Center Chase

Chapter 6

Chase

As we enter the bar, the loud voices and raucous laughter along the back wall direct our attention to our teammates. Some of them anyway. The ones who never miss an opportunity to hang with the boys. They haven't seen us yet, which means they haven't seen Lindsey. 

"Good," I think to myself; that gives me some time to figure out how I'll handle myself when they start flirting with her. I know it will happen because she's a total smoke show. I need to remember to keep my cool. I have no claim on her, as much as I want to; she's still my best friend's sister. I have to try to behave.

While I remind myself to behave, I sneak a peek at Lindsey. She looks overwhelmed and a little scared. Can't say I blame her. She's fresh meat about to be tossed into a lion's den. But Liam is here, and I'm here. We won't let anything happen to her. I send her a smile as she looks over at me with those big green eyes, and she treats me with a slight twitch of her lips in return.

Liam has her tucked away under his arm, and I can't help the pang of jealousy that sears through me. I want to be the one holding her like that. I want to be the one protecting her. Luckily, I don't have much time to dwell on my selfish thoughts as we are nearly to the table. One of the guys sees us and hollers a greeting.

Liam replies, "What's up, fellas?" They all respond with some variation of "not much" or "same shit different day".

Then one of our goalies, Damien, asks, "Hey man, who's the hottie?" nodding to Lindsey.

That opens the door for introductions, and Liam tells everyone, "This is my sister Lindsey. She just moved here from Upstate. Be nice and make her feel welcome! Lindsey, these are the guys." He starts pointing at each as he tells her their names, "That's Rob, Drew, Dan, and Tyler; they play defense. Over there, we have Damien and Mikey; they're our goalies. Then, there's Nate and T.J. who play right wing."

Lindsey gives a shy smile and a wave and says hello. The guys all smile widely at her and nod as they greet her. They all seem intrigued, like they have just been given a shiny new toy. All except Dan, who's married, Tyler, who's engaged, and for some reason T.J., who just looks bored. At least I don't have to worry about him scamming on Lindsey. With his reputation, I swore he'd be the one to watch out for.

I see Drew and Damien eyeing her, though. They look very interested. Damien even comments, "No worries, Liam, we'll make sure she feels real welcome here." He sends her a wink.

I bite my tongue before I unleash on him. I know he's mostly joking, but the way he's checking her out pisses me off. His ogling hasn't gone unnoticed by Liam, though, "Okay, not happening! Damien, keep your paws to yourself and stop hitting on my sister. That goes for the rest of you, too. Lindsey is off-limits to you brutes."

I don't even try to hide my smile as the guys voice their disapproval of Liam's new rule. Damien scoffs, "Come on, man! We're harmless."

Liam rolls his eyes, "That's bullshit!"

Drew cuts in, "Hey dude, we can't help it if your sister is hot!" His smile widens as he turns to look at Lindsey, who is now bright red.

T.J. shakes his head and mutters something under his breath. I swear I heard, "Everyone is off-limits...". He takes a swig of beer.

After the guys have all said their piece, we redirect the conversation to something more comfortable. Chuck and Patrick turn their attention back to the women who were just hanging off of them. A waitress steps over and gets our drink orders, and we settle into a few seats around one of the tables. 

A few rounds later, Lindsey seems to be more relaxed, and she's chatting away with Liam, Dan, and Tyler. I try not to make it obvious as I keep letting my eyes drift over to her. She's sitting between Liam and me, sipping on some pink drink with vodka. She's nodding along to a story Dan is telling about his oldest kid.

That's when I hear Rob, "Uh oh, incoming."

I look up to see Valerie Jones and her best friend Jenna Davis making a beeline right to our table. My eyes roll, and I cringe internally. The same Valerie that I was spotted with in the bar last weekend. The one the tabloid printed a story about. I don't want to deal with them tonight.

As expected, Val sidles right up next to me, placing herself between Lindsey and me, and bats her lashes, "Heyyy Chase. I've missed you." She looks over to Lindsey and narrows her eyes. Fuck! Of course, she's not going to be nice.

Jenna pulls up next to Val, flipping her red hair over her shoulder, "Who's that?" She sends a nasty look to Lindsey.

Liam looks pissed, "This is my sister, Lindsey." He glares at the two unwelcome women.

Val smirks while she eyeballs Lindsey, "I'm Valerie, that's Jenna. We're the girls of the group." She runs her hand down my arm and turns her back to Lindsey.

Tyler chokes on his drink. Drew looks at Jenna and Val, "Can you say that though if you show up uninvited to the group?" Everyone starts laughing.

I push Val's hand away as she glares at Drew.

Jenna pipes up as she struts over to T.J., "T.J. wants us here. Right T.J.?" She smiles up at him as she presses her chest to his side. He shrugs her off and shakes his head as he walks up to the bar. Leaving Jenna pouting at the table.

You'd think that would be enough to convince them they weren't wanted at our table, but no, they took it as a twisted invitation to stay. We try to ignore them for another couple of rounds as they flirt and flaunt their cleavage while we attempt to converse amongst ourselves. Jenna keeps trying to flirt with T.J., and he keeps ignoring her. Val keeps touching me and sending Lindsey ugly looks.

I know Lindsey is trying to be a good sport and ignore her, but I can tell it's making her uncomfortable. And quite frankly, it's pissing me off. So, once Lindsey and Liam finish their drinks, I suggest that the three of us head out. Liam agrees, and Lindsey shoots me a grateful look.

We say our goodbyes to the guys and pointedly ignore Val and Jenna. Once we get outside, I look over at Lindsey, "Hey, sorry about those two. They hang around the team like leeches. They had no reason to be rude to you."

She gives me a weak smile, "It's okay," she shrugs.

Liam gives her a side hug, "It's not okay. They had no reason to act like bitches to you. You did nothing to them. Just do what the rest of us do and ignore them."

Lindsey nods, "Yeah, I'll do that next time." She frowns and looks down at the ground.

I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms and tell her she's got so much more to offer than those puck bunnies. The look on her face right now is devastating. I decide I'll do better next time to protect her from those two. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn't wear this look on her face again. Her face was meant to house her beautiful smile, not the dejected frown it currently sports.

I try to cheer her up, "Hey, those two ain't got nothin' on you, Lindsey. You're so much better than they will ever be." I shoot her my very best smile, and fortunately, I am rewarded with a genuine smile from her in return.

Yeah, that's the look my girl should always be wearing. Whoa, my girl? Huh, I think I like the sound of that. I smile to myself and start to think up more ways to put a smile on my girl's face.