okay.
Eventually Niylah calmed down and just rested her head on his chest and Travis took a deep breath before turning to you and apologizing. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” you told him with a smile. You pulled your eyes off him and glanced around you. The sun had set and it was getting dark quickly. “But, it is getting late.”
Travis sighed and nodded, looking around as well. “Yeah,” he whispered. “It is. I guess we should go to bed, huh?”
You nodded, but you didn’t really want to go to bed. What you wanted was his lips against yours again, but you knew that you shouldn’t. You knew that the two of you had to talk about things first and what you really didn’t want to do was rush into things with him. So, off to bed it was.
You pushed yourself up to sit and you reached over for your glass of wine which was miraculously not knocked over. You finished the glass as you watched Travis stroked Niylah’s head. Travis finished his glass as well and then the two of you started packing up. Travis put the wine stopper in the bottle and pocketed the opener and the cork before the two of you folded up the quilt, him taking it from you when it was folded before picking up the bottle of wine while you grabbed the wine glasses.
Neither of you spoke as the two of you made your way up the hill to your cabin. But you hesitated when you reached your door, turning to face him. You smiled as you realized how much of a page out of a romance novel it was and he smiled back at you. Just you and him and his dog on your porch after making out as the sun set. How much more romantic could it get?
“This was really great,” you told him.
He laughed, “yeah, yeah it was.”
“I was going to say something if you didn’t,” you told him after a moment.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Mhm,” you hummed. “I couldn’t keep toeing the line the way we were. I wanted—needed—more.”
Travis’s smile grew. “Yeah, yeah I know what you mean.”
You waited but he made no move to kiss you goodnight, so you put the glasses down beside your door and looped your arms around his shoulders. With his hands full, he couldn’t hold you back, but he did smile down at you and raise an eyebrow.
“Are you going to kiss me goodnight or what?” You asked and he didn’t need to be told twice and he kissed you softly.
“Goodnight,” he whispered when you pulled back from the kiss.
“Goodnight, Travis,” you told him before letting go of his shoulders and walking towards your door. You picked up the wine glasses and you just about got your hand on the door when he called after you.
“(Y/N), wait.”
You looked back over your shoulder, not sure what to expect. Travis put the bottle of wine and the quilt down before pressing you up against the door and kissing you deeply. This time it was your turn to have your hands full and unable to hold him as he kissed you. He smiled into the kiss and pulled back. “Come stay the night at my place with me. Please.”
Your heart did a flip in your chest but you hesitated. Travis made you feel things you had never felt before and you didn’t want to rush into anything with him. You just knew that he could be the one and you didn’t want to risk messing that up because neither of you could wait.
When you hesitated, Travis gave you a lopsided smile. “I promise there will be no funny business of any kind. I just, I’m not ready to say goodnight yet, so come stay the night with me. Please.”
You nodded. “Okay, but I’m going to hold you to that no funny business promise.” Travis kissed your nose which had you scrunching your face up as you laughed. “Let me get changed and get ready for bed and then we can go over, yeah?” You asked and he nodded.
Travis and Niylah followed you into your cabin and made themselves comfortable on the couch. You put the glasses by the sink to deal with tomorrow before you went to the bathroom to brush your teeth and hair, and go pee. After that, you made your way to your bedroom and changed into some PJs. You debated whether you should take your bra off or not and settled on keeping on, at least for the time being.
“Okay,” you said, coming out of your room with a small bag of the necessities. “Let’s go.”
The three of you made your way over to his place. When you got in, Travis put the bottle of wine on the counter before putting the quilt on the back of the couch and wrapping his arms around you. “Hi,” he whispered.
You looped your arms around his middle leaned your head on his chest. “Hi,” you whispered back. You stayed like that, with your arms around each other for another couple moments before Travis broke the quiet. “Do you want to go to bed or do you want to have another glass of wine?”
“Hmm,” you thought about it. “Another glass of wine might be good, I’m not really tired.”
Travis smiled and stepped away from you, going to the kitchen to get down two glasses and pouring each of you another glass of wine. You found each other on opposite sides of his kitchen island, looking at each other with smiles as you sipped the wine. You felt like a schoolgirl with a high school crush with Travis and it drove you crazy in the best ways.
Neither of you said anything while you finished the wine, but you didn’t have to either. The silence was comforting. Eventually you finished the glass of wine and Travis asked if you wanted another and you politely said no and that you were ready for bed. Travis smiled and put the glasses in the sink and closed the bottle of wine before making his way to his room. You took a seat on the couch knowing he had to change and not wanting to invade his space, but when he realized you weren’t following him, he called you over.
You blushed and followed him into his room.
You had seen his room once before when he was giving you a tour that second day, but it was different seeing it now. The last time you were in here you were there as friends, now there was a new meaning to the room. Now you were there as more than friends.
You hesitantly took a seat on the edge of his bed and Travis grabbed a pair of sleep pants out of the dresser before giving you a smile and heading into his ensuite. He reappeared a few minutes later after going through his nightly routine, brushing his teeth, going pee, the likes. He had changed into his sleep pants but forgone a shirt, coming out of the bathroom with his jeans and polo in hand before tossing them over the chair in the corner of the room.
Now that the line had been crossed, you didn’t have to steal glances at him as you checked him out, so you let your eyes run down his chest and back. Your eyes settled on his v-line when he turned around since his pants hung low and Travis raised an eyebrow at you. “Just admiring the view,” you told him with a smile and a slight blush.
Travis rolled his eyes but he couldn’t cover up the faint blush on his cheeks and he shoved your shoulder, making you fall back onto the bed. Even if things were different now, he was still Travis. You didn’t move from where you were laying on the bed and Travis went around to the other side and got in, Niylah jumping up onto the bed since her dad got in and giving you a lick before laying at his feet.
“Are you going to come cuddle or?” He asked you when you made no motion to move. You pretended to think about it for a moment before you got up and laid on the pillows next to him. But that wouldn’t do for Travis and he pulled you to his chest, his arms wrapping around you and your legs tangled together, your head tucked under his chin. You could feel the tension leave your body as you went limp in his arms. “Better,” he whispered and you nodded against his chest.
“Much better.”
You could hear his heart beating softly as you laid your head over it. His fingers ghosted over your back and you found yourself drifting off to sleep a lot faster than you thought you were. Before you knew it, you were fast asleep against his chest.
You had the best sleep yet this summer curled up on Travis’s chest. And you woke up on his chest too. Both of you had shifted in your sleep, but you remained on his chest, your arm around him. One of Travis’s arms was thrown over your side, the other was resting under Niylah who had moved up the bed some time during the night.
You tried not to move at first, not wanting to wake Travis, but even as you tried not to move, your stirred enough to wake him up. “Good morning,” he whispered to you when he saw you were awake. And then he stretched and you got a good feel of his muscles moving under his skin.
“Morning,” you replied with a smile as you looked up at him.
You replayed everything from the last night and ran your fingers over his cross tattoo. You couldn’t believe that you were really there, that he was really here, that last night had really happened. And it appeared that Travis thought the same because he shook his head with a smile like he couldn’t believe you were really there in his arms.
You pressed a kiss to his chest which made Travis laugh and pull you closer to kiss your forehead. “That’s not my lips,” you said. Travis shook his head again and didn’t need to be told twice. He bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips that you couldn’t help but smile into.
You could get used to waking up like this.
“That’s better,” you whispered when he pulled back. Travis hummed in agreement before kissing you once more and getting up. “Where are you going?” You asked, not wanting your comfy pillow and personal heater to leave.
“To pee. And make breakfast. You gonna get up?” He asked before going into his ensuite. You bit your lip as you watched him walk away. Hockey players had the best asses.
He came out a few minutes later and gave you a look that told you to get up before walking to the kitchen. Niylah followed him and soon you heard the sliding deck door open as he let her out. You smiled and took a deep breath before pushing the blanket off and going to the bathroom.
After you were done in the bathroom, you made your way out to the kitchen. Travis was waiting for the coffee to brew and he was just standing there with his messy hair and shirtless chest and you made your way over to him and wrapped your arms around his middle and pressed your face into his back. You could feel him chuckle and he covered your hands with his.
“Who gave you the right to just walk around with your abs out like this?” You asked and Travis burst out laughing.
“I do own this place, you know,” he replied turning to face you.
“Yeah,” you sighed. “But, like, it isn’t fair that you get to just walk around looking like this.”
“And it’s fair you’re walking around like this?” He said back. You glanced down at the oversized PJs you were wearing and raised an eyebrow at him. “You look beautiful,” he told you and kissed your forehead.
The coffee began to brew and you went to sit at the island. Once the coffee was ready, he brought two cups over to the island before he started rummaging through the panty and fridge. “What are you doing?” You asked him with a laugh.
He didn’t look back at you. “Like I said, I’m going to make you breakfast.” You laughed at the idea of Travis cooking breakfast after the muffin incident, but he brushed you off and got to work.
Travis shrugged you off every time you got up to help and you ended up sitting back at the island craning your neck as you tried to watch him. Despite your doubts, Travis did succeed at making pancakes.
“Did you put chocolate chips in these?” You asked, picking up a pancake.
Travis blushed. “You loved them as a kid.”
You got up and kissed his cheek which only made him blush more. “Thank you.”
Breakfast was good. You and Travis kept smiling as you ate. And when you were done eating, you helped him do the dishes. You were drying and you couldn’t help but smack his ass with the dish towel. “Hey!” He yelled before grabbing the cloth from you to get you back. You laughed and wondered if this was what your future was going to look like.
If it did, you couldn’t wait.
“I’m going to make you dinner,” Travis declared after lunch. You laughed at his words, but Travis didn’t laugh. He looked at you as he put dishes away and your laughter died on your tongue.
“Oh, you’re serious,” you said. You knew many things about Travis, one of them being that, while he can barbeque pretty decently, he couldn’t cook a meal very well. Which was fine, he was certainly making enough money that his ability to cook didn’t have to be, well, good. But, faced with the prospect of him cooking for you, without your help… You weren’t so sure.
“I’m going to cook you dinner and it’s going to be nice and you’re going to like it,” Travis told you.
“Okay,” you agreed. Even if you didn’t completely trust his cooking, you did love him and if he wanted to cook for you… Well, you would try.
When it came around dinner time, Travis shooed you out of his cabin, claiming he needed time to think and prep, and that he wanted it to feel like a real date where you would come over to his place. He instructed you to come back over in about an hour. You laughed as he guided you to the door and you couldn’t help but smile as you walked back to your cabin.
When you got in, you wanted to flop down on the couch and really process the last twenty-four hours. You wanted to process and think about Travis and the way his lips felt against yours and the way he made you feel and the fact that he loved you. You wanted to curl right in and think about his dreamy eyes as your heart fluttered in your chest.
But you only had an hour before he wanted you back over for your first date and you needed to make yourself presentable. So, you hopped into the shower, making sure to scrub every inch of your body before turning your attention to what the fuck you were supposed to wear.
You hadn’t packed with anything like this in mind. All of your clothes were t-shirts, shorts, leggings, jeans and hoodies. And you wore your nicest shirt last night so you couldn’t wear it again. You wanted to look nice for your first date with the man you were really hoping to call your boyfriend by the end of the night, but you were a little short on options.
You ended up settling on a pair of jeans and a Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt. It wasn’t fancy and certainly wasn’t romantic, but you figured you would get some brownie points from Travis for the logo on your chest, and you took that as a win. You brushed your teeth and fixed your hair and did a few little touch ups, and before you knew it, it had been an hour since Travis had exiled you back to your cabin, so you slipped your shoes back on and made your way over to his.
You walked up to the sliding glass doors where you saw Travis had changed outfits as well and he was doing something at the counter. You smiled to yourself as you watched him and you reached to open the sliding door before you froze. Travis wanted to treat this like a date. It was a date. So, instead, you knocked softly on the glass door. You figured you shouldn’t just barge in on your first date, even if you had been letting yourself in for weeks now.
Travis also wasn’t expecting you to knock, so he jumped at the sound, cursing as he looked over and saw you on the deck with a smile. Niylah started to bark, running over to the door, but she stopped once she realized it was you. Travis took a shaky breath, his own smiling forming before he walked over and let you in. “You didn’t have to knock,” Travis said, closing the door behind you.
“I didn’t think it was polite for me to just walk in like that on a first date,” you replied with a smile.
Travis looked at you fondly, his smiling softening. “You look really nice. I like your shirt.”
You laughed but let your eyes run over him. He also wore a pair of jeans, and he paired it with a simple black t-shirt, his chain hung over the collar. Simple but effective. His hair was a cute mess of waves that you could tell he had run his fingers through one too many times as he made dinner. “Thanks, you, too,” you replied.
He thanked you with a slight blush on his cheeks before he navigated you towards a seat at the table and returning to the kitchen to finish making dinner. Two places with two wine glasses were set at the table across from each other along with a single wild daisy next to your cutlery. You picked the flower up and spun it in your fingers. He had to have gone out sometime in the last hour and picked it, just for you. Your heart fluttered again, a fond smile forming on your lips as you wondered how on earth you managed to get such a sweetheart.
You put the flower back down before you stood up and went to the kitchen to check on things. You had no idea what Travis was even trying to make, you just watched as he kept opening lids on the stove and stirring things and you tried really hard to not laugh at how lost he looked. “Do you need help?” You asked him.
“Uh, no?” He said, but his uncertainly read more like a question than the answer to your question.
“Let me help,” you offered, trying to work your way in beside him, but he just shooed you back out, telling you that he can handle it. You gave him a look but didn’t interfere, instead pushing yourself up onto the free counterspace nearby so that you could jump in if you had to, and so you could be closer to Travis. “Are you going to tell me what you’re making?” You asked.
Travis looked over at you with a smile, “nope.” You shook your head with a slight laugh, but you couldn’t help but be endeared by him.
He declared that dinner was almost done and asked if you could grab the wine out of the fridge, which you happily did, hopping off the counter to grab it. You read the label as you walked over to the table, realizing that it was a lot more than some cheap bottle that you normally buy. You didn’t have much time to contemplate it as Travis started to bring the food over from the stove to the table and you reached for the cork opener, popping the cork and pouring each of you a glass of wine.
You sat back down in your seat and Travis offered you a smile and asked if you wanted him to serve or if you wanted to take some yourself. You let him serve and he filled your plate with a pasta dish that looked and smelt amazing, and you were sure to let him know that, making a faint blush appear on his cheeks.
After he filled your plate, he filled his, though he was hesitant to take a bite. He wanted to make sure it was okay, that you liked it. Once you had assured him that it was very good (it was), he finally took his first bite. He had tasted it numerous times as he cooked and he thought it was good, alright, okay, but he needed you to like it. If you didn’t, he would have scrapped the meal and started over again.
Neither of you said much through dinner, both of you too caught up in the fact that it was really happening, that the two of you got this far. But you did giggle and smile your way through dinner with sips of wine between bites.
But, dinner didn’t last forever and you knew that there were things the two of you had to discuss, so when both of you were done eating and Travis had taken the plates and cutlery to the sink before sitting back down across from you and extending his hand across the table for you to take, you took a shaky breath and asked him what everything meant.
Travis gave your hand a squeeze, his eyes studying the way your hand fit into his before he brought his eyes back up to yours. “I meant everything I said to you last night. I’m in love with you, so incredibly in love with you that I don’t know what to do with myself half the time. And I want this with you, I want everything with you. I don’t want—I can’t have,” he corrected. “This end in a few weeks when summer comes to an end and you go home and I go to Toronto.” Travis ran his thumb over the back of your hand, his voice soft as he spoke. “I don’t know what we’ll do about the distance… But we can figure it out, okay? I’ll come home more often, you can come visit me in Toronto. We’ll text and call and FaceTime. We’ll figure it out.” His voice was shaky but his words were sure. He wanted to make it work, he didn’t care about distance, he didn’t care how hard it might be. He wanted you.
But the more he spoke, the deeper your heart fell in your chest till it was sitting in your gut, weighted down by the secret you had been keeping from him all summer long. It was your turn to give his hand a squeeze, a small smile playing on your lips. Despite the bomb you were about to drop on him, you were steady, anchored down by the comforting feel of his hand in yours. “Travis,” you whispered, trying to pick your words carefully. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
You watched as he swallowed and took a shaky breath, his shoulder falling just a bit as he prepared himself for the worst. “What do you mean?”
You gave him a smile as you tried to reassure him that it wasn’t bad, that it was the opposite of bad. “We don’t have to worry about distance because I’m moving to Toronto in September.”
Travis didn’t move as your words hung in the air.
He slowly leaned back into his chair, his eyebrows furrowing as your words sunk in. “You’re moving to Toronto and you didn’t tell me?” He asked, his blue eyes shining with confusion and hurt.
You tightened your lips and looked down to where his hand was still in yours. “I should have told you earlier, I know… But I didn’t know what was going to happen when you showed up at my door that first night to talk. I was afraid. Afraid that you were going to leave me again, that I would let you in and that you would hurt me, so I kept it to myself. If things didn’t work out in the summer, then it didn’t need to be anything more than that.” You took a deep breath. “But it’s so much more than that. Travis, I love you and I want to be with you and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but can we just skip over that for right now because I’m moving to Toronto and we don’t have to deal with distance. Well, except for when you’re on the road.” You tacked on at the end, your voice pleading with Travis to not be mad at you even though you fully understood why he would be.
“You’re really moving to Toronto?” He asked again after a moment, his voice still soft, but the edges of his lips twitched up.
You let out a relieved laugh and nodded, “I’m moving to Toronto.”
Travis pulled his hand from yours and pushed his chair back so he could walk around the table and kiss you. His lips were soft against yours and he couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, pulling back to smile fully, his dimples on full display, making your heart flutter in your chest.
You were moving to Toronto. You were going to be in Toronto with him. You were going to be with him. No distance.
“I’m upset that you didn’t tell me,” he told you. “But I’m really happy we’re going to be together.”
“Me too,” you whispered and just like that, he leaned back in for another kiss. He pulled back after a moment before pressing another quick kiss to your lips and returning to his chair across the table from you.
“So… We’re dating then?” You asked the million dollar question.
Travis took a hold of your hand and gave it a squeeze. “Yeah. I want to. I want it all.”
You blushed at his words and bit your lip softly, nodding, “I want that too.” You looked at him, his blue eyes filled with adoration for you. It was such a sweet moment, but you still found yourself laughing.
“What?” He asked with a soft chuckle, not sure what made you laugh so hard.
“I’m just a lucky girl, getting such a hot NHL player for a boyfriend.” You told him, making a blush appear on his cheeks.
“Believe me,” he told you. “I’m the lucky one.” The way he said it, the softness in his voice, the love in his eyes, it was enough to knock the wind right out of you. You were so hopelessly in love with his man.
“So…” You said softly, after the moment was over, Travis taking another sip of his wine. If you were dating, there was the… physical element… of the relationship that you really wanted to talk about. You debated your words for a moment before you just ripped the bandage off and said it. “What about sex?”
Travis choked on his wine, putting the glass down roughly on the table, the wine sloshing in the glass as he couched, his face going bright red, both from the lack of oxygen and the words you just said. You couldn’t help but blush and avoid his eyes when he had a reaction like that.
If the two of you were together, you were going to have to talk about it eventually. You just thought that it would be good to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. Both of you were quiet for several moments before Travis finally cleared his throat. “What about it?”
You shrugged, still blushing, “I don’t want to rush anything with you.”
Travis nodded, “I don’t want to do that either.”
“Okay… So, how about we keep sex off the table as we figure this out?” You suggested.
Travis laughed but he nodded. “I think that would be a good idea.” He paused before flashing you his signature smirk, his dimples popping out, “but maybe not for too long.” You blushed at his words making Travis laugh harder. He grabbed your hand across the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze, his thumb rubbing over the back of your hand.
But the tension was still thick, so Travis stood up and went to the kitchen to grab his phone. He was looking for something as he walked back towards the table. You raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, but he was too preoccupied with his phone to notice. A few moments later, the soft intro to a song filled the space.
Your confusion melted into a laugh as you realized it was a country love song.
“Why are you laughing? This is a great song!” Travis declared as he put his phone on the table and extended his hand to you.
“What are you doing?” You asked, laughter coating your words.
“I’m asking my girlfriend to dance with me,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he kept his hand extended to you.
Your breath caught in your throat when he called you his girlfriend and your heart fluttered. You took his hand and he pulled you to your feet, leading you into empty space before pulling you into his chest. You laughed softly at his action and looped your arms around his neck, his hands falling to your hips.
The minute I met you
I said give me some time
I'll have you laughing and falling in love
Till you tell the whole world that you're mine
You couldn’t help but listen to the lyrics as you and Travis swayed in the kitchen. You knew Travis picked the song for a reason, but you couldn’t help but smile the further the song went on. It fit the two of you so well. You leaned down to rest your head on his shoulder, a smile on your lips as you closed your eyes and took in the feeling of him against you and the music filling the air.
Girl I told you
That I'd love you forever
And I'll hold you
In my arms, and I'll never let go
“We keep coming back to each other,” Travis whispered as the two of you swayed to the music. “Do you ever think that maybe something stronger was trying to lead us back together?”
“I don’t know,” you answered after a moment, your head still resting on his shoulder. “But whatever happened, I’m glad it did. I’m glad I got you back.”
“Me too,” he whispered, kissing the side of your head.
The two of you kept swaying to the song and you can’t help but wonder how on earth you got lucky enough to have him.
--
You and Travis were inseparable.
It felt like before the two of you were always together, but now the two of you spent nearly every waking moment together. You no longer parted ways when it came time for bed, instead you curled up in his arms after getting a goodnight kiss. The beat of his heart was the most comforting sound and he trailed his fingers down your spine and made sure you were as close to him as possible and there was nowhere else you would rather be.
And the only thing that really changed during the day was that you spent much more of the day in his arms and with his lips against yours. You didn’t have to do anything all day and you were happy. Travis was enough. Travis was always enough.
But the sky had been clear all day and it wasn’t too hot out, so after dinner Travis asked if you wanted to have a fire and you weren’t going to say no to that.
The last time the two of you had a fire, there had been a few feet between you with a case of beer to ensure the distance before you pulled your chair close enough to him to rest your head on his chest. This time there was so distance. He set up the chairs right next to each other and when he sat down after starting the fire, you managed to move your chair even closer so you could rest your head on his shoulder just like last time, his hand moving to rest on your thigh.
Niylah was laying on a blanket on the other side of Travis and you smiled as you watched the flames dance. You felt warm, both from the heat of the fire and from Travis. You don’t know how long you stayed like that, the sky slowly getting darker leaving the light of the fire to illuminate everything.
Everything was perfect.
And then Travis pulled back from you and stood up. “Where are you going?” You asked him, putting your elbow on the arm rest to hold yourself up.
Travis smiled at you and leaned down to press a quick kiss to yours lips before going back inside, leaving you with your lips still puckered as you furrowed your eyebrows, confused as to what your boyfriend was up to. You looked down at Niylah, but she didn’t react, completely used to her father’s antics.
Travis came back a few minutes later with an acoustic guitar you didn’t know he had in his hands and you raised an eyebrow at him when he sat back down. “I didn’t know you could play?”
It might have been darker out, but he couldn’t escape the blush that crawled up his cheeks. “I leant,” he said and quickly tuned the guitar before looking back at you. “I learnt and I kinda wanna play you a song.”
It was your turn to blush and you leaned back into your chair and nodded with a smile. You weren’t going to say no to your boyfriend playing you a song. Travis looked back at you and smiled, making your smile widen. His fingers moved across the strings of the guitar and a soft melody filled the air.Your smile softened as you listened. You wanted to close your eyes and enjoy the soft sound of the guitar, but you were too captivated by Travis to pull your eyes away from him.
His hair fell softly around his face, the light of the fire bounced off his features and enhanced the sharpness of his nose and jaw. His fingers moved with such surety across the neck of the guitar, his fingers softly strumming the guitar like the song meant everything to him.
You could recognize the song, the melody pulling at the familiar warmth in your chest that had you smiling more, but you couldn’t place it. But it didn’t matter that you couldn’t place it because it was Travis and Travis was playing it for you. You soaked up the song and you knew you were falling for him harder with every note.
Travis looked back up at you when the song came to an end and there was no hesitation from you, you leaned forwards in your chair to kiss him. The arm rest dug into your ribs, but it was muted compared to the feeling of Travis’s lips on yours.
His lips were soft and you brought your hand up to his jaw to keep him there, the tips of your fingers brushing his hair. You smiled into the kiss and pulled back, your eyes shining as you looked at him. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” You asked softly.
Travis looked at you with so much love. Your heart felt more full in that moment than you ever thought possible. “I’ve been asking that question for a while,” he whispered before pulling you in for another kiss.
You spent the rest of the evening cuddling by the fire, sharing kisses and making Travis play you more songs. It was only when you were falling asleep with your head on his chest that you were able to place the song he played for you. You had heard it before.
I don't know who we'll become
I can't promise it's not written in the stars
But I believe that when it's done
We're gonna see that it was better
That we grew up together
You smiled into Travis’s chest and took a deep, reassuring breath. You didn’t know what was going to happen when the summer was over and you went to Toronto, but you knew you were going to have Travis there.
And you hoped with every ounce that you had that the two of you would grow as you go.
--
Something you hadn’t used yet this summer was the sauna Travis had at his place. He never offered and with the heat, he never lit it. But, when he asked you if you wanted to use it, you weren’t about to say no. Today was cooler compared to the others and the image of Travis in a hot room partially naked? Yeah, it sounded like a good evening plan.
Travis lit the sauna in the afternoon and the temperature was up to over 100ºF after dinner. You asked him if he was ready to go after you finished the dishes.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied. “Do you wanna run to grab a swimsuit?”
You bit your lip. “I don’t really need one, do I?”
You watched Travis’s eyes drop down your body as he swallowed, his Adam’s Apple bobbing. “No,” he said, pulling his eyes back up to yours. “I guess you don’t.”
You blushed as he licked his lips. He kept his eyes on you for another moment before he walked away to grab two towels. He gave Niylah a scratch on the head as he walked back with the towels in his hand.
You both slipped on your slides before walking outside to the sauna, your heart beating frantically in your chest. Neither of you said anything as you walked, the tension building with each step.
The tension was pliable by the time the sauna door closed behind you.
Travis placed the towels down on the bench in the dressing room and turned to look at you, both of you seeming to wonder the same thing: how were you going to do this?
You took a shaky breath and grabbed the hem of your shirt, pulling it up and off your body before tossing it on the bench near the towels. Travis’s eyes widened as they dropped to your chest. “My eyes are up here,” you told him with a laugh, making his eyes snap back up to yours, a blush appearing on his cheeks as he apologized to you. He had seen you in a bikini top multiple times before, but it was different seeing you in your bra.
Your hands dropped to the waistband of your pants, but Travis made no motion to turn around or look away from you, so you did a little ‘turn around’ motion with your finger. Travis blushed harder and grabbed one of the towels from the bench and went into the sauna, closing the door behind him.
You took a shaky breath and did your best to calm yourself before you took the rest of your clothes off and wrapped a towel around yourself. You gave yourself another moment before knocking on the door.
“Come in,” Travis called back so you opened the door and stepped in.
Travis was sitting on the sauna bench, leaning back against the wall. He had his towel wrapped around his waist, his clothes piled up beside him. You didn’t have to wonder if he had anything on under his towel because you could clearly see his Maple Leafs boxers in the pile of clothes. You blushed as you realized just how exposed both of you were, only two towels separating you.
Travis grabbed his pile of clothes and got up, walking past you to put them outside with yours before he sat back down and patted the space next to him with a smile. Your heart beat a mile a minute as you crossed the small space and sat down next to him and leaving a couple inches between you.
The already pliably tension was only getting thicker. Every once in a while, Travis would brush his hand against yours as he made small talk with you about the sauna and the weather and the whatever crossed his mind. You did your best to stay engaged in the conversation and reply, but the only thing you could really think of was all the places you wanted his hand to be.
You pressed your thighs together, needing some relief, but his hand came to rest on your thigh, his thumb gently rubbing your skin. Your breath hitched in your throat. “Trav,” you whispered, but you didn’t stop him.
“Hmm?” He hummed.
You swallowed, debating your next words. “Either really touch me, or you have to stop.” You turned to him and bit your lip. “Because this is literally killing me.”
Travis chuckled and complied, cupping your cheek and pulling you in for a kiss. You sighed into it and he smiled before pulling back, not that he got very far as you pulled him back in. You controlled the kiss and Travis’s hand moved higher on your thigh. He took back the control and slipped his tongue into your mouth, making you moan. You tried to move closer to him, but your movements caused your towel to untuck and fall to your waist. You didn’t mind and you pulled him closer, moaning when your chest pressed against his.
Travis groaned when he felt your chest against his, realizing that your towel fell, his hand moving up to your newly exposed back, trying to pull you closer. You pressed your thighs together as your core pulsed. You could feel yourself getting wet and you needed more.
Travis pulled his lips from yours, but only to trail them down your neck. You gripped his arm tightly and rolled your head to the side to give him more room, gasping when his hand came up to cup your chest. He groaned against your neck and gently pinched your nipple, pulling a loud moan from you.
He softly bit down on your shoulder before pulling back from you, making you whine, his hand falling back down to your thigh. “We have to stop,” he told you.
You groaned in displeasure, “no.”
He let his eyes drop down to your chest and he groaned softly and closed his eyes. “If we don’t stop now, I’ll end up fucking you on this bench and I gotta say that that isn’t what I had in mind when I finally got to fuck you.”
You pressed your thighs together at his words. “You’ve thought about fucking me?” You asked, doing your best to look innocent despite your word choice.
Travis didn’t hesitate. “All the time.”
You groaned at his words, your eyes closing as you leaned your head back against the wall and tugged your towel back up. “You are going to be the death of me, Travis Dermott.”
And Travis just smiled at you.
It was only when you looked back at him that you noticed the small tent in his towel, which you couldn’t help but point out. “Having a little problem, are we?”
He just smirked. “Baby, there’s nothing little about this problem.”
You rolled your eyes at him but a wave of heat went straight to your core. You couldn’t wait to find out, to feel, what he was hiding under his towel.
--
Just like that day back in July, the weather was awful. It was raining before you and Travis even finished lunch. There wasn’t thunder or lightning, just rain pouring down. Looking out of Travis’s windows, you could watch the rain come down on the deck and lake and it really was beautiful.
Travis came up behind you, his hand falling to your lower back as he stood with you watching the rain. “I guess we’re staying inside today,” he said making you laugh as you leaned into his warmth. The rain left a chill in the air and you knew you were going to have to go get a sweater, but for now, Travis kept you warm.
“Yeah, I guess so,” you whispered, resting your head against his shoulder. You don’t know how long the two of you stood there, watching the rain come down over the lake, but eventually you slipped from his grip, the room instantly feeling cooler without Travis pressed against you.
“Where are you going?” He asked, reaching out to you.
“To get a hoodie, I’m cold,” you laughed, walking back towards his room. He shouted back that he would be able to keep you warm, but you ignored him as you walked into his room, going right to his closet to grab one of the hoodies he had hanging up. You let your fingers run over the worn material, they were soft to touch and you knew they were going to smell like him, smell like love and warmth and home.
A Leafs hoodie with ‘23’ printed over the heart caught your eye and you smiled as you pulled it off the hanger. You brought it up to your nose, and just like you expected, it smelt like him. You sighed contently and pulled the hoodie on, loving the way it felt. You glanced in the mirror to see yourself in the hoodie and your smile widened before you walked back out to the living room where Travis was lounging on the couch, his back against the armrest and his legs sprawled out across the cushions.
Travis looked up when he heard your footsteps get closer, a smile widening on his lips as dimples popped out at the sight of you in his hoodie. He held his arms open for you and you happily laid on top of him, resting your head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around you, his hands softly running up and down your back before he kissed the top of your head. “My hoodie looks nice on you,” he murmured into your hair. You hummed against his chest, your eyes closing. Travis chuckled and you could feel the vibrations in his chest.
“We could watch some more movies,” Travis whispered after a few moments, his hand still absentmindedly rubbing your back.
“Or we could take a nap just like this,” you replied, keeping your eyes closed and loving how warm he was and the sound of his heartbeat.
Travis laughed softly, “how about I put a movie on really softly and you can take a nap on me?” He offered.
“Does that mean I have to move?” You asked.
“Just for like five seconds. I just have to set everything up and then you can go back to bring curled up on me,” he reasoned with you, but you just made a noise of disagreement before reluctantly agreeing.
You pushed yourself off his chest, sitting back against the couch so he could get up. He grabbed a movie off the shelf and plugged the TV and DVD player in, popping the DVD in and hitting play when the menu popped up, and grabbed the remote before he came back to the couch. He fixed the pillow for his back before laying back down and holding his arms open for you.
You happily curled back into him, the soft sound of the movie a gentle background noise compared to the familiar comfort of his heartbeat lulling you to sleep.
You didn’t know how long you were asleep for, but when you woke up, the movie was over and the TV was off. Niylah had curled into the other arm of the couch and Travis had his eyes closed, but he opened them as soon as he felt you move. “Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” he whispered.
You made a soft noise and pressed your face back into his chest making him laugh. “It’s basically dinner time,” he told you. That had you lifting your head to look at him, then out the window to see that it was still raining and then over the back of the couch to see the clock in the kitchen.
He was right, it was 4pm, basically time to make dinner.
You blushed and pushed yourself off him, resting back against the back of the couch and wiping some of the sleep from your face. You couldn’t believe that you had slept that long, that you had pinned him to the couch for that long. “I’m sorry for sleeping that long,” you told him.
Travis gave you a lopsided smile. “Don’t. I like it when you sleep on me,” he said and it was his turn to blush.
“Still,” you whispered. “I couldn’t imagine that was comfortable.” But Travis just waved you off, getting off the couch and walking towards the kitchen and you and Niylah followed soon after.
“Just sit down, okay? I’ll make dinner tonight,” he said, gesturing for you to take a seat at the table. You wanted to fight him on that because you still weren’t sold on his culinary skills, but you were still waking up so you agreed and took a seat at the table.
Travis ended up making just a simple pasta with tomato sauce, but it was great because it was Travis and you knew he tried his best. After you finished eating, you helped him do the dishes, him washing and you drying. When those were done and the kitchen was cleaned up, you were fully awake and ready to do something, which sucked because it was still raining pretty hard.
So, naturally, you tucked your chin over Travis’s shoulder as he prepared Niylah’s dinner and started running your fingers over his ribs making his abs clench as he laughed, swatting your hands away. “I’m bored,” you told him.
“Yeah, well, what do you want me to do about it?” He asked, slipping out of your arms to put Niylah’s bowl down for her before turning back to face you, leaning back against the counter.
You put your hands on the counter on either side of him, leaning in to press your chest to his before connecting your lips in a soft kiss. Travis sighed into the kiss, moving his hands to your hips and pulling you closer and taking control of the kiss. He pressed his tongue to your bottom lip and you let him slip it past your lips, moaning softly against them.
“We could do this,” he said after you pulled back from the kiss, a smirk playing on his lips. You shoved his chest with a roll of your eyes, stepping away from him, even if you hadn’t really stopped thinking about it since the sauna.
“I was thinking something more like a game,” you said, moving to sit back at the island.
Travis let his head fall back as he took a deep, disappointed breath, but he nodded reluctantly. “Fine. But you’re going down,” he told you, looking back at you.
You laughed, shaking your head. “We’ll see about that.”
Travis told you that you could find the games in the closet of the third bedroom and to pick something out while he let Niylah out. You didn’t find much in the closet, which made sense because you figured that Travis and his teammates weren’t really thinking about boardgames when they came out here. You found Monopoly, poker, Uno and regular cards, and a few other games that didn’t really look interesting. So, you grabbed Monopoly, Uno and the cards and brought them to the kitchen table.
Travis dried Niylah off with a towel, hanging it up on a hook by the backdoor before taking a seat across from you at the table. “You found the Monopoly,” he said with a laugh that made you think that maybe brining it out was a bad idea.
“I did,” you said. “But I was thinking we would start with the cards,” you told him, picking up the deck of cards. Travis rolled his eyes but nodded, so you pulled them out, separating the Jokers and end cards from the deck before starting to shuffle.
While you shuffled, Travis got up. You watched him walk into the kitchen, get two glasses down from the cabinet before grabbing a bottle of Chardonnay you didn’t know he put into the fridge. You kept shuffling as Travis popped the cork and poured each of you a glass. He smiled at you and you bit your lip to hide your smile as you started to deal out the cards for the game ‘speed.’
Travis groaned when he realized what you were doing which only made your smile grow. “Come on, really?” He asked. You used to make him play speed all the time as a kid and he almost always lost, so it wasn’t his favourite game.
You just nodded. “Yeppers,” you said, still smiling. Travis took a deep breath through his nose and grabbed his glass of wine, taking a big drink from it as you finished dealing.
“Okay,” he said, shifting forwards and putting his elbows on the table to give him the best leverage. “Let’s do this.”
You bit your lip as you looked across the table at him, his own eyes shining with joy. “Three… Two… One… Go!” You counted down, each of you flipping one of the two cards over before picking up your hands and starting to slam cards down.
You were quicker than Travis, easily slamming down card after card while also replacing them into your hand. Travis was just a half a second behind you, struggling to get a card down while you put down three. He made a noise of protest trying to get a card down. He got a few, and when you froze, not being able to put anything else down, he took the change to throw another five down before you were able to keep going.
Travis didn’t even notice when you went out. He was too focused on trying to get his cards down to realize that you stopped playing. It was only when you tried to stifle a laugh that he looked up and saw that he had already lost.
“Fuck,” he muttered, dropping his cards and leaning back into his chair before he grabbed his glass of wine.
“Sorry baby,” you said, reaching for your own glass and taking a sip. “You just gotta be faster.”
Travis looked at you across the rim of his glass, his tongue dipping out to wet his lips. “I don’t think any woman has told me I need to be faster before,” he said and you could feel yourself start to blush.
You busied yourself with taking another, bigger, sip of your wine before you gathered the cards. Travis just smirked, his teeth slowly sinking into his bottom lip as he looked at you and you had to take a deep breath and look down at the cards as you shuffled, trying to ignore the slight heat between your legs.
You dealt the cards out again and Travis shot you a wink. You downed the rest of your wine and poured yourself another glass, making him laugh hard. You shot him a glare, but he just flashed you the trademark Travis Dermott smile that you fell for.
“Can we play now?” You asked.
“Yeah, of course, baby,” he said, sitting back up. “If that’s what you really want.”
You rolled your eyes and hovered your hand over one of the cards to flip it. Travis mimicked your actions and you counted down just like before and when you said “go!” the two of you flipped the cards over. You both reached for your hands of cards and you spared a glance over at him, smiling softly at the way his brows furrowed as he tried to be faster, throwing down cards while you were too busy looking at him.
You finally looked back at your cards and jumped into the game. Travis made a noise low in his throat as you easily stepped in, throwing cards down and picking them up just as fast. It made you laugh, stuttering in your game just enough for him to beat you, throwing an Ace down on the King before you could put a Queen down.
“Ha!” He said, but you just raised an eyebrow and kept playing, throwing down card after card until you were out once again.
“Ha!” You echoed, tilting your chin up making Travis groan in annoyance. You laughed and reached for the cards again, but he swatted your hands away, claiming you were stacking the deck in your favour. You laughed harder but let him collect the cards and start shuffling. You sipped on your glass of wine as you watched Travis shuffle. You watched him easily move the cards, separating them into two piles, riffle shuffling them before arching the cards into a bridge.
You pressed your thighs together as you watched his hands and how easily he worked over the cards and how small the cards looked in his hands…
Travis smirked when he realized where your line of sight was, but he didn’t say anything, just dealt the cards out. You pulled your eyes away from him when he was finished, looking up at him as you put your glass back on the table and he shot you another wink that told you that you were caught. You blushed again, but he didn’t say anything, just hovered his hand over the cards and waited for you before he counted down and the two of you flipped them over and started playing again.
And once again you beat him.
Travis smacked his hand down on the table in defeat before he grabbed his glass of wine and finished it, accidently knocking the empty bottle over when he went to put the glass down. He cursed and grabbed it, standing up and heading to the kitchen where he put it on the counter. He grabbed another bottle out of the fridge, this one a twist off, twisting the cap off as he walked back towards the table. He poured himself a glass and waited for you to finish your glass before pouring you a glass and putting the cap back on and sitting down.
You eyed him as you took a small sip before shrugging, “yeah, pretty good.” Travis laughed and took a sip of it, agreeing with you. It was pretty good.
You played a couple more hands and you just kept beating Travis. You felt warm with victory and from the wine, but you could see that Travis was starting to get frustrated with losing. He tried his best to hide it behind a smile, but you could see it in his eyes. You weren’t surprised since he was basically paid to be competitive, and you found it cute.
You started shuffling the cards after another game that you won and Travis sighed, making your hands freeze as you raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to see if this would be his breaking point. It was. “Okay, can we please play something else?” Travis asked, reaching across the table to cover your hands with his. You laughed and nodded.
“Is Uno better?” You asked as you put the cards back into their box. Travis nodded and reached for the deck of Uno. He started shuffling the deck and you were thankful for it since it was a big deck and you knew that you would have had to split it into two to shuffle, but with his big hands, Travis was able to shuffle it all in one. Which, just like before, totally didn’t have you pressing your thighs together as you watched his hands.
Travis dealt the cards out and flipped the first one over, eyeing you mischievously as he picked his hand up. You had no idea that he had played his fair share of Uno in Toronto since Freddie was a huge Uno guy.
You played a blue four on top of a red four on the red six that Travis had flipped up. And Travis waited no time playing a blue pick up two. “Really? This is how you’re gonna play it?” You asked, eyeing him down as you picked up the cards.
Travis winked, “it’s the Travis Dermott revenge tour, baby.”
You bit your lips as you shook your head, “okay. Game on, baby.” You told him, pulling your eyes from his to look down at your hand to form a plan. You played two sevens and Travis played a five on top of that. You went back and forth like that, playing a few cards then having to pick one up, both of you eyeing each other over the edge of the cards.
Travis took a sharp breath through his nose and reached for his wine when you played a pick up four card. “I’ll make it green,” you said as he put his glass down and had picked up his cards.
He raised an eyebrow at you which told you that you made the wrong choice and put down two pick up two, a red on top of the green. You rolled your eyes and pulled up the cards. And then picked up another one because you didn’t have a red card in your hand.
“Skip your turn, back to me, skip your turn, skip your turn again, back to me once more, uno, outo,” he said, giving you a play by play as he went out, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk.
“Dammit!” You cursed, dropping the thirteen cards you still had in your hand onto the table. Travis did a bit of a victory dance at your defeat that had you kicking his shin under the table.
“Ow!” He yelped, furrowing his brows at you.
“Don’t be a dick,” you told him. He rolled his eyes but still apologized. “Mhm,” you hummed as you reached for your glass of wine, finishing it before pouring yourself another one. When Travis didn’t reach for the cards, you pushed them towards him.
“I just shuffled!” He complained.
“Yeah, but your hands are a lot bigger than mine so you need to shuffle,” you told him. Travis sighed dramatically but picked up the cards to start shuffling.
“Shuffling isn’t the only thing these hands are good at,” he told you, but a bit of a blush betrayed his confidence.
“Yeah?” You asked, leaning onto your elbows to get closer to him.
“Yeah,” he nodded. You made a point of running your eyes down to his hands, watching him as he shuffled. When he started to deal, you pulled your eyes back up to his, running your tongue over your upper lip before speaking.
“Can’t wait to find out,” you told him before picking up your cards and starting to sort them. Two could play at that game.
Travis let his eyes linger on you as he wondered what he did to be lucky enough to have you, then then you looked back up at him, reaching for your glass. Travis cleared his throat and looked down at his cards, beginning to sort them as he tried to get back into the zone to beat you.
And he did.
But you finished your fourth glass of wine which had Travis raising an eyebrow at you. You giggled but shrugged, asking him to deal another hand. He did, and you finally beat him.
But then you lost the next two and just like Travis when you constantly beat him at speed, you started to get frustrated. You leaned back into your chair and pouted at him as he shuffled the deck. “Wanna stop?” He asked, scrunching his nose up at you.
You shoved his foot with your own under the table and he laughed, grabbing the elastic for the deck and wrapping it around the cards. “I have just the idea,” he winked at you and you groaned, throwing your head back.
“You better not be setting me up for failure, Dermott, or I’ll never have sex with you,” you told him as he walked towards the kitchen, laughing when he stumbled in his step.
He looked back over his shoulder, clearly thinking about what he would say next before he spoke. “That would be a tragedy for you, babygirl.”
You took a deep breath and let it out through your nose as you rolled your eyes. He gave you another wink before turning and walking back into the kitchen and opening a high cabinet. He glanced back at you and you raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled mischievously and grabbed a bottle of tequila and a bottle of rum, bringing them over to the table before going back and grabbing two shot glasses, two bottles of water and two bottles of Gatorade. He sat all it down on the table before sitting down and reaching for Monopoly.
“Trav?” You asked. He hummed but didn’t look up at you as he unpacked the game and started to set it up. “What’s all this?”
“A game,” he replied without looking up at you.
“A drinking game?” You pointed out, but it came out more like a question. Travis just smiled and started to deal out the money before asking you which piece you wanted to be. You were hesitant, but you still grabbed the dog.
“I wanted to be that one but okay…” Travis said, grabbing the car and putting it on ‘Go’ before putting the rest of the pieces away. You followed his lead and put your dog on ‘Go.’
“Are you going to tell me the rules to this drinking game of yours?” You asked.
Travis laughed and nodded. “Okay,” he started, leaning across the table, his blue eyes shining with mischief. “You take a shot every time you roll doubles, go to jail, and have to pay rent. And if you have to pay rent but the other player doesn’t notice, after you move spaces you can call them out and make them take a shot. Oh, and no houses or hotels since we’re playing to drink not bankrupt each other.” He tacked on.
“You’re going to kill me,” you said. You were already buzzed from the wine and with the rules of the game, you knew it wasn’t going to be long before you were drunk.
“Nah,” he said, rolling an eight on the dice before looking back up at you. “I just think it’s really important we see each other drunk. I read an article once that you shouldn’t marry someone you haven’t seen drunk.”
“Oh?” You asked, rolling an eleven. “I didn’t know we were getting married.”
“Hopefully one day,” he said as you rolled the dice again, this time getting a five. You moved the dog to the railroad and handed him two hundred dollars. His eyes were soft as he handed you the property card for the Reading Railroad.
You were way too buzzed and the relationship way too young to be thinking about marriage, but you still struggled to push down the butterflies at the thought of Travis being the one you walked down the aisle towards.
Travis shook the dice in his hand and rolled a perfect twelve. You laughed as he cursed. You moved the car twelve spaces as he poured himself a shot of tequila and opened a bottle of Gatorade for a chaser.
He didn’t cringe as he did the shot, but he did take two fair sized sips of Gatorade before he bought the Electric Company that he landed on. He rolled seven on his next turn putting him on New York Avenue, which he also bought.
You rolled nine, bought Virginia Avenue. Travis rolled three and landed on chance… And he was sent directly to jail. You laughed as he poured himself another shot. And then you laughed harder as you realized that to be free from jail, he would have to roll a double. “Still think this was a good idea?” You asked.
“I never thought it was,” he laughed. “I just thought it would be fun. And I think I might be able to out drink you, so we’re fine.” He said and pushed the dice towards you.
And you rolled snake eyes. You groaned. “Tequila or rum?” He asked.
‘Neither’ was what you wanted to tell him, but you settled on tequila and he poured you a shot while you opened the other Gatorade bottle. You down the shot and reached for the Gatorade. “I hate you,” you told him.
“I love you, too,” he replied.
You bought St. James Place before rolling… two fours. You groaned, not even bothering to move your piece as Travis poured you another shot of tequila. You downed it, hating the way it made your chest warm before taking another drink of Gatorade and deciding not to buy Illinois Avenue.
“Three doubles send you to jail,” Travis pointed out and you totally weren’t nervous as you rolled the dice.
And you rolled a safe seven.
“Oh thank God,” you whispered before buying Pacific Avenue.
You passed the dice to Travis, but he just shook his head and paid the $50 fee to get out of jail and passed the dice back to you. You groaned in fear and rolled the dice. Again you were safe as you rolled a five. You landed on Chance and took a deep breath before picking up the card. “Bank pays you a dividend of $50,” you read.
Travis rolled his eyes but he still handed you the money. Travis rolled a safe two and six, and the two of you made it around the board without having to take another shot. And then you landed on Marvin Gardens, which you were happy to not be sent to jail, but it also meant having to pay Travis rent… And take another shot.
“Drink up baby,” he told you, sliding the shot across the table. You glared at him and handed him the money before doing the shot.
A few turns later Travis rolled a pair of doubles and landed on your property for three shots, which you totally thought was too much, but he just waved you off. You landed on two of his properties and had to do two shots, but you noticed that he wasn’t filling them as much as he did for his which you appreciated.
You guys went around the board a few more times, Travis claiming that the game wasn’t over until all the properties had been bought. You hated it, but you also couldn’t stop laughing and you got hot enough to take off his hoodie. You were definitely going to feel it tomorrow.
You only had to do another shot while Travis did another three after being sent to jail for a second time that night. Then finally, finally, you bought the elusive Baltic Avenue to end the game. And thank God because you were really feeling all those shots.
You helped Travis pack the game up before you finished the rest of the Gatorade and opening the bottle of water and drinking half of it because there really wasn’t much Gatorade left. “I’m going to hate you tomorrow,” you laughed moving to stand and stumbling a bit. Travis laughed at you and you threw the empty Gatorade bottle at him, making him laugh harder.
Travis wasn’t as far gone as you, but he was definitely wasted. As you went to the bathroom and brushed your teeth, he put the games and alcohol away, putting all the used glasses in the sink to wash tomorrow. Then he let Niylah out one last time, thankfully having half a mind to wipe her feet when she came back in.
He plopped down on the couch as he waited for you. And when you came out of the bathroom, you joined him on the couch, resting your head on his lap and looking up at him. You stayed on the couch for a bit, talking shit and shoving each other. Once Travis even shoved you hard enough that you rolled off his lap onto the floor. He was barely able to get an apology out between his laughs.
But, after a while, you pushed yourself off Travis and stripped your shirt off as you walked back towards the bedroom, Travis following you and not being able to stop his eyes from wandering over your back. You sensed his eyes on you and looked over your shoulder, sending him a wink that had him blushing. You tossed your shirt to the side as you walked into the bedroom before beginning to push your pants down. Travis’s eyes widened as he realized what you were doing and quickly pulled his eyes away and slipping into the bathroom.
When he came back out, you had put on one of his shirts and were spread out on top of the blankets, Niylah curled up on the foot of the bed. Travis pulled his shirt off before crawling into bed and wrapping his arms around you, pulling your back to his chest.
“Nooooo,” you whined, fighting his grip. “Too hot.”
Travis groaned and flopped back down in bed. You rolled over to look at him and reached your finger out to boop his nose. He scrunched his nose up and you giggled, so Travis poked your ribs making you yelp and laugh harder. You kept poking each other, laughing way too hard until you finally shoved his hands away, telling him you wanted to go to sleep.
You rolled away from him and closed your eyes, doing your best to ignore the spinning. And Travis scooched across the bed and wrapped his arms around you again. “Travisssss,” you whined but he just pressed his face into your shoulder.
You wanted to push him off because you were already hot and he just radiated body heat, but you could already feel all the tension leaving your body and your eyelids were getting heavy.
“G’night, Trav,” you mumbled and he hummed against your skin. You fell asleep not long after, drunk off wine, tequila and your love for him.
HAPPY 9K DUDEEEEE AHHH! I'm so late but a little something about the future of our fav couple in TFBY could be fun. Maybe a dinner out or her first leaf game as his gf..? Literally anything would be amazing because it miss them -mcmo anon
Okay that video the Leafs posted today? Totally screamed their life in Toronto.
I see them trying out so many different restaurants until they find the one, their special place. And that place is Azarias.
And the first time they go out to one of the expensive fancy places? Travis forgets how to breathe when he sees you all dolled up.
“What?”
“You’re beautiful,” he replies, his voice so breathy.
First Leafs game? Opening night.
You tease him again, claiming you bought a Marner jersey to wear to the game because he’s your favourite Leaf.
Travis’ chest puffs out and he pretends to be okay with it but god he’s such a bad actor and it’s clear as day that he’s so jealous.
You didn’t buy a Marner jersey though.
You do wear the jean jacket to the game with everyone else, but you wear his Otters jersey underneath it.
He melts into a million little drops when he sees you after the game.
“I love you so much,” he whispers, lightly gripping the end of the hem of the jersey.
“Love you more,” you reply.
“Not possibly,” he smiles before kissing you.
And somewhere behind you, Mitch gags all “dude, really? Right in the entry? Bro I got places to be.”
