“Lo. Bag,” someone calls from the bus. I step away from Max and Caulder to retrieve it from where they placed it on the pavement. I’m not sure what his answer was when I rejoin them and we turn for the door to follow Lamar inside.
“Pacific and Atlantic in home locker room. Metro and Central in visitor,” a woman is saying as we step inside. She repeats it when the door opens behind us for someone else. That must be a boring job. We part ways with Max and follow the woman’s directions.
I look at Caulder as we walk down the hall. He shakes his head, and a smile spreads across my face. I expect him to move away from me when we choose cubbies so I’m pleasantly surprised when he drops his bag next to mine and sits on the bench, his head lowered, as if he’s hiding his face.
Or maybe a blush.
I have a feeling I’m going to be spending a lot of time watching Caulder Haines today. Hopefully I can figure out how to keep it covert.
CHAPTER 9
CAULDER
I have neverin my life been more aware of someone. Keeping my head down, I untie my shoes and slip them off, shoving them under the bench. The time we get to change is usually a mental game for me, getting myself into the hockey zone.
But Lo is sitting right next to me doing the same. Stripping off his clothes, one piece at a time. I remember watching him put them on, covering up his sexy body inch by inch. A body that was dripping wet against mine not two hours ago.
Blinking those memories away, I force myself to focus on what I’m doing. Of all places to be caught looking at someone, the locker room where everyone is changing isn’t one of them. Nope. Just going to pay attention to what I’m doing.
I get down to my underwear as I internally recite my stats to make sure my cock remains unfluffed. Lo standing so close and undressing makes that a more difficult task than it should be. So I determinedly think of nothing else but my stats from the last time I looked at them. Goal attempts. Goals made. Assists.
Once I slip into my cup, I feel better. If I chub a little, only I will know and it’s going to be uncomfortable enough that it’ll keep my mind far away from any sexy ideas.
Lo wanting his hands on me can get addicting. Knowing someone wants you is consuming. It’s not something I’d ever given much thought to but now, feeling his gaze constantly on me makes me burn just under my skin. And as I climb into each layer, I am very aware of him beside me.
Stealing glances at me.
By the time I get my jersey on, I’m exhausted. Not from dressing, though wrangling myself into the pads can be exhausting too, but from tryingnotto think about Lo. Once he’s in uniform, I look up at him. I’m not sure if that smirk is flirty or just him. But it makes my stomach flutter.
He sits next to me, bumping his knee into mine. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not.
“What events are you doing?” I ask, just to try to make it appear less awkward.
“Hardest shot, one timers, passing challenge, and accuracy shot. You?”
“Fastest skater instead of hardest shot, otherwise the same.”
“Which do you think you’ll do best in?” he asks.
I shrug. “Dunno. Accuracy maybe. I used to spend a lot of time trying to hit specific targets in high school. I think that’s why I ended up being drafted as a wingman instead of defense, though I naturally default to defense sometimes.”
“You’re a switch,” he says.
My eyes flicker around the room and then narrow on him. His smile widens slyly.
“It’s really cool that you can switch between offense and defense when needed with equal skill,” he continues. “Makes you a really valuable player.”
“Probably why Buffalo refuses to let him go,” Ethan jumps in, tapping his stick to mine. “He can play any position except goalie. And I’d wager a guess he’d do pretty damn well there too.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t think I could move in goalie gear,” I say, glancing at Lamar and Azure. Lamar is balancing the base of his stick on his palm, looking up to watch it and moving to make sure it remains upright.
Azure is watching him indifferently, blank-faced, with eyes half hooded. Maybe he’s not really seeing Lamar, but doing some goalie zone mental exercise. Although his skills won’t get to be seen until the second round. I feel like the goalies should have more events to showcase their skills, too. One event compared to everyone else getting upwards of six seems woefully unfair.
“We should try it one day,” Ethan suggests. He plants his stick on the ground and leans on the handle as he looks at me. “Just for fun. I bet Asael would let you wear his gear. You two could trade positions and we can see how you do.”
I give him a bemused look. “Right. We can table that for a while.”
He laughs. My gaze flickers to Lo and he’s grinning too. Watching me. Not looking between us as the conversation dictates but just me. My cheeks heat as I look at Ethan again.
