Page 60 of Bar Down

Jackson avoidsme in the locker room as I drop my bag and if he’s heard the same rumor as that reporter, he probably believed me when I threatened to ruin his career the other day.Good.

I mind my own business and hit the upstairs gym, the one that overlooks the ice. I run through a series of squats and Baz comes over to spot me.

“You didn’t come out with us last night. Are we too good for you now?” he says with a shit-eating grin, so I know he’s just messing with me.

“Damn right, I’m a Calder Cup champion now, don’t you forget it!” I let some of my old confidence come up to the surface as we switch spots.

“Ah of course, you forgot about us chumps at the bottom. I see how it is,” he teases with a laugh. Baz is on the ECHL team but gets called up to the AHL often. Unfortunately, he wasn’t called up while we were playing for the Calder Cup so he didn’t get to experience the chaotic playoff games like the rest of us did.

We spend another half hour working out and then we both head out to the locker rooms. The arena has two rinks and the NHL players and part of the AHL players practice on one rink, while the rest of the AHL players and the ECHL players practice on the other.

So far, Eli and I have been paired up on the NHL side, which might be random, or it might show that we have the potential to do more this season.

Baz heads out to the ECHL side and I get my gear ready. Eli walks in with Juuse and his eyes immediately land on me. He smiles and takes a seat across the room, putting on his skates.

“Damn, someone got lucky last night,” Mike, one of our defensemen, says to me. I’m confused until he points at my naked chest as I’m getting ready to put on my underlayer. There are at least three visible hickeys on my neck and collarbone. Probably a few lower too. I smirk down at myself and then up at Mike.

“A gentleman never kisses and tells,” I say, trying really hard not to look over at Eli and give anything away. I keep my gaze on my gear instead.

“Since when are you a gentleman? Weren’t you the one boasting last year about a threesome you once had?”

“It’s called growth, Mike. Look it up,” I say, giving him a wink.

Eli

Juuse asks me a question,but I’m too distracted ogling Ash to reply. I should feel guilty for all the hickeys I left on him, but instead, a weird, primal feeling of pride comes over me.He is mine.

I must be smirking because Juuse elbows me and quietly asks, “What’s that face for?”

I clear my throat and look away, mumbling something in response. Juuse is too observant for his own good and keeps looking between me and Ash, so I try to keep my eyes trained on something else in the locker room. It fucking sucks, because all I’ve done since this morning is think about him.

Instead, I put my gear on and head out for practice. I’m dying to tell Ash about the reservation I made at the winery on the peninsula and the tour they’ll give us through the vineyard. But that’ll have to wait until after.

Today’s practice is ruthless as we go through 3v3 overtime plays. This is something both our AHL team and the NHL has struggled with the past season as we kept losing in OT, so the coaches are coming down on us hard, pointing out all our flaws and coming up with ways to make us better.

Fans come and go on the bleachers and we take the time to read signs and acknowledge them, waving at the little ones. I didn’t get a chance to say hi to any of the fans in line when I arrived at the arena with Juuse, and I hope to do that after I get off the ice and take a shower.

The shower bay at this arena doesn’t have any dividers, so everything is out in the open. There aren’t many guys in hereand I walk in, naked. Juuse isn’t far behind me, and even though there are plenty of shower heads open, he takes the one right next to me.

What is it about me that saysplease, do burst my personal bubble, I’d love nothing more than to chat while naked? I try to push the irritation down and rush through the shower. By the time Juuse rinses his face, I’m already shutting the water off and wrapping a towel around me.

“I’ll see you later,” I say, not glancing back.

“Alright man, see ya.”

As much as I like Juuse, I need a break from people at the moment. He’s an incredibly chatty guy and I can feel my social battery running out after spending the entire morning with him.

The team providesus with catered lunches every day and today there is a pasta and salad bar set up in the conference room upstairs. I make my way up there alone, mostly because I need a break, but also because I haven’t seen Ash since our drills earlier.

I load up a plate with pasta, breadsticks, and a side salad and take a seat at one of the high top tables that overlooks the ice. I finally see him downstairs by the locker rooms. He looks up and sees me watching him, munching on a breadstick. I should be embarrassed that I got caught staring but instead, I smile.

I haven’t been able to stop doing that. Ash smiles back and motions that he’ll join me shortly. I leave my food and go load up another plate for him. When he sees me carrying it to the table, he joins me.

“You didn’t have to do that, I could have grabbed it.”

“Yeah, but what if they ran out of your favorite breadsticks?” I say, waving one around in his face. Ash grins and catches mywrist, stopping my hand. Then he gets closer and takes a big bite of it.

I shake my head at him and say in a quiet voice, “So cute, you’re like a little dog.”

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