Chase

This feels like a dream. It's been a few weeks since everything went down at the bar, and I'm amazed at how great things have been going.

Liam didn't kick my ass when he found out about Lindsey and me, though I'm pretty sure he wanted to, and our friendship is still intact. For that, I will be eternally grateful. The one thing I was worried about losing in my pursuit of Lindsey was my best friend. And it seems he's forgiven me for sneaking around with his sister.

His only request so far has been that we don't expose him to excessive public displays of affection. He said he could handle the idea of us being together, but if he saw my tongue down his sister's throat again, he couldn't promise not to go psycho big bro on my ass. I can respect that. I'm lucky he's such a good guy. I'm pretty sure most others would have punched me into tomorrow without a second thought.

Lindsey tried to convince Liam to move back into his room last week. That almost turned into a disaster. When she first suggested it, I thought Liam was going to blow a blood vessel. He argued that there was no reason for her to move into my room because there was no reason for our relationship to move to that level.

Man, if he only knew...Yeah, if he only knew, I'd be a dead man.

They argued back and forth for quite a while on that subject before Taylor stepped in and suggested they leave for a bit so he could work off his frustration. Lucky for Lindsey and me, he went for it, and they left to go to the gym. While they were gone, Lindsey moved her things into my room and Liam's back to his.

He was irritated about that when he got back and sulked the rest of the night but didn't try to argue about it anymore. I'm guessing Taylor talked some sense into him about it while they were working out because I fully expected him to lose his shit over it when he came back.

It feels incredible to fall asleep next to Lindsey every night and wake up to her beautiful face every morning. I feel like I'm living inside a dream. If that's true, I don't think I ever want to wake up.

We've finally been able to discuss everything that's been going on, and I think we're on the same page about where we both stand. She apologized profusely for letting Val get between us and promised not to let my past get in the way of our future going forward. I told her I would spend every day showing her that she's the only one for me because it's true.

I've never felt this way about anyone. For me, Lindsey is it. She's my girl, my one and only. And I plan on spending the rest of my days proving that to her, no matter what. I started by making her officially my girlfriend. She was so happy when I asked her. Her gorgeous face lit up, and nothing in the world could bring me down in that moment. Doing that was so important to me. Letting her know she's mine and I'm hers. For as long as she'll have me.

I think us going public has given my girl the confidence she needed to feel safe in our relationship again. She seems so much brighter, and I thrive on her happiness. Her joy fuels me, and I can't get enough. I think the fact that Val no longer hangs around me is incredibly helpful too. She doesn't come close anymore and won't even look in Lindsey's direction. I think my badass girl really put her in her place!

The other guys have either congratulated me on my new relationship status or given me loads of shit for it, but I don't mind either way. I'm just glad to have a new relationship status with Lins. When I thought I lost her, it felt like a huge chunk of me was missing. Now that she's back, I feel complete. Having her back has helped my game too. We've been on a winning streak, and if we keep this up, we have a great shot at the championship.

I'm thinking Coach is about to tell us as much as we sit in the locker room after practice today waiting for him to come in and start the meeting he told us to stick around for. After a while, he comes bustling in with the team manager, and he does not look happy. Shit! What the hell happened now?

The room goes dead silent as we wait for Coach to say something. "I appreciate you all sticking around today for this meeting. As you probably assume by now, this is not a happy-go-lucky meeting to pump you guys up about your recent wins. Though, we are happy you've figured your shit out and started performing the way you should."

He takes a breath before continuing. "We're here today to let you all know that we had to cut ties with Chuck. He was in breach of his contract, and we will not tolerate the behavior that he was involved in that caused the breach."

I look around the room and find everyone else doing the same. We're all wearing the same confused look on our faces. Chuck was one of our solid forwards, and I know he liked to drink after games with the boys, but I never saw him do anything too crazy. What the hell could he have done to make leadership cut him?

The team manager steps in and clarifies for us. "He was found snorting cocaine in his hotel room during our last travel rotation. Now, I don't think we need to explain why that will not be tolerated, do I?"

All around the locker room, everyone murmurs variations of 'no' or 'no sir' before he continues. "We have made a deal to bring in his replacement. You may have heard of him, Benjamin Cassidy, currently playing for Tampa. He'll be arriving in the next week or so."

When Coach and our manager leave, everyone breaks off into their own conversations about the bomb they just dropped.

Liam leans over to me. "I guess we know why we haven't seen Chuck in a few weeks. The whole personal leave story was obviously bullshit."

I shake my head. "Yeah. That's fucking crazy, man. Why the hell would he do that!? It's so reckless!"

I hear Rob on the other side of the room. "Hey, Andre. Don't you normally room with Chuck? What the hell, dude!?"

Andre replies, "yeah, I normally do, but he wanted to room by himself that week. I never questioned it, but now I guess we know why he wanted to have privacy."

The conversations continue until everyone has cleaned up and left for the day. Now, it's time to get back home and tell the girls the news.

I push the shock of Chuck's exploits out of my head and focus on the positive things going on in life right now. It's time to go home, to my girl.

Just like that, all the negative is washed away, and I can't wait to walk into that apartment and wrap Lindsey up in my arms.

~

The rest of the week was pretty calm after that. We won our game against Boston. The team seems to be back into the groove even with the loss of Chuck. I just hope things keep going this well when the new guy shows up. According to Coach, he's supposed to arrive soon. Guess we'll find out then.

Taylor left this morning for Vegas. She has some AthletaWear conference or something there for the next week, so we're down one roomie until she gets back. Maybe Liam will go out with the guys some night this week so Lins and I can have some time to ourselves without having to worry about being too loud.

We've obeyed Liam's 'no excessive public displays of affection' rule for the most part, but once we're alone in our room, all bets are off. However, we still want to make sure I stay alive for the foreseeable future, so we try to keep quiet when things start to get steamy. It's kind of hot having to be quiet, but I miss being able to let loose, and I want to hear my girl make the sounds I know she can make when I do certain things at just the right time.

My mind starts to trail off to the recent memories Lindsey and I have made together. I'm starting to delve into 'not safe for work' territory when I walk into the locker room. All boner-inducing thoughts are quickly shut down when I hear a loud crash coming from the far end of the lockers.

I look to where the sound is coming from. It's T.J. throwing things into his locker. I slowly approach him.

"Everything okay?"

He turns to me. "Not really. I just got kicked out of my place because there is a problem with the gas lines, apparently. I guess they found a bunch of black mold when they went to fix everything. I have to stay out for at least a week."

"Damn, man, that sucks. I take it you haven't found somewhere to crash yet?"

T.J. replies, "nope. All these assholes claim they don't have space and can't give up their couch for some bullshit reason. They just don't want me in the way when they want to hook up with randos. And I'd rather not stay in a hotel all that time. It's bad enough when we have to stay in hotels when we travel."

I don't blame the guy. Even the fanciest hotels have questionable cleaning procedures sometimes. Given the choice, I'd rather stay with a friend than in a hotel too, which is why I say what I do next. I may regret this later, but oh well, the guy needs help. And I do consider us friends. I can't just leave him hanging.

"Well, I'd have to check with my roommates, but if you don't mind a couch, you could probably crash at our place."

T.J. whips his head in my direction. "Really!?"

I nod. "Yeah, man, as long as the others are good with it."

T.J. perks up. "Thanks, man! I really appreciate this. I'll pay you guys rent for the time I'm there. Hopefully, it's not more than a week, but if it is, I can try to find somewhere else if I need to."

"No worries. As long as the others are good with it, you can stay as long as you need. I'll text you after I check with Lins and the others and let you know what they say."

"Thanks, Chase. You're a lifesaver, man!"

After talking to T.J., I send a quick text to Lins and Taylor and make sure they're okay with the arrangement. And I talk to Liam about it during practice. Everyone says it's fine, and they understand he needs the favor. I let T.J. know and give him the address. Looks like we're about to have a new roomie for a while.