Five

Cary caught Liz’s eye, and her friend made a pleading face.  Of them all, she was the shyest one.  And the least likely to wake up naked with a stranger, especially when that stranger was Hockey Jesus.  There wasn’t much Cary could do except give them a few minutes.

“Okay guys, let’s let these two find their clothes.  And you,” she pointed a Kris, “don’t find anymore clothes.  Ever.”
 
Really.  I mean it.
 
She herded everyone toward the door, as Sid stepped around the bed behind her.  He was going right to where Liz sat, and Liz pressed herself even deeper into the wall.  Cary physically pushed a very slow-moving Malkin as Sid took a space near Liz’s feet.  Before closing the door, she heard Sid ask quietly, “Are you okay?”
 
Jordan followed the big Russian down the stairs, but only two steps before he turned and blocked the way.  Cary paused at the top of the flight; she and Jordan were almost nose to nose this way.  He reached his arms around her waist.
 
“There is entirely too much nudity here for you to still have all these clothes on.”  His blue eyes were steady and serious, the lantern square of his jaw very convincing.  Cary’s brain thought about protesting.  Her ovaries thought about exploding.
 
“I don’t want to be too forward,” he brought his mouth forward, his voice was a low hush across her neck, “but I’m aching to feel you come again.”
 
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
 
Her knuckles were white; she could have ripped the staircase railing out of the wall.  A hundred thoughts passed through her head at once: all these people are probably waiting for us, they already know anyway, I’m using all the luck for my entire life in one damned day.  Her mind spun out of control.  All she could do was blink at him and all she could say was, “Where?”
 
There were a few doors they hadn’t opened.  Behind one was the rumpled master bedroom, behind another Liz and Sidney still getting acquainted.  Cary briefly wondered if they were reuniting the way she and Jordan had.  Having just seen Crosby naked, Cary certainly hoped so.  The only thing she’d seen look bigger or better was currently leading her toward a third closed door.
 
I don’t care if it’s a fucking garbage chute.
 
Another guest room, this one was smaller but fitted with a queen size bed that looked freshly made.  Along one wall was a large closet with accordion doors.  Jordan waved her in grandly.
 
“Might as well wreck this room too, eh?”
 
Cary didn’t have time to laugh.  Even though her hormones boiled, whistling the sound of a hysterical giggle welling up in her throat, she was off her feet in a second.  Jordan pulled her in and picked her up.
 
“I swear, someday I’m gonna go so slow you’ll be begging for it.” His thighs were like pommel horses and he pushed one between hers, spreading her body open.  She wiggled up the solid structure and ground herself into his lap.  His already hardening cock was like a weapon between them.  He sucked in a breath when Cary rubbed her hip along his length.  “But I’ve gotta have you right now.”
 
He paused a second, staring into her with those eyes that could make her do anything.  One moment was all she’d get to voice her opinion then she was surrendering to him.  He couldn’t promise what he’d do but the throb of his dick against her lower abs promised she would like it very much.
 
She smirked at him, her last ounce of resistance as heat and liquid pooled between her legs.  “Let’s show these guys how it’s really done.”
____
 
Jordan kept her in his lap, hands working the button and zipper on her jeans.  Then when he threw her onto the bed, he yanked those down like he was unfurling a flag.  She was naked from the waist down almost before she hit the blanket.
 
He wanted to come out first-pitch swinging and hit it out the park, but he knew the only cork likely to pop so easily was his own.  His dick twitched painfully hard against his suit pants, barking like a dog.  As Cary landed, he leaned over the foot of the bed, pushed her legs up and drove his tongue right into her honey pot.
 
I’ll bet this makes her...
 
And she screamed.  As much in surprise as pleasure, Cary shrieked at the unexpected rasp of his velvety tongue over her most sensitive spot.  Jordan heard the bell ring to signal round one when he tasted her sticky sweet goodness on the first pass.  She wanted this as badly as he did, and boy was she going to get it.  She struggled out of her sweater before looking down to tangle her fingers in his hair.
 
“Jordan, you don’t...,” she started.
 
He caught her perfect little clit between his lips and tugged.  Her words got twisted with a gust of breath and whipped right out of her lungs.  He had to drive his hips into the mattress to quiet his screaming cock.  It wanted its own piece of her.
 
Everybody’s gonna hear this one.
 
Like in hockey, Jordan knew what he was good at.  He threw his weight around on the ice and he did the same in bed, using size to his advantage and not just the size of his dick.  His broad shoulders spread her wide, giving him everything and pulling her taut for maximum sensation.  He slid one huge finger past her swollen lips and felt her entire pussy clench.
 
Just wait till that’s my cock.
 
A second finger followed, earning another tightening and a low, angry-sounding moan.  Giving her clit another little raspberry that made her ass squirm against the bed, Jordan lifted his face from her lap.
 
“Like that, baby?”
 
“Holyshit,” she breathed.
 
“I said I wanted to feel you come.   I didn’t say how.”
 
Or how many times.
 
Her head was rolled back, so she missed his triumphant smirk.  Jordan returned to his mission, licking and twisting and sucking and rolling, all the while pumping her core with two thick fingers.  He jerked himself off against the bed, rocking into her with his whole body.  His fingertips slid along her walls, slick with the mess he was making, and occasionally brushed a spot that made her flinch.  It took three passes to pinpoint and on the next, Jordan made an emergency stop.  
 
He pressed her g-spot so hard and suddenly that Cary’s back arched right off the bed.  He surprised himself, with barely a second to purse his lips around her clit before she twisted her hands into the bed sheets and screamed.
____
 
The second Jordan’s mouth found her pussy, Cary had lost contact with the world.  Like an out-of-body experience, she saw herself lying on her back, spread eagled by the man of her dreams, while he gave her the ride of her life.  It couldn’t be real.  And while every light bulb in every room in her brain burst in a hailing shatter of glass, she gasped for breath and fought to stay in this dream.
 
“I said I wanted to feel you come,” he said.
 
Cary was already there.  His huge fingers plumbed her depths relentlessly, fucking her like she’d done something to deserve it.  And his mouth, so soft and wide and quick to smile, was like a genetically-engineered pleasure machine.
 
“Holyshit,” she said more than once.
 
Then, out of nowhere, she lost.  It was like being shot out of midair by a heat-seeking missile.  Those thick, rough fingers jammed into her launch button and Cary fucking exploded.  She saw nothing but white, heard nothing but her own scream.
 
If this is the last thing I remember, it’s worth it.
____
 
Jordan got exactly what he wanted - to hear and taste and feel Cary come.  It nearly knocked the wind out of him, rocking him backward, where his throbbing cock rolled painfully against the mattress.  He forced off his pants and struggled free of his shorts.  She was still bucking against his buried hand when he pulled it free with a wet pop and rammed himself in up to the hilt.
 
It was like being hit by a train.
 
Jordan choked, his eye bulging out of his head.  He was so hard, so primed and pounding, that when he rang the tip of his dick like a buzzer against the inside of her body, he popped like a bottle of champagne.  At the same moment Cary, barely finished coming the first time, came again.  Her pussy sucked and pulled at him, stretching out his own sensation.  Jordan roared with the involuntary force of draining himself into her hot, sweet core.
 
Once as a kid he’d been knocked underwater by a wave, only to come up under the break of the next one.  It pushed him under, spun him wildly and bounced him off every obstacle.  He didn’t know which way was up and couldn’t get a breath.  His feet scraped for purchase on anything he could find, until finally he popped up gasping to find the surface around him eerily quiet.
 
I have never...
 
When he opened his eyes, everything was still.  Cary’s low, even breath was hot against his neck.  One of her arms was stretched overhead, her long fingers clasping the headboard in a way that made his dick pulse with ideas of later.  She shifted and he realized he was still buried inside her.
 
“Jesus, Jordan,” she whispered.
 
“Jesus yourself.  I didn’t know you were gonna do that to me,” he laughed weakly.  Cary managed a tiny squeeze of her walls around his flagging cock.  It also went in the future file.
 
“Right.  Totally in charge,” she mumbled.

They got up groggily and stumbled around the room getting dressed.  Cary caught Jordan’s eyes and just started giggling.  He pulled her into his lap, fully clothed again, and pressed a kiss to her ear.
 
“More please.”

Like weeks and months and...

Cary bit her lip.  “Lots more.”
____
 
Every face turned up toward them as they came down the stairs.  They’d obviously made quite a racket.  Geno started clapping loudly.  Cary blushed even though she’d brought it on herself.
 
“Fuck you guys! I’m staying at a hotel tonight,” Neal threw a pillow in their direction.  
 
She looked around - two people were missing.  “Where are Liz and Sid?”
Sarah detatched her lips from Kris’.  She was curled up in his lap, their arms around each other, kissing quietly at one end of the couch like the room was empty.  “We didn’t know if the screaming was you guys, or them.  Guess it was you.”
 
“So they’re still up there?!” Jordan wheeled back toward the stairs.
 
“No!” Sarah and Cary both said.  “Leave them.”
 
Liz was a little more shy than her friends. And while she would certainly never turn down taking home a drunk Sidney Crosby, she’d be more uncomfortable about it the next morning.  Clearly Liz and Cary were doing just fine.  But those two might be just talking.  Or Liz could be face down in the mattress trying not to sing O Canada!  But she wouldn’t want someone barging in.  As Cary was tugging Jordan away, a door closed upstairs and footsteps approached.
 
“There they are anyway,” James said sarcastically.
 
But it wasn’t Sid or Liz.  Tyler Kennedy tromped down the stairs, rubbing his head sleepily.  He stopped when he saw all the expectant eyes staring up at him.
 
“Why was I sleeping in a closet?” he asked.  Liz and Cary both blanched.  There were only two open rooms, each with a closet and each one had been used for...
 
Tyler raised a hand and pointed at Cary.  “And who’s the porn star?”
____

Jordan had an instinct he’d never ever had before.  Never had it about a girl, never had it off the ice.  He stepped in front of Cary as if to protect her and said in a flat voice full of menace, 
“Tyler.”

Not here, not now.  Not her.

The whole room leaned back a little.  Kennedy put his hands up in front of his chest as if to ward off a blow.  “Hey man, I didn’t see anything.  Didn’t even wake up till like five minutes ago.  But I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

Cary put a hand on Jordan’s  back to settle him.  It wasn’t Tyler’s fault he’d been there, a waking up in a closet was about the most boring thing any of them had done lately.  But she did appreciate that Jordan wanted to draw a line between what was fair game and what was clearly meant to be private.

“Sorry Tyler!  Why didn’t you sleep in that big empty bed?”

He just shook his head, scratching his mop of short dark hair.  “Must have seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Jordan’s shoulders relaxed and his posture returned to normal.  He kept one arm around Cary protectively.

Okay, that’s sexy. 

But everything about him was sexy.  His wrinkled suit pants that had been on the floor more times than a rug.  His shirt now completely open over a white t-shirt, shoved up his arms so casually it would take the dry cleaner a week to press.  Blond bed head and those crystal blue eyes... Cary turned her head away as she felt herself leaning more heavily against him.  

I am about to start humping his leg.

Geno’s stomach growled, getting everyone’s attention.  James knew a nearby place and called to see if they could take a group of nine, considering five of them were relatively famous and one was Crosby.  And two of the three girls would be wearing last night’s clothes.  The answer, as it always was for the Penguins, was yes.

“I wish I looked nicer,” Jordan whispered down.  “No one will believe I’m supposed to be with you.”

Cary figured there was nothing to see here, after what everyone had heard.  So she lifted onto her toes and kissed Jordan squarely on the lips.

“I have seen Sidney Crosby naked.  And you are still the hottest guy I have ever seen in my entire life.”
_

Four

“Time to find your friends?” Jordan asked.  If Cary wasn’t mistaken, he looked a little bit reluctant, as if he didn’t want to find them.  She lifted up on to her toes and kissed him again, his nose already cold from the winter air.

“I’d bet money they’re with your friends,” she said.

Because that’s where I would be.

She fished her phone out of her purse and dialed Sarah’s number.  

“Hhhrrrrooo?”

“Sarah?” 

A small groan came down the line, then a sleepy voice.  “Cary?  Where are you?  Where am… oh!  Oh.  Uh….”

“Sarah?”

“Oh my God, Cary.  Ohmygod,” her friend whispered back.  Some rustling of blankets, the creaking of bed springs and Cary heard a door being closed.  Jordan watched her reaction, looking for a sign.  “Cary.  What the hell happened last night?”

“Where are you?” Cary asked, shrugging at Jordan who was looking more alarmed by the second.

“A house.  Now I’m in the bathroom.  And uh… ohmygod.  Cary.”

“WHAT?!”  

Sarah’s voice dropped to almost nothing.  “I just woke up next to Kris Letang.”

Woohooo, jackpot!

Cary started laughing, both amused and relieved.  Sarah could have woken up next to a horse’s head for all the drama in her voice.  Jordan waved his hands in a hey, tell me! gesture but before Cary could, Sarah was talking again.

“And James Neal.”

Cary gasped and dropped the phone.  It landed in the snow at her feet, speaker up, with Sara was still whispering.  Cary’s mouth hung open, so Jordan reacted first and snatched it up.

“Hi.  Are you okay?”

“Jordan?” Sarah said at regular volume, regaining some of her senses.

“Uh, yeah.  Did we meet?”

Sarah snapped right out of it, talking like they were old friends.  “I should have known she’d be with you.  Where the fuck am I, Jordan?  Your boys are here – Letang and Neal.  Just woke up and one of them,” the door clicked open, “is shirtless at least.  Nealer’s dressed, on top of the covers and in the middle.”

Jordan made a face at Cary like he was hearing the most scandalous news ever.  She tried to claw the phone away, but he held her off easily with one hand.  “What are you wearing?” he asked.

Cary shrieked.  Sarah laughed.  “Underwear and a t-shirt.  Uh, not my t-shirt.  It’s a Dallas Stars shirt… this must be Neal’s house.”

Jordan didn’t bother to ask Cary.  He just took her hand and said, “We’ll be right over.”
____

“Do I even want to know where we’re going?”

Jordan loved the way Cary had to stutter-step along to keep up with him.  It made her hold his hand tighter, and she kept bumping into his side and he hustled down the block to hail a cab on the corner.

“Consol, please.”

Again he put his arm around Cary and made sure she had to lean against him.  Even through their layers, it warmed quickly between them.  He’d driven his SUV to the game yesterday, and contemplated giving his backseat a workout before continuing on their search.  

Damn being so tall, I can barely fit in there.

“This feels weird,” she whispered as they used the parking structure steps to go down from street level to where they players parked.  Jordan’s black truck was one of maybe eight cars on that level – Letang, Neal, Kennedy, Geno, Crosby… he wondered if anyone had made it home last night.  He opened the door on her side and as Cary climbed in, he caught her around the waist.

It had been all of forty minutes since he really kissed her, when she’d teased him with the cherry in the diner.  Already he’d forgotten how good it was.  Her cool skin made his feel feverish as he nipped her bottom lip and slid his tongue into her mouth.

I’m flexible. I can fit.

Jordan reached behind himself and opened the door to the backseat.  Cary, now standing on the running board so she was taller than him, laughed against his kiss.

“We’ll never make it to Neal’s,” she said.

“He’s a nice guy.  He’ll feed her.  And Tanger’s harmless.”  But Jordan let her buckle into the front seat and got behind the wheel.

Soon enough.

They talked and joked for the twenty minute ride, and were around the block from their destination when Jordan realized he hadn’t asked the most important question.  “Where are you from?”

“We live in Baltimore.”

“Did you drive here?”

“Yup, five and a half hours.”  Cary was looking out the window, examining the houses in Neal’s neighborhood.  They were nice, not flashy.

“Is your car at the hotel?”

“Mmhmm.”  

Coming to the game tomorrow? When do you leave?  Want to stay at my house?

But Jordan bit his tongue on those questions.  There seemed to be the chance that something crazy had happened among their friends and he’d learned not to take for granted when a girl seemed normal.  Cary’s friend might have been laughing on the phone, but she could be a bunny-boiling harpy for all he knew, and she may have just had a threesome with his teammates.  All that and there was still one more girl to find.

I don’t ask for much.  Please, no psychos today.

He pulled into an upscale condo development, parked in an empty driveway and led Cary up a flight of stairs.  Before he could reach the bell, a small girl with a dark shag haircut pulled the door open.

“Cary!” she said as if Jordan wasn’t there.  And she wasn’t wearing just a large t-shirt that barely covered her underwear.  She dragged Cary into the house, hugging her in the foyer.  Then she looked up, seeming to remember Jordan was there.

“Hi Jordan.  Jesus, you’re gorgeous.  Phew!”  Sarah ran a hand through her hair, disheveling it even further.  She had sparkly eyes and a heart-shaped face; even her ears were a little bit pointy.

“You kinda look like Kris,” he said with surprise.  “Where is everybody?”

Sarah ignored him; instead she padded barefoot into the living room and tucked herself into a corner of the wide, low couch like she owned the place.  She even took a throw blanket off the back and covered her legs.  Jordan pulled Cary toward a comfy arm chair and down into his lap.  She landed with a little bounce that sent exclamation points up his spine.

Right on target.

“I remember you two doing shots – Jeopardy was on, you said you knew more answers.  Any wrong answer had to drink,” Sarah rolled her eyes.  “You’re both idiots, of course, so that didn’t last long.”

Cary hung her head a little bit.  “I remember that now.”

“Then I woke up here.  With two guys.  I cannot honestly say where my pants are and I don’t think anyone here knows my name.”

“Are the guys still in bed together?” Jordan asked.

It’s just too easy.

Sarah nodded slowly, as if she was still getting her brain up to speed.  Cary watched an evil smile spread across Jordan’s face.  Too late she realized what he was going to do, but by then Jordan was halfway up the stairs.

“Shit!” Sarah gasped and leaped over the back of the couch in pursuit.

Jordan burst into the room, startling both guys awake.  Kris was closest to the door, shirtless with the blankets around his waist.  His long hair was a perfect disaster.  Next to him, James lifted his head confusedly, face equally obscured by hair.  He wiped a handful of it away.

“Huh?”

Sarah skidded to a stop, missing the doorway in her haste.  Cary was behind her and crashed right into Jordan.

“What is going on in here?” Jordan said dramatically like he was uncovering a front page story.

I can’t wait to hear this one.

Kris and James looked at each other like they’d never met.  Kris lifted one huge bare arm and threw it across his eyes, tattooed bicep on display.  Cary sucked in a breath so loud that Jordan elbowed her in the side.  James sat up, rubbing his face.

“Where’s Sarah?”

She came out before behind Jordan’s huge silhouette.  Obviously someone did know her name.  Perhaps he was the reason she couldn’t find her pants.  “I, uh…,” she looked at her feet, kicking the carpet.  Even in the dim room, her blush was obvious.  Kris lifted the arm from his face to see her.  Cary thought he smiled.

Jordan was not done interrogating.  “What happened here last night?”

James patted the bed next to him for Sarah to sit down.  She moved up toward the pillows, sitting cross-legged so he was not next to her.  She was so obviously nervous that he laughed.

“All I remember is waking up on the couch.  I came up here, these two were asleep so I climbed in.  On top of the blanket, you French perv,” he said, smacking Kris.  Then he turned to Sarah.  “Sorry if I scared you.”

Letang snickered loudly.  Then he glanced at Sarah, who was staring at him with wide eyes like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing about herself.  Cary raised her eyebrows at Jordan but he did not seem fazed.

“You get your lap dance?” James asked Jordan.

“What?!” he and Cary said in unison.

James rocked back onto the bed.  “Wow, you don’t remember anything do you?”

Please don’t say I gave him a lap dance in front of everybody, Cary thought.

Please say she gave me a lap dance in front of everybody, Jordan thought.

“You… what’s your name?” James asked.  When Cary told him, he reached out and shook her hand like a gentleman.  “Cary, you wandered away at one point and Sid brought you back, he said you were trying to play Justin Bieber on the jukebox.”

Cary groaned.  “Sounds about right.”

“So Jordan challenged Justin Bieber to an arm wrestling contest, and we made Geno stand in.  TK bet on Jordan, won and bought him a lap dance from you as a prize.”

“That explains the $100 in your bra,” Jordan said.  Cary covered her face.

James looked around, like there might be a body on the floor.  “Where is Geno?”
____

Cary was vaguely aware of Jordan pulling a cell phone out of his back pocket.  She wanted to be in his back pocket.  At least her hand did.  The rest of her wanted to be poured over him like a wetsuit.  But she was watching the scene on the bed.  

Kris slid across the mattress with so little effort he seemed not to be moving at all.  It was like the Discovery Channel, seeing a big cat stalk a baby zebra, except that Sarah was looking right at him.  In the blink of an eye, without so much as a rumple of sheets, Kris pounced.  He was next to Sarah and then kissing her so fully that Cary felt it across the room.  Her mouth dropped open wide and  Jordan had to elbow her again.

James looked between them, saw the exchange then whipped around.  “HEY!  This is my bed!”

Kris pulled away from Sarah, tugging her lower lip gently between his teeth before he snickered softly.  Sarah sat perfectly still with her eyes wide open as if she’d just seen a miracle.

James lept up and wiped his clothes like he might catch something.  “Gross!”

“Aw, come on, James,” Kris said, his big hand still cupping Sarah’s quivering chin.  With his French accent the name sounded like “Zzzzzhhhames.”  Cary felt another little earthquake below her belt.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jordan said from the corner of his mouth, clamping a paw on her ass.  She almost fell.  Then the phone at his ear picked up.  “Where are you, brother?”
____

“Grumblegrumblerawwwwwgggg.”

“Huh?” Jordan asked.

Geno shifted around, trying to determine where he was.  And why.  It was all very white and shiny.  He put a hand out to the smooth surface and his fingers squeaked slowly down.  Using them for purchase, he pushed himself up to sitting.  His head cleared the white wall and he saw  glass, a counter, a mirror.  A toilet was off to one side.

“Bathroom.”

“Huh?” Jordan repeated.

“I am in bathroom.”

Geno steadied himself on the edge of a generously sized Jacuzzi bathtub and rose to his feet.  As his clothes moved against his skin, he felt cold and wet fabric.

“Bathtub,” he clarified.

“Bathtub?”  Jordan got the attention of everyone in James’ room with that random exclamation.  They all looked up at his confused face as the line went dead.  “Geno is in a bathtub somewhere.”

Kris started giggling and collapsed onto the bed.  It was clearly just a ploy to take Sarah down with him.  Obviously she would have jumped out of a plane.  James growled at them and yanked off the comforter, leaving them covered with only a sheet.  It was wrapped pretty tightly around Kris’s lower body, making  Cary gasp.  He was definitely not wearing any underwear.

“Jesus!” James threw the blanket back on the bed.  Kris caught an edge in midair and pulled it right up over their heads.

At that second, someone screamed.

Jordan was first out the door.  James, clearly worried about what else was happening in his house, nearly tossed Cary aside to follow.  She focused her eyes on Jordan’s ass and told herself not to remember what it felt like to get manhandles by James Neal.

File it.

They burst into another bedroom a few doors down, slamming into each other like dominoes.  Cary jungle-gymed her way through abs and arms, only to let fly a scream of her own.
____

The first thing she saw was bare ass.  A huge, pale, bare ass.  It was attached to a body that lay curled into a fetal-type position atop a crudely arranged pile of extra linens and towels, in front of an empty closet with the door open.  The owner of that ass snorted in his sleep, barely disturbed by the noise, and rolled onto his side.  Sidney Crosby.

“Jesus take the wheel,” Cary actually said out loud.

Jordan covered her mouth.  On the bed, her other friend Liz was sitting against the headboard, blanket pulled up to her chin.  Her knees pressed to her chest and her arms crossed around them in a fearful, defensive position.  Her eyes were wide with shock.  Next to her, having just strolled in and climbed onto the bed, was a long and large Evgeni Malkin.

“Carywhatthefuckisgoingon?” Liz asked in a clipped voice.

“You must be… ,” Jordan started.

“Liz!” Sarah yelled, coming into the room, still sans pants.  Kris had pulled on some jeans, but he was still shirtless.  Cary was sure a cavern would open and swallow her into the Earth’s core.  Liz’s eyes went from one face to another, the guys almost as familiar as her friends.  She seemed to register each like a bullet impact, emptying an entire clip into her chest.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, pointing toward the mass of guy on the floor at the foot of the bed.  “Is that…?”

“CREATURE! WAKE UP!” Jordan bellowed as he kicked the nest of blankets beneath his sleeping captain.

Crosby leapt to his feet, wide awake in panic.  He was no sooner standing than he saw his audience.  A moment of stunned silence passed then his hand touched his bare leg.  With a strangled cry made only during dreams of going to school naked, Sidney realized he was starkers and quickly snatched up the top of his pile.  It came up quickly – just a pillowcase – but it was enough to cover the sum of the equation.

Barely, Cary noted.

He opened his mouth to say something, drawing a breath that made his chest expand.  Both Cary and even Sarah, under Kris’ arm, staggered like they were suddenly dizzy.  Sid lost his words, tried to cover more of his naked body, and ended up weakly waving the pillowcase in front of himself.

Like a flag to a bull.

Liz, on the other hand, had her hands over her face.  And when the shock of Crosby’s awakening wore off a second later, everyone turned to her.

Without looking, she asked, “Why are you naked?”

Sid looked to Jordan for help, but Jordan just shrugged.  The James and Kris did the same.  Geno snored.  He gave up and said, “What happened last night?”

James blew a raspberry in futility, shuffled toward the bed and fell into the space between Liz and Geno.  Liz yelped.  James clawed up to the pillow she was sitting on, put his head right next to her ass, and closed his eyes.  “No clean place to sleep in my own house!”

With attention diverted, Sid collected a larger sheet and wrapped it carefully around his waist as many times as it would go.  Like twice.

Oh God, toga party.
____

Jordan needed to get his teammates dressed, and quickly.  He was to be the only one making Cary gasp or squeal or shake today.

“Liz, are you okay?” Sarah asked, moving around toward her.  Liz tried to backpedal, but the only place to go was James’ face.  She forced out a breath like a scoff, readying herself for something.  Then she smiled.

“Hi, I’m Liz,” she said to the man in the bed sheet.

Sid even smiled back. “Are you naked too?”

She nodded slowly.

“Then I think I already knew that.”

Captain Tightpants, putting on the moves.

Jordan almost laughed.  The scene was something out of a ridiculous comedy but this was just the big opening scene.  He didn’t want the story to end here.  Kris sat down on the low dresser, looking like an ad for cologne and sex, and pulled Sarah between his knees.  She’d have gone through the blades of a fan without protest.  Jordan took the cue to drape an arm around Cary and hug her in close.  Then he kissed her forehead, just as Sid ran a hand through his thick, dark hair.

One less flex for her to see.

“Seriously, what happened last night?  And where are my pants?” Sid asked.

Geno, without cracking an eyelid, said, “Bathroom.”

“What?”

“Pants in bathroom.  Underwear too.  I see when I wake up.”

“You slept in the bathroom?” Liz laughed, immediately feeling a little better about herself.

“Bathtub,” he corrected.  But he didn’t miss the insinuation.  Raising a dead arm and waving it in Liz’s direction, he said, “Girl underwear there too.”

Liz blushed so purple she could have fainted.  James, clearly not sleeping either, barked a laugh that shook the whole bed.  Geno followed with what sounded like a dinosaur rumbling, and soon they were all cracking up.

“How did we get here?” Sid asked.

“Cab,” James said.  “Two cabs.  And you,” he turned his head slightly toward Liz, “you thought it was Cash Cab from TV.  You kept yelling out answers.  Then you decided you were wrong, told the driver he had to let you out right there and tried to climb out the window.”

“Oh my God,” she curled even tighter into herself.

James just snickered.  “Then no one knew where we were going, so I told him my street.  I remember we drove slowly so I could look for the tree out front.  The other car must have been following us. And you two,” he waved at Jordan and Cary, “you two I don’t know.  You were humping on the stairs and then you disappeared.”

Geno, apparently asleep again, rolled inward and draped an arm over James like they were cuddling.  He even nuzzled the new guy’s neck.

“Kill me now,” James said.

_