Chapter Forty-Five
Dusty
I stole the puck and sped down the ice. As usual, I was shirtless but still wearing pads in my team colors.
The Knights came after me. The sold-out crowd in the temporary bleachers cheered. Roganfort Center was still decorated for the holidays with lots of lights and greenery.
I passed the puck to my teammate, Will, before Anders, of the Knights, could take it from me. He immediately changed directions and went after Will.
Will shot it into the net as Double D, the Knight’s big omega goalie, went full butterfly, trying to stop it. His face went puzzled.
The ref came over to take a look. The puck was under his butt, counting as a goal. The temporary scoreboard lit up.
We were now 1-2 and it was almost the end of the first period. It was all in fun. The rules were a little different than PHL, to make things a little safer.
The charity the Box Munchers were playing for helped families with sick children manage the expenses of staying near them. Some of those families were here, as were a number of kids from the Squires. The children would participate in activities during the intermission.
“Good job, Will. Glad to see being on set all the time hasn’t made you soft,” I teased.
Will rolled his eyes. He played a Defender League character known as The Night–a misanthropic, eccentric, billionaire playboy philanthropist, who also helped protect New York City at night. I’d cosplayed him last summer at a comic convention because it was funny.
Our celebrity coach changed our lines. The Box Munchers had a roster much bigger than most recreational teams, because a lot of our team traveled for work. Most everyone had come into town for this, and our roster was comparable to the Knights.
I went out over the temporary boards and watched the Knights almost score again before the buzzer indicated intermission.
We left the ice so that the kids could play games during intermission. One of my songs blasted. Two skate smash teams climbed over the boards. I laughed as I put on my skate guards and looked for my pack, since a lot of my teammates had scattered.
My family was here but it looked like they went to get snacks. I could use a snack.
“Are you enjoying the game?” I asked. Saoirse looked sleek and sophisticated as usual in her trench coat, but she was wearing the purple hat I got her.
“Who are they?” Fiona’s eyes were riveted, not on the black, red, and white uniforms of the Manhattan Maimers, but of the purple and white uniforms of the other team, who were all physically smaller.
I caught the familiar logo and grinned at her. “Those are the Brooklyn Blankets. They are our local, all-omega, semi-pro skate smash league. You played skate smash at the academy, right? You should look into them. It could be fun. Make some friends, get exercise,” I threw out.
Fiona’s face lit up with delight. “I didn’t realize that there were adult, all-omega teams outside of the academy. I’d absolutely do that.”
Saoirse stood there quietly. Soundlessly, I wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t ask her if she was okay. She felt a little tired, a little off.
“Do you want my jacket? I understand being shirtless on the ice, but right now you’re standing still. I don’t want you to get sick,” she said softly.
“I’m okay, Mi Cielo.”
Hale was wearing his belt pouch.
“Do you have any cheesy crackers?” I asked him.
“I do. I have handwarmers, too. I forgot to put them in there when we went to the rave.” He tossed me some crackers.
But I didn’t need any handwarmers.
As I ate my crackers, I waved at Kace, who was there with Tyrell. They were back from their brief Parisian trip. Bailey was still abroad.
Tyrell brought me over a jacket–the long furry one I’d worn for the meet-and-greet.
“You looked great out there,” Kace said. “I think I saw Raelynn–just a warning.”
“Oh, great. I was wondering when Carlos’ ex was going to show up, given the entire internet knows he now has a pack.” I looked around to see if I could spot her as I put the jacket on.
“Oh, the one who got him arrested? I didn’t realize she had a name,” Hale replied.
“I didn’t realize she had a name either. But I was with him the night he blocked her. So glad he doesn’t talk to her anymore. It seems like she wasn’t very good for him.” Fiona leaned into Hale.
“No, she isn’t. Raelynn’s always gotten a soft landing, to the point where she expects it.” I shrugged. “She threw a bitch fit and left one of the group chats after someone told her that she should respect Carlos blocking her, considering they’d been broken up for years.”
“Oh shit. Incoming,” Tyrell muttered.
Raelynn sauntered over to us. “Dusty, oh my goodness, it’s been so long.”
She was a petite beta with blonde hair, blue eyes, expensive clothes, and too much makeup. Raelynn moved to air-kiss me, but I was still holding onto Saoirse, and gave her a stare that could melt glass.
“Raelynn. What a surprise. This is my mate Saoirse, and Carlos’ mates Fiona and Hale,” I introduced.
“It's true?” Shock crossed her face. “Here, I was thinking it was just some publicity stunt to reactivate his sad little career.”
“Carlos’ career isn’t sad. The Knights won the fucking championships last year.” Hale frowned at her.
Raelynn and I stopped being friends when she got upset that I wouldn’t help her launch her dance career by writing her a song. It took me a while to realize that while Raelynn was fun, she was also a user and kinda toxic.
“How’s your dance career?” Tyrell snickered. His career was doing quite well. I wasn’t the only musician he choreographed for.
“Oh, it’s great. I have another audition next week.” She smirked back.
Probably not. Working for her uncle kept her very busy. Certainly, she looked fairly prosperous.
“What do you want, Raelynn?” I added. The skate smashers had finished, and our celebrity emcee was calling the kids out onto the ice for a shootout against the Knights’ mascot, Nat the Knight.
“I come to New York regularly. You know that. I was just trying to be supportive and see two of my oldest friends play a charity game. You know, for the children. I can still show up even if people get weird and block me.” She gave me a wounded look.
Fiona’s eyebrows rose. “Maybe they block you because you do entitled things, like insist they leave in the middle of a wedding and travel several hours to help you without any warning.”
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about,” she snapped.
“He blocked you because he was with me.” Fiona gave her a triumphant look.
“Who even are you?” She studied Hale and Fiona.
“The ones he mated.” Fiona stepped forward.
Hale wrapped his arms around her, holding her back.
“No assault charges before brunch, Puddin’,” he murmured. His eyes focused on Raelynn. “You might want to move along.” His voice went low and forceful.
“If you need to defend him like that, you must not be very secure in the relationship,” she replied.
Fiona shot her a look. “Yeah, that’s not why I want to kick your ass.”
Raelynn smirked. “You?” She laughed. “Sure, Hun.”
Hale’s arms tightened around Fiona. I’d love to see her kick Raelynn’s ass. But today was not the day.
I stepped between them. “Raelynn, you need to leave.”
She looked like I slapped her. “I’m just trying to be nice. Unlike some people.”
With a huff she stomped off.
“Dramatic as always,” Tyrell snorted.
“My friend makes untraceable poison," Fiona grumbled.
“Let’s get some more hot chocolate,” Hale suggested.
“I think I’d like some coffee.” Saoirse hadn’t said a word, but I could feel the calculation through the bond.
My team’s coach was trying to wave us all over.
“Coach wants us, I’ll see you later.” I gave Saoirse a kiss, then went over to where my team was, Kace and Tyrell trailing.
Usually we didn’t have a coach, but we’d brought one in for the game. She was a hockey coach for a university on the West Coast and the mom of one of my teammates.
“Is this just Raelynn being Raelynn?” I asked.
“She probably wanted to see who locked Carlos down,” Kace replied.
“Yeah, you know she always was upset that Carlos didn’t get back with her after she returned from Europe. Though she was pretty satisfied with being able to keep him on a leash for years. I’m so glad he’s done with her,” Tyrell added.
I rejoined my team. Hopefully, Raelynn would leave. Because if she continued to tease Fiona, who knew what would happen.
Oh, wait. I knew. And it wouldn’t be good. Well, not for Raelynn.
“Thank you so much for coming out and spending your New Year’s morning with us,” the celebrity emcee said as the game finished.
The Knights had won, but just barely. It had been a really good game.
“Both the Knights and the Box Munchers will be available for autographs for those with numbered wristbands. Please line up in the respective lines and give them a few minutes to get over. Thank you for supporting two amazing charities,” the emcee said.
There is a weird noise and all of a sudden something shot through the air and landed in the middle of the ice.
It looks like an arrow. What the fuck?
The emcee eyed the arrow. “Kids, I know you’re excited about your presents, but you need to be careful.”
Security came over and everyone started to disperse. That was just weird.
“You all did great.” Tyrell passed out water and snack bags like we were little kids and the team parents were having a snack battle.
“These are so cute,” one of my teammates said as she looked through her snack bag. “They even have the good juice boxes.”
“Thanks again for coming out.” Kace had gifts the Box Munch marketing department had prepared for the team.
“You should probably put on your jersey for photos,” Tyrell added.
“Really? Okay.” Toweling myself off, I pulled it on.
Will stood there, eyes on the ice where the arrow had been.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“You know, if we were in an assassin video game, that would be a warning.” He laughed. “But I didn’t just tell you what my new secret film project is while I wait for the next Defender League Movie being filmed this summer.”