Beg Me Like You Mean It, Captain

​I grabbed my own duffel and made my way out to the parking lot where the massive charter bus was idling, its exhaust forming thick white plumes in the freezing air.

The rest of the guys were already tossing their gear into the lower storage compartments, laughing and shouting about the first things they were going to do once we hit Seattle.

​"Cap! Over here, saved you a spot!" Russo yelled from the open door of the bus, waving a gloved hand.

​"Thanks, Russo," I called back, hoisting my bag into the cargo hold before climbing the metal steps into the warm, stale air of the bus cabin.

"Alright, you jocks. Get in the seats you were in when we came here." Coach Devin announced, too lazy to search for the former seat assignments.

That meant I was stuck with Reid once again, right?

​The inside of the bus was already a chaotic mess of nineteen Alphas settling in for a long drive. Snacks were being tossed across aisles, music was already blaring from someone’s headphones, and the heavy, mixed scents of the team were trapped inside the enclosed space.

I walked down the narrow aisle, looking for an empty seat so I don’t get stuck with Reid. The coach will never know if no one makes a fuss about it. But my luck ran out halfway down the bus.

​Reid was already sitting in one of the double seats near the back, his long, sturdy legs stretched out into the aisle as he stared out the window.

The seat next to him was completely empty. And that... was the only empty seat.

I looked around and the team looked at me like I had won the lost lottery, knowing my history with Reid.

Traitors.

​As if sensing me, Reid turned his head. Those smoky grey eyes locked onto mine, and a slow, knowing smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.

He didn’t say a word, but he deliberately shifted his knees, making just enough room for me to slide into the window seat next to him.

This time, he was letting me have the window. I don’t know if it’s a good thing but Reid being generous is such a bad sign.

​My inner Omega gave a small, traitorous flutter just feeling the proximity of his frozen pine scent, but I forced my face into stone.

If I was going to make this sudden closeness look natural to the team, I couldn’t hesitate. I couldn’t look afraid.

​I slung my backpack into the overhead bin and sat down, my shoulder immediately pressing against his sturdy frame in the cramped double seat.

​"Comfortable, Cap?" Reid murmured, his voice a low, private rumble that barely carried over the loud chatter of the others in front of us.

​"Shut up, McCoy," I gritted out, fixing my eyes firmly on the frost-covered window pane. "It’s a six-hour drive. Keep your legs on your side of the seat and don’t speak to me."

​Reid chuckled, a short, amused sound, but surprisingly did as he was told, leaning his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes.

​As the bus finally jolted into motion and pulled out of the Lake Placid lodge, the steady drone of the highway tires against the road began to lull the rest of the team into silence. The excitement of going home slowly faded into exhaustion, and one by one, the loud Alphas around us began to drift off to sleep.

​I kept my face pressed against the cold glass, hyper-aware of every bump in the road and hyper-aware of the solid, warm weight of Reid’s shoulder resting heavily against mine. Intentionally.

I have to get my body in order. I thought, staring at the passing view and then focused my view on the reflection of Reid sleeping next to me. He looked completely peaceful, a far cry from the smug demon who had pinned me to the floor, the door and then the cabin last night.

We did it so many times and he knotted me more than twice. I need to make sure that nothing conceives of this bonding as well as prepare my body for future situations where I have to play into his arms and spread my legs.

The moment the bus finally pulled into the Serpents’ arena parking lot and the team began unloading their gear bags, the clock started ticking.

We had a game against Vancouver in less than twenty-four hours, and my body was currently a biological time bomb.

"Bye Cap, see you tomorrow." My teammates called out as they watched me head to my car and I waved back.

I didn’t give Reid the time to approach me and acted like I didn’t even see him.

I dropped my duffel in the trunk of my car and instead of heading to my apartment like the rest of the guys, I drove straight to the industrial district on the south side of the city.

The Seattle rain was coming down in thick, grey sheets, blurring the neon signs of the warehouses.

I parked in a dark alley behind an old, unmarked veterinary supply storefront. My heart was hammering against my ribs, louder than it had during the breakout drills this morning.

I knocked three times on the heavy steel back door.

The slide-hatch clicked open, revealing Vance’s bloodshot eyes before the heavy deadbolt finally rattled back.

I stepped into the cramped, dimly lit back room, the sharp smell of rubbing alcohol and cheap tobacco instantly hitting my nose.

It was a very familiar smell.

Vance was a disgraced team medic who had been struck from the league registry years ago for selling unregulated stimulants, but right now, he was the only man in Seattle who could save my career.

He was my regular supplier for the illegal blockers.

Vance took one look at me, furrowing his eyes as he wiped his hands on a greasy rag. "Whoa. You look like you got ran over by a bus, Evans."

"Feels like it too," I muttered, shaking the rain from my hair. "Good to see you, Vance."

"Wish I could say the same, Cap, but you only show up here when your walls are cracking." He walked behind a counter stacked with unlabeled brown vials. "What do you need?"