8. Alexie
8
ALEXIE
The next match kicks off smoothly. The Frostwolves go through motions as if we rehearsed the match. Every move that our opponent makes is countered with a winning strike. We pile up a streak of goals before things start going downhill.
I hate to let my personal life get in the way of work and it never happened… before her. I see her in the GM’s box and she’s so happy. I hate thinking I’ll take that away from her.
I rarely entertain serious relationships because of my “condition”. But Caia and her smoldering gaze has been on my mind all day and once again, I had a personal reflection moment in the shower and I swear I was close to going off. That volcano is going to be Vesuvius-style soon.
The tension between us is at an all-time high. No matter how much I fight it, we’re looking at an overflowing bottle of emotions ready to boil over anytime soon. I’ve got to come clean to her and more importantly, come to terms with the fact that this might have been a mistake.
The game is a win, barely, and after I get showered, I head out for a drink at the Blue Line around the corner before heading home. Theo Thompson, aka Moose, and Aiden Turner, aka Iceman are already there. They wave me over.
Theo, wearing the pearliest grin as always, pats my shoulder when I reach the bar. “So, how’s married life treating you?”
“Make it a double,” I say to our regular waitress.
Her head rears back. “You okay, Lexie?”
Aiden leans toward me, mischief quirking his lips. “I bet he’s just tired from all the sex.”
He’s trying to lighten the mood, but I get ticked off.
“Don’t talk about Caia like that.” Even if she was a one-night stand, I’d never talk about what I do with a woman.
Even if we aren’t having sex, it’s not like I don’t want to now. Caia has been so patient. So kind. Almost the perfect wife, and I don’t deserve perfect the way I am. I wouldn’t be able to reciprocate her attention and only giving her pleasure wouldn’t satisfy her. I can tell that the woman is looking for the whole package, and in this case, my whole package.
I shoot up from my chair, throwing a twenty at the counter.
“I’m going to go,” I huff. “Dis was a mistake.”
Little do my teammates know, I’m not only referring to showing up to this bar.
Aiden raises his hands in mock offense. “Whoa, big guy. I’m sorry. I won’t talk about sex anymore. Stay.”
Sighing, I reluctantly slump back into my seat. Theo and Aiden exchange glances.
“I don’t think I can have sex,” I cut into the frigid atmosphere.
I’ve seen my teammates react to all sorts of surprise upsets— at tournaments, while we’re practicing, over sudden injuries. But I’ve never witnessed them express the shock they have right now.
An awkward pause looms over us as the wait staff drops off my vodka and lime. Theo and Aiden exchange awkward glances toward me as if they’re waiting for the other to start. After a prolonged back-and-forth through squints and frowns, they nod for each other to go on impulse.
“For fuck’s sake, say something,” I exclaim impatiently.
Aiden is the first to peep. “Ummm… why? Why don’t you think that you can have sex?”
Theo bobs his head vigorously. “Good question. Good question, Iceman.”
I give an exaggerated eyeroll, then drop my head and shake it. Opening up isn’t my strong suit.
I bring my head back up. “I took a puck to the groin at eighteen and things haven’t worked the same.”
There’s more silence and Aiden clears his throat. “But we’ve seen you leave the rink with a woman on each arm?”
“I take them to dinner and drop them off at their homes.”
“And we saw one coming from your apartment early in the year,” Theo adds.
I think back and quickly remember the day.
“Sylvia is my house cleaner,’ I reply. “And old enough to be my mother!”
“Oh…” Theo trails off. “I don’t judge who someone sleeps with!”
Aiden pries, “Again, why?”
Voice going low, I say, “I haven’t orgasmed since that pucking day. I can get… hard, but then… nothing. Although a lately in the shower?—”
“Ewww… TMI dude. TMI.” Theo gags on his beer.
“Maybe I need to see someone. A sex therapist? A proctologist? A priest?” I lean back in the high-back stool and rub the back of my neck.
“No, I think you should just go for it. Doctors put weird shit in our heads,” Theo says emphatically. He says mockingly like a doctor giving bad news, “Meniscus tears can be career ending. Another lost tooth and you’ll need complete dentures. Tennis elbow isn’t easy to get rid of. It’s only to make us be on high alert and then the team can trade or cut us. What you need is to just go for it! That’s what you do on the ice, Winter Wolf. And you know there are other things you and Caia can do that aren’t penetration.”
Aiden and I both grimace at the last word.
This is the guy who was shrieking TMI?
“Never say penetration again, unless you’re talking about Alexie going full force into enemy territory and taking on four players at once,” Aiden spits back at him.
I lift my glass to toast to his comment.
“You know what I mean.” Theo crosses his arms.
“I will think on it.”
“No, just do it.”
I release a wistful sigh. “That saying has lost all meaning.” We all laugh. When the amusement has cooled down, Aiden adopts a serious tone.
“Did Caia know about… before you asked her to marry you?” He refers to my erectile issues like a school boy who can’t talk about penises and vaginas without turning the color of my mother’s borscht.
I cringe. “She asked me to marry her. It’s a long story and I’m not ready to talk about that.”
“Cool. Well, I hope that it all works out for you, but seriously man, less thinking… more doing.”
More doing with Caia?
Now that sounds like something I’d really like to do.