Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
WREN
"That was a great game," Sinclair said. "Edge of our seats stuff."
"Yeah, it was," I agreed.
Half of my mind was on the game, the other half on after the game. I felt as if I was going to drop a nuclear bomb right in the middle of my whole life and hope like hell I wasn't the one annihilated.
We stayed in the box for a while as the crowds dwindled. The guys would have to shower and meet with the press before they could leave to celebrate the win. Some would do a quick work out if they didn't have enough time on the ice.
Finally, on some unseen signal, we rose from our seats and headed out the box and down the elevators to the main part of the arena.
In North America, we’d have a private elevator and corridor, but here we had to mingle with the public.
The budget for purpose built arenas was limited at best. Some day…
"I'm always nervous after a game," Elenna admitted.
"After that attack last year, I keep wondering if they'll come after us here again.
It's silly, I know. The arena has much better security now than it did even then.
Everyone is on alert, and unless Aidan is mistaken, Nicholas doesn't have the resources. But still."
I hooked my elbow through hers, while Sinclair did the same on the other side.
"After what happened, it's perfectly normal and logical to be anxious," I said. "It was a traumatic experience for everyone. Especially you."
"What she said," Sinclair agreed. "I couldn't move out of my house fast enough after Wren and I were abducted from there.
" She didn't bother to contain a shudder.
"Not that the guys would have let me stay there alone after that anyway.
If I had, the guys would have quit and become my bodyguards, so they could stay home and make sure nothing happened to me. "
"They would have driven you crazy in… How quickly?" I teased.
"By the end of the first day," she said with a smile. "They're all too active to sit around in a tiny house like that, hour after hour. They would have taken turns to run around the block and burn off excess energy."
"Yeah, that's how they would have burnt off energy," Elenna said knowingly.
Sinclair grinned. "That too. But a girl needs to sleep once in a while. And so do they."
We stepped out of the elevator, into increasingly thinning crowds that were filing out the glass front doors.
We made our way to the press area. Elenna flashed her badge and we stepped past security.
The guys were still talking about the game, Coast with enthusiasm. Aidan with approval, but as always the suggestion there was room for improvement.
"The team played well. We're looking forward to the season ahead," he concluded. He nodded to the press, rose and stepped away.
The journalists looked ready to ask more, but the press was ushered out. They left reluctantly, filing past us and glancing but not saying anything.
Sinclair and I faced our share of questions after the abduction, but that died down and if I had my way, it wouldn't flare back up again.
"Hey." A hand clasped the back of my neck. Tiger's hair was damp from the shower, slicked back off his face. Like that, the resemblance to his brother was easier, more obvious. I might be biased, but Tiger was the better looking of the two.
"Hey, yourself," I said back. "Good game."
"It wasn't bad," he said. "We could have handled the puck a bit better."
I exchanged looks with Elenna and Sinclair and we all grinned. Of course he couldn’t just be happy to win.
"Did I say something funny?" He gave me a look like he wasn't sure if he should be amused or irritated.
"No, it's nothing," I said quickly. "Just girl talk."
"I don't think I'll ask," he concluded. "Unless you were discussing my pucking skills."
"Not the ones you're actually referring to," I said. I didn't kiss and tell.
"Good, I wouldn't want to show anyone up." He squeezed the back of my neck.
"In your dreams, Pennington." Coast draped his arm over Sinclair's shoulders and kissed her mouth.
"Fuck off, Riggs." Tiger looked at him with half lidded eyes. He turned us slightly, putting himself between me and the Demon's centre.
"Always so nice to have a conversation with you." Coast hadn’t missed the manoeuvre. He glanced at me, clearly wondering what I saw in Tiger.
I wasn't going to let that worry me. I liked Coast, but I didn't need his blessing to have a relationship. Although, it would be easier for us girls if the guys got along with each other.
"Of course it is," Tiger said. "I'm articulate and charming. I might also reconsider my stance on not showing anyone up. I might embrace my awesomeness instead."
"Are you talking about me?" Phoenix appeared on the other side of Sinclair. "You must have been, I heard the word awesome."
"No, we were not talking about you," Tiger told him. "If we were, that's not a word we'd use."
"Funny, I was going to say the same about you," Phoenix said. He glanced toward Coast. "Let me guess, you were telling Wren she can do better?"
Tiger dropped his hand from the back of my neck and took a step towards Phoenix.
I grabbed his arm before he could take a swing.
"Can we not punch the shit out of each other?" I asked.
"He fucking deserves it," Tiger growled. "It's about time someone rearranged his face for him."
"Maybe, but that doesn't have to be you." I shot Phoenix an apologetic look. I had nothing against the goalie. If anything, I liked him because he made Sinclair happy. Anyone who did that for one of my friends was all right in my book.
"My face is perfect the way it is," Phoenix said. He gave me a shrug like he agreed with Coast's suggestion Tiger wasn't good enough for me.
"Who said it wasn't?" Javey stepped up behind Sinclair and leaned around to kiss her cheek.
"Tiger." Phoenix nodded at him.
Javey frowned at Tiger, then at me. Evidently all three of them were in agreement.
"What about Tiger?" Finley, the team's equipment manager, snaked an arm around Elenna and pulled her to him.
"They're doing some team bonding exercise by being assholes to me," Tiger said.
"While I applaud team bonding, that's not what it looks like to me," Finley said. He whispered something in Elenna's ear. She nodded and whispered something back.
"What about sausages?" Coast grinned as if he could hear from further away than I was.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Finley grabbed Elenna's hand and pulled her towards the exit, where Orion and Aidan were waiting. "We'll see you later. Don't forget to get lots of sleep."
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," Coast told him.
Finley winked and whisked Elenna away.
"Could you be more cringey?" Tiger asked Coast.
"Yes, I could," Coast replied. "I could have been you."
It was a good thing I was still holding Tiger's arm, or he might have taken a swing at Coast.
"We should get out of here," I said. I took a step away, but turned back to Sinclair's guys. "If… When… Nicholas Fiorelli comes at us, we need to be united. As a team, you need to be united. Being shitheads to each other isn't going to help anyone."
"That's my girl," Tiger said as we stepped away. He placed his hand back on my neck, fingers tangled in my hair.
"Your girl?"
I hadn't seen Lex come into the room, but he was there now, a clipboard in his hands. He looked from me to Tiger and back again.
"We need to talk," I said softly.
"So I see," he said. "Let me put this down and we can do that."
He stepped out of the room, leaving us alone with only a handful of others who were talking in small groups while inching towards the door.
Bray was deep in conversation with one of the Demon Girls, the team's cheerleading squad. She was a cute blonde who hung off every one of his words. She was exactly his type, breathing and with a pussy. He was nothing if not predictable.
"Do you want me to leave?" Tiger asked. "The conversation could get messy."
"Please don't," I replied immediately. "If we're even going to think about doing this, we need to be all in. Right from the start."
He was right though, this could get very messy and complicated. What was I saying? It already was. Not helped by Tiger's own teammates’ animosity towards him.
"I'm all in," he said. "Don't listen to the bullshit from guys like Coast. They wouldn't know what their own asses looked like if they walked up and bit them on the face."
"That's very specific," I said with a grin.
Tiger chuckled. "It's true though. He thinks he knows everything. He's a dumbass."
"Maybe he is, but I meant what I said about you guys getting along," I said. "For all our sakes, you need to try."
Tiger looked pained. "I'll make an effort if he does. No promises."
Lex stepped back into the room. He nodded towards Tiger and me. "So, we're doing this?"
That wasn't what I expected him to say. I quickly realised his putting the clipboard away wasn't from necessity. It gave him a chance to compose his thoughts and decide how he felt about what he saw.
It seemed he wasn't going to back down or step away.
"That depends what you think ‘this’ is," Tiger said.
"You, me and her," Lex said bluntly. "Sharing. Both of us dating Wren.” He cocked his head at Tiger. "Did I get it right?"
Tiger grunted. "More or less. Yeah, that's what this is. I'm not giving her up. You want her, you're in like this. Or you’re out." His tone gave no room for alternatives or arguments.
Lex leaned in towards us both, the smile fading from his lips. "I'm not stepping away. If this is how it'll be, then that's how it'll be." He leaned back, his expression relaxing.
"It's a good thing you and I get on better than you do with most of the team."
"If I hated your guts, I'd still refuse to walk away," Tiger said. "I'd have to kill you instead."
Lex smiled. "Not if I killed you first."
"Well, this is a lovely conversation," I said wryly. "I'm starting to wonder if I should—"
"No," they both said at the same time.
"You don't get to walk away from us now," Tiger growled.
"Not a chance," Lex agreed. "You're ours now."
I hadn't seen the possessive look on his face before, but it was there now. Their expressions matched.
They were all in with me, jumping in with both feet and to hell with the consequences.
"Great," I said lightly. "I know this won't be easy, but if we take it a day at a time, neither of you will need to kill the other." I’d like to think they were joking, but I knew better.
Maybe they wouldn’t have literally killed each other, but if they hadn't agreed, things would have gotten bloody. That shouldn't have been a thought that ruined my panties, but here we were.
"Will there be any more than us?" Lex asked carefully. "I know your friends have three each…" He exchanged glances with Tiger, who gave a curt nod.
"Whatever happens, happens," Tiger said. "I don't give a shit as long as it doesn't get between us."
"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," I assured them both. And myself. My head spun. I needed to get used to the idea of having two boyfriends before I thought too hard about a third.
I won’t lie, it was nice to know where they stood if that happened though.
"Deal, but we have plans," Tiger said. "Lex got to play pool with you. I have plans for the rest of the night." He took my hand and led me from the room before Lex could object.