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He pulled up in front of my residence and put the truck in park. “I really liked hanging out with you,” he said, grinning at me sheepishly.

“I had fun too! And for god’s sake stop acting shy now,” I replied, fighting a smile and rolling my eyes.

Tyler laughed as he leaned his head back into his headrest. “I’m actually legitimately nervous,” he said, glancing at me. “You said the plan actually worked but I’m still worried that when you get out of this truck you’re going to like, never respond to my texts again.”

“Stop,” I said quietly, grabbing his hand. “Trust me – it worked. I’m already looking forward to
Thursday.”

“Yeah?” he asked turning to look at me again.

“Absolutely,” I said, nodding. “It’s gonna be my turn to woo you with my unreal amount of knowledge.”

Tyler looked at me seriously. “You don’t need to put any work into woo-ing me, Riley. Trust me. I’m already into you.”

I blushed and looked away. “You know, I’m actually starting to believe that,” I said quietly. “The fact that you’re still around after what I told you means a lot. You know that right?”

“I know,” he responded, squeezing my hand. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, smiling. “And I’ll see you on Thursday. Good luck in your games this week!”

“Do you want tickets?”

“No, not this week. Exams are coming up and considering Thursday’s going to be a write off I should probably study.”

“Yes! Okay. Study hard, got it. Can’t have your marks dropping, missy,” he said, winking.

I laughed and shook my head. “Oh my god. I’ll talk to you later.” He pulled me in and kissed me deeply.

“Yes you will,” he said when we broke apart. “Have a wonderful day, Riley Garrison.”

When I got back to my room, I immediately texted Addy and Ellie. “My room. I need to chat.”

Less than 5 minutes later I heard a knock on my door. “It’s open!” I called from my bed.

They came in, almost cautiously and started to frown when they saw me in bed. “Oh my God, what happened?” Addy asked urgently.

“No, nothing. I’m just really tired. Also, I’m fucked. I’m so far gone on him guys. I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

I saw Addy smirk a little before catching and stopping herself. “First thing’s first okay – you immediately said that like it was a bad thing. It isn’t. It is NOT a bad thing. It’s okay to let yourself fall
for him,” she said, sitting down next to me on the bed.

“He’s – perfect,” I muttered, shaking my head. “That’s why this is a bad thing. I told him everything – EVERYTHING Addy. And all he did was take me home and watch a movie. I expected him to run away
kicking and screaming. I think I WANTED him to run away. Jesus. It would have been easier.”

“Easier than what?” Ellie chimed in quietly. “Easier than actually putting effort into a relationship? He seems like a really good guy, Riley. You deserve that. And I know, I understand that you don’t THINK you deserve that, but you do. And if it’s going to happen, you have to stop fighting it and just let it happen.”

“I’m scared,” I said, quiet enough that they didn’t hear me.

“Hm?” Addy said, nudging me.

“I said I’m scared,” I repeated, finally meeting their eyes. “He doesn’t hate my past. He knows my past and he’s okay with it. If something happens now I can’t just blame it on having a fucked up childhood. If something happens it’s all on ME. If he ends it it’s because there’s something wrong with me.”

“Stop,” Addy said quietly, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me into her. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Listen to me,” she continued, staring at me until I looked back. “You’re my best friend, Riley. And I love you to death. I want you to be happy. After everything, you deserve to be happy. You know I love you and I want the best for you so listen to me. I honestly, truly believe that he will be good for you. I saw the way he looked at you at the bar and at the game. He’s wanted YOU from the beginning. You. Riley Garrison. You told him everything that was crucial about you and he STILL wants you. He’s in this. He’s made that commitment, got it? I honestly believe that in your heart, you’ve made the commitment to stick with it too, just to see what will happen. Your head is getting in the way. Put your head aside, okay? Ignore it. Don’t overthink it.”

“He’s just so… Good,” I said, smiling a little and shaking my head. “He’s so sweet. He put so much effort into yesterday. He introduced me to the team again, and all the wives and girlfriends. It felt important. He’s an amazing guy and he deserves the world. What if I can’t give him that? If I can’t give him what he needs it’ll all be pointless.”

“You don’t know what he wants! How do you know you can’t give him that. Hell, HE might not even know what he wants or needs,” Ellie cut in. “That’s how a lot of relationships start, Riley. And you know we want to help you with this because you don’t know. You’ve never dealt with a healthy relationship. So let me tell you. You have to get to know each other. Respect each other. Figure out what you want while he figures out what he wants. But don’t expect it to be perfect, got it? Even if it’s going to last there are times it’s going to suck.”

“I already KNOW what I want Ellie! I want him! I liked the people he introduced me to. I loved spending time with him and hearing him talk about playing in the NHL. I loved having his attention and having him WANT to know about my family. Telling him sucked and it was scary but I did it! That’s more than I even gave to Scott! I loved being at his practice and watching him and being able to think, ‘holy shit I get to leave here with him after this’. And I absolutely loved seeing him interact with his fans after his practice and being in the picture next to him like I belonged there. Not one time did I love spending any time with Scott. I’ve never had a guy that I actually wanted to spend time with.”
“Well, there you go,” Addy said, finally letting herself smile. “You’ve made your decision, alright. Right there. You’re going to stick with it. Go with your gut and let yourself like him. Don’t overthink it. Actually, we won’t give you time to overthink it. Get in the shower. We’re going to go study.”

“Fine,” I groaned, climbing out of bed. “I’ll meet you at the library.”

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly, between classes and studying for finals. Before I knew it, it was Thursday and Tyler was parked outside of my residence. “Hi!” I said cheerfully as I was climbing into the truck.

He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “Hey. You eat?”

“Nope. Didn’t have time. Just finished class.”

“What do you want?”

“Honestly? Anything,” I said, laughing. “I’m not picky on the worst of days and right now, I’m starving.”

“Chinese it is,” he replied, nodding with a grin. “I figured we’d just pick something up and bring it back to my place.”

“Sounds perfect!”

Once we pulled out of campus he grabbed my hand and pulled it over onto the armrest. “Missed you think week,” he said, glancing over at me.

“You too,” I replied, frowning at him. “Sorry about the game last night. You all played really hard.”

“Yeah. You win some you lose some, eh? I was gonna call but I figured you would’ve been in bed.”

“I was! But you could’ve still called! Don’t worry about that stuff. If you want to talk, I’ll answer.”

“I’ll file that away for the future,” he said, smiling at me. “But it’s probably good I didn’t. All I wanted
was to see you and you had class today. I didn’t want to keep you up.”

“Well I’m here now,” I replied with a grin. “I’m all yours for the night.”

“What time do you have class tomorrow?”

“Not until 11. My earlier one is cancelled.”

“Perfect. You wanna just stay and I’ll drive you back in the morning?”

“I was hoping you’d ask that. I like your bed.”

Tyler smirked a little before saying, “And here I thought you just liked me.”

“Meh. You’re alright,” I responded, squeezing his hand.

When we walked into his apartment, Marshall came bounding towards the door. I stepped in front of Tyler to field most of the blow. “Jesus Riley. He could crush you!” Tyler exclaimed.

“Oh, stop. He’s not that big. Also, I’m being selfish because if he had made you drop that food I probably would’ve cried.”

I heard someone start laughing from behind me and turned to see Freddy. “I really like you,” he said, pulling Marshall away. “A girl who would rather be attacked by a dog than ruin her Chinese food? Yeah Tyler. She’s a keeper.” I made my way into the kitchen as he grabbed his keys off the counter.

“I’m headed out. Spending the night elsewhere,” he continued, smiling at me. “Have a good night!”

“You know you don’t have to leave every time I’m here,” I said, frowning a little. “I don’t want to put you out.”

“It’s okay! He can leave!” I heard Tyler call out from the living room.

Freddy laughed then shook his head at me. “It’s fine. You guys are still in that gross newly dating couple stage anyway. If I’m going to put up with you I need to get myself my own girlfriend.” He winked at me then headed towards the door. “But yeah. Apartment to yourself. Have a fantastic night,” he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and headed to the fridge. “You want something to drink?” I called out to Tyler.

“Not yet,” I heard from right behind me, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

“Jesus Tyler,” I said, turning around and swatting at him. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” he replied, slowly crowding towards me and pushing me up against the fridge door.

“Well hello,” I said, smirking up at him.

“Did I mention that I missed you this week?” he said quietly, frowning down at me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and forced myself to hold a serious face. “Well, you told me but you never really showed me how much you missed me…”

I trailed off as he leaned down to finally kiss me. We made out against the fridge for a while and as he started kissing his way down my neck we were interrupted by my stomach growling extremely loudly.

Tyler pulled away and looked at me in shock as I fought back a laugh. “I’m so sorry,” I said, starting to giggle. “I told you I was hungry.”

“And you weren’t kidding apparently. Jesus, go start eating before you waste away to nothing before my eyes. You want a beer?”

“Yeah sure.”

He pulled out two and gestured towards the living room. “Let’s go, babe. Get some food in you so you
actually make it through the game.”

We settled onto the floor and started eating. I devoured my food in record time, Tyler laughing at me the whole time. “Did you even eat today?” he asked, starting to sound concerned.

“I didn’t have time, honestly,” I said between bites. “I had an apple somewhere around lunchtime I think.”

“You gotta eat, Riley,” Tyler responded, officially looking very concerned. “That’s not healthy.”

“Oh trust me – it’s rare for me to do that. The last couple of weeks before finals are always so insane though. Most of the time you don’t even feel like eating, you’re so stressed.”

“Should you be studying now? I hope I’m not interfering with your school work.”

“Nah it’s fine! I needed a break anyway. What better way to take a break than spend a night with you,” I finished with a smile before taking my last bite. I climbed up onto the couch and laid back, laying my hands over my stomach. “And right now, I am completely full and very happy to be here.”

“Good,” he said, sitting on the couch and putting my feet in his lap. “Because the game is coming on and I am so excited to hear you from this side of it.”

I grinned up at the ceiling, refusing to look at him. “Which one are we watching?”

“Pens/Rangers,” he replied. “I’m being a little selfish. We’re playing the Pens next week and I’m considering this studying.”

“Well duh,” I said, finally looking over at him. “You don’t have to tell me who you’re playing, you know. I keep up.”

He smiled at me and started tickling my foot. “Just testing you,” he teased as I started giggling.

“Stop!” I whined, moving to shove my feet under his thigh. I took a few sips out of my beer while we stared at each other with stupid grins on our faces. “You’re such a dork,” I muttered, trying to make myself stop smiling (and failing).

As I said that the players started coming out and getting ready for the national anthem. I quickly sat up to sit cross legged and I felt my face instantly become serious. “Holy shit. You’re one of those intense hockey fans aren’t you?” Tyler said, staring at me.

“Damn right,” I said, cracking a smile. “That and I’m trying to catch a glimpse of Lundqvist.”

“SERIOUSLY? That guy is flawless! I can’t compete with that!”

I laughed and leaned over to give him a kiss. “You don’t have to compete, babe. You just have to let me stare at him obnoxiously. I don’t want ‘flawless’. I want you.”

Tyler slowly broke out into a grin, grabbed my hand and pulled me over into him. “Good,” he said softly, giving me a kiss on the forehead. “I want you too, Riley Garrison.”