Bar Down (Grand Marquee Manticores #2)

Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

ASH

I wake up in Eli’s arms. His whole body is draped over mine and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I’m such a fucking sap. And I’m so in love with him.

I want to shout it from the rooftop but I know he wouldn’t want that. So instead I keep it to myself, knowing that he feels the same way, but that he’s not quite ready to say it.

I can see it in the way he looks at me when he thinks I don’t notice. His walls crumple and he looks at me with so much adoration that I don’t think I deserve most of the time. But hell if I’m not a selfish asshole for keeping it anyway.

Our training doesn’t start until this afternoon, so we sleep in and spend the rest of the morning making pancakes together. “I still can’t believe you cook now,” Eli says, flipping the pancakes for me as I whisk together a few eggs to make a scramble. The bacon is in the oven and it makes the cabin smell amazing. The small window that faces the back is open and we can hear birds chirping.

I laugh. “Believe it, baby. I’ve got skills you don’t even know about.”

Eli smiles as he approaches me and takes the bowl from my hands. He backs me up into the counter and grabs my waist with both his hands. Slowly, he leans in and kisses my jaw, trailing all the way up to my right ear. “I want to, though—I want to know about everything that pops into that beautiful brain of yours, and I want you to show me all your skills. Anything you’re excited about, I’m excited about.”

My fingers pull at the base of his hair and Eli’s scruff scratches along my cheek. He’s barely holding on to his control and I miss seeing it crumple at my feet. He pulls away suddenly to take the pancakes off the griddle and when he returns, I’m in the same spot, gripping the counter and breathing hard.

Eli approaches me with a hunger in his eyes and I don’t even register what he’s doing until his hands grip my thighs and he lifts me up on the counter. Stepping between my legs, he presses into me and I can’t help but pull him closer. My hands grip his ass and he grunts as he tips his head up to kiss me.

We repeat that process a few times until the eggs are cooked and the bacon is ready, and then we take our breakfast out on the patio. We eat while overlooking the lake and drink our coffees. For once, the silence is not stifling. There’s always so much noise around me with work and I rarely feel like I’m at peace. Except when I’m with Eli. There’s this nice quiet calm about him, and I feel more content than I have in months by just being in his presence.

He gives me another one of his adoring looks and I can’t help myself from saying, “I love you.”

Eli’s lips part but I don’t wait for his reply. My hands reach out and cup his face and I kiss him sweetly, tenderly. He’s the one who deepens the kiss and takes control, and I let him. It’s not until I hear a small noise that I pull back a bit. Eli’s lips latch on my jaw and my eyes fly open and land behind Eli.

On the people standing there, looking smug as hell.

Fuck.

I spring back, keeping Eli at bay with my arms and yell out the first thing that pops into my head, “I think you got that mosquito, thanks—buddy.” I grimace and Eli looks so confused that I want to burst out laughing. Even though our friends more or less know some details of our past, I don’t want them to find out about us like this. Not when Eli wants things to be on his terms.

I stand up and the chair scrapes loudly on the patio. Shit , this is not good.

“Hey guys, whatcha doing here so early?” I say, keeping my gaze on our friends. At this, Eli whips around in his chair. He does it so fast that I think he might have given himself whiplash, but he stands up too.

No one says anything for a long moment and I want nothing more than to figure out what Eli is thinking and how he’s feeling about us basically getting caught necking by our closest friends.

Olivia smiles and runs up to me, giving me a tight hug. “Sorry about the surprise, we tried calling and when we didn’t get an answer we figured you two would be at training.”

“No, that’s not until later this afternoon.”

She bites her bottom lip to keep her smile from spreading as she pulls back from the hug and her hands squeeze my biceps. I widen my eyes and give her a subtle shake of the head. Please don’t say anything.

She recovers and steps away from me. “Eli, can I give you a hug?” His gaze is fixed on Robbie and the two of them seem to be in some kind of silent brooding stand off for some reason. “Eli?” Olivia asks again, glancing between the two of them.

Finally he breaks the stare and turns to her, a small smile on his face. “Of course, how are you?” She steps in and he wraps his arms around her in one of his signature bear hugs.

“I’m good. We’ve been really busy with the Blue Line Brigade and I’ve been skating out more. I found a women’s league in Grand Marquee and I’ve been skating out over the summer.”

“That’s amazing,” he says, letting her go.

I notice that Robbie still hasn’t moved from his spot a few feet away. His arms are crossed and he’s still glaring at Eli.

What the fuck is his deal? I know they haven’t spoken in a bit, but still. This seems extreme. Especially for Robbie, who is the nicest person ever.

“My turn!” Alice yells and runs up to Eli. Her arms go up and she makes grabby hands at him and it’s so fucking cute that I can’t help but chuckle. The girl is almost a whole foot shorter than us, and Eli indulges her and picks her up. She squeezes him tight and kisses his cheek. “I missed you, you big bear.”

“I missed you too, lapsi. ” She scowls at him as he sets her down but she rolls her eyes and tackles me in a hug next.

“Hey,” Eli says, taking a step towards Robbie. I know he’s nervous because of the way he fidgets with his fingers, hands clasped in front of him.

“Are we back on speaking terms now?” Robbie says and I can tell he’s hurt that Eli iced him out this summer. Olivia gives him a pleading look that probably says be nice, let bygones be bygones.

“I’m sorry. I should have reached out sooner.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Robbie says, but I can see the fight drain out of him. His arms drop to his sides and he takes a step forward. We all watch in anticipation, eyes bouncing from Eli to Robbie.

To my surprise, it’s Eli that steps forward and initiates the hug. Robbie gives in immediately and there’s some back and forth whispering between them that I can’t make out. Then Robbie claps his shoulder, gives him a nod and pulls back.

That’s it. No comments are made about the fact that we were making out when they walked in, but I’m sure they’re all dying to ask.

“So, if you don’t have training until later, what are your plans for the day?” Alice asks, eyes glinting with mischief.

Eli looks at me and smiles and I don’t expect it. He knocks the breath out of me with that smile. Walking up next to me, he grabs my hand and links our fingers together. I am too stunned to speak, and I’m sure I just look like a fish out of water.

“We were going to take the kayaks out on the lake,” he says, squeezing my fingers.

“Oh yes, let’s all do that! You lovely couples can take the tandem kayaks and I’ll grab a solo.” Alice zips past us to the shed and starts dragging the kayaks out.

Couples. Is that what we are now? A couple? I look at Eli and realize he’s still looking and smiling at me. Okay then, he’s taking this better than I expected. I thought he might run for the hills and shut me out again.

But no.

He promised me he wouldn’t do that again.

We’re in this together. And I did want us to be ourselves amongst our friends.

When Alice walks out, handing us all vests, Eli clears his throat. “So, I don’t want the team or anyone else to know that we’re together yet. Just us.”

“But you are officially together?” Olivia asks, clicking the vest into place.

Are we?

Eli squeezes my hand and looks at me to say something. Right, I’ve kind of been left speechless. “We are,” I say, pulling his hand up to my lips and pressing a small kiss there.

“Aww, you two are adorable,” Alice coos and I roll my eyes but Eli says, “Damn right we are.”

Eli

The weather is beautiful for kayaking. As soon as we get on the water, it’s like things were never strained between us. We go back to bantering and we fill each other in on what’s been going on this summer.

Robbie has been living and breathing the non-profit and Olivia has been doing the same during the offseason. Soon she’ll go back to reffing and Robbie will have to hire another marketing strategist to replace her. Not only are they a perfect couple but they also work really well together.

As a middle school teacher, Alice has summers off, but she still works on a few side hustles here and there. She tells us how many books she read (too many) and that she’s actually started writing herself but doesn’t think it will turn into an actual book. She claims it’s a good outlet for her creativity regardless.

I miss Jordan. He should be here too, laughing along and threatening to tip one of us over or trying to race. I wonder how he’s doing in Texas and tell myself that I’ll reach out to him more from now on.

Truth is, as much as I missed Helsinki and being around my family, I missed this just as much. The family you choose to surround yourself with is just as important as the one that made you into who you are.

I expected Robbie to be more mad than he actually was. When I pulled away after everything that went down this summer, I told myself I didn’t need him, but the truth is I’ve missed his advice. Maybe he could have helped Ash and I to reconnect sooner.

When we hugged earlier he said, “Don’t do that ever again. If you need space, that’s fine but don’t push people away.” I agreed and apologized again and then he told me, “ Don’t hurt Ash, please. I’d hate to kick your ass if you break his heart.”

Don’t hurt Ash. I’m trying my damned hardest not to, and I hope he can be fine with what I have to offer for now.

We kayak for a couple hours and then head back to the cabin to get ready for training. Olivia, Robbie, and Alice are staying the night, so I move my few belongings to Ash’s room so Robbie and Olivia can take mine, while Alice calls dibs on the loft.

Tomorrow is the red and white game which is why the three of them are spending the night. Besides getting tickets to the game, they also want to show Olivia around town since she hasn’t been able to experience it yet.

“We’re going to go to the beach, drive up the peninsulas, and show her around Main Street,” Alice says, following us out the door as we all head to our cars.

“See you guys later. We can meet up for dinner somewhere if you want. Just let us know where you end up,” Ash says.

The two of us are taking his car to the ice arena while the three of them jump in Robbie’s Jeep. He retracts the top and drives off as we wave at them.

Ash turns to me once they’re gone and I hug him, kissing his temple. “How are you feeling about everything?” he asks.

“I’m fine. Why?” I ask, pulling back to look at him.

“I know that’s not what you had in mind for how to tell people. And I don’t think you were ready to tell them about us either. I’m sorry it was out of your control once again.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault and, honestly, I’m kind of glad it happened like that. Now I don’t have to stress and overthink every single detail. I think out of everybody, they were the easiest people to come out to.”

He nods and kisses me once before dragging me over to the car.

“I do wish we had more time to ourselves though. We go back to Grand Marquee the day after tomorrow and then pre-season starts,” he says as we both get into the sedan.

Ash frowns as he turns it on. “I guess I’m just worried that the season is starting soon and we haven’t really talked about what that means for us.”

I reach out and squeeze his thigh. “Take a breath, rakas, we’ll have time to talk about it all when we get back to Grand Marquee. Neither of us are going anywhere.”

Ash

The next morning, the day of the red and white game, I wake up being spooned by Eli. He’s warm and hard at my back and as much as I love my friends, I kind of wish they weren’t in the same cabin right now so I could have my way with my boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

I really, really like the sound of that. I’ve never really been in a relationship, mostly because I’ve never had the time for one. Hooking up was way easier than letting someone in only to leave them behind when I would inevitably be on the road or get traded to another team. But with Eli? He just makes it easy to love him, to want to be around him every second of every day.

I turn in his arms and wake him up with kisses, running my hand down his naked chest and the hard planes of his stomach. When I reach further down, I slip my hand inside his boxers and stroke him. His eyelids flutter open and those beautiful pale blue eyes look up at me.

“Good morning, sunshine .” I lean in and kiss him and he arches up into me, so I reward him with another stroke of my thumb on the head of his cock.

“Morning,” he mumbles, one of his hands cupping the back of my head and pulling me in for another kiss.

“Think you can be quiet this morning? We don’t want the others to hear.”

He nods eagerly and I trail kisses from his mouth to his chest, and all the way down to his prominent V. I pull down his boxers just enough for him to spring free and lick him up, missing the feel of this—of him.

“I won’t last long,” Eli says, looking down at me, one hand fisting the sheet. “It’s been a while.” I hum and take him in my mouth, swirling my tongue and hollowing out my cheeks. My hands cup his balls and lightly massage them and Eli all but springs up from the bed. I let him go with a pop and see his chest heaving, hands fisting the sheets so hard he might rip them off the bed.

I smirk at him and it doesn’t take long before he does exactly what I expected—Eli takes control and guides my head exactly where he wants me, thrusting up as he starts to get closer and closer. I swallow him down as he comes and, true to his word, he doesn’t make a sound, except for his heavy breathing and panting. There’s a light sheen of sweat on his chest between his pecs and I lick it off as I make my way back up to him.

I kiss his jaw, his cheek and say, “Good job, pretty boy.” I’m rewarded with a bear hug and a squeeze on my ass. When he tries to push me down to reciprocate, I stop him with a hand on his cheek. “Not today. Unlike you, I won’t be able to keep quiet.”

He groans and burrows his face in my neck. “You’re killing me, kultsi.”

“What does that one mean?”

“Hm, you’ll need to work harder for it.”

“Harder than a mind-altering blowjob?”

“Yes, much harder,” he laughs and I smile as I wrap my hands around his strong back and revel in this moment a little longer.

Eli

We lie in bed, holding each other. It’s on the tip of my tongue again, to say those three little words. After everything, they would hold so much more meaning. Because this time, I don’t want to let him go.

Before I can gather the courage to say anything to Ash, we hear commotion in the kitchen and decide it’s time to get up. Robbie cooks us all some kind of breakfast pizza with eggs, sausage and cheese. The thing is freaking delicious and we all pull up whatever chairs are available to eat and enjoy our coffee outside.

The air is crisper here in the morning before the humidity takes over, so I take a few deep inhales and close my eyes, listening to the birds and the sounds of my friends’ quiet conversations. Ash is asking Alice about her writing, which she’s not being very open about, and Robbie excuses himself to take a phone call from Alex.

“Olivia, how do you like Traverse City?” I ask her.

“It’s amazing, I wish we’d come here sooner and spent more time exploring, but I’m sure we’ll be back at some point.”

“You have to come here in the winter, it’s gorgeous. Maybe all our schedules will align this year for all-star break and we can finally take you snowboarding,” Ash says and Olivia agrees.

I look over at Alice and notice she’s unusually quiet. Is she thinking about the last time she was here, just her and Jordan? She never told us what went down that week, only that when the blizzard hit they made it here just in time, only to be stuck inside for a couple days.

“Everything okay?” Olivia asks Robbie when he comes back outside and sits beside her.

“Yeah, Alex was just looking for some feedback on the fundraising gala.”

“Gala, you say? That sounds fancy,” Alice perks up, popping a raspberry into her mouth.

Robbie rolls his eyes but nods. “It’s going to be a pain to organize, but yeah we thought a holiday gala might be a good way to get some people to donate to the non-profit. It’s in the early stages, but we’re talking about it.”

“Count me in, I look dashing in a suit,” Ash says and winks at me. I smile. What a shameless flirt.

The small arena is full to the brim with people. Those that couldn’t grab a spot on the metal benches are standing in the back along the wall. Everyone is excited for the red and white game. This isn’t a usual game, it’s more of a combination of plays that we’ve practiced over the last week that we now get to show off in a game.

There are two 25-minute periods where players from the NHL and AHL level are split into the two teams—red and white. Instead of having backup goalies, four of us are geared up to play, two per each period. Juuse and I are on the red team, while Nadison and Karlsen are on the white team. Juuse and Nadison are in the starting line and they take up their positions.

Ash is on the white team and I look over to his bench and give him a wave. He replies with a grin and a motion that shows I’m going down. I laugh and focus back on the ice. There are referees for this game, but they notoriously take things easy since we’re not supposed to get too physical with each other. While checking’s allowed, we’ve never had players fight and drop their gloves during these games.

Most of the first period goes well, with the first twenty minutes alternating between team red and team white being on a power play, essentially making it a 4v5 game the whole time. In the last five minutes of the period, we switch to 3v3 play.

Juuse lets three goals in, which surprises me, and Nadison currently has a shutout. This changes when one of the guys on my team snatches the puck on a breakaway and takes a shot on him. Nadison is caught off guard and goes into a sudden split that looks bad even from my point of view, all the way across the ice.

The puck goes in but Nadison stays down. He tries to stand up but collapses back on the ice, dropping his stick and shoving it aside in anger. The ref blows the whistle and the team medics go down to check him out. The whole arena is quiet and when I look over at where Robbie is sitting, I see a grimace on his face. I didn’t see exactly what Nadison hurt, but from his split, it could be a groin injury. I swallow hard and lift my gaze to the VIP box where our GM, Bonavich is seated. He stands up slowly, gripping the railing, before snapping something at the person behind him.

Shit .

Ash and the two medics help Nadison off the ice and people cheer along as he waves a hand around at them. Karlsen takes up the net for the last minute of the period, and then we all take a ten minute intermission. The locker room is quiet and we wait for someone to give us an update, but they don’t.

It must be bad then.

Fuck.

The entire game shifts during the second period. I don’t let any goals past me, especially fueled by my competitiveness to not let Ash score on me. The second time I glove the puck that he shoots, he fake shoves me and smacks his stick on the ice, all the while smiling. It reminds me of when we were practicing back in Helsinki and how he needed some tough love at the time. Karlsen on the other hand lets in three goals, which ties up the game.

During the last 30 seconds of play, they pull him and they get an extra player on the ice. While they squabble in the face off and wind down the time, the white team gets a hold of the puck and shoots it at me. I stop it with 7 seconds remaining on the clock.

The face-off resumes in front of me and I keep my focus on the puck. The white team gets a hold of it again and shoots it right into my glove. I make a split-second decision and drop the puck right in front of me then wind up and take a shot. With everybody still converging near the face-off, no one sees it coming, and the puck goes right into the net.

Our red team wins 4-3 and my teammates skate out to hug me. We all stay out on the ice longer, waving at fans, and gathering for a group picture with the staff, crew, and volunteers.

As we head off the ice, Ash gives me a hug and shakes his head. “You’re fucking amazing, sunshine .”

“You put up a good fight. Sorry I didn’t let you score.”

“Are you kidding? I got to show off my cool moves in front of Bonavich, that’s all I need. That man’s eyes were glued to you the whole time, I swear.”

I take a deep breath but can’t shake off the anxiety of what that might mean for me or my future.