Joff opened the one in his hand as he left the kitchen. He scanned the room briefly, looking for anyone he could possibly strike up a conversation with. There was a scene going on near the stairs but that was completely avoidable. However, when he noticed the two fresh faces talking to a very obviously drunk Scottie, the tension was just pulling him over.
There was a look of confusion on Eminger’s face and Downie looked like he was ready to run. Scottie had just been smirking, beer bottle raised up as he swallowed the last drops.
The tension must have been really intense because neither one of the forwards noticed Joff come up to them.
“Hey, Ems! Downie!”
No response. Joff tried again. “Um, guys? Hello?”
Scottie broke the stare first. “Hey, Lupes.” He placed an arm around Joff’s shoulders and pulled the winger close. Joff’s body slammed into Scottie’s and small beads of beer splashed through the opening, landing on Joff’s hand and dripping down onto the floor. He watched the liquid fall, absorbing into the blue shaggy carpet. Joff suddenly felt responsible for everything that had gone wrong so far that day.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Scottie?”
Joff’s head shot up and his eyes quickly scanned from Scottie to Eminger.
Scottie’s hold on Joff grew a little tighter. He was either leaning on him for support because the alcohol was finally making him tipsy or the tone in Eminger’s voice made Scottie cringe with slight fear.
“Well, Ems. Downie and I had a little fun after the game. Nothing harmful, really, unless he woke up walking with a sore ass.” The smirk was back on Scottie’s face, the fear flickering and dying. Joff let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding and suddenly became just as confused as Eminger was.
“Wait, Stevie came over after I left?” A nod from Scottie and Joff was past the point of confusion. He looked at Eminger, who seemed to be turning a fair shade of red at the moment. Joff wasn’t sure what Scottie did to embarrass him, but soon the winger realized it wasn’t from embarrassment. Eminger was flat out pissed.
“You told me you went out with a couple guys to a bar.” The sound in Eminger’s voice took upon a father-like tone, as if his older age was showing to overpower Downie. He didn’t mean to do it, but it couldn’t be helped as he stood there looking like an idiot.
“I did, but then Upshall called and - “
“I didn’t call, dude, you just showed up.” Joff eyes widened at Scottie’s stupidity making things worse.
“You just showed up? Why would you lie to me? No, wait, don’t answer that. You’ll probably just lie some more.” Eminger shook his head in disappointment and started to push his way through Joff and Scottie. “I need my beer.” Eminger walked off with his hands balled into fists and tears shadowing over his eyes. Downie watched him fade away past everyone. There was a look on the young winger’s face that read he realized how much he just fucked up. And when that look was directed towards Scottie, it changed and suddenly Scottie was another target.
“Thanks, Upshall. You just ruined my Christmas.”
Scottie shrugged. “S’not my fault.”
“You didn’t have to bring up our little get together in front of Ems.”
Joff had had enough. Standing there in the state of confusion he was in, he needed to know exactly why Eminger got upset when it became clear that Downie had sex with Scottie, again.
“Whoa, ok, wait a second here. Why would Ems be upset over that? He knows how Scottie is. Really, we had threesomes with him all the time. Why would he get mad over you sleeping with Scottie?”
Downie knew about the threesomes. He was still on the Flyers when it was going on. He also had read every text message that Joff had sent Eminger while they were flying out to Tampa. They were the ones that opened doors to things Joff and Scottie did in bed, things they did to feel good. It was no secret that Eminger hid from him and in the end Downie forgave him and all was good. But Downie never told his lover about running into Scottie at the rest stop in Virginia, and how Scottie took him in the bathroom and gave him one of the greatest hand jobs he’s ever had. Downie never told Eminger what fun he had with the Flyers’ winger and that he craved more from the luscious man. Downie never told him that after their game in Philly he went over to the condo and let Scottie take him on the couch, on the floor, and then finally one last time in the shower before he watched Scottie pass out in bed as he dressed to leave.
Downie sighed and knew he had to tell the two men in front of him what was going on.
“Ems and I are a couple. Well, we were.” He rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.
Joff’s facial expressions finally turned into something more like surprised then confused and he smiled. “Oh my, that’s great! You know, I always thought you two would make a great couple. Yep, I really did.”
Downie snorted out a bitter laugh and looked at Joff. “You’re fuckin’ crazy. But no thanks here to Ups it looks like Ems and I are no more.”
“No, no, no…” Joff wrapped an arm around Downie’s shoulders. “Scottie is drunk. Really, everyone knows that Scottie doesn’t intend to be an ass when he drinks too much. We’ll talk to Ems and everything will be sorted out. I promise, ok?”
There was a deep sigh and Downie gave Scottie a quick glance. The Flyers’ winger was staring into the empty beer bottle, acting as if he tried hard enough he could make more beer appear.
“Yeah, well, I guess.”
”Good. Now let’s go get you a beer.”
“Ok,” Downie nodded. “But first I gotta pee.” He wiggled out from underneath Joff’s grasp and headed for the door beneath the stairs. If it wasn’t for the sign that Richie had so conveniently put up on the wooden door, his escape would not have been as easy as directions would have held him back.
Joff watched him walk away and then turned to Scottie. He was still staring into the beer bottle.
“Why the fuck do you have to open your mouth sometimes?”
“You’ve never complained before.” Scottie met Joff’s glare and smirked.
“Not what I meant.” Joff rolled his eyes. “First you hit on Albie and now you shared some information that made Ems mad at Stevie. Really, Ups, you promised you would try to be good tonight.”
Scottie started to laugh. “I know. And really, I’m trying, but you can’t pass up an opportunity to make that boy squirm.”
“Whatever. But you owe both of them an apology.”
“We’ll see,” Scottie said, bouncing on his heels, eager to go grab another beer. “We’ll see.”
*****
On the other side of the condo, following the loud crash and long stream of curse words, Mike Richards was racing over to where his tree had been set up. Once he arrived at the scene, Mike could see Riley Cote and several others surrounded in a mess of glass beer bottles and a bucket on the carpet. The bucket, which Mike and Jeff used to keep hockey pucks in while practicing on days off, was covered in drops of water and lying on its side.
“Oh no!” Mike rushed over to the bucket, and kneeling down the wetness that filled the carpet was suddenly absorbed into the material of his pants. “What the…” Mike stood up, observing the dark circle that covered his right knee. Apparently, someone had filled up the bucket with water and the water was then spilled on to the carpet.
Braydon Coburn read the confusion on Mike’s face and proceeded to explain what happened. “Riles thought the tree needed to be watered, so he filled up the bucket and splashed it on the tree. And well, he got pissed at the tree because he thinks the tree is saying stuff to him and the rest is self-explanatory.”
Josh Gratton’s laughter filled his ears and Mike turned to look at what was happening. Riley, with a beer in one hand, held a fist up to the Christmas tree as curse words were streaming from his mouth.
“I’m gonna fuckin’ get you mother fucker, you son-ova-bitch, fuckin’ asswipe, don’t fuckin’ say shit, you just fuckin’ stand there fuckin’…”
“Uh, Riles?” Mike took a step towards the bigger man, with caution, and watched Riley take a swing at the tree. He missed and stumbled, catching his balance as Mike screamed at him. “HEY!”
Riley’s attention was caught and he stopped midway through another swing. “Huh?” His eyes squinted, almost like he couldn’t see. “Oh, Richie! You wouldn’t believe it! This fucker has been trash-talking me all night!”
“Um, Riles? Yeah, that’s a fake tree, not a person.”
“What?” Riley’s expression changed from pissed off to utter confusion. It was more or less that he didn’t understand what Mike was telling him. But then a little voice went off inside his head and his attention was brought back to the tree. “Oh, so you are gonna start shit about my friend, eh?”
Mike wasn’t sure whether to be impressed by Riley’s ability to hear the fake tree talking to him or concerned that maybe alcohol at this party was a really bad idea. Any other thoughts were soon pushed to the side when he saw Riley taking another swing at his tree. Mike was worried about damage to his tree but he was also worried about Riley hurting himself. This had to be stopped.
“Riley, I’m sure the tree isn’t - “ Mike had grabbed for Riley, which would later seem like a stupid idea, and tried to intervene with the madness that was going on. Instead of being successful, the captain then had a fist connect with his nose and all he could hear was Jeff’s voice ringing in his ears.
The lights flickered, almost dying instantly, and a hand connected with the back of his head before Mike’s body fell to the floor. He felt his head land on a lap, such a comfortable pillow he thought, and the red liquid dripped from his nose heavily as pain shot through him. “Uuhhh…” Mike kept his eyes closed and frantically tried to grasp for something, anything, to tightly hold onto as his consciousness was slowly slipping from him.
“Richie, baby, hold on, ok?” Jeff voice was soft and soothing, and as Mike slowly opened his eyes he felt his insides warm with love.
“I’m okay, Jeffy, I really am…”
Jeff blushed slightly at the use of his childhood nickname and grabbed the tissue that someone held to him. “Thanks,” he muttered, and quickly went to work wiping the drying blood from Mike’s face.
A couple minutes later, Mike was back to his usual self and sitting in the kitchen. He had his head tilted back as he held a tissue to this nose. The pain had stopped pounding in the front of his face but the blood was still dripping. Mostly everyone had heard what happened and came to see him. Riley was taken outside by Matt Carle and Glen Metropolit to get some fresh air and calm down. Jeff was cleaning up the living room and when he returned to the kitchen, arms full of empty beer bottles, he had to yell at Mike once again to keep his head back.
“Oh my god, ok! Jeez…” Mike pinched the tissue harder and closed his eyes. That earlier concern about allowing alcohol at his party was turning into an even bigger question as to why he thought having this party in the first place was a good idea.
“I’m sorry for yelling.” A pair of lips gently placed a kiss on the captain’s forehead and fingertips gracefully massaged his temples. When Mike opened his eyes, Jeff’s face was all he could see and for once he felt like they were the only two there. That was, of course, until Scottie came barging into the room.
“Richie! I thought you knew Riley could kick your ass!”
Mike rolled his eyes and sighed. He brought the tissue away from his nose and grabbed a new one from Jeff. Wiping his nose, the tissue proved that the bleeding had finally stopped.
“I didn’t fight Cote.” The captain sat up and handed his tissues to Jeff. Looking back at Scottie, he watched the winger pour himself a mixture of vodka and juice. “Riley was convinced the tree was talking to him and threatened his life so he was trying to fight the tree. I just so happened to get the better end of his punch.”
Scottie laughed and consumed half of his drink. Holding the cup in his hand, he walked up to Mike and looked down at his captain. “I’m sure Carts wouldn’t mind if Riley offered to make it up to you.”
The steam was coming from Jeff’s ears as he glared at Scottie. Richie just rolled his eyes and held a hand up to hold back Jeff as they watched the winger walk away. When he disappeared, Mike stood up from his seat and brought Jeff into a hug.
“Calm down, ok?” Mike started. “He’s drunk, he’s gonna be an asshole.”
“Yeah, I know, but uhh…” Jeff’s voice faded as his eyes suddenly made the conversation switch to another topic. “We really need to take that mistletoe down.”
“Why?” Mike brushed his lips across Jeff’s left cheek, placing a soft trail of kisses to his lips. “Maybe I wanna get stuck under there with you.”
“Um, well…oh just look.”
The captain turned and laid his eyes on the scene that Jeff was staring at. Under the mistletoe, it was clear that a very drunk Antero Niittymaki was trying to catch a still sober Danny Briere with a kiss.
“Um, I don’t think he wants it…”
“I don’t think Niitty is sober enough to realize that…”
Niittymaki had a hand grasping Danny’s right arm as the other hand tried to catch his face, proving that there was mistletoe above them and they had to kiss.
“Come on, Niitty! Go bug someone else.” Danny pushed at the goaltender but nothing worked. “I don’t want to kiss you!”
Niittymaki smirked and pulled Danny’s body closer. The height difference wasn’t helping the center much.
“Oh Danny, I know how much you like goalies…”
Mike had seen enough once Danny’s eyes went wide with what looked like fear as the goaltender winked and went to grab for the goods between Danny’s legs.
“Ok you two, cut it out. I don’t think everyone wants to see another show under the mistletoe.” Mike stepped in between Danny and Antero and pulled Danny with him back into the kitchen. Niittymaki just frowned at the lost contact and walked away. After looking back at the disappearing goalie, Mike handed Danny a cup of water and an apologetic look.
“You ok?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, just peachy.” Danny drank the water in three huge gulps and almost slammed the cup on the counter.
“Where’s Marty at?”
“Obviously not here.” Sadness overcame Danny’s voice and his eyes cast downward.
Mike shifted his weight to his other leg and kept at the questioning. “Why? He said he was coming when I asked him the other day.”
“Yeah, he’ll be here later. It’s just, well, the family comes first to him, you know, and he needed to see his kids before they went to bed. He likes tucking them in, makes him feel good, and with the road trip coming up he won’t be able to do that and it hurts him.” Danny knew he was rambling and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I just miss him. It’s been tough with this injury. I wish I could be out on the ice with you guys and play.”
“I know, Danny, I know.” Mike pulled his teammate into a hug. “You want a beer? I think I’ve got a couple more cases in the basement. I’m sure no one has been brave enough to stumble down there yet.”
Danny nodded his head and gave the captain a smile. “Thanks. Need help with it?”
Mike knew that after taking that punch, along with the consumption of three beers already, he wasn’t really able to take a hike down to the basement on his own. “Yeah, sure. Follow me.” He led the way to the basement and the two headed down the stairs to gather more beer. They found three cases; Mike carried one and Danny carried the other two. When two cases were emptied into the cooler, Jeff grabbed the remaining case and placed it under the table. He then grabbed Mike and the two went disappeared into the living room. Danny stayed behind, left to huddle around the table as he gathered up a plate of food amongst other teammates. Jeff had just put out dinner and everyone dug in.
Seated at the table towards one end, Alberts and Knuble sat together and no one noticed as Alberts picked out mushrooms and put them on Knuble’s plate. The winger couldn’t hold back a laugh at his lover’s childlike expressions of disgust for the mushrooms. No one also didn’t notice the tension in the air between Downie and Eminger, as the young Steve sat close to Joff and tried to hide his face from the intruding glares being sent his way. Joff made a mental note to resolve the problem Scottie started, which was nothing new to him.
The dining room table started to fill with remaining teammates as their plates were loaded with spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and bread, and beers and cups of mixed drinks sat beside the plates. Conversations arose and Danny’s incident went without questions asked.