the death of a bachelor// Tyler Seguin//

chapter two

my dress and cardigan hit the floor as soon as I walked through the apartment door. I changed into a pair of boxers I bought from Walmart and a Texas a&m shirt. I plugged my iPhone into the speakers and started to dance around to an old song Christina and I would listen to when we lived together in College Station. It always brought me back to my happy place. 

I pulled my long hair into a ballerina bun and began to unpack boxes. A few minutes into it my phone rang and Christina wanted to FaceTime. I answered promptly and smiled at my best friend and her fiancé on the other end of the line.

"hey you guys!" I exclaimed.

"your first night there and you are in that ratty shirt. Have i taught you nothing?" she joked.

"I know I know. i'm sorry I just want to get as much done as I can. i started today so I didn't really get much time to unpack and settle,"

Christina's fiancé Hudson opened his mouth to reply but my doorbell rang before he could even get a word out. I gave them a confused look before getting up and jogging to the door. I opened it up and lo and behold there stood Tyler.

"shit I totally forgot," I confessed to him. I reached down trying to straighten out my wrinkled shirt.

he flashed a goofy smile," well you look perfect so let me in so I can help you!"

I moved out of the way and let him through the door. he sat the bags of food on the counter and began to look around the apartment.

I quickly ran back to the living room and grabbed my phone.

"who's he?" Christina asked raising her eyebrow.

"just a friend. look I've got to go. call you tomorrow!" I hung up the phone quickly and found Tyler lifting boxes from the hallway and taking them to their designated spots.

his gym shorts hung loosely on his hips and a black Biosteel hoodie matched.

"thanks for this," I called to him.

he walked into the kitchen where I was and sat a box down on the counter. "it's no problem. anything to help out," he assured me.

we began to put away the kitchen stuff one by one. I leaned against the counter in attempt to put a bowl on the shelf but couldn't quite reach it. I started to turn around to ask Tyler but before I could he had his body pressed tightly against mine and gracefully took the bowl from my hand and slid it onto the shelf while his other hand trailed up my thigh. I wonder if it was intentional. 

due to his size and my size he engulfed me. my 5'3 couldn't begin to compare to his 6'1 stature. He stayed in the position for a second longer than he needed to. "Lets eat something!" he suggested.

I shoved him backwards and started taking boxes of food out of the bag. Tyler followed after with two plates from the cabinet. we distributed the food and walked into the living room and settled onto the couch.

"wanna watch a movie?" I asked

"yeah sure."

I grabbed the remote and switched to Netflix. after a few minutes of searching we both agreed on the benchwarmers.

Tyler's POV:

she took another bite of her orange chicken and laughed hysterically at a joke from the movie. I admired the way she glanced over at me every few minutes to check and see if I seemed bored, not that I could be with her next to me. I was taken aback by her. Something I wasn't really used to with women. Especially with the current circumstance.

The movie ended around midnight and we both decided I should head home. Harley walked me out to my car and we both stood awkwardly in the parking lot of he apartment.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Harley," I remarked.

she smiled and pressed an innocent kiss on my cheek. 

"goodnight Tyler."

I glanced down her once more before walking out and closing the door behind me. she had no clue how great this night actually was.

I woke up the next morning to a Drake lyric playing through my phone speaker. 6:00 am always rolled around too soon in my book.

after falling out of bed I quickly threw on sweatpants and a stars shirt with my number on the back.

my drive to the rink was all but normal. I realized I had Harley's cup in my floorboard from last night. I picked it up and rubbed my thumb over the initials. hCq. Harley Q. Cohen.

the parking lot was nearly empty when I arrived but there sat Harley's Range Rover with the little vineyard vines whale sticker colored in with a Texas flag.

she got out and threw a black backpack onto her shoulders. She had on leggings and a black stars quarter zip, an outfit that fit the vibe a little more than yesterday. I got out and followed close after her.

"hey you," I greeted her with a big smile. "I forgot to give this back to you," I handed her the cup. "what does the Q stand for?"

"Quinn," she giggled, "my parents love DC comics so they named me after their favorite villain. my brothers name is Jack Joker Cohen."

"parents weren't big on the classic names were they?"

"not at all. always wanted us to have an edge."

I nodded and pressed the elevator button while she stood against the wall.

Harley starred innocently down at her feet. hair falling in her face making her damn near irresistible. I walked closer to her and grabbed her hand from the hand rail and enclosed it in mine.

the doors opened and she quickly pulled away before strutting out and down the hall to Jim's office. I could tell she wasn't comfortable with this yet. I hated pushing her into the situation but it wasn't my decision anymore. This whole dating to help my reputation thing was something I had much longer to adjust to. 

I followed not long after for the team meeting. I walked in highfived a few of the guys but looked nervously for Harley. She stood quietly next to Antoine. His hand rested on her back pack while he smiled down at her. 

I must've had had jealousy written all over my face because once Harley looked over at me she was getting up to move. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the chair next to me, wrapping my arm around the top of her chair. 

"I can have friends, Seguin." she whispered. 

"not friends who think they can get you into bed," I growled not realizing how possessive it came out.

"I'm not your girlfriend!" she retorted quietly. I immediately rolled my eyes and mumbled something under my breath about it being in her job description. "You're such an ass," she responded and stomped out of the conference room. 

I sighed and quietly went behind her trying not to make a scene. She apparently didn't have much of an issue making one of those. 

"Harley!" I called after her. 

 "I'm not your girl. you don't own me. we aren't together for real! if I want to talk to someone I will," she argued. 

A cocky grin spread across my face, "Then what are they paying you for sweetheart? they pay you to fall in love with me. I understand us giving it some time before we actually date so you can adjust. That is fine. But you still have to act interested in me."

she looked right through me before sighing and walking back into the meeting.