Blue Paint & Red Lights

When Antti got home that night, he had brought a couple guys with him. When I married him, I realized I would be marrying the team too, and all the other wives realized the same thing: that we would often be visited by not only our significant others, but by whoever tagged along. Tonight it was Dustin Byfuglien, Niklas, and Joe Fallon, the young back-up goaltender.
Ever since last year, when Cristobal Huet had taken the remainder of his money and terminated his contract to move with his family to a beach house in Belize, Joe had been playing back-up for Antti.
"Hey Doc." Fallon began using the same nickname the rest of the guys had given me, even if I was never his doctor. I waved at him and Antti was at my side and pressed a light kiss to my temple.
"Antti." I greeted him and he placed his hands on my hips.
"What do you guys want for dinner? Did you have anything before you came?" I asked him.
"You don't have to feed those chumps." He answered me in a low voice. It was still nasally, but sounded better.
"Hey! I heard that!" Buff yelled from the adjacent room.
"How are you feeling?" We ignored him. I raised my hand to his forehead to feel his temperature.
Antti just shrugged his shoulders and half-smiled at me before releasing me.
"You guys up for chili?" I called into the other room.
I heard responses of approval and I smiled when they all crammed into the kitchen, urging me on.
I could cook very few things, but damn could I cook chili. It was always spicy and for some reason, most of the team that came over loved it. I started taking out cans, a wok where I would cook the meat, and a pot where I would cook the chili before I mixed it.
I tuned out the guy's chatter while I quickly whipped up a batch of it, being generous with the chili powder. I wasn't too fond of chili myself, but I loved chili powder.

I finished the meal and Niklas shoved Dustin to the side as he raced to grab a bowl that Antti had taken out.
"Calm down!" Fallon yelled, eager to get some, too.
I just laughed and stepped aside while they all demolished the pot, even Antti had to fight off Dustin with his spoon, wielding it like a weapon.

When I woke up the next morning to Antti leaving, I just walked out into the kitchen and made myself some coffee while I sat there. I realized that today I had absolutely nothing to do while Antti was at the convention. For a while I just sat there, sipping my coffee. Finally standing up I rummaged through the cabinets.
"Aha!" I said triumphantly as I pulled a box of chocolate chip cookie mix off a shelf and out of the dark wooden cabinet.
While I baked, I thought about how well Antti and I worked as a couple, now a married couple. Sure, we had our disagreements, but there was only one time we actually had a raised-voices fight.
About a week after they had won the cup, everyone went to Florida, wives, girlfriends and players. Adam had given me a hug while in my bikini and held on for a couple seconds too long. Antti had gotten angry and let it boil until we were alone in the hotel room. He had accused me of still liking Adam. I raised my voice first, pissed off that he would think that, and accuse me of it. He started swearing in Finnish and waving his arms around. My mouth turned into one of a sailor and I sounded faintly like my mother. Finally after our shouting match was over, I told him he never needed to be worried about something like that. I reminded him that I had turned down the job offer in Rockford for our relationship. He apologized and that was the last time we fought. We both knew that we were long-overdue for another shouting match, but we avoided conflict whenever possible.

Antti came home that day with flowers and I smiled, taking them from him and allowing myself to be enveloped in a hug. He really was a sweet guy. Antti wasn't sensitive and deep, but he made up for it with his humor, compassion, and overall ability to bring a smile to my face. He wasn't just a sweet guy and I loved that sometimes he boggled my mind and kept it stimulated.
"How was the last day of the convention?" I asked as we walked into the kitchen, him trailing me with his hands on my hips.
I went to grab a vase for the flowers and he said, "You made cookies?" with an excited voice that belonged to an eight year-old. I smiled at Antti and replied, "Yeah, and they're not burnt, either!"
He laughed a cheerful laugh and grabbed a cookie off the cooling rack I had set up and crammed it into his mouth.
"Nice table manners, Antti." I laughed, putting the carnation wildflower mix into the clear vase I had filled up with water.
"These are fantastic. We need to hide them from any of the guys who may come over." He finished chewing and devoured another one, then began looking for a large tupperware container to store them.
"I made enough for the guys, too." I stood there, my hand on my hip.
"No no, they are not getting these." I watched him as he carefully placed them in the container, eating one for every five he saved.
"I don't think Coach will thank me anytime soon for making you cookies." Judging by the way he was downing them, I guessed that he had ate fifteen already.
"Good point, unless I share some with him." He contemplated the idea while clicking the container shut, hiding it in the pantry.
I shook my head and laughed at him as I folded up the cooling racks and stored them in a cabinet.
When I turned around, Antti's hands were on my hips again, just above the waist band of my pajama pants and underneath the shirt I wore.
No matter how many times we found ourselves in this situation, it never failed to have the same effect on me. My skin was hot where his hand touched, and my lower back tingled. Inbetween our frantic kisses, we had made it into the bedroom.

We saved the epic romance for when it was time, and Antti turned to unbutton his dress shirt quickly, and he pulled the undershirt up and over his head and I couldn't help but to watch the muscles in his back move under his skin. I forgot about undressing and spread my hands across the bunching muscles of his shoulders. He turned instantly and looked down from his 6"2 height at me. "Too many clothes." Antti said, reaching for the hem of my shirt. As soon as it was off, his mouth was on mine again and his fingers found the clasp of my bra on my back and he made quick work of it.

He gently pushed me onto the bed and pulled his pants off, taking his underwear and socks with him. It was never how it was like in a romance novel, with generous descriptions of large male members, always being extremely large. I never fully agreed with their way of describing the male body. Antti had broad shoulders, sure, but they could never write about the way they moved and how they flowed into his chest and then into his abdomen. Then it eventually made its way down the happy-trail I was so fond of on Antti. Past that his hair became three shades darker, and no romance novel would mention how he was wider than "normal" down there, but I didn't mind it- I didn't even mind how my hips would always hurt the next morning.
He pulled the pajama bottoms off me with a sweeping motion that shook his hair out of the position it was normally in. I reached down and brushed it back for him, ignoring the one piece that remained in his face. I became light-headed once he pulled my panties down with his teeth- it was just a sensory overload for me. Antti pulled back and raked his eyes across my body and I could feel my face turn red. I leaned up and grabbed his upper arms, dragging him down to my level.

Always before he joined us together, he would trail his fingers down my chest, past my stomach and down farther, always making sure I was ready for him. Tonight he was being just as gentle when he finally gave in to my pleading.
Antti was a slow lover most nights, and this night wasn't an exception. There were few times where he wasn't- we were either frantic and deprived, or frantic and celebratory.He maintained a steady rhythm with me meeting him halfway with my hips, until our breathing became more and more ragged. This was usually when he lapsed into Finnish.
"Pyhä Jumala, pyhä Jeesus. Saan lähemmäksi, Samantha." He said in a tone a little louder than a whisper. Antti was usually the quieter one in bed until he was close. Finnish and English swears poured out of his mouth, and I took comfort in knowing that none of them were aimed at me. It's another one of those things that happen while our bodies moved together and when he looked down at me with his eyes that turned dark while in the act and I usually writhed under his gaze. He resembled some sort of ancient Finnish god above me, his hair framing his face and his mouth hanging open with his lower jaw protuding. My breath hitched and all the blood rushed from my head and I used my heels to move him faster while I fell over the edge of Antti's lovemaking. I can't remember the words I let fall from my lips, but his followed soon after when he ground his hips into mine and shouted in Finnish, "Minä rakastan sinua!" and fell on me, exhausted.

Usually Antti and I would round the bases before sliding home, but last night was different. It was just something that happened, and I was a happy camper when I woke, readying myself for the work day ahead of me. Before I left, I placed a light kiss on the sleeping Antti's forehead and allowed myself to look him up and down one more time before I left for work. The blanket was above his belly button, still giving him some modesty in sleep, but I was still able to admire his chest and the way the light blond hair just started to glint in the early-morning light.

Once I was in the car on the way to work, I slowly felt the pain settle in on my hips and sighed, thinking that heels were a bad idea today.