Love So Sweet

In late November, with the Oilers gone on a three game road trip, Danni headed home to Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She caught up with Claude and Sean while she was there and they invited her to their game against the Rangers game Friday night. They set her up with tickets with Danny’s three boys, who attended as many games as they could despite their father no longer being a Flyer.

She felt right at home cheering on her team, even after a season and a half of cheering for the Oilers. She kept one ear bud plugged in to listen to the Oilers as they played in St. Louis, because she always listened to or watched Ryan play when they were on the road. It was only slightly embarrassing when she jumped up with a screech when Ryan scored a goal and the Flyers were in the midst of taking a penalty.

She went out with the guys after the game, but spent most of the night talking to Sean unless Wayne made her dance with him. With Scott Hartnell traded to Columbus (making now three straight off seasons her team had broken her heart via trade or buyout), Wayne Simmonds had easily became her new favorite Flyer. When she got home that night, she sent Ryan a text to let him know she was home and that she'd see him Saturday afternoon.

Ryan had missed Danni during his road trip but was glad she was getting time at home with her family. She texted him throughout her trip, teasing him, congratulating him on a couple goals he scored, and told him before she went out with Claude and the others. He chuckled at her Instagram, usually filled with funny snaps of her and his teammates, but now updated with several shots of her goofing off with a few of the Flyers too.

"When does Danni come home?" Justin asked as he fell into the seat beside Ryan on the plane back to Edmonton.

"Tomorrow afternoon. She went out with Claude and Sean tonight."

"You okay with that?"

He shrugged. "Why shouldn't I be? I know she's with me and they're her friends."

"I know. I was just asking."

"I'm not sure about..." He frowned and let his statement drop.

"Benny?" Justin asked, barely above a whisper. Ryan nodded. "He knows you two are together."

"I know but when he met her, I know he hit on her. And he's really friendly to her." Benoit was smooth, and Ryan was not. He was also older than Ryan, and he worried that maybe Danni preferred that. He was the youngest in their group and everyone teased him for it.

"He's friendly with everyone; I think it's just how they do things in the French parts of Canada. Besides, it's like you just said; she's with you. Everyone knows that. So maybe when he first saw her he thought she was pretty but he knows that's your girlfriend and there's nothing for you to worry about now."



The following afternoon, Ryan parked his truck at the airport, grabbed the flowers from the seat beside him, and headed inside the airport for the baggage claim. He knew Danni was expecting one of her co-workers, Roni, who was an art teacher at her school, to pick her up since that was the arrangement they made when she had dropped her off at the airport. Roni was Taylor's girlfriend and he had gotten her number off of him to change plans so he could surprise Danni and pick her up instead.

Checking the arrivals board, he saw that her plane was arriving right on schedule. He pulled his hat a little lower and made his way towards the baggage carousels, finding a quiet corner to watch for her.

After ten minutes, he noticed an uptick in the amount of people heading towards the baggage area and he scanned the crowd for her. When he finally spotted her, he smiled to himself and pushed off the wall to walk towards her.

Danni was texting on her phone, looking for Roni, trying to figure out where she was when she ran smack into another person. Immediately she began to apologize before looking up at Ryan's smiling face.

"Hi," he said.

"Ry! What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to surprise you." He held the flowers out to her and she took them before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

"You are the best surprise a girl could ask for."

"That's good because I was worried I might lose you to Simmonds but maybe I already have," he teased her, tapping the black hat on her head with an orange 17 on the side.

"Wayne is the best. I should've started being friends with him sooner. He's so nice. I don't know if I've ever met anyone nicer who plays the game the way he does."

Ryan chuckled. "So you had a good time then?"

"I did but I missed you like crazy."

"I missed you like crazy too; I always do when we go on the road."

"Is that why you call me so much?"

"I do not call you that much. Once a day. You're the one who breaks and calls twice sometimes."

"Because I can't ever get enough of you. And I'm always trying to get you to FaceTime with me so we can have phone sex again."

Ryan blushed at the memory. The season before, they had been gone two weeks and Danni had facetimed him wearing nothing but a bra and panties. She had smiled innocently and had Ryan out of his own clothes in less than two minutes and with far less convincing than she had ever imagined.

He had thankfully remembered to lock his door but did not anticipate Justin getting a key from the front desk and letting himself into the room. He had shouted Ryan's name as he entered and then threw his hands over his eyes and turned away, cursing wildly as he slammed the door behind him on his way out.

Danni had broken down in tears as she laughed and Ryan told her over and over that it wasn’t funny, all while she insisted that it was hysterical. He had sworn that he would never do that again and Danni had been trying to entice him into giving it one more try ever since. So far he was winning but she was breaking him down little by little, even though he’d never tell her that.

“The guys want us to go out with them tonight,” Ryan told her to change the subject. Danni smirked and leaned in to kiss him.

“Do you want to go out with the guys?”

“No; I want to take you home and stay there until you have to leave for school on Monday but if I don’t bring you out, Justin will probably just show up anyway.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“He really needs to fix things with Jessie.”

“I called her; while I was in Philly.”

“And?” Ryan asked, steering her towards the luggage that was making it’s way out onto the conveyor belt.

“She misses him. They’re both just stubborn. Neither of them want to admit they were wrong. They just need to talk.”

“Can’t you make Schultzy do that? Don’t you have some sort of persuasive power over him?" He spotted her luggage and grabbed for it, taking Danni’s hand and leading them towards his truck.

“I could try,” she answered, “but I had a better idea.”

“What’s that?”

“I invited Jessie out to visit. I told her she could stay with us.”

He opened her door when they reached the truck and she climbed into the cab. She slid right over to the center as Ryan put her suitcase in the back and walked around to get in. He started the truck, Danni close at his side, before he started the conversation again.

“You invited her to Edmonton?”

“Yep.”

“And she’s coming?”

“Don’t know yet. I hope so. I’m just gonna bug her every day until she says yes so I’m pretty sure I’ll have her here by the end of the week.”

Ryan chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “That sounds like a great plan.”

“I know, right? So what time are we meeting the guys?”

“Nineish.”

“It’s only three now. So how about we go home and get reacquainted for the next hour or so?”

“An even greater plan,” Ryan smiled.