the crown.

Something hits him full-bodied, and Andrei flails as he falls under someone’s weight. “Pula mea!” he shouts, shoving the person off of him. Seeing that it’s his teammate, however, Andrei helps him up, then scans the crowd. “Who just did that?” He snarls, daring someone to step forward. Two stocky guys, whom he recognized to be from Augustus’ team, step up, arrogant smirks on their faces.

Augustus starts when a body suddenly hits Andrei, sending Andrei to the ground. He quickly looks to the source and then back to Andrei and he hates how most of the people at this party look in their direction now. He sighs when his teammates step forward. 

Augustus feels as if his eyes might roll out of his head as he watches Andrei interact with the girls and wink at them. He wets his lips and turns his head away, looking toward the rest of the party. Badgley, the left wing on his line, does a body shot off a leggy girl with big curly hair and this scene reminds Augustus of how out of place he feels here and at every party he attends. Maybe he should have gone outside for a smoke with those girls, just to have an excuse to get back into his car and leave. 

Yet, Andrei knew a bit about this himself. In his case though, the father figure was dead. Papa Dalca had a heart attack a few years back, right after they had moved to America. The funeral had been small, mostly filled with the recently widowed Dalca and her five children. 

“So is that all? You just came to bitch at me and whine a little?” He crosses his arms, then straightens his back so that he can look Augustus right in the eye. It always struck him how they seemed to be the exact same height. 

Despite how fearless Augustus appears to be on the ice, off the ice, it's a little different. Direct eye contact makes him uncomfortable, especially with Andrei who is at even eye level with him, and Augustus rolls his eyes again to mask the way he shifts his gaze to the right. "I came to threaten you, but yes, that's all. If you need to leave, be my guest."

Andrei turns to face the girls. Ah, well. If Augustus didn’t want them, Andrei would gladly meet up with them outside, maybe even have a little ménage à trois and cross something off his bucket list. “Go on. Things might get ugly, and I wouldn’t want you girls to get hurt. I’ll come find you later, da?” He winks at them, smirk still in place. The girls smile at him shyly, then nod and walk off, throwing glances over their shoulders as they do. 

“You know, you’re not going to get laid with that prickly personality of yours,” Andrei jabs, turning his attention back to Augustus. 

Augustus feels as if his eyes might roll out of his head as he watches Andrei interact with the girls and wink at them. He wets his lips and turns his head away, looking toward the rest of the party. Badgley, the left wing on his line, does a body shot off a leggy girl with big curly hair and this scene reminds Augustus of how out of place he feels here and at every party he attends. Maybe he should have gone outside for a smoke with those girls, just to have an excuse to get back into his car and leave. 

And so here he is, playing the part of team captain and showing face by going with this farce of a temporary union between the two competing schools. He’s already had enough drinks to make him slightly tipsy, but not so much that he’s lost control of himself. His eyes scanned the crowd, hoping to find someone he could snatch up and make out with and hopefully help him forget this disastrous day.

When he hears a familiar voice call his name, Andrei looks up sharply, eyes narrowing as he sees Augustus draw near. “What the fuck is yours? You won, didn’t you?” His voice is laced with disdain. “And believe me- riding your ass like that wasn’t half as enjoyable as riding one of your teammate’s at a house party last month,” he adds, deciding to add in some sass for good measure.

Augustus grimaces. The last thing he wants to imagine is Andrei having sex with anyone he knows, especially not one of his teammates. Despite this, his mind automatically narrows down which teammate Andrei got cozy with. He thinks it was Gordy. It definitely had to be Gordy. He feels an odd sense of protectiveness over his teammates and he hates the idea that a rival player managed to get one of his own in bed. 

Andrei’s sassy tone makes Augustus even more annoyed. “Next time you play like that, I’ll break your fucking nose whether we win or lose.”