I feel my teeth grinding, jaw popping.
“You know that guy?”
“Used to.”
“Friend?”
I let out a huff. “No.”
Jaylen waits for me. I don’t know why I’m telling him. Maybe because the beer is cold, the bar is loud and I’m tired of carrying the weight of this story alone. I mean my family knows but I just left Michigan without a word to most of my teammates or friends.
“Cantor played with me at Michigan.”
Jaylen’s eyebrows shoot up. “Hold up. I didn’t know you played hockey for Michigan. Isn’t that like one of the best hockey programs in America?”
“Yeah to both.”
“Damn, you were legit.”
That makes me grin. “I’m still legit.”
He holds his hands up. “Okay, I see you’re still sensitive about it.”
I look back up at the television to see Cantor laughing it up with a teammate. “Cantor slept with my girlfriend,” I say.
Jaylen chokes on his beer. “Damn, that’s cold.”
I just nod, tapping the bottle against the table.
“Well, that was an ugly ass goal,” Jaylen, always on my side.
“It was top shelf.”
“Still ugly.”
I can’t help but laugh. Jaylen is a true friend, taking my side without question.
“You over the girl?”
“The girl? Yes.”
“You’re not over the cheating teammate?”
“No,” I admit. “Not really. He broke the code and took something that I loved from me.”
I did love her and hockey so I’m not sure whether I’m referring to both or not.
Jaylen nods like it makes sense. Athletes understand grudges. We use them to fuel us. He tips his bottle towards me. “You know what? It sounds like you need better friends and teammates. Good thing you got me.”
I raise my bottle and tap it to his. “To good friends and better women who don’t cheat.”
We both drink, taking long pulls as our bottles sweat.
“So, who’s got you staring at your phone every twelve seconds?”
I look down like I’ve been caught cheating.
“No one.”
