Antagonym

Chapter 12

I hissed as I pulled my joggers on, the dark blue, almost black, bruise the size of my hand protesting as I moved my arms. It sat two inches below my neck, between the top of my left breast and my clavicle. My hair was in a messy bun on top of my head, still damp from my shower. The game had ended half an hour ago, and I was just getting out of the shower in the women's hockey locker room, where I had the entire space to myself.

One thing I loved about college sports was that compared to high school, there were actual wooden cubbies and nice carpeted floors. I guess the most common interpretation would be comparing it to MLB locker rooms, because it was identical. The girls hockey team wouldn't be here on a game night leaving me peace and privacy.

One of the flat screens mounted high up on the wall above the cubbies was playing the highlights of the game, the drown of the announcers filling the background. "-because both teams certainly went into this game expecting a shut out. Boston is a historically defensive team and with the duo of Williams and Riley on the ice, the defensive line of the Bobcats isn't looking bad by any means." I wasn't exactly listening, just letting my subconscious chew on the sound while I looked at the bruise in the camera of my phone.

Most goalies had bruises after games, that was a given. What wasn't given was the disgustingly intense mark on my pale skin. I was in the middle of prodding the tender skin around the bruise when I heard the door open. I only spared Beck a fleeting glance when he first walked in. My body might have only been in joggers and a bra, but how is that different than a bathing suit or anything else he's seen before.

"Most men aren't supposed to just walk into women's locker rooms," I blandly told him, not taking my eyes off the camera of my phone but watching him from the right corner of my vision. Once again he was in a light wash pair of ripped jeans and a black T-shirt with his white Yeezys, identical to my pair, just a few sizes bigger.

Beck ran his fingers through his freshly dried black hair before returning his hands to his pockets as he leaned against the doorframe. "Key word being 'most'. Besides, you walk into the men's locker room all the time so let's not play the blame game."

"In my defense, I wait until everyone else is gone. Axel is gay and Seb's my roommate. I've seen his dick more times than is probably normal," I murmured thoughtlessly while wincing when I found another tender spot around my bruise. I didn't think anything was broken, there was no gritty feeling in my collar bone, but I had to make sure. I refused to see a doctor unless I knew something was definitely wrong.

"And what about me?" Beck asked, probably raising his eyebrow. I knew what he was getting at. We had slept together so it didn't matter, especially if I was already walking in on him. "Exactly." Beck didn't even need a response to know he had won.

His body moved from the wall, coming towards me and stopping at my immediate right. "Let me see it," Beck commanded in a firm yet gentle voice. I gave my phone a light toss into my bag in the cubby right in front of me, slowly turning and looking up at Beck. I could feel the heat of his body close to mine as his intense eyes zeroed in on my chest.

Beck's soft touch tilted my head up to the right cautiously. The pad of his thumb ran along the edge of my bruised skin gently, making me instantly forget about the soreness of the area and lighting my nerves on fire. I just wanted to feel Beck's hands on my body, feeling my curves and holding me in his arms. I remember the way his muscular and defined arm wrapped around my waist, I could feel his hands on my hips and my breasts, his chest pressed against my back. I held a breath without realizing it as Beck slowly traced the bruise with his fingertips.

A low grunt left my closed lips when he pressed his two index fingers in the center of my bruise trying to feel for the ribs blew my skin. "I'm sorry, Danny. I don't want to hurt you, but I have to check." I was doing the same thing before, but probably not as accurately. I couldn't blame him. If anything, Beck was more well equipped to check than I was. Examining yourself is hard.