CHAPTER TWO
JONAH
“Suite Life,I want you in the net and Bags shooting pucks at your face. Everyone else on passing, or y’all are doing suicides until you fucking die!”
I did my best not to pull a face at the name Bay had given me. Most people got some variation of their last name turned into something chibi and cutesy. He’d decided to play some kind of Disney Channel word association with my name and the Jonas Brothers, which was ridiculous since the Jonas Brothers weren’t even in that show, but I also didn’t pretend to understand Bay’s brain.
Luckily, he was a decent captain and would eventually make a good coach one day when Tucker decided to retire, so the best I could do was flip him off—knowing he couldn’t really see it. Bay was severely myopic and way too far across the rink for that kind of detail.
But it was the thought that counted.
“Why do you look like someone’s dog took a shit in your favorite shoes?”
I was not expecting to hear Tucker’s voice. He was still warming up to the coaching thing. This was going to be his firstseason with the Legends, and while I was glad to keep working with him outside of peewee hockey, he knew way too much of my personal business for my own comfort.
I trusted him not to tell the other guys certain things about me, but it didn’t stop the nerves that he might let something slip.
“It’s nothing.” I tapped the pipes to orient myself in the net, then sank down and listened for the sound of Bay’s skates to settle.
“That’s a lie. I think—fuck!”
I caught Tucker’s swear right as I heard the jingle of the puck hurtling toward me, and I dove, catching it between my ice and the glove. Shifting my body, I pulled my stick back and sent it flying back to Bay.
“This is about what you told Ford, isn’t it? About your mom?”
I didn’t want to deal with her shit right before a game. “Can we not right now?”
“Technically, but—” He went quiet again as another puck flew at me. This one I missed, but it hit the pipe and flew to the left, and I had no fucks to give about chasing it. “I want your head in the game. If you’re going to be missing shots like this?—”
“Fuck you. It didn’t go in.”
He sighed loudly, and I heard him use his skate to kick the puck back toward Bay, though it didn’t go far before it rattled to a halt. “You know what I mean.”
“And you know I’m perfectly capable of doing my job tonight, even without unburdening myself or…whatever.” What I really wanted was my pregame sandwich and nap. Practice was nearly over, and if I was lucky, I’d get a solid fifty minutes in before I had to wake up and, well, be professional.
“I know,” Tucker said quietly. He was silent again as Bay shot a few more pucks at me. Only one went in out of five, so I was calling it a win. “You’re my friend, and I give a shit, okay?”
I softened and turned my face up toward him. “I know. But this crap with my mom isn’t something you can fix. It’s a pile of bullshit, and I can’t talk to Micah about it because I promised to leave him out of our parents’ drama, and if Caleb thought I was going to utter our dad’s name within a hundred miles of him, he’d block my number.”
“This shouldn’t all be on you though. You know that, right?”
I did. But also, I didn’t. Being the former golden child, I had a responsibility to protect my siblings from an issue I helped create. I could have stood up to my mom years ago, back when they did. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and continued to make life harder.
They had every right to hate me about it. At least a little.
“I probably just need to get laid.”
Tucker burst into laughter. “I’ll ask Amedeo if he’s met any cute women he can send your way.”
“At this point, find me a voice like Kathleen Turner, and we’ll call it a win.”
“I don’t even know what that means. Anyway, why don’t you take off a bit early?”
My brows flew up. “Playing favorites, Coach?”
“Everyone knows you’re my little prince, Suite Life.”
I bared my teeth. “Call me that again and I willfeaston your balls. In a bad way.”
