Chapter 13

we're heading for rocky seas, be warned, this is gonna get decidedly rough

“She likes weird stuff.” 

I’d been listening to some Dead on my iPod and reading an article about backpacking through India, sort of zoned out and not making any attempt to join in on the conversations around me but that caught my attention.

Pat was sitting across the aisle from me with Carbomb which wouldn’t have been the guy I’d have chosen to open up to. Under any other circumstances I’d have turned up the volume and ignored the conversation but this was about her and I needed ammunition. 

“Like what? She wanna use a strap-on on ya?” Predictably Carcillo headed straight for the gutter. I rolled my eyes and was about to crank up the volume and go back to reading that article when Pat replied. 

“She asked to me to spank her.” I turned to look out the porthole window to hide the smirk that suddenly tugged at the corners of my mouth. My hand twitched as I thought about her tight ass all rosy and glowing from a thorough punishment. 

“Cool!” Dan cackled and I rolled my eyes again. Dan probably started most of his dates that way. 

“It’s not cool, it’s...it’s weird.” I glanced across the aisle to see Pat make a face. What was she doing with him? He was just a boy and she was a woman that was clearly out of his league, despite what she thought of herself, which evidently wasn’t much. He had no idea what to do with her and I knew, given the opportunity, I could strum her like a harp and make her come apart with barely a touch. 

There had to have been some kind of cosmic malfunction. She could not have been meant to meet him when she so clearly was meant for me. 

“Jesus Kaner, please tell me you’ve done more than the missionary position with all those sluts that sleep with you,” Carbomb cackled and Pat slumped lower in his seat. I turned back to stare out the window to hide the smirk on my face. It wouldn’t surprise me if he hadn’t. He wasn’t the most imaginative being on the planet. 

“Of course I have,” he insisted but everything about his body language screamed otherwise. There was a good reason Pat didn’t play with Seabs and the rest of the stone faced poker players at the back of the plane. The guy was a shit liar.

“Okay, name one funky assed thang you done,” Emery asked, looming over the back of Pat’s seat, setting Dan off cackling again as Pat slumped even lower in his seat like he was trying to disappear. 

“I’ve done plenty,” Pat seemed adamant but while we all waited he didn’t offer any specifics. 

“Uh huh, that’s what I thought,” Emery snickered, shook his head and went back to playing some kind of game on his iPad. 

“What?” Pat snarled, crossed his arms defensively and scowled at the seat in front of him, “I have. I don’t have to tell you guys.” I kept my face turned away. Part of me felt sorry for him and that part of me wanted to stand up for the little guy that was being picked on except that this little guy was Pat and he’d asked for it.

 _____________________________________________________________

“Damn,” I muttered as I stared down at my phone. I was in the middle of Downton Abbey and Carson was just about to sink that creepy Thomas’s ship with Lord Crawley. I hit pause and reached blindly for my phone, sliding off the bed and heading for the bathroom at the same time. It was time to take my pill anyway.

“What do you want?” I snapped as I walked away from the table and towards the bathroom. 

“You didn’t return my text,” he said in a smooth, ‘you know you’re glad to hear from me’ voice. 

“I thought it was sort of rhetorical,” I replied coolly. “I assumed if you had more...pertinent information to pass on to me, then you would have.” I was sure I could hear him smiling at my sarcasm and the thought of that lop sided boyish grin almost made me smile. 

“Our little wager would have been over if I hadn’t sent Pat back to the hotel last night with Sharpie.” I smiled to myself. So he did have an ulterior motive.

“So, what, you want brownie points?” I sniped. 

“I want you, but I think we’ve already established that,” he purred on the other end of the line. All the muscles below the brass button on my stretch jeans clenched happily at the idea. I scowled at my reflection in the mirror over the sink. “Buuut,” he continued with a smirk in his voice, “I’m abiding by your damned rules. I could have let him cheat on you but those damn rules of yours got in the way.” I saw the wickedly cynical grin appear on my face and recoiled, turning away from the mirror. Who was that woman who wanted to play with him like this, toy with both of them like a cat does a captured mouse? 

“And what about you?” I asked because suddenly it was important that I know he was alone, that he also hadn’t spent the night with some blonde with a fake’n’bake tan and Lee press on nails. 

“Me?” I could hear the twinkle in his dark chocolate eyes from here and clenched my teeth together. It might have been easier if I just begged for it. “I told you, I’m playing by the rules you set out.” That wicked grin crept back onto my face and this time I ran the back of my hand over my mouth to erase it. 

“Whatever, I don’t care what you do,” I mumbled. How could he, from hundreds of miles away, have my knees turning to wet noodles and my panties melting like cheap candle wax? 

“Uh-huh.” His grin and his disbelief were audible. “I think you do, actually.” Jesus he sounded pleased with himself. 

“Fuck, you really think you’re charming don’t you?” I snapped, turning to stare at my own reflection as if it was him, snarling at it like a caged stray. “Well I suggest you ask Pat just how well all that smooth banter goes over with me.” I hung up and threw my phone towards the foot of the bed. My hands were shaking, my pulse was racing and my libido was doing the Lambada all at the same time. My body wanted him. My brain, on the other hand, had picked up her skirts and was running the other direction as fast as her little feet could carry her. “Asshole,” I hissed, staring daggers at my phone as if it had done something to displease me.

On cue the damn thing lit up and began to buzz. I crawled down the bed, reaching for it, ready to tell him that there was no way in hell...

Zone out so much attention
Scream out I'm in the building

I'm rocking I'm rolling
I'm holding, I know it

“Hey,” I said softly, or as softly as I could considering that I had been about to yell. It still came out a bark.

“Hey yourself,” he said casually and I could picture him sitting up on the bed, ankles crossed, surfing through channels looking for something to watch that would require the least amount of attention and intellectual input on his behalf. 

“I did. Is Lecavalier as cute up close as he is on TV?” I teased. 

“I dunno. He’s so too tall so I try not to stand next to him too much. St. Louis on the other hand...,” he added with a chuckle. Self effacing, this seemed new. 

“How are all the boys? Bonding?” I asked. Would he admit what he’d done...what Jon claimed he’d done? Did I want him to?

“Yeah it’s cool. I got a little sauced last night. Old stick up his ass and Mr. GQ made sure I got back alright though,’ he added jovially. It was, at best, a partial admission and I would not press him for more. “I miss you,” he said suddenly, out of the blue, and I was so taken aback that my next question, that had been on the tip of my tongue, dissolved. 

Did I miss him? I searched my psyche and found a kind of void that I was unused to. 

“The bed’s too big without you and it’s too quiet in the morning without you scraping your toast.” He laughed, which was a good sound. 

“Couple more days and I’ll be home,” he promised and the thought brought an unexpected smile to my face.

And then I thought about the conversation that I had just had. 

“What...uh...what time do you think you’ll be getting in?” I asked, wondering if there was any way to avoid seeing Jon. 

“Late, I think,” he replied and I could see the frown lines between his eyebrows. “I’ll get a cab. Don’t wait up,” he suggested, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief. “Unless you want to, that is,” he added cheekily and maybe a little hopefully too. 

“We’ll see about that,” I replied, telling myself not to be such a fucking pussy. 

 ________________________________________________________________

“Holy fuckin’ hell Pat. How much do you pay her ‘cuz I will outbid yo’ ass.” Emery reaches for his wallet and I just laugh and flip him the bird. He has a point though. I’m barely out of the plane but I’ve already picked her out of the crowd. Her flame coloured hair makes it easier but so does the knee high black boots and the red and black tartan school girl kilt. I adjust my bag, swinging it down in front of me as I descend the stairs. 

“Shit. Did you pay her extra to dress like that?” I smirk to myself as I try and come up with a witty come back for Ye Old Yawnfest himself. 

“She does it just for me, but then, you wouldn’t know about that because nobody loves you,” I grin over my shoulder at him. He rolls his eyes and scans the crowd. I follow his gaze mostly because I can’t really believe there’s anything better to look at than Beth and find Gabrielle bouncing up and down and waving like a high school cheerleader at a pep rally. “I thought you broke up with her.” It’s not a question. I remember him saying it. I also remember thinking, for about thirty seconds, how I’d wanted to take a poke at that. Then I look back at Beth in the teenie weenie skirt and the tight black top under her motorcycle jacket and remember that I’ve got something way better to go home to.

“It’s none of your business,” Toews growls as we hit the tarmac and he brushes past me, his bag brushing me hard enough it makes me stumble. I stare after him, seriously considering calling him out on his shit but I decide against it. There’s too many people around for one thing and a lot of them that would try and tear me off of him just because he’s the captain. I do file it away though, for later. I’m so fucking sick of him walking around like he’s Captain Turd of Shit Island. 

“Hey sexy,” I dropped my bag and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist, pulling her up hard against me. She too is staring after Tazer, a frown making her smile upside down. “Fuck him, he’s an ass,” I tell her and her gaze swivels back to me and she smiles. It’s not a big shit eating welcome home smile, but it’s a soft sort of fire in the hearth kind of smile that makes me forget that I wanted to punch Jon in the face. “Is...uh...is all this for me?” I ask, dropping one hand down over her ass and flipping the back of her skirt up just a little. Her smile grins into something more playful. 

“Yeah, you like?” she asks, the point of her little pink tongue sweeping over her bottom lip, making me stare at it. 

“Please tell me you drove the Hummer here because I am so gonna fuck you in the back of it right now,” I promise her right before I kiss her, hard, right there in front of everyone. I press the flat of my hand over the curve of her ass and let her know that I’m definitely not lying about that. She giggles breathlessly and, I think, a little nervously as I reach for her hand and started jogging for the car. 

 _______________________________________________________________

His eyes get big and his grin grows exponentially when he sees the plain jane white cotton panties I’m wearing under the skirt. Pat’s funny like that. He so confused over the whole whore and Madonna thing. One minute it’s the boots and the short skirt that has him hard and the next minute it’s the girl next door white cotton panties. 

“Fuuuck,” he groans appreciatively and then swipes his fingers up along the lips of my pussy, making an indentation in the fabric. 

“I thought you wanted to fuck me,” I tease, bracing one heel on the back of the driver seat’s head rest and throwing my other leg over the middle of the back seats while he unbuckles his suit pants like they’re on fire.

He pulls his dick out and strokes it, running his fist up and down the short, thick length of it like he’s just going to kneel there between my legs and spank off. I frown up at him as he continues to stare up between my thighs.  

“Just so fuckin’ hot,” he mumbles, working his dick like he’s trying to pull the skin off of it. 

“Don’t you wanna...touch me?” I ask, sliding my hand down and deliberately slowly run my fingers up my cleft. He groans and squeezes the head of his dick like he can stop himself from exploding. 

“Oh god baby that’s so fuckin’ hot, do it again,” he moans. I hadn’t really been into it until that moment but the look of pure lust in his eyes and the way he licks his lips as he kneels there, pretty much worshipping me, I can’t help but find hot. So I reward him, slipping my fingers down into my panties and making a show of working them down until I shove two fingers deep into my entrance. His gaze never stops following my fingers and the moment he sees my fingers bend and dive into my pussy he gasps and sort of shutters. “Oh shit...oh...yeah get on your knees baby, daddy is so gonna fuck your tight little snatch.” 

I stifle a giggle, just barely as I squirm up onto the seat, one knee bent on the seat the other one sort of stuck out at an angle and braced against the back of the passenger seat and the transmission tunnel. I reach out and grab the back of both seats while he shoves my panties down to my knees and then the whole vehicle rocks as he shoves his cock into me. 

“Oh god, baby, so hot,” he cries out, his hands around my waist as he pulls back and then shoves his cock home again. I feel his thighs press against the back of mine and have to readjust, pressing one hand to the fogged up window to stop him from shoving me through it. He backs out and rams himself home again and lets out a long, low groan right before I feel him let go and I spread my fingers on the glass, clearing it, and see him...staring at me from the darkness inside of his car as he pulls out of the parking space.

If looks could kill....

I let a slow, satisfied grin spread across my face, though in face I am far from physically satisfied. But I have won this round and that, for the moment, is satisfaction enough. 

 __________________________________________________________________

“Jonny, you’re hurting me!”

I hear her say it. I just choose to ignore it. She should never have answered my call. I’d been a complete asshole to her and she came crawling back the first opportunity I gave her. She deserves it. 

I admire the rosy imprint my hand has left on her ass as she squirms and yanks against the restraints. She can’t get free but her brain is telling her to try. She can’t fight me and she knows it so what other choice has she got but to flee, hence the restraints. 

“Be still,” I growl and bring my hand down on her other ass cheek, leaving behind another glowing, red imprint. She cries out and her body bucks but as I slip my fingers down into her peach I find her warm and dripping wet. 

“Jonny, pleeeeeze,” she sniffs and I roll my eyes. It’s too soon to beg. I’ve hardly fucking begun and it pisses me off. 

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” I snap and bring my hand down even harder this time. She cries out, a thin, high pitched sound that makes my cock jump and my balls tighten up. Mmm, that I like. I also like the way she’s bent over this bench, her ass in the air at just the right angle. I could fuck either hole and consider it, dipping my fingers into her snatch and sliding them back out and northwards, making a slow, gleaming circle around her tight little asshole. She whimpers. Oh yes, she loves that. She’ll say no and she’ll resist and that will only make it sweeter, tighter, hotter. I dip my fingers into her honey hole and drag them back upwards towards her ass and she begins to squirm. “Do you want me to fuck your twat or your ass Gabby?” I ask her, not like I’m actually going to give her a choice. I decide, right before she answers, that whatever she decides I’m going to do the opposite. I’m in that kind of a mood. 

“I want you to fuck my sweet little ass,” she purrs and I roll my eyes again. She’s so fucking predictable. It’s no wonder things didn’t work out between us. 

Grabbing a condom, I rip the foil packet with my teeth and then shove my jeans down over my hips. She can hear it, knows what’s happening and I can watch her pussy lips swell in anticipation. Her own juices are running down her thighs already, she’s so fucking hot for it. 

I grab her narrow hips and shove my cock deep into her pussy and she cries out like I’ve hit her. Her head falls back sending a cascade of that frosted fake blonde hair of hers over her shoulders. I slowly back my cock out and watch it reappear, covered in her gleaming juices and then shove it back in, hard and fast. She cries out again and this time there’s an edge of pain to her tone that makes me grin. 

“I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk out of here,” I promise and she whimpers. Her thighs are beginning to quiver. She’s going to cum soon. 

“Oh yes please,” she begs and I feel my nostrils flare as I look down at her in disgust. Begging, so soon, it’s unbecoming. 

“You little whore,” I growl and smack her ass so hard that her butt jiggles, which is really quite a feat, considering how skinny she is. She howls and the muscles in her snatch close down hard around my cock. It’s so good I almost moan. 

“Yess, baby, your whore,” she moans and it’s so standard cheap porn it makes me gag.

“Yes...what?” I growl and smack her again. A lovely, pink welt comes up immediately and her cry fills the room in the most satisfying way that I feel my scrotum clench in pure pleasure.

“Yesssss sirrr,” she moans like a ten dollar whore and I grin, pull out until I’m almost all of the way out and then slam back inside of her I slap her ass again. Her pussy clenches and it’s almost impossible to shove my dick into her. The sensation almost makes me cum. 

It does make her unravel beneath me, her entire body shaking, convulsing almost as she cries out, over and over again as I fuck her hard and fast, fucking through her orgasm and racing towards my own. I feel her go slack in her bonds and I don’t care. I’m not thinking about her anymore.  I’m thinking about Beth, about what he was doing to her in that car, in that little kilt with those boots. I close my eyes and imagine that skirt flipped up over her pale skin, the curve of her ass in my hand as I fuck her and that fucking sexy grin of hers looking over her shoulder at me as I stuff myself deep in her tight little snatch. 

“Oh...fuuuuck yes...oh Betttthhhhh!” My back bows as wave after wave of pleasure hit me, as my balls empty into the condom, shooting load after load until I wonder if the condom can take anymore. I see white lights dancing in front of my eyes and my entire body is rigid, like I’ve been hit by lightening. This is what it would be like with her, I know. I know it in my gut. 

“Beth?” I sag onto Gabrielle’s back and slide, soft, out of her. “Who the fuck is Beth?” I don’t answer her. I slide the condom off, checking to see if it’s split open before tying it off and tossing it into a nearby waste basket. I sit there beside Gabby, drawing my knees up so I can lay my head on the back of my hands and catch my breath. 

“None of your concern,” I mumble, my eyes closed as my breathing begins to return to normal. 

“Ummm, yeah, you just fucked me and called me some other woman’s name. I think I have a right to know.” I chuckle, my shoulders heaving, and shake my head. 

 

“You don’t have a right to anything,” I tell her, running my fingers through my hair. There’s a fine layer of sweat on my scalp. I’ll sleep better now. 

Slowly I get to my feet and undo all of her bonds. She watches me through narrowed, unhappy eyes. I don’t care. For weeks now I’ve felt like I’ve been walking around in a fog, like I couldn’t see straight. Now, for the first time in a long time, I suddenly feel like I’m not going blind. 

“I’m gonna have a shower, you coming?” she asks and as I watch she struggles to her feet. Her legs are still shaking. She’ll still feel like that in the morning and for a moment that thought makes me smile.

“No, get out,” I grunt, lowering myself to the bench. I feel relaxed. I haven’t felt relaxed in a long while and I know if Gabrielle stayed I wouldn’t relax. 

“Out?” she repeats, trying to look all tough with her fists on her hips. I almost laugh. It’s kinda funny to look tough with my teeth marks on her tits. 

“Yes, out. Thanks for...coming over,” I add, to be gentlemanly or because it’s polite or something, “but I have to get some sleep so...yeah.” She blinks at me and then, making a huffing noise, grabs her bra from where it’s hanging from the play chest nearby. 

“My panties are in your car!” she snaps and I smile again, thinking about how I made her take them off, made her touch herself in my Mercedes and how that guy in the eighteen wheeler got one hell of a show.

“I’ll mail them to you,” I grumble and then pull my pants up so I can get at my wallet. I hold a twenty out to her. “This should get you home.” She stares at the bill and then at me and snatches it out my hand with a sob. She practically runs out of the room and I know I’ve been an ass again but I don’t care. She should never have agreed to meet me. I wouldn’t have hurt her again if she had just stayed away.

And I wouldn’t have lost the bet.

Chapter 12

So are you team Kane or team Toews? 

“Be good while I’m gone,” he said before I could as he kissed the corner of my mouth like he was too cool to give me a full on lip smacking smooch in front of his teammates but he squeezed my hand at the same time like he was trying to make up for it in a secret handshake sort of way. 

“I will,” I promised, as if there were any alternative. I worked, I went home. I’d probably watch a bunch of girl movies and eat ice cream. There was the promise of a girl night out with some of the other WAGs to look forward to but I wasn’t sure if he knew about that, or if he needed to. 

Was it my imagination or did he let go of my hand a little reluctantly? I watched him turn and head into the airport with his teammates and felt...relief. I rolled my shoulders and shook out my hands. It felt like I’d been holding onto a rope for dear life and I’d suddenly been yanked to safety and could let go, like all the blood was suddenly rushing into my extremities and I could feel them again but hadn’t realized that I couldn’t before.

“And so it begins,” Kelly-Rae sighed, still watching her man walk away. Duncan was talking animatedly with his hands as he and Patrick walked side by side into the terminal. He was either talking about a fish he caught or Kelly was a very lucky girl.

“What’s that?” I asked, doing my best not to smirk. 

“The worrying,” she replied without hesitation. 

“About him getting hurt?” I offered, thinking about what I’d heard about his concussion the season before. She shook her head immediately. 

“Cheating,” Dayna, Seabrook’s fiancée piped up immediately. I turned to stare at the petite brunette and she shrugged. “Fact of life I’m afraid,” she said almost apologetically, but not quite. I looked around at the other women and not one of them looked shocked. 

“Okay, maybe not this early in the season,” Julia piped up, “because the games don’t matter as much so they don’t necessarily feel the need to take it out on someone...oh!” her face fell and she reached over and touched my arm. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t say it wasn’t true, or that it wouldn’t happen to me, she just apologized as if she’d spoken out of turn. I shrugged. After all, I’d been warned. 

“It’s fine...I just thought I was the only one who had to worry,” I said quietly and was rewarded with sympathetic smiles all the way around. 

As we turned to go, the ladies now chatting about shopping and lunch, I caught sight of the Captain out of the corner of my eye. He was just disengaging himself from a scrum of reporters, looking grave and determined as always. I stopped to watch him sign one more autograph for a small, golden haired boy who he smiled down at and took the time to say something to before turning to go again which is when he looked over at me as if he’d known I was there all the time. 

His intense gaze rooted me to the spot, as if my feet were sinking into wet concrete and I had no choice but to stand there and stare back at him. His mouth twitched at one corner, as if he was going to smile but thought better of it and then he twisted his face away and with a resolute set to his jaw, he headed towards the same gate the rest of his teammates had already disappeared into. 

“Are you coming?” Julia called. I gave myself a shake and forced a smile back on my face. 

“Coming!” I called back and found that I had full use of my limbs once again and turned to follow the ladies out to our cars. 

________________________________________________________________

“Holy shit man, did you see that chick’s tits?” Sharpie looked up between the two pairs that were currently a cunt hair away from his face and grinned as I stumbled off the dance floor. “I fuckin’ love this place!” I cried before downing half a pint of something cool and bubbly. I licked my lips and then wiped them with the back of my hand. “C’mon man,” I reached for Tazer but he shrugged my hand away. “Fuuuuck man, stick up your ass much?” I laughed as I headed back into the crowded dance floor. Sure we’d lost but the game was over now. To me there was no point in brooding over it. Of course for Captain Grouchy Pants there was always more time for worrying at things that coulda shoulda woulda. 

The place was hoppin’, the chicks were hot and we hadn’t had to pay for a beer yet. This was my kind of bar. It was hot out and every chick in the place was wearing next to nothing over their tanned, hot bodies. I’d had my first threesome the first time we’d come to this place. I could totally see me pulling off a foursome...or more tonight. 

“Welcome to Miami,” a blonde purred in my ear as she poured her body up against mine. I grinned and slid my hands down over her ass. Her breasts pressed against my chest and she licked her lips as she looked me up and down in that slow considering way before she raised her blue eyes to mine and gave me a slow, sultry smile. “Is it true,” she purred in my ear and then gave my earlobe a tiny, playful bite, “what they say about professional athletes?” I gave her ass a squeeze and laughed. 

“I don’t know what they say but it’s true about me,” I promised and slid my hand up the back of her very short dress only to find smooth, toned flesh. I searched around, looking for that t-bar, that elastic at the top of a g-string and found none. “Mmm you’re ready to go,” I said appreciatively. She raised a drawn on eyebrow and smiled. 

“Anytime baby,” she purred and then licked those lips of hers. I could already see that blonde hair of hers bobbing over my dick and smiled to myself. 

“I need to take a leak, I’ll be right back. Stay here okay?” She pouted but nodded and I stumbled away from her. The club was so hot that my shirt was sticking to me and I needed another drink, even though the beers were going through me in record time. 

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Predictably it was Tazer who held his hand over my glass as I went to tip the pitcher into it. I frowned at him and then tipped the pitcher into my mouth. “You’re drunk,” he pointed out pointlessly. 

“I am and I’m about to get lucky,” I pointed out and turned to wave at the blonde in her disco ball dress. She waved back to me and pouted prettily. “What you doin’?” I grinned and peered around him. “Awww Tazer all alone,” I stuck out my bottom lip but couldn’t hold it. I laughed and took the pitcher with me. There was always a line up for the bathroom and I needed to hydrate. 

“You have a girlfriend at home.” I made a face as I turned around. Why was he following me? Guys didn’t do the group bathroom thing. 

“Yeaaaah aaaaand?” I smirked and continued on my way. Sure I’d promised to be a good boy but.... 

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her right?” I offered him the pitcher. He shook his head. I wondered if he’d had anything to drink all night. I frowned as I tried to remember if I’d ever seen a drink in his hand. Captain No Fun, in da house. 

“So you’re okay losing the bet?” We’d reached the line. It wasn’t too bad. There was only a couple guys holding the door open and a couple more inside waiting. I tipped the remainder of the cool golden suds into my mouth and then, very carefully, put the pitcher down on the floor. My head swam as I straightened up. I had a good buzz on. 

“I only lose the bet if you tell her I lost the bet,” I smiled up at Tazer who didn’t smile back, “and you’re not gonna tell her anything because what happens on the road,” I tapped the guy in front of us in the line on the shoulder. He turned around and looked questioningly at me. “Hey, guy, what haaaaappens on the roooooad,” I repeated slowly and he grinned and finished it with me, “staaaaays on the roooooad.” I clapped him on the back like he’d given me a great pass that I’d scored on and he laughed. “Hey, that’s the rule. I don’t make the rules, I just know that’s the rule,” I added and then yawned. 

“You’re drunk,” Tazer pointed out again. “You should go back to the hotel, alone, call her and then sleep it off.” I opened my mouth to argue with him, to ask him if he’d seen how hot the blonde was I’d been dancing with but I yawned again and then the room sort of spun around me. I was kinda tired. 

“You know...I am kinda tired,” I yawned again and leaned against the wall. 

“What am I saying?” Captain Tedious ran his big meat hands through his short dark hair and frowned at me. “Do whatever the fuck you want. You want me to go get her for you?” he offered and I blinked at him. Christ I must be drunk I thought as I peered at him. Was he really offering to go get that girl for me to fuck?

“You totally couldn’t pull a hottie like that if you tried,” I smirked and it was back, that look, that dark, menacing, disapproving look. 

“Faster than you could,” he growled. 

“You’re fucking on man!” I laughed and then stumbled into the guy in front of me. “Sorry man, sorry. I just...I gotta pee like a racehorse y’know?” I grinned at him and after a moment’s contemplation the guy shoved me ahead of him. “I’ll be right behind you man! I’m gonna beat you to it Tazer!” I called and then stumbled towards the urinal, snickering to myself as I contemplated watching Captain Seriously Uncool try to pull. 

____________________________________________________________

“Oh my gawd, I can’t believe I’m here with Jonathan Toews.” I sat on the edge of the hotel bed untying my shoes and clenching my teeth. This was turning into a very bad idea. First, giving in to beer pressure from Kane of all people and second, picking this red head to try and exorcise a certain woman’s face from my brain. “The girls are so not gonna believe me when I tell them about this tomorrow. Can I take a picture?”

“No,” I snarled, kicking off my shoe and reaching for my bag. I pulled the zipper on the pocket at the end of the bag and reached in. “Open your mouth,” I grumbled. 

“Oh my gawd, oh my gawd,” she squealed and clapped her hands like a little kid expecting a treat. What she got instead was a ball gag. She looked up at me with huge, terrified eyes as I pulled the band of the harness over the top of her head and secured it. 

“Tell your friends about this,” I smirked as I dragged her arms behind her and snapped a pair of handcuffs on her. 

She made a noise that I was sure was an objection, which I ignored. If she screamed later there was a dozen people that saw her leave more than willingly with me and even more people that had seen her all over like a sunburn on a newbie on a nude beach. 

I hauled her up onto her knees and put my hand between her shoulder blades, forcing her head down. She made another noise, this time it sounded angry and I ignored that one as well. 

I stared at the black lace panties that stretched across her plump little ass and bet that when she’d put them on she’d been hoping to get lucky. They were getting laid kind of panties and I knew, if I pulled that lace fabric aside she’d be juicy wet and ready. After all, she was with me because she thought that I was somebody and that being with somebody was important. That thought didn’t bother me but something else did. 

This...this sight before me, a good looking girl trussed up and ready to be thoroughly fucked should have had me excited but I wasn’t. All I could think of was Beth, sitting back at Pat’s place, waiting to hear if one of us had been unfaithful and I’d made Sharpie take Kaner back to his room, alone. 

“I’m sorry.” I picked up the key from the side table and unlocked the handcuffs. “I must be too drunk,” I added, a small attempt at being a gentleman. After all, she was a pretty girl and I didn’t want her thinking that this was about her.

I unclipped the ball gag and slipped the harness over her head. The ball slipped from her mouth and she gasped, dragged the sheet up to cover herself and then looked at me over her shoulder. There were tears in her eyes but murder too. 

“You...asshole,” she hissed like a snake. I shrugged. 

“I said I was sorry,” I repeated, though it looked like an apology was not going to make everything all right with her. Not that I blamed her at all. “I’ll go down the hall...give you some time to get dressed.” 

This little episode would no doubt be all over the internet in the next hour and then all of those bloggers would be having as much a field day with me as they ever did with Pat. 

I shut the door to the room behind me and leaned heavily against it. This didn’t happen to me. Women did not get under my skin and they never, ever stopped me from being able to do what I wanted to do. I didn’t want her in my head and I’d hardly even touched her...yet. 

__________________________________________________________

The bed was too big and too empty and I rolled over restlessly, unable to find a spot in it that would allow me to fall asleep. I could have blamed watching a dishy Colin Farrell playing a naughty vampire for keeping me awake but it wasn’t thoughts of him that had me tossing and turning. Every time I closed my eyes I saw deep dark chocolate eyes alright, just not his. 

My phone vibrated and lit up and I cursed quietly. Pat had already drunk dialed me twice, slurring nonsense once and making a pathetic attempt at rapping the second time. I rolled over and faced away from my bedside table and squeezed my eyes shut. It was kind of cute once. It was just annoying now. 

I gritted my teeth and waited for the beginning notes of “Club Can’t Handle Me” to begin, altering me that Pat was calling again, but they didn’t. Instead the sound of a robin’s plaintive twilight cry told me it was only a text. 

I lay there for a while, telling myself anything sent this late by text wasn’t important, that I could read it in the morning, but the longer I tried to ignore it, the more my fingers itched to grab my phone. I rolled over and lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. 

The way he’d looked at me at the airport kept replaying in my head. He hadn’t so much as looked at me as looked into me, like he could see that I was thinking about him. 

Did that mean I wanted Pat to fail? 

I rolled over again and stared at my phone. It wasn’t like Pat would text me and admit that he was doing something...or someone but someone else might. How would I feel about that? Would I be angry or relieved? 

I rolled back over and faced away from my phone. If Jon texted me, throwing Pat under the bus, then he would have lost as well. How would I feel about that?

With a frustrated growl I reached for my phone and thumbed the bar across to unlock it. It was from Jon and it stole my breath. 

I want you

Right now

If I was there I wouldn’t take no for an answer

I put my phone down carefully and slid back onto the bed and just started at it, like it might suddenly develop fangs and come after me. I had the sudden urge to hide under the covers or leave the room altogether as if by doing so I could escape those words and the intent behind it. 

Slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves that might get the attention of the little piece of inert technology, I slid the drawer open on the night stand and dropped my phone into it. Then I shut the drawer fast and hard, pulled my blanket over my head and started to count sheep.