It Feels Like

Flying from Toronto to New York City took a little over an hour. When you tacked on an entire hockey team and all the baggage associated with the team, it meant when the game ended at twenty after nine, you couldn’t expect to be home before midnight. By the time he was in the back of the cab, it was almost twelve-thirty and he felt like he was crawling out of his skin. How did he go all summer without seeing her?

The cab driver got a hefty tip because Brad didn’t want to wait for him to make change. He just threw the money at the man and hefted his duffle bag out of the backseat, making his way to the door.

He pressed his finger to the intercom buzzer, hoping she was still awake. It only took a moment for her to release the lock on the door. He ran up the stairs instead of standing in the small lobby until the elevator arrived. She was waiting with the door open when he got up to her floor.

Keri was in a little heather grey cotton nightie with bright pink lace around the edges. “Hey,” she said, stepping back to let him inside.

He dropped his bag just inside the door and wrapped her in a hug, picking her up off her feet and swinging her around. “Shut the door,” she laughed, hugging him back.

Brad pushed the door shut, locked it, and then pinned her against the wall so he could kiss her. “I’ve missed you,” he said between kisses.

“I missed you, too.” She was running her fingers through his hair. It was distracting and heavenly. He remembered falling asleep in her lap while she played with his hair months ago when things were so bad for him. He felt a surge of warmth for her. She felt right and safe and better than any other woman he’d dated. Saying things with her were easy wasn’t really accurate, but saying things were right fit the bill. She was right.

He gentled his kisses and then reluctantly released her, stepping back so he could turn around and look at her new apartment. She’d hung a couple paintings on the wall and arranged the furniture in the living room to make the most of the two tall windows. A small dining table for two was tucked away in the corner by the kitchen. He started imagining intimate dinners with her before they crawled into bed and made love. His heart thumped harder in his chest at just the idea.

“Your new place looks great,” he said, looking back at her. When he did, he nearly came undone. Her hair was in disarray and her chest was rising and falling after his passionate kisses. His eyes dropped to the lace and thin fabric over her breasts. Her nipples were hard and poking out. Brad couldn’t help but reach over and graze his thumbs across them lightly.

Keri gasped and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands away. “Don’t tease me,” she said.

“Oh, I’m not,” Brad replied, reaching out and grabbing her. He bent down and used the power of his leg muscles to lift her once he’d thrown her over his shoulder.

“Brad!” she squealed, grabbing onto the back of his suit jacket. “Put me down.”

He walked across the apartment and into the bedroom. The light switch turned on a soft lamp on the nightstand. Perfect, he thought. Just enough light to see her, but not too much that it would ruin the mood.

Tossing her on the bed, he pulled off his jacket and loosened his tie. “You said to put you down,” he told her when he saw her looking at him.

“Take off your clothes,” she replied, her eyes dark.

Brad swallowed and pulled the tie away from his neck, letting it slither out of his fingers to the floor. She looked like she was going to eat him alive. He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt because there were too many and they took too long. Finally, he tossed it onto the floor as well. His slacks were easy because once the belt was gone and they were unbuttoned, they fell to the floor where he could step out of them and his shoes. Socks were next, and finally, he pushed his boxers down and stepped out of them.

Keri was on sitting on the edge of the bed and the nightie was riding up high on her thighs, enough so he could see she wasn’t wearing any panties. The glimpse made desire surge through his blood. Before he could push her back and climb onto the bed, she had grabbed his cock and taken the head of it into her hot mouth.

“I missed you so much,” she murmured, her lips pressed against the length of him. The rumble of her voice stoked his fire, making him want to rip her nightie down the middle and take her like an animal in the middle of her new bed. Their bed. Him and her. No one else would ever be in this bed with her if he had his say in the matter.

The possessiveness took over his thought process and the half of his brain telling him not to move because she was sucking on his cock was overridden by the half of his brain that needed to be inside her.

Brad pulled away and pushed her back on the bed, crawling up and spreading her legs hastily. He jerked her nightie over her head to reveal her naked body beneath.

“Yes,” she hissed into his ear as he guided himself inside her. “Take me.”

“I’ll take you every single night,” he whispered, his lips pressed against her ear. “As long as we’re in the same city. Every. Single. Night.”

The tight heat of her was too much. Brad couldn’t control the speed at which he buried himself inside her. Going slow was out of the question when it had been days since he’d last seen her. How was he going to deal with away games this season when he knew what was at home? Maybe it would be good to want to be home. To have a place he thought of as home instead of a series of condos and apartments and houses and hotels that he stayed in when he was in different cities.

He bent his head down and took one of her nipples into his mouth. She gasped and jerked her hips up. Keri was moaning and breathing erratically. Her desire spurred his on enough that he felt like he was on the verge of exploding inside her. He shoved a hand between them and roughly rubbed her clit while he took her nipple between his teeth.

Keri cried out and bucked up into him, clutching at his back and digging her nails into his skin. It was too much for him to handle; he slammed into her one final time, holding her little body down against the mattress as he came so hard he thought it would never end.

Her hands were all over him, soothing and calming. He could feel fingertips in his hair, down his back, over his shoulder blades, along his neck, circling his arms. Brad didn’t want to pull out of her or move away because he felt too good. It had never felt this good.

“I’m so glad you took me back,” he whispered into her silky hair.

“Ditto,” she replied. “Ditto so hard.”

He laughed and rolled over onto his side before pulling her closer, spooning her. After a long moment of silence, he said, “This bed really is comfortable.”

“You did an awesome job,” she agreed. “I love it.”

**********************************

He got her to agree to come to the home game on Thursday and the away game on Saturday. It was still too new and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. If she could tag along on a couple of the away games, then things would be easier on them both, he thought. It was so fragile right now, especially after what he’d done in May. He wanted to do everything right from here on out.

After practice and a series of interviews on Wednesday, he went to her apartment and cooked her dinner while she told him about her day. It was so refreshingly normal that he wanted to bottle it up and keep the feeling for a day when life was just too hectic. He stayed there that night, sleeping in her bed with her naked body wrapped up in his arms, her soft hair splayed out on the pillow they were sharing.

The next morning when he went to practice, Del Zotto handed him a cell phone. “Did you see this?” the younger man asked.

Brad scanned the screen, seeing a picture of Keri coming out of a building. The title of the article was, “Richards’ Lady Friend Getting Perks of Dating a Hockey Star.” He started reading, jumping through the article quickly. It was very unkind to Keri, painting her as a woman who was using him for his money and status in order to get her career in fashion jumpstarted.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked DZ.

DZ shrugged. “It’s Stewart. You know she’s a gossiping bitch.”

Brad was seeing red. He couldn’t even think straight. How did she get all the information on Keri? Did she even bother to talk to her? “I’ve got to go,” he said, pushing his way out of the locker room and down the hallway to an office where he could make a private phone call.

The Rangers P.R. guy answered Brad’s call immediately.

“I want Melissa Stewart’s phone number,” he demanded.

“What?” Don asked.

“The reporter, the blogger. I want her number.”

“Is this about the article on Keri Anglin?”

“Yes. I’m going to set the record straight.”

Don sighed. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“It’s all half-truths, assumptions, or lies. I want her number.”

Don gave Brad the woman’s number and Brad dialed it immediately after he disconnected.

“Melissa Stewart,” she answered in a sugary sweet voice.

“This is Brad Richards. We need to talk.”

“About your girlfriend?”

“About your piece of shit article.”

She was silent for a long moment before finally saying, “I did my homework, Richards. It’s all true.”

“That’s a lie and you know it. Get your pen out and I’ll give you an interview and set the record straight.”

“What makes you think I want that?” she asked.

Brad almost had to bite his tongue to keep from telling her to fuck off. “Because if you don’t write a follow up with the information I give you, then I’ll make sure you never get an interview or even a soundbite from any of the players again. They’ll freeze you out as a favor to me.”

“You wouldn’t,” Stewart said.

“I would. Get your pen out.”

He heard her shuffling papers. “Okay. What do you want to say?”

“I met her last season in March. She was working two jobs--one of them was the diner. She didn’t know who I was because she’s not a fan of hockey. But she and I hit it off and saw each other a few times during April and May.”

Stewart’s annoying voice interrupted him. “I really find it difficult to believe that she didn’t know who you were.”

“She didn’t. Believe it.”

She let out a huffy breath and said, “Fine. Go on.”

“We didn’t talk over the summer. I left the City and we... lost touch.”

“So, how did she end up getting all this money to start her business?”

“That’s not from me. It’s from a company of which I am an investor. I had nothing to do with the details, but I did put in a good word for her because she’s talented. You can call Norman Rainey, he’s the general partner and makes all the decisions.” Brad paused, waiting for her to digest that. So it was a little fib. Technically, it was right, but he been the one who had told Norm what to do.

“I want Norman Rainey’s number,” Stewart said.

“I’ll have him call you. He’ll tell you that Keri has paid back the company in full, though. There is no outstanding loan from any business I’m involved with to Keri Anglin.”

“And Norman can provide me with proof?” She sounded like she thought he was full of shit. On this, Brad felt confident she’d be eating her own words. Keri had paid everything back in full with her signing bonus just last week.

“Yes. Keri doesn’t give a shit who I am and what I do. She has never even attempted to get at my money. And you would have figured that out if you wouldn’t have half-assed a story to find something sensational.”

“What is the status of your relationship with Keri?”

Her question threw him off. “Status?”

“True love?” Stewart asked.

He opened his mouth to say yes, but his brain stopped him before it came out of his mouth. Was it wise to tell your girlfriend you love her for the first time through an article in a gossip column? Maybe she’d think it was cute. Keri was different, after all. And he’d gone into the interview with the intention of being honest.

“Yes,” he finally said.

“Yes, you’re in love?”

“Yes, I’m in love.”

“Really?” Stewart sounded like she’d just been given the juiciest piece of information she’d heard all year. “Wedding bells, maybe?”

He felt his chest tighten. It was way too soon for that. But saying he loved Keri felt right, even if he wasn’t saying it to her in person. “Don’t jump the gun,” he told Stewart. “But we’re exclusive and I love her.”

“Are you moving in together?”

“No, she has her own place, and I have my condo.”

“Do you have a drawer in her apartment where you keep your things?”

What was that supposed to mean? “Yes,” he said.

“Excellent. Thanks for the exclusive, Richards.”

“I want this printed now. Don’t let your other piece of shit article sit out there. Take it down off the website.”

Stewart sighed. “Whatever.”

****************************************

As soon as morning skate was over, he decided to stop by Keri’s office. She was still working for the old firm, wrapping up her responsibilities before moving into her contract position with the fashion house that had offered her more creative freedom. When he got there and asked the wide-eyed receptionist for her, he was told she was out to lunch. Brad walked outside, strolling down the sidewalk and pulling her up number on his cell phone. As he walked by a small bistro three doors down, he saw her in the window.

She was sitting across a little table from Norm Rainey. Norm was gesturing, his mouth moving a mile a minute. Keri threw her head back and laughed before nodding. Jealously surged through him followed by heartache. So many emotions were flying through his head that it was hard to sort them all out.

Was she seeing Norm? She didn’t seem like the type to do something like that. But with his schedule of being out of town half the time, maybe she was looking for someone who had his lifestyle without the pitfalls of his career. Norm liked her, he was a good guy, and he could take care of her. He could probably take care of her better than some hockey player that couldn’t even spend Valentine’s Day with his woman because he was scheduled to be in San Jose.

Keri’s eyes were shining and she nodded eagerly at Norm again. Brad felt sick and turned on his heel to walk away. He’d just admitted that he loved her, but it didn’t look like the feelings went both ways.

Notes