Thyra Dane

A/N:

This one-shot came to life because of the generous donation Miss Construed made to the Support Stacie Auction. She wanted me to write a story about “Stureplan-Eric” and had one demand: Eric had to have orange skin from too much spray-tan – as most of the people on Stureplan have.

Stureplan is the party and club area in Stockholm and people there look very… well, fake. See more on: stureplan . se

Hammarby is the football club of the area Söder in Stockholm and best known by SVM/TB-fans as the club Alexander Skarsgård is a fan of. By football I, of course, mean the game that is actually played with your feet, not the game played in other parts of the world, where players run around with the ball in their arms.

This story takes place in Sweden.

I want to thank Rascalthemutant for reading this and correcting my mistakes.

---

I noticed her the moment she walked into my club. She was so different from all the girls who had hair extensions, fake boobs, spray-on tans and bleached teeth. This girl`s tan and the highlights in her long blond hair were from the sun, not a salon.

Her clothes signaled student, not party girl. Her heels weren`t as high as the ones all the other girls wore, her dress not as revealing and it was apparently bought at one of the cheaper shops like H&M, Zara or Gina Tricot.

I had nothing against low heels and H&M dresses, just as I had nothing against `fuck-me heels` and expensive clothes-brands. A girl was a girl and one fuck was as good as the next one.

This one could be a little diversity in my normal diet and I welcomed it. Fake breasts were great, but right now I wanted to grope her large, but clearly natural ones. Hair extensions were sexy, but you couldn`t run your fingers through them. I wanted to pull this girl`s hair in the heat of the moment – and not worry about pulling out half of it.

Stureplan in general, and my place especially, had very few girls like this one. Everyone knew that to join the in-crowd, you had to look like the in-crowd. And the in-crowd was tall, blond and fake through and through. The only ones who could look different from the in-crowd, were the really in-crowd. Royalty, very famous actors, artists etc.

I noticed a few girls giggling at the little H&M-girl who was so out of place, but what did I care about what my more catty clientele thought of the newcomer? I was going to fuck her and that was that.

I had just made up my mind to go buy her a drink, though I wouldn`t buy it of course, I owned the place, when she got up. I hadn`t even noticed she was here with a friend, but apparently she was. Her friend looked more like the rest of the girls here, which made my future little fuck stand out even more.

They left for the dance floor and I found a nice place where I could watch her body while she moved to the music. I waved at a waitress, who quickly brought me a beer, and I sipped it while preparing for some more or less ridiculous dance steps. I mean, what could I expect from a girl who was so obviously not a part of the Stureplan-crowd?

I almost choked on my beer when she started to dance. She grinded and wriggled, shook her butt and moved her assets. She was hot as hell and it didn`t look as if she knew it. She was in her own world.

I looked even more forward to nailing that piece of ass later that night. I mean, if she could move her hips like that on the dance floor, what couldn`t she do under me in my bed? Or on top of me in her bed? I wasn’t picky.

I checked out the girls in my club, Club 6-9, every time I was there and more often than not, I left the place with a girl on my arm. It was one of the perks of running Club 6-9.

I had a reputation to uphold. After all, Stockholm girls came to my place hoping they could get to fuck me – or fuck me again. They bragged about me to their friends which made even more girls crave a taste of me.

And it suited me just fine. The only thing I was sick and tired of was girls insisting on doing the 69. Girls who had apparently overdosed on hair bleach thought my club was called 69 and expected that to be my favorite position.

It wasn`t that I had anything against the odd blowjob or eating a girl, but not simultaneously. That was just annoying. My club was called Club 6-9, not 69, for fuck`s sake.

I looked at the girl again. Before she went onto the dance floor, I would have expected her to be a missionary-girl, but now I figured I could expect anything. I mean, I had nothing against doing the missionary. I liked it. Just like I liked most other positions. I liked to fuck. End of story.

My dick started to move a little in my pants and that was always a good sign. If my dick liked the girl, then I liked the girl. Just when I had finished my beer and was on my way to join her on the dance floor, she and her friend stopped dancing and went back to their table.

I made eye-contact with Chow and nodded my head in the girls` direction and he immediately went over to chat with H&M-girl`s friend. That is, Chow picked the wrong girl first and thought I was after the friend, but we had developed a very good sign-language and soon he was chatting with the friend, not the girl.

Wing-men are really a necessary accessory when you want to get laid. And for all I knew, Chow would get lucky too. He seemed to hit it off with the friend and left little Miss H&M all alone with no one to talk to.

I nodded at the waitress again and asked her to bring me another beer and whatever that girl was drinking. It didn`t take her many minutes to bring me a Gin and Tonic with my Pripps and I walked towards the girl with the waitress following me.

When I came closer I could see that she was no model, but she certainly had charm. She wore almost no make-up which made her freckles stand out on her nose. She smiled an innocent smile when I came over to her.

“You look like a G&T-girl,” I said and had the waitress hand her the drink.

“Really?” she giggled and I counted one point for me. I had no idea how many points I needed to get between her legs, but she looked as if it would be more than with my usual girls. I smiled at the thought because I was up for a challenge. I had so few of them these days.

“Yup. I know what girls like,” I said while waggling my eyebrows suggestively.

“You do, do you?” she said, but now her smile was less girly and more skeptical.

I knew her kind. They pretended not to like it when men took charge, but in the end they melted with the right words, just like the rest of them.

“Eric Northman never fails,” I answered with confidence.

“And you would be Eric Northman?” she asked.

I was a bit surprised. Everyone knew me, didn`t they? After all, I was the king of Stureplan. I owned the coolest club in Stockholm and was on all the “sexiest Swede of the year” lists. Then I smiled. My smile was always a winner.

“I am,” I said with pride. “I don`t think I`ve seen you here before.”

“That`s probably because it`s been over six years since my last Stureplan-trip,” she answered, her voice got very cool very sudden.

“Six years?” I said. “Have you deprived me of your sexy dance for six years?”

She smiled a smile I didn`t really care for, downed her drink and got up from her chair.

“You know, thank you for the drink, Eric Northman who knows what girls drink. It was interesting talking to you, but now I need to be going.”

She started walking, but I grabbed her wrist. I was so surprised by her walking out on me that I didn`t know what to say. So I asked her the obvious.

“Why are you leaving?”

“Because I have to go,” she answered.

“But… can I see you again?” I asked the question before my brain kicked in. Eric Northman never asked girls if he could see them again. Girls asked Eric Northman that question and usually he said no.

The girl turned around and shook her head. I was shocked.

“Why?” I asked and I mentally kicked myself for being so pathetic.

She looked at me and by the fire in her eyes, I could tell that I wasn`t going to like what she was about to say to me.

“You know what, Eric? I`m kind of a racist here. I don`t like the whole Stureplan race with your orange skin and stupid brains. And you seem to be some kind of king of that race, which makes you the last person I would like to see again.” She stopped for a moment. “No, scratch that. The second last. Believe it or not – there is a guy out there who is a bigger prick than you.”

And with that she turned around again and walked out the doors of my club.

Xxxxx

It was 8 months until I saw her again and I didn`t even recognize her.

I`d been looking for her at my club and there had been times when I had surprised some little blonde by walking over to her and saying “so you couldn`t stay away, huh?” only to see that her face was a different one.

Finally I wrote her off as a weirdo and probably a lesbian, man-hating bitch. That made me feel better.

It did influence my love-life though. I had never been too particular with the girls. If they looked good, smiled occasionally and liked me, I would do them. I mean, that was what Stureplan was all about, wasn`t it? Drink, dance and fuck whoever you end up with that night. Oh yeah, and always look good in photos.

But now I only went for the short blond girls. And I preferred to fuck them from behind. For some reason their faces weren`t what I wanted to see.

And by November, I didn`t want to fuck anyone.

Hammarby, my beloved football team, had been relegated and I had gone into deep depression. My mood did depend a little too much on how Hammarby performed, and now both my team and I had been knocked out and we were down for count.

I hated my life and everyone in it all winter and I only looked forward to spring and a new football season where Hammarby could prove everyone wrong. I counted down to that day in March where I could again stand in Söder stadium and sing `Just i dag` with everyone else and forget the crappy last season.

Xxxxx

Finally the day came and I almost ran to the stadium and was one of the first people there. I had my season ticket in my wallet and was pretty pleased with myself. It felt as if the whole winter depression was dripping off me.

When I came to my section, I noticed there was just one person who had me beaten at being the first one there. And it was a girl who was sitting pretty close to the seat I had had every year for ages. My day was really improving. Was she sitting right in front of me?

Suddenly I realized that she was actually sitting in my seat. It was almost sacrilege, but since she was young and blond I figured I could use it to my advantage.

“Excuse me. I think you are in my seat,” I smiled my newly bleached smile. In celebration of the new football season I had gone for the full package which meant that my skin was tan and my teeth were shiny.

She turned her face towards me and looked at me up and down. Then she turned back.

“I don`t think so. This is my seat.”

I laughed. “Ah no, I think you are wrong. This is my seat. I`ve had this seat for years. I always get that seat.” I was almost babbling, surprised that she hadn`t moved. Or started drooling over me.

She kept looking at the field, though the only thing to look at were some guards discussing. “Well, you have another seat this year.”

She pulled out her season ticket and to my horror I saw that it actually was her seat.

“That can`t be right.” Frantically I pulled out my wallet and saw that I had the row behind her. I had seat 7 – 9. Not 6 – 9, like I always did. “Nooo,” I moaned when I realized the mistake.

She turned around again and looked at me. “It can`t be that big a difference. It`s just one row.”

“But you don`t understand,” I said. “I`ve always had 6 – 9. It`s my seat.”

“And now it`s mine. You`ll see the game just as well there.”

“It`s just…” I was getting desperate. “That seat means a lot to me. Would you mind swopping seats?”

She looked me up and down again.

“You are at least 25 -30 centimeters taller than I am and you have broad shoulders. I won`t be able to see anything when we stand up.”

“I promise to stay seated,” I said quickly, though I knew I couldn`t keep that promise.

“Ha,” she answered. “You will be jumping up and down and I won`t see a thing. No, you`ll just have to stay where you are and enjoy the view from there.”

That was when I recognized her. Her blond hair was now scraped back in a ponytail and she was less tanned and freckled, but it was her. I gaped. The girl who rejected me had also stolen my seat.

“You? What the fuck are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home studying for an exam or something?” I shouted.

“And shouldn`t you be screwing some spray-painted girl somewhere? Your sort don`t belong in football stadiums.”

“What the fuck?” I was stunned. “My sort?”

She just rolled her eyes and turned around.

It turned out to be a shitty game. Hammarby lost 3 to 0 and I felt sick. If Hammarby continued playing like this, they were doomed.

And then it dawned upon me. Hammarby lost the game because I was in the wrong seat. I shook my head immediately. Of course my seat had nothing to do with Hammarby`s loss. After all, Hammarby had been relegated last season and I had been sitting in my usual row 6 seat 9 at absolutely all games. But it still felt as if today`s loss was all my fault.

I looked at the girl in front of me and knew I had to make her switch seats and I was willing to pay any price to get her to do it.

“How much?” I asked her.

She turned around, her ponytail bouncing up and down, and I noticed that she had tears in her eyes. The game had apparently affected her too.

“How much what?” she said in a thick voice.

“How much do you want for your seat? I`ll pay you for your seat and you can also have mine. Just name your price.”

Her eyes went from sad to angry in one-hundredth of a second.

“Piss off,” she spat. “I don`t give a shit about your money.”

She started walking up the steps and I followed her.

“There must be something you want.” I sounded pathetic and desperate and I wanted to slap myself out of it. But I also wanted that seat.

“There are plenty of things I want,” she said without looking at me. “But nothing you can give.”

“Are you so sure of that?” I smiled my most seducing smile.

“Well, I most certainly don`t want that.” She made a hand gesture towards my smile, but it sort of pointed to all of me. If I had been a less self-confident man, I would have been insulted.

I walked past her for a few minutes. People were pushing us from all sides. Too many people wanted to get out of the gates at the same time and most of them shared my foul mood.

When we came to the gates, and I knew she might walk off in a different direction, I had an idea.

“Would you like to humiliate me, then?” I asked and couldn`t help smirking when I saw her surprise. “Or at least have a chance at doing it?”

She glanced at me and I knew I had her attention. Curiosity is a killer.

“How about a bet?” I continued. “You go on 10 dates with me. If I can get you to sleep with me I get the seat that is rightfully mine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And when you don`t?”

I smiled at her saying `when` instead of `if`. “Then I sit somewhere else entirely and will never bother you again.”

“Where is the humiliation?” she asked.

I laughed. “Believe me – it would be pretty humiliating for me to take a girl out for 10 dates without getting anywhere. It has never happened before.” And it won`t happen now, I said to myself.

“And if I don`t take on this bet? I mean I already have the seat I want,” she said.

“Well, then I will be standing right behind you at every game and I think you will find it pretty annoying after a while.” I gave her my most wolfish grin and it only broadened when she rolled her eyes.

She sighed and I knew I had her.

Xxxxx

A month later I was frustrated. Oh yes, Sookie had been on dates with me. She had even dressed up and looked hot. She had gone to the places I had invited her to without complaining and she had talked to me and laughed at my jokes.

But I had gotten nowhere. Eight dates and all I had to show for it was “thank you for a lovely date, Eric.” Not even a kiss.

The worst part of it all was that I had started to like her. And I had started wanting her to like me too.

I shook my head, looking at my pathetic self in the bathroom mirror. What was wrong with me? It wasn`t as if I hadn`t dated girls before or even liked some of them. And it wasn`t as if Sookie was all that special. She was nice and fun, but so were a lot of girls. But she made me open up way more than I wanted to. More than she opened up herself. I found myself telling her things I never told anyone – while knowing practically nothing about her.

I cupped my hands and filled them with ice cold water and slapped it on my face.

I knew I had to change something, bring her out of her safe waters, to make her… to make her… I suddenly realized that I wasn`t even sure what I wanted her to do. Of course I wanted her to have sex with me. I wanted my seat back at the stadium. And I wanted her to have sex with me because I craved her body.

But I also wanted more. And I knew I was fucked. Unfortunately not in the way I wanted to be fucked.

Then I realized what to do. I checked the schedule for Hammarby`s away-games. I knew them by heart, of course, but I checked it anyway. I rarely went to away-games since that meant coming home late at night when I was supposed to be at my club. But this time I would make an exception.

I formed a quick plan and called Sookie. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a stupid grin plastered on my face when she answered her phone.

“Hi Sookie,” I said a little too cheerfully. “I was wondering if you would like our next date to be us going to Ängelholm?” What I liked about Sookie was that I didn`t have to explain why I wanted us to go there and I couldn`t help smiling when I heard her pearly laughter.

“Isn`t that way down in Skåne?”

“Yes, it`ll be some hour`s drive, but I`m sure it will be worth it. What do you say? Hammarby playing at a stadium that doesn`t even have six rows which means we can`t argue over who is to have row 6 seat 9.”

What I didn`t tell her was that we would also have to spend the night somewhere because it would be way too late to go home after the game.

“Sure,” she said as if I had asked her if she wanted to join me for a sausage at the local sausage stand. No more questions, just `sure`.

“Great,” I replied, my grin threatening my ability to speak. “I`ll arrange it all and will pick you up around 11 am on Tuesday.” I knew Sookie was a student and figured she could take time off from her studies.

“That early?” she asked in surprise. “Oh…” I let her think for a minute. “I have to… well, can I call you back? I need to arrange something first.”

My smile faltered. What was wrong? Did she have a job or something she needed to get time off from? I realized I knew even less about her than I had thought.

“Of course.” I tried to sound confident. “Just call me back later today so I have time to get someone to take my shift at the bar.” I wanted to tell her that she wasn`t the only one who had to make arrangements for this trip.

She did call me back half an hour later and to my relief she said yes. I started calling hotels and restaurants between Stockholm and Ängelholm and soon I had planned a very sweet 36 hours for Sookie and me. I figured I would tell her about the sleep-over when I picked her up, not giving her time to back out of it.

I woke up on the Tuesday of the Ängelholm game and found that I was actually giddy. I was going to spend a night with Sookie and the possibilities turned me on. I had booked a suite with two bedrooms since Sookie would have smelled a trap if I hadn`t, but I was planning on us just using one of them. No need for the maid to make up two beds, right?

I was ten minutes early at Sookie`s apartment in the hopes that she would invite me up. A person`s home will often give away valuable information about its owner. Unfortunately Sookie came down almost as soon as I had rung the doorbell, but she was only carrying her purse, her Hammarby sweater and a scarf. No overnight bag. That didn`t surprise me, of course, because she didn`t know that she was spending the night with me.

“Where is your toothbrush and comb?” I asked, pretending it was obvious she should have brought it.

“What do you mean?” She looked surprised.

“Well, the game is over at nine and it is a seven-hour drive home. It`s dangerous to drive that late at night so I`ve booked a hotel.”

Sookie gaped. “A hotel?”

“Yes, of course.” Again I pretended this was obvious. I knew that some of the fan-busses would be driving home in the middle of the night, but we wouldn`t be on any of those. We would be going in my car and there was no way I was driving home at night if I could sleep in the same hotel suite, and hopefully the same bed, as Sookie.

She was lost for words. It wasn`t as if Sookie usually talked my ear off, but she always seemed to know what to say. Not now, though. Her brain was working so fast I could almost hear it heat up. Then finally she sighed.

“I have to make a phone call.” She motioned for me to come up with her to her apartment which made me smile since this was one of the things I had planned for.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked on our way up the stairs.

We came to her door and she put the key in the key hole. Then she looked up at my face and I noticed insecurity before she spoke. I had never seen that on Sookie before.

“My son`s father may not be able to look after our son all day tomorrow.”

I had to replay her last sentence a few times before it made sense. My mouth was wide open and I knew I had to get a hold of myself fast.

“You have a son?” I managed to ask.

She opened the door and we went inside.

“Yes, Eric. I have a son.” Her voice was almost defensive.

“Well, I`m so sorry for asking,” I said in a tone full of sarcasm. “It`s just that you never gave me that bit of information before.”

She sighed. “No, I didn`t. I guess I never felt you were entitled to know that much about me.”

“Shit, Sookie. We`ve been dating for a month now and you haven`t told me you have a kid?”

Her eyes got dark. “We are dating because of a stupid bet you made to get a freaking seat at the stadium. I guess I never thought we were supposed to get personal. And what is it to you if I have a child?”

“I don`t fucking care if you have a kid or not, but I care that you never told me.” I was angry and frustrated. All my plans for a trip where I could finally seduce Sookie we going down the drain.

“And why should you care? I`m just a girl you need to sleep with to get your way. What do you care about my personal life?”

I gasped and was at loss for words for once in my life. I cared about Sookie`s personal life, but why?

“Well, I care, OK? So what was that phone call you were going to make?”

“To my ex. Jason`s father. I need him to look after Jason tomorrow too.”

Sookie went into another room with her phone and I walked around and studied her books and personal pictures. Almost all the pictures had a little blond guy. On some of them Sookie was holding him and there were also some with an elderly lady, probably a grandmother or an aunt.

I suddenly heard Sookie`s voice get louder and more heated and I feared the worst. Then I heard her shout. “Fuck you, Bill,” and she was back in the living room with me, her eyes all teary from anger.

I went over and pulled her into an embrace and she actually relaxed in my arms. I couldn`t help sniffing her hair discreetly. She both smelled and felt wonderful. Unfortunately this was not a lover’s embrace, but me trying to make her feel better.

“What happened?” I asked into the top of her head. I almost kissed her, but refrained at the last moment.

Sookie pulled back. “My stupid ex can`t take his own son because he needs to get ready for another night on Stureplan.” She spat it out as if I was somehow to blame for this.

“What do you mean?” I tried not to take offense.

“Apparently Jason`s father couldn`t face two nights away from Stureplan in a row. He felt like a real super-daddy for staying at home tonight and there was no way he was going to stay away from the fake-tanned bimbos two nights in a row.”

“Really?” I tried to sound appalled, but the fact was that I usually hated being away from Stureplan more than one night in a row too. But for some reason, I hadn`t even thought about it now.

“Yes, really. So you can see why you weren`t high on my hit list? I fucking hate Stureplan and all the fake people there.”

She sounded angry, but I noticed that she said `weren`t` and not `aren`t`.

“But I`m not your ex,” I tried.

“No, but you sure remind me of him. I mean, even your skin color is the same.” She looked at me and then she suddenly started to giggle. I smiled at her even though I had no idea what she was giggling at. “Why do you all choose the same orange color when you get spray-painted?” she said and then she laughed so hard I had to hold her or she would have fallen.

I looked at the arm I held around her body. What was wrong with my skin color?

“I like having a tan. I look like something the cat dragged in, ate and threw up if I don`t use self-tanner,” I tried to explain.

That only made her laugh even harder. “But you all have the same freaking color, don`t you see?”

After some minutes of laughing and me trying to hold on to her, she pulled away from me.

“I`m sorry,” she said, while blushing deeply.

I snickered. “Well, your skin color is cute,” I teased and it made her blush even harder.

“No, I`m sorry. I don`t know what got into me. I guess I was angry at Bill and sometimes laughter is better than anger, right? I`m just sorry I took it out on you. I mean, it`s not my business that you don`t like being pale.” The last word broke out a little giggle in her again, but she worked hard at stifling it.

I didn`t really know what to say so I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed her. First she didn`t kiss me back, but then I felt her warm tongue on my lip and I pulled her into a deeper kiss. I wanted to grope her and fuck her and rub myself all over her, but instead I pulled back.

“I`m sorry,” I whispered, though that was an outright lie. That kiss held promises I was hoping to collect on soon.

She stared at me for a few seconds, panting slightly. Then she straightened her back.

“So we won`t be going to Ängelholm…” she started.

“We can still go,” I said, surprising myself just as much as her. “Bring your son. He`ll love it, I`m sure.”

“My son in a car for six-seven hours?”

“Sure. I mean how old is he?” I figured he was four or five, judging from the pictures.

“He`s five.”

“My car has a dvd for the back seat. And we can count cars.” I was suddenly very enthusiastic.

“Count cars?”

“Yes, you know. We all pick a color and the person who reaches 20 cars in his color, wins.”

Sookie giggled. “And which color would you pick?” Her eyes were full of mischief.

I knew what had her giggling. “Yeah, yeah. I`ll pick orange and reach 20 cars sometime in the next century,” I smiled and Sookie doubled over laughing.

Xxxx

We ended up picking up Jason and driving all the way through southern Sweden. Jason slept some of the way, watched DVDs and had us all singing Pippi Longstocking-songs. I`d never really spent much time with kids, and never really given children much thought, but the drive was fun in a very annoying way. I guess that`s how kids are. Fun and annoying.

But what really made the trip worth it was Sookie giving me long looks when she thought I didn`t notice it.

We both laughed when we came to Ängelholm. The stadium was so tiny, primary schools would have had larger ones for their little league games. Sookie carried Jason and I gave him my scarf. In between all the Pippi-songs, I had managed to teach him a few Hammarby-chants and he was singing them all the way into the stadium, which made me smile. I was even a little proud.

I remembered how my father had taken me to the Hammarby-games before he died. I had probably been Jason`s age when he started doing it and those games meant a lot to me. My father and me, side by side, watching the game. Though I suspect I was more interested in the hot dog stand the first couple of years, than in the game itself.

“So Jason. You`re a big guy now, huh? Going to a football game and all.”

Jason nodded proudly and Sookie smiled to me.

“It seems I need another season ticket soon,” she said.

Then she apparently remembered why we had started dating in the first place and her face stiffened. I was somewhat uncomfortable too. I hadn`t thought of row 6 seat 9 in a long time.

“Yeah. Next season you could buy a ticket for the both of you,” I agreed. “I mean, I started going to the games when I was about his age.”

She looked at me. “You did?” For some reason there was surprise in her voice.

“Sure. My dad took me.” I studied her closer. “Why do you ask?”

She was suddenly preoccupied with something Jason said, but then she turned her face back in my direction.

“To be honest? I thought you were one of those stupid Johnny-come-lately who think Hammarby can give them some kind of fake masculinity. I mean, football is cool now. I never saw any Stureplan-people at the games ten years ago.”

“You thought I went to the games to seem more masculine?” I didn`t know if I should laugh or be offended.

Her eyes darted up and down my chest. “Well, you are obviously very masculine no matter how much self-tanner you use, but you have to admit that the football stadiums have been filled with fluff-brains lately? I hate it when Hammarby is made into a fashion statement. It`s freaking life or death!” She shouted the last sentence.

I almost wanted to hug her for her passion, but I couldn`t help laughing. “Fluff-brains? So you thought I was a self-tanning, feminine, fluff-brainy fashion slave?”

She laughed too. “I never thought you were feminine,” she croaked between laughs.

“Oh, thank you. That makes me so much less insulted,” I teased, but in reality I was relieved. Not that anyone had ever questioned my masculinity, but it suddenly felt very important that Sookie didn`t.

“You brought it on yourself,” she laughed.

“Really? And what about what I think of you? Did you bring that on yourself too?” I was still teasing her.

She stopped laughing. “What do you mean?”

“I`m not saying.”

“No, what? What do you think of me?”

I smiled. “Let`s just say that you are growing on me.”

I smiled at her and noticed that lovely blush on her cheeks again.

I couldn`t stop thinking about the hotel that was waiting for us. Of course Jason would be sleeping in her room, but that shouldn`t stop her from being in my room, should it?

The game began and after just 10 – 15 minutes, Hammarby had their first goal. I lifted up Jason in pure joy and Sookie gave me a hug that made all those hours in the car seem like five minutes. Jason and Sookie laughed and I smiled from ear to ear. I suddenly had a family feeling I hadn`t had in a long time – and I liked it.

xxxx

Hammarby wouldn`t be Hammarby, of course, if they hadn`t made mistake after mistake and they ended up blowing the whole game and losing 3-2 to Ängelholm. To fucking Ängelholm.

I was devastated. Why had I picked such a shitty team to follow? Why had I dragged myself all the way down to Ängelholm for this? Why did I torment myself so much?

I looked at Sookie and her face was gray with disappointment. Then I noticed Jason who was holding her hand, almost too tired to walk. I grabbed him, lifted him up on my shoulders and somehow, having him sitting there, his little hands making a drum out of the top of my head, my spirits lifted.

I couldn`t help myself and took Sookie`s hand. She looked at me. Then I felt a little squeeze and something inside me fell into place. Yes, fucking, stupid, shitty Hammarby had lost their game and so what? I was holding Sookie`s hand and had her son on my shoulders.

xxxx

The hotel was in Gothenburg. It was a bit out of the way, but I wanted a suite and neither Jönköping, Linköping nor Norrköping could offer that. And with Jason traveling with us, Gothenburg offered the amusement park Liseberg.

I started going through all the fun things we could do with Jason in Gothenburg when I stopped in my tracks. Had I started laying plans for Jason now? I shook my head to clear it.

My goal was to have sex with Sookie. End of story. And I wanted to have sex with Sookie because….

That was when I realized that the season ticket meant nothing now. I wanted to have sex with Sookie because I wanted to have sex with her. And because I liked her.

Xxxx

We were in the living room of the suite after having eaten and Sookie had put Jason to bed. I mixed a gin and tonic for her, hoping she wanted it. I smiled when she accepted it. It wasn`t that I wanted her drunk, but if she accepted a drink, at least it meant that she wasn`t going straight to sleep. In the wrong bed.

“What a shitty game, huh?” I started when Sookie sat down next to me on the couch.

“Yeah, one would have thought they could have done better against a team of potato farmers.” She almost spat it out and I shared her frustration.

“At least Jason seemed to have fun?” I tried to make it a question since she would be a better judge of her son`s state of mind than I would.

“I think he did,” she smiled. “I suppose my genes knocked out his father`s there. Bill does not know up and down on a football field.”

I studied her for a while. “You are not on friendly terms with Jason`s father?”

I immediately regretted asking her that question because her whole body stiffened. I was about to apologize for it when she opened her mouth to answer.

“He`s a shit. He was very charming when I met him and when we dated, but he has treated me as if I destroyed his life on purpose ever since I told him I was pregnant. I mean, I was on the pill so it wasn`t exactly a planned pregnancy. It`s just one of those blows life gives you.” She looked at the door to the room where Jason was sleeping. “And then it turned out not to be a blow, but a blessing. Even Bill loves being a father. He just wants everything on his terms and it gets very annoying after a while.”

“I can imagine. I mean, it must be hard on you, but it`s great that you try your best to make sure Jason can have a relationship with his father. My father just split one day and I`ve never seen him again.”

“Really?” She seemed shocked. “How can anyone do that to a child? I mean, Bill would probably have loved to have bailed out on me and Jason before Jason was born, but not now. Bill can be a pain in the ass and have his priorities all wrong, but he would never just leave.”

“Yeah well, my father and I went to the football games together and one day he just wasn`t there. So I started going by myself.” I wasn`t really sure why I was telling Sookie this, but somehow it seemed important.

“How old were you?” Sookie looked sad now and that was definitely not the mood I wanted her to be in. But I couldn`t stop myself.

“I was thirteen.”

Suddenly I felt Sookie`s hand in mine.

“I`m sorry,” she said. “If Bill ever does something like that to Jason, I`ll hunt him down with a very slow kitchen knife.”

She looked so determined, I had to smile. And then I pulled at her arm so that she came closer to me. I wanted to kiss her and apparently she wasn`t a stranger to the thought because soon our lips touched and we kissed each other deeply. Our tongues soon came out to play and I couldn`t help my hands from roaming over her back and down to her butt.

I wanted her so much just then it hurt. The pain both came from my pants that suddenly were way too tight, but also from somewhere inside me. I really wanted Sookie, all of Sookie.

I pulled her closer and she soon straddled my lap, which didn`t make my pants any more comfortable, but it felt so good having her there. I still had both my hands on her butt and started to nudge a little which made her do exactly what I wanted her to do. She ground her pelvis into me, making me feel her warm body just where I wanted to feel it.

I moaned and my dick was on full alert when she moaned too.

I could have stayed in that position forever if it hadn`t been for one thing. We were wearing way too many clothes. I started pulling her Hammarby-shirt off and was thrilled when I saw that her bra was Hammarby-green.

I left her mouth and started kissing my way down her neck and chest and ended up at those lovely, bouncing, non-silicone-enhanced breasts. I kissed and licked and loved her taste and the feeling of her warm breast.

I was awarded with the sweetest little sound from Sookie when I started sucking on her nipple through her bra. It made me want more and my hands found the clasp on her back and opened it to rid her breasts of their constriction.

Suddenly Sookie pulled back.

“I don`t think it`s a good idea, Eric,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” My voice was heavy.

“I can`t sleep with you.” She pulled back further.

I was stunned. “Why not?” I asked, but she just shook her head and bit her lip.

“Is it the season ticket? Because I`m more than willing to forget the whole bet if that is the reason.” I was surprised at myself for saying that, but even more surprised at her reaction.

She pulled back and sat next to me on the couch. “No, it`s not the freaking ticket. Do you know how stupid I feel to be wined and dined because of a seat at Söder Stadium?”

“Maybe just half as stupid as I felt wining and dining and actually liking you and then finding out that you didn`t even bother to tell me important stuff like the fact that you have a son.” I was getting angry.

I still held on to her with one hand, which was good because she looked as if she was about to walk away. I didn`t want her to leave until we had finished this talk.

She glared at me. “Why is that seat so important to you anyway?”

That ended all my anger and sorrow filled my body instead. I looked away. “That was where I used to sit when my father took me to see the game.”

It was as if her temper was a candle and I had just blown it out. She took my hand.

“Oh, I`m sorry.”

“Yeah, but I mean, I have to move on, right? You taking the seat was probably a good thing, though it didn`t feel that way when I saw you sitting there.”

“No, you looked furious,” she smiled.

“I was. I first thought I could charm you into trading places with me and then you turned out to be the first girl I couldn`t win over with a smile.” I pulled her a little closer.

“Once bitten, twice shy, you know. After Bill I swore I would never touch another Stureplan-guy.”

I pulled her into a kiss again. This time it was tentative and gentle.

“So Bill is the reason why you don`t want to sleep with me now?” I whispered between kisses.

She looked me in the eyes and I suddenly became aware of the blueness of hers.

“I want to sleep with you, but it will just be sleeping,” she offered.

“Sleeping is fine with me, but please tell me what you are afraid of?” I asked.

She blushed again. “The last time I had sex, I ended up getting pregnant. I love Jason with all my heart, but he came at the wrong time in my life. I don`t want to repeat my mistakes. If I get pregnant again it`s with a guy I`m in a relationship with and after we have agreed to have children.”

I stared at her. “You haven`t had sex in five years?” I gasped before I could stop myself.

“Six, actually. And thank you for making me feel like a freak. I`m sure that your sexlife is way over average and I don`t think that`s any better,” she said with a little venom in her voice.

I pulled her closer. “I`m sorry. I`m sure that the number of sexpartners you and I have had is pretty much standard. If we add them together and divide by two, that is,” I smiled.

“I have a feeling the number will still be high.”

“It might,” I smiled and kissed her. “But I`ve heard that quality is more important than quantity.”

“Is that so?” she teased.

“I have no idea because I never went for quality before I met you,” I whispered into her neck.

She swatted my shoulder. “You`re a cheap flatterer.”

“That may be so, but it`s still the truth.”

And then we kissed again.

I had somehow gotten the message through to my dick that tonight was all about kissing and cuddling. My dick didn`t believe me and tried to argue, but after a while it felt just fine kissing Sookie without the prospect of sex.

We ended up sleeping together and since both of us had forgotten our pajamas (I mean what red-blooded Swede uses clothes at night?) we slept in our underwear and Hammarby-shirts. It was the best night I had had in a long time.

Xxxxx

I was nervous before our tenth and final date.

We had had a lot of fun in Gothenburg. Jason got to try all the joyrides in Liseberg and I got to walk around with Sookie hand in hand. I hadn`t walked hand in hand with a girl in ages.

On the way home in my car, Sookie and I talked about everything and nothing. And this time she really opened up. I got to know more about how tough it was for her to be a single mother at the age of 21, about how Hammarby had been her only escape from all the worries, about her studies to become a librarian and her dreams of the future.

I told her about what my club meant to me and how important Hammarby was to me and that those were the two only really important things in my life because I had a problem committing to friendships or relationships.

I told her I envied her Jason and she laughed and said she had often envied the Stureplan-people their carefree and fun life.

But now I was nervous about our last date because this time I had no control. Sookie had told me she wanted to arrange it and I was to meet her at her apartment at seven sharp.

I was there five minutes early and couldn`t help laughing when I saw that she was only halfway dressed and her hair was still wet from the shower.

“That`s the way it is when you have kids,” she said while trying to get a stubborn Jason to brush his teeth.

I pushed her gently aside and took over the toothbrush after having asked Jason if it was ok with him. He gave me a smile that made my heart swell. So I, very awkwardly, brushed his teeth while Sookie blow-dried her hair. I couldn`t help catching glimpses of her in her bra, acting all natural with me there and I liked it. I felt included in her little family.

When Jason was fast asleep Sookie told me she had planned on making a great dinner, but she had suddenly had to pick up Jason at the kindergarten because Bill had made other plans.

“So you`ll have to settle for shrimp,” she said.

“As it happens, I love shrimp,” I smiled.

We went into the living room and she lighted so many candles I was afraid the fire department would come running, and then we sat down and peeled shrimp while talking and laughing. We drank beer since Sookie hadn`t had time to run by Systembolaget for wine.

“I`m really sorry,” she said when she poured the last beer. “I was planning on making up for all those great dates you have taken me on by cooking you a nice meal, and here we are eating shrimp and drinking beer. I guess you`re happy this is the last date with a stressed out single mother.”

I looked at her with surprise. “It doesn`t have to be the last date unless you want it to be,” I said and was very pleased to see her smile.

I pulled her into my lap and started kissing her. Having her so close to me almost took my breath away and I sent loud and clear messages to my balls that they would have to accept the color blue tonight because this was way too important to have my dick overrule my better judgment.

I was in the middle of thinking about the North Pole and ice cold winters to cool myself down from the heat erupting between Sookie and me when she suddenly surprised me by standing up and taking my hand.

“I think we should continue this in the bedroom,” she said.

“Are you sure?” I asked, though my dick shouted at me to shut up.

“I`m sure as long as you wear a condom.”

I laughed. “I never leave home without it.”

We kissed all the way into the bedroom and by some magic trick, most of our clothes had disappeared on the way too. I unclasped her bra and had my mouth on her breast when we landed on her bed.

She moaned when my hand went into her panties and to her promised land. I let my fingers stroke her up and down and my dick hardened even more at how wet she was.

I let a finger sneak its way inside her, but felt her stiffen for a moment so I pulled my finger back.

She looked at me. “I just remembered that this is the first time since I gave birth. Maybe I`m too…” She stopped and blushed.

“I`m sure you`ll be just perfect,” I said while kissing her lips and then her neck while letting my fingers play a little more.

My kisses moved down her body and when I came to her panties, I lifted them off and dived down between her legs. I moaned at the sweet nectar she had waiting for me and started licking and sucking lightly. Sookie moaned and spread her legs even wider and after a few minutes I was rewarded with Sookie first stiffening and then bucking hard against my lips while screaming so loudly I was almost afraid Jason would wake up.

I kissed her inner thigh and removed my rather wet boxer shorts. My dick had enjoyed the show and had made sure there was enough fluid for the sex that was to follow. Not that there would be any use for it because soon I had my dick all wrapped up in one of the condoms I had brought.

I kissed Sookie again while situating myself between her legs.

“Are you sure?” I asked, knowing that I would have had to commit hara-kiri if she had said no at this point.

“I`m sure!”

I sank slowly into her, stretching her and feeling her warmth and the small contractions around me. If she was afraid giving birth to Jason had made her large or loose, I could refute that entirely. We fit each other perfectly and I enjoyed it so much when she sheathed me to the hilt, I groaned into her neck.

I pulled out slowly and back in a little faster. Sookie met my movements, her legs crossed around my back.

I soon started seeing stars and knew I was close, but I tried to think about ice cubes and igloos because I really wanted her to come before I did. This was so good and so hot and it would be so perfect if we both came.

I grabbed her butt and tilted her hips slightly, earning me a loud moan from Sookie when I pushed a little harder into her. I repeated it a few times and soon I was so close, I could have had all the icebergs in the world running down my spine and I would not have been able to hold back.

My movements became more frantic, my sounds louder, but so were the moans from Sookie and suddenly her nails scraped down my upper arms while she roared out her orgasm. It was every man for himself and I jumped out in the most mind-blowing orgasm I had had in years, if ever.

I collapsed on top of her, having no power to keep myself on my arms. All those hours in the gym meant absolutely nothing. I was spineless, muscle-less and absolutely numb from ecstasy.

It took me a few minutes to regain the use of my body and my voice. I pulled out of her, throwing the condom in the wastebasket she had next to the bed. I laid back and pulled her to lie on my chest.

“Wow,” I said since that was the only word that sprang to mind.

“Yeah, wow,” she said and then we both laughed lazily.

After ten minutes of quietly stroking each other`s skin and hair, she pulled back and took something from her nightstand and gave it to me. I immediately recognized it as a season ticket, row 6 seat 9.

“I want you to have this,” she whispered.

“But the bet is off. I told you so in Gothenburg.” I kissed her shoulder.

“I know. But I still want you to have it. It means something to you, it doesn`t mean anything to me.”

“So you would stand behind all my 195 centimeters during every game because that seat means something to me?” I asked.

She laughed a little. “See, I have found a solution. I talked to the guy who has row 6 seat 8 and he was perfectly fine with sitting behind you. If you recall, he is rather tall himself.”

I remembered the 2 meter tall guy Sookie had had next to her at every game this season and nodded.

“So you get his ticket, he gets mine and I get yours?” I asked.

“A perfect solution, don`t you think?”

“So it would seem,” I smiled and gave her a kiss.

She looked at me.

“You don`t seem pleased?” she asked.

“Oh, I`m pleased. I`m very pleased. It`s just…” I teased her.

“What?”

“I also talked to the guy in row 6 seat 8 and I bought him another season ticket and got his.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I wanted you to be able to bring Jason along,” I smiled.

I was pretty sure I heard a gasp, but when I looked at her, she was all teary and smiling.

“Oh Eric,” she whispered.

“I only have one condition,” I said.

“And that is?” I almost drowned in the questions she had in her blue eyes.

“That this is not our last date,” I answered and kissed her deeply.

She broke free from the kiss and laughed. “You have a deal. But then I have a condition myself.”

“OK?” I kissed the tip of her nose.

“That you start using a different color in self-tanner.” She laughed so hard, I couldn`t help tickling her just to see if she could laugh even louder.

“You know,” I answered. “I may just stop self-tanning all together.”

The End

---

A/N:

I hope you liked this story! If you did – please give Miss Construed some praise too, since she was the one who opened her purse and made it come true.

Go read her stories. She has three ongoing stories and I can`t even decide which one I like the most – her cowboy-story, her James Bond-story or the one with Alcide (yes, you heard me – I never thought I would read and LOVE an Alcide-story, but I do).

So what did you think of Stureplan-Eric with orange skin?