Page 20 of Slick Handling

It was a match made in hell.

I managed to avoid them for longer than a polite hello at the next couple socials until I didn’t anymore.

Bryce was drunk and Orion was stupid. When Jen lured me to the bathroom asking me for help with her dress I had gone to help her fix it since I figured she knew about my sewing skills. I hadn’t expected Orion to pick me up and hold me so my neck was bared for Bryce to bite.

If I hadn’t been wearing my hair up I wouldn’t have been able to throw my head back and manage to stab him in the eye with one of the adornments that had been in my updo. He screamed, letting me fall. An opportunity which Bryce jumped on, pinning me to the ground as he lurched towards my neck.

That’s when Gracie had kicked him in the teeth and saved me. Making her my hero and thrusting us into a friendship that had her bringing me home and saving my life.

“Where did you go, baby weed? Your scent is all wrong.” The low rasp of Griffin’s voice brings me back.

He hates me. I try to remind myself thinking about how he reacted when his friend was in rut.

But he did kiss me too.

Alpha’s are very confusing.

“Calm down. Breathe with me. Ready? In your nose, out your mouth. Now in your mouth and out your nose.” He switched it up, his gloved hand going to my stomach to focus on my breathing.

I don’t know if it was the actual breathing or the extra touches that did it but it made me sigh out in relief.

Maybe he wasn’t a bad guy after all.

“Up we go.” McKinley was waddling towards me like the State Puff Marshmallow Man. He thrust his stick toward someone and picked me up before Griffin could even complain, “Did you see all my saves, little Omega? I like having you watch me play. It’s very good motivation. You’re going to need to come to all the games. You need a new jersey though. 13 isn’t your number.” He teases me but I still see Griffin scoff.

I feel like people look him over a lot and I get that. I know what it’s like to feel see through

“Thirteen is my current favorite number.”

Griffin pulls off my helmet and his as he sits down in the locker room with a sigh. His gloves already got taken to be placed on a drying rack between periods.

McKinley vanished to go to the bathroom and as I look to where he’s supposed to be a hand slides around my waist pulling me in close to him.

“Goalies are weird. Don’t think about him or what he’s doing. Just focus on me.” His fingers slid down my jaw, pulling me in closer to him, “Was I really your first kiss, Clover baby? Vaughn didn’t take some when he was marking you up with his pretty little love bites.” His thumb presses against the bruise making me whimper from the feeling.

I nod at him to confirm he was my first and Griffin smiles at that, tugging me so our fronts are against each other. Even though he’s sitting down we’re still the same height.

He’s so warm. Broad and safe. The way he smells is all comfort and goes against the way that he’s been acting.

Alphas are usually over six feet and Griffin oozes that Alpha mentality. He’s confident and built with muscles. Handsome and not afraid of using that.

He should feel more dangerous. Especially after yesterday when he was mean to me during Vaughn’s rut. But I think he was just trying to protect his friend at the moment. I can appreciate someone trying to protect someone they care about. It takes a special sort of person to be that strong.

“Are you mad at me?” His eyes flash at my questions and he sighs.

Instead of giving me an answer he is leaning in and he scents me. Marking me with his Christmas scent and making me calm down as the spices roll over me. There’s something else in his scent that is sharp but I don’t recognize it.

I don’t question it either because it’s like being hit with a weighted blanket as he marks me.

Being marked feels special.

It feels so intimate to have your scent mixed with someone else’s. The fact he is in the middle of a hockey game, smelling stronger makes it feel even better.

“I’m just not ready for you.” He says it so softly, his lips on my forehead before I’m swooped up into arms and pulled away before I can ask what he means.

What does it mean that he’s not ready for me? I’m right here.

A nose rubs against me as McKinley hums in approval.

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