I make the trek back to the Hockey House, ignoring my phone that keeps buzzing. I already know it’s more of the same bullshit speculation.
Taking a shortcut through the parking lot behind the science building, I come across a group of girls sitting on a bench. They stop talking when I pass, their eyes following me with interest.Great. Now I’m campus entertainment.
The Hockey House comes into view, and I sprint up the porch steps. All I want is to collapse on the couch, maybe order a pizza, and forget this whole stupid day ever happened.
I push through the front door and stop dead. Gerard is sprawled on the couch in nothing but boxers and those infamous pink socks. He’s holding a PlayStation controller in his oversized hands and yelling at the TV.
“Fiddlesticks! That was a clean hit, you digital buttmunch!”
He’s playingNHL 15, and from the looks of it, losing badly. His character gets checked into the boards, and Gerard throws his hands up in disgust.
“Drew!” He pauses the game and twists around to smile at me. “Perfect timing! I need someone to complain to about this game’s terrible CPU.”
“Where is everyone?” I collapse into the recliner, grateful that at least Gerard doesn’t want to discuss the gossip.
“Oliver’s at the gym, Kyle’s at the student center with Alex, Nathan’s grocery shopping, and Elliot is at work.” He stretches, and his boxers ride up his thighs. “That leaves you and me, buddy!”
My phone buzzes again. I pull it out to see a text from my mom asking if I’m dating anyone. Fucking hell, even my mother’s heard about this somehow—probably Patrick, that little shit. I turn my phone off completely and toss it onto the coffee table.
“Rough day?” Gerard asks, noticing my aggressive phone rejection.
“You could say that.” I tip my head back and close my eyes. “Everyone on campus thinks Jackson and I are together because we shared a fucking blanket.”
“Oh, that!” Gerard’s voice is way too cheerful for me, but it’s the only setting he has. “Yeah, everyone’s really going to town on you two.”
“Don’t remind me.” I open my eyes to find Gerard studying me with an expression that’s surprisingly thoughtful for someone whose brain typically operates on a loop of hockey, Elliot, and the color pink.
“You know what I think?” He sets down the controller and turns to face me fully, crossing his massive legs at the ankles. “I think people are bored. The new semester hasn’t started yet,everyone’s still recovering from break, and they need something to gossip about.”
“So they picked us?”
“You two were hugging in swimsuits. On a beach. While wet.” Gerard shrugs. “It’s gossip gold.”
“We were freezing to death!”
“I know that. You know that. But the people don’t care about context.” He grabs his phone from the coffee table. “Look, someone made a compilation video set to ‘I Will Always Love You.’”
I watch in horror as shaky footage of Jackson and me stumbling out of the ocean plays in slow motion while Whitney Houston wails in the background. The video already has 50,000 views, even though it was only uploaded this morning.
“I’m going to throw myself off a building,” I announce.
“Don’t be dramatic.” Gerard tosses his phone aside. “This’ll blow over in a week when someone else does something gossip-worthy. Remember when everyone thought Oliver and Kyle were dating because they carpooled to practice?”
“That was different.”
“How?”
I can’t exactly saybecause I want to date Jackson, but he doesn’t know that and never can, so instead, I grunt noncommittally.
“Want to play?” Gerard holds up a second controller. “Beating the shit out of virtual hockey players might make you less moody.”
“Sure.” I take the controller and settle in for what promises to be a distraction from the dumpster fire my life has become lately.
“So,” Gerard says as a new game loads, “setting aside all the gossip bull crap, howarethings with Jackson? You two have gotten closer lately.”
I tense up but force my voice to stay relaxed. “We’re friends. That’s it.”
“Okay.” Gerard selects his team—the Avalanche,naturally. “Friends who text constantly and hang out all the time and share intimate blanket moments on the beach.”
