Page 39 of Knot Your Rebel

I will not tolerate assholes, which is why I have to get this locked down with Tate now before it escalates.

I'm going to avoid thinking about how much the thought of disobeying him turns me on. Shifting, I squeeze my thighs together at the mere ache between my legs, reminding me that he could be very useful in helping with this problem. He’s not even my fated mate, I chide myself.

What happens now if I find him? My thoughts explode in a kaleidoscope of Drake images. Why does my mind always slip back to him when the word mate comes up? It has to mean something, right?

I sigh softly.

Tate Geekies has me all messed up in the head, and I’m pretty sure he loves it. A small part of me likes it, too. I’ve never felt this madly wanted, like if he doesn’t have me he’ll go utterly insane.

As if he just realizes it, Tommy reaches over to try and grab the box from my hands. “Let me carry this for you.” He eyes the box of cameras suspiciously but keeps all the comments to himself.

“Thank you, but I’m okay. Just returning these to one Tate Geekies…”

He smiles at the snort Nova doesn’t manage to conceal. “Oh… well, Tate’s out on the ice practicing right now.”

A big smile crosses my lips. “Perfect, then we’ll be able to sneak in and sneak out without being seen.”

Nova makes an obvious nod, looking down the hall behind me. “Tommy, anyone down in the locker rooms right now?”

He glances down at his watch, then into the room behind him. “Shouldn’t be. Unless housecleaning is down there, but I just picked up all the laundry for the week to start on.”

We say our goodbyes to Tommy and head down the hall. The brisk feeling of cold from the ice seeps into the pores of the arena’s basement area, and a chill scrambles for purchase up my arm.

The door to the locker room barges open, hitting into the wall with one press of Nova’s hand. The thunk seems loud in the almost too quiet space. The locker room is everything I imagined it would be. There’s a musky odor hanging in the air like an amalgamation of dirty socks, grungy pads, and ball sweat. Yet, there’s also a light lingering scent of where someone may have potentially tried to just bathe in cologne versus showering earlier.

I cringe at the thought. Guys used to do that in school and always thought we didn’t know they stink, hiding behind the fake facade of spray.

In the narrow, locker-lined room, there really isn’t much to see besides the blue tile leading into where I’m assuming the showers are located. Wheeled baskets sit around the room for soiled laundry items. A few lockers hang open where someone carelessly forgot to close them. Uniforms are hung from cubbies in no particular manner. Some hang nicely and others look like they’ve had much better days.

It’s surprisingly clean for a bunch of adult alpha males.

My eyes trace over the name tags on the cubbies - Sanders, Ellis, Morgan, Vlasik, and then Geekies. I’m walking towards them before stopping and lifting my hand at his cubby to run my fingers over the raised print of his name and number.

Why doesn’t this feel wrong? Why doesn’t it feel like my world is ending? There’s gotta be something here, right? I don’t plan on having any Stockholm Syndrome – went and fell in love with my captor type of omega – anytime soon.

I let the name Vlasik slip from my lips. Why does that name sound so familiar? I can’t place it, and now it will bother me for the remainder of the day. Cause that’s just how life tends to pan out these days.

Shouts and voices hit our ears coming down the hall. “We need to get a move on, Rebel, because I promise, you may want to see those alpha cocks, but you will not live it down. And I’m fairly positive your mate would have something to say about you seeing his teammates cocks.”

I laugh, and then slap my hand over my mouth, eyes bouncing wide before wiggling indecently. “Don’t tempt me with such glorious ideas. You know I have no self control sometimes.”

“Babe, I’m not sure Tate is someone you can just mess with and not expect consequences from… I’ve heard the water cooler talk about him and, yeah. Let’s just say he’s more bite than bark, if you catch my drift..

“Real comforting, Nova.” I roll my eyes.

“Come on, we gotta go,” she insists again as the voices trail even louder and closer. I drop the box of cameras in Tate’s cubby and attach the cute note I wrote before leaving the house. He’ll know exactly who left these here.

A smile broadens my face as I think about the reaction Tate will have, and it makes me almost wish I could stay to see it, but I need time away from him.

She grabs my hand, and she’s pulling me out of the locker room and into an alcove to the left of it. We’re secluded just in time to watch as three massive hockey players head into the locker room, chirping at each other and talking about their plans for later.

“Okay, let’s go. Need to run up to the hockey development department. I want you to meet my boss.” She smiles, and then turns to leave.

“Nova!” I whisper-shout at her, but she doesn’t seem to listen. It’s not because she can’t hear me. Kid has ears like a bat. Nerves strike up a chorus in my veins and blood starts to pump along with the beat. I’m running my hands through my hair, nervously trying to make sure it's presentable. Nova knows I hate surprises. But she also knows that if she didn’t take me while I was here, the chance I’d come back on my own is slim.

I’m chasing after her, our feet sounding like a scream in the middle of the night.

“Nova! I’m not dressed to meet anyone. What are you trying to pull?” I admonish her, but my tone comes out scattered.

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