#seoultaco

AJ: Just parked, heading in the main lobby.

Tyson’s eyes could not be peeled from the door as he anxiously awaited her walking in. Sure, they saw each other the previous week in the same city, but he hadn’t been able to physically touch AJ in over a month. All he had wanted to do the last week was hug her tightly to him, and if he had his way, never let her go.

The way he figured it, they’d have about 15 hours together, and he wanted to make the most of it.

The sliding doors to the lobby opened, and in walked a very tired looking AJ. She had left Denver at 3:30am, drove all the way through Kansas, and all the way across Missouri to get to St. Louis by 5:30pm with the time change. The speed limit drop once she hit Missouri made her timing off a bit, but she used as much pedal to the metal as she could to get there. Looking across the lobby, eye contact was made with Tyson who was already up and out of the chair, heading her way.

“Ugh, babe, I need a shower, I have been in the car for over 12 hours, I…” 

AJ didn’t even have a chance to finish as Tyson’s warm hands cupped her face, tilting it up towards his and pulling her in for a long kiss. One of his hands traveled to the back of her head, the other heading way down south, pulling her body impossibly close to his. The two held their embrace for an inordinate amount of time, as if time stood still around them. Neither could even hear the chirps and catcalls that came from a handful of Tyson’s teammates making their way through the lobby in search of dinner. 

It literally took Tyson getting dizzy from lack of oxygen before the kiss was broken, leaving the couple simply looking into each others’ eyes, panting. Before AJ knew it, Tyson grabbed her hand and was pulling her to the elevator. Pushing the button to the 8th floor, he had already pulled her into him for another kiss that was barely broken when the doors opened for his floor. The two of them stumbled down the hallway, AJ being pulled forward by Tyson walking backward to keep kissing her. He reached into his pocket and whacked his wallet against the lock, and with the click, the door opened and the two nearly fell inside the room.

Tyson could not keep his hands off of AJ. She had barely got her backpack thrown onto the sofa as he was kicking his shoes off and working on grabbing the belt loops of her jeans to pull her back to him. 

“Baby, shhh… slow down. Seriously I need a shower, I feel gross from the road… before… dinner… need to… get… cleaned up.”

The smile on Tyson’s lips turned into a wicked grin, curling up at the corners. His lips attached to her neck, as he toyed with the collar on her shirt, pulling it down to expose her collarbones.He knew if he found the right spot just above them, she’d be a whimpering mess, and completely putty in his hands. 

He found the spot.

It was clear that AJ was frustrated by this development, but at the same time was starting to not care either. In a quick decision, she let Tyson stay attached to her skin, but started pulling him toward the bathroom. Kicking off her shoes and pulling off her socks with her feet, she reached down to start shimmying out of her jeans. Forcing him to break contact, she tore her shirt over her head, and quickly leaned into the tub to start the shower. Tyson followed suit with his own pants, and AJ slowly peeled his shirt off, kissing her way up his abs and chest with each inch of exposed skin.

Looking down into AJ’s eyes, Tyson had a feral look on his face, pupils blown, cheeks flushed. He damn near picked her up to put her in the shower with some of her underthings still on. Impatiently he waited for her to unhook and pull off everything, although he really did enjoy the show. She tiptoed into the shower, letting the hot water melt away the icky feeling from being on the road, with Tyson coming in hot behind her. 

Thanking his lucky stars that the tub had grippy strips, Tyson hoisted AJ up and pinned her against the side of the shower. She yelped at the shock of the cold granite wall, but wrapped her legs around his midsection, pulling his torso flush to hers. It was taking all of his willpower to not just take her right there, and even that was waning. But after a couple minutes of intense making out, and AJ failing at not grinding her hips into Tyson’s, he couldn’t focus on tasting every bit of AJ’s skin he could reach, holding her up against the wall, and keeping himself from just sliding in. It literally was too much for him.

The two stared at each other, out of breath, trying to calm down a bit. Between breathing hard, the hot water, and the sheer intoxication they were feeling from each other, they had to stop for a few moments. 

This is probably one of the few times AJ turned the temperature of the water down in a shower, trying to put out what felt like fire on her face. The cold water almost stung across her body, but she finally felt like she was finding herself again, breathing more evenly.

Tyson leaned back against the wall, feeling the coolness against his skin. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a few moments. With a few deep breaths, he was able to compose himself. Instead of the intensity from just moments earlier, a calmness settled in Tyson’s head. With a soft kiss, he turned AJ around, and reached outside of the curtain, grabbing some of the Olaplex shampoo and conditioner that she had turned him onto a couple months prior.

“Close your eyes baby girl, I got you.”

With a tiny dab of the shampoo in his hands, Tyson worked a lather up in AJ’s hair. The light raking of his nails against her scalp elicited a low moan to fall from her lips as her head dropped backward into his hands. It was a sound that he missed so much in the last month. Sure, there were attempts at phone sex, and he occasionally would hear those sounds… but it sounded so much better in person. He leaned her back into the cool drops of water falling from the showerhead to rinse it out, followed up by putting a small dollop of conditioner in her hair.

AJ opened her eyes slowly, and turned, chest to chest with Tyson.

“Want me to return the favor?” AJ bit her lip a little, making eyes at Tyson.

“I learned from the best… only wash every couple of days. And I did earlier this afternoon. This is all about you right now.”

Tyson grabbed some shower gel and a washcloth, working it into suds before gently scrubbing AJ’s neck, shoulders, back, and around to her front. Taking a knee, he kissed the curves formed by her ribs, waist, and hips as his hands slid down her thighs, massaging them lightly. 

He may not have wanted his hair washed, but she did run her fingers through the wet tangle of curls atop his head as he looked up at her. It wasn’t the same feral look he had earlier. While it was still intense, the look was softer. It wasn’t lustful. It was adoration and love.

Of course, with the boiling hot passion coming to a gentle simmer, blood and oxygen were getting back to Tyson’s brain. And that cheshire grin of his came back as he looked up, but then leaned down and nipped the inside of AJ’s thigh. She was caught off guard, expecting maybe a kiss, or his fingers sliding upward a bit, but instead gasped, then giggled at the puppy dog look he was giving her. Helping him back up on his feet, he finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair, and shut off the water. 

Reaching around the curtain, he found a fresh towel in the cubby next to the shower. Unfurling it, Tyson dabbed it over her body, drying the stray drips of water that cascaded down her skin from her drenched wavy curls. AJ wrapped the towel around her, leaning up to softly kiss her love, with similar adoration in her eyes.

Tyson quickly dried off, and grabbed one of the robes from the hook and slid it on, tying the sash in front. It never failed to amuse AJ that he would do this at hotels - ever since the Ask the Avs segment regarding robes at hotels, she knew he enjoyed the finer things and being pampered. Looking at his watch though, he sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

Tyson had all these grand plans. He wanted to take AJ to a fancy dinner for two. He was going to pull her chair out for her, and scoot her in to the table before seating himself. He was going to cheat a little and they’d share a dessert. Maybe have an Irish Coffee with it. He envisioned them walking back to the hotel room, hand in hand. And once back in the room, his ideal night was going to be making love to AJ until the wee hours of the morning, game that next afternoon be damned. He knew that come morning, they’d have to get a quick breakfast, and kiss each other, not goodbye, but more goodbye for now. He’d be exhausted at the game. But he’d play his heart out, and he’d point at AJ when he’d score a goal, and she’d blow him a kiss.

“Tyson, you still with me babe?”

It took a moment to snap out of the daydream.

“Yeah, I… I just had some ideas for the night, but it is too late to really start them now.”

“So let’s make new plans? Are you hungry?” AJ squinted at Tyson. “I’ve been craving Seoul Taco for a while. Door Dash?”

Tyson chuckled, shaking his head a bit in disbelief. He’d never had a girlfriend that was this vocal about wanting things… didn’t matter if it were dinner, or something she wanted to try in bed. And he was fine with her taking the lead.

Ordering up a couple burritos (and really hoping this was not going to throw him off his game the next day), there was about a 45 minute wait for their food to arrive. AJ threw on a tee and her pajama shorts, and wrapped a towel around her hair, fastening it at the nape of her neck. Tyson didn’t exactly want her meeting the Dasher in the lobby dressed like that, but AJ was too comfy to care. A text alerted her to the arrival of food downstairs, so she put on her shoes sans socks, but still had her hair in a towel. Grabbing a few dollars from her wallet for a tip, she headed downstairs to retrieve dinner.

Setting up a makeshift dining room table on the bed, which probably wasn’t a great idea due to the kimchi fried rice being a little on the messy side inside their burritos, the couple chatted and ate. Laughter and smiles were in abundance. And after sweeping the rice crumbs off the bed, Tyson turned on the TV to find a movie to put on as he leaned back against the headboard with open arms to hold AJ with.

Giving a motion to hold on a moment, AJ grabbed her backpack from the sofa, and pulled out a small bag from one of the pockets. She tossed it at Tyson, who thankfully caught it before it smacked him in the chest. In his hands, he found a bag of Haribo Star Mix.

“Movie snacks? I love that you’re always prepared.” 

Tyson tore into the bag and set it to the side, opening his arms again for AJ to join him on the bed. He’d propped the pillows up against the headboard as she was grabbing the candy from her bag. Curling up into his side, one of Tyson’s arms slid around her midsection and held her tight as he kissed the top of her head. The two stayed like this for a good portion of the movie, occasionally a hand would snag a gummy shape from the bag. Tyson always made sure to give AJ the Happy Cola bottles, and she’d give the Twin Snakes to Tyson. 

Grabbing another from the bag, Tyson studied it closely and stopped before popping it in his mouth. He looked at AJ.

“This one is for you,” Tyson held the candy in front of AJ, directly in her line of sight with the TV.

AJ smirked and leaned forward, taking the candy from Tyson’s fingers with her teeth, chewed and swallowed. “Thanks babe. I could get used to you feeding me candy in bed.”

This was not the response that Tyson was looking for.

He searched the bag of candy again and dug out another specific piece, and again held it up in front of AJ’s face.

And again, AJ chomped down on it, thanking him for the candy.

Clearly frustrated, Tyson grabbed the bag of candy, frantically searching until he found the last of the particular shape in the bag. Holding it in his fingertips, he held it further from AJ’s face this time. She started to lean forward, when he pulled it away.

“What the hell?”

“Babe, stop.” Tyson inhaled slowly, thinking about what he was about to say. “Look at what it is.”

AJ eyed the gummy ring now sitting on his palm, then looked back at him in slight confusion.

Tyson turned to face AJ, and looked at the gummy ring, then looked at her again. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and, well, this seemed like a sign to me. I know it’s only been a few months…”

AJ wasn’t breathing. All she was doing was staring into Tyson’s hazel eyes, hanging on every word that was coming out of his mouth.

“I know it isn’t ideal, because it’s probably going to get fuzz all over it when it gets sticky, and it’ll probably melt in the shower. But.. will you… be my sweetie?”

Forgetting that she hadn’t breathed in a bit, and trying to process what Tyson just asked, a sharp inhale happened, and started giggling at the first thing that popped into AJ’s head.

Tyson remained quiet, afraid of why she reacted the way she did. He frowned.

“Hey now I was just thinking I never told you I’m not a big yellow gold fan. I do like pineapple though, and I love you. But… I’m needing clarification… are you asking me to…?”

Tyson bit his lip, and nodded. He was now the one holding his breath, and looking for any sort of clue as to what AJ was thinking. His eyes went downward, looking at the candy still in his palm, and looked at her hand next, then back into AJ’s eyes. Finally he broke the silence that heavily hung in the air.

“AJ, will you? Will you be my…”

AJ had been through a lot in the last year, and it took so much arm twisting by Nate to get her to apply for her job. To move to Denver. There were days she had issues picking between mozzarella sticks or fried pickles for a side at her favorite diner. She was the queen of overthinking.

This time though, she didn’t even think. Everything about what was going on just felt… right. 

Her answer came in the form of AJ launching herself at Tyson and kissing him deeply. When the two finally separated, Tyson’s heart was pounding and he was trying to catch his breath. The smile on AJ’s face was all he needed. The gummy in Tyson’s hand was shakily slid on his love’s finger.

“It’s beautiful, Tyson.” AJ admired the candy on her finger while giggling.

“I’m going to get you a better one, I promise.”

“Probably a good idea, this one is cutting off my circulation and I kinda want to eat it.”

The two continued to lean into each other, foreheads lined up so they could just look into each other’s eyes for a bit. Neither could believe what just happened. But as much as Tyson would say that he hadn’t planned it, it had been on his mind for a while. The talk with Grandpa Jim after Valentine’s Day, regarding how he knew Grandma Emily was the one. Every day without AJ in Minnesota with him felt like something was missing. It had been on his mind so long, to be honest, that he remembered telling his mom about the afternoon that the two met in the locker room before the game that evening. (“She’s something special, there is just something about her.”) He even realized that the song she was singing was one he would hear her play/sing often in the next six months of their time together - Chet Baker’s “My Funny Valentine.” It suddenly all clicked as soon as he saw the gold colored gummy band with off-white “stone”.

Very few things in Tyson’s life made more sense than that spontaneous question he posed to AJ. 

I don’t think I need to tell you what the two were up to the rest of the night. So while part of his plans were changed, like dinner, and he hadn’t planned on asking the question, a fair amount seemed to stay intact. And it was as Tyson had envisioned - it wasn’t rushed, but instead it was slow, and full of emotion. And it felt different between the two, in a better way.. The newly established bond seemed to free something in the both of them, allowing for further exploration of the connection they shared. But in true AJ and Tyson style, there was still a lot of laughter and smiles. That was destined to be a thing with them from the start. They were both of the belief of if you’re not laughing, you’re being too serious. And while they had their intense moments, the lighthearted were still some of their favorites.

AJ insisted on them getting a couple of hours of sleep as she’d been awake nearly 25 hours, and Tyson had a game to play in about 10 hours. A quick cat nap, and the two were up once again, with one more quickie before heading to breakfast. 

Neither had looked at their phones since AJ’s arrival, or so AJ at least thought, and her watch buzzed with a notification from Instagram from Tyson.

Fumbling around the counter trying to grab her phone without getting out of the shower, AJ finally gripped it and was nervous to see what Tyson had posted on IG - mainly because they’d already talked about not spilling the news regarding the status change of their relationship. Tyson swore up and down he wasn’t going to blurt it out to his new team like he did with his last team, even if they all already knew. This time he was going to play it extremely cool.

What he didn’t play it cool about was the fact he was ecstatic that he and AJ were sharing the same physical space even if just for a few hours. And his level of silliness.

josty17 BEDHEAD WAR IS BACK ON, BABY! LFG!

And in all it’s glory, Tyson shared a photo of some very messed up bedhead on AJ. She had no idea when he snapped the photo. But it was definitely from today, it was the same tanktop she fell asleep in, and clearly was the bed in the hotel. She chuckled to herself, knowing full well that was not just run-of-the-mill bedhead, but definitely ASH. (After sex hair, for those that were questioning.)

wicketthewarrior Don’t make me get photos from your mom, Jost. I know she’s got a stash and is more than happy to share.

AJ could hear Tyson cackling from the other room as she hit send, and was toweling her hair off.

Breakfast was a little weird, as it wasn’t a nice quiet bite to eat, but instead a flurry of introductions with Tyson’s new teammates. And it was taking all his self control to not explode with “THIS IS MY FIIIIANNNNNCEEEEEEEE!!!” 

Once breakfast was eaten, Tyson had to hop on the bus to head to the arena. The two sighed as he packed his bag, as did AJ (although she was just switching to a different room, there was no way she was driving another 12+ hours home after the night she had, plus going to the game that afternoon). There was a long hug that didn’t want to be broken between the two, but they knew it was coming.

“See you at the game, Jost. Kick some ass.”

AJ had some time before the game to kill, so she checked out the aquarium at Union Station, but really just wished that Tyson had been there with her. One of the dates she really wanted to go on while he was still in Denver was to hit up the zoo together, but schedules and weather never seemed to quite align. She needed to look up whether there was a zoo or not in the Twin Cities, and if not there, maybe there was one near his family up in Alberta. Zoos and aquariums were one of her favorite things to visit - could easily spend all day just watching the various animals. In fact, she had to set an alarm on her watch to head out on time. It wasn’t far, just a couple blocks (in fact that’s where she parked the previous week as well), but she didn’t want to miss the lunch that came with her ticket (she snagged the EXACT same ticket she had the previous week!), and she definitely didn’t want to miss out on warmups - another sign was in tow in her car.

After watching the otters, and chilling out with the jellyfish, petting sharks and rays, and generally taking in the animals of the wet, swimming variety, her watch started buzzing, reminding her to head out.

Getting through security was a bit of a chore, for some reason this week the door folks were being sticklers about her poster. It was well within Enterprise Center’s rules, but they were still harassing her about it. Finally they let her in but it seemed like they really didn’t want AJ’s sign there. Maybe it was the green jersey she wore, emblazoned with JOST 10 on the back. She made her way downstairs to check out meal options for the day, and grabbed a plate and got in line.  Not that she was trying to listen in, but she had a good chuckle at the couple behind her. 

“Hey hon? This seems really bougie. Like this is way too fancy for us to be here,” the guy told his partner. “I don’t feel like I belong here.”

“Pfft, whatever, we’re fine.”

AJ leaned back and whispered, “I feel that way too, but you know what? You paid for the ticket, you have every right to be here. Eat and drink up!”

The man nodded and smiled.

With her plate full of a variety of things, including Eggplant Parmesan, fried corn nuggets, nachos and strawberry shortcake, AJ found a corner to sit down and just people watch. There were clearly some families there, and there were the bro types, and a few others that clearly looked like it was their first time in the Rinkside Club area. A brass band was piped in on the televisions from upstairs, playing from the concourse outside the arena. St. Louis had a different vibe than Denver, that’s for sure. 

Finishing up her meal, AJ snagged her sign and headed back upstairs, to head back downstairs to her seat. The same photographer from the week before recognized her instantly, chatting her up. They talked for a few minutes, until the teams were preparing  to come out onto the ice. He knew she was going to be looking for Tyson, and she knew he was going to be taking photos of warmups. 

The crowd cheered when the teams hit the ice. A couple guys sporting Minnesota jerseys were standing next to AJ against the glass. It seemed like all the folks in green gravitated to each other, as there was a bit of familiarity, as well as the feeling of power in numbers. The three were chatting as the men in white and green hit their side of the rink. AJ pushed her sign against the glass in front of her. A few of the players tapped their sticks at the glass in front of her as they skated by, usually flashing a quick smile of acknowledgement. She could overhear the two men next to her questioning how she was getting attention. And as per the new tradition, Deslauriers slammed into the glass right at her. This time she was ready, and didn’t flinch. The guys next to her sure did though.

The chat came to a grinding halt when Tyson came by with the biggest of the smiles shown her way. Stopping to read the sign, he didn’t turn the shade of red on his jersey, but sans fishbowl, he was able to kiss the knuckles of his glove properly and fistbump AJ through the plexi, mouthing “Love you, Eggo.”

“Love you too. Let’s fucking GO!” was mouthed back.

Tyson chuckled and skated around to join the group at center ice.

The guys next to her were completely gobsmacked by this. They continued chatting with AJ while the team did drills with Talbot, asking how she knew Tyson, and the rest of the team. A very abridged version was shared, that they started dating when he was with the Avalanche, but since he was traded, she was attempting to split loyalties. The Avs were her team, but Tyson had her heart. And if she was being completely honest, found it interesting watching the Wild and their style of play as it was so different from what she was used to seeing with the Avalanche. They joked about how they didn’t want to meet up with the Avalanche in the playoffs, and with good reason. They were likely the team to beat. At that point they could lose most of the rest of their games and still be the conference champs.

After the team broke apart again on the ice, Tyson did his stickhandling drill in front of AJ as usual, and noticed a family with kids at the glass on the other side of her. Corralling an extra puck, he sent it up and over the glass, behind the net so it’d drop for the kids. Tapping their slapping hands against the glass, Tyson glanced over one more time and winked before heading off the ice for the start of the game. AJ’s heart melted. She didn’t want kids, but damn if Tyson being adorable with little ones wasn’t making her second guess that decision.

(AJ felt like she had problems taking care of herself some days, so she wasn’t about to bring a new life into the world that she may struggle with taking care of - always envisioned being the cool aunt that bought annoying as hell musical instruments to “enrich” her nieces and nephews, and absolutely drive mom and dad nuts. Also she was so excited for arts and crafts of the messy variety so she can just hand the paint-covered children back to the folks, but with fun little art pieces. Unsure of others’ plans, she might have to just be the chosen aunt of her friends’ kids.)

The puck dropped, and it was game on between the Wild and the Blues yet again. Definitely another hard fought game - very back and forth with scoring. Defense seemed a bit soft on both sides. It especially stung AJ when Saad scored, with a Ryan O’Reilly assist. She was still an Avalanche fan deep down, and harbored a broken heart when the Saadfather signed on with the Blues the previous summer after having such a tremendous year with the Avs. O’Reilly… she just harbored a lot of intense dislike for after the way he behaved after leaving the Avs. 

Late in the third, Buchnevich hit Tyson near center ice. It was such a fast hit, and sadly, a legal one too. All AJ saw was Tyson still laying on the ice, and suddenly Deslauriers was ON Buchnevich letting him know it was NOT okay for him to hit his teammate like that. Tears were filling AJ’s eyes as Tyson slowly got up, and dragged his foot lightly behind him, trying to get to the bench. As if seeing him limp to the bench and head down the tunnel wasn’t hard enough, the voice hollering from behind her in the stands made her ready to line up like Deslauriers just had with the Blues player.

“BYE BYE JOSTY, TIME TO GO HOME!”

Someone pushed AJ’s shoulder from behind her. 

“AWWW is JOSTY HURT? WHAT A CRY BABY!”

The usher near AJ stepped in, telling the very intoxicated man behind her to cut it out, or he was going to be asked to leave.

In the meantime, AJ had grabbed her phone, and was texting away.

AJ: He’s not on the bench. He’s down the tunnel.

Jess: It didn’t look that bad, maybe he lost an edge.

AJ: I have a bad feeling about this, fuck I hate this.

The end of the third period horn sounded, tied 5-5. AJ was trying to breathe slowly to keep the anxiety bubbling up in check, but definitely was struggling. After a quick sweep of the ice by the zambonis, the teams were ready to start OT. 

AJ: He’s not on the bench.

Jess: I’m sure it’s just precautionary with playoffs coming up soon. He’ll be alright, you know how tough he is.

AJ: HE JUST GOT HIS FISHBOWL OFF, DAMN IT. Just hope he’s alright. I HATE THIS SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, they’re still not going to let me in the locker room even if I tell them I’m his…

She had to stop herself from typing “fiancée” as she hadn’t told Jess, or even her family yet. This was just something for her and Tyson right now.

… girlfriend.

The scene she made the week prior trying to get past security previously still played out in her head. There was a glimmer of hope being extinguished in her mind that just because he was injured, he’d be able to have a visitor. She knew better, the security was tight, and just doing their job.  

Not even paying attention to the game being played, AJ heard the roar of the crowd as Schenn put one past Talbot not even a minute into OT. Angry with the outcome of the game and not being able to get to Tyson, AJ got up while everyone was still cheering, and started walking (almost stomping) to her car. She was still agitated by the guy behind her in the crowd mocking Tyson. She didn’t even care that it was Tyson - a lot of her ire was because it was Tyson, but if it had been any other player on the team they were making fun of for being injured, she would be just as angry. Just the concept of being that much of an asshole made AJ’s blood boil.

Reaching her car in the Union Station parking lot, she opened the door, sat down, and just cried all the frustrations that had bottled up in the last 40 minutes. The physical tiredness of running on about 7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, the worry of whether Tyson was okay, and the emotional exhaustion from the night before hit AJ hard. Thankful that she wasn’t driving more than a few miles to get to her temporary home, she started the engine to her car, and ended up sitting for a good 30 minutes waiting on traffic to move so she could pay her parking fees and head out.

While waiting in line behind about 4 cars at the pay booth, her phone buzzed. She realized in all this, she never reached out to Tyson, checking in on if he was okay.

Tyson: Hey? Are you OK?

AJ wiped her eyes, realizing she probably was going to look like a hot mess for the toll booth employee.

AJ: Sorry, I just… I kinda shut down. I’m just mentally and physically drained. Are YOU okay though? Fuck Buchnevich. I hope Nic beat the shit out of him. I wasn’t even paying attention, I was trying to keep from throwing hands with an asshole sitting behind me.

Tyson: I tweaked something in my calf, didn’t feel right, so I took myself out. Coach agreed it was the right call.

Tyson: Wait, you did WHAT now? 

AJ: Hold on a sec, I have to pay for parking brb

Handing her card to the employee, she thanked them and wished them a good day when they handed back her card and receipt.

Not even sure if he could take the call, AJ pushed the facetime button. He answered immediately, already dressed in his suit to travel back to Minnesota on the team’s flight. Tyson saw the smudged makeup and sighed.

“Sorry, I just.. Ugh. I can’t text and drive. I just needed to know you were okay.”

“Little rest and a little PT, I’ll be just fine. Now what the fuck happened that you were going to PUNCH someone?”

AJ heard the locker room chatter immediately quiet, and she had a hard time coming up with the words to even explain what happened.

“You got hit, and… I saw Nic go after him… and it was like I wasn’t even me anymore when I heard this absolute asshole behind me mocking the fact you were injured. It was taking a lot for me to not turn around and scream, and I imagine if I did, I’m pretty sure that I would have at minimum slapped him, if not more. I still have nail marks in my palm from how hard I was clenching my fist. St. Louis has some seriously not classy fans.”

Tyson couldn’t hide the corners of his lips curling up, his body shaking a little bit.

“Are you laughing right now?” AJ went silent after confronting the odd behavior. Her eyebrow furrowed as she turned onto another street, coming to a stop behind a line of cars.

Looking back, Tyson was indeed smirking.

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You were willing to FIGHT… because someone said something dickish about me.” Tyson turned and leaned back, hollering at someone. “Hey, yeah can you give AJ some fighting lessons? She nearly took on some fan in the stands like you took on Buchnevich.” He looked back and smiled at her again, and Deslauriers leaned into the frame  to give a thumbs up. “My woman is willing to fight for my honor, that’s badass! But.. really don’t do that. That’s probably not good for the PR team. I love you though, you know that.”

The sheer exhaustion was evident on AJ’s face, giving a sheepish grin. It was occurring to her how absolutely ridiculous it was sounding. Trying to suppress a yawn, she failed as the line of cars ahead of her started moving.

“I should probably hang up, traffic’s moving and I need to figure out how to get back to the hotel. Text me later?” AJ’s eyes were trained on the road.

“You know it. Text me when you get to the hotel. Love ya babe.”

AJ could hear the chirps in the background. 

“Love you too.”

A kiss was blown at the screen as she attempted to find the end call button without looking. With a deep breath, focus was figuring out which road she needed to take to get back. A quick detour found AJ picking up another round of Seoul Taco (knowing she wasn’t going to make it there again anytime soon, and no plans of hitting it up in Chicagoland either), and dragged everything upstairs to her hotel room.

AJ: “Home” for the night. Keep that leg RICEd for the flight back. Text me when you’re on the ground?

Tyson: You know it, **future wife**

The grin that showed up on AJ’s face upon reading that single line of text made her forget all about being angry at the Blues player that hit Tyson, and the fan that she almost got into an altercation with. 

AJ: It’s going to take some getting used to, hearing that. I mean other than the fact we’re trying to keep that on the dl, future hubs.

She couldn’t see it, but Tyson had the same goofy grin that graced her own lips moments earlier.

Tyson: Love you 

AJ: (heart emoji)

It wasn’t long after AJ took a few bites into her burrito that she ended up wrapping it back up, and stashing it along with an order of sweet potato waffle fries in the fridge. Her eyelids were so heavy, and her brain was SCREAMING at her that she was going to have to drive the twelve and a half hours back to Denver the next day. The attempt to stay up until Tyson texted that the flight had landed failed, and AJ crashed out hard on the bed.

Tyson: Back home, Eggo

The phone buzz didn’t even faze AJ.

Tyson: I hope you’re sleeping, it’s been a wild day and a half. I’m going to crash too. Can’t wait to see you again soon. Text me when you’re leaving in the morning. Love you so much.

The alarm on AJ’s phone woke her up at 6:15, having slept nearly 10 hours made her feel a little out of sorts. A quick cold shower to get more coherent happened, followed by a once over of the room to make sure all her toiletries and clothes made it back into her backpack. Snagging the leftover Seoul Taco from the fridge, she threw it into the makeshift cooler made from a few ice bucket bags filled with ice. AJ headed downstairs to snag breakfast before hitting the road. The fairy tale was ending. Or at least, it was taking a break for the time being.

AJ: Heading back to Denver. Doesn’t feel right going back without you. Miss you already.