Passing Through

Part Twenty Six

A/N Hope you all had a great Christmas if it's your thing. I'm hoping to get another chapter out before then, but just in case can I wish you all a Happy New Year, thanks for all your support, reads and comments. MZxxx

 Chapter Twenty Six

"I'm not wearing a suit for a dinner party with friends."

Bo leaned against the door frame wearing a pale grey shirt and black linen trousers, it was casual, but they were going to a friend's house, it was hardly a swanky restaurant. And it wasn't jeans.

Natasha had been in the hallway, applying lip gloss when he knocked the door, and her lingering gaze seemed to have given him the wrong idea. She was memorising every inch, enjoying him, he thought she was viewing him with scrutiny and distaste.

Turning to face him, she flicked the knee length skirt of her strappy dress, then smiled up at him, "I didn't say a word, in fact I was wondering if we had time to close the door and get carried away for a moment." She reached out and ran a hand down the front of his chest, "this shirt clings to all the right places."

That made him roll his eyes, then when he realised she was serious, and kicking shut the door, he came at her like a steam roller. Laughing she brushed him off, "we'll be late. Plus you have a taxi waiting downstairs, it'll be the most expensive shag of your life."

He huffed, "you haven't met NHL calibre girlfriends."

That made him smile, "you saying I'm too low maintenance."

"Nah, just that you're not high maintenance."

Taking his hand in hers, she dragged him back to the door, "come on, you're gaffer awaits."

"You mean my coach?"

Laughing she locked the door behind them. "when in Rome and all that."

Leading her to the taxi he leaned close and whispered, "I don't need to go to Rome to give you a few orgasms!"

Then it was her turn to blush.

The other couples were present when they arrived, but Freya reassured them that they weren't late. Bo had met Freya ad Lizzie several times, and obviously knew the three men, but he hadn't more than smiled in the direction of Michelle, Blake's wife.

Blake was a true captain, he judged situations and people amazingly, he always knew what to do, what to say, and he immediately saw that his wife was the exact match for him. She was heavily pregnant with what Blake proudly told them was their third child. Virile he'd called himself, until both Oscar and Coop reminded him that they too had three children each.

But Michelle, yep she was as far from the trophy wife that he associated with his friends back in the States, she wasn't a model, wasn't all lithe, buxom and blonde. No, like the other women present, she was natural, beautiful and really funny.

As they all chatted in the kitchen stood in a group, he couldn't help but think back to the last time he'd been out like this, couples. He and Daniele had dated for eighteen months, they did most things together, but he'd never stayed at her house for a whole night, and he'd never let her stay at his. He held her at arm's length, always. Maybe that was why she abandoned him?

He hated that he was back there, so vividly. But those weeks and months were only ever a heartbeat away. He'd just had the second operation on his knee, he was in agony, hating the fact that he'd lost everything, and he was hanging on to the possibility of getting back to play.