Game Four

I was too distracted all day Tuesday. I barely got anything done at work. Finally I called Sandy.

"I really need to talk, meet me after work?"

"Sure thing!" she replied. She was as solid in our friendship as she was in the goal.

Sandy sensed my confusion the moment I walked in the door.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Steve and this stupid bet!"

She nodded her head in sympathy.

"You looked like you were enjoying it Saturday. What happened?"

I took a deep breath. Would I be violating Steve's confidence? I wasn't sure. I decided to go ahead.

"Last night he told me he was into BDSM."

"Was, past tense," Sandy replied.

What? That was her response? Then I realized why.

"You knew."

She shrugged her shoulders and had the decency to look guilty. "Not BDSM specifically, but I'm not surprised."

I glared at her. "Okay, spill it!" I demanded.

Sandy sighed but nodded her head. "I'm going to have to forfeit my bet with Pete, but okay."

"I noticed Steve was interested in you a while ago," she began. "But he didn't seem to be doing anything about it. Finally I asked Pete about him. Pete said that Steve had gotten cautious after getting burned a handful of times. Apparently something happened when Steve was a teenager that gave him a lot more sexual experience than the average guy. Not just regular sex, but all sorts of kinky stuff too. Pete didn't say what.

"It seems all that experience backfired on him. Sure the girls liked it at first, but when they found out about some of the stuff he'd done, they dumped him."

"Ran away screaming," I said.

"Exactly," Sandy continued, "Pete says Steve tried meeting women in the kinky communities, which obviously would be the BDSM club."

I nodded my head to acknowledge her observation.

"The problem with that was," she said, "that Steve wasn't kinky enough for those women. Or else they'd have other problems. So he got burned again."

I let out a deep breath. Thank god. At least my worst fears were unlikely to be true. I realized that Steve was much simpler to understand than I'd thought.

"So," I said, "Steve hasn't met the right woman yet."

Sandy flashed me a huge grin. "That's what I said. I told Pete that you wouldn't run. He wasn't so sure. Hence the bet."

"I still may run, Sandy. I still don't know him very well."

She looked disappointed. I decided to change the subject a little.

"So, what are the stakes with Pete?" I asked.

Sandy grinned mischievously. "Pete and I have been flirting since the second game. We decided we wouldn't go out until the end of the season because we were concerned about team chemistry."

"Team chemistry?"

"We were worried about what the news that we were dating would do to the team. The team was still gelling, and a lot of the new guys hadn't accepted me as their goalie yet. We decided we could wait."

"Though I must tell you," she admitted, grinning through the rising blush, "the teasing has been agony. It's been like months of foreplay!"

"Oh, you love it!"

"Yeah," she admitted. She paused, imagining some reverie she chose not to share.

"So the stakes?" I prodded.

"Oh, decidedly X-rated," she mused.

"So you're going to get sexual favors if I hook up with Steve." I couldn't help rolling my eyes at this turn of events.

"It's not much different than your bet!" she shot back.

My bet. Shit. I still didn't know what to think about my bet with Steve. I had agreed to two minutes of anything. If he had a lot of experience like Sandy said, "anything" could include ... well, anything.

Sandy let me sit and stew for a minute before she reached over and gently touched my hand.

"Liz, he's a great guy. Give him a chance. At least talk to him at tomorrow's game before you run away from him."

I nodded. She was right. I couldn't wait for Detroit to lose. I need to know more now.

But then Detroit did lose! I started to get really excited, but then remembered I'd gotten my story yesterday. Well, at least I wouldn't have to pay up another four minutes! But ... maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Enjoyable even.

Who was I kidding? Detroit losing was always a good thing!

I teased Steve about it as soon as I saw him the next night. "Not going to have any problem with Calgary, huh? What was that you were saying? Not going to choke like my Avs?"

He grinned and sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. His smile was warm and playful and I couldn't help but grin back.

"What can I say?" Steve said. "Even the Wings can't triumph all the time. Maybe we should see if they want Sandy in goal." He feigned the most innocent naïve expression with that last comment that I couldn't help but crack up laughing.

"Well hopefully she'll be as hot tonight as Calgary was!" Steve nodded his head in agreement and then we were off talking about the details of last night's game, Sandy's last game, and what we thought would happen tonight.

We were talking hockey. Just like we had done all season. It felt really good.

Sandy was once again fantastic. This time she got some help from her defenders. She easily blocked all 10 shots the first period, including one stop where she practically plucked the puck out of the air with the ease of an infielder snagging a line drive. Pete was on fire too, getting a goal and an assist in what had the makings of a rout. They ended up ahead 3-0 at the first intermission and the excitement in the stands was contagious.

Meanwhile, the Avs game had started a while ago. I turned up my portable radio just enough for Steve and I to both listen and he smiled at me in appreciation.

The Avs game turned out to be a nail biter. The first period was tight and the Avs got a lot of good shots in the second, but nothing went in. Nabokov even made a save while on his back! Steve seemed as tense as I was, but was graciously not commenting. Instead we cheered and yelled for Sandy and Pete.

Their game was going well. Their opponents got it together during the second period and were able to shut down Pete and the rest of the offense, but they still couldn't get anything by Sandy. The second period ended with the same 3-0 score.

Sandy finally missed one in the third during a power play. It didn't matter though, as her offense had figured out the new defense and gotten two goals, leading to a score of 5-1.

Meanwhile, Nabokov also continued to be brilliant in stopping the Avs. Of course, he also got lucky! The Avs had two shots hit the crossbar. They also couldn't score on a power play for anything! Not even at the beginning of overtime!

I was going crazy with each missed shot. Steve stopped looking tense and just looked more and more amused. It was actually really sweet—a Red Wings fan not rubbing it in. How rare was that? I couldn't help smiling at him.

Then Sakic finally scored and I let out a loud "Yes!" The people around us looked startled—they were waiting for a faceoff in the game in front of us.

"Avs just won!" I announced. There were general cheers, which were repeated louder a few minutes later when the clock ran out and Sandy's team all hit the ice to celebrate their victory.

Afterwards, Steve walked me to the women's locker room door. There he stopped and faced me.

"So, are we on for Saturday?" he asked. There was a touch of nervousness in his voice.

I hung my head for a moment. Sandy had said I should talk to him. Now was the time.

"Can we talk a little? Before I answer that?"

"Sure," he said. His confidence was back. He shoved the door open.

"Hey Sandy!" he yelled. "Can I come in?"

"Sure!" she hollered back. "Just don't peek!"

We both chuckled at that and Steve followed me into the locker room. We chose a bench away from Sandy's gear so she'd have some privacy when she got out of the shower. Once we got settled, Steve got a serious look on his face.

"What would you like to talk about, Liz?"

I let out a deep breath. "I talked to Sandy," I began, "I hope that's all right!"

He nodded. "And you found she knew already."

Huh?

Steve noticed my confusion and continued.

"She called Pete last night and said that she had to forfeit their bet. He came and told me about it right after. I don't mind him telling Sandy about my past, but I'm not real happy about him betting against me."

"He was betting against me," I interjected.

"Well, frankly, I hope he loses," Steve said.

Oh my.

"Will you tell me about this past?" I asked.

He took a deep breath and then nodded his head.

"Sure," he said. He stared into space for a few moments, and then turned to meet my eyes.

"When I was fourteen," he began, "we got a new neighbor. She moved away when I was seventeen."