Page 2 of Aries (PAHL #1)

Aries

“Why did you drag me out for morning skate?” Shawn bitched as they passed the puck back and forth.

Morning skate was optional, but Aries hadn’t had anything better to do. Of course, he hadn’t wanted to go alone. And who better to have by his side than his best buddy?

“We’re on a new team! We’re rookies. It’s best to show up so the rest of the team knows we’re serious,” Aries said. Not for the first time. Shawn was not buying his act.

“Hardly anyone else is here!” Shawn lifted his stick in the air, totally missing the puck that Aries sent his way.

The truth was that Aries was bored, alone, and had been desperate to get out of his apartment. He’d practically been bouncing off the walls, so he’d called his best buddy, and they headed out to the optional skate. With there being a game later, most of the guys were resting and preparing. Aries didn’t have anyone else to bug so he’d forced Shawn out with him.

“You’ll get your nap in,” Aries told him with a scowl.

Shawn turned to skate backwards by Aries’s side. “You miss your brothers.”

He shrugged. “Of course.”

“I know it’s not the same without them here. Do you want to come home with me? You can play video games with Sandy while I sleep.”

Aries was already shaking his head. Even if he wasn’t superstitious, Aries wouldn’t mess with a teammate’s game day ritual. “No, but we should get together soon. I haven’t seen Sandy since we’ve moved here. And I bet Finn misses me!”

Shawn’s girlfriend from college had moved to Vegas when they’d been drafted. Aries was so glad that Sandy turned out to be such a cool woman. Shawn had fallen for her hard their freshman year and they’d been together the entire time they’d been at university.

“They both miss you, you nut.” Shawn shoulder-bumped him.

He really shouldn’t have dragged Shawn out. “We can call it quits for the morning.” Hopefully the game later would wear him out and Aries would get some real sleep. His apartment was too quiet! He didn’t have Gem’s snoring or Phoenix’s constant talking to himself.

Aries followed Shawn to the locker room, already thinking about what he could do for the rest of the day. He stripped down then wrapped a towel around his waist while heading for the showers.

Thirty minutes later, Aries was sliding behind the wheel of his Subaru. It was new too. His mama had helped him pick it out when Aries had moved to Vegas. He stuffed his phone into the holder and buckled up before starting the SUV. Still in the parking garage, Aries hit the contact for his brother.

“Hey, shortie!”

“We’re the same height,” Aries pointed out to his annoying brother.

“I forget since I look so much bigger,” Phoenix responded with a laugh.

While Phoenix was more muscular, they still looked the same, no matter what his dumbass brother claimed. “Whatever!” Nice comeback, right? Aries was awesome like that.

“What’s the matter?” Phoenix demanded.

“Nothing,” Aries said quickly.

His phone beeped as a Face time video call came through from Phoenix.

Crap! He shouldn’t have called. Aries accepted the video call anyway.

Phoenix leaned close to the screen. “You don’t look hurt. Injury? Your leg?”

“My leg is fine!” Aries insisted. “For some reason I was just missing you.”

Phoenix nodded. He leaned back against a black leather couch. “It’s weird not being with you guys on game day. I really hoped I’d be put on the same team as one of you.”

See? Aries wasn’t the only one missing how it used to be. “What are you doing?”

“Went to the gym, found a diner that sells all-day breakfast, and now just playing some NHL 25. Want to play?”

“I’m leaving the rink,” Aries told him.

Phoenix leaned forward again. “You aren’t driving right now, are you?”

“Still in the parking lot,” Aries replied. He wasn’t that bad of a driver. Traffic was just crazy in Vegas. And there was so much to see it could get distracting.

“Call me when you get home if you want,” Phoenix said. “You need to get something to eat. And not apples!”

“Sure.” Aries looked around the empty parking garage. There wasn’t much more he could do to waste time until the game. He did need lunch but Aries didn’t have much food in his apartment. The decorator could have at least filled his fridge. That would have been much more helpful than all the stupid decorations in his place.

“Hey!”

He looked back at the screen. “I miss you like crazy.” Phoenix grinned at him.

“That’s because you are crazy,” Aries retorted. That was just one of the reasons that he missed his brother. “Yeah, this sucks.”

“You’re about to go on your road trips. I’ll see you at the end of that.”

“We are so going to kick your ass!” Aries bragged.

Phoenix snorted. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m awesome!” Aries told him. “I got a hat trick in my first game. You only scored one goal in yours.”

“Our goalie is better,” Phoenix argued.

“Hey! Zany is great,” Aries had to defend his goalie. And he liked Zany.

“He’s good but not as good as Mules,” Phoenix said.

There was something going on. Phoenix looked weird. His face was all red. Crap! Aries knew what it was. “You’re fucking your goalie!” Aries accused. Phoenix should know better! They have been through this.

Phoenix scowled. “I am not!”

Wait! Phoenix never lied to him. Aries wished he could see his brother’s face better. Was his brother purposely avoiding looking at the camera? Unless… “You want to.”

Phoenix shrugged. “He’s hot. And bendy. You should see just how bendy.”

Aries rolled his eyes. He’d seen plenty of bendy goalies. It was sort of their thing. “Then what’s the problem?”

“Aren’t you headed home?” Phoenix demanded.

“Nope! I’m quite comfy right here.” He did have a nice vehicle. Oh! And snacks. Aries reached over and grabbed the insulated bag from the passenger floorboard. He unzipped the bag to pull out one of his pretty apples. “Go ahead.”

Phoenix grunted. “You need to eat more than apples! Remember what happened last time?”

“Nix!” Aries whined.

“If you got laid more often then you wouldn’t be so worried about my sex life,” Phoenix told him.

“Eww!” Aries cooed. “I don’t want to know about your sex life! I just want to hear about this goalie with the ability to turn you down.” Aries bounced in his seat. “You did get turned down, didn’t you? You get all scowly like that when you do.”

“I don’t get scowly. And that’s not even a word!”

“It is if I use it.” Aries cackled. He crunched into his apple. “Tell me about him.”

Phoenix settled on the couch. “He’s.…quiet.”

“Quiet?” That wasn’t Nix’s type at all.

“Yeah, he always has his face buried in a book if he isn’t on the ice. He reads a lot. I’ve never seen him with the same book twice.”

“You don't usually go for the nerdy type,” Aries pointed out.

“He’s not a nerd!” Nix sounded scandalized. “He’s a goalie!”

“So, he can’t be a nerd if he plays hockey?” That didn’t sound right to Aries. Plenty of his teammates had hobbies. Maybe that was what he needed. A hobby! Oh! No getting distracted! “And I don’t think being quiet and nerdy is a bad thing. It’s better than all the party boys that you usually bring home.”

“He’s not,” Phoenix repeated. “He just…he is a good goalie. It’s almost like magic watching him in net.”

“I think you said that already,” Aries told him. “Is there anything you like about him other than the fact that he’s a bendy goalie?” Sometimes Aries really worried about his brother. There was so much more to a relationship than sex. He wished Phoenix would figure that out.

“Of course,” Phoenix replied. “He knows a million fun facts about everything. When he laughs, his entire face lights up and his little nose scrunches.”

This was not what Aries had expected. He hummed, chewing on the last of his apple. “What else?” Gemini was going to love when Aries shared this story with him.

“He can eat,” Nix shared. “Like more than I’ve ever seen anyone else. It’s crazy!”

“Shifter?” Aries guessed.

Nix smirked. “Dragon shifter.”

“No way!” Those were real? He wanted a dragon shifter as a teammate! So unfair!

“Yep.” Phoenix laughed. “I thought the guys were fucking with me but when I asked him, he had no problem telling me.”

“Have you seen him shift?” Aries asked in excitement. Dragons! That was so cool!

“No, I doubt that’s something he can do often. Has to be big, right?”

Aries shrugged. “I didn’t even know they were real!”

“Blew my mind,” Nix confessed. He stretched out his legs. “You really should be getting home. We both have games tonight.”

“Fine!” His brother just didn’t want to talk about the dragon. Aries would find another time to pry. Maybe he could ask one of his teammates, someone like Vin, who had been around forever.

“Good luck tonight,” Nix told him.

“You too.” Aries waved then disconnected the call. He really should head home. Maybe he would find something to keep his attention. Think of a hobby that he could get into. He sort of wanted to call Gem now to ask his oldest triplet what hobby Aries should pick up. Gem was smart about things like that. Except he would be napping like a boring old man.

* * * * *

Vin

He was going to kill someone!

Vin yanked open his front door before he stomped across the hall and banged on the neighbor’s door. Vin hadn’t met his new neighbor, but they were about to get a face-to-face introduction. And the person had better listen!

Barely holding back his growl, Vin waited for the door to open.

He heard light footsteps then the locks disengaged. The door opened.

Vin stared down at the bright blue eyes of his teammate.

“Vin?”

He should have known. Vin really should have suspected that luck or fate or whatever fucked-up cosmic entity that hated him would fuck him over like this. Shouldering past Aries, Vin stalked into the apartment. He spotted the offender immediately. Storming to the coffee table, Vin picked up the remote to power off the loud music channel. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Taylor Swift, but it had been loud.

“What’s going on?” Aries asked as he hovered by the front door.

He took the time to look around the apartment before answering. It was set up the same as his. Open concept with a small entry to a living room, kitchen to the side, and hall toward the back that would lead to the bedrooms.

Instead of the homey feel that his place had, Aries’s apartment was cold and impersonal. It didn’t fit the little shifter at all.

Vin beckoned him forward. Surprised when Aries closed the door then scrambled to him.

“I…”

Vin shook his head. He was trying to come to terms that the boy he couldn’t stop thinking about lived across the hall. It would be impossible to get any space from Aries now.

“Umm…” Aries bopped around him.

Did the kid ever stand still?

Grasping his arm lightly, Vin towed Aries toward the kitchen. He turned and lifted Aries up to sit on the island counter in the middle of the apartment.

They were now eye level with each other. Probably for the first time ever.

Aries’s big bright eyes locked with his gaze.

“Do you realize that I could clearly hear your music? It was so loud that the pictures on my walls were shaking.”

Aries dropped his head as he fidgeted. “Sorry.”

Vin rubbed the back of his neck. He hated making Aries sad. “It’s okay. I was trying to sleep. There are other people in this building. You need to be aware of those around you.” This was common sense, but Vin knew that Aries would never purposely set out to bother anyone. Aries was actually a nice guy for being a young and cocky hockey player.

Aries’s gaze dropped down Vin’s body as the boy blushed a bright red. He looked to the side, avoiding meeting Vin’s eyes again. “I wasn’t thinking,” Aries admitted. “I’ll keep the noise down.”

“I would appreciate it,” Vin said sincerely. “Did you already get a nap in?”

Maybe if Aries was asleep then Vin could get more rest before the game later.

“I don’t nap!” Aries wiggled. “Like that’s crazy. You already woke up for the day. I went to morning skate and then I called Nix but once I got home, I didn’t know what to do. Do you have a hobby? I was thinking that I need one. Something to do when I’m not playing hockey. I bet you have one. I tried to think of something that would keep my attention, but I got bored, so I decided to dance!”

“You—” Hobbies? What the hell! “Dance?”

Aries nodded with a happy smile.

It was just too difficult to stay mad at such a sweet and wholesome guy. “You don’t nap on game days at all?”

“No! I’m awesome as it is. If I napped then I would be tired when I woke up. It might affect my greatness on the ice! Gem was the one that rested while Nix and I played video games.”

That was a lot of information to take in. And on top of being sweet, Aries also had a cocky and arrogant side. At least when it came to hockey. Vin approved.

Aries grabbed an apple from the dish next to his hip. “Do you want an apple? They’re really good. I got them at the farmers market by the university. I’m not sure how often the farmers market runs but I’m gonna have to find out because I bought three dozen, and I only have a few apples left. You can have one though.”

Apples? They were talking about apples? What happened to dancing? Hobbies? Vin’s head was starting to spin. “I don’t want an apple,” Vin told him.

“Oh! Are you still mad?”

“I’m…not mad at you. I was frustrated.”

“I messed up your pregame ritual,” Aries said sadly.

Vin snorted. “It’s fine. It’s not so much a ritual. I’m older than you. I need my naps. It’s not a big deal.”

Aries gaze dropped again then he quickly brought it back up to Vin’s face. “Do you know when the farmers market runs?”

And they were back to apples? How did Aries even keep track of what he was thinking? “I’m sorry, I don’t.” He would find out if it was really important. This boy needed a keeper in the worst way.

“That’s okay.” Aries shrugged. “I’ve been buying my fruit at the grocery store, but it really isn’t that good. I was going to the UPS store to pick up a package from my mama when I made a wrong turn and ended up in this crowded parking lot. I was curious so I decided to check it out. They had a lot of really cool things, and the fruit was so good!”

Vin was going to have to research farmers markets and fresh fruit. He just knew it.

Aries’s gaze dropped again. Those red cheeks returned.

Was it him?

Testing his theory, Vin placed his hands on either side of Aries’s hips and leaned forward. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, his voice silky and smooth.

“Yep!” Aries bobbed his head, nearly frantic.

“Are you sure about that, shortie?” Vin loved when Aries blustered about not being short.

As if on cue, Aries pushed his bottom lip out in a pout. “I’m not short! You’re just huge! I mean big! Uh!” His gaze dropped then returned. “Tall?”

Vin chuckled. He had the boy flustered all right. Glancing down, he caught on quickly. Vin had been asleep in bed. He only wore a pair of threadbare gray sweatpants with nothing under them and a white muscle tank. His…assets were on full display. And being this close to the little one, Vin was interested. Some parts making that obvious. At least it looked like Aries approved.

“Is it the sweatpants?”

“Yes!” Aries hissed.

Hmm, interesting. “See something you like?” Vin couldn’t help but to tease. He’d been interested in Aries before the boy even set foot in his city.

Aries nodded. Frowned. Shook his head. Nodded.

Cupping Aries’s face, Vin gently urged his eyes back to his. “It’s okay if you do.”

“I don’t do that!” Aries whispered.

“Do what?”

Aries widened his eyes. “That!”

“Check out men?” Vin guessed. That wasn’t the vibe that Vin had gotten from Aries. Sure, Aries wasn’t a flirt, but Vin had seen some of the looks Aries had been giving him. Aries was interested.

“No, well yes, sort of?”

Vin was confused. He knew that one of Aries’s brothers was gay. Phoenix's sexual exploits were quite known in the hockey world. So Aries wasn’t homophobic.

“I’m…I’m demisexual. It takes time for me to be attracted to…men. I don’t…I don’t just sleep around.”

Admittedly, Vin had to count on his memory of sexual orientations to come up with an answer. He, like most vampires, was bisexual. Blood and sex went hand in hand for vampires, so very few limited themselves to one gender. Not that he was able to enjoy blood and sex any longer. Not since the damn council had decided to tell everyone about the paranormal and rules were put in place. Not that Vin wanted to think about that. No, he would rather concentrate on Aries. Demi…demi…that meant that Aries needed a strong emotional connection before he was sexually interested.

It might be too soon for Aries, but Vin already knew that they had some kind of connection. It had been there since they’d first met on the ice during practice.

“That’s okay.” Vin backed off so he wasn’t crowding Aries. It had been fun teasing the young man, but he didn’t want to make Aries uncomfortable. A plan was forming. Vin could give Aries all the time in the world as he tested other boundaries.

“You smell so good!” Aries slapped his hand over his mouth, revealing that he hadn’t meant to say that.

Vin smirked. The boy liked his cologne? That was good to know. “My cologne? My best friend, ex-teammate, gave it to me for Christmas. I’ll let him know that you approve.”

Aries nodded.

“I’m going to finish relaxing before the game tonight,” Vin told him. He was going to go jerk off. He needed the release, or he’d be pent-up all night and that would not be good for his temper. “Don’t forget to eat.”

“I will,” Aries replied brightly.

Wait. “Eat more than apples,” Vin ordered. This would be a first good test for the boy.

Aries scrunched his nose. “Fine! You sound like Gem!”

“Apples are not a full meal,” Vin reminded him.

“Okay, I’ll eat more than apples.”

Vin was totally suspicious.

“I don’t cook!” Aries threw his hands up in the air.

“Order in,” Vin demanded. Should he check Aries’s fridge and cabinets? That might be pressing his position too far for the moment. “What time are you leaving for the rink?”

“Three?” Aries said. “Yeah, three-ish probably.”

Three-ish. This boy was going to drive him to drinking. And vampires couldn’t get drunk, so that was not a good thing. “Alright. I’ll see you later.” He patted Aries’s knee just to see the boy squirm.

Aries didn’t move from the counter as Vin strolled to the front door and his own apartment.

Vin glanced over his shoulder to see Aries bite into the apple that he had offered Vin.

“Eat more than apples!” Vin called.

Aries gave him a sassy salute while taking another bite.

The boy was not prepared to be on his own. It was good that Vin already had some ideas for that. Vin had plenty of experience not only in hockey but in the world as well. And he was just the vampire to show Aries what could be.