Puck Off!

Chapter 24

Once she got over the initial shock of seeing her art on the wall, and people waiting to see her, Iryna was a natural in front of the fans. Her smile was infectious, and the little crowd was instantly charmed by her description of how and where she shoots and her technique. When she'd told me before that she wanted to be a photographer after she was done playing hockey, I could see the passion in her eyes. Now, seeing her in her element, she was just as amazing as she was on the ice.

I was so proud of her, and I couldn't wait to tell her that very thing. But it could wait. Right now, she was charming the pants off the people that could potentially be her future clients. Did I spend some time during the week making some little cards with her information on it so they could contact her? I might have, yes. Did I give them to her to pass out? Of course. Did I get a kiss when we were done? You know I did, quite a few in fact.

I think she was in a little bit of a haze afterwards, but she did speak to the manager about bringing more of her artwork in to hang up. When that was done, she just stood there, looking around her with a beatific smile on her face.

"That really happened," she whispered in a giggle. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"I've been keeping an eye on all of the art studios, looking to see which one might be including new local artists. They did that here, and I called them up and brought the two photos over when you were in class. Then I snuck them back home after they'd seen and loved them. Tonight, Elske brought them here while we ate so it would be ready when we got here," I explained.

She stepped closer, pulling me into her and kissing me softly. "This might be the most incredible thing anyone has done for me. Well, since my mom gave birth to me anyway! How can I ever repay you for this?"

I hugged her with my good hand, giving her another kiss in return. "You don't have to repay anything, that isn't how this works. I did it because you're an amazing photographer and I wanted to show everyone just how talented you are."

"You did kind of fuck up though," she pointed out. "This was the first Valentine's Day we've ever been together, and you did all this? You gave yourself a pretty damned high bar to meet from here on out!" She giggled lightly to show she was joking, and then we made our way out of the hotel and back to the subway.

The train home wasn't as busy at this late hour as it was on the way to dinner, so we were able to sit next to each other, arms around each other as we talked about which pieces of art she wanted to show next. We'd have to get some printed, matted and framed, but we could do that relatively quickly once the decision was made. The bigger problem was that she had so many good pieces that it was hard to pick only three!

We were smiling and in a great mood when we got back to the apartment, which turned out to be very noisy. Moans and screams were coming from the downstairs bedroom, and I was pretty sure that meant that the skype date was going very well between Elske and Ella. I turned to Ryn who had her hand over her mouth while trying to stifle a laugh.

"Let's get upstairs quick, I really don't want to hear my sister doing that!" I begged.

She couldn't hold her laughter in at that point but pulled me up the stairs to my bedroom where we quickly closed the door. That mercifully cut the sounds down most of the way and I just collapsed on the bed. But I shot right up when I saw the brilliant red on the far wall. What the hell? I got back up and walked over to the new photo that was on the wall while Ryn watched me nervously.

One of the photos that we'd both rapidly agreed for the showing was the close up of the ship that I'd been confused about when I saw Iryna taking the picture. But when I saw it on the phone, it made more sense. Seeing it now in its larger size though, was amazing. From across the room, it looks like some sort of brilliant red sunrise, but as you got closer you could see the wood grain and notice that the red was old paint. She had titled it simply 'Hull' and it was an amazing piece.

"Where did this come from?" I asked breathlessly.

"Elske might have done me a favor too, I guess she was a busy beaver today," she replied shyly.

I guess we both went for surprises today, and hers worked as well as mine. "I love it, this is stunning!" I told her. "You are definitely showing this at the gallery!"

"We'd already agreed on that!" she pointed out. That was a good point. We'd decided on this one, the World's End photo in winter, and the snow angel picture. Yes, I might have melted a little that she'd insisted on showing that one since I'd helped make one of the angels. It was a great picture, so that wasn't the only reason, but I had a sneaking suspicion she did it just for me.

"I can't wait to see all the others this size!" I exclaimed. "Can we do that?"

She nodded slowly. "We can do the one for the gallery, yes, but most I never do because it costs too much, and I have no place to store them."

"You do now! This place still needs more art, and I love your photos, so we can print a bunch of them up!" I assured her. "I just want to see them!"

"Okay, okay! We can print up a bunch of smaller ones to see, and then a few bigger ones to mount on the wall. Then maybe we can set up some sort of display some time to see the smaller prints," she laughingly agreed.

Wait a minute! I had a better idea. "There is another option you know. We could print them, frame them, and then hang them in the restaurants downstairs while offering them for sale. Kind of like your own mini gallery. There is so much traffic through there that I bet you would sell some if you would like to try."

"You'd really do that?" Her eyes were as big as saucers when I mentioned the idea, and I knew she was in.

"Absolutely. The art there now is just cheap mass produced prints. Yours would look much better, and we could do each restaurant in a different theme to match the décor. They can handle all the transactions down there, and you get to make a little money doing what you love," I explained.

She took two steps and swept me off my feet, twirling me into a kiss before setting me down. "You're truly unbelievable! I can't believe how lucky I am to have had your sister set me up with you." Her smile was enchanting, and I knew that I was right earlier when I told her I'd want to be with her as long as she'd put up with me. At this point, I just hoped that meant forever if I could keep seeing that smile. Ryn was right, Ella really did set us up perfectly.

Speaking of my sister, we heard another muffled scream from downstairs, and then silence. Maybe they were finally done? We both broke into giggles at the finale though. "I guess they enjoyed their night, though it might not have been the same."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "You're not a fan of masturbation?"

I blushed furiously at her, hanging my head. I didn't want to answer that! But then I remembered that these were exactly the kinds of things I should be talking to her about. Even if the topic made me uncomfortable, we needed to be honest. "Until earlier, that was my entire sex life for the last ten years," I admitted. "This broken arm could have been a big blow to my enjoyment had you not been here."

"Oh? You like it lefty huh?" she teased, while leaning down to peck me on the lips.

"I have to switch it up, otherwise it gets a little monotonous," I told her, trying to keep the blushing down.

"Interesting." She hummed in thought for a moment. "Why don't you show me?"

"Show you? What?" I had a feeling I knew what she was asking, but I was a little stunned at the request.

"Let me watch you play with yourself. Better yet, we can watch each other. We'll sit here and give each other some inspiration. If we're waiting for your cast to come off, we can still have some fun, right?" she explained. "Because once that cast is off, you'll never have to do it again."

"You seriously want to do that?" I didn't know if I was more excited to see her naked and pleasuring herself or embarrassed that she'd be watching me.

She nodded quickly. "Absolutely! It's natural, everyone does it. Hell, I've been doing it here in the shower thinking about you since I moved in. So now you'll be able to do it with me!"

Damnit, how could I say no to that? "Okay. Let's do this!"