The rest of us are neutral. Leaving Tuck as the only one to actively root for Hudson’s team.
He’s going to be guilt-tripping us over this for weeks. Months, probably. I can already see, after the game, him tattling on us to Hudson in the group chat, milking the fact that he was the only one who had his best friend’s back.
I can also already see Hudson not caring one bit.
“Don’t be a sore loser, Tuck,” Rhys says from Sebastian’s phone. We have both phones on phone holders set on the coffee table with the volume turned way up. It’s a weird but fun setup. “If your best friend were able to block my best friend’s shots, I wouldn’t whine.”
“Excuse me!” Tuck protests. “My bestie has blockedfourof your bestie’s shots this game so far!”
Tuck’s sitting in California while Rhys is in Michigan, both of them traveling with their pro teams. But they’re still arguing with each other in our Cedar Shade living room. I smile at the absurdity of it all while I go to get another drink after the first period ends.
Our former teammates’ new teams skate off the ice, and the conversation switches.
“So, did Jamie tell you girls about his date the other day?” Felix says with a shit-stirring grin.
A sharp gasp pulls from the four girls’ mouths as they all snap their attention to me, eyes wide.
My face is incandescent. “It wasn’t a date.”
The girls don’t hear me over the noises they make excitedly jumping from the couch and crowding me.
“Why didn’t you tell us!” Scarlett demands.
“Who did you go out with?” Maddie asks, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
“Is she your girlfriend now?” Jasmine queries, eyes brimming with interest.
“What’s her name?” Harper urges.
“It wasn’t a date,” I repeat, sheepishly. My cheeks pulse with heat.
“No one would say that unless what they’re talking aboutwasa date,” Maddie asserts.
“I don’t think that is true,” Veikko says from across the room.
“Shut up, Veikko!” Jasmine clips. “Jamie, you wouldn’t be blushing like that if it wasn’t a date.”
My brain refuses to supply an argument.
Maddie gasps, a thought occurring to her. “We need to tell Summer!” She can hardly contain her excitement as she reaches for her phone. “She’ll freak that you’re finally getting a girlfriend.”
Even though my cheeks get even redder, I can hardly share the girls’ confidence inthatpossibility. I can still hope, though.
Maddie types out a message on her phone, and no more than two seconds later, she’s calling out, “Summer’s video calling me!”
My stomach twirls. Summer is Hudson’s girlfriend. I can’t deny that during my freshman year, when Summer and Hudson got together and I started seeing her around, I had a pathetic schoolboy crush on her.
But that was different from the way I feel about Carmen. With Summer, I knew there was never even a hint of possibility. It was just a naïve infatuation with a girl my older teammate was dating.
I smile when I see Summer’s face again, but I don’t feel that tug in my heart that I used to. Only one girl makes me feel that now.
“Jamie!” she chides. “I can’t believe you haven’t told me about your new girlfriend yet!”
I roll my eyes. The guys snicker at the girls showering me with attention.
Summer and Hudson’s cat, Salsa, slides into the frame with a purr, curling on Summer’s lap. Summer pats her, sighing. “I guess I can forgive you as long as I get an invite to the wedding.”
“Summer!” Tuck’s voice calls from my phone on the table. “Make sure Hudson knows I was cheering for him when no one else would!”
