Page 51 of Slick Handling

What would I do?

“Fuck,” Griffin curses as the bench collectively sigh out in disappointment. My eyes go to our net where McKinley is smacking his stick against the post.

There are five seconds left in the game.

A game we had just lost.

The Omega’s fault.

“She’s a bad luck charm.” I gasp out and Griffin looks at me like I’ve officially lost my mind.

We.Lost. The. Game.

She washere.

Bad luck charm.

The staring between us comes to an end as he shakes his head, like I’ve officially lost my mind.

“Look, I know that I wasn’t on board with the whole-”

“You call her a weed. You barked at her. You-”

“Had a screwed view on everything.” He interrupts as the buzzer sounds to end the game officially, “You’re starting to spiral, Vaughn. Do you want to talk about it?” His eyes are soft, compassionate.

His broken Alpha friend.

The one who cried so much for weeks in his arms. The Alpha who wasn’t strong enough to handle a little bit of heartbreak. The Alpha who is letting his team down. Letting my pack down.

I’m a failure.

Terry saw I was a failure. That’s why she had wanted to be with a real Alpha.

My eyes close, as I rock back and forth. My head is leaning against the shaft of my stick. Letting it knock into my helmet as I try to not spiral out like Griffin said.

A hand slides around my waist, hoisting me up and leading me away from the stadium sounds. Hands gently tugging off my equipment and leading me to the showers. Hands rubbing my neck as I lay against a shoulder and cry.

Who could love an Alpha like me?

I don’t even like who I am anymore. They’re going to lose the Omega to a pack who deserves her. With real Alpha’s.

“Hey,” Mick’s voice is soft. The towel he wraps around me as Griff leads me from the shower feels just as soft. “We’re with you, Vaughn. You know that, right?” He’s toweling off my hair. Gently taking care of me and trying to ground me.

Most people would be embarrassed about breaking down like this. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first spiral this season.

That had been the first game of the season. The game my dad came to and tried to talk to me. The problem was I saw him and Terry in the crowd before he ever tried to come to talk to me.

It had ended up a lot like this.

“You said you’d leave the pack to go to her.” I whisper out. Griffin wraps his arms around me and I nuzzle into his neck. His scent calms me down.

It reminds me of home with all the spices mixed in. His hand steadies me there as he marks me with the warm scent of him.

“I’m not going to leave the pack because we’re going to keep Clover. You remember Clover, right? The one who tried to comfort you during a rut when she didn’t even know you? The Omega who you jizzed over for days in your room. Clover, the perfect Omega for our pack. You know our pack. Apollo, Griffin, Me, and you. Always us.” He squeezes the back of my neck.

Always us.

There was a lot of comfort in his words.

---