21. Brody
21 /
brody
After the game, all I wanted was to go back to the hotel and spend some one-on-one time with Gabe, but Jax had other ideas. His plan to celebrate the win—and what he called our “way damn late” coming out as a couple—was mandatory, and Gabe and I were apparently the guests of honor.
At the bar, it didn’t take long for things to spiral. One beer turned into two, then three. I was holding my own until Holky, ever the troublemaker, decided to honor us with a round of tequila shots. I should’ve stopped there, but peer pressure—or bad judgment—won out. One shot became two, then five, as the team practically formed a queue to toast our relationship with increasingly slurred speeches.
Everyone was lit up like a bonfire by the time we headed back to the hotel. Gabe and I shared an Uber with Harpy, who got his fiancé Luca on FaceTime so he could congratulate us himself.
“Couldn’t happen to two nicer guys,” Luca said, looking like he’d had a few beers too. He was a professional lacrosse player, and Harpy said they were in Montreal on a roadie.
After stumbling into the hotel, we practically poured ourselves into the elevator. Although we’d decided to sleep in my room since it was closer, we got lost until we eventually saw Gabe’s room number on a door. Too drunk to care, we staggered inside, laughing like idiots. We both had to piss, and I did a little prep to be sure I was ready to ride Gabe’s cock while we celebrated my goal.
Unfortunately, our plan to continue the celebration didn’t make it past a sloppy kiss and my unsuccessful attempt to get Gabe hard. I must’ve passed out in the middle of jerking him because the next thing I knew, our phone alarms were blaring, and my skull felt like it was being split open with an ice pick.
Hangovers don’t just hurt; they punish. Each breath and every tiny movement sent fresh waves of agony rippling through my head and stomach. Tequila was the devil’s brew, and I was paying dearly for indulging. Gabe, miraculously, seemed fine, proving that life wasn’t fair.
A massive wave of nausea rolled over me before I made it into the shower. While I knelt in front of the toilet losing what little dignity I had left, Gabe stepped out from under the spray and held me, whispering soft reassurances. He was soaking wet, and the cool water on my overheated skin felt like salvation. Vomiting gave way to dry heaves, and when they passed, I lay back on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. Gabe soaked a washcloth and then took his place beside me, holding the cool balm to my forehead. I felt like a complete idiot. Apparently, being madly in love didn’t make puking my guts out any less humiliating.
The rest of the morning was a blur of cold showers, chugging water, and managing to get downstairs without looking like I was still drunk. Riley, ever the team player, gave up his seat on the bus so Gabe and I could sit together. It was a thoughtful gesture, but I muttered to Gabe, “We can’t let this kind of thing go on. We’re teammates, and no one should expect special treatment.”
“They’re happy for us,” he said with a smile. “Things will get back to normal.”
The bus was quiet on the drive to the airport, no surprise since we’d all had too much to drink after the game. It was good we would have today to recover after we got home. Tomorrow, we had to fly to Florida for games against Miami and Tampa, with a stop in DC on the way home to play the Barracudas.
Gabe and I both slept on the plane, and when we landed in Buffalo, I was feeling human again. We were relaxed as we waited for our luggage, chatting about plans to spend the afternoon at my place. Otto would be thrilled to see us, and I was looking forward to a quiet evening with my dog and my boyfriend.
While we waited, I excused myself to use the bathroom, leaving Gabe talking with Harpy. When I returned a few minutes later, Harpy was gone, and Gabe was with Holky. They were so caught up in their conversation they didn’t notice me coming.
As I got closer, Holky’s voice carried over. “You know, when I bet you wouldn’t ask Brody out, and?—”
Gabe shook his head. “God, that fucking bet.”
Ice shot through me, freezing me in place. My heart locked, and each breath came shallow and sharp as chaos erupted in my mind. My thoughts collided as I tried to process what they were saying. No. This can’t be happening. Not Gabe. He wouldn’t bet about me. Not him.
“Yep,” Holky continued, still oblivious to my presence. “You had to ask him out, and he had to say yes.”
Gabe hesitated, then raised an eyebrow. “Drinks until the end of the year, wasn’t it?”
The ground dropped out from under me as a deafening roar filled my ears, leaving me hollow and sick. The world blurred around the edges as one thought pushed its way through the noise: I was just a bet.
The walls closed in, and the familiar pain of betrayal overwhelmed me. Memories of Wesley flooded back, and suddenly, I wasn’t simply hearing Holky’s words. Instead, I was reliving what had happened when I let myself trust Wes. I was reacting to the memory of how he’d twisted that trust into a weapon.
The noise in the terminal faded, and it took everything I had to speak. “You made a bet?” I asked, stepping closer. “You bet about me?” I had to huff a breath, and my voice rose. “That’s why you asked me out?”
Their heads snapped in my direction, both looking like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
“It’s not what it sounds like,” Gabe said. “Yes, we made the bet, but that’s not why I asked you out. I’d already?—”
“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “Don’t try to spin this.”
“Brody—” Holky started, but I silenced him with a harsh glare.
I turned to Gabe, my chest caught in an unbearable vise. “You asked me out because of a bet?” My voice cracked, but I forced myself to keep going. “You looked me in the eye, kissed me, told me all those things for months, and it started with a fucking bet?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Gabe said, lifting his arm, his hand outstretched. “I wanted?—”
“Don’t touch me!” Heads turned our way as my shout echoed through the terminal. I didn’t care. It didn’t matter what Gabe said because I’d already heard more than enough. I backed away, shaking my head. “Stay away from me.”
“Brody, please.” Gabe’s voice was choked. “Let me?—”
“No!” My hands balled into fists as I fought to keep from completely unraveling. “You lied to me. You… God, you made me believe this was real.”
“It is real,” Gabe insisted, his voice raw. “I love you.”
The words hit like a punch to the gut, and I stumbled back. Tears burned my eyes as I turned and fled, ignoring Gabe’s shouts behind me. I ran outside and kept going, despite the icy wind that almost blew me over. Eventually, I collapsed on a bench, and my mind replayed their words endlessly.
Gabe had bet on me. My heart, my trust, my everything—all reduced to a fucking wager. And the worst part? I’d fallen for it. Fallen for him.
Now, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get back up. Numbness pressed down on me, making every breath a ragged effort while my thoughts spun out of control. The word repeated in my mind, a fresh, bloody stab each time. Bet. Bet. A goddamn, fucking bet .
Fear crept in. Was I really that gullible? I’d never make it to thirty if I believed everything someone told me simply because I wanted to.
But had I been gullible to fall for Gabe’s lies? We’d shared so much, and it felt more genuine than the ground beneath me. The way his kisses took my breath away was not a product of my imagination. In fact, I could still feel his warm lips on mine and remember the safety of his arms.
Maybe I wasn’t gullible but just plain stupid. I’d been so desperate to escape the hurt in my past that I wanted to believe in Gabe, not knowing that he was having a little fun with his friends at my expense. The entire time he told me I was his everything, he knew it had started as a joke.
When had they made the bet, anyway? The image of him laughing with Holky while they made their stupid wager twisted my gut. My hands shook, and I clutched the edges of the bench, trying to steady myself.
Doubt ate at me like a starving shark. Had any of it been real? The sex was, for sure. No one could fake enjoying it as much as Gabe had. But the long nights and soft touches? The way he looked at me like I was the only person in the world? I’d wanted it to be real so much I thought it was. I could still hear his voice, tender and sweet: I love you. You’re more than I ever dreamed of.
All at once, the doubt I was feeling burned itself into white-hot fury. How dare he? How fucking dare he use those words, words I’d waited my whole life to hear. He used me because he’d made a fucking bet with me as the pawn.
Fuck. A new thought knocked the wind out of me. What if there was more than one bet? Did Holky also bet that Gabe couldn’t make me fall in love with him?
My throat filled up, and a sob burst out before I could stop it. Desperate to block everything out, I pressed my fists to my eyes. I couldn’t go through it all again, not this soon. The pain would be too awful to bear.
I clutched my stomach and groaned. My insides may as well have been tangled in barbed wire, with every thought pulling it tighter. Rage and despair twisted together, and I wanted to punch Gabe, make him feel a fraction of the pain that was already tearing me apart. That thought died as soon as it ricocheted through my mind. What I really wanted more than anything, was to go back to before—before the words, before the truth, before I knew.
A plane roared overhead, causing me to look up. For a fleeting moment, I was caught in the wonder of it—the power of science, the miracle of flight. Then reality hit with a deafening thud. My stomach revolted as the pain resurfaced. I wished I could follow that plane, fly somewhere far away and escape the gaping wound in my heart.
Though I tried to understand, no answer came. There was only the cold wind tearing me apart and my thoughts going faster than that plane overhead. Who was Gabe, anyway? And who was I without him?
The wind blew harder, but it didn’t matter because I was already frozen, inside and out. Utterly defeated, I pulled out my phone and opened an app. I couldn’t ride home with Gabe. I couldn’t even look at him.
The concierge staff knew me, and they’d hold on to my luggage. Fuck it. If they didn’t, I’d buy new stuff.
I tapped the button for an Uber, praying the car would come quickly.