I’m Pretty Sure That’s a Sex Crime, Man （8）

"I am so not looking forward to this," Ryker complained as he and JT headed into Pegula for their 8 a.m. practice. "We're gonna get our asses chewed out for that shit yesterday."

"Yeah, well, I should be off the hook, considering I can't even play."

"I had seven minutes of ice time, Banner. I hardly played either."

"I've been meaning to ask you. You can't see shit without your glasses. You wear contacts when you play?"

"Wow, you should've been a goalie. Absolutely nothing gets by you, Banner."

"Dick," JT muttered, as they made a left, then walked down the hallway toward the locker room.

"So, did you sleep well?" Ryker asked, taking JT by surprise.

"Yes, Dad. I slept fine. Why?"

"I imagine you did, considering the absolute smackdown you laid on your dick."

"Fuck," JT mumbled, his face reddening. "I thought you were asleep, Nerd. You were literally snoring. "

"You're not quiet."

"Sorry."

"Not gonna lie, it was kinda hot," Ryker teased, bumping him with his shoulder. "I like your little sex noises…"

"OK, that's plenty of this conversation," JT interrupted, opening the door to the locker room. Most of the guys were already there and in various states of dressed, and JT could sense the tension in the room the moment he entered. Eyes were on him, following him around the room, quickly looking away when he attempted to meet them with his own. There were whispers, and no one was teasing him and calling him Red the way they normally did when he'd show up.

Maybe they're all still upset about the game last night , he thought, trying his best not to read too much into it. He geared up and headed out to the ice, where they were immediately reamed out for not bothering to show up against Michigan State and forced to complete a series of suicide drills, which ended in a couple guys heaving into a nearby trashcan.

When the defense and offense had split up, JT and Colton Carter were paired for a few strong side drills, and while they normally chatted it up between the action, Colton was silent. Coach eventually called a five-minute water break, and JT decided to try and figure out if he was losing it.

"Carter," he said, coming to a stop next to him and grabbing a bottle. "Is it me, or is, like, everyone being really weird today?"

"Nah, it's just…" Colton paused, looking around uncomfortably and shooting some water into his mouth. "Pissed about last night is all."

Just then, D'Angelo skated over, snowing both of them and tapping JT on the ass with the toe of his stick. "I'd ask if you guys were runnin' any 3-on-1 drills, but apparently Red's already a fuckin' pro."

"Mark," Colton chided. "Fuck off with that shit, man."

JT now knew for certain there was fuckery afoot. "Nah, let him cook. What's, um, what's that supposed to mean, exactly?" he asked, feeling the familiar surge of anger beginning to rise in his throat. "This have anything to do with our conversation last night outside the party?"

He didn't like where this was going.

"I mean, when I said have fun, I didn't know you were going to have that much fun. Shit, Red. Even I gotta admit that was fuckin' impressive ."

"Alright, seriously," JT raised his voice, throwing his stick to the ice and moving in on D'Angelo. "What the fuck are you talking about right now?"

Promptly, several of the other guys made their way over to see what the commotion was about, and within seconds, Ryker was at JT's side, hand firmly gripping his shoulder. "Hey, calm down, Banner. It's OK."

"Nah, fuck that," JT interrupted him, beginning to panic. "What's going on? Seriously?" He turned toward Colton. "Carter, man. What the fuck?"

Colton exhaled. "The guys from last night? One of them uploaded the video of…the activities that took place to his OnlyFans. He's not a student here. Used to be. He belonged to the frat and still parties there all the time. He has a shit ton of subscribers on campus…"

"What video , man? What are you…"

JT immediately felt sick to his stomach.

The handoff.

The phone.

They'd fucking recorded him.

Without his knowledge or consent.

"I gotta hand it to you, Red," D'Angelo continued. "Taking down three frat guys at once like that? And two at the same time? I didn't even know you did OnlyFans content. Just be careful. I mean, a lot of us have, but if the school catches wind of it…"

"I don't…I don't…" was all he could get out. "I didn't know they were…"

"Ah, shit," one of the upperclassmen, Ryan LeFleur, said as he skated over to the group. "You guys talking about ‘Slutty Hockey Boy Takes Down Three Frat Bros'? Congrats, man. You know, I heard it's already made, like, over two grand. You better get your cut of that shit, Red."

"I didn't fuckin' consent to shit! " JT screamed, doubling-over and groaning, unable to move. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God," he repeated, feeling like he was about to puke at any moment.

"You've gotta keep your image clean, and you've gotta stay out of trouble. No fights, no drama, no arrests, and no scandals."

Welp, so much for that.

"Hey, no worries. Listen," LeFleur tried to reassure him. "You couldn't even see your face. At all. It was hidden."

"Then how the fuck do you know it was me?" he mumbled, standing up and ripping off his helmet, sweat pouring from his head.

"Um…the back tats. But only because I've seen them. And they kept calling you Redshirt. Other than that? I mean, no one, like, would even know…"

"Yeah, OK. Son of a fucking bitch!" JT yelled, slamming his helmet to the ice as the other guys looked around at each other.

JT mailed it in for the rest of the practice, and when it was over, he promptly exited the ice for the locker room. Once inside, he tore off his gear and threw it onto the floor, kicking at his pads with his skates and trying his best not to completely lose his temper.

Deep breaths.

4-7-8

4-7…

"Fuck!" he screamed, plopping onto the bench in front of his stall, hanging his head, and tearing at his hair.

Ryker was instantly by his side, arm around his shoulder, and though JT wanted to push him away, he didn't, instead allowing the young man to comfort him as tears of anger slipped down his cheeks.

It was at that moment a couple of the other guys, who'd remained on the opposite side of the ice and missed the conversation, came through the locker room, and JT heard one of them say, "What's his problem?"

Before he could even think about reacting, Ryker jumped up and had the guy on the floor in a headlock. "What's your problem, asshole?" he shouted, as the two struggled wildly on the ground before a few of the other teammates pulled them apart.

"You're fucking psycho, McCreery!" the guy yelled, as two others dragged him away.

"Do something about it then!" he called after him as Colton dumped him back onto the bench. Ryker gave JT, who was staring at him wide-eyed, an upward nod, letting him know he had his back.

Awww.

"Everyone just…needs to calm down, man," Colton said quietly, as D'Angelo and Macklin made their way over to them. "Just let cooler heads prevail, OK?"

"Cooler heads, my ass," D'Angelo grumbled, reaching a hand out toward JT. "Red, listen. I had no idea that it wasn't…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said, man. I was way out of line, and I'm sorry."

JT reached out and shook his hand before pulling it back and swatting bitterly at some tears.

"This isn't over, Red," Macklin added. "We're gonna handle this shit. I'm pretty sure that's a sex crime, man. Right?" He looked over at D'Angelo, who shrugged.

"Don't know if it's a sex crime, but you're goddamn right we're gonna handle this shit. We're not gonna let him get away with it. Nix has always been a scumbag anyway. He's gonna wish he didn't fuck with our redshirt."

Nix , JT thought, realizing that up until that point, he didn't even know the names of two-thirds of the guys whose loads he'd swallowed, and that one-third still remained a mystery.

"Seriously, we've got your back, man," D'Angelo assured JT, patting him on the shoulder. "We're gonna take care of this shit to night . There's a football game today against Michigan State, home game, so they'll be having another party later on. We're gonna pay them a little visit, OK, Red? This shit is gonna end real quick. And you're not gonna get in trouble, so don't even worry about it."

JT nodded, as Ryker placed a hand on his thigh, letting it linger for a few seconds before squeezing and pulling away. "I'll be there," Ryker told him.

"Hey, we'll text you later when we're heading over. Seriously, don't sweat it, Red. We got your back."

JT watched the three men walk away toward their stalls and was overcome with emotion, letting his head fall into his hands as he thought about how lucky he was to have so many people, people he hardly even knew, willing to go to war for him at the drop of a dime.

He was becoming acutely aware that his walls were beginning to come down.

And that absolutely fucking terrified him.

"When you meet the right people, the ones who wanna help you, don't push them away."

"I won't, Mom," he whispered, swiping at his face and bending over to untie his skates. "I won't."

???

"So, when you say you kissed , did you like, kiss, or…" Jess prodded Audrey as the two sat in the Starbucks of the Giant they'd gone to for their weekly groceries.

Audrey smirked, taking a sip of her nonfat cappuccino, then tapping her fingers against the cup. "It wasn't like, a kiss . It was…I don't know how to describe it. Like, we just…"

"Was there tongue?"

"No. Our lips met and just kinda…hung out there for a minute."

"And did you want more?"

"I mean…maybe?"

"Ahhh! You're fucking falling for the college boy you're tutoring!" Jess yelled, causing a mom with two young kids to glance in their direction and shoot them a dirty look. "Oh, calm down, Mary Poppins," Jess said to the woman. "Don't act like you wouldn't love to have yourself a college boy to play with, too."

The woman rolled her eyes, scooped an arm around her two kids, and scampered away.

"Jess!" Audrey yelled, reaching across the table and smacking her arm.

"What? I'm telling you, Aud. Fuck him. It'll change your life. I've hooked up with…" Jess paused, closing her eyes and counting on her fingers. "Four now. I'm an addict. A certified addict. They are so fucking horny , Aud. It's unreal. And they love to eat ass. Seriously cannot get enough of it."

"You, you…there's something wrong with you," she teased, sipping her drink.

"Have you ever had your ass eaten?"

"We're not talking about this now. Or ever. Thanks."

"Fine. But seriously, Audrey. You're falling for him. You talk about him nonstop. I mean, just admit it."

"And what if I am? It's not like it matters. For one, he's a hockey boy. Two, he's way too young for me, and three…" She paused, hanging her head.

"Three?"

Audrey sighed. "He's this…amazing soul, no lie. He's so in tune with things, like…he gets the world. He's not ‘book smart', but he's so unbelievably intuitive. Like, he's got an exceptional echoic memory, which means if he hears something, he remembers it. It's crazy. He knows the most random facts about the most random of topics. And he's funny. So funny. Gives my shit right back to me, and way better."

"Don't forget hot."

"Yeah, that, too. He's so beautiful, Jess. Ugh, fuck," Audrey dropped her head onto the table and pounded it lightly with her fist a few times. "He's 20. Jess: he's 20 goddamn years old. I'm gonna be 34. This…shit like this doesn't work. Ever. It's only gonna end in heartbreak."

"No one said you had to marry him, Aud. But you need to let that boy lay you down and give you a proper dicking. You haven't even looked at anyone since Ev. Seriously, you better ride this kid's cock. And soon."

"I'm his tutor, Jess. That's…that's…"

"Fucking hot, " Jess interrupted. "Dude, here." She took out her phone, typed for a bit, then turned the screen toward Audrey. "Pornhub. College student and tutor. Look how many search results there are! You could literally be living the dream."

"Oh, yeah. The dream , alright," Audrey groaned, downing the rest of her coffee and ignoring the rumble in her stomach. "Even my shit car told me to go fuck myself."

"They couldn't fix it?"

Audrey shook her head. "It's a 12-year-old Mirage, dude. The repairs are more than the car is worth. Whole engine block is shot. So, I'm officially without a car. Which, whatever, I can walk most places from our building, but like, it's gonna get really cold soon, and that's gonna suck."

"Can't you get a low-mileage lease or something?"

"I mean, I could , but it'd be pushing it. I'd need a few grand for a down payment anyway, which I definitely don't have. And between rent, utilities, groceries, health insurance, my student loans, it's…it'd be really tight." Audrey's phone bu zzed and she looked down to see a text from JT.

J: I didn't read the chapters. Sorry. They're not due until Wed. I'll have them done by Tuesday.

A: OK. Did you wanna cancel today then?

J: No. I really need to see you. Something kinda happened, and I'm kinda freaking the fuck out.

J: Can I see you?

"Shit," Audrey mumbled, typing a quick reply.

A: Yeah, of course. You wanna go for a hike at Rothrock? Clear your head a bit?

J: I'll do whatever the fuck you want as long as I can see you.

A: OK, meet me at my place in an hour. And we have to Uber because my car took a shit.

"Um, Aud? You're glowing. "

She smiled, putting her phone down. "OK, fine. I like him. There? You happy? I…fucking like him. And I know I'm gonna get my heart broken again."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because guys his age want one thing from women our age, and it's not a happily ever after."

"Maybe…I don't know, maybe he's different," Jess suggested. "And again, who said anything about a happily ever af ter. Just….fucking let him eat your ass."

"Ugh, OK. You…what's with you and eating ass all of a sudden?"

"Make you a deal: when it happens, because it's going to happen, text me your apology."

"Fine," Audrey said, standing up and grabbing her bags. "Anyway, I gotta get back. We're…he didn't read his chapters, so we're going hiking instead."

"You mean, you're going on a date."

"It's not a date," Audrey insisted.

"Keep telling yourself that, babe. Keep telling yourself that."

They headed out of the store to Jess's car.

So, what if it was a date?