Suckerpunch by Elyse Springer

Author:Elyse Springer [Springer, Elyse]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64405-430-7
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2019-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

Seattle Cascades (@CascadesNHL)

A short practice this morning, and then we’re off to Minnesota! Hope everyone packed their jackets… it’s going to be a bitter cold Midwest roadie. https://t.co/t9Ci5CUNe7

DESPRES WAS back at the arena the next day, much to Alex’s frustration.

The older goalie had been one of his idols for years. When he’d been drafted by the Cascades at age eighteen, he’d immediately started following Despres’s career, modeling his own play after the veteran goaltender and dreaming about a day when he’d get to play side by side with him. But now that he’d met Despres, he was quickly beginning to revise those dreams.

It wasn’t that Despres was an alcoholic, though that was obviously a very large problem. Alex understood that it was a disease and that even someone as talented and set in life as Eduard Despres could fall victim to it.

No, it was what came along with the alcoholism—or, maybe, what was already there before and was now amplified with it.

He hated Alex.

It was obvious, and Alex wasn’t the only one to have noticed it, though no one else seemed willing to discuss it. But every time Despres caught sight of Alex, his eyes narrowed and he looked furious. At one point Otter came up to talk to him about the Chicago game, where Alex would be getting yet another start; the smell of something foul had caught Alex’s attention, and when he looked over, he’d seen Despres practically seething a few yards away, clearly listening in.

“Why is he even here?” he asked Shawn, once he’d escaped to the ice.

Shawn grimaced, eyes darting over to where Despres was on skates but dressed casually, working one-on-one with a trainer. “I heard from Wilson, who heard from Klausman, that the team is waiting until the results of the court case before they pass any judgment on Ed. Like, they won’t suspend him until they know for sure. So until then, they’re letting him work with the coaches and trainers here so he can maintain muscle mass as he heals.”

It would have been fine, if Despres didn’t stink up the entire arena with his hate.

And if he seemed interested in actually healing. Because as he watched, Despres skated to the bench to pick up his own water bottle… only the liquid inside wasn’t water. Alex could smell the clear scent of alcohol all the way across the ice, though he doubted anyone else would have been able to smell it.

But the question of why Despres hated him so much wasn’t answered until they were getting ready to board the bus to head to the airport for their afternoon flight.

Sasha was talking to Despres in the back hallway, apparently saying goodbye, and Alex caught a hint of the conversation as he passed by them.

“You’ll be back soon,” Sasha was saying. “No one’s trying to steal your spot. I promise.”

Alex nodded politely as he walked around them, smiling blandly like he hadn’t heard. But inside he was raging.

He thinks I’m going to take over

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.