Chapter Twelve

“I am so glad that we cleared everything up,” I said into the phone, “But you really should get to bed. You have a game tomorrow!” Sergei translated this to Geno.

“He says he wishes he could actually talk to you and that he’ll try extra hard to learn English. But he’s glad that it was cleared up too,” Sergei said. I breathed a sigh of relief and Sergei continued. “Well, he wants me to go, just so he can say goodnight. I’m glad I could help you guys.”

“Thanks so much Sergei,” I told him sincerely. I heard a click then it was only me and Geno.

“Goodnight Riley,” he said, “See you at game tomorrow night?”

“Of course,” I answered, “goodnight babe.” I snapped the phone shut and looked at Max who was still watching me.

“I’m glad for you,” Max spoke.

“Thanks Max,” I smiled. “Actually I’m gonna head up to bed. You should too.”

“Right behind you,” Max said devilishly. I rolled my eyes and headed up the stairs.

“Where’s the guest room?” I asked as we reached the top landing.

“Guest room?” he asked as he grabbed my hand. “You’re sleeping with me.”

“Guest room,” I continued. Max sighed and led me down the hall and to a giant bedroom.

“This is it,” he said. The room was fantastic. It had a gigantic bed in the center and the walls were painted a cute yellow. The bay window had a bench and an incredible view of the backyard and the greenery behind it.

“Wow,” I said. “Do you bring all the girls you’re trying to get with to this room?”

“Just you,” he answered, measuring my reaction.

“Well,” I started, leading him back towards the door, “I’ll see you in the morning.” I closed the door and rested my head against it. I could hear Max’s heavy breathing on the other side of the door. I smirked to myself, waited a minute, and then opened the door again. Max was headed towards his bedroom. “Oh Max.” I called his name and he did an immediate about face. I motioned for him to come back. He practically bounded down the hallway and met me outside of my door. “Max.” I whispered as I let myself fall into his arms.

“Riley?” he questioned, excited but confused. I nuzzled into his neck and felt his arms tighten around my waist. He rubbed his hands up and down my back.

“Oh Max,” I breathed into his ear and felt him shiver. I sucked on his earlobe and heard him sigh and tighten his grip on me. I moved to kissing his neck and bit down hard to which he responded with another shudder. I pulled back and put my hands on either side of his face. His eyes were closed and I moved closer to him. “Max?”

“Mmm?” he answered. I came closer to him and leaned in as if I was gonna kiss him, but stopped.

“Go to bed,” I said and loosened myself from his grip. He looked absolutely astounded and I backed into my bedroom. I laughed to myself and laid down in my bed. I continued laughing as I drifted off to sleep.

Max’s Point of View
I watched Riley shut the bedroom door. I breathed heavily and waited. I hoped to God that she would open the door again. After a moment, I decided to just head back to my room. I was almost halfway down the hallway when I heard her door creak open.

“Oh Max,” she called down the hallway. I turned around to face her and saw her motion for me to come back. In an immediate response to her, I quickly walked down the hallway. “Max.” I heard her say again as she fell into my arms.

“Riley?” I asked as I tightened my grip on her. I didn’t know what she was doing, but I didn’t care. I rubbed my hands up and down her back, enjoying the fact that I was holding her.

“Oh Max,” she whispered into my ear. I involuntarily shivered at her words. Her mouth went to work on my ear and I released a sigh of contentment and held her tighter still. She worked her way down towards my neck. I felt her bite down and again, I wasn’t able to control my shudder. Next I felt her hands on either side of my face. I had my eyes closed and I heard her speak. “Max?”

“Mmm?” was all I was able to respond. I felt her draw nearer to me. I readied myself for her kiss.

“Go to bed,” she said and I felt her untangle herself from me. I was astounded as she backed into the guest room and shut the door, leaving me standing in the hallway struggling for my breath.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered aloud. I looked down at my growing bulge that had ceased. I slowly made my way back to my bedroom. Once I got there I tried to relax myself. I thought of the most unsexy things I could imagine. As soon as my heart rate returned to normal, I began to process what just happened. I could not understand Riley for the life of me. What was with her? Was she into me? Or did she just like playing games? Well, it was apparent that she loved games, but why did she have to be so damn good at playing them? It was obvious that she was into Geno, but what was that whole deal back there? Just a trick? Really, is that all? It seemed like much more to me. Or maybe I was just reading into it because I wanted it to mean more. I wanted her to want me as much as I wanted her. After what seemed like hours of figuring, I finally rolled over and went to a restless sleep.

Riley’s Point of View
My eyes opened and there was still darkness all around me. I looked over at the clock and it read 3 AM. I heaved myself out of bed and decided to use this time to explore. I gingerly made my way out of the guest room and into the hallway. Making a left would lead me down the hall to Max’s bedroom so I decided to try making the right. I walked until I came to a first door on my left. I opened it and found another guest room. Standard. It wasn’t as big as the one I was in, but it was still nice. I closed the door and continued. On my right was another door. I opened it to find an office. The walls were lined with hockey memrobillia. There was so much of it covering the entire room. I turned on the light to find signed jerseys, signed sticks, and signed pucks. All of which were in cases of different sizes and shapes. I exited the room, closed the door behind me, and turned to walk back down the hallway. I passed my room and was now on the other side. The stairs were before me and I decided to take them. I was now in the foyer and I made my way through all of the places I had been earlier in the day. There was another hallway that I had not seen before and I decided to explore. I opened the first door I saw and was faced with a set of stairs leading down. Why not? I followed them and was standing in the center of a “party room”. It was set up like a club, complete with a bar, a lounge, and even a stripper pole. “That sick bastard,” I muttered under my breath. I wondered how he was going to get all of this stuff out of here when his lease was up. This room was by far the biggest. I figured walls must have been knocked down to make this. I walked around and found that the “party room” was complete with its own bathroom. This was ridiculous. I went back upstairs, down the hallway, through the kitchen, and back onto the bedroom floor. I hooked a right at the top of the stairs and the first door was on my left. It was a bathroom. I closed that door and opened one to my right. Another guest bedroom. After shutting that door, there was only one door left. This was the one that belonged to Max. I slowly creaked open that door and peered into the room. I saw Max sleeping peacefully on the huge California King mattress. I entered the room, shutting the door behind me. I made my way to the bed and gently climbed in, pulling the covers around me. In a response to the shift in weight, Max turned around and put his arm around my waist. This time, I didn’t shake him off. I just breathed deeply, relaxed into the mattress, and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Eleven

After Max brought me the shirt, I closed the door and turned the faucet on. The water drummed loudly and I loved that sound. I quickly undressed and stepped beneath the raining water. I knew that Max was standing just outside the door and, sick as he was, having all these dirty thoughts. So, I decided to have some fun. I stuck my head outside of the shower door and “moaned” just to see his reaction. I immediately heard him bang on the door, then reach for the knob. He twisted it ferociously and I was glad that I locked it before. I leaned back into the shower and laughed for a while. He was so easy. I heard his footsteps angrily clomp down the stairs. After I finished washing my hair, I jumped out of the shower. I looked in the mirror and ran a brush through my dripping hair then put on my make-shift pajamas. The shorts were definitely a hazard in this house. Too short and too tight. I sighed and opened the bathroom door figuring that I had to take my chances. I came downstairs and found Max outside on the patio.

“Isn’t it a little chilly?” I asked walking over to him, feeling the night air on my bare legs. I watched him snap out of whatever daydream he was having, then do a double take when he saw me.

“Um, yeah?” he said in a questioning tone. I laughed and put my arm around his waist.

“Oh, Max,” I said, “you’re so silly.” I felt him bury his face in my hair.

“Coconut,” he murmured before kissing the top of my head lightly.

“Mm, none of that,” I said backing away from him, feeling slightly bad because I instigated it, having put my arm around him in the first place. I studied his face in the moonlight and saw the real, “un-sexual” him for the first time. He was studying me too, seeming genuinely baffled. My cell phone vibrating in the kitchen brought us both back to reality.

“You should get that,” Max said leading me back inside.

“Yeah, depending on who it is,” I answered. I looked down to see a number I didn’t recognize. “Hello?” I answered.

“Um, hi,” the person on the other line said, “I’m Sergei Gonchar? From the Penguins?”

“Hey,” I answered, “I know who you are.” I laughed a little and he seemed to relax.

“Well, I have Geno on the other line and he wanted me to do a three way call with you because he said that there’s things he wants to tell you that he doesn’t know how to translate to English. So, he wanted me to do it for him. Is that okay?” Sergei finished explaining.

“Oh, yeah that’s absolutely fine,” I agreed making my way over to the couch as Max sat across from me. I heard buttons clicking, then I heard Geno’s distinct voice mutter something in Russian.

“He wants to know how you are feeling,” Sergei said.

“I’m good, a lot better than before,” I answered. An exchange of Russian, then Sergei spoke again.

“He says that he knows what Ryan said and that it’s not true. You mean a lot to him. He cares about you so much,” Sergei translated.

“Aw,” I said, unable to repress it. “That’s so sweet! I knew you weren’t like that Geno. Ryan’s just…I don’t know.”

“He says that he doesn’t know what got into Ryan and he’s never seen him like that before. He was vicious and cruel and it was uncalled for,” Sergei said.

“Ugh I know,” I answered. “He’s just really uptight right now. I can’t explain it.” I sighed and relaxed into the couch. It was so much easier talking through Sergei.

Max’s Point Of View
I heard Riley’s footsteps before she spoke.

“Isn’t it a little chilly?” She asked as she walked over to me. To tell you the truth, I didn’t even feel the chill. I had been much too preoccupied thinking of her.

“Um, yeah?” I answered dumbly. It was the best I could think of. I watched her draw closer to me, then put her arm around my waist. She had no idea what she was doing to me, being that close.

“Oh, Max. You’re so silly,” she said. I had no idea what her angle was. She was a flirter just like me. I just couldn’t play my own game without becoming attached. I breathed deeply and the scent of her shampoo wafted up towards me. Naturally, I bent my head down to get a better smell.

“Coconut,” I said into her hair. Before I could stop myself, I lightly kissed the top of her head. I hoped she wouldn’t notice, but she called me on it.

“Mm, none of that,” she spoke, sounding as if she might have enjoyed it just a little. I was content as she turned to look at me, as if studying me. I did the same to her, just staring into her gorgeous green eyes. The moonlight made them appear even greener. We were interrupted by her cell ringing.

“You should get that,” I said, turning to go back inside.

“Yeah, depending on who it is,” she answered before grabbing the phone. She looked at the number quizzically before flipping it open. “Hello?” she questioned. I didn’t know what the person on the other line had said, but understanding had spread across her face. “Hey I know who you are.” She continued and I could hear the relief in her voice. She laughed cutely and relaxed into the couch. I watched her converse with Sergei/Geno and was instantly jealous. The way she laughed at everything that was said. And the way her face lit up after Sergei translated something. It was infuriating. Geno seemed to make her so happy and my own jealousy surprised me. I tried to tune out the conversation and instead focused on her. Riley. Her wet hair dripped down her back and made little individual puddles on the couch. She had her legs tucked up beneath her and she looked as if she was talking to her crush in tenth grade. Her face was so expressive and I could tell what surprised, upset, or delighted her. I made a promise to myself that I would pay more attention to her features the next time I talked to her. She glanced over at me, smiled, and gave me the thumbs up. I smiled back at her, but not feeling anything at all.