Page 55 of Ricochet
If Callum can move his body like that on the ice covered in pads and gear…well, my imagination has been getting quite the workout too.
Practice starts with puck control and shooting drills. It all goes about the same as usual except for the fact that my eyes are following Callum around a hell of a lot more. And that’s saying something. Every time he gets close enough to brush against Eric, or he and Eric laugh about something together, I wish we were in a scrimmage so I’d have an excuse to crush Eric like a bug against the boards.
Or maybe snap my stick over his head.
Cut his throat with the blade of my skate.
Cover the fucking ice with his blood.
There goes my imagination again.
After practice, we all head to the locker room and strip out of our gear. Spirits are high with the impending game tomorrow.Laughter bounces off the concrete walls, and balls of tape are thrown across the room.
All the while, all I see is red.
Callum has been friends with Nate and Brooks since before I got here. He and his roommate seem close. But when it comes to Eric, he wastoohappy to see him in Massachusetts last weekend. He’s been more friendly with him than with anyone else.
They played for a single year together when Callum was a freshman in high school. How does that equal best fucking buds?
I guess I’m just a jealous asshole.
A few of us go into the showers, including me, Callum, Eric, and Nate. At my last school, the showers were open. I prefer the stalls we have here. Only for the fact that no one else gets to see Callum naked.
Except he and Eric are still talking and laughing between their neighboring stalls.
Fuck. Somebody might be dying tonight.
When we come out with towels wrapped around our waists, Eric playfully punches Callum in the shoulder for something he said while they were in the showers. I don’t know what the fuck it was because my ears are still ringing with the echoes of screams.
I still don’t know what the hell they’re on about.
All I know is that Eric’s hand touched Callum’s bare skin.
I’m the last one trailing out of the showers, right behind Callum. After the other guys exit ahead of us, I grab onto his arm and force him around to face me.
Leaning closer, I keep my voice low. “If he touches you again, I’ll rip his fucking hand off.”
His eyes widen as though he believes every word.
Good.
I’m not fucking lying.
“Jesus, Stone,” he whispers like he’s only now realized what kind of trouble he’s gotten himself into. However, a second later, he squares his jaw. “Let me go.”
Apparently, he’s also realized how much control he has over me because I release him immediately.
Most of the other guys have left already. I’m still fucking seething as we get dressed, all the background noise little more than static as the blood rushes in my ears.
Nate and Brooks are grabbing their shit and getting ready to head out together when Eric says something that breaks through the fuzz and crackles.
“You want a ride?”
My eyes cut to Callum, who looks at me and back to Eric.
“I can give you a ride,” I offer before he can respond, not giving one damn how possessive I come across.
“Oh, it’s cool, man,” Eric says. “I’m going over to his place anyway. Jesse and I have a finance class together, and we have study plans.”