Chapter Fourteen

Two hours into the flight, my parents were asleep. My father was snoring, my mother curled onto her side. Taylor had balled herself into a contorted position that could only be maintained by someone completely passed out. I’d had been staring out the window for ages, thinking about the season and the summer. I was completely lost in thought when my pocket vibrated; the in-flight wi-fi had allowed me to receive a message on GChat.

Grace: This plane is sexy.

I looked over but her seat was empty – she was behind me and across the plane, seated at a table. She didn’t look up.

Me: You’re sexy.

Grace: Thinking the same about you. Thinking about your hands on me… your mouth… thinking about what I’d like to do to you all summer.

Me: Share your ideas?

Grace: Still working out specifics. It’s making me very… sensitive. This big soft seat gives me ideas. Let’s drop them off and fly somewhere else.

Me: Anywhere you want.

Grace: Until then, I’ll be in the bathroom. Test out that soundproofing – listen for me moaning.

Without a glace in my direction, Grace rose slowly from her chair and sauntered to the back of the plane. I looked at my parents: completely out. The bathroom door closed behind her. I groaned – it was either join her in there or take care of myself when she finished. My mom rolled and pulled the blanket over her face. That was a sign.

Grace: Tight fit in here. You’d have to really squeeze inside.

The door wasn’t locked. It was not much larger than a regular airplane bathroom, only much cleaner. Grace was sitting against the sink, phone in hand and biting her lip. Before I could reach for her, my phone vibrated again. I pushed the lock closed and set my chest right against hers, then checked my screen.

Grace: So wet I’m almost done already.

She gave me a wicked little smile and we both had pants down to our knees in seconds. She kicked hers off and wrapped her legs around me as I boosted her onto the edge of the counter. I could smell that she was as wet as she’d promised; she grabbed my cock and slid it right inside her with a breathy sob.

“Oh yes,” she panted, almost silently.

It barely took a stroke before I was fully hard. She was so turned on, so slick and hot that it was impossible for my body not to respond in kind. Grace must have been imagining some pretty racy things to be so ready for me.

“Tell me what you were thinking,” I growled into her ear as I lifted her ass off the counter and held her against me. Her ankles crossed beneath my ass and she bounced all her weight down onto my cock. We hit the wall behind me with a thud loud enough to make her giggle.

“This,” she purred, twisting her hips and rippling her muscles down the thickest part of me. Her juices ran down my thighs as I tossed her easily in my arms. “Up to you if you want to make me scream.”

I buried my face in her neck. She was nearly there, the familiar tremble in her pussy and the almost painful bite of her fingernails on my skin. With ragged breaths, she urged me on.

“Fuck me, Sidney. Make me come. Take it from me.”

I turned, pressing her back to the wall and using it as leverage. Her feet found the edge of the counter, catching her weight so she could rock against me though she was nowhere near the floor. I moved up and down, she moved in and out and her head rolled sideways with the pleasure of the motion.

“That’s my girl. Loves it when I fuck her,” I said, pinching her nipple through her clothes. She opened her eyes, they swam with the fog she was lost in. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out as she came. She arched her back from the wall till only her shoulders touched. Her feet drove hard into the counter, giving her center of gravity over to the deep, pounding strokes of my dick. She held back so hard a tear leaked from her eye.

“God, Sidney, oh God,” she whispered. Before she could collapse, I let myself go inside her. I held her ass down into my lap and jammed home the hot load she’d been begging for. Her body licked and sucked at me the way her mouth always did, hungry for me. When I was spent, I held her close.

“You feel so good,” I told her honestly. We cleaned each other up, smiling secretly and listening for any noise from the cabin outside. When I stuck my head into the hallway, it was all clear. We weren’t in our seats two minutes when the flight attendant brought us bottles of water. She smiled like she’d seen it a million times. Three minutes later I was fast asleep.
____

I woke up in a strange room with a familiar warmth thrown across my body – Sidney’s huge leg, pinning me to dark blue sheets on a mile-wide king size bed. Light peeked in around the curtains, telling me morning had arrived. I hoped to wake up that way every day for the next five months.

Cole Harbour was as beautiful as he’d promised. We walked all over, though we could barely finish a roundtrip hike into the nearby woods or a circuit of the lake without finding someplace to sneak off and ravage each other.

“You are part wild animal,” I told him as he held me against the post supporting the end of the dock. It was dusk and the water was cooling, but not around us. His hands grasped the plank overhead, I wrapped around him and tried to admire the bulge of his flexing biceps. My eyes kept closing against the thrusts of his hips and it was already our second time that day.

“You’re the one who never had sex outside,” he said, licking a trickle of water from my cheek. “Gotta make up for 23 lost years.”

He trained from day one. I tried – it was fun at first, but he was too competitive to have me around, distracting him and slowing him down. His trainer was really great and gave me plenty of stuff I could do on my own for the hours that Sidney spent working out almost every day. One day a week he’d pair us up for something and Sidney would let me win. The trainer said it helped him relieve the pressure.

At first, when we weren’t draining each others’ fluids and energy, Sid seemed fine. Sometimes he was sullen or distant and I knew the end of the season still weighed heavily on him. He’d also never lived with someone this way and I’d been living on my own for a few months as well. I tried to give him space but in truth, I was bored.

One morning about three weeks in, I was brushing my teeth in just my panties when he came into the bathroom. Sidney stood behind me – his shadow could have blocked mine completely – and met my eyes in the mirror as he traced two fingers over every sore spot and newly developed muscle in my back and sides. He must’ve known how sore I’d been despite barely doing a quarter of his exercise regimen. His thumbs kneaded into the tender points before tracking down to grip my love handles.

“Don’t get too skinny.”

“I’ll have to start eating like a hockey player.”

“Sexy,” he laughed. “Let’s go to this party tonight.”

I’d met a few of his friends, but mostly he’d been readjusting to the off-season and hadn’t wanted to hang out with anyone but me. I sighed with relief – we were both going a bit stir crazy. I loved the place but there was no way I could be with only one other person for five months. With any luck, I’d make some friends too and then it would be easier for us to both have whatever time apart we needed.

Brody’s house was set back from town on the biggest lawn I’d ever seen. He was home from law school in Montreal for the summer and his parents were away. Sidney parked at the end of a driveway full of cars. Every light was on and music blasted.

“Looks like a frat party,” I said.

Before we were halfway across the grass, he stopped under a tree. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Just don’t leave me alone in there.”

I swear the party stopped for a second when we walked in. Well, when Sid walked in. He was in front of me and I don’t think anyone looked at anything else. He said hi to a few people, weaving through the crowd. Only as we passed could people see he was holding my hand.

“Darryl!” Brody bounded out from behind the island in the kitchen and clapped Sid on the back. I’d met him twice, once for a barbeque and once for movie night. He hugged me, making a big scene of welcoming me as much as he’d done for Sidney. “Grace! Still hanging out with this guy?”

Everyone in the kitchen was watching us and people were leaning in from the living room. Some at least pretended to be doing something else but most just stared.

“This is my girlfriend, Allison,” Brody pulled a pretty blond girl into his side. Allison looked a little nervous is Sidney’s presence, but she’d been coached well. Brody led us out to the back porch with promises of some other friends to see. He took the longest, windiest route through the house and I swear he was making sure every eye in the house saw Sidney.

Twenty minutes later we were laughing with some of Sid’s other friends. I pulled myself up to sit on the railing of the porch and Sidney fitted himself between my knees and wrapped an arm around my waist. It was casual but proud and I loved him for it. A constant flow of people passed nearby and I knew they were looking at me now too.

“Allison, could you show me where the bathroom is?” I asked.

Once apart from Sidney’s, I drew more obvious stares. Tiny whispers proceeded us, “There she is” and “That’s her.” Allison linked her arm through my elbow and leaned in.

“Doing okay?”

I nodded at her. “No one’s said anything bad yet.”

“They’ll all try to be your friend first,” she said. “I’ve been here two weeks and they were all trying to be my friend because they know Sidney is Brody’s friend. I kept telling them I’d never met the guy!”

We joined the line in the hallway and after a moment, the girl in front introduced herself. Then the girl in front of her, and another. I had five new friends in ten seconds and Allison whispered, “Told you so.”

But when we got back to the porch, the scene was not as we’d left it. Sidney was still mostly talking to Brody and James, but they were surrounded by girls. Right in front of Sidney it was three deep. They were trying to be coy, like they were talking to each other and didn’t see him, tossing their hair and laughing too loud. I almost smiled – they looked like all the waitresses and reporters I’d seen flirt with him. Except for the girl closest.

“Shit,” Allison said. She stepped aside and pulled me with her. “Did Sidney tell you about Rochelle?”

“No.”

“Ugh, boys are so stupid. Brody told me that last summer, this girl Rochelle was pretty much stuck to Crosby like a starfish. I think he might have hooked up with her in the beginning – right after the Cup. Sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that. But apparently she was kinda nuts and Sid was doing his best to get away from her without being a dick. I met her in a bar and she barely said hello before she started asking when Sid would be back. That’s her, in the purple.”

The girl closest to Sidney wore a purple tank top. She was talking close, leaning close and probably touching him though I couldn’t tell over all the people. The look on his face was feigned politeness – the kind he used when he was tired of interviews or attention. Brody was trying to hone in on the conversation.

“You ready for the first real test of the night?”

“Allison, you are my new best friend,” I said with a laugh. I suggested a plan.

“Let’s do it.”

We wound through the bodies on the porch and got as close to the guys as we could without being seen. I wanted to handle this well – it would be the first of many. Allison followed my lead keeping our heads down. When we were right behind Rochelle, we both popped up into view making stupid faces. Sid almost choked on a mouth full of beer. Brody barked a laugh, then slapped the railing and howled. Rochelle turned quickly and found us smiling right at her.

“Hi, I’m Grace,” I shook the hand she didn’t offer and moved right past. Sidney flexed impressively as he draped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me right into a kiss.
____

This is the woman of my dreams. I was sure of it that night. I should have said.

Grace and Allison started hanging out, giving us a little time apart. I loved waking up next to her and falling asleep every night after the release of being with her. Sometimes I fell asleep two or three times a day like that, and I called it my favorite workout. Summer settled into a comfortable rhythm. At the one month mark, we went to Max’s house in Montreal for the weekend. No one said why, but we all knew it was to watch whoever would win the Stanley Cup that year.

I had intended it to be a happy trip. I wanted to see the guys, change the scene a little and show Grace a good time that didn’t involve being naked. I had promised her the best summer ever.

But when we got to Max’s and started watching hockey, a pall fell over all of us. It was collective and unshakable – someone else was going to get our prize. Worse than having it taken from us, I felt like we had given it away. Mostly I couldn’t believe the dream world I’d allowed myself to live in: I’d been happy with Grace despite the loss of the season. As the game went on I could feel my insides curdling like spoiled milk. I hunched my shoulders and drew away from Grace, sitting next to her without touching and never blinking my eyes from the screen. After watching Toews lift the Cup over his head, I had to go for a walk. Half a block away, Kris caught up with me.

“Sid, ca va?”

“What the fuck am I doing, Tanger?” I kicked a stone on the sidewalk. “I’m watching this like I had no idea they were going to win. Like suddenly hockey’s not so important anymore. That’s why we’re not there, Kris. That’s why it’s not us winning tonight.”

“Stop. None of us have been watching. Weren’t you listening? No one else could do it either.”

I was angry now, at myself and at Kris for not understanding. “I should have. I have to. This is my responsibility. This team is my responsibility. I can’t be taking the summer off because I’m a fucking baby who doesn’t like losing – I should have my head in the game all year long. What the fuck have I been doing this last month?”

Kris took a step back like he was a little scared. “You’ve been living your life. Your balanced life.”

“It isn’t balance if she’s all I ever think about.” I didn’t wait for him, I just went back. When I got there everyone was outside, piling into cars.

“We need a drink,” Max called.

I didn’t want to go. I shouldn’t have gone. But Tanger pushed me from behind and I could see Grace was in the back next to Flower and Vero. So I climbed into the other SUV. Max chose some club and I hardly remember them letting us right in past the line. All I knew was that I needed a drink. I got two on the first round and downed them both quickly.

“You okay?” Grace said. That damned dark hair set off her glowing skin and her eyes were bright in the club lights. She put a hand on my arm and I shook it off.

“Fine,” I grumbled. She took the hint and stepped back, watching the club. Max tried to keep the mood light by ordering more drinks, but it was not working on me. Luckily the music was so loud it prevented most conversation.

How could I be so stupid? I was wallowing and I knew it, but I felt cheated of my time to be sad after the playoffs. I’d been so happy about Grace and so desperate to get out of Pittsburgh that I’d kept it away. A whole month had gone by and I had allowed myself only tiny bouts of brooding. Kris’s words echoed in my head: “Your balanced life.” I knew he was right. I knew this was better, healthier. But all I could see was red and the vision of someone else raising my trophy into the air. I ordered another drink.

I’m not sure how much time passed before Max was speaking in my ear. “You are ignoring Grace.”

“I’m ignoring everyone.”

I figured I had to be a little drunk, but when I stood to use the bathroom my legs were surprisingly wobbly. I bumped through a few people in the direction of the back, simply following the darkest part of the room figuring that must be away from the dance floor. The floor seemed to pitch and roll beneath my feet. I should have made someone go with me but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to my team.

“Hi.” She was suddenly in front of me – tall with blond hair, she looked blurry around the edges. I couldn’t move quickly enough, I felt her hands press to my chest and she tried to slide her leg between mine. Nothing in my body or brain would respond. It was like being awake while you’re still asleep, like you’re underwater and slowly coming up for air. Before I could break the surface, she was kissing me.

She was warm. Her lip gloss tasted like brown sugar. And the next thing I knew, I felt the sharp sting of a slap full across my face.
____

“What the fuck are you doing!?” Vero yelled in such a high pitch that I couldn’t tell if it was English or French. It didn’t matter. She’d shoved the blond into the wall and smacked Sidney hard on the cheek. He blinked like he was coming around.

“Listen bitch, you can get your own…” the blond started to argue, pushing off from the wall. Vero rounded on her and if she’d raised a fist she’d have knocked the girl onto the porch.

“Get out of here now, golddigging whore, before I forget that I can’t kick the shit out of him and start looking for you,” she snarled. The blond took off at a run while Sidney held the side of his face and seemed to finally realize what had happened. His eyes went wide on Vero then they both turned toward me.

I stormed right through them, past the guys at the bar and out the front door.

I walked toward noise. There were twenty bars nearby and I was looking for a place to hide before I lost my shit. I ducked into an Irish bar with a forced smile and shut myself inside the first open bathroom stall.

Fucking asshole. I knew he was drunk. I was too. I knew he probably didn’t kiss her, but he didn’t stop her either. He might not even remember tomorrow. None of those things changed what had happened.

Sidney fucking Crosby. He would always be a moving target, lined up in the sights of any woman who thought $9+ million a year sounded worth her time to pursue. I was pissed that he’d been ignoring me, pissed that he’d been drowning his sorrows in liquor when he’d been doing so well handling his disappointment. I thought I had been helping. We were having a good summer, maybe a great summer. Maybe it would turn into fall and winter back in Pittsburgh and then turn into forever.

I leaned against the inside of the stall and just cried. Fat, frustrated tears coursed down my cheeks.

Sometime later, I heard a scuffle at the door and a girl yelling something about ‘not allowed in here.’ The door to my stall opened so hard it ripped the lock right out of the cheap wood. Kris stood there, looking at me like I was on his last nerve.

“Do you know how many bathrooms are on this street?” He grabbed my arm and frog-marched me out the front door. At the end of the block, Flower was in the driver’s seat of one car.

“I’m not going to him,” I said, trying to stop. Kris dragged me right along.

“You’re going to Flower’s. Sidney is already at Max’s.”

“Just take me to the airport,” I hissed.

Kris stopped suddenly and spun me around the face him. “Grace, go to sleep. If he’s left anything of himself in the morning, you can kick his ass then.” He put me in the backseat next to Vero and twenty minutes later she was tucking me into their guest room.

“I should have punched him,” she smiled down at me. I’d stopped crying but tears still seemed to fall. She kissed my forehead and I was quickly asleep.

I probably slept five hours. It hadn’t been that late when we started or finished. My buzz had worn off in the night and the sound of footsteps in the hallway broke through my light slumber. Two treads came and went – one obviously Flower, the other Vero. I could hear them talking. It was barely light out and the bedside clock said 6:24 AM. I poked my head into the hall.

“I’m not leaving.” Sidney. “I’ll just wait.”

Vero was trying to convince him. “Let her come to you. She was really upset. Let her get past it first, then talk to her.”

“Are you going to hit me again?” It was teasing but sounded like a threat.

“I’ll do it.”

They all spun at the sound of my voice. I was wearing one of Vero’s tank tops and a pair of shorts, my hair everywhere and last night’s makeup probably cried off. Marc caught Vero before she could intervene and went back to their room. Sidney stood, wiping his palms on his pants like a kid in trouble. He wore jeans and a t-shirt that looked fit to rip at the seams – it must have been Max’s. Of course he’d show up here, now, looking like the fucking Hulk.

“Sorry Grace,” he whispered.

“For which part?” I was a cliché with my hands on my hips and a smart-ass look on my face.

“She kissed me. I didn’t even know her.” He did a good impression of acting like that was the real problem.

“Yet she still had her tongue down your throat.” So did I.

“I was drunk and too slow to push her off. Another faceless girl trying to get in my wallet. She was just some slut in a bar, Grace. She could never be important.”

“And what was I the night we met?”

He closed his eyes and his mouth. I didn’t even mean it – I knew the difference between when we met and what happened last night. I had been on both sides of that equation too. But I was angry and thought he was missing the point on purpose.

“Go away, Sidney.”
I went back to bed. He didn’t leave or follow me, not by the sound of his steps. I put a pillow over my head and lay perfectly still until I finally fell asleep. Later Vero went to Max’s for my stuff but Sidney refused to let her have it. So I borrowed some clothes and spent the day walking around Montreal by myself, pretending to look at the sights and enjoy the summer weather.

“Cherie,” Max said on the phone. “Please come back. He is miserable. I’ll leave and you two can have the place all night.”

“Last night all he wanted was to be alone. He’s got it now.”

Max sighed. “Okay Grace, you win.”

The next day, we were set to fly back to Nova Scotia. I assume Marc and Max were talking because Marc dropped me at the airport on time. I had my purse but no luggage. If Sidney didn’t bring it, I’d have to go without it. I had tried to change my seat, but the small plane was sold out. We were in first class, which was only six seats, and the airline wouldn’t let me switch with someone in coach. I stayed away from the gate as long as possible and boarded the plane with only 20 minutes to spare.

Sidney wore a baseball cap pulled low and a hoodie open over a blue t-shirt. His body was massive, so hard and perfect that the sight of him sent a spear of longing right into my crotch. It was more than physical – I suddenly wanted to cry again. He looked up at my shadow and I could tell he’d had a rough time of it too. My seat was so big I could have been alone on a couch the whole flight home.

He carried our stuff to the car without a word. We let ourselves into the house and before our bags even hit the floor, we were at it.

“You can’t run away every time we have a fight, Grace.”

“Did you think I was going home with you after you let some other girl kiss you?”

“I apologized for that!” he shouted. “How many times do you need to hear it to make yourself feel better?!”

“How am I supposed to feel better?” I screamed back. “Every time you get in a funk you fucking disappear! Shit happens to everyone, Sidney. Only you handle it by rolling up into a goddamned shell.”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

“Understand what? You didn’t say one word.”

He crossed the space between us and pushed me up against the wall. His eyes were black with focus, something I hadn’t seen in a long time. This was his game face. He hissed, “I hate losing, Grace. I don’t lose.” And he kissed me, eyes open and boring into mine. I squirmed but couldn’t move, his thick forearm had me pinned down. His other hand groped at me.

“Put me down.”

“No,” he said, instead holding me up with his chest and tearing open my pants with both hands. “You think I treat you like some slut in a bar? You want what she gets?” He slid a palm right down my stomach and over my panties. Despite myself I gasped. I knew I was wet.

“She’d be wet like this, Grace. They’re always so wet for me.” He brought his finger to his lip and licked it, slowly. “Good thing, too.” He picked me up and moved toward the bedroom. I flailed against him, punching him in the leg but he just flexed me off. The closer we got the harder I tried and the less I achieved. He chucked me onto the bed like luggage and straddled my side. I felt rather than saw his shirt come off.

“You’re not playing along,” he whispered, brushing his bare chest along my bare arm. I turned my face away. “The girls in bars always say they want me.”

“Fuck you,” I said.

He smiled. “That’s the spirit.” Sidney opened his pants and pushed them down. He trapped me between his arms as he lifted his legs and shook them free. It had been a long time since we’d fought but it was like a drug to him – his rock hard cock stood trembling at attention.

“Get that hard for all the girls in the bars? Girls in the stands, screaming your name? Wonder you can get a cup on over that. Oh Sidney, fuck me, Sidney…” I taunted.

He flipped me onto my back, bouncing me between the mattress and his body. “They do beg me, baby. Just like you will.”

I surprised him by grabbing his cock tight. I rolled my fingers up like I was drumming on a table top, wreaking havoc on his blood flow. “The only person I hear begging is you.”

“Smart mouth getting you in trouble.” He was faster than me and before I could react, he pushed his dick into my mouth. His hands pinned my arms down so there was little I could do as he pressed his length past my lips. I breathed deeply, trying not to gag when he went farther than I could handle. I tried to block him with my tongue, keeping him shallow, but it didn’t work.

“I don’t hear you, baby,” he said, rocking his hips and fucking my face however he wanted. “My cock too much for you?”

I bared my teeth and ran them lightly down his shaft on the next stroke. It wasn’t enough to hurt him, just surprise him. He flinched and hissed, pulling out of my throat with a wet pop.

“I thought you liked it rough?” I asked him, looking upside down over my head. He hauled me up by the shoulders and threw me higher onto the bed, flipping me onto my stomach and coming down hard on my back. He spread my thighs wide and drove his face into my pussy. I drowned a moan into the blanket.

“I heard that,” he said. “Tell me you want it and I’ll give it to you, Grace.”

His tongue was amazing. It rolled and tapped where I was already quivering. I concentrated as hard as I could, willing my body to stop because I refused to come for him. He nipped at my clit and when my hips bucked off the bed he drove two huge fingers into my aching slit.

“Fuck,” I screamed.

He actually laughed. “You have to say please.”

I was face down with my ass in the air. He knelt behind me, working his mouth and hands, so I lifted my foot and caressed the instep along his erection. He flinched again, going still for a moment before continuing. He was too close for contact. I lifted the other and caught his cock between my feet, gently tugging them down his thick beating length. Two strokes were all he could take. He pulled up until the head of his cock was teasing my entrance. His fingers twisted into my hair, turning my head to look at him.

“The sluts from the bars always want to watch,” he taunted me, eyes flashing. Then his other hand came down once with a sharp slap as he thrust his entire length into me at once. He kept that pace, jamming himself deep on every stroke. His hand slipped from my hair to my shoulder. I bit the soft flesh between his thumb and forefinger.

“Ow, fuck,” he yelped. Then he spanked me again, hard. I was distracted by the sting and surprised when he suddenly found my clit.

“I hate you,” I meant to yell but it came out a moan as he rolled my hot button between his thick fingers. He strummed again, working my pussy at the same time. I was really close to coming and my concentration wouldn’t be around to hold it off. I tried to push back and force him off me, but he simply leaned his 200 lbs forward and flattened me onto the mattress. His lips were at my ear and his breath rasped. Not long now, if I could just hold on till he came first.

“You love me,” he purred. His hand was still under me and his weight on top – my body had nowhere to go and the pressure was building. He swung his hips, bottoming out inside me with a soft sob. I craned my head to see that determined look still on his face.

“I’m the best you’ve ever had,” I said. I knew it was true. And with that I pushed myself down hard onto his quivering dick and he lost it.

“Fuuuuuck,” he swore as he came, rolling down against me and spurting deep into my body. It was involuntary, uncontrolled and shook everything from his shoulders to his thighs. It tumbled through me like a thunderclap and I came too, his hand still pressed to my clit.

“Sidney,” I called softly, no breath left in my lungs to make sound as the rest of my body went supernova. He pumped and dumped until spent and fell limp on top of me. We were a panting heap of twisted limbs.

“I’m sorry, Grace. I love you.” he whispered.

“I know,” I told him. He planted a kiss where his face lay against my neck. “And don’t you ever forget it.”
____