Chapter 30 - About that Bet...
In the almost month since the incident at the arena, it had been quiet – almost too quiet if Ryan was going to be honest with himself. Emma had spent a great deal of time working with one of her sports department co-workers on drafting up an article about him coming out: when he knew, how he told people, even how Emma felt and how it affected her. It was a good article – and he had in fact snagged a copy of the photograph of the two of them that would be used if the article were to ever be published – but he truly hoped it wouldn’t have to be.
It had been hard getting used to traveling with the team to away games again, especially knowing that he would be a ‘healthy scratch’ with absolutely no chance of playing. While he for sure didn’t mind sleeping on the bus or in hotel rooms (particularly since Trent had offered to let him share a room with Luke), it still felt strange to spend days at a time away from Emma.
And yet, Ryan understood if this was to be his career, his life, these types of stretches would get much longer the higher he played at. These teams were all in the mid-west, all in bus riding distance; that wasn’t the case even one level up, where the teams were spread across the US and Canada. Part of him wondered if it all was worth it. He’d be done with a teaching certificate program in a few more weeks – he could always fall back onto that if the need arose.
But this road trip was different than road trips past – Luke had been given a call up to the team that had loaned Kensy to the Blizzard, and that meant Ryan had a hotel room to himself. The team had suggested that Trent and Ryan share, but both had protested so loudly that it wasn’t ever brought up again, and each found themselves their own solo rooms when they arrived at the hotel.
Trent had been unusually quiet, and though Ryan wasn’t certain his thoughts were right on the time frame, it seemed like ever since the night of the fight at the arena. Trent, made interim Captain in Luke’s absence,was still as much of a leader on and off the ice as ever. He still didn’t hesitate to throw his weight around to protect a teammate or his goalie, but there was something off about him.
So after a game that saw the Blizzard pull out a narrow win, Ryan knocked on the connecting door between their rooms, unsure if his teammate would answer or not – but was surprised when a recently showered Trent did indeed gaze quietly at Ryan on opening the door. “Can we talk?” And on Trent’s lowered shoulders and sighed nod, Ryan continued, “What’s wrong?”
Shaking his head a bit, Trent’s voice was soft – a tone Emma would recognize as his wary voice – and told Ryan, “I basically outed myself at the same time you did and it went over all their heads. And while they’ve all accepted you as who you are – maybe by your own merit, maybe because of your cousin – what happens when they realize about me? Do they question every glance I’ve made in the locker room, the showers, even though the only guy who’s ever caught my attention is you?”
Ryan blushed at the final bit but beckoned Trent into his room, tossing him a bottle of water he’d snagged earlier from the vending machine and indicating the Captain should sit, which he soon did. Pacing a bit, hoping his words would come out correctly, he asked, “Is that why we didn’t see you when all hell was breaking loose over the Johnson shit?” When Trent barely nodded, Ryan continued again, “Everything they said to me, it holds true for you as well. You’re their teammate, not only that, you’re their Captain. They respect you immensely, and they’re going to continue to do so even if you at some point take up a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend.”
“I wish I had the confidence in those words that you do.”
Shrugging a bit, Ryan admitted softly, “I don’t think I would have believed it myself if guys hadn’t made it a point to tell me that I was still their equal, their teammate, after all that shit. I think had they realized what you were saying, they’d have made the same effort to you. But it more came across that you knew someone wasn’t straight, for certain, less that it was you who wasn’t.”
“Maybe someday I’ll have reason to believe that. But in the meanwhile,” And Ryan briefly wondered if Trent was done with the conversation when he went back into his own room and disappeared for several moments, before he soon came back with his ‘ice bucket’ filled with ice and beer. “May as well share these. Because if we’re playing 20 questions tonight, I’ve had something on my mind since the beginning of the season.”
Cocking an eyebrow, but grabbing a beer and taking a swig, Ryan inquired, “Beginning of the season, eh? We talking before or after my injury?”
“Before. When it looked more like it would be Emma with me instead of you. The day you two moved in, you were fighting with Luke,” and off Ryan’s surprised look, Trent explained, “Emma told me. She’d gone up there, overheard you two, something about betting to bed a girl first. And I presume Luke won that, and a long time ago at that. It’s just always bugged me, it seemed so out of character for you to do something so disgraceful.”
Choking on his beer, it took Ryan several minutes of coughing – and a hard thump on his back from Trent – before he finally caught his breath again, staring at his teammate with wide eyes. “Wait. You’re telling me that she is the reason you knew about that bet? It wasn’t something you heard about from Luke?”
“Yeah. Amusingly enough, she said she hoped you won, because then your sister would stop trying to play matchmaker.”
Closing his eyes, feeling the weight of the world bearing down on his chest, Ryan’s voice was soft, almost devoid of emotion. “Even though that bet only lasted until she wrote that article, you could say I did win.”
It took several minutes – and the sound of Trent downing one beer and then another before a low growl finally emitted from Trent. “She was the object of the bet? And I’m guessing she has no fucking clue, right?”
“You’d be correct on both counts.” Ryan whispered in response.
“You ass. I’ll say this though, if she doesn’t kill you when she finds out, I will be happy to volunteer to do so for her.”
~*~
Emma was a woman with a plan. Though she hated going out into the busy local market alone, hated the crowds and the noise, she had a list and a motive, and knew exactly what she needed to do.
Still, if only her mother could see her right now, Emma mused to herself. She’d be horrified by the thought of her eldest daughter shopping amongst the regular people - and buying food she intended to make herself. Granted, Emma wasn’t sure how much success she was going to have in the baking department, but she was sure the effort had to count for something. Particularly since Ryan would be arriving back from his road trip shortly.
She’d been careful to pick out a box of cake mix with easy to follow instructions and a clear list of ingredients and then had ensured that she purchased every one of those ingredients – even if she thought they may have already had it back at the apartment. Emma was taking no chances in messing up Ryan’s birthday cake!
Frosting was for sure the most fun thing to pick up – there were all sorts of sinfully delicious varieties of chocolate out there and while she was tempted to pick up several, she finally decided on one that promised to be ‘better than sex’. While Emma sincerely doubted that any frosting could be better than sex with Ryan, she also knew he would get a good kick out of the name.
With her shopping complete, Emma had returned to the apartment to start the baking, preheating the oven while she made a mess of the kitchen. Luke was sure to have a fit if he ever came back to see mix and such all over his spotless counters. Once the assembled mix was in the pan, Emma stuck it in the oven, heading off to her office to work on reviewing one of Ryan’s assignments while she waited for the cake to bake.
Emma was so engrossed was in the paper that she was completely oblivious to how much time had passed – or what had become of her cake – until she heard Ryan’s frantic shouting. “Emma?! Baby?! Where are you??”
On hearing his yelling and coughing, Emma leapt from the computer and sprinted off to the kitchen, seeing the smoke pouring from the stove. “Shit!” Flipping the stove off and opening the outside door to let the apartment air out, Emma turned to give the still alarmed Ryan a sheepish grin. “I. Uh. Made you a cake?”
Emma thought she saw a flicker of something else cross Ryan’s face before his mouth quirked into a grin and he started laughing. “Oh baby.” He managed between chuckles. “We so are a match set. Neither one of us can be trusted in the kitchen!”
“Oh hush.” Emma retorted while playfully snapping a towel in his direction. “I didn’t start the apartment on fire.”
“Not for lack of effort.” He quipped while trying to avoid her towel snaps.
Wiggling a finger at him, Emma murmured. “Keep up that mouth and there’ll be no dessert at all for you mister. I may have burned the cake, but we still have frosting.”
It took him a moment longer than Emma would have expected, but Ryan’s eyes did light up and a lewd grin curled over his lips. “Why darlin’, are you implying doing dirty things with that frosting?”
Smirking a bit in his direction, Emma snagged the frosting tub off the counter and wiggled her eyebrows in Ryan’s directions before shooting him a coy smile. “Would I do that?”
“Oh yes. Yes, you absolutely would.” They both all but bounced from the kitchen off towards the bedroom when Emma paused and gazed back over her shoulder at Ryan.
“You stink. And you could use a shave.” Ryan’s brow furrowed and he reached his hand up to the face he had just shaved that morning while Emma shook her head at him. “Not there, love. Use your imagination.” And again, it took Ryan a long moment before his eyes widened and then lit up.
“You don’t hafta do that.” He told her soon before Emma shushed him silent with a kiss.
“I know I don’t. And don’t think that’s all we’ll be doing. But I figured that would be an extra little treat for your birthday.” Teasingly, Emma traced her tongue over her lips, watching Ryan tremble as she did so. “Now go. I’ll be waiting for you.”
As soon as Ryan bolted off towards the bathroom, Emma went back to the kitchen to slam the kitchen door shut and then headed into the bedroom. Grabbing Ryan’s present from where she’d hidden it, she set it in front of his pillow. Once everything was in position, Emma stripped and posed as provocatively as she knew how, just waiting for the moment when Ryan came out of the shower.
He was in for the shock of his life – in more ways than one!
~*~
It took Ryan a good 10 or 15 minutes before he finally emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing more than a smile, and already at full attention. Emma took a long time looking him up and down, watching as Ryan’s face grew increasingly crimson at her silent attention. “Birthday boy,” She finally purred at him, “C’mere. I want to taste you.”
Practically stumbling on his way to the bed, and bumping his shin into a bedpost, Ryan eventually leapt onto the bed. He started to kiss Emma possessively when she pulled back from him and silenced him with a finger to his lips. Though Ryan’s eyes pouted at her - and Christ could that boy pout - Emma resisted his efforts and reached for the box she’d sat aside, offering it to him instead.
As Ryan went to open the small box in his hand, he startled a bit at hearing the container of frosting be opened and he gazed at Emma with wide eyes, to which she just laughed softly at him. “Open your present big boy. And then the fun begins.”
Ripping the paper off the present, Ryan discovered a box from the same jeweler he’d purchased Emma’s promise ring from. Looking up at her and shooting her an inquisitive gaze, Emma rolled her eyes at him and he finally took the hint, opening the box up the rest of the way to find a ring very much like hers, but cut for a man instead. “Put it on me?” He asked with a bit of a shy smile, and Emma took the ring, sliding it on his finger before nailing him with a ‘come hither’ stare that had him quivering.
“Switch spots with me, Birthday Boy.” Emma instructed him and when he did, she finished popping the cap off the frosting and reached her hand in, thoroughly coating it in the decadent chocolate. Dragging her tongue over her lips again, she noted she had Ryan’s complete attention and she reached down, running her coated hand over his length, transferring the frosting to his member as he shivered once more. “Mmm. You’re going to taste so good.”
Leaning down, Emma began a dizzyingly slow assault on Ryan’s hardness, her tongue taking slow, kitten licks across his head as Ryan grabbed handfuls of sheet to try and control himself. As Emma gazed up at Ryan and just smirked, she took him deeper, his full head in her mouth as she swirled her tongue around the chocolate frosting, making more of a mess of him than she was remotely cleaning him up. “Emmmmmmm,” Ryan gasped, and her only response was to give him a cat-eating-canary-grin.
Slowly, oh so slowly, Emma started to stroke Ryan as she took him deeper, gagging a little bit and stopping at that point, realizing she wouldn’t be able to fully deep-throat him. Instead she pulled back and licked along the vein beneath his cock, watching his body quake as she did. After a long moment of just sitting there gazing at him, she told him with eyes dancing, “Okay. Happy Birthday, babe.”
“Wait, wha? Emmmmm don’t tease.”
Gray eyes bounding devilishly, she told him sincerely, “There’s no more chocolate for me to clean.” And again she paused as she stroked his cock, wicked slow, earning her his wordless whimpers in response. “Oh. There. I missed a spot. And it’s soooooo hard.” She teased as Ryan’s face went between pale, crimson, and then back again. Finally tiring of teasing him, Emma took him down again, another low whimper greeting her ears in response. This time Emma continued to suck and stroke until Ryan was nothing more than a quaking mess.
“I’m close baby.” He was able to warn her and it left her moments to decide how she was going to handle it - taste him or wear him? Ultimately, she did a bit of both, mouth catching the first spurt of his load, and then pulling back so that his next shot ended up on her face, neck, and even her breasts.
“You dirty, dirty, boy.” Emma teased even as she swallowed what he’d offered. “Look at the mess you’ve made of me.” And with her words, the still trembling Ryan grabbed for the jar of frosting, coating his fingers and tracing circles over her breasts, turning the tables on Emma.
Emma could see it was going to be a long, adventurous afternoon. She just hoped they didn’t still smell like chocolate when they met up with Gabi and Devin later!
~*~
“Why do you - both of you - smell like chocolate frosting?”
Leave it to the ever-observant Gabi to pick up on their pre-gathering activities, Ryan thought to himself, but Emma was quicker on the retort and quipped back, “I made him a cake.”
Gabi furrowed her brow at that while Ryan tried to bite back a chuckle. “Why would you make him a cake? We’ll get one here.”
Smirking and keeping her hand interlaced with Ryan’s, Emma replied smoothly, “You misunderstood me. I didn’t make a cake for him. I made him a cake.”
When Gabi’s eyes finally flashed in recognition, she started giggling hysterically and she pulled Emma aside, seeking details even if it was her brother being discussed. Rolling his eyes but smiling, Ryan glanced over at Devin, reaching out to pull his brother-in-law into a hug. “Hello, what’s this?” Devin questioned him as they pulled back, and even the ladies briefly paused their chattering to gaze in his direction.
“Well, I already got ahhh a few birthday presents. This,” Ryan paused and tapped the promise ring Emma had given him earlier in the evening. “was one of them.”
“Engaged?” Gabi questioned as she gazed back and forth between Emma and Ryan while Emma shook her head and Ryan let her answer.
“Committed. It would be awfully soon to be engaged. We’re trying to take our time, let things progress as they may. But in the meanwhile, I’m his and he’s mine, and I don’t give a rat’s ass who knows that.”
“Rat’s ass.” Devin chuckled. “And to think you were such a sweet, polite young lady when we met you.”
Snorting in a rather unladylike manner, Emma retorted “The hell I was. I haven’t been polite since I got too big for my father to spank manners into me. And sweet?” At this she shrugged and gazed over to Ryan in to what was a clear affectionate gesture. “I suppose I have my moments.”
“You do baby.” He assured her softly while trying to catch his sister’s eye. “Would you mind finding seats with Dev while I have a quickie chat with my darling older sister?” Both women raised their eyebrows, but both obliged, Emma walking off arm-in-arm with Devin while Gabi followed her brother to a quieter area of the restaurant. Once he was certain no one else was around, he told her softly, “Luke and I did something so stupid before the season started and it’s looking like it’s going to catch up with us.”
“What did you do, Turtle?” Gabi questioned immediately, her hands moving to settle on her hips. When Ryan just shook his head, she rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll find out soon you know. But it’s nothing you’ll need my services for?” And when he shook his head no again, she once more rolled her eyes.
Ryan just sighed and muttered at her, “Grandpère and the rest of you will be disappointed in us when it comes out. That’s all I want to say at this point. Just know I love her with all my heart.”
Giving him a suspicious look but tried to humor him regardless, “Ahhh, young love.” Gabi teased as they walked off arm-in-arm towards where their significant others sat. “To be young and foolish again.”
Snorting at her, Ryan nonetheless pulled her chair out for her before retorting, “For an old lady, you seem to have the foolishness down to a science.” Off Gabi’s glare, Ryan just smirked in response. “It’s my party and I’ll be a brat if I want to!”
Emma cut her eyes towards Gabi. “Oh yes, he can be a brat now, but he will pay for it later, I promise you.”
“Does it involve more frosting?” Ryan asked hopefully.
This time, he got smacked from both sides of the table.