Page 35 of Full Body Hit, Part 1 (Alpha Omega Hockey #5)

CHASE

C hase really shouldn’t have let himself be roped into dinner with Beau and Emilio from the Miami Manatees.

Noah had asked Sammy to come along, and Sammy hadn’t wanted to turn it down.

He liked Noah’s brother, Beau, he said, as well as Beau’s mate, Emilio.

It was just that it felt a little too much like a cozy little double date, and wouldn’t Chase come along so that it wouldn’t be weird?

Chase, being the magnanimous and kind friend he was, had accepted the invitation after checking with Noah that it was okay if he showed up.

Turned out the dinner still felt like a double date, just with Chase being the weird fifth wheel, like a guy their mated friends felt sorry for and dragged out to dinner so he didn’t die alone in his apartment.

“Okay, melodrama,” Sammy replied when Chase told him this after dragging him off to the bathroom at the beginning of dinner. “And Noah and I aren’t mated, so I really don’t get what you’re saying.”

Chase rolled his eyes.

The truth was, the dinner was pretty fun.

It was kind of fascinating to watch Beau and Emilio interact after watching portions of their love story publicised for the world to speculate over.

Chase hadn’t really been around many mated couples growing up, but he couldn’t imagine two people being more ridiculously in love.

Chase didn’t even know quite how to describe it.

It wasn’t like they were staring adoringly into each other’s eyes and feeding one another forkfuls from their plates.

It was more just a sort of synchronicity that flowed under their actions.

The way Beau would lean into Emilio and how Emilio would turn his head and plant a quick kiss on his head.

The way they seemed to know exactly when to let the other tell a story.

The way their eyes met, as if they knew something the rest of the world didn’t.

Beau turned to him halfway through the meal and gave him a big grin. “How’s your first year in the NHL going, then? You liking these bozos as your teammates? My brother a good captain?”

Noah protested with a weak “ Hey ,” as Chase nodded. “Yeah, it’s been cool.”

Beau continued looking at him as if waiting for something more

Chase didn’t know quite what to say—he wasn’t going to suddenly spill all his insecurities to a virtual stranger.

“Just asking, ’cause Emilio’s was kind of sucky, actually.”

Emilio turned towards them from where he’d been chatting with Sammy at the sound of his name. “ Hm? ”

“Just telling Chase that your first year wasn’t the best,” Beau explained.

“Oh, right.” He nodded at Chase. “I mean, it was fine, but everything felt a lot more foreign than I thought it would.”

Beau hummed. “First years can be kind of lonely even though you’re embraced by this big team family shit. I was just thinking about my rookie year and how obsessed I was with trying to prove myself. Now I think back on it and it’s like, bro, chill.”

Emilio laughed. “Yeah, there’s a lot of that. Not quite getting that you’re a small piece of a larger thing instead of a large piece of your own thing or something.”

Beau grinned, blue eyes glowing. “Wow, babe, that was wise as fuck.”

Emilio snorted, looking at his mate, and there was a strange moment where they just stared at each other, smiling and still, something passing between them.

Chase wondered if they were sensing their bond right then. If it was pulling them together.

Sammy piped up, breaking the moment. “We’re taking good care of him. Aren’t we?” he directed at Chase.

“Yeah. No, definitely. Even Captain Bozo over there is doing a good job,” Chase joked.

Noah let out an indignant burst of breath. “Why am I the one being bullied here?” he whined.

Beau laughed. “I’m still surprised Mazdaki hasn’t tried to out-captain you.”

Chase tensed at the mention of Auston, blindsided by the sudden change in subject.

Even though the comment was directed at Noah, it was Sammy who snorted loudly with a, “Yeah, right.”

Beau’s eyes widened. “Wait. What’s that about?” He turned to his brother accusingly. “You haven’t told me about any drama with Mazdaki.”

Noah shrugged. “You know I don’t like to gossip.”

“It’s not gossip if it’s about the team you captain,” Beau argued. He focused on Sammy. “What’s up with Mazdaki, then?”

“I mean, he’s fine. Just. Really don’t know how he was a captain for so many years. The dude won a couple of Stanley Cups—you’d think he’d be a better leader,” Sammy said.

Emilio reclined on his chair, extending his arm so it draped over the back of Beau’s seat. “No shit. Wow. I met him at an All-Stars once and he seemed pretty cool. Never would have guessed he’s bad in the room.”

Noah shook his head. “He’s not bad . I just think…I think he’s at the end of his career and he’s finding it hard…and he’s taking it out on the wrong people.”

“He’s acting like a douche,” Sammy replied.

Chase blinked at him. He’d had no idea Sammy felt so strongly about the older Alpha.

“I’m not saying he’s not acting like a douche,” Noah reasoned.

“Just that…it’s probably not something he’s done his whole career or anything.

He’s in a bad place.” He glanced at Chase.

“Not that I’m excusing his shitty behaviour.

I’m just saying—this is probably not who he’s been in the room for the past two decades or whatever. ”

Emilio nodded. “Yeah, That makes sense.”

Beau raised his eyebrows. “You think you’re gonna turn into a jackass during your last year in the league? Because I can’t see that.”

“Well, no, but I have you. I have things I love outside of hockey. By the time we retire, we’ll probably have…well, you know. A family and stuff.”

“This guy,” Beau said, pointing his thumb at Emilio. “Always trying to knock me up.”

Emilio spluttered as Noah covered his ears with a mournful, “ No .” Sammy cackled at Noah’s reaction, trying to force his hands down, telling him he was being a baby, that his brother being knotted multiple times per heat was perfectly normal.

“Stop talking ,” Noah hissed.

Sammy pointed his finger at Noah. “Don’t make me knucklebone you.”

It was his go-to threat since Chase had gifted him the fortune-telling sheep knucklebones.

Sammy had even gone to a lesson, returning with a mischievous squint.

He’d been predicting worse and worse futures for Noah, who had stopped finding it funny and now looked genuinely scared when Sammy went into his ‘psychic trance.’

Just like that, the topic of Auston was left behind in the flow of conversation, but it lingered with Chase, sticking to his skin,

It was true that Auston wasn’t mated. Didn’t have children. Didn’t seem to have any interests outside hockey, although Chase would hardly be an expert on that.

He thought about Aunix and his journey as he went through the last year of his career.

It was a lot easier to have empathy for Aunix—for someone who wanted to teach the next generation.

What the hell was Auston doing to move on? Apart from terrorising Chase, that was.

It was hard to respect a person who was doing absolutely nothing to help themselves and taking it out on others to boot.

He put the thought out of his mind. He was trying to think of Auston as little as possible lately, no matter how hard that was at times.

The conversation had turned to easier subjects by the time dinner ended. Chase spent most of the time observing how Emilio and Beau interacted, feeling a lump of something heavy but not entirely unpleasant in his chest.

Chase wondered if he and Aunix would fit together like that if they met.

The group parted eventually, Beau and Emilio returning to the hotel and Chase, Noah, and Sammy in the car as they drove Chase home.

“I can’t believe how much their scents have changed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody whose bond has taken so strongly,” Sammy mused.

“Tell me about it,” Noah grunted. “It’s fucking weird. Not that I’m not happy for Beau or whatever, but he barely smells like us anymore.”

Chase stayed silent in the back seat, skin prickling, pulse humming, hoping they wouldn’t involve him in the conversation.

He had no idea how Beau and Emilio smelt.

“He does smell like you guys,” Sammy protested, obviously referring to the family smell of the Lavoies. “It’s just morphed into something new. I think it’s nice, anyway. Most people don’t find a mate like that.”

“Makes sense, with how they smelt to each other before the mating.”

Chase had to pipe up at that. “What do you mean? Didn’t Emilio hate Beau’s scent at the start? There was that thing when he covered his nose…?”

“Oh, yeah. Apparently that was just Emilio being overwhelmed by how good Beau smelt, which, ew,” Noah explained.

“Oh,” Chase muttered.

Of course it was all about their scents. How else could people test out their biological compatibility?

His chest felt heavy as he got to his apartment. He sat on the couch in the dark living room, staring at nothing.

What was he even doing with Aunix? Where could it possibly go if Chase didn’t even have a scent? Aunix was one of the nicest, most caring people Chase had ever met, but that didn’t mean he’d be okay with Chase’s condition.

The Alpha Chase ended up with…they wouldn’t be able to scent him until they mated—Chase’s scent would drive the Alpha into biting him whether the Alpha wanted to or not. It could end with them mated to someone they hated the smell of.

That was a ridiculous expectation to set on someone. It was like expecting someone not to know how their partner looked until they got married.

Aunix was spending so much time and energy and money on Chase without even knowing what he was getting himself into.

It wasn’t fair to Aunix. Chase knew that. He already took so much from Aunix; the least he could do was give the Alpha all the information. Let Aunix decide if Chase really was worth investing in.