Chapter 25

“Could you two stop it? You’re seriously putting me off my food,” Max complained loudly as Mya nuzzled at Sidney’s neck. She was sitting on his lap, having found that sitting on the stool next to him was just not nearly close enough in the loved up mood she was in.

“I find it hard to believe that anything can put you off your feedbag Superstar,” Jordy laughed, slapping Max on the back and stealing a wing off of his plate as he passed. Blush may have been closed to the public, but the management had made an exception tonight for the man who had freed their employees and so the Pens were taking advantage, including the married men, some of whom had their wives with them. Not Jordan though.

“I can’t believe Tish let you out,” Mya laughed, slapping the tall forward’s hand away from the bowl of pita chips that she and Sidney were sharing. Pita chips, slightly healthier than regular chips and the only thing on the menu that he would eat besides the Caesar Salad and even that had to come without the croutons.

“He probably escaped out the window and shimmied off the roof,” Max replied, pointing one of the wing bones accusingly at his friend. “She’ll probably show up here screaming like a banshee and then we’ll all be in trouble.”

“Wow, so bitter Max. I thought he was supposed to be the funny guy on the team,” Mya noted, shaking her head at the stocky forward even as she tried not to laugh at him. She was doing her best to forgive and forget his actions of the night before as it seemed that Sid had either entirely forgotten, or had that gift to just get over shit like that. That was something that seemed to come with having a penis Mya had noticed.

“Mr. Grumpy needs to get laid,” Sidney noted bluntly, shooting Max a look that told Mya clearly that he had not, in fact, forgotten a thing.

“C’mon! You’re telling me Superstar has trouble with the ladies?” Mya teased, which earned her a dark look from Max.

“A guy has other needs aside from getting his rocks off,” Max mumbled, causing everyone within hearing distance to fall silent. “What?” Max grumbled, mid chew, looking around at all the gobsmacked faces staring back at him. “You think I don’t look at you and Mya and Jordy and T and wonder what I might be missing out on?”

“Honestly? No,” Sidney replied glancing at Mya who was still staring at Max, jaw slack.

“I thought you loved being a man whore. I thought you were proud of it. I thought that you hated that all the boys were pairing up on you,” Mya shot back at him to which Max only rolled his eyes.

“And a guy can’t change his mind?” Max mumbled, half under his breath, grabbing another chicken wing and biting vicously into it. “What?” he growled, his lips smothered in buffalo sauce as he returned he look of stunned disbelief with a look of his own that clearly said he’d discussed this topic about as much as he was willing to for the moment.

“Well if you’re serious,” Mya began, giving Sidney’s hand a gentle squeeze before slipping off of his lap and heading towards Max before turning and heading to the dj booth. “Marti, you back there girl? Get your pasties on and come out here.” The sexy and curvaceous Latina emerged from behind the beaded curtain wearing not much more than a red bikini and a smile. Max, who had taken up his usual seat at the very end of the catwalk looked up from his plate of wings and nearly choked. “Yeah, didn’t think you’d seen Marti yet,” Mya mumbled to herself as she hit play on the cd she’d just put into the disc drive.

She didn’t head back to the comfort of Sidney’s arms though. Instead, she headed behind the stage where she found Hannah putting the finishing touches on Tish, who was poured into a slim fitting black latex dress and matching thigh high boots.

“Holy shit mama. I am so hating you for losing the baby weight that fast,” Mya gushed as she carefully hugged Jordy’s wife.

“Well it’s not all gone but this sort of sucks it in and damn, I look fine,” Tish grinned at her reflection in the mirror, cupping her breasts in her hands. “And I may as well enjoy these while they last too.”

“Jordan is going to shit his pants,” Mya agreed as she shimmied out of her jeans in favour of a bright, neon green latex elf outfit, complete with matching pointed hat and striped knee socks.

“The things we do for our men huh?” Tish asked as she carefully applied a set of fake eyelashes, leaning towards the mirror, which nearly resulted in her considerable cleavage coming loose from her dress.

“Well, they do some pretty great things themselves,” Mya smiled to herself, thinking of the way Sidney had erased that heart from the shower door.

“Ah, that must mean he’s given you your prezzie,” Tish said in a way that said she knew exactly what that present would be.

“Oh, you mean this?” she replied, flashing her ring nonchalantly in Hannah’s direction, who promptly let out a whoop like a kid on Christmas morning on finding a puppy under the tree.

“That better not be all he’s given you,” Tish responded, arching her eyebrow in the mirror as she glanced at Mya’s reflection.

“No?” Mya asked, feeling her heart flutter like a caged bird in her chest.

“No,” Tish replied with an eloquent smile.

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“Look at him. It’s like he’s never seen a pair of tits before,” Jordy chuckled as he slid onto the bar stool next to Sid, who was also watching Max with a certain amount of amusement.

“You have to admit, she is pretty damn hot,” Sid replied, finding something fascinating in the bowl of chips in front of him when Max shot him an evil glance.

“This, from the guy that just bailed his woman out of jail? I’m shocked. I didn’t think you even noticed other women now,” Jordan teased, elbowing his friend in the ribs. Sid shrugged, taking a sip of his coke and whiskey.

“I’m off the market. Not blind,” Sid replied coolly, much to Jordan’s amusement.

“Oh, like you’d dare even look at another woman with Tish around? Where is the mouth that roars by the way? I can’t believe she’d miss this,” Sidney asked, stirring the ice in his drink thoughtfully. He was beginning to wonder where Mya had disappeared to. They only had a few more hours before he had to meet his parents at Mario’s and he still had things to say, not to mention a trunk full of presents to give her yet.

“I think she’s afraid to leave the twins with her parents. She thinks her mother will sell them on the black market or something,” Jordan replied with a grin.

“How’s that going, the Asian in laws?” Sidney asked, wondering why it was that Mya never mentioned her family. Why she wasn’t disappearing somewhere to be with them. He made a mental note to ask her.

“Tish made it pretty clear if they started talking in Cantonese around me that she’d kick them out of the house,” Jordan nodded to himself, looking pretty proud of his wife. “They’ve been pretty good so far and you should see the shit they got for the twins. Holy fuck! It makes the prezzies that my parents brought look like shit you’d buy at Walmart or something.”

“And what is wrong with Walmart, exactly?” Fleur asked, grinning at the two of them as he tossed a card in front of each. “And here I am, with K-Mart gift certificates.”

“You’re not,” Jordan’s mouth turned down in a disappointed frown and both Sid and Fleur just about pissed themselves laughing.

“Mon dieu. As if. Do you think Vero would allow such a thing to occur?” he asked, shaking his head and reaching up to muss the blonde forward’s hair. “Moda, of course. Vero practically owns everything from that store.”

“Sweet,” Jordan grinned, offering his arms to the diminutive goal tender, who only narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips as he shook his head. Sidney gripped his ribs sure that he was about to pull something when Max let go a long high pitched whistle, before jumping out of his seat and giving the dancer, who was now walking away from them all, a standing ovation, which reminded Sid that Mya was still missing.

“Does anyone know where Mya went?” he asked, glancing around, specifically at the table where Tanger was sitting on his own, nursing a beer. One of these days he hoped the defenseman would forgive him, but it didn’t look like that would be happening tonight.

“Up here boys.”

Sid looked up to find Mya, Tish, Vero and Oskana looking down at him from the stage, wearing.... Well it could have been worse he thought to himself, though he had to blink and rub at his eyes before he could believe what he was seeing.

“Once more,” Mya cooed, kneeling so that she could brush her fingertips down his cheek until the pad of her thumb came to rest on his bottom lip, though it was hers’ that was sticking out in a classic pout. “Don’t be mad. The girls have practiced so hard.” Shaking his head, Sid found that he was laughing and not at all upset.
Hell, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been naked in front of most of his teammates before.

“Woooohoooo! Will you look at my Baby Momma!” Jordan had leapt to his feet and was cheering wildly, clapping and bouncing on the spot like a high school cheerleader. “My wife is hawwwwt!”

It might have been true, and Geno and Flower certainly seemed to agree as far as their significant others were concerned. For his part, Sidney only had eyes for Mya and as the first notes of “Santa Baby” filled the room, Sidney thought he could have been given worse Christmas presents than this.

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Staring at the crackling Yule Log on the TV, in the dark, wearing his new sweater, with the woman he loved cuddled in his arms, Sidney couldn’t help but think that this had to be one of the best Christmases he had ever had. He didn’t even allow the knowledge that he would have to leave this little piece of heaven soon ruin the moment. Closing his eyes, he felt his heart beat slow and paced his breathing with her slow, deep breaths. He could sleep, for a little while, before he had to go and play happy families.

“Sid?” Mya mumbled, her voice low and drowsy and partially muffled by her cheek being pressed against the cashmere sweater she’d bought him. He looked down at her dark glossy hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head in reply. “I just...I’m so happy right now. I love you,” she added, her words nearly lost as she tried to stifle a yawn but lost. The flickering light from the TV caught the diamonds in her ring and Sidney found his gaze locked on her hand as she lifted it to cover her mouth.

“Me too sweetheart,” he whispered, capturing her hand and lifting it to his lips, pressing his lips to the back of her hand before placing it back on his chest, over his heart.

“I wish you didn’t have to go at all. I wish we could spend another day, just you and me,” she continued, snuggling closer, though he wasn’t sure it was possible to get any closer than this. At least not with their clothes on and though that was tempting, he kind of liked just being like this, relaxed. Calm. Quiet.

“I don’t have to go yet,” he reminded her, cradling her head gently in his hand and pressing it back to his chest. “Go back to sleep.” She nodded and he felt her settling against him once again but only for a moment before he could feel her stirring again and he looked down to find her lifting her hand so that the diamonds in the ring caught the light again.

“I love my presents,” she added, sounding genuinely pleased as she reached to tug on the one carat diamonds in her ears, before settling back against him.

“And I love mine,” he agreed, sliding his hand down over the smooth satin of the black baby doll she was wearing, which she had modeled for him as soon as they’d arrived at her apartment. There were other, equally enticing pieces of lingerie in several boxes that were now stacked beneath the purple tinsel tree beside the TV. Just because she was giving up stripping didn’t mean she was going to go back to wearing cotton granny panties she’d promised.

Sidney smiled contentedly. They were good presents and he was going to have a good time trying them out. People were always complaining that he was hard to buy for.
‘What do you buy a millionaire who can buy himself anything?’ Mya had done a pretty damn good job he thought as he looked at the mound of wrapping paper peeking out of the garbage bag near the door and then down at the stack of books topped by the iPod under the tree. It gave him a strangely warm feeling in his chest to think of all the time she’d taken to download all that music and all those videos just for him.

And it wasn’t just stuff she thought he should like, it was stuff he did like. It was stuff that he’d hummed along to on the radio but hadn’t known the name of the group. It was stuff other guys played in the locker room or the weight room that gone him going but he’d never had the time to go looking for. It was stuff that he’d meant to download but just never actually had the time to actually do it.

She knew him. She got him. And she loved him. How fucking cool was that?

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He was warm, like an electric blanket. No, strike that. He was like a giant hot water bottle that she could wrap herself around and go to sleep as comfortable and warm as a bug in a rug.

Bug in a rug? Where did that come from, Mya thought as she lay, contented, wrapped in Sidney’s arms. She could hear the crackle and pop of the Yule Log on the TV behind her and that, mixed with the sound of his steadily beating heart, had Mya yawning, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Well, that and she’d ridden him like a prize race horse almost as soon as they’d walked through the door.

Mya grinned to herself and cuddled closer to him. He’d liked his Christmas presents, a lot. Actually she hadn’t been sure which he’d liked more, the stuff from Fredericks of Hollywood or the iPod. He’d really been like a kid on Christmas morning, tearing through the carefully wrapped presents, sending paper flying in every direction. He’d actually pouted when she told him he could only pick one of the outfits for her to wear for him tonight. But he had spent a long time scrolling through the playlists she’d loaded onto it.

That had been as good any present, Mya thought as she yawned again. Watching him be really happy. She got the distinct impression that he didn’t get that many moments where he could just really lose himself like that.

Turning so that she could look up at him, resting her chin on the back of her hands where they rested in the middle of his chest, she looked up into his boyish face. He was leaner now than he had been back in the summer when she’d first met him. Paler too. He also looked exhausted and that made her feel just a little guilty. She hadn’t left much of him for his parents.

“Babes...maybe you should go home, to your own bed? Get some actual sleep?” she suggested, giving him a little shake. He opened one and looked down at her like she’d just said something in Swahili. “If you stumble into breakfast with a sore back from sleeping on my couch, Mario will have my ass, not to mention what your mother will think.”

Sidney’s arms slid from around her as he shifted his weight to his elbows and pushed himself up into a seated position, still blinking sleep from his eyes.

“If you’d said something about my dad, I would have ignored you,” he muttered, giving her a half smile as he rubbed at his eyes.

“Well I’m pretty sure from what you’ve said I don’t stand much of a chance winning him over unless your mom and Taylor have my back so I thought I’d try and get you to them in one piece so they don’t hate me too much,” Mya replied, shimmying up so that she could sit across his lap. “But only if you think you’re okay to drive.”

“Is that your way of asking me to stay?” he asked as his smile widened, his gaze sweeping eagerly over the black satin ensemble. It was tempting, damn tempting to keep him to herself, to stay hidden away from the world, together, making love all day, but Mya shook her head and pushed herself to her feet.

“You should go,” she sighed, reaching for one of the throws she’d left on the back of one the chairs and drew it around her shoulders to keep the chill at bay while she walked him to the door. Funny, she thought, even knowing he was going made the place suddenly feel empty.

“But I don’t want to,” he moaned, coming up behind her, brushing her hair aside and pressing his lips to nape of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. Mya closed her eyes and leaned back against him. She opened her lips to agree but she felt something cool and slippery fall between her breasts and was too shocked to speak as she tried to step back away from it but only found herself in his arms.

Sidney chuckled as she squirmed in his grasp, and eventually Mya stilled as he lifted the pendant in his hand so that she could see it. It was another heart, a big one, the size of a silver dollar, maybe larger, and made entirely of diamonds, except where a pair of red horns and a tail had been added.

“For my little devil,” he whispered in her ear, his breath warm where it tickled the back of her neck, “merry Christmas sweetheart.”

Mya felt the weight of the pendant fall between her breasts and then his hand sliding over her breast until the palm of his hand brushed over her nipple. Sucking a sharp breath in between her teeth, she leaned back into him and reached up wrap her arm over his neck, urging his lips toward the spot on her neck that made her whimper when he found it.

“This isn’t getting me to my own bed any faster,” he whispered in her ear, his hand gently massaging her breast while his other hand, she could feel, was working at the zipper on his jeans.

“Well, we can make it quick,” she sighed as she felt his cock slide up against the smooth fabric that barely covered her ass.

“I never want to make it quick with you,” he hissed, as his other hand now slid beneath the fabric of the teddy and found its own breast to play with.

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She was sleeping soundly, her soft lips slightly agape, her hand clutching the corner of the pillow he’d recently vacated. She looked worn out, but truth was, he knew if he woke her now, she’d be able to go at least another two rounds, whereas him....

Sidney smothered a yawn with his hand. He was done in. He was going to be taking his life in his hands just driving to Mario’s but if he didn’t leave now, he wasn’t going to get showered and shaved in time for breakfast. Sniffing near his pits, Sidney made a face. There was definitely not going to be any avoiding the shower.
Still, he thought as he leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her temple, it had definitely been worth it even if the last time he remembered being this tired was after being up nearly thirty six hours after they’d won the cup.

Pocketing his keys, he tip-toed out of her bedroom and into the living room where he shut off the TV and its’ Yule Log, turned the lights out on the Christmas tree and gathered his presents. He smiled as he slid the iPod into his other pocket. He planned on plugging that in as soon as he got into the car and cranking it, hoping that would keep him awake long enough to get home and into his shower. Then he just had to stay awake long enough to play nice with his father.

He’s promised her not bring her up to his parents and if his father did bring her up, to ignore it. For her, he thought to himself as he pulled the apartment door shut behind him. For her he’d turn the other cheek – today. After that...well, he wasn’t about to make any kind of promises. Because after today, well, he didn’t know how long he was going to wait until he put the other ring he’d bought when he’d been out Christmas shopping on her finger.