Chapter 17

There was nothing sexier than a fit man in a pair of well fitting black ripped jeans. I’ll be honest, guys with sculpted thighs were hot as hell. Forget skinny men, I want myself a man with some meat on his bones. And let me tell you, Beckett Sampson has more than enough body to keep me satisfied.

You know what else is underrated? Men with good asses. It’s always a girls job to have a nice, round butt but let’s be honest, ladies. We check out guys that way all the same. And no one had a better butt then hockey players. Baseball players got all the credit, but that’s only because hockey uniforms weren’t exactly attractive. But I can guarantee you that if it were

A competition, hockey players would win every time. Being on the ice really gave them that perfect bubble shape. I suppose that worked in my favor too.

Why all this talk about a pair of jeans? Because for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off of my captain from the moment he picked me up tonight until right now, walking through downtown New Haven to get to the underground ‘concert’ we were going to.

“My mother would kill me if she saw us right now,” Beck told me, his muscular arm brushing my own as we walked down the sidewalk in the dark. Beck’s body was close to mine, protectively slightly behind me and his eyes on a swivel. It came naturally to him after years of living in Boston and having to protect himself from fights on the ice.

“Why? My mother would be hoping I got shot.” Sadly that wasn’t an exaggeration.

I could practically hear Beck roll his eyes at my comment. “It looks like we took a wrong turn at Samuel Adams and ended up in Dorchester. Not to mention her and her Christian boyfriend would keel over if they knew we were going to a ‘satanic concert’,” he mocked with sarcasm dripping of his lips like blood after someone got socked in the mouth.

“Well if Ozzy sold his soul to the devil for metal then these people are the actual living devil himself.” If I didn’t see at least three pentagrams I’d be disappointed. Not that all rock and metal was like this, but here it was. New Haven had been the heart of alcohol during the prohibition because Connecticut was the only state to never ban alcohol. It was still a federal crime though, so the Jazz center that is Connecticut stole it the music from New York and took advantage of warehouses in run down cities like Bridgeport and New Haven to have their fun. This was the same thing, the

Only difference is the music taste of the youth had changed. “And if your mom was going to kill us you could just point out we’re two minutes from the heart of the Yale campus.”

“In her eyes that doesn’t change the fact this is literally little Detroit.”

“What can I say? We have a thirst for danger,” I joked softly with a smirk, grabbing Beck’s hand and pulling him down an alley. Apparently before Beck and I were friends, he had dragged Axel to one of these the same week I done the same thing to Seb. Funny how in September we didn’t even know each other and now we were best friends.

Axel and Seb hated us both for it. They didn’t like music as much as Beck and I did, so dragging them to a concert we’re we had to illegally trespass wasn’t worth it when we could just go with each other. Although if we got arrested I’m sure Quinnipiac would

Murder us. They wouldn’t expel us, but we would get suspended from a few games. Truth be told, we were star athletes and they need us so fair or unfair, we got special treatment. Not that getting arrested would help our chances at future employment nor Beck’s law degree. So yeah, we were risking a lot but who doesn’t do stupid things when they’re young?

Inside of the warehouse I felt alive. It was like every angry person that felt like an outsider could finally unite under something. It was the passion and the fury that drew people to the guitar rifts and loud drums. It wasn’t sad like scremo; it was angry and ready for action. It was the sound of a generation ready to make change.

This was the definition of LSD heaven but that’s not why we were here. Beck and I were here to let lose and get angry. For Beck it was a release from his brother and for me it was a way to get pissed at the world for the position

I had been put in. It was catharsis in its truest form and it was fucking sexy. You felt unstoppable, like a true badass singing the songs and banging your head with the mosh pit. It was everything from songs about drug overdoses to government corruption all the way to abusive relationships. The plethora of anger and hatred was something that my body fed off of, giving me more energy than a case of Red Bull ever would.

It was beautiful.

But there was nothing more enthrallingly captivating than the way the dim light hit Beck’s sharp jaw and chilled bone structure, his jet black hair pushed back and his left arm covered in black ink. Everything from the way his shirt hugged his muscles to his towering physic made me jealous he wasn’t mine.

And that thought only fueled my angry energy.

Fuck a world where I had to restrict who I was to make a career. Fuck a society where I’ve become scared to admit that someone raped me. Fuck every single person who ever doubted me because I was determined to make it; they couldn’t stop me if they tried.

With the bass pounding in my heart and my body moving with the sound of the lead guitarist, I felt invincible. I hadn’t even had a sip of alcohol, yet my brain felt like it was relaxed and blurry. I was fully immersed in the gothic scene around me, bouncing in the balls of my feet in my black Doc Martens.

I was more than adept enough to protect myself if someone tried to grab or punch me, but that didn’t stop Beck from keeping a protective arm around my small waist with my butt pressed against his thighs. Usually I wouldn’t complain about his hands on my body, but right now it was depriving me of

Looking at his beautiful face.

Back and I were smart; we knew where every exit was in advance. Being as paranoid as we were, it made sense that we would be somewhat near an exit encase we had to run. That ended up being towards the front of the show on the right of the building, but still in the crowd. Hence why he still felt the need to hold my body close to his. I didn’t truly mind one bit, though; I felt safe when he was around me. Beck was like a security blanket and no one could touch me when he was near by.

It was a spectacular thing. I could be as pissed off at the world and as rebellious as I wanted but still feel like everything was okay as long as Beck was with me. And that’s how I knew I was in trouble, because this was the last thing I wanted to be feeling.

And when I looked up at him subconsciously, he was already looking

Down at me like he could hear my thoughts.that terrified my more than anything. His bright ocean eyes bored into me like a boat through sea foam; I was defenseless. My brain was still high off the feeling of the music and probably from the smell of weed in the air, distracting me from what was really happening. I don’t even think Beck was aware of what he was doing until our lips brushed as the band screaming on stage intensified. It was almost my emo teenage dream come true and I found that hilarious, but it was honestly not on the forefront of my mind at the moment. I had bigger things to focus on, like kissing on of my best friends.

Beck’s plump lips on mine were suddenly the only thing I could think off. My body rotated, his hands settling on my hip and my jaw as I kissed Beck back, tangling my tongue with his own while my brain exploded. Butterflies blossomed in my stomach with waves of nerves. Already I was thinking of

How awkward this would be when it ended, but it wasn’t enough for me to pull away from the euphoria that was Beckett Sampson. If anything, that thought only encouraged me to keep going in order to push the awkwardness out as far from the current moment as possible.

Last time he had kissed me we were both a beer or two in and he was trying to avoid a fight. Now we were both completely sober with no pressure from anyone around us, and we had still locked lips after agreeing not to get involved. What the fuck were we doing?

My fingers threaded though Beck’s silky soft hair, absorbing the energy around me and pouring it into the passionate kiss I was receiving. Everything felt so intense; the noise, the tingling nerves, the beat of my heart, the caress of Beck’s touch; even my emotions were heightened. I wanted Beck and there was no denying

That but I couldn’t have him so I would savor this moment while it lasted.

His hard chest was pressed against mine, his head dipped down to reach my short height. Beck nipped at my dark stained lips, a moan too quiet for him to hear over the bass escaping my throat.

But then I heard the ear splitting screams and I knew it was over. Nothing definitive could be heard, but the music halted as sirens filled the air. God fucking damn it. Now my heart was racing for an entirely different reason. Like fire had ignited, our lips pulled away but Beck’s hand on my body was already pulling me to follow him.

I really didn’t want to go to jail for trespassing.

I hated to be cynical but I was suddenly running from the cops with a young Middle Eastern man in a dangerous

Part of a run down city. If that wasn’t a recipe for getting arrested then I don’t know what was. Even if Beck was as rich white boy as you could get on paper, that didn’t change his skin. It was a terrible world we lived in, but they would beat him to the ground before they even looked at me. That was incentive enough for me to run like I never had before, blatantly ignoring every piece of advice my trainers had ever given me since two weeks ago.

Beck’s hand pulled on mine, my feet pounding against the concrete as he opened a door in the back that led to a section of offices. I was praying to any god that existed that there was another exit with no cops. Beck weaved in and out of the abandoned desks laying around the open space, his athletes legs carrying him easily while he kept me going in front of his body. I could feel the pain in my hip blossoming with every thundering step jolting through my leg, seemingly undoing my weeks

Of healing in meer seconds.

My frantic eyes locked on a door with an unlit exit sign, adrenaline pounding through my ears. It was like the sound of my blood was a clock ticking in my brain, waiting for the cuffs to be slammed around my pale wrists.

I yanked it open, seeing another alley behind the building and exhaling slightly. Beck followed me, closing the metal door behind him carefully as to not alert any near by police officers. I was going to start running to the right when Beck’s hand wrapped around my wrist keeping me in place.

I turned around like he had burned me, wide eyes and all. What the fuck was he doing?

“You’re not supposed to be running, Danny. You’re going to permanently hurt yourself,” he rushed out, his crazy eyes darting up and down the narrow alleyway between the backs of the

Buildings.

“Beck, you’re fucking insane. We’re going to get arrested!” I hissed in a raised voice but he wasn’t listening to me anymore.

“Don’t kill me later,” was all I heard before I felt his large hands band around my hips, easily throwing my body over his shoulder like I was a rag doll. I was no where near his max lift, but it still surprised me when he took off because I certainly wasn’t a light cheerleader. My arms wrapped around his waist like I was going to die, his warm hands holding the backs of my thighs and burning my skin through my dark grey, ripped boyfriend jeans in comparison with the cold January night air.

Sirens were still blaring in my ears as we left the dank alley, my pulse racing and my blood rushing to my head. Beck didn’t put me down;?he only continued his mad dash with his impossibly

Long strides until he rounded another corner a minute or two later, finally placing me on my feet. It took a second for my eyes to focus on the pitch black surroundings before I realized we were on the outside of the Old Yale Campus. The gothic style architecture was a dead give away and a harsh turn from downtown New Haven.

Beck took a deep breath, seemingly catching his breath easily before he heard the sound of heavy footsteps around the corner in this near silent area, the sirens far enough in the distance. In less than a second he pulled my body against his, ducking us both into the curved alcove of one of the unlocked gates. His large hand was over my mouth, my body pressed against his chest while we waited for the footsteps to pass. Instead, the heavy tread stopped for a moment before it turned around and disappeared back the way it came when the person saw no one else on the road. If they were a cop they must have realized we had gotten away and there was no point in hunting two kids when there were plenty more still trapped in the warehouse.

Beck waited a good thirty seconds before letting me go, my heart pounding like mad. All I could do was hit Beck on the chest with my fist. “You’re a dumb ass,” I cursed at him with fury in my crazy green eyes. “You should have just ran, Beckett.”

“I wasn’t going to just leave you. That is literally the shittiest thing I could have done,” he retorted in a low voice, still quiet despite our ringing ears. “I’m supposed to protect you, Danny. Not put you in harms way.”

“It doesn’t matter if I get arrested. Finn would bail me out. You on the other hand would never get to be a lawyer and they’d charge you with way more than me. You’re an idiot who almost ruined your life for nothing,” I hissed with my eyes starting to water from all the intensity of tonight. “Don’t fucking do shit like that. You scared me to death.”

“Hey,” Beck said firmly, cupping my jaw and pinning my overly emotional face in place. “You have just as much to lose. Your hockey career and employment relies on this too. We both took the risk because we deemed it worthy. I’m not going to damn you and not myself.”

“You know if they had a choice between the two of us they would have taken you. You should have gone ahead.”

“Stop arguing with me because you aren’t going to win. I’m never leaving you behind no matter how inconvenient my face makes it. I’m not going to let you hurt yourself to help me,” he said defiantly, trapping my pupils like he had done at the concert. There wasn’t a drop of alcohol in his system, but that didn’t stop Beck from leaning down and kissing me again.

It was short and sweet; much too fast for my liking, but it was loving and sexy all the same. I barely got to kiss him back or feel his lips against mine before Beck pulled away, brushing my dirty blonde hair behind my ear gently. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he murmured like I had told him it a thousand times; I basically had. “But I had to do it one last time.”

And then he pulled away, the cold air coating my skin like a article of clothing. “I guess it’s a good thing there’s a prestigious university in the middle of the city,” Beck muttered, looking around from where we stood under the archway. “God knows the police wouldn’t wake up the whole college for this, especially since it’s Ivy League. “

“The nights still young and there’s police crawling this place,” I chimed in, checking to see it was only midnight on my glowing phone screen.

And I happen to know the code to it and where her liquor cabinet is,” I suggested somewhat innocently.

Beck looked back down at me, smirking to himself. “I guess we found where we’re going to hide out then.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I need my adrenaline to calm down a few levels.”

“It was worth it.”

“Seeing as we didn’t get arrested? Yeah. But next time, we’re leaving early so the cops don’t get us.”

“Agreed.”

I had a man willing to get arrested for me. What the fuck was I supposed to do with that responsibility?

There was only one answer.

Don’t fuck it up.