Fuck!
I stood frozen for who knew how long, staring at the boy who had consumed my thoughts since the moment I caught sight of him on Saturday. He shifted nervously, his eyes dancing over his teammates, who all sat staring at me, forks at various points between their bowls and mouths. I swallowed and checked to see if any of them realized their fellow teammate was what had rocked their brand-spanking-new coach.
I cleared my throat, not once but twice, before reaching down to grasp the handle on Hawk’s vest. It wasn’t like the ones used for guide dogs. This one was very low-profile, made of the same webbing material that edged the vest.
I rose to full height, taking a shoulder raising breath as my eyes found his again. Hoping to throw off any suspicion my crazy ass reaction to finding him here, I said, “Finish your breakfast and get dressed. I’ll meet you guys on the ice.”
I turned and walked out of the players’ lounge. The footsteps behind me triggered the fight-or-flight response, and I had to force myself to take measured steps. How the fuck could I be so fucking stupid?
He’s a fucking student.
No wonder he ran. He had to know Sasha Storm was his new coach and for the guy who introduced himself to him as Alex to be outed as Sasha Storm, in the middle of a kink community munch no less, fuck. That had to be jarring as hell.
Will Grigor caught up to me and asked, “Coach, you dressing for practice?”
Sighing, I wanted to say ‘fuck no’ and head back to the woods where I could be alone with my thoughts and, maybe, figure out what the fuck I was going to do about the fact I slept with astudent and not just any student, but one I coached. The first was a big fat no-no for the school. The second… that was just wrong on so many more levels.
It didn’t keep my cock from twitching in my pants when I thought about how good he felt under me, his ass gripping my dick as I made him scream my name and shoot cum all over the two of us.
“Yeah, sorry, the lights in there fucked with my eyes for some reason.”
Skepticism colored his face and furrowed his brow, but he shook it off and showed me to the coach’s locker room. The assistants were already there, dressing for practice. Another guy stood off to the side, stepping forward with his hand outstretched.
“Coach Storm. I’m Elliot Nichols. I’m the equipment manager here at The U.”
“Nice to meet you, Elliot. What have you got for me?” I asked as I shook his hand.
He ushered me out of the locker room area toward the equipment room, smiling widely. Hockey gear covered the table that took up the center space. Everything from The U-branded apparel line—skates, sticks, helmets, padding—you name it, he had it laid out like a buffet for me to pick and choose from.
Elliot launched into all the branded apparel he’d brought in for me. Like all good equipment managers, Elliot had taken it upon himself to anticipate my needs and wants based on what he could dig up on me. At first, I worried if he’d based it off my height and weight when I played, it would all be too big, but he said, “I took a gamble and brought in smaller sizes. Ifigured you would’ve slimmed down after leaving the league.”
From the look of the stacks of clothes he went over, I’d never wear anything but. He’d even included ties, pocket squares, and socks. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t underwear and sleepwear somewhere in the piles.
“Good man. Once I realized I couldn’t eat three to four thousand calories a day, I changed things up, and the beefiness disappeared.”
He laughed, his easy manner putting me at ease even though my brain felt like it was trying to locate Aiden through the massive concrete walls as if I had some oddball superpower.
“I know that feeling. It took me about two years to figure that lesson out, and then I had thirty pounds to shed.”
He took a deep breath and pulled over a helmet and some skates. “This helmet is what I picked out for you. Tell me if I’ve overstepped, but with the injury you had, I wanted to protect your head and face. A cage is good, but this is better.”
I nodded as I took the helmet off his hands and turned it over in mine. This helmet wasn’t around when I got hurt, and I couldn’t prove it, but I felt certain that if it had been, my injuries wouldn’t have been as severe as they were.
Clearing my throat and pushing those thoughts away, I said, “Not overstepping. Your job is to get the equipment we need to keep everyone we put on the ice safe. That goes for me as well, and I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Now for twigs and skates. I searched everything I could find for what you liked in a skate and stick. Since we’re sponsored, I couldn’t get the brands you usedbefore but…” he moved us down to the skates and sticks, and said, “I pulled everything the sponsor makes that’s similar.”
“Elliot, thank you. I appreciate all the hard work…”
“There’s one more thing I found, but I didn’t know if he’d need them…” Elliot said as he reached behind one of the piles of clothes and pulled out a set of dog booties.
I laughed because even those carried The U brand. “Where in the world did you get those?”
He blushed a bit and said, “When the Storm and his Hawk show up on campus as the newest D1 hockey coach, you call in favors.”
I lost it. My head fell back on my shoulders as my hands found my hips, and I laughed so hard I snorted.
“The Storm and his Hawk. I love it.”
