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“Hey Buckaroo! How’s it going over there?” Chimney quipped from across the ice rink, holding hands with Jee-Yun as they skated away from him.
Buck was shooting daggers at his brother-in-law, cursing the day he agreed to tag along.
His sister had told him that Jee had been asking, no begging, to go ice skating ever since she watched Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus over a month ago, but being 8 months pregnant and barely able to see her own two feet past her rounded belly, going ice skating wasn’t on the cards for her.
So Buck had offered to go in her place.
Though he was regretting that now as he stood at the edge of the ice rink, gripping the barriers so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
For a guy his size, Buck was agile and nimble on his feet under any other circumstance. But on the layer of ice, having to trust the thin blade at the bottom of the skate to keep him standing, he was an uncoordinated mess.
With a deep breath, he took a step onto the ice — his right hand still clutching onto the side. Very, very slowly, he started to shift his feet, barely moving an inch across the ice. He looked up from his feet and saw Chimney and Jee, the distance between them growing by the second.
Not wanting to be left behind, he pushed his foot across the ice to gain some momentum, but immediately faltered his stepping; sending himself flying and colliding into something solid and firm.
Well, someone.
“Oh, shit.” He gasped out. The body he crashed into didn’t move an inch across the ice. He felt an arm wrap around his waist, preventing them both from toppling over.
He heard a chuckle, deep and velvety, come from the man he collided with. The sound sent heat through his body, his heart beating faster than before. He used his hands to push against the chest to catch eye contact with the man it belonged to.
“Woah there, Bambi.” He quipped with a laugh, smiling at Buck warmly as he helped him to stand straight.
“I’m so sorry! I’m useless at skating.” Buck apologised as he stared at the stranger. He was transfixed by the man’s face, his piercing eyes, his cleft chin and smile lines that made his sharp edges softer.
“Need a hand?”
“Urm, y-yeah. Thanks…” Buck trailed off, hinting at the other man to introduce himself.
“Tommy.” He replied as he skated back slightly. The arm that was wrapped around his waist moved so only his hand was resting on Buck’s hip and the other hand extended forward for him to hold onto.
Buck took the offer and held on tight. “E-Evan.”
They began moving slowly at first, both taking baby steps as they shuffled across the ice. Buck was impressed with how easy Tommy was making it look, how he managed to hold both of them upright on the ice and while moving backwards.
“How are you doing that?” Buck mumbled.
His foot got caught on the ice, sending him stumbling forward. His free hand flapped and reached forward to grip onto Tommy’s bicep.
“I was a professional ice hockey player.” Tommy answered, his grip on Buck’s hand tightening.
“Was?” Buck questioned as he tilted his head to the side. He lost focus for a moment, the overwhelming feeling of wanting to know everything about this man clouded his judgment.
It caused his foot to slip from underneath him and sent him staggering into Tommy’s space. Instinctively, Tommy’s hand moved across the small of his back to wrap an arm around him again.
He then shifted slightly so he stood directly next to Buck, arm still secured around his waist. They continued skating in this position — Tommy holding onto Buck tight, Buck clumsily fumbling over his feet.
“I retired about ten years ago, fucked up my knee real bad at the Olympics. Still went home with a gold that year though.”
“The Olympics! That’s just…wow.” Buck cooed as they came to a complete stop at the corner of the ice rink. One of his hands reached out to hold onto the side as he awkwardly moved so he and Tommy stood face to face.
Tommy laughed again, a sound so rich and bright. “You are doing great things for my ego, kid.”
“Sorry. It's not everyday you bump into someone who has an Olympic gold medal.”
“You bump into others? Wow, and here you had me thinking I was special.” Tommy gasped. He brought a hand up to his chest and rested it against his heart, pretending that he had been wounded by Buck’s words.
Buck found himself giggling in repose. He was completely and utterly charmed by the man. So much so that he completely missed Chimney and Jee circling back around towards him.
“Uncle Buck! We go get ‘izza now.” Jee yelled as the pair glided past. Chimney looked at his brother in law, gobsmacked, but said nothing.
“I’ll meet you guys there!” Buck yelled back over his shoulder, watching as they reached the gate and stepped off the ice.
“Sorry, I should catch up with my family. But thank you for saving my ass back there. M-Maybe you should let me buy you a beer as a thank you?”
“Sure.”
After awkwardly shuffling off the ice, Buck and Tommy exchanged numbers — Buck later found out that Tommy had saved his contact as Bambi — and the pair agreed to meet Saturday for a drink.
Beer on Saturday turned into dinner on Monday which turned into the movies on Thursday and before Buck knew it, it had been a month of them dating.
Well, he was pretty sure they were dating.
Tommy would come pick him up from his house, he would open doors for Buck, pay for dinner and drinks and movies. His hand would hover over the small of his back and he would constantly tell Buck how adorable and charming and handsome he was.
But he was yet to kiss Buck. And Buck really, really wanted to kiss Tommy.
Especially now that he was standing just outside the ice rink where they first met, watching Tommy moving slowly on the ice, followed by a gaggle of uncoordinated five year olds.
Buck had arrived a little too early for his very first private ice skating lesson with Tommy and caught the tail end of one of his classes. Of course he stood there and watched instead of getting his skates on, transfixed by Tommy and wanting nothing more than to rush over and kiss him.
After the session was over, Tommy escorted the kids back over to their parents before catching Buck’s eye from across the ice. With a smile, he waved over to the young man before making his way towards him.
“Hey there, Bambi.” Tommy said as he came to a halt at the edge of the ice rink. He rested his arms on top of the barrier in between the small gap of glass.
Buck gently laughed as he stood up from his seat. He carefully stepped over two rows of benches until he stood directly in front of Tommy. He could feel the heat creep up his neck and spread across his cheeks, causing his fair skin to pinken.
In this position and in his skates, Tommy was taller than Buck. So much so that Buck had to look up to make eye contact with him. The height difference stirred something deep in his gut.
Tommy looked so unbelievably big like this, his broad shoulders barely passing through the gap in the glass.
There was sweat glistening on his skin that made his whole face glow in the low light of the ice rink and he had that smile on his face, the one where his fine lines would scrunch up in a way that made Buck want to pull him down and kiss him.
“I’m really not going to live that nickname down am I?” Buck joked as he sat back down on the closest bench so he could quickly change into his skates.
“Sorry, I can’t help myself. You just look so adorable when you get all shy and blush.” Tommy continued as he opened the gate that separated them. He extended his hand forward and waited patiently.
Skates on, Buck shuffled across and gently gripped onto Tommy’s hand as he slowly transferred from solid ground onto the ice. “I’m not blushing, it’s just cold in here.” Buck mumbled, a smile tugging on his lips.
The older man laughed. “Hmm. Sure. Whatever you say.”
They spent the next hour slowly making their way across the ice. The private lesson seemed to make skating easier. Or maybe it was the man in front of him that was holding his hand so tenderly, who praised him proudly as he finally managed to get a hang of things, whose hands still lingered around his waist just in case.
Once the lesson was over, they both made their way back to the gate. Tommy helped Buck step off the ice and guided him over to the nearest bench. Instinctively, he knelt down in front of Buck and began unlacing his skates. The gesture, so small and casual, made butterflies flutter in his stomach.
“Can I ask you something?” Buck asked quietly as he looked down at Tommy. The other man hummed a response, too focused on gently pulling the left skate off Buck’s foot.
“Are…are we dating? I-I don’t want to assume that we are. But it kinda feels like we are.” Buck could hear the nerves in his own voice as he spoke, scared that he may have crossed a line that was never meant to be there in the first place.
Tommy paused for a moment and looked up to Buck. There was a softness in his eyes as he reached up to gently rest his hands on Buck’s thighs.
“Is that what you want?” Tommy replied.
“Yeah, yeah. Like so much. I-I really like you Tommy. I’ve, erm, I’ve kinda been fighting the urge to kiss you the entire time.” Buck laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
A smile spread across Tommy’s face as his hands travelled up to rest on Buck’s hips. “I want to kiss you too. Ever since you crashed into me, all I’ve wanted to do is kiss you.”
“Really?” Buck asked breathlessly. He found himself gravitating down towards Tommy, closing the gap between them.
“Yeah.” Tommy whispered back as he surged forward and slotted their lips together. It was slow and tender and delicate and sweet. The feeling of Tommy’s lips, firm and soft against his own, sent electricity shooting up Buck’s spine.
After a while, Tommy pulled back and sat on his heels; looking up to Buck with twinkling eyes. Buck couldn’t stop staring at his lips, all he wanted to do at that moment was kiss him again and again and again until he couldn’t breathe.
“Sorry, we really should have had this conversation sooner. I’m still kinda new to this, being open about things.” Tommy apologised.
Buck frowned but said nothing, waiting for him to continue. With a sigh, Tommy stood from where he was still kneeling and took a seat next to Buck on the bench. He bought a hand up to Buck’s face so he could gently brush over his furrowed brow before moving to brush over his birthmark.
He then took a hold of Buck’s hand before he started speaking again.
“Being gay in the NHL it’s — well, it’s not welcomed. So since I was 18 I’ve had to hide who I really was for the sake of my career. Sleazy hookups in dirty bathrooms and cheap hotels was all I’ve really known for most of my adult life. It wasn’t until I retired and all of a sudden people started coming out and I thought maybe I could…you know, be my true self.”
Buck felt his heart pinch in his chest at Tommy’s words. He brought his hand up to his lips and gently brushed a kiss across Tommy’s knuckles. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I won’t lie, it was hard. I felt like I was a fraud so much. But I got to have a career people could only dream of. I got the money, won the medals, had my face on billboards.”
Tommy paused for a moment. He shuffled in his seat so he sat even closer to Buck. His free hand came up to cup the base of Buck’s neck and gently draw a thumb across his jawline.
“And now, I can be who I am without having to worry. And I get to do this as much as I want.” Tommy kissed Buck again, this time with more force and purpose. It was deeper than before. His teeth scraped at Buck’s bottom lip, causing the younger man to gasp softly.
“Mmm, I like the sound of that.” Buck hummed against Tommy’s lips.
A few months down the line, Buck found himself sitting in the station watching Tommy on the big screen. He was being interviewed right before a charity match that he was competing in.
The interview asked Tommy if he had anyone there to support him.
And with a smile on his face, so beautiful and bright, Tommy began talking about his boyfriend, Evan Buckley. About how unfortunately he couldn’t make the match because he was too busy saving people's lives, but he was there with him in his heart.
The whole station hollered and cheered as they watched Tommy play in the game.
And Buck found himself grateful that he didn’t know how to stake.