“Anyway.” Dylan clears his throat. “I seriously think we should plan a trip. We can do an island vacay with the senoritas and margaritas.”
I curl my lip in disgust. “Why are you the way that you are?”
“Because he’s gross,” Addy offers up, rolling her eyes. “He’s yet to learn that no one likes a guy who talks like that.”
“She has a point,” Blaze agrees, dropping his arm around the back of the couch behind her. They might be best friends, but there is so much to unpack there.
“You always side with her.” Dylan rolls his eyes and then downs the rest of his drink. “You think we’re gonna win this one, Cam?” He throws a look over to me, and I shrug.
“We better.”
“I guess it kind of depends on whether or not our center can get out of his head,” Kade says from the other side of the room. He leans against the wall, his eyes on me.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
“You’re in your head right now, man.”
“I’m not,” I argue, glancing around the room.
Everyone is silent.
“Just pretend like her face is the puck,” Dylan suggests. “It’s worked for me so many times.”
“That’s messed up,” I mutter, shaking my head and tearing at the label on the bottle. “I’ll be fine. I was good at practice this morning.”
“That’s debatable,” Kade comments. “Like, I love you, dude, but you gotta stop being heartbroken over something that didn’t work out. It’s getting a little excessive to grovel to this extent.”
“Grovel?” I laugh. “I’m not groveling. I’m just tired of letting myself get hung up on people who don’t care.”
“Riiiight.” Dylan draws out the word. “You don’t actually mean that. You just think that’s what you’re supposed to say. I’m telling you, man. Just picture her face on a puck, and then just slap the—”
“That’s ridiculous,” Addy cuts him off sharply. “That’s not what you should do—and I don’t even think that’s okay to joke about.”
“Don’t get all in a twist about it,” Dylan inserts. “It’s just a joke.”
“It’s a bad one,” she levels, her eyes jumping back to mine. “I know Nila was a cool girl, but she left you cold in the airport. You have to let it go. And if you continue to close yourself off and become miserable, you’ll probably blow a fuse one day, and then bam! You’re punching another fan.”
“That’s a jump...” I say, narrowing my gaze at her.
But I guess inwardly, maybe I am a little touchy.
But I’ve been really trying to work on being less reactive lately.
“Just focus on the game,” Kade says, giving Addy a weird look. “You know how to play hockey. You’ve always been one of the best players on the team. Let’s just leave it at that. Side note: is your dad’s new girl coming to the game?”
“Okay, don’t refer to the woman my dad’s dating as a girl.” I nearly gag. “She’s in her sixties—she’s a lady. And yeah, she’s coming. I really like her.”
“You do?” Dylan jerks around in the chair to look at me. “How much?”
“That’s a weird question, but she’s nice. I think she and my dad get along really well. I’m happy for them. I really am.”
Low voices catch my attention and I turn toward the couch where Blaze and Addy are talking to each other, their focus on her phone screen.
“That’s Garrett Norris,” she tells Blaze.
The words instantly knot my stomach.
“Are you creeping on Nila right now?” I demand, shooting both of them a glare. “I thought we were supposed to let this go.”