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“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”
With a shy smile, followed by Nat's friend's cooing noise at how much of a gentleman he was, Kasey stood up from the busy table. He went to sit on one of the stools by the bar, tapping his fingers at the rhythm of some pop song, and waited to order the drinks for Natalie, Alex, and himself.
From the table across the bar, Natalie flashed him a bright smile, and it was the most natural thing to smile back.
She’d asked Alex and Kasey to come with her for a few drinks with her friends from the studio, and the night had been fun enough. Alex had suggested a decent bar just outside town, avoiding the central ones to have a chill night out, away from cameras and prying eyes. So far, no one had interrupted them for a picture or to discuss the freshly ended season, and that, in Kasey's book, meant that it was working. He'd let Natalie and Alex do most of the talking, sipping his virgin drink -someone had to get them home at the end of the night.
And honestly, just looking at them smile and sip their drinks was enough to draw involuntary smiles from him. I pulled that. They're both here with me. A glittering prize that was there for everyone to see, but only for him to draw giggles out of smiley kisses. So yeah, he was content with nodding along the current conversation and taking it all in.
Natalie was so careful to include him and Alex in every conversation and fill in with details, the one time they were hanging out with people outside of their own circles. Maybe too careful and innocent, Kasey and Alex agreed with one silent look. As if she didn’t fill them in with the studio's gossip every time she came home from work. The little shit.
And Alex was in his element. Ten minutes into the night, he had the whole table cackling and waiting for him to say his bit. He was charming like that, Kasey knew it well. Magnetic. It was nice to stroke his thigh under the table -a small, casual gesture that was better than any shiny ring or purple mark on their necks. Just like his arm around Nat’s bare, already sinfully tan shoulders. No urgency at all to show they belonged to each other; just the smug, untold touch that spoke for itself.
From his stool by the bar table, Kasey watched as Natalie ran the exact same pattern down Alex’s thigh, and he yearned for his seat, right in between them. He ordered the drinks quickly, hoping they wouldn’t get too much to be ready.
He’d been waiting for said drinks to for about a minute when a man took the stool next to his, pointedly ignoring the many other free seats on both sides. Kasey registered the weird approach but ignored him, keeping his eyes on the aging bottles disposed in shelves in front of him.
Then, the man began to throw him glances every few seconds to see if Kasey was looking back at him. He didn’t even look like he meant to order anything, remaining silent and unnecessarily close. Kasey checked his phone to kill some time, and then his watch, but after a while he could feel the man staring a hole into his head, impossible to ignore.
He tried not to mind, he really did. Alex could find the most anonymous bar in the city, but they were still NHL players. People were going to recognize and approach them. What Kasey did mind, though, was when people did neither. Some would just…stare in the most obnoxious way. Maybe hoping and waiting for him to make the first move. As if he’d start to chat with strangers every time he got stared at.
His teammates were better in this kind of situations. Leo tried with a gentle Can I help you. Thomas with a Wassup. Even shy, introvert Loops sent a small smile, and Alex…well, Alex was Alex. He started conversations with people not even staring at him. Just for fun.
Natalie liked to joke that Alex had kissed Kasey so many times that he’d sucked all the social energy out of him -a joke usually followed by dirtier ones. But one could look at it that way; where Kasey lacked all kind of social battery, Alex was a bottomless pit of extroversion. They balanced each other in a way that made Kasey feel at peace with himself and the world.
But if Alex was Alex, Kasey was Kasey.
And Kasey didn’t start conversations with random men who stared at him insistently and occupied his space in a bar full of empty seats.
But the man didn’t look like he was going anywhere, and eventually Kasey had to turn and look at him, if not to say Hi to a fan, then to ask what was it that he wanted. The man looked like the classic fuckboy you meet at a nameless bar like that one. Hair spiked up with an unnecessary amount of gel, baseball jersey on and sunglasses in his hair even though it was nearly midnight. He smelled of beer and cigarettes in a way that made Kasey suppress a grossed-out face.
“Can I help you?” he asked, giving him a head to toe look in hope to sound mildly annoyed.
Fuckboy immediately nodded, lips curving in an arrogant grin as he titled his chin at something behind Kasey’s shoulder. “Is that your miss at the table by the tv? The blondie?” he asked in a low, confidential tone that drew Kasey’s brows together. He’d been waiting for the usual You’re the Blizzard, right?, or maybe a picture. Certainly not that.
The uneasiness he’d felt when the man had sat was slowly boiling in his chest. He turned, as subtle as he could, only to see Natalie, laughing at something one of her friends had said.
Natalie looked good that night, in her tight purple dress, and she knew it. Her cheeks were flushed from the cocktails she’d already ordered. The ring at her finger sometimes caught in the light in a way that made Kasey want to scream and cry right in front of everyone, and then get down on his knee again. Natalie Darcy, a goddess to behold.
Alex looked good, too. He always did. He’d borrowed Kasey’s blue shirt, a few buttons left undone, and Kasey had settled earlier that night that the shirt would no longer be his. The redhead looked too good in it. So hot, Freckle, Nat had smiled a few hours before, as she pulled them in front of the hallway mirror for a quick pic before getting in the car. Wearing his clothes for a night out.
Kasey unconsciously stood straighter, squaring his broad shoulders up in the way he did to occupy as much nest as possible when a puck approached. He turned back to face the man, brows now up and his stare icy.
“Yeah,” he answered. “What about her?”
Fuckboy nodded slowly, with an expression between knowing and apologetic. “Hm. Thought so. Listen, my man, I hate to say it, but…I think the chick’s cheating on you.”
It took a second for Kasey to register the words. He blinked a few times, looking for things to say.
“I…what?”
And then, realizing the absurdity of the situation, and the nerve that stranger had, “Excuse me,” he continued, turning to face the man, “Do I even know you?”
Fuckboy sent his hands up with a condescending expression. “Listen man, I’m just trying to help a dude out, okay?” He pointed at the table again with a dirty grin. “Look at your friend there, all over her. They look pretty cozy, huh?”
Kasey’s eyes moved before he could register what was going on. He let out a snort -he should have known. Natalie was now on Alex’s lap, still talking to her friends as a hand mindlessly ran through copper strands. Alex was focused on leaving soft kisses on her bare shoulder.
They did look cozy, Kasey thought to himself. Cozy and cute and beautiful, so beautiful together.
They hadn’t even noticed the looks on them, so lost in conversation and in each other, that Kasey felt his heart pull. In the low lights of the bar, their faces were warm and peaceful, relaxed in lazy smiles, Alex’s fingers playing with Nat’s ring. It was a motion so gentle and practiced, over the last months spent together, and one that Kasey could stare at forever.
The goalie turned again, eyes focused on the bottles neatly displayed behind the bar in front of him. “Nah, we’re good. Thanks,” he said, making a point not to smile or look at Fuckboy. He hoped that would be enough to dismiss him.
It wasn’t, of course.
Fuckboy scoffed, leaning even more towards Kasey. “Dude,” he laughed disbelievingly. “You gotta stand up for your girl, you know? I really think you can take that carrot skin.”
Kasey had to bite the inside of his cheek not to laugh at his face. Oh, you have no idea.
He took a deep breath instead, determined not to let a random, annoying guy ruin their night out. “Listen,” he tried again, with way more patience than he actually felt. “I said we’re good. They’re both my partners. Leave.”
He could almost see the gears moving in the man’s head, trying to connect the dots. Maybe he’ll apologize and leave, Kasey thought. Maybe he’ll understand and let it go. Maybe…
“My dude. Is that what they’re telling you?”
Of course not.
Before Kasey could open his mouth again, Fuckboy was patting his shoulder, definitively annulling the distance between them. His breath stinky with alcohol and smoke was all over Kasey. “Let me tell ya, that right there is a shit friend to have. I know a thing or two about friends doing it under your nose, and you can’t let that…that ginger fucker steal your girl, you know?”
“That’s…” Kasey started. That’s my boyfriend, you asshole, he wanted to yell. And then he wanted to punch him, and again and again, and then kick him out of the place. Kasey couldn’t understand what his deal was. He could say that, in his not-that-long-but-still-significant career, he’d seen it all. Drunk fans, angry opponents, rude journalists, a few refs having a bad day, too. But Fuckboy beat them all, and most importantly, his self-imposed crusade mission remained a mystery. What exactly did he want? Was he looking for a fight with Kasey? With Alex? With them both? Could anyone really be that reckless about their own safety?
Most people avoided bothering him as a principle. You don't bother the goalie on the ice, you don't bother a 6'3" guy in general. It's, like, survival instinct. Unwritten rules and all. It's not even like he was an intimidating person. If anything, he was pretty chill. He guessed that his body and, as Leo had put it, resting bitch face, did all the work for him.
Still, even if people weren’t usually a problem, he wasn't used to strangers being in his space or talking shit about his partners like that. And for how chill and quiet he could be, he certainly wasn't going to let all that pass. Quiet had never meant passive. The thing was, he really didn’t have it in him to start a fight in a nameless bar on a Wednesday night. Not with both his boy and his girl sitting happy and clueless at their table, waiting for him to be back with their drinks.
So, “That’s none of your business,” he gritted instead of answering Fuckboy's question. Who, for this credit, didn't look like the hostility or dirty looks touched him at all. He continued looking at their table, shaking his head disapprovingly.
If he doesn't stop looking at them this second...
A hot fury was quickly rising in his chest, Kasey could feel it. He was usually pretty good at keeping it at bay, at keeping his temper cool and maintaining his focus. It was his job -to never lose focus on a very small object even when everyone around him was crashing, yelling, and creating chaos. But in that moment, the puck was nowhere to be seen. Uneasiness and frustrations were mixing too quickly in his chest.
"I said leave."
Fuckboy, still staring smugly at the table, in a you-don’t-know-what's-coming-for-you way, did a double take. “Dude, are you seeing them? I mean…c’mon. They’re really doing it under your nose. Just wanted to let you know, you know. Man to man…”
“Look,” Kasey interrupted, stepping down the stool. He had a few inches on Fuckboy, and he hoped that that and a final warning would finally make him leave. The patience strategy was at its limit. “Thanks for your…sense of civic duty, solidarity, or whatever, but I said we’re good. Don't make me repeat it. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.” The trouble being you missing three teeth.
Fuckboy scowled, offended. “What’s the matter, man?” Then his eyes widened in the dumbest sparkle of illumination Kasey had ever seen. “Unless...are you the other guy? Like, in an affair? No, wait, is it a gay thing? You’re, like, girls’ best friends, right? Nah, can’t be it. You don’t look like one of those…”
Holy shit, how is it possible to offend in so many ways in thirty seconds? Kasey thought, now positively fuming. He wasn’t one for explaining his personal life to complete strangers in the first place, but the man had crossed the line minutes ago. He’d crossed so many lines. And he was still blabbering, careless of the many dismissals or Kasey’s icy stare.
“…I don’t know your deal is, man, but if that’s your chick, he should be keeping his hands to himself, am I right?”, he chuckled. He then leaned in even more, impossibly close, a raised eyebrow, grinning. “Listen, I got a few guys at the table if you want. You know, to take care of the leprechaun. We gotta have each other’s back against girls who think they can just-”
A second later, Kasey had his fist clenched around Fuckboy’s jersey, making him stumble off his stool, and ready to make a tooth or two jump out of his mouth. Enough was enough.
“Say another thing, another fucking thing about them,” he all but growled. “I dare you.”
The man’s hands went around the one Kasey was clenching around the jersey, but his sloppy attempts at freeing himself were nothing against the steel grip of a pissed off, professional athlete. Kasey tugged the jersey again.
“I’m not your fucking dude, my fiancée is not some chick, and my boyfriend is not a fucking intruder for you to take care of,” he rumbled. “Got it?”
Fuckboy nodded frantically, too shocked to let a word out. But Kasey couldn’t forget the whole thing and let him go with just a warning. He'd tried, he really had. But that was four warnings or so ago, and the man had pushed his luck. He’d learn to stay out of what were none of his businesses, and not to offend in every possible way on earth, and…
Suddenly, a tray with three glasses appeared in between them, together with a concerned look.
“Er...a margarita, a daiquiri and an iced tea?” the barista asked hesitantly, placing the drinks on the bar top, her eyes darting from Kasey to the other man.
Kasey blinked and took a deep breath.
No, he wouldn’t do it, he decided. As Natalie would say, that poor excuse of a man didn’t deserve his time and energy. It wasn’t worth it. With a disgusted face, he unclenched his fist, pushing the man back against the stool. He then turned to the counter, fishing cash from his wallet without glancing at it.
“Thanks. Huh, keep the change,” he managed. The barista’s eyes widened, but she didn’t protest.
He then turned to Fuckboy one last time and put his goalie face back on. Unreadable, intimidating, aware of his broad figure towering over the guy, who was still looking at him with eyes wide open, that stupid grin of his nowhere to be seen now.
“Get lost,” he hissed. “Or else. You’ve been bothering me and insulting my partners for too long. I won’t repeat another time. And think again before you call a woman someone’s property or intrude on a relationship you know nothing about.” He threw one last up-and-down, chin-up glare. “Oh, and before you think about getting your few guys, I want you to know that I’m the Lions’ goalie. Gryffindor Lions. And the leprechaun over there? He’s the Rangers’ center. We get paid to work out and hit people. So get. Fucking. Lost.”
The man’s eyes widened as he scrambled to his feet. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before walking in the opposite direction and holing up in a busy booth, curved shoulders that made him look half his size.
Kasey walked away, leaving the tray of drinks at the counter. Any determination of having fun was long forgotten. The night was ruined anyways, and he wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible.
When he joined the table again, he was met by Nat’s delighted smile. She looked happily tipsy. “Hey there, lover boy,” she giggled, extending a hand for him to take as he stopped behind them. “What took you so long?”
“You were sent with a mission, Winter,” Alex joined, a hand going to pat the blonde’s hip. “Now we’re thirsty and confused.”
“Let’s go home,” he muttered without meeting their eyes.
Natalie frowned. She stood up from Alex’s lap, just a little wobbly, and Kasey didn’t miss the quick look the redhead sent to where he and Fuckboy had been standing a moment before.
“Hey,” Natalie asked, a hand on his chest, looking for his eyes. “All good?”
Kasey took a deep breath, nodding and bringing a hand to her waist to steady her. And maybe himself, too. “All good. Just wanna get out of here.”
No question asked, they quickly said their goodbyes to the table, with promises to meet for another night and to say hi to their teams. With one arm still circling Natalie, and a hand on the small of Alex's back, Kasey threw one last look in the direction of Fuckboy's booth, where his friends were listening to quite the story. Kasey snorted. “The audacity of some people, I swear,” he muttered under his breath as he placed his jacket on Nat’s shoulders.
His fingers were drumming on the steering wheel in a nervous rhythm, temper slow to boil down. Natalie’s breath came in soft snores from the backseat, and Alex was silent at his side. Kasey kept his eyes on the road, but he could feel Alex’s gaze on him. So different from the asshole at the bar. Soft, concerned, accompanied by a small smile.
Kasey was Kasey and Alex was Alex. But for how social and extroverted Alex might be, he was never out of place.
“So. That jerk at the bar?”
So he noticed, Kasey noted, then shrugged.
“Apparently, you two are 'doing it under my nose.'”
Alex took a second to realize what he meant, then laughed quietly. “Of course we are. As a matter of fact, you can’t see my hand right now, but...” He didn’t finish, noticing the joke wasn’t making him roll his eyes as usual.
Some time passed, the only noise the wheels on the smooth road.
“Hey.” A soft squeeze on his thigh.
“It’s just...” Kasey groaned, forcing actual words to come out of himself instead of keeping it all bottled inside. He was really working on that. “Why can’t people just mind their business?”
He received a sympathetic nod, that mixed bitterly with the thin line of Alex's lips. “I know.”
And Alex knew. The press hadn’t been exactly brutal, but sneaky remarks had come from social networks and interviews. What was Alex O’Hara doing with Blizzard’s girlfriend, and why did Blizzard allow it, where they just following the “trend”, Hazard’s hazard!, were they only hiding their homosexuality by including Nat...the list went on and on. They’d heard it all in the last few months.
Alex tapped a finger on his thigh, dragging him pit of tilting his head. “Kase. Don’t listen to Chad Fuckerson or whatever his name is.”
Some other time passed, Alex patiently waiting for him to calm down.
“He did strike me as a Chad, you know,” Kasey conceded at last, feeling some of the tension in his chest ease at last. Alex sent him a soft smile, sensing it, eyeing it in the well-known and well-loved map that Kasey was for him.
“That’s because they’re all the same. It’s like listening to a broken record. But,” he squeezed his boyfriend’s leg again, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’ve got you, and you've got me, and we’ve got her.”
Kasey nodded, doing his best to ignore the lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure if it was from the encounter at the bar or at Alex’s words -always fitting right, caressing him where he needed the most. He covered Alex’s hand with his own and nodded a few times, doing his best not to let his voice falter as he caught his amber eyes in the reviewer mirror, both checking on Natalie's peaceful breathing at the same time.
It was alright. He got them both.
“Yeah. We do.”