Page 66 of Nix
The New York goalie, Ivan Petrov, a big bear of a man—literally; he was a brown bear shifter—and faster than such a large man should be crouched in preparation. He was a force in the net. Evan liked the guy. Loved putting his skills up against Ivan’s.
Four minutes remaining.
Evan needed to keep his head in the game for just another four minutes.
Ivan caught Laney’s puck even as hard as he’d hit it. Ivan passed the puck to one of his defensemen and the game was back on. And they were headed toward him. Evan waited, anticipated, as the players piled up in front of him.
He managed to use his stick to knock the first attempt away but the rebound was scooped up. Evan missed the next attempt. The goal light flashed behind him.
“Fuck!” He slammed his stick on the ice as the New York players celebrated in front of Evan’s net.
“Shake it off,” Laney said as he smacked Evan’s padded leg before skating off.
Back on the bench, Nix was standing and yelling at their opponents.
Evan turned back to his net to grab his water bottle. He squirted three mouthfuls, always three, then tossed the bottle back into the holder.
He spun and crouched as the teams met up on center ice.
Sweat dripped down the back of his neck and into his eyes as Evan spent the next several minutes fighting to keep his team down only by one goal. Once the final buzzer sounded, Evan headed directly to the tunnel.
The rest of the team followed behind him.
Slamming both hands on the locker room door, he forced it to swing open with too much force. The door crashed into the wall, cracking the plaster, but Evan didn’t give a damn! They could take the repairs from his fucking paycheck.
He stalked to his locker, throwing his gloves down.
The locker room was quiet as the team filed in. No one approached him but Evan could feel them close. Too close. Heat started to burn from his stomach up to his neck. The dragon inside rippled, wanting to break the surface.
Gritting his teeth, Evan clamped down on his other half.
No turning.
Evan could not let the dragon take control. Last time that happened, Evan had been locked away for three years.
A small hand touched his lower back.
The dragon stopped pushing.
“Get showered and we’ll head to the plane,” Nix whispered.
Evan gave a small nod. Just the boy’s touch was calming to him. He hated losing. It infuriated him to get beat. It was part of the game, Evan knew that, but it didn’t make letting that one goal in any easier.
Silently he began to undress.
He dropped his uniform onto the bench until he was naked. Evan gathered his clothes and dropped them in the large wheeled hamper as he passed, heading toward the showers.
It was impossible to meet his teammates’ gazes.
They knew to leave him alone after a bad game.
Evan scrubbed his body furiously until his skin felt as raw as his insides. When he shut off the water, only Nix, who leaned against the wall just outside the showers, was visible. He’d dressed in thick sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. As a matter of fact, Evan was pretty sure that it was his hoodie.
He shook his hair from his eyes. “Stealing my clothes now?”
Nix smirked. “I figured it was fine. The team already knows about us anyway.”
“Come here,” Evan demanded.
