Nearly everyone in the room started laughing, except for Rick, who was turning purple as he glared back and forth between Harrison and Ryan. Tony took over after that, ushering them out so he could deal with the room of reporters on his own.
Ryan cackled and swung an arm over Harrison’s shoulders as they stepped back into the corridor. Jason was right behind him, his big arms wrapped around Ryan’s waist from behind in a bear hug, making it hard for them both to walk. They were laughing so hard they were crying.
“Did you see his face?!” Jason said through gasps of air. “He looked like he shit his pants.”
Jett closed his open mouth, his eyes darting between the three men. “You guys…planned this?”
Harrison—who rarely laughed out loud—was red-faced and grinning when his blue eyes locked on Jett. “Fuck yeah, we did. I’ve been waiting years to get revenge on that prick after he called me a queer online.”
“We were happy to help,” said Ryan. “Anything for a teammate.”
“You certainly looked happy to help,” Jett muttered. He had seen less steamier kisses between main characters in a romance movie. He didn’t know if he would ever understand Ryan and Jason’s friendship.
The two idiots hadn’t heard him; they were too busy hanging off Harrison and each other. Jett shoved his elbow into Ryan’s side to get his attention.
“Dude, come on. We need to get showered and cool down.”
“Don’t forget physio,” said Harrison. “We need to report for stretching and medical checks.”
Right, Jett was still on watch because of Blanchard’s cheap wrist shot. He was fine, and it hadn’t bothered him during the game, but their coach was a menace when it came to injuries. If he didn’t follow his physio’s orders, he’d be hearing about it.
“Arlo takes forever in the shower, so we won’t have to worry about being late,” said Harrison. “My well water almost didn’t survive that brat.”
Ryan tried to hide another bout of laughter behind a cough. “You sound like an old man. Did you also yell at kids if they walked on your lawn?”
“I made sure that I moved far enough back in the woods so I wouldn’t have to deal with people.”
“This fucking guy.” Ryan ruffled the top of Harrison’s head, nearly tugging his hair out of the bun he was wearing it in. “I would ask you where you found him, Jetty, but I guess we already know the answer.”
Harrison’s expression hinted he wasn’t entirely annoyed by Ryan’s touchiness, which was a definite improvement from that morning.
“You guys get washed up,” Jason said. “Me and the big guy will visit the physio folks. You can meet us there afterwards.”
Jett pretended to frown. “You don’t need a shower, Harrison?”
“Oh my fuck.” Ryan grabbed the back of Jett’s jersey and pulled him away. “Keep it in your pants, Loverboy. We’re drinking with the guys, so there’s no time to deal with your lustful ways.”
Harrison’s laughter followed him out of sight, and Jett couldn’t help but feel grateful he was there with him.
“Toast to the most badass guys on the Sunburst team,” said Arlo, holding up his glass of whiskey for them all to clink. “Just a couple of bros who are confident enough in their sexuality to make a stand against the homophobes.”
Jason clinked Arlo’s glass too hard, almost spilling his drink. “Fuck that idiot. I’d kiss a thousand guys in front of Rick to see his head explode again.”
Wolf said something in German, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Fucking goalies,” said Arlo, grinning as he finished his whiskey before banging his glass on the table. “You’re all crazy.”
“He sounds exactly like Killinger,” Ryan said, still holding his drink halfway to his mouth as he stared at Arlo. “This is weird. Do you think this is weird? Because I think this is weird.”
His question was directed at the captain of the Basilique team, who was slowly nursing his glass of whiskey while looking exhausted. The captain was a stunning man in his thirties, handsome and mysterious with black hair and dark eyes.
Jett kept getting distracted by the sliver of grey in his right eye that stood out against the brown. He was indigenous, not fully from what Jett had heard from interviews, but he had a darker skin tone and handsome features that suggested it was true.
Like on the ice, Leroux had a calm composure as he sat amongst the rowdy crowd of Sunburst players, not phased even when Wolf continued to smack his beer bottle on the table, talking in English and German until it was impossible to understand him.
The rest of the Basilique team had commandeered the pool tables, leaving Arlo and their captain to hang out alone with their new friends. Team interaction wasn’t out of the norm, but Montreal and Toronto had never been close. The guys on both teams seemed to be getting along well so far, and many of Arlo’s teammates kept stopping by to check in on him.
Just like the last time Jett had been around Arlo’s team, he felt like they were a great group of guys. They were obviously protective of their rookie, and whenever they pestered Arlo to get a rise out of him, it was clear they enjoyed their verbal lashings.
