Chapter 13 Jacks
Jacks
Claire and I have been having the best time over the past few weeks, and seeing her on the sidelines at my home games has me wanting this whole fake relationship thing to never end.
I’ve never had a harder time focusing on the ice than when I look over and see Claire photographing us while wearing my jersey.
Mine.
Fuck, she’s gonna be the death of me. Claire comes over to where all the players are entering and starts snapping pictures of us. When I reach where she is, she flashes me a smile behind the camera as she continues taking pictures. I pull her away for a second. “Claire, please kiss me right now.”
“Okay.” And she stands on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my mouth. Sparks. I’m such a goner for her. When we pull apart, she’s smiling from ear to ear.
“I think I’ll have the image of you in my jersey engraved in my brain for a long time, gorgeous.”
“It fits me quite nicely, doesn't it?” she says as she wraps her arms around herself.
“You look perfect, Claire. Absolutely perfect,” I say as I lean down and kiss her again because I just can't help myself. “But I have to go. I’ll see you after?”
“You know where I’ll be.”
“Always, and if I don't, you know I’ll always find you.” I throw a wink at her, suddenly feeling confident as fuck before I head into the locker room smiling like an idiot.
The third period ends with Grand Mountain winning, thanks to Grant and I crushing it and not letting any pucks fly by us at all.
The guys and I all celebrated in the locker room, and Holt invited all of us to a party at his house off-campus to celebrate, but I have other plans.
Claire invited me back to her place with a few of her friends and Justin, a nice guy that’s on the team with me.
I quickly shower, throw clean clothes on and am out of the locker room in the fastest time possible.
I look around and see Claire standing with two other girls, still wearing my jersey.
I feel a smile form on my face before I walk over to them. Claire’s back is to me, so when I get to her, I wrap my arms around her and place my head on top of hers. I know her friends know that we’re “fake,” but I don't care. It feels natural to do this, so I’m doing it. “Hi, gorgeous.”
“Hi, Jacks.” I can't see her face right now, but just from her tone of voice I can tell that she’s smiling. She turns out of my hold and faces me. “You guys played a good game tonight. I got some really good shots of the team.”
“I can't wait to see them,” I say as I pull her arms up and place them around my neck. “Can I see the raw photos or do you want to wait until they're edited?”
Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise, before another huge smile breaks on her face. “I’ll show them to you later, but I did post a few on Instagram that I took from my phone.”
“I’ll make sure to look at those.”
“There’s a few of you, so…”
“Oh, then it’s my number one priority.” I smile at her before I capture her mouth in another kiss. I swear ever since she kissed me in my car, I’ve been craving the feel of her lips against mine. I can't fucking get enough.
Someone clearing their throat breaks us both out of our weird trance we were just in. “Sorry.” Claire smiles at them before turning to me and introducing us. “Jacks, this is Sara and Jess, my two best friends.”
“Sara, you're her roommate, right?” I say as I reach out and offer my hand to shake.
“Yes, I am, and you're the fake boyfriend.”
I stifle a laugh as Claire reaches over and smacks her on the arm. “Sara, stop.”
“Claire, it’s fine.” I put my hand to my chest. “That’s my title, and I wear it with honor every day.”
“Oh wow, Claire he’s a lot nicer than you told us,” Jess says.
“Nice to meet you, Jess. Claire has told me how fun you guys are, and I’m excited to experience that in person tonight.” I reach over and shake her hand as well, just as Justin comes over to the four of us.
“Sorry I took so long. Are you guys ready to go?” he asks us, and I’m glad to have him here.
He’s at least someone I’m familiar with because meeting your girlfriend's best friends is always a feat.
I can tell they're psychoanalyzing me right now, and I suddenly feel on the spot.
Justin brings a nice balance to the group.
“Shall we?” I ask the group while keeping my eyes steadily trained on Claire.
“We shall,” she says as she grabs my hand and leads the way for us.
“No, no, no. You’re wrong, Hallmark Christmas movies are way better than any Christmas rom-com that Netflix puts out,” Claire yells at me as she relaxes against her couch. I accidentally let slip that I sometimes prefer Netflix Christmas movies over Hallmark and I realize I made a huge mistake.
This one drink that I’ve had is going to my head. During hockey season, I normally stay away from alcohol and shit, but tonight was cause for celebration. Not just because of our win, but because I finally met Claire’s friends.
“Fine, gorgeous. You win this one. I concede,” I say as I press a kiss to the side of her head.
“Jacks, did you react like a normal person when you found out that Claire likes to eat ice cream with a fork or did you act like we all did?”
“What?!” I ask him, because I feel like I heard Justin wrong. I turn to Claire. “You eat ice cream with a fork? What’s wrong with you?”
“Thank you! It’s the weirdest thing ever!” Justin says, Sara and Jess agreeing with him.
“Okay look, I’ve done it since I was little! My parents eat it that way too, so sue me for it! I’ll never stop doing it!” Claire yells and slumps down where she sits. God, she’s adorable.
“Okay, okay. I understand why you do it, and honestly, that’s kind of adorable now that I know why you eat it that way.”
“You guys are so cute, it’s disgusting,” Justin says to us.
“Well, isn't he just adorable, Claire…” Sara trails off.
I feel my girls head shift so that she’s looking up at me now, and when I look over and meet her eyes, she smiles. “He is, isn't he?”
“You guys know I’m sitting here, right?” I ask them while feeling a blush spread up my cheeks.
“Yes, but we don't really care,” Jess says to me as she hits my arm in a playful way.
I feel my phone start to buzz from my pocket, so I quickly excuse myself to take this call. I look down and see Holt’s name light up my screen. Isn't he busy throwing a party? Why is he calling me? “Holt, what's going on?”
“Jacks, are you busy right now?” I hear his voice barely come through my phone. It’s loud as fuck in his house right now, as usual, but I’m worried why he’s calling me.
“Yeah, but what's up?”
“Can you come pick up Grant from my place? He’s having a rough time, and Barnes just showed up. I don't want a fight happening, especially between two players.”
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be right there.” I hang up, and head back to the group.
“Is everything okay?” Claire asks me.
“Yeah, I think so.” I look to Justin. “Holt asked me to pick up Grant from his party. Apparently he’s rough, or something.”
“Grant Carter?” Jess asks.
“Yeah. He’s my best friend and roommate,” I tell them.
“Oh wow…I wish I knew that earlier.”
“Jess, don't be gross,” Claire says to her. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, no. I can't ask you to do that,” I say as I grab my stuff and head for the door.
“Jacks, you didn't ask, I offered. Plus, there's no way you can get him out on your own, so let's go.” Claire grabs her jacket and throws it over her jersey before walking out her door. “We’ll see you guys later!”
I guess she’s coming with me. I say my goodbyes and apologize profusely about cutting tonight short, but Justin reassures me that we’ll be doing this again in the future.
By the time I get outside, Claire is a few hundred feet ahead of me and I have to jog to catch up to her. “Slow down, gorgeous. I can't keep up.”
“Mhm, I’m sure you can't,” she jokes. “What’s wrong with Grant?”
“He’s going through some shit lately, but I’m not too sure,” I quietly say.
I’m a shitty friend because I didn't know he was doing this bad. Is it just the whole Hads situation, or is it something deeper? Grant lost his dad a while ago and I know it’s always weighed on him, but I thought he knew he could come to me for help if he needed it?
Was he struggling so openly this whole time and I didn't see it? Fuck, I feel like shit.
“He’ll be okay.”
“I think so.” The rest of the walk to Holt’s place takes around ten minutes, and when we get there, the music is blaring at the same volume it was on the phone.
Claire and I head into the house and I immediately spot Holt.
He shoots his neck to the right, and when I follow where he told me to go, I find Grant sitting on the couch with a bottle in both of his hands.
Jesus. He never drinks this much. His head lifts up, as if he knew we were walking in, and he locks eyes with me, and then they shoot next to me.
“Candy Canes! What a great surprise!” He rushes us and whisks Claire into a hug. “How is my favorite couple on campus doing?”
“We’re good, Grant. How are you?” she asks him, and I see his eyes droop.
“I’ve been better.” He looks to me. “Finally decided to join the party, did ya?”
“No. I’m here to take you home.”
“Home? Why? It’s a party.” I suddenly find myself speechless and before I can lie to Grant, Claire speaks up.
“Because I have a surprise for you back at your place, and you can only look at it tonight.” She shrugs at me, and I roll my eyes at her. Always thinking on her feet, isn't she?
“She’s right, and I saw it. It’s a good surprise.”