I’m glad he pushed for this conversation because of the severity of our situation. Elsie Williams is still on my shit list though.
Swinging through a drive through, I order him an upside down caramel macchiato, and myself an oatmilk latte. Santosimply smirks at my sugar free coffee, knowing I can’t have his sweeter drink as he sips his own.
“You’re just as much of a brat,” I mutter, driving to the rage room. It’s indoors, but every room is themed. I saw an alien resurrection part of it that I think would be fun.
I enjoy the thrill, and that isn’t limited to the adrenaline dump that occurs when I’m half scared out of my mind.
“How do you feel about aliens?” I ask, finishing my coffee as I pull into a parking spot.
“That’s a very open ended question,” he says, brow raised. “What are you thinking?”
“Rage room. The one with the most points, that kills the most aliens, gets a blow job on the drive home.”
“Since you’re driving, this seems stacked in your favor,” he chuckles, getting out of the car. His coffee drink is empty, and I can see that he’s much more awake now as I follow him out and lock up.
“I have a lot of pent up aggression after talking to Elsie,” I sigh.
Wrapping his arm around my waist as we walk, he shrugs.
“Game on. It just so happens that I do too.”
Grinning, we walk into the business, ready to kick some alien ass.
8
CAELIA
“He didn’t do anything,” I murmur to Dad, drinking tea in the living room as he paces. He got me the hell out of the building, but I still feel like my skin is too tight.
I’m trying to keep my shit together so it’ll help calm my father down. It just isn’t working.
“Thistime. You haven’t been to a game in years, much less one where we played the Scorpions, so there was no way he’d see you,” Dad rages. “He looked like he’d been hit by a two by four when he saw you.”
Yeah, I noticed that too.Dad has air purifiers in his office to keep the air clean due to how much traffic the halls get. I’m taking my medication every other day to wean myself off of it, but my alpha pheromone blocker I just started to take before the doctor’s news is very strong.
I have no idea why Coach Miles Wallace looked stricken when he saw me. It can’t be for any good reasons though.
“When is the next time you play against them?” I ask. “It would be an away game, right? I could stay home.”
“I spoke to Friedrick about that. He says he wants you at away games,” he grumbles. “Hockey players have a tendency to latch onto things because they’re superstitious. They like that they play harder when you’re with us. We also won during your first game with us, and they’ve decided that you’re their lucky person. Our schedule is ramping up, which means there will be more games.”
Taking another sip of my tea, I twitch my blanket over my legs as I recline on the couch. It’s a procrastination tactic, because tonight wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be. Dad shielded me in my corner as the players jumped in and out of the bench area, and they carefully ignored me to the best of their abilities.
I’m still an anxious mess, but it’s not quite so intense anymore. I guess my medication really has been messing with my body.
“All I did was sit and take pictures—” I begin, but my dad shakes his head.
“They’ve noticed us at practice, and the way you point things out on the ice when you’re taking a break,” Dad says. “You remember much more about hockey than you give yourself credit for, Cae. The guys fought hard tonight on the ice, but every tweak was something you noticed at practice.”
“It figures I’d become a pixie mascot to a bunch of overgrown men,” I grumble. “I did have fun tonight. I have a lot of content to play with in the morning and begin posting.”
“That’s your territory,” Dad says.
“Somehow along the way, I forgot how violent hockey can be. There were a lot of penalties called,” I sigh. “That’ll appeal to some people too.”
“Hockey is violent, but there was a fair amount of chirping about you once the Scorpions realized you might be important,” Dad explains. At the wrinkle in my forehead, he rolls his eyes.“It worked against them. My team lost their shit. You’re my daughter, and a lot of them have kids, sisters, etc. Fuck, I’ve met their mothers. There is a reason the men on my team are who they are today.”
“I love that,” I admit. “I’m really just some girl they just met, Dad.”
