Kris

"Fuck that was a close one," Holden groaned as he took off his jersey and threw it on the locker room floor.

It was close indeed. Had Atlas not scored in the last fifteen seconds of the game, we would have had to kiss the championship goodbye. Coach had said the same a few minutes ago, just in a more colorful vocabulary as he'd listed all the mistakes each one of us had made throughout the game. He then told us to shower and bring our sorry asses to practice early tomorrow morning before slamming the locker room shut.

"I'll analyze all that later. Right now I need food," Andre, our center forward grumbled, patting his belly. "Should we stop by Joana's for dinner or order pizza at home?"

My stomach rumbled viciously at the thought of driving home and waiting for pizza to arrive. The other guys probably thought the same because instantly there was a chorus of "Joana's" from them. Stuffing ourselves with burgers and fries was perfect after a game where our performance was average but we still won.

Not that we didn't go there after our spectacular wins or abysmal losses. After all, it was one of the few diners nearby that stayed open way past midnight and had a serving large enough to satisfy voracious hockey players.

The locker room chatter quickly shifted from the game to food and soon moved onto something completely random. I quickly divested myself of my hockey gear and grabbed my toiletries from my locker. I couldn't really think of anything to chat about when my stomach was ringing alarm bells and demanding to be fed. Sadly, not everyone around me felt the same.

"Are you okay, Kris?" Holden asked, his brows furrowed in concern. "I saw Bethany in the stands earlier."

My appetite immediately died at that. I had seen her as well during the game and did my absolute best to ignore her. We were at such a crucial point in the game, I couldn't have let her distract me.

Ethan scowled. "Yeah, me too. She had the audacity to come wearing your jersey too."

Ethan was one of the kindest guys I knew. It was extremely rare of him to get mad at anyone, but he was also one of the few who'd seen me deteriorate after my breakup with Bethany. Since then, Bethany was number 1 on his hate list.

"I saw her approach Ashley later," Dylan added and my stomach dropped. His face was turned away from me as he rummaged in his locker so I couldn't see his expression. And that worried me.

The guys swore simultaneously at Dylan's words and everyone looked at me with varied expressions of concern. Dylan turned to face me as well, his expression impassive. "Does she know about her?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "She knows."

I slammed my locker shut then and walked off toward the shower stalls. I needed a tall glass of beer at handy to have this conversation. And since there was no beer, that was the end of discussion.

Once everyone had showered and dressed, the mood lifted again as the conversation went back to the topic of food. I was feeling better as well and knew I'd feel ever better after having a large burger all to myself.

I'd taken only a few steps out of the locker room when I saw Ashley bounding toward me. A smile stretched across my lips, but before I could say something, she flung herself into my arms, holding me tight. The scent of jasmine enveloped me, calming my nerves. My arms instinctively wrapped around her to steady us.

"Exes alert," she whispered in my ear.

I looked over her shoulder, clocking Shane standing in the lobby with his girlfriend and then Bethany near the exit. My gaze locked with Bethany who immediately whirled around and exited the building. Thank the Lord!

Ashley pulled away and pressed a kiss to my cheek, making a loud smacking sound. "Congratulations on the win! You were amazing out there."

Her blue eyes twinkled with mischief as she pressed another exaggerated kiss, this one closer to my mouth. My lips tugged up into a smile despite my sour mood from the conversation in the locker room.

Somehow she always managed to make me smile no matter the situation.

"Thank you," I replied. "Glad you could come watch us play."

I placed her on the ground and she wrapped her arm around my waist, pulling me into a half hug. "Of course. No way I was going to miss the opportunity to watch you play."

"I hope you watched us play too," Andre quipped, his tone teasing.

"Yeah," Holden agreed. "I was pretty amazing out there."

Ashley let out her signature bubbly chuckle. "You guys were great too."

As the guys started walking toward the exit, Ashley and I hung back so we could talk in private. "Dylan saw Bethany approach you. What did she say? She didn't hurt you, did she?" I asked, imagining the worst. The way Bethany was acting recently, I didn't know what to expect of her.

"No. I'm fine. It was the same tantrum from last time. ," Ashley said. "You are my clone. Kris didn't give you his jersey. He isn't going to keep you around. Boo hoo."

The way she mimicked Bethany's voice pulled out a hearty laugh from me. I nearly doubled over and the guys stopped to stare back at me. I waved them off, gesticulating with my hands that I was fine.

"Oh, God. You are so cute," I said as I pulled her cheek.

Ashley swatted my hand away but there was an unmistakable smile on her lips. "Glad you think I'm cute. Tell her that next time. I was this close to telling her to fuck off."

"You should do that," I said as I threw my arm around her shoulder and we began following after the guys. "And about the jersey, I'll get you one before the next game."

She looked up at me, eyes wide. "You don't need to do that just because Bethany. We can't let her think that she can dictate our relationship."

"I get that, but she has a point. If we were really dating, I'd have already given my jersey to you. Not doing so will raise questions and..." I trailed off, my eyes finding Dylan who was walking ahead of us with Holden and Andre. "I don't think Dylan fully believes us yet."

Ashley's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Later," I said, squeezing her shoulder as I spotted Shane walking toward us. "Incoming."

Ashley's shoulders tensed at the sight of Shane with his arm around his girlfriend's waist and I rubbed her arm, reminding her that she wasn't alone. That I was there for her.

"Congratulations," Shane said, grinning so wide it made me wonder if his cheeks ever hurt because of it. "It was a great game."

"Thanks," I replied. Usually, I indulged Shane and made small talk with him. Well, he talked and I listened. But today, I was hungry and my patience was running thin. If he tried to talk about the game with me, I might just bulldoze over him to get to Joana's.

When the silence stretched a little too long, Shane's girlfriend let out a forced chuckle and inserted herself in the conversation. "I don't think we've been introduced before," she said. "Hi, I'm Juliette, Shane's girlfriend and Ashley's friend from high school."

I felt Ashley stiffen in my hold and my jaw ticked in annoyance. While I still didn't know what exactly had happened with her in high school, I could tell she was deeply scarred by it and that Shane and Juliette had something to do with it. The audacity to still call herself her friend after everything angered me to no extent.

I raised a brow at her. "Is that so? That's not what—"

"Kris! What are you still doing here? Ethan and I were waiting for you near your car," Holden complained in his whiny tone as stomped toward us, interrupting me.

Closing my eyes, I heaved a sigh. Now I understood why Atlas was always pissed with him. He truly had the worst timing ever.

"Chop, chop. If we don't leave now, I'll faint from hunger and you'll have to take me to the ER. Let's—" he stopped short when he noticed the others. And to my utter surprise, a grin formed on his lips as he extended his hand toward Shane for a handshake. "Hey, man. What are you doing here?"

Shane grinned. "Came to watch the game. Congratulations on the win."

I'd known Shane for a little over two weeks and in that short while I'd realized that he was a stereotypical suck-up. It was clear that he wanted to be all buddy-buddy with me because of the hockey team's popularity on campus. I just hadn't known that I wasn't the only person he was sucking up to.

"You guys know each other?" I asked, drawing attention back to me.

Holden nodded. "Yeah. We have a class together."

Huh? So Shane had a pattern.

"Anyway, we need to go now. Atlas and the others already left," Holden said and then turned to Ashley. "You're coming with us too, right?"

"I uh..." She looked up at me as if asking me what to do and I smiled, squeezing her. She was my girlfriend. Of course, she would be joining me and the team.

"We are going to a local diner for dinner. Join us," I said. "Did you drive here?"

She shook her head. "No. I came here with April."

"Perfect. Text her you're going with me. I'll drop you after dinner."

She smiled. "Okay."

"Let's go," I said.

Apparently, Holden had decided to get on my nerves today. Because instead of following me and Ashley out, he had to open his big mouth and invite Shane and Juliette as well.

Shane's eyes nearly sparkled at the invitation, but he pretended to think about it before turning to Juliette. "Should we?"

Juliette shrugged. "Why not."

I gritted my teeth as I noticed Ashley's face go pale. Fucking Holden. He needed to learn how to read the fucking room.

***

The smell of burgers, cheese, and fries improved my mood only slightly. As the only decent diner in the proximity of campus, Joana's was packed like always. I usually enjoyed the din of the diner, associating it with all the good times I'd had with the team. But tonight, it was grating on my nerves. Mostly because Shane hadn't kept his damn mouth shut for the entire ride here.

Not only did I have to give Shane and Juliette a ride here, I also had to listen to Shane yap about his glory days as the captain of his high school hockey team.

I couldn't even imagine what Ashley was going through. She hadn't said a word since we left the arena and I didn't know what I could do to fix this situation.

Grabbing her hand, I held her back as Holden and the rest made their way to the corner booth our friends were sitting at. "You okay?" I asked. "I'm sorry Holden invited them."

She shook her head, offering a small smile. "It's okay. He doesn't know. We'll just have to use this opportunity to our advantage."

Smiling, I brushed her hair out of her face and tucked them behind her ear. "I'll follow your lead."

We walked toward the counter first where I ordered myself beer before we headed toward the booth. Ashley's grip tightened around me as we reached them to see everyone talking animatedly.

Atlas' brows furrowed further when he spotted me with Ashley. "I would have reserved another booth if I'd known we'd be having more people joining us."

"Sorry we crashed your dinner. It was a little last minute." Juliette chuckled. "But maybe if we shared seats, we can make do with this."

"Share seats?" Atlas asked, looking even more concerned.

Juliette shrugged. "Yeah. I can sit on Shane's lap and Ashley sits on Kris's. Pretty common for couples to share seats."

Ashley sitting where?

My head whipped toward Ashley who looked equally perplexed. Juliette cocked her head to the side, a slow smirk forming on her lips. "Unless you two aren't that comfortable with each other yet."

Ashley's hands balled into fists, but she plastered a smile on her face. "We are fine with it," she said and turned to look at me to check if I was okay with it.

Not that I could refuse now. Dylan was watching and I did tell her that I'd follow her lead. So, I nodded too.

Holden slid in first so he was next to Dylan and then I sat down next to him. Ashley bit her lip as her gaze flitted from my lap to my eyes. Seeing the hesitance in her gaze, I extended my hand to her, offering a reassuring smile.

She accepted my hand and gingerly sat down, stiff as a rod. Opposite us, Atlas sat in the corner, Ethan beside him and then Shane with Juliette on his lap.

"See? Problem solved," Juliette remarked, leaning back into Shane and giggling. "It's more comfortable too."

Ashley and I were anything but comfortable. She kept her spine so straight one would think she was doing a yoga pose while I tried to lean back further into the back of the booth to maintain distance between us and not make her more uncomfortable.

My beer arrived first and I immediately downed half of it. I'd never needed it so desperately.

Dylan met my gaze, his eyes sparkling with amusement before he turned away. "I wouldn't have minded sitting in our Captain's lap. Would have saved more space," he teased.

Atlas, like always, took the bait. "Don't even try if you want to continue breathing."

Dylan hummed as if Atlas hadn't just threatened to unalive him. "Then again, you'd rather prefer a certain redhead—"

Atlas shoved french fries in Dylan's mouth, shutting him up. He was so obvious, it was painful to watch.

Shaking my head, I downed the rest of my beer and flagged a server to place my order for food and more beer.

While others were busy placing their orders, I leaned down to whisper in Ashley's ear. "Relax. If you remain stiff like that, others will start to notice."

I felt her shiver at my voice and my lips twitched despite our current predicament. Nodding, she leaned back and wiggled in my lap to find a comfortable position. Her ass rubbed against my crotch, making me inhale sharply.

Fuck. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I placed my hand on her waist, holding her in place.

"Settle down," I said through clenched teeth.

Ashley shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Despite the apology, she continued her wiggling. She had no idea what she was doing, did she?

Leaning back, I shut my eyes and tried to focus on anything else other than the feel of her rubbing against me. When she moved again, I wrapped my arm around her torso and pulled her flush against me.

"Are you trying to give me a lap dance?" I whispered in her ear.

Ashley's face reddened as she glared at me over her shoulder. "Sorry for trying to get comfortable like you told me."

"Well, you trying to get comfortable is—"

My speech was cut short as the server came back with our food and drinks. Thankfully, Ashley sat still once she got her food and I could focus on the chatter happening around the table.

From the booth beside us, where our other teammates were sitting, Andre raised his glass in toast. "To winning all games and becoming champions," he said.

The guys whooped and hollered as they raised their own drinks. "To Kris finally dating," Dylan announced, taking me by surprise.

He shot me a smile as he brought his drink to his lips. Did he believe us now? His skepticism when I'd brought Ashley home on Saturday had worried me. But maybe it was me who'd misinterpreted his reaction. Maybe he was just having a bad day.

Returning his smile, I tipped my glass back as well. As the cheers continued around both the booths, my mood lifted as well. So much that Shane's useless chatter didn't annoy me anymore. Or maybe it was the alcohol kicking in.

As I took another sip of my drink, I felt Ashley's gaze on me. She had BBQ sauce from her chicken wrap smeared above her lip right where her mole was.

My hand moved as if it had a mind of its own and before I knew it, I'd swiped the sauce off her lips with my thumb and sucked it in my mouth.

Her mouth fell open, eyes going as wide as saucers. Surprised by my actions, I cleared my throat and averted my gaze.

"Y-You have something there," I said.

She wiped at her mouth with a napkin, looking away from me. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Instead of responding, I dug into my burger, afraid of saying something stupid.

The conversation shifted toward today's game and the next team we'd be playing against, and I found myself rolling my eyes at Shane's attempt to sound all knowing when it came to college hockey. If it wasn't for the jolly atmosphere after the win and the alcohol running in our systems, one of the guys would have definitely put him in his place.

When I lifted my glass of beer again, Ashley's gaze followed the motion. I raised a brow at her. "You want to try?"

Her eyes stayed on the beer, curious. "I have tried cocktails but never beer," she replied, wiping her hands on the napkin.

I offered her the glass. "Try it."

"Are you sure?" she asked, beaming up at me like a kid getting candy. I nodded. She accepted the glass from him and brought it to her lips.

As soon as she took a sip, her face twisted in disgust. "Yuck," she said and stuck her tongue out. "I'm gonna stick to my cocktails."

"You are not old enough to appreciate beer," I said, chuckling when she shoved the glass back in my hand.

She rolled her eyes. "Admit that you just have bad taste."

When the server came to our table again, I ordered a cocktail for her along with a refill for everyone's drinks. It was a bad idea to drink when we'd practice early tomorrow morning but nobody seemed to care about that. That's why we usually avoided having team dinners on weekdays. They always ended up with us being drunk.

Except, Atlas and Ethan. They never drank if everyone else was drinking. I usually tried to stay sober too, but tonight after everything, I badly needed a drink.

Ashley's face lit up with joy when the server placed a pink cocktail in front of me and I quickly slid it to her. At Joana's they only checked the IDs of those who bought alcohol but didn't monitor who ended up drinking it. She took a sip of her drink and shut her eyes, shaking her head.

"It's too strong, but tastes nice," she said.

"Let me try," I said and she passed the glass to me. I couldn't taste the alcohol at all. It was like they had just dumped strawberry flavored syrup in it. "Seems fine to me. But too sweet for my liking."

I should have believed her when she'd told me it was strong. Stopped her when she coaxed me to buy two more cocktails for her. Because soon after the alcohol kicked in, Ashley started swaying in my lap, giggling uncontrollably.

"You are so warm," she mumbled as she leaned into me. "I feel fuzzy."

Lifting her chin, I noted her flushed face and glazed over eyes. Shit. I hadn't expected her to get wasted after three cocktails.

"Ashley," I called, gently patting her cheek to grab her attention. "You need to drink some water."

She shook her head. "Nooo. I want that cocktail. Buy me that."

When she swayed again, I wrapped my arm around her torso, steadying her. "No more cocktails. You're drunk."

Ashley's lips formed into a pout, her blue eyes wide and pleading. "Even if I say please?"

Damn she was cute when drunk.

"How do you guys know Ashley?" Ethan asked out of nowhere, grabbing my attention.

Juliette laughed another fake laugh of hers. "We are high school friends, aren't we Ashley? But she didn't even tell me that she was accepted to Wellsfield too and even had a boyfriend already."

All eyes turned to Ashley who grumbled something under her breath before announcing loudly, "He isn't my boyfriend!"

Fuck.