And I Thought I Loved You Then

The shrill ring of his cell phone tore Sid out of a peaceful, content sleep. His eyes immediately snapped open and he propped himself up on his elbows. The abrupt wake up call left him slightly disoriented him, and his blurry vision attempted to take in, and make sense of, his surroundings. Bedroom furniture - a dresser pushed up against the far wall, a nightstand on either side of the queen sized bed, a wing backed chair by the open window with clothing tossed in a heap on top of it- scarcely visible through both the haze of sleep plaguing him, and the early morning light that tumbled through the sheer curtains. A crisp breeze tumbled through the cracked open window; sending a chill onto the bed and causing him to shiver. He wanted nothing more than to lie back down. To curl up beside the warm, welcoming figure that was fast asleep just mere inches away. On her left hand side, facing him, her dark hair falling over her face and spilling across the white pillow case.

The evening before had been…intense. There were no other words that could accurately describe it. From the near frantic and desperate initial coupling on her basement couch, to the slower, more tender and mutually attentive second time that occurred behind her locked bedroom door, every second was etched in his mind. Every sound that tumbled from her lips. Every caress. Every kiss. Every thought and feeling that was expressed each and every time their eyes met. Those moments reassuring both of them that this night meant far more than either of them were ready to accept, or admit, verbally.

The phone, which had fallen silent after the seventh ring had sent it to voice mail, sounded once again. Breaking the silence and stillness of the room. Autumn stirred beside him, giving a dreaming sigh and mumbling sleepily before rubbing the side of her face against her pillow and reaching out for him. Her hand sneaking its way under the comforter and resting just below his navel.

Sid looked down. A grin curving his lips as her hand moved in slow circles across his skin. Autumn’s wake up call was certainly proving to be more productive, and welcome, then whoever the hell had the nerve to call at that time of the morning,

“Answer the phone,” she grumbled, as she scraped her nails across his stomach.

“I’d rather just sit here and let you do your thing,” he retorted.

She raised her head, and propping herself on one elbow, blew her bangs out of her face. “Please just humour whoever the hell it is…and then maybe I’ll be nice to you.”

“Maybe?” he asked. “You can’t give me something to look forward to?”

Giving a sly smile, she bent down and traced an outline around his belly button with the tip of her tongue. Moistening the skin thoroughly before pulling back and blowing a stream of air onto the sensitive area. Grinning victorious as she heard his intake of breath and saw him arch his back.

“Alright! I’m answering it!” he exclaimed, and leaning sideways across the bed, snatched his cell phone from its resting place on the nightstand. “Oh for fuck sakes…” he muttered when he checked the call display. “Tanger…you freak…”

“Maybe he’s lonely and is looking for a little…private time with you,” Autumn said, then giggled.
“Sorry…I am reserving my phone sex moments just for you now…” he said, giving her a wink before flipping the cell phone open to answer it. “This better be good…”

“It’s game day, bitch! Wake the fuck up!” Kris bellowed into the phone.

“You watch way too much Entourage numb nuts! What the hell do you want?”

“What the hell do I want? It’s quarter after six!”

“And you’re point…”

“My point is that we have a nine in the morning practice and your sorry ass was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago to pick me up you jackass! Remember? You were supposed to come and pick me up! Your exact words were, ‘Tanger, I’ll be there at quarter after six to get you. Don’t worry. I won’t forget’. And what did you do? You had a goddamn seniors moment! You hit twenty two and you go senile!”

“I slept in…take a valium or something…we’ve got two hours until we have to be there…so we don’t hang out in the dressing room for a couple hours…no big deal…”

“Where the hell are you anyway? You’re damn lucky you answered the second time around. Or I would have had to call the house. Wake grandpa up. And we all know what Mario’s like when he hasn’t had his twelve hours.”

“How do you know I’m not at home?” Sid asked, as he raked his hand through his messy hair. And watched as Autumn, with her back towards him, stretched languorously. Every curve of her back and hips and ass on full display as she rolled over onto her stomach. Her simple yet sensuous moments causing a certain piece of his anatomy to stir.

“’Cause if you were at home and slept in? Nathalie would have gone in there under the commander’s orders and tossed a bucket of cold water all over you,” Kris replied. “Seriously…where are you?”

“I’m about twenty minutes from you and about…” he swallowed noisily as Autumn turned to face him, a sleepy smile on her face as she snuggled in close against his side. Her lips moving in a slow path along his rib cage as she laid her arm across his stomach and trailed her fingertips across his hip. “…five seconds away from hanging up this damn phone,” he finished quickly.

“Which can only mean one thing…you’re with Summer, aren’t you.” It was more a statement then a question.

“Autumn,” Sid corrected. “Her name is Autumn and I have to…” he bit his lip as his girlfriend’s hand dipped beneath the comforter once more and commenced stroking his thigh. “Tanger…I really can’t talk right this second…” he croaked out, as she kissed her way from his ribs to the center of his chest. Her silky hair brushing against his skin. The cold metal of her tongue ring causing him to shudder and nearly moan out loud as she licked a path down to his navel. “Hang on…” he said into the phone. Then grinned down at Autumn. “Do you mind?” he asked.

“No…” she chirped, then lifted the blanket. “…not really,” she finished and disappeared out of view.

“Autumn you need to…” all words were cut off as he felt her hand close tightly around his erection and her lips found the inside of his left thigh. “Kris!” he nearly shouted into the phone. “I gotta go!”

“But when are you going to…”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Sid cut his friend off, then disconnected the call. “Are you insane?” he asked, slightly horrified that she’d had the guts do nearly go down on him while he was talking on the phone, yet completely turned on by it at the same time.

“Horny,” she corrected, a victorious smile on her face as she stopped what she’d been doing. Sitting up, she pushed the comforter off of her, and reaching for his phone, snatched it from his hand and tossed it onto the nightstand.

“I really have to..”

He never had the chance to get the word ‘go’ out of his mouth. Instead he found himself tackled flat onto his back, and Autumn climbing on top of him, straddling his torso.

“I watch a lot of Entourage too,” she said, as she leaned over him and pressed kisses along his collarbone. “And there was this one episode where Kevin Connolly spent the night with this smoking hot blonde. And he was in the same situation as you first thing in the morning. Someone calling him on the phone, some place to be. And you know what she said when he said he had to go?”

Sid shook his head, his hands gripping her hips tightly as she licked a path from his Adam’s apple, underneath his chin and up onto her lips.

“She said she’d never been with a guy that never wanted to fuck her again in the morning,” Autumn finished. “So you know what that means?”

He shook his head once more, then winced and groaned all at the same time as she tunnelled her hands in his hair and yanked his head off of the pillow and pulled him into an aggressive kiss.

“It means you better get to work,” she demanded, and pushed him back onto the bed by his shoulders.

He didn’t need to be told twice.

xxxxx

The watch secured firmly on his right wrist read ten minutes to seven as Sid let himself out of the bedroom, and he closed the door softly behind him. Not wanting to cause even the smallest bit of noise that ran the risk of disturbing a now exhausted Autumn passed out in the middle of the rumbled bed, or any other member of the house. Running a hand through his damp hair, he turned to head down the hall and winced as the wooden floor boards beneath his feet creaked noisily. Pausing in his tracks, he glanced over his shoulder at the door behind him, then looked at towards the other three bedrooms, anticipating someone waking up and stepped out into the hallway any moment. He waited, holding his breath, feeling as if he was some high school guy attempting to sneak out of his girlfriend’s bedroom without her family ever knowing he was there. Anxious that he’d be caught any second by an irate father coming to check on the tiniest noise coming from the immediate direction of his precious baby girl’s bedroom.

Thirty seconds passed by, and breathing a sigh of relief, he quickly headed for the stairs, pulling his RBK hat on over his hair as he went. He would have been out of there a lot sooner if he hadn’t have taken a shower before hand. Scratch that. The shower itself really had nothing to do with it. And he’d desperately needed one after the activities of that morning and the evening before. It had been the person who’d interrupted the shower that he had to blame for throwing him seriously off course. He’d planned to just jump in and jump out. Spend enough time in there to scrub himself down and wash his hair.

But Autumn had had other ideas. Sinister, dirty ones at that.

And who was he to disappoint a lady?

Truth of the matter was, he was incapable of saying no when it came to her. And that extended far beyond the power sex with her already wielded over him. It wasn’t so much the way she used her body and her…talents…to get what she wanted. It was the startling differences in her personality that hooked him hard and fast and left him reeling and incapable of all rational thought. It was how she was capable of going from innocent little girl, batting her long eyelashes at him and giving that dramatic little pout he found so irresistible to wild and crazy, seductive and alluring woman. How one moment she could be the one helpless and quivering underneath his hands, begging and pleaded for more, and the next she could be giving him that devilish smile as she completely took control over him.

She was complicated. Multi-faceted. And he was having a hell of a great time both exploring those different sides, and attempting to figure them all out.

And he certainly wasn’t going to complain over the fact that the girl appeared to be a raging nymphomaniac incapable of keeping quiet when caught up in the moment. He definitely wasn’t going to bitch and moan about the fact she couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Or vice versa.

Even if the road map of deep, red gouges that marred his back and the bite mark on his left shoulder sting like a bitch. Or that the noticeable hickey on the left side of his neck was almost a mark of ownership. Of her claiming her territory. There wasn’t one regret that lingered in his mind. One second that he’d questioned anything he’d done. Anything they’d done, for that matter.

Sid had one foot on the landing and the other on the top step when he heard a door click open behind him. Freezing, his hand gripping the banister tightly, he glanced over his shoulder just as Autumn’s mother in law stepped out of her bedroom. A pink house coat cinched tightly around her waist, a handkerchief covering the curlers in her hair as she rubbed at her tired eyes with her chubby fists.

“Sneaking out, huh?” she asked, a grin tugging at her lips. “You’re lucky she doesn’t have a daddy that’s waiting on the bottom step with a shot gun in his lap.”

“How do I know you won’t do more damage to me with your bare hands?” he asked, relief surging through him as a brilliant, amused smile took over her face.

“’Cause…” she walked towards him, and joining him on the landing, took his face in her hands. “I like you too much sweetie pie. And I wouldn’t think of doin’ any harm to the one guy that’s been able to make my daughter in law smile, and I mean really smile, in the last five years.”

“Well…” he couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his own face. “If it means anything to you, she’s the first person that’s made me smile in a hell of a long time, too.”

“Can’t go through life without having anyone in your life,” Zara said. “Always remember that. You can break all the records in the free world and win Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup. You’re trophy case can be stacked to the rafters. But if this…” she laid her hand over his heart. “If this is empty…well then you haven’t really accomplished much at all.”

“That’s kind of prolific and deep for this early in the morning,” Sid mused.

“Just words to keep in mind,” she told him. “Hope you’re not tip toeing on out of here. ‘Cause if you value a certain part of your anatomy…”

“Autumn’s sleeping,” he said. “I told her I was leaving. She knows I have an early practice.”

“Wouldn’t want to look like a dickhead for taking off without saying anything,” Zara reasoned, then followed him down the stairs. “I’ll lock up behind you.”

Sid held up his left hand, showing the spare key Autumn had already given him.

“Now there’s a sight,” Zara declared. “She obviously trusts you a hell of a lot if she’s shelling out the key to her place already. I mean, how do we know you’re not going to come in and rob the castle blind?” She laughed at that, then followed him through the living room and down the narrow hallway that led towards the kitchen. “You want anything to eat before you leave, sugar?” she asked, as she snagged the kettle off of the stove and moved to the sink to fill it. “Something to take on the road with ya?”

“Thanks…but I’m good,” Sid replied, as he walked into the sunroom and shoved his feet into his sneakers. “It was really nice meeting you,” he said, as he moved towards the screen door.

“It was nice meeting you too,” Zara returned, as she stood in the entrance way of the sunroom. “Hope you’ll be back soon.”

“Definitely,” he assured her. “How come you’re up so early?” he asked curiously.

“’Cause unlucky for me, I’ve always been an early riser,” she answered. “And unlucky for you, I’m also a light sleeper. I hear everything. EVERYTHING.”

Sid blushed furiously, and with no logical response to that, turned and let himself out of the house and hurried down the wooden steps and across the damp grass towards where his Range Rover was parked in the driveway.

A grin on his face as he listened to Zara’s amused cackling the entire way.

xxxxx

It took fifteen minutes, virtually all stop signs ignored, to make it to the front doors of Kris and Michelle’s luxury condominium apartment building on the west side of the city. The doorman was already at his post. An elderly gentleman with snow white hair and a permanently flushed face decked out in his crisp navy blue uniform, highly polished shoes and impeccable white gloves. A seemingly continuous smile on his face as he opened the doors for those coming and going. A positive attitude despite the early hour of the morning and the fact that no one even bothered to bid him a good morning.

Sid pulled the SUV into the drop off/pick up spot in front of the building and peered out the front passenger window for any sign of his best friend and team mate. Kris was nowhere to be found. But the doorman caught Sid’s eyed and gave him a cheerful smile and a wave and then jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Where Sid could just see Kris’ denim clad legs and the hiking boots on his feet as the defenseman sat sprawled out on one of the plush chairs in the lobby. His feet propped on a Nike hockey duffle bag sitting on the floor.

Sid considered just laying on the horn and taking the risk of waking the entire neighbourhood up. Instead, he put the SUV into park, snapped off his seat belt and killed the ignition. Casting a glance through the rear view mirror and over his shoulder, he waited for the traffic to clear before tossing his door open and jumping out.

“What’s going on, Bill?” he asked, as he slammed his car door and hurried around the back of the SUV.

“Mornin’,” the door man typed his hat politely. “How’s things going?” he inquired.

“Same shit, different day,” Sid replied. “Wife and kids doing good?”

“Wonderful. We just found out we’re having another grandkid. That’ll be our twelfth,” the elderly man announced proudly.

“You’ll be on two dozen before I get to one,” Sid laughed, then opening the door for himself, journeyed into the building. The soles of his sneakers squeaking noisily on the gleaming marble floors as he approached the chair where his friend was sound asleep. He paused alongside of Kris, taking in the sight before him. The defenseman’s eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell with each steady breath he took. The brim of his ball cap was pulled low over his eyes and his hands were folded on his stomach. His mouth was open slightly; saliva glistening on the left corner of his lips. He looked content and peaceful.

A moment that wouldn’t last for long.

“Wake up!” Sid bellowed, then kicked the knapsack out from under his buddy’s feet.

Kris nearly sprung clear out of the chair. His eyes bursting open at the sudden, terrifying interruption and a hand clasping his racing heart. It took him a moment to realize both what had happened and just where he was and why.

“Douche!” he snapped irritably at Sid, who was bent over at the waist, hands on his thighs as he laughed hysterically. A laugh that was so unique and hilarious, that if he was a block away and you heard it, you knew that it belonged to Sid. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked, jumping to his feet and fixing his ball cup, gathered up the duffle back.

“You should have seen your face…” Sid managed through his laughter. “You should have…your face…you looked like…I swear you looked like…like you shit yourself!”

“Very goddamn funny,” Kris muttered, as his best friend and team captain was now immersed in a bout of silent laughter, his entire body shaking. “You’re a jack ass.”

“Seriously Tanger…if I had a camera…” Sid struggled to compose himself. “I would…I would put that picture up on NHL.com and let the whole world see it…that was just…you’re just…you’re such a tool.”

“You’re the tool!” Kris argued, and picked up two stainless steel travel mugs of coffee and a small brown paper bag off of the chair beside the one he’d been sleeping in. “I swear to God…I’m going to take pics of you coming out of the shower and post those.”

“That’s a threat? Those would only make me even more popular with the ladies,” Sid’s laughter finally ceased, only to leave him coughing and sputtering as he attempted to draw air into his lungs. “What the hell is this?” he asked, after he composed himself and stood up and took one of the mugs from Kris. “The Flyers? What the…”

“Michelle lost my team ones,” Kris explained. “Sent her out to buy new ones and what happened? She comes home with those. Tells me that they didn’t have any Pens ones left. What’s that going to look like? Us drinking out of Flyers mugs.”

“Same way it looks when it’s really Powerade I have in a Gatorade bottle,” Sid said, and took a sip of the coffee. “Holy shit…” he grimaced at the foul taste. “You trying to kill me?”

“Every minute of every day,” Kris told him as they headed for the front door. “So…what’s the goods? Why are you late?” he asked.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Sid replied, giving Bill a nod in farewell as the older man opened the door for them and they stepped out into the crisp morning air.

“That’s ‘cause you’ve never had anyone to kiss and brag about it afterwards,” Kris shot back, and opening the front passenger door of the SUV climbed inside. “You don’t really think you’re going to get away without telling me, do you?” he asked, as his best friend joined him in the vehicle.

Sid just smiled and drawing the seat belt across his body, clipped it closed. “You want the PG-13 version or the NC-17 one?” he asked, as he slid the keys into the ignition and started the SUV’s engine.

Kris gave a sly smile. “You really have to ask that?”