The Last Buzzer (SCU Hockey #5)

Parker

Jack laughs, drawing my attention from the green hills rolling by outside the car. I glance away from the window, eyes catching on Desmond’s hands resting on the steering wheel, and Jack’s draped over the center console to touch his leg. They’re listening to one of Jack’s audiobooks—something boring enough to have lost my interest a hundred miles ago. Desmond murmurs something too quiet for me to hear where I’m sitting in the back seat, making Jack’s ears turn pink. I shake my head and turn back to face the window. The pair of them like each other so much, it makes my teeth hurt sometimes.

The thought makes me think of Seth and the argument we had before I left South Carolina. Seth and I have been friends forever. We don’t really fight or argue. At least not the way some of the girls in our class sometimes would, talking shit and whispering behind one another’s backs. Until a week ago, I felt pretty comfortable knowing Seth and I would still be friends even while we were away at separate universities.

But then that stupid-fucking-party had ruined everything. We’d both been drinking, but while he was drunk, I was only two beers deep and almost completely sober. I remember everything. I remember trying to get him to leave so we could walk home. I remember thinking my friend was a bit of an angry drunk and that I wasn’t too happy about it. I remember him making a snippy comment about Desmond and Jack, then following it up with a harsh reminder about how I don’t have actual parents and that the ones I do have don’t actually love me.