Chapter 51 Get in the car Tegan
Tegan
Evie’s gentle voice broke through my spiral. “The game is quite physical,” she remarked, her eyes on the play but her tone carrying a subtle, unspoken understanding.
“It can be…overwhelming to watch, sometimes.”
Charlie nodded emphatically. “Finally, someone that gets it…. they're so rough” she breathed.
Rough. Yes. And I was getting wet watching a certain someone being rough.
The ache between my thighs became a persistent, throbbing hum. It was insane. I was surrounded by the smell of popcorn and mocktails, Charlie and I bought enough snacks on our way here. Seems Evie also brought hers.
Her sweet, patient explanations of offsides and Charlie’s animated chatter filled the air and all I could think about was how the rough fabric of my shorts felt against my sensitive skin, how a single touch, my touch, might relieve the pressure Hayes was building in me from fifty feet away.
My fingers twitched in my lap. The urge to slide my hand down, to find some desperate, secret relief right there in the stands, was so strong it stole my breath. I clenched my hands into fists, nails digging into my palms.
I forced myself into the conversation. “So, the power play means they have an extra player?” I asked Evie, my voice sounding strained to my own ears.
“Exactly,” she said, offering me a gentle smile that felt like an anchor. She passed me a small box of gourmet gummy bears she’d pulled from her bag. “Here. Sugar helps with the nerves.”
Charlie snorted and I glared at her so hard she huffed and continued her conversation with Evie.
Little snitch.
My gaze moved to Hayes again. Watching as he effortlessly deked around a defender, his focus never wavered from my face. And then, right in the middle of his play, with ten thousand people watching, he winked. A slow, deliberate, knowing wink.
My breath stopped. Mortification flooded me, hot and cold. He knows what his aggression is doing to me. The arousal I’d been fighting blossomed into full-blown, shameful heat, mixed with sheer panic. He’d seen it. He’d claimed it with that wink.
I couldn’t speak. I just sat there, in his jersey, with his mark burning on my throat, feeling his gaze still on me from the ice, knowing he saw right through me, to the confused, aroused, terrified girl underneath.
Evie’s sweet calm was a lifeline, but I was drowning in a sea of my own unwanted desire, and the captain of the ship knew exactly how to make me sink.
The rest of the period was a special kind of torture. Maybe I was the only one who felt that way in this space of thousands of people roaring and cheering. Clearly enjoying the game while I was here. Being a mess.
Hayes didn’t let up. He played a brutal, beautiful game, but his performance felt orchestrated just for me. Maybe I'm letting it get in my head too much.
Every time he lined up for a face-off, his gaze would cut to the VIP section, a dark promise in his eyes. After a bone-crushing hit that earned him a roar from the crowd, he’d skate past our section, his breathing heavy, sweat dampening his hair, and he’d lick a drop of sweat from his upper lip, his stare boring into me. A fucking jock.
It was primal, deliberate flirtation. A reminder that the same intensity he used to dominate the ice could be turned on me.
The final buzzer sounded. They were still on a tie of 1-1, like every single time they played against each other. Honestly, why do people still come here to watch them? I'd say it's because of the way the players looked like Greek gods but I'd be lying because they played good. SO FUCKING GOOD.
The arena erupted. I was on my feet before I realized it, a jumble of relief that the spectacle was over and a new, frantic anxiety about what came next.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I blurted out to Charlie and Evie, already gathering my purse.
“I’ll… I’ll meet you guys outside by the car?”
Charlie looked confused. “But we came in your Audi? I can just come with—”
“No! It’s… it’s a mess. Girl stuff. I’ll be quick!” I lied, the words tumbling out too fast. I couldn’t be near anyone. I needed air. I needed to get away from the ghost of his eyes on me.
I didn’t wait for an answer. I pushed through the celebrating crowd, my heart hammering against my ribs. The mark on my throat pulsed. Every part of me felt hyper-aware, oversensitive. I needed the cool, silent sanctuary of my car.
The parking garage was a concrete cavern, echoing with the distant cheers from the arena. The relative quiet was a relief. I fumbled with my keys, my hands shaking, as I hurried towards my black Audi.
Click. The doors unlocked with a soft chirp. I reached for the handle.
A large, warm hand clamped over my mouth from behind, yanking me back against a hard, solid body. A scream was smothered into a muffled gasp against leather and sweat.
“Going somewhere?” His voice was a low, dangerous purr in my ear.
“After all the looks you were giving me? I thought we had an understanding.”
Terror, ice-cold and absolute, flooded my veins. My purse dropped from my numb fingers, spilling its contents onto the oil-stained concrete. I struggled, but his arm was an iron band across my chest, pinning my arms to my sides. He was so much stronger.
The scent of him, cold ice, clean sweat, and that dark, masculine spice, filled my senses, both familiar and terrifyingly alien in this context.
I struggled against him till he finally let me go.
“We had no understanding” I snarled, turning to glare at him.
He didn't grace me a reply, just folded his hands in front of him and stared at me like I was some interesting doll in front of him.
“And you should know better than assaulting people at garages” I say trying to get a reaction out of him because that was way better than this creepy silence.
“Assault?” He asked moving closer.
I instinctively took matching steps backwards till my back hit my car.
“Yes”
“I just came to remind you of our…deal? Or should I say your price. Because you were obviously running away from me” he drawled, his hand tucking a stray strand of hair away from my face to the back of my ear.
His touch sent tingles through me and I fought the urge to lean forward into his embrace.
Get your shit together, he wants to see you like this.
“I wasn't running, I was simply–”
“Get in the car Tegan” he cut me off.
I blinked at him in surprise, he was still in his jersey, meaning he came here straight from the game. And now he's asking me to get in my car. He wants me to leave now?
“We're going somewhere” he clarified.
“I…in my car?”
He cursed under his breath as he took the keys from my hand and rounded to the driver's seat. Within seconds he was revving the engine.
I quickly got in, still shocked and confused. He didn't even let me put on the seat belt before he zoomed off causing a yelp to erupt from the back of my throat.