“For fuck’s sake! You do know you’re only a walk-on, Zach,” he snipes, but he doesn’t get much further than that.
Zach laughs.
It’s a cold, dark, bitter laugh. And damn if it doesn’t mess up my insides. Because it’s not him. Not really.
Sometimes, it’s easy to be lulled into the idea that he’s fine. But he’s not. He’s grieving his mom. The parent he loved and had a connection with.
It’s at moments like these that I feel his pain, but there’s nothing I can do to ease it.
“What’s our record this season, Pecan?” Zach rumbles, sounding cocksure and like the jock he is.
I hate it when this side of him comes out. They all have it. This belief they’re God’s gift. He and Pecan just know not to show it off around me or we’ll have a repeat of the glitter incident two years ago.
Pecan told me he was shitting glitter for three days!
I can aim for five next time…
“Ummm, lemme see.” Peeks flicks off their recent games on his fingers. “Statistically speaking, we never lose if you’re in the lineup, Z. You have a goal average of 0.78 and?—”
I hold up a hand to stall him. “Interesting.”
Pecan might look like an idiot, but if it’s hockey stats, he’s the next Einstein.
Well, if Einstein were a mathematician.
He can’t help himself from adding: “Fun fact, the only time we lost is when you had that stomach bug.”
“Even more interesting. So, are you saying that I’m worth more to the team than as a face on a video, Peeks?”
“I think that’s what I’m saying, yeah.” Pecan taps his bottom lip. “Unluckily for you, Alec, we kinda need him because you’re the opposite. We’re less likely to score in the first period if you start on the ice.”
The captain’s mouth twists in annoyance and I shoot him a dark look.
I’ve never liked the douche. Not since he accused me of watching their practices and being a spy.
A SPY.
My dad deals with freakin’ two-hundred-million-dollar NBA contracts on the regular and this douche canoe thinks I’m a corporate shill.Yeah.
Considering how competitive the NCAA is, it’d serve them right if someone else was spying and they were too dumb to look past me.
“So, wait, you two are seriously an item?”
Because Gregg’s tone isn’t in anyway aggressive or agitated, unlike Alec’s, I shoot him a soft smile. Only for him to smile back.
That smile’s loaded down with a couple emotions that have my eyes widening in surprise.
Is that… disappointment?
Huh.
At his question, however, Pecan chokes on his coffee and sprays it across the booth. Gregg pulls a face and reaches for a paper towel to dab himself off. “Haven’t you been listening?!”
“Thanks, Pecan, I needed a second shower.”
“Of course they’re an item.Zach’d never mess with Denny.”
“Is she blackmailing you or something?” Alec sneers.
