# I'll Always Think of You That Way

Author: Gruffy
Tags: Doberman, Drama, Feline, Gay, Gay Relationships, Lion, M/M, Plot Development, Story Series

#11 of Hockey Hunk Season 3

Rory seems to have a knack with the hockey hunks...they keep popping up left and right!

 

** **

 

Hehhey! Welcome to the Hockey Hunk once more! We're well into season 3 now, and the story is proceeding smoothly, I hope! I feel quite inspired about the story, and I have so many ideas swimming around that it is quite the pleasure to settle down and compose yet another installment in my ongoing furry soap opera! \*chuckle\*

 

Don't forget to comment once you're done reading! All the comments are personally appreciated, and they really are the best measure of the quality of my work. I wouldn't know otherwise.

 

Have a nice read y'all,

 

and see you soon : )

 

G

 

 

 

\*

 

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hey dude!_

 

My bleary-tired eyes squinted as they fixed themselves onto the little colorful box on the right paw corner of the web browser window. A strange jolt of surprise tickled my belly and made my almost hibernating tail flop itself against the side of the couch, out of a reflex-like reaction to the general amount of tension coursing through my body. My leg remembered to give a small throb of soreness as well.

 

At least I wasn't imagining things. The box was still there, complete with the tiny picture of the lynx. It was reduced into a mass of pixels barely recognizable as Haakon, the unquestionably hunky Norwegian friend of Mason's, and, as I had learned the very hard way, the hockey buddy of my very own stick and puck-loving Dobie, Victor. Seriously speaking, I had practically forgotten that I even had him on my Facebook, considering that I had just added him out of...well...I don't know, he just seemed the sort who was friends with anyone, and since he had asked me if he could add me up, so why not? I'd gotten to see some damn nice pictures of the enigmatic herring-loving cutie as a reward, so I certainly had nothing to complain about that!

 

Of course it reminded me of the last time when I had seen him, though. The lynx had seemed to be so keen on having a good time with that wolf chick...hmm...Jessica was her name, I think, and there was Mason...of course the lynx had to barge in right in the middle of my man-date with Mason, and either it was that, or Haakon's appearance in general, that had propelled the frat wolf into mutilating the lynx's pretty muzzle. I still hadn't figured out what went on during that night, mostly since I hadn't talked with Mason after the incident, if you didn't count the drunken phone call in the middle of the night. I was in the dark on that topic, but all told, and I was honest to myself, it had been pretty much the least of my worries for the past two weeks or so. I couldn't worry about everyone else while I myself was consistently fucked up.

 

But that wasn't Haakon's world. He was young, handsome, talented and friendly. He had everything in life ahead of him, and he would probably succeed in everything he wanted to accomplish, if he put his mind and his hunkable body into it. His main worries probably revolved around studying for final exams besides wondering just how much fun he could fit into the fleeting months of summer.

 

I almost wanted  to aww.

 

His metaphysical presence was on my lap now, though, and that warranted action from me. I had no idea why he had decided to suddenly hit me up - although he would've been bound to have heard about the accident from somewhere, Mason, likely, meaning that maybe he was just being his friendly self and asking how I was doing. Having this happen in the middle of night was a bit strange, sure, but that's student life for you...you slept when you were too tried to either carry on working, or having fun.

 

Aww indeed.

 

I ordered my sleepy paws into action and slowly began to type, mindful of my splinted paw.  The keyboard of the laptop softly purring over my belly made its usual plastic clatter.

 

**_Rory Gliese_** _says: Hey!_

_ _

I tapped "Enter" and stared at the screen. I felt a sense of expectation, really, almost out of proportion with the topic at paw. It was just going to be a casual chat with a casual acquaintance who was probably simply taking the opportunity to exchange a few words with me. Maybe he was sitting alone in his dorm and bored and had nothing to do, or nobody to chat with. Maybe they weren't talking with Mason. Who knew? I didn't know. I hadn't much thought about it. I had all too acutely thought about the fact that Victor and I weren't really talking. Yeah.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Good morning Rory!_

_ _

I snuffled. He was about right on that.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _By about five minutes, yeah_

 

I frowned a little. That was such a lame response. The lynx had been having fun, and there I was, giving such a grumpy and stupid reply to his cheerful gag of a greeting.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Heheh_

_ _

I wondered whether that signaled that he knew I had failed, and now he was being polite. Talking online was always difficult...probably because I hadn't grown up doing it on a regular basis, the way Haakon and the like had obviously done. They knew all the tricks, all the smilies, and could probably read the typed text as if they'd hear their friends speaking right in front of their muzzles. It was skills that came with the new technology and modes of communication, and I was probably already beyond help in that respect. I was doomed to be the inbetweener, something who wasn't quite as savvy as Haakon and Mason and furs younger than them, but certainly not like my parents. During their childhood, the phone had been what they'd called instant messaging.

 

I had to act. I knew I had to.

 

I typed.

 

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Staying up late? ; )_

_ _

There. Rory Gliese just used a cheerful winking smiley to convey amusement at the situation.

 

I didn't have to wait too long for the response.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hah, yeah, just put my stuff away and decided to check out if anyone's still up, heh, it's my rule, no Facebook while working or nothing happens!_

_ _

Hahah.

 

Well, talk about first world problems.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Probably the same as it was for Tetris for me when I was in college._

_ _

Well, I wasn't exactly hooked on Tetris, but I certainly knew how easy it was to click on the Solitaire from the games folder and just...lose an hour doing nothing but slapping virtual cards into visual stacks and zeroing out completely on the work you were supposed to be doing for the past six hours.

 

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Awesome I still have Tetris on my phone! :)_

 

I snuffled, and smiled a little.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Heheh_

_ _

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Stupid exams : )_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _I know the feeling. I went through it all._

_ _

Spoken like a real veteran, it must've sounded like. I almost wished I had scars to show off. Well, besides the mental ones from the grueling classes that we had to endure. Haakon had probably gone through the same courses, too. Nothing had really had the time to change much during the years between my own and his schooling at the Taylor University.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Heheh, yeah, Mason keeps talking about that!_

_ _

Hmmm...at least he mentioned the wolf in a way that sounded casual enough to me. I wondered whether I should try to pry about how the wolf was doing, but also felt hesitant about it. I might get all too entangled in heaps of drama I could have stayed out of if I wasn't so intent on sticking my nosepad into places it didn't belong to.

 

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _He does?_

_ _

That sounded innocent enough. Nothing about the wolf himself, simply about me.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Sure : ) Always telling that you've given plenty of tips and like revealing secrets about the staff : )_

_ _

I chuckled softly to myself. I didn't really consider myself a big gossip, at least not in that sense, but I suppose I had sometimes let slip a few funny anecdotes about the colorful characters that formed the staff of the English department. It wasn't anything serious.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Anything to help out, sure!_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Cool! : )_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _What're you studying for?_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Uhhh...literary appreciation._

_ _

I snuffled.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Any Faulkner by any chance?_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hahah : )_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Professor Barnes is never going to change his curriculum, I bet, not now that he's got so little time left before he retires. Well, must be. Nobody really knows how old he is._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _That's what we keep saying._

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _It never changes._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Heh, no it doesn't._

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Heheh._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _But yeah, I hope it's gonna be okay. I've got pretty good hang of it now. But yeah...how're you Rory, anyway? I've been meaning to ask you for ages but I haven't really been online much lately and I only heard from Mason that you were in some accident and hurt yourself pretty badly._

_ _

He sounded quite concerned, and I wondered how much Mason knew, to begin with. I had called Marge from the hospital and told her what was going on, so she certainly knew the details of my injuries, and how long I was expected to need be off work to get better, but I wasn't sure about just how much she had told the rest of the staff back at the Albrecht Brothers. Now it sounded like she had told enough that it had made Mason sound concerned enough about me that now Haakon was concerned, too.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Well...well, I was in a car accident, did you hear about that?_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Yeah, Mason said you were in a car crash with some friend, and...yeah, I was having hockey practice last week and the USC guys said that Victor had been in a car crash, so I figured out it had to be you two guys!_

_ _

My paws stilled over the keyboard where they had been hovering, in preparedness for typing a quick reply to whatever Haakon was going to say. I felt another jolt of tension in my body.

 

"Fuck..." I hissed.

 

How could I have forgotten such a fact? Haakon KNEW Victor, at least in a manner of speaking, since it seemed that his team often played against the guys from Victor's company, and the games sometimes continued at the nearby bar. I knew enough from Victor that he didn't really personally know the lynx, at least not much, but they knew of each other. It was a small world, it seemed, and Kirk City, despite its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants certainly seemed to be small enough for serendipitous relationships such as the Mason-Rory-Victor-Haakon-Mason-Rory tangle that was evident here. He also knew that I knew Victor, and seems that he was also either smart or devious enough to count together one and two. Mason tells that Rory was in a car crash on Saturday, Haakon hears Victor was in a car crash on Saturday, Victor knows Rory, so it must've been quite clear to him. Shit!

 

I wondered whether Haakon had told Mason about his suspicions. He might have...it sounded like they were talking alright, despite the punch episode.

 

Well, the truth was nothing horrible, was it now? I had a reason why I had been in that accident. Haakon might as well get the proper information from me and not via rumors from Marge via Mason and Victor's work buddies who probably were as much in the dark as the rest of them.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Yeah, I had met Victor and Victor's brother, and we were taking Victor's brother to the train station, and Victor and I were going to have some lunch and then someone crashed on us._

_ _

That sounded good. That was what happened. Nothing more.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _That's fucking bad, Rory_

_ _

I snuffled at the sudden profanity, but couldn't help but nod in agreement, to myself.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Pretty fucking bad yeah._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _So how bad was it? Mason said something about you hurting your leg, and I heard from the USC guys that Victor got pretty badly banged up._

_ _

That was an interesting way to put it for sure.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Well I broke two fingers from my right paw and dislocated my right hip, but they fixed it right up. I need crutches for a while too and have to be careful with it for a while._

**_ _**

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Damn!_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Yeah._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Could've been much worse, though, I bet!_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Definitely. The car was totaled, I think._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Ouch. Was it Victor's car, yeah?_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Yeah._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Damn...how's Victor then?_

_ _

I wondered whether it was something Victor would consider to be confidential information, but then again, Haakon was speaking as a concerned friend.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Victor broke a few ribs and got a cut on his head, but they patched him up and he's now taking a breather at home. He's going to be fine._

_ _

At least he was fine physically, I hoped. It was a small mercy, and a hopeful thing for me to think about, while I mulled the...complex...state of the relationship between us. We still weren't talking the way I hoped us to be, after all.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _That's good to hear. Heh, the USC guys are really short of a defenseman, hah, without Victor!_

_ _

I snuffled at his thinking, but it sort of made me feel just a little bit better, too. It was good to hear that Victor had furs who relied on him, even if it was in the capacity of making their pastime game run smoothly - of course aided by his hunky presence as the tank of a Dobie who would not let anyone past him and compromise the goal. That was Victor alright.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Well I'm sure he'll be back on ice in no time_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hah, yeah, I hope! He's a nice guy to have around._

_ _

I felt a mournful twinge cross through my sleepy mindscape. It sounded like Victor was a natural in charming the furs around him, simply by being his own hunky, friendly self. I knew that he was a good man...maybe even too good, when it came to my own pile of baggage that came with my fuzzy ass. Sure, he had his own, I was sure, but at least he didn't let it ruin everything he touched, unlike yours truly.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Yeah, that's Victor._

_ _

What else could I say? Victor certainly made things seem a bit more bright, simply by appearing in his bulky person, filled with mischievous smiles and suggestive quips in the right occasions, and with nerves of steel, apparently, and most probably due to chronic Cobb exposure. I wondered whether that could give you superpowers, just like radioactive spiders could. Hmmm.

 

If only I knew what to say to him...how to sort out this shit and make things go forward again, in good, positive terms.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Well, as soon as you're up to it, you should come and see the practice again! It was cool when you came by with Victor!_

_ _

Was it ever...I almost felt sad thinking about the pre-game blowjob and the post-game rumpfest that almost wore out my poor bed back in my small apartment. And  then the shower sex...and the breakfast...and the agreement to do it again...

 

And we'd managed that even after the argument, over me not being honest with Haakon about how I knew Victor. I still felt ashamed over the fact that I had resorted to such emergency lies, considering how I should've just said that I was Victor's friend and not come up with the elaborate tale about us knowing each other since college. It was so stupid, afterwards, now, and of course, after Victor's guilt trip on me which had certainly shaken up my foundations.

_ _

Maybe it was a hopeful thought. Maybe I could sort things out now, too, once I figured out what to say, and Victor had deemed that he had had enough time to consider whether he could even look at me in the eyes again. I could understand him. I knew that's how he felt.

_ _

Ugh.

 

I rubbed my face with my paw, squeezed my eyes closed tightly, and looked at the screen again. It was half past twelve now. Well into the deep night.

 

And still we were up.

 

And the lynx was there, with expectations. I shouldn't have been moping over Victor while Haakon expected to have a nice, light chat with me. It just happened to be about Victor, as it was. The lynx didn't know that I had fucked things up with the Dobie.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Heh, well, it's a cool game when you're in there and see it happen right in front of your eyes._

 

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _You should come once to a real game, Rory! It's great! Have you been to one?_

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Can't say I have._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Dude, it's great! There are thousands of furs all chanting and with flags and shirts and facepaint and hot dogs and beer and everyone's really into it, and the game is so exciting!_

_ _

Again I was dude. Heh. Almost made me feel young again.

 

Not that I wasn't young!

 

I was! Maybe not Justin-young, or Haakon-young, but I was still young and springy and my belly didn't sag. I was okay!

 

I wish.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Sounds fun!_

_ _

It did sound fun! A whole skating rink full of possibly hunky guys, all working themselves into a frenzy over ten hunky guys on the ice, all padded up and crashing onto each other and probably grunting manly, and whenever someone scored, you all had a big group hug and patted rumps and backs and afterwards got drunk together. Wasn't that what all the locker room fantasies were spawned from? Sweaty, hot dudes taking off their clothes and confidently strutting over to the showers, taking their time to soap themselves up good. Maybe take a quick glimpse on what the guy showering by you was packing. All just normal and dude-like and careful. No homo.

 

Hah, they'd probably have to sterilize the locker room if they knew what Victor and I got up there. My sheath tingled pleasantly even despite my better judgment, considering my current state on the couch, with the computer resting over Rory Junior, too. I had to admit that it felt good that he was up to no good again, considering that it had been a while he'd gotten any proper action, besides the usual morning condition that seemed to know no sickness nor health. It just...was.

 

Thank heavens for that.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _You bet! We could all go, you, Victor, me and Mason! Make it a real guy's night out! A couple of beers before the game and then maybe something really salty to eat and then some heheh ;)_

_ _

I sighed to myself through the constricting sensation appearing in my throat. Such innocent enthusiasm in the face of adversity he didn't have any idea about. Haakon almost managed to remind me of Cobb, in a way, not that he SOUNDED LIKE THIS, but I suppose if he weighted about 40 pounds more and had a lower voice...there was no mistaking that Haakon had a sexy voice, low and purring and feline and generally something that Rory Junior always approved of.

_ _

It might be quite difficult to explain why we might not want to come, though, without resorting to excuses such as having to visit a sick aunt or something equally dubious. At least it was easy to postpone it, even when it was still theoretical, and there was the real chance that Haakon was simply being his very polite self again, offering such a joint venture between the young frat dudes and me and Victor, the oldies.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _I'll have to see about that, once I can walk properly again._

_ _

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hahah, sure. Must suck, that, too, I don't think I'd feel right if I coldn't have my morning jog!_

_ _

Oh ffff....why did he have to be such a constant source of lurid mental images? I frowned to myself at  the idea of the lynx wearing some spandex shorts and a spandex shirt, shooting down a track with his tail swishing along, a determined, if relaxed look on his face, and with that enviously firm mottled butt bulging and bouncing up and down and up and...

_ _

Rory Junior threatened to lodge itself between my belly and the computer. I decided that it would be better not to think that sort of stuff about my co-worker's presumably best friend, let alone someone Victor knew....surely the Dobie would not appreciate yet another suspicious activity on my part, no matter how harmless and only existing in my head. I wasn't going to start doing anything about it, hell no. I didn't need to, and I didn't want to. I wasn't a ravenous seducer who bagged them left and right. I just wanted...one decent enough. That wasn't so much.

 

And no matter how hot the Haakon's buns might be making me, I knew it wasn't him.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Well that sounds good! I certainly have to be getting back to shape after this is over, heh._

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _You'll get there! : =) I can give you a couple of tips if you want! And for Victor too, if he wants to do some low impact cardio, too!_

_ _

Didn't he sound ever so professional...and so tempting.

_ _

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Well, you have to ask Victor for that, heh. And thanks for the offer!_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Sure!_

_ _

Such a gentle boy, this Haakon. I couldn't help but smile a little, to myself, despite the fact that my sheathed dark crusader was behaving badly and embarrassingly, and that I was tired, and a bit messed up.

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _About that_

_ _

Hmmm.

_ _

**_Rory Gliese says:_** _Yeah?_

 

**_Haakon Kjerulf says:_** _Hope you don't mind me asking, but have you and Victor been going out since college or something? Just asking._

_ _

_ _

\*

 

Thank you for reading my story!

 

If you have any comments, don't hesitate to drop me a line or two now that you're done reading. All feedback is appreciated personally, and much enjoyed. It is the best measure of the quality of my work, after all!

 

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Cheerio, y'all,

 

see you guys soon!

 

 

 

 

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/AnKRv7am
Part of the series Hockey Hunk Season 3
Previous: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/369031-i-ll-be-looking-at-the-moon.md
Next: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/371473-that-my-heart-embraces.md