Just Another Season

by Longley, Avery J.

  Soon enough the anthem was over and Luke and the captain of the Rangers were called to center ice for a ceremonial puck drop, which Luke ‘won’, then leaned down to scoop up the puck and tossed it to someone on the bench – one of the equipment managers she soon realized. He and the other captain posed for a few pictures with the Mayor of Blue Springs, who had done the puck drop, and while waiting for the team to get the red carpets and such off the ice, Emma went about making sure her computer and all her other equipment was set up and ready to go.

  It was at that point she noticed that her smart phone was blinking, an indication she had a new text. Tapping it on, she laughed soft when she read the message from Ryan.

  Lewd message!

  Typing a quick message back to tell him that he was a brat and a distraction, Emma was nonetheless grinning as Luke and the opposing player lined up at center ice once more.

  This time it was for real.

  ~*~

  He should have been sleeping. He knew damn well Emma would be exhausted when she finally got home, particularly after how wild the game had been, and how exciting the ending had been. This new goalie that was basically ‘given’ to them by their affiliate team at the next level up was good, really good. Between him and Luke, they’d largely carried the team. Ryan wanted to be upset about that – it was supposed to be him! – but as Emma had been so oft to remind him, that wasn’t in the cards for him this year. And so, Ryan waited in what he simply called ‘the chair’ with the outside lights on and Ourson curled up at his feet.

  It was Luke who arrived first, hair still wet and his arm around a woman that Ryan recognized as one of the cheerleaders. She gave Ryan a shy smile, but Ryan was aware that if she was hanging out with his cousin there was very little shy about her. “Come to collect your dog?” Ryan teased as he climbed slowly to his feet, nudging the slumbering mutt with his heel as he spoke.

  “Indeed.” Luke answered, eyes sparkling. “Did you listen?”

  Ryan snorted soft and wandered into the kitchen, opening the fridge up and tossing two beers in Luke’s general direction. “Of course not. I know nothing about you scoring a game-winning goal in overtime, that it gave you a hat trick to open the season. Why don’t you tell me all about it?”

  “Ferme ta gueule,” Luke answered, but it was said affectionately, so he really didn’t mean for Ryan to shut the fuck up. Luke came further into the kitchen to give his cousin a hug before whistling for Ourson, who clambered to his feet and went trotting off towards his master. Waving them out, Ryan could hear Luke and the young lady having a discussion on how ‘cute’ Luke’s dog was and Ryan could only chuckle soft. Lucky Luke strikes again!

  It was another 10 minutes before Emma showed up, looking far more awake than Ryan would have otherwise anticipated. In fact, she seemed almost amped up about what she had just witnessed. “Story done?” He questioned as he held open the door for her and kissed her cheek on her way in.

  “Yep! What an awesome start to the season! I wish you had been there. It was amazing!” Ryan couldn’t remember a time when he’d seen Emma this enthusiastic about anything. And that she could get so excited about hockey was turning him on in ways he hadn’t anticipated.

  Licking his lips quietly, Ryan followed behind Emma as she headed towards her bedroom to drop off her work stuff, leaning against the doorway to watch as she began to change. “Mmm. Am I getting a show here tonight?” Emma blushed, but her eyes were sparkling. Still, she threw her work shirt at him and he laughed as he backed out of the bedroom, calling out, “I’ll be waiting.”

  “Good!” She called back. “I can’t wait to tell you about the game!”

  Briefly, Ryan considered telling her that he’d listened to it on the radio, that he already knew the outcome and what his cousin had accomplished, but the thought of Emma talking hockey to him was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Climbing into the middle of the bed and leaving enough room for her to climb in on either side of him, he tried to wait patiently for her to show up.

  Emma all but bounced into his room a few minutes later and surprised Ryan by choosing to climb in behind him, so that his back was facing her front. Turning his head back to glance over his shoulder at her, he was even more surprised when she kissed him hungrily then nipped at his lower lip teasingly. Even in the dim light, he could see how much her eyes were glowing. Lord, was that ever a turn on! And then when she started to whisper right against his ear. Oh, Lord have mercy on his soul! “You should have seen it,” She told him in a low whisper that had him shivering once more. “Luke was amazing. He just picked that whole team up and carried them on his back. I never realized what a leader he was.”

  She was trying to kill him, of that Ryan was quite certain. Emma’s hand had slid beneath his t-shirt as she spoke and her fingertips were dancing a light path across his stomach and inching even lower by the second. “Y-y-yeah?” He finally managed to question, utterly incapable of anything resembling logical thought at this point. Not with her hands and her voice and oh fuck.

  “Like that?” Emma’s voice was a low purr in his ear and now he was positive – she was trying to kill him. Her hands had slipped beneath the waist band of his boxers and had reached their destination, finding out just how hard her words and actions were making him. Ryan could only manage to groan softly and lean his head back against her shoulder, his body on fire as her hand moved along his length in an agonizingly slow manner. “You like this, don’t you? Me telling you about high sticks and hat tricks, and touching you like this.”

  “You. Have. No. Idea.” Ryan managed between hissed breathes, being driven mindless by her exploratory touches.

  “Give me your hand.” Emma told him softly, and though it took him a solid minute before her words registered through the haze, he finally brought his hand down so that it was interlaced with hers, so they were both stroking him together. “Show me.” She whispered. “Show me how you like to be touched. Show me how to drive you wild.”

  Still breathing heavily, Ryan turned his head a bit until he could nip at the sensitive skin at the curve of Emma’s neck, sucking on the skin until he knew he’d left his mark. But still his hand – her hand – their hands – kept moving, grasping his hardness firmly and increasing the pace until he could feel the orgasm building – and it was this point his hand, though shaking, stilled.

  “Why are you stopping?” She questioned, her voice still that low whisper against his ear.

  “Because.” He panted as he removed their hands and rolled over so they were face to face. “I want you to be able to see the effect you have on me, I want you to see how you make me lose my damn mind.” Emma ducked her head a bit and gave him a shy smile, but Ryan leaned closer to brings their lips together again as he brought their hands back down to his length. Breaking the kiss when their hands touched skin, he hissed out softly, “Crisse de Tabarnak.”

  Emma held his eyes and this time she led the drive to reignite his passions, taking little time to bring him right to the edge once again. Ryan was breathing heavily now, but he kept his eyes locked on hers, squeezing her hand a bit so she’d apply just a little bit more pressure - and there it was.

  Sweet release. Ryan was dimly aware that he was making enough noise that Luke – if he wasn’t already otherwise preoccupied – would know that Ryan got something. He had to close his eyes for a long moment and leaned his forehead against Emma’s as he tried to catch his breath. “What you do to me.” He finally whispered to her.

  Ryan could feel her smile against his lips. “You like? Feel better?” Emma teased as she pulled their hands from his boxers. “You did make quite the mess though,” she continued playfully.

  Cracking an eye open at her, Ryan managed a smirk. “I made a mess? That was all you, woman.” Ducking his head just a bit and flushing, he added, “There’s wet wipes in the nightstand behind you. I’ll, ahhh, change.”

  When Ryan climbed to his feet and stripped to get a fresh pair of boxers - and a t-shirt he b
elatedly realized - he heard a wolf whistle from the bed and gazed back over his shoulder to find Emma leering at him. “Don’t feel obligated to get dressed again,” She murmured at him. “I rather enjoy this view.”

  Blushing, well, he was pretty sure that blush went head to toe. Ryan still had enough of his wits about him to tease back, “Doesn’t seem quite right that I be the only one in the buff.” Even in the dark he could see the flash of worry through her eyes at his words and he paused for a moment before continuing, “What say we both go sans shirt?”

  He could see the hesitation before Emma climbed to her feet and slowly stripped her shirt off, tossing it over towards his desk. Letting his eyes take in her curves in the moonlight, Ryan couldn’t help but lick his lips, even as she climbed back into the bed. “Get your shorts on, hotshot. I need someone to warm me up.”

  Fishing a clean pair of boxer shorts out of his closet, Ryan pulled them on then soon climbed back into the bed, pressing as closely to Emma as he could, forehead once again leaning against hers. “I’m sure I could think of plenty of ways to ‘warm you up’.” He told her softly and this time it was her shivering a bit.

  “I’m sure you can.” She whispered back. “I’m sure you can.”

  Chapter 22 - Just a Kiss

  While the hockey season began to pick up steam, largely carried on the backs of Luke and the ‘new goalie’ from the affiliate team, so did the physical nature of Emma and Ryan’s relationship. Though hardly a virgin, she’d been unaccustomed to anything other than a missionary ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’, courtesy of the guys for whom she’d done homework for in college. And while she and Ryan had yet to cross the ‘sex’ barrier, it was pretty much the only thing they hadn’t done.

  For the first time in her adult life, Emma found herself completely comfortable. A job she relatively enjoyed, even for its periodic minor hiccups. An apartment that with two instead of one felt far cozier than it had originally. And a thoughtful – not to mention sexy – boyfriend in Ryan who truly seemed to care for her. She couldn’t ask for more.

  Sharing a bed with clothing optional was the norm, as was Emma coming back from the games all wound up and looking to ‘share’ her excitement with Ryan – something that seemed out of a wet dream still for him. Tonight though, would be the first of those nights she wouldn’t be heading straight home to join Ryan, as Luke was celebrating his birthday and had rented out an entire club for the team and any of their significant others. While Ryan intended to attend, Emma knew that her article had to take priority. So, while he would be attending the game with her that night for the first time since the surgery, he would then be carpooling with Luke off to the party, while Emma stayed in the press box to finish up her article.

  But in the meanwhile, Ryan had therapy to attend and though Emma had grown accustomed to attending the ‘pre-game’ skating and/or workout sessions on game days, this time she decided to accompany Ryan to his therapy session.

  He was gradually getting more mobility back in his knee, and Emma was impressed to see just how hard both his physio pushed him, and how hard he was working to get back to ‘normal’. He spent much of the therapy session in the weight room, doing strength and resistance training with his injured leg. At one point, when Ryan was off getting a drink, the trainer pulled Emma aside and told her, “Y’know, he’s working harder today than he ever has without you here. I think he wants you to see him getting 'better' firsthand.”

  Smiling, and smiling wider when Ryan almost swaggered back into the room, though his knee brace was still in place, Emma blew him a kiss, telling him, “You’re doing awesome babe.”

  Eyes sparkling in agreement, Ryan glanced between the physio and Emma and matched her grin with one of his own, asking, “So how much longer until I can skate lightly? I want to take this pretty lady out skating in the city.”

  Shaking his head, the physio said, “Not yet.” And though Ryan pouted, he nodded his agreement, even as Emma tilted her head a bit.

  “Me? On skates? That sounds entertaining.”

  Ryan grinned wider. “Oh, it for sure will be for me, trust me on that!”

  ~*~

  Opting for the smaller brace, the one that he could wear beneath his clothes, Ryan dressed in his best suit for the game, and arrived well before they opened the gates for the fans. It gave him the luxury of being able to take a slower walk along the concourse area. Just as he was about to reach the elevator, he heard a familiar voice calling, “Ryan! Hey Ryan! Wait up!”

  Turning back towards where he’d just come from, Ryan found Trent chasing after him, also in a suit and not looking the least bit happy about it. When the other man finally caught him, Ryan asked, “Injured?”

  “Concussed.” Trent confirmed with a scowl on his face. “Wasn’t expecting to have company in the booth, so glad I won’t be completely bored out of my mind.”

  “Emma will be there too. She left even before I did, so I’m sure all set up, working up notes from whatever the coaches supplied her about practice.” Pausing for a moment, Ryan asked, “How’d you get concussed? I thought you were good after the last game.”

  Snorting a bit, and joining Ryan in the elevator, Trent told him, “Suffice it to say your cousin and I were playfully roughhousing on the ice – sans helmets, of course – and he caught me off balance and I went ass over teakettle. I’m only a little dizzy still, but they’re holding me out to be on the safe side.”

  Making a commiserating tsk noise, Ryan patted Trent on the back. “Still going to make it to the party tonight?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for anything. Free beer and the opportunity to see just how many of us got your cousin condoms for his birthday? I’d be mad to miss it.”

  Laughing hard, Ryan held open the door to the press box, finding Emma so into her work that she didn’t even turn around at their arrival. Moving to settle into the spot beside her – unsure of where Trent would sit – Ryan placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, trying his best not to make Trent uncomfortable or disrupt Emma too much.

  After a moment, Trent settled in on the other side of him, and Emma finally piped up, “It’s a good thing you picked his side rather than mine. Otherwise, god only knows what they’d have tried with the kiss cam.”

  Both boys laughing hard, Emma flipped them off and went back to work.

  ~*~

  As predicted, it took only halfway through the first period before Emma and Ryan ended up on the kiss cam, with Emma looking up long enough to shake a finger at the camera, even as the ‘camera’ tried to persuade her otherwise. Instead, she tilted her head towards Ryan, and after a moment the camera shifted towards him and Trent, leaving both boys wide eyed and then staring at each other.

  After another moment, Trent put his hand over his mouth and leaned in, ‘kissing’ Ryan through his hand, much to the hooting and hollering of the fans and even the teams below. But what threw Ryan was even in that moment, even with the hand in the way, he felt a spark at feeling Trent's breath so close. Attracted to him as he’d been, he’d figured that attraction had faded.

  Emma, meanwhile, was chuckling soft, elbowing Ryan a bit and teasing him, “At least it won’t be me getting called on the carpet tomorrow for being a distraction at the game. I hope your teammates remember how to play after watching that display.”

  Smirking a bit, even though his cheeks were a bit flushed, Trent told her, “Coach’ll no doubt tease that we were the best action out there tonight, even though nothin’ happened. Course, this one’s,” and Trent paused to nudge Ryan before continuing, “cousin has to be the center of attention so he’ll perhaps try for something like a Gordie Howe hat trick for his birthday.”

  At Emma’s confused look, Ryan busted out laughing, explaining immediately, “Gordie Howe was perhaps one of the best hockey players ever, played in Grandpère’s era. He was a talented goal scorer, but he also wasn’t afraid to fight, as you’ve seen that Luke isn’t either. So, a Gordie Howe hat trick, instead of being 3 go
als in a game, is a goal, an assist, and a fight. And yes, that would be right up Luke’s alley, especially tonight.”

  Turning her attention back to the ice as the action resumed, Emma could only shake her head and grin. This game was strange – but it for sure was entertaining!

  ~*~

  The party had been raging for the better part of two hours, and Ryan had consumed more than his fair share of alcohol. He wasn’t completely plastered yet, but he was well on his way – and if nothing else, his bladder was soon filling. Escaping off to the bathroom to relieve himself, he wasn’t all that surprised when he was joined several minutes later by another body – just about everyone had been drinking their faces off.

  But it was the one teammate who had been drinking the most that had followed Ryan into the bathroom, and when Ryan finished washing up, he found dark eyes staring at him, almost looking through him, finally stating matter-of-factly, “You felt it too. And somehow I don’t think it’s your cousin that’s the bisexual one.”