Chapter 35 #3
“You did not tell us Stella’s a pool shark,” Laurent says.
“I didn’t know.” He curls his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me closer to kiss my forehead. “Good game, shark.”
We play a few more rounds then get food. The guys all get beers, so I have one, too. There’s a surprisingly large number of food options here.
“They have the best burgers,” Jayden tells me.
“Hmm. Okay.”
We all order burgers, but the guys get salads and I order fries. That amuses me.
“You’re really loading up the weight on your squats,” Laurent says to Jayden. “I was watching you earlier.”
Jayden nods. “Yeah. It’s intense.”
“It’s good since you have such skinny thighs,” Cam says.
We all burst out laughing. Jayden’s thighs are like telephone poles.
“Strength exercises increase your testosterone,” Laurent says.
“I have no problems with my testosterone,” Jayden replies.
“I thought you wanted to feel more manly.”
I blink and press my fingers to my lips.
“He’s joking,” Jayden says. “He’s an asshole.”
Laurent grins.
“Testosterone is produced in the testicles,” I comment, not looking at anyone.
Jayden chokes on a laugh and leans his shoulder into mine. “Just stop right there.”
“This sounds interesting,” Cam says.
I smile and shrug.
“Actually, I think it’s Cammy who needs more testosterone. It would improve his surly mood.”
“Fuck off,” Cam says mildly, lifting his beer to his lips.
“There is this condition called Irritable Male Syndrome,” Jayden offers. “That might be it.”
“If I’m irritable it’s because of you clowns.”
“You love us,” Jayden says. “You just pretend you hate us.”
“Or it could be because you’re playing for a crappy team,” Laurent says, grimacing.
“No shit. I went from a Stanley Cup winning team to this.” Cam shakes his head. He seems genuinely bitter about that… or is he joking? I don’t know him well enough to know.
“What should we do after this?” Jayden asks. “Mini golf?”
“You hate mini golf,” Cam says.
“Yeah, I do, but Stella loves it.”
“What?” I turn to him. “I do not love mini golf.”
“Do you hate it?”
“No, I don’t hate it. But I saw they have axe throwing and I thought that would be fun.”
Jayden’s eyes widen in alarm.
“I’m kidding. Whatever. Everything here is fun.”
I catch Laurent watching us with a smile that looks pleased.
“Okay, it’s me, I hate mini golf,” Cam says. “Hard to resist winding up and smoking the ball.”
“You can’t do that here,” Jayden says. “If we get a nice day, we’ll go golfing on a real course. You need to take out your bad mood on something.”
“He needs to get laid,” Laurent says. He glances at me apologetically. “Sorry, Stella.”
“I’m not in a bad mood, everyone is just fucking annoying,” Cam says.
A laugh escapes my lips. “I know the feeling.”
“At least you’re not addicted to cocaine,” Laurent tells Cam.
“True.” Cam shrugs, then looks at me. “Ignore me, I’m just an asshole.”
I shake my head, not sure what to make of this guy.
Our food arrives and the guys are distracted from insulting each other by eating.
“This is a good burger!” I say moments later.
“Uh oh.”
We all look at Laurent.
“We’ve been spotted.” He moves his eyes sideways.
I glance over and see a group of guys looking over here. They don’t look like friendly fans.
“You guys gonna start winning any games?” one of the guys calls over.
Jayden, Cam, and Laurent all frown.
“We’re trying, bud,” Jayden says.
“Doesn’t look like it,” another guy wearing a blue hat says.
My stomach tightens.
“Fire your coach,” another says.
The guys look at each other.
“Uh, we just did,” Laurent says.
“Fire the new one. It’s not making a difference. You guys don’t know what you’re doing.”
I feel Jayden taking a deep, slow breath. “Look, we just wanna have our dinner, okay?”
“Sure, sure. Have fun while you don’t bother even trying,” Blue Hat says.
Cam stands. “Fuck. Come over here and say that.”
My eyes widen.
Laurent reaches out and grabs Cam’s shirt. “Don’t do it.”
Cam shakes him off. “You think I like being here?” he snarls to the man who said that.
Cam is six feet four inches and 206 pounds. According to the team roster. Most of the other men back off. Except the dude with the blue hat.
“We thought you’d make a difference,” Blue Hat says with disgust. “What a waste of a trade that was.”
Cam starts toward him. “You ass—”
Jayden and Laurent both jump up and stop him. “Okay, okay. Let’s get out of here.”
I scramble out of the booth and scurry after them, Laurent and Jayden frog marching their teammate to the coat check.
“Well, that was fun,” Jayden says when we’re all outside on the street. He looks at me. “Sorry.”
I slide my hand into his. “It’s okay. This really sucks.”
“I’m going home,” Cam growls. “See you tomorrow. Bye, Stella.”
“Bye! It was nice to meet you!” I grimace.
Laurent shakes his head. “Ostie de crisse de tabarnak de calisse.”
I blink.
“The more French words he adds, the worse it is,” Jayden tells me, tugging my hand. “Let’s go. See you tomorrow, LG.” We start down the sidewalk. “Goddamn fucking hell.”
I try not to laugh. This isn’t funny.
“Something has to change,” Jayden grumbles. “And fucking soon.”