Page 26 of Weak Side

A hard lump formed in my chest that I tried to massage away. “I’m not jealous. I’m just stating the facts. I’m right, aren’t I? Isn’t that what you jocks do?” A bitter laugh left me because his question struck a nerve. I had no idea where Chad was, and it stung.

“What is it with you and jocks?” Theo’s tone had definitely changed from light and airy to tense and heavy. “Did a jock break your heart or something? Is that why you’re with a guy like Chad? Youarestill with him, right?”

I turned and faced him, even though he couldn’t see me. I traced the outline of his profile, annoyed that his nose was perfect and straight, even in the dark. “No, a jock didn’t break my heart.”But I did have one who abandoned me as a baby.“I’ve never dated one because you’re all the same.”

“I call bullshit,” he muttered. I could practically see his eye roll in our pitch-black room.

“Whatever,” I muttered back, crossing my arms over my chest.

Silence passed between us, and the room was as tight as the scrunchie around my wrist. I tore it off and threw it to the ground with force when Theo’s steady tone filled the tense space. “But seriously. Where’s your boyfriend tonight? We’ve been rooming together for, what? Two weeks? I’ve seen him once.”

My heart leapt in my chest, and those thoughts that I had pushed behind a thick cloud of denial were suddenly very clear in my head. “Are you implying something?”

The vibrating of my phone stopped Theo from whatever he was about to say. I hurriedly reached and grabbed it, hoping it was Chad and I could actually answer Theo and not have to lie about knowing the whereabouts of my boyfriend—which, to be frank, was none of his business.

“Is that him now?” he asked, making me feel even worse when I realized it wasn’t.

Sitting up in defeat, I answered my phone while ignoring Theo. “Tay?”

“Claire, Ihateto do this, but could you…possssssssibly…come get me and the rest of the dance girls?” The background of whatever party she was at was so loud I felt like I was there with her.

I sighed. “What happened to Ubering?”

“Katelyn got super wassstteed, and they won’t let her come. They said they didn’t want her to yack in the backseat.” I suppressed a laugh at the way she said “yack” and began pushing the covers off my legs.

“Well, I don’t want her to throw up in mine either,” I said, “but yes, I’ll come get you guys. Are you sober enough to send me a pin?”

“I love you so, so, soooo much,” she said before hanging up. A moment later, I got a text with her location, and I threw my hair up in a high bun with the scrunchie that I’d thrown onto the floor a minute prior. I annoyingly opened up my dresser and searched in the dark for my joggers and pulled them on over my sleep shorts.

My hand was on the doorknob, and I had no intention of saying another word to Theo, but his light turned on, and his voice stopped me. “You never answered me, Bryant.”

Turning around, I raised my eyebrows at him and saw that he was fully sitting up with a determined look in his eye that I felt in parts of my body that should have been asleep.

“Do you know where your boyfriend is tonight?”

I heard my heartbeat in my ears as Theo’s temples flickered back and forth, waiting for my answer.Does he know something I don’t?I felt as small as a seed, standing by the door, looking at him.

I swallowed and stayed silent. The hardness around his green eyes lessened the longer we stared at one another.

“I hate to be the one to say this”—he flew back onto his bed and flipped his light off—“but I’m pretty sure he’s cheating on you.”

The pounding in my ears intensified to the point that I couldn’t hear anything else after his statement. I pulled open the door and slammed it on my way out, compartmentalizing my worries just like I had learned to do over the last few years.

13

Theo

I avoidedmy room like it was the plague, and people were starting to notice. Believe it or not, I didn’t like to be the bearer of bad news, and I felt like a fucking dick after last Friday.

“I would rather not go back to my room tonight.” My face depicted exactly how uncomfortable I was feeling. “She drives me crazy.”

The nights were getting colder, and a cloud of air flew from my mouth as I referred to Claire. The team and I hustled to the locker room after leaving the bus, and most were heading to bed and talking about the parties they were going to head to tomorrow evening. The celebration parties for away games were held on the day after, and thankfully, we’d won. It was a disadvantage to play at another school’s rink, but as always, my worries left the moment the stick was in my hand and the ice was beneath my skates. NHL scouts were rumored to be at Heston U for tonight’s game, and if they were, they’d be impressed because I played a damn good game, putting up five points for my team. I could only hope it got word back to Tom Gardini, the man who owned the Blues and the only other man, besides my father, that I strived to impress.

“She’d drive me crazy too.” Dax bumped his shoulder into me and wiggled his eyebrows. “It would be hard not to crawl over to her bed in the middle of the night.”

I groaned as he snickered and walked off to his locker to put his gear away. The team incessantly teased me about rooming with Claire, and Coach consistently asked if she was becoming a distraction—which she wasn’t. Truth be told, it was frustrating that I was even allowing her to make me feel uncomfortable in my own room. She hadn’t even made eye contact with me since I told her I thought her boyfriend was cheating on her.

In fact, I was pretty sure she gave our table away at The Bex yesterday because she didn’t want to wait on me. Didn’t hurt my feelings, but it sure did hurt my teammates’ feelings because we had a male waiter instead.

---