Page 154 of Puck Me Back to Life

“I would've joined,” Dante continues. “Could've made it a group activity.”

“You would've complained the whole time,” Ash says.

“I absolutely would've.”

I laugh. “Granted, I also complained the whole time.”

Dante grins triumphantly. “See? Hayes gets me.”

Ash gives me a knowing look that says Not the whole time, baby.

Heat crawls up my neck as I start fussing with my equipment.

“Hayes tolerates you,” Ash says.

“I'm his favorite.”

“Now, that's definitely not true.” Ash laughs.

As I start unpacking my gear, another voice joins the conversation.

Tyler nods between Ash and me. “You guys have been glued together lately.”

I glance up. “What?”

“I swear every time I turn around, Grant's attached to your hip.”

Before I can think of a response, Ash answers for me.

“Yeah.” He sounds completely casual. “It's because we're dating.”

The locker room goes silent. I freeze with one glove halfway out of my bag. My head snaps toward him so quickly I nearly pull something in my neck.

Ash looks perfectly calm. Like he hasn't just detonated a grenade in the middle of the room.

“What?” I squeak.

He smiles. “Aren't we?”

Every pair of eyes in the room shifts toward me. Heat floods my face so quickly it almost hurts.

My brain desperately searches for an escape route.

I let out a long sigh. “That's true.”

The silence lasts exactly one second. Then Dante slaps both hands together. “I knew it!”

Tyler points at me. “Look at him. He's blushing.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Another teammate, Peter, laughs from across the room. “Holy shit, Hayes is actually adorable.”

“Watch it,” Ash growls.

Dante pinches Ash's cheeks, “Aw, you're so cute when you're territorial.”