Page 77 of For Crosby

Of course there was something more to it. But he wouldn’t freaking tell me.

“Between the tree, jockstrap, and hot gel, he’s put up with all of it. At some point a guy cracks. You know him better than I do. Why hasn’t he?”

“He doesn’t want to make waves on the team,” I said, hating how lame the excuse sounded in hindsight.

Finlay grabbed her coat from the chair and slipped it on. “Even I could only take so much of Grady before I made him think I put a laxative in his drink last year.” She moved to the door and pulled it open, turning to look at me. “Maybe once you figure out what’s really going on, you can go back to making those gaga eyes at Crosby.”

I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but I said nothing. Because there was nothing to say. I walked away from him and he let me go.

Finlay’s lips twisted regrettably. “I’ll see you at Caden’s.”

I nodded, and though I wasn’t in a partying mood, I owed it to her, Caden, and Forester to celebrate the football team’s big championship win with them.

Finlay stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

We’d been roommates for over a year, and this was the first time she was seeing my stubbornness in full force. It was one of my greatest strengths. I’d always been someone who believed in what I thought. What I said. What I did. To hell with everyone else. But had I acted too rashly? Had I been too quick to give up on Crosby? Had I been like everyone else in his life and abandoned him when he needed me the most?

Grrrrrr.

I grabbed my phone to turn off my music and a picture I’d taken of him in a towel at the hotel popped up. I hadn’t removed it from my home screen yet—probably because who wouldn’t want to see a hot guy every time they turned on their phone? Or maybe it was that hot guy I wanted to see.

Damn him for being weak.

Crosby

I suited up in the bathroom down the hall then stepped into the locker room before my next game. Every eye averted mine. I hadn’t seen my teammates since the Icy Hot incident. And, since I refused to tell Coach who tampered with my cup, he hadn’t allowed me to practice with the team. I think he thought I’d cave and eventually tell him, but a sex tape hanging over my head was a powerful deterrent. I knew Coach was torn—wanting to punish me for my silence, but feeling sorry that my chance with the scout got blown—because he arranged for me to have ice time alone so I could practice.

Jeremy rounded the corner and stopped short, spotting me in the locker room for the first time in a week. He stared me down, but my eyes never wavered from his. He still hadn’t released the video. Xavier and I decided he was playing a mind game with me, knowing the waiting for it to drop would’ve been more torturous than the actual video being out there.

But I had news for Jeremy. Despite the video hanging over me and me not getting back out on the ice last game, I wouldn’t let him win tonight.

Sabrina had been wrong. I wasn’t the guy she once thought I was. I wouldn’t be that guy again.

I’d wanted to be a pro hockey player since the first time I was fitted for skates. I had that natural ability coaches talked about when interviewed after games. Skating came easily. Scoring came easily. And body checking assholes came easily. I tasted hockey in everything I did. It was part of me and nothing Jeremy did was going to stop me from achieving my dream of playing it.

After Coach’s pregame speech, I lined up in back of my teammates as they filed out of the locker room. I was eager to get onto the ice, wanting to redeem myself after the last game and curious to see if Sabrina had shown up. I’d given her front row tickets to the remainder of my games before shit hit the fan, but deep down I knew she wouldn’t be there.

The lights in the arena dimmed and music echoed off the walls. I followed my teammates onto the ice, circling the perimeter of the rink like my life depended on it. But no matter how quickly I flew around the ice, it didn’t make Sabrina appear in that empty seat in the front row.

Coach’s whistle blew and we skated over to the bench, gathering around him holding his clipboard. As he spoke, my eyes drifted to the empty seat.

Since arriving at school, it had all been about getting through this season and making it to the pros. This had been the first time I’d put someone else before me. And what did I get to show for it? An empty seat and a broken fucking heart.

Sabrina

Music blared inside Caden and Forester’s two-story house on the outskirts of campus. It was a shock the cops hadn’t broken up the party already since so many people showed up to celebrate the football team’s victory. By nine o’clock, the house had reached capacity and bodies filtered outside into the front and back yards.

In my quest to find Finlay and Caden on the second floor where Caden’s bedroom was, I weaved my way around familiar faces and climbed the stairs. Unfortunately, people filled the upstairs hallway creating a virtual wall. I turned back around and made my way downstairs and headed toward the kitchen.

I heard Grady’s big mouth before I saw him at the kitchen table, chugging what looked like a pitcher of beer. When he slammed it back down on the table, the people around him cheered. I rolled my eyes knowing how much he loved the attention.

Somehow, he spotted me across the crowded room. “Sabrina!”

I spun around, trying to get away before he made some kind of scene. No such luck.

“Where you going?” he asked, slinging his arm over my shoulders.

“Just checking out who’s here.”

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