Chapter 10
Ash
The next few weeks are exhausting but not from hockey. No, all my energy is being pushed into bedding Kai Hayes.
“Ash, wait until we get back to yours.” Kai pushes against my shoulders, his lips swollen from kissing.
I lean over him, the dark alley behind the movie theatre hiding our antics. “Turn around.”
Kai blushes, looking down. “Ash…”
“I wasn’t fucking asking,” I growl.
Kai’s eyes immediately dilate at the roughness of my voice and he turns. He undoes his pants without being asked and pushes them down.
“You’re so needy.” I kiss his neck, rubbing the bulge in my pants against his ass cheeks.
“Says the guy who’s demanding to fuck me in public,” Kai sasses.
My free hand wraps around his throat pressing just enough just to know I’m serious. “You’re the one who’s hand kept accidentally landing on my cock during the movie.”
“I was bored,” Kai says innocently.
I undo the button of my jeans as well as I can with one hand, as I suck on his neck. I choke him a little harder. His back arches and he presses his ass against me.
“Such a fucking brat.” I suck his earlobe into my mouth, pushing my tongue through his hoop earring as I line myself up with his entrance. “Don’t you dare make a sound.”
I shove into him. Kai grunts, hands pressing against the brick wall to steady himself.
“Fuck, you’re tight,” I moan as my cock pushes halfway.
Kai sighs happily standing on his toes so he can match my height.
Jesus, he’s so cute.
Kai has been keeping me busy, to the point where I’m daydreaming about the next way I can fuck him. Make him moan while I’m torturing his pleasure. How I can embarrass him even further.
But the thing about Kai is that he loves to be embarrassed. He loves to be punished so much I think he actually just gets in trouble on purpose so he can have aggressive sex.
Last night I made him wear a maid costume while he cleaned my apartment as punishment for calling me a fuckwad at practice.
The costume was ridiculous; the straps of the apron could barely fit over his large pecs.
He was so bright red and turned on that I couldn’t wait before he could properly clean anything.
His stomach was flat on the kitchen island as I flipped up his skirt to reveal his perky ass. I ate him out until he came on the marble countertops. Then jacked off on his back until my cum had ruined the costume and the counters. Then I made him clean it up with his tongue.
I think I might have found my match made in heaven. No pun intended.
People at work haven’t noticed my infatuation with Kai Hayes just yet. They think we’ve just become fast friends. Maybe except Dante; it’s hard to hide the obvious heart eyes I have for the sexy blonde across from my stall.
Practice today was no different. Coffee. Locker room. Ignoring Dante when he gets the zoomies. Unfortunately, the last part rarely works.
By the time I finish tying my hair back, the locker room is beginning to fill with players.
Music blasts from somebody's speaker while equipment bags accumulate across the floor.
Trainers move in and out carrying tablets and water bottles, and the familiar chaos of an NHL morning settles around us.
It's normal, comfortable, and predictable.
Dante is already talking at full volume despite the fact that it's barely eight in the morning. Some people wake up gradually. Dante appears to wake up at maximum capacity.
I take a drink of coffee and glance toward the entrance just as Hayes walks through the door. Immediately, every other thought in my head becomes significantly less important.
The earrings catch my attention first. Small silver hoops glint beneath the locker room lights as he moves toward his stall. They're the same ones he wore to the bar a few weeks ago and the same ones I told him he should wear more often. Apparently, he listened.
The realization sends an embarrassingly satisfying rush through me.
I immediately tell myself it doesn't mean anything. Plenty of people wear the same jewelry every day. It's not like he put them in because of me. Unfortunately, that argument loses most of its credibility when I remember he wasn't wearing them before the bar.
Now they're back.
And I like them far more than I should.
The silver draws attention to the sharp line of his jaw and the pale gray of his eyes.
His hair is still slightly damp from his shower, and the oversized hoodie he's wearing hangs loosely from his shoulders.
For a moment I simply watch him move through the room.
Which has become a habit. An increasingly concerning one.
Kai catches me staring.
His expression immediately flattens.
I grin.
His eyes narrow.
Perfect. The day is already improving.
“You're staring.” Dante's voice appears beside me like a horror movie villain.
I don't even look at him. “Leave me to my creepy hobbies.”
Dante follows my line of sight, and the grin arrives exactly when I knew it would.
“Oh wow.” His grin widens. “You've got it bad.”
I briefly consider murdering him. The only thing stopping me is the paperwork and jail.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
I hate him.
Across the room, Kai pulls his hoodie over his head. The motion lifts his sleeves just enough for me to catch sight of something around his wrists, and my attention sharpens immediately. The marks are already fading. Not gone, just faint enough that most people wouldn't notice them.
Heat crawls slowly up the back of my neck as memory arrives without invitation. Kai tied up in my bed. Kai coming all over himself because of my cock. Kai wearing my fucking clothes.
Mine.
The thought appears so naturally that it takes me a second to recognize how ridiculous it is. Kai isn't mine. We're not dating. We're not exclusive. Hell, I'm not entirely sure either of us knows what this thing between us actually is.
Even so, the sight of those fading marks sparks a primitive satisfaction I can't completely suppress.
Unfortunately, Dante also notices the marks before I can stop him.
He points directly at Kai's wrist. “Oh, what the fuck happened there?”
Kai freezes. The reaction lasts less than a second, but I still catch it. His eyes flick downward.
Then back up. Then away.
He's trying to think of something.
I lean back and wait. This should be interesting.
“Uh.”
Dante waits patiently.
“Allergic reaction.”
Dante blinks. “To what?”
Silence. I can practically hear Kai's brain trying to assemble a believable answer. Unfortunately for him, panic rarely improves creativity.
“A bracelet.”
Dante narrows his eyes. “A bracelet?”
“Yeah. A leather one. I guess I have sensitive skin.”
The silence that follows is magnificent. The second the words leave his mouth, I lose the fight completely. A laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it.
Kai turns toward me. If looks could kill, I'd already be dead. The glare he sends across the room is spectacular.
Dante looks between us.
“Kai,” Dante lowers his voice dramatically. “Blink twice if you need help.”
Kai's face turns bright red. Mortified.
I've seen enough. I stand, grab Dante by the back of his shirt, and start dragging him away.
The man yelps. “What the hell?”
“Come here.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
Dante attempts to resist. The effort lasts approximately three seconds. Mostly because I'm six-foot-five and built like a truck.
I haul him halfway across the room.
“Ow.”
“You're being dramatic.”
“You're kidnapping me!”
“You'll survive.”
Behind us, Kai looks suspiciously relieved.
Good.
Dante continues talking. “I knew it.”
“You know nothing.”
“You're definitely fucking him.”
I stop walking. The little bastard smirks.
“Careful,” I growl.
“Oh my God.”
I immediately hate this conversation. “Go away.”
His grin returns. “That's not a denial.”
I release his shirt.
He straightens his collar dramatically. “You are unbelievable.”
Then he walks away laughing. I seriously consider tripping him. Instead, I sit back down and pull out my phone.
Across the room, Kai is pretending to listen to one of the assistant coaches. Pretending being the important word. He's clearly trying very hard not to look in my direction. Which immediately makes me want his attention.
A perfectly healthy reaction. Completely normal.
I open our text conversation.
Ash: My place tonight.
No greeting. No question mark. No room for negotiation. Exactly the way the message should be. I hit send.
Thirty seconds later, Kai's phone buzzes. I watch him pull it out and read the message. His ears immediately turn pink. The reaction sends an absurd amount of satisfaction through me.
Then his eyes start searching. A moment later they find mine.
I lift an eyebrow.
His expression says several things. None of them are polite. His thumbs start moving.
My phone vibrates. I glance down. And immediately regret being in public.
Kai: Yes sir.
Jesus Christ.
I stare at the screen, brain completely restarting.
Then I look back up. Kai has already shoved his phone into his pocket like he doesn't understand what that message just did to me. Like he didn't intentionally launch a missile directly at my self-control.
The little shit. Heat crawls slowly up my neck.
Practice starts ten minutes later. Coach decides almost immediately that nobody deserves happiness. The announcement arrives in the form of a whistle and a stack of brightly colored pinnies.
A collective groan moves through the team.
Coach ignores it. “Split into groups.”
Nobody argues.
Mostly because arguing with Coach before practice is like arguing with weather. It might make you feel better for a few seconds, but the outcome remains exactly the same. Players begin sorting themselves into teams.
Dante ends up on Kai's side.
I end up on the other.
The second I realize we're playing against each other, Kai glances across the ice. Then he smiles. Almost challenging. The sight sends an embarrassing amount of excitement through me. Apparently, I've reached the point where being challenged by Kai Hayes improves my mood.
That's probably something I should examine.
I choose not to.