Page 28 of Full Body Hit, Part 1 (Alpha Omega Hockey #5)
AUSTON
“ Ow . What the—” Auston ducked as someone scuffed him on the head. Instinctively, he slapped his hand out, getting the culprit right in the balls.
“Holy—” Mark tripped into the chair on the other side of the table from Auston, managing to get his ass on it somehow.
The patrons of the café they were in turned their heads to stare at the commotion, one of the waitstaff approaching slowly with their face all scrunched up.
“Sorry,” Auston apologised, raising a hand. “My friend was dropped a lot as a child.”
The waiter rolled his eyes but let them be.
Auston turned to Mark. “You fucking idiot.”
“You weren’t supposed to hit back ,” Mark complained, still cupping himself.
“Oh, yeah, let me just be assaulted.”
“The balls, though, man? Come on.”
Auston leaned back, flashing his teeth in a smile. “It’s like you don’t even know me.”
“ Hmm , maybe you ignoring me for months had some effect after all.”
The smile dropped from Auston’s face, that little worm that ate away at him when he did wrong by his friends peaking its ugly little pincer-shaped head. “Sorry, man. I should have—”
“Nah, nah, don’t worry about it. I didn’t mean to bring up our emotions and shit this early on in the conversation. Let’s order something, I’m starving.”
Auston chuckled—he could always trust other hockey players to be as emotionally constipated as he was.
Well. Almost as emotionally constipated. He might be winning a few awards in that respect.
“I’m surprised Chin-Sun didn’t want to tag along and give me shit to my face,” Auston drawled.
Mark snorted. “She’ll get you next time.”
“Uh-huh.”
They ordered some food and then Mark settled in his chair, looking Auston over. “How you doing, man? The team doesn’t look too shabby.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? We’re barely at .5. I know it’s before Christmas, but you can’t say we’re playing well if we’re losing more than half the games, come on.”
“That’s because you weren’t watching the Spirits last year. They have a good core, but they were in fucking shambles. Ya’ll are losing, sure, but not abysmally.”
“Oh, shit, well, as long as it’s not abysmally .”
Mark raised his hands. “All right, all right. Still, I’m not bullshitting you when I say the team isn’t doing that bad—I’ve been a Spirits fan all my life, okay? I know their highs and lows. You guys just need to find some chemistry. How’s that new kid doing? Chase?”
Auston pursed his lips, mind going immediately to the night they’d shared a hotel room and the shit show that had turned into.
Fuck . He hadn’t had morning wood that bad since he was in his twenties—not even when he was in a relationship and sleeping beside his partner.
That morning had been…wild. The heat that had overtaken him as he’d crushed Chase to himself, the way his gums had ached with the urge to bite even though the kid had smelt like his usual bland self.
He’d been able to scent his slick, though, a smell he’d been desperately trying to erase from his mind.
“Kid’s fine,” Auston muttered. “He’d be better if he actually gave a shit about anything.”
Mark ticked his head back, eyebrows rising. “What? All the pundits are talking about is how miserable he seems when games go bad. He looks like a wet puppy out there after he makes a mistake.”
“All for show,” Auston grunted. “Seriously. Either that kid is a fucking savant in keeping his scent neutral, which, not even Hunter was that good, or he’s faking it for the cameras.”
Mark’s face twitched at the mention of Hunter. He’d been there for that whole relationship—had been the one to pick up the pieces afterwards. “Fuck. I had no idea. Spalding hides his scent? Like, when?”
“I’m literally not exaggerating when I say—all the fucking time. I haven’t seen it change once .”
Mark wrinkled his nose. “That…”
“I know it sounds like bullshit, but it’s true. And that’s impossible, right? So. Either he really is that good at managing his scent, or he’s faking his emotions and not giving a fuck his pheromones are giving him away.”
“Damn. Okay. That’s so weird.”
“Yeah, and you’re not sharing a goddamn locker room with him.”
Mark winced. “Is that…are you okay? Are you, like…triggered?”
“ Triggered? The fuck?”
“Hey, that’s a real thing.”
“I’m not triggered.”
Mark shrugged. “It’s okay if you are.”
“I’m not .”
“So you’re treating this Spalding kid like everybody else.”
Auston opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. “That doesn’t—obviously I’m going to react to it, that doesn’t mean anything.”
“All right, okay. But if you—”
“ I’m not .”
“All right, okay. How you been, though, man? Besides that.”
“I’ve been…” A reel of the past few weeks stuttered past. “I’ve been pretty good, honestly.”
“Yeah? For real? Cause you seemed pretty down when we last talked.”
“Yeah, well. You know how I get stuck in my shit, but. I dunno. Guess I’ve been more optimistic lately. I’m thinking that maybe my retirement won’t be the end of the world.”
Mark laughed. “Wow. I’m impressed, bud. Anything in particular got you feeling like such a spring chicken? Please feel free to tell me I’m the reason for your turnaround. I’m amazing, I know.”
“You fucking wish,” Auston replied automatically, but he had to pause.
It had been Mark and Chin-Sun who’d suggested he get on Lookr. In a way, they were responsible for him meeting Charlie which was, fundamentally, what had him in such a good mood lately.
It was hard to feel like a useless old fuck when there was a sweet Omega on the other end of the line trusting him, sharing his problems with him, being so fucking good for Auston that, surely, he had done something to deserve it.
Mark, the little snake, must have read the pause as a reason to self-congratulate. “Bro, is this really the reason? Because, let me tell you, I’m so fucking excited to have you on board with this. It was feeling kind of daunting to do this all by myself, not gonna lie.”
Oh, great. Now Auston felt like crap because he was a lot more fixated on Charlie and hadn’t given nearly as much thought to the business he was going to start with Mark.
Not that Auston had given anything as much thought as he did his baby. Not even hockey.
“Well, I mean…yeah, I’m pumped for the coaching thing, for sure.”
Mark’s grin turned sceptical. “But…?”
“Uh…” Fuck, why was this so embarrassing to talk about? I think I’m falling hard for a guy I’ve never met, who lets me pamper him with things and won’t come until I tell him to and, oh, he calls me Daddy .
Yeah, that wasn’t leaving his lips.
“So…you know that app you guys recommended…”
It took a second for it to click for Mark, his face lighting up. “Holy shit. You got on Lookr? And you found someone ?”
“Okay, no need to sound so surprised.”
Mark laughed. “I mean—I’m not surprised you matched with someone, man. I guess I’m just shocked you let yourself. What’re they like? You got pics?”
This was the thing about having an Omega friend—if it were a fellow Alpha, they’d just be like, ‘That’s cool.’ They wouldn’t ask for pics .
“No, I don’t have pics. None that I can show you, anyway.”
“Oooooh,” Mark let out loudly, interrupted by the waiter bringing them their food.
“Smooth,” Auston said when the waiter had left.
“Whatever. Come on, if you don’t have pics—have you guys met? What’re they like?”
Auston lifted the bread of his sandwich, inspecting its contents before setting it back down.
“No, we haven’t met. Not sure if we will, honestly.
He hasn’t brought it up, and the point of this online thing was to be anonymous, so.
I like how things are, honestly. It’s nice to not be Auston, The Hockey Player. ”
Mark hummed. “Right. That makes sense with everything that’s going on. Damn, man, okay. Happy for you.”
Auston shrugged. “It’s not like we’re engaged. But. Thanks.”
Mark rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You should see your face. No shame in liking someone, you know.”
Auston waved him off. “Okay. Enough about me. We gonna talk shop? Tell me what the rink owner said when you asked about renting in bulk.”
“Right.”
They spent the rest of the meal going over the broader details of the youth program they wanted to set up—where they’d operate, how they’d recruit people, how classes would be divided.
It was exciting, getting into the nitty gritty, talking out possible problems, using his fucking brain for once. He liked the picture that was forming in front of him. How it painted his future in something other than blacks and greys.
And it’d been nice to talk about Charlie, too. It made it more real now that someone else knew. That it wasn’t just this little secret that could disappear without consequence.
***
Auston wasn’t regretting giving Charlie the training plugs, but he sure was suffering through the reality of having to watch him send Auston endless videos and pictures and voice notes of his progress.
And it wasn’t like Charlie was sending them when they were both home, either. The little brat would take a video at night and send it the next day, like he could fucking sense when Auston was at the rink, to torment him as much as possible.
Not that Auston had to open the messages. If he had an ounce of self-control, he’d ignore them until he got home.
Instead, he sneaked into the bathroom, put his earphones in, and watched every single one like some kind of deprived pervert.
Aunix
Hope you’re having fun sending me these in the middle of the workday
Charlie
Sorry daddy I won’t send you any videos anymore if you don’t like them
Aunix
Your ass is gonna be so fucking red when I get my hands on you, you won’t be able to sit for a week
Charlie
Promises promises…
Auston couldn’t help but laugh at the fucking audacity of the kid, at the way he was gaining enough confidence to tease him.
Not that Auston wouldn’t spank the fuck out of him if he ever did that in real life, but that was half the fun for both of them.