Page 5

Clay - Tuesday

Pain seared through me as my body slammed against the boards. It took me a minute to realize what had happened, and then I saw Lucas shake his head and laugh as he skated away from me, fist-bumping Dylan.

“Fucker!” I shouted.

Where the hell had he come from? I shook off the hit and skated after him, deciding to exit the ice instead and sit down.

I grabbed my water bottle as sweat dripped down my face and squirted some into my mouth. The boys and I were just blowing off steam after practice; I knew that, but my mind was on other things, and I wasn’t really paying much attention to anything other than the thoughts floating through my mind. That was why I hadn’t seen Clark coming toward me.

“What the fuck was that, Harris?” Lucas asked, coming off the ice, to sit beside me, joined by Dylan and our two newest players, Levi and Colton.

“I don’t know. I’m asking myself the same question,” I said, reaching for my towel and wiping away the sweat that was now stinging my eyes.

“You should be. You never take hits like that, and normally you can see out the back of your head most games. Yet today it seems you couldn’t see what’s right in front of you.”

“I’m a fucking goalie. I should hope the hell I don’t take hits like that, otherwise the net is unprotected.” I chuckled, taking a swing at Lucas and missing him.

Lucas smacked me in the back of the head and chuckled. “What the fuck is up with you tonight?”

“Guess you could say I’m feeling a little off.” I shrugged.

“You’re off alright. You were off Sunday night’s game too, and you weren’t much better yesterday.”

“What are you saying?” I questioned.

“I’m saying you better smarten up before the next game,” Colton added.

The last thing I needed was to hear from the new troublemaker of the team that I needed to smarten up. He’d been here three weeks and had had more issues in that short of time than I’d had since joining the team five years ago.

“He’ll be fine,” Lucas added. “We’re all entitled to our bad days.”

As if on cue, the lights in the arena went off.

“Guess that means it’s time for us to end the night anyway,” Dylan said, grabbing his stuff while the rest of us did the same and headed down toward the locker room.

The moment we were in the locker room, Lucas turned on the radio and we all headed for the showers.

“Who’s up for dinner?” Dylan questioned, looking at the five of us as we dried and dressed.

“Fuck, I’m starved,” Levi and Colton said at the same time.

“Me too. What do you say we head out for some pizza and wings at The Tilted Flask? They have amazing food there,” Lucas said, more to Levi and Colton than Dylan and me.

As the memory of Saturday night filled my mind, I immediately jumped up. I couldn’t go back to that place tonight.

“Anywhere but that place,” I muttered under my breath, swallowing hard as everyone turned and looked at me.

“You love their food. At least you used to until you got spoiled over at Illusions.” Dylan chuckled, looking over at me.

“Yeah, isn’t that the place you’d wanted to go to the other night?” Colton questioned.

Everyone turned and looked at me, and it was then I realized they’d heard me.

“Well, I’ve ah, heard through the grapevine their food’s gone way downhill. What about The Rusty Anchor?” I said, proud of my quick thinking.

“The Rusty Anchor?” Both Lucas and Dylan said in unison.

It hadn’t been the greatest choice off the top of my head. The Rusty Anchor was fan central for us. They were one of the only pubs in town that prided themselves on being Dominator Central for fans. We’d done our best to avoid the place, unless we were forced to make a public appearance. That was why we always went to Illusions when we went out. Not that we went out a lot, but when we did, we liked to remain somewhat anonymous. Illusions gave us that opportunity.

I nodded, praying that if they agreed that tonight no one would recognize us. That was why Illusions was great. We had access to the private rooms, where we could kick back and hang out without worry, but until renovations were done, we’d have to settle with what options we had.

“You’re so fucking lucky Knox isn’t here right now,” Dylan said, slipping his hat on backwards.

“I know.” I chuckled.

Knox hated attention, as we all did, and I knew there would be no way he’d ever set foot in there, unless perhaps Lorelai was stuck inside and the building was on fire, but I severely had my doubts he’d go in there even at that point. If he were here, we’d be having food at The Tilted Flask, and I’d have to hide the fact that I’d been there only two nights earlier with his sister.

“I don’t give a shit where we go, as long as they have food,” Colton added, grabbing his jacket and throwing on his hat. “Let’s go.”

Luck was on our side tonight, or I guess I should say mine, because the bar was practically empty. We sat in a booth in the back, a half-eaten tray of nachos in the centre of the table when a tray of wings and a pepperoni and mushroom pizza were placed down in front of us.

“Fabulous,” Colton said, grabbing a slice of pizza and holding up his glass, asking for another beer.

“Anyone else want another?” the server questioned, smiling.

The rest of us nodded, and just as we were about to dig into the pizza, she cleared her throat and looked at me, an unsettled look on her face.

“I hate to ask, but would it be possible to get a picture of you guys? I mean, for the wall, of course. Our patrons will die knowing you were here, and they’ll never believe me without proof,” she nervously asked as she pulled her phone from her apron.

I glanced over at the rest of the guys and saw a slight nod from them.

“Sure thing,” I answered. “As long as you won’t post the picture on social media now or ever.”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t do that. We, um, we’ve been told by the owner if ever any of the players from the team were to come in here and we did anything like that we’d lose our job.”

“We don’t want that now, do we?” I said, winking in her direction, feeling a lot better knowing we would not get mobbed.

The five of us posed for the picture and then dug into the food in front of us while she went and got us more drinks.

“Knox is missing out,” Lucas said, adding some nachos to the top of his pizza.

I shook my head as I watched him take a bite of the odd combination, nachos falling all over his shirt.

“Where is he, anyway? Wedding planning?” I questioned.

“Nope. Aurora and Ella are working with Lorelai tonight on some things while Knox takes Peyton back to the airport,” Dylan answered.

The second Dylan said Peyton’s name, the beer in my mouth hit the back of my throat, causing me to choke.

“You alright?” Dylan questioned, looking at me with a worried expression as I continued to cough.

“Yeah,” I finally said, clearing my throat. “Beer hit the back of my throat, I guess.”

“As long as you’re good.”

“Fine,” I added, taking another drink.

“Anyway, that’s why Knox didn’t hang around after practice. He had to take Peyton back to the airport. I guess he didn’t want to take her. He mentioned to me he’s sure he caught her in a lie this weekend.”

“Oh?” I questioned, wanting to know a little more information before I panicked.

“Yeah, I guess it was the morning he ran into her in the lobby of your building.”

“Oh yes, I ran into them there as well. Knox was there for that skin care rep, and apparently, she’d spent the night with an old girlfriend.”

“Yeah, well, Knox say’s it’s bullshit. He’s sure she was there with some guy and he as much as told her that. He also told her that until she told him the truth, he wouldn’t take her to the airport. I guess they had another major blowout before practice, hence his shitty mood. I guess it was a mess. Then their mother got involved and basically forced Knox to take her.”

“So, then his mother left as well?” I questioned.

“No, just Peyton. His mother is staying for a bit, helping Lorelai with some things for the wedding.”

My mind flew to Peyton and the memory of Saturday night while the guys sat there listening to Dylan. She’d acted odd when she left me after running into her brother, which I guess, given the circumstances, I couldn’t blame. I’d figured she’d mellow out once she got home, but from the sounds of things, it hadn’t gone that way.

It had been a mindless mistake on my part, going after her once she left. I’d forgotten that Knox was supposed to be there for breakfast with that rep. All I’d wanted to do was talk to her, make sure things were okay. I was certain she was going to have difficulty dealing with what happened between us, and I wanted her to know I was there for her, which was why I’d given her my number.

I’d played it as cool as I could with Knox standing there, even though I knew my cocky side was coming out every time I looked at her. I’d been lucky not to have given anything away. I probably wouldn’t look as good as I did right now if he picked up on anything, but he’d been preoccupied with his upcoming meeting.

She looked so stressed, so uncomfortable as she fumbled with her story about why she’d been in my building. Those full cheeks of hers were so flushed I couldn’t help but want to take her right back upstairs and make another set of her cheeks match. I could only imagine how wildly her heart was beating as she looked up at her brother, praying he bought her story. It was probably beating just as quickly as it had the night before while she’d been bent over in front of me as I ran my finger over that tight little hole and confessed I wanted to take that part of her as well.

Once Knox rushed off, I followed her outside, hoping to speak to her. I really wanted to apologize for allowing anything to go on between us, even though deep down I’d loved every single minute of it. I may have loved it, but I’d slipped again, but before I could talk to her, she rushed off.

“What about you?” Lucas questioned, looking me straight in the eye.

“Huh?”

“Are you sitting at this table? Jesus, what are your plans for summer?” Lucas asked, clearly annoyed with me. “We’ve only been talking about it for the last half hour.”

“Haven’t given it a lot of thought, to be honest. Since I don’t have any family, I guess I’ll go wherever you asses invite me, otherwise I’ll be spending most nights by myself until practice starts up.” I shrugged.

Colton and Levi both looked my way, questions about my comment on their lips, but before they could ask, I stopped them both.

“Story for another time, guys,” I added, grabbing another slice of pizza.

“Fair enough. We don’t want to pry,” Levi added, and Colton agreed.

“It wouldn’t be prying…Clay will tell you when he is ready,” Dylan added.

My personal life had been kept out of the public, thanks to Pamela and her team. I knew it was one aspect of my life that most everyone was curious about, but it was also something I hated sharing, and for good reason. Lucas, Dylan and Knox knew, as did Phil, Lorelai’s brother, but I’d sworn them all to secrecy, and so far, they’d all kept their word—something I was grateful for.

It was weird sitting here with the two new guys, but it was fitting. Everything else felt off, so it was a perfect time for them to join us. I’d need new guys to hang around once Knox found out what had happened between his sister and me. It would only be a matter of time.

We continued eating, and soon, the five of us were all discussing our upcoming game and what our chances were that we’d make the playoffs this year. It was a welcome distraction from everything else.