“It hurt more because you’re supposed to be nice to me.”
“Whatever.”
Chapter 5
August
“Why are you being a bitch, Snow?”
August looked up, his eyes locking onto a furious Sébastien Blanchard. He had no fucking clue what the jackass was talking about. He couldn’t remember exchanging more than five words with him throughout a whole season, and now he was initiating aconversation?
Couldn’t a guy do warm-up stretches in peace?
“Don’t give me that slack-jawed look.” Blanchard went low to the ice, staying dangerously close to the redline while he worked through his own series of stretches. “You know why I’m pissed at you.”
No, he really fucking didn’t.
“You mind explaining it to me?” August snapped, shoving his stick over the line to knock against Blanchard’s knee. “Did I sleep with your sister or something?”
Blanchard wasn’t well-liked by his team, so it was no surprise when no one came to back him up despite August pushing over the redline. He would have laughed, but it wasn’t like anyone was joining August for backup either.
“Niko,” said Blanchard. “You’re being an assclown. That kid is the nicest and sweetest brat, and you’re ignoring him and making him feel like he’s an annoyance.”
The longer Blanchard talked, the more his Québécois accent came out.
“Do you think you’re better than him? Or is it because you’re so fucking tall you forget there are people down here on the ground?”
Anger flared, not because Blanchard was wrong since, damn him, he wasn’t, but because Niko washisteammate. It was insulting to have a guy from a different team get in his face over an issue that had nothing to do with him.
“I’m pissing you off, eh?” Blanchard gave him a wicked grin, and August could see how the arrogant ass pulled women so easily. “You fuck with my boy, and I’ll fuck with you,connard.”
August shoved himself onto his skates and levelled a glare on Blanchard that would spook a veteran. “He’s notyour boy. How do you even know—”
A wave of cheers from the Calgary crowd saved him from looking like an idiot when he came to an abrupt stop. The only way Blanchard would be so close to Niko, close enough to know what was going on, would be because he was part of the group chat.
Blanchardwas part of the group? Did they accept applications from straight guys, or was Blanchard…gay?
No, it wasn’t possible. Every person who knew hockey had heard of the scandal involving Blanchard having public sex with a woman and getting caught. There was photo evidence, so he wasn’t gay, but being bisexual wasn’t out of the equation.
Huh.
Neat.
“Tabarnak,” Blanchard stood and squared up, posturing to fight. “You going to answer me? Or are you just going to stand there and jerk yourself off?”
“Mind your goddamn business,” said August, and then he pushed away from the redline before Blanchard could start a fight.
Curses followed him to the net, barely audible over the amped-up fans. August went through the paces of shooting a couple of warm-up pucks, managing to sink two past their goalie, whatever his name was, before he retreated to the locker room.
Cote would take all the time he could to warm up, which gave August a chance to think about what the fuck he was going to say. He sat on his spot in the bench and quickly hydrated, nearly choking on his water when Niko strode into the room with a determined and somehow fearful expression merged into one.
No one was sitting beside August, which left plenty of room for Niko to throw himself next to him. The kid’s green eyes were very expressive, and they made him seem more innocent when they were wide with concern. The frown he gave August tugged at the white line of scars that crossed over both his lips, a gift given to him by some dickhead on the Florida team.
“What did he say to you?” Niko demanded, like he was scared Blanchard had tattled on him.
Which, he kind of did.
“He said I’m being a dick to you,” said August. There was no point in sugarcoating it, and hashing things out five minutes before a game wasn’t a great idea, but Blanchard had forced his hand.
