Where You Belong

“We are not friends right now.” Tyler stated, leaning in Anna’s doorway as she stood ready to go to the game in her dark jeans, black Uggs and Kris Letang powder blue sweater.

“Until the game is over, then I’m all yours again.” She laughed, giving him a quick hug before grabbing her cell phone and bouncing out the front door with him. “I warned you, Muscles, you know I like the Penguins.” She teased, getting into her Prius. Tyler was officially going car shopping next weekend with Patrice. “But, see?” She tugged up the hem of the oversized jersey to show her black Bruins shersey underneath. “Secret Sega fan.” She giggled, using one of Milan’s favorite nicknames for the rookie.

“That is hardly better.” Tyler insisted, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the look of her in his number.

“Hush you big wuss, besides, if you win, we can get some buffalo wild wings!” She tempted him excitedly, knowing he could never deny a basket full of medium boneless wings doused in bleu cheese. “And don’t forget our date for tomorrow, right?” She asked, referring to when she would be heading in with him to his morning workout to see what benefitted him personally as a player. Anna would be starting her job with Boston College soon and she wanted to gain a better grasp on what types of exercises and strength programs she would be employing while working with the men’s hockey team.

“Yes.” Tyler nodded as they pulled onto the highway.

“So tell me how excited you are right now.” She grinned, putting her hand on his knee and giving it a little shake. It was always funny to see him folded up in her little Prius, seeing as his six-one frame was a whole lot of leg.

“I’m excited.” He laughed, showing off his charming smile as he looked out and watched the cars pass on the road beside them.

“Go easy on ‘em, kay? They’re my team.” She teased, making him chuckle softly as they slowly approached the Garden. “And don’t let me forget the cookies in the back for Patrice.” She reminded, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the back seat. Tyler tried to keep a frown from growing on his face as he glanced back to see a plate of chocolate chip, cherry cookies all wrapped up with Patrice written in black Sharpie.

Unfortunately, the two had become somewhat of friends, talking once and a while after games and joking around like old pals. Tyler didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t have the appeal of Patrice, the smooth-taking, ruggedly handsome Frenchmen. He was young and baby-faced and more often than not fumbled over his words. Tyler was going to have to ask Patrice to step off. The last thing he needed was for the two of them to find out just how good-looking they’d be together.

When the pair arrived at TD, Anna quickly gathered her cell phone from the cup holder and the cookies from the back, walking into the player’s entrance with Tyler. A perk of being his chauffer.

“Indianna Jones!” Milan Lucic boomed the very moment Anna stepped into the player’s lounge, setting down the plate of treats for Mr. Bergeron. Anna gave him a less than amused look before he could throw his arms open for a hug, his girlfriend, Brianna a few feet away talking with Horton. She blew off his invitation for a hug, tucking herself under Tyler’s arm instead as she stuck her tongue out at the loud forward.

“Ty?” She asked shyly, nodding her head towards the door, not wanting to be outwardly rude.

“Okay.” Tyler sighed, keeping his arm around her shoulder as he lead her into the hall towards the visitor’s side of the rink. “But you can’t be obvious, okay? I don’t want to be that guy.” He insisted.

“I won’t!” She squealed excitedly. “I swear, I’ll be totally normal.” She promised, making him laugh, keeping her tucked under his arm possessively. The very last thing he needed was her parading around the Penguins team looking like a free woman. Anna moved out from under Tyler’s arm, grabbing his hand instead and giving it a firm squeeze as Sidney Crosby stood in the hall outside of his locker room, shirtless in a pair of breezers, taping his stick with a very concentrated look on his face.

“In and out.” He reminded her to breathe at just the moment Kris Letang entered the hall as well in an outfit mainly consisting of spandex. He knew she was fighting the urge to squeal that same noise she made when she was especially excited. She fanned herself with enthusiasm as they passed the small alcove, making Tyler roll his eyes.

“Oh my God he is gorgeous.” She gushed loudly, tugging on Tyler’s hand as she spoke of Mr. Letang. Hearing a soft laugh behind her, she glanced in one of the mirror globes up on the wall to see Kris stick handling a small ball in the hallway behind them, making her clamp her fingers down on Tyler’s hand like a vice. As soon as they made it up the stairs to the main concourse, Anna jumped on top of Tyler’s back out of pure nerves and adrenaline. “Oh my God I think he heard me!” She squealed embarrassedly, burying her face into his shoulder as he laughed loudly. “I can’t believe that just happened!” She wanted to curl up into a ball and dissolve.

“Breathe.” Tyler laughed, entertained by her antics but secretly wishing it was him that she got so frazzled over.

“Stick a fork in me, I’m done.” She sighed; cheeks still pink as they doubled back in the concourse where fans had yet to file in before heading back down to the lower level. Anna laughed upon seeing Milan and Patrice gorging themselves on cookies as they entered the lounge. “Swallowing helps.” She hinted, hopping down from Tyler’s back. Tyler bid her goodbye before heading into the locker room.

Whether or not they won tonight against Anna’s favorite team, he knew one thing was for certain. He was going home with the girl, and that’s what really counted.

•••

“Oh quit pouting.” Tyler rolled his eyes as he drove her to the Garden later that week, the first time since the Bruins ousted the Penguins three to two. Tyler had picked out a rather sleek, little, and gaudy Mercedes four-door that looked like it belonged on a racetrack over the streets of Boston any day.

“This place brings back bad memories now.” She sighed dramatically, reminding him of when she had met him in the lounge after that game with a sour expression and her soft lips pouted out in a frown.

Tyler simply shook his head before parking the car and tossing his gym bag over his shoulder, leading her into the arena. The lounge was empty and the loud bass coming from the workout center could be heard from the concourse hallway as they neared the gym.

“I think there’s a women’s bathroom over there you can change in.” He pointed down the hall. “I’ll meet you in there.” He gave her a pat on the shoulder before they headed their separate ways to get changed. When she reconvened with her neighbor ten minutes later, she was ready to work on her fitness in a pair of her usual Nike shorts, Nike tank, Nike shoes, and perky pony tail. “Are you sponsored or something?” Tyler teased, trying to keep his eyes focused on her face. He couldn’t work out with her for the next hour or so with a hard-on between his legs.

“They had a sale!” She justified, shoving him lightly, arm touching the sleek fabric of his Under Armour shirt that clung to him like a second skin. There was no denying that Tyler was in impeccable shape. “Focus, Sig, time to work out.” Tyler rolled his eyes but they walked over to where there were a few mats on the floor and began to stretch. Tyler kept his eyes trained on himself in the mirror, knowing that if he let his eyes wander to his friend, there would be a big, apparent problem in his basketball shorts. They both sat down, stretching in a butterfly before Anna could spread her legs out to center splits. “C’mere.” She insisted, situating the two of them so his feet pushed against the insides of her thighs before placing her hands in his. “Pull.” She instructed, watching as she folded over the space between them, her face hovering near his crotch.

Tyler worried that at this moment his hormones would get the best of him and surely give him the ultimate embarrassment. There was hardly a thing he could do to control himself.

“I-I think I’m stretched.” Tyler mumbled out, getting up from the mat. “Here, I start with some cardio.” He insisted, hopping on one of the stationary bikes. They both had worked up a bit of a sweat before moving onto other things, being the only two in the gym as Horton and Wheeler left for the day.

Single-leg squats for balance, skater strides, foam rollers, one-armed dumbbell snatches and lunges. Anna bent over herself, grabbing her Gatorade that Tyler had gotten for her earlier. There was something she had been slowly noticing over the last hour and a half.

Tyler’s arms were big, and his tattoo was… something was… there was something sexy about the way it rippled over his muscles when he flexed and stretched. She liked the way his thighs looked when they strained from underneath his shorts. And she certainly took no harm in watching as the small dips and curves of his back moved in the gaps of his t-shirt that was cut up and down the sides.

Tyler was looking less and less like a little boy and more like a man.

“Anna?” He snapped her out of her own thoughts as she quickly pretended to be stretching again.

“Hmm?” She asked, blinking quickly as if she had been daydreaming instead of downright staring.

“You almost done?” He asked, wiping the sweat from his head with the back of his forearm, letting his t-shirt pull up and expose the lower row of his abs.

“I uh… Yeah.” She nodded, pinching herself as she stood up. She needed to focus.

“I’m going to shower quick, but unfortunately, no showers for girls. Give me ten?” He asked, walking beside her.

“Sounds good, I’m gonna change and I’ll be in the lounge.” She insisted with a small smile. “The Office at home after this?” She asked, knowing that it would feel like heaven to cuddle up on the couch and relax.

“Yes.” He nodded with a short laugh before they parted their ways. Anna changed quickly, glad that she had packed deodorant, perfume, and face wash, changing back into her black sweatpants and Bruins sweatshirt that she had snagged from Tyler’s closet after a fall bonfire at Milan’s.

After a short, awkward car ride filled with sexual tension of the worst kind as Anna’s perfume surrounded and teased Tyler, they were finally back at home. Tyler hurried upstairs into his room, fishing his hard on out of his boxers before he could fall to his mattress while Anna dipped into her own home to pick up a few things around the house.

“Fuck.” He groaned, pulling tightly, holding himself off from reaching his peak before fisting himself even harder. “Anna.” He gasped, eyes wide before clenching shut as the muscles in his abs twitched and bunched under his skin.

Meanwhile, Anna let herself into his condo, remembering that the last time they had watched a movie in his family room, she left her favorite fleece-tie blanket. It was the strange grunts and groans that made her cautiously tiptoe her way up the stairs.

“Ty?” She called out softly, wanting to make sure he was all right. “Ty?” She called again, peeking her head out into the upstairs hallway.

“Fuck! Anna!” Tyler shouted out as he hunched over himself, a Kleenex in hand as he let his load loose.

Anna’s cheeks burned bright red as a wave of realization washed over her, figuring out what was going on. She hurried down the stairs, but knew she had been caught when she heard Tyler’s voice.

“Hello?” He called a few moments later after cleaning himself up, a small sheen of sweat on his forehead.

“Uh- hey.” Anna’s cheeks were still a deep pink. “Just grabbing my blanket.” She called.

Tyler wanted to crawl into his own body and dissolve. Had she heard him? Was he loud?

“O-okay, I’ll be over in a minute!” He called, rubbing the back of his neck.

Anna didn’t know what to do. Was he really doing what she thought he was? What else could he have been doing? Anna quickly left the condo, grabbing her blanket and holding it tight to keep any of the early dusting of snow from touching it. Cozying up on her couch after flipping the switch to her fireplace before popping the second season of The Office into the DVD player.

Tyler entered her home shortly after a few minutes later, grabbing a Leinenkugel’s from the fridge before sitting beside her on the couch.

“So… where did we leave off?” He asked, popping off the cap to his drink and setting it on the coffee table.

“Um… the one where Michael almost tells Pam that Jim’s in love with her.” Anna spoke softly, pressing play on the remote.

And as Anna leaned into his chest, Tyler slung his arm around her shoulders knowing that he’d end up helping himself in his own bed again later that day.