Page 30 of Right Pucking Daddy (Daddies of the League #7)

TWENTY-FOUR

AIDEN

I sat in the living room of the dorm several days later playing video games mindlessly, the loss from this past weekend still playing on repeat. Everyone kept saying they didn’t know what went wrong, but I did. We didn’t trust each other. We didn’t communicate.

After the game the other day, I showered and changed, keeping my head down so the rest of the team would leave me alone. As soon as I dressed, I trudged through the tunnel to the dorm, hell bent on grabbing some more of my belongings and heading back to the club.

I came out of my room with some of my clothes bagged up and stopped short.

“Guys…”

Isaiah held his hands up and said, “We’re sorry. Blame alcohol and hormones…

“And a seriously dry spell…” Isaac took over from his brother. The words came out clipped and rushed .

Trey nodded, jerked his thumb at the other two.

“What they said.” I thought that was all I’d get from him, not that I felt I really deserved anything else, but then he said, “I’m sorry, dude.

It was insanely rude of us to be fucking in the living room.

If the situation was reversed, I’d have been pissed the fuck off. ”

I cleared my throat twice before I could formulate my thoughts.

“I don’t have issue with anything other than the invite and not even really that, but a heads up I might walk in on you screwing would’ve been appreciated. That’s all.”

“Agreed,” they said in unison.

I burst out laughing, then said, “A seriously dry spell? Huh? I think it’s more than that if you’re finishing each other’s sentences.”

The twins’ eyes bulged, and Trey rolled his before slapping my back and shoving me toward my room. “Put that shit away. I’m fucking starving and we gotta bond and shit so that,” he hitched his thumb over his shoulder, “never happens again.”

We’d gone to dinner, the four of us, and I messaged Ewen through the app that I would be by to pick up my stuff after practice the next day. He sent a thumbs up, and that was it. EDGE came in handy, but the facilities weren’t meant for long-term living. Not really.

“Dude, are you okay?”

The words came to me muffled by the rampaging thoughts racing through my skull. I screwed up during the game, and everything fell apart. Everyone tried to convince me I had it wrong, but I didn’t believe them .

“Aiden! Dude, pull your head outta your ass,” Trey said, snatching up the other controller before falling back into the recliner.

I blinked, and the television I stared at unseeingly came into focus; the video game I’d been playing had timed out with a message that the server kicked me off for inactivity.

Huffing, I tossed the controller to the coffee table Mama dropped off a few weeks ago after I mentioned we didn’t have one.

“Sorry. I’m just…”

“Stuck in your fucking head,” Trey finished. “Which is bad news, boo bear. It’s only gonna fuck up the next game. You heard Sasha. The loss, any loss, is on the whole team and the coaching staff. No one man can lose a hockey game on his own.”

“But…”

“Save the butts for the bedroom. Now, you wanna play video games or are you gonna make me play alone?”

A sigh wove its way through my chest as I reached for the controller. I fell into the couch cushions, the controller still on the coffee table. With our next game only a day away, I hoped Trey, Isaac, Isaiah, and I had sorted ourselves out enough to keep from making the same mistake twice.

“Looks like I’m playing by myself. And I don’t mean that sexually. Although maybe you should. Getting off always helps me get out of my head. Getting my dick wet helps even more so.”

If he only knew how much I wanted a certain someone to toss me on a bed and plow me like a field .

My only problem came from who my chosen partner was. The guy I wanted, who checked all my boxes, was strictly off limits.

“Imma head out for a while. Maybe blow off some steam.”

“Fuck blowing steam. Find a guy and blow him.”

Standing up, soft laughter blew from my mouth, and I patted his shoulder as I walked by him.

“Thanks for the pep talk and advice. I appreciate it, but I think I’ll get a workout in.”

“No…”

“Lifting without a partner. I know.”

“Shoot me a message if you need a spotter. I could use some gym time, too, but I’m not as die-hard as you, bud. I’m not working out unless you force me to, but if you want a spotter, call.”

“Will do,” I said, walking out the door.

I took the stairs to the basement tunnel and headed for the gym. Nothing cleared my head like being on the ice.

In the locker room, I changed clothes, geared up, and tied on my skates. Then I sat with my thoughts while taping and waxing my stick. There were so many things I wanted to say to Alex, but I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance.

I wanted to thank him for taking such good care of me that night at the club .

I needed him to know I wanted more than one night, and I understood why it could never be.

Possibilities, dreams, and what-ifs raced around my head like they were on the merry-go-round from my childhood before I met Tata and Mama.

It squeaked whenever the wind blew it, but I didn’t care.

I’d lie there for hours staring up at the stars, possibilities, dreams, and what-ifs that plagued me then, too.

I grabbed my helmet and waddled out to the rink, forcing the thoughts out of my head. They didn’t belong on the ice. But I did.

I hit the ice and lost myself in the movements.

This icy, cold surface was home. No matter the town or arena, the ice was my haven.

Belonging washed over me as cool air blew across my skin, cooling my face until it stung.

I continued pushing, the sound of my skates and stick scraping across the ice becoming music to my ears.

Moving from warm-ups to drills, the sounds changed from steady scratches as I settled into drills I could do in my sleep—edge work and puck handling. All the things I’d done for…

“Tuck the puck.”

As if shot, I rose to my full height, my head swiveling toward the voice that echoed through the arena.

Alex.

Crap. No. Not Alex. He couldn’t be anything other than Sasha here.

“Hey, Coach.”

His mouth, the one I dreamed of kissing day and night, turned down, his eyes drifting closed for a moment before he crossed his arms. Hawk stood beside him.

Sasha stepped onto the ice, giving Hawk the command to stay.

The dog obeyed without hesitation, sliding to the floor and laying his head on the step into the arena.

Sasha skated toward me, his movements graceful, fluid, as if he had never left the sport. My eyes drifted over the man’s stunning physique, undressing him with my eyes—the memory of what his clothes hid from the world playing on a loop in my brain.

He stopped next to me, his eyes sweeping my body before shaking his head.

“Not happening.”

“I didn’t ask…”

“I didn’t say you did. It was a reminder to myself.”

A flush of satisfaction burst within, and I ducked my chin in hopes of hiding the grin I couldn’t keep from my face. Following his lead to erase the awkwardness, I shook off the haze the man put me in.

“So…” he said, clearing his throat. “Tuck the puck?”

“I thought I was.”

His chin swung from side to side slightly. “Not good enough,” he said, skating backwards, placing himself before me on the ice. He pulled his phone out. “Do it again. The exact same way.”

Following his order, I did the move again, hiding the puck as I deked toward the goal.

“Stop. ”

I did. He held out his phone, his hand stretching across the distance between us. “Switch me,” he said, gesturing to my stick.

I traded my stick for his phone, pulling up the video camera.

He scooped up the puck, skating backwards again.

When he stopped, he looked at me, and I pressed the record button with a nod.

Watching in awe as he showed me what he meant, twisting his hips and stopping before he ran into me.

He handed the stick back to me, and I stared at him, the camera still running.

Yeah, I didn’t do it nearly that well. “Holy shit.”

He laughed, taking his phone. “I’m not sure if I should take that curse of yours as an insult or a compliment.”

“Definitely a compliment.”

“Well, I did play professionally, you know.”

“Believe me, I’m well aware.”

My eyes met his, and if this were a movie, a cinematic crescendo of theme music would lead us into an epic, award-winning moment, but that wouldn’t, couldn’t happen, for the two of us. I cleared my throat and broke the connection between us.

“Fuck…” he growled, and I couldn’t have agreed more.

He pivoted away from me. I knew and understood why, but knowing didn’t help lessen the pain from the heart-dropping disappointment. It also didn’t keep the tears at bay. The salty drops ran down my face, leaving warm trails across my cheeks in their wake.

He turned back around, catching me drying the wetness from my face .

“Aiden…”

“Don’t. I get it. There’s nothing we can do. I want you to know I didn’t know…”

“I should’ve realized…”

Even though there wasn’t anything to laugh about, we did just that when his words blended with mine. Sighing as the moment of levity faded away and reality set back in.

Alex said, “When you took off, I realized you’d heard the whispers at the munch. I thought it was the celebrity aspect. I should’ve known you were a student, and maybe, in the back of my head, I did and didn’t fucking care.”

My head bobbed, my eyes focused on Hawk, who looked so peaceful and at ease.

Finally, I filled my lungs with as much air as possible, then said, “I didn’t know you were Sasha Storm. Of course, I knew who Sasha Storm was. I did my research when I learned he would be the new coach, but there weren’t any current photos of you that I could find…”

“I left that life behind when I took a puck to my head. I couldn’t be half in and half out. I wanted to fucking play, not watch others do it. I’ve turned down every interview, TV spot, you name it.”

“So why…” I paused.

“Did I take this job?”

“Yes.”

He took a deep breath, letting it escape slowly before he said, “My goal when I was a kid wasn’t to play hockey, it was to coach.

I worked at summer hockey camps, coaching kids younger than me as soon as I was able, and loved it.

I kept improving until I felt like I had to take advantage of the opportunities provided to me.

I’ll admit being famous was nice. People fawned over me, my social calendar was never empty, and my phone blew up constantly… ”

“I hear a but in there,” I said, looking up at him shyly

“You little shit…” he murmured, smiling at me. A real smile. One that made his eyes crinkle at the sides.

“Am I wrong?”

“No, but I can definitely see the bratty little in you now.”

He shrugged. “You knew that already, I think.”

“I did. The moment you asked for a one-way ticket…”

I groaned as the memory flashed through my mind, my dick stiffening under my hockey girdle. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath while I tried to get the reaction to him, one I’d been fighting since I saw him in the club, under control.

“I shouldn’t’ve brought that up,” Sasha whispered, then his gaze bounced around the arena. Lowering his voice further, he continued, “But I can’t get you out of my fucking skull.”

My eyes flew open. Our gazes met and held.

The way he looked at me heated my blood until sweat poured down my already sweat-dampened body.

My dick pulsed, breath panted, heart raced, body yearned.

I wanted him and only him. A month had passed since we met, and the pull I felt toward him hadn’t lessened.

As it always did, realization set in, this time making my chin tremble. “Daddy,” whispered over my lips, and a tear coursed down my face.

Alex’s eyes dropped closed, his chin falling to his chest. Hawk whined from his spot near the bench.

Alex looked over at him, and my gaze followed.

Hawk had stood up, but not moved forward at all.

He wanted to, you could see it in the way his neck stretched forward to get him as close as possible without disobeying the command to stay.

“I’m okay, buddy.”

Hawk huffed, inched right up to the edge of the rink, then sat. A small, soft laugh came from Daddy and me as well.

Daddy… Alex… Sasha turned back to me and whispered. “Baby boy…”

He sighed, scrubbing his face with his strong, caring hands before shoving them into his hair.

Hawk whined again, then barked when no one acknowledged him.

Alex patted his leg, and Hawk bounded onto the ice in his ice booties, covering the distance between us and the gate in a few short strides without sliding.

He stopped and leaned his big body against Alex, licking his hand, then mine.

Tears at the dog’s acknowledgment swamped my vision. I dropped to my knees, my head meeting Hawk’s. Alex’s next words weren’t a shock.

“I want the same thing you do, but we cannot have the relationship we want.”

“I know,” I whispered into Hawk’s fur.

“But I promise you, baby, I will help you reach your goals. ”

I stood, ignoring the tears raining down my face, and nodded. The question I wanted to ask ping ponged around my brain, but I bit my tongue to keep from asking it.

“Thank you.”

Skating away from the man and dog I wanted in my life, I cursed whatever deity hated me so much that they made my life a constant, never-ending struggle.

Somehow I knew after that one night that all the crap I’d gone through in life before this moment paled in comparison to how leaving Alex and Hawk behind.