Next

I woke up the next morning to a phone blaring. Once I finally realized where I was I snuggled in closer to Tyler and groaned. “Why is it so loud,” I whined, closing my eyes tightly.

“For exactly this reason,” Tyler muttered, dragging himself out of bed and walking around until he found his phone on the ground.

I quickly rolled over into the warm spot he had left and snuggled back down into the blankets. “I’m just going to become a hermit and never leave this bed. Have a good practice.”

“I don’t think so missy,” he replied, coming over and straddling himself on top of me. “If I’m waking up for an optional practice you’re going to be right there with me.”

I opened one eye and looked up at him. When I noticed him looking back I quickly shut it. “Nope. I’m sleeping. Can’t you tell?” I responded, fighting a smile.

“Up, up, up,” he said, leaning down to kiss my forehead. “I’m going to make coffee. I expect you in the kitchen in ten minutes.”

He got up and headed to the kitchen while I took a minute to force myself to wake up. I slowly made myself look half presentable before heading to the kitchen. I climbed up onto the stool that had a mug of coffee placed in front of it.

“What time do we have to head out?” I asked before taking a sip.

“Half hour. Are you good with toast? I don’t really have enough time to make anything,” he said, looking nervous.

“Oh, God,” I said, shaking my head. “You don’t have to make me anything. I feel like shit. Way too much wine,” I continued, laughing. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll eat after.”

“I can’t bring you home without eating, Riley. That’s not polite,” Tyler responded, frowning.

“Tyler,” I said, trying to look at him sternly. “Stop. It’s not a big deal. You don’t need to impress me anymore with your knight and shining armour routine. It worked,” I paused to smile at him. “You have successfully ‘woo-ed’ me. I’m interested. Now feed yourself and get ready so I can watch you do what you love.”

“Okay,” he responded, looking at me skeptically. “But are you absolutely sure?”

I rolled my eyes before going over to stand in front of him. “Listen,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I am 100% perfectly great. I’ll drink my coffee and you’ll get ready.”

He stared at me with narrow eyes for a few seconds before finally leaning down to kiss me. “Fine,” he said, smiling. “But I hope you were serious about being ‘woo-ed’ because I was on my game yesterday so it’s all downhill from here.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” I replied, going back to my coffee. “I’ve met your friends so if all else fails I can just date one of them.”

“Not gonna happen,” Tyler said, winking at me.

I watched him as he went about getting ready, taking in his routine as I drank my coffee. Once I finished off the mug, I went into the room to get dressed.

“Throw this on,” Tyler said, pulling something out of his closet. “It’s gonna be too cold for the sweater you have.”

I pulled it over my head and noticed it was a Bruins hoodie. “I’ll fit right in!” I said, laughing.

“Well you probably won’t be an enthusiastic as them but you’ll look the part.”

“Don’t count on that,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “I’m just as much a fan girl as any of the other ones. Plus, now I’m invested in you so keep your ears peeled for life changing pointers,” I finished with a wink.

“We’ll see about that,” he replied with a smirk. “That tip you gave me before was probably just a fluke.”

“Still can’t accept the fact that a girl can help you improve, eh? Well, Mr. Seguin. One day you will be sufficiently impressed with my hockey knowledge, just as I was impressed with your 4 phase plan yesterday.”

“Deal. I’m off on Thursday and don’t have skate until Friday afternoon. We’re watching a game together and I’m going to judge your analysis of plays.”

“Now THAT is my idea of a date night,” I said enthusiastically. “Now, we have to go or you’re going to be late. And I did not wake up this early for that.”

We got to the rink before any fans showed up so Tyler brought me out to find a place to sit. I decided on the same seat that I had sat in at the last two games and once Tyler headed back to the dressing room I settled in. I watched the fans come in with their posters and jerseys, hoping they were going to get to meet their favorite players. I smiled vaguely at all the Seguin jerseys around before I heard, “I really like your sweater.”

I turned to see a little girl standing next to my seat. She couldn’t have been more than 6 years old. I noticed the ‘19’ on her sleeve. “Thank you, sweetie! I love your jersey!”

“Thank you,” she responded with a shy smile. “My momma said if I was good I can sit down here real close.”

“She did? Well, you can sit right here next to me if you want, honey!”

“Okay!” she exclaimed, climbing up into the chair and grinning at me.

“Hannah, don’t bother that lady,” I heard, looking up to see who I assumed to be the little girl’s mother.

“Oh it’s no problem!” I said to her, beaming. “Hannah and I were just bonding over our love for Seguin, weren’t we?” I continued, smiling down at the little girl.

“Yes, momma. She has Seguin on her shirt too!”

“She’s fine,” I told her mom. “If you want to go take some time I’ll be here the whole practice anyway!”

“I’ll just go sit up a few rows,” her mom responded. “If she’s any trouble at all, I’ll be right there, okay?”

I nodded as the noise around suddenly grew a little louder. I glanced out on the ice to see the boys skating on. Hannah immediately stood up and started grinning, her face just barely touching the glass. “There he is! There’s Seguin!” she exclaimed, bouncing a little. She turned to face me. “He’s my favorite player in the whole wide world. I watch him on TV all the time! I have never seen him in person before though. This is very cool!”

I started laughing a little at the sheer energy she was giving off. “You never know! Maybe he’ll skate over and say hi,” I said with a wink.

“That would be very exciting. I would tell all my friends at school. Momma said I probably won’t get to meet him but I will someday. He’s just my favorite! Can I sit up in your lap so I can see better, please?”

I picked her up and placed her on my lap, smiling a little as I thought about how perfectly innocent little kids could be. Hannah didn’t care that she didn’t so much as know my name. She just saw a common name on a shirt and decided we were best friends. As the boys started skating laps around the ice I noticed Tyler glance in my direction. I crossed my fingers that he’d show some reaction to the little girl in his jersey sitting with me. Sure enough, as he skated past he shot Hannah a little wink and a smile. She turned to me, wide-eyed and mouth gaping.

“Did. You. See. That?” she asked quietly.

“I sure did! I just knew he’d notice an adorable girl like you.”

Hannah jumped down off my lap and ran up to her mom. I could hear her excitement as she explained that Tyler had winked at her. A few minutes later she was crawling back up into my lap. By the end of the practice she was settled in, leaning back into me with a content smile on her face.
Once the boys filed off the ice her mom came down.

“Alright sweetie, it’s time to go! Thank you so much for watching her. She really has no shame at all. The innocence of kids right?” she said to me, laughing a little.

“Oh, it was fine! She’s great! I was actually going to suggest maybe you stick around for a bit. I may have a little surprise for her,” I finished quietly, trying to prevent Hannah from hearing me.

“What do you mean?” she responded, whispering a little, clearly trying to avoid getting her daughter’s hopes up.

“Um, I know him. Tyler, I mean. If she stick around I’m sure he’ll be happy to get a picture or something.”

Hannah’s mom’s eyes widened at that and she glanced at Hannah. “Oh. Yeah, we can hang around for a few more minutes. I mean, that would be the highlight of her year. Are you sure about that?”

“Of course! Everyone else has cleared out to the parking lot anyway. He won’t be swamped. He’ll love to meet her.”

“Momma, do we have to go?” Hannah piped up from behind me.

“We’re going to hang around for a little bit,” her mom replied. “Don’t you want to watch the Zamboni?”

“YES!” Hannah cried, throwing her hands in the air. “You NEVER let me watch the Zamboni.”

A few minutes later I heard, “Riley! You ready?”

I turned and shot Tyler a smile as he noticed Hannah next to be. I breathed a sigh of relief when his face broke out into a grin. “Well hello, cutie! What’s your name?”

I saw Hannah mouth drop and her eyes widen. “You’re Tyler Seguin.”

“Really?! Oh man! That’s so cool! I love your jersey!”

“Thank you! My name is Hannah and I’m your biggest fan. You might think she is,” she said, pointing at me, “but really it’s me. I watch you on TV all the time!”

He laughed and glanced at me. I made a face like I was offended and held my hand over my heart.

“You might be right,” he loud-whispered to Hannah. “You definitely seem like my number one fan. Riley’s pretty cool though, isn’t she?”

“She’s super cool! She let me sit with her the whole time! She didn’t even get mad when you winked at me.”

He burst out laughing at that and looked up at Hannah’s mom. “Would you mind if I signed her jersey?”

She pulled out a marker out of her purse and handed it to him. “Not at all!” she said excitedly. “Would you mind taking a picture with her? She really does adore you.”

“Absolutely!” Tyler exclaimed, signing his name with a flourish. He picked her up once he was done and smiled as her mom snapped a few pictures.

“Riley, do you want to be in one?” her mom asked kindly. “This wouldn’t have happened without you.”

“Yeah, Riley! Come on! It’s TYLER SEGUIN,” Hannah exclaimed. I laughed as I moved in on the other side of Tyler. After a few more pictures Tyler put Hannah down but kept his arm around me.

“It was awesome to meet you Hannah!” he said cheerfully. “But me and Riley have to head out now!”

“Okay!” Hannah said cheerfully. “Thank you for signing my jersey. You’re my favorite.”

He smiled and mussed up her hair then we turned to head out. “Riley!” I heard from behind me. I turned just in time to catch Hannah as she barreled into my legs. “Thank you so, so much,” she said, grinning up at me.

“Not a problem, honey,” I responded. “I told you he was pretty great.”

We parted ways and once we got out of earshot Tyler grinned down at me. “She was fucking adorable.”

I laughed a little and looked up at him. “Thank you for meeting her. I was so scared you were gonna be mad about me just forcing you to do it. She just got so excited when she saw you in the beginning and Tyler, it was so cute. She adores you.”

“I’m not mad!” he responded, nudging me a little. “I love meeting fans. I was a little confused anyway when I saw a little kid even sitting with you. I was wondering if you had more about your past to tell me,” he continued with a wink.

“Definitely not,” I said, laughing a little. “No kids in my life other than my brother and sister. She just liked me because I was wearing number 19. She didn’t feel threatened because I said she could have you, seeing as I really wanted 63.” I walked a little ways away from him before turning to see him looking overly offended. I walked back to him and, leaning up on my tip-toes, gave him a quick kiss.

“Well, you didn’t want me to upset a 6 year old did you? I was probably lying.”

He laughed and shook his head, then leaned down and kissed me more intensely. “You better be lying, woman,” he said, walking away to make his way to his truck.

I shook my head as I watched him walk away. “Well, fuck,” I whispered to myself. “Tyler Seguin, you’re gonna ruin me.”