Let’s Get to Know Each Other

Story by Gruffy on SoFurry

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#23 of Hockey Hunk Season 4

Thinks are getting hotter in the Sinclair residence...is it the weather or...?


Hehhey, and welcome to the Hockey Hunk! Another Friday, another chapter, and I must say, I am enjoying myself a great deal writing this story for you guys! I've got great plans for this spring season, and I hope that you'll be enjoying yourself as well!

Don't forget to comment! All feedback is always appreciated and valued.

Have a nice read y'all!

*

"RORY! HI!"

My ears flickered.

Peter smirked and batted an ear at me.

"HEHHEY!"

What the...

The doorway to Peter's right suddenly became filled with the expansive, larger than life, tall-eared, broad, curious, bouncy, energetic, sizeable, long-muzzled, whiskered, stub-tailed, flappy-eared, smiling, uncannily Victor-like-but-different-in-subtle-ways-faced grinning, cheerful, cyberlogistic Cobb. He lifted up a paw that was covered in a yellow rubber glove.

"I'm afraid there's no more dinner left, Rowreeh," Peter spoke up, tail swishing about behind him, arms folded over his chest, and still looking at me...and seemingly unbothered by the massively grinning COBB of all furs standing less than a foot away from him, ears flicking busily about, "but Jacob is almost ready doing the dishes, and then we will have coffee."

COFFEE!

My tail almost touched the ceiling as I contemplated the duo crowding the kitchen doorway, and my stomach gave a customary jolt as I felt Cobb's eyes drawn on me...all too big, and friendly, and curious as always.

"I thought I would help!" the flashy-eared Dobie exclaimed. "Peter's dishwasher is almost like the one I have back home so there's no problem!"

Peter turned to look at Cobb and smiled.

"I never expected there would be any, Jacob. You're so helpful."

"You had good time with Victor, Rory?" the eternally smiling Cobb stated in my direction, watching me so damn curiously.

I swallowed. Sure the times were good, as was the food, the two clumsy sex sessions and the company, but how much of that was polite to disclose, especially to COBB...well...I was kinda glad I had my crutches or I might have already toppled down to my knees from the very WTF shock of having him there in the first place. I might've as well found Sir Nicholas Faye Jr. esquire here reciting some Whitman here while dressed up as a cherub rather than expecting to find Mr. Cobb Holden with soapy suds on his biohazard-gloved paws.

Maybe there was Rohypnol in the chocolates or something. I shook my head briefly and tried to smile.

"It was nice, yeah," I said, clutching my crutches so hard that my knuckles started to hurt a bit.

"I bet my brother treated you to a really fun time," Cobb stated, turning to look at Peter again, "my brother is a true gentleman and treats his guys like a girl, or something. Always polite and stuff."

Peter's ears flickered as he listened to the statement from the one-head taller Dobie, and nodded courteously.

"A rare quality nowadays, I assure you, Jacob, whether it concerns those of the heterosexual persuasion or otherwise."

"Well you bet!" Cobb huffed. "Can't stand bastards of any sort."

A rush of displease seemed to cover the Dobie's features, and I hoped that he wasn't going to start saying anything even...worse...but he simply glanced at me quickly, winked, and, elbowed Peter.

"I'm almost ready, do you want me to start the coffee or something?"

"Oh, let me," Peter said, "it'll be easier that way, I think. But you can go sit with Rory in the living room while I put everything ready. I'll only be a moment."

"Sure do!" Cobb grinned and pirouetted around to re-enter the kitchen, disappearing out of sight.

Peter looked at me, flicked his ears, and shrugged. My jaw almost fell open at his nonchalant attitude. My tail surely hadn't stopped bouncing ever since I had entered the apartment. What the hell was going on? How on earth could Cobb be here? Had he come to stalk me? Stalk Peter? How did he even know where Peter lived? Did Victor tell him where to find me? The flood of questions was making it hard to think at all, let alone reasonable.

"Good times then?" Peter asked me.

"Uh..."

"I take that as a yes," he snuffled. "Get yourself cleaned up and come on in. We've been wondering when you're going to show up."

I blinked.

"Has Cobb been here for long?" I asked.

"For a couple of hours," Peter mused, "we've been eating and talking."

"....FOUND A GIRL AND YOU'RE MAAAARRIED NOOO-OOO-OOOOW..."

_ _

Peter's ears flicked under the vocal hurricane Cobb, but he seemed unflinching.

"He has a very high affinity for that British girl who sings about heartbreak."

"I've noticed," I gasped.

"GUESS SHE GAAAVE YOU THINGS I DIDN'T GIVE YOU..."

_ _

"Well don't just stand there," Peter chortled. "You look like you could use a seat. I can tell when you're aching. Do you need a pill?"

I shook my head, a bit wide-eyed.

"I'm fine," I replied, though honestly speaking, my leg was feeling the effects of doing a lot of walking, climbing a few stairs, and I'm sure that everything that happened in bed had its own effect too. Or maybe I was simply shaking because I still couldn't fathom why Cobb was here.

"Well at least sit down before you do you your paws and your crutches and your tail," he said. "Don't strain it."

"Alright," I mumbled.

After a couple of minutes of stinky disinfection and two extra choruses of "Someone Like You", I hobble-wobbled my way into the living room and managed to seat myself just about when Peter disappeared into the kitchen and traded places with Cobb, who immediately collapsed into the couch and gave me a broad grin.

"Just sit down right here, there's plenty of space!" he patted the other half of the couch that wasn't occupied by his over-spread thigh. "Don't have to sit on my lap!"

A memory of actually sitting on Victor's lap flashed through my mind, but I decided not to let that go down to my groin before I gingerly approached the couch and settled myself down and arranged the crutches against the armrest for hasty retreat, if possible.

"Are you comfortable?" Cobb looked at me curiously. "Do you need a pillow or a blanket?"

He pawed at the blanket folded over the armrest on his side, and I shook my head quickly.

"Yes, I'm quite alright," I replied.

Cobb lifted his arms high above his head and yawned as he stretched up and yawned with obvious pleasure. He was acting unnervingly familiarly here and obviously just like at home, and I wondered whether that was simply a Cobb trait, or whether he really had already settled into the slightly strange world of Peter's private apartment.

"That's cool," he said. "Heheheh."

That laughter...why was it making the furs on the back of my neck stand up?

Cobb began to scratch his belly, an act that probably left lots of unwanted skin cells and hair onto Victor's couch, but I didn't know how to tell him not to contaminate Peter's home. I assumed that Cobb had gone through the scrubbing in procedure, but just how did the Dobie took that, I couldn't tell.

"Your buddy Peter's a great cook," Cobb commented. "I'm packed!"

"He tends to do that," I replied.

"Heheheheheh," Cobb grinned, "hope Victor treated you to something nice, too...since he didn't want to eat my pork..."

Well, he'd certainly treated me to a whole lot of somethings, including something extra creamy and tangy, but that was probably knowledge that would break Cobb's innocence forever. I ended up simply smiling.

"Yeah, he actually took me to The Thirsk," I said.

"What's that?"

"It's a nice hotel downtown," I explained," we had dinner there."

"Wow!" Cobb explained. "Talk about a date then, ha!"

My ears jumped, but I held my ground.

"It was a nice surprise," I said, feeling embarrassed by the topic as a whole, especially when it came to disclosing facts to Cobb who was bound to rib Victor about every single word I would say here.

"That's my bro!" Cobb grinned.

Burbling noises began to emanate from the kitchen, and then Peter floated into the room, past us on the couch, and settled into his office chair, which he kicked into a position that aligned his line of sight with the two of us on the couch. His tailtip tickled his ankles and his white sock-covered paws, and he placed his arms over the rests in a most relaxed posture.

"Well coffee will be ready soon," he said, "I hope you like chocolate biscuits, Jacob."

Cobb clapped his paws together.

"Do I ever!" he grinned. "But I'll only have a little coffee, it's not good for me if I drink too much."

I shuddered at the idea of a caffeine-overloaded Dobie bro sitting on the couch next to me and hoped that Peter really know just how little was little enough.

"Ohh I know," Peter waved a paw, "I don't usually drink it at all. I don' to put extra load on my body with it. But I think this seems like an occasional special enough to warrant a sip or two. Rory will guzzle down the rest I'm sure."

He gave me a look, and I looked back to him, and raised my brow. Peter smiled innocently.

"My brother Victor likes coffee too!" Cobb beamed.

"Another thing you have in common then, Rory," Peter stated.

"Did you have any coffee?" Cobb asked me.

"Oh, no," I said, "we were quite full when we were finished with the desert."

Not gonna mention the other desert, though.

"Awwwwwww!" Cobb grinned. "Bet Victor's gonna look at himself in the mirror and check if his belly looks big...he does that sometimes..."

Oh heck...I had to tell Rory Junior not to think about that too much, and wished I could fold my legs comfortably...my right leg wasn't quite up to that yet, so I simply hehehe'd and tried to look not too flustered.

"I'm sure we've all done that," Peter noted.

"Sure!" Cobb patted his belly. "Don't want this to turn from hunk into blob."

Oh God, Rory Junior, don't think about Victor...don't think about Victor scratching his belly...

"Well seems that you're doing quite alright in that respect, Jacob," Peter said. "Maybe you and Victor could challenge each other to work out."

Cobb assumed a scarily thoughtful expression and rubbed his chin for good effect, too, I noted, much to my amusement, and Peter's, too, I presumed, since his ears flicked in that just special way that indicated that he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Well that might work for a while, but when I go back to Chicago, he might cheat if I asked him for updates...forged weight measurements and hours worked out...might be difficult to estimate who's winning or not..."

"Oh well," Peter chuckled. "It was a good idea."

"Well I'm still gonna nag him into making sure he's taking a good care of himself," Cobb said. "And I'm sure you're gonna help me out, Rory."

He gave me a serious look, and I knew that I really was gonna do that, too. I hurried to smile.

"Of course," I nodded.

"Unless you're one of those guys who like that there's something to grab onto..." Cobb threatened.

"Not really," I hurried to say.

The coffee was starting to make its presence known to my nosepad, and I breathed the sweet scent in quickly. I really needed that coffee...and really needed to make sure that Cobb wasn't going to consume more than the very minimum portion that was polite to serve.

"Heheheheh," Cobb hehehehe'd.

"So!" I hoped to distract everyone from the topic of Victor's body, or the possibility of Cobb implying that I had done something to that very body during my date with the Dobie, "how come you guys are dining tonight? I can't say I was expecting to find you here, Cobb."

The idea of a Cobb barking into a sullen Peter was a curious one, and I really wanted to know what was going on here, before I was going to get even more confused by this situation. Victor was surely going to get an earful about this from me too, besides the inevitable ramble from Cobb, I was certain of that. I wondered whether Victor was at home yet and whether he had noticed that Cobb was missing.

"Well call me as surprised as you are, Rory!" Cobb bellowed. "I was just doing some cleaning back at Victor's place and then this guy here calls me and invites me over!"

He waved his big paw and his thick arm in Peter's direction, and my eyes widened, just like that.

What?

"I did," Peter commented. "I thought it'd be delightful to meet Jacob again, after our little chat last week. as it happens, I also learned that both of us had dinner plans that were changed by our dining companions going away, so..."

"We matched!" Cobb chuckled. "Not in any weird way, but you know, Rory..."

"Yeah," I breathed.

"And there was so much salmon left over that it'd be a shame to see it all go to waste, and Jacob here was more than glad to take over the excess."

"That's what I do!" Cobb grinned. "Not to mention that my business also handles the online store of Hank's Survivalist Surplus which sells some pretty nifty Canadian military gear for good prices!"

I wondered whether that was an impromptu sales speech by the Dobie, but decided to chuckle it away. Peter was smiling too, and chuckling companionably, for as long as it was polite, I thought.

"I've heard all about Jacob's business," Peter added. "Sounds very fascinating to me. Makes me wonder why I didn't come up with it in the first place. It's so simple."

"Well it's got a pretty complicated data tree structure, the inventory data system that's based on bar codes and a sort of a mini-GPS location inside the warehouse we operate, but that's really more my sister's business, the talk about the system," Cobb spoke, his voice rising into a more excited note, " I only really know how to make it crash, hahhaha!"

"I'm sure you're being modest," Peter noted. "By the sound of it, you really know what you're doing."

"Weeeeeell you gotta keep up with everything or you're gonna be swallowed up whole by someone like Amazon or something," he said. "That's why we gotta do what we do as well as we can, and keep those customers we've got."

Wow...was he now comparing his business to Amazon? I wasn't sure of that, but I guess it wouldn't have been beyond Cobb and his sensibilities.

"I think the coffee is ready," Peter declared, suddenly, as he smoothly got up from his chair and began to veer towards the kitchen. "Just a moment, I'll get it sorted out."

"Can't wait!" Cobb grinned.

Ohhhh my God...and I knew for certain that Peter didn't stock d-caf...

"HA-HA-HA! HA-HA-HA! HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HA-HAA-HAA-HA-HAAAAA! AAAAA-AAA-AA-AAAA!"

"Oh! Cobb explained, as very strange singing began to chime away from his pocket, which was soon revealed to originate from his phone, the screen lit up, and that ridiculous...music blasting away. Cobb's ears flicked up and down curiously as he tapped the screen. "Ohhh...It's Victor...wondering where I've gone...damn...I should've left a note..."

His oversized fingers seemed surprisingly apt in typing with the touchscreen, and soon he had composed an unseen message, a concentrated expression on his brow while he tapped away, and then looked at the "MESSAGE SENT" announcement with pleasure.

"There we go!" he said. "One brother reassured that I haven't been kidnapped by the mafia..."

Maybe only the pink mafia, but I wasn't sure whether Cobb knew that particular expression.

"Well that's nice," I said. "To not to keep him wondering:"

"Well I'd never do that!"

"Was someone playing that odd Russian yelling song I keep getting whenever someone sends me links on the email?" Peter's voice echoed, having emerged from the kitchen and now into the living room, wearing some plastic gloves himself, this time, for whatever interesting purpose.

Cobb lifted his paw high, as if answering a question at school, still holding his phone and grinning like mad.

"It's my ring tone for getting a new message!" he said. "I was bored with that old sound and wanted something a bit more personalized."

I gave Peter a look, but the cougar was smiling a little, as always.

"Well, that explains it then," he said. "I do hope you're ready for coffee now, guys, because I've got some nice biscuits laid out and waiting for eager Dobermans!"

"Yay!" Cobb grinned. "I'm gonna make Victor jealous with those! He's been eating too many sweet things lately and is now on a diet, so I'm definitely gonna have something to boast about when I get home."

Peter flicked his paw in the direction of the doorway and smiled.

"Just grab a seat, Jacob."

I watched the Dobie lumber along, ear and tail stub flicking rapidly, and felt an urgent need to bury my face in my paws. Peter gave me a sideways glance, and winked.

*

Thank you for reading my story! Hope you had a nice read, and hopefully you'll amuse me with your comments!

See you on Monday!