Bombshell

It took no time at all for us to fall back into our couple routine. We were immediately back to alternating whose apartment we slept at and going on dates to our favorite places and spending down time at home watching our favorite movies. We were a pretty boring pair but I loved it. Beau would go do his training and hand rehab while I was at work and then when we were both back at home, we'd have dinner and cuddle up on the couch. I thought I'd missed it while we were broken up, but it wasn't until we got back together that I truly realized how much life sucked without it.

He told his family while I was in the shower one Saturday night and when I got out and got back to the bedroom to put on my pajamas, I had texts from all three of his siblings and a voicemail from his mom, all expressing how excited they were. My sister was equally, if not more, excited to hear the news but I'd never even told my parents we broke up so I didn't have to bother telling them we were together again. Beau didn't tell any of his teammates at first however.

We spent those first few weeks together, just the two of us, but then the team started arriving back in Pittsburgh for camp, which obviously included Bortz, and our personal little bubble was no more. Since they were roommates, it was inevitable that Bortz would find out anyway so we kept our routine as usual and the first night I showed up at their place, he looked up at me like a deer caught in headlights. I just went over to throw my arms around him while Beau laughed at his reaction and then the three of us ordered a pizza and settled in to watch The third Hangover movie, just like the old days.

The Friday before their first pre-season game, Beau left for practice while I begrudgingly climbed out of his bed and pulled on my jeans before grabbing the rest of my belongings and leaving to head over to my apartment to get ready. I took a quick shower and dried my hair then and got dressed for our lunch date. By the time I'd finished, I still had about an hour before I was supposed to meet him at the restaurant but he'd texted me while I was busy, saying I should meet him at the rink instead. We'd talked about when or if he was going to tell his teammates we were back together so I assumed he thought it was a good time to do that.

I got in my car and made the drive over to the rink and once I'd parked, I texted him that I was in the parking lot. He didn't respond so after a few minutes, I got out and went inside, saying hi to all the organization employees I passed on my way down, but they just looked at me in surprise, obviously because I hadn't been around for awhile. The locker rooms were completely silent from the outside and when I peeked inside the door, they were empty so that meant they were all still out on the ice. I checked my phone for the time; practice should have been way over by now, so I wasn't sure what they were still doing out there, but when I came out of the tunnel, I finally spotted them. They were all skating around and just goofing off, laughing loudly as they shot pucks at each other and rammed into each other playfully.

I was nervous to go out there and face them. Beau told me that he had come clean to them and set things straight so that everyone knew that the rumor about me cheating on him wasn't true. He didn't tell the whole team the true reason, but he made sure they all knew what they'd heard was false. Then he took it a step further and told the whole truth to that smaller group of people who knew about the challenge in the first place. He said they chirped him a little bit but he'd come away from the whole thing feeling a lot better that the truth was out there. Still, he didn't tell them we were back together so the thought of being face to face with them again was a little scary, even if they were my friends before. I didn't know what their reactions would be, but I thought it would be as good a time as any to find out.

It turned out to be hilarious. I stepped up from my hidden spot halfway into the tunnel and walked right up to where the door to the ice was standing open. Beau, who must've been keeping an eye out since he was expecting me, saw me first. He threw his hand up to wave at me from center ice, shouting "Hey, babe!" as loudly as he possibly could, and making all heads turn first toward him and then to me.

Sidney skated face first into the glass. Brandon lost his footing and fell on his ass. Geno let out what could only be described as a yelp and it was the most high-pitched one I'd ever heard from such a massive man. Duper and Marty, along with some of the others, erupted in cheers and whistles. Flower left his post in the crease, tossing his mask as he went, and raced over to where I was standing. He picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder despite my protests, and skated back out to the middle of the ice to spin me around. Beau was quick to my rescue, smacking him in the back of the head with his stick and scolding him until he put me down.

Of course when he put me down, I realized that I was in the middle of the ice in my less than safe wedges and still a little dizzy so I had to lean heavily on Beau for support until everything stopped spinning. As soon as I unclenched my fist from his practice jersey and carefully stood up straight on my own, Flower enveloped me in another hug, practically smothering me in all his gear and extra padding. I laughed as I hugged him back and once he let me go, the others were quick to follow, all expressing their happiness that we were back together. After Sidney, I glanced back at Beau to gauge his reaction but he was just standing off to the side a little, watching me with his chin propped on the end of his stick and a smile on his face.

"Thank God you're back," Marty said when he let me go. "Kid's a miserable asshole without you."

"Hey, fuck you," Beau retorted defensively.

I just laughed and pulled Beau closer to me, slipping my arm around his back as he did the same to me. "It's good to be back, Paulie."