Page 20 of Unlovable Player

I get changedand head over to the rink for our pre-game warm-up. Yale is there already at his cubby.

“Are you here early just to piss Hayes off?” I ask as I throw my bag down.

He sticks his bottom lip out. “Why do you always assume the worst of me Captain? Can’t I just be really eager for this game?”

I ignore him as I peel off my hoodie.

“Harvard are my old rivals after all. They always think they’re better than Yale, like Yale is the cheap little brother.”

“So what are we?”

He shrugs. “You guys aren’t even related.”

“Pshht, fuck you.”

His cheeks tint and he looks away. I think about what Gray said again –I think he has a crush on you.Something fizzles, warm, in the pit of my stomach. I think about apologizing for the wall thing, and practise. But he doesn’t seem like he’s still thinking about it. Maybe I’m imagining the hurt look on his face both those times? Maybe he really is just an obnoxious asshole who doesn’t care about anything?

I’m relieved when the doors open and Jordan walks in. His presence taking up the whole room.

He glares at Yale on his way to his cubby, slapping hands with me before opening his bag.

The atmosphere stinks, but Yale doesn’t even seem to notice. He practically hums to himself while taping his stick. I can feel the fury coming off Hayes and I don’t know whether I’m supposed to tell him to cool it or ask Yale to stop gloating about his promotion.

It’s temporary,I remind myself,no point sweating about it if he’s back on the second or third line after the Harvard game.

We make it through practise,then hit the bagel place after. I invite Huntington, and Gray pulls me back from the group.

“Why the fuck did you invite him?”

“Because I’m the captain and it’s my fucking job to make him feel welcome.”

Gray scrunches up his face. “But he’s not.”

“Listen, just trust me on this yeah? Coach is probably just trying to put the fear into Hayes so he’ll get his act together. Nothing like losing your spot to the new guy to light a fire up your ass.”

He looks like he’s trying to solve an algebra problem as he thinks it over. “Yeah, maybe.”

Fuck,I have no clue how to fix this, but I have to at least act like I know what the fuck I’m doing.

I slap him on the back and we go eat.

We take up a booth in the bagel place and Huntington’s the only one who pays with a platinum AMEX and doesn’t ask for student discount. I note the way the guys side-eye him as they stand in line, some of them counting out the coins they’re gonna pay with.

Huntington rolls the sleeves of his Ralph Lauren sweater to the elbows while he eats. The veins on the backs of his pale forearms prominent, and that gap in his teeth on show when he opens his mouth to take a bite of his bagel. He’s squashed in the corner facing me, Jordan’s big shoulder practically imprisoning him. I keep trying to think of things to say to bring him into the conversation, but every time I open my mouth, something stops me.

Gray does the job for me and I could fucking kiss him for including Huntington without me having to.

“So Yale, are these bagels better than the ones at Yale?”

Huntington smirks before wiping his mouth and my stomach drops. What the fuck is he gonna say to piss everyone off now? At least Gray hasn’t got a sister he can insult. I didn’t specify that mothers were off-bounds either though,shit.

“Tastes better with a little caviar,” he says.

I snort.Idiot.

The guys laugh and Gray shakes his head, but Hayes’ expressions stays stormy.

Even though it’sa short drive to Harvard, the atmosphere on the bus is frosty. I don’t know if Coach notices. He seems deep in conversation with two of our four assistant coaches up front while we spread out on the middle and back seats.

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