Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
LEX
"Go!" I shouted.
Tiger and Bray gave me twin glares, but gripped the tethers attached to their waists, leaned forward and started to sprint across the ice on their skates. They pulled sleds with additional weight along the rink behind them.
Of course, the strength exercise had to be a competition between these guys, to see who could pull the sled across the ice the fastest.
It was my job to make sure it didn't get out of hand. Friendly competition was one thing, injuring themselves to prove a point was another.
At this level, they knew what was at stake. They weren't young and stupid, aspiring to turn professional. They were professionals whose livelihoods depended on their bodies. On and off the ice.
An injury could stop them from fulfilling sponsorship requirements and put them out of the game. When you were talking about thousands of dollars, it wasn't something the guys fucked with. Some of them might make the move to North America. If they did that, they'd be talking about millions.
Yeah, there was competitive, then there was smart.
That included these two, no matter how pissed off they might be at me. Just how pissed off that was, I wasn't exactly sure.
They both gave me long, dark looks, but neither said anything more or less than was required of them. Would they keep their mouths shut if they knew I ate Wren out on the pool table?
Lucky for me, I was a big boy and could stick up for myself.
What she and I did was our business, not theirs.
And what fucking good business it was. The taste of her pussy lingered on my tongue.
The cries she made when I lapped at her as she lay on her back on the pool table, echoed in my ears. My cock twitched at the memory.
I blinked a couple of times to return my focus to the morning’s training.
Tiger and Bray skidded to a stop at the end of the rink and turned carefully to come back.
Tiger’s sled slammed into the boards, but he tugged it around and gave chase as Bray was getting away from him.
"Come on, Tige!" Coast Riggs shouted. "You're letting Bray beat you." He skated backwards, right in front of them.
"Fuck off, Coast," Tiger shouted back. "We all just saw Javey kick your ass."
"In your dreams." Coast grinned. "You must be thinking about Phoenix."
Phoenix was working with the goaltender coach, practising saves. "Leave me the fuck out of it," he shouted. "Besides, there's no chance Javey would be faster than me."
Javey was visibly unamused at being the source of ridicule. He was slightly smaller than Coast, but faster. That put them on an equal footing when it came to exercises like this.
"If you're not careful, you're going to make Javey cry." Tiger reached the end of the rink and grinned at Javey.
Javey glared at him before lunging at the defenceman, aiming a fist at his face.
Tiger ducked to the side and raised his own fist to strike back.
"That's enough," Aidan snapped from the other side of the rink. "Don't make me bench you both for the rest of the season."
Tiger glared at Javey but lowered his fist and sprinted away, the sled still behind him.
I made my way over to Aidan, skating casually. "They're on edge today."
I stopped and lightly rested my hand on the boards. I didn’t need it for balance. I learned to skate not long after I learned to walk. It was second nature to me.
"When are they not on edge?" Aidan narrowed his eyes at Javey. "They're desperate to get the season underway and make up for the last one. Getting as close as we did and then missing out… It's fucking with all of us."
"It's ironic how much less pressure there was when we were losing all the time," I remarked. "The better you do, the better you want to keep doing."
"Exactly," Aidan agreed. "Now everyone knows what we can do, we have to keep doing it. Doing better. The moment we don't, everyone will be watching."
"They can do it this year," I said. "They're a lot more focused. Most of the Fiorellis are gone and all but one of the Mancinis. We might be able to focus on hockey for a while."
I glanced in the direction of Tank and BJ.
I wasn't sure about Aidan's decision to let them and their girlfriend, Kaya Mancini, walk away from the attack on Sawyer's house.
It wasn't my call to make. As far as I could tell, all three of them were firmly in line.
If that changed, Aidan would be all over them before they could blink.
"That would be a fucking miracle," Aidan remarked, drawing my attention to him. "While Nicholas is still out there, I won't hold my breath for miracles."
After a moment, he added, "You're right though, they are a lot more focused. We need to keep them that way."
"You've noticed, huh?" I turned back to the ice.
"I wasn't born yesterday," he said. "I saw you with Wren. I’m seeing the death glares you’re getting today. Playing with fire, are you?"
I grinned. "Nothing I can't handle. I like Wren. She deserves someone who actually spends time with her. Women like that don't wait around forever."
Tiger's loss was my gain. And Bray's. If he thought he was fooling anyone when it came to his interest in his stepsister, he'd have to think again. He was as subtle as a puck to the eyeball.
"No they don't," Aidan agreed. "Sometimes a man just has to take what's his."
That was very clearly his approach to Elenna. He'd set his sights on her the moment he saw her and laid claim within a matter of weeks. I didn't think she'd resisted, but he wouldn't have allowed her to. Once he'd decided she was his, that was that.
I was close to making that same decision myself, where Wren was concerned. My only hesitation was the potential of friction with Tiger and Bray. I didn't care about it, but she obviously did.
The solution was simple. I'd have to get under her skin so far she wouldn't be able to push me out even if she wanted to. I'd make her forget all about all other guys.
In the back of my mind, I acknowledged the possibility she might prefer the same kind of arrangement as Elenna and Sinclair had. Three boyfriends each. Was that something I could do?
Specifically, was that something I could do with Tiger and Bray?
I wouldn't have thought Coast, Phoenix and Javey would get along well enough to make it work with Sinclair. Aidan, Finlay and Orion were a different story. Aidan and Finlay had been friends for years. Finlay and Orion had something going on between them as well.
Tiger and Bray continued to sprint across the rink with sleds behind them. No one could deny they were good-looking, well-built guys.
I'd never considered either of them as anything more than hockey players I coached.
Now I did, I came to no particular conclusions.
I might be jumping to a few here though.
Wren may have absolutely no interest in a polyamorous relationship.
Once I got her to fall for me, she may only want me. I had no problem with that.
"That's exactly what I intend to do," I said. "Take what's mine, I mean. I have no reason to believe Wren will object."
"Are you going to be concerned if she does?" Aidan asked lightly.
"Would you have been?" I asked. "If Elenna objected."
He smirked. "Of course not, but that was never in the cards. Elenna and I were meant to be together. I knew it and she knew it. There was no reason for her to object."
"But if she had?" I pressed.
"Then I would have kept working on her," he said. "However long it took. Sometimes we have to help people to see what's right in front of them."
I nodded. "Yes, we do. I'm going to make sure Wren sees very clearly. She's a smart girl, it shouldn't take too much work."
"If she's that smart, and you're the one for her, she’ll see it," Aidan agreed. "But if you're not, she'll see right through you. And if she doesn't, she has Sinclair to help her out."
He rolled his eyes. For some reason, he seemed to have taken a dislike to Sinclair.
I had no idea why; she seemed nice enough to me.
Anyone who was a good friend to Wren must be a decent person.
If she tried to get between us, like Aidan seemed to imply, I'd put a stop to it.
As long as she supported us, then I was fine with her spending time with Wren.
"Coast, Phoenix and Javey can keep Sinclair busy," I said. "She won't be a problem."
"Famous last words," Aidan said with a snort.
I glanced over to him. "Why exactly do you dislike her?"
He shrugged. "She's mouthy. I don't like that in a woman."
"Elenna isn't mouthy?" I asked.
"Elenna knows when to keep hers shut," Aidan said. "She speaks her mind, but not the way Sinclair does."
I shrugged. We couldn't like everyone, I supposed.
I'd take a different approach to her than Aidan did. I'd be so nice to her, she'd happily support Wren and me. I could be charming when I wanted to be.
I waved to Tiger and Bray to switch out with two of the other players. They could practice trying to get goals past Phoenix for a while.
They both gave me looks while they removed the tethers from their waists. At some point, we were going to need to have a conversation, but not today.
I had work to do first.