9. Teagan

nine

The hallway to the locker room is void of the normal sounds associated with the pre-practice banter among the players. It's my first practice with the team, and I don't want to mess it up and get kicked off before I even get started.

My head still hurts from Kelsey making sure my wine glass was refilled all night long as we celebrated me winning a spot on the men's hockey team. And discussing what the proper term for a male puck bunny would be if that was actually a thing.

I hitch my duffel bag over my left shoulder, trying to assess the situation, when I see a group of my teammates huddled outside the locker room. "Why are you all standing outside the men's locker room?" I push my way through the bodies of my hockey teammates as they crowd around the locker room door.

"Something you'll never have to worry about." Brady, our starting goalie, snorts, lifting his arm and pulling his long sleeve back to expose a faint scar on his forearm. "I've got more lower on my body if you want to see." He reaches for his belt buckle, ready to drop his pants in the middle of the rec center hallway.

"No, that's okay. I'm good." I extend my hand to Brady, palm first, and shake my head. "But that still doesn"t explain what you're all doing out here in the hallway, listening in at the door."

"It's part of the new team member initiation. We've all gone through it." Kade, the second-string winger, smirks. "But since you"re a girl, you won't have to do it like the rest of us had to."

I'm almost ready to pull my hair out with their vague responses. "Will someone please explain to me what exactly is happening in there? I point to the locker room, my patience wearing thin, "that everyone else has already gone through." I inwardly applaud myself for not punching one of these idiots in the face for their cryptic answers to my question.

"Like your daddy would let anything bad happen to his little Ice Princess," Mark spits out, his steely glare daring me to disagree.

How I hate that stupid nickname, the press gave me all those years ago when I would tag along with my brothers to all their games and practices wearing my pink ice skates and Disney princess dresses.

Done with this conversation, I grab Mark by the T-shirt and grip it tightly, twisting the fabric until it is pulled taut against his throat. "Tell me what's going on, or I will show you just what daddy's little Ice Princess is capable of doing when someone pisses her off." I let go of his shirt with a little shove.

"Fine, you crazy bitch. All newbies have to strip down to their underwear in the showers while the team captains snap them wherever and however hard on their bodies with a wet towel." A smug look crosses his face. "The harder they snap you proves how worthy you are to be on the team. So, if they leave a scar on your body."

"It's a badge of honor," I finish his sentence, remembering those words all my brothers spoke when I asked them about the small, faded scars on their bodies.

It's a rite of passage, and I deserve it just as much as any of the other players that have played here at State College.

Anger clouds my better judgment as I push my way into the men's locker room. The door slams against the cement wall, echoing through the locker room. I throw my duffle bag on the floor with a thud and stomp my way to the showers, where I hear the voices of Fin, Royal, and Coulter. The distinct sound of a wet towel hitting bare skin hangs heavy in the air.

I round the corner to the showers and come to a stop when I see Fin, Royal, and Coulter fully clothed with wet towels in their hands, circling their prey, who is wearing only a pair of boxer briefs.

"Come on, guys, you aren't even hitting me that hard," Jared, the other newbie on the team, whines, looking at his arms. "You can barely even see a mark. There's no way it's going to leave a scar." He pouts, proving exactly why Fin, Royal, and Coulter aren't snapping their towels that hard at him. He's not good enough to be in the same category as those players who came before him.

I step toward the showers, catching all of them off guard. "Get out, Jared. It's my turn."

Jared glances between the three captains, and something in their eyes must warn him not to argue because he scampers away. The sound of the door slamming shut vibrates through the locker room, leaving me alone with Fin, Royal, and Coulter.

I kick off my shoes, slip off my jeans, and whip off my shirt, not caring where it lands. How dare they think that just because I'm a girl, I don't get to join in on the yearly hazing of the new players.

I stomp to stand between the three of them, giving them my best glare. "Go ahead. Show me what you got."

Royal rolls his eyes, the wet towel falling from his hand with a loud thud to the tile floor. "We are not going to mark up your skin," he says.

Anger bubbles through my veins. How dare he decide I'm not worthy of my birthright. "I'm better than most of the guys on our team. I've worked hard for my place here, and it's not fair for you to punish me by denying me my rightful spot in the team"s legacy." My eyes land on each one during my speech. "Now show me just how good you think I am with how hard you snap me with those towels."

"I said no."

My head jerks toward Royal at his words, laced with a combination of heat and anger. His eyes roam up and down my body, reminding me that I am standing in just a skimpy pair of lavender panties and a sheer lavender bra that match my eyes perfectly.

It's my favorite bra and panty set that always makes me feel sexy, but right now, I feel like I could combust with the lust rolling off all three of them.

I feel the sting on my nipple for a split second before I hear the crack of the wet towel as it sails across my body. My eyes following the towels recoil back to Fin.

"What the fuck, Fin!" Royal yells. "I said we weren't going to put her through the hazing."

"You know she's right, Royal. She is better than everyone on the team, present company excluded." Fin waves his hand between Royal, Coulter, and himself, "and she deserves this. No, she has earned the right to be a part of the hazing ritual. Besides, if we don't do this, she'll never earn the respect of our teammates."

Royal's scowl deepens. "Fine, but did you really need to hit her nipple?"

"Yes, I did. I had to get everyone's attention." A playful smirk crosses Fin's handsome face, and I want to tell him how much I liked the feel of it and how badly I want to feel it again. But the angry look on Royal's face tells me I better not press my luck.

I take a deep breath and shake my head, causing my long hair to tickle my back. The feeling makes my nipples pucker even tighter, and I swear I hear more than one of the guys groan. It doesn't help that I'm attracted to each one of them in a way that can't be natural.

My mind wanders to thoughts of being with them separately and together. I've only ever been with one guy at a time, so the idea of having sex with all three of them at the same time is so foreign to me, but it sounds so right.

"Teagan, are you sure about this?"

I swing my gaze to Coulter. The concern shining in his eyes warms my heart, but I can't let that weaken my resolve to be treated like any other rookie on the team.

I give him a firm nod, knowing this is the only way to prove myself to the whole team—or at least to take a small step toward proving myself.

"Are you ready?" Royal bends down to retrieve his towel, giving me extra time to prepare for the hazing.

"Ready." My hands clench and unclench at my sides; the anticipation of what's to come eats away at my nerves. But I refuse to show any signs of weakness. I'm a Hayes, damn it, and this is my birthright. I look straight ahead at the gray cement wall in front of me and lift my chin.

The first slap of a towel comes from Fin. The sharp sting rocks through my nipple since his aim is still focused on my breasts. I bite my lip, holding back a groan that wants to break free.

"Fin," Royal growls through clenched teeth. "Not her tits."

Fin shrugs, pulling the towel back for another hit before snapping it back at me, this time connecting with my pussy, inches away from my clit.

"Not her tits or pussy. Got it, Fin?" Royal snarls, his eyes roaming up and down my body, making my nipples tighten even more. "Got it?"

"How about her ass?" Fin swings his towel in a circle, preparing it to snap my body, waiting for Royal's answer.

"Fine, you can snap her in the ass, but not the face, tits, or pussy," Royal concedes, his eyes continuing to burn into mine.

I'm not sure how many more times I can listen to Royal talking about my body. The deep rumble of his voice vibrates through my pussy. Add his words, and my panties are soaking wet.

"Shit, look at the wet spot spreading across the front of her panties," Coulter chokes out, sounding more like a man gasping for his last breath than a top-notch athlete.

I fight the urge to cover my lust from them. With all three of their gazes locked on my panties, I take a quick peek to see how soaked they really are. With my pussy lips clinging to the silk fabric for dear life, there's no way I can pass it off as the moisture from Fin's towel when it connected with my pussy.

"Holy fuck! Her panties are drenched." Fin's eyes snap to mine, and he drops his voice to a seductive whisper. "Do you need me to take care of your aching pussy? My huge cock can make the pain go away. Hell, I bet our three cocks could ease the pain in all of your holes."

My heart thumps wildly in my chest, and my head begins to nod, silently agreeing with Fin's offer to ease my throbbing body because all of my holes are aching to be filled by them.

"What the fuck, Fin? She's our teammate, not one of your puck bunnies you can just fuck and throw away." Royal's eyes glaze over in lust, contradicting his words.

Does the thought of them all fucking me at the same time turn him on?

The air crackles with the untamed lust rolling off of the three of them. My body shivers as it tries to absorb every drop of sexual tension filling the locker room. I move my eyes from Royal to Fin, then finally to Coulter, and they all have the same primal look in their eyes, making me want to take off my bra and panties and get on my hands and knees, presenting my backside to them to claim me in the most primitive way.

None of us move for what feels like hours, standing motionless with only the sound of the faint trickle of water escaping the loose shower heads and connecting with the floor tiles. Our labored breathing morphs into one sound, the same speed, the same depth, as if we were truly one person.

It's almost hypnotic, making me want to give in to the desire thickly coating the air of the locker room when the bang of the locker room door pulls me out of my trance.

"Guys, are you almost done? Coach wants all of us in the film room now." A voice I don't recognize yells from the locker room as a mop of messy brown curly hair pops around the corner of the shower wall.

"Get the fuck back, Henderson!" Coulter yells, placing his massive body in front of mine, shielding me from the prying eyes of the guy.

"Tell Coach we'll be there in ten minutes." Royal barks the command, the lust in his gaze now shifting to anger.

"O-oh, okay," Henderson stutters, slamming the door in his haste to leave the locker room and the guys' anger.

"Let's get this over with." Royal positions himself in front of me with Coulter moving to my right side and Fin to my left side.

"Are you ready, Teagan?" Fin gives me an encouraging nod.

"Ready." I tilt my chin up, standing my ground to accept my earned hazing.

The anticipation causes goosebumps to erupt all over my body. My nipples tighten to an almost unbearable level of awareness, and I hold back a groan.

The stings of the towels instantly hit my body, and true to his word Fin sends smack after smack of the towel to my ass, making my cheeks burn with each hit. My pussy clenches, imagining it's Fin's hand and not a towel smacking my ass.

Coulter and Royal refrain from smacking me anywhere but on my arms and legs. Thankfully, they're putting some force behind each slap of the towel, letting me know they're taking this hazing seriously and treating me like any other new player on the team.

I try to hold back the moans that are dying to break free from my lips. I'm sure none of the other players, or even Royal, Fin, or Coulter, got aroused when they went through this hazing. My body betrays me again by releasing more moisture into my already-soaked panties.

Just when I think my mouth is going to betray me by moaning with all the bottled-up lust I feel, Royal puts an end to the hazing.

"That's enough," he commands.

I inwardly sigh in relief, knowing I survived my lustful thoughts without letting them know how it affected me. Well, everything but my soaked panties, which are now hopelessly ruined.

"We'll watch the door while you put your clothes back on." Royal motions for Coulter and Fin to follow him out of the showers.

Knowing I can't go to the team meeting in drenched panties, I quickly slip them off before sliding my jeans on. I tug on my T-shirt before tucking my wet panties in the front pocket of my jeans.

I glance down at my arms to see small red welts covering them, and I smile, knowing that in a day or two, the redness will be replaced with healing white scars, proving my worth in the eyes of my team captains and earning my badge of honor in the hockey world.