Page 4 of Full Body Hit, Part 2 (Alpha Omega Hockey #6)

AUSTON

A uston was losing his mind.

He would swear on his fucking nieces that he was trying to do the right thing. Not chatting with Charlie—Chase—was killing him. He found himself going for his phone dozens of times a day only to remember that he’d muted his conversation with Chase for a reason.

He was trying to clean up the mess he’d made. He was supposed to get closer to Chase, to decrease the gap between Aunix and Auston so that when the truth came out, Chase wasn’t traumatised by who he’d actually been speaking to.

After everything was revealed, he could point at their lack of contact and say, see? I tried to stop lying to you.

He’d thought the whole ‘work project’ excuse would be enough to buy him a couple of weeks, but seeing the effect it had on the kid was just…awful. Seeing his baby sad and sleep-deprived and not being able to do anything about it was eating away at him.

And yet it was strangely thrilling, too.

Not because Chase was sad, but because Auston got to see it .

That was how close he was to his baby. He spent half his time at the arena staring at him, and the other half trying not to.

It was even better now that Chase was happier.

The bags under his eyes had disappeared, his easy smile returning.

It was a fucking ego boost to see how them talking had cheered Chase up.

I did that , a feral voice said, barely holding back from sinking his teeth into the Omega and claiming that joy.

But talking to Chase on the phone again wasn’t all good.

Charlie

Daddy

The text was attached to a picture.

Chase, lying on his belly on the bed, a see-through teddy on. He was lounging as if he were a teenage girl in a ’90s movie—legs up behind him, crossed at the ankles. He had stockings on, the garters peeking through. His head was on the mattress, buried in his arms to hide it.

Auston wanted to go over there and touch him so bad it hurt .

He knew having sex, even their version of it, would be crossing a line. Chase hadn’t consented to show those pictures to Auston . It was different now that Auston knew the truth.

Not that Chase was making it easy with the pleading voice notes and pictures. And it wasn’t that Auston was running out of strength of will—it was that Chase was beginning to sound genuinely hurt when Auston turned him down.

He had to speed this whole fucking plan up, which was harder than it seemed, what with Chase wanting nothing to do with him.

Auston was running out of non-creepy ways to get Chase to spend some time with him when a solution presented itself in the form of a very talkative captain.

Auston hadn’t been sure how to feel the first time he’d realised his stall was beside Noah’s. The guy was…loud. And cheerful. And loud.

But his openness turned out to be an advantage.

“We’re going to that place with the vegan food. It was in a magazine or something…or like an article? I can’t remember what Sammy said,” Noah was babbling.

Auston hummed noncommittally. It was pretty much the only input Noah needed to keep talking.

“It looks kind of weird to be honest, but Chase wanted to try it too, so…”

Auston perked up instantly. “Oh?”

“Sammy showed me a picture of one of the dishes and I swear it was just figs.”

“Yeah. I think I’ve heard of that place,” Auston lied. God, how far he’d fallen. “Been meaning to check it out.”

“Oh, dude, come with us then.”

This guy was so easy. “You sure? Maybe you should check in with the others.”

“Nah, it’s fine. We’re a team!”

It was, in fact, not fine, judging by Sammy’s face as Auston turned up at the restaurant. Chase smiled brightly at him as he approached the table, though, so Auston didn’t give a shit.

Not that he wasn’t aware he was making a fool of himself, manoeuvring his life to go after Chase, but he didn’t give a shit about that, either.

After all was said and done, he wanted to peer at himself in the mirror and be able to claim that he’d done everything he possibly could to salvage their relationship.

He took a seat, taking in the sudden quiet that had taken over the trio. “Uh…am I interrupting something?”

Chase’s cheeks turned red. Auston held back from grabbing them. “No.”

Sammy interrupted. “Just Chase’s boyfriend being a dick. Again.”

That caught Auston’s attention. He glanced at Sammy, finally ripping his gaze away from Chase. “Huh?”

It was Chase who responded. “No, he isn’t. Don’t say that, Sammy.”

“He is , though.”

Chase’s frown deepened. “No. He’s not obligated to have se—to do that.”

“That’s not what makes him a dick. It’s the constant lack of communication. Sure, of course he can say no, but to suddenly change a whole aspect of your relationship without warning is a shitty thing to do.”

“He’s just stressed,” Chase defended.

“Oh, is he? What, does he play in the NHL? Is he a rookie in the NHL? Because that seems stressful.”

Chase huffed. “Sammy, come on.”

“I’m just saying—we’re all busy. We’re all stressed. Is it that hard to be like, hey babe, my libido is down because I’m tired, I may not be in the mood for a while.”

Chase’s mouth twisted. “I mean…maybe I’m doing something that’s putting him off and he doesn’t want me to feel bad.”

Sammy opened his mouth, but Auston interrupted first with a blurted, “No.”

All eyes landed on him.

“I mean…I doubt it’s that.”

Jesus Christ . Someone shoot him.

“It just—it’s a big jump to attribute it to yourself when it’s probably something going on with your partner, right? People tend to be more incompetent than malicious.”

Sammy snorted. “He sure is incompetent.”

Chase hit Sammy on the arm, but he was still looking at Auston. “But…”

Auston interrupted. “Do you trust him?” His gut was swimming in something queasy as Chase’s eyebrows bunched up.

“Yeah. I do,” Chase replied quietly.

“Then maybe give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he hasn’t thought to bring it up because he’s caught up in other things. Which isn’t fair to you, but it’s a lot better than imagining he suddenly isn’t attracted to you.”

Chase’s gaze fell away, face turned ever redder. Under the table, Auston fisted his hands to keep from reaching out. He felt the sudden lack of eye contact like a physical thing, a touch taken away from him.

Chase cleared his throat. “I guess…maybe I don’t trust myself to keep his attention.” He laughed a little, a hollow sound.

“A good relationship depends on having trust in both parties. Maybe that’s something to work on instead of doubting your partner? And maybe tell him so he can communicate better to what you need.”

There was a pause. Slowly, Chase nodded, a slight bob of the head. Beside him, Sammy was staring at Auston, practically gaping. “That was…actually good advice,” Sammy said.

“Thanks,” Auston replied sarcastically, but he tempered his tone with half a smile.

Sammy narrowed his eyes at him but didn’t start another argument.

Conversation slipped into less fraught topics, but Auston remained on edge, glancing at Chase whenever he could.

How the fuck was Auston messing shit up at every step? If there was a way to do this without making Chase feel like shit, Auston wasn’t figuring it out.

His thoughts quieted as the afternoon progressed, though.

Watching Chase was fascinating. It was amazing, seeing him do something as simple as eat and talk and smile.

How his face changed with each expression.

The brightness of his eyes. The way his nose wrinkled when Sammy said something off-colour, even as he laughed.

Auston didn’t know how he’d missed all that. How the emptiness in Chase’s scent had held so much sway, an infection affecting his mind, sick and feverish with resentment.

It should have been obvious that Chase wasn’t a deceptive person. Apart from his flat scent, there was nothing that would suggest it. If Auston had spent any effort on being unbiased, he would have seen it right away.

Auston had always brushed away his sister’s suggestions to go to therapy. She’d started after his relationship with Hunter and never really stopped. He was fine. Functional. A Stanley Cup champion.

There, sitting at that table, watching Chase laugh, reality fell over him, drowning him in rubble.

What the fuck had happened to him after Hunter? How had he allowed the changes that relationship had caused to harden and spread and calcify, turning him into the kind of person who would sneer at someone as sweet as Chase?

There was something wrong with him.

Something he had to fix if he wanted to be the kind of person he could be proud of.

***

Auston had enough self-control to wait until evening to call Chase, but the Omega beat him to it.

Charlie

Thinking about you

The photo attached was racier than any of the others he’d sent in the past few weeks—Chase naked except for a lacy pair of panties and a camisole so see-through it made his nakedness even more apparent.

He was facing the camera, frame cutting at the shoulders, kneeling open-legged on the bed, the edge of the camisole bunched up at the hips.

The noise that came out of Auston wasn’t human. It was pain and want and frustration. He sat down on the couch, palming his dick through his sweats for a second before remembering he shouldn’t be doing that.

Chase didn’t know who he was sending that to. Auston hadn’t even watched any of the old videos, something he used to do often.

And yet…it wasn’t as if Aunix were a lie. Auston wasn’t a different person on the phone—if anything, he was more authentically himself.

Wasn’t it doing more harm by rejecting Chase over and over again? He thought Auston didn’t fucking want him. What difference did it make, really, if they kept having sex?

Guilt bubbled in his gut, but he couldn’t stop staring at the picture.

That was his. Chase was his . Auston told him when to come. When to fuck himself. Chase wanted it—was desperate for it.

God, look at him, splayed open for him.

What the fuck was Auston supposed to do? Say no ?