Talking Shit and Taking Hits

The rest of my classes for the day were uneventful minus the stares from anyone who also happened to be in my economics class this morning. I had spent my down time texting Chase and Olivia about this morning's bullshit. I left Cass out f it just in case she was still on speaking terms with Kirsten. Kirsten hadn't really done anything wrong besides being on Robin's side and it didn't need to be a Cass problem. Chase on the other hand was livid. Hpromised to give Will at least a good hit for his girlfriend's interference but I warned him what could happen if he lost his cool tonight

Chase: Yeah, yeah, I'll be a good boy your honour I won't hurt your baby your honour

Willow: I would love to let you though. Leaving now

I set down my phone and turned the radio up, making my way to Chase's house. Olivia and Cass had class a little later than mine so they would be driving over later. I mulled over the events of today on my drive over. I was just as angry, but my embarrassment was worse. I had let anybody near me get a good look at my neck with my stunt today after trying so hard to hide it. Will was the monster here, and yet here I was forced to be the one ashamed of it.

I cut the radio as I pulled into the driveway. I could hear the music as I approached the front door and I opted to let myself in since there was no way they could hear me anyway. I passed Owen and Miles who were in the kitchen, shaking what I assumed to be protein drinks or pre workout. They waved at me, miles pointing up to tell me chase wasn't down here. I smiled and waved back, going up to Chases room

I strolled in without knocking to see him slipping a baby blue dress shirt on. I couldn't help but watch the way his muscled coiled with every movement,absently pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.

His eyes met mine through the mirror across the room " like what you see?" He taunted.

My cheeks flushed and I busied myself with walking my bags to his desk " maybe,"

He laughed, his eyes trained on me as I walked back over to him. He finished the last of the buttons before pulling down the maroon tie draped over the mirror. " help me with my tie?"

I rolled my eyes. This long and you can't do it yourself?" I laughed and grabbed the tie, noticing it matched my sweater.

" you're better at it ,"

I snorted, looping it under his shirt collar. He stared at me while I worked which turned my ears bright red and had me fumbling with the material. Which he knew, and by the smile on his face he was also enjoying. His hands slid down to my hips, pulling me closer to him; causing me to arch my back to see my work. I felt my face heat up a few more degrees and he laughed. " it's so easy to rile you up,Willow,"

" uh huh and you better watch it andrews ir you'll be struggling to hide a boner in those dress pants," which were tight enough that he wouldn't stand a Chance of doing so.

" is that so?" His minty breath fanned across my face and I raised my eyes to meet his. I leaned in until our lips were almost touching.

"Mhm. Those pants weren't meant for hiding anything and it's a looong walk to the dressing rooms," I smiled and his grip tightened

" in that case, you would be helping me do something about it on the way there. Or everyone would get to see just what you do to me, baby." He pressed his lips to mine quickly before pulling away to murmur " but I don't think they need to see that,"

I leaned back into him, placing my arms around his torso before kissing him back at a slow pace. He smiled against my mouth, and put a hand in my hair, the other one tracing from my hip, up my side, then down to my ass. He made a small sound of content in the back of his throat, almost sounding like a growl before pressing himself more firmly against me. Heart hammering, I shivered when be pulled my lip between his teeth,tightening his grip in my hair. I moaned softly, unconsciously pressing my pelvis forward.

I continued to kiss him as I lifted my arms to go around his neck. He slid his hands to the backs of my thighs, and pulled. I jumped and wound my legs around him, his hands resting firmly on my ass. My anxiety came creeping back in but I drove myself forward, trying to will it to go away. One hand was tangled in his hair, the other now gripping the side of his face. I moaned into his mouth again, and he broke the kiss, his mouth going down to my neck instead. We were both breathing heavily as he placed a trail of kisses down to my collar bone. He moved slowly, giving me time to pull back if I wanted to. He knew it wad still a sore spot for me,figuratively and literally.

I pulled his head back using my grip on his hair before slamming my mouth back to his. he groaned, wrapping his arms around my lower half trying to pull me impossibly closer.

"Chase," I breathed.

" Fuck," he responded, kissing me roughly " I'd listen to that for hours baby," I squeezed him tighter with my legs and he pulled away, breathing heavily " God damn it Willow,"

" what?" My eyebrows furrowed

He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and pushed down on my hips, sighing as he did so. I took note of the blush that had crept into his cheeks before letting out a laugh as I felt a hard bulge through his dress pants pressed against my core. I kissed him on the cheek, still giggling while he was still not looking at me

"Oops?"

" yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Birkett ," he finally made eye contact again as he lowered me to the ground. I kept my arms around him and pulled him in for another kiss, causing him to groan.

"Stop it,"

" not so fun when you're in the hot seat,is it."

" I'll give you a hot seat," he punctuated his threat with an open hand smack to my butt. I jumped,which pushed me closer into his chest. We made eye contact again and I could see the debate happening behind his eyes. His eyes drifted helplessly between my gaze and my breasts which were firmly pressed against him and accentuated by the angle of my arms around him. He sighed, tipping his head back,keeping a firm grasp on my backside. I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck and placed a soft kiss to his skin. One hand disappeared and a few seconds later I heard a camera shutter. I leaned back to see he had taken a picture of us in the mirror, my face buried in his neck,and him looking down at the phone smiling with a handful of ass. I raised my brows.

" good photo op. Besides, when i think about this later, I'll have something to look at,"

" chase!" I chastised at his meaning.

He smiled and kissed me,snapping another photo as he did so.

The entire ride to the game was spent talking about the "rules" for tonight. Chase and I had driven alone and the mood was drastically different than when he was getting ready,mainly because the "rules for Willow" were significantly longer than the " rules for Chase". His list was settled with No cheap shots at Will. No speaking to or engaging with his cheapness on or off the ice, and no fights in the parking lot or lobby, and no unnecessary interactions. However, the Willow list was,so far, standing at: must sit behind the teams bench, must not go anywhere with Olivia or Cass ( one was fine but preferably both) must not look for Robin or instigate anything, must enter and exit the arena with Chase, ignore Robin, Kirsten, and Will if they try to start anything, If Will speaks to Willow, tell Chase immediately. No cat fights, but catcalling is allowed ( directed at Chase only of course) he had clarified with a smile. And last but not least Willow was not allowed to talk about the court case with anyone, answer any questions about Will or Chase, or interact with anyone she doesn't already know.

As much as ai hated to admit it, his list did make sense. Especially the last couple. Telling too many people details could ruin the case with Will having fake witnesses, we didn't want it spread around more than it already was, and if there were scouts, giving them any information that could make them think Vhase may be trouble would disqualify him from their pickings, and doing the same to Will technically be tampering with his career (although he deserves it) but that could work against us in court. Not to mention the gossip hungry school newspaper run by the students. If they caught hold of the details of the incident it could be catastrophic.

So, begrudgingly, I agreed. I hated having rules to just watch a hockey game and having to be constantly babysat, but it was better than the alternative which was a recreation of Will's incident as well as another scene from the twins, and neither of those would end well.

We met Callum and Owen with Olivia and Cass in the parking lot then made our way inside. After wishing the boys good luck I gave Chase a kiss, and was half surprised to see Cass do the same to Owen, who was grinning like a school boy afterwards. I grilled her about it until she finally spilled the tea. Apparently the night after the party they started texting and hanging out, but nothing had really been solidified until she kissed him tonight. So they may not be dating yet but they were definitely exclusive.  After her embarrassment, she was quick to throw Olivia under the bus.

"We're just talking!" Olivia exclaimed

" oh yeah I hang out with guys and go to their house, and their games and spend all my available free time with guys I'm just talking to. Just for funzies," I chuckled when I saw the heat rising to her face. " You thought I was dating Chase? Nope, We just talk. Just take showers together as friends, definitely not interested,"

" oh piss off," she snorted " we aren't taking friend showers"

"Yet," Cass corrected

" are you taking friend showers?" Olivia countered.

" well, there may have been a shower involved," she replied " I think you're missing out,"

Olivia made a face at the visual and sat down in our spots right behind their bench. We had our popcorn, or drinks, and we were officially set. There was definitely some nerves between the three of us as the seats began to fill in. It was pretty packed tonight and We knew all three of our boys plus Miles were just itching to take Will out, but none of them were allowed to treat him any differently based on recent events. Or at least they weren't supposed to make it obvious. Not long after we sat down, I got a text from Reid asking where we were. A few minutes after my reply she plopped down beside Cass.

" the boys are riled up tonight. This is going to be a hell of a game. I hear Cruz is out so Chase is going back to alternating  Centre and wing  to take the heat off Miles and Luke until Cruz is cleared again ."

" ah fuck," I breathed. When they glanced at me curiously I grimaced " Will plays centre,too"

"Shit," all three spoke in unison.

Before we could get into it, the music started and both teams hit the ice for their warm up. Where I met Chase's eyes and blew him a kiss. He gave me his signature lopsided grin and winked, sending a hoard of butterflies through my stomach. They lined up to shake hands, then the game was on. Miles took his place at centre Ice, and I was surprised to see Will playing wing , directly across from Chase. Will always started their games as centre, always. Why would they move him now?

Within 30 seconds of Miles winning the face off, it became obvious. He wanted to be Chase's number one opponent all game and they were letting him. It wouldn't take him long to figure out the change in Chase's lines and I was really hoping they wouldn't make the same changes. Miles had won the face off, but Will was on Chase like a defensemen to their goalie, except his goal was to offend him. Regardless of the play, Will cut Chase off and puck blocked him every chance he got. Chase didn't touch the puck at all first shift, but neither did Will. After a few shifts, it was Chase's turn to rotate centre. Instead of losing his cool with Will's antics he started calculating. He could read him like a book. He managed to make plays around him by ducking out his left side , or cutting short so Will couldn't stop him in time. However he was starting to get aggressive. Twice Will managed to trip him without penalty, and had slashed at his wrist when there was a puck battle in the corner.

The face off was in our end after Owen had a beautiful glove save, which was bad enough, until Will took his place across from Chase at the face off. I leaned forward, gripping the arm rests of my seat. The puck was dropped, Chase won, shooting it back to left wing, then darted right to catch the pass. Will cut him off, so it went to right wing, then to an open defensemen who fired it at the boards. Chase was already moving to position when It ricocheted and he caught it on his stick mid ice and took the breakaway. He weaved it twice in front of the net, then landed the shot resulting in a top shelf goal. Just as the whistle went, Will hit him full force with a body check to his back. Chase slammed into the boards and the complaining started. The ref blew the whistle a second time, the crowd booing Will calming as he delivered a " checking from behind" call. Will made his way to the penalty box while Callum checked on Chase. He seemed fine but I could see he was frustrated. They had to change lines for the centre ice face off, and I watched Chase return, his eye brows pulled down and biting hard on his clear mouth guard. This was going to be a bad game.

Chase

I dropped down on the bench, squeezing a mouthful of water from the bottle. That little prick. We were only halfway through the game and any decent ref would have kicked him out by now, yet Saunders still managed to weasel his way out of most of his offences. Four penalties, all directed towards me m and all with malicious intent. I knew he would be after me tonight but I didn't think he would make it so obvious, or even get away with making it obvious for that matter.

I don't know what strings he pulled to maneuver his line set up to be my opponent every chance he could, even with the penalties, but I had enough. Not letting it get to me wasn't an option anymore, my shoulder started to ache, my wrist still swollen from taking a chop from him in that sweet spot where my gloves end, and I was fuming. I was skating harder than I ever had tonight, whether it was Willow watching from behind me cheering me on, or my own spite for Saunders I wasn't sure.

The whistle went and I looked up to see Miles celebrating. His goal set us winning 3-2 but the heat wouldn't come down until we scored at least one more. I huffed, heaving myself through the door and onto the ice. It was my face off this time, and I almost wanted to get Callum to switch out with me Saunders penalty ended last shift so I would be facing off with him again. If it weren't for the case I would have laid him out a hundred different ways but I couldn't risk getting kicked off the team or jeopardizing anything in the courtroom.

When I made it to centre ice, the ref signalled  for us to wait before skating off to the other bench. Their coach appeared to be trying to dispute Miles's  goal.

"Bet she's still thinking about me,"

I looked up to see Saunders smirking at me, and I knew exactly what he was referring to. I snorted " thinking what a pussy she wound up leaving behind,"

"Speaking of pussy," he started. I skated forward to stand directly in front of him, my blood already boiling . "Is she still a star fish?" Callum was suddenly beside me, grabbing my arm.

"You mean do I choke women out then keep going? Nah, men don't do that, just bitches,"

My eyes roamed the ice, not seeing Wyatt. Good, he didn't need to be hearing this again.

" oh you just name call now? That's not the Andrews I know. Guess that little slut has you whipped," I started forward but Callum spun to face me, offset from my line of view.

"Chase, switch out," when I didn't move he got in front of me. "Fucking switch we aren't doing this right now he's not worth it,"

"Like he would stand a chance," another forward approached Will, pulling his arm back. The refs were too busy to notice what was taking place over here.

"Against your bitch hits? I've had worse in Bantam. You can't even throw a check properly. Hell, we all know the only reason you're even on the team is your mommy paying your way. Speaking of which tell her I say Hi,"

His face hardened. "Tell your girlfriend the same-" I had my arm cocked already when the whistle went and I promptly dropped it. The ref skated over, looking between us as everyone else returned to their positions.

"Are we alright boys?" I nodded silently and put my head down waiting for the drop. My blood was boiling.

I won the face off again, shooting it back to my left instead of my right, Will trying to bump me on his way past but I doubled back to my right. Their players charged forward , stealing the puck and heading for Owen. Our defence was too slow and he made the shot, but it bounced off Owen's leg pads, we chased it into the corner, it was launched out to Callum who carried it across their blue line. He fired it off but their goalie gloved it, making the face off in their end. Callum tapped me to take my place and winked. I knew what play he wanted, and it would give me the opportunity I was looking for. I took my position on the right side. Whistle blew, Callum knocked it back to me, I hit it on the boards to send it around behind the net, Callum , chased it, our defence hugged the blue line while I hung back on the other side to meet Callum pass if he couldn't get a shot. I caught the pass the dumped it to our defensemen since Will was on me, he fumbled it and Will being the closest had to be the one to chase it. I gave him five strides, then taking the risk, swapped position with Danny so I could chase the play instead of him. My legs pumped as hard as they could while I followed him. As usual he clung to the boards to bring it into our end he passed our blue line, the other D covered between the hatch marks, cutting him off there and forcing him to keep to the boards to run it behind the net. I kept on him, and just as he made it to the beginning of  the  corner I threw a check with every thing I had. He was four feet away from the boards to start but my hit threw him into the boards before he fell flat on his face. I picked up the puck, saw his forwards both coming toward me so I played it to the D in front of the net who made a clean pass to Callum who got the breakaway and scored. Will was slow to get up, and upon realizing Callum quick goal, started arguing with the ref how it was a dirty hit. The ref wouldn't hear if it and threatened him with a misconduct for his mouth. We made our 2nd back to the bench triumphantly

I looked up to see Willow cheering with the other girls and saw Olivia blush as Callum pointed at her, a way of saying " that one's for you "

By the time we made it to the last two minutes we were sitting at 4-3. I was pissed but Wyatt had scored their third and it was impressive. I nodded at him as he passed the bench and he nodded back. The face off was back in centre ice, Will and I again. The ref was talking to the score keeper and I took the opportunity to razz Saunders, who was moving much slower and looking rather dejected. One more penalty and he would have a game misconduct at best, a suspension at worst and he wasn't too happy to no longer be getting a2ay with his bullshit. I on the other hand managed to land three clean hits thanks to set ups from my team

" you don't look so good kid," I mocked

" fuck you," he seethed

"With you? Gross" I laughed

" you won't think it's so funny when I get her alone next time,"

My blood boiled over "what the fuck did you just say to me you little prick? You ever get near her again and you're a fucking dead man"

I grabbed him by his jersey and the ref blew the whistle, coming over to separate us. " Switch out," he demanded me. I tugged my arm loose and switched Callum for right wing, glaring at Saunders it has taken every ounce of my self control to not leave him in a puddle of blood this game, and I was damn close to doing it now

The puck dropped and both teams raced down to our end of the ice before we gained control. I passed Wyatt on my way to the net to wait for the puck to be brought around, I waited on the far side of the circle and watched the play bounce back and forth while the other team scrambled for possession, realizing just a little too late that I shouldn't have been able to get here. Saunders had been after me all game yet not in the last minute with a score this close. Callum fired the puck out to me but before I could catch it, I heard skates behind me.

It happened so fast.

the puck was half way to me when I caught the sound of skate blades behind me, Wyatt yelled something from ahead of me on the left near the boards, wide eyed and coming at me. He clipped my shoulder, I went down, then I heard a sickening impact as Wyatt went flying into the boards, his head slamming into contact first, both feet off the ground.

The crowd was silent.

It took me a nano second to realize that hit was for me, and Wyatt took it. A hit like that ,a charge followed up with a cross check to the back of the neck was a career ending if not life altering injury, and Wyatt knocked me out of the way; but not being able to move himself fast enough, the stick caught him in the chest hard enough to throw him head over heels backwards  and head first into the boards. I dropped my stick and gunned it over to him, sitting on my knees beside him with a hand on his arm.

"Wyatt? Hey man, are you good? Wyatt!"  One of his team mates tried to shove me away from him but I disregarded him with a swing of my arm.

"Wyatt?" Come on," I gave his arms light shake, then looked at his face. He wasn't grimacing in pain, or even anger.he wasn't moving at all.

"Call a fucking ambulance!"