Chapter Twenty
Beau
The Terriers had been on a losing streak for the past few games, so when we won this one, I was ecstatic.
It felt like we finally came together as a team and had gotten our heads out of asses.
Or maybe it was me. I’d been playing like shit since I had decided to distance myself from Dean.
Which hadn’t been going well, because I still stalked him on his social media way more than I should have.
Winning called for a celebration. I was buying everyone as many drinks as they wanted until everyone was so drunk they couldn’t stand up. Until we all had to pile into Ubers to get ourselves home. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the bar with my teammates to find Dean sitting with Maverick.
“Surprise.” Jackson grinned at me. I must have looked less than happy because he moved to stand before me. “Did you... Are you not excited about this?”
I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. “You should have told me that Dean was going to be here.” Given me a warning was what I wanted to say.
“Because you changed your mind, right?” Maverick was suddenly there, his green eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Because you had fun with my brother, but now it’s over? Is that why we should have told you?”
Jackson wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Sweetheart, we agreed to let Dean and Beau talk about this and not get involved.”
“We did no such thing.” Maverick huffed. He reminded me of the Maverick I first met. Angry and twitchy. Not the man who was happy and madly in love with my goalie. “You hurt my brother, Beau.”
A flash of green caught my eye. “Mav.” Dean’s voice was music to my ears. Soft and sweet. “While I appreciate you standing up for me, I think I can fight my own battles.” He smiled at his brother. “Thank you, though.”
“Of course.” Maverick glared at me again. “I’m watching you, Beau,” he warned before he let Jackson lead him away. And he was, too. Staring at me as they sat down, his eyes never leaving me.
Dean raised his chin as he looked at me, his green hair longer than the last time I saw him. It curled around his ears. “Can we talk, or do you want to ignore me in person, too?” He sounded hurt.
“I deserve that.”
“I don’t. I deserve better.”
He did.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wanted to take Dean in my arms and kiss him. Inhale that familiar leather scent that always clung to his skin. But I couldn’t. Not in front of my teammates.
“You fucking should be.” Dean turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the doorway.
He walked over to where Maverick sat with his husband and slid into the seat next to him. He didn’t turn back to look at me, but Maverick did. His eyes flashed angrily as he bared his teeth. Yikes, he was a scary little man.
I squared my shoulders as I walked over to join them, only for Maverick to shake his head at me. “No. You’re not welcome here. You can’t sit with us.”
“Mavs.” Jackson reached across the table. “Don’t be rude and pull a Mean Girls. Come sit next to me, sweetheart.”
He gave me an apologetic smile as Maverick huffed and moved into the spot next to Jax. He didn’t seem to mind when his fiancé wrapped an arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. In fact, Maverick giggled happily as he leaned into Jackson.
I pointed to the spot next to Dean. “May I?”
“It’s not my bar,” he told me without meeting my gaze.
And I hated it. I wanted those emerald eyes on me. I wanted that smile. I wanted him to look at me the way he had when he came to my hotel room that first time. And my apartment. To beg me to touch him again. It was wrong on so many levels.
I slid into the booth, and Dean shuffled farther away. I deserved that. I shouldn’t have been so childish with him. I could have spoken with him instead of ghosting him. I just figured it was easier for both of us.
“Are you going to grovel now, Beau?” Maverick folded his arms over his chest as I turned to meet his angry gaze. “Because you should. Get down on your hands and knees. Beg Dean to forgive you and give you another chance. One you don’t deserve.”
Jackson shook his head. “Sweetheart, don’t be so cruel.” He looked horrified.
“Excuse me? Don’t you dare, Goose! You saw what Dean looked like when he showed up at our apartment last night.
Brokenhearted and teary eyed. The man said he wouldn’t hurt him, but he lied.
Dean deserves to be just as happy as I am.
Beau needs to beg for forgiveness.” He blushed when Jackson leaned down to whisper something in his ear.
Brokenhearted? I turned to find Dean staring at me. “I thought maybe if I came here, you might have the balls to talk to me to my face. Tell me what I did wrong.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t have just stopped talking to you, Pink,” I admitted. “That was wrong and stupid. I just thought you’d be better off without me. Better off with someone younger and closer to your age. Like that guy in the picture.”
He blinked in confusion. “The guy in the picture?”
“The one with the purple hair,” I reminded him.
Dean moved a little closer. “Do you mean Jun?”
“You looked good with him. The green and the purple mixed well together.” Although I hated it. I thought Dean looked better with me. In my arms. In my bed. “He’s your age, right?”
Dean dropped his eyes to where my hand sat on my thigh. “I’m not interested in Jun like that. Those pictures were nothing but a publicity stunt our PR teams put together.” He glanced back up at me again. “It’s you I want, Beau.”
“He’s your age, Pink. He’s better suited for you.” I dropped my hand next to me, palm up, hoping that he would take the hint.
Dean’s lips spread in a coy smile. “Were you jealous, Daddy?” His voice was hardly a whisper.
“Were you jealous thinking that I wanted Jun? I never looked at him the way I look at you. You’re the only one I want touching me.
Kissing me.” He pushed right next to me so that our thighs touched. “Fucking me.”
“Pink,” I growled in warning, and I would have kissed him if we were alone. If my teammates and his brother weren’t in the bar with us.
I glanced across the booth to find Maverick and Jackson staring at us. “Don’t say a word,” I hissed. I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed. I just liked to keep my shit private.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Jax grinned. “Come on, Mavs. Let’s let them have some privacy.” He helped him out of the booth. Maverick did that thing where he pointed at his eyes and then back at me before he waved at his brother with a smile.
Dean’s eyes moved down over my body before he met my eyes again. “You look so damn hot in this suit.”
“You think so?” I asked.
My fingers itched to touch him. I wanted to drag them through his green hair. Hold him in my arms. How had I gotten so attached so quickly? Dean was supposed to be a onetime thing. Not someone I had a future with. Now he was all I thought about.
He nodded. “You looked hot on the ice, too. I never knew watching hockey in person could be such a turn on.”
I growled. “Watch it, Pink baby.”
“Take me back to your place,” Dean whispered. “We don’t have to do anything. I just want to be with you. We can be friends, if that’s all you want to be. I missed you.”
I reached up to push the hair from his forehead before I could stop myself. “Cole’s there.”
“I’d like to see him, too.” Dean leaned into my touch. “Did you miss me?”
More than you’ll ever know.
“Yes,” I said instead, because I was scared about how much I did. Scared that something would happen to him. With how attached I was. With how jealous I had been of him with that Jun. I hadn’t felt this way in a long time.
“So, can we? Go back to your place? I can sleep at Mav’s if you want.”
“You’ll sleep at my place.”
The thought of him not being there made me want to drag him there. Force him into my bed and tie him down. Show him who he belonged to. Me.
Dean was mine until he decided he needed someone younger and better suited for him.
Dean’s eyes went round. “I will?” He sounded surprised that I would suggest it.
“Yeah, you will, Pink.” I wanted him in my bed. Next to me. As long as he’d have me.