Chapter 10 Zhuri
ten
Zhuri
*Nico has created a group chat*
*Nico has changed the name of the chat to PUCK PLAYERS*
Wes
That’s a terrible name
*Nico has changed the name of the chat to COLORADO COMETS*
Isla
Ugh, that’s so boring
*Nico has changed the name of the chat to ICE QUEENS*
Cameron
Absolutely the fuck not
Nico
Someone else name this goddamn chat then
*Asher has changed the name of the chat to MOVES LIKE JAGR*
Zhuri
That sounds more like a fantasy team name
But we’re not fucking changing it again
Nico
Sure thing, Cap
Cameron
Co-captain
She’s your co-captain
Zhuri
Jealous that I get to share your title, Kovacic?
Cameron
Not in the slightest
Now that we have a (shitty) chat name
What’s the point of this?
Nico
We need team bonding
Elisabet
Isn’t that what the pool party was for?
Nico
More team bonding then
Lizards always went to Hops and Dreams for nights out
Asher’s roommate is one of the bartenders
Asher
Hayes always hooked us up
And they make sure people don’t get weird about pro athletes hanging around
Theo
I’m down for a night out
Lev
You’re always down for a night out
You just want to find someone new to take home
Theo
I think Lev would be less grumpy if he got laid
Lev
No thanks
Also, I’m not grumpy, dick
Wes
Lev smiles more than practically anyone else
Cameron
It’s unnerving
Lev
Well, fuck all of you, too
Venda
This is going off the rails
Are we going out or what?
Isla
I vote yes
Cameron
Don’t drink like you did last time
Isla
*middle finger emoji*
Zhuri
Okay, Hops and Dreams, it is
We’ll go tonight if everyone is free
Hops and Dreams doesn’t seem to be all that different from every other dive bar I’ve been to, but when I’m not lambasted by fans as I walk in, I can tell that it is.
Apparently, I’m the last to arrive because I spot the entire Comets’ roster in the back corner with a few other people I don’t recognize.
I smooth down my red silk tank as I walk across the bar. I paired it with a pair of black jeans and black sandals, trying to make sure I’m not overly dressed up right now.
I don’t seem to be. The girls are all dressed similarly to me, and the guys are practically the same.
But just because everyone is dressed casually doesn’t mean I don’t take note of the way Cameron looks right now.
I hate how good he looks. Dark jeans with a black tee. He tops that off with a backward hat and a silver chain around his neck.
Fuck him for looking like that.
“Zhuri Hart,” Isla chimes, seemingly still sober. “Fashionably late.”
I toss my hair over my shoulder. “A girl’s gotta make an entrance, Icy.”
Cameron gestures to the stool next to him, and I walk over to sit when I realize it’s the only one available.
“Nice to see our co-captains getting along,” Wes smiles.
“We already told you we put it all behind us. We’re teammates now; a petty rivalry won’t do anyone any good.”
“I’m absolutely dying to interview you two,” a brunette woman sitting next to Wes says, and I think I recognize her.
“You’re Blake, right? You write for The Rinkside Report?”
“Yep!” she grins. “I mostly wrote about the Lizards before, but I’ll be focusing on the Comets now. Means Wes here can’t get rid of me.” She elbows him in the side.
“Fuckin’ nightmare,” Wes laughs, and I can see the playful dynamic between them. Cameron and Sid said Wes and Blake are really just friends, and I actually do get that vibe from them. They seem to have a solid friendship based on what I can see.
“I can’t speak for Cameron,” I say, circling back to Blake’s statement before, “but I’d love to do an interview for you. Love supporting a woman in the sports world.”
“I’ll do it, too,” Cameron adds. “You can interview us both.”
“Seriously?!” I can see how much Blake loves her job with how excited she seems to be about this interview. “Perfect! We’ll set something up!”
A man I don’t recognize walks up beside me now, but I see him in a Hops and Dreams shirt, so I assume he must work here.
“Asher, you can’t just text me your drink order,” he says, giving him a look through the black rims of his glasses. “You have to walk over to the bar.”
Asher shrugs. “Do I, though? Got you to walk over here, didn’t I?”
The man next to me flips him off, and Asher’s body rumbles with laughter.
“Very mature, Hayes,” a woman with dark brown hair chides from her spot near Blake.
I lean over to Cameron. “What am I missing here?”
He chuckles. “The man next to you is Hayes Stone. He’s Asher’s roommate and best friend. The woman is Hayes’s sister, Addison. She worked in PR for the Lizards. I think she’ll be with the Comets now.”
“Who else don’t I know?”
Cameron points to a woman on the other side of Addison, but I already recognize her. “I’m sure you know Sadie since she’s Sean’s daughter.”
“I know of her,” I say. “I don’t really know her, though.”
“The only other person I don’t think you know is Ivy.” He gestures to the quiet redhead. “She was our anthem singer. I think she’ll also be moving to the Comets.”
“I didn’t realize you guys had a dedicated anthem singer.”
“We did,” he shrugs. “Nico’s been pining for her since he first saw her.”
Nico immediately turns to him and tries to push him off his stool. “I am not pining for Ivy. I barely know her.”
Cameron leans closer to me now. “Hasn’t stopped him from looking at her with heart eyes every game.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Interesting.”
“Maybe it was better when you two hated each other,” Nico grumbles, and Cameron and I laugh even louder.
“Based on that reaction,” I whisper to Cameron, “he definitely has a thing for Ivy.”
“He’s awkward as fuck around her,” he chuckles. “And she’s apparently very shy, so I’m not sure anything will ever actually happen there.”
“So Nico will never make a move on Ivy. Blake and Wes are actually just friends. Any other things I should be aware of?”
Cameron uses his beer bottle to point at Addison again. “Addie hates Theo. He’s an absolute fuckboy and the biggest pain in her ass because he gives her so much work to do. Addie and Hayes also bicker every time we’re here.”
“Typical siblings,” I chuckle. “My sister, Nia, is only two years older than me, so we did a lot of the same growing up.”
“Bodhi and I never really did that,” he says softly.
I look at him in surprise. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
He nods. “He’s my half-brother. Almost seven years younger than me. But I lived in Croatia for six years, starting when he was five, so I wasn’t around a lot until I got traded to Denver a few years ago.”
“You lived in Croatia?”
“Why do you think I speak fluent Croatian?” he smiles. “We moved there for a coach my dad knew when they were younger. I trained with him until I started college. Been in the US since, but I still talk to my family back in Zagreb when I can.”
“There are a lot of things about you I didn’t know,” I reply quietly.
“Not like I ever really gave you an opportunity to know, Zhuri baby.”
I roll my eyes. “That nickname is annoying, Cammy.”
Cameron chuckles, and his lips turn up in a carefree grin. “I can go back to ljepota if you prefer.”
“One of these days, I’m going to learn how to spell that,” I grumble. I slide off my stool and flatten out my shirt. “I need to grab a drink still.”
“I’ll walk over with you,” Cameron says to my surprise. “I need another beer anyway.”
“I’ll allow it,” I tease, and he practically lights up in a bright smile. His caramel eyes sparkle under the fluorescent lights of the bar, and the dimples in his cheeks pop. Dimples I didn’t even know he had.
Just another thing about him to hate because, of course, the dimples just make him look even hotter.
We wait by the bar for a few moments before Hayes walks over to us and grabs our drink orders. Another beer for Cameron, and a vodka seltzer for me.
We lean back against the bartop while we wait for Hayes to return. The moment is silent until Cameron decides to speak.
“Would you rather have a one-minute conversation with your past self or your future self?”
“Why are you asking me that?” I cock my eyebrow in confusion.
Cameron shrugs. “We started asking would you rather questions to each other when we were hiding from Goosifer.”
“Goosifer?” I throw my head back and laugh. “You are so fucking dramatic.”
He gives me a pointed look. “That goose was a demon, and you fucking know it.”
“Sure it was, Cameron.” I shake my head and chuckle.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he states, arms crossed as he gazes at me.
I think it over before replying, “Past self. I could let eighteen-year-old Zhuri know that Jack Ledger is a prick who will drop her at the first opportunity.”
“Really?” he asks. “Why did you break up?”
I sigh. “When he got drafted to the NHL, he said he wanted to be with somebody ‘more his speed.’” I make air quotes and roll my eyes. “I got drafted the same goddamn year, but I guess a WHL player wasn’t what he actually wanted.”
“I fucking hate Jack,” Cameron replies. “Always did. I bet he just hated the fact that you were a better player than he was and decided puck bunnies were more his style.”
“Puck bunnies are more your style, too.”
His face falls briefly before he quickly regains his composure. “Right. Why tie myself down when I can just fuck a random woman before moving on to the next?” His words are clipped, and I realize I must have overstepped.
“I’m sorry,” I say earnestly. “I wasn’t trying to insinuate you couldn’t do that. I was just making an inference based on what I know about you.”
He shakes his head and lets out a breath. “What you think you know about me. I’m not who everyone thinks I am, Zhuri.”
“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry, Cameron.” I rest my palm on his arm. “Really.”
Cameron forces a smile. “It’s fine. It’s what everyone else thinks anyway. Fuckboy Cameron Kovacic. It’s all I’ll ever be.”
I’m beside myself at his reaction.
It’s a known fact that Cameron likes sex. Hell, he told me as much himself that night we met.
I never considered that there might be more below the surface for him, and I want to chastise myself for judging him so harshly.
Wanting to get his mind off of it, I ask my own question to him now. “Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?”
My attempt works because his shoulders shake with laughter now, and his smile seems less forced than before. “One horse-sized duck. I think I could take him.”
“As long as it’s not a goose?” I ask, lightly elbowing him.
“Fuck no. You can fight a goose if you want, but I’m not.”
“Can’t let the goose ruin your pretty face, huh?”
His eyes sparkle in mischief now. “Pretty face? Didn’t realize you had the hots for me, Zhuri baby.”
“Oh, you fucking wish, Cammy.”
Hayes finally brings our drinks over, and we grab them before heading back to the table.
I’m starting to learn more about Cameron than I ever expected I would, and I don’t hate it.
I don’t know how we went from eleven years of absolutely despising each other to getting along the way we are so quickly, but I’m glad we are.
He isn’t at all who I thought he was, and I kinda like getting to know him now.