All Hockey Players Are Players... Right?

I looked up to the ceiling, the bare skin of my lower back in direct contact with the dark hard wood covering the floor. I could here the loud voices coming from the living room and I couldn’t help but smile a little as I heard Josh’s heart warming smile. It was really thoughtful of my sister to invite them over so they could catch up, only I wasn’t feeling up to the festivities right now. There was interior demons battling violently inside my head and I didn’t find myself able to lower their shouts. A small knock made its way through the crowded war zone and registered in my mind. I slid my head sideways to the door as it opened slowly, Lyssa’s head popping in the small space. “Ya know, you’re missing a heck of a party! You should come and enjoy this before Joe has to leave.” She said softly as I simply turned my head back to its original position, my eyes looking strait up. “Ruchi, Josh’s worrying about you. What’s wrong? Is it what I said earlier?” She asked in a low voice as I heard the door to my bed room closing behind her. I sighed softly as a single tear rolled down my cheek. He was simply to good for me. My life was messed up and I was rubbing it over everyone surrounding me. And I hated myself for that.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be acting this way for something so stupid.” I said sitting up as I realized she was frowning at me. I gave her a weak smile trying to convince her of my well being but she only shook her head at me.

“Don’t try this shit with me. I know you, and something’s going on. You barely touched you dinner, you pretty much ignored Joe messing around and you sneaked out on us as soon as it was humanly possible without us realizing it. Ruch, just tell me what’s happening.” She said sitting down beside me, her back against the side of my bed. I looked down at my folder hands sitting lightly in my lap, gathering my thoughts.

“I’m just messed up. My life’s messed up, my love life’s messed up, my friends are messed up... I just...” I tried to continue but lost my track of thoughts, my mind creating a defensive wall as to hold down the bad memories. Lyssa’s pressing gaze over my small form pushed me to go on. “I just want to go back in time and stop myself from getting into this.” I said bending my legs so I could bring my head down to my knees. Lyssa gave me a questioning gaze.

“Ruchica, you’re scaring me. What happened while we were appart.” She asked bringing her arm around my shoulders, breaking the barrier that were holding back my sobs. She rubbed small circles over my back, trying to keep me under control.

“I made a big mistake.” I started shaking my head, bring my hands over my face. “I fell in love with him.” I said as a strain of sobs fallowed harshly.

“With who, Josh?” She asked as I nodded slowly.

“With both of them.” I said slowly. I had left my barriers down and let them penetrate my secured zone. Step by step they had gotten closer to me in different ways and I now found myself unable to walk away from any of them.

“May you care to explain?” She asked slowly, obviously confused with my affirmation. I shrugged my shoulders lightly, looking at her after a few seconds. “Who is the other one?”

“Carey Price.” I said in a small voice, almost inaudible to the human ear. She froze beside me as I heard her constant breathing stopping in a sudden action, her eyes widening at me.

“Shmelly Price... you’re sister’s boyfriend? Ruch, as much as I love you, do you understand how wrong it is to fall for your sister’s loved one? Even if I hate him?” She almost screamed at me. As soon as she stopped talking, we could here an awkward silence falling over the apartment. We both looked at the door as a few voices were heard and the light buzz returned to the party. I looked down at the ground.

“Ex boyfriend.” I specified. “And I know it doesn’t make it any righter but let me explain.”

“Please do because I’m utterly confused.” She said looking at me intently. I inhaled deeply and looked at her, trying to make out what I was exactly going to tell her.

“Price cheated on my sister. Now before you get started on how this should be the exact reason why I should stay as far away from him as possible, hear me out. I was actually planning with Josh and a few friends to get Price to like me so I could break his heart. It simply didn’t turn out so well.” I said as I looked down again.

“Wait, how come you didn’t talk to me about this before going on with it. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It was obvious you would fall for the guy, he’s a charmer. He had every woman under his control, a bit like the Staals! You can’t just go and get closer with him without getting in the same boat as those other girls!” She said as a small knock resonated around us. It slowly opened and Joe stepped inside, looking down at me with a worried look.

“Hey, what’s up buddy?” He asked crouching down to our level as he looked at me intently. Realizing I wasn’t going to break under his gaze he sighted softly and looked at his girlfriend for some backup.

“She’s in love with Josh and is falling for Price.” She said as I widened my eyes and turned quickly toward them, glaring at Lyssa.

“What the hell!?” I asked her as Joe laughed awkwardly beside us. She only shrugged her shoulders while giving me a sheepish smile.

“I love you too?” She asked as I rolled my eyes at her.

“I think that’s my cue to leave.” Joe said standing up slowly as he brought his hand behind his neck. Lyssa shook her head as she grabbed his arm, pulling him down again.

“Not so fast mister, we need a guy’s point of view on that one.” She said as he looked between us.

“What do you want me to say?” He asked as I shrugged my shoulders. Lyssa lifted her eyebrow.

“You know Josh and I’m sure you’ve heard of Price in the locker room’s talks. Loving Ruch as much as you do, please tell her what’s really best for her.” She said getting closer to him as he completely sat down, straitening his legs in front of him before he let out a low sights, giving me a desperate look.

“I can’t say. As much as I trust Josh, he wouldn’t even be good enough for you.” He said seriously as I smiled softly, a smile reaching his lips. “As of Price, I don’t know him well enough. Lately he’s been quite good hockey wise and I’ve heard only good stuff off the ice, as of he’s regained his concentration and is really focused and calm. So I don’t know. It’s really your choice. You know better.” He said as I nodded my head slowly. “But, if I were to choose for you, I’d go with Josh, for the only reason that you’ve known him for a longer time.”

“And because you didn’t get to him based on a lie.” Lyssa said with a pointed look as Joe gave her a confused gaze. “I’ll tell you later.”

“No you wont. He doesn’t need to know about that. I would actually appreciate if that part of the story stayed between us. The less people who knows the better it’s gonna work.” I said defensively as I stood up, walking to the door.

“Are you still planning on doing this? Even with what’s going on?” She asked surprised, not moving from her spot seeing as Joe had his arm around her waist. I nodded.

“It’s the only way I’m really gonna know what fits best for me. And if he becomes a jerk, well I’ll be able to hurt him a little.” I said as I put my hand on the door knob.

“Wait. Ruch, from what I understood, you’re playing behind someone’s back to hurt them? What the heck? That isn’t like you. I don’t know what your purpose is and I don’t wanna know it, but seriously, think of the guy’s feelings. As hurtful as what he did might of been, it isn’t a reason to shoot it back at him. And if it’s to teach him a lesson, well he’ll learn it on his own, even if it takes time. That’s just how things work. And if you’re planning on hurting Josh, well you do have to realize that you’ll have to go through me.” He said in a somewhat threatening tone. I turned around to face him slightly hurt by his comment but fully knowing I deserved them. I closed my eyes as I breathed in slowly, holding back the wave of tears that was trying to break down my defenses.

“Don’t worry Joe, I’ll never forgive myself if I ever hurt Josh. Trust me on that one.” I said opening the door and closing it behind me, standing still in front of my room.

“Hey, Ruch, are you okay?” I heard Josh asking as he walked towards me. A hint of worry was obvious in his features as he stopped in front of me, looking at me trying to find some sort of answer. I nodded my head slowly as his arms found their way around my body, tightening their grasp so there weren’t any space between us. “Listen, if it’s the whole revenge over your sister’s case getting you like that, we should stop it.” He said as his breath against the skin of my bare neck sent goose bumps down my spine. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He said massaging my back as I melted to his touch. He took a deep breath before moving a step back, looking at me intently. “Actually, I would prefer if you stopped this whole Carey thing.” He said locking his eyes with mine, those beautiful deep eyes that could make me agree to anything.

“Why? I can handle it.” I said as he shook his head, looking down at the ground.

“But I can’t.” He said as I scrunched my eyebrows, giving him a confused look. “Seeing you flirt with him like that really hurts me, and I can’t handle it. I’m sorry.” He said turning around, ready to leave. I tried to understand how it could affect him so much but nothing came up. I grabbed his hand and he froze, looking back at me.

“Why?” I simply ask, nothing else coming up as my stomach did knots at the sight of him hurt in any way. He sighed furiously, turning back towards me.

“Are you that blind? I like you Ruchi, a lot. Ever since we started this whole Price thing, I’ve been fighting with this whole thing around you and the team. I think I’m in love with you.” He said the last part in a lower voice, his eyes falling to the ground. We didn’t move for a while, my hand still firmly in his as I couldn’t find myself letting go. This is what I needed to here. This was exactly what was supposed to help me figure out this whole thing. But I couldn’t get myself in acting on it.

“Josh, I...” I stopped myself. The way he looked at me activated something inside of me. I stepped closer to him, my body automatically moving toward his. I dropped my grasp on his hand to slide it up over his shoulder, the other hand fallowing suit before I secured both of them solidly behind his neck. A small smile appeared on my lips as his hands snaked their way around my waist out of instinct, inching our bodies closer. His eyes remained intrigued as I brought my lips closer to his, letting them attack his sweet skin that I’ve missed so much. His mouth naturally worked with mine, my eyes closing slowly as to fully enjoy the feeling of him over me. I felt myself getting pushed backwards, moving back until I came in contact with the wall behind us. His hands pulled me closer before moving up my body to the side of my face as to control my movements. I pulled away quickly to take a deep breath of air and dived right back in the action, one of his hands dropping to my hip, pulling it towards his hip as he pulled one of my leg around him as a hint. I gave away, straddling his waist as he used the wall for some leverage. I felt his tongue against my lips begging for some kind of entrance and I smirked in the kiss, letting my own slide against his. He pushed his pelvis against my body, letting me realize just how hard this little scene was making him. I pulled away ready to say something until I heard someone clearing his throat beside us. We quickly turned our heads, him letting me down in front of me and pulling him to his front, his arm securely around my waist as I widened my eyes at my sister and Marc who were giving us a weird look. Before we even knew it Joe and Lyssa were walking out of my bedroom with knowing smirks on their faces, Joe shaking his head at us.

“I don’t even wanna know.” My sister said turning around, putting the drying towel over her shoulder as she walked back to the kitchen, Marc fallowing her as he laughed his ass off at us. Lyssa crossed her arms over he chest with some sort of a glare as Joe simply laughed beside her. She brought her glare from us to her boyfriend as she hit him square in the stomach, making him bend over in a few groans.

“Don’t encourage them!” She said bringing her hands up in despair and turning on her heels, walking toward the living room.

“Hey, wait up! Don’t leave me alone with the horny teenagers!!” Joe said straitening up and walking behind her, the dumbest smirk on his face as me and Josh remained frozen, the ‘caught with our hand in the cookie jar’ expression still plastered all over us. As everyone walked out of the room, I twirled around in his arms, him tightening his grip around me.

“Next time we better make sure we’re alone.” He said putting his forehead against mine, kissing my nose softly. He lowered his lips to my neck before he started sucking on the soft skin, directing my body against the wall once again. I held back a moan as I grabbed his shirt tightly, holding onto it to regain my self composure.

“Josh...” I tried to say but it simply came out as a moan, turning him on even more. I could feel his cock hardening against my pelvis. “Josh, st...” Once more my attempted at trying to stop this little heated action failed frantically as he found my soft spot. I lowered my hands to the firm muscles covering his ass and dig my fingers into them, his pelvic instantly shooting straight forward into my front, the feeling of his throbbing cock making me shutter. He pulled away for a second and I brought my hand between our bodies, laying it over his chest. He tried to regain his heavy breathing as I looked at him. “We need to stop, there’s people around.” I whispered as he laid his forehead against mine again. “You better take care of your... problem, before we go back to the party.” I said looking down at his pelvis and bringing my eyes back to his.

“Wanna help?” He asked with a cocky smirk as I only shook my head, a smile forming on my lips.

“You’re so full of yourself.” I said laughing. “Go take a shower, I’ll meet you in the living room.” I said slapping his arm, waiting for him to let me move away. I gave him a pointed look as he didn’t move.

“I love you.” He simply said before taking a few steps back, turning around and walking into the bathroom. I remained frozen against the wall, fazed by his last three words. Those were real. And as scary as it was, my feelings for him reflected those words. What was I supposed to do?