‹ Prequel: There Are Still Rules To Break
Breathless
Breathless
Even with a four goal lead, it wasn’t until the game had only one minute left that Amanda felt the nervous energy she’d been carrying around for months slip away. Up until that moment, she had felt that something could happen; something could steal away the moment all of her boys had been working so hard for. Her fingers played with the hem of her too long, too big jersey she wore to every game. It was warm and familiar, and it brought her comfort even in the most stressing times.
She felt a hand on her arm as the clock ticked down from thirty seconds, but she couldn’t register anything besides the movement on the ice. She was paralyzed with excitement.
She choked out a sob as the final buzzer sounded and flashes of white, gold, and black flooded the ice. All the air rushed out of her, leaving her breathless as tears spilled onto her cheeks. Her brown eyes caught the familiar number thirty seven jersey as he mobbed his teammates, jumping and screaming with excitement. A hand gripped onto her arm, pulling her away from the glass in the luxury box and out of the door. She moved blindly through the twisting hallways as her tears clouded her vision. She was thankful for the person, whose hand rested on her lower back, guiding her way.
The ice was slippery beneath her feet as she tried to glide as best she could. Her legs were shaky underneath her. She felt someone grab her from behind, lifting her into the air. When he put her down, David Krejci let out a primal scream before placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek, causing a giggle to rise out of her as she still felt tears slip down her cheeks. She wanted to grab every single guy and hug him as tight as she could, but there was only one man she needed to find. Her eyes scanned all around her until she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.
Guillaume Bergeron grinned down at her as he began to pull her with him. His lips were moving, but Amanda didn’t hear a word he said. She saw him point and she followed the direction of his finger until she saw his brother. She pulled away from Guillaume so fast; she wouldn’t be surprised if he fell from the force. With an already huge smile on his face, Patrice Bergeron’s smile only widened when he saw Amanda as she flew toward him. He caught her easily, her face burying into his scruffy neck as she held onto him as if her life depended on it.
His lips pressed against her head as she cried against him, and his own tears followed. He placed her back on her feet with a big kiss to her lips, the hair of his beard tickling her face as it had been for the past two months as it grew longer and longer.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she whispered frantically, making a deep laugh come from his mouth. “I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”
There were people who had questioned whether his playing career could continue after he had suffered a concussion that had left him out for an entire season. She knew he never doubted his ability or his will to come back, and that’s why the win was even sweeter.
And he couldn’t have imagined doing it with another team. The Bruins had always believed in him, too.
Two years together, and they finally had what they had been waiting for all their lives; Patrice as a player and Amanda as a fan. Not only that, but he had scored two goals, one of them the game winner while the other acted as insurance. Just as she started to calm down, she thought of her hometown. The city of Boston had been waiting for thirty nine years, and finally, the Boston Bruins were Stanley Cup Champions again. “Oh god,” she choked out, a fresh wave of sobs taking over.
Her knees went week, and she would have fallen had Patrice not caught her. He held her tightly as she cried, almost feeling foolish as she looked around her and noticed she was the only one who was in hysterics. Patrice just held her, his big and sweaty hand rubbing over her head as she leaned into him. The first Cup win in her lifetime, a lifetime of living for Bruins hockey, and she was experiencing it as more than a fan.
She was a member of the Bruins family, and Patrice knew the moment would hit her harder than it hit some of the players. He knew she’d be overwhelmed.
“I love you,” he told her, trying to catch his breath, it having all escaped him the second the game was over.
His brother and parents stood patiently beside them, huge smiles on their faces as they watched their son and his young fiancé embrace. When her son had proposed to the young girl just before the playoffs, Sylvie Bergeron had been ecstatic, immediately wanting to start planning things with the twenty two year old Boston girl who’d stolen her son’s heart, but she’d promised to stay away from the subject until the offseason. She silently wondered if showing Amanda all the wedding books and magazines she’d been gathering just the next morning would be too soon.
At the rate Amanda and Patrice’s relationship progressed, head over heals in love after just a few weeks together, everyone around them guessed they would have been married and with a child already, but once they had moved in together, just after a few months of dating, they were too happy and too in love to change anything. She guessed that was another way they broke the rules, surprising everyone when things stayed exactly the same. Amanda would be lying though, if she said she didn’t go to sleep every night and wake up every morning wondering what it would be like to be his wife. She didn’t know that he thought the same things, wondering what it would be like to be her husband and to give her his name.
Calming down again, she pushed away from Patrice and let his family move in. She backed up a few steps, biting her lip as more tears threatened to fall. His face told her he was happy, as did his eyes, but they also said something else. She thought it might be relief.
As she watched the family she’d become a part of, she again felt arms wrap around her waist, spinning her around as she let out a giggle. Milan Lucic’s ecstatic face almost made her burst into tears again when she turned around in his arms to face him. “In your hometown, no less,” she barely whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.
As he put her down, her eyes landed on the grinning face of Tim Thomas, and she wiggled from Milan’s grasp after she had kissed his cheek. The goalie was all smiles and laughs as Amanda approached him, her arms stretched out wide as she grabbed him as tightly as she could despite the huge amount of padding on him. He hugged her just as tightly, his deep laugh ringing in her ears and making her whole body vibrate. “You deserve this more than anyone,” she told him. “But don’t tell Patrice I said that.”
“Another secret that is safe with me,” he told her as he winked and rested his hands on her shoulders. The thirty seven year old had become nothing short of a father figure to her in the two years she’d known him, and Amanda found herself eternally grateful for his advice, his love, and his shoulder to lean on. She smiled up at him, tears brimming in her eyes again. He shook his head with a smile as they spilled over, bringing his thumbs to her cheeks and wiping away the moisture. “Don’t cry, Amanda,” he insisted, hugging her again. Before she could say something, he spoke again, “Patrice is looking for you.”
She turned and caught his gaze, watching as his face broke into another grin and his eyes lit up. Hers did the same, and without another second of hesitation, she ran to him, wanting nothing more than to be in his arms. Silently, they smiled at each other. He was so happy and he looked so gorgeous with his smile spread from ear to ear, it knocked the breath out of her.
---
Amanda had been nearly dead on her feet by the time the team and their family and friends had loaded onto the plane. Despite her excitement for going back to Boston where the team could properly celebrate with the fans, she had passed out the second she was belted into her seat. At eight in the morning and back in Boston, Amanda had a second wind of energy. At Patrice’s request, she tagged along with a few other girlfriends and wives as the team took the Cup around Boston, wanting nothing more than to celebrate with the fans who had given the team their undying love and support, especially through recent disappointing seasons.
Boston was a sports town. The city felt the same way—alive with energy and excitement; just like it had when the Red Sox had won in 2004. The feeling was almost enough to send her into hysterics again, but Amanda kept herself composed as they hopped from place to place, the fans increasing in number and the cheers increasing in volume. She stood a few steps behind him everywhere they went, his impossibly sexy smile never leaving his clean shaven face.
As much fun as the couple had been having in just under twenty four hours, the silence in her and Patrice’s home was a welcome change as they lay in bed later that evening. On their sides and facing each other, they simply stared into each other’s eyes silently. Every so often one would laugh, making the other do it too. Finally, Patrice pressed his lips to Amanda’s and pulled her as far into his chest as he could. “It wouldn’t have meant anything without you,” he said quietly, his accent thick from the tiredness he felt. When her eyes glossed over with moisture, he gave her a stern look, earning a giggle from her.
“I know, I know,” she laughed. “No more tears.”
“Thank you,” he laughed, pressing his forehead against hers. A moment later, he sighed and ran a hand over his face.
“Has it sunk in yet?” she asked, her feet sweeping up and down his calf as they lay tangled together.
“It’s starting to,” he admitted, almost breathlessly. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted since I was a kid.”
“It’s the Stanley Cup,” she agreed, nodding her head. “I know you’re worked so hard to get it.”
“Not just the Cup,” he interrupted. “All of this. Winning it, being with this team, having you to celebrate it with, it’s just…” He searched for the right word to say. Amanda grinned as she watched him thinking. “Perfect,” he said, settling. “It’s all so perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” she laughed, pressing a kiss to the base of his neck. “I can’t wait to marry you,” she admitted, nuzzling into him.
“This summer,” he said as his fingers played with the large diamond ring on her left hand, making her eyes widen and her breath to catch in her throat.
“What?” she breathed out. “What about this summer?”
“I want to marry you this summer, Manda,” he mumbled out, using his nickname for her and getting more tired by the second. “We know we want something small, and if we let my mom help us, we can get it done. I know it.”
“She won’t be able to. She’ll die of happiness the second we tell her we want to do it so soon.”
Patrice laughed, nodding his head. “What do you say?” he asked her, his brown eyes big and hopeful as he looked down at her. “You’ll marry me?”
“I already said yes!” she laughed, dangling her left hand in front of his face. He stared at the ring he’d put there and smiled. The intense look in his eye told her he was serious. She breathed in heavily. “This summer,” she agreed, not being able to stop the tears as she let him catch her lips in a kiss. “I love you,” she told him as she pulled away, again left breathless.
She felt a hand on her arm as the clock ticked down from thirty seconds, but she couldn’t register anything besides the movement on the ice. She was paralyzed with excitement.
She choked out a sob as the final buzzer sounded and flashes of white, gold, and black flooded the ice. All the air rushed out of her, leaving her breathless as tears spilled onto her cheeks. Her brown eyes caught the familiar number thirty seven jersey as he mobbed his teammates, jumping and screaming with excitement. A hand gripped onto her arm, pulling her away from the glass in the luxury box and out of the door. She moved blindly through the twisting hallways as her tears clouded her vision. She was thankful for the person, whose hand rested on her lower back, guiding her way.
The ice was slippery beneath her feet as she tried to glide as best she could. Her legs were shaky underneath her. She felt someone grab her from behind, lifting her into the air. When he put her down, David Krejci let out a primal scream before placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek, causing a giggle to rise out of her as she still felt tears slip down her cheeks. She wanted to grab every single guy and hug him as tight as she could, but there was only one man she needed to find. Her eyes scanned all around her until she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.
Guillaume Bergeron grinned down at her as he began to pull her with him. His lips were moving, but Amanda didn’t hear a word he said. She saw him point and she followed the direction of his finger until she saw his brother. She pulled away from Guillaume so fast; she wouldn’t be surprised if he fell from the force. With an already huge smile on his face, Patrice Bergeron’s smile only widened when he saw Amanda as she flew toward him. He caught her easily, her face burying into his scruffy neck as she held onto him as if her life depended on it.
His lips pressed against her head as she cried against him, and his own tears followed. He placed her back on her feet with a big kiss to her lips, the hair of his beard tickling her face as it had been for the past two months as it grew longer and longer.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she whispered frantically, making a deep laugh come from his mouth. “I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”
There were people who had questioned whether his playing career could continue after he had suffered a concussion that had left him out for an entire season. She knew he never doubted his ability or his will to come back, and that’s why the win was even sweeter.
And he couldn’t have imagined doing it with another team. The Bruins had always believed in him, too.
Two years together, and they finally had what they had been waiting for all their lives; Patrice as a player and Amanda as a fan. Not only that, but he had scored two goals, one of them the game winner while the other acted as insurance. Just as she started to calm down, she thought of her hometown. The city of Boston had been waiting for thirty nine years, and finally, the Boston Bruins were Stanley Cup Champions again. “Oh god,” she choked out, a fresh wave of sobs taking over.
Her knees went week, and she would have fallen had Patrice not caught her. He held her tightly as she cried, almost feeling foolish as she looked around her and noticed she was the only one who was in hysterics. Patrice just held her, his big and sweaty hand rubbing over her head as she leaned into him. The first Cup win in her lifetime, a lifetime of living for Bruins hockey, and she was experiencing it as more than a fan.
She was a member of the Bruins family, and Patrice knew the moment would hit her harder than it hit some of the players. He knew she’d be overwhelmed.
“I love you,” he told her, trying to catch his breath, it having all escaped him the second the game was over.
His brother and parents stood patiently beside them, huge smiles on their faces as they watched their son and his young fiancé embrace. When her son had proposed to the young girl just before the playoffs, Sylvie Bergeron had been ecstatic, immediately wanting to start planning things with the twenty two year old Boston girl who’d stolen her son’s heart, but she’d promised to stay away from the subject until the offseason. She silently wondered if showing Amanda all the wedding books and magazines she’d been gathering just the next morning would be too soon.
At the rate Amanda and Patrice’s relationship progressed, head over heals in love after just a few weeks together, everyone around them guessed they would have been married and with a child already, but once they had moved in together, just after a few months of dating, they were too happy and too in love to change anything. She guessed that was another way they broke the rules, surprising everyone when things stayed exactly the same. Amanda would be lying though, if she said she didn’t go to sleep every night and wake up every morning wondering what it would be like to be his wife. She didn’t know that he thought the same things, wondering what it would be like to be her husband and to give her his name.
Calming down again, she pushed away from Patrice and let his family move in. She backed up a few steps, biting her lip as more tears threatened to fall. His face told her he was happy, as did his eyes, but they also said something else. She thought it might be relief.
As she watched the family she’d become a part of, she again felt arms wrap around her waist, spinning her around as she let out a giggle. Milan Lucic’s ecstatic face almost made her burst into tears again when she turned around in his arms to face him. “In your hometown, no less,” she barely whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.
As he put her down, her eyes landed on the grinning face of Tim Thomas, and she wiggled from Milan’s grasp after she had kissed his cheek. The goalie was all smiles and laughs as Amanda approached him, her arms stretched out wide as she grabbed him as tightly as she could despite the huge amount of padding on him. He hugged her just as tightly, his deep laugh ringing in her ears and making her whole body vibrate. “You deserve this more than anyone,” she told him. “But don’t tell Patrice I said that.”
“Another secret that is safe with me,” he told her as he winked and rested his hands on her shoulders. The thirty seven year old had become nothing short of a father figure to her in the two years she’d known him, and Amanda found herself eternally grateful for his advice, his love, and his shoulder to lean on. She smiled up at him, tears brimming in her eyes again. He shook his head with a smile as they spilled over, bringing his thumbs to her cheeks and wiping away the moisture. “Don’t cry, Amanda,” he insisted, hugging her again. Before she could say something, he spoke again, “Patrice is looking for you.”
She turned and caught his gaze, watching as his face broke into another grin and his eyes lit up. Hers did the same, and without another second of hesitation, she ran to him, wanting nothing more than to be in his arms. Silently, they smiled at each other. He was so happy and he looked so gorgeous with his smile spread from ear to ear, it knocked the breath out of her.
---
Amanda had been nearly dead on her feet by the time the team and their family and friends had loaded onto the plane. Despite her excitement for going back to Boston where the team could properly celebrate with the fans, she had passed out the second she was belted into her seat. At eight in the morning and back in Boston, Amanda had a second wind of energy. At Patrice’s request, she tagged along with a few other girlfriends and wives as the team took the Cup around Boston, wanting nothing more than to celebrate with the fans who had given the team their undying love and support, especially through recent disappointing seasons.
Boston was a sports town. The city felt the same way—alive with energy and excitement; just like it had when the Red Sox had won in 2004. The feeling was almost enough to send her into hysterics again, but Amanda kept herself composed as they hopped from place to place, the fans increasing in number and the cheers increasing in volume. She stood a few steps behind him everywhere they went, his impossibly sexy smile never leaving his clean shaven face.
As much fun as the couple had been having in just under twenty four hours, the silence in her and Patrice’s home was a welcome change as they lay in bed later that evening. On their sides and facing each other, they simply stared into each other’s eyes silently. Every so often one would laugh, making the other do it too. Finally, Patrice pressed his lips to Amanda’s and pulled her as far into his chest as he could. “It wouldn’t have meant anything without you,” he said quietly, his accent thick from the tiredness he felt. When her eyes glossed over with moisture, he gave her a stern look, earning a giggle from her.
“I know, I know,” she laughed. “No more tears.”
“Thank you,” he laughed, pressing his forehead against hers. A moment later, he sighed and ran a hand over his face.
“Has it sunk in yet?” she asked, her feet sweeping up and down his calf as they lay tangled together.
“It’s starting to,” he admitted, almost breathlessly. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted since I was a kid.”
“It’s the Stanley Cup,” she agreed, nodding her head. “I know you’re worked so hard to get it.”
“Not just the Cup,” he interrupted. “All of this. Winning it, being with this team, having you to celebrate it with, it’s just…” He searched for the right word to say. Amanda grinned as she watched him thinking. “Perfect,” he said, settling. “It’s all so perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” she laughed, pressing a kiss to the base of his neck. “I can’t wait to marry you,” she admitted, nuzzling into him.
“This summer,” he said as his fingers played with the large diamond ring on her left hand, making her eyes widen and her breath to catch in her throat.
“What?” she breathed out. “What about this summer?”
“I want to marry you this summer, Manda,” he mumbled out, using his nickname for her and getting more tired by the second. “We know we want something small, and if we let my mom help us, we can get it done. I know it.”
“She won’t be able to. She’ll die of happiness the second we tell her we want to do it so soon.”
Patrice laughed, nodding his head. “What do you say?” he asked her, his brown eyes big and hopeful as he looked down at her. “You’ll marry me?”
“I already said yes!” she laughed, dangling her left hand in front of his face. He stared at the ring he’d put there and smiled. The intense look in his eye told her he was serious. She breathed in heavily. “This summer,” she agreed, not being able to stop the tears as she let him catch her lips in a kiss. “I love you,” she told him as she pulled away, again left breathless.