Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Greer
The pup in my arm was trying to wiggle free as I stalked through the arena. His tongue was hanging out, eyes bright and excited, a slight whine telling me to let him down to explore.
“Not yet buddy, I have a point to prove,” I muttered, giving him a quick pet of reassurance as I stalked to the offices.
When I pushed into Hayes’s office he froze, face a mask of confusion as he took in his quiet player holding a wriggling Australian Shepherd puppy.
“Greer… Why are you holding a dog?”
I held my puppy a bit higher, his tail wagging wildly now. Sometimes I almost understood why they cropped most of their tails. It was a weapon of its own. “This is Chorizo and he’s the reason I can’t go on this trip. I figured this would be more compelling for you to see him,” I said with a shrug.
Chorizo was panting like crazy now, trying to get at the man he had deemed as a new friend. I swear this dog made friends with everyone.
“You’re going,” he said as he walked over and gave Chorizo a little scratch on his head. An almost-smile flickered on his face before he looked at me, his serious mask back in place again. “It’s mandatory. Puppy or not.”
“Is it dog friendly?” I demanded. “You popped this on us last minute, the kennels are full.”
He sat down behind his desk, tapping away at his keyboard. It took a few minutes before he was looking back at me.
“Actually, it is. I guess you get to team bond with your dog in tow, Abbott. My guess is he will be a fantastic ice-breaker.” He flashed a smile that was genuinely satisfied.
“Great,” I said, completely deadpan. He sighed and sat back, crossing his arms.
“I’ve been fighting for you, Abbott. I’m not the enemy here. Jeremiah Kingsford agreed to us hiring a new Physical Therapist. You’re in the public eye, getting treated more than fairly… yet, you’re acting like spending time with your team is torture. I’m a bit confused.”
I sighed and sat down in the chair across from his, plopping Chorizo in my lap, fingers on his harness so he couldn’t wreck havoc on Coach’s desk. Even if I kind of wanted him to.
“I’m fine. I’ve shown up to everything, I’m just not a social butterfly like some of our other teammates,” I said flatly. We both knew who I was talking about. Kota Mori was my opposite in every infuriating way. “This is my last year, Coach, and I’m locked in. Why isn’t that enough?”
“Because teams that have some sort of connection, play better. It’s proven. You don’t have a single connection, Abbott.”
“I have a dog,” I said. Chorizo barked at him as if proving my point. “I’m broadening my horizons.”
“Well, lucky for you, they’re dog friendly, and they even have staff on site that I can request be available for doggy daycare from time to time. Your teammates are going to love this. In fact, go downstairs and grab him a jersey from the gift shop.”
Defeated, I nodded once and stood, knowing it was useless to argue.
Even though I’d told him I’d go to the team shop, I had every intention of walking straight past it. I should have known that luck wouldn’t be on my side.
It never was.
One of the perky workers wearing team gear stepped out, waving me down before I could walk out.
“Oh my god, is this Chorizo? What a cute name, by the way!” Her voice was over the top enthusiastic but for some reason I had a feeling it came naturally to her. She seemed like the bubbly type.
Fate knew better than to put my grumpy ass with omegas like this. Or any omegas at all.
“Thanks,” I muttered, internally fighting myself to not walk away. Coach honestly should’ve known not to put me in these kinds of situations.
“Come on in, let’s get that pup fitted for the best gear in the house. And don’t worry, Coach said you might be a little hesitant and he already said the team would cover whatever this costs.” She gave me a wink.
“Great,” I said, barely able to hide the sarcasm. How long had I been such a cynical dick? Even I could barely stand me.
To her credit, the girl seemed unfazed, fully focused on my pup who was eating up every bit of attention.
I finally just gave up and handed him over completely.
She hugged him like he was a giant teddy bear, letting out high-pitched squeals as other workers came over to join her. Chorizo ate up every bit of attention.
Today was going to be the death of me, and that was before several days of un-ending team bonding.
I really thought my dog was going to get me out of this one.
After an ear-splitting thirty minutes of torture later, I finally made my escape with a forced smile.
Coach had given us the day, and I had none of my summer-appropriate outfits ready, which meant I got to do my least favorite task.
Shopping.
My ex was always better at that than I was. Yet another way my life was fucked up since I’d walked away from him.
As soon as I had my dog secured in the backseat, I pulled up the shopping app, knowing I couldn’t endure any more time with people falling all over Chorizo.
I ordered what I needed and had it sent directly to the house. My nerves were completely shot, and I spent the rest of the afternoon doom-scrolling. It was the only thing I could force myself to do.
My head was aching and I scrubbed a hand over my face to try and chase off some of the dread weighting me down. The only saving grace to this damn trip was no practice, a comfortable bed, and that Chorizo was coming with me.
At least I’d have him as a buffer.
Honestly, Coach gave me one of the best excuses possible.
Oh sorry, the dog is whining. Gotta take him out to pee before he goes in this expensive hotel.
Then I’d escape for a bit.
I knew damn well Coach wasn’t letting me get out of anything. He’d take the dog out himself before letting me use him as a reason to hide.
Which meant my fate was sealed.
Fuck.
Kota
I knew I was pushing my luck by inviting myself on this little shopping trip. Rylan’s words were sharp as ever, fire spilling from that sexy mouth of his.
He didn’t seem as resistant as he had the first time we met. I had a feeling I was growing on him. That was how I made Lach my best friend. Though, my feelings towards these omegas were anything but friendly.
I bit my lip and studied him, eyes darting between the choices on the rack and the omega standing in front of them scowling.
“I can feel you watching me. You know that, right?” Rylan accused as he finally looked over at me. His annoyance wasn’t at me but shopping.
“I’m innocent,” I said, lifting my hands. “I was merely looking at the options and wondering why you look so upset. Or why you picked those.” My nose wrinkled in distaste.
“They’re black,” he argued, holding them up between us. “What could possibly be wrong with them?”
“I don’t think wrong is the word I would use here,” I countered, tilting my head to the side as I took him in from head to toe. “Go ahead. Put them on and you’ll see.”
“Thanks for the permission, delta.” His snark was back and I bit back my smile. He grumbled something I couldn’t make out before walking into the dressing room.
Two minutes later he was stalking back over to me. He was shirtless this time, and my mouth went dry.
The omega was perfection. There was definition beneath his omega softness, his narrow hips and slight trail of hair teasing me. I wanted to see more.
It also reinforced my earlier thoughts that the shorts were all wrong.
“They’re fine,” I said, not wanting to ruin what was already a precarious relationship—or lack thereof.
His eyes narrowed on me. “What do you mean ‘they’re fine?’” His voice was low and gravelly, his annoyance even more obvious now.
Who knew omegas could be as growly as alphas?
“I just think there are better choices for your body type is all.” I shrugged like it was no big deal but this was my in.
“Fine,” he relented, crossing his arms in challenge.
That was all I needed. I leapt out of my seat and ran to the nearby racks, rifling through choices while glancing back from time to time to take him in again.
He purposely hadn’t told me his size, and honestly, that was fine by me. I loved a challenge and this just gave me an opportunity to prove myself. To show them that I was exactly who I said I was.
I hated that someone had hurt them both so badly that it was impossible for them to trust me or any hockey player. They’d written us all off before I even had a chance.
Only time could fix a gap like this. It required patience and persistence, two things I had in spades.
Skipping past all the shorts in the same cut, I quickly found a jade green pair of trunks that I knew was going to pull the green in his eyes forward.
Rylan’s eyebrows rose as I handed them over, but simply took them and went back inside the dressing room.
Don’t worry, omega, I can be patient.
The moment he opened the door, his eyes narrowed slightly. I chuckled at his reaction, knowing exactly what the issue was.
“You hate that I’m right, don’t you?”
“I despise it,” he agreed vehemently, but even he couldn’t hide the slight smirk this time.
“It’s okay to admit it, omega. I know I have good taste. Those look incredible on you.”
“And so very humble, too,” he muttered.
Rylan took a second in front of the mirror, twisting around and taking in the shorts from all angles.
They fit him perfectly. I’d been right about his size. The difference was the style was tailored to omegas and their shape.
The way they rested on his hips accentuated his natural shape, making him even more mouthwatering than before.
Perhaps I should’ve been more careful since he was about to be around my entire team, but I wanted my omega to feel good and confident.
More than that, I knew he would eat my entire team alive if they even tried to make a pass at him. They both would.
“Alright. What else should I get?”
For the first time since meeting Rylan, his voice lacked its usual animosity. The warmth that spread through my chest only confirmed how fucking bad I had it for these two.