Status: One and Done

I'm Good

One/One

Nobody minded the travel; it was a part of the job. When you were a rookie it was exciting, every new city another to check off on your travel list. By your third year you knew which hotels had the best food, and who had the worst showers.

Some guys had a different girl for each city, someone you might only see once or twice a year but was always a guarantee if you needed it.

By your fifth year though, those girls either wanted something more or had found it elsewhere.

By your sixth year, if you were lucky, and he was lucky, you had someone at home, waiting. Maybe you longed for her when you were gone, and spoke every day, usually at night too unless there was a game. Regardless, she was home and it was where you wanted to be.

The life made faithfulness difficult if you let it and some guys let it. There were girls everywhere you went and it was up to you, and you alone, to decide which side of your conscience you were going to listen to.

Colorado has been a city where he had had a usual. She was petite, stacked, with waist length blonde hair and blue eyes. She was, he could admit, a walking cliche but she was limber, eager, and willing every time the Bruins rolled into town.

He had no intentions of going out with the team that night but Max Talbot had insisted. He had been traded only the month before from the Avs and he wanted to take the boys someplace different than their usual fare. He promised the first round of beer was on him and as they were seated, he saw her.

She had been a waitress when they met in during his second season and had still been a waitress at the same restaurant they first met every time after that. Since they hadn't gone there, he hadn't expected to see her. But there she was, heading towards their table with a smile. He shrank a little in his seat. Which was difficult since he was six foot two.

"Hi, I'm Katie and I'll be your waitress tonight." She smiled as she made eye contact around the table. Her gaze connected with his and her smile turned more seductive before she spoke again, her eyes never leaving his face. "Anything you need, just ask."

He grabbed his menu and studied it intently as she began to take their drink order. When it was his turn, her lips tilted into a sly smirk. "You look like a Newcastle kind of guy."

He smiled politely. "Just water for me."

Her eyes widened with surprise but she nodded before moving on to the next guy. When she returned a short time later with drinks, she had a second waitress in tow to help her but she made sure to deliver his water herself, leaning past him closely, her breasts rubbing against his arm. She gave him her sexiest smile and winked before finally getting out of his space.

She moved around the table to start taking their orders and ended with him. She touched his arm, letting her touch linger as he spoke. When she left to put in their order, Chris Kelly leaned over towards him.

"So she seems into you."

He frowned. "I know her," he admitted quietly.

"For a good time call?"

"Yeah; since my second year."

Chris nodded knowingly. "When did we play here last season?"

"January."

"And now it's April more than a year later. Life has changed a lot."

"No kidding."

"I guess you only talk to her when you're here."

"There never was a lot of talking."

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, there usually isn't."

He sighed as he spotted her a few tables away looking at him. She giggled with the other waitress. "Shit," he muttered. Chris smiled grimly and patted his shoulder.

He excused himself to use the bathroom a few minutes later when he saw Katie heading towards their table. He pulled his phone out, smiling at the lock screen of the picture of the two of them before putting in his password to send a text message.

Having dinner with the guys, wish I was with you. I love you.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket before using the facilities. It was her sister's last night in Boston and she wasn't going to answer him anytime soon. He knew her phone was put away in her purse and only coming out in case of emergency. He was alright with that. He just needed to send it to feel better.

When he opened the door to exit the bathroom, he stopped short at finding Katie leaning against the wall. She pushed off towards him. "You disappeared on me."

"No, just using the bathroom," he replied, stepping to his left.

"My shift is over at midnight. Come sit at the bar after your friends leave and wait for me," she purred as she sidled up against him.

"Can't. Big game tomorrow."

"That's never stopped you before." Her hand moved up his chest and he swallowed. She was a temptress but he knew he would stay true to Megan. "Where are you staying? I can make sure you get back before breakfast."

"Sorry but I can't."

She pouted, arms folded under her breasts, pushing them up, bottom lip stuck out. "It's been over a year since I've seen you though. I missed you." She moved towards him again, purposely rubbing against him as she invaded his space.

He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye, holding her away from him at arm's length. "I didn't."

She stepped back and glared at him. "Excuse me?"

"I'm good tonight; I've got somebody at home."

"Well she's probably an ugly ass whore," she spat out angrily. "I hope you both get herpes," she said before storming away.

For the rest of the meal, she glared at him, slamming his plate down when their meals arrived, picking it up harshly and getting steak sauce on his shirt when she cleared their plates later. She was overly flirtatious with some of the younger guys, looking for a reaction from him when she was.

He remained stoic and unmoved.

As they sorted out which two guys were paying (thankfully not him), he saw her whispering with one of the young forwards. He thought about warning him to keep his distance but why not let the kid have his fun.

He didn't care if she took someone else home.

Because he had the girl at home, in Boston, waiting, and he couldn't wait to get back to her.

They flew home following their afternoon win in Colorado and he couldn't wait to land back in Boston. It was ten at night when they landed thanks to the time difference and he drove straight home after quick goodbyes to the guys.

He turned his key in the lock and dropped his bags by the front door. He shed his suit jacket, laying it over the back of the couch and undid his tie as he made his way to the bedroom. He toed his shoes off just inside the door, the only light from the muted TV and began unbuttoning his shirt when the light on her bedside table came on.

"You know that's my favorite thing to do when you come home, Rask," she teased as she sat up.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I'm not. Please continue with the show."

He stopped and let his arms drop to his side. "No, I think I'll let you do it.”

"Are you very worn out from sitting on the bench tonight? That must be so very difficult," she said as she swung her legs off the bed and stood. She was wearing one of his shirts and it hit her at mid thigh. He was positive he’d find she only wore a pair of cotton panties underneath.

"It is a highly skilled thing to do, opening the bench door," he smirked.

"You played so good in Anaheim."

"LA sucked."

"I still thought you were terrific."

"I sucked."

"You did not." She reached him and slid her hands up his chest. He loved her touch, craved it even he realized as she unbuttoned his dress shirt. "You were great, just like you always are."

She pushed the shirt off his shoulders and he shrugged out of it, adding it to a pile of dry cleaning he'd need to take in tomorrow. "You're blinded by lust, Megan."

"Love, Tuukka. Not lust. I love you."

"Rakastan sinua." He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. "I love you,” he whispered against her hair as he held her.

"Now get out of those pants and in bed with me. It's lonely in that ginormous bed of yours with no one to sleep beside."

She kissed him again before retreating back under the covers of their bed. He let his pants pool at his feet and stepped out of them, pulling his socks off and leaving them in a pile before sliding into bed with Megan in just his boxer briefs. He rolled to his side and pulled her back into him. He put one arm around her waist and she wrapped her hand around his and squeezed.

"Did you think when you met me in February last year, on valentine's day no less, that we'd ever be here?"

He chuckled at the memory. "No; you broke my heart that night when you shot me down after you let me buy you a drink and talk to you for over an hour."

"I did not break your heart. Probably bruised your ego though."

"It needed bruising," he said, pushing her hair to the side to kiss the soft side of her neck. "When I saw you at the grocery store a week later, that was fate."

"You were so damn cute though squeezing tomatoes and picking out the shiniest apples."

"If I had known you were watching me..."

"What? You wouldn't have eaten that banana?" He tickled her side and she giggled. "Did you think we'd end up here?" She asked again.

"Yes," he answered confidently. "I knew I was going to fall in love with you the minute I saw you. You've got me."

"And you've got me," she answered, turning over to look at him.

"And we've got this little girl too," he smiled, touching her stomach.

Sometimes he still couldn't believe Megan was five months pregnant and that he was going to be a dad. It hadn't been the plan, not when they had always been safe, but it happened and he had been happy when she told him, more so than he thought he would have been. Megan had been scared to tell him, afraid he would think it was a trap and leave but it had strengthened their relationship and she had moved in just before the end of February.

"You're my somebodies at home and that gets me through the long nights everywhere but here," he told her honestly. "I mean that."

"I believe you, Tuukka."

"There was this girl in Colorado..." He paused and Megan took his hand and squeezed. "There was this girl, I met her my second season on a trip there. I'd hook up with her every season after that when we came to town. The last time I saw her was last January, before I met you. I didn't plan to see her this time but she was our waitress when we went to dinner. She waited for me outside the bathroom. I told her no but I still felt guilty.”

"Why? It's your past, and you know I trust you."

"I know. I guess I'm just really glad that we're making this work, and that we're together."

"Me too," she smiled. "You could have anyone."

He kissed her and held her close to him. "I don't want anyone; just you. Now sleep; you need the rest."

"Says the goalie who just came back from a ten day road trip." She kissed his cheek and rolled over, letting Tuukka lay behind her and wrap his arm around her, pulling her back against him again. “I expect a full spread at breakfast,” she murmured.

He kissed her hair. “Anything you want,” he promised.

I've got somebody at home, he thought to himself as he heard Megan's breathing even out. There wasn't anything better than that.

Well, except maybe winning the Stanley Cup again.

FIN