Keep Me Close- Chapter XXVIII
Team: San Jose Sharks
Pairing: Joe Thornton/Evgeni Nabokov
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not all in San Jose is sunny as the path to the Stanley Cup proves to be as difficult as ever; falling in love might be the simplest task on this year’s agenda.
Editor: sherlockelly. Thank you so much, as always! She is the hardest working editor that an author will ever have the pleasure to work with. All remaining mistakes are mine.
| Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Chapter V | Chapter VI | Chapter VII | Chapter VIII | Chapter IX | Chapter X | Chapter XI | Chapter XII | Chapter XIII | Chapter XIV | Chapter XV | Chapter XVI Part one | Chapter XVI Part two | Chapter XVII part one | Chapter XVII part two | Chapter XVIII | Chapter XVIII | Chapter XIX | Chapter XX | Chapter XXI | Chapter XXII | Chapter XXIII | Chapter XXIV | Chapter XXV | Chapter XXVI | Chapter XXVII |
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A/N: Thank you, everyone who has been reading this, I can’t believe how far this baby has come. Almost 30 chapters?... whew. That’s unheard of by me with my poor commitment levels. But you guys have been the motivation I needed, with you guys, this would not have even gotten passed chapter three. Writing this has given me an interest in writing creatively, an outlet for my pent up ideas. My passion for hockey has only grown as I have written this, which is amazing, since I didn’t think I could love it more before I started this little adventure. So thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far; I hope to hear from the others as well; thank you all for helping to make what this is today :) Here’s to many more chapters to come! Enjoy~
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Disclaimer: None of the San Jose Shark franchise belongs to me, and each individual involved in the story besides my own original characters are their own person and I am not assuming their sexual orientation, personalities or beliefs in real life, but am only twisting them for each to be beneficial to the plot.
-Chapter XXVIII-
“Awesome!” The sophomore slapped a hand on Joe’s shoulder, winking down at him when the man was forcefully jolted to reality, a look of dumbstruck mixed with horror befalling his features when they locked eyes. “Awesome!” Devin repeated, perhaps even more vivaciously when he looked toward Evgeni. Then he raised both of his hands near his face, his double thumbs-up matching the crooked, toothy smile.
Turning around with that same stupid, stupid, stupid grin on his face, Devin nodded at Evgeni with a hint of satisfaction. “Keep it up, guys!” He gave another thumbs-up. “You just earned me fifty bucks and gloating rights!” Then he shot out the door before his words could sink in. “Suck it, Mitchell!” he yelled to no one in particular as he scampered down the hall, the slam of the locker room door bouncing through the entire lower level floor of the HP Pavilion.
“Maybe we should save this for another time…” Joe whispered hesitantly into Evgeni’s arm, as if testing to see if Devin didn’t come back with more prying eyes. Thankfully all was silent, taking pity on Joe and Evgeni’s already compromising situation.
“Joe. We’re naked,” Evgeni croaked, finally wrenching his hand away from the wall to indicate their bare lower halves, both hardened to full arousal.
“Heh… so… ya liked it too?” Joe licked his lips nervously, stepping back to get a good look, eying the two glistening cocks hungrily.
Smacking the broad chest with a snap of his wrist, Evgeni huffed crossly. Didn’t he understand that this was a serious matter?
“M’sorry,” Joe mumbled abashedly, bowing his head with a well-deserved blush, as he certainly didn’t need to go around suggestion such things. “Ah, well, a-at least he’s seen it all before, yeah?” he offered with a hopeful twitch of the lips, trying to catch Evgeni’s line of sight with his own eyes, but failing miserably as the man pinned up against the wall skillfully avoided them.
Evgeni groaned dejectedly and buried his face into Joe’s chest.
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The two of them parted ways quickly after Devin had left them in the then-cold showers, both not entirely anxious to finish what they had started. They dressed in silence, refusing to meet each other’s eyes, before sneaking out to the parking lot to head back to their respected homes. Truth be told, Joe wasn’t so sure he’d be able to get it up, knowing that Devin had seen him as he was just about to screw their goaltender senseless into the bathroom wall.
It was a silent agreement that Evgeni and Joe would have both liked to hide themselves in their homes until their young teammate was far, far away. But hockey was a demanding sport, and like all demanding sports, practices were crucial. It didn’t mean that Joe couldn’t wish to leave the practice the very next morning just to avoid the smiles Devin sent his and Evgeni’s way when no one else was paying attention.
Something inside him shriveled up whenever he caught Devin shooting him nod of approval. ‘Like I even need his approval in the first place,’ Joe thought bitterly, glaring daggers into the ground as he skated up ice, joining Patrick and Jody for the drill. He had a slow reaction to catching the puck on his stick as the captain passed it to him from behind the net, swinging wildly and missing by a mile with his shot.
Evgeni straightened from his ready butterfly position and gave a knowing shrug, an apathetic look in his eyes. Still facing the net, Joe let out the groan that had been threatening to spill from his lips, shaking his head and slapping his stick on the ice in a mild display of a tantrum, knowing full well that it could be taken as frustration at his poor aim. The goaltender coughed out a laugh, nodding and turning to the next set of players that skated over the blue line. Joe watched through the reflective glass as Evgeni swatted the puck out of the air with his stick… barely. He could have easily avoided using it if he kicked out his right pad a second earlier. They both had their mindset far from playing hockey that morning.
Joe slowly gathered the pucks sitting next to the goalposts, shifting his line of sight beyond Evgeni; irritation rose within him as he watched Devin once again waving discreetly in his direction with a toothy grin set on his face. Balling his hands into fists next to his hips, Devin proceeded to thrust his pelvis forward in an exaggerated humping motion.
A blush a shade of red that rivaled a tomato’s erupted on Joe’s face, his muscles straining to hide the cringe that was so tempting to release. It was obvious that Evgeni saw it too, not noticing the puck as it flew through the five-hole indicated as much.
What the hell was Joe thinking yesterday! The two of them were never going to get frisky in the showers ever again, in case Devin-or god forbid, Todd-walked in on them.
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It wasn’t necessarily… ironic, per say, that neither the Sharks’ starting goaltender and star passer declined joining the team shower after practice, but rather more their cautious reasoning than anything.
Joe hurried over, slipping the cotton shirt over his head, his arm getting stuck in the hole of a sleeve as he sat down next to Evgeni when everyone else was cleaning off.
“Did you see that?!” Joe hissed frantically, tugging at the shirt to put his arm properly through it, knowing that the other would know exactly what he was implying. “What he did?” he added anyway, as if trying to believe his teammate’s actions himself.
Evgeni wasn’t looking at him, instead, opting to stare frightfully at the hallway leading to the showers. “Of course Iya saw it,” he snapped back, his fingers twittering in his lap, his bare feet bouncing on the ground. “The whole team dhid!”
“What?” Joe yelped, aghast, his eyes skittering over to the hallway, fully expecting someone to walk through right then and ask about Devin’s odd behavior.
“W-well…” Evgeni sighed, blinking and glancing toward Joe; his eyes wavered for a moment before flickering back to stare into the empty hallway. “I mean, prhobably,” he cracked a humorless smile. “Whas pretty hard to miss.”
Quickened steps coming from the direction of the showers captured both of their attentions. A shaky whimper caught at the back of Evgeni’s throat, his lips sealing shut to muffle the noise. Joe placed a reassuring hand over the other man’s, running his thumb over the ghostly-white knuckles, trying to convey a collectiveness that he, himself was certainly not feeling. He pulled away before the interrupter could see the intimate exchange.
Joe didn’t know whether to be relieved or disheartened as a bright-eyed Devin bounded out from the hall, only a towel wrapped around his waist. Upon seeing the two sitting next to each other with bleak looks adorning their faces, Devin lit up with a grin, hopping over his bag and rummaging through it, only occasionally breaking eye-contact to find what he was looking for.
“You two…” he began, pulling out a shirt and setting it on the bench next to his bag, ignoring it as spilled over the bench and fell to the ground. “Are exactly…” he sang, as he set a jar of hair gel down, “who I wanted to see. Aha!” Devin exclaimed with a triumphant flash in his eyes. He held what he had found at arms length, the object of his search hidden from Joe’s prying eyes.
Lifting it up next to his head, Devin shook what appeared to be a small book, his jerky movements enough to blur the title so that Joe couldn’t read what it was. Leaning forward, Evgeni tried to see what it read with his sharper, goaltender trained eyes, squinting and cocking his head to the side. Joe tried not to pay attention to how adorable the action was, especially when Devin was right there, but the thought crossed his protesting mind anyway.
In three steps, the young man was standing before the pair, then turning around, he settled himself between his teammates. A grunt of protest spilled from Joe’s lips, but his younger friend just snickered and sent him a ‘you know better than that’ look. Begrudgingly, Joe knew that he was right, but it didn’t make him dislike the raised eyebrow any less.
Devin effectively shielded the cover by folding his arms neatly over the book, and inhaled so much that his chest puffed out proudly like a peacock’s. “So! Yesterday after I bumped into you two in the showers-” he started, disregarding the twin flinches from the men on either side of him. “-which is a classic by the way… although… not really conventional-I realized you were probably new at this, since you weren’t to the fucking already.” How he managed to say something that vulgar with an air of superiority, Joe would never know; he was taken aback, nonetheless.
“What?!” Joe huffed, arms coming to cross over his chest defensively.
“Well, that, or you thought it would be a good idea to take your time in the public showers.” Devin said with a laugh, shaking his head at the thought. “I stress the “public” because the showers is a very public place, and it would be very stupid take half an hour screwing each other in a public place, right?”
Joe wasn’t about to admit that it actually was just his stupidity; he hadn’t cared where he was, he was just happy that he was going to get off with Evgeni. He kept quiet, considering they truly were new to this as well. The man on Devin’s other side flushed and licked his lips, the same realization presumably running through his head, but he did not voice his parallel thoughts, choosing to remain mum as well.
“Right!” Devin answered his own question, taking the silence for a resounding yes. “So, I decided to come to your rescue.” He unfolded his arms from around his midsection and presented the black, hardcover book. “Ta-da!” He stroked his thumb over the title good-naturedly as he waited for the other men to lean in and read it. In apple red, loopy letters, it spelled Better Sex Now, with the smaller words 59 Recipes for a Better Love Life, written in italics underneath it.
With his brain sputtering momentarily, Joe could only stare wide-eyed at the book sitting in Devin’s lap, before glancing upwards with unhidden discomfort; hoping that he somehow read what he thought it said completely wrong. A blush crept over Joe’s cheeks; glancing up, he saw that Evgeni’s face matched in color. His stomach felt like it was shrinking; it was collapsing and dying bit by bit, just like his pride. It was as if he was getting the talk all over again, and he was eight years Devin’s senior for fuck’s sake!
Speaking up for the first time since Devin’s arrival, Evgeni licked his lips and tapped the book twice with his middle finger. When he opened his mouth, his voice was small; he sounded exactly how Joe felt. “What… what is that?”
“A book of sex positions?” Devin teased back, his tone jokingly exasperated, as if he expected the words on the cover to explain everything. Settling the book down, he slung his arms over Joe and Evgeni’s shoulders, hugging them in close. “You guys are like my protégés now, and I need to teach you these things.” His smile faltered as he reconsidered his last words, his jaw slackening. “Wait…” he glanced frantically between Joe and Evgeni. “Who’s fucking who?”
“Devin!” both men gasped, taking the time to look around the room nervously.
“They’re all in the showers, relax!” Devin laughed, leaning back and opening the book to a random page. “You two are so paranoid-Oh… that’s a good one; can’t go wrong with this.”
No one but the three teammates was present, but that didn’t at all manage to calm Joe’s nerves. Turning back around, he just caught the boy as he snapped the book shut.
“Seriously, who’s fucking who? I wanna know!” His whining was playful, but the joviality was not shared with either of the other two men.
“Iya think yhou know enough, actually,” Evgeni grumbled, wrenching himself from the embrace and sinking back into the bench after he was certain no one was hiding anywhere.
“Don’t we… um, fuck each other?” Joe asked quietly, the crude phrasing rolling around his mouth as he was reluctant to ask, but also very keen on knowing as much as Devin seemed to. Joe shrugged off Evgeni’s look of betrayal, he’d get over it, he’d have to; it was so Joe wouldn’t hurt him again when they were having sex anyway.
A pleased expression crossed Devin’s features as he turned to Joe. “Oh! You’re right! Sorry. What I mean… like… who’s topping?” He received only blank stares in return. “Come on! Which one of you two is-you know-screwing ass?”
Evgeni’s face turned an even angrier pink before he turned away furiously, arms crossing over his chest, leaving Joe to handle the talking.
“Um… I’m, uh, topping, I guess,” Joe mumbled, going with the less crude definition as he picked at a loose hangnail absentmindedly.
“So you’re they guy and Nabby’s the girl,” Devin stated firmly, oblivious to how awkward the conversation was for the other two. Joe’s eyes widened; Devin didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
Evgeni whipped back around at the utterance of ‘girl,’ his eyes blazing and his cheeks blotching red with embarrassment. “I am nhot the girl!” He looked to Joe with pleading eyes, desperation and a fierce rage fighting for dominance in the pools of grey. At that moment, rage was winning. “I’m nhot.”
Joe ducked his head in a quick nod of agreement, not knowing where Devin was headed with his ludicrous comments.
“Well, no, you’re not, but… you are… i-in this book, I mean!” Devin offered as a speedy recovery, feigning sympathy as he flipped open the book for all of them to see. “It’s… the only one I could find on short notice, sorry,” he apologized sheepishly before leaning back down.
His confession made sense when Joe chanced a glance down. Apparently, Devin wasn’t able to locate a book homosexual sex positions. Wonderful.
Simple, black-and-white illustrated pictures of a man and a woman having sex in different positions were scattered throughout the pages, short sentences explaining the details at the bottom of the glossy paper.
“Hey, you, come ’ere,” Devin indicated to Evgeni, his voice suddenly softer; the condescending tone that dripped from his every word mere moments ago was completely gone. He waved the older man to peer over his shoulder, using the same arm to loop around Evgeni’s neck when they were sitting close enough.
Without a word, Joe watched in fascination as the smile on Devin’s face morphed into something less teasing, and something more parental, tender even. It was like watching a rare animal in its natural habitat, something that Joe may never see again.
“See?” Devin rubbed circles into Evgeni’s arm as he pointed to a page with the opposite hand. Looking down as well, Joe saw as Devin’s finger landed on the woman who was being bent over the bed, the man thrusting into her from behind. “In the book-” Devin stressed, his words forming slowly in a calming manner, “-this is you.”
He turned to another page, and pointed to the woman who was sitting on the man’s lap with her back up against his chest; Joe was hit with the memories of the last time he and Evgeni had had sex in that very position. Only fifty-eight more positions to go, then.
“It’s not bad, Evgeni,” Devin spoke quietly, the full name sounding foreign when spoken from the young man’s lips. Joe was hit with the feeling that he was listening in on some private talk, suddenly uncomfortable with his own presence. But Devin was speaking again before Joe could even think about leaving. “Look, this girl looks like she’s enjoying it, right?” he laughed at his own joke as he circled the woman’s face with a finger, captured forever in the instant of hitting the peak of her pleasures.
Joe cracked a smile; leave it to Devin to cut the cheesy stuff, choosing to be frank about everything instead. Which was good, the cheesy stuff was for Joe’s use only.
Nodding hesitantly at first, Evgeni sighed and pulled away. “Iya… suppose yhou’re right.”
“Of course I am!” And just like that, Devin’s cheerfulness was back, as if it had never disappeared in the first place. “But I should get going, the guys’ll probably stop showering soon-?” he trailed off, his words ending in a higher pitch as if it were a question.
And nearly a second after he finished, a loud bang announced the soon-to-be entrance of the rest of the team.
“See you two at my apartment tonight at seven,” Devin whispered hurriedly, bouncing to his open bag and throwing on a white t-shirt.
“What?” Joe and Evgeni asked at the same time, stunned at the odd request that sounded quite close to a command.
“Devin, really, thanks for the, um…” Joe held the book aloft in his hand, tucking it into Evgeni’s bag before someone saw him with it. “But why would we do that?”
“I jhust want to go home and sleep,” Evgeni moaned self-pityingly, agreeing in a roundabout way with other, his head sinking onto Joe’s shoulder before he righted himself.
“You’ll do it, because if you don’t, um…” The finger he jabbed toward his teammates lost its intimidation when Devin was pulling up his jeans at the same time. Another loud bang and the door opening assured that a Shark was bound to walk back into the lockers this time. Seeing the nervous flint in both Joe and Evgeni’s eyes, Devin’s smile grew wicked. “Because if you don’t, I’ll tell everyone.”
“Fuck, Dev! Ya wouldn’t,” Joe swore, standing up quickly and grabbing his own bag by the strap, not able to fully suppress the tremor in his voice, as he didn’t entirely believe his own words.
“Trust me, I don’t want to!” Devin whispered in earnest, obvious regret flashing over his young features. “But, seriously, you’re giving me no choice!”
Booming laughter echoed through the hallway and Joe jumped in surprise, almost forgetting why they were being so cautious in the first place.
“Yhes, we’ll meet yhou there, now stop talking about it!” Evgeni hissed, bending over and zipping his bag shut, the book hidden from any prying eyes.
With a wink and a satisfactory “cool beans,” Devin was off, striding toward the exit with his head held high.
“…What?” Evgeni asked, blinking with confusion at the phrase, just as Danny and Brad walked back into the room, laughing at a joke shared between the two of them. The rest of the team filed in soon after, the large room bustling with redressing hockey players.
Packing the rest of his belongings, the starting goaltender sat up and offered a “’night,” directed toward the entire team, a disharmony of good-byes floated in the air in answer. After a few seconds of chatting with Ryane, Joe was following Evgeni out the back door, stopping to sign a couple autographs for the fans waiting outside the south rink exit. He caught up to Evgeni, who was waiting next to his black Mercedes and supposedly fumbling with his keys, although Joe knew that Evgeni kept his car key on a separate key ring. Although, Joe wasn’t going to tell him that he wasn’t as sneaky as he believed himself to be; that Evgeni was waiting for him was too endearing to pass up for another time.
When he caught up to the man parked beside him, Joe unlocked his car door and looked up, jerking back with surprise after confronting a piercing slat-grey stare. The hardened color softened, and Joe smiled back, cocking his head and waiting patiently for Evgeni to say what was on his mind.
“See you at seven, Iya guess…” Evgeni sighed despondently. He stopped fiddling with his one key, but his eyes shot back down and locked onto his still hands.
“Yeah.” Joe wasn’t too keen on seeing the other given the circumstances either.
“I can’t be-wait…” Evgeni shifted, his eyes rounding out as his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
Silence made the air stagnant around them, very thick and extremely uncomfortable. This was not the silence that the two shared on the jet-rides, or in Evgeni’s private hotel room, or while sitting on Joe’s couch. Taking vicious bites at his bottom lip, Evgeni’s brow furrowed once again in thought, Joe tapping idly on the window of his car, trying to disrupt the unsettling quiet.
“Devin’s gay?” Evgeni whispered finally as he looked back up, his face crumbling with complete confusion.
“Wha-? Oh.” Joe’s eyes widened as he realized the gravity of the man’s question. This was Devin who was always chasing skirts after games, boasting about some hot girl he picked up in the bar, and to find out that this new found side of Devin was a part of the same person? It was a little much to soak in. So Joe offered the only intelligent answer he could: “God… I have no idea.”
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To be Continued
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Yeaaah, I know I said that this chapter would be the “exciting one, so please review!” but, as it turns out, I have lied. But I also come bearing good news. Why isn’t this the awesome-packed chapter that I promised it would be? Simple! Because the awesome-packed chapter was originally started with this entire thing, but it was too long! So, next chapter, promise, considering I already have 2/3 of it done… eh, more than that. Like 4/5 done. And it’s looong as I have previously stated. And… well, it’s some other things too, but I don’t want to go and spoil it ;)
Please review! I’d love to hear what you think about this character building chapter!
Pairing: Joe Thornton/Evgeni Nabokov
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Not all in San Jose is sunny as the path to the Stanley Cup proves to be as difficult as ever; falling in love might be the simplest task on this year’s agenda.
Editor: sherlockelly. Thank you so much, as always! She is the hardest working editor that an author will ever have the pleasure to work with. All remaining mistakes are mine.
| Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Chapter V | Chapter VI | Chapter VII | Chapter VIII | Chapter IX | Chapter X | Chapter XI | Chapter XII | Chapter XIII | Chapter XIV | Chapter XV | Chapter XVI Part one | Chapter XVI Part two | Chapter XVII part one | Chapter XVII part two | Chapter XVIII | Chapter XVIII | Chapter XIX | Chapter XX | Chapter XXI | Chapter XXII | Chapter XXIII | Chapter XXIV | Chapter XXV | Chapter XXVI | Chapter XXVII |
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A/N: Thank you, everyone who has been reading this, I can’t believe how far this baby has come. Almost 30 chapters?... whew. That’s unheard of by me with my poor commitment levels. But you guys have been the motivation I needed, with you guys, this would not have even gotten passed chapter three. Writing this has given me an interest in writing creatively, an outlet for my pent up ideas. My passion for hockey has only grown as I have written this, which is amazing, since I didn’t think I could love it more before I started this little adventure. So thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far; I hope to hear from the others as well; thank you all for helping to make what this is today :) Here’s to many more chapters to come! Enjoy~
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Disclaimer: None of the San Jose Shark franchise belongs to me, and each individual involved in the story besides my own original characters are their own person and I am not assuming their sexual orientation, personalities or beliefs in real life, but am only twisting them for each to be beneficial to the plot.
-Chapter XXVIII-
“Awesome!” The sophomore slapped a hand on Joe’s shoulder, winking down at him when the man was forcefully jolted to reality, a look of dumbstruck mixed with horror befalling his features when they locked eyes. “Awesome!” Devin repeated, perhaps even more vivaciously when he looked toward Evgeni. Then he raised both of his hands near his face, his double thumbs-up matching the crooked, toothy smile.
Turning around with that same stupid, stupid, stupid grin on his face, Devin nodded at Evgeni with a hint of satisfaction. “Keep it up, guys!” He gave another thumbs-up. “You just earned me fifty bucks and gloating rights!” Then he shot out the door before his words could sink in. “Suck it, Mitchell!” he yelled to no one in particular as he scampered down the hall, the slam of the locker room door bouncing through the entire lower level floor of the HP Pavilion.
“Maybe we should save this for another time…” Joe whispered hesitantly into Evgeni’s arm, as if testing to see if Devin didn’t come back with more prying eyes. Thankfully all was silent, taking pity on Joe and Evgeni’s already compromising situation.
“Joe. We’re naked,” Evgeni croaked, finally wrenching his hand away from the wall to indicate their bare lower halves, both hardened to full arousal.
“Heh… so… ya liked it too?” Joe licked his lips nervously, stepping back to get a good look, eying the two glistening cocks hungrily.
Smacking the broad chest with a snap of his wrist, Evgeni huffed crossly. Didn’t he understand that this was a serious matter?
“M’sorry,” Joe mumbled abashedly, bowing his head with a well-deserved blush, as he certainly didn’t need to go around suggestion such things. “Ah, well, a-at least he’s seen it all before, yeah?” he offered with a hopeful twitch of the lips, trying to catch Evgeni’s line of sight with his own eyes, but failing miserably as the man pinned up against the wall skillfully avoided them.
Evgeni groaned dejectedly and buried his face into Joe’s chest.
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The two of them parted ways quickly after Devin had left them in the then-cold showers, both not entirely anxious to finish what they had started. They dressed in silence, refusing to meet each other’s eyes, before sneaking out to the parking lot to head back to their respected homes. Truth be told, Joe wasn’t so sure he’d be able to get it up, knowing that Devin had seen him as he was just about to screw their goaltender senseless into the bathroom wall.
It was a silent agreement that Evgeni and Joe would have both liked to hide themselves in their homes until their young teammate was far, far away. But hockey was a demanding sport, and like all demanding sports, practices were crucial. It didn’t mean that Joe couldn’t wish to leave the practice the very next morning just to avoid the smiles Devin sent his and Evgeni’s way when no one else was paying attention.
Something inside him shriveled up whenever he caught Devin shooting him nod of approval. ‘Like I even need his approval in the first place,’ Joe thought bitterly, glaring daggers into the ground as he skated up ice, joining Patrick and Jody for the drill. He had a slow reaction to catching the puck on his stick as the captain passed it to him from behind the net, swinging wildly and missing by a mile with his shot.
Evgeni straightened from his ready butterfly position and gave a knowing shrug, an apathetic look in his eyes. Still facing the net, Joe let out the groan that had been threatening to spill from his lips, shaking his head and slapping his stick on the ice in a mild display of a tantrum, knowing full well that it could be taken as frustration at his poor aim. The goaltender coughed out a laugh, nodding and turning to the next set of players that skated over the blue line. Joe watched through the reflective glass as Evgeni swatted the puck out of the air with his stick… barely. He could have easily avoided using it if he kicked out his right pad a second earlier. They both had their mindset far from playing hockey that morning.
Joe slowly gathered the pucks sitting next to the goalposts, shifting his line of sight beyond Evgeni; irritation rose within him as he watched Devin once again waving discreetly in his direction with a toothy grin set on his face. Balling his hands into fists next to his hips, Devin proceeded to thrust his pelvis forward in an exaggerated humping motion.
A blush a shade of red that rivaled a tomato’s erupted on Joe’s face, his muscles straining to hide the cringe that was so tempting to release. It was obvious that Evgeni saw it too, not noticing the puck as it flew through the five-hole indicated as much.
What the hell was Joe thinking yesterday! The two of them were never going to get frisky in the showers ever again, in case Devin-or god forbid, Todd-walked in on them.
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It wasn’t necessarily… ironic, per say, that neither the Sharks’ starting goaltender and star passer declined joining the team shower after practice, but rather more their cautious reasoning than anything.
Joe hurried over, slipping the cotton shirt over his head, his arm getting stuck in the hole of a sleeve as he sat down next to Evgeni when everyone else was cleaning off.
“Did you see that?!” Joe hissed frantically, tugging at the shirt to put his arm properly through it, knowing that the other would know exactly what he was implying. “What he did?” he added anyway, as if trying to believe his teammate’s actions himself.
Evgeni wasn’t looking at him, instead, opting to stare frightfully at the hallway leading to the showers. “Of course Iya saw it,” he snapped back, his fingers twittering in his lap, his bare feet bouncing on the ground. “The whole team dhid!”
“What?” Joe yelped, aghast, his eyes skittering over to the hallway, fully expecting someone to walk through right then and ask about Devin’s odd behavior.
“W-well…” Evgeni sighed, blinking and glancing toward Joe; his eyes wavered for a moment before flickering back to stare into the empty hallway. “I mean, prhobably,” he cracked a humorless smile. “Whas pretty hard to miss.”
Quickened steps coming from the direction of the showers captured both of their attentions. A shaky whimper caught at the back of Evgeni’s throat, his lips sealing shut to muffle the noise. Joe placed a reassuring hand over the other man’s, running his thumb over the ghostly-white knuckles, trying to convey a collectiveness that he, himself was certainly not feeling. He pulled away before the interrupter could see the intimate exchange.
Joe didn’t know whether to be relieved or disheartened as a bright-eyed Devin bounded out from the hall, only a towel wrapped around his waist. Upon seeing the two sitting next to each other with bleak looks adorning their faces, Devin lit up with a grin, hopping over his bag and rummaging through it, only occasionally breaking eye-contact to find what he was looking for.
“You two…” he began, pulling out a shirt and setting it on the bench next to his bag, ignoring it as spilled over the bench and fell to the ground. “Are exactly…” he sang, as he set a jar of hair gel down, “who I wanted to see. Aha!” Devin exclaimed with a triumphant flash in his eyes. He held what he had found at arms length, the object of his search hidden from Joe’s prying eyes.
Lifting it up next to his head, Devin shook what appeared to be a small book, his jerky movements enough to blur the title so that Joe couldn’t read what it was. Leaning forward, Evgeni tried to see what it read with his sharper, goaltender trained eyes, squinting and cocking his head to the side. Joe tried not to pay attention to how adorable the action was, especially when Devin was right there, but the thought crossed his protesting mind anyway.
In three steps, the young man was standing before the pair, then turning around, he settled himself between his teammates. A grunt of protest spilled from Joe’s lips, but his younger friend just snickered and sent him a ‘you know better than that’ look. Begrudgingly, Joe knew that he was right, but it didn’t make him dislike the raised eyebrow any less.
Devin effectively shielded the cover by folding his arms neatly over the book, and inhaled so much that his chest puffed out proudly like a peacock’s. “So! Yesterday after I bumped into you two in the showers-” he started, disregarding the twin flinches from the men on either side of him. “-which is a classic by the way… although… not really conventional-I realized you were probably new at this, since you weren’t to the fucking already.” How he managed to say something that vulgar with an air of superiority, Joe would never know; he was taken aback, nonetheless.
“What?!” Joe huffed, arms coming to cross over his chest defensively.
“Well, that, or you thought it would be a good idea to take your time in the public showers.” Devin said with a laugh, shaking his head at the thought. “I stress the “public” because the showers is a very public place, and it would be very stupid take half an hour screwing each other in a public place, right?”
Joe wasn’t about to admit that it actually was just his stupidity; he hadn’t cared where he was, he was just happy that he was going to get off with Evgeni. He kept quiet, considering they truly were new to this as well. The man on Devin’s other side flushed and licked his lips, the same realization presumably running through his head, but he did not voice his parallel thoughts, choosing to remain mum as well.
“Right!” Devin answered his own question, taking the silence for a resounding yes. “So, I decided to come to your rescue.” He unfolded his arms from around his midsection and presented the black, hardcover book. “Ta-da!” He stroked his thumb over the title good-naturedly as he waited for the other men to lean in and read it. In apple red, loopy letters, it spelled Better Sex Now, with the smaller words 59 Recipes for a Better Love Life, written in italics underneath it.
With his brain sputtering momentarily, Joe could only stare wide-eyed at the book sitting in Devin’s lap, before glancing upwards with unhidden discomfort; hoping that he somehow read what he thought it said completely wrong. A blush crept over Joe’s cheeks; glancing up, he saw that Evgeni’s face matched in color. His stomach felt like it was shrinking; it was collapsing and dying bit by bit, just like his pride. It was as if he was getting the talk all over again, and he was eight years Devin’s senior for fuck’s sake!
Speaking up for the first time since Devin’s arrival, Evgeni licked his lips and tapped the book twice with his middle finger. When he opened his mouth, his voice was small; he sounded exactly how Joe felt. “What… what is that?”
“A book of sex positions?” Devin teased back, his tone jokingly exasperated, as if he expected the words on the cover to explain everything. Settling the book down, he slung his arms over Joe and Evgeni’s shoulders, hugging them in close. “You guys are like my protégés now, and I need to teach you these things.” His smile faltered as he reconsidered his last words, his jaw slackening. “Wait…” he glanced frantically between Joe and Evgeni. “Who’s fucking who?”
“Devin!” both men gasped, taking the time to look around the room nervously.
“They’re all in the showers, relax!” Devin laughed, leaning back and opening the book to a random page. “You two are so paranoid-Oh… that’s a good one; can’t go wrong with this.”
No one but the three teammates was present, but that didn’t at all manage to calm Joe’s nerves. Turning back around, he just caught the boy as he snapped the book shut.
“Seriously, who’s fucking who? I wanna know!” His whining was playful, but the joviality was not shared with either of the other two men.
“Iya think yhou know enough, actually,” Evgeni grumbled, wrenching himself from the embrace and sinking back into the bench after he was certain no one was hiding anywhere.
“Don’t we… um, fuck each other?” Joe asked quietly, the crude phrasing rolling around his mouth as he was reluctant to ask, but also very keen on knowing as much as Devin seemed to. Joe shrugged off Evgeni’s look of betrayal, he’d get over it, he’d have to; it was so Joe wouldn’t hurt him again when they were having sex anyway.
A pleased expression crossed Devin’s features as he turned to Joe. “Oh! You’re right! Sorry. What I mean… like… who’s topping?” He received only blank stares in return. “Come on! Which one of you two is-you know-screwing ass?”
Evgeni’s face turned an even angrier pink before he turned away furiously, arms crossing over his chest, leaving Joe to handle the talking.
“Um… I’m, uh, topping, I guess,” Joe mumbled, going with the less crude definition as he picked at a loose hangnail absentmindedly.
“So you’re they guy and Nabby’s the girl,” Devin stated firmly, oblivious to how awkward the conversation was for the other two. Joe’s eyes widened; Devin didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
Evgeni whipped back around at the utterance of ‘girl,’ his eyes blazing and his cheeks blotching red with embarrassment. “I am nhot the girl!” He looked to Joe with pleading eyes, desperation and a fierce rage fighting for dominance in the pools of grey. At that moment, rage was winning. “I’m nhot.”
Joe ducked his head in a quick nod of agreement, not knowing where Devin was headed with his ludicrous comments.
“Well, no, you’re not, but… you are… i-in this book, I mean!” Devin offered as a speedy recovery, feigning sympathy as he flipped open the book for all of them to see. “It’s… the only one I could find on short notice, sorry,” he apologized sheepishly before leaning back down.
His confession made sense when Joe chanced a glance down. Apparently, Devin wasn’t able to locate a book homosexual sex positions. Wonderful.
Simple, black-and-white illustrated pictures of a man and a woman having sex in different positions were scattered throughout the pages, short sentences explaining the details at the bottom of the glossy paper.
“Hey, you, come ’ere,” Devin indicated to Evgeni, his voice suddenly softer; the condescending tone that dripped from his every word mere moments ago was completely gone. He waved the older man to peer over his shoulder, using the same arm to loop around Evgeni’s neck when they were sitting close enough.
Without a word, Joe watched in fascination as the smile on Devin’s face morphed into something less teasing, and something more parental, tender even. It was like watching a rare animal in its natural habitat, something that Joe may never see again.
“See?” Devin rubbed circles into Evgeni’s arm as he pointed to a page with the opposite hand. Looking down as well, Joe saw as Devin’s finger landed on the woman who was being bent over the bed, the man thrusting into her from behind. “In the book-” Devin stressed, his words forming slowly in a calming manner, “-this is you.”
He turned to another page, and pointed to the woman who was sitting on the man’s lap with her back up against his chest; Joe was hit with the memories of the last time he and Evgeni had had sex in that very position. Only fifty-eight more positions to go, then.
“It’s not bad, Evgeni,” Devin spoke quietly, the full name sounding foreign when spoken from the young man’s lips. Joe was hit with the feeling that he was listening in on some private talk, suddenly uncomfortable with his own presence. But Devin was speaking again before Joe could even think about leaving. “Look, this girl looks like she’s enjoying it, right?” he laughed at his own joke as he circled the woman’s face with a finger, captured forever in the instant of hitting the peak of her pleasures.
Joe cracked a smile; leave it to Devin to cut the cheesy stuff, choosing to be frank about everything instead. Which was good, the cheesy stuff was for Joe’s use only.
Nodding hesitantly at first, Evgeni sighed and pulled away. “Iya… suppose yhou’re right.”
“Of course I am!” And just like that, Devin’s cheerfulness was back, as if it had never disappeared in the first place. “But I should get going, the guys’ll probably stop showering soon-?” he trailed off, his words ending in a higher pitch as if it were a question.
And nearly a second after he finished, a loud bang announced the soon-to-be entrance of the rest of the team.
“See you two at my apartment tonight at seven,” Devin whispered hurriedly, bouncing to his open bag and throwing on a white t-shirt.
“What?” Joe and Evgeni asked at the same time, stunned at the odd request that sounded quite close to a command.
“Devin, really, thanks for the, um…” Joe held the book aloft in his hand, tucking it into Evgeni’s bag before someone saw him with it. “But why would we do that?”
“I jhust want to go home and sleep,” Evgeni moaned self-pityingly, agreeing in a roundabout way with other, his head sinking onto Joe’s shoulder before he righted himself.
“You’ll do it, because if you don’t, um…” The finger he jabbed toward his teammates lost its intimidation when Devin was pulling up his jeans at the same time. Another loud bang and the door opening assured that a Shark was bound to walk back into the lockers this time. Seeing the nervous flint in both Joe and Evgeni’s eyes, Devin’s smile grew wicked. “Because if you don’t, I’ll tell everyone.”
“Fuck, Dev! Ya wouldn’t,” Joe swore, standing up quickly and grabbing his own bag by the strap, not able to fully suppress the tremor in his voice, as he didn’t entirely believe his own words.
“Trust me, I don’t want to!” Devin whispered in earnest, obvious regret flashing over his young features. “But, seriously, you’re giving me no choice!”
Booming laughter echoed through the hallway and Joe jumped in surprise, almost forgetting why they were being so cautious in the first place.
“Yhes, we’ll meet yhou there, now stop talking about it!” Evgeni hissed, bending over and zipping his bag shut, the book hidden from any prying eyes.
With a wink and a satisfactory “cool beans,” Devin was off, striding toward the exit with his head held high.
“…What?” Evgeni asked, blinking with confusion at the phrase, just as Danny and Brad walked back into the room, laughing at a joke shared between the two of them. The rest of the team filed in soon after, the large room bustling with redressing hockey players.
Packing the rest of his belongings, the starting goaltender sat up and offered a “’night,” directed toward the entire team, a disharmony of good-byes floated in the air in answer. After a few seconds of chatting with Ryane, Joe was following Evgeni out the back door, stopping to sign a couple autographs for the fans waiting outside the south rink exit. He caught up to Evgeni, who was waiting next to his black Mercedes and supposedly fumbling with his keys, although Joe knew that Evgeni kept his car key on a separate key ring. Although, Joe wasn’t going to tell him that he wasn’t as sneaky as he believed himself to be; that Evgeni was waiting for him was too endearing to pass up for another time.
When he caught up to the man parked beside him, Joe unlocked his car door and looked up, jerking back with surprise after confronting a piercing slat-grey stare. The hardened color softened, and Joe smiled back, cocking his head and waiting patiently for Evgeni to say what was on his mind.
“See you at seven, Iya guess…” Evgeni sighed despondently. He stopped fiddling with his one key, but his eyes shot back down and locked onto his still hands.
“Yeah.” Joe wasn’t too keen on seeing the other given the circumstances either.
“I can’t be-wait…” Evgeni shifted, his eyes rounding out as his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
Silence made the air stagnant around them, very thick and extremely uncomfortable. This was not the silence that the two shared on the jet-rides, or in Evgeni’s private hotel room, or while sitting on Joe’s couch. Taking vicious bites at his bottom lip, Evgeni’s brow furrowed once again in thought, Joe tapping idly on the window of his car, trying to disrupt the unsettling quiet.
“Devin’s gay?” Evgeni whispered finally as he looked back up, his face crumbling with complete confusion.
“Wha-? Oh.” Joe’s eyes widened as he realized the gravity of the man’s question. This was Devin who was always chasing skirts after games, boasting about some hot girl he picked up in the bar, and to find out that this new found side of Devin was a part of the same person? It was a little much to soak in. So Joe offered the only intelligent answer he could: “God… I have no idea.”
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To be Continued
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Yeaaah, I know I said that this chapter would be the “exciting one, so please review!” but, as it turns out, I have lied. But I also come bearing good news. Why isn’t this the awesome-packed chapter that I promised it would be? Simple! Because the awesome-packed chapter was originally started with this entire thing, but it was too long! So, next chapter, promise, considering I already have 2/3 of it done… eh, more than that. Like 4/5 done. And it’s looong as I have previously stated. And… well, it’s some other things too, but I don’t want to go and spoil it ;)
Please review! I’d love to hear what you think about this character building chapter!