Page 5 of Mine

We sat down at the same time, not taking our eyes off each other until the waitress set down his food. This little shit thought he could intimidate me, but when he looked up at me, he smirked with that stupid adorable dimple. You’d have to be blind not to realize he was a good-looking man. That was the worst part of arguing with this kid, he was distracting and damn him for being so fucking good looking. He would look great on his knees too.

It wasthe third period with ten minutes left, and we were down by two. I was skating as fast as I could, chasing the puck, as we had an advantage. I hit it to Webber as I came around the net, he passed it to Gomez, and I was completely open. I had a clear shot and he panicked as he passed it to me, and overshot it.

Philly got the puck, shot it down the rink and before we knew it, they had scored again. I was fuming as we did a line change and it took everything I had not to say something to Gomez. I chugged some water, watching Philly take control of the puck again and again, antsy to get back out there again.

“Riggs, Webber and Gomez.” Coach called out our names and I was waiting for the others to return. As soon as they got close, I took off, seeing a perfect opportunity to take the puck, hoping one of these fuckers saw what I was doing. I stole the puck, almost slamming into another player, when I saw Webber open and flicked it his way.

Two guys were on me as I skated to Webber who passed it to Gomez and it was like I saw the hit in slow motion. He got knocked back so hard, he ended up on his back. Webber was closer than I was, pushing the guys back and Gomez didn’t get up right away.

“What the fuck was that?” I yelled, recognizing a guy as Trevor, one of the defensive players on my old team.

“He’s just being a pussy,” he said, and I saw Gomez launch himself at Trevor.

He got a hit in, knocking Trevor’s helmet off and they went at it, but Gomez was throwing punches like his life depended on it. I saw the other defenseman coming close and I shook my head at him, but secretly hoped he started shit so I could get in on it. I was in a shit mood and I could use an outlet.

The refs pulled Gomez and Trevor away, who had a busted lip. They were both sent to the penalty box and even though I was still irritated with Gomez, I clapped his back, respectinghis throwdown. He shrugged me off, not even looking at me. The urge to say something was at the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it down.

The rest of the game was awful, and we didn't score again. Someone pushed me into the boards right before the game ended, making my shoulder ache. I was pissed off at our lack of cohesiveness as I yanked my helmet off. I thought by now we would have gotten a little better instead of floundering around like we were all rookies.

I needed food, but the trainer pulled me aside to sit in an ice bath. I knew it was good for me, but I fucking hated sitting in an ice bath. I saw the trainers inspecting Gomez. His back was bruising badly; the sight of it made me wince, knowing he was going to feel that tomorrow. Taking a deep breath, I sat in the ice as I heard a groan.

Gomez's face was red as the doctor moved his arm around. They spoke for a few minutes before they sent him to sit in the ice bath next to me. He had a scowl on his face as he sat down. I wanted to ask him how he was feeling when he growled, “Not tonight, Riggs, I don’t need your bullshit tonight.”

I scowled. I was going to be nice but screw him.

“Well… too bad because you played like fucking shit,” I snapped, getting up as the trainer came over, giving me a disapproving look.

“Fuck you, Riggs. You don’t play perfect, so get off that high horse and fucking come down to reality,” he growled, looking down my body like he was checking me out.

“I like it better up here where I can look down on you,” I clipped with a smirk, as he realized I caught him checking me out or at least I thought he was because I was pretty fucking sure Gomez was straight.

“Fuck you,” he snarled, leaning back and closing his eyes.

“Nah, you're not my type,” I said, grabbing my towel, seeing his cheeks turn pink.

He glared at me before leaning back and closing his eyes again. I don’t know why we were always at each other's throats. Now that I had caught him checking me out, a part of me wanted to see him do it again even though I really didn’t fucking like him.

3

Romeo

My body was still sore from the game in Philly two days ago as I was walking into a practice that they promised would be light. I got out of my Jeep, a little stiff as I walked to our practice rink with a protein shake and my bag.

A few guys had arrived early like me. Cap was walking ahead of me with Riggs, and I had the urge to throw my protein shake at him for being such an insufferable asshole. I got enough shit at home about my performance from my father. The last thing I needed was to get it from my teammates. I realized my game had been off, playing for the big leagues was not what I had expected and the pace was so very different. I was not prepared for this, even though I thought I was.

As I got closer to the entrance, I spotted our social media manager, Valencia, with her camera out and a notepad. She smiled at Webber, who I know was sweet talking her, and I was glad I got to admire her without interruption. Valencia was fucking gorgeous. She was hot from her dark curly hair with blue tips, her hazel eyes that spoke volumes even when she was silent to that body. She was curvy, with thick thighs, and a nice round ass that I’d love to bite into.

Her laugh pulled me out of my fantasy as I saw her looking at Riggs with appreciation. A scoff left my lips before I could stop it. It was loud enough that Riggs turned around, raising his eyebrow in question and I looked away before I said or did something stupid.

“Hey, Gomez!” Valencia turned her gaze to me.

“Hey, Florida,” I said, giving her my best smile. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m great! Well… so I need a favor,” she said, looking nervous between Cap, Riggs, me and whoever was behind me.

“What can I do?” I asked, feeling a little disappointed that she wasn’t just asking me for the favor.

“I know next weekend you have a day off, but I was hoping you guys could help me out for a few hours,” she said quickly. “The local kids hospital wants to do a Trunk or Treat, but instead of transporting the kids, we are bringing local players to them, since a lot of them can’t really leave.”

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