Page 1 of Full Body Hit: Part 2
CHAPTER ONE
AUSTON
Auston was collapsing, a slow implosion that cut through the fabric of disbelief, leaving holes everywhere.
Charlie was Chase. Chase was Charlie.
It didn’t make sense. Logically, he could see it, the pieces of a puzzle fitting together. Emotionally? It was difficult to accept that the universe could be so fucking cruel.
For months, Auston had treated Chase, his teammate, like shit. Had barked at him and told him off and sneered at everything he’d done.
Meanwhile, Charlie had become the most important fucking thing in his life. It had been a while since Auston had put so much heart and effort into something—since someone had made him feel so alive.
So good.
But he wasn’t, was he? He was just selfish, and broken, and fucked up by a relationship that had ended years ago, becausewhen faced with the mess in front of him now, it was difficult to deny the damage Hunter had caused.
He could feel Chase’s presence in his apartment, a heart beating underneath split floorboards.
He had to tell Chase. Had to go over and confess right now, had to—
He gripped his hip, the ache radiating everywhere.
Reality wavered again, a mirage in the desert.It can’t be true. The thought rubbed at the edges of what he’d found out, trying to blur it, but the truth snapped into place once more.
He took his phone out, thumb swiping across the screen but not unlocking it. There, in that little device, was a hidden folder filled with videos and pictures ofChase. Of the man in the other room. Of his teammate. The rookie he’d thought was so detached and manipulative, he’d learned how to mask his scent completely.
Jesus Christ, what was wrong with Auston? To be so fucking judgmental when Chase had been dealing with a condition born out of being abused as a kid.
Auston wasn’t sure what lesson he was supposed to take from this; there was so much he’d done wrong.
That he was way too immature? That he’d led a hockey team for more than a decade and was still a fucking idiot with hang-ups he’d never tried to work on? That his sister was right, and he needed to go to a psychologist to sort his shit out?
That he wasn’t good enough for Charlie, for Chase, and never would be?
Auston rocked where he sat, phone clutched in his hand.
He had to confess. Had to apologise and try to explain himself. To step out of the situation as best he could. The kid had his whole life ahead of him—the last thing he needed was Auston dragging him under.
He stood up, a groan of pain leaving him.
Fuck.God, was this really over? Everything he’d built with Charlie just…gone? The year would end, Auston would leave the team, and Chase would forget him, a blip in his rookie season.
He swallowed the bile that threatened to rise.
The kitchen was lonely and silent. Auston sat on a stool, ignoring the way it made his hip flare with fire.
He waited.
Chase was groggy as he finally left his room. Auston stared at the pillow crease indent on his cheek, at his mussed hair, his half-lidded eyes.
God. That wasCharlie. His Charlie. The man he’d fallen madly in love with, whom he’d had so many conversations with, whom he’d opened his heart to like he hadn’t in so fucking long.
Auston’s throat closed up, stinging. The dream of meeting Charlie one day, of holding him in his arms, kissing him, nesting with him—it was all gone. Just like that.
“Um…are you okay?”
Auston flinched, blinking at Chase’s face, now marred with a frown. “Oh. Yeah, sorry. Spaced out.” He got up, making his way to the other side of the kitchen island. “I’ll make you lunch.”
