Page 20 of Knotted Laces

I don’t bother to hang around and listen to the two assholes jerk each other off, just haul my ass to the showers, thankful that most of the guys are gone—having either moved on to be seen by the training stuff or already heading home.

Unfortunately, most isn’tall.

And when I come out of the showers, it’s to find King and Rome sitting on either side of my locker.

Jesus Christ. I don’t have the time or patience for this shit.

I grind my teeth together—something that seems to be my M.O. of late—and try to cheer myself up by thinking my dentist will be happy with the extra work. Then I move over to them, trying to make short work of getting dressed so I don’t have to deal with this shit.

Shit, of course, being my friends concerned about me.

It’s just…

I was fine.

Totally fine.

And then…I wasn’t.

“What the fuck’s going on with you?” King asks with all the directness of an older brother with a gaggle of younger siblings. My oldest bro, Carter, has that too—the innate candor and limited patience for bullshit. The difference is that King and all of his brothers play hockey, so he knows there’s somethingaffecting my game and it’s not the normal ebb and flow of a season—something I could slip by my siblings without them really knowing.

They love me, love what I do…they don’t know the sport like King does.

LikeRomedoes.

Who’s fixing me in place with an expression I don’t fucking like. It tells me he’s seeing far too much.Again. And it tells me that he’s running out of patience for my avoidance.

“Look,” I hedge, “I know I’ve had a couple of rough games, but I’m tired.”

King’s mouth kicks up and Rome’s expression doesn’t change—their ways of telling me that they don’t buy that bullshit excuse at all.

“It’s true,” I say. “My family was here and they’re a lot, even when they’re trying to be unobtrusive. So, I’m out of my normal routine and haven’t been able to catch up on my sleep. But they’re home now and I’ve got nothing but video games, gym time, and bed rot for the next two days. I’ll be back to myself by next game.”

King’s mouth has flattened out during that verbal vomit.

Rome’s still looks exactly the same.

Not buying it. At all.

But if I’ve learned anything from being the youngest in my big ass family, it’s that to show weakness now is to forfeit all right to privacy and self-actualization.

They’re already up in my shit.

If these two know something isreallygoing on, they’ll be so entrenched in my life that I won’t be take a piss by myself.

So…I need to distract these assholes.

Who are my friends.

Who I care about.

Who are…fine.

All right.

Who arenotassholes.

They’re family, but still, I need to distract them so I can fuck off out of here, go home, and get my shit together.

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