Page 21 of Overtime

The Beasts hounded them, relentless. It was Zee who finally made the shot, lifting the puck between his legs, almost tripping over the goalie, who caught it just in time.

The contact didn’t go unnoticed, several Beasts shoving Zee away.

“I barely fucking bumped him,” Zee protested, pushing back.

It was enough to cause a scrum, Ishir jumping in, blocking Zee from being slammed into by more idiots.

A ref weaselled his way between the two groups. “Break it up! Break it up.”

The clot of players dissolved eventually. Ishir reached over to right Zee’s wonky helmet. “You good?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yep.”

It was games like these—tough fought and in their own barn—that were especially satisfying to win, even if that one was pushed to overtime. Ishir managed to get two assists and it buoyed him to know he’d contributed.

Orion vetoed going out to a club after the game, so they packed into a Williamsburg bar close to the water, massive wooden tables managing to contain them all. It smelt like beer and salty meat inside, the atmosphere lively.

Ishir squeezed between Bergy and Orion, several pitchers of beer on the table, some of it already knocked over to splash on the wood. He was happy to be mostly quiet, soaking in the pleasure of the win, of being surrounded by his makeshift family.

“Is this a private party, or can I join?”

Ishir looked up to see none other than Gabby standing by the head of the table. He was a familiar face, mostly seen on the opposing bench as captain of the Gotham Hounds, notorious for chirping ruthlessly…and being Orion’s Alpha boyfriend, of course.

Cries of mock outrage ran through the group, Gabby laughing good-naturedly in response, scrubbing his hand through his dark hair.

“Hey,” Orion said loudly. “Captain privileges. You can all keep your traps shut.”

“Oooh,” Corona called out. “Dom Daddy Orion making the rules.”

Ishir watched quietly as Orion and Gabby ignored everybody, sharing a quick kiss before Gabby wiggled beside him on the bench.

“Hey,” Gabby greeted him. “Zamman, right?”

“Uh, yeah. You can call me Ishir. Or Zammy.”

“Don’t you guys already have a Zee? I swear to God, O has mentioned a new guy by that name.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s my D partner,” Ishir admitted.

Gabby let out an incredulous snort. “Zee and Zammy? Really?”

“We didn’t choose the nicknames!” Ishir responded hotly.

Orion leaned closer from Gabby’s other side, eyeing his boyfriend. “Are you causing trouble?”

Gabby placed a hand on his chest delicately. “Babe, I’ve never caused trouble a day in my life.”

Orion rolled his eyes dramatically. “Yeah, okay.”

Ishir remembered being a teenager and watching Orion and Gabby brawl on TV, their faces full of what seemed like hate. It turned out to be a lot more complicated than that—Ishir didn’t know all the details, but he knew that the two of them had battled for where they currently were—the first out Omega-Alpha couple to ever play in the NHL.

“How’s Levy doing?” Ishir asked. “Heard he got in a fight.”

“That kid needs to learn how to throw a punch if he’s gonna keep getting in scraps. Almost broke a knuckle against the guy’s helmet, but he’s fine. Bruised ego, more than anything.”

From where Ishir was sitting, he could see Gabby thread his fingers through Orion’s, and a jolt went through him. Happiness for his captain, sure, but jealousy, too.

---