Page 66 of Penalty Shots

"Not now, Keelan." Her voice is shaky, and she drops her phone. I bend down to pick it up and see she's trying to request a rideshare.

When I hand it back to her, she stares off into the sky and shakes her head. "How did you know?"

"How did I know what?"

"To ask him if he couldn't have kids?"

I stare at her. "You should know something."

Keelan, 18 years old

"Hey, man. You wanna grab something to eat? I'm starved," Ryker says, tossing his gym bag onto his bed.

I'm opening a window next to my bed as he does. Two hockey players sharing a room does not a good smell make.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm studying with Rina tonight. Might just order some takeout."

He turns to look at me and crosses his arms.

"What?" I ask him.

"You're ‘studying’ with Rina?" He emphasizes the word with air quotes.

I flop onto my bed and look at him. "Yes, Ryker. Two people of the opposite sex can get together to study, you know. It's not a crime."

"But that's not what you guys are doing…"

I reach for my pillow and cover my face. He takes it and tosses it onto the floor.

"You're sleeping with your ex's roommate, aren't you?"

I groan.

"I fucking knew it!"

"Look," I say, sitting up. "It's not like what you think. When I was with Jenny, I wasonlywith Jenny."

He's still looking at me like I'm a dog.

"Besides, Jenny is dating JR, and I have a lot of thoughts about that, but it's her life, and I'm not going to control who she sleeps with so what does it matter?"

"It matters because you look like a ho," Ryker says, picking up the pillow and slamming it onto my stomach. I buck forward at how furiously he did that.

"Damn, tell me how you really feel, why don't you!" I cough out. I toss the pillow at him, and he catches it with his super goalie-spidey senses.

"Just… don't be one of those guys," he insists.

"What guys?"

"The kind that plows through a group of friends like it's nothing and leaves a pile of broken hearts in their wake with no regard for the damage that causes."

I squint at him. "I'm not that guy, Ry. You know that."

"And I hope it stays that way. That's all I'm saying."

"It will," I vow.

"It better." He points a finger at me.

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