Dolce Vita

“Sloane?” She turned at the sound of her name to find a petite brunette in a navy Predators jersey and jeans standing in front of her. When she nodded her head the brunette sat down beside her with a smile and introduced herself, “I'm Riley, Shea's girlfriend.”

“Hi.” Sloane had never been a shy person, quite the opposite actually, but there was something about the woman beside her that made her feel shy. Maybe it was the whole captains girlfriend thing.

“Roman mentioned you were coming by yourself and might want some company.” Riley told her, pulling her curly brown hair into a low bun. Sloane couldn't keep herself from smiling, which Riley noted and said, “Yeah he's pretty sweet that boy of yours.”

“Yeah he is.” Sloane stated, cracking pen her bottle of water to take a long drink. Since finding out she was pregnant she'd been making drastic improvements to her diet, including more water and less doritos. Roman barely left her alone anymore, they are every dinner together when he was in town, and nights were spent either at her place or his depending on Kim's schedule. It didn't bother her like she thought it would, in fact she welcomed the company.

The game started and both girls turned to face the ice. They stayed in relative silence, aside from commercial breaks which Riley made a comment about hating them, Sloane agreed. As the period wore on Sloane felt more and more comfortable ith where she was and who she was with, and she was so glad Roman had found someone to sit with her tonight. Kim refused to come to games anymore and Sloane refused to sit with the wives and girlfriends, she wasn't quite ready for that yet.

The buzzer went off and the guys disappeared down the tunnels as the period ended, Riley glanced at the girl next to her and made conversation, “So Roman said you were going out with them tonight.”

“Yeah we figured we should probably go out into the real world at some point. Although I'm a little nervous, I've never really met any of his teammates.” Sloane admitted, and when Riley chuckled her cheeks flushed.

“They're harmless really. Except maybe Rich and Pekka. Those two would be the ones you'd need to look out for.” Riley told her, laughing at a picture on the jumbotron of a kid in a fake Weber beard. She had seen a few of them over the last season and a bit and they never got boring to see. She turned to Sloane and told her, “Really they're all pretty great. Rich and Peks will just drive you crazy all night but don't worry I'll sit beside you.”

“You're going?” Suddenly she was much more comfortable with this idea now. She had no idea what to expect going into tonight and it had put her on edge all day, but now she was slightly less nervous.

“Yeah Shea and I haven't been out much this season. We prefer a nice meal at home and just hanging out the two of us.” Riley told her, knowing Sloane could likely relate.

Sloane watched as Riley's eyes caught on a toddler facing them in the row in front of them. She watched her interact with him before she asked, “Do you have any?”

“Kids? No it's just us right now.” Riley told her, sitting back in her seat as the toddler was turned around to get a drink.

“Do you want any?” Sloane asked curiously. Roman hadn't told her much about his captain, just that he had been in a long relationship and that he was the one who gave Roman the extra push toward their relationship.

Riley smiled and nodded, “Oh yeah, a bunch of them, but we're waiting until we're ready and it makes sense you know?”

“Yeah I know.” Sloane stated, almost sadly.

Riley realized what she had said and was quick to apologize, “Sorry... that wasn't great to say given your situation.”

Sloane looked at her in alarm, “You know?”

“Yeah, don't worry your secret is safe with me. I think Roman was just really nervous and needed to talk to someone about it.” Riley explained, and once she saw Sloane visibly relax she was sure to tell her, “I know that this all is probably really scary to you and it's not what either of you planned or really wanted but for what it's worth Roman will be a great dad.”

Sloane smiled lightly and glanced at her shoes as she said, “Yeah I think he will too.”

They were silent again as the second period started, and while Sloane watched the game she also watched Riley. It was clear, even just watching the way she watched the game, cheered and swore at bad or missed calls that she was a fan but Sloane's favorite thing was the way she watched Shea when he was on the ice. She hoped that one day, if things worked out that way, that she would be that way watching Roman.

Riley let out a laugh when the crowd went wild for Shea's slap shot, that never got old to see or hear. She leaned closer to Sloane and told her, “You know, Shea is like a totally different person when he's around Roman.”

“How so?” She asked curiously.

“He's just a lot lighter, he doesn't take things so seriously, he has fun. I think that's why they play so well together.” Sloane had to admit, though she didn't know Shea to know any of the things Riley just said, they did play great together and she knew Shea was someone Roman looked up to in a sort of way, at the very least playing with him pushed Roman harder.

They continued chatting throughout the game here and there and during the second intermission, and when the game was over Sloane walked side by side with Riley down to the lounge to wait for them. Sloane asked her curiously, “How long do they usually take?”

She had only been to two games, one of which she didn't even wait for anyone after, so she really had no idea how long the waiting time was. Riley glanced at her watch before telling her, “It varies. Loses the guys are usually out pretty quick, wins they're definitely in there longer with media stuff. I'm not the best person to ask that question because Shea is always the last one out.”

“Captain duties?” Sloane asked with a smile.

Riley smiled at her and nodded, “Yeah, first one in and last one out. I've learned to play a lot of games on my phone in this room.”

Sloane let out a laugh and asked, “Any good ones?”

“I play a lot of trivia, Temple Run and Sudoku.” Riley told her, laughing when Sloane looked at her like she was crazy at the mention of Sudoku. Riley simply told her, “It passes time really well!”

“That's so weird. Sudoku makes me really angry.” Sloane told her, making the two of them laugh.

“I was a bit of a nerd in high school, I guess it carried through to adulthood.” Riley told her, jumping when she felt someone yank the elastic from her hair. She whipped around, ready to hit Shea, but realized it was Pekka grinning down at her. She rolled her eyes and said, “Give it back you big blonde giant.”

“Wounded Ry.” He stated, hopping over the back of the couch to sit beside her. Sloane briefly wondered how he was able to do that in a suit but then she saw the length of his legs. He leaned over Riley and introduced himself, “I'm Pekka.”

“Goalie boy.” Riley told Sloane, and she laughed when Pekka flicked the side of her nose.

“Sloane.” She told him, shaking his large hand.

He was grinning like Cheshire cat when he told her, “Oh I know all about you.”

Sloane raised her eyebrow and tried not to seem visibly nervous, but Riley noticed it and slapped Pekka's mid section, telling him, “Do not scare the poor girl off.”

Pekka rubbed his stomach and turned to Sloane, telling her, “Roman just doesn't shut up about you is all. It's all Sloane this Sloane that and honestly if it wasn't so adorable it would be really annoying.”

Sloane's cheeks flushed scarlet, and her flush went even deeper when Roman leaned over the back of the couch, put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. Pekka made an 'aww' noise and followed by that was a loud smack, courtesy of Riley's hand on his arm. Roman glanced between the three of them before stating, “I take it he was trying to embarrass me?”

Sloane grinned at him, “Do you really talk about me non-stop?”

Roman groaned before telling her, “I can't help it if I think you're pretty great.”

“Oh just gag me already.” Riley joked, making Pekka nod.

Roman simply told her, “Now you know how I felt around you and Shea all the time.”

She laughed, “Please, 99% of the time I just want to strangle him.”

“It's true.” Shea confirmed as he walked up to the group. Riley rolled her eyes and he pointed at her and asked, “See?”

She got up off the couch and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down to kiss her and Roman rolled his eyes, “I could play that game too but I won't because I have class.”

As they parted Shea looked at Roman and asked, “Have you ever met Riley? She's like the most classless person in the world.”

“Excuse you!” Riley exclaimed, giving him a shove, which didn't even make him budge.

“Do we need to remind you of that time you went off on someone mid game for making a comment about El Captain?” Pekka asked her.

Sloane turned to her in shock and asked, “You did?”

Riley shrugged, wrapped an arm around Shea's waist and said, “What? Don't make uneducated comments around the captains girlfriend. I just figured it was within my girlfriendly duties to correct the guy.”

Roman looked at Sloane and informed her, “She's scary when you piss her off.”

“Oh so she's a typical Canadian?” Pekka asked, making both Riley and Shea roll their eyes. He made them laugh when he added, “Everyone thinks you're all so nice and polite and then you get angry and it's like a 9.5 magnitude earth quake went through the place.”

Craig and Kelly walked up to their group, raising their eyebrows at the laughter, before Craig asked, “We going? I have a hungry Italian here, best not to keep her waiting.”

“Italians are scarier than Canadians, I'd like to just inform you of all of that.” Riley stated as she slipped her phone into the pocket of Shea's suit jacket and they lead the way out of the arena.

Everyone took separate cars to the restaurant, and as they drove Sloane began to feel her nerves creeping up on her again. Roman, who sensed this the minute they got into the car, reached over and slid his hand into hers, giving it a squeeze. She turned her head toward him and he took his eyes off the road for a second to turn to her and give her a warm smile before looking back toward the road.

“Feeling any better?” Roman asked her curiously. That morning, and for the better part of the afternoon, she had been fighting nausea and it was clearly winning when he left for the rink.

She nodded slowly and then told him, “Much, thanks for hanging out with me all day by the way.”

He flashed her a grin, shrugged and said, “I'll lay around and do nothing with you whenever you want.”

“I might be calling you on that a lot for the next seven months.” She informed him, laughing when he shrugged.

He parked his vehicle in front of the restaurant beside Shea's SUV, and met Sloane at the front of his own car before he slid his arm around her waist and lead her into the restaurant. They were seated at a long table in a back corner where there weren't any other people, likely to avoid interrupting meals with a loud table. Sloane took the seat beside Riley, and Roman ended up between Sloane and Craig. Rich and Pekka walked in only a minute or two after Sloane and Roman did, taking the seats across from them, and Pekka announced, “Alright so-”

Riley interrupted him and announced, “There will be absolutely zero shop talk at this dinner.”

There were a few groans and Kelly said, “Thank God.”

Shea just laughed, and Craig, Pekka and Roman turned to give her a look. Craig asked with an amused grin, “Don't you want us to get better?”

“Do that on your own time. We hear it enough at home.” She stated with a shrug of her shoulders as Seth and Abby showed up.

Sloane was so glad to see familiar faces, and Abby was quick to ask, “Hey stranger, what you get a boyfriend and disappear from human kind or something?”

Sloane shrugged and the table laughed as she said, “He's just so much prettier than you.”

Abby made a face of shock before she looked at Roman and went, “Yeah...he is... it's totally not okay how hot you are.”

“Hey, hi yeah your boyfriend...sitting right beside you.” Seth told her, making everyone laugh.

Abby grinned, patted his cheek and told him, “You're moderately good looking in your own way.”

The guys at the table were practically falling out of their chairs laughing at her response and Seth simply rolled his eyes. Riley nudged Sloane, and when she turned she leaned toward her and told her, “I told you you'd have fun.”

Sloane smiled and told her, “Yeah, I guess I was just a little nervous.”

“You had nothing to be nervous for, this is easily the best group of guys around.” Riley told her before laughing and saying, “I'm probably slightly biased though so don't quote me on that.”

Roman glanced at Sloane, watching her interact with Riley, the two girls laughing at something he couldn't hear. He watched Sloane tuck her hair behind her ear, before it fell back out as she leaned her head back slightly and laughed again. He was sure he hadn't seen her smile like that in a while, and it made his own lips turn up into a smile.