Page 9 of The Puck Player

“Not in the consent kind of way,” I start honestly, I’ve never had a girl say no to me, for sexual relations or otherwise. “I’m just not used to hearing it, I’m as charming as a prince,remember?” I add, and there is that delicious roll of her eyes again. Fuck. Can you get hard from an eye gesture?

“The Prince of Nightmares maybe,” she huffs under her breath, before taking a bite of her sandwich, and warmth spreads through me.

“I do enjoy someJohn McNee,” I toss back, and when she looks at me in confusion, I add, “The author, he wrotePrince of Nightmares.” I’m sure my smug look isn’t lost on her, but of course she doesn’t rise to it, just shakes her head as if she is truly sick of me.

“Okay, let me make this simple for you, Alexander, I have a boyfriend and I am very much not interested in you.”

A boyfriend?Interesting. A fact that almost makes me laugh, because does she think that is going to deter me? A week ago I didn’t even know her, yesterday I didn’t know her name, and now she is sitting in front of me looking like every guy’s perfect fucking woman. And what? She thinks a boyfriend is going to stop me from pursuing her? I mean, you should never let your boyfriend stop you from finding your husband, and Aubree needs to understand that.

With her words, I push back from the table and she smiles as if she has finally gotten rid of me, but before I walk away, I lean down into her ear and whisper, “That’s okay, Trouble, I love a challenge.” Before rising up to my full height and towering over both of them, offering them a tip of my head. “Have a good afternoon, ladies.”

I stroll back to my table with her eyes on me, along with every other girl in here, and there is only one thing I know for sure. Aubree Callows is going to be mine, she just doesn’t know it yet.

When I get to practice, I am still thinking about my new found obsession and barely paying attention to anyone around me. It’s only our second practice of the week, and since we have another game coming up next week, we all need to put in the extra work. Which is why I find my teammates already being berated by Cap, much to my amusement. It’s funny when it’s not being directed at me, and I dump my stuff by my locker and start getting ready.

I love playing hockey, I love everything about it. The game, the rules, the endurance, the fighting, all of it calls to me. I feel at home on the ice and here in the locker room with my teammates, and that's another thing I love, the camaraderie. I grew up in boarding schools and have always easily fit in thanks to my lastname, which means I’ve always had a lot of friends, but some of the guys on this team are more like family.

Nova Darkmore, our captain, is also my best friend and one of my housemates. He’s a moody little wanker who is basically god’s gift to ice hockey, but he’s also one of the most genuine guys I have ever met. He never gave a shit about my money or my last name, and took the time to get to know me for me, and despite always kicking our ass during practice, I know he loves us all like brothers.

Archer Gray is the chaos to his calm, another one of my best friends, and definitely gives me a run for my money with the amount of trouble he gets into, although now he has Daemon Forbes by his side, I think that trouble might be far less of an occurrence. They are currently making eyes at each other as they get ready for practice, and I almost roll my own at their half-hard cocks. The fuckers can’t keep their hands off each other, and I’m pretty sure if Nova doesn’t get them on the ice soon, that they will fuck each other here in front of all of us.

Which brings me to my last roommate and best friend, Jake Harper, having been locked down with Evie since freshman year, he’s definitely the quietest of us all, but still, he has always been there to have our backs. I’d describe him as the sounding board for the entire team, since everyone seems to go to him with their problems, and right now seems to be no different, as Landon Cooper, another one of my teammates, is battering him with questions.

“Well, have you met her?” Landon asks, and Jake looks at him in confusion, as I start to listen in on their conversation.

“Met who?”

“Coach’s daughter,” Landon snaps, as if his question was obvious, and Jake nods in recognition.

Ah yes, I remember Coach telling us before winter break that his daughter was coming to live with him for college, which mustbe nice for him. I’m almost certain he isn’t married or seeing anyone, which means he lives alone, and he never mentions any other family, so I’m sure it will be a nice change for him to have some company. Although I haven’t seen her around yet, or who knows, maybe I have, there are always girls hanging around outside practice, it could be any one one of them.

“Oh, yeah I met her, she seems nice enough,” Jake replies, pulling on his jersey, but Landon continues to stare at him expectantly.

“Well?” he asks, pushing him for more, while also looking around, as if to make sure he isn’t heard.

“Well what?” Jake asks, looking at him in annoyance, and I can tell Landon is getting to him. Jake likes the quiet to prepare for practice and games, and right now he isn’t getting it.

“Is she hot?” Landon asks desperately. “Does she look like Coach’s daughter, or is she a ride we all would give our left nut to enjoy?”

Just as he says that, Coach appears around Landon’s locker looking furious. “Stay the fuck away from my daughter, Cooper, or they’ll be dragging your dead body from Lake Spring,” he scolds, smacking him across the back of the head, before eyeing the rest of us. “And that goes for all of you little fuckers, now hurry up and get dressed and get your fucking asses on the ice.”

After those parting words he storms away, leaving Nova glaring at Landon in fury, before dragging his gaze across all of us. “You heard, Coach, get on the ice you lazy pricks.”

With that we all focus on getting ready, and by the time we get out on the ice, Nova is there waiting with Coach, both of them calling out drills for us to run after we are warmed up. Which is how my death begins. He makes us stretch more than usual, skate more than usual, and then run drills more than usual, until there are muscles in my body that I didn’t even know could ache, are aching, and still we keep going.

The sweat has drenched through my base layer and jersey, and I basically spend every second of the two and a half hours cursing Landon for pissing off Coach and Cap, until I can’t fucking breathe. By the time we are done, the prick can barely walk, and I take great satisfaction in watching him limp to the changing rooms.

I strip off every sweaty layer of clothing, before grabbing my towel and joining the rest of the guys in the showers. We’re all quiet given the lashing we just took during practice, and when some of them start filing out, I remain under the hot spray, needing the relief that the water grants my sore muscles, until I can feel my body completely relaxing. Only then do I turn off the shower, grab my towel, and head back to my locker.

Archer and Daemon are the only two still here getting ready, and from the satisfied smirks on both their faces, I’d guess getting clean wasn’t the only thing they were doing. Ignoring them both, I note Coach is still in his office talking to his assistant, and I pull open my locker and grab my phone. I’ve got a missed call from my mother and two texts from Duchess, asking for me to call her. I make a mental note to get back to them when I get home, before tossing my phone back into my locker and getting dressed.

“You walking home with us?” Archer eventually asks, and I flick my stare to meet his, finding both him and Daemon fully dressed.

They’ve been through a lot to get where they are now, and I know Archer is helping Daemon deal with the death of his father and the aftermath, so I don’t want to encroach on their time together when it’s still so fresh.

“Nah, I’m all good, Gray, I’ll just see you at home later,” I reply, and he nods with a smile, holding his fist out for me to bump, and I roll my eyes, but do it anyway.

Then I watch as he slips his hand into Daemon’s, pulling him along and out of the changing rooms, and I can’t help but smile. Who’d have thought that chaotic little twat would fall in love?

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