Page 9 of Puck U Been Gone
I type out a one-word response, my finger hovering over the send button. Before I have time to change my mind, I hit send and pray I didn’t make a mistake with my answer.
Me:Okay.
nine
Ollie
“How are you holdingup?” I give Blair’s shoulder a little squeeze. She slept through the night and most of the morning. I finally woke her up at noon so she would have a chance to get ready for the game tonight. It’s an early one, starting at five.
“Good.” She offers a half-hearted smile while glancing at the owner's skybox. “Kepler is letting me use the company lake house for a few days. It’s only an hour’s drive. I plan to drive up after the game.” I open my mouth to argue about her leaving, but she silences me with a shake of her head. “I’ll be fine. I need some time to myself to clear my head."
“Are you sure you should be alone right now?” Blair is the only family I have left. I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to her.
“I’m sure.” She says, never taking her eyes off the skybox. “I really thought they liked me.”
“Oh, Blair.” I wrap my arms around her and turn her so she's facing away from the skybox as I glare at whoever is up there who hurt her. I have a pretty good idea who it is, but she hasn’t confirmed it.
She lets me hug her for a few more seconds before stepping out of my arms, “See, no tears. I’m fine, really.”
The pain is still deep in her eyes, but I don’t want to push her too hard, too fast, so I concede. “Okay, but you text me as soon as you get to the lake house.”
“Will do.” She nods, offering me a sad smile. “Now go out there and get to work. I hear you have a hot third date tonight.” I told her about my date with Ryker and Felix, but I didn't mention the meeting I have with Kai and Hudson after the game. “You know what a third date means, don’t you?” She yells after me as I make my way to the ice. “Sex!” She yells louder than I wouldhave liked, causing me to stumble, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms I never thought I would feel wrapped around me again.
“Who the fuck are you planning on having third date sex with?” I glance up to find an angry-looking Kai holding me in his arms, with an equally angry Hudson standing beside us.
“That is none of your business.” I place my hands on Kai’s padded chest and push away from him, creating some distance between me and the two of them. “Shouldn’t you be out on the ice warming up?” I notice Blair sneaking away from the corner of my eye, leaving me alone with these two angry guys.
“None of our business? You’re ours, Ollie.” Hudson’s nostrils flare, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this mad in all our nine months together.
“She’s not yours!” A blur of red and black jerseys rushes past me as a hand grips mine and yanks me back. That’s when I realize the jerseys belong to Ryker and Felix.
I glance at my sister, still holding my hand. “I grabbed some backup. I recognized Hudson and Kai from the picture on your phone, and I wasn’t sure how they were going to react to seeing you after all this time.”
I probably should have told my sister that they would never hurt me and that I had agreed to meet with them after the game. Hearing that I might be having sex tonight must have set them off.
“Enough!” I let go of Blair’s hand and step toward the fight. Kai and Ryker are going at it while Felix and Hudson are going head to head. “Stop fighting now!” I use my referee voice, ending their brawl.
“Are you okay?” Felix reaches for me, concern thick in his voice.
“Don’t touch her, asshole!” Hudson pushes Felix’s hand away before he can touch me.
“I’m fine. But we need to clear the air before the game starts because I will not have the four of you fighting over me during the game and risking my job.” I add the last part in hopes that they will listen to me and calm down.
“What’s going on over here?” Hockey Commissioner Brant Manning steps between me and Blair with two guys I don’t recognize. “Did you do something to cause this, Little One?” Brant shifts his gaze to Blair.
“Me? How dare you!” Blair stomps off, leaving the three of them to stare after her.
“Everything is fine.” I realize the guys Blair has been upset about are standing right in front of me. It might come back to haunt me, but I follow my instincts anyway. “If you care about her like I think you do, you’ll go after her before she heads off on her sexcation at an adult resort.”
“The fuck she will,” Brant growls. The other two guys, looking equally pissed about her vacation plans, storm after her.
Taking a deep breath, I turn back to my problem. “We’ll talk about all this after the game. Right now, all you need to know is Hudson, Kai, and I dated six months ago until they decided we were done.” I look between Ryker and Felix before turning to Hudson and Kai. “I’ve been seeing Felix and Ryker. Tonight is our third date. Blair thinks sleeping with someone on the third date is acceptable. That’s what you heard us talking about. I’m inclined to agree with her.”
Tension thickens as Kai and Hudson move closer to Ryker and Felix. “She’s ours.” Hudson pounds on his chest pads to stress his point.
“Is that so? Then why did you break up with her? When she’s finally ours, we will never let her go.” Ryker says, hitting his chest pads.
“Enough!” I push my way between them. “After the game, we’re all going to my house to talk about this like adults.” When no one backs down, I add, “If you can’t play nice, I’m not going to date any of you.” I push past all of them and keep moving toward the ice, my head at war with my heart.
