Bar Down (Grand Marquee Manticores #2)

Chapter 20

TWENTY

Two Months Ago

Ash

Three weeks later, my phone pings with another text from my dad and I grit my teeth, begging for him to just drop it. My gut tells me to just block him, that I’ll be better off if I’m not in contact anymore. And yet, I still read all of his messages, again and again. It might be a kind of self torture at this point.

Fourth of July is coming up. You need to be here. We have some important people coming and we need to be a united front.

I scoff at his ridiculous request from a couple weeks ago and read on.

not happening. in Finland for the summer

Of course, instead of taking your career seriously, you’re out gallivanting in Europe. You’re such a disappointment.

nothing else is new, dad

Clearly. What a waste of space.

Eli stirs next to me in bed and I decide to take a gamble. I put my phone away and walk quietly to the bedroom door, flipping the lock. I know his parents are awake since I can hear them downstairs, making food and chatting in the kitchen.

When I return to bed, I cuddle up behind Eli, pressing myself into him, my erection painfully hard. I skim my hand down his body and grip him, rubbing his cock through his boxers. As he wakes up, he grinds back into me and turns to kiss me but hesitates.

“We shouldn’t. Not here.”

I groan, needing to touch him again. We haven’t had a moment of privacy since that night weeks ago at the hotel. “I locked the door, and we can be quiet,” I say and slip my hand inside his boxers, tugging. Eli’s response is to buck into my hand and kiss me.

“We don’t have any condoms here,” he says.

“Just a quickie then. Hands or mouths?” I ask and he lets out a low growl, pushing me back and repositioning himself so that both our mouths are lined up with our cocks. We’ve never sixty-nined before and I get a thrill just from the anticipation. Then Eli’s lips are on me and I moan before I catch myself.

“Shh, take my cock like a good boy and don’t make a sound,” he commands in a whisper and I shiver from his tone alone.

“Yes, sir.”

With how sexually pent up we both are, and the fact that we haven’t had the chance to do much together over the last few weeks, it doesn’t take long before we both come, panting and gripping each other hard.

Eli

Once the ice clears out at practice, my dad skates out to where Ash and I are taking a break, over by the bench. We both noticed that Ash was struggling today but my dad probably felt like it wasn’t his place to give out unsolicited advice.

“Everything alright, guys?” he says now, stopping in front of us.

Ash’s helmet is off and he takes a frustrated swig of water, not looking in our direction. He’s been standoffish all week, but especially today. Even after we got each other off this morning.

“Hey Dad, we still have the rink for another thirty minutes, right?”

“Yes, I figured you didn’t want to overdo it though.”

“How about Ash and I run some drills? Just us two.”

My dad looks over at Ash before turning back to me and nodding in understanding.

“Okay. You can leave the equipment in the locker, like you always do. Do you want to take a rideshare back home?”

“No, we can walk, grab a pizza on the way back. We’ll need the fresh air.”

“Okay then, we’ll see you at home.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I catch Ash as he tries to head to the bench. “How about you take some shots on me?” He turns around, looking confused and angry.

“I don’t need your pity party, Eli, let’s just go,” he says, eyebrows low and his mouth twisted in annoyance.

I skate up and block the tunnel entry. With all my goalie equipment on, Ash definitely can’t get around me. “You think I pity you?” I ask, gaze narrowed.

“Yeah, I do. And it’s fucking condescending as hell. I may be struggling but I don’t need you to baby me,” he says hotly.

I let out a low laugh. “No, ilo, I don’t pity you. I do think you’re being an idiot right now though. You want some tough love? Here it is: whatever is on your mind is affecting your game and you’re playing like a kid in little league. Your shots are sloppy and you’re not focused enough. So either drop your issues at the door of the arena or get your shit together. Don’t waste these people’s time.” I say this louder than and angrier than I mean to, but this conversation is necessary.

Ash’s chest is rising and falling, and I know he’s angry and wants to lash out, but he doesn’t say anything. He clenches his jaw and tries to get past me again but I push him lightly. His breaths are quick and I can tell I’ve riled him up, but enough is enough .

Ash pushes me back and when I retaliate, it’s enough to knock him on his ass. I step onto the ice as well and put my helmet back on, grabbing his from the half wall and tossing it down to him.

“Put it on,” I say darkly, “I don’t want you to hurt your pretty little face.”

Ash does as he’s told, but as soon as he stands up, he checks me into the boards with a roar. We throw punches and push each other around until I take him down, making sure not to hurt him as I land on top. “Why won’t you talk to me?” I ask, each word punctuated with my heavy breathing as I keep him pinned to the ice.

Ash flails around for another minute before he deflates with a sigh and all the fight goes out of him. We’re both catching our breath and I give him the space to sit up.

After what feels like an eternity, he says, “My dad thinks I’m a disappointment.”

His voice comes out so quiet I almost don’t hear him. After a long moment of silence, he elaborates, “He wasn’t even at the playoff final but he saw enough of it online. Told me I got lucky with my goal, and it shouldn’t even have been a close game. He thinks I’m wasting my time here and that I should be taking my training more seriously, back home. Said I was a waste of space.”

He takes his helmet back off and pulls up a knee, resting an arm on it and sighing deeply. I take my mask off too, stunned. His dad said that? What the actual fuck?

“You do know that’s all bullshit, right?” I yell out, louder than I intended, and Ash flinches, closing his eyes tight.

Gentler, I say, “Please tell me you don’t actually believe any of the crap, hani .”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” His small voice comes out so sad it’s breaking my heart. I shuffle closer to him and press our foreheads together, holding on to his shoulder pads.

“Listen to me. You are incredible , no matter what your idiot father tells you. Not only did you struggle with a lot of things this past season, but you managed to bring our team into the playoffs, something that hasn’t happened in five years.

“It was your overtime goals and your shootouts that clinched us the playoffs. So I don’t give a shit that your dad is Nelson fucking Meyers; when it comes to you, he doesn’t know what you’re capable of. I do . The team does. We all believe in you.”

Ash sniffs and I drop my glove to wipe away the tear that falls on his cheek. “Is there anything else that’s bothering you?”

He shrugs and says, “I just feel like shit. Like I’m not good enough. Seeing your amazing relationship with your dad and your brother is just emphasizing the fact that I’ll never have that.”

“You do realize my family loves you, right?”

Another shrug and he looks away. “For now. But they don’t fully know me. Sometimes I wonder why you even put up with my shit.”

“Stop!” Ash looks back at me, startled. “Stop painting yourself in a lesser light.”

We sit there for another minute before Ash says in a tentative tone, “Were you serious about me shooting some pucks on you?”

“Think you can handle it?” I ask with a smirk.

This coaxes a smile out of Ash. “Yeah, pretty boy . I think I can.”

Fifteen minutes later, after getting twenty pucks by me, Ash and I clear the ice and head to the locker room for a quick shower. I throw my head back and groan as I think about the beautiful bar down shot he took which caught me completely off guard. The puck hit the bottom of the crossbar with such precision before falling perfectly into the net. I’m still thinking about it as I take off my equipment.

Once we’re both in our underlayers, I order the pizza on my phone and strip naked, looking behind me at Ash and tilting my head for him to join me in the shower. There’s no one else in the building right now, except for the guy that runs the zamboni, but he’s not going to come into the locker rooms.

Ash tosses his under-layer in the backpack, grabs something from a pocket and bounds into the shower behind me.

“What’s that?” I ask, nodding to his closed fist.

He smiles and kisses me hard, knocking us both under the lukewarm water. His free hand reaches down and pumps me, gripping just right and I groan into his mouth. “Fuck, ilo. ”

“What does that word mean?”

I grab his wrist and try to see what he’s hiding in his hand but he snatches it away and lifts it above our heads. “Come on now, what are you hiding?” I say, taking a step into him, pulling our groins flush with one another.

He grunts but doesn’t relent. “Tell me what that word means and I’ll show you.”

I bend down to kiss the flesh between his collarbone and neck. “It means—” I swallow, my hands running up his torso, his bird tattoo, and I think that maybe I can give him this one word, what he means to me. “—it means happiness .”

Ash lowers his hand and cups my face before sucking on my lower lip. “Thank you, for telling me.”

“Hmm.” I don’t get to say much else because Ash tears his teeth into the packet he was holding and rolls the condom on me so fast, I don’t even have time to react.

He kisses me again, this time slow and meticulous, all the while applying lube to the condom. “Where did you even get that?” I ask, looking down at the pocket size lube bottle.

All I get is a wicked smile as he turns around and starts grinding on my cock. My hand snakes around his chest, pulling him into me as I line myself up with his entrance.

Once I’m inside him, my hand moves to the column of his throat where I lightly grip him. The moan that comes out of Ash might as well bring me to my knees.

I thrust into him, slowly at first, until he starts to move on his own, chasing more of my cock. “ Fuck . Go. Faster,” he says, grabbing my hand that’s around his throat and squeezing it.

“What’s that now? You think you can make demands?” I say, slowing my thrusts down and pulling almost all the way out.

“No, fuck, sorry,” he says, desperately begging for more. “ Please , I want more.”

“Since you asked so nicely…” I say right before slamming back into him and picking up the pace. I let go of his throat to bend him over, Ash’s hands finding a grip on the shower wall.

“ Yes , fucking hell, Eli, you feel so good.”

I pull out all the way and Ash groans in disapproval, but I quickly turn off the shower and lead him to the lockers. He doesn’t expect it when I pick him up and guide him against one of them. “Hold on to the top.”

Ash does as I say and he holds himself up with both hands while my cock finds his entrance again. The only sounds left in the room are the ones of slapping skin as I fuck him against the locker, my fingers digging into his hips as his heels press into my ass.

I know how hard it is for him to open up to me and tell me about his family relationships, and there’s still plenty for us to unpack. But for now, right here in this locker room, all we care about is each other.

And that’s enough.