Page 16 of Weak Side

“You ready?” Aasher nudged my shoulder. I glanced up and saw everyone leaving the locker room, and Coach was back in his office with his door shut.

“Yeah,” I answered, slinging my bag over my shoulder before clicking my phone off. Aasher and I walked in silence through the locker room, and I was already getting in my usual vibe before a game—which was shut-down mode. My thoughts cleared, and I thought of nothing but hockey.

When Aasher and I were farther from the locker room and began walking in the chilly evening air, he immediately scoffed. “I have no idea why Coach keeps yelling at me about his daughter or preaching to the team not to touch her.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “He’s just being a dad, bro.”

“Could you imagine if any of us fucked her? He’d probably kick me off the team.”

We approached my car. “You’re too good for him to do that, and he knows it. Plus, that girl is definitely a virgin.”

He shot me a look before flipping his hair off his forehead. “What do you think he cares about more? His daughter’s V-card or the game?”

I paused. He had a point.

“What’s this?”

My eyebrows raised. “What’s what?”

Aasher rounded the front of my car and pulled something off my windshield.

“Is that a fucking parking ticket?” I asked, instantly irritated. I glanced around and made sure there wasn’t a sign that said no parking.

Aasher began laughing hysterically, so I snatched the paper out of his hand, ready to walk over to the dean to make him deal with it but stopped as I caught the neat and whimsical handwriting on a torn piece of paper that had The Bex’s logo centered on the bottom edge.

Roommate Rules

Use a fucking quieter alarm. It wakes me up each morning, and I don’t have the luxury of going to bed at 9pm like a grandpa.

No more fucking girls in our room.

Or sexual favors. Go do it in your car. Or the locker room. Or in the hallway. I don’t care. But not near my stuff.

If you’re going to listen to trashy music, use your AirPods.

Don’t come on my side of the room.

Is she fucking kidding?

I blinked several times after reading the rules.Half of me wanted to laugh, and the other half of me wanted to rip up the piece of paper with her pretty handwriting on it and scatter it all over her bed.

But instead, I folded the piece of paper nicely as Aasher stood with his back against my car with a shit-eating grin, waiting to see my reaction. When we caught eyes, I shook my head and smirked.

“That look is never good,” he chuckled as he pushed off my car. “What do you have planned?”

I ran my tongue over my teeth. “She can have her rules.”

Opening my car door, I laughed. Aasher adjusted his bag over his shoulder. “That’s not the Theo I know.”

I turned around and laughed. “You know what they say about rules, Aash.”

He looked leery. “They’re meant to be broken?”

“There’s a loophole in every single one.”

He paused, looking deep in thought, and began nodding on his way over to his car. “There sure is, Wolf. Have fun with yourrules.”

My car came to life, and I smiled the entire way to The Bex, where I knew Claire would be.

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