Chapter Text
Excitement rushed through him as he stepped out of the cab, eyes wide and grin huge while looking over the massive building. Unable to believe he was finally here, struggling to grasp it was true. That he wasn’t dreaming yet again, and wasn’t about to wake up in his dorm room, late to class.
Huxley had dreamed of this ever since he was in high school. No, even before that, ever since he was ten, racing around the frozen pond at home. Imagining whole stands screaming for him as he flung the puck into the net for the winning goal to bring home the Stanley Cup.
And now here he was, standing in front of the home practice arena for the Dahlia Dires. About to start as Defenceman, and too excited to even breathe properly.
Then he heard a soft grunt and snapped out of his daze, racing to the trunk where the cab driver was struggling with his luggage. Apologizing profusely, he quickly loaded up, straightening easily with all three bags slung across his shoulders and grinning at the wide eyed look the driver was giving him.
Saluting the driver, he spun on his heel and began striding quickly to the arena. Not quite running but definitely covering ground quickly.
Checking both sets of double doors open with his hip, he came to a stop in the lobby, staring wide eyed at the huge Dires emblem hanging high up on the wall. Eyes raking over all the photos of previous team lineups and staring nervously at the newest one with the current team.
Determination flooding through him to make sure he earned his place in the next photo.
The arena was impressive, with a gym and pool built alongside the rink. All three available to the public on certain days, when the team wasn’t using them for training. It was exciting that he’d have access to a private place to work out, instead of having to use the local gym. Which was fine, he didn’t mind, he just…
Well, when a man his size worked out, people had a habit of staring. Which was entirely fair, it just… He was looking forward to not having to deal with stares, leers, and people failing to be subtle when they took pictures.
Eyeing the concession stand briefly, Huxley turned to muscle through the double doors leading to the arena and went still once more. Standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the rink and just staring.
That really was an official NHL team down there, warming up for practice on the ice. A team he was now a part of. That thought flooded him with not only excitement but now also nerves. Watching the players skating around the ice in lazy drills.
Coach Shaw had assured him the rest of the team was excited to have him, that he and the owner William Solaire had been watching him through his entire college career and were eager to snap him up as soon as they could. Promising him that he’d be a great fit for the team and they were pumped to have him.
He’d heard such assurances before, though. Often, actually. The coaches and owners were always eager to have him on the team, but the actual players usually kept him at a distance. No matter how friendly he’d been, the rest of the team had been…
Well, suffice to say, friendships weren’t common in the teams he’d played in throughout school.
He’d never been able to figure out why. His moms had told him it was jealousy for his own skills, but Huxley didn’t think that was it. He’d played with some really skilled players during school. And now here he was with professionals…
This was gonna be different, though! Teamwork was important in the professional world, they had to click, they had to be their own family. And he was gonna make sure that happened.
“Hey!”
The voice broke him from his paralysis, and he blinked out of his stupor, looking over at the goalie who was currently waving wildly at him. Actually hopping in place and gesturing for him to come over.
Immediately grinning, Huxley adjusted his bags and trotted down the stairs, jogging over to the boards. Smiling brightly at the goalie who had skated over and pressed himself up against the glass with his own huge grin. “You’re the new guy, right?? Our new defenseman?”
“Yep! I’m Huxley! You can call me Hux though, if you want!” he explained. A warm feeling spreading through his chest at the spin the goalie did in place before plastering himself against the glass again.
“Fuck yeah! I’m Asher! Holy shit, they said you were big, but damn! You sure you’re not here to steal my spot in the net?” Asher asked, grin wide as he winked. Huxley immediately shook his head, eyes widening.
“Oh, no, not at all dude, don’t worry about that, I’m not meant to be between the pipes. Got in trouble for charging out to chase the puck too much back on school teams,” he admitted with a sheepish laugh. “I’m much more useful out on the ice, I promise.”
“Hell yes, that’s what we like to hear,” Asher crowed, gesturing to the hallway that led to the locker rooms. “Go dump your stuff and get changed, dude! I wanna see a beast like you in action! We’ll let the coach know you’re here!”
Huxley nodded, excitement rushing through him as he waved and headed down the hall towards the locker rooms. This was already a better first interaction than any other team he’d had. Hopefully things would continue in this energy!
He’d never been so excited to get on the ice.
Asher pushed off the boards as soon as Huxley left, closing in on Milo as the smaller forward spun about and shifted from one skate to the other in his dance-like warmups. Swatting his hip with his blocker as Milo twirled by, flashing a huge grin at the glare Milo shot at him.
“New guy’s here,” Asher purred, wiggling his eyebrows at him. Laughing as Milo’s eyes immediately darted around to try and locate him. “He’s in the dressing rooms right now.”
“…is he as big a monster as he looked online?” Milo asked, and Asher’s grin grew even more as he could hear Milo’s attempt to sound nonchalant. Remembering the choking sputter the smaller player had let out when Gabe had showed them Huxley’s photo.
“Bigger. He seems like a real sweet guy, too,” Asher added, skating a slow circle around Milo and laughing when Milo just grunted. “Try not to trip over your blades when he gets here.”
“Go kiss your posts, Ash,” Milo snarked, making Asher laugh even harder.
The goalie drifted lazily back to his net, humming happily to himself. He recalled the entire team’s reaction to Gabe’s announcement that they’d managed to nab Huxley.
Everyone had been startled at the size of him. David had just given his usual grumble, but Asher knew what the lingering stare their captain had given the photo meant. David trusted his father’s decision, but would reserve his own judgement until he saw the guy in action. Tank had wrinkled their nose, snarking about just propping him up in front of Asher and letting the goalie take a nap.
Miguel and Christian had laughed a bit at Tank’s remark, egging David on about needing a new nickname, since he was no longer the largest on the team.
Asher had watched Milo the closest, however, because all Milo had done was stare. Lips parted, eyes slightly wide, holding his breath. The goalie had spent the following days leading up to Huxley’s arrival taking the piss out of his friend, thrilled over Milo’s obvious attraction towards the mountain of a man.
Not that he blamed him. Hux was gorgeous. Massive and gorgeous. It shouldn’t be legal, walking around in a t-shirt that tight. Asher kind of wanted to see how the guy looked in a Henley. He also wanted to see Milo’s reaction to the new guy in said Henley. David might have one Huxley could borrow, though Asher wondered if even that would fit.
And now he was about to watch Milo bluescreen as soon as Huxley stepped onto the ice, and he was so damned excited to see it.
Asher hummed happily, skating a couple laps around the net before darting in front to swat away a shot Christian took at him, sticking his tongue out with a wink as the forward glided away. Things were still a bit tense between him and Christian ever since Gabe stuck Asher in the net, but they were getting better. It had been ages since Christian had caught him in the face with the puck!
Spotting movement, Asher lit up as he saw Huxley coming back down the hall towards the rink, and froze at how much bigger the man looked with his gear on. He hadn’t thought that was possible!
Looking back at the ice, his eyes immediately found Milo, and grinned wickedly when he saw the forward freeze, drifting slowly to a stop as he stared. Not even flinching when Tank passed the puck to him and caught him in the shin.
Oh, this was going to be an amazing season.
All the rush and noise on the rink faded away as Milo watched the newest player step onto the ice. His heart pounded in his chest and throbbed in his ears, struggling to breathe as he watched Huxley glide to the center of the ice, large fingers hooked into the grate of his helmet, which gave Milo a perfect view of that startlingly handsome face.
He’d known Huxley was good-looking, they’d all seen the pictures of him on his college team. But the photos had nothing on him in person. He continued staring as Huxley moved to where Gabe had stepped out and was waiting.
Gabe was talking, but Milo only heard static, still staring. He knew the man was going to be large, but… holy fucking shit. He could see the muscles through the padding; the jersey was stretched tight across his chest and shoulders, to an almost obscene point. Thick thighs flexed and moved in fluid, smooth pushes that had impressively inappropriate thoughts coming to Milo’s mind.
David had skated up to greet Huxley, and Milo stared in silent shock as he watched David actually tilt his head up slightly for the first time.
Sure, the skates added an extra couple inches, but the man would definitely be ducking in order to get through most doors. Travel was going to be hell for the poor man, especially when it came to the airplane seats. And of course, hotel beds were—
A stick smacking his ass had him jumping, turning to scowl at Asher as the goalie slid up beside him, grinning widely. “Pretty, isn’t he?” Asher trilled, and Milo rolled his eyes, tugging his helmet down tighter over his face. “And big… but agile, though, which is impressive for his size. Should have seen how graceful he was running down the stairs. Makes me wonder how flexible—“
“Okay.” Hooking his stick around Asher’s ankle and tugging, he smirked as Asher hit the ice with a grunt and a laugh, then skated forward to join the rest of the gathered group. Eyeing Huxley a moment longer before finally tuning into what Gabe was saying.
“Good news doesn’t end there. I just got the word that we secured the second wild card spot for the Playoffs,” Gabe spoke, grinning as the entire team instantly started speaking over each other and gestured for everyone to calm down.
“Wait, so… we did it?” Tank spoke up as they muscled past Miguel and Christian, staring up at Gabe wide eyed as he nodded, flashing a proud grin at the team.
“Yeah. We did it. The Dahlia Dires are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year,” Gabe confirmed, grinning widely as the group exploded with excitement, whooping and tackling each other in hugs.
Milo grinned as Asher shook him and all but screeched in his ear, wincing a bit at the noise but making no attempt to stop him. His eyes still lingering on Huxley, watching as Gabe started speaking with him privately.
Joining an established team was stressful enough. Doing so going into the Playoffs was going to be a lot of pressure. They should do their best to make sure Huxley felt welcome.
After all, they were in the Playoffs now, fuck. That had been close. April was looming, and they’d only just scored a few more wins the last month. That last victory must have just pushed them high enough in the rankings for that last spot.
The Dires hadn’t qualified for the Playoffs since Gabe was a player. Which meant a lot of pressure was going to be on David’s shoulders. Poor guy. Milo didn’t envy him in the slightest right now. He was going to have enough to contend with, being the forward paired with Christian.
And now they had the added stress of a new player being added to the team. Someone they were going to have to learn to work with very quickly. In just a couple weeks they’d be hitting the road. Spending the next couple months traveling from arena to arena. Sharing buses, planes, hotels… dressing rooms…
Milo let out a sharp breath, shaking his head. It was fine. He’d gotten over his brief crush on David quick enough, this would pass too. And they had a big task ahead of them. They were in the Playoffs. This was their chance to bring home the Cup.
A chance Milo was not going to let slip through his fingers.
Tank tapped their fingers against the top of their stick as they stood beside David, staring at Huxley while Gabe spoke to him as the rest of the team raved and freaked out over the news of getting into the Playoffs. Turning their gaze up to check on the Captain’s reaction to the news.
Unsurprisingly, David was studying the entire team, a proud look in his eyes but his lips set in a firm line. Already analyzing and plotting out training routines, most likely. Tank smirked slightly, nudging his arm.
“Careful. You get much more excited than that and you might have a heart attack,” they snarked, grinning wickedly as he snorted and turned a raised eyebrow onto them. “Come on, Davey. Fuck, we did it, you can smile, you know. Your face won’t crack.”
He rumbled a bit at the nickname, rolling his eyes before reaching up to tug his helmet off. Scrubbing at his hair and sighing as a ghost of a smile grew. The sight of it causing Tank’s heart to skip.
“Guess it just hasn’t sunk in yet,” he admitted, and Tank snorted.
“So does that mean I should expect your usual panicked flurry of texts later tonight when you start freaking out once it does set in?” they asked, grinning wider as he scowled.
“I am not going to freak out.”’
“Yeah, like you didn’t freak out when we got the news about making it into the top half of the division. And you definitely didn’t blow my phone up when it was announced we were going into trade talk over Huxley. Which reminds me, you owe me minutes on my phone.”
“…wait, you still use minutes? Why aren’t you on an unlimited plan?” David asked, to which Tank snorted.
“Because I hate the hassle of having to pay fees and talk with six different people on the phone when I change numbers. Burners are easier,” they huffed, and shifted awkwardly when a silence fell between them. David knowing exactly why they had to get a new phone every other month.
Sometimes sooner if Quinn was determined.
David raked his fingers back through his hair with a quiet hum, Tank doing their best not to stare too obviously as he did so. Clearing their throat and smirking up at him a heartbeat later. “When you eventually hit your panic wall tonight about how much more training we’re going to have to do, and you want to discuss the extensive schedule you spent the last two hours mapping out, try and wait til after nine. My calls are free after then.”
“I’m not gonna call you. We’ll be on the phone til three am if I do that,” David grumbled, and Tank shrugged, tugging their helmet back into place to hide the flush that flooded their face at the thought of talking with David til all hours of the night.
“Whatever you gotta do, Cap,” they called before skating off to join the practice that had finally resumed.
Eager to take the new guy for a test run, and shake the thought of late night talks with David from their mind.
They stopped short with a quick spray of ice as they reached Huxley the same time Gabe skated away, giving him a blatant look over. Eyes raking up and down him before snorting softly. “I was gonna make a height joke, but something tells me you’ve heard them all already,” they hummed, blinking in surprise when he waved a hand encouragingly at them.
“That’s okay, tell it anyway!” he urged, and Tank just stared. Genuinely unsure as to how to respond to that. There wasn’t any malice in his voice, and Huxley almost looked eager to hear what they were going to say.
“Ah… I was gonna ask if you had to crouch in order to get the basketball into the hoop,” they admitted, the joke lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever. They had to admit, it was a great tactic for deescalating any cruel barb attempts.
Tank continued staring as Huxley actually laughed, nodding a couple times.
“Yeah, I have heard that one before, but only twice! You picked a good one! Most people tend to go with ‘How’s the weather up there’, or ‘Could they only get your legs in the yearbook photo’. Which, I never really get that one, if I really were that tall, I could just sit on the floor. But I guess jokes don’t really need to make sense, so long as they’re funny.” he admitted, and Tank found themselves blankly staring up at the bonafide himbo in front of them.
Swearing on that moment that they’d defend Huxley from any and all who attempted to genuinely hurt this man’s feelings.
“Right… so, uh, lemme introduce the team.”