Page 3 of Full Body Hit, Part 2 (Alpha Omega Hockey #6)

It made Chase soften up. “I’m okay. I didn’t sleep well, but it has nothing to do with the concussion. Promise.”

“What’s going on?” Auston asked.

Chase blinked. Auston wasn’t exactly someone he felt comfortable talking to about this. “Just…personal stuff. It doesn’t have anything to do with hockey. Promise.”

“Oh, right. Well. If you have someone to talk to about that, it might help.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Exhaustion coated Chase, crusting over him. “I should probably go, though.”

“Right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Bye.”

The line went blank. Chase put the phone away, utterly confused.

What the hell had that been about? Since when was Auston so concerned about Chase?

He buried his face in Joey, muffling a whine. He stayed there for a while, soaking in the warmth of his nest, dozing lightly, a skipping stone on the surface of sleep until he dropped down, down, down, into the dark.

It was only when he woke up in the dawn hours of the next morning that he saw he had a missed call from Aunix.

He left a voice message apologising, telling him to call again whenever.

Aunix simply hearted it back.

***

Auston wouldn’t stop asking him out for lunch.

Not like—on a date. Obviously. But definitely one-on-one.

If it had happened at the start of the season, Chase would have freaked out in the best way. Now? He honestly couldn’t imagine anything more exhausting.

They just…didn’t understand each other. Even with Auston being nice, Chase couldn’t help but be suspicious. It didn’t make sense for Auston to be interested in anything other than hockey when it came to Chase, and he didn’t want to sit through whatever lecture Auston had planned.

The days eroded him, though. Lack of sleep, the strange, delayed responses from Aunix, the fears treading grooves into Chase’s head—it was wearing him down.

“Fine,” he eventually said to Auston after practice, not looking at Sammy, who appeared to dislike Auston more by the day for some odd reason.

It was still morning, so he stopped by his apartment first. He changed into one of the sweaters Daddy had gotten for him. He needed the extra comfort.

The place Auston had picked for lunch was surprisingly normal. He’d expected some crazy-healthy place, but it was a normal sandwich joint, and Chase immediately perked up at the selection.

“Hey,” Auston greeted, interrupting Chase’s perusal of the menu board.

Chase turned, catching Auston appraising him oddly, inspecting his clothing with a frown on his face. Chase covered his hands with his sleeves, feeling exposed, but the expression cleared from Auston’s face, creasing into a smile.

They sat by a window after ordering. Wind buffeted at the glass, whistling through the street. The plants hanging from the streetlights swayed with the force of it.

Auston’s thick, dark hair was tousled, hanging over his forehead. Chase had to turn his gaze away, the sight of that square, handsome face a little too much to take.

“Um…so. Did you wanna talk about my game or something?” Chase asked.

“What? No. This isn’t…I just wanted to have lunch.”

Chase blinked, lost. He’d prepared mentally for a breakdown of his game, like his mom loved to do. Not…whatever this was. “Oh. Okay.”

“Just wanted to…catch up.”

Chase fought to keep his eyebrows level. Catch up . As if they’d ever been side by side. “Right. Uhm . How are you?”

“Good. How are you?”

Jesus Christ. They were both adults, right? Teammates. They’d spent some time together—on the ice, on airplanes, in buses.

In a hotel room.

Not that Chase was thinking about that .

“I’m good.”

“Really? Because the last time we talked, you said you were a little blue. And you seem kind of tired.”

Chase straightened. “Like, on the drills today? Because—”

“No.” Auston sighed, and Chase couldn’t help but hunch into himself at the obvious disappointment, the exasperation. “Chase…I’m not asking about your hockey. I’m asking about you .”

“Right. But I’m fine.”

Auston stared at him. The look peeled layers off Chase’s armour, penetrating through it.

“I mean…I am a little tired. But is it affecting—I mean. I don’t think it’s affecting me too badly.

” Chase wasn’t even sure if it was a lie.

Yeah, he was exhausted all the time, but it wasn’t as if he were avoiding his responsibilities.

He went to practice, to games. He hung out with Sammy and Noah.

He hadn’t even given in and called Aunix since that first time.

Aunix hadn’t picked up. He hadn’t called back. He hadn’t even acknowledged it.

What more did Auston want from him?

“That’s good. Just feels like there’s something on your mind. I get if it’s personal, but if you wanted to talk about it…” Auston trailed off.

“I mean…it’s really silly,” Chase said, giving in. What was he going to do—sit there for an hour while Auston peered at him with those big, dark, concerned eyes?

“I bet it’s not,” Auston countered.

“No, it is . Someone I care about is just kind of…not talking to me right now. And he’s really busy, so I’m not complaining or anything. I totally get he has more important things in his life than me.”

Auston made an odd, choked-off noise, but made a ‘go on’ movement with his hand when Chase glanced up at him.

“Honestly, that’s about it. I just miss him, I guess.”

“I’m sure he’s thinking about you too,” Auston said with such conviction, Chase almost forgot Auston knew absolutely nothing about Aunix.

“Well. I don’t know about that.” Chase laughed, grateful for a slight respite as the food arrived.

Auston didn’t hesitate to jump in again, though. “What makes you think he isn’t?”

Chase shrugged, inspecting his sandwich.

It was huge, and he took a moment to figure out how to hold it so it didn’t come apart in his hands.

“I can just tell. And I know what you’re gonna tell me—I’ve heard it plenty from Sammy.

But I can . He’s…one thing is not being able to talk on the phone, or send long messages.

But not being able to send a good-night text?

Nah. There’s more going on than him being busy. ”

It was a relief, saying it out loud. With Sammy, he just nodded and pretended to agree so the subject would be dropped—but he was tired of lying.

He could feel Aunix was pulling away beyond what a busy work schedule would explain.

Auston didn’t seem convinced. “Maybe he’s—”

Chase cut him off. “I’m kind of tired of other people thinking they know more about my relationship than I do.

Are there other possibilities for what’s going on?

Sure. Are there any plausible reasons for him to be suddenly so distant?

I just don’t think so. There’s something going on.

And it’s…fine. Like. If he’s getting sick of me, he’s getting sick of me. I’m not going to die from it.”

Even though, stupidly, it kind of felt as if he would.

“Anyway. It’s fine. I’m kind of fucked up about it, but I’m getting through, okay? Thanks for the concern, but I’m going to be okay.”

Chase took a decisive bite of his sandwich, glad that Auston didn’t have much to say in response to Chase’s little speech.

“Actually, I was gonna ask you—” Chase swallowed. “You know what the coach was saying today about our new defensive system?”

If he was going to sit with one of the greats for a whole lunch, he might as well take advantage of it and talk about hockey. Auston was reluctant at first, but he warmed up to the subject, almost forgetting his sandwich as they got into it.

It was…nice.

Chase couldn’t deny he was in a better mood as he got home, but he still went straight to his nest like he was doing most days. He tried not to overdo it—to at least sleep in his own bed—but he rested better in his nest.

It was hard to give that up when sleep was so fitful.

He liked to doze there, cuddled up to Joey, letting his mind at least attempt to shut off. He floated in and out of consciousness, down, and up, and down, until a buzzing pulled him out of it.

He opened one eye to see who it was and then startled awake.

It was Aunix.

He fumbled with the phone, answering the call accidentally and hurrying to put it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, baby.”

The words, Aunix’s voice, they washed over Chase, it was a physical strike “Hey, Daddy,” he replied, voice softer and smaller than he intended.

“Hey.” There was a pause, as if Aunix also had to take a moment to adjust. As if this were as big of a shock to him. “How are you?”

“Good,” Chase said quickly. He’d promised himself that when Aunix finally called, he’d hide what a pathetic little boy he was being. He wasn’t going to go on about his problems and be a bummer.

He wasn’t going to be a clingy Omega about this.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. What about you? How’s the project going?” Chase asked.

“Wait.” Aunix laughed. “Tell me more about you. How’s your head?”

“Totally fine. Yeah, the doctor said I recovered really fast.”

“Well, that’s good.” There was a pause. “And you’re sleeping okay?”

Chase hesitated. Exaggerating the truth to say he was okay was one thing. Full-on lying just felt…wrong. “I mean. Maybe not the best sleep in the world, but I’ll just go to bed early tonight. Now, tell me about—”

“Wait. Anything in particular stopping you from sleeping?”

God . What was with people freaking out about this? A little lack of sleep wasn’t going to kill him. “I mean…” Chase made a dismissive sound at the back of his throat. “We don’t have to talk about that. This is probably, like, your break time. We can talk about something nice.”

“Talking about you is something nice. Come on, baby. Please? What’s been going on?”

Fuck . What was he supposed to do with that? The conversation had literally just started, and they were already talking about his stupid issues. “I…I guess I just missed you,” he mumbled.

“Oh, baby.”

“I know it’s stupid. Obviously you have your own life. I just got a little in my head about it.”

“Got in your head, how?”

God . Aunix really was going to make him admit everything. “I…I guess I just wanted to say that—if you’re losing interest in me—”

“ Baby .”

“No, listen. If you are , I want you to tell me, okay? I know that we have this… dynamic . And that you take care of me. But if you want to break up with me—”

“Baby. I fucking promise you, okay? That is not what’s happening here.”

Chase let out a breath, gut sick with relief, as if he’d purged out a fever. “Yeah?”

“ Yes . Why would you think that?”

Chase made a vague gesture with his free hand even though Aunix couldn’t see him. “I just…I don’t know. You’re busy. I totally get that. I guess it’s just such a big change in our routine, and…” Chase trailed off, wondering whether to finish his thought.

Not that Aunix gave him much choice. “And, what?”

“I guess. Well, my job is going to get pretty busy too in spring, but…I didn’t really imagine stopping all communication when that happened, you know? It’s not that I don’t believe you about the project, but…” There’s something more going on.

There was a muffled sound on the other end of the line.

“You’re right. I’m not—I’m overwhelmed at the moment.

I fucked up at work. With this project. And I kind of retreated into myself about it.

But it has nothing to do with you . I’m fucking…

crazy about you, okay? Be annoyed at me for not handling this well, but don’t doubt how I feel. ”

Crazy about you. Chase felt his cheeks heat. “I’m crazy about you too. Like maybe literally crazy.”

Aunix barked out a laugh. “Yeah. Same here.”

Chase grinned, grabbing Joey and pressing him to his chest. “Okay.” And then, softer, “Thanks, Daddy.”

“Nah, no thanking me. Thank you for letting me know. Even if I did kind of have to drag it out of you.”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“How many times—”

“Urgh, I know . I should tell you things. But the same goes for you!”

Aunix snorted. “Okay, fair. We have to get better at that, though, baby.”

Chase bit his lip. “I know.” Talking openly sounded easy, but he knew how prone he was to hide the things he thought would burden others. “Let’s just…promise to try.”

A beat of silence. “Okay. Promise to try.”

“Okay.” Chase bit the inside of his cheek, but his smile spread anyway. “Then I have another problem to share with you.”

“What is it? Work okay?”

“Yeah.” He rolled onto his back. “You haven’t let me come in days , Daddy.”

There was a weirdly long pause. “Fuck.”

“ Please , Daddy? We can switch to video.”

“I…fuck. Baby, I promise you there’s nothing more I want than to—but I have to get back to work.”

Chase huffed. “Fine, go to work. And meanwhile…I can make a video for you.”

Auston groaned. “Baby…the next time you come, it’ll be because I made you.”

Chase shuddered. “God…okay. But I can’t…call me the next time you’re free. Please .”

“I will. Promise. And don’t overthink while I can’t, okay?”

“Okay,” Chase replied, a smile creeping into his voice.

“Okay. I gotta go. But I’ll be thinking about you. Sleep well, okay?”

“I will. Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, baby. Talk soon.”