Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EASTON
"You're a sneaky prick." I sat beside Cruz and started to undo my laces.
He glanced over at me and grinned, no apology or shame. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done it. Oh wait, you could have and didn't. Your bad." He shrugged and tugged off his skate.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not claiming you won the bet.
How far did you go?" And why did I want to rip his fucking arms off?
I knew something happened between them when he stepped out of the women's locker room.
The smirk on his face said it all. Her following him out a couple of minutes later, looking deliberately put back together, chin raised, said the rest.
I'd never wanted to punch anyone more than I wanted to punch him then and there.
He wiggled his fingers in front of my face. "Ask my fingers how wet and warm her pussy was."
I batted his hand away. "Get that thing away from me."
He lowered his hand. A flash of something crossed his eyes, before his bravado reasserted itself.
I knew he was interested in me, but I was uncertain for so many reasons.
We'd known each other since we were kids, and we were teammates.
If we crossed that line, there'd be no going back.
We could screw up everything between us.
I wasn't afraid of much, but I was afraid of losing the best friend I ever had.
Although, this thing with Cat was already starting to get between us.
"In case you haven't heard it recently, jealousy is a curse, bro," he said lightly. "Sometimes you just have to grab the opportunities when they open themselves up to you."
"And yet, you didn't fuck her," I pointed out. "Otherwise you'd be waving your cock around instead."
Before he could respond, Dean sat down opposite us and started pulling off his padding. "Who didn't fuck who?"
"Cruz didn't fuck Catalina," I supplied. "Just with his fingers."
"That was more than you did," Cruz snapped.
"Because I told you, I wanted to mess around with her," I said. "I still do. I saw the expression on her face when she walked out of here. She's confused as fuck."
"Keep telling yourself that," Cruz said. "She didn't seem too confused when she was screaming my name. I think it might be you who's confused."
"Maybe you should call off your bet," Dean suggested. "If you two are going to fight over her, she's not worth it."
"We're not calling it off," I said. "We can handle it. We can handle her."
"Dean is right," Shaw said. I hadn't noticed him listening until he sat down beside the goalie. "You should forget all about it and her. I don't see the point of fighting over a woman neither of you really want."
"Who says we don't really want her?" Cruz asked.
"You did," Dean said. "And Easton did just now."
"Are you trying to get us to back off so you can step in?" I asked him.
Shaw turned and narrowed his eyes at Dean. "It's a good question. Are you?"
"No." Dean tossed his padding down on the bench beside him.
"Are you backing out of the wager?" I asked Cruz. "No one will mind if you need to admit defeat."
"I could say the same to you." He smirked at me.
"Fuck off," I snapped. "I'm not backing down. I'll take her out again and next time I'll fuck her until she can't skate for a week."
"Unless you're going to keep messing with her," Cruz taunted.
"If you're going to—" Dean started.
"You four, stop your pissing match," Coach Foster snapped. Kage Foster was a Canadian who played professional hockey before coming to Australia to help us nab the expansion spot. He'd been to the Stanley Cup play-offs twice, winning the second time. If he told us to do something, we did it.
Not without glares aimed at each other.
"Sorry, Coach," I called back. "Just a bit of friendly rivalry."
"Save the rivalry for the opposition." Kage gave us all a long look before he turned away.
Dean grunted his agreement. "He's right. We all need to lighten up a bit. Especially you two." He looked toward me and Cruz.
"I still think you're trying to convince us to get out of your way," Cruz said with a grin.
"What if he is?" I asked rhetorically. "Dean and Cat sitting in a tree, f-u-c-k-i-n-g."
"What are you, three years old?" Cruz asked.
I laughed. "Just having a bit of fun. What do you say Dean?"
"I say Cruz is right, you're a three-year-old," he said.
I flipped them both off.
"I think you're all as bad as each other," Shaw said. His tone was scathing, hazel eyes boring into us like he hoped to make our heads explode or some shit.
"Speaking of people who need to lighten up," I said. "Are you sure you don't want in on our bet? Or maybe you could find some willing pussy, because you, my friend, need to get laid."
"It's none of your fucking business," he snarled. He picked up his skates in one hand, pushed himself up off the bench with the other and stalked away.
"At least he didn't hit us in the head with his skates," I said offhandedly. "I thought, for a minute there, he might."
Cruz laughed. "He only would have hit you anyway. He wouldn't have caused too much damage if he clocked you in the head with them."
"Yeah, keep trying to convince yourself I'm not smarter than you," I told him.
"I am, and I'll tell you why. I plan to take things slow with Cat until I get so deep under her skin she can't get me out.
" I had some regrets about laughing along with the other guys the morning after our date.
I enjoyed spending time with her and I wanted to do more of it.
A lot more. I wanted to get in so deep that, when I backed away, I'd rip her heart right out of her chest. She'd think twice about fucking with guys like us ever again.
"Like a rash?" Cruz grinned.
"Just as encompassing but less itchy," I said. "She'll become part of me. Her whole life will centre around me and the things I do to her and with her. She won't be able to think without my permission. And when I cut her loose, she's going to feel it."
"You're a brutal asshole," Cruz told me.
I responded with a smile to match his words. "Of course I am. Watch and learn." I nodded to Dean to include him.
"You're a delusional, brutal asshole," Cruz said. "It's you who will be watching and learning while I take her down all the pegs she needs to go down to end up on her knees, my cock down her throat."
The mental image made me curl my hands into fists. "It's my cock—"
I stopped when Kage turned back to glare at us again. I forced my posture to loosen and smiled. We totally weren't arguing, no way.
He pressed his lips together and stepped away.
I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped out of the shower cubicle.
My dumb ass was still fuming over the mental image of Cruz and Cat. The stupid bet was my idea, but Dean was right, it was getting out of hand. I shouldn't have let either of them anywhere near her.
At first, it was just a bit of fun, messing around with a random woman none of us gave a shit about. It wasn't the first time we'd done it. We often bet on which women we'd take home from O'Reilly's after a game.
Of course, it was easier when they were hanging all over us.
The more I got to know her, the more I realised there was more to her.
I wasn't the kind of guy to commit to a woman, so it would never last, but I wanted to enjoy every minute of the ride.
I wanted to know what made her tick. What did she like and not like?
What would she let me do to her? I wanted to tie her to my bed and fuck her harder than she'd ever been fucked before.
I'd ruin her for every other guy that came after me.
Whoever it was she settled down and had babies with, she'd always think of me and wish he was me when he thrust into her. She'd cry out my name when she came. She'd get herself off thinking of me.
Part of me wanted to get her pregnant so she'd be tied to me forever. She'd have other children, but whenever she looked at ours, she'd see my face. A permanent, constant reminder of my existence.
I glanced at Cruz as he stepped out of his own shower cubicle.
My thoughts were conflicted. In him, I saw so many things.
My childhood friend. My teammate. A man with an undeniably perfect, sculpted body.
One that, if I was honest with myself, I wanted to touch.
How would it feel to have him on his knees in front of me, sucking my cock?
How tight would his ass be if I fucked him?
Tight as hell. As far as I knew, he'd never been with another guy.
He'd only shown interest in me. That was one of the few things I wasn't arrogant about. Cruz didn't trust easily. He opened up to very few people. I was probably the only one, apart from himself, who knew about that preference.
Even if he was curious as fuck, he'd hold back in spite of himself to protect himself from condemnation. I'd give him shit about a lot of things, but never that. Not when my body responded to his too.
Sometimes, I thought it would be easier to be a woman, so I could hide my arousal. Not that I was ashamed of my response, or my cock, but a guy couldn't be private when his dick was standing to attention.
I turned away so he wouldn't see my half-erect cock when I slipped off my towel and started to get dressed. I pulled on my bright red boxers, and my track pants over those before I turned back.
Cruz was watching me, like he knew all the things I thought about him, but reminding me of what we were right now.
Rivals.
He didn't nod or smile, and his customary smirk was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he turned his back and finished getting dressed.
I caught Dean watching us both, taking in the tension between us. I smiled, but it was a forced one that didn't reach my eyes.
He didn't smile back either. He seemed to be thinking something, but fuck only knew what. He was difficult to read at the best of times. Was he planning how he was going to get to Cat to win the bet before Cruz and me?
If he was, I'd figure out how to get in his way, or beat him to it. I wasn't beyond playing dirty to win. Not when there was so much at stake.
I grabbed my hi-vis work shirt and pulled it on over my head.
I didn't bother to tuck it in. I sat on the bench to pull on my socks and work boots.
I was fucking looking forward to never having to do this again.
Train at what I loved, then hammering fucking nails for the rest of the day.
The sooner the AIHL chose us, the better. I was ready to claim my prizes.
A professional hockey contract and Cat's pussy.