The Teammates （7）

"Should we have brought a bottle of wine or something?" Amara asked as they got off the elevator on the fourth floor.

Ryan smirked. "You haven't spent much time around hockey players, have you?"

"None," she said. "I tended to date guys who had at least a few functioning brain cells."

He shook his head and lifted his shirt, showing off his six-pack. "Rock-hard abs plus incredible stamina equals no need for functioning brain cells."

"Aww," Amara clapped. "And you can do math? Aren't you just the whole package?"

Ryan stuck his tongue out at her, knocking on the door. A few seconds later, it opened.

"What's goin' on, Rook?"

"Hayes," Ryan leaned in and gave him a half-assed, one-handed hug. "Yo, this is Nick's cousin…"

"Shit," Hayes said, his bloodshot eyes widening, a huge smile creeping across his face. "Of course it is. Shit."

"Tyler?" Amara asked as he reached out to hug her, and they wrapped their arms around each other slowly.

"OK. So apparently you guys know each other." Ryan threw his hands up and watched them hug for a little bit too long before pulling away from each other. Tyler shut the door behind all of them as Osi walked over.

"Baylor. What is going on?" They hugged briefly, and Osi extended his hand towards Amara. "You are Nick's beautiful cousin? Is nice to meet you. I'm Aleksey Osinov, but everyone call me Osi."

She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, too, Osi." Amara turned towards Ryan, who looked increasingly uncomfortable. "These the fourth-floor hotties?"

"Guilty," Hayes said, running his hands through his hair.

"Wow. Thanks for the flowers, Tyler. You're almost unrecognizable without your lil' hat and lollipop."

"Ooh, she call you Tyler. Wait, how you…" Osi stopped mid-thought and covered his mouth. "Ohhhh. She is hot cougar from laundry room?"

"Osi! The fuck?" Hayes waved him off, as Ryan shoved past them into the living room.

"Hot cougar, huh? Nice," Amara teased, punching him lightly. She went to catch up with Ryan, and Hayes followed.

There were four other very large guys and two heavily made up, scantily clad girls sitting in the living room, where a light cloud of weed smoke hung in the air and some sort of God-awful mumble rap music bumped through the speaker. Amara immediately took notice of the fact that the girls were staring at Ryan and whispering to each other.

"Boys, this is the rook, Ryan Baylor," Hayes said, as he began to point at each of them. "So, we got Kasic, Dalesy, Seggy, and Jonesy. Yo, this is Dunny's cousin, Amara. She lives with Rook. And," he turned to Amara and Ryan, "I don't know who the fuck the birds are, to be honest. Might be Dalesy's." He shrugged and put his arm around Ryan's shoulder. "First things first: let's say we get you fuckin' wasted, Rook." He led Ryan towards the kitchen, who looked back and signaled for Amara to follow them, so she did.

"And this," Hayes said, pointing to an older guy sitting at the kitchen counter staring at his phone, "is our resident nut job, Rizz. Formally known as our captain, Matt Rislan."

"Nut job is a bit harsh," he said, taking a long pull off a pen. "I'm just more awake than most."

"Yeah, if you want a good conspiracy theory, Rizz is your guy. Flat Earth, 9/11, the Titanic. Fucker is straight-up insane. Gimme that," Hayes said, grabbing the pen from him and pulling. "Oh, and I almost forgot the best part." He exhaled the smoke. "He'll ‘read you' and let you know what kind of energy you have." Hayes looked over at Amara and Ryan, put his finger to his temple, and made the "crazy" motion with it.

"Crazy as it is, am I usually right?" Rizz asked, not looking up from his phone.

"Totally. It's fuckin' terrifying, honestly," Hayes said, lining up four disposable shot glasses and filling them with Canadian whisky.

"Ugh, not that piss again," Rizz complained.

"Shut up and drink it." He handed them to Ryan and Amara. He picked his up and tapped Ryan's with it. "Here's to new friendships, and," he turned to Amara, "whatever else."

They all threw it back, and Ryan immediately reached for the bottle, refilling his shot. He slammed that one down too, snaked an arm around Amara's shoulder, then looked at Hayes. "How's your girlfriend? She good?"

"Uh oh," Hayes said, throwing his hands up. "Rook's gettin' all territorial over his roomie. Lower your leg, killer. It was just some innocent flirting while waiting for our laundry, that's all. Right, Amanda?" He winked at her.

"Sure," she said quietly. Sensing Ryan's uneasiness, she changed the subject. "What else do you have to drink around here?"

Someone called for Hayes from the living room. "Hold on, I'm comin'! Yeah, help yourself to whatever's in the fridge," Hayes said on his way out.

Amara went and grabbed a beer from the fridge, and as she walked back, Ryan was tossing back another shot of whisky. "Careful. That nasty shit sneaks up on you," Rizz warned. "You two, you're together?"

They looked at each other and smiled. "No. Just roommates. I'm Nick's cousin, actually. We…it's a long story, but we both needed a place to live, so here we are."

"That's cool. Funny how things work out sometimes. I was gonna say, there's…nah, forget it," he stopped himself, taking another pull off his pen.

"No, what? Can you seriously read people?" she asked curiously, having a seat at the counter across from him. Ryan sat down next to her, then poured and cranked back another shot. "Hey," she said to him, then mouthed, "slow down."

He rolled his eyes. "OK, Mom."

"I wouldn't call it reading. I'm just like, very in tune with other people's energies. It sounds batty, I know. My wife's more of an empath. She can feel things, but I just pick up on them very easily."

"So, what are you picking up on with us?" she asked, looking over at Ryan. "I mean, are you OK with this?"

He closed his eyes and shrugged. He grabbed her beer and took a sip. "Why not? This day can't possibly get any weirder." She noticed he was starting to slur his speech a bit.

"So, you two are interesting. You match almost completely. Your energies are nearly in total alignment."

"OK. So, what's that mean?"

"There are a few different takeaways. When did you guys first meet?"

"Um. Today, actually," Amara laughed nervously.

"Wow. No doubt you feel like you've known each other a lot longer. You guys finding you're pretty comfortable with each other?"

Ryan shot a look at Amara, then raised one eyebrow at Rizz. "You guys fuckin' with me? What kinda wizardry is this?"

He laughed and shrugged. "It's a gift, man. Saved me a lot of heartbreak, that's for sure. Most likely, you were previously connected somehow. I mean, I don't know how much you guys believe in that past-life stuff, but that's my gut feeling. You guys do need to be careful though."

"What do you mean?" Amara asked, completely rapt, as she leaned in towards him.

"You know the saying ‘opposites attract,' right? Energy matches have the strong potential to clash. Fights will get ugly, and any jealousy can get out of control. Just be mindful and try to avoid all that shit. You both feel things deeply, and there's a lot of pain that you're both working through right now. That's coming through loud and clear. Be supportive, but just be aware that your feelings can very easily attach to each other's feelings, which can get messy."

Ryan got up. "Ok. I'm officially freaked the fuck out. Have fun with that shit." He saluted Rizz and made an exit to the living room.

Amara sat, mouth agape, and grabbed the whisky bottle for a refill. "Holy shit," she said, before knocking another one back. She leaned in. "I had this feeling that I was, like, way too comfortable with him, and you just said all that." She shook her head.

"And, uh, sex will really complicate things between you two. Just a PSA."

"No, we're not…it's not…we're…" Amara stammered.

"He doesn't take his eyes off you."

Amara blushed. "You're older than these boys."

"Oh yeah, I'm the team fossil at the ripe old age of 36. Got a 15-year-old son, if you can believe that. He was an oops, but he's the best fuckin' thing that's ever happened to me." He showed her a picture on his phone. "That's him, Logan, and my wife, Lindsey."

"Rizz, he's so handsome. And your wife: wow."

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm really just here to babysit these assholes, make sure no one does anything too stupid. You know what they say: young, dumb, and full of cum. So, what about you? You've gotta be close to my age. I don't mean that disrespectfully. You just seem a little, well, more mature than what normally crawls around at these parties."

"I…am 41, and it doesn't get any easier to say that out loud."

"Well, you look great."

"Thanks. So, what's Tyler like?" Amara blurted out, then tried to cover her interest. "I mean, I don't know much about him, but he seems…interesting. What's his deal?"

"Ah, Hayes? Hayes is harmless. He comes off a little rough at first, but he's actually got a big heart. And he's incredibly sensitive to others' needs, especially those he really cares about. Bit of a troubled past, but he's really grown up a lot over this last year with us. Still an absolute dumbass sometimes, but what 20-year-old kid isn't?"

Amara almost spat out her beer. "I'm sorry, you said 20? Hayes is 20?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um, no reason. He just seems older is all. "

"Hayes has...he's been through a lot. Grew up kinda quick."

Amara frowned. "Well, anyway, I thought maybe I sensed a little bit of tension between him and Ryan."

"Oh, for sure. There's gonna be a huge power struggle there. Ryan's very insecure and Hayes is the dictionary definition of an alpha. Hayes's mouth gets him into a lot of trouble. Ryan's just gotta try not to get sucked into it, though it's gonna be hard for him since he's easily flustered." He smirked. "Sorry, I can't help myself sometimes."

"Are you kidding? This is amazing. Where the hell were you when I met my ex-husband?" She got up from her stool. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Baylor. Nice talking to you, Rizz."

"Likewise."

She grabbed her beer and moseyed into the living room, where it had gotten progressively louder, and the conversation was getting pretty rowdy amongst all the guys. There was also no sign of Ryan, and one of Dalesy's girls was missing.

"Oh, you wanna go there with me, Hayes? Question my relationship decisions?" Dalesy snickered. "OK, bitch. Who's the one who got the boot from two different billet families at 16 for fuckin' both his moms, eh?"

"Oh, shit. No, he did not go there!" Osi said, his face a bit panic-stricken.

"Dude, are you serious? Both?" one of the other guys asked.

"Listen, listen!" Hayes clapped. "This is fake news. I did not fuck both of them. I fucked one of them. The other one was blowin' me in her minivan and her husband caught us."

"Yeah, ‘cause that's any better."

"You at least get to finish?"

"Yup. Came down her throat right as we got caught. It was kinda hot."

"There's something not right with you, Hayes. It's amazing he didn't cave your face in. The fact that you made it here is beyond me. How'd you even recover from that shit show?"

"My juniors coach took me in. Had no choice. He saw my talent. I mean, I was the fastest skater, the top scorer, and had a straight beast of a clapper, but the program refused to house me with another family. Obviously."

"Obviously," Dalesy echoed. "Because you're a filthy gutter slut."

"Yo, dude literally pulled me aside outside his house, bags still in my hands, and said to me, I'll never forget it as long as I live: ‘Kid, I have a shotgun and a boat. No one will even miss you. You're here to play hockey, and unless you wanna die, you will keep your fuckin' hands, eyes, and all other body parts to yourself.' And guess what? I fuckin' did."

Troubled past is right, Amara thought sadly, immediately regretting having heard that conversation. She decided to go out onto the balcony for some air, wondering briefly where Ryan had wandered off to, though she had a pretty good idea that wherever it was, the missing girl from the living room was there, too.

???

She wasn't sure how long she'd been outside, but it'd been a while. She'd been staring at the bustling city below, wondering what all those people were up to, where they were headed, when she heard the patio door slide open. She looked, saw it was Tyler, and turned back toward the railing. He came and stood next to her, just close enough so their elbows touched. She dramatically scooted over a smidge so they weren't.

"What's that all about?" he asked.

"You have a girlfriend, and you behave the way you did with me earlier? Do you know I'm 41 years old? Why the hell didn't you tell me you're only 20?"

"Wait: so, you're pissed at me because I have a girlfriend, or because my parents had sex 21 years after yours did? I don't follow."

"What was that shit today in the laundry room, Tyler?"

"That was called flirting. And as I recall, you were pretty into it."

"That was flirting?" She shook her head. "Man, I've really been out of the game for too long."

"Why, what'd you think it was?" He gasped, then smiled. "Oooh. You've been thinkin' about me, haven't you? What'd we do? Was it good?"

She made a face. "Eww. No."

"Then what's it matter if I have a girlfriend?"

"It doesn't. Considering you're practically a child."

He laughed. "Farthest thing from it, babe." He inched back over so their elbows touched again. This time, she didn't move. "So, what's up? You bangin' Rook? What's your story?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Come on, you just heard some of my greatest hits in there."

"Yeah. I really didn't need to hear all that. Forgive me if I'm not really into celebrating someone's adolescent sexual abuse."

"Nah, come on. It wasn't even like that. For one, the consent age in Canada is 16, not to mention I initiated it with both of them, so if anyone's the creep, it's me. Trust me, I fuckin' wanted it."

"You're tellin' me that at 16, you had the balls to initiate sex with not one, but two much older, married women?"

"That's exactly what I'm tellin' you, babe. What can I say?" He turned to face her. "Older women do it for me."

She turned towards him. "Your girlfriend should do it for you."

"She does."

"Then what are you doing out here with me?"

He smiled and rolled his eyes. "Amara, Amara. Clearly, you've gotten," he cocked his head sideways and leaned into her face, his lips brushing ever-so-slightly against hers, "the wrong impression of me." She felt him breathing against her lips and closed her eyes. Despite how wrong this all was, she bit her bottom lip, waiting and wanting so badly for him to kiss her. Instead, he pulled away suddenly. "No worries. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want."

Making his way back over to the sliding glass door, he opened it and turned to face her. "But we both know you'll still be thinkin' about me. Oh, you should probably check on your boyfriend. He's been in my bedroom with that bird for a bit now. I sure hope everything is OK." He shrugged and stepped inside.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she yelled, as he shut the door.

She took a deep breath, grabbed onto the railing to steady herself, and crossed her legs. How the fuck is that fucker only 20? she thought, hoping she'd remembered to charge her vibrator recently.

She'd definitely be using it later.

When she finally got herself together and came inside, the other girl was back in the living room, straddling Dalesy's lap and kissing his neck, but there was no sign of Ryan. Amara peeked into the kitchen, but nothing, so she made her way to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. As she rounded the corner, she saw him come stumbling out of what she assumed was Tyler's room.

"Amara!" he yelled, stretching his arms out to hug her as she approached him. "There you are!" She could see in his eyes that he was hammered. "Yo," he whispered, leaning half on her, half on the wall. "That girl just totally blew me. I don't even know her name. She just told me to follow her and started taking my pants off. We didn't even kiss. I blew a huge load all over Hayes's sheets though."

"That's…wow, that's such a great story, Ryan. I think it's time we get you back upstairs, OK?" He slumped against the wall and slid slowly until his ass hit the floor, just as Tyler showed up.

"Havin' fun, Rook?"

"Amara, should I tell him about his sheets?"

"The fuck you do to my sheets?"

"Ryan, be quiet. Tyler, help me get him back upstairs and into a bed, please."

They managed to scoop him up and get him out the door and down the hall to the elevator. As they waited for it, each of his arms draped around their shoulders, he began rambling. "You know what, Hayes? Fuckin', I don't think I like you."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah. You're kind of a douche."

Amara stifled a laugh.

"That's OK, Rook. Amara likes me, isn't that right, babe?"

"Tyler…"

"You like this douche?"

"Yeah, she does. We had a fun little conversation out on the balcony tonight. She's actually kinda horny for me."

"Tyler!"

"What?" he asked. "You gonna pretend you're not?"

"You're horny for this douche?" Ryan yelled, right as the door opened, where an older couple, probably in their late 70's, stood there staring at them.

"Going up?" the woman asked.

The three awkwardly waddled their way inside. "Six, please," Amara said, mortified.

"Apparently this one," Ryan patted Amara's shoulder, "wants to go down. On this douche." He patted Tyler's shoulder, as he turned to the older man. "Bro, you believe that shit?"

"It happens sometimes, son," the man replied with a shrug.

Hayes almost doubled over with laughter. "Holy shit!" he squeaked. "Rook's a fuckin' riot when he's wasted!"

"Oh my God. Will you both please shut up?"

They got off on the sixth floor and managed to get Ryan to the apartment door as Amara unlocked it. Hayes tried to come in, but Amara strong-armed him. "Nope. I've got it from here, Kindercare."

"You sure about that, babe?" She turned around, and he was sliding down the wall again. "It would appear Rook can't handle his liquor, eh?"

"Shit. Alright, help me get him into his bed." They dragged him down the hallway and maneuvered him inside his room, where he flopped onto his bed, face down, both of them just staring at him for a bit.

"You gonna puke, Rook?"

He shook his head no.

"Tyler, I'll walk you out. I'll be right back, Ryan. Don't move."

Amara followed Tyler to the door, reaching to open it for him, but he blocked her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I mean, if you asked me to stay right now, I would. You know, for moral support. Your new roommate is blackout drunk, you're all alone in this strange new apartment..."

"Tyler? Go home." She pulled her hand away from his.

"Fine. You're welcome, by the way," he said, opening the door and adjusting the front of his pants.

"Thank you, Tyler."

"You know," he leaned in towards her, "I don't quite understand it, but something about the way you call me ‘Tyler' gets me fuckin' rock hard."

"Ok, we're done here!" She slammed the door and locked it.

"You know where to find me!" he said through the door, as she turned to go attend to her drunk-ass roommate.

She walked into Ryan's room, where he was still face down and now snoring. She tried pulling each of his shoes off gently, but he woke up as she got to the second, rolled over, and sat up, obviously disoriented. He reached down and tried to yank his shirt over his head, but it got stuck, so she helped him pull it the rest of the way off. "OK, oh wow," she said, staring at his shirtless body. The kid's abs were so perfectly defined that he didn't even look real.

He flopped onto his back and started unbuttoning his pants, finally getting them open, and tried to wiggle them down his legs. "And there go the pants. Here, hold on," she said, grabbing them at his thighs and fighting with them before finally pulling them off. As he lay there in nothing but his boxers and socks, she tried not to stare, but it was impossible. He had the best male body she'd ever seen in person; there literally wasn't an ounce of fat on him, just pure muscle. She reached for the sheet at the end of the unmade bed and covered him with it, primarily to maintain her own sanity.

"Thank you," he mumbled, his eyes closed. She reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. He moaned. "Thafeels nice."

"You need to sleep, Drunkie. I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Stay?" he yawned, holding the sheet open. "We'll cuddle."

"That's not happening."

"Come on. Two girls sucked my dick today. Make it three?"

"You know, wow, as tempting as that sounds, that'd be the worst idea possibly ever. And kinda gross."

"I know, I know. I'm just kidding." He was snoring again before she could even say anything else, so she figured this was a good time to make an exit.

What a fucking day, she thought, unable to remember not only a time when she'd had so much excitement, but a time when she'd felt so free, to just be herself and do whatever she wanted to do without having to answer to anyone. And as clearly fucked-up as these guys were, she enjoyed being around them and certainly didn't mind the attention they gave her.

She knew this was going to be one hell of a ride, but she felt a curious excitement to see just where it would take her.