Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (14 page)

“Stop acting like a fucking punk. It won’t help you if you get charged with assault.”

“If I get charged with assault for sticking up for my friend, there’s something wrong with the goddamn system.” Tyler swallowed as he felt Raif move in closer behind him. Too fucking weird how much it steadied him to have the man there. “Excuse me.”

She glared at him for a few seconds, then sighed and stepped aside. He hurried to Pischlar’s side, staying out of the way of the gym medic who held an ice
pack over Pischlar’s eye.

Scraping his bottom lip with his teeth, then cringing at the sharp pain, Tyler took in the damage done to Pischlar’s face. How the fuck had this happened? Pischlar had left them for just a bit. Had the guys followed him in here? Waited for him?

Who’d want to hurt Pischlar? Why would anyone—

But he knew. He knew and it made him sick because he hadn’t thought stuff like this happened anymore. Which made him feel pretty damn stupid. The world wasn’t a nice
, happy goddamn place.

“Stop looking at me like that, kid.” Pischlar’s lips tilted into a clearly painful smile. “I’m all right.”

Jaw aching as he ground his teeth, Tyler shook his head. “You ain’t. And I wanna kill those guys.”

Pischlar chuckled, then looked pointedly over at the cops still questioning the men who hadn’t been arrested. “Might not want to say that around our present company.”

“May I?” Raif asked suddenly, holding out his hand to the short, skinny medic. The man nodded quickly, seeming to know what Raif wanted even though Tyler didn’t. Raif was given a few alcohol swabs. He faced Tyler and pointed at the bench beside Pischlar. “Sit.”

Tyler sat without thinking. He had damn goose bumps just from Raif’s tone, all sharp and direct. This was a good opportunity to find out where he stood with Raif, but he couldn’t get a word out.

He could just swallow and press his teeth into his bottom lip—
Oww!

Raif grinned and tapped Tyler’s chin with his thumb. “Stop that. You are making it worse.”

Yeah, Tyler could taste blood now. He pressed his eyes shut as Raif opened one of the swabs and gently cleaned his lip. The sting was brutal, like Raif was pressing a hot knife to his flesh, and his eyes leaked as he squeezed them tight, but he wouldn’t made a sound. No way would he let the man know what a wimp he could be about pain.

He jumped at a pat on his shoulder. Opened his eyes to see Pischlar leaning over, holding the ice
pack himself, the medic gone to check on one of the other fighters not in cuffs. Pischlar was still smiling, but his uncovered eye showed his weariness—less pain and more like he was…sad.

“Thanks for having my back. You and White showed up at a good time. Steroids make guys go nuts.”

“They called you a fag?”

“Yeah
…shit happens. I’m used to it.” Pischlar shrugged one shoulder, the gesture stiff, like he was hurting bad. He’d probably played down his injuries to avoid going to the hospital. They tried to keep injuries out of the papers close to the playoffs, but even if Pischlar didn’t go to the hospital, the team doctor wouldn’t let him on the ice if he was more than a little banged up.

Hell, Pischlar had cuts and bruises everywhere. There was blood on his white tank top. Tyler’s throat almost closed down when Pischlar moved like he’d stand, then abruptly changed his mind, his skin paling.

“This ain’t right. You gotta go to the hospital and get them to take pictures and press charges and—”

Raif put a finger over Tyler’s lips. “He will,
zlato moje
.”

Tyler’s eyes widened. “Whoa. What did you call me?”

Plucking at one of Tyler’s curls, Raif gave him a slow smile, his tone low. “Golden. Now hush, boy. The police will want to speak to you. And you will listen and respond politely.”

“They arrested White. I got nothing to say to them.” Tyler hissed when Raif pressed the swab a little harder to his lip. “Fuck, man!”

“Damn it, Vanek, you’re not getting in more trouble ’cause of me.” Pischlar punched Tyler in the shoulder, flashing a bloody-toothed smile at Raif’s sharp look. “You came in and grabbed the biggest guy in the room. Just stick with the truth.”

“That ain’t the truth!” Tyler really hoped Raif ran out of alcohol swabs soon. And he kinda didn’t because no one would think it was weird that his teammate was patching him up after a fight. Which meant Raif could touch him and
…yeah, anyway. He focused on Pischlar. “I just grabbed someone.”

“Seriously, kid. He was the biggest guy. He kinda shook you around like you were a puppy latched on to his sleeve, but he stopped hitting me.”

“No shit!” Tyler laughed at the imagery, but Pischlar’s words made him feel a bit better about the whole thing. He hadn’t managed as much as White, but he’d made a difference. Those assholes had seen Pischlar’s teammates would stand up for him. This wouldn’t happen again.

For another hour, Tyler sat with Raif and Pischlar, answering questions from the cops who didn’t seem happy that they didn’t have a reason to arrest him too. Raif offered Pischlar a lift to the hospital, but didn’t ask Tyler if he wanted to come. Just gave him that look that got Tyler moving. Raif was happy with him, he could tell. He wasn’t gonna do anything to screw this up.

At the hospital, Pischlar stepped out, leaning in the open front passenger’s side door, his brow furrowed and a tight smile on his lips. “I don’t want you guys coming in. I’ll call Callahan tomorrow and let you know what’s going on. But…I gotta do this by myself.”

“Are you sure, Pischlar? We are here.” Raif’s accent was showing more, and he sounded as worried as Tyler felt. “You do not have to do this alone.”

“Hey, I’m used to it.” Pischlar rested his forearm on top of the door. “Don’t, Zovko. You don’t gotta read anything into this. I hate pity. Can’t take much more tonight, all right?”

“I understand.” Raif inclined his head, then waited for Pischlar to shut the door before driving off. He glanced at the rearview mirror and met Tyler’s eyes. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” Tyler folded his arms over his chest. “Sick of being treated like a fucking criminal, but I guess I earned that.”

Raif was quiet for a long time. He pulled over a few blocks away from Tyler’s place, parked, and got out of the car.

Tyler opened the door to the backseat and stepped onto the sidewalk. “Why you stopping here? You know where I live.”

“I do. But it’s a mild night and I’d like to walk the rest of the way. We should talk.”

Umm…okay. Talking is good. I guess.
Tyler joined Raif, stuffing his hands in his pockets since it was kinda chilly out. He wondered if he should apologize again for stealing Raif’s car. Not that his first apology really counted since he’d still been out of it. And didn’t remember what he’d said.

Raif drew him off the sidewalk, into the mouth of an alley, before he could say anything. Held him against a brick wall, one hand on his shoulder, the other on the back of his head. He lowered his forehead to Tyler’s. “I am rarely confused, but I am now. You’ve done this to me. When you took my car, I saw the man the police do. That Laura does. Young and with no respect for rules. Reckless and selfish. But now I’ve seen something else. I’ve seen loyalty and that means
so much. You’re a straight man and you care for one who isn’t like you.”

“Pischlar’s my friend.” Tyler didn’t move. He met Raif’s eyes and wanted the man to read him. To see what he couldn’t say. “I don’t care who he fucks. No one gets to do that to him.”

“They could have hurt you.”

“I didn’t care.”

“I could tell.” Raif smiled that crooked smile that had men and women panting when they saw him on TV. He leaned his elbow on the wall above Tyler’s head, bringing their bodies even closer. There was no way he could miss what he was doing to Tyler—there was nothing in Tyler’s damn pockets. “Not many your age are so accepting of others’ lifestyle choices. Or believes one cannot always choose who they love or what they need. Do you?”

Did he? That was a weird question because everything he’d ever done had felt like a choice. Being with Chicklet and Laura. Being sexually submissive
…kinda. Maybe not a conscious choice, but it felt right. And he could have ignored that feeling. Some couldn’t, and he accepted that even if he didn’t get it. There was accepting and there was cutting off part of yourself, and he’d gotten stuck in the middle somehow. Couldn’t help doubting all the things he’d believed about himself. He didn’t want to worry about all this stuff with Raif so close, but he couldn’t stop. He just stared at Raif.

And Raif sighed. “Say something.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

“You were a hero tonight. Do you know that?”

“No.” Oh fuck, he felt like he was drunk, or high, or both. Raif saying he was a hero was like getting a trophy out on the ice in front of the whole team. An awesome accomplishment. If only he could stop thinking. “I just—”

“You confuse me. And I need to understand.” Raif smoothed his hands gently over Tyler’s curls. Leaned closer. “You should have told me to stop already, Tyler.”

“Yeah.” There was a game plan. He’d forgotten it. He closed his eyes as Raif’s breath warmed his face. “But I didn’t.”

“No. You didn’t.” Raif slid his lips over Tyler’s lightly, his tongue flicking out for a brief taste, leaving heat that wouldn’t fade. “And you won’t, will you?”

Tyler couldn’t answer. If Raif took over, he could have anything—
everything
. Why wasn’t he doing that?

“Tell me you want me, Tyler.” A light grazing of lips with each word, accent thickening as his tone grew huskier, heavy with lust. Raif stared into Tyler’s eyes when he opened them, still holding him, but made no move to do more. Simply waited.

Just say it!
Tyler
knew
that’s what Raif wanted, but he couldn’t force himself to voice the words. His dick was hard and his balls were throbbing and—
hell
, if Raif touched him he’d lose control completely. His body was totally on board. All Raif had to do was lead the way, handle Tyler as only a Dom could. Submitting wouldn’t feel wrong.

But saying those words
… Fuck, it was like Tyler had been going full speed and skidded up to a roadblock which forced him to a full stop. There was no detour, he could tell by the way Raif’s eyes narrowed at his silence.

“The simplest command and you give me nothing.” Raif let out a hallow laugh. Nodded once, then pushed away from Tyler. “Go home, boy. And forgive me for this misunderstanding.”

The crunch of Raif’s shoes on gravel and ice faded away as Tyler pressed his hands to his face and released a loud groan. This was too messed up. He’d gotten exactly what he’d been looking for from Raif. The man
was
interested. Maybe Laura was right and Tyler had only responded to Raif’s dominance, but…he really didn’t think so. He needed to see where this could go.

He ran out of the alley, the noise of his sneakers on the pavement making all the dogs in the neighborhood bark. He caught up to Raif at his car, grabbing the man’s arm without thinking. His eyes went wide when Raif turned on him and slammed him against the door. For a long time he couldn’t breathe. Could just stare up at Raif and wonder how badly he’d fucked up this time.

“Never lay your hands on me without permission, sub.” Raif lips were white, and he shook like he was so pissed he might punch Tyler in the face. Tyler had seen that look on the ice when he’d hit a trigger chirping at an opponent. He went still as Raif let him go and straightened. “Will you tell me you want me to fuck you now, Tyler? Have you reconsidered?”

Yeah, if saying anything like that hadn’t been hard before, Raif had just made it impossible. He shook his head.

“Good. Then go home.”

Fuck you,
man. Tyler glared up at Raif, wondering how the man could have gone from holding him, almost kissing him, to being a complete dick. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Sure. Thanks for the lift. And I’m sorry about the ‘misunderstanding’ too. My Mistress wanted me to try things out with a
Dom
.”

Raif’s laugh was sharp and cruel. “And was I the only one available for this little experiment? I suppose she’ll be disappointed.”

Watching Raif go around to the driver’s side, Tyler sucked his teeth, so done with this bullshit. “She wouldn’t be if you’d just take control and stop trying to make me talk. What the fuck is there to talk about? Shit’s pretty obvious.”

“Is it?”

“Yes!”

“No, Tyler. It isn’t.” Raif opened the door. Inclined his head. “Goodnight.”

For what could’ve been minutes, or hours, Tyler stood there, staring at the empty road after Raif’s car rolled out of sight. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more. Putting himself out there and being completely rejected or knowing he might not get another chance.

Not like he wanted another chance.

You’re so full of shit, Vanek.

He started walking home, cursing his still hard dick with every step. Even though Raif had scared him, and been cold with him, his body was buzzing with
sexual energy that didn’t seem to have an off switch. But his head was all over the place and his chest kinda hurt. He wanted Raif to come back and be the man who’d cleaned his bloody lip. The man who smiled at him across the ice when he made a good play. The man he’d once worshipped.