Chapter 65: After Care
Adrian’s entire body goes still, his face pales. "What?"
The grin never leaves Rylan’s face. "You heard me loud and clear, Captain."
Adrian takes one slow step forward until there is no space between them, his taller frame completely towering over the young boy, eyes dark. "What the fuck did you just say?"
Before Rylan can answer, John loses his patience. "Oh, shut the hell up!" He shoves Rylan hard in the chest.
David and some of the other guys immediately join in, forcing Rylan toward the door. "Get out! You lost. Deal with it."
"You can’t just come into our locker room and start talking nonsense!" another boy shouts.
Rylan laughs as he and his friend are dragged backward, not resisting in the slightest. "I’m serious!"
He points at Adrian one last time. "I really hope I get to see your face when you finally realize how foolish you really are!" The locker room door slams behind him.
For a moment, nobody says a word, staring at each other awkwardly.
Adrian remains rooted where he stands, his jaw tight enough that it feels like his teeth would crack.
Another man’s child. The words echo inside his skull over and over like white noise.
John sighs heavily, grabbing his shoulder. "Don’t listen to that idiot."
Javier, one of the other fighters, nods. "He’s bitter because his brother’s in prison. He’s just trying to mess with your head."
"Exactly," another teammate chimes in. "You embarrassed him in front of the entire academy. That was his last shot at getting under your skin."
Adrian forces a nod. "...Yeah, I guess."
But the knot in his stomach refuses to loosen. People don’t just say random shit like that without reason.
Calling him pathetic and a cheater--that’s trying to get under his skin.
But saying his child isn’t his... nah, that’s too far. He wouldn’t make that up, would he?
No. He has to.
Because if he isn’t, that would mean Anna has been messing with him this whole time. Not just him: his parents, Nyra, their parents.
She wouldn’t go that far... right?
Before his thoughts can spiral any further, the locker room door swings open again. This time, it is someone he actually wants to see who rushes in.
"Adrian!" Nyra’s voice reaches him, full of worry and care he never thought he would hear from her. Not after everything. Her eyes are slightly red, like she’d cried a little.
The moment she reaches him, she throws both arms around his waist, completely forgetting that he’s injured. "You have no idea how much you scared me in there!" she mutters into his skin.
His whole body aches. The force of her hug, her hand pressing against his bandaged ribs.
But this is Nyra. Nyra is hugging him.
She willingly threw herself into his arms, worried for him, cried for him, what more can he ask for? So no, he doesn’t even flinch. He swallows the pain and hugs her back. Tight.
"I’m okay," he whispers into her hair. God, she smells so good. "I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere."
Adrian doesn’t even finish the sentence when the realization hits her. Shit.
She quickly pulls back, offering him an I’m sorry smile as she starts checking him over frantically, fingers brushing his bandaged shoulder, then his stitched cheek.
"Are you okay? Sorry, did it hurt when I hugged you? I was just relieved to see you, and I forgot-"
"Shhhh." He pulls her back against his chest, gentler this time. "I’m a strong wolf," he chuckles. "I’ll heal in no time."
"Fucking show-off," she mutters, but smiles and hugs him again, careful of his injuries this time.
They stay like that for a beat before she pulls back again, her nose wrinkling. "...Wait."
Adrian blinks. "What?"
She leans closer, then starts to sniff him shamelessly. "Wait, wait..."
"Huh?"
She sniffs again. "Did you change your shampoo?"
The other boys watching them look like they’ve been handed the entertainment of the century. They’ve completely abandoned dressing their wounds, watching them openly now.
Adrian raises a brow. "Yeah, I bought a different one yesterday. Why? You don’t like it?"
Nyra immediately shakes her head. "No, it’s just-"
Her nose scrunches again. "Okay, I can’t lie. I really don’t. It smells..." She pauses, swallowing. "...It makes me feel nauseous."
The boys exchange confused looks. Adrian just got a different scent of the same product. The difference isn’t even that noticeable.
Adrian, on the other hand, doesn’t question it.
"Give me a minute." He immediately turns on his heel and disappears straight into the showers.
A few minutes later, he comes back out with his hair dripping wet, water soaking the towel around his neck.
"Now I only rinsed it with water." He looks at Nyra expectantly, lowering his head. "Better?"
She steps closer, hesitates for a second, then carefully sniffs him again, a smile slowly spreads across her face. "Yeah, much better."
The boys all snort collectively, rolling their eyes.
"Oh my Goddess!" John throws both hands into the air. "You actually washed your hair because she said so?"
David bursts out laughing. "That’s the most whipped thing I’ve ever seen."
"Our captain is completely gone," another teammate shouts.
Adrian rolls his eyes, completely unapologetic. "If it makes my mate sick, why would I keep it?"
The teasing grows even louder and the boys laugh.
Nyra’s cheeks turn red, her eyes dropping. Then, as if just realizing it, she notices that Adrian is completely bare from the waist up.
His absolutely beautiful body--though marred by a few wounds--is completely on display.
They had hugged like that.
Her face grows even warmer. It’s unfair that the boy can look this gorgeous. The water dripping down his chest isn’t helping one bit either.
Adrian chuckles when he realizes what’s happening. He hooks one finger under her chin and raises her face so he can meet her eyes.
"It’s all yours, babygirl," he says in a tone only she can hear. "You don’t have to be shy when you look at me."
"Shut up," she grumbles, but makes no effort to move away.
And for a brief moment, the noisy locker room disappears. They look like they’re about to devour each other right there.
Then John. Always fucking John has to ruin the moment by clearing his throat. "Umm... sorry to cut off your eye-fucking, but we need to head to the after-party soon."
Nyra’s eyes widen in embarrassment. "I-we were not eye-fucking!"
"You absolutely were," one of the teammates chuckles.
Adrian shoots them a glare but doesn’t even try to deny it. Instead, he holds a hand out to her.
"Be my date to the after-party?"