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Chapter 40: Foppa V—Shower Your Soul
"Please don’t think I’m shallow or anything," Peter said to Jo as he trailed his fingers up the line of her bare back. "But do you know what I really like about you?"
"Oh this is gonna be good," Jo said with a sleepy smile after she lifted her face from her pillow. She rested her chin on her palm. "What?"
"How dark your skin is when I touch it," he said, waiting for her reaction.
Josefina laughed and buried her face in her pillow, kicking her bare legs.
"I know, I know!" Peter said feeling his cheeks burn. "It’s silly, but I really do...I really don’t know why I said that."
Jo’s laugh turned into a soft giggle and she rolled over onto her back, crossing her dark arms over her breasts. "I don’t think you’re shallow," she said. "I don’t know you well enough."
"You’re so dark," Peter said softly as he clasped his hand over one of hers and pulled it to his lips. "And the rest of you, the parts that don’t see the sun, they’re so light, like honey."
"OK," Josefina said leaning onto her side and running her fingers through his hair. "Peter, you’re real bad at poetic love-making so stop it. I’ve finally found a weak spot and it’s disturbing."
Peter kissed the palm of her hand, looking into her dark eyes. "You know what I mean, though?" he asked.
"No," Jo said simply. "I don’t...and I don’t think I care."
Electricity crackled through Peter’s body when she slid her hand along the back of his neck, her nails teasing him. God she knew how to get the Goosebumps out of him!
Prickling and warm all over, Peter kissed her deeply and pressed his hand onto her warm tummy, sliding it up to her cool, soft breast.
There was a groan from Jo that made his head spin. He couldn’t lie back anymore, he pressed his body over her and kissed her hard. With an impatient grunt, Peter tugged the sheet tangled around her hips and tossed it to the carpet, bringing a giggle from Jo.
"Peter!" she gasped. "How many times can you do it?"
"You bring it out in me," Peter murmured. "It’s your fault."
"Oh," Jo whispered.
Blind bliss filled his blood as he slid his hand up the inside of her thigh, causing her to moan again and close her eyes. He kissed her softly this time and he shifted his hips above her, trying to press into her.
"Oh, God!" Jo said, pressing her palms against his chest. "Peter, wait!"
"What?" Peter asked.
Jo sat up a bit, smiling with those big eyes. "You almost made me forget," she said and she snatched a small, square, blue packet from the nightstand.
"Oh, yeah," Peter said with a sheepish grin.
"You want to get us into trouble," Jo said with mock seriousness before she put her teeth onto a corner of the packet, and ripped.
I’m straight! I’m straight! I’m straight! The phrase ran through Peter’s head like trumpets of celebration. He knew now, after the hours he had spent in bed with one woman, worshipping every inch of her dark, voluptuous body, using Trojans like they were penny candy, that he was a lusty, heterosexual male. All the weight and guilt that had been pressing on his shoulders had magically evaporated.
He could still taste the salt of her skin and the lip balm off her mouth. He was still flinching and trembling at the ghostly feeling of her teeth nibbling on his thigh. Peter was on a high, and he was determined not to be brought down from it.
"Hey guys!" barked Peter as he strutted into the locker room amongst naked and semi-naked males that he knew he wasn’t attracted to. "Are we ready to kick some Carolina Candy-Cane ass!"
"You’re late," Coach Hartley said as he looked up from his clipboard. "Again."
"Won’t happen again," Peter said. "Believe me."
"Yeah," Bob said. "Drury, come with me I want to show you what I mean in the video room, I think Eric has the tapes."
Coach Hartley brushed by Peter with a rather sullen faced Drury trailing behind him as they marched to the video room.
"Oooh! You’ll be late again," Keaner said with a devilish grin. "You got some, didn’t you Foppers."
"Oh be quiet Mike," Peter replied with a smile.
"Yeah!" Blake put in, "You have that ‘I just been shagged shitless’ look on ya."
"Aw, come on!" Peter said sitting at his locker. "No I don’t."
There were laughs and hollers all around and Peter found it impossible to stop smiling. He was one of the guys, celebrating his male virility. This was good. He must be cured!
"Come on, who was she?" Blake asked.
"No one," Peter said.
"Do we know her?" Hinote asked. Noter was sitting in front of his locker in his street clothes. He wasn’t going to be playing, but Hartley had thought it would be great for the locker room chemistry if Danny would be there for the guys between periods.
"Oh I think it’s someone," Blake grinned. "Look at you Pete, you’re floating on pink, fluffy hearts."
"Allow me!" Pascal Trepanier said with a dramatic flair. He plopped down on the bench next to Peter and threw his arm over his shoulders.
Forsberg cringed and raised his eyebrows when Pascal buried his round, little nose into his neck and inhaled deeply. Shit! Thought Peter, what a freak!
Pascal jumped to his feet, a huge grin on his face. "I smell her!" he said. "She’s beautiful!"
"You do not!" Peter cried. "I showered!"
"Ah!" Pascal said holding up his index finger. "You may shower your skin, but you cannot shower your soul!"
Forsberg looked at Patty. "You’re Pascal’s fellow Quebecois," Peter said to him, "Did anything Pascal just said make any sense?"
Patrick smiled weakly. Peter noted that he had dark circles around his eyes and the he looked rather pale.
"Don’t ask me," Patrick said. "Pascal talks like my wife sometimes and I still don’t understand her."
Pascal tossed his head back and laughed heartily. "I tell the truth," he cackled. "Come tell us, Peter! Who is this temptress?"
There was a round of barks from the guys, all urging him to spill his secret. Forsberg leaned back and thought of Josephina’s caramel colored tummy and breasts.
"Her eyes are amazing," he said finally. "Huge, gorgeous, Spanish eyes."
"Ooooooh!" Abby cooed. "Senorita’s are hot!"
"I had a Spanish girl once," Trepanier said, holding his hand over his heart and casting his gaze to the ceiling. "Most wicked little kitten. So tiny, so thin. She was thin all over like..like a boy."
"Knowing you," Patty sniffed. "I bet she was a boy."
Forsberg shook his head. This was too much.
"Oui," Pascal, game as ever, said with a solemn face, "maybe she was a boy. I was so drunk...maybe I remember all wrong."
"Aw come on Trep," Keaner said. "Admit it, you got plastered and humped a matador lawn ornament!"
Forsberg laughed along with all the other guys and he started stripping off his clothes. That’s when he looked at Danny Hinote. The kid wasn’t laughing. He looked almost sulky, sitting on the bench with his arms crossed. What was up with him? Peter followed his gaze. He was glaring at Patty. Peter shook his head. This was none of his business.
"Hey, Patty," Pascal said to Patrick with a lusty little grin. "My wife has lost some of her ‘bite’. Would you like to trade me for a few days?"
There was a smattering of giggles from the guys still listening. Peter looked for Patrick’s reaction and saw a lop-sided grin on his face. "Don’t think you could handle her, my friend," he said. "You’re better off by yourself."
Pascal shrugged. "Come on, I see her dirty little eyes. She looks like the adventurous sort."
Patrick laughed. "Maybe Peter will throw in his little senorita to make it interesting, no?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "I don’t know her schedule I’ll get back to you later."
The three laughed.
"Stop that!" Danny yelled, interrupting them. "That’s not even legal!
Peter frowned as the room went silent, and all eyes went on Noter. Danny was flushed and he looked at his hands. "You shouldn’t be talking about the women who love you like that," he said in a low voice.
"Not to worry, mon ami," Pascal said in a sincere voice, "We were only bull-shitting and pissing. Don’t be so sensitive."
"Eh, his brains still soft," Patty snapped. "Ignore him."
The activity of the locker room recommenced and Hinote was forgotten. Patty and Pascal resumed chatting in French and Peter looked at Danny. "Hey kid," he said. "You OK?"
Danny looked up with liquid sad eyes. "No," he said. "But I’ll handle it."
At that moment, Hartley and Drury came back.
"Hey Coach," Blake said.
"Yeah?" Bob answered.
"Is wife swapping legal?" he asked.
Hartley blanched in reply.
Peter was having a pretty good time, and a pretty good game. He knew Josefina was watching him up there in the suite, probably she was getting to know Debbie and Joe better and maybe Debbie was saying nice things about him. The thought was on Peter’s mind as he burst out in the second period scoring two goals.
He and Adam took turns barking on the bench with criticisms and encouragments, doing their best to fill the void left by Joe.
"You OK Patty?" Peter asked Patrick in the third period during a TV time out. He had noticed that Patrick seemed more and more sluggish as the game went on and he had just been burned for a cheap goal after he was slow retrieving a puck.
"Oui, Oui," Patrick said slowly. "I just need some more water."
Peter glanced up at the jumbotron. There was half a period left. They could hold a three goal lead till then.
Drury leaned in to take the face-off and Peter looked at him. He realized at that moment how Drury’s face-off stance was very similar to Joe’s. He remembered when Chris was a young rookie and Joe was giving him some pointers on his face-off technique. The results were right before his eyes.
Soon, he was gazing at Chris’s stocky, muscular little frame as he won the puck back and skated away. For a frightening second, Peter couldn’t breathe.
On the bench it got worse. He couldn’t stop gazing at Drury’s round, baby fat cheeks. He was growing a goatee, and his eyes were so blue! Not as pretty as Joe’s icy eyes, but they were sweet. Horror overtook Peter when he began wondering how that goatee would feel on his chest.
Forsberg closed his eyes and groaned.
Joe! he thought. How could I lust after another? I mean.....Jo?
Oh it was useless. Peter knew it. He was thinking of his captain all over again, and his proverbial loins were aflame. He switched his thoughts to Josefina, her tight, smooth body, and that aroused him even more. The problem was compounded. He wanted them both....and now he was lusting after poor Dru too!
I’ve become worse than Pascal! Forsberg thought.
And that wasn’t a pretty thought.
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