Chapter 386: Danny XXXVIII—Ain’t Got the Balls
Michele’s entrance into the lounge took Dan completely by surprise and funnily, took his breath away. Maybe because he had seen the woman so warlike and sweating with hard work earlier, and then suddenly was cast into a locker room of naked men that he yearned for a woman he could identify with. And here she came, clean and pink cheeked, smiling with glossy lips, her hair shiny and flipped into a twist, her clothes hanging off her body a little, covering a frail, delicate body. “Hello Men!” She said brightly with a breathy sigh.
Once Dan saw Michele’s twinkling blue eyes, he felt something inside him snap, but he couldn’t tell what, only that if felt good. The inside of his wrist tingled where she had tickled him hours ago, and the sensation was almost enough to arouse him. He coughed and closed his eyes to calm himself and when he opened them he saw Joe hugging her tightly. Joe’s back was to him so Danny could see Michele’s face, her eyes closed and she sighed, and breathed in as if she were in the presence of the sweetest perfumed bliss she’d ever experienced. She patted his back, and Dan felt weak at that moment remembering how Joe had so deftly taken Cecile under his spell.
“What are you up to?” Joe asked Michele and he let her go.
Michele blinked and put her hands on her slim hips. Dan looked at the glint of her wedding band on her hand, and he wondered how slippery and soft the material of her pants was, how expensive they were. He wondered if he had them in his hand would they rippled and disappear, so light and… “Oo I’m looking for my husband and my son. We’re all hungry Joe, so you men better be ready to treat us out. So where are they? I don’t see them.” Michele smiled briefly and then squinted, as if looking for the important men in her life. Dan perked and smiled when he eyes went past them, but all they did was brush over him and ignore him, leaving a hollow ache in his gut.
“Yeah,” Joe replied, “Yeah, well Jonathan went a little squirrely there on us.”
Michele put her hands on her hips. Again it drew Dan’s attention to the wedding band, the forbidden sign, the poster for the things he couldn’t have and shouldn’t want but that someone else didn’t appreciate. “He what?”
Joe nodded grimly. “Yeah he kinda freaked out there. Maybe the game or something but first he wouldn’t take off his gear, even though he’d stopped laughing. He refused to move, and when Patty and Footer tried getting his gear off he started fighting them…”
Michele’s eyes widened when Foote cut in, “The boy actually hissed at us like a cat I swear he’s possessed!” Dan nodded, this was true, scary enough, but true.
Joe looked briefly at Adam and then grimaced. “Something like that, anyway, Patty and Alex took him into the showers when they finally stripped him down so hopefully he’s calmed down or he’s close to it by now.”
“Oh Mon Dieu!” Michele groaned and she pushed past the men and to the locker room door swinging it open and storming inside.
“Hey, hey!” Blake exclaimed. “There’s naked men in there!” But the door swung shut with no answer from Michele.
“Eh it’s nothing she ain’t used to,” Keaner said with a leer and Dan scowled and looked at him. Keane raised his ginger eyebrows and shrugged. “What? She’s a married woman with kids, Danny Boy; she’s used to it all. Remember Dan, just cause your honey pie ain’t used to handling cocks and ass; don’t mean every other woman is just as pure, aye?” Some of the guys laughed, but on the whole they seemed to have ignored the statement or not cared.
“You’re such a freak,” Dan said and he shook his head. Everyone else went into their own conversations and Dan looked at the door, he knew Patty, Alex, Jonathan and Freddy were in there, a family. He knew that even though Alex wasn’t their blood, his attachment with the children and his French heritage labeled him as one of their own. He felt lonely and left out, wondering if Michele were hugging the boys and getting after the men. They would all be talking in French of course.
He swallowed, he didn’t feel miserable or even depressed, he just felt a little unsettled. Agitated would be a better word perhaps, as if he were impatient for something to happen or disappointed that something didn’t. He wanted to be moving, doing something, he wanted to be entertained. He looked back at the door leading to the hallway and the inevitable crowd of reporters and wrinkled his nose.
“What’s bugging ya?” Keane asked in his gruff old voice.
Dan shrugged. “Oh, you know, I’m just tired and hungry.”
Keane patted him on the shoulder. “Come on, don’t freeze out your roomie, we’re blood you know?”
Dan grinned. “Sure we are.”
Keane nodded.
Laughing, Dan looked into Keane’s blue eyes, his eager, honest frown. “No way in hell we coulda ever shared the same womb in real life, I doubt it’s possible in the spiritual sense, roomie.”
Keane waggled his eyebrows up and down. “Oh we’re spiritual baby, you may not be as pretty as me but we did share a near death experience together. We belong together.” Pretty, sparkling white, false teeth in a smile, and a wink, and Dan couldn’t resist the old troll. He wanted to hug him or something but he didn’t.
“Oh nothing’s bugging me Keanes,” he replied. “Naw, just, I just found it funny.”
“What funny?”
Dan shrugged. “Oh hell, I thought maybe Cecile would be dropping in, you know the other wives. When Michele came in I thought maybe Cecile would be right behind her or something. I wanted to congratulate her on her hat trick man, I wanted to show her some love and shit, you know? I felt kinda let down.”
“Naw she wouldn’t come here!” Keane grinned.
“Why not?” Dan asked and he shoved his hands into his pockets.
Keane sniffed and squinted. “The kitten wouldn’t have the balls.”
“Hey!” Danny exclaimed and he pulled his hand out and made a fist, albeit a playful one, “Cecile’s not a coward.”
“I didn’t say she was,” Keane sniffed, “but she’s clean, she don’t wanna chance coming down here and accidentally seeing some form of male genitalia, shit she’d freak, those pretty green eyes of hers would fry out of her head.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, she knows a lounge is safe, Michele came down here didn’t she?”
Another leer from Keane, “Ah but none of the other wives dropped by did they?”
Dan twisted his mouth. “Yeah I guess that’s true.”
“Yup, it’s all about the balls, Danny, and Mimi has ‘em in plenty.”
The cruelest thing Dan could do would be to hold Cecile’s innocence and youth against her substance, and really he didn’t. He rather cherished Cecile’s untainted nature, knowing that it was all for him when this waiting game was done. But in pointing out Michele’s brash nature, Keane had also pointed out to Danny, the extreme difference between her and the girl he loved. Right now, Cecile was still a girl, Michele was a woman of wisdom and family and strength. And Danny found that extremely attractive and appealing, comforting.
When he saw Cecile again, he would feel different, he knew and he would want her in his arms exclusively to himself, but he would have to wait until he saw her again. So there it was again, the waiting game, the waiting game…
The after
game dinner was reserved at a steak house, and Danny looked everywhere for
Cecile and ended up being one of the last ones to leave the arena because no
one had thought to tell him she had left with the Sakic’s. As he disarmed his
car alarm, he looked across the empty parking lot and saw the
Dan felt his cheeks burning as he got into his car and slammed the door. “Once I see Cecile, it’ll be fine,” he muttered.