Chapter 10: Opportunity

January 21, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

The first period of the game yielded no scoring, despite the Penguins having two powerplays resulting from cross-checking and boarding penalties to the Hawks, and the Hawks having one due to a Penguins holding penalty. During the brief intermission, I visited the restroom, then returned to get more food and drink before the second period began.

The first half of the period yielded nothing, but then Alex Kovalev fed Marty Straka who ‘twitched the twine and lit the lamp’, causing Nicole and me to leap to our feet, cheering with the few other Pittsburgh fans in the United Center. We high-fived, then sat back down and after a penalty to Darius Kasparaitis for closing his hand on the puck had expired, Bob Probert was called for roughing. Less than a minute later, René Corbet put the Penguins up 2-0, which once again had Nicole and me leaping to our feet.

“Who let the annoying Penguins fans in here?” Jesse asked sarcastically.

“More like which Penguin fan let YOU in here, Little Duck!”

“How did you get to be a Penguins fan?” Suzanne asked.

I told her the story as play resumed. A Penguins powerplay after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Steve Sullivan went for naught, but just before the end of the period, Mario Lemieux scored after a perfect set up by Stevens and Jágr, making it 3-0, and resulting in Nicole screaming and cheering loud enough to be heard in Pittsburgh.

“Looking good!” Nicole declared. “The Hawks got nuthin’!”

That earned her a bit of thrown popcorn from Jesse’s teammates, but it was all in good fun, and wasn’t TOO much that I felt I had to say something. The second period ended shortly thereafter and we got up to use the restroom and get more food.

“Did you know this is the first-ever NHL game coached by two European coaches?” Nicole asked when we settled back into our seats. “Ivan Hlinka is Czech and Alpo Suhonen is a Finn. Mikey, Jesse, and I looked, and we couldn’t find a single European head coach before these two going back to 1960. It was a pain, because there isn’t any central listing we could find. We checked hockey stats books at the library and some books I have at home.”

“No, I didn’t know that,” I replied. “Maybe in the future there will be a central repository. A couple of years ago hockeydb.com started putting up as much information as they could gather, though it’s still spotty. And just last month hockey-reference.com was started, though it has barely any information yet.”

“I think Jesse looked at hockeydb.com but they didn’t have the nationalities of the coaches. That was the tough part. Fortunately most of them played, so we could look at their player stats to find their nationalities. You won’t be surprised that there are a LOT of Canadians!”

“Just like the league,” I replied. “Though we’re seeing a good influx of Eastern Europeans as players since the end of the Cold War.”

The third period got off to a very good start when Robert Lang took a pass from Marty Straka and scored after just ninety-four seconds had elapsed. The Penguins held the 4-0 lead to the end, though the game got sloppy after the fourth Penguin goal, with five penalties called in five minutes - three against the Pens and two against the Hawks. The referees got things settled down and Garth Snow kept his shutout.

“Well, that sucked!” Jesse said just after the final horn sounded.

“Somehow, I think your dad disagrees!” Libby said.

“Penguins aren’t known to be the most intelligent animals in the world!” Jesse retorted.

“What about Nicole?”

“I think she was dropped on her head as a baby!”

“Hat trick next time we play!” Nicole declared fiercely.

“Bring it!” Jesse challenged with a grin on his face. “Nobody has a hat trick against me all season!”

We filed out of the seats, and after I signed the invoice, we left the box. Jesse, Mia, and Libby went with Suzanne, who had Kara’s van, while Natalie walked out with Nicole and me.

“Natalie has a question for you,” Nicole said as we approached my BMW.

“What’s your question, Natalie?” I asked, turning to her.

“I know Nicole wants to thank you properly and enthusiastically for arranging for her to meet Mario Lemieux, but I wondered if we could get reacquainted after she does that? Nicole is OK with it.”

I should have guessed something like that was coming, but it actually took me by surprise. Even more surprising was that I didn’t feel the adrenaline rush that often accompanied surprises. I felt the usual stirrings I had when I thought about girls I was extremely attracted to, but not any lightheadedness or even a ‘rush’. I made a mental note to let Mary know about that when I spoke to her later in the week.

“I promised Nicole the evening,” I said. “But if she’s OK with me spending some time with you, I’ll be very happy to do so.”

“I am,” Nicole said. “Though I get you first!”

“She’s a greedy bitch!” Natalie teased.

“Oh, please!” Nicole sighed theatrically

Both girls laughed.

“We’re going to the NIKA apartment,” I said. “It’s just before Racine on Van Buren. If you go south on Paulina or Damen and turn left, it’s two or three blocks. Turn left on Racine, then left on Gladys. There’s guest parking which is clearly marked.”

“Cool. See you there less than ten minutes after we get out of the parking lot.”

She headed for her car and I opened the door of the BMW to let Nicole in, then walked around to the driver’s side and got in. We buckled our belts, I started the car, and headed for the exit.

“I’m surprised!” Nicole said.

“By what?”

She laughed softly, “I know you well enough that I half-expected you to tease about a ‘sisters fantasy’!”

Knowing Nicole as well as I did, and having observed her at the Rap Sessions I knew I was safe in teasing and joking.

“Been there, done that,” I said flatly.

Nicole laughed harder, “Of course you have!”

“And besides, that’s not something either of you are interested in.”

“True, but you have to tell me how you know that!”

“Neither of you have ever, in all the talking we’ve done, expressed an interest in threesomes, whether or not there was any stuff done between the girls. And I know you know all about that because Kara, Jessica, and I are completely open about it. You and your sister are, and please do not take this the wrong way, conventional in your approach to sex. Well, minus the societal freakout with regard to teen sexuality.”

“Question and answer time,” Nicole said. “It looks like we have a good ten minutes before we get out of the lot.”

“Go ahead.”

“This is me asking questions for information, not implying anything.”

“I assumed that was the case.”

“I assume girls basically do the same stuff you do to me, minus intercourse?”

“Yes, though with the right toys, even that can be simulated.”

“That one you’re going to have to explain.”

“You know about vibrators, right?”

Nicole laughed softly, “You mean ‘personal massagers’ like they sell at Osco?”

“Yes. I’m assuming you know what a dildo is, too.”

“A rubber dick.”

“Yes. They make a harness you can put on that has a place to attach the dildo. Assume for a moment a girl is wearing such a thing.”

“Ah! She could fuck like a guy, well, you know what I mean.”

“Yes.”

“Interesting! Anyway, you’ve been with sisters before? Did they do stuff?”

“In one instance, it was basically taking turns, but with the other sister in the same room. Once it was them together, but they mostly didn’t do anything together.”

“You’ve had other times with more than one girl? I mean, besides the obvious.”

“Quite a few, yes. And what they do really depends on the girls.”

“Did any of them do stuff together because you wanted them to?”

“That’s an interesting question,” I replied. “There were girls who did stuff with each other because they knew I would like it, but not because I asked them to do it. I mean, sure, there was some good-natured teasing, but it’s not something I would ever ask anyone to do.”

“Why? Natalie said communication is the only way to have great sex.”

I chuckled, “Yes, that’s true, but exercising good judgment is also important. In this case, the thought really didn’t cross my mind until you teased me about it.”

“And now?”

“I’m of the opinion it would be a bad idea.”

“And how does that work with what you told me about doing whatever a girl asked to make her feel really good.”

“You aren’t asking, and neither is Natalie! This is all hypothetical.”

“That’s true, but I still wonder - if it were something you wanted, would you ask?”

“It would all depend on the individuals involved, but generally, no, I wouldn’t.”

“And if a girl asked you?”

“I would consider it, but on balance, my answer would be ‘no’ for sisters.”

“How do you make decisions about things like that?”

“Remember my guiding principle?”

“Do as little harm as possible.”

“Correct.”

“But how do you know? I mean, you can’t know, right?”

“Not for sure,” I admitted. “Think back to the two decisions - yours to ask me to have sex, and mine to agree. You know how you decided. Do you know how I decided?”

“Trust, right? Both in Natalie and in me? And a belief that you and I both understood what it was that I wanted, and that Natalie would have told me not to ask if she didn’t think I was ready and that you were the right guy. And you trusted Natalie’s judgment based on all the talking and screwing you did in Russia!”

“More based on the talking, but yes.”

“You talked to me a lot, too. I remember asking you if you talked so much all the time.”

“There is a method to my madness. And I think you’re learning about that both from the Rap Sessions and what you’re doing right now.”

“Next question - how do you choose a sex partner?”

“If you figure it out, let me know!” I chuckled.

Nicole laughed, “Natalie did say the girls always pick you!”

“That’s generally true. I suppose the answer to the question is trust.”

“Is it OK to be goofy?”

“Sure.”

“You have to trust a girl a LOT to let her take your dick into her mouth!”

I chuckled, “To be honest, I’ve never even really thought much about that!”

Well, that wasn’t quite true - Deborah had used her teeth to give me some of the most erotic blowjobs I’d ever had, and we’d joked about the dangers, but that wasn’t something I could reveal to Nicole.

“Because by the time you get to that point, you’re sure that you can trust them. How long?”

“Months to years, depending. On occasion, it’s shorter.”

“Natalie?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Russia was a special circumstance.”

“She said you never flirted with her, even once.”

“Because that wouldn’t have been appropriate. That’s not why she came to me.”

“I think it was; I just don’t think she knew it.”

“That’s possible. And that’s an interesting insight. And a very mature one.”

Nicole smiled, “The most important thing I’ve learned from you is that I can be an adult. Nobody ever told me that besides you. Well, Natalie, in a way, but she’s my sister so it’s different.”

“And that’s changed your life?” I asked.

Nicole smiled again, “My parents treat me differently now. They chalk it up to the mentoring.”

“And you?”

“Yes, but you could mentor me and still treat me like a kid. That’s why Natalie thought you were so different, and why she decided she wanted to make love with you.”

“And now?”

Nicole smiled, “Opportunity. She broke up with John and she’s not seeing anyone. And I’m sure you know how she feels about you.”

I nodded, “I do. And you?”

“Besides wanting to thank you for the best day of my life?”

I chuckled, “I won’t take that as an insult!”

Nicole laughed, “I got to have sex with you more than once, and we will tonight! I probably won’t meet Mario Lemieux ever again!”

“A valid point. I’ll re-inflate my male ego.”

“Like in Airplane?” she smirked.

“As if I would object!”

We finally made it out of the parking lot and our drive to the NIKA apartment was quick. Natalie arrived just before us because of where she’d been parked, and the three of us went inside together. We walked up to the second floor, I let us into the apartment, and shut the door behind us. I made a mental note to make sure everything was spotless before we left as Aisyah and Juana would be arriving from California just before midnight. We’d be gone by 9:00pm as the girls needed to be home by 10:00pm.

“There’s a TV with cable, a mini-stereo with a collection of about two hundred CDs, and a shelf full of books,” I said to Natalie.

“I brought homework! I’ll be studying Russian.”

«Очень хорошо, товарищ!» (“Very good, Comrade!”)

«Повеселись с моей сестрой!» (“Have fun with my sister!”)

I knew just enough Russian to work out what she’d said, so I took Nicole’s hand and led her to the bedroom.

“What did my sister say?”

“To have fun with you!”

“Just jerseys to start?” she asked.

“Yes, but I’d like to see you naked first!”

Nicole laughed softly and we quickly stripped off our clothes. She struck a pose and I enjoyed the view of her muscular, lithe, body. Her breasts had grown a bit, her hips had flared a bit more, her muscular legs were a bit longer, and her pubic hair was neatly trimmed, as it had been before, though she’d narrowed it to a much smaller triangle.

“Damn you’re sexy!” I replied.

“Nobody notices in the hockey gear!”

“Well, I’m noticing now, and the vision is burned into my memory forever!”

We put on our matching Penguins jerseys and then got into bed. As was our practice, I sat cross-legged and Nicole sat in my lap, facing me, with her legs wrapped around me. As our lips touched, Nicole reached between us and began gently stroking me. We kissed until I was hard, and then she raised up, rubbed my glans along her labia, then slowly lowered herself onto me until I was fully engulfed in her tight, silky folds. I grasped her taut butt cheeks with my hands and squeezed gently.

“Yeah...” she sighed, lowering her head to my shoulder as she began slowly grinding against me.

Nicole was as tight as she’d been our first time, and her muscle tone allowed her to make her intimate embrace even tighter. Not for the first time I wondered if her muscles were like Katt’s, and I suspected they were, but given the conversation we’d had earlier, I doubted I, or anyone, would ever find out.

“You know, you’re still the only one I’ve done anything with,” she said as she continued to grind and slide up and down.

“Are you allowed to date?”

“As of New Year’s. My parents actually listened to Natalie on that. It wasn’t going to be until I started my Junior year.”

“That’s fairly typical from what I’ve seen, though I know some parents now are trying to keep kids from pairing off.”

“A couple of my friends have that situation - they can go out in groups but not ‘date’. My friend Esther, who’s a Junior, decided that meant she could sleep with ALL the guys in her group!”

I chuckled, “That is one solution!”

“Most of the rest of them are like some of those girls at the Rap Sessions,” she said, a hitch in her breath as she had her first gentle orgasm.

“God that felt good,” she sighed a moment later.

“I think better ones are on the way!”

“Maybe we should stop talking and focus on orgasms!”

“You started it!” I teased.

“I did. Now be quiet!”

We began kissing and Nicole brought herself off three more times, with each orgasm being more intense then the previous one, before she began sliding up and down, squeezing me with her muscles, and gaining the result she so clearly desired. I groaned and came hard.

“I love how that feels,” she groaned as her fifth orgasm was triggered by the jets of hot cum I was firing into her.

When our orgasms had run their course, we removed each other’s jersey, and I pulled Nicole tight against me, savoring the feel of her breast against my chest. She held up her arm to look at her watch.

“I guess we have two hours so Nat can have her turn. What reward would you like?”

“I’ll leave that up to you!” I said.

“Desiring to please the girl! What if I want to please YOU?”

“You just did!”

She laughed, “Esther says guys are simple - if they cum, they’re happy!”

“Do you think that’s true for me?”

Nicole cocked her head, then shook it slowly, “No, actually, I don’t. So, if you set aside your desire to pleasure me, what would you want?”

“You know the answer to that, if you paid attention.”

“Slow, gentle, missionary sex that lasts for ages! And that’s not a complaint! You really don’t want anything else?”

“Other than to please you? No.”

“And given I know you would never do anything to hurt me or that I didn’t want to do, I could say I’ll do anything you want.”

I chuckled, “Well, there is always the chance of ‘Evil Steve’ showing up!”

“‘Evil Steve’?”

“I just coined that because there have been girls I’ve teased into doing things they might otherwise not have done. But again, I’ve only done that if I was sure it wasn’t going to harm them.”

“For two hours, I’m yours,” Nicole said. “The only requirement is orgasms!”

She had them, in spades, first from long, slow, sensual lovemaking in my usual way, then from my tongue, and finally, from a rip-roaring, mattress-squeaking, headboard-banging fuck which she requested. We had just enough time for a joint shower before she turned me over to her sister.

“Three-and-a-half years,” Natalie said when we went into the second bedroom.

“July 30, 1997,” I replied.

“Wow! You remember?”

“Of course I remember! It’s not every day a wonderful, intelligent, sexy, virginal young woman asks me to make love to her!”

“Will you make love to me? Now?”

I nodded and pulled her to me. We exchanged a soft kiss, then undressed each other. We got into bed, and after a few minutes of foreplay, I slowly entered Natalie who wrapped her arms and legs around me and pulled me down on top of her. Our lovemaking session was gentle from start to finish, and the orgasms were both emotionally and physically satisfying. When we finished, we cuddled close, her wonderful breasts pushing into my chest and side, and my hand cupping her firm butt.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you?” she asked.

“I’m pretty sure I do,” I replied. “And you know I love you, too.”

“It’s weird, though, because I don’t feel like I’m ‘in love’ with you, just that I love you deeply.”

“Remember the discussions about the different kinds of love?”

“Of course! It’s just that, finally, after almost four years, I get it. And I know what was missing with John. It wasn’t that he was too conservative, like Nicole thinks, but that I didn’t have the feelings deep inside that I have for you, and, I think I have to have with my future husband. And it wasn’t for lack of trying! You know we dated for almost three years, and were lovers for more than a year.”

“He was your first serious boyfriend,” I replied. “It was a learning experience for both of you. And I’m sure you learned some lessons.”

“I wonder if I should have ended it sooner.”

“You mean because you didn’t feel the way about him you thought you should have? Or you were comparing him to me?”

“Both, I guess,” Natalie replied. “Is it wrong to compare guys to you?”

“Not really, so long as you allow for different life experience. The twenty-year-old Steve was a very different person from the one you’re in bed with now. And so long as you don’t tell them you’re making the comparison.”