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Hehhey, welcome to the latest chapter of "I'm Still With the Hockey Hunk!" We have an exciting installment at hand, so I do hope that you will enjoy it fully, and maybe even feel the urge to drop me a line or two, once you're done! At this point, it is the comments that truly tell me how a chapter or a story has fared, so I would be very glad for any feedback, from everyone!

Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well.

Have a fun time reading, y'all!

*

The morning breeze barely made my nosepad wrinkle when I made my intrepid way along the sidewalk. My cheerful tail was flicking about, making constant number eights and number nines, and I had an odd craving for a cane I could swirl around in my paw while I made my silly walk along the curb as one happy cat Rory. I was even smiling at passersby, something you're not usually encouraged to do, but this morning, Rory Gliese was on the top of the world.

My cheeks still glowed a little from the memory of the coffee-flavored parting kiss I shared with Victor at the doorway into my apartment. There had been promise in that kiss, of more kisses, and a new date, at some point in the future when there would not be any COBB PROBLEMS to deal with, and perhaps even a good time, should we be in the mood for that kind of business. I knew that I was in the mood for that kind of business, and then some, Victor was fun to hang out with, besides the sex part that was awesome, and had left me a purring Rory, impervious to the hardships of the weather or the impending workday.

I rounded the corner of Lord Manor Street and Lewis Boulevard and continued along the familiar street, already seeing our shop front looming only a few paces away. On the opposite site, the neon sign of Minnie's Diner still offered a nighttime discount coffee refill, even if it was already quite bright, and morningly, and generally quite nice, especially for me. I purred and rumbled a little, mentally preparing myself for entering the musty book world of the Albrecht Brothers, while I felt that I was shipshape and ready to go into action, especially now that I had had a Victor date!

I might've been a bit of a monomaniac today, but it's not like it's a strange business of being all pumped up from a nice, and admittedly, highly sexual evening and night with a nice Dobie, whose hindquarters were known to cause long term effects when it came to my cognitive faculties. I knew that it wasn't exactly proper to have a swarm of sex memories floating around my easily influenced mind while working, so I tried to see them off, physically, too, with a couple of ear flicks, and a nice scratch over my mine while I dug out my keys and then stepped into the shop.

"Hey, muffin!"

Crystal greeted me across the hall, her equine head hovering above the children's section, off to the side, while she was giving it a last checkup before we'd open the shop. She was already wearing her red duty shirt, name tag and all.

"Hi, Crystal, good morning," I beamed as I made my way over to the inner reaches of the shop, engulfed in new book scent from all sides as I passed the Romance and Fantastic Fantasy sections, and the ever-present cardboard wolf advertising the Caledon Rocks books, still as valiant as always.

Crystal flicked her ears.

"Morning, Rory, you look cheerful today!"

I chuckled a little and puffed out my chest, out of instinct, I guess, at my feeling of being the king of the universe, if only for today, and thanks to Victor.

"I'm feeling nice," I smirked, giving her some cheerful eyes. "How're you, Crystal?"

Crystal nickered.

"Shit, Rory, I didn't sleep too well," she shook her head, craning her long neck off to the side. "All the sirens."

My ears flicked curiously.

"Sirens?"

"Yeah," she placed her hands over the top of the bookshelf and leaned forward for better conversation posture, "there was a burglary on the street next to us, around three am, two police cruisers rushed past us with sirens blazing. Everyone in the dorm woke up!"

I frowned a little.

"A burglary?"

"Yeah, apparently someone broke to the convenience store near us, and tired to steal any cash there and liquor's missing too, I read that on Facebook, I know someone who works there, and she was all over it" Crystal's eyes were wide as she detailed information about the mysterious crime.

I snuffled.

"Better hope it's not a crime wave," I mused.

Crystal snorted.

"Better not, it's not just that you have to start worrying about walking out in the dark but whenever something like that happens all the police cars come down our street and bye bye sleep!" she chuffed and flapped her tail.

I chuckled.

"Practical of you," I smirked.

Crystal showed her tongue at me.

"Yeah, right, you live in a condo, you don't have to worry about someone sneaking in through the window."

"Not really, no," I smiled, my tail till flicking and looping cheerfully behind me while I listened to Crystal venting.

The mare shook her head.

"Just have to hope it doesn't get too mad at the campus."

"These kind of things tend to be taken a bit seriously at first but then it cools down pretty quickly," I offered my opinion. "At least nobody got hurt."

"That's true," she nodded. "Awful to think if someone had been mugged at it!"

"True," I agreed. "But everything's safe now, and that's what matters, eh?"

Crystal smiled.

"Of course. Life goes on...work...exams..." she groaned.

"The joys of student life," I said, dryly.

Crystal nickered.

"Too true."

I gave her another smile and turned about on my paws, planning to go down to the old books section and then to the back room to get changed to my work clothes, but a harrumph and a chuckle from Crystal stopped me after only one step.

"And oh, Rory, be careful back there," she said cheerfully.

I gave her a look.

"Eh?"

"Marge's in a bit of a mood," Crystal snuffled, still smiling.

I chuckled.

"I'll be careful, I promise," I winked, and made my Rory way over to the door that said "EMERGENCY EXIT" and "STAFF ONLY", and then down the clattering metal stairs down into the back room.

"...I'm saying, it's probably a leftover! Guh!" my ears perked as I caught the ass end of a sentence coming off a certain cougar's muzzle, sitting on the couch of the coffee corner, with a mug-bearing frat wolf Mason in attendance as well.

The wolf turned his head about as he heard me enter, and gave me a greeting nod, and ear flicks, and I smiled back to him as I walked, leisurely, across the storage shelves and then made my presence known by simply being there, and looking gorgeous. Marge gave me a leering look and waved a white-stained fork at me.

"Rory, hello there," she smirked, her tail flicking about her legs while she gave me some interesting eyes.

My own tail tucked itself between my legs.

"Good morning, Marge, how are you?" I asked, matter-of-fact.

Marge snuffled.

"Like crap," she fired out of her muzzle.

I made a curious face.

"Oh?"

Marge waved a suspicious plastic box in the air in front of her, indicating its white, murky contents to me by waving the forked paw over the box.

"Like I was telling Mason here, I think that this potato salad that Goggy gave to me for lunch must be something he made yesterday and had it as a leftover at the back of fridge at the Lefties," the cougar detailed.

I snuffled.

"Why are you having your lunch at seven fifty in the morning?" I asked her.

Marge shrugged as she dug her fork into the white mess in her box and scooped some into her muzzle and began to chew.

"I'm hungry, I didn't have any breakfast yet," she replied, lips moving rapidly as she chewed her creamy treat, ears flicking.

I flicked my own ear at her.

"Well you really should eat some breakfast, and something lighter than that," I suggested.

Marge chuckled.

"Bet you just eat raw eggs for your breakfast, to keep that protein going to keep those muscles all pumped up and that fur gleaming," she licked her cream-stained lips.

I chuckled at her description and decided that today I could take on any leering challenges, and survive them, even when it came to Marge. I pushed my shoulders back and looked as proud and imposing as I ever could.

"Sorry, studmuffins don't tell their secrets to girls," I smirked, flicked my tail loudly against my thigh, and headed out to the locker room.

Marge snickered loudly, and even Mason was chuffing a little, I head, before I was in the microcosm of the locker room.

*

"Welcome to the Albrecht Brothers, can I help you somehow?" I was all happyhappy as I greeted the coyote who had just entered the shop, somewhere around noon, when the boredom of the job had not yet set itself in quite as badly as it does around one pm.

The smartly dressed coyote gave me a quick look, maybe sizing up the puny lion behind the counter, his eyes flicking over to Mason, too, standing next to me, before he decided to talk back to me.

"Well, I've got an anniversary coming with my wife and I was thinking that a book might be a good present," the coyote on the business suit spoke.

I kept my smile as beaming as ever as I made a contemplative face.

"Well, isn't that a nice reason for bookshopping!" I enthused, my tail flicking behind me as I rubbed my chin, adding up to the image of a pro book lion, trying to decide what kind of a book the coyote's girlfriend might like.

The coyote didn't seem too impressed yet.

"Yeah, I guess."

That didn't sound so enthusiastic.

"Is there anything special you had in mind?" I asked. "A genre she might like, or a specific book, or perhaps a favorite subject?"

Now the coyote looked thoughtful.

"Well, she likes doing stuff around the house...," the canine replied.

"Perhaps a book about interior design?" I suggested, thinking that I might be fishing with the right kind of a lure here.

The coyote's ears flicked.

"Well it's more like...painting and fixing things, you know..."

"We have a DIY section over there, next to the college books," Mason chimed in from his side of the counter, pointing a helpful paw in the direction of the indicated shelf.

The coyote's eyes flicked over to the other side of the shop, and then back to the wolf, then to me, back to the shelf, and then to me.

"Okay, thanks," he said and went on his way, tail wagging behind him.

I turned to face Mason, and smiled.

"Nice catch."

Mason flicked his ears and gave me a quick nod.

"Thanks, I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this business," the wolf smiled, bashfully, almost.

"Sure you are!" I grinned. "You're definitely getting the hang of it."

The wolf's tail swished about as he personally celebrated his success.

"Heheh, thanks, Rory."

I smiled to him, quickly, and turned back to face the cash register so that I would appear all business when I greeted a couple of girls who had just entered, and passed me without much more than a glance. That wasn't anything bad enough to break the great Rory mood, not a chance, I was the man now, I was feeling pretty great after finally getting to spend some uninterrupted time with Victor, and I hoped that the Dobie was feeling the same. I might have to phone him later tonight and ask him how he was doing...with work and with...me...and COBB OF COURSE BECAUSE HOW COULD YOU FORGET COBB HE'S VICTOR'S BROTHER AND YOU DEFINITELY KNOW WHEN HE'S AROUND HEY HEY!

I snuffled to myself at the invasion of Rory-Cobb and decided that he should not visit the bookstore so often, it always gave me the wrong ideas, and I didn't want any of that.

"Hey, Rory?"

It was Mason again.

I turned about and gave him my best curious face.

"What is it?" I asked cheerfully.

Mason scratched himself behind his left ear.

"I heard that you were out watching Haakon's game last night," the wolf said.

My tail tried to strangle itself as the realization of the oh so obvious fact dawned on me at a record speed, and felt more like pissing my pants than having a light bulb switch on above my head. My belly clenched and my expression froze upon my muzzle, as my mind reminded myself that an almost real time connection must've existed between Haakon and Mason, and that everything that had happened last night at the game surely would have by now made it's way to Mason's ears. He surely had heard that SURPRISE SURPRISE RORY WAS THERE THIS GUY RORY HE'S VICTOR'S FRIEND, AND NOW I'M MAKING UP THE STORY OF ME WATCHING VICTOR'S GAME IN COBB VOICE EVEN IF COBB WASN'T THERE, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

I let my smile become just a little toothy, before I spoke, reminding myself that I was not going to blow this now, the way I had done it with Victor, and caused a whole lot of trouble and a big mess that was only just barely fixed with some make-up sex. That was not an option with Mason.

"Yeeeeeah," I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully as I started on my tale, "you see, I had no idea that my friend Victor plays hockey against your friend Haakon's team, so it was a big surprise when...Victor asked me out, and then Haakon shows up!"

There we go...names, non-embellished reasons, the truth, as much as I felt comfortable speaking about it, presented to the wolf with a honest face, and a kind voice, nothing strange about it, surely, just me telling the facts and hoping Mason would buy them without thinking anything weird about it.

Mason's ears flicked a little, but he didn't seem weirded out.

"Yeah, Haakon was pretty surprised to see you around there, he had no idea," Mason mused.

I chuckled.

"It might be a small town but still, surprises happen, "I suggested, convulsively keeping my smile in place. "Such a big surprise it was. But we went out for a drink afterwards, all of us, and it was cool. Haakon was really good on the ice, too!"

"I've been to watch a couple of his games, yeah," Mason replied, and I sighed mentally for my good luck at that the wolf had not been there yesterday.

"Well it's pretty fun to watch," I said, smiling still and hoping that Mason would not suggest a double outing, with me coming to watch Victor and with Mason cheering on Haakon...that would be...too...too...weird.

Just weird.

"Yeah, it is, when they get all bashing each other," Mason's latest smile was definitely a fratboyish one, and I smirked back, genuinely happy at the memory of Victor getting busy on the ice and slamming his enemies down to the ice.

"That's part of the fun, I suppose," I flicked my ears.

"Uhm...excuse me?" a voice almost made me jump.

It was a small badger woman, who had just placed a pile of books onto the counter and was watching us with watery, disapproving eyes.

I put myself to action and quickly scanned her books, and punched in the details into the cash register before I professionally stated the end sum.

"That'll be 27.90, please," I announced.

She took a lot of time digging out bills from her oversized pawbag, and I had ample time to pack her purchased romance novels and mushroom cookery book into the telltale red carrier bag, before the exchange of money and book bag and receipt happened, and I could bid her farewell.

"Thank you for shopping here at the Albrecht Brothers, hope to see you soon!" happyhappy Rory was in full action as she left, hobbling along.

"Uhm...Rory?"

The wolf sure seemed to be chatty today, I thought as I faced him once again.

"What's up?"

The wolf gave me a look before he spoke.

"I...uh...just wanted to check that we're still on, you know...for next Thursday?"

DANG!

I felt guilty for having been so immersed in Victor for the past few days that I had almost forgotten about my date with Mason, the wolf who had so seriously approached me with the wish of me showing him a good time, so that he could learn from the experience. The strange request had been pushed to the back of my mind, despite the fact that on Wednesday, he had asked me about it again, and I had told him that I'd think about something we could do, and promised that it would be on Thursday, next week. And here I was, getting asked about the awesome, wonderful things we might get to do next week, and I had no idea what I would do with the wolf and our man-date a

My ass was seriously busted.

I put up a broad smile.

"Of course we are!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, that's what we thought about, right? Thursday evening at six pm in front of Truman department store, isn't that how we agreed on?"

"Yeah," Mason replied.

Damn it...

"Well, we should be there at that time, and then we'll see what happens," I smiled, hoping that a bit of an air of mystery might help making it sound like I had actually planned something, and was not making this up at the moment we spoke.

Mason flicked a curious ear at me.

"What should I be wearing? Casual? Formal? Relaxed? Everyday?"

Ohhh man...he sure was down to the details...I felt a bit panicky, being on the spot all sudden, and with such a request, and such a topic, that I wasn't quite sure what to say, but at least my hysterical mind could conjure something, from that fuzzy concoction of the Mind of Rory, buzzing between my round, pretty ears.

"Well...anything you would wear for a night out in town should do the trick," I smiled, trying to sound much, much more confident than I felt at the moment, since I had no idea about what I would do with the evening, with him.

"That's cool," Mason gave me a nod that told me that he was hard at work memorizing every detail I was giving him, making preparations.

My tail made a quick, lash-like flick.

"Just remember that it's nothing serious, ok?" I reminded him. "We're just going to be having a fun night out."

"Yeah, of course," Mason nodded. "Though..uhh...can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" I grinned, hopelessly.

"Should I bring a gift?"

Now wasn't that chivalrous of him!

"You really don't have to since...ehheh...it's a first date, and you should impress with your personality, not with gifts, "I told him in my eh heh heh tone, to make it certain that he understood that I was making a macho joke about the whole date business.

Mason's head bobbed up and down.

"Uh...yeah, okay...personality," his tail wagged.

I patted his shoulder, quickly.

"Just relax, Mason, it'll be fun!"

I had no idea what it would be, but I was willing to try my best, and put the matter at rest, so that I could fully concentrate on more pressing issues, such as, what I was going to do with Victor next, and also that the coyote was coming back, clutching onto a thick tome.

*

It wasn't a bad day, not really, not even with Marge having another round of grousing over Goggy's potato salad, not with a couple of old ladies wanting to make reservations on the next Adalmina Woolsworth novel, or with Mason whisperingly asking me whether cologne was a good idea for a date. I managed to go through the day with my head high and my tail high...

...wait a second...that doesn't sound just right...

...yeah, well, my tail was active enough, and even once I put the happyhappy face down for the night, a smile persisted on my lips, when I bid farewell to my peers and left for home. The bus ride was uneventful, though I was tempted to send Victor a text, maybe, to ask him how he had been doing at work and whether COBB had any funny business planned for the evening, but I felt a bit hungry, and I decided that I could as well make it into a good texting session while eating something nice back at home. I was practically purring with both the idea of the meal and Victor-texting, as I finally arrived to my house and checked my mailbox off the entry foyer.

There was a phone bill there, which wasn't so much fun, and there was some sort of an ad for a blood drive in town (sorry folks, perma-ban was reinforced last night) and some clothing catalogue for summer trends, and, much to my surprise, a small brown package, a flat one, that had my name printed on the top. I shook the package, curiously, but heard no tingling from the inside, nor rattling, so that ruled out a few categories, and I was feeling ever the more curious as I took the lift to my floor.

My apartment still had a lingering undercurrent of Dobie musk in there, something that made me smile even more broadly as I turned on the lights, put the mail on the dining table and then took off my jacket, before I sat down and again picked up the small brown package. I turned it around to see if it had a sender's address on it, or a name, but there was nothing on it, just smooth brown cardboard that had been carefully taped together, and my name and address on the top. I used a convenient claw for opening the seam, carefully. To my utter surprise, it didn't end up being a sample from some company hoping to lure me into trying a new product, or a letter bomb, or a stack of 100-dollar bills, but a big slab of chocolate, wrapped in a prestigious-looking ribbon. My eyes widened a little and my ears flicked curiously, and I lifted it up, and it felt heavy on my palm, and the title was in French, telling me that it had to be some very nice chocolate. I also spotted a small brown envelope on the bottom of the package, that was originally hidden by the chocolate, and I picked it up, and held it in my paw, and smiled, with my heart beating a little faster than usual.

A surprise gift...right after a night of passion with Victor...well, well...wasn't that lovely? It must have been from Victor, being...cute, and nice, by giving me such a traditional, nice, friendly, thoughtful...

...romantic...

...it was a very kind gift, because didn't seem like one-dollar chocolate to me. I put the chocolate down and then carefully opened the tiny envelope, to reveal a small white card, that had paw-writing on it. To my yet another surprise, all there was to it was a somewhat messily scrawled cell phone number, no message, no address, no name, just that simple number.

My ears flicked curiously as I studied the card in my paw, contemplating its messy paw-writing and the number that seemed to be a logical way of contacting the gift-giver. I was also pretty sure that it wasn't Victor's phone number, although I would have to check it from my phone's memory to be sure. My smile faltered a little as I wondered who else could have been behind such a gift, but my brain was not really coming up with anything that seemed likely. It might not be Victor, but who else would think of sending me chocolates? He probably wanted to thank me for a nice evening and night with a special gift, chocolates that were also marked lactose-free...

...wait...

...wait..

Now that I thought about it, there was another Dobie who just happened to know that I liked lactose-free chocolate...but the idea was simply TOO OUTRAGEOUS TO EVEN THINK ABOUT WHY WOULD HE SEND A MYSTERY GIFT WHEN HE WOULD SIMPLY WRITE TO IT THAT IT'S A SPECIAL GIFT FROM VICTOR'S BROTHER COBB TO RORY WHO IS MY BROTHER'S HUSBAND AND HE LIKES CHOCOLATE BUT HE FARTS IF HE DRINKS NORMAL MILK BUT HE'S ALSO ABNORMAL BECAUSE HE'S GAY BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG ABOUT LACTOSE INTOLERANCE OR BEING GAY I'M AGAINST ALL INTOLERANCE BECAUSE I LOVE MY BROTHER SO THERE'S SOME CHOCOLATES FOR YOU RORY I'M SO PROUD OF YOU BEING A REAL FAG AND GOOD FOR MY BROTHER SO HERE'S SOME CHOCOLATES I PICKED THEM ESPECIALLY FOR YOU AND HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER SO THAT YOU CAN THANK ME AND WHEN YOU CALL ME I CAN SNATCH YOUR NUMBER AND THEN CALL STALKER CALLS TO YOU AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TREATING MY BROTHER VICTOR ALRIGHT AND NOT DONE ANYTHING STUPID AND MADE HIM FEEL BAD BECAUSE I'M GONNA BEAT ANYONE WHO HURTS MY BROTHER VICTOR HOLDEN!

Bah, that was all too ridiculous, there was no way that the Cobb theory could ever be true...it had to be Victor, not Cobb...not anyone else, I was making this all too weird, and the card, it wasn't so strange, just...just Victor wanting me to have an excuse of calling him, so that we could have a chat. Wasn't that nice.

I smiled determinedly, and put the card down, just when my phone began to ring, in my pocket.

Well..talk about good timing, Victor...

I flipped my phone over, and my ears flipped a bit as well as I realized that it was a yet another unknown number and not Victor Holden calling, so I was all business when I put the phone over my ear and answered, fully expecting an insurance salesfur to speak up.

"Gliese."

A female voice spoke on the other end of the line.

"Hello? Is this Rory Gliese on the phone?"

"Yes, I'm Rory Gliese," I answered, frowning a little.

"Hello, I am nurse manager Carol Carlisle, I'm calling to you from Taylor University Hospital Emergency Department. I'm afraid I have to tell you that we have a Peter Sinclair being treated here at the ER, and you have been listed as his emergency contact. Could you by any chance come to the hospital as soon as possible?"

*

And here we go, the return of the gruffhanger, that was so much missed from the last chapter! What do you think about that?

All comments are more than appreciated, and all feedback is duly noted and enjoyed. Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to read as well.

Thank you for reading, and cheerio!