Page 71 of Rules Of Our Own

“What the hell is wrong with you?” River comes up beside me.

You, asshole.

“Fuck off.” I pant out the words.

“You two stop giving each other fuck-me eyes and get moving.” Lucas passes me on my left, and I groan.

River looks away the second my eyes meet his, and I get the distinct feeling he’d been watching me. He’s facing forward, eyes anywhere else, but I don’t miss the hint of pink crawling up his neck. My dick twitches in my cup, and I drop back a few paces. I need to get my shit together.

A whistle pierces the air. “Alright, boys. Hit the shower.”

Fuck me. I brace myself on my knees, taking in heaving breaths, and glide on my skates toward the bench. That’s going to fucking hurt later. I wonder if I can convince Mia to rub it better. I groan.

A glove smacks into the back of my helmet, and one of the new trades gestures for me to move out of the way. “Wake up, buddy.”

Shit.I scramble through the gate in the boards and head down the hall toward our locker room.

Before I can make it, a young reporter steps forward. “Hey, Alex. Got a minute for a few quick questions? Need to get a start on the season soundbites.”

I glance to where the rest of the guys disappear down the hall and internally groan. No, I don’t want to do an interview, but I know it would make Coach happy, so I plaster on a smile. “Of course. What do you have for me?”

She asks the standard questions. How was my summer? How are my legs feeling? Do I think we stand a chance at the cup this year? All easy answers until she turns the question personal. “There’s been a lot of chatter going around about how no one sees you out on the town anymore. HastheAlex Grayson finally settled down?”

My stomach dips and curls because I want to be able to scream yes from the rooftops. Yes, I’ve settled down because I’m head over fucking heels for a girl and have no plans of ever changing that. But I can’t say any of that because the girl in question isn’t even mine, even though I’m sure the fuck hers.

River steps up beside me and speaks for me. “We’ve been keeping our head down and getting ready for the season. You know how it is.”

The reporter looks disappointed she didn’t get the answer she obviously wanted, but I can’t turn myself away from Riv. I’ve always been the one to field all the questions, and here he is, stepping in to protect me. Something twitches hard in my chest, and I don’t look away from his back as he heads down the hall.

“…Good game next week.” I turn to face the reporter, just now clueing in to the fact that she’s still talking.

“Thanks. Ah, have a good one.” I don’t look back as I head toward the dressing room.

The Bruins train at the Warrior Ice Arena, and it’s mint as fuck. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t practice where we play; instead, we spend ninety percent of our time in our training facility. There are multiple arenas here, making it easy to split us into different groups.

I make my way to my locker, sit on the hardwood bench, snap off my helmet, and dump the entire contents of my water bottle on my head. I groan as the ice-cold liquid cools me down.

Lucas chuckles from across the room. “You looked rough out there.”

“How are you so fast? You’re a fucking defenseman,” I bark out.

“Just means I’m faster than you going forward and backward, man.” He balls up a piece of tape and shoots it in a perfect arc, landing in the garbage. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, man. No one expects you to be faster than me.”

“If you don’t cut that shit out, I’ll tell your girl, and she’ll kick your ass for me.” I wink and barely duck the ball of tape he throws at my head.

“Good luck with that. How’s your girl doing? Or are you still pretending she’s not yours?” Lucas asks, and his eyes dart between River and me.

River tenses beside me, and I push down on his thigh, holding him in place. He might be the most rational out of all of us, but there’s nothing rational about him when it comes to her. The room’s chatter grows eerily silent as the tension grows thick between them.

“She’s not with either of us. Her asshole ex just tried to break into her place, for fuck’s sake,” River growls, and Lucas puts his hands up.

“You’re right. Fuck, I’m sorry, man. You know she and I are good, and Piper fucking loves her. She going to be okay?”

“Yes.” River clips out his reply. “We’ll take care of her.”

Lucas gets up and walks over to us, leaning close so only we can hear. “I’m telling you this because when I was being a complete dipshit with Piper, you tried to tell me. That girl is perfect for you. Both of you. Don’t fuck it up.”

I let my head drop back against my locker. Like any of it is that simple.

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