3. Howlin' for you

Howlin’ for You- The Black Keys

I must admit
I can't explain
All these thoughts racing
Through my brain
It's true
Baby I'm howlin' for you

Mockingbird
Can't you see
The little girl's
Got a hold on me
Like glue
Baby I'm howlin' for you

“Good bye, Beautiful”

“Good bye”

I opened the door to let her out of my apartment. I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed in front of me, watching her walk gingerly to the elevator and press the button. I’m surprised she can even walk this morning.

I guess she could feel me staring because she turned her body slightly and looked right at me. God she’s beautiful. I smiled and gave a little wave. She blushes slightly and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and smiles back at me. Just then the elevator dings and surprised her, her head shot forward as the doors opened. I watched her chest rise as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and looked back at me. She gave a wave and a cute little grin then stepped into the elevator. “Bye” I whispered, though I knew she couldn’t hear me.

I stepped back through the door, shut it and slid the lock in place. I’ve fucked a lot of girls in my day, when I say a lot I mean a lot. I couldn’t care less who they were or where they were from. When I was out trolling, with or without the boys and wanted to get laid, that was all that mattered. I know I sound like a I’m a dick, and I was when I was young. I like to think I’m getting better with age. I still have one night stands I’m not going to lie, but I’m a little more choosy about who I bring home, and it’s definitely not as frequently. With her, I can’t believe I convinced her to come home with me.

I look around. What a mess. I’ll deal with it when I get home from practice. I look over at the clock, it’s only 6 am and I don’t have to leave for practice until 8:40am. Plenty of time to grab a quick nap.

I crawl back into bed and sigh, the sheets smell of her perfume. I scrunch the pillow under my head and fall asleep in seconds. At 8:10 my alarm goes off and I drag myself out of bed and away from her scent. I take a quick shower before throwing on some sweats, a t-shirt and hoodie. I grab a quick breakfast of fruit and I’m locking my door at 8:40am.

I arrive at the ACC shortly before 9 am. Practice doesn’t officially start until 9:30 today so I have some time to shoot the shit with the guys. I then head into the dressing room to get ready. Clarke is already getting changed.

I take my place next to him and start to undress. Clarke is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him my whole life practically. We played on the same team in Alberta as kids and I like that I have someone from home who knows me.

“Loops, how was your night bud?” He says with a sly smile on his face but thankfully only loud enough for me to hear. I shrug my shoulders but couldn’t contain the smile that plastered my face.

“You looked pretty comfortable there last night.”

“I was.” I look up at him while I put my socks on.

“I’m sure”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “We have a lot in common and I actually wanted to talk to her. She was awesome, so easy to talk to.”

“And fucking hot” He adds to my statement. I look at him with a raised eyebrow.”What she is fucking hot and you know it, you dick”

“Yes, that she is…..and the sex was amazing” I can’t help but throw in that little piece of information out there. I pull my shirt over my head, grab my Under Armour shirt and turn to sit down.

“HOLY FUCK! Apparently she enjoyed herself too!”

“What?”

“Your back, you have little red scratches all over and the bite mark on your shoulder……… Jesus Christ”

I had noticed my shoulder when I showered this morning, but not the scratches. They must be small. I don’t remember her clawing me to death like some cat, but I do remember her running her nails gently over my skin, the sensation was unbelievable.

“What can I say when your good your good, I’ll give you some pointers later on if you want.” I joke as I pull my shirt over my head.

“I don’t need any help from you” he chides back.

We get out on the ice and its hard work as usual. Coach Wilson is a slave driver and works us longer than the usual 45 minutes to an hour. Instead we’re treated to a full 90 minute skills competition until we’re tired and sore. Finally, he blows the whistle at 11am signaling our torture is over. Practice is especially grueling for me. I’m tired and my muscles are sore from my previous workout.

We leave the ice and I take my equipment off as soon as I’m in the dressing room. That’s when I hear it. I’d expected it earlier actually, but I suppose I was one of the first to change this morning so only Clarke got in his jabs. It starts up when I take off my Under Armour and wrap my towel around my waist.

“Loops looks like he’s making a name for himself here” Bozie makes the first remark to draw attention to me. The locker room erupts in hooting and hollering. “Didn’t take long. She was a wild one huh?” Kessel chides. Everyone’s laughing and carrying on; they really are just like over grown teenagers.

“Does she have any friends?” Boyce adds.

I laugh at that. “I’m sure she does”

“Who is she, what’s her name?” He presses.

“A girl and she shall remain nameless”

“Is she hot?”

“I think so” I say with a smile.

I turn away and head into the showers. Thankfully no one is in here yet so I can take my time and relax under the hot spray. I can’t get her out of my mind. I want to call her but I don’t want to look like some crazy nut. I wonder what she’s doing right now. I mean I know what she's doing right now, she’s working and I kind of know what she does but, I guess I’m wondering if she would even talk to me if I called her. She did give me her number, I wonder if it’s real? I close my eyes and let the hot water pound off my face and chest. It’s like her image is burnt into my mind when I close my eyes. The soft slope of her hip, the fullness of her breast and the look on her face when she came. I start to feel warm and tingly but not from the water. A couple of the guys start to filter in and pull me from my day dream. Before I start to think to intently about her and make a fool of myself, I turn off the tap and towel off.

When I return to the dressing room I’m made aware that a couple of boys are going lunch before our road trip. I’m starving at this point and grabbing a bite with the guys sounds great. Once dressed, we go to Real Sports since it’s so convenient and we’re running short on time. Just a short walk through the bridge and we’re there. We sit in the VIP Suite and Clarke sits next to me. Everyone is exceptionally talkative after practice today, we’re all pumped to get to Montreal and beat them on their home turf. Once our food comes we all simmer down enough to devour our meals.

“So…” Clarke starts in between bites. “Not now” I give him a pleading look to hopefully shut him up. I don’t know how to explain it but I don’t want to talk about her with these guys. I don’t feel the need to brag about what we did like I normally would have in the past. We finish our meals and I have to head home to pack for the one day roadie and clean up my mess of an apartment. For a guy who doesn’t have much here, I certainly can make a mess.

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I’m back at the ACC at 2pm. There’s a lot of waiting around for everything to get packed and us to head to the airport for the short 70 minute flight. We arrive at the hotel in Montreal shortly after 6. Clarke and I are roommates for the night and stand at the check in counter to get our key. We are told to drop our stuff off in our rooms and report back down at 7:30 for the team dinner. Roadies are tough sometimes, boring and always tiring but when we do these things together it makes them more bearable. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the married guys with kids or the ones with long term girlfriends. I imagine it would have to be hard. We have dinner at ‘Cavalli’ in downtown Montreal near our hotel and Centre Bell. Dinner is long and everyone starts to feel tired by the time we arrive back at the hotel at 10pm.

I changed out of my suit and flopped on my bed. “I’m so tired tonight” I say out loud as I stretch.

“I wonder why, porn star” Clarke shoots back at me.

I lay on my back with hands under my head “I want to talk to her” I state while I stare at the ceiling.

“Wait what????” Clarke looks at me like I’ve grown 3 heads.

I don’t have to see him to know the look I’m getting right now. “Don’t look at me like that” I turn my head to face him and see that I was right.

“So what’s the deal” A huge grin spreads across his face.

“With” I play coy.

“Fuck Loops! With Michele…..like is it a one timer, or what?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I told her I’d call her, and I have every intention to.” I pause. “She slept over.” Those three words change everything. No one ‘sleeps over’. No one ever stays the night. It’s The Rule. Once they spent the night it’s a game changer, you feel more, or they feel more.

“I asked her to stay” I confess.

“Holy Shit.” The look of shock on his face is almost offensive.

I look at him seriously “I really like her. She’s different than the rest, we talked…… afterward I mean, about everything and nothing at all”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” He shakes his head as if questioning his consciousness.

“Believe it”

“I think with Michele, you got to know her more before, then you had with any of the others. The rest, they just fell on their backs within minutes of meeting you. At the pub, you took the time to ask her questions, and answer hers. You seem to have a lot in common too. It helps that she wasn’t an idiot either. While you were talking, Jenn and I were discussing the two of you. From what she told me Michele’s a good girl, and as for that last night, you’re lucky it even happened bud. After the two of you left last night, Jenn told me she’s not like that, from what she said you were her first 'meet and fuck'. She was shocked to see her leave with you”

“Should I call her?” Hearing that makes me want her more.

“NO not yet! What’s wrong with you?" He looks at me incredulously, like I’ve asked him if I should marry her.

“Since the moment she left this morning, I’ve wanted to call, but I don’t want to look like a stalker.”

“DO NOT CALL HER or that’s exactly how you’ll look.”

“I’m going to text her, tell her good night” I plead with him.

“Whatever dude, just DON”T CALL”

Good night, Beautiful. From freezing Montreal!’

I tell him what I type. “At least it wasn’t something stupid”

“Thanks” I answer sarcastically.

I turn off the light, lie in bed and think. She is amazing. I keep thinking about last night at the bar and of course in my bed. I don't regret a thing that happened. I can’t believe I forgot to put a condom on in the middle of the night when I pinned her to the bed. But it felt so natural to be inside her like that. A perfect fit, so amazing and unbelievably hot. I rolled on my side facing away from Clarke and fall into a deep sleep.

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I wake up at 6 am. I shouldn’t be up yet, it’s still early. I can’t help it, I want to be the last thing she thinks about before she goes to sleep and the first thing when she wakes up, I send her another message. Before I fall back asleep.

‘Good morning beautiful! Watch my game tonight? We’re playing Montreal, it’s always an exciting game.’

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