“Fuck,” Bobby groans as he searches out his sister’s eyes in the rear view mirror. “You’ve been drinking too.”
“So, what?” Cassie practically growls. “Take us home.”
“No.” I shoot back, “You’re coming with us.”
“Why? You want me to dance for all your boys? You know, despite your comments, I think you actually liked it.”
“Fuck, Cass. We’re not taking you home because I refuse to be late for the first game of the season, especially over this shit.”
Cass and Brianna start grunting and moaning in the backseat and it’s almost comical to watch. They’re like a bunch of kids throwing a tantrum. Cass peels off her high heels and slides her skirt off her hips while Brianna starts to do the same.
I turn back around to give the girls some privacy and am pleased when I peak back around to find them in flip-flops and track pants, though they still have their little tops on. “Don’t you have a shirt to wear?” I ask them.
“We do, but there’s no point in putting them on. A cheap shirt isn’t going to keep us warm in a damn ice rink,” Cass informs me with as much attitude as she can possess.
Bobby lets out another unimpressed groan. “I have my away jersey in the back she can wear,” he tells me. “Pretty sure I have something Bri can throw on too.”
With that settled, we all sit in uncomfortable silence as we ride the rest of the way to the ice rink. I hop out and grab my shit from the back and consider lending her my away jersey, but I’m far too selfish for that shit. She gets out and purposely rubs her naked stomach across my body making me yearn for her touch once again, leaving me no choice but to ball my hands into fists and shove them deep in my pockets.
Bobby holds out the jersey for her and she reaches across me to take it from him with her tight stomach rubbing across my body. I take a step back and give her more room, but really, I think the room is for me. She pulls Bobby’s jersey over her head and a strange feeling settles in my gut, a feeling that I really don’t like.
Cass steps up to me and gives me a sweet, innocent look, placing her hand on my shoulder and stretches up onto her toes. “Have a good game, Captain,” she whispers seductively before pressing a light kiss to my cheek and turning around to meet Brianna at the top of the truck.
Bobby gives me a knowing shake of his head as we follow the girls into the ice rink. “Fuck, these two are going to be trouble,” he says. I nod in agreement but I can’t help but watch as Cassie walks before me. A scowl sits heavily on my face as I study another man’s name and number on her back. It shouldn’t matter to me but I don’t like it. It just doesn’t feel right. I know she isn’t my woman, but if any chick around here was ever going to wear my jersey. It would be her.
We get through the doors and the girls disappear up the grandstands and something screams at me to pinpoint where exactly in the grandstand she will be. I shake the thought from my head. It’s none of my business where she is and what she’ll be doing.
We get into the locker room to find coach going over the game plan for tonight. He looks up as we enter and we hardly get a nod before his attention is drawn straight back to the clipboard before him. Over the next ten minutes, the rest of the boys come dawdling in.
When it looks like everyone is here, Coach instructs me to lead the guys in a warm up as we can’t afford any injuries this season, especially injuries created from stupidity. We spend the next half hour warming up with drills, up and down the hallway and shooting pucks into a knocked over garbage bin, which due to lack of space in the locker room, isn’t as easy as shooting into the goal with the slick ice beneath it.
The noise from the grandstand grows and I know the time is growing near. “Alright, boys,” I say, getting everyone’s immediate attention. “Let’s get suited up and show these people we’re still the rightful owners of that big mother fucking trophy.”
They grunt out their approvals as we make our way to our individual lockers to get suited up.
“Cover up, boys,” comes a familiar voice from the doorway. “I’m coming in.”
A grin spreads wide across my face before I even see her. Sophie comes crashing in with Tank, Miller, and Dani on her heels making a few of the freshmen gasp and attempt to cover their junk, though us seasoned players know that Sophie is going to get an eyeful no matter what you do to prevent it. It’s inevitable. “Sorry guys,” Tank says, with a grin. “They refused to stay in the stands.”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything else,” I laugh as Sophie and Dani come barrelling forward and knock me into the back of my locker with the force of their affection. I wrap my arms around them both and pull them in tight.
“Jaxon,” Dani exclaims with a grin. “I’ve missed you.”
“Same goes, Dani girl.” I laugh before passing the girls onto Bobby. Soon the rest of the guys have all lined up, waiting for their hug from the girls.
“You guys mind getting your filthy hands off my girl?” Miller says, trying his hardest to look unimpressed but the gleam in his eyes makes it obvious he’s happy to be here.
“What are you doing here, man?” I ask, stepping up to him and clapping his shoulder.
“Had to come and see if you were good enough to follow in my footsteps or if I’d made a terrible mistake,” he says with a grin.
“Dude, I’m so fucking amazing that you’ll be kicked off your team so they can make room for me,” I joke.
He rolls his eyes and can’t help but crack a grin. “What’s up, dude?” Tank says coming and saying hi. “You ready for this?”
“Born ready, man,” I tell him honestly.
“Good, don’t let all our hard work from last season go to waste,” he says.
“I got this,” I say as he holds his fist up. I bump mine against his and follow suit with Miller.
The boys say a quick hello to Coach Harris and not long after, the crowd is going nuts, ready to see their defending champions in action. The sound prompts Miller to call out for Dani while Tank grabs Sophie and throws her over his shoulder. They make their way out and leave us to get ready for our big debut.
“Alright, boys,” Coach says getting our attention. “This is it, the start of our season and we are going to do it right. Last years ‘dream team’ are here to see if you lot are worthy of playing under the title of defending champions, so do not let them down. Do not let yourselves down and do not let your fans down,” he demands as he looks each and every one of us in the eyes.
“Now, we know we’re the best, the fans know we’re the best, fuck, the homeless guy outside of Micky’s Bar knows we’re the best, but there are a bunch of cocky pricks in the other room thinking they have a chance against us, thinking they can take our championship away on game one.” The boys start booing and begin getting amped up with Coach’s speech. “Are you going to let them?” he asks, making the boys shout out their protests. “Are you going to defend your title?” he adds.
“Are you Champions?” Coach asks.
“YES,” the boys shout.
“Are you Dragons?”
“YES.”
“Are you ready?” he finally says.
“YES,” we demand, out doing the sound from the grandstand.
With that coach looks to me. “You got big shoes to fill, Payne,” he says.
“I got it, Coach,” I tell him.
“Good, now lead your boys out.”
I step up to the locker room door and the boys instantly fall in behind me. I walk up the hallway and finally into the arena. The crowd goes nuts and begin chanting the Dragon’s war cry. With an outstanding introduction from the announcer, we take to the ice.
My eyes immediately lift to the grandstand and fall upon Cassie, who still wears an annoyed scowl. She narrows her eyes at me before turning away, no doubt still pissed about the whole pole dancing thing but seriously, what did she expect me to do?
A strange, familiar feeling settles within me and I realize it’s the same feeling I used to get when Cass would come and w
atch my high school games, being my own personal cheerleader. It occurs to me that even though she may have caught some of our games on ESPN, this is the first time she’s seeing me play in three years and something inside of me really wants to impress her, to let her know exactly the kind of man she tossed away.
The ref takes the ice and we fall into our positions. I look up to Cass one last time to see her attention is now solely focused on me. She has always been a sucker for hockey, no matter how angry she is with me, she will always remain glued to the game until the final second.
The whistle is blown and our first game of the season is underway.
Chapter 9
Cassie
The blood starts coursing through my veins as I sit in the grandstand and wait for the referee to drop the puck. I’m already on the edge of my seat and I hate myself for being so interested. I’d rather sit here and sulk about what a jerk Jax has been rather than practically drooling at the thought of getting to watch him play again, well, in person, I must admit that I have stalked a few of his games online and kept up with the headlines.
Jax looks up at me just moments before the whistle is blown, the same way he used to when we were kids but instead of the loving smile, I get a smirk, and I know without a doubt that he can see the excitement in my eyes. Shit, if ever there were a time where I wasn’t so obvious, now would be great. The smirk is mostly hidden by his helmet making it too hard to tell if it is a good one or a bad one, though my guess would be it’s a big ‘F U’ and taking enjoyment in my misery.
I desperately want to look away but I can’t. I’m too intrigued by the game, or is it by Jax? Either way, I’m screwed and not in the good way.
His eyes lock on mine for an impossibly slow and agonising moment before he snaps his attention back to the game.
Relief rushes through me and I hate that I feel that way. I should be stronger. I’ve been away from him for three years and yet he still has this strange ability to pull me in. He hasn’t spoken to me all week and all of a sudden thinks he has the right to manhandle me and remove me from my dance class. I should be fuming. I get why he wouldn’t want me to be seen in a skimpy outfit and dancing on a pole, but seriously, he doesn’t want me, so what’s it his business?
So, how do I show my anger? I sit here like a good little girl, excited to see him play. What the fuck is wrong with me? I desperately want to go along with Brianna’s ‘fight for Jax’ plan, but I feel he’s too far gone. I ruined my chances when I left and now I have to deal with it. Brianna is so damn sure that I’m going to win him back, but I know that I tore him to shreds and sometimes that’s just too much to handle. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m going to try with everything I have, but I’m so damn afraid that it won’t be enough. Though, on the other hand, after his little stunt today, I might wait a week or two before I really start to try.
The whistle is blown and the game is on, taking my inner thoughts and anger away.
It’s not even thirty seconds into the game and my jaw is already on the floor. Holy. Shit. Jax is amazing and I mean ah-freaking-mazing. I’ve watched as many games as I could over the last few years but they don’t do him any justice. Last year it was all about the ‘dream team’, Miller and Tank, so that’s generally who was shown, but here, seeing him in the flesh and witnessing for myself just how much he has improved is incredible and honestly has me a little turned on.
I watch as Jax effortlessly steals the puck from the opposition and I’m reminded of the time he had played that same trick on me. It was deathly freezing and he had convinced me to go for a skate on the lake that ran behind our houses and just like all the times before, he had let me think I was winning for a split second before he would swoop in, steal the puck and take off like a bat out of hell until he scored. And just like all those times, I can imagine him underneath that helmet, laughing and taunting the other player about how simple it had been.
I watch on in delight as he scoops around the back of the goal and comes flying up the other end. My heart starts pounding as an opponent comes right for him, the intention to slam him into the wall extremely clear but Jax quickly sidesteps the guy with some pretty impressive footwork and continues on his way.
Two more come for him but Bobby has got his back. Moments before collision, Jax flicks the puck to Bobby, avoids being nailed by the opposition and gets back to work. With Bobby facing a similar situation, he flicks it back towards Jax, who continues it on to some kid who is charging up the center of the ice. The kid shoots the puck forward and the buzzer sounds, signalling the first goal of the match.
I can’t help but get to my feet and cheer. My hands fly up as I start jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd around me. “Who is that kid?” I shout to Brianna over the noise.
“That’s Xander, he’s a new transfer. I don’t really know anything about him, but man, he has some skills,” she says proudly before getting back to cheering for Bobby.
I catch Jax’s eye and a smile is somehow pulled from my body. He beams back up at me, clearly overtaken by excitement, but I just don’t care. The smile breaks my heart as it’s the very same smile he used to give me, and for a moment, I can pretend he’s the old Jax. The crowd finally settles down as the ref gets set up to continue, and once again, I find myself on the very edge of my seat.
The game continues at the same pace with Jax and his team annihilating the opposition. Brianna and I spend the whole game cheering and booing at all the right times and by the end of the game, I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my voice. The boys have come out champions and I couldn’t be prouder, no matter how much I try to hide it.
As everyone starts spilling out of the grandstand, I jump up to join the queue. “Where do you think you’re going?” Brianna asks as she kicks her feet up onto the vacated chair in front of her.
“Um… home?” I ask, a little unsure.
“And how do you suppose you’re doing that? The boys drove us here, remember?” she smirks.
Ahh, shit. In all the excitement, I’d completely forgotten. I take my seat beside her and we wait for the boys to start making their way from the locker room. The longer we sit here, the more I dread it knowing it’s going to be some awkward conversation between me and Jax, but if I’m lucky, he won’t be there and Bobby can just slip out to drive us home.
Hope starts to course through me as I watch the exit that leads from the locker room. Shortly after, the boys start trickling out and sure enough, Jax is right beside Bobby. Damn it, that’s what I get for wishful thinking. Brianna grabs my hand and pulls me along as she rushes down the stairs towards the boys.
She instantly finds Bobby and gives him a beaming smile as she crashes into him with a massive hug. “Congratulations,” she squeals, jumping up and down in his arms and nailing him in the chin with her head. They both cringe in pain as she steps back out of his arms. “Ouch,” she whines, rubbing her head.
“Yeah, no shit,” Bobby replies, lifting his hand to his chin.
Which is when it gets awkward, well for me. “Ah,” I say, wanting to be anywhere but here. “That was a great game,” I say to the boys but keep my eyes trained on Bobby.
“Great?” he laughs, “It was fucking legendary.”
His attitude is infectious and immediately has the awkwardness leaving me, right until Jax turns around when a few girls ask for his attention and start throwing themselves at him. My eyes immediately fall to the ground as I do my best to look anywhere but him.
Bobby notices immediately and does what he can to get my mind off the impossible. “So, what are you girls doing tonight?” he asks.
“Well, I was hoping you were going to take us home,” I say.
“Ah, no,” Bri interjects, “We’re going out, but it would be cool if you could drop us home to get dressed first,” she adds, fluttering her eyes at her twin brother.
“No way,” Bobby says, “I’m not your chauffeur. If you want a lift somewhere then it’s either home or to Micky’s with us. I’m
not waiting around for an hour while you girls do all your girly shit.”
I watch in delight as Jax’s back stiffens when Bobby suggests we tag along to Micky’s and a grin spreads wide over my face. There’s no way he’d hook up with some chick while I’m there… right? “You know what, Bobby?” I start, “I think we’d love to come to Micky’s with you.”
Bri’s face instantly lights up. “Yeah, I’m totally up for that,” she agrees.
“Cool,” Bobby says, completely not picking up on my little plan.
Jax slowly turns around with tonight’s hussy firmly clinging to his arm. The sight kills me, but I ignore it as he narrows his eyes on me. Game on. “What are you doing, Cass?” he questions, suspiciously.
I look at him as innocently as ever. “What do you mean? We’re coming to celebrate with you guys.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I taught you that trick,” he says as if he knows what I’m up to.
I shrug my shoulders. “Don’t stress, Jax. If you don’t want me there, that’s fine. I totally get it,” I say, then turn my attention to Bri. “What about that new club we were talking about? I know it’s a bit seedy, but it should be fun.” I ask, she gives me an excited nod and I turn to Bobby. “Could you drop us there?”
Bobby and Jax’ faces instantly drop. Jax steps out of the hussy’s hold and takes a step closer towards me. “There’s no way we’re dropping you off there,” he practically growls.
I shrug innocently as I take Bri’s hand and start to turn away. “Ok, I’m sure someone around here is heading that way, we’ll catch a lift. See you later.”
“Wait,” Jaxon growls as I turn back around to face him, “Fine, come to Micky’s then.”
“Oh… ok, then,” I smile and turn to leave. “We’ll meet you guys outside.”
Bobby nods, while Jax looks after me realizing he just got played.
“Hook, line and sinker,” Bri laughs as we head out the doors, “How the hell did you know he was going to fall for that?”
“Come on, you have to give me more credit than that,” I say, looping my arm through hers as we head through the parking lot. “I grew up with three overbearing, overprotective big brothers and Jax grew up idolising them. He’s like a carbon copy of all three of them. It’s simple math really.” I laugh.
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