Page 4 of Breakaway (Nashville Knights Hockey #3)
Chapter Four
DAX
Marcus
You’ve had twelve hours
Marcus
What the hell is going on?
Bode
Technically, more than twelve hours, Cap
Marcus
Doesn’t matter
Marcus
My point still stands
Jasper
We want to know what the hell is going on
Noah
I mean, I did enjoy seeing Duncan’s rage face yesterday
Noah
Fucker deserved it
Graham
But what happened?
Bode
Are you still there, Dax?
Bode
Did you leave the group chat and we missed it?
Jasper
That would require pulling you away from Stevie long enough to notice
Bode
Sorry, I can’t help that I’m in love
Noah
Who would have ever thought you’d say those words?
Graham
Not me
Marcus
Or me
Jasper
Agreed
Bode
You fuckers suck
Bode
Let me be happy
Marcus
We are happy for you
Graham
But also, where is Dax?
Graham
He hasn’t left the group chat
Noah
Thankfully it tells you when people do
I laugh, scrolling through the messages from the guys as I plop down onto the couch. It’s about the only thing distracting me from Chloe’s list.
The list where she apparently wants to go skinny-dipping and have sex with a mustached man at a sex club.
I’m no prude by any means, but I’m not the most…experienced of men, shall we say.
Not when compared to the likes of Bode when he was in his bachelor days.
Dax
I’m fine
Marcus
Where have you been?
Bode
What happened yesterday?
Jasper
Where’d you run off to?
Graham
And why didn’t the wedding happen?
Noah
You should have seen your brother’s face!
Of course Noah of all people would take the most delight in seeing Duncan get left at the altar since he cheated on Noah’s sister.
Chloe overhead a conversation that Duncan was having with his girlfriend
Noah
I’m not surprised
Noah
But what a fucking asshole
Noah
I hate him
Graham
To put it mildly
Marcus
Is she okay?
Bode
That has to hurt
Jasper
Can we find Duncan and punch him?
Take a number
I can’t believe my brother. Just thinking about what he did to Chloe has my fist tightening. I wish I could have seen his face. He deserves every ounce of pain he got for hurting my best friend like he did.
Not the brotherly thing to be thinking, but when has Duncan ever put anyone besides himself first?
Marcus
If you two need anything, let us know
Marcus
We’re here for you
Bode
Yeah, whatever we can do
Jasper
Cats are so cool they have their own musical?
Noah
What the fuck?
Noah
Why are you talking about cats?
Graham
Did you mean to message us?
Marcus
Oh God, no one tell the girls about singing cats or I’ll have to get them a cat
Bode
Okay, but why is Jasper of all people talking about cats
Graham
He hates everything
Noah
Well, not hockey
And now Jasper is ghosting us
Bode
Want to bet he thinks if he ignores us long enough, we’ll forget about this?
Noah
Probably
At least until Bode does something stupid
Bode
Hey, nothing stupid from me
Bode
Unless you want to see how cute my kid is, then I can send you all the pictures
Bode
picture of Caleb sitting in living room
Noah
He’s literally just sitting there, Bode
Graham
What’s so special about that?
Marcus
He is in a Knights onesie looking cute
Noah
There’s that
Graham
Are we going to become these people if we have kids?
Graham
Thinking our kid is cute all the time?
Marcus
Yes
Bode
You two will be even worse
Every moment of your kid’s life will be documented because you two will love it
Noah
Yeah, we will be annoyingly awesome about having kids
Marcus
And once again, we’ve all forgotten that Jasper is nowhere to be seen now
On that note, I’m going to ghost all of you
Bode
You know you don’t actually tell people you’re ghosting them, right?
Marcus
Clearly Dax has never ghosted anyone in his life
Noah
Good man
Just leaving to go hang with Chloe
Graham
How long will you be ghosting us?
Graham
Just so we know?
A week maybe?
Bode
A week? Jesus…what are we going to do without you, man?
Marcus
I don’t know, maybe hang out with Stevie and your kid?
Bode
I mean more like him checking in with us to make sure he’s okay
Noah
Aww
Noah
What a good dad you are
Bode
Noah
Love you too
Now I’m really ghosting all of you
Graham
See you soon, Dax
I shake my head as I toss my phone onto the couch cushion next to me. I love these guys. They’ve become a family to me ever since I was drafted by the Knights. We’ve been through a lot together, and I know I can depend on them for anything.
The sound of soft footsteps patter overhead followed by the sound of the shower.
What a weird twenty-four hours it’s been.
I planned on staying here to while away the time before having to head back to the city for offseason training.
Now, Chloe and I are going to pass the time here together.
Which brings me back to her list.
Have sex at a sex club with a mustached stranger
Out of everything on it, that’s the one thing that is sticking in my brain. More like a neon flashing light that Chloe wants to get out there and have sex with some random stranger.
It’s not something I would ever do. Sex means something to me. It always has. I like to give off the whole vibe that I like having sex with people I meet at clubs, but it never actually goes that way.
Before Bode met Stevie, I was his wingman. We’d always chat up the women in bars when traveling. But when it came time to seal the deal? I’d bow out.
Meaningless sex isn’t for me. Especially after seeing how my older brother treated women.
I need it to mean more. It’s not like I haven’t had it, but it was fine.
Was it because I was holding out for Chloe? No.
Absolutely not.
But I felt like I was faking it because the feelings weren’t there.
“You okay?”
Chloe’s standing at the bottom of the stairs in an oversized sweatshirt that hangs off one shoulder and a pair of bike shorts. The cotton material catches the water dripping from her hair.
I shake myself out of my stupor. “Sorry. Just messaging with the guys.”
She walks around the couch and takes a seat next to me. “Everything okay with them?”
“They were checking in and seeing how everything is going here.”
Chloe winces. “I didn’t mean to make people worry about you too.”
“They’re fine. No one is going to worry because I told them we’ll be hanging out here for a week or two.”
I hope it’s two. I know Chloe isn’t in a good headspace right now, and I’d like to be able to help her get back on her feet.
“You really are a lifesaver, Dax.”
“Do I need to buy one if you go skinny-dipping out back?” I laugh.
“Stop.” She swats at my chest. “I’m a good swimmer.”
“You know how cold that water is? It’s not like jumping into a swimming pool.”
She straightens her back. “Okay, then. You’re going to do it with me.”
“Wait, how did this get flipped back on me? I don’t have anything to prove.”
“You said you wanted to help me with my list, so this will be you helping.”
I can feel my dick shrinking into my body at the thought of the freezing-cold water. Even in the summer, it never gets warm. I’m hoping that’s one thing she won’t want to do.
“Ugh. Why can’t I ever say no to you?”
A triumphant grin slides into place. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
Helping Chloe with her list might be more than I bargained for. How am I going to be able to hide my feelings from her when I’m around her all the time while she’s having these new experiences? Aren’t these types of things supposed to bring people closer together?
Years of practice and being around Chloe helped put the mask in place, but now that there’s no boyfriend to speak of?
I don’t know how I’ll keep my emotions in check around her.