Page 27 of The Puck Player

“Don’t even go there, Mal,” I laugh, and she shrugs, getting comfy on my bed as I pick out something to wear.

“And his team? What are they like?” she pushes, and I know her question is a loaded one, and for some reason I want to give her the same clipped response I gave Ben.

“Like I said, they’re really nice. Jake is here quite a lot spending time with Evie, and a couple of my other new friends are dating guys on the team, so I have mingled with them at parties and stuff,” I say nonchalantly, not meeting her stare as I pull on some tights and boots to go with the black dress I just picked out.

“You seem different, happier,” she replies softly, and this time when I meet her stare, I can’t place the look in hers.

“I’m trying,” I whisper, swallowing the emotion now thick in my throat, knowing she understands it more than anyone else. “I miss home, I miss you and Ben, and I really miss my mom, but I think being here is what’s best for me right now,” I admit, having not even allowed myself to think that, let alone say it out loud, and my best friend nods in understanding.

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re exactly where you need to be,” she replies, jumping off my bed and moving to pull me in for another hug. I’m surprised by her outburst of emotion, but accept the hug willingly. “Now let’s go, I want to see your new home.”

We pull apart, and I once again notice her stare trailing to the discarded jersey on the floor, and when I move to pick up my sweater, I grab the jersey too, throwing both of them in the basket in the corner, before smiling brightly. “Let’s go.”

Then we head off to check out the town of Fairfield.

This time when I pray, it’s to make sure we don’t see any of the Flyers. The last thing I need right now is more drama, but for some reason I have a feeling it’s only just beginning.

Practice is fucking brutal. Cap doesn’t seem to care that we won our game last night, and has instead spent the last two hours completely torturing us. I would have asked Coach for help, but he came out of his office mid-practice, took one look at us drenched in sweat and almost dying, and patted Nova on the back and told him he’s doing a great job.Fucking sadist. Now as I practically hobble out of the shower in agony, I find half the team has already fled, which I can’t say I blame them, given Nova is still here.

“You did good today,” Nova starts, looking between me, Jake, Archer, Daemon, and Josh, and before he can even continue, Archer is flipping him off.

“Oh get fucked, brother, you almost fucking killed us out there,” he whines, before turning to Daemon and giving himpuppy dog eyes. “I think I need a full body massage to recover,” he tells him, and a devilish smirk pulls at the corner of Daemon’s mouth.

“Then maybe you need to work on your stamina a bit more instead of leaving it all to your boyfriend,” Nova claps back, glaring at his best friend knowingly, who hasn’t joined him for their usual run for a good couple of weeks now.

“Hey, I have amazing stamina, tell him, baby,” Arch replies, nudging his boyfriend, but Daemon just shrugs.

“From the sounds I hear coming from their room, I’d say they are both exercising their stamina,” Josh grunts, and I tip my head back and laugh, because I know exactly what he means.

“Oh please, like we don’t hear the lovely Mrs. Peters moaning your name every night,” Archer replies, rolling his eyes, and Josh glares at him in warning.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to talk about my fucking wife?” Josh seethes, but all it does is encourage my best friend.

“I don’t know, how many times did you warn Cap away from your sister before he started nailing her on the regular?” Archer muses, as if he is genuinely curious, and Nova groans.

“You really don’t know when to shut the fuck up, do you, Arch?” Nova asks him, but Archer only shrugs, making him sigh. “I’m out of here,” he adds, grabbing his bag and nodding at us.

“Tell Maddie we said hello, if you get a chance before she starts moaning, that is,” Archer calls out to his back, and Josh slams his locker shut in response.

“Archer, I mean it when I say this, but I hope whoever your little sister’s first boyfriend turns out to be, is someone that you fucking despise.” His words are gritted through his teeth, before he also grabs his bag and storms out, the same way Nova did.

“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” Jake laughs, shaking his head in disbelief, but Archer is already disagreeing with him.

“Nope, just a pain kink, right baby?” he replies, molding his body to Daemon’s, and the two of them once again get lost in their own world.

“So I met Ben earlier,” Jake starts, grabbing my attention from the two little horny fuckers across from us.

“Aubree’s boyfriend?” I instantly ask, wanting to confirm, and he nods with a smirk. “And? What’s he like?” I ask desperately, even though I have already done my own extensive search into his pathetic little life.

“A fucking judgmental tool,” Jake sneers, and his assessment thrills me, because of fucking course he is.

“Tell me everything,” I demand, and Jake rolls his eyes but obliges instantly, also drawing Archer and Daemon’s attention too.

“Woke us all up banging on the fucking door, Evie didn’t tell me anyone was coming, so when I heard Bree heading for the door, I came out of Evie’s room to back her up,” he explains, and I frown a little, confused as to why that would annoy her boyfriend, but then he adds, “I was only in my boxers.”

That has me smirking. I’m straight, aside from one questionable experimental kiss with my best friend, but even I can appreciate how good looking and stacked all my teammates are. Ben, the youth pastor, looks like he wouldn’t know what a dumbbell was if it hit him in the face, must have lost his mind.

“Even after Bree introduced us he still acted like a dick,” Jake continues, lowering his voice, as he looks towards Coach’s office, and I lean in closer in confusion. “She dragged him to her room and we could hear them arguing, and after that it was just awkward, I dipped so I could come here, but now Evie is blowingup my phone begging me to go and meet them all for lunch, so their day must not be going well.”

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