Grinding (Portland Icehawks #6)

15. Bothered

Chapter Fifteen

BOTHERED

~~Camden~~

I Uber home and don’t breathe easily until I’m safely in my condo. It’s dark and quiet, and I flip on one of our lamps. I collapse on the couch and don’t realize I’m not alone until Drakos clears his throat.

“Why are you sitting here in the dark?”

“Because I like it,” he shoots back.

“You’re home early. This is becoming a habit.” I’m teasing, but my good-natured roommate isn’t amused.

“Yeah, a bad one,” Drakos growls. He’s clearly bothered by something or someone.

I wait him out, and I don’t wait long.

“Every place I went, Aria was there. She’s digging for dirt on me. She wants to ruin me.” His anger turns to weariness. He sighs deeply. Aria is really wearing on him.

“Don’t you think that’s a little paranoid?” I try to talk sense into him. Surely Aria has better things to do than follow Drakos around town.

“No, not at all. She’s been attacking me for months.” Drakos sounds like a pouty teenager.

“She has singled you out. Is there anything you ever said or did to piss her off this much? It’s like a personal vendetta.” I flip on the lamp next to my chair, wanting to see his expression. He clenches his jaw and stares straight ahead. His body is so tense I fear he might shatter like broken glass. I’m at a loss for words.

“I didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

Something in his tone alerts me to the hidden meaning behind his words. “But you did do something?”

“We have a history. Let’s leave it at that.”

Why I hadn’t seen that coming, I’ll never know. Drakos is hell-bent on working his way through every available woman in Portland, and with his charm, he’s succeeding. Why would Aria be spared? Whatever happened, it didn’t end well.

“This is starting to make more sense.”

Drakos utters a few words in Ukrainian. He turns his head and looks directly at me. “Where’ve you been? The game ended hours ago, and everyone’s long gone from the Puck.”

It’s my turn to stiffen, and I scramble for an answer that won’t be a lie, won’t be the entire truth, and will satisfy him.

“Aria’s rubbing off on you. You’re prying, and that’s not like you,” I point out, and he cringes.

“That’s a low blow.”

“Sorry. I guess it is. But as long as you react to her, she’ll keep needling you. It’s her sport.” I flip the subject back to him and Aria.

“Fuck, yeah, it is. She’s really messing with my vibe.”

“Your vibe?”

“Yeah, vibe. I like to have a good time. She’s such a vibe-killer and doesn’t know how to have fun or let loose.”

I scowl and roll my eyes. “Like that has anything to do with anything. It’s not like you’re friends or dating.”

“It has everything to do with it. She needs to get laid and stop taking her sexual frustrations out on me.”

“Drakos, you don’t know a damn thing about her personal life.”

“And I don’t want to any more than I want her to know about mine.”

“You’re letting her live rent-free in your head, which is exactly what she wants.”

Drakos fists his hands in his hair in frustration. “She’s destroying my likes, too.”

“Your likes?” I stare at him, puzzled.

“Yeah, my likes. My social media presence is taking a hit because of her. She’s fucking me up across the board.” He downs another shot of vodka. “Next fucking thing, she’ll plant cameras in the condo and report on my every move at home too.”

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. I’ve never been much for social media, never understood the addiction that so many have to it.

“We’re hockey players, not influencers. I’d worry less about your followers and more about the team’s chances in the playoffs.”

“I worry about that too, but I have a different way of showing it. I am an alternate captain for a reason. No one can fault my work ethic on the ice.”

“No one is.”

“She is.”

“Drakos, your performance and the team’s are what matters. What she says is pointless, and no one cares.”

“I do.”

I shake my head, baffled as to why this one woman has him so wound up. Every pro hockey player has negative press at some point in their career, some more than others. Aria’s continued attacks on Drakos are frustrating, but he’s really letting her get to him, and I don’t understand why. He’s been in this league long enough to grow a thick skin. Drakos is an enigma. He’s a hard partier and a hard player. The only thing he takes seriously is hockey and now, Aria.

I’d give my right nut for his talent. He’s everything in a hockey player I’d love to be. I researched him when we became roommates, merely to get to know him better. Some things are obvious by seeing him on the ice in games and practice. His slap shot is lethal. He’s a great forechecker and our most dangerous net-front presence. He’s ruthless with the puck and relentless when he doesn’t have it.

Drakos had a disaster season two years ago, which I’m guessing is why his team left him exposed in the expansion draft, along with his large cap hit. Last year, the team did poorly. This year, we were still in it and fighting for that final playoff spot. Drakos is an integral part of any success we have. He’s a leader with a positive attitude and unparalleled energy. Sometimes he exhausts me just watching him.

I could easily be jealous of his God-given talent, and I guess I am a little. Yet he’s such a great guy, everyone adores him, except for Aria. This whole thing between them is strange, especially how much it bothers him.

Aria is a bother, but she has every right to do her job. From what I can tell, she’s good at it. Regardless, Drakos and Aria’s petty differences aren’t my problem. I’m hanging on as it is, hoping to stay on this team as long as possible. I’m not sure there’ll be another option if the Icehawks cut me. My contract only covers this season.

My future weighs heavily on my heart. The end of every season, a black cloud hangs over me, as I fret if this’ll be my last year in the league. I have enough money stockpiled to live off it indefinitely as long as I’m frugal, but I’m not one to spend the rest of my life doing nothing. I need a purpose, a job, a reason for living.

Hockey has been my lifeline, my savior, and my foe. Hockey is a young man’s sport, and I’m twenty-eight, which is getting up there by league standards.

There is a silver lining. If I’m not playing hockey, Inez and I could have a relationship. So there is that, but who says I’ll be in Portland next year? Then again, why not? It’s not as if I have a family to go home to.

Home? What the fuck does that mean anyway? I haven’t had a home in years, but the thought is appealing. I’m ready to settle down, find a special woman to share my life, with and put down roots in one place for an indefinite amount of time.

When I think of a special woman, I think of Inez. She’s occupied my thoughts since I came to Portland, and I can’t seem to get her out of my mind. Tonight…

Our make-out session, if I can call it that, was the stuff of dreams. I yearn for her touch enough that I might consider giving up everything. Her mouth on mine was sheer heaven. Her hunger for me will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. And her body, those breasts and nipples, and?—

“Cam? Cam? Cam, where did you go?” Drakos waves his hand in front of my face, and I jump, startled.

“Oh, sorry, just lost in thought.”

“Obviously. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“About Aria?—”

I groan. Not Aria again. Drakos launches into another tirade about his nemesis. I half listen while the other half slips back to my favorite subject.

Like Inez, I’m pragmatic, rather than romantic, yet I can’t help but wonder if fate brought us together. Perhaps so, but the timing is all wrong for both of us. I’m fighting for a future roster spot, and she’s fighting to prove herself. Neither of us can afford to fuck this up.

But damn, do I want to when it comes to her.