“Sure,” Connor said slowly, his forehead wrinkling. “But didn’t you stay friends with your other exes?”
“Well, yeah,” Graham admitted.
“I thought they all had a group chat or something.”
“No!” Graham protested with a laugh. “No, the guys were giving me shit about that, but it wasn’ttrue. Two of the women I dated in college knew each other and they wound up becoming friends but it wasn’t likethat.”
Connor huffed out a laugh. “I dunno. It sounds like something you’d have happen to you.”
Graham rolled his eyes. “Just because I’m a halfway decent guy and manage not to be so shitty to the women I date that they hide dead fish in my car …”
They both laughed, thinking of the time that had happened a few seasons ago with a guy who was no longer on the team. Graham’s rookie season, actually.
Huh.Weird. It hit Graham that Connor had still been with Viv then, though they were definitely on the rocks by that point.
The guy had deserved the dead fish though.
“Anyway,” Graham said. “I hope Madison and I can stay friends. I like her, you know. As a person.”
He liked all his exes as people, but he knew that wasn’t always the case for everyone.
“Should be easier for the two of you though.” Connor said. “Since you’re not dating someone else. You’re not, right?”
Graham cleared his throat. “Right.” Fuck. He hated lying like that.
“Of course, you’ll probably meet the next future Mrs. Graham Pennington next week …” Connor said with a grin, nudging him in the ribs with his elbow. “You always do manage to find a replacement immediately after the breakup.”
“I do not!” Graham protested but the more he thought about it, the more he realized Connor was right. “I …”
His shoulders slumped. “Fuck.”
“Mmm,” Connor said, clearly not impressed. “Sure.”
“I think I should stay single for a while this time,” Graham said. “I think it would be good for me.”
The latter part was probably true.
But that wasn’t happening, not when he could still feel the heat of Thad’s hand against his bare back and his tongue in his mouth. Not when all he wanted was to see what would happen next between them.
“Good.” Connor patted his thigh. “I think so too.”
Graham tried not to wince. He hated that he was going to have to keep this from his captain and friend.
But what other choice did he and Thad have? They couldn’t risk anyone finding out about them.
The team was subdued as they left the New Jersey arena later that night. The air felt heavy as they boarded the bus back to Manhattan and Thad winced at the dejected looks on the guys’ faces as they passed his seat.
“I can’t believe we fucking lost to the fucking New JerseyHornetson the first game of the season,” Crawford muttered as the bus pulled away from the arena.
“Seriously,” Tanner said. “That was fucking pathetic. And we were on such a high after last season ended.”
Coach Hoyt rose to his feet and cleared his throat, the bus falling silent. “Guys, I know this loss stung. But you didn’t get blown out. You lost byone point in overtime. In ashootout. That took tenacity and grit to even get to that point when you were down three in the second. I liked the hustle I saw, I liked the refusal to give up. In the locker room earlier, I said I thought you played well tonight and I still think that.”
“I know,” Tanner said. “But we … we should’ve donebetter.”
“So do better next time,” Hoyt said.
Someone snorted, although Thad couldn’t tell who.
