Saturday, November 19, 2011

eleven

I didn’t lift my face from the pillow.  I just lay there in the morning, holding onto Tori and wondering how I was going to make her breakfast when I couldn’t bear to get out of this bed.  Her skin was so soft beneath my fingers, her breathing so light it made no sound at all.  Eventually I forced myself to unravel and pulled the blanket over Tori’s bare shoulders.  I didn’t have any clothes but my suit, so I found my shorts on the floor.  She walked around my place half-naked all the time now, it was time for some payback.

My mom had taught me how to make pancakes from scratch ages ago, and luckily Tori had all the right ingredients.  I doubted she’d be impressed if I made Cheerios for breakfast.  I lined up all the pieces and as I started scooping flour, my phone rang.  I found it in the pocket of my pants where I’d left them at the foot of the couch.

Oh the couch.

Then I rolled my eyes when I saw who was calling.

“What’s up, bro?” Tyler Seguin asked.  I could hear him smiling.  Girls fucking loved that smile.    We going out tonight?

I’d been so wrapped up in Tori I’d never forgotten we were playing the Bruins tomorrow night.  They’d be in this afternoon and over the summer I’d agreed to go out with Tyler and show him some Raleigh nightlife.  I was surprised he’d believed me, and a little flattered.  

Yeah, I go out.  Just like you do, Segs.

“Tonight?”

“You’re not gonna want to hang out after the game, ‘cause we’ll kick you ass,” he said smugly.

“Uh, yeah.  Sure, tonight’s good.  There are a couple of places that will let us in.”

“Sweet.  Call you when I know where we’re doing team dinner.  Bring some girls, eh?”

Hmmm, I might just be able to manage that.  For me, of course. Tyler can cause his own trouble.

Halfway through the first batch of pancakes I heard the bedroom door open.  Tori shuffled right up, rested her hands gently on my waist and peeked over my shoulder.  

“You have to make this every morning!”  A light kiss pressed to my shoulder blade, then she went in search of juice.  She wore a green t-shirt and black panties.  

“Class today?”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded, mouthful of OJ.  “I have a paper to finish too, because someone has been keeping me up at night.”  Those dark eyes flashed playfully over the rim of the glass.  I pointed the spatula at her like a sword.

“You can bring your work over, you know.  Or, I could just come here.  I like it here.”

In fact I loved it here.  Everything in Tori’s apartment was so full of her - a million pictures and stories and pieces of junk that I didn’t know the stories behind.  I might have been the supposed celebrity, but I hadn’t visited half the places she had or done half the things.  There was a lot more to learn than what to do in bed.

“The Bruins are coming in, Seguin just called.  He wants to go out tonight.”

She refilled her glass and one for me.  “I thought you didn’t like him.”

“He’s alright.  Just a little full of himself, all that swagger.  Will you come with me?”

“I can’t.  I have to write this paper, it’s due in the morning before I go to work.”

My heart fell, taking my shoulders with it.  I hadn’t thought she might say no, so I hadn’t thought to control my reaction.  I sagged like someone just took my dessert away.

“Hey,” she reached out and stroked the delicate skin inside my bicep.  “This is your chance to show him up.  You’ve... done some things.  And,” now she stepped in to pull my arm around her back, “you’ve been really confident these past couple of days, Jeff.”

“That’s you.”

It was her.  I had been better - less stuttering, possibly less blushing - and here I was in my underwear in her kitchen.  But it was Tori’s presence that drew me out: I wanted to be with her, so I tried to be what she wanted.  And it seemed to fit.  

“As much as I would like to take credit for everything, you’re doing most of the work.”  Tori put two fingers to my stomach, tracing the hint of a line developing between my ab muscles.  She turned her face to me, speaking quietly, “And you’re a very quick learner.”

I kissed her.  A wave of adrenaline flashed ice cold through my body, I locked my arms around her.  Tori gasped in surprise but I didn’t stop.  I kissed her till she opened her mouth and kissed me back.  My tongue slipped between her lips, my hands under her t-shirt and my thigh between hers.  She was so much soft, bare skin and I was mostly naked too.  

Beeeeeeeeeeep.

We broke away, Tori laughing.  The first few pancakes had burned black right next to us and I hadn’t even noticed.  She waved a towel toward the ceiling, bouncing in all the right places as her t-shirt snuck up to reveal the curve of her stomach where it disappeared into her panties.  I flipped the pancakes into the trash.  

“I’m not hungry,” I told her, wrapping my arms around her again.  She squirmed.  

“Pancakes!  You’re such a tease!”

If anyone was a tease, it was Tori.  Writhing against me, barely dressed... I groaned and dropped my grip.  Tori moved outside the danger zone.

“This is an important lesson, making a girl breakfast.  You’ve still got a few things to learn.”
____

Between classes and the library, it was nearly four in the afternoon before I got home and started on my paper in earnest.  A short break for dinner and it was nine at night before I knew it.

“Hey,” Jeff said when I picked up the phone.  “Finish that paper?”

“Not even close.”

I’d figured Jeff would call to check.  He really didn’t want to go out with Seguin, especially not alone, even if he wouldn’t admit it.  But he didn’t want to be lame either, which was how we’d ended up where we were.  I thought it might be a good thing for him - something about Seguin made Jeff feel inadequate and inexperienced.  I knew first hand that there was nothing inadequate about Jeff, and we’d been taking care of experience too.  He just needed a little push.

“You two won’t have any problem picking up girls.  And he’ll bring Marchand, I’m sure.  They can make out and you’ll have all the girls to yourself.”

I didn’t think before I spoke.  I just told Jeff he should go out and find a girl, or girls.  To do what?  Make out?  Hook up?  What constitutes a hook up anyway?  Is that what Jeff and I were doing?

“I won’t.”

And there was Jeff on cue, telling me in not so many words that he didn’t want to.  Not that he couldn’t.  It would be easy to miss the nuance.

“Jeff,” I said, wishing he were here so I could see his face, “go out and have whatever kind of fun you want.  If Seguin’s annoying tell him to fuck off.”

He laughed at that.  “I wish you could be there to do that.”

“If I were there he wouldn’t give you shit about girls.”
____

Tyler wore a t-shirt with the shortest sleeves I’d ever seen; it showed off his last name tattooed in Gaelic script down the back of his arm.  We’d had no problem getting into this little Irish-style bar - if anything they looked surprised to see me.  The guys came here fairly often but usually without me.

We ordered draft beers, since we couldn’t be seen holding bottles.  Surprisingly he’d left Marchand at the hotel.

“You and me tonight, bro!”

It wasn’t five minutes before Tyler had browsed the talent and selected a booth full of girls drinking clear cocktails from highball glasses.  He simply leaned against the end, one arm bent and on full display, and asked, “Mind if we join you?”

The two girls on his side had the lowest cut tops.  He made one get up and let him sit in the middle of the bench.  I took the end on my side, next to a girl with a dark bob haircut in a clingy blue top.  She was pretty enough, and ignored her friend to turn toward me.  We made small talk and I signalled for another round of drinks.  Tyler had an arm around each girl and had them asking stupid hockey questions he could answer at top volume.  

“Jeff here was an All-Star last season.  And Rookie of the Year,” he announced, wiggling his eyebrows toward the girl on my left.  She had known who I was, but my accomplishments seemed to be news to her.

“Wow,” she giggled enthusiastically.

I excused myself to the bathroom and sent Tori a last-ditch text about which bar we were in.  She didn’t reply right away.  On the way past the bar, two guys recognized me and stopped me to talk.  The girl in the booth watched us the entire time.  Tyler was up and dancing with one of the girls from his side.

“Your girlfriend’s waiting,” one said, shaking my hand goodbye.

“Oh, she’s not my....”

He cut me off.  “Well she wants to be.”

Seguin had the same idea, and met me halfway across the floor.  “Dude, you gonna get with that girl or what?  I’m gonna kick March out and take this girl back to the hotel in another song or two.  Easier sell if one of her friends leaves too.”

“No, I’m not going to....”

“Jeff,” he said, apparently everyone was cutting me off today, “listen.”  He started saying something about making the most of being famous and being young when I interrupted him.

“I have a girlfriend.”

Somewhere in the corner, a mouse squeaked and ran back into it’s hole.  That was the only noise, though the bar was loud with glasses clinking and music playing.  A flash of surprise crossed Tyler’s face then narrowed into something like disbelief.

“Where is she?”

“Writing a paper.  She’s in college.”

“What’s her name?”

“Tori.”

He nodded, satisfied that I’d at least thought my lie through a little.  “She hot?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I’m impressed, Skinns.  You guys keeping it secret?  I should have heard about it by now.”

“We’re new.  And yes, secret too.  She’s an intern for the team.”

I thought that would satisfy him.  Boy was I wrong.

“Do I get to meet her tomorrow?”

Shit.  Tomorrow was Tuesday.  Tori would be working, running around the rink all day.  The Bruins would be in the building before five o’clock and if he wanted to find her... ugh.  I shouldn’t have said her name.

“Maybe.”

He grinned like the Cheshire Cat.  “Don’t hold out on me, Skinns.”

True to his word, Tyler left with his girl twenty minutes later.  I made up a reason to leave too, much to the disappointment of the girl at my side.  I guess it wasn’t that hard, meeting girls.  If you didn’t mind who they were too much, or care how they felt about the whole thing.

Scratch that.  The girl who just left with Seguin looked pretty fucking happy about it.

They went one way and I went the other, toward my car.  Tori still hadn’t answered my text.  Zero percent chance she was coming out tonight but I messaged her that I was leaving, like a kid checking in with his mom, home by curfew.

Yeah, that’s sexy.  Going home alone, aren’t ya?
____

I shut my phone off so I could work.  The truth was, I really wanted to be out with Jeff to see how he handed being with Tyler.  No doubt Tyler would pull a girl if he wanted to.  I wondered if Jeff would, just to prove that he could.  Or if Jeff was still Jeff even when I wasn’t around.  I didn’t think he had a boastful bone in his body, still it was hard to feel someone was showing you up all the time.

Just before bed, curiosity got the best of me and I clicked it on.

Jeff: We’re at McGinty’s if you finish.  I’ve even got a beer.

Jeff: Headed home.  You know the place.  If you want.

I did want - it scared me how much.  So I ignored them both and hit the light.
_

5 comments:

  1. More soon please!
    Can they just admit their feelings already? :P

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  2. Love, love, love it. I have a feeling she'll give into Jeff's adorkable charm soon enough.

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  3. So good! Can they just get together soon please? :p

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  4. I love that you wrote in Seguin! Update soon please?

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  5. hey, I love all your stories. You make the characters come alive and everything seem so plausible. That, combined with your near-perfect grammar and writing style make your stories the best fanfictions on the internet.
    So, I've had this fantasy in my mind for a while and it's of a college age, timid girl who moves to Pittsburgh to start a new life away from her physically/emotionally abusive boyfriend. Instead of the calm and solitude she'd hoped for, she meets Sidney Crosby (falls in love with him) and the team. Do you think you can write a fairly long story that goes along those lines? I would really appreciate it.
    Even if you can't, I really love your stories and wanted to finally tell you :)

    ReplyDelete