Chapter Fourteen
Three weeks later
Bodie
“Fuck yes !” The team is loud and obnoxious as we leave the locker room. “We’re in the playoffs. How fucking cool is that?” The nineteen-year-old rookie is the loudest, but we’re all on a high tonight.
“It’ll be cooler when we win the playoffs, rook.” Teasing the newb is a rite of passage.
“Where are we headed to, boys?” Mickells questions.
More than half the guys start bowing out to go home to their partners and families. Seven of us are left, and we decide to head to a bar Davidson chose in South End. I hitch a ride with him, although I’m not sure it was a smart decision when I hop in his truck and find him frustrated and texting.
“Dude, you good?” He makes me nervous when he doesn’t respond. “Davidson.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m good.” His phone lands on the floor in the back seat, and his truck roars to life. Davidson is a big ol’ country boy—he loves beer, big trucks, and noisy mufflers, but he’s built like a brick house and skates like a champ. I have no idea how he’s never been called up before.
The music blares from the speakers as he gets us there faster than the speed limit should’ve allowed. “Buddy, you sure you’re okay? We don’t have to go in there if you’re not up for it.”
“Oh, fuck no. I’m going in there.” The truck door slams behind him, and then I’m walking into the place, terrified of what this night has in store for me.
“Heeeyyy. It’s about time you slowpokes made it here.” Mickells greets us with a couple bottles. “This place is fucking crowded. There’re chicks everywhere.” He leans in to tell us like it’s a secret.
“You’re so perceptive, Mickells,” Davidson says as he scans the crowd. He does a double take, and I quickly look in that direction, but I don’t see anyone I know.
“Hey, I’m just trying to help my brothers out. What’s your weakness, Davidson? Blondes? Brunettes?”
“Redheads.” He downs his beer, still scanning the crowd.
“Oh, man. That’s a hard order to fill.”
“I don’t need your help, Mickells,” Davidson growls at him.
“Whoa. What crawled up your ass, Cap?” Mickells throws his hands in the air.
“Alright. Let’s go get some shots. Looks like someone needs to unwind a bit before he’s allowed to socialize.” I shove my friend toward the bar, while Mickells moves on to his next one-night stand who thinks he gives a shit about anything but hockey.
“What’s your poison tonight, Cap?”
“Water.”
“Water? Yeah, that’s not happening,” I tell him, instead ordering a set of shots and beers for both of us.
“Are you supposed to meet someone here?”
“Huh?” Davidson answers, still searching the crowd.
“Davidson, are you looking for someone you know?”
“No, no. Just scouting the options, right?”
He doesn’t look convincing.
The team crowds around us, and Davidson finally joins the conversation. When the guys start attracting women to our group, Davidson gravitates closer to me, and we take on the night together.
The music is loud, the crowd is lively, and drinks are going down way too smoothly. I’ve even been able to focus and have fun with my friends for a couple hours without thinking about Bryce, until I see a familiar face.
“Kasey! What’s up?” His confidence shines through with his bright eyes and wide smile when he recognizes me.
“Hey, Bodie. How are you?” he shouts over the noise of the bar.
“This is Davidson, my friend and captain of the team.”
“Hi—Davidson?” he asks awkwardly.
“Emmett.” They shake hands, and for some reason, it makes me tense up. I’m not sure if it’s the way they gauge each other or from hearing his first name for the first time in years, but it’s just weird.
“Well, it’s nice seeing you. Hope you guys are having fun.” He awkwardly waves goodbye.
“Yeah. Nice seeing you. Get home safe.”
I turn to Davidson and see him nod toward Kasey as he walks away. “Do you know him? It looked like you recognized him or something?”
“Nah, man. Just remember seeing him with Bryce that night at the game.”
“Oh, yeahhh. That’s right. One too many shots here. Speaking of—piss break. Be right back.”
I must have good timing because there’s a free urinal when I enter the restroom. It’s not a small bathroom, but somehow, I still manage to run right into someone as I turn to go to the sink.
“Man, watch where you’re going.”
“Sorry,” I say in a panic—until I find myself staring at the last person I wanted to see tonight.
“Bodie McBoatface. So, you can’t watch where you’re going on frozen water or solid ground, huh?”
“You’re hilarious, Drew. Get out of my way.” I grab a paper towel and shoulder-check him as I walk by.
“Gladly.”
I’m surprised when I make it out the door without him bothering me until I hear him following me down the hallway.
“You know I’ve been fucking Bryce for years, right?”
I swore to myself the last time that I wouldn’t ever let him get to me again, but this is too far.
“Drew, you need to step away quietly before we have a problem.”
“Bodie, brother.”
“I’m definitely not your brother,” I say, throwing his hand off my shoulder. “Stay away from me and stay the fuck away from Bryce.”
“He’s afraid of relationships. They never last long, you know that much. He’s incapable of commitment.” He smirks, making me want to punch it right off his face. “You’ll see. You’ll be back to being just roommates in no time.”
“Fuck off, Drew!” I shout over my shoulder as I leave the hallway.
I try to pretend I don’t care, but something about what he said makes sense.
Why does it seem like everyone knows my best friend better than I do?
What the fuck is going on with him that he can tell Calisse—and Drew of all people—all these things about himself, but he can’t tell me?
It’s nearing closing time, and I’m so ready to leave. Davidson is in a corner, texting on his phone. “Hey, I’m ready to head out. You want to catch an Uber with me?”
“Foster, I’ve had one shot and a beer in the past three hours.
C’mon, I’ll drive you.” He shakes his head at me like I’m the ridiculous one for thinking he may actually be drinking in a bar.
He’s the perfect person to be a captain of misfits.
Davidson gets up, and we make our rounds with the guys to see if anyone needs a ride home—and to gather the keys of the ones who shouldn’t be driving.
Drew’s words haunted me the whole ride home. Davidson wasn’t in the mood to talk either, thankfully. It’s almost 3 a.m. when I finally get into bed and Bryce walks through the front door. I texted him when I got home, so he comes straight to the bedroom to find me.
“You awake, beautiful?”
“Yeah, are you taking a sho—” This man can’t keep his mouth off mine, and I won’t ever argue about it.
The kiss is hard and feels like a lifetime.
He releases me, grabs a clean pair of boxers, and leaves me woozy from his touch.
It may be the alcohol, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t feel this way before that kiss.
A soft caress on my back soothes me more than usual as he re-enters the room. The cold of his damp hair against my arm sends tingling sensations down my spine as he massages me from my shoulders to my thighs. I roll over so we’re facing each other and begin the conversation I’ve been dreading.
“Why haven’t you had a boyfriend for more than a couple months at a time?”
“What?” From his clipped tone, it sounds like his defenses are up already. “Where is this coming from?”
“I’m just curious. You’ve been keeping something from me for years.
And you never stay in a relationship for long, even though I know you’re loyal as fuck.
So then, why? What’s going on with you that you don’t want me to know?
” I want to leave it at that, but I know I’ll feel guilty not telling him.
“And I saw Drew tonight, spewing more bullshit to make me doubt what this is between us.”
“Goddamnit. That guy is such an asshole. How did you run into him?”
“Never mind Drew. He’s unimportant, but some of what he said—I don’t know.”
“What did he say, Bodie?”
“That you guys were fucking around together, and you’re afraid of commitment.”
His eyes blaze with anger and hands curl into fists. I palm his neck and pull him into me, but with his lips so stiff, the kiss is vacant.
“Bodie.” The steel in his voice takes me by surprise.
“I need you to listen to me.” He leans back, putting some distance between us.
“Drew is just jealous. He’s been hitting on me for years now and won’t give up.
I don’t even think he really wants me anymore.
I’m just a conquest now that he’ll never win.
There’s no one else. Only you, Bodie. Don’t let him get in your head. ”
“Okay,” I whisper, leaning against him.
“And I don’t have long relationships because they’ve never given me a reason to trust them.”
“Like me?” I sit upright in shock.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve had sleep issues for god knows how long, and you won’t tell me anything about it.” My voice is too loud for my liking. “I just don’t understand why I’ve been your friend for eighteen years and you told Calisse before you told me. Why, Bryce?”
His contemplative stare only infuriates me.
“See?! I’m begging you to tell me, and you still won’t.”
“Bodie, I haven’t told anyone. Calisse doesn’t know anything—she just guesses I have sleep issues from how tired I always am, and from these damn bags under my eyes.
” He lowers his voice with his next words.
“I haven’t told you because you worry about me more than anyone in this world.
I don’t need you stressed out about me.”
“You don’t get to decide what I stress about.”
“Bodie, I just don’t sleep well. Nightmares, that’s all.”
“Bryce, if you can’t talk to me about this, then what are we doing here?” We’re both standing now, arms crossed, an impasse in the making. The only question is who’ll give in first.