Start Me Up

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love steak?” Tessa mused aloud as Shea pushed the hotel door open and stepped into her view with a tray full of food from the restaurant in the hotel lobby. He rolled his eyes as she grinned at him from the bed and added, “And you too… I guess… you know, if I have to say that.”

“You do.” He told her sternly but the smile on his face gave him away. As he placed the tray on the bed and then tossed a couple of cushions onto the floor and spread out a blanket Shea glanced over at Tessa and asked her, “Are you planning on putting any clothes on while we’re here?”

The league had so graciously given each team a week off and Tess and Shea, as well as several of his teammates and their significant others had hopped on a plane to a little beach town in the states for the week. Since arriving two days previously Shea wasn’t sure he had seen Tessa in anything that wasn’t a swim suit, pyjamas that consisted of little fabric or, as she was now, wrapped up in a white sheet with nothing on underneath.

Tessa smiled over at him and she informed him, “Well, see I thought about it but then I figured why bother? It’s just gonna have to come off sooner or later, so I might as well just make it easier for the both of us.”

Shea smiled gently as he reached out and lightly slapped her hands away from the plate of fries in the middle of the tray as he grabbed the tray. Tessa watched in amusement as he spread out their plates of food; two steaks, a plate of fries, a plate of vegetables, and then not one but three plates of dessert, because he didn’t know what kind she would want so he got one of each, of course. The corners of her lips turned upward when he pulled a pack of matches from the tray, clearly given to him by the kitchen staff, and he produced two candle sticks and holders from the back pockets of his jeans.

Once the candles were lit and he had returned from shutting the lights off Shea dropped onto the floor in front of their spread of food and he reached out to pat the spot across from him. So Tessa shuffled off of the bed and sat down across from him, still wrapped up in their bed sheets, which Shea noted with an amused smile.

“So, what’s the occasion?” Tessa asked as she picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth.

“Just… wanted to show you how much I appreciate the effort you’ve put in to get used to this whole trade and new team thing. I know it couldn’t have been easy and this time off is kind of a nice break to be able to take a breather and tell you that.” Shea informed her and Tessa smiled to herself.

She told him, “You’re far too good to me Shea Weber.”

“I try.” He told her with a grin that made her laugh.

They ate in relative silence, chatting here and there about miniscule things that really didn’t matter. Shea had cleaned up, much to Tessa’s vocal complaints, when they were finished and she had used the time that he was gone taking their dishes to the hallway to throw on a pair of underwear and one of his shirts. When he came back the bathroom door was closed and the water was running so Shea dropped onto his stomach on the bed and stretched out with his head resting on his forearms.

The bathroom door opened a minute or two later and when Tessa found him lying on the bed a wicked grin spread across her face as she took a jog and hopped onto the bed, jumping onto his back. He let out an ‘ouf’ and Tessa grabbed onto his shoulders, massaging the muscle underneath his skin as she leaned close to his ear and asked quietly, “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“I think I might have an idea.” He told her, turning his head to the side and pulling a pillow underneath it.

“Well, I hope you really do because I do love you.” Shea smiled to himself as she spoke, and Tessa raised an eyebrow at him, asking, “What are you smiling about?”

“I just think I like hearing you say that.” Shea informed her, closing his eyes as she hit just the right spot on his back that made him let out a sigh.

For someone who was on a beach vacation Tessa couldn’t believe how unbelievably tense he still was.

“What, that I love you? I say that all of the time you nerd.” She informed him.

With a smile he said, “Yeah, sure. That.”

Tessa’s eyebrow raised but she didn’t question him any further, instead she continued to work on his shoulders and back, and she asked him, “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“I was thinking we could just hang out on the beach, some of the guys were talking about renting a boat and spending the morning on the water… and then we have dinner plans with some friends.” Shea told her, and again her brow arched. Still, he paid no mind to that and in fact, completely ignored her questioning glance to change the subject by telling her, “Can you get that spot a little lower?”

She rolled her eyes and huffed dramatically, all the while a smile on her face, “Yes your highness.”

- - -

“I’m not ready to go home.” Shea admitted softly to Tessa as they both plunked into chairs in the sand after getting off of the boat his teammates had rented to float around in for the morning.

Tessa nodded her head but made him laugh when she stated, “Except I’m kind of glad for you to get back on the road.”

“Oh, you are?” He asked her in amusement.

Nodding vigorously Tessa stated, “I cannot tell a lie.”

“Can you tell me why?” Shea asked her, and when she shot him a look his cheeks flushed and he exclaimed, “I did not intend for that to rhyme.”

“Sure.” Tessa told him, reaching out to pat his thigh. She then went on to tell him, “I’m just very productive when you’re not around to distract me.”

“I distract you?” He asked her in surprise, brows raised.

Nodding she said, “Duh. Have you even looked at yourself in a mirror?”

Shea let out a laugh and told her, “Alright, calm down, I’m pretty sure my new team wouldn’t be impressed with you getting us arrested for indecent exposure.”

“Hey, there’s a secluded area right over there, no one would even know.” Tessa informed him with a smile that made him shake his head in amusement. She pulled her feet up and underneath herself as she leaned into Shea and looked over the beach sprawling in front of them as she mused softly, “It sure is beautiful here.”

“Yeah, it is.” He told her, looking directly at her.

Tessa caught that and rolled her eyes, pinching his shoulder as she told him, “That was the cheesiest thing ever.”

“Yeah, I know.” He told her and when she settled down next to him again Shea looked out over the beach again and he said, “But it is gorgeous here. It’s kind of perfect, actually.”

“Yeah, it is.” Tessa stated, barely paying attention to the way that he was fidgeting with his hands.

“In fact… that spot over there is especially beautiful and perfect.” Shea told her, his voice shaking just the slightest.

Tessa followed his eyes to a little structure with sheers blowing in the wind and her eyebrow raised as she asked him, “What are you even going on about? That place is far from the perfect spot for a public tryst, way too open. I have failed you.”

Shea let out a laugh and he stuck his hand into his pocket but when his fingers didn’t brush against the piece of round metal with the pear shaped stone at the top he felt his heart plummet to his stomach. He stood up abrupty and dug through his pocket, pulling the lining right out before he shoved his hand into his other pocket to do the same thing. When both of his pocket linings were hanging outside his shorts and nothing had fallen out he began to panic.

Tessa simply sat watching him in confusion, eventually asking him, “Okay crazy… what are you doing? Are you about to have a stroke or something because I don’t know CPR.”

Shea continued to pat his thighs, hoping for a miracle before he gave up and he looked over at Tessa with a white face and he said slowly, “I lost it… I think I dropped it in the fucking ocean.”

The profanity he let out caught her more off guard than his odd behavior and Tessa had to reel herself back into reality before she could ask him, “Lost what?”

“Oh man, I had this whole thing planned. It was perfect, I spent months getting it right and… I lost it.” Shea mumbled as he got down on his knees and started to dig through the sand beneath their feet, on the off chance that maybe it had fallen out of his pocket before he had dug through them.

“Shea, what on earth are you doing?” Tessa asked him, a little more concerned for his well-being than she had been before.

She knelt down next to him as Shea dropped onto his butt in the sand and sighed, running his hands through his hair. He then turned to her, cheeks about as red as the sunburn she was sure she was getting across her shoulders by now. He told her, “I had this whole thing planned. That spot over there was basically the perfect spot, and when I found out the hotel manager is ordained it felt meant to be.”

Tessa looked at him for a second, maybe two before she asked him tentatively, “Are you… Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”

“Well I was trying to and then I went and lost the damn ring somewhere in the Pacific.” Shea stated, and Tessa couldn’t help but let out a laugh, which made him follow suit. Eventually he told her, “I spent two months picking out the perfect ring and planning this whole thing. I even flew my dad and brother in… and of course your family; Peks, Roman and even Craig.”

She couldn’t help but joke, “So you seem to have been banking a lot on me actually saying yes.”

“That’s because I knew there wasn’t any other response.” Shea told her confidently.

Her brow raised, “Is that so?”

He nodded and smiled over at her, grabbing her hands as he pulled them both up to a standing position. His whole proposal, if you could even call it that, hadn’t truly felt real to either of them until he knelt down on one knee in the sand, not a ring in sight, and asked Tessa with a wide smile, “So… what do you say Tess? Wanna get married barefoot on the beach?”