Puck Shots, page 3
“I bet he screams,” the other guy replies with a chuckle, and they take off in opposite directions through the thicker brush of the wood.
What are they up to?
I try to keep my footsteps gentle as I sneak behind them, curious as to what the hell they are plotting. They’re heading for where I hit the stick up one of the easier to climb trees deeper in. Then I spot Eli, standing under a ray of light streaming through the branches above. His head is tilted back, eyes closed as he basks in the warmth of the sun. The way the light hits his swept-back ash blond hair makes it shine almost like silk, and his skin has a honey sort of glow to it. Something hits the tree trunk to his left with a small thud, and he jolts.
“Is someone there?” he asks, looking to the woods on his left and right. “Hello?”
What are those fuckers doing? He hasn’t spotted me yet either. Should I just say something? I’m about to step into view when Toby and his friend jump out from behind trees and rush toward him. Eli startles, backing up against the nearest tree, and while these guys are double his size, he actually doesn’t look particularly worried.
“That was funny,” Eli says as they slowly step closer, boxing him in. My hands clench into fists as I watch these two lord over him. I should step out, say something. Stop them. But stop them from what? They aren’t exactly doing anything to hurt him, just getting in his face, and shit, he’s probably had to deal with that before now, so who am I to step in? He’s not some damsel who needs saving.
“You should leave now,” Toby says with a chuckle. “You don’t belong here.”
“Does anyone really belong anywhere?” Eli replies, and somehow that makes me madder than the fact these two douchebags have him practically pinned against a tree.
“Leave or every day will be like this. We’ll make sure of it,” the other guy says, and I step out.
“That’s assuming you’ll still be here,” I say, and they jump back a step.
“We didn’t. We… we weren’t,” Toby’s friend begins, and I raise my brows, scoffing at his attempts to explain what these dicks were up to. Eli’s still standing, back against the tree, face flushed and glasses slipped down his nose.
“We were just having fun,” Toby says, and he wraps his arm over Eli’s shoulder, pulling him close
“Yeah, we’re all good here. Just having a bit of fun, right?” he goes on to say, looking down at Eli.
“Sure,” Elli replies dryly. “Fun.”
“I like to have fun, too. You know what’s really fun?” I ask, stepping closer and keeping my gaze on Toby.
“Umm, what?” he asks, and I stop right in front of him. His friend shifts to the side a little, trying to separate himself from the situation, but he’s in it now.
“I think you would have loads of fun taking your hands off Eli and crawling back to the frat house. In fact,” I say as Toby removes his arm from over Eli’s shoulder, sweat prickling his brow a little now as my smirk grows wider. “I think you’d have a really good time spending the day like that.”
“You can’t be serious?” his friend asks, and I turn my head slowly to look at him, knowing how freaking creepy I must look doing it.
“Oh, but I am, and if you want to stay around through rush, you’ll do it and when someone asks why you’re on your hands and knees crawling around the frat house, you can tell them, you broke rule seventeen of the KOK code.”
“What’s that?” Toby asks, and Eli whispers.
“No pledge or first year brother can harass, haze, or “mess with” another pledge or brother in any way, and any such action will be seen as a violation of fraternity values and will result in disciplinary action or expulsion from the house.”
Seriously, was that like the full rule word for word?
“Nice to see someone knows the rules,” I say, and Toby rolls his eyes and lowers himself to all fours. “That’s a good pledge. Now, on you go, both of you back to the house. If you find the stick, I might consider letting you stand up again.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Eli says, stepping around me.
“You just recited rule seventeen, so I’m guessing you know the rest of the rules, right?”
He nods.
“Then you know I had to. Besides, those guys are dicks. So any luck out here?”
He rubs the back of his neck with one hand, his face getting a little flushed.
“Yeah, but it’s up a tree over there.”
Fuck, okay, so he found it. Up a tree maybe wasn’t the best hiding place after all.
“So are you going to get it?”
“I’m really no good at all that stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“You know, coordinated movements, sports and that.”
“You never climbed a tree as a kid?”
“No.”
“So you’re giving up then?”
“I didn’t say that,” he replies with a small smile creeping onto his lips, and he starts searching the ground for something.
“What are you looking for?” I ask as I lean against a tree.
“You’ll see.”
He grabs a few sticks and seems to be checking their weight when he settles on one.
“Perfect, okay, now…” he mutters as he moves into position, lining himself up. Is he going to try to knock the lacrosse stick out? I climbed up pretty high and wedged it across two branches with the netted part resting in a bunch of leaves to help camouflage it. Not that it apparently helped all that much. But still, I can’t see how he could knock it out of there, especially with the branch he’s chosen. It’s only about as thick as my thumb and has twigs sticking out at all angles, the leaves it once held long gone.
Maybe I should offer to climb up and get it. He still found it. But that would be technically cheating. Why am I even considering this? Sure, I told Calvin I would look out for Eli, and I did that by stopping those dicks who were hassling him. I did what I said. But for some reason, I want to do more. I want him to win this, to show those other pledges that he is the kind of guy who does belong here. He’s tilting his head to the side a little like he’s confused by something, and then he pushes his glasses up his nose, smiling, and creating an adorable dimple in his right cheek. Fuck, this kid is actually kind of cute.
I’m about to offer my help when he swings back the branch and tosses it up high above him.
It sails past the height of the stick. He was right, he’s not the athletic type. But he doesn’t look disappointed, he watches with a soft smile as the stick makes its way back down, only as it does, the twigs sticking out of it catch on the netted section of the lacrosse stick and the added weight of on that end has the handle lifting until the whole thing comes tumbling down to the ground.
“Well, I guess you don’t need my help after all.”
“I guess not,” he replies, grabbing the lacrosse stick and untangling the twigs from the net.
“You better get that back and claim your prize then.”
“I didn’t hear anything about a prize,” he says, turning that cute, curious smile on me, and my stomach does a flippy thing.
“Well, there should be. What would you ask for? You know, if you could have any prize in the world?” I ask, stepping closer, my heart doubling its pace when his gaze locks on mine and he licks those pretty little lips.
“Anything I want?”
“Anything… anyone…” I say, and his cheeks blush a little, and he looks away, and somehow that makes my heart race faster.
He shrugs. “I guess, if I could have anything in the world. I’d want to know how to fit in. Be…normal.”
“Normal is overrated.”
“If you say so.”
“I do, actually. I can’t think of anything more boring. You’re…” I pause as his small smile picks up a little on one side, showing off that adorable dimple in his right cheek again.
“I’m what?” he asks, stepping closer, and I swear it just got ten degrees warmer in these woods.
“Not boring,” I finish, turning before I do something stupid, like shove him up against that tree myself and kiss those pretty lips. I make a start toward the house. “Come on, pledge. You better get that stick back on the mantle before the Pres gets home.”
I don’t turn around, but I can hear him following behind, the dry leaves and twigs crunching under every step.
I reach the back of the house and spot the President walking along the path. He’s almost back.
I turn to Eli.
“Go on, I’ll distract him,” I say and jog around the side of the house.
“Hey, Pres, got a sec?”
“What do you want, Flash?” Sam, President of the Kappa Omicron Kappa house and captain of the University Lacrosse team, asks. He stops on the path and folds his arms over his chest, making the muscles in his arms bulge. He probably thinks it makes him look all authoritative and superior, but when you’ve seen a guy running around a field with a glorified butterfly net, it’s hard to take anything about him seriously.
“I was just going to ask how many brothers we are accepting this year. The house is pretty full, and I was really hoping to score myself one of the single rooms this year.”
He scoffs. “Riley said you were keen to take the dump upstairs again this year. What happened? Did you and Luka break up over the summer?”
“Funny. No. I just figured it was worth a shot. It’s not exactly cool bringing guys back when I have to share a room. I hate having to try to be quiet so that he doesn’t hear us. I mean, I’ve had my fair share of three ways, but Luka wasn’t really into that last year, what with being straight and all.”
“I don’t remember you having any concerns about what noise you make.”
I chuckle. “I said I tried to be quiet. I never said I succeeded. But since you brought it up, did you like what you heard?” I ask with a cheeky grin. Surely, Elli has gotten the stick inside and back on the mantle by now. Time to wrap this up.
“I don’t date KOKs,” he replies, and I laugh.
“Your loss,” I say, walking backwards towards the house. “See you in there.”
The lacrosse stick is back in its place on the mantle when I walk through. Eli’s standing off to one side, smiling wide, talking with Luka, Reddy, and Colton. Colton is on the soccer team, but I don’t hold that against him. He and I make it a habit to visit Reddy’s mom at least once a week. She makes the best samosas. Usually loads us up with a to go bag as well when we leave. Why Reddy would choose to live on campus instead of with her and getting fed like that every day is beyond me. My stomach growls at the thought of food, but I catch sight of Toby and his friend on their knees by the stairs and it’s enough of a distraction, so I head their way.
“Can we get up yet?” Toby asks, and I shake my head.
“Ask me again in an hour.”
Seeing Eli smiling and chatting with the guys while those two dicks are on their knees being laughed at brings a warmth to my chest and a smile to my lips.
“Yo, Flash,” Luka calls, and I weave through the crowd, greeting almost every brother on the way. “Looks like you’ll need to hide it better next time.”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I say.
“What’s up with those two?” Colton asks, nodding towards the stairs.
“Broke the rules, so they’re paying a very public price for it,” I reply with a wink Eli’s way.
“So what should your punishment be for stealing Pres’s stick?” Colton asks, and only then do I notice Reddy is crocheting something red and white beside him.
“I didn’t steal anything. There were a bunch of butterflies out back, maybe one of the brothers wanted to try and catch them.”
Reddy chuckles, his fingers moving the crochet needles at a steady pace without him even watching. He’s actually really good at it. Created a bunch of animals and things for the guys. Mine was a turtle that sits on my bookshelves in my room.
“What are you making there?” I ask him.
“A Pokémon Ball for West.”
“He’ll love that,” I say, thinking about the numerous times he’s bailed on hanging out on the weekends to attend some trade show thing to try to complete his sets of cards. He’s also got a calf tattoo of Umbreon on his right leg. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s full color and looks pretty awesome. I want a tattoo, but I can’t decide what to get. I thought I would be able to convince my brother Brent to tattoo us all when he visited a few months back, but it’s even harder to pick a tattoo when four people have to agree on what it is.
Luka nudges my arm.
“I’m sure if Sam finds out it was you; he’ll have you doing more than crawling around the house on all fours.”
“The net’s back on the mantle. Can’t prove it was ever not there.”
“Eli here could tell him where he found it.”
“I wouldn’t,” Eli replies, the blush back to his cheeks.
“Because there’s nothing to tell, right?” I say.
“Right,” he replies with that adorable lop-sided grin of his.
The guys leave us to grab drinks, and I lean against the wall beside Eli, watching the room.
“So I was thinking about your…reward,” I say, and Eli turns toward me, but I keep my gaze on the guys in the room, talking and laughing and every few minutes pointing at Toby and what’s his name, still on their hands and knees. “Me and some of the guys are going to the hockey rink later, you should come.”
“I don’t play hockey.”
“I know, but we’re just going for an hour or so to do some speed drills, and we usually hang out at The Rook, this small pub beside it afterwards. They’ve got a band that usually plays, and we rarely get carded.”
“I…guess.”
“It could be a good way for you to get to know some of the guys, you know, make it easier on you through rush.”
“Yeah. Umm, that would be good. Okay, sure.”
I try to dismiss the way my stomach stirs when he says he’ll come. Calvin asked me to look out for him. That’s what I’m doing. Aren’t I?
4
Eli
Icontemplate forgetting about the invite from Cosmo and just staying at the frat house with the other pledges. But then Toby and Rick, the other neanderthal from the woods, started huddling and whispering in the corner of the common room and I thought it was safer to get out.
I used the maps, following the little blue dot as I walked through the college, off campus and down a few blocks to the ice rink. I’m early, and Cosmo isn’t finished training or whatever it is they’re doing in there, so I try to sneak in quietly.
The cool air fills my lungs and brings calm to my racing heart. I can already hear them calling out to each other, their skates make scraping noises as they race across the ice. I sit up in the stands in the corner near the rail, hoping they don’t notice me, and watch. There’s about fifteen of them on the ice, and despite their chunky gear, I spot Cosmo right away. He’s zooming up the ice, his red hockey stick in one hand, controlling the puck in taps back and forth so fast I can barely keep up. The others have pucks, too, but they are way behind him, he glances over his shoulder maintaining his speed, but he’s getting closer and closer to the wall. Fuck, he should slow down, look, something. I’m about to call out when he changes direction almost on a dime and skates around the edge before making his way back up past the others.
“Fuck, Flash, did you get faster?” one of the guys shouts, and Cosmo spins and starts skating backwards, letting the puck he was controlling slide off to the side.
“You just got slower, Rover,” he replies, spinning to skate backwards for a few strides and then turning again in a seamless move that looks entirely impressive.
“I’m three seconds faster than last season, thank you very much. I swear, no one will catch you this year. The scouts will be drawing up your NHL contract before the end of game one, you just watch,” Luka says. I recognize his Irish accent right away. He looks like he’s having more fun on the ice than the rest of them, weaving between them, and getting in their way as they try to race each other up and down, laughing. Cosmo waits at the far end for the rest of them to get back, and then when they all turn, he takes off, too, dashing ahead. The way he moves is so different from the others. I start to pick apart his movements, the key differences, that seem to give him so much more speed.
Luka calls out, “Flash, it’s coming to you,” then sends a puck flying across the ice ahead of him. Cosmo collects it on the way up and then sends it into the back of the net raising his hands in triumph as he slows and skims around the back of the net, meeting Luka at the side.
“I’m done, boys,” he says, and the others finish their last run and join him at the edge. Most of the guys head into the tunnel, but one of them pulls off his helmet and nods my way. My stomach flips as a few heads snap toward where I’m sitting. Cosmo just smiles and waves, sending a swirl of butterflies through me instead, as I feel my lips pull up into a smile, too. He says something to them that I can’t make out, and they turn away and walk past him into the tunnel.
“We’ll be about ten minutes, just have to shower,” he calls up to me, and I nod and wrap my arms around myself, the room suddenly so much colder now that he’s gone.
I wait out the front of the rink, contemplating ditching and heading back to the house. He doesn’t really want me hanging out with him and his friends. What will I even talk to them about? I struggle at home talking with Dad and John, too. Mom’s always been the one I connected with more and it had nothing to do with being gay, and everything to do with her being a forensic scientist. While John never wanted to know anything about what Mom did for work, I begged her for weeks to let me watch her in the lab. Strict protocols meant I had to stay outside and watch through the window of an adjoining office, but it still flamed my love of science.
A couple of guys come out, jump into cars and leave, none of them paying me much mind. Maybe they left already, and this is like a hazing thing. Invite the pledge out and then ditch him. I wouldn’t even mind, not really. Watching Cosmo on the ice was the highlight of my day. I can still picture him flying down the rink, miles ahead of the rest of them. I close my eyes and rest my head back against the brick wall, picturing it again. Imagining the way his body moves in a perfect combination of strength and control.
