Page 10 of Full Body Hit, Part 1 (Alpha Omega Hockey #5)
He stomped on the feeling, forcing them into the dirt until they were buried again.
The trembling stopped eventually. His head drained slowly of the murky water it’d been filled with. Heat rose to his cheeks as he noticed his wet, sticky face.
“Sorry,” he croaked out.
“You’re okay. It’s okay.” Sammy rubbed his back, his other hand resting at the nape of his neck, a steady presence.
It felt nice. Comforting. He wished he could scent Sammy, could be soothed by the pheromones he was sure his friend was producing.
But he couldn’t stay there forever. That would just soften him up. Make him weak.
He untangled himself, sitting up, face hot and mouth full of shame.
“Sorry,” he said again. “I’m just tired or whatever.”
Sammy didn’t call him out on the obvious lie. “You know…you could try online dating. Make a connection. Explain the scent thing once you two are close. Don’t meet up till you’re comfortable.”
“Yeah, I dunno. Feels like I’ll just get my hopes up for them to meet me and be like, ew .”
“I seriously doubt that.” Sammy didn’t push, though—at least, not then.
He kept dropping hints throughout the next week.
The seed planted, it germinated. A tiny little piece of green broke the surface—maybe it would be worth it, getting to know an Alpha online first. He’d never explained the situation to anyone he’d dated.
Maybe someone out there would be okay with not scenting him until they were ready to mate.
The notion felt artificial, badly made and unrealistic, but Chase couldn’t help but cling to it.
He could just try , couldn’t he?
“Yesss, stand there by the window. Look pensive,” Sammy ordered. They were in his apartment again, in the living room this time, Noah sitting on the couch and watching them.
“What the fuck does ‘pensive’ mean?” Chase huffed. “And no face pics, remember?”
“Oh, shit, right. Okay…let’s do some yoga.”
“Bro,” Chase protested, but Sammy ignored him. He dragged him to his room first, changing Chase into tight athletic pants and a white tank top.
“Okay,” Sammy said when he was finished playing dress-up. “Sit on the ground.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at him but did as asked, settling on the hardwood floor. “This floor better be clean.”
“Uh-huh. Now, you have to bend your legs back so you’re sitting on your feet. No, like, your knees have to be pointing in front of you. Press them together. There you go. Okay, now you have to bend back until your head touches the floor. Arch your spine.”
“This feels stupid,” Chase said. He was flexible enough to achieve the position, but it felt…slutty, seeing as Sammy was circling him, getting pictures from every angle, crouching next to him and getting close-ups.
“You look great. Lift your shirt a little.”
“ Sammy ,”
“Do it! Argh, yes, there you go. Look at those abs.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Sammy laughed. “Okay, now, sit up. I want you to do the splits. Damn, okay, you’re really flexible, huh?”
“Yeah. I should be an athlete or something,” Chase scoffed. He stretched regularly to stay limber. Liked to test the limits of his body.
Sammy stood behind him. “Okay, now shift forward on your elbows. A little more. Okay, now, arch inwards. Yesss. Oh my God, your ass looks phenomenal. I need to start training with you.”
Chase hung his head, hiding his blush. Behind them, Noah was peeking over the back of the couch, blinking big eyes. “How do you know how to do this?” the Alpha asked suspiciously.
Chase craned his neck to see what expression Sammy was throwing Noah—eyebrows raised, head tilted, blinking slowly like, How do you think?
Noah sank away with a pout.
They did a few more poses—luckily a lot less explicit—Chase changing into normal clothes and Sammy snapping fake-candid pictures of him around the house, even going outside for a bit so that it showed people that he ‘had a life.’
“I can’t believe you don’t have any pictures of yourself on your phone,” Sammy grumbled as he sorted through his final selection.
They’d already made him a profile on some dating app—one known for being discreet, so his faceless pics wouldn’t stand out—and Sammy just had to add the photographs.
“We need a fake name,” Sammy said.
“ Uhm …I don’t know. Something normal.”
“Charlie?”
“Okay.”
Sammy typed on the screen. “Okay, done. Actually, we need to add something in your bio…what do you want to say?”
Chase was slumped on the couch next to a stroppy Noah. “No idea. Just leave it blank for now, I’m exhausted.”
“What about ‘needy bottom looking for Daddy’?”
Chase looked up, face heating up like a cartoon thermometer ready to burst. “Sammy!”
Sammy laughed. “Kidding, kidding. Kind of.”
Next to Chase, Noah was groaning as if he’d been shot.
“Oh my God, you guys are so vanilla. Relax .”
That just made Noah’s pout worse. “I’m not vanilla,” he muttered but was promptly ignored.
Chase checked the phone. “You didn’t put that, did you?”
“No, chill. All blank and boring like you requested.”
Chase rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Sam-Sam.”
“You’re welcome.” He leaned forward to look at Noah. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Noah grumbled, followed with, “You never told me you were on dating apps.”
“I mean, I’m taking a break at the moment. I don’t have to tell you everything , you know.”
“ I tell you everything. I even told you about that really big shit I took the other day that looked like the hungry caterpillar.”
“Do you seriously think I was a willing participant in that conversation?” Sammy asked.
Noah scrunched up his face. Chase glanced between them. “ Uhm , how about we watch something?”
He ended up being able to escape that particular argument—he’d have to ask for a trade if he had to listen to Noah describe another one of his shits.
He waited for a while after he got home to open the app again, trying to pretend it wasn’t burning a hole in his brain.
He upped the heat in his apartment first to make up for how bare and ugly it was, putting something on the TV to fill the silence.
The app was easy to navigate, and Sammy had been right, there were plenty of faceless pictures. He swiped through them, pausing on a few, but nothing caught his interest.
And then he got to Aunix. His first thought was that he looked like Auston—same build, same skin colour. The guy had thick thighs and a broad chest and, despite not showing his face, it was obvious he was fucking hot.
Chase bit his lip. There was no way he should message this guy. Auston was already so deep in his head that it was taking everything he had to get him out.
But…maybe this could be a good thing. Maybe he could get over his dumb crush by focusing on something else.
He knew it wasn’t Auston. He wasn’t going to pretend it was. All he knew was that this guy was handsome and his bio, Can’t meet up but not looking to play games , fit Chase’s needs exactly.
He clicked the messaging icon. What the hell was he supposed to say? Some funny one-liner?
He stuck to the classics.
Charlie
Hey
He wasn’t expecting an immediate response, but one appeared a few seconds later, kicking his heart into
Aunix
Hey. What’s up?
Charlie
Not much just chilling at home. What about you?
Aunix
Not much either
God, this was awkward. Was this what having a conversation with people online was like? Because this sucked.
Charlie
You been on here long?
Like the app I mean
Aunix
Nah, just got on a couple weeks ago.
You?
Charlie
Literally like an hour ago
My friend made me do it
Well not made me more like suggested it strongly
He took the pictures
Aunix
Those are some nice pics.
They must be a good friend
Charlie
Yeah he’s pretty cool ngl
What made you sign up?
There was a bit of a longer pause this time. Chase hoped he hadn’t overstepped, but an answer came through.
Aunix
Also suggested by a friend actually
But I’m here because I’m looking for something more than a hookup
But without the pressure of face to face
Charlie
Yeah that sounds nice
Aunix
What are YOU looking for?
Now it was Chase’s turn to pause. What the hell was he searching for? An Alpha? Someone to coddle him? Someone to accept him for who he was?
Something real?
It was too embarrassing to admit.
Charlie
Not sure
Aunix
Well I cant answer that for you, kid
Hit me up when you figure out the answer
Chase frowned at the dismissal. Condescending ass. And what was with the ‘kid’ thing? He checked the guy’s profile. Oh. He was like seventeen years older than Chase.
A shiver of heat went through him. He’d always been attracted to older guys. Well, to one specific older guy, but he could extrapolate.
He swiped out of the app with a groan. The guy was right. What the hell was he doing if he couldn’t even ask for what he wanted?