Chapter 13
Xander
My alarm sounds on Monday morning, screeching through the quiet room like a damn banshee. I roll over with a groan as I reach for my phone. I silence it as quickly as possible as to not disturb Charli too much.
I hate the idea of going back to reality today. The weekend off with her has been nothing short of amazing, well apart from the whole attack thing. That shit kind of sucked, like real bad. But, not having to train all weekend and being looked after by nurse Charli definitely has its perks. I mean, damn. That nurse’s outfit blew me the fuck away, with the matching bra, red lipstick and thigh high stockings. Fuck, I was honestly not expecting that from my innocent Charli, so, I guess she has a wild side, after all, a wild side which drives me crazy with need.
Then she went ahead and told me she loves me and those three little words being whispered from her perfect mouth made me drown in a sea of my own emotions. It was like my heart exploded with joy and love, that all I could do in that moment was pull her to me and kiss her like it was the end of the world.
I’ve had girlfriends tell me they love me before but nothing ever felt the way it does with Charli. She is real, she’s the woman I’ll be spending the rest of my life with and I know it’s only been a few weeks but when you know, you know.
The thought of leaving her now to attend Hockey training almost has me pissed off but what can I do. Despite what my father wants, hockey is a part of my life and I honestly do love it, I really do want to be a part of the team which means I actually have to show up. I can only imagine how the shit is going to hit the fan when they discover my secret life but the longer I can keep it quiet, the better.
I roll back over and place a gentle kiss on Charli’s lips before climbing out of bed. She caved last night and agreed to stay at my place so it would be easier this morning. After all, all my shit I need for training is already here.
My ribs still ache but the rest of my body seems to have calmed down but don’t get me wrong, without clothes on, it’s damn obvious that something had happened, I just consider myself lucky, that I wear long clothing for hockey training and I’ll be able to hide most of it as we all know where questions lead to.
I shuffle around my room, gathering my shit for my morning run. My ribs scream in protest but there is really nothing I can do at this point besides keeping them bandaged. The bruising has completely come out and to be honest, it looks fucking bad.
I head out to the landing and sit down on the top step to tie my shoes, hating the awful feeling that each movement makes but I need to remember, it’s first thing in the morning and I need to give my body a chance to wake up. I’m sure once I get started on my run, all the aches and pains will begin to settle.
I duck back into my room and give Charli another kiss to let her know I’m leaving. “Don’t be stupid,” she mumbles through her sleepy haze, still trying to take care of me.
“I know, I’ll be careful,” I promise her but let’s face it, whatever is required of me during our training session, I am always going to give one hundred percent, no matter what.
I head downstairs and into the kitchen. I rip out a piece of paper from a notebook and begin writing.
‘Just in case, I’m not home when you leave.
In fact, you better keep it.
I love you.’
I grab the spare key from my keychain and place it down on the piece of paper before grabbing a drink out of the fridge and hitting the road.
I meet the boys at the park, just like every other morning. We get straight into it and just as I had thought, my body just needed a little warm up before it sprung back into action but I have to admit, I’m definitely still feeling my ribs. It will be fun when we get to the on-ice part of the training.
I have a fight in a few days so hopefully, it will all be good by then, though, that’s wishful thinking. It takes weeks for a broken rib to heal, in fact, it’s downright dangerous, with the bruising to my rib, it will be obvious to my opponent that I have a weakness and that area will be targeted. Not to mention, if I get punched there and a piece of my rib dislodges and punctures my lung or heart, I’m in a shit load of trouble.
A few hours later, my whole body is exhausted as I make my way off the ice. Who would have known that training with an injury could be so hard? But, I gave it my all and I don’t think anyone noticed that I was slacking a bit or favouring my left side but then as I’m exiting the ice and passing by Coach Harris, I notice the look he is giving me and maybe I was wrong.
So far, I’ve never given him a reason to doubt me so I’m sure he will put it down to a bad day, I mean, I’m only human. We all have them.
I head into the locker room and take my sweet time taking off my skates and hockey gear. I’m usually the quickest to get out of here so it’s damn frustrating. I feel like I’m going at a snail’s pace but I don’t want the guys to see my ribs in the showers and ask questions.
When the majority of them have cleared out, I finally get to head in to get cleaned up. I’m the only one in here so I make it damn quick but by the time I’m finished I notice Jaxon is here too, though he has his back turned so I should be good, it’s not like us guys get into the habit of checking each other out in the showers.
I towel off and pull my jeans on before heading out of the stall. I raise my hands above my head to pull my shirt down when a voice stops me in my tracks.
“Dude?”
My head instantly whips in Jaxon’s direction. Fuck.
“It’s nothing, man,” I say, shrugging it off but I know this is just the beginning. I see the questions, suspicion, curiosity, and concern all radiating off him, but I don’t give him the chance to question it further.
I quickly pull my shirt the rest of the way down and get the fuck out of there.
----------
My blades cut through the slick ice as I push forward with the puck on the end of my stick. I shoot it across to Bobby to avoid getting body slammed into the barriers, after all, I have a fight tonight and turning up with another injury, is not going to work out in my favour, especially after Cole chewed me out all week as I didn’t let on just how badly I was injured.
I stick right up by Bobby’s side, ready and waiting if he needs me. Jaxon comes flying up to Bobby’s other side so we each flank him as the rest of our team mates work defence and make a clear line for Bobby to shoot the puck straight into the net. He does just that and the crowd roar in excitement as their favourite team score yet again. Bobby claps me on the back right before Jaxon comes out of nowhere and slams him into the side while also trying to congratulate him.
Coach calls us to the side to give a quick pep talk before we head back to the centre of the ice to do it all over again.
We come off the ice, undefeated, as usual, and find ourselves at Micky’s later in the night.
I sit with the boys at the table and watch as they all become extremely intoxicated, especially Shorty who for some unknown reason, absolutely loves Micky’s bar.
Rather than calling the waitress over, I decide to head up to the bar to order a drink. Charli practically boots the other girl out of her way. She pours me a drink and hands it over with a flirty smile.
I find myself sitting at the bar to drink with my eyes purely on Charli’s ass when she says under her breath, “Head’s up.”
I glance up to find Jaxon making his way over here and it’s damn clear, I’m his target and not the bar. Great, here comes the questions he has been dying to ask me all week. I consider bolting but that would be too damn obvious.
He takes the seat next to me. “Hey, man. What are you doing all the way over here? There’s a party going on and we’re the guests of honour.”
Hmm, what the hell am I going to tell him? “Just chilling out with Charli here,” I say, motioning behind the bar to Charli, who turns at the sound of her name and gives Jaxon a little nod before getting back to work.
I down the rest of my drink and subtly check the time, knowing I’m going to have to leave for my fight soon but also know it would be way too shady to just get up and leave without a word.
“Let me guess, you’ve got somewhere to be?” Jaxon says, letting me off the hook.
Shit, well that just made me feel like the biggest douche bag around. I wish I could be honest with these guys as I know our whole relationship would change. I know they sense I’m hiding something from them and that makes them question my loyalty which honestly makes me feel like a dick but I can’t, not yet. With a sigh, I look up at him with regret. “Yeah, sorry, man.”
He is silent for a moment before finally bringing it up. “There something you need to talk about?” he asks before getting a little more serious. “You’re not in any kind of trouble, are you? I can’t have shit coming down on the team, especially now we’re getting closer to the finals.”
If only he knew. “Nah,” I tell him. “No trouble, just got stuff going on.”
He seems to take my word for it before flicking his eyes back up at Charli. I can practically see him trying to work it out like he knows there is some connection between us but has no idea what.
I don’t know why I haven’t told the boys about me and Charli. I guess, at first, I wanted to keep my fighting life and my hockey life separate and Charli was put firmly on the fighting side, but now, that’s not the case. She comes under a whole new section now. My love life, something I’ve never really had before.
“Alright, man,” Jaxon say, getting up off the stool and wrapping this shit up. “You know where to find me if you need anything.”
I give him a nod taking his comment for what it is. An open invitation to spill my fucking guts. “Thanks,” I say before turning away. I give Charli a quick wink and she blows me a kiss before mouthing ‘good luck’.
“Hey,” I hear Jaxon calling after me. I turn back around and practically have to lip read over the sound in the bar. “Don’t show up to training covered in bruises. I need your head in the game if we’re going to take out the championship again.”
I give him a grin. My head in the game? My head is always in the game no matter what, he should know that by now. “Sure thing, man,” I say before ducking out the side door. I practically have to sprint up the alley to make it back to my truck and I remind myself how damn lucky I am to have it back.
Officer Samuels had called during the week to let me know that the truck had been recovered during a raid and that I could go and pick it up, though, it does have a few scratches and dents but that is all covered under the insurance.
I pass some shady looking guy who looks like he is smelling a pair of panties. He scowls at me but I continue on my way. I’ve got places to be. Cole is going to kill me if I miss the fight, not to mention, I’d miss out on twenty grand and forfeit it to the other guy.
Not fucking happening.
A text comes through on my phone and I groan as I read it.
Jaxon – Dude, left your wallet on the bar.
Fuck. I consider telling him to leave it with Charli, but you never know when you’re going to need it and I’ve always made a habit of never going anywhere without it and besides, it’s brand new, I don’t want to lose another fucking wallet in less than a weeks’ time.
Xander – Shit. Be there is a sec.
I perform an illegal U-turn and park back in the spot I had been not two minutes ago. I dash back down the alley only to find Jaxon beating the ever-loving-shit out of the shady fucker with the panties. I rush forward to break it up when it all comes back to me. It’s the guy who tried to attack his girl here a while back. So rather than break it up, I let Jaxon at him.
It doesn’t take him long to take him out. I guess he has anger on his side but he almost looks startled to see me. I find my wallet laying on the floor and I dash forward.
“Dude,” I say, trying to pull him back to reality as the look in his eyes says that he could give this fucker another go. “Didn’t know you had it in you.” His head flies towards me, ready for another attack but realises quickly, it’s just me. “Everything good here?” I ask.
“Yeah, man,” he responds. “Just had a little misunderstanding is all.”
Little misunderstand, my ass. “Right,” I scoff, remembering the wallet at my feet. I pluck it up off the ground and give Jaxon a look. “Thanks for this.”
He gives me a slight nod and I take off up the alley again, hoping I haven’t wasted too much time. I get to the end when I hear noise back at the bar’s side exit. I turn back around, hoping the fucker hasn’t regained consciousness yet when I realise its shorty and some chick.
I roll my eyes, knowing exactly what is going on there. Fucking shorty. Such a ladies man. It will be interesting the day he finally finds some girl who can tame the wild beast.