Let Her Go

She laid in her bed watching him sleep peacefully, his chest rising and falling with every breath that he took. Slowly, she closed her eyes and opened them again, hoping that by some chance he’d be staring back at her.

“Can I help you?” He mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

She flashed him a toothy grin, before pulling the sheets up to hide it just seconds later. It always seemed to work, whenever she’d stare at him, he’d always get the hint and wake up, which always caused a grin to emerge on her face.

“We have to get going soon. We have a plane to catch.”

He stretched his arms across her small figure, letting out a long emitted growl in the process.

“Can’t we just stay here? I really don’t have to go.”

His deep brown eyes were opened now, conflicting with his paleish skin, and fuzzy eyebrows that sat unrulingly upon his forehead.

She smiled brushing the hair away from his forehead, running her fingers though his thick dark brown hair.

His grip on her grew tighter, not wanting to let her go from his grasp. His thumb circled around the exposed skin on her back, causing goose bumps to emerge from beneath.

“Reilly, you have a game to play you have to go,” she said tracing her thumb around his lips.

He pulled her as close as humanly possible, pressing a kiss to the top of her forehead, letting them linger than for a moment longer than they should have.

He let out a groan, throwing his head back against the fluffy white pillow that supported his head. The white sheet that covered their bodies, was now tangled between them, exposing his bare chest that was hidden beneath the fabric.

She wiggled away from his grasp, letting her feet to graze across the hardwood floor of her apartment. It had been nearly eight months since the blockbuster trade between the Dallas Stars and Boston, which sent Tyler Seguin along with a few others to Dallas in return for Loui Erikson and Reilly Smith. She had finished her final semester of college over the summer knowing that with Tyler gone, she’d need something to take her mind off of his departure. By the beginning of September she was already back to work for the Bruins and falling head over heels with their next big star. She had doubts about dating someone with the same name as her own, but during the course of their relationship, it grew simpler. To her that’s what their relationship was, simple. He was someone that she was able to turn to at the end of everyday, and he was always there to catch her when she fell.

“Hey babe, are you finished packing?”

Riley spun around on the heel of her foot, catching him glance at her from her bedroom doorframe.

“I just need to throw a couple pairs of underwear in my bag. Would you mind doing it for me?”

He smirked at her, “Yes dear.”

With the sarcasm dripping in his words, Riley let a laugh emit from the back of her throat.

“You know you could’ve flown with the team. I could’ve met you there,” Riley yelled, her voice echoing through the apartment.

Reilly poked his head through the doorframe yet again, sauntering over to where she was standing at her kitchen counter cooking them up breakfast before their four-hour flight.

“But, I wanted to spend time with you,” he mumbled into the crook of her neck. “Didn’t you want to spend time with the most handsome man for four hours straight on a confined airplane?”

She spun around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his.

“Justin Timerblake is gonna be on our flight?” She asked, the tone of her voice more excited than it should’ve been.

Reilly rolled his eyes, sending glares her way.

“I’m kidding,” she joked.

He quickly scooped her up in his arms, placing her bottom amongst the cold counter top. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and legs tightly against his bare waist. Despite the cold winter months, he still found it necessary to walk around her apartment without a shirt on.

They were quickly interrupted by Riley’s phone buzzing from the other side of the room. She hopped off the counter, clicking a few buttons on the touch screen to illuminate the unread text message that sat waiting.

I’m leaving my house now. Meet you at the airport. XX Em

She tapped back.

See you there.

“Shit,” she mumbled.

Reilly looked up from the breakfast that his girlfriend has just been preparing moments before, to find her scrambling to her bedroom grabbing their packed suitcases that sat on her unmade bed.

“What?” He asked obviously confused.

“I forgot we have to meet Emma at the airport. Get dressed we have to go.”

He quickly grabbed a shirt, and threw on a pair of sweatpants, helping her to lug the two heavy suitcases down the three flights of stairs.

Being the early morning during the rush hour of traffic they had no problem hailing a cab, loading their belongings into the trunk of the car.

“Logan Airport please.”