Danny wasn't surprised to find a girl waiting for him after the game against the Celtics; there were girls after every game, in every city, for almost all of his teammates. Stephanie had commented that it was just about the only thing they had in common. There were more of them now that Maria had broken up with him and some of the details had become public. More to the point, several of the more professional groupies saw this as a chance to add him to their collection, since the loyalty he had shown to Maria was clearly no longer in the picture. He'd made careful choices, and he could spot the gold-digging baby mama wannabes from a mile away; while he wouldn't mind a couple of kids to rough house with, the NBA rookie scale was barely enough for him to take care of himself and bank a little for the future, just in case things went terribly horribly wrong and he had to use his UConn degree to support himself.

There was something unusual about this particular girl, and after a few moments, he figured out what it was. Most groupies were not six feet tall. Even slouched, she was eye to eye with him. After a second look at her, he realized that she was mocking him. Somehow, though, that piqued his interest even more. At least she had a sense of humor. And she was pretty enough in a pale sort of way, with glow-in-the-dark white skin and blonde hair. Normally he preferred brunettes, but thoughts of Maria weighed heavily on his mind, and a dark-haired girl would only serve to remind him of the mistake he had made with her.

Approaching the blonde, he said, "You here for an autograph?"

"Among other things," the girl replied in a sweet voice laced with enough sultriness that her intentions were painfully clear. "You've got good hands on the court. I'd love to know whether they're just as good off the court."

It wasn't the first time he'd heard that line, but the way she said it was just slightly different, although he couldn't put his finger on how. Still, it remained a good line, so he offered her his photogenic smile and said, "Then let me show you." He stepped out into the street and hailed a taxi, and by sheer luck, there was a car in the vicinity. Things always did have a knack for working out the way Danny wanted, and he saw in the girl's eyes that she was more impressed than she wanted to admit, which puzzled him; if she was waiting outside an arena for sex, how much pride could she have in how she appeared emotionally? She should have been fine revealing whether she was overawed or not.

But Danny tended not to think about these things too much, and though he watched her carefully throughout the ride, he was more intrigued by her composed, wintry good looks and the toned curve of her long legs. She might be skinny, but the way she had moved and the way she was built made Danny think that she could go a lot longer than seemed apparent at first glance. He grinned at her, eliciting a sly smile in response.

He crossed paths with Shawn, who was escorting out a brunette with a substantial booty and three-inch nails. Danny laughed and rolled his eyes. "Quality, not quantity, ese!" he called back, and Shawn flipped him the bird without stopping.

"I'm flattered," the girl replied in a low voice. She cast him a look through her lashes, and looking into her eyes, he was struck by how blue they were: intense, brilliant, worthy of several clichéd descriptions that, being clichéd, he would not drag out to flirt with her. He did have standards, after all, and Danny Taurasi prided himself on never using a tired line without very good reason.

Taking her flirtation as a hint, he put his arm around her waist, letting his hand drop just slightly to touch and squeeze. She giggled and replied in kind, except that she slipped her hand into his pants, and the touch of bare skin against bare skin sent fire through his veins. Oh, she knew what she was about, this girl, and he loved every second of it.

By the time they reached the elevator, he was half-hard. By the time they got out of the elevator, her shirt was mostly unbuttoned and both of them had suspiciously loosened pants. He pinned her against the wall of the corridor, his hips trapping her in place as their mouths came together hungrily. Instinct kept him balanced as he used one hand to steady himself while the other kneaded the back of her neck. She moaned low in her throat and melted against him, and only the vague awareness that horizontal would be a better position caused him to pull back and fumble for the room key.

As soon as they were in the hotel room and the door was safely closed, she was upon him again, easing off his pants with one hand as she kissed him fiercely. Heart pounding, blood racing, he could only see her, and how she shone even in the dark. Kissing her mouth somehow didn't seem like enough, and the curve of her shoulder was so inviting… she gasped as he moved down the line of her jaw, along her throat, to her collarbone, lingering over her heart to hear the steady and speeding pulse. "Like that?" he asked, the pant of his breath lending his voice an unexpectedly sensual edge.

In response, her hand came down around his cock and she began stroking it rhythmically, her touch sure but gentle enough not to hurt. Generally, that was a sign that he was doing something right with the girl, so he pulled her closer to him, being sure not to dislodge her hand, and together they moved towards the bed. For once, Danny was grateful for the cheapness of the NBA; nice beds in expensive hotels might be harder to fall into from the foot the way they were now. Fuzzily, he realized that his pants had fallen off, but he approved of that; that made it easier for the girl to keep doing what she was doing. But then she stopped, which confused him until she shifted her weight and he felt her against his thighs and his chest, and she was surprisingly heavy for someone so skinny.

The fit was perfect, but the position wasn't quite right. He was careful, and she was quick on the uptake, and soon he was atop her. Every instinct yearned for release right then and there, but she groped upon the nightstand for a condom, and he understood the need for that. The brush of her fingers against his erect cock seemed to somehow make it even harder, and not using it hurt as if every nerve in his body were wired to it. Once she had sheathed him, she opened her legs and guided him into her. Relieved and all the more eager for the wait, he gave in to instinct and began thrusting. She moved in time with him, taking him deeper into herself with every moment. She was warm and soft, except for the nails that raked his back fiercely as she clutched him to her; for one crazy moment, blurred by the hormonal haze, he thought she was trying to climb inside his skin, and he thought he wouldn't have minded just as long as he was as close to her as she was to him.

Just as he thought he could go no longer, that there was nothing left to him, he released into her (or, as he would realize later, into the condom) and felt her surrender to her building climax. She whispered his name, gave a little shiver, and relaxed. He adjusted position so that he was next to her and pulled the sheet over her, worried that she might have gotten cold. "That was…" The right word wasn't coming to him, and she was starting to look at him suspiciously. "That was wonderful." His voice rang with sincerity, and she was appeased.

"Mmm, it was." She snuggled against him sleepily and murmured, "Maria was wrong 'bout you. Glad I went to see for myself."

Danny's blood ran cold. He hadn't even known it could do that so soon after sex. "Whaddya mean, Maria was wrong?"

"She's been talking shit about you in the locker room, didn't you know that? Told us all how awful you were in bed, said you were hung like an ant, said you didn't know *anything* about women… I could go on, but I know none of it is true." She smiled, dreamily tracing circles on his chest with her fingertips, but her mood changed as suddenly as the weather, and she sat up in bed. "You mean you didn't recognize me? As close as our teams are? I was only two years behind you!"

Danny, curious now, propped himself up on an elbow to study her. Only when his gaze fell on her right wrist, which was slightly more bent than it should have been, did things click. "Nikki," he said apologetically. "I should've remembered. I was at the game where you broke your wrist the second time. Damn shame- you had a helluva shot. Your hands work pretty well for other things, can I say that much?" He leered at her.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, but even in the dark, he could see her blush with pleasure. "For what that's worth," she said softly.

"Maybe the reason I didn't think of you is 'cause the last I heard, you were shacked up with Ann Strother, and Annie and I kinda have different equipment, in case you might not have noticed."

Nikki was quiet for a long moment, and Danny suspected he had hit a nerve. Finally, almost too quietly for him to hear, she said, "She found someone out in Phoenix. She doesn't give a flying fuck about me anymore. Hasn't for months."

The pieces fell together in the back of Danny's mind. Come to think of it, Stephanie had mentioned something like that when he'd last spoken to her; she'd thought he'd care for some reason. "Might make you feel better to know Penny fucks and runs."

"Found my own way of feeling better," Nikki replied, wrapping her arm around Danny's waist and pulling him closer. "Women haven't been good for me, so I thought I'd swing back to guys. I think I'll stick around for a while."

"Oh, hell no. Thanks for the sex, but find your clothes and get out! I got a roommate already, don't need another one."

Nikki rolled her eyes as she got out of bed. "I meant," she said with as much dignity as she could muster up while naked and still slightly sweaty, "that I forgot how much fun a dick could be. Now, if you're finished hustling me out of here like a cheap whore…"

"It's not like that! 'Mare thinks… well, he says that if a girl comes back to the hotel, it's part of the team bonding thing to share. Doesn't matter what the girl thinks." Danny looked away, embarrassed for his teammates. "I don't let that happen to girls, not unless they tell me they don't mind. And you're a Husky, so it goes double. Fuck-all knows where he is now, but you don't wanna be here when his ass gets back."

She nodded. Not wasting time with words, she was soon dressed and ready to go. "Maria was definitely wrong," she said. "You're as a good a guy as I remember." She smiled mischievously. "It's freezing up here in the winter. Maybe I'll try to warm up in Phoenix." As he stared at her, she leaned in and gave him a kiss that set all his senses tingling, then turned and left.

He almost called after her to stay, to take the risk that Amare would come back before the end of the night. Several excuses were forming in his head, the foremost revolving around the idea that the sex had been wonderful and he was ready for another round.

But he had to let her go.

He didn't sleep well that night at all.