Page 6 of These Wicked Games (Wicked Sins #1)
With that he leaves us, and I can’t wait to get out of here—right after a stop to see our team doctor.
Great . I just want to get out of here and go home.
More and more I miss Oregon when I’m away from it.
“We still going out?” Atlas asks, and I look up at him.
He’s shorter than Grey and me by a few inches, and his thick black hair is matted to his head with sweat.
His blue eyes feel electric by contrast. I can see the worry in his eyes as he scratches his beard.
Atlas likes to pretend he doesn’t have a serious bone in his body, but tonight shook us all.
He needs a distraction, and while the last thing I want to do right now is go out for drinks, I nod.
I look over at Grey coming out of the showers with a towel slung low on his trim waist. His blond hair is damp and I know he’s normally quiet, but the air of doom surrounding him is getting to me. “Grey?”
“Huh?” He looks back, his brown eyes ping-ponging back and forth between Atlas and me. “Really, tonight?”
“It’s tradition,” Atlas whines, throwing his arms around Grey’s shoulders and getting some of the cheer back in his voice. “Can’t break tradition, Wolfy.” Grey shrugs him off.
“It’s tradition,” I agree, then plead with him silently, subtly nodding my head in Atlas’s direction. Keep the child happy. Grey just shakes his head, taking off his towel and slipping on his briefs.
“Fine,” he says, and starts dressing. He doesn’t sound happy about it, but I know he’d give Atlas anything.
While us three are the closest among our teammates, Grey has a soft spot for Atlas and gives him anything he wants like the spoiled brat he is.
It’s like he thinks he can make up for all the trauma Atlas has experienced in his life with a gentle hand.
I look up at my friend, who’s eying Grey.
“Get ready. We’re not waiting for you if you aren’t ready,” I lie.
Fuck, I’m still sitting here in sweat-damp pants, but Atlas peels his eyes away from Grey, grabbing a towel.
“I also have to take a piss test.” I roll my eyes.
I hate how after all these years it still stings. “I’ll be quick.”
I have to shower still, but my feet won’t move. Grabbing his clothes, Atlas hurries to the showers, leaving Grey and me in silence. “This is bad, Oli,” he whispers. “That hit was brutal.”
“I didn’t see it. ”
“Well, if you stayed out of the penalty box long enough, you’d be able to see the whole game now and then,” he teases.
“It was Ryker, but it wasn’t his fault. Rome body-checked him into Rocky.
” Now that he mentions it, I haven’t seen him since we came into the locker room.
Shit, I should probably find him. “His helmet got knocked off and the back of his head banged off the crease.” Grey shakes his head.
“I’m going to be sick. I fucking heard it. ”
I’m not sure what we’re going to do. All I want is to go see Rocky, but it’s late now and they’re providing medical care.
My muscles and bones feel too big for my skin.
Going out will be smart; I need a distraction.
Which comes in the form of my six-foot-three defenseman sulking into the locker room.
His eyes shine, making his heterochromia stand out more.
One pale blue eye and one brown. “It’s not your fault, Kiki. ”
My normally very unserious man-slut of a friend Ryker’s frown deepens. “I should have been careful. Fucking Rome. He’s going to kill someone one of these days. I should have—”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Grey squeezes the back of his neck.
“I saw it. You were shoved right into him.” For someone with a nickname like “The Wolf,” you’d think Grey would be scary.
The opposite. Grey is the glue that holds us all together.
He’s our pack leader. Yes, I am captain, but I’m not exactly what you’d call the voice of reason.
He’s our alternate captain. Greyson “The Wolf” Tremblay leads us all out of the darkness with a calm and steady hand.
“He’s going to be okay. Alright?” He squeezes harder.
I watch Ryker take a breath before nodding and smiling gratefully at Grey.
“I want to visit him. Will you guys go with me when we’re allowed?” Ryker asks.
“Of course,” I say. “You want to go out with us tonight? ”
“Oli has to tinkle first,” Grey jokes.
Ryker just rolls his eyes. He’s another one who knows about my situation, just not that Andre is the reason behind it. “Nah. Not in a partying mood.”
“Shit, you know he’s upset.” Atlas chuckles, walking into the room with just his underwear on. “When does Kiki ever go to bed without a beautiful woman warming it?” Ryker laughs but I see it for the forced thing it is.
“I’m beat. Just not up for it. That was a hell of a game, though.”
I agree, the Vipers are something else.
Which leads me down a path I don’t want to think about. Andre Assface Tavares. No, assface is not his middle name, but it might as well be. Whatever, I can’t go down that path right now, and thankfully we won’t have to play them again for a couple of months.
“Go shower. Go take a piss.” Grey slaps my back. “Then we’ll go out.”
A distraction, that’s all we need right now.