Page 27 of Nix
‘He’s so cute!’Nix needed Gem to understand that. Evan was adorable with his little quirks and all his books. Fucking precious.
‘Is it worth your entire hockey career? Because that’s what it might come down to. Mules is loved by everyone. One of the best goalies in the league,’Gem told him.
‘Okay. This is good. This is what I need to hear.’Nix rested his phone on his chest as he waited for Gem to reply.
Evan was searching through the menu on the television screen. Nix was dying to see what movie he picked. Nix really was a fan of bad horror movies. The dumber the better. Watching one of those movies allowed Nix to just be. He didn’t have to worry if someone was unhappy. There was no drama, he could just sit back and relax. It was nice. He didn’t often get to relax when his mind constantly worried about everyone around him and what Nix could do to make them happy.
Nix’s phone vibrated against his chest. He checked the message from Gem.‘Worst-case scenario is you get transferred to a different team, but it would come at a cost to your reputation. You could be fired. We all signed pretty extensive contracts. That have morality clauses.’
‘Fine.’Nix had wanted Gem to tell him no but now he was sad. Why did Evan have to be everything that Nix had ever wanted in a partner? At first Nix had truly wanted to be friends with his goalie. Evan might be quiet but he was well respected on the team and Nix had been drawn to him. Instead, now Nix wanted all Evan’s attention, all of the time. Damn! He really was setting himself up for heartbreak.
Evan hummed before selecting something on the television.
‘Got to go, bro! Thanks!’Nix sent.
‘Please don’t do anything stupid. Love you.’
‘Love you too!’Nix set his phone down beside him on the couch.
“You couldn’t go five minutes without giving Aries a hard time?” Evan asked.
“Actually, that was Gem. I get two brothers to annoy,” Nix shared. He was very lucky that way. His mom always teased that having the three of them meant that she would never have any peace but Nix knew that she loved the chaos that surrounded them. Just like Nix did. He took after her so much.
“Oh sure.” Evan pointed at the screen. “You should watch this and learn something.”
Nix wiggled and settled deeper into the couch. “Why would I want to learn something from a movie? Movies are fun!”
“This is a documentary,” Evan corrected.
Groaning, Nix let his head fall back. “So not fair!”
Evan just chuckled. “I think you’ll like it. It’s about sharks.”
That perked him up. “Really? Is it about shark attacks? Did you know that they have a whole week of shark stuff on television. Not just movies but all kinds of shows. There are a lot of true-life shark attacks on that.”
“Let’s watch and find out,” Evan suggested.
From the smirk on Evan’s face, Nix was pretty sure there would be no awesome shark attacks.
Chapter Five
Evan
Rock music played from the AirPods in his ears as Evan finished the page in the book he was reading and turned to the next. Everyone in the locker room was deep into their pregame rituals. Some teammates were louder than others. Evan kept his head down but watched as Nix offered his bag of seasoned pumpkin seeds to anyone that passed him.
The kid was smart, sweet, and funny.
Evan was getting used to the multiple text messages from Nix daily. They spent a lot of time together. As the season progressed, Evan found himself drawn out of his self-imposed solitude by the little shifter. He looked forward to seeing Nix’s quick smile and hearing the boy’s cheery voice. Evan was also struggling to hold back his attraction to Nix.
Since the night he’d teased Nix about punishment, Evan hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Nix’s reaction. Nix’s entire body had reacted to Evan’s teasing. Evan had regretted the words the moment they slipped from his mouth until Nix had shaken for him. Fuckling shuddered and his pupils had widened. For a second it was like he’d gone into a trance. If the boy wasn’t submissive then Evan would give up his entire hoard. He just didn’t know what to do about his discovery.
He knew what he wanted to do.
Evan would have liked to have taken Nix up to his apartment and ordered the boy to his knees. Nix would look beautiful kneeling for Evan.
Marlin stalked across the locker room and Evan tracked him. The defenseman hadn’t messed with Nix in front of Evan again. And Nix hadn’t said anything, but Evan still watched closely. He couldn’t help his protective instincts. Not when it came to Nix.
Nix laughed at something a teammate said before he turned.
