Chapter Fourteen Theo
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THEO
A drenaline pulsed through me as I deflected yet another puck that sailed at me. As a groan went through my teammates on offense, I grinned. With just one practice left before our season opener, I found myself on fire.
As much as I wanted to give the credit to my mad goalie skills, I knew part of it went to the smoking foursome I’d been a part of two nights ago. A shudder went through me as I remembered the taste of Vivian’s pussy on my tongue and the way her walls clamped down on my dick.
Like a dying man desperate for a meal, I needed to feast on Vivian again. Normally, we played several games before hooking back up with our threesome girl. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to be able to wait so long to fuck Vivian again.
There was something to be said about older women. That’s all I could think of to explain the hold she had on me. But it wasn’t just about fucking her. I found myself just wanting to hang out with her, which sure as hell wasn’t something I usually experienced. I’d actually had a good time with her at The Dive and on the ice. Although I wasn’t much of a talker with women, it seemed to come so easily with Vivian.
At the moment, there seemed to be only one small obstacle to being back in Vivian’s presence, and that wasn’t being at practice. It was the fact that she hadn’t texted me back.
When she left yesterday morning, everything seemed fine. Sure, she seemed to be fighting the usual morning-after jitters, but she definitely wanted more from us. That was evident when she was afraid of kissing us for fear of ravishing us.
But when I did my due diligence with an aftercare message, it had gone unread.
The three other texts went unread.
When I checked with Grayson, the same thing had happened to him. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered me like it did. But this was Vivian.
As a puck sailed past me into the net, I growled. Dammit, I’d let my thoughts of Vivian distract me, blowing my block streak.
“Can’t win them all, Novak,” my teammate, Jamal, mused as he skated past me.
“Fuck you,” I grunted, which caused some of the guys to laugh.
“All right boys. Hit the showers,” Coach Murano bellowed.
After punching one of the goals in anger, I started off the ice. Grayson skated up to me. “What the hell happened with that last puck?”
“Don’t ask,” I grumbled.
“Touchy, touchy,” he teased.
“I will lay you out, jackass.”
Bennett laughed as he brushed past us. “Better leave him alone, Gray.”
As the others started into the locker room, I pulled Grayson away from the crowd. “You’re seriously going off on me because of one comment?”
“No, that’s not it.” When I was sure we were alone, I asked, “Has Vivian still not responded to any of your texts?” I asked.
He shook his head miserably. “Not even some of the funny memes I sent her.”
Okay, so that was a new one. “What do you think is going on?”
“She might be busy with her book.”
“Oh right. The one on that weird Tudor illness.”
Grayson and I exchanged a look. I knew exactly what he was thinking. We’d been paying attention when Vivian talked. That was truly uncharted territory for us. In our defense, most of the girls we were with regaled us with sorority stories that were boring as hell. Although I wasn’t much of a fan of history, something was intriguing about the way Vivian spoke about old dusty dudes from the past.
“You know, she could be feeling embarrassed about what went down and doesn’t know what to say,” Grayson suggested.
“That’s a possibility.”
“Maybe we should check on her in person?”
“You’re not seriously suggesting some lame-ass idea like stalking her down to the library?”
“Do you have a better idea?” Gray countered.
Glowering, I replied, “Unfortunately no.”
“Look, if you don’t want to check your ego, I’ll go by myself.”
While I didn’t like the idea of the two of us checking on Vivian, I liked the idea of just Grayson going even less. “Fine. We’ll go.”
Once we dressed, we hopped in my car and trekked it over to the library. As we started up the stairs and into the building, I shook my head. “You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever even been in here.”
Grayson snorted. “Not even with your librarian fetish?”
“Nope. Not even with that.”
“That’s impressive.”
“I know, right?”
As we started to go to the circulation desk, Grayson stopped me. “Do you think we should specifically ask for Vivian? I mean, isn’t that kinda putting some suspicion on us? Like, what would we need with her?”
“Trust me. I’ve got this.”
“Alright, O’Captain, my Captain,” he mused.
When we reached the desk, an older lady with glasses attached to a chain smiled at us. “How can I help you, boys?”
I flashed my most respectful smile at her. “Yes, ma’am, we’re looking for the librarian who helped us with our project.” With a humble little chuckle, I added, “We got an A and wanted to thank her.”
“Do you remember her name?”
Turning to Grayson, I frowned. “Was it Vera?”
He tilted his head in thought. “No. Maybe Vanessa?”
“That doesn’t sound right either.” I glanced back at the librarian. “She had red hair.”
The librarian bobbed her head. “Yes, that’s Vivian Whitlock.”
Snapping my fingers, I replied, “Vivian. Man, we were off.”
With a laugh, the librarian said, “Well, you were right that it started with a V.”
Grayson and I laughed in unison. “Right. We were.”
“You’re in luck because Vivian is working tonight. I believe you’ll find her in the reference section.”
Although I had no idea in hell where that was, I nodded. “Thank you, ma’am. You’ve been so much help.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
Grayson and I whirled around and started heading away from the circulation desk. “Do you know where the reference section is?” I muttered under my breath.
“I do.” He winked. “That’s where I stalked Vivian the other night.”
“Then lead the way.”
After heading upstairs, Grayson made a beeline to the right. When we found the reference desk empty, we headed over to the stacks. We’d gone up and down three of them before we finally spotted her through the shelves. A cart was at her side and she was shelving books back in their spot.
We rounded the corner to go down the aisle she was on. With her back to us, I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, could you tell me where to find the Kama Sutra ?”
While Grayson snickered, Vivian whirled around. Her furious expression that some jackass was asking her for a sex book faded into one of horror. Her gaze bounced left and right before she hissed, “What are you doing here?”
With a wink, I replied, “I just told you. We’re looking for the Kama Sutra .”
Grayson playfully nudged me. “We came to check on you,” he said with a smile.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“Yes, we did since you aren’t answering our texts,” I countered.
Pink tinged Vivian’s cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
Placing my hand on the shelf above her, I leaned in. “I’m going to have to punish you for that during our next session.”
My cock jumped in my briefs as I watched her throat undulate as she swallowed. “I..uh.”
At the sound of someone in the stacks beside us, Vivian jumped away from me. Backing up, she shook her head. “You two shouldn’t be here.”
“Well, if you’d just answered our texts, we wouldn’t,” Grayson responded good-naturedly.
“Someone could see us,” she hissed.
“Then just tell us when we can see you again, and we’ll leave,” I replied.
Vivian furiously shook her head. “No, I can’t.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, “Okay, if you can’t talk about it now, then just text us.”
“I mean, I can’t see you again.”
My heart shuddered to a stop in my chest. “What do you mean?”
Vivian clamped down on her lips as someone walked down the aisle beside us. Glancing at us through the books, the guy’s eyes lit up. “Hey, could you tell me what’s the best book that focuses on the early days of World War II?”
“Take a hike, man. Can’t you see she’s helping us?” I shot back.
While the guy’s brows shot up in surprise, Vivian gasped. After shooting me a scathing look, she gave the guy an apologetic smile. “You’re in the 940.43’s, which is World War I. You need to be in 940.53 for books about World War II. Anything by Stephen Ambrose or Rick Atchinson is a good start.”
“Thanks,” he replied before quickly whirling around and practically sprinting down the aisle.
Grayson groaned. “Fuck, Viv, you’re so sexy when you talk book stuff like that.”
Vivian jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t say that word.”
“Book?” he teased.
“Not that one,” Vivian huffed.
I closed the gap between us. “What do you mean you can’t see us again?”
Her expression became regretful. “I had an amazing time the other night. You guys truly gave me the experience of a lifetime, including with Bennett. But upon further introspection, it can’t happen again.”
“Why the fuck not?” I demanded.
Grayson placed a hand on my shoulder. “Easy, T.”
Shaking my head, I countered, “No. I want to know the real reason.”
“First of all, you both were very clear on what this was about. Just as I was. But I know myself. I know what I’m capable of. If we continue, I will get hurt.”
“We would cut off our hands before we hurt you, Viv,” I argued.
Vivian patted my arm. “I know that.”
In a pleading tone, Grayson countered, “Then be with us again.”
Vivian placed her hand on her heart. “This is what I’m talking about will get hurt.”
Grimacing, I said, “You’re afraid of catching feelings.”
With a nod, Vivian replied, “A one-night stand is one thing. But I’ve never been able to have long-term emotionless sex. Throw in the fact that you two and Bennett are wonderful, and I know what is going to happen.”
For the first time, I knew exactly what Vivian meant. Over the years, I’d never understood how girls got emotionally attached. Especially not when I was very clear about what I was looking for. But somehow it still happened.
Considering how I was feeling about Vivian, I completely got it. Although we’d gone into this arrangement with very clear parameters, the lines had somehow gotten blurred at no fault of any of us.
But I couldn’t let her know that.
“Can’t we just ride it out and see how it goes? You might not end up liking us at all outside of fucking,” Grayson said.
A sad smile curved on her lips. “I think it’s fair to say that’s pretty much impossible.” When he started to protest, she held up her hand. “Take it from someone older and wiser.”
“You’re not that much older,” I argued.
“While that might be true, I am old enough to know the two of you are in completely different places in life than I am.” Cocking her head, she asked, “Can you honestly say you’d be interested in a relationship with me?”
“Hell no,” I blurted.
Thankfully, Grayson was a little kinder with his reply. “Not at the moment.”
She nodded. “From the beginning, you were very clear on what you wanted from me. I can’t ask you for more than you’re willing to give, so I have to step away before things get more complicated.”
Although she was doing it in the nicest possible way, Vivian was dumping us. Since it had rarely happened to me, I wasn’t used to feeling it. Frankly, it fucking sucked.
If only I was like Grayson. I would tell Vivian I understood, and I would do anything to save her from getting hurt. I would thank her for allowing me to give her a threesome experience.
Since I was an emotionally stunted jackass who hated losing, that wasn’t how I handled things.
After sliding my mask back on, I said, “Right. Glad you let us know.”
“I am sorry, Theo,” Vivian replied.
“It’s okay. It happens. It’s not like we haven’t had it happen before.” After alluding to our other women, Vivian winced.
“Sorry. I forgot how much you don’t like us talking about other women.” Leaning over, I then bestowed a quick, chaste kiss on her cheek. “Take care of yourself, Vivian.”
And with that, I turned and started back down the aisle. Grayson didn’t catch up with me until I started down the stairs.
“You handled that better than I thought you would.”
“Is that right?”
“Somehow I saw you going off on her.”
“Like yelling and throwing books?” I suggested. When Grayson nodded, I grunted. “When have I ever been that big of a bastard to women?”
“I remember quite a few girls leaving your room throwing shit at you or screaming their lungs out.”
“They were the ones being dramatic, not me.”
As we started out the library doors, Grayson sighed. “So what do we do now?”
“You mean about our superstition?”
He scowled. “I mean our feelings.”
“Did you seriously just use the f-word with me?”
“I did.”
Rolling my eyes, I countered, “Don’t tell me you caught feelings for her after one night?”
Grayson stopped walking. When I turned around, he cocked his head at me. “Don’t tell me you didn’t catch feelings for her.”
“I didn’t.”
“Seriously, T. You just kissed the woman goodbye.“
“Now you’re giving me shit for being nice?”
“I’m giving you shit because you’re not only lying to me but yourself.”
As I started power walking to the car, I called. “I will leave your ass here if you keep it up with the emotional bullshit.”
“Fine,” he grumbled.
When Grayson got to the SUV, I cocked my head at him. “I think we both could use a night out.”
“The Dive?” he suggested.
Nodding, I replied, “With any luck, we just might find another available cougar.”
Although he should’ve been stoked, Grayson glumly replied, “But she won’t be Vivian.”
No, she wouldn’t. “I’m going to need to do some serious shots to get out from under your cloud of bullshit,” I replied, as I cranked up.