Ginger paused as she came out of the bedroom. Already a month into the semester, and Baljeet and Buford were both sitting at the kitchen table working on their homework. (Studious - number four on the list.) She'd been surprised at how hard Buford was willing to work on his classes; he had said that the coach expected scholarship players to keep up their grades, and without his scholarship, Buford couldn't stay in college. His mother had thrown him out on his eighteenth birthday, unwilling to further support him and what she'd termed his horrendous lifestyle with Baljeet.

Ginger gave Baljeet a kiss, said, "I love you. See you tonight," and then grabbed her backpack to go to class.

Baljeet smiled and said, "I love you too."

Buford looked up and said, "Hey, where's mine?"

Ginger paused, smiled, and gave Buford a deep kiss before heading out the door to the shocked looks of both men.

Baljeet pulled against the ropes as Ginger tied his wrists to her bed.

"So did you like kissing Buford today?" he asked.

Ginger smirked at him. "What, did I make you jealous?"

"...I'm not sure," he said.

"If you want, I won't do that again. Or if you want, I will. He didn't seem to mind."

"It's nice to see you two getting along," Baljeet said hopefully.

Finished tying, she lay next to him and stroked his chest. "I suppose I could invite him in now. He might like to watch. I've noticed him checking me out at the gym."

Baljeet's eyes were wide as she straddled him.

She leaned down and kissed him. "Maybe some other time. Right now, I want you to myself."

Buford curled up in Baljeet's arms. "You must really love me," the bigger man said.

"Yes, I do. Why do you say that?"

"Here you are, spendin' the night in here with me when there's a drop-dead gorgeous woman lyin' next door who'd gladly spend every night with you."

Baljeet laughed. "What, you think Ginger is attractive? You have not mentioned this before."

"Dude! You've seen what her ass looks like in those yoga pants. Half the reason I run behind you guys is to check it out."

"It is indeed a very fine ass."

"The other half is to check yours out, you know," Buford smiled.

"For some reason, I am not surprised."

The first home hockey game of the season was against Quad-State University, TSU's arch-rivals. Baljeet and Ginger had gotten season tickets near the TSU bench. Ginger thought it felt odd to be wearing the red-and-white of Tri-State University instead of the blue-and-gold of University of Danville, but she had to show her support for Buford.

TSU scored a quick goal, Jack getting the assist, and pushing and shoving after the goal led to offsetting penalties. The referees tried to keep the game under control, but it quickly became obvious that both teams wanted to settle some old scores. Buford, as one of the larger defensemen, got a lot of ice time to act as protector for the offensive players.

Toward the end of the second period, with the score tied at two, a scuffle along the boards led one of the Quad-State players to try to start a fight with Buford. The gloves were dropped and helmets knocked aside as they slugged it out.

Another fight nearby knocked another TSU player over, and he hit Buford in the back of the knees. Buford flipped over, landing on the ice with the back of his head. He didn't get up again, and was soon surrounded by coaches and medical staff.

Short chapter tonight - I'll make it up for it tomorrow with a double post, chapter 7 and the epilogue.