Page 80 of Busted Dreams

So all the things I should have felt were absent, and the more days went by, the more I liked these random guys Astrid had connected me to.

“You know, if it gets that far and Astrid doesn’t want to run away with me, I’d rather you be my brother husband than some of these other dimwits out there. Like Brady.” He pretended to gag.

I waited for the sting at the thought that Astrid would choose someone other than me. It didn’t come. After we dealt with these fuckers for ruining my night with Astrid, I’d study that a little more in depth. But I didn’t have the headspace to do it right now.

“How far before we get there?” He strummed his fingers over the dash.

“Maybe about ten minutes. Why?”

“There’s one more thing I want to say. We aren’t often alone together, and I wanted you to hear this from me. So I’m just going to put this out there, and hope like fuck you don’t bash my head into the dash.”

I had a pretty good idea what he wanted to say. Did I let him off the hook, or make him squirm a little? As much fun as putting him on the spot would be, I didn’t have it in me tonight. Damn those players for screwing everything up.

“You told Astrid I spilled on the sex, right?”

“Damn it! She confronted you, didn’t she?” He actually sounded upset.

“That very night.” I had to smile. Astrid was such a straight shooter. There wasn’t a chance she would have been able to sit on it for days. Maybe I should have let her share her business when she was ready, but I had my own reasons. Now after seeing how unshakeable both Thatcher and Beck were, I knew the urge to protect her wouldn’t be there in the future. Not where they were concerned.

“I should have called you or texted you. Sorry, man. I swear it wasn’t my intention to let it slip, but with Astrid, I lose all the smoothness I acquired over the years. Zero charm.” He scoffed under his breath.

Laughing, I came to a stop at a red light. “How did it even come out?”

“You really want to know?”

“I really do.”

“Fine. I kept dropping hints, asking what she did the night before and flirting with her more than normal. Which was a lot, because I’m normally a puddle around that girl. I was weird as hell, and she saw right through it. She ended up telling me. And I know she would have anyway, because what she said made sense. If—when—we take that next step, she said she owed it to me to let me know who she was sexually active with. I hadn’t even thought of that. The only thing going through my head, both of them, was did she trust me enough to tell me? Was I important enough for her to want to tell me? And it all went downhill from there.” He slumped down in the seat like he was ashamed of himself.

Another wave of laughter assaulted me, and I staunched it as quick as I could. “You have to stop making me laugh. These guys are making a big scene at the party, and all I can think about is you making a fool of yourself in front of Astrid. Cut it out.”

“Well, damn. I’m sorry this has been so inconvenient for you.” He sniffed. “Looks like we’re here anyway.”

There were so many cars, I had to park on the street. When I got out and shut my door, my blood chilled. The music had been cut, but I could hear arguing. Vicious arguing.

“Come on. This way,” I said as I started to jog around the house. For their voices to be this clear, they had to be on the back porch. It was about to snow, but Jeff had a heated, closed in back porch. Instead of fighting our way through the crowd inside the house, we’d just cut around the yard.

“What the hell is your problem?” Jason yelled. He was the calm member of the team. If he was riled, they were really trying to start shit.

“My problem is that you pussies are constantly winning. I don’t even understand how. It’s like you bribe the refs or something with daddy’s money.”

“Does this look like a house supplied bydaddy’s money?” That was Jeff. He lived here, and with a teacher mom and firefighter dad, they weren’t rolling in cash. Technically, I was the only one who toted that kind of family money. The other guys had grandparents that covered the cost, or their families made sacrifices to make sure there was enough for the team fees.

My dad actually covered most of the costs for things that made us stand out. Like that freaking choreographer. No one outside of our team knew that though. Everyone just assumed it was part of the team fees.

“Oh, but you have some players with daddy’s money. And it really pisses me off they’re also the most loved players. Isn’t it enough you all have cushy lives with fancy cars? Seriously. Every time a fight starts with you guys on the ice, I race as fast as I can in hopes I can get a shot or two in. It’s what I live for, you know?” This guy was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

The two guys started clapping as soon as I rounded the corner. They didn’t even pay attention to Beck.

“Look who decided to join us.” They guffawed as if I were some kind of punchline they loved to tell. The two guys leaned on each other as they laughed. The taller, skinner of the two had too much anger in his gaze. Brent was his name, and he’d be the one to watch tonight. The other guy, Travis, had always been a chill guy. At least as far as I’d known him. What the hell happened to him to partner up with Brent?

“Took you long enough,” Jeff grumbled as he backed away and took his seat by the door. “You can handle their asses now.”

“Why haven’t you thrown them out?” I asked as I pushed through the screen door. Beck caught it and followed behind me, positioning himself as a sentry in front of the exit.

“They were causing a scene anytime one of the guys touched them. Threatened to call the cops and press charges and shit. So you can deal with their bratty asses now.”

The only people on the back porch were players. Knowing Jeff, as soon as they started to get violent, he would have sent everyone else inside. This at least was a team matter. All the guys nodded their heads like they were tired of them and were at their capacity for the night.