Chapter Five
SOREN
The hard and heavy beat of the frenetic song races around me as I move from high cobra to lizard pose. Afternoon sunlight streams through the windows high on the wall of my basement apartment, casting spotlights on the framed photos of the Minnesota wilderness hanging above my couch.
We have a game tonight again our biggest rival. My pre-game nap refreshed me. I’m halfway through my yoga routine, and once I finish it, I’ll make a bowl of spaghetti, my favorite pre-game meal.
I check my form in the mirror. Since I tore my hamstring last season, I’ve been careful with my warmups and pre-game ritual. Yoga has helped my flexibility so much.
A knock sounds from the door at the top of the stairs. I twist toward the sound of footsteps jogging down the stairs.
Gio comes off the last step and walks into my living room.
His hair rumpled either from his pre-game nap or sexy times with Phil, he shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and in absence of his smile, lines fan across his forehead and from the corners of his eyes. “Hey. I need to talk to you.”
His expression isn’t one I often see, and sets alarm bells off in my brain. “Uh oh. You have that look on your face. Do you need to talk to me in your capacity as team captain, or the guy who I rent from, or as my friend?”
“Right now, all three.”
“I hate to lose momentum and don’t want to get tight, so I’ll keep stretching, if that’s okay.” Not looking at him doesn’t help with the nerves holding a kickboxing tournament in my gut. The song changes to “Make You Mine” by Flame Shade as I move into downward facing dog. “What’s up?”
He grabs my phone from the side table by the couch and lowers the volume on my playlist. “I need to know what the deal is with you and Tyler.”
Moving up into warrior two, I jolt out of form. Questions and worry swirl through me as I get into position again. “What do you mean?”
“Soren, I’m not stupid. I saw you kissing him and Bax at Layne’s party.
Then, he got traded, and you suggested he move in with us.
I was in favor of the idea because we help our friends, and I felt he needed to be here with us and not stuck somewhere on his own…
but all of us housemates can see the way you two act around each other. ”
Exhaling, I cartwheel my hands down and step back into downward facing dog then lift my right leg toward the ceiling. The nerves in my stomach have turned into an MMA cage match, and it takes everything I have to keep my tone level. “Okay?”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “I know you tend to keep things to yourself, so I figured I’d wait until you came to me.”
Annoyance rears fast, and I huff a laugh as I slowly lower my leg. I may be twenty-five, but when he gives me that look, I feel like a scolded teen. “Tyler’s only been here for what, nine days? That’s not much time, G.”
“After the morning skate today, Stephens asked me if you and Tyler were turning into Sage and Rhys. That’s why I’m here now.”
“Stephens is an ass.” I repeat the move on my left side.
He was one of the disgruntled, demoted Metros last season, bitter about Remy, Morgan, and especially Sage earning their spots with the big club.
Though Rhys spent two weeks with the Slash as he recovered from an injury, his romance with Sage mostly developed when Sage was called up to the Metros, the second half of last season.
“Even so. He said he saw you and Tyler looking cozy, and asked me.”
“He’s nosy. Did you tell him to fuck off?”
Gio sits on the floor so we’re more eye to eye. “I brushed him off, then redirected the conversation.”
“Thanks.” I shift into a high plank, stretching my body out and clenching my core.
“But the guys aren’t stupid. More people will notice. Are you keeping your relationship quiet? In case one of them asks you, or if Coach Nivens or HR hears about it from them and asks you, you better think about what you’ll say. Or what you want me to say, if anyone asks me again.”
“We’re taking it slow. We haven’t discussed how we’d handle things yet.
” Inhaling, I drop onto my stomach and bring my forearms out in front of me in sphinx pose.
“I didn’t really think about the team. I mean, I thought about how Tyler is on our team now.
And I don’t want him to feel pressured in any way.
But I didn’t think about the other guys at all. They aren’t a part of this.”
“Except they see you interacting nearly every day. What if you kiss him? Grab hold of his hand? Get caught coming out of his room on the road?”
Keeping my upper body in line with my elbows under my shoulders, I move into half frog pose, creating a ninety-degree angle with my left leg. “We haven’t slept together yet. The only reason I’m coming out of his room late on the road is video games. Not that it’s anyone’s business.”
He just stares at me.
I can’t help adding, “Do you think Quinn questioned Rhys like this when he started dating Sage? I’ll have to ask the next time everyone’s here for dinner.”
“Soren.” He gives my shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’m not trying to be a dick here. You’re my friend. I have your back. I just need to think about this other stuff too. We need to be prepared.”
Repeating half frog on my right side, I think about how Tyler and I have behaved over the three games and practices.
A lot of our teammates are affectionate guys.
Hugs, leaning on each other, sharing food and drinks, even falling asleep against each other on the bus.
We haven’t held hands or kissed or done anything out of the ordinary in front of anyone on the team.
“I can’t think of anything Tyler and I have done that would stand out. ”
Gio plays with the corner of a furry throw pillow at the end of the couch. “It’s the way you look at each other.”
“What way?” I come into downward facing dog again, then walk my feet up the yoga mat toward my hands in a forward fold.
“I can’t explain it. Sometimes there’s a softness, other times a spark. You clearly have a connection.”
Huffing a sigh, I move into mountain pose. “Should we start wearing sunglasses indoors to hide our eyes?”
His lips twitch, and he shakes his head. “Can you please be serious right now?”
“Gio, you’re telling me that the way I look at someone is going to give me away. Something that I can’t control. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
Gio puffs out a breath and rubs his hands over his face.
“As your friend and as your captain, I’m asking you to have a conversation with Tyler about how to handle things with the team.
If you’re in a relationship, regardless of how slow you’re taking things, you should talk to Coach Nivens.
And HR needs to know. Whether you tell the rest of the team is up to you, but if they ask, you and Tyler should be on the same page. ”
My thoughts spinning, I drop into a yogi squat. “It’s not only Tyler and me in this. When we had dinner with Bax on Monday, we invited him to the team’s holiday party.”
“You did?” Gio blinks, and the pillow in his hands stills.
Then he shakes his head like it’ll pull him from his disbelief and bops me with the fuzzy square.
“Damn, talk about keeping things to yourself. I see you every day, ask what’s new, and for the past five days you didn’t mention this during any conversation we’ve had about the party? That we’re hosting?”
Hoping my smile and shrug are enough of an apology, I lower myself to the mat. “I should’ve told you. Just… things are new, and I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing half the time.”
“It’s okay, bud. I’m not angry, just surprised. Bax seems cool.”
I stretch my legs in front of me, and fold my upper body forward, reaching for my toes. “Since the party’s alway crowded, I figured people wouldn’t pay any attention to who was there with me. But since my eyes are apparently so expressive…”
Laughing, he slaps my shoulder. “Not just yours. Tyler’s too.”
The party is in two days, so Tyler and I need to talk soon. I roll onto my back and bring my knees into my chest, then rock from side to side. “I’ll talk to him today. We’ll figure this out.”
“Tyler is fitting in well with us. I’m glad he’s here.”
“He’s a good guy.” And I want to know more of him, and of Bax.
“So are you.” Gio sets the pillow in place. “You deserve to have someone who makes you smile the way he and Bax do.”
Leave it to Gio to say something so damn sweet. Sniffling, I swallow down the ball stuck in my throat and lift myself into bridge pose. “What you said earlier, about me keeping things to myself… I know I do that. But I’ve been trying to be better. Even if it doesn’t seem that way.”
Over the last three years, Gio and Phil, Remy, Sage, and Morgan have shown me that they are safe people to share things with.
I didn’t have that before. Not really. And not with people who I thought I could trust. Like my older brother who has taken things I said I wanted just to spite me for as far back as I can remember, and my former hockey team’s captain who would throw all of us under the bus to the press or to each other if we showed a moment of weakness.
“You didn’t have a good situation before you came to us.” His voice is quieter now, more serious. “But I hope we’ve shown you that no matter what happens, we’ll support you.”
“You have. But sometimes, the instinct to protect myself, that it’s me against the world, still wins out.” Coming out of the arch, I carefully lower my body to the mat.
“Then we’ll just have to love you louder.” He grins, clearly pleased with himself.
“Got a megaphone?”
Barking a laugh, he ruffles my hair, then stands. “Sorry I interrupted your pre-game routine.”
“It’s okay.” I shift into the last pose—a reclined butterfly, bringing the soles of my feet together and letting my knees fall open wide. “Good talk, Captain.”