How The Cookie Crumbles (45 page)

Theresa laughed too. “You’re so nice, Frankie! We don’t understand what Jake sees in Aspen at all.” By we, I assumed she meant Luke as well.

I sighed, “Look, don’t get me started on Aspen, I’m trying really hard to live here and enjoy myself, and not get involved in Jake’s life. Well, more than I am anyway.”

“Okay, but she’s so fake!” Theresa was obviously dying to diss.

“Let’s talk about how you and Luke met,” I suggested, and so we moved to more cheery subjects all the way to the arena.

The Kings were on a six-game losing streak, which coincided with a long home stand. Jake never seemed to bring his hockey problems home, but I knew that Luke was worried about the team’s play. Coach Sherman was a real line-juggler, and Luke could easily switch from the second line to the fourth line, and he seemed to think that the fourth line was one step away from being scratched. I had been watching a little, so I had some idea of what was going on. I think that Jake was getting criticized in the media, but everything just rolled off his back. Now I’d get to see for myself, since it was hard to watch a defenceman on TV, because the camera naturally follows the forwards.

Theresa was nice, but she turned out to be a real chatterer. I liked to watch the game and talk about the game, but Theresa treated the game more like background noise and kept talking about other stuff. Some of it was interesting though.

“Did you ever notice how Luke and Jake are both commitment-phobes?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I replied simply. I didn’t know how much she knew about Jake and me, but I had noticed that Luke didn’t see Theresa that much and never referred to her as his girlfriend. In fact, I was surprised that she had game tickets from him.

“I don’t get it, we have lots of fun together, but he never wants to make plans, and he calls me at the last minute. I had to beg to go to a game.” She sighed and watched Luke zoom into the offensive zone. He was fast and physical in his play.

Mostly I tuned Theresa out, and she didn’t seem to notice. The action on the ice was pretty intense, and Jake was having an absolutely incredible game. He was skating so smoothly and seemed to be all over the ice, going right to the net in the Oilers’ end and then dashing back to defend. In the second period, Jake laid a huge hit on one of the Oilers as he brought the puck along the boards. The board noise was huge and then a scrum ensued with Jake getting grabbed and punched, and everyone on the ice getting into a dog pile. After they all got up, it turned out that Luke was injured and had to be helped off the ice. When he didn’t return to the bench, Theresa started fretting big time, and she texted Luke to see if he was okay and if she could do anything. I was relieved when she finally heard back from him; he didn’t know exactly what was wrong, but he wasn’t coming back to the game.

Jake ended up scoring a beautiful goal in the third; the Kings won, and he was the first star of the game. I realized that I screwed up royally even coming here. He was so attractive when he played like that. It wasn’t that I thought he was going to suck, it was just that I had heard he wasn’t as good lately. But unluckily for me, it was probably his best game in a month.

I had worked really hard to be indifferent, but now everything was bubbling back into my memory: our first night together after the game in Vancouver and how incredible that been. I wanted him bad, and I couldn’t have him. I needed to go home, take a cold shower, and get to bed. In the morning, I would be under control again.

But suddenly I lacked a ride home. “So Frankie, you can get a ride home with Jake, right?” Theresa asked. “I got a text from Luke, he needs to get some tests done, so I offered to drive him there and then home. It could take a while though.”

“Oh sure, I’ll text Jake.” Like that was going to happen, I was finding him way too tempting to be alone with him. Plus he usually went out after games. I would get home safely on my own steam.

Then miraculously, I ran into Anne, and she offered me a ride home, but we needed to wait for Billy. The two of us went to the family lounge, and Theresa took off to find Luke.

“Frankie, are you into Jake again?” Anne asked with her customary directness.

“No,” I replied firmly, but my whole body was pretty much arguing against that idea. There was an area about six inches below my navel that was leading a chorus of “We want Jake!”

Then he walked in, with Billy and Gil Dupont.

“Hey Frankie!” Jake was in a great mood, he came over and gave me a hug. Ack, not body contact! I broke away awkwardly and looked down at the carpet.

“Good game,” I said lamely.

“Thanks, we’re all going out now, you want to come along?”

“No, I’m getting a ride home with Anne and Billy,” I replied, still not looking at him. I had this feeling that if I looked in his eyes, he would know how hot I was for him. “I am not attracted to Jake,” I kept repeating to myself. I tried to focus on all the bad stuff: what a tool he’d been ever since I got here and having to hear him having noisy sex with BV.

“C’mon Frankie, you live the life of an 80-year-old woman, you need to get out and have some fun.”

If I didn’t have a temper, I probably would have realized he was just goading me into going. But lust was clouding my brain and that’s how I ended up at some cavernous nightclub.

Jake

Duper was the one who noticed Frankie first.

“Your hot roommate is at the game tonight,” he said to me during the warm-up.

“You mean Domer? I didn’t know you cared!” I told him, skating into him and laughing.

“Fuck off. No, the other one,” he motioned up to the stands. I saw Frankie sitting there with Theresa. That was a surprise. Since she got here, she never seemed interested in coming to my games, so I hadn’t offered her a ticket. She wasn’t wearing my jersey either, although I had seen it in her closet. Still, she was here.

I had a great game, and we finally got the W after being in a bit of a skid, so everyone was happy. The only problem was that Domer was injured, but hopefully that wouldn’t be too bad. It was the perfect night to go out, since we finally had something to celebrate.

Frankie was looking pretty hot when I got out to the lounge. She was wearing tight pants and a shiny jacket and showing off her body big time. I was hoping she’d be here, and I figured that she was waiting around for me. Right off, I was getting a different vibe off her: a sex vibe.

I have only one theory when it comes to getting chicks: go for the ones who want you. Lots of my buddies get fixed on some girl who’s the hottest one in the club or at school or wherever, and then they get shot down in flames. But if you go out and relax and have a good time, chicks will come up to you and chat or want to dance, and then you’re halfway in already. You can save a ton of rejection that way and score a lot more with a lot less work.

One thing I had noticed about Frankie, ever since she got here, was that she didn’t seem to be into me anymore. I never got that vibe off her, and I wasn’t going to go there if I wasn’t getting any encouragement. But I forgot that hockey turned her crank. She was definitely different tonight, and my spidey senses were tingling. As usual, she was fighting it and she stayed a mile away from me when we went out, but I could wait and see what happened. I’d let her come to me, and I felt pretty sure she would.

“¡
Hola
, Frankie!” Clarkie yelled as soon as he saw her. Frankie was laughing, and soon she was surrounded by my stupid teammates pretending to talk to her in Spanish.

Later, I saw Frankie come up to the bar. Her back was turned to me, and shit, she had this top on that was lace only in the back. Was she not even wearing a bra? No wonder she was getting swarmed. I walked over and heard her order a Tequila Sunrise. Seriously, it was like she came out of another decade. I lifted my cold beer bottle and touched her on the back. She jumped a mile.

“Don’t, Jake,” she said, sounding pissed. Then I got pissed too. How come she was all smiles with my teammates and nothing for me?

“Doesn’t take you long to get to know all the guys, does it?” I don’t know why I felt so bugged, but I did.

“Jake, I met them at your place the other night. Why wouldn’t they remember me?”

I didn’t answer and drank my beer.

“Where’s Taos tonight?” she asked me in the same bitchy voice.

“Aspen! Her name is Aspen, why can you never get that right?”

“I don’t know, maybe because it’s not a real girl’s name.”

“It’s like Frankie, Frank is not a girl’s name either.”

“Frankie is short for Frances, which is a girl’s name.”

“Well, maybe Aspen is short for something.”

I was faking, I was pretty sure it wasn’t but I didn’t want Frankie to always get the last word.

“Yeah, like what? Asperger’s? Asparagus? No wait, I’ve got it: Ass-Penelope!”

“Jealous much?”

“Please, I’m not jealous and if I were it wouldn’t be of some artificially enhanced Barbie doll. I’m surprised she doesn’t topple over when she stands up.”

“Now you’re really sounding jealous,” I told her, grinning.

“Oh Cookson, just fucking grow up!”

Duper cruised over to the bar for a drink and moved between us, saying, “Now kids, cut it out before Daddy has to give someone a spanking!”

My eyes met Frankie’s and she blushed deeply. I remembered smacking her ripe ass and how hot she got. How she gave into to her physical side and the sex was so fucking intense. I was getting hard just thinking about her and all I wanted to do was take her home and fuck the crap out of her. Did Frankie want that too? She took a deep breath and I watched her tits rising in her thin top. Her nipples were definitely getting harder. I realized I was licking my lips and she was watching me, then without a word she turned and walked away. The next time I saw her she was dancing with Clarkie.

As the night went on, my good mood seemed to seep away. I had had a great game, but I didn’t feel satisfied. I hardly saw Frankie at all for most of the night, since she was dancing with everyone in the room but me. So I partied with the chicks I did see. I was dancing with this one chick draped all over me, and I thought I saw Frankie standing at the bar and watching us. But by the time I got there, she was gone. At the end of the night, I’d had a couple of offers of female companionship, but I decided to go home rather than have to figure out which one of my teammates I trusted enough to drive a half-drunk Frankie home without hitting on her.

“Are you okay to drive home?” Frankie asked me suspiciously.

“Look who’s talking,” I said, as I backed up out of the parking spot.

“What?” she asked.

“How many drinks have you had?” I had seen at least two myself, which I figured was her limit.

“I wasn’t counting,” Frankie replied, and then hiccupped. “Oops.” She giggled and looked out the window. We drove along for a while, but for a change she didn’t try to make conversation. Then I remembered, this was how she acted the first night we fucked, like she was afraid to even talk to me. Definitely a good sign.

“So, did you enjoy the game tonight?” I asked her.

“Sure. It was nice of Theresa to invite me.”

“If I knew you wanted to come to games, I could get you tickets.”

“Oh really? Well, thanks, but I really don’t have anyone to go with.”

“You could sit with the other chicks, like Ella. You already know most of them.”

Frankie shook her head. “Right. I don’t think that would work out. Why do you want me to go anyway? Just to admire all your great plays?”

“Maybe,” I laughed. I pulled into the garage and Frankie thanked me and hopped out of the car quickly. When I got inside, she was having a drink of water in the kitchen.

“Can I have a sip?” I asked, standing right beside her.

“I think you can get a glass of your own,” she replied. But I put my hand over hers and lifted the glass up and drank it all. She looked nervous.

“This is a really pretty top, Frankie,” I told her, running my hand down her back, feeling her warm skin through the thin lace.

“Oh no, Jake. Stop right now! This is not going where I think it’s going, is it?” She started backing away from me, but I stayed close.

“C’mon, Frankie. I bet you liked the way I played tonight.”

“Yeah, great hit. Until Luke ended up getting hurt coming to your rescue.”

“That’s the bullshit way it goes these days, guys are all over you even if it’s a clean hit. Domer’s gonna be okay.”

“I hope so.” Frankie said, her eyes wide and almost scared. “Um, look, I better get to bed.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said. I cornered her up against the counter, and whispered into her ear, “I haven’t forgotten, y’know, how hockey makes you feel.” Then I turned up her face to kiss her, but she ducked under my arm and squirmed away.

“Jake, forget it! This is so not happening.”

“Why not, Frankie? I think you’re into it, and I’m into it.”

“Are you insane? We sleep together tonight, and then what happens tomorrow?”

“Nothing. I mean, everything’s the same. We can sleep together tomorrow night too if you want.” And the next one too, I thought, but I didn’t say it. It was really tough to live with Frankie and not do her.