Page 22 of The Puck Player

I’m not surprised the Flyers are at the top of the league, and not just because the players are so talented, but because Alexander is so fucking huge between the goal posts, that I don’t know how any team ever scores against them. All of them are machines on the ice, but all I can do is stare in awe at how fast Alexander moves, and it’s only now that I truly understand him. Yes, he already has more money than sense, and is working towards a degree that I’m sure he sees as pointless, given how smart he is and the fact he is already running multiple businesses, but this is where his true passion lies. Right here on the ice with his team.

When the final buzzer rings out, the Flyers win five to one and the arena bursts into absolute pandemonium, and I can’t help but join them. I’m screaming and clapping with my new friends as the boys skate off the ice, and I can’t help but watchAlexander as he leaves, his smile so genuine and carefree that I’m sure my own mirrors it. Once they’re gone, the girls lead me outside to wait, and it’s even more chaotic out there.

“Is it always this crazy?” I ask them, wondering how they handle this all the time, especially with the amount of girls lingering, waiting for the players, and all of them laugh with a nod.

“Oh yeah, I’ve had a drink thrown in my face before thanks to Josh and his groupies,” Hallie replies, and my eyes widen at the drama. “But then Maddie slapped the girl in the face,” she adds, and my head swings towards Maddie, surprised at the thought of the prim and proper princess being any kind of violent.

“She deserved it,” Maddie shrugs, not seeming apologetic in the slightest, and I laugh.

We wait for what seems like forever outside the arena for the guys to shower and change, passing the time by taking pictures and recapping the game, and by the time the first one of them appears, I am starving and exhausted. Half the team laps up the attention of the waiting girls, but the other half that we’re waiting for don’t even give them more than a tip of their heads. Nova and Josh are first, followed by Archer and Daemon, and eventually Jake and Alexander.

“Are we grabbing food?” Maddie asks, and I swear Nova groans, looking as if the only thing he wants to eat is her, but it’s too late because he is suddenly outvoted.

“Oh my god, yes please, I’m starving,” Hallie replies, making Josh straighten his shoulders, already starting to move.

“I think Cal and Pen are both at the diner,” Josh says, looking between Hallie and Maddie, and the two of them nod in unison.

“Perfect, let’s go.”

On the way to the diner I learn that Maddie and Josh have a little sister named Penelope, and that her mom, Callia, works at the diner a few nights a week. Apparently the food is great andthe atmosphere is very relaxed, so it sounds like a perfect way to end the night. Once there, we all order, and then everyone starts to couple off. Archer and Daemon are of course glued to one another’s side, and the guys quickly pair off with their girls, leaving only Alexander and I going solo.

“Looks like you’ve got to have dinner with me again, love,” he teases, as we reach one of the tables and he pulls out a chair for me. The rest of the team fill out two booths, leaving us to take a table for two alone, which I can’t be sure wasn’t done on purpose by him.

“Is this how you get girls to date you? Trick them into eating meals with you,” I muse, sliding into the chair he is holding out and slipping off my jacket.

“Believe or not, Miss Callows, you are the only person I have ever had to trick into spending time with me,” he starts, dropping into the seat across from me, letting his stare drag over my bare skin. “And normally I’m the one doing the eating when I spend time with a lady,” he adds, and when his meaning washes over me, I feel the blush all the way down to my toes.

“Alexander,” I say his name in a scold, but he just chuckles, leaning back in his seat like he owns the place, and lowering his voice.

“Oh, come on now, love, I’m sure even your precious Ben has enjoyed his fair share of eating,” he grits, the words appearing as if they offend him, and I’m sure my blush shines even brighter.

My thumb fiddles with the ring on my middle finger again, as I avoid his gaze and whisper, “We’ve done nothing of the sort.”

Alexander laughs at first, no doubt enjoying my embarrassment, but when I don’t join him he sits up straighter in his seat, his eyes flicking between me and the ring in disbelief. “Wait, you’re a virgin, like with everything,” he asks, a hint of surprise, but no judgement in his tone, and I nod, flicking my eyes to our surroundings to ensure no one is listening to us.

I’m not ashamed of still being a virgin, but it’s not something I go around announcing, even with the ring I choose to wear. “It’s not a big deal,” I reply with a shrug, slowly meeting his gaze, and there is something in his eyes that wasn’t there before, something I can’t decipher.

“Fuck, Aubree, I think your god sent you to punish me for my sins,” he mutters, tipping his head back and closing his eyes tight as if pained, and for some reason my eyes track the column of his throat as he swallows thickly.

Not wanting to ask what he means about the punishment, I focus on the other thing he said. “My god?” I ask, my voice shaking slightly, as I attempt to change the subject, and when he meets my stare again, the darkness in his eyes takes my breath away.

“Yes, your god, the one you believe in,” he replies, rolling out his neck and shoulders. “I’m an atheist, the only thing I believe in is myself.”

His view is one I’ve heard before, but with him I find myself smiling as I reply, “Why doesn’t that surprise me, are you your own higher power?”

I expect that insufferable smirk of his, but he still looks pained as he responds, “We only get one life, Aubree, if we want something we have to make it happen. I’m not going to wait around for some god to decide whether I’m worthy. Not when there are people starving and dying all across the world that I can help, and I do that by believing in myself and working hard, not by praying.”

For once I have no witty response or sharp comeback, because he just made more sense in two sentences than I have ever heard in any prayer, and now I can’t help but think he isn’t only the smartest person I have ever met, but the kindest too.

Definitely worse than a heathen, indeed.

She’s a virgin. A fucking virgin. What kind of sick joke is her god playing on me? God, something I have never believed in, but now here I am, sitting across from one of his most forbidden fruits, and what? I’m not supposed to take a bite? Our conversation turns back to safer territories, as Aubree grills me about growing up in England and the places I have visited in Europe, as our food arrives, but the only thing I can focus on are those six words that blew my mind.

We’ve done nothing of the sort.

She’s a virgin, never been touched, not by her precious boyfriend or anyone else, and fuck does that make my dick hard. I’ve been with more women than I can even count, let alone name, but the thought of fucking her, being the first to take her, well fuck, it has my heart pounding in my chest. Fuck. This isbad, so bad, because as she laughs at my stories and teases me for my sheltered rich upbringing, I realize I don’t just want to fuck her, I want so much more than that too.

We stay in the diner until after it closes, Callia locking us in while she cleans, but when Peter's little sister falls asleep at the counter, he pulls her into his arms and promptly kicks us all out. Archer and Daemon left a while ago, no doubt ticking another surface of the house off their invisible fuck it bucket list, and when Josh states he will be taking his sister and her mom home, I spy Nova and Maddie sharing a conspiring look about the empty house they are going to have. As they all depart it leaves just me, Aubree, Jake, and Evie, and I offer all of them a ride back to Aubree’s apartment.

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